IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COTTON FIBRE FROM THE SEED
Year: 1864

page_text: Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for the invention or
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COTTON FIBRE
FROM THE SEED."
Sealed the 15th November 1864, and dated the 20th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Alfred Cowper
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th May 1864.
I, EDWARD ALFRED COWPER, of No. 35*, Great George Street, Westminster,
5 in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said. Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COTTON
FIBRE FROM THE SEED," to be as follows:-
-
My Invention consists in separating cotton fibre from the seed by taking.
hold of the fibre of the cotton in a positive manner very nearly close up to:
O the seed by surfaces caused to approach so as to nip or hold; and whilst.
the fibre is so lield by one part of the apparatus, another part pushes the
A

page_text: seed away, thus separating fibre of the full length or very nearly so, instead
of breaking the fibre into short lengths, as is the case with roller and saw
gins, which either take hold of the fibres at a considerable distance from
the seed, or only take an imperfect hold of the fibres. The holding instru-
ments are made to work intermittantly, or alternately, or in order, when
several are used, but I prefer to use two sets to work alternately, so that
one set may hold the fibre or draw it away whilst the other set pushes the
seeds away, and thus separates the fibre from the seeds. Each set of holding
instruments consist, by preference, of a number of alternate fingers and spaces,
the one set of fingers working through the spaces of the other set, the fingers and
spaces being however so narrow as to cause one or more fingers of each set to
act upon the fibres of one seed and to prevent seeds passing through the spaces.
The above-described operation may be effected either by nipping the
cotton fibre between two opposite pairs of the before-described holding
instruments, or between one pair and a revolving roller or travelling band
or table consisting of a number of bars having a motion similar to that of
screw gills. The requisite motions for the holding instruments are given
by means of excentrics, cranks, cams, or other suitable mechanism.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Alfred Cowper in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
ALFRED COWPER, of No. 354, Great George Street, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Alfred Cowper, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Alfred Cowper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Edward Alfred Cowper, 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-

page_text: Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COTTON
FIBRE FROM THE SEED," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Alfred Cowper, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Alfred Cowper, do bereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in separating cotton fibre from the seed by taking
hold of the fibre of the cotton, in a positive manner, very nearly close up to
the seed by surfaces caused to approach so as to nip or hold; and whilst the
fibre is so held by one part of the apparatas, another part pushes the seed
away, thus separating fibre of the full length, or very nearly so, instead
of breaking the fibre into short lengths, as is the case with roller and saw
gins, which either take hold of the fibres at a considerable distance from the
seed, or only take an imperfect hold of the fibres. The holding instruments
are made to work intermittently or alternately, or in order, when several are
used, but I prefer to use two sets to work alternately, so that one set may
hold the fibre, or draw it away, whilst the other set pushes the seeds away,
and thus separates the fibre from the seeds. Each set of holding instruments
consists by preference of a number of alternate fingers and spaces, the one
set of fingers working through the spaces of the other set, the fingers and
spaces being however so narrow as to cause one or more fingers of each set to
act upon the fibres of one seed, and to prevent seeds passing through the spaces.
The above-described operation may be effected either by nipping the cotton
fibre between two opposite pairs of the before-described holding instruments,
or between one pair and a revolving roller or travelling band or table consist-
ing of a number of bars having a motion similar to that of screw gills. The
requisite motions for the holding instruments are given by means of excentrics,
cranks, cams, or other suitable mechanism. It has been found in all cotton
gins of the several ordinary constructions, such as saw gins, MacCarthy gins,
and churkas, there is either great imperfection in the way in which the fibres are
taken hold of; or the point at which the fibres are taken hold of is too remote
form the seed, and these causes result in each case in a great deterioration in

page_text: "
the quality of the fibre, from the very large amount of breakage that takes
place; indeed it has been proved by actual measurements that fibres com-
monly lose one-fifth of their length when passed through a good gin of modern
construction, and a good deal of fibre is wasted by being left on the seed.
The greatest destruction of fibre takes place with the saw gin, as no one tooth
of a saw can by any possibility take any hold of a fibre, except by looping or
doubling it across the front of such tooth, and as the attachment of the fibre
-to the seed is equal to the full strength of the fibre, it follows that the fibre is
more likely to break at the point where the strain is put on to it than at its
junction with the seed, on account of the additional resistance caused by the
guards on each side of the saw. The seeds are never thoroughly cleaned, and
therefore fibre is lost, as well as that obtained being shorter than the natural
length. The MacCarthy gins hold the fibres in a very imperfect manner, as
their hold upon the fibre is only due to the difference between the friction of
the fibres on a leather surface and on a polished steel surface; thus if the
friction on the leather is three times that on the steel, it follows that there is
only three less one, or a friction of two, to carry the fibre beneath the "doctor"
and to retain it when the "beater" strikes the seed, and to a large extent the
fibres are drawn back from beneath the "doctor" at every stroke of the "beater,"
thus breaking some fibres whilst others are carried away with the seed, and it is
only after the fibre has been again and again drawn in that the seed is at last
tolerably well stripped of fibre. It is obvious that the pressure of the "doctor"
on the leather roller must at all times be kept below that at which the
surface of the leather will "fray" or be abraded by the friction and heat
generated by continually rubbing against the steel "doctor," so that the power
of holding is very small indeed. The seeds are not thoroughly cleaned and
fibre is thus lost, also that obtained is of less than the natural length. The
churkas, or simple roller gins, would take rather a better hold of the fibre
if one of the rollers were covered with leather, but this is not admissable as
the hard seeds would get pressed into it and form holes. All churkas and
simple roller gins necessarily take hold of the fibre at such a long distance
from the seed as to cause much breakage of fibre between the point of hold-
ing and the seed, in addition to which there is more or less difficulty in getting
rid of the seeds when nearly cleaned of fibre, and the cotton on them gets very
considerably rubbed by the surfaces of the rollers continually passing in hard
contact with such cotton. If the bottom roller of a churka is of wood, as is usual,
the cotton fibre cannot be pinched effectually, and if the requisite pressure for
that purpose were applied the roller would wear away too fast, and if the
rollers are both of metal the fibre is often injured by them. The seed s
"

