IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO CARDING ENGINES
Year: 1885

page_text: We JOHN ELCE, Machine Maker, of N° 9 Hopwood Avenue, and THOMAS
SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH, Machine Maker, of N° 122 Broughton Lane, both in
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of said
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO CARDING ENGINES, to be as
follows-
The objects of our Invention are first to adjust the flats to the main cylinder
without flexible bends, adjustable brackets or set screws and secondly, to grind the
flats and cylinder in an improved manner.
To effect the first part of our Invention we employ a ring of metal which may
be of T section, provided with teeth round it on one edge; this ring is fitted in a
groove or recess turned in the engine bend and its outside diameter is equal to the
diameter of the cylinder when clothed, motion may be imparted to the toothed
ring by means of a pinion driven in any convenient manner; when the wire on
the cylinder is to be ground the toothed ring is caused to revolve and the grinding
roller is also traversed across the periphery of the ring which may be thus
constantly maintained level with the cylinder clothing. The flats are made with
a small projecting piece on the base at each end, the front edge of which
projections are made flush or level with the points of the wire on the flats,
the back edge of the projections being raised sufficiently to give the necessary
clearance or "heeling"; the projections rest upon the periphery of the toothed
ring.
"
When the flats are ground the grinding roller is traversed beyond the clothing
to grind a portion of the projections on the front edge as a guide in grinding the
heeling."
As the periphery of the ring is ground with the cylinder clothing, and a portion
of the projections on the flats ground flush with the wire on them it is obvious
that after once setting and adjusting the flats to the cylinder no further adjustment
will be required until the cylinder is reclothed; when this takes place a ring of
metal must be fitted in any convenient manner to the toothed ring and its
periphery finished of equal diameter to the clothed cylinder. If desired an
independent ring of metal secured to the toothed ring can be used for the flats to
travel over.
To obtain any desired space or clearance between the clothing of the cylinder
and the flats we propose to employ a changeable ribbon or strip of steel stretched
over the periphery of the ring where the flats travel; such ribbon may be of any
desired thickness and it will be removed when the clothing and ring are ground,

page_text: The flats are "heeled" in the following manner:-An independent roller shaft is
held in bearings secured to the bend; on this shaft are two narrow grinding rollers
which act upon the projecting pieces; to make the "heel" we cut the extreme
ends of the flat to the angle required to form the heel and we connect guides to
the bend set at right angles to a radial line from the centre of the cylinder over
which guides the ends of the flats cut down as described, pass under the grinding
rollers and form the heel to the flat.
•
In a modification of our Invention we obtain the necessary clearance or
"beeling" of the flats by pivoting the ordinary chain at such a height that the flats
as they travel will be drawn over, i.e. the back part drawn away from the cylinder,
the amount of clearance being determined by studs or pins against which the links
come, in this manner the projections on the ends of the flats may be ground flush
or level with the wire and at the same time.
H. B. BARLOW,
Agent for Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Carding Engines.
We JOHN ELCE, Machine Maker, of N° 9 Hopwood Avenue and TномAS
SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH, Machine Maker, of N° 122 Broughton Lane, both in 2
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of said
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO CARDING ENGINES, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The objects of our Invention are first, to adjust the flats to the main cylinder 2
without the use of flexible bends, adjustable brackets or set screws, and secondly,
to grind the flats and cylinder in an improved manner.
To accomplish these objects we employ a ring of metal which may be of
T section provided with teeth round it on one edge; this ring is fitted in a
groove or recess turned in the engine bend and its outside diameter is equal to the
diameter of the cylinder when clothed; motion may be imparted to the toothed
ring by means of a pinion driven in any convenient manner. When the wire on
the cylinder is to be ground the toothed ring is caused to revolve and the grinding
roller is also traversed across the periphery of the ring which may be thus con-
stantly maintained level with the cylinder clothing. The flats are made with two 3
small projecting pieces on the base at each end, these projections rest upon the
periphery of the toothed ring the front projections being made flush or level with
the points of the wire on the flats, the back projections being raised sufficiently to
give the necessary clearance or "heeling."

