AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND CLEANING THE TEETH OF CARDS FOR CARDING FLAX, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Foster, junior, of Beela Mills, Milnthorpe,
in the County of Westmoreland, Flax Spinner, for the Invention of
" AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND CLEANING THE
TEETH OF CARDS FOR CARDING FLAX, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 15th December 1871, and dated the 20th June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Foster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
June 1871.
I, JOHN FOSTER, junior, of Beela Mills, Milnthorpe, in the County
of Westmoreland, Flax Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND
CLEANING THE TEETH OF CARDS FOR CARDING FLAX, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," to be as follows:―
My said Invention relates to a method of and means for restoring
and cleaning the teeth of old or worn cards of carding engines. It is
well known to flax spinners and others employed in the preparation of

page_text: fibres for various manufacturers that the teeth of these cards become
rapidly worn or blunted so that instead of properly effecting the
separation of the fibres they break and otherwise injure them. It is
therefore necessary that the card teeth should be frequently renewed
or restored, but hitherto no means have been known whereby the card
teeth could be restored, and therefore it has been necessary frequently
to remove the worn cards and replace them by new ones, and this
frequent renewal of the cards is a great expense to manufacturers.
By my Invention I obviate these difficulties and provide the means
whereby the worn or blunted card' teeth may be perfectly restored
without removing the cards from the cylinders, rollers, or other parts
to which the said cards are attached.
.
•
For this purpose I construct an apparatus which has a number of
small steel. wires placed together in the form of a flat brush, that is to
say, the said wires are disposed in a broad thin layer, their points at one
end lying together in a straight line or nearly so while at the other
end the said wires are compressed into a convenient form for insertion
into a stock or holder. It is necessary that the inner ends of the wires
should be securely united and I prefer to solder them together. The
said wires are then placed in the stock or holder. For ordinary use
this stock should be a metal frame made flat and smooth to slide
upon a rest or guide bar placed in front of the card cylinder or roller
whose teeth are to be sharpened, and on each side it must have a flange
or rib to guide it upon the said rest. The said holder must also be
provided with a long handle whereby it may be moved and controlled
by the operator. For sharpening the teeth of the large cylinder of a
carding engine the said cylinder need not be removed from its bearings,.
but the doffers and other rollers and the "flats" are preferably taken
out of the engine. The said rollers are placed in a lathe or other
suitable machine. The aforesaid rest or guide bar is placed parallel
with the axis of the said cylinder or roller. The apparatus is then
placed on the rest with the points of the steel wires projecting into and.
among the teeth of the cards. The card cylinder or roller is then
rotated in the direction opposite to that in which it rotates in working
while the apparatus is firmly held and guided by the aforesaid handle,
and the rotation of the cylinder or roller produces a rubbing or grinding
action between the steel wires and the card teeth, and this action if
properly maintained will effectually restore the points of the said teeth.

page_text: The sharpening, pointing, or restoring of the teeth may be perfectly
accomplished with the aforesaid apparatus used as above described, but
the process is greatly accelerated by the employment of emery or other
similar grinding substance. I therefore keep the points of the wires
supplied with emery powder. And to retain this emery at the points
of the steel wires and prevent their destruction by the rubbing of the
cmcry between them during the process of grinding, I place over the
apparatus an inclined shield or plate, which completely covers the
portion of the steel wires between the points and the stock. The emery
powder is deposited on this inclined plate and descends thereon to the
wire points. Or if desired the said inclined plate may be provided with
a small box or hopper to contain the emory powder, the same being
provided with a suitable aperture through which the emery is allowed
to pass from the inclined plate.
Instead of having the steel wires inserted in a stock manipulated
by hand as above described they may be attached to a roller or endless
belt arranged in the proper position with regard to the card cylinder or
roller, and adjusted or moved along the surface of the said cylinder or
roller by any suitable mechanism.
By this Invention I not only re-sharpen or point the card teeth but
I restore the surface of the said teeth and make them perfectly true or
uniform through the entire area of the said cylinders or rollers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Foster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FOSTER, junior, of Beela Mills, Milnthorpe, in the County of West-
moreland, Flax Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of Junc, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Foster, junior, Her special licence
that I, the said John Foster, junior, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said John Foster, junior, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND CLEANING THE TEETH OF CARDS FOR CARDING
FLAX, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Foster, junior, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Foster, junior, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
My said Invention relates to a method of and means for restoring and
cleaning the teeth of old or worn cards of carding engines. It is well
known to flax spinners and others employed in the preparation of fibros
for various manufactures that the teeth of these cards become rapidly
worn or blunted so that instead of properly effecting the separation of
the fibres they break and otherwise injure them. It is therefore
desirablo that the card teeth should be frequently renewed or restored.
But hitherto no means have been known whereby they could be
restored, and therefore it has been necessary frequently to remove the
worn cards and replace them by new ones, and this frequent renewal of
the cards is a great expense to manufacturers.
By my Invention I obviate these difficulties and provide the means
whereby the worn or blunted card teeth may be perfectly restored without
removing the cards from the cylinders, rollers, or other parts to which
the said cards are attached.
For this purpose I construct an apparatus which has a number of small
steel wires placed together in the form of a flat brush, that is to say, the
said wires are disposed in a broad thin layer, their points at one end lying