page_text: always have a certain quantity. of fibre left on them, measured, in fact, by the
size of the seed and the sizes of the rollers used. Various other cotton gins
have been made or designed, almost all being mere modifications of the above;
amongst others, saw gins have been made with the saws close together, or at
very small intervals, but the teeth have sawn away the seeds, besides not
taking a good hold on the fibre. Other gins have been designed with a roller
and an apron, or band passing over a "doctor," but I long since designed and
tried experiments on this very construction with an apron, and found that the
extreme drag of the hard seeds on one side of the apron, and the friction of the
fixed "doctor" or "concave" on the other side of it, was more than any
material would stand for any length of time, in fact the friction causes such a
heat and strain on the apron as to destroy it rapidly, and it also cannot be
made to retain the fibre when the "beater" acts on the seed either with an
elastic or non-elastic roller.
Now according to my Invention, the bottom fibre is intermittantly nipped in
a positive manner (that is, very much in the same way as it would be nipped
by the jaws of a vice) very close up to the seed, which is thrust away whilst
the fibre is so held, thus separating the fibre of the full natural length or very
nearly so. The nipping instruments may be considerably varied in form, but
must not be made with edges rounded off to any great extent, or with edges so
cut off as to form too taper a mouth for the entry of the cotton, for if this
were the case there might be a danger of seeds entering between the nipping
instruments with the cotton.
In putting my Invention into practice it is necessary to form the two
nipping or holding instruments of such materials as are capable of taking a
very firm hold of the fibre, when by the action of the machine they are at
intervals forcibly brought together for a short time, so as to nip or hold the
fibre of the cotton in a positive manner whilst the seeds are removed, or par-
tially removed, by the action of another part of the machine. When the
nipping or holding instruments are in the act of nipping, they should either be
stationary, or, if in motion, the different instruments making the nip should
be moving at one and the same speed, as nearly as possible, so that there may
be little or no motion of one instrument in relation to the other, and conse
quently little or no friction generated. I have found that a roller with
good sound leather on it is well adapted to form one of the nipping or
holding instruments, but the leather must be firm enough to stand a much
heavier pressure than what is commonly put on to the roller in a MacCarthy
gin by means of the "doctor," and this heavier pressure the leather will stand
perfectly. well as there is no motion or scarcely any motion between the

page_text: holding instrument and the leather at the time. Now if the friction on the
feather is three times that on the holding instrument, it follows that there is
a friction of three plus one, or a total of four, to hold the fibre, and if the
pressure is only three times that used in a MacCarthy gin to press the "doctor"
against the roller, it follows that there is three times four, or a total of twelve,
to hold the fibre securely, as against two in a MacCarthy gin, and thus there
is no difficulty in retaining the fibre. The holding instruments are made to
work intermittently, or alternately, or in order, care being taken that when
one part of the apparatus is pushing away seed, the fibre is firmly held by the
holding instruments, such for instance as a roller with leather on it, and a
strong blade somewhat similar to a "doctor" in a MacCarthy gin. The
roller having first, by a partial revolution, drawn in a quantity of fibre between
it and the strong blade or holding instrument is, according to one arrangement
of my Invention, caused to stand still for a short space of time, when the
strong blade or holding instrument is made to press the fibre between it and
the roller in a forcible and positive manner, next the "beater" pushes off the
seed whilst the fibre is so held close up to the sced, and after this the "beater"
retires, the strong blade or holding instrument recedes from the roller a little
way, and the roller again makes a partial revolution, again drawing in fibre
between it and the strong blade or holding instrument, and the process is
repeated and continued.
"
According to one arrangement of my Invention the intermittent action of a
pair of nipping instruments is accomplished by causing a roller which forms
one nipping instrument to revolve continuously and draw in fibre, either by a
simple leather surface or a pointed surface, and then causing a second nipping
instrument to move at the same speed as the roller, and nip upon the fibre on
the leather surface o the roller, and then during the short interval it is so
nipped, to push off the seed from such fibre by a pushing instrument or
"beater." The requisite motions for the second nipping instrument may well
be obtained by cams, cranks, or other mechanism, but a crank is found to be
an exceedingly easy and effective appliance for the purpose, as at the same
time that it gives a very quick and easy motion, it is easily arranged so to
move the end of a "connecting rod" as to cause a nipping instrument fixed
to it to move not only quickly with the roller, and quickly back again to be
ready for a second nip, but also to move towards the roller to take the nip,
and from the roller at the time the nip must be relieved for the roller to
continue its rotary motion, whilst the nipping instrument returns clear of the
roller. Such return of the nipping instrument clear of the roller allows of a
Broughened or pointed surface being used on that part of the surface of the

page_text: roller that so passes out of contact with any fixed object. The "beater" or
pushing instrument can easily be made to slide in guides on the "connecting
rods that carrying the nipping instrument, so as to work correctly past the
edge of such instrument at the moment of pushing off the seeds, or it can be
separately mounted and adjusted to beat at the right moment; it can also
very well be worked by cranks, cams, or other mechanism. It is convenient
in order somewhat to prolong the time of nipping, to let the "connecting rods"
on which the nipping instrument is fixed be confined by short links or in
curved guides, so that the path of motion of the nipping instrument shall
conform to some extent with the curvature of the roller.
It is not necessary
in order to get the motion of the nipping instrument, and of the "beater," to
have two cranks of different stroke, or cranks and excentrics, as a short
stroke can be obtained for the nipping instrument by a long lever, and a long
stroke for the "beater" by a short lever, from one and the same crank,
and again, the time of nipping and the time of beating can be regulated
by the angles at which the "connecting rods" take their motions from
the same crank. The very small motion required to cause the nipping
instrument to nip can be got easily from a cain, even if the machine
runs at a very high velocity indeed. It may be observed that the "feed"
of fibre taken in at each nip is as much in excess of anything that a
MacCarthy gin can manage or cope with that far more work is done with.
the same surface speed.
The holding instruments are made to work alternately according to another
arrangement of my Invention, one being placed behind the other, but both.
just above the surface of a third holding instrument in the form of a roller
with leather on it, now on the roller partially revolving and drawing in fibre,
the first holding instrument is then pressed in a forcible manner upon the
fibre that is thus on the surface of the roller, and as it moves with it the
fibre is thus carried towards the second instrument, which has been moved
towards the first instrument, but at the same time out of contact with the
roller, it is then made to nip upon the fibre brought forward to it by the first
instrument, which then moves out of contact with the roller, and makes
another move to push away the seeds belonging to the fibre that is nipped
and held by the second instrument and the roller, and at the same time the
first instrument whilst so pushing away seeds passes over or on to more fibre
brought forward by the roller. Thus every portion of fibre as it comes
forward is nipped and held first by the first instrument and the roller, and
then by the second instrument and the roller, whilst the first instrument
returns and pushes away the seeds. A slight variation of this arrangement

page_text: consists in adding a pushing instrument to move near to the face of the first
nipping instrument in a slanting direction towards the roller, but only to move
away the seeds so far as it can do so without striking the roller or passing it;
this instrument can well be worked off the second nipping instrument or
off its crank or other source of motion.
Another arrangement of nipping instruments working alternately, according
to my Invention, consists in two sets of fingers and spaces, the one set of
fingers working through the spaces of the other set, the fingers and spaces
being however so narrow as to cause one or more fingers of each set to act
upon the fibres of one seed, and to prevent seeds passing through the spaces,
as the sets of fingers are alternately raised a little off the surface of the nipping
roller and thrust forward to nip upon more fibre; as the roller revolves the
fingers that are nipping retire with it, taking the fibre with them, whilst the
other set of fingers that are not nipping are thrust forward between those that
are nipping, and thus push away seeds, so that each set alternately pushes
away seeds.
i
One very simple arrangement, according to my Invention, consists in causing
two nipping instruments to act on a third one, in the form of a roller, by
means of two cams, one on each side of the machine, which lift the instruments
alternately and cause then when lifted to move back to take in fibre, whilst
when nipping they move forward with the roller to take the fibre through the
machine.
On the accompanying Drawings are shewn various arrangements of
machines by which Invention may
my
be put in practice.
Figure 1, Sheet I., shews a vertical section of a machine in which a nipping
or holding instrument or strong blade A is intermittently forced against and
removed slightly from the surface of the roller B, which remains stationary
whilst the blade A is forced against it and receive a partial rotary motion in
the direction of the arrow at the time that the blade is removed from it. The
distance which the blade A is removed from the roller is not equal to the
the dimension of the cotton seed, so that when the blade A is away from the
roller, and the latter by its motion draws in fibre between it and the blade,
the seeds are prevented from passing in by the edge of the blade, and when
the blade is pressed forcibly against the surface of the roller the cotton is
nipped or held between the two instruments A and B in a positive manner
very close up to the seed, and whilst it is so held the striking plate C (similar
to the "beater" of a MacCarthy gin) is made to rise and push away the
seeds therefrom. When this has been effected, the nipping blade A is again
removed from the surface of the roller, which again performs a portion of a

page_text: revolution and draws in fresh cotton fibre, the striking plate or beater C
baving at the same time descended out of the way. The various motions for
this purpose are all obtained from one and the same crank shaft I in the
following manner:-The bell crank lever D working upon a fixed centre d bas
a reciprocating motion imparted to it by the crank shaft I working in its lower
forked arm, which reciprocating motion it imparts to the pawl E, actuating
the ratchet wheel F fixed on the spindle of the roller B, which thereby
receives the before-described intermittent motion in the direction of the arrow.
The pawl E is pressed against the ratchet wheel F by means of the spring G
fixed to it and to the bean H carried by the framing, and a second fixed pawl J
insures the accurate motion of the roller. For actuating the nipping blade A
the crank on the crank shaft I works in the forked end of the connecting
rod K, the upper end of which is connected to the tail of the beam L, to
which the blade A is fixed and which turns upon centres N, so that the
beam L and blade A receive a reciprocating motion on the centres through
the motion imparted to the conducting rod K, the latter being made to force
the blade A against the roller when the crank shaft I is performing the upper
half of its revolution, whilst the spring N attached to the beam H and the
tail draws the blade A away from the roller B whilst the crank shaft I
performs the other half of its revolution, the extent to which the blade A
moves away from the roller being governed by the tail 1 coming against the
stop O. The motion of the beater C is also effected by the crank shaft I by
means of the connecting rod P, the beater C being fixed to an elastic arm Q,
the other end of which is fixed to the beam U carried by the framing. The
elasticity of the arm Q allows of the motion of the beater C, communicated
to it by the connecting rod P, and thus avoids the necessity of a joint at U.
The seed cotton is fed forward to the machine from the table T. The roller B
is wholly or partially covered with leather, and as the nipping blade A is
always pressed against the same portions `S, S, S, of its circumference in
rotation, I am enabled to fix upon the intervening portions strips of "fish
skin" R, R, R, or other suitable materials having small projections which
draw in the cotton fibre very effectually when the blade A is slightly removed
from the roller; V is a doffing brush for removing the cotton fibre from the
roller B, the ends of the bristles being made to travel faster than the
roller B.
Figure 2, Sheet II. shews a vertical section of an arrangement in which
the nipping blade A, the roller B, and the striking blade C, have very nearly.
the same relative motions as those described with reference to the same parts
in the first arrangement, these motions being however in this case produced.

page_text: by means of cams on the cam shaft I, whereby I am enabled to obtain two
strokes of the machine to one revolution of the cam shaft, in addition to which
I am also enabled to vary the rate of motion of the various parts as may be
required, it being desirable for very high speeds to make all the motions as
easy as possible. These motions are obtained as follows:-The two pins E, E,
fixed in a plate on the cam shaft I work successively into the slots in the
"star wheel" F, fixed on the spindle of the roller B, so that on each complete
revolution of the cam shaft I in the direction of the arrow, the "star wheel" F
is moved forward, and is stopped twice, thus imparting the required inter-
mittent motion of the roller B. For actuating the nipping blade A, the shaft
I is provided with a cam having two small projections i, i, which act against
a truck j on the connecting rod K, attached to the tail 7 of the beam L, to
which the blade A is attached, and which turns upon the centres M. The
motion of the blade A from the roller B is effected by the spring N as before.
The motion of the beater C is effected by the cam V, V, actuating the truck P
attached to the arm Q, carrying the beater, which arm may either be rigid as
shewn, or elastic as in Figure 1. The roller B is covered in the same way as
the roller in Figure 1, and may for the sake of lightness be made hollow.
The intermittent motion of the roller B may also be conveniently obtained
by connecting it to the driving power at intervals by means of a conical or
other friction clutch, or by means of a band tightened at intervals, or by
"Robertson's frictional gearing" put into gear at intervals, or by gearing
similar to "Roberts' contact and cam shaft," or other well-known mechanical
contrivances may be employed. The nipping action may be given by cams,
"toggle joints," screws, or various other mechanism, and the nipping edges,
fulcra, curved guides, or the bearings of the rollers may be made to yield in
all cases by being provided with powerful springs, so that if too large a
quantity of fibre enters, it may not be injured.
At Figure 3, Sheet II., is shewn, for easy reference, the means of setting
out cams so as to produce as smooth a motion as possible; this is not a new
plan, but is one that is not known to every workman; it consists, first, simply
in dividing the required stroke into a number of divisions that shall represent
the series of odd numbers, as for instance, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 7, 5, 3, 1, and then
these divisions represent the distance to which the truck or roller is to be
moved in equal times, so if the whole are in which the motion is to take
place is divided into as many equal parts as there are separate numbers in
the whole series, the place for each fraction of the motion to be set out on
will be at once given; for example, in Figure 3 the required stroke is that
from a to 6, and the are in which it is to be accomplished is that from c to d;

page_text: it is therefore only necessary to divide out the stroke a to b into the several
divisions 1, 3, 5, 7, and 7, 5, 3, 1, as shewn, and to measure these divisions
on to the radial lines which separate the whole are into the required number
of equal parts, as shewn; such points are in the true line of motion of the
centre of the truck, from which of course the sides of the cam groove can be
set out.
Figure 4, Sheet III., shew's a vertical section of an arrangement in which
the separation of the cotton fibre from the seed is effected by the nipping
blade A being made to hold the cotton in a positive manner, and very nearly
close up to the seed, against the surface of the roller B, whilst the striking
blade C is made to push away and separate the seed from the cotton so held.
The roller B receives for this purpose a continuous rotary motion in the
direction of the arrow, whilst the nipping blade A is caused first to descend
at a certain distance (less than the size of the cotton seed) away from the
surface of the roller B, in order to allow a quantity of cotton fibre to be
drawn in between it and the surface of the roller; it is then caused to
approach and press forcibly upon the surface of the roller, thus nipping the
fibre in a positive manner, and whilst doing so it is made to ascend and
travel with the roller a short distance. At the same time the striking blade C
rises with a quicker motion, and strikes away the seed of the fibre that is
being held by the nipping blade A and the roller B. The various motions
required for this purpose are produced in the following manner :-The roller B
is fixed upon the spindle E, carried by the framing G, and receives a rotary
motion in the direction of the arrow. Upon the same spindle E is fixed the
spur wheel F, in gear with a spur pinion H, imparting motion in the direction
of the arrow to the crank shaft I, also carried by the framing G. This crank
shaft I imparts motion to the nipping blade A by means of two eccentrics J
and connecting rods K, and to the striking blade C by means of two cranks L
and connecting rods M. The connecting rods K are each attached near
their lower end to the end of a link N, the other end of which is attached to a
block O, capable of sliding to a slight extent in a slot formed in the framing,
but which block is held back against adjustable stops P, P, by means of an
adjustable spring Q. The effect of this connection upon the motion of the
nipping blade A is, that when the excentrics J are moving it in a downward
direction, they are performing that half of their revolution in which they are
farthest away from the working face of the roller B, and the rods K being
made to turn upon the moveable fulcra of the links N, they are during this
motion made to move the blade A a small distance from the surface of the

page_text: roller, but owing to the length of the links N being nearly equal to the radius
of the roller B, it will be seen that the curvilinear motion of the edge of
.the blade will conform very nearly to that of the circumference of the roller,
and the distance between the blade and the roller during the greater part of
such downward motion will be nearly constant. This distance, as before stated,
is never quite equal to the dimension of the cotton seeds, which are conse-
quently kept back by the edge of the blade A, while the cotton fibre is being
drawn between its surface and that of the roller B by the motion of the latter.
When the excentric J, and consequently also the blade A, have arrived at
the end of their downward stroke, the notion of the former brings the latter
against the leather surface of the roller, owing to the connection of the rods K
to the links N, and the cotton fibre is thus firmly nipped between the surface
of the blade and the roller, while they both move in an upward direction, the
elastic manner in which the rods K are held by the links N causing such
nipping to take place effectually during a considerable portion of the upstroke
of the blade A, and whilst the eccentrics are moving it at a nearly uniform
velocity. Whilst the cotton fibre is thus held in a positive manner close up
to the seed, the striking blade C, which is made to work up and down in
loops S formed on the ends of the rods K, is raised by the cranks L and
connecting rods M, so as to pass close against the edge of the nipping blade A,
and is thus made to push away and separate the seed from the fibre that is
being held.
When the eccentrics J have arrived near the top of the up
stroke, the nipping blade A again commences to move away from the roller,
which in revolving carries away the cotton fibre that has just been separated
from the seed, and draws in fresh cotton fibre as the nipping blade A is
performing its downward stroke, the seeds being kept back by the edge of the
blade as before described. At the time of taking in fibre the speed of the
roller may be increased with advantage by any known means. Any suitable
known contrivance, such as a revolving brush or doffer, not shewn on the
Drawing, may be employed for removing the cotton fibre from the roller B
in this or in any of the other arrangements. The seed cotton may be fed to
the apparatus on the endless travelling apron T, stretched over the rollers U, V ;
and in order to prevent too great a quantity being fed into the apparatus at
one time, as also to open the fibre upon the seed as much as possible before-
hand, the seed cotton is made to pass between the roller V and another
roller W, and whilst held by these is struck with sharp blows by a series of
elastic beaters X, X, fixed to the roller Y, revolving in the direction of the
arrow, these beaters being made to come in contact with the plate a, whereby,

page_text: b
they are bent as shewn, and consequently, on passing beyond the edge of the
plate, they spring forward between the bars of the grid Z, striking the cotton
as described, and at the same time throwing it forward upon the grid towards
the nipping apparatus. The requisite motion is imparted to the roller Y of
the revolving beaters X by means of a crossed strap 6 passing from a pulley c
on the crank shaft I to a pulley d, and the motion is transmitted to the
rollers V and W by means of the gearing e, f, g, h. The roller V is made
capable of moving back to a slight extent, to allow for any variation in the
amount of cotton passing between it and the roller W, being carried by
sliding blocks i, pressed outwards by springs j.
I am aware that it is not new to employ an "opener" or "cleaner" as a feed.
apparatus to cotton gin, as such has already been described in the Specification,
to Letters Patent granted to Charles Garnett, bearing date 17th March
1859, No. 673, and in others.
Figure 5, Sheet IV., shews a vertical section of a machine in which, as in
Figure 4, Sheet III., the nipping blade A nips the cotton fibre against the
surface of the roller B, (having a continuous rotary motion in the direction of,
the arrow,) then rises up with the roller while the striking blade C. separates
the seed from the cotton so held, and then the blade A separates from the.
roller and descends again to take a fresh nip upon the fibre that has meantime
been drawn in by the roller B. The requisite motions are in this case effected
in the following manner:-The roller B receives rotary motion from the crank
shaft I through the pinion D and spur wheel E. The crank shaft I imparts.
motion to the connecting rods F and G, of which F is attached to a lever H,
working upon the same centre J as the roller B. Upon the lever H is a slide K
capable of moving to and fro to a slight extent, to which slide is attached a bar.
L carrying the nipping blade A. The slide K has a box M formed on one.
side of it, the space of which is divided by a fixed partition m; a spring N is.
made to press against this partition and against a lug h formed on the lever H,
whereby the slide K will be pressed towards the stop O on the lever II, and
consequently the blade A will be pushed away from the roller B. In the other
side of the box M is a second stronger spring P, and a looped link Q attached
at one end to a link R, working on a fixed centre », carries at the other end
a screw, S, which, when the link Qis drawn back by the thrust of the cam T
on the truck U, is caused to press upon the spring P, and thus overcoming
the action of the spring N, presses the slide K in the same direction, whereby
the blade A is pressed against the roller B. Thus it will be seen that the
blade A receives an up-and-down f motion from the crank I, (which motion.
corresponds in curvature to the curved surface of the roller,) and a motion to.

page_text: and from the roller by the arrangement just described. The striking blade
C receives the requisite up-and-down motion from the crank 1 through the
connecting rod G, binged at g to the link W, working on a fixed centre w, to
which link the blade C is attached. Although both the nipping blade A and
striking blade C are worked by means of one and the same crank shaft I,
yet the blade C moves up past the edge of the blade A, because the motion of
C is rendered considerably greater than that of A on account of the distance
of A from the fulcrum J of the lever H being less than that of the point f,
to which the connecting rod F is attached, whilst the distance of C from the
centre w is greater than that of the point g at which the connecting rod G is
attached. As in the previous arrangements the surface of the roller B is
covered with strips of "fish skiu," or other similar suitable material, at those
parts with which the blade A does not come in contact; V is, as before, a
doffing brush for removing the cotton fibre from the roller B.
.
Figure 6, Sheet V., shows a vertical section of a machine in which the cotton
fibre is first nipped against the continuously revolving roller B by the blade A,
which then moves with the roller till it meets the blade A¹, which is at the
same time moving towards it, out of contact with the roller, and which, when
close up to the blade A, in its turn is made to nip upon the cotton fibre held
by the latter, as indicated by the dotted positions. The blade A is then moved
from the roller, and whilst the blade A' is receding the blade A pushes the
seed away from the cotton fibre that is held by the blade A¹. The blade A
then makes a fresh nip on the cotton, and the action is repeated. The requisite
motions of the blades for this purpose is effected by the crank shaft I as
follows: The shaft I has two opposite cranks i, ', of which i moves the
connecting rod C, to which the blade A is attached, whilst the crank moves
the connecting rod C' to which the blade A' is attached. The connecting rod C
carries a truck D, and the connecting rod C¹ carries a truck D' near its lower
end, which trucks work up and down in the curved slots e of the fixed
brackets E. By this arrangement it will be seen that each blade receives an
up-and-down motion equal to the full stroke of the cranks i, i', whilst their
motion to and from the roller is diminished from the full lateral motion of
the cranks on account of their distance from the moveable fulcra D, D', being
considerably less than the distance of the cranks from the fulcra D, D¹. The
paths of the blades are furthermore made to conform as nearly as practicable
in their up-and-down motion to the curved surface of the roller, by the curved
form of the slots e in which the trucks D, D¹, move. In order to afford a
certain amount of elasticity to the nip of blades so as to allow for any unequal
thickness of the cotton nipped, or any foreigu substance contained therein, the

page_text: holes through which the screws pass that attach the blades to the connecting
rods are somewhat slotted below, and springs F, F, attached to the connecting
rods are made to keep the blades down in the required position, at the same
time allowing the blades to be pushed up slightly by any extra thickness of
cotton fibre or by any foreign substance. The feeding apparatus in this
arrangement may consist of a comb or series of hooks G, actuated by cranks J,
geared with the machine by spur wheels K, L, the support M for the comb
or hooks G being hung by a link O from the fulcrum M. I am aware that
combs, oscillating toothed rollers, or series of hooks, have Lefore been proposed
as self-acting feed apparatus, to ordinary gins, as described in the Patent
granted to Charles Garnett, herein-before referred to.
Figure 7, Sheet VI., shews a vertical section of an arrangement in which the
cotton fibre is first nipped against the revolving roller B by the blade A; this
blade then moves up with the roller B till it meets the blade A', which at
that time is descending apart from the roller. The blade A¹ is then pressed
down upon the roller nipping the cotton that is held by the blade A which at
the same time is raised from the roller and descends again to take a fresh nip,
the pushing blade C being made to approach the roller to push away seed at
the time that the blade A is rising. To effect these motions the spindle I,
having a quick rotary motion imparted to it in the direction of the arrow,
has two small opposite cranks or excentrics J, J', of which J works in a boss a
formed on the blade A, whilst J' works in a boss a' formed on the blade A¹;
the two blades are furthermore provided with arms D and D', the ends of which
work up and down in a guide E fixed to the framing F. By this arrangement
it will be seen the blades A and A¹ receive both a slight up-and-down motion
in opposite directions, and are also alternately pressed against the surface of
the roller B, and are removed a small distance therefrom. To impart the
requisite motion to the pushing blade C, it is attached to or formed in one,
with the lever X working on a fixed fulcrum II and suspended from the
arm D' at L by means of a link K, whereby it will be seen that the blade C
will rise and fall with the blade A¹, and will at the same time move in the
direction of the face of the blade A. The cotton is fed forward from the end-
less travelling apron T and passes between the rollers V and W, where it is
caught by hooks G supported by the reciprocating arm M working between the
bars of the stationary guard Z, and is thrown forward to the nipping instru-
ments. The arm M receives its reciprocating motion from the crank spindle Y,
which also imparts the requisite quick motion to the spindle I by the spur
wheel P in gear with the pinion Q, and the requisite slow motion to the roller
B by the pinion R and interual spur wheel S. bare a number of small bent

page_text: springs that are caused intermittently to come in contact with and rub upon
the lower edge of the pushing plate C, for the purpose of facilitating the re-
moval of the seeds therefrom, such springs being fixed to a bar c, which
receives an up-and-down motion from the crank spindle Y through the con-
necting rod d.
.
On Sheet VII. is shewn another arrangement by which my Invention may
be carried into effect.. Figure 8 shews a vertical section, and Figure 9 shews
a back elevation of the apparatus. In this arrangement the separation of the
cotton fibre from the seed is effected by the alternate action of two sets of fingers
A and C, of which the one set passes between the spaces of the other, as
shewn in Figure 9, the fingers and spaces being made by preference so narrow
that two or more fingers of each set can act upon the fibres of one seed.
Motion is imparted to these fingers in such a manner that as the one set A
is nipping the cotton fibre on to the roller B, (upon which it is fed from the
table T,) the other set C is caused to advance in a slightly raised position, as
shewn, and is made to push away the seed situated in front of the fingers A,
thus separating it. from the fibre that is held by the latter. When the
fingers C have advanced a. certain distance, and those at A have at the same
time receded, still nipping the cotton on. to the roller B, and thus carrying
the roller round with them, the fingers C are made to nip down 'upon the
cotton, close up to the seed which they have been pushing before them; the
fingers A now advance in a slightly raised position, and in their turn push the
seeds from the front of the fingers C thereby separating the cotton close to
the seed. The requisite motion for this purpose is imparted to the fingers
by the cranks on the crank shaft I working in slots D', E', formed in the
arms D, E, to which the fingers A, C, are attached, the fingers being thereby
made to work backwards and forwards between the fixed guide bars J, J, J.
The fingers are pressed in a forcible manner on to the roller B by means of
springs G, G, H, H attached to the arms D, E, and to the framing F. As
the cotton that has been separated from the seed passes round with the roller B,
it is removed from it by the doffer plate K, carried by the rods L, L, receiving
Tho seeds, as they are
a vertical reciprocating motion from the arms E, E.
separated, fall down from the front of the roller, and if requisite this may be
facilitated by curved spring blades, or springs having a lateral motion placed
in front of the fingers. The cotton may be fed forward to the fingers by any
arrangement of feed apparatus, or by hand. In place of the fixed guide bars
J, J, J, curved guides may be used suitable for rollers or trucks fixed to the
arms D, E, to work in, so that the motion of the ends of the fingers may more
nearly coincide with the curvature of the surface of the roller when they are.

page_text: nipping the fibre on the roller, as shown on Sheet V. The roller in place of
being moved simply by the action of the fingers may be driven intermittently,
or uniformly, provided that in this case, as in all the other arrangements, the
nipping or holding instruments are not caused to nip when moving at any
considerable difference of speed from the roller. In some respects this
arrangement is to be preferred to the others, as the fibre comes off the seed
more exactly as it grew, or, in other words, is less pulled about, but the
seeds do not drop away quite so freely as in the other arrangements.
Figure 10, Sheet VIII., shows a vertical section of an arrangement which
is in some respects better adapted to be worked by hand or at a moderate
speed than other arrangements. It consists of a roller B, covered with leather
or other suitable material, and having two cams E, E, fixed one on either end
of its axis I, for the purposes, firstly, of giving the lifting motion to two nipping
or holding instruments A, A', to cause them to recede from the roller alternately
and allow them to nip or hold the fibre in forcible contact with the roller alter-
nately, when the strong springs Q, Q, are allowed to act; thus, when A is
in contact with the roller, A¹ is out of contact with it, and vice versa. The
upper corners of the instruments, A, A', are provided with projection pins
furnished with trucks D, D', to run on the cams E, E, whilst the extreme
ends of the pins work in slots in the framing. The cams E, E, have also
projections Z, Z, Z, on them, for the purpose of causing the nipping or
holding instruments A, A¹, to move towards each other and to recede from
each other alternately, and this is effected by the projections Z, Z, Z, coming
alternately into contact with the small levers d, e, on the pulleys Y, Y, which
are thus caused to partially rotate first in one direction and then in the other,
in consequence of their being counected by a band or cord W, crossed so as to
cause them to turn in opposite directions, then the pins x, y, taking into slots
in the levers C, C, on the nipping or holding instruments A, A', cause these
instruments to move towards each other and recede from each other alternately,
as before described.
Thus, the fibre brought forward by the roller B is first nipped by it and the
instrument A, and then as the roller partially revolves with A in hard contact
with it towards A¹, they carry the fibre towards A¹ whilst A' advances towards
A out of contact with the roller, and passes over or on to the fibre so brought
to it; it is then made to nip upon such fibre on the roller; as A is caused to
recede from the roller, and as the roller continues to revolve, the fibre is carried
on by the nipping of A' hard upon the roller, and as A is at the same time
made to return to its first position, it pushes away the seed belonging to the
fibre nipped by A' and the roller, as the edge of A' is never far enough from
B

page_text: the roller to allow seed to pass between them; T is a table on which the
cotton may be fed in by hand or otherwise; t, t, is a tin trough to receive
the cotton as it comes through the machine; H is a handle for driving the
machine by hand. I have found that it is advantageous to use in some cases
a rougher surface than that of leather for the purpose of drawing in fibre
rapidly beneath the nipping or holding instruments. when they are out of contact
with each other, so that they may at all times have a good supply of fibre to take
hold of, and I find that "fish skin," such as is sometimes used for smoothing hard
woods, answers the purpose very well, and metal surfaces can also be used
with advantage if cut with two or more sets of very fine grooves across each
other, so as to leave points somewhat overhanging and very taper in form,
which points will then give up or release the fibre very freely on the appli-
cation of a doffing brush running rather faster than the pointed surface. Pins
of various forms also answer the purpose very well, provided the points are
sufficiently obtuse and are made to overhang enough to take hold of fibre
freely; the pins may well be tinned and put together in quantity, and then
heated, so as to cause the tin to run together and form the whole into a solid
mass. Other pin or pointed surface may be made in any other well-known
manner, and may be fixed on to rollers, or formed of the substance of the
roller itself, as found most convenient; but in all cases the points or pins
'must be very close together, so that there may be at least several under the
space covered by a seed.
Several examples of such surfaces are shown at Figures 11 to 17, Sheet
VIII., to a scale of about ten times full size; Figure 11 shows the points on
"fish skin;" Figures 12 and 13 show surfaces formed by cutting fine grooves
across each other; Figures 14 to 16 shew pin surfaces formed of pins soldered
together, and Figure 17 shows a pointed surface formed of plates or blades
notched on the edge and placed side by side, either soldered or not.
Having now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
best means of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not
claim as part of my Invention any of the various arrangements of feeding
apparatus herein-before described with referenco to the accompanying
Drawings, nor do I claim any of the various details of mechanism when
taken separate and a; art from my Invention, neither do I limit myself to
the various arrangements herein-before described with reference to the
accompanying Drawings, as my Invention may be carried into effect by
various arrangements of machinery, so long as the peculiar character of
my Invention be retained, that is, the intermittent nipping or forcible
holding of the fibre of the cotton very nearly close up to the seed by

page_text: the holding instruments caused to approach at intervals so as to nip or
hold the fibre whilst the seeds are detached by another part of the
apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Alfred Cowper, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
EDWARD ALFRED COWPER. (L.S.)
Witness,
C. D. ABEL,
20, Southampton Buildings.