page_text: When the flats are ground the grinding roller is traversed beyond the clothing
to grind the front projections. The flats are "heeled" in the following manner :-
We cut and shape the extreme ends of the flats to the angle required to form the
heel and we connect guides to the bend set at right angles to a radial line from the
centre of the cylinder over which guides the ends of the flats cut down as described
pass under two narrow grinding rollers or cutters secured to an independent shaft
carried in bearings secured to the bend. These two cutters act upon and grind the
back projections and thus form the heel to the flat.
As the periphery of the ring is ground flush with the cylinder clothing and the
front projections ground flush with the wire on the flats it is obvious that after
once setting and adjusting the flats to the cylinder, no further adjustment will be
required until the cylinder is re-clothed; when this takes place a ring of metal
must be fitted in any convenient manner to the toothed ring and its periphery
finished of equal diameter to the clothed cylinder.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect we will describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference being
had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 an end view partly in section of part of a
revolving flat carding engine embodying our improvements. Fig. 3 is a part plan
and Fig. 4 an end view of a top flat made according to our Invention, and Fig. 5 is
an end view partly in section of part of a carding engine with revolving flats of
the ordinary construction used in combination with a ring made according to
our Invention.
In Figs. 1 to 4.-a is the under framing of the carding engine and b the engine
bend formed with a flange b¹ on which is fitted and free to revolve the ring of
metal c which we employ to support the flats and take the place of the ordinary
flexible according to our Invention. This ring c is provided with teeth c¹ on its
edge and is caused to revolve when required by means of the grooved pulley d
which is fixed on the shaft e¹ of the main cylinder e; the pulley d drives by the
band a grooved pulley fon the boss of which is formed a bevel pinion f¹ the
pulley and pinion being mounted loosely on the stud f'; the pinion f¹ gears into
and drives a bevel wheel g fixed on a shaft g¹ to which is secured a worm g² which
gears into a worm wheel g³ secured on a cross shaft g' and the shaft carries a
spur wheel go which gears into the teeth c¹ of the metal ring c which thus receives a
revolving motion whenever the pulley d and band d' drive the pulley f. The ring c
may be driven in other convenient manner and at any desired speed. The top
flats are formed, see Figs. 3 and 4, with projections h¹h of which the projection /¹
is flush or level with the points of the wire on the flats and the projection h³
stands rather above or beyond the points, both projections h¹ h rest upon the
periphery of the ring and support the flats h which travel over the two rollers i
supported by the adjustable brackets and also over the roller j supported by the
stationary bracket . The surface at the extreme ends at the back of each flat is
shaped or bevelled as shown at h³ (Fig. 4) the surface ³ resting upon adjustable
guide pieces k supported by the adjustable brackets k¹ secured to the bend b. The
emery or other grinding roller for the flats is also supported by the brackets k¹
and is arranged to revolve and also to traverse longitudinally on its axis in the
ordinary well known manner so as to grind the flats and in so doing the grinding
roller traverses beyond the card clothing and grinds the projection h' level with
the clothing. The grinding roller may be either of the Horsfall type, or a plain
cylindrical roller. The projection h² is ground by the grinding rollers or cutters m
which are keyed on a shaft m¹ driven in any convenient manner and supported in
adjustable brackets m³ secured to the brackets k¹. The card clothing on the main
cylinder e and the rings c of which there is one on each side of the engine may be
ground by a Horsfall, or plain cylindrical grinding roller n supported on a shaft n¹
in adjustable brackets n² and driven in the ordinary manner, or to the brackets n
may be secured other adjustable brackets p which support the shaft p¹ on which
are keyed two grinding rollers or cutters p² placed over and used for grinding the

page_text: rings c only. The grinding roller n and the cutters p' are adjusted simultaneously
by means of the screw p³ and therefore by setting the grinding roller n and the
cutters p² the card clothing on the main cylinder e and the rings c can be ground
and maintained at the same relative diameters or at different diameters as desired.
In Figs. 1 to 4 we have shown and described the top flats with projecting
pieces h¹h which rest upon the ring c and also the arrangement of guides
combined with the shaped ends of the flats h³, we wish it to be understood,
however, that by simply increasing the diameter of the rings c, flats of the usual
construction and ground in the usual manner may be used as shown in Fig. 5.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
1. In a carding engine, the combination with the revolving flats of the toothed
rings c supported on the engine bends and driven by gearing to effect the adjust-
ment of the flats to the main cylinder by grinding simultaneously the wire on the
main cylinder and the periphery of each of the said rings by a grinding roller or
rollers.
2. In a carding engine, the combination with the roller for grinding the card
clothing and the rollers or cutters for grinding the periphery of each of the rings c,
or its equivalent, of the adjustable double brackets, 2 and p, substantially as
described.
3. The combination with the top flats of the projections ¹ and h². either with or
without the shaped ends h³ as shown and described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4.
4. The combination with the projections h¹ h² and the shaped