page_text: together in a straight line or nearly so, while at the other end the said
wires are compressed into a convenient form for insertion into a stock
or holder. It is necessary that the inner ends of the wires should be
securely united, and I prefer to solder them together. The said wires.are
then placed in the stock or holder. For ordinary use this stock should
be a metal frame made flat and smooth to slide upon a rest or guide bar
placed in front of the card cylinder or roller whose teeth are to be
sharpened, and on each side it must have a flange or rib to guide it upon
the said rest. The said holder must also be provided with a long handle
whereby it may be moved and controlled by the operator. For sharpening
the teeth of the large cylinder of a carding engine the said cylinder need
not be removed from its bearings, but the doffers and other rollers and
the "flats" are preferably taken out of the engine. The said rollers are
placed in a lathe or other suitable machine. The aforesaid rest or guide
bar is placed parallel with the axis of the said cylinder or roller. The
apparatus is then placed on the rest with the points of the steel wires
projecting into and among the teeth of the cards. The card cylinder or
roller is then rotated in the direction opposite to that in which it rotates
in working while the apparatus is firmly held and guided by the aforesaid
handle and the rotation of the cylinder or roller produces a rubbing
or grinding action between the steel wires and the card teeth, and this
action if properly maintained will effectually restore the points of the
said teeth.
The sharpening, pointing, or restoration of the teeth may be perfectly
accomplished with the aforesaid apparatus used as above described, but
the process is greatly accelerated by the employment of emery or other
similar grinding substance, I therefore keep the points of the wires
supplied with emery powder. And to confine the emery to the points of
the steel wires and prevent their destruction by the rubbing of the
emery between them during the process of grinding I place over the
apparatus an inclined shield or plate which completely covers the portion
of the steel wires between the points and the stock. The emery powder
is deposited on this inclined plate and descends thereon to the wire points.
Or if desired the said inclined plate may be provided with a small box
or hopper to contain the emery powder, the same being provided with
a suitable aperture through which the emery is allowed to pass down
the inclined plate. It is moreover essential to the success of the
operation that the wire points shall be supplied with oil, and I prefer to

page_text: accomplish this object by dipping them into the same as often as required
to keep them cool.
Instead of having the steel wires inserted in a stock manipulated by
hand as above described they may be attached to a roller or endless belt
arranged in the proper position with regard to the card cylinder or
roller and adjusted or moved along the surface of the said cylinder or
roller by any suitable mechanism.
By this Invention I not only resharpen or repoint the card teeth but
I restore the surface of the said teeth and make them perfectly true or
uniform throughout the entire area of the said cylinders or rollers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a plan of my improved apparatus; Figure 2 is a side
elevation of the said apparatus showing the same provided with means
for supplying emery to the wires and also illustrating its arrangement
for operating upon a. card cylinder. Like letters indicate the same parts
in both Figures.
: a, a, are the aforesaid steel wires; b is a clamp forming part of the
aforesaid stock or holder and made of iron or other suitable metal. The
said clamp is provided with an adjusting screw b₁ for compressing and
binding the said wires securely therein; c is a sheath or cover of sheet
metal attached to the clamp b. The said sheath has a bolt c' which passes
through the slot o² and holds the steel wires firmly within the sheath.
The said slot permits the bolt to be moved forward with the wires a as
the same become worn and have to be adjusted in the holder; e, e, are
ribs or projections on the top and bottom of the clamp. The lower rib
forms the guide for the apparatus as herein-after described, and the upper
rib serves as a means of attachment for the emery box or canister f,
Figure 2. The apparatus may be reversed and the canister attached to
either side. The bottom of the said box or canister is an inclined plane f¹
by which the emery is conducted to the points of the steel wires a.
The said inclined plane is corrugated or formed with a series of grooves
or chanuels whereby the emery is distributed uniformly over the wholo
breadth of the points of the grinding wires a. The supply of emery
is regulated by an adjustable slide f; g is handle by which the
apparatus is held and guided. In Figure 2 is the card cylinder or
roller whose teeth are to be sharpened, and i is a slide bar placed in
front of the said roller and extending from end to end of the same.
the
The

page_text: said cylinder being caused to rotate in the opposite direction to that in
which it turns. When working the operator as above described applies
the steel wires a to the card teeth, keeping the points of the wires
supplied with oil and admitting the emery to them, the operation being
continued until the sharpening and cleaning of the teeth of the cylinder
is satisfactorily accomplished.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I claim,―
First. Grinding and cleaning the teeth of wire cards by means of
steel wires applied thereto in the manner hercin set forth.
Second. The apparatus consisting of the series of steel wires secured
in a stock or holder which is provided with means for guidance and
adjustment and cither with or without the contrivance for supplying
the wires with emery' powder, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Foster, junior, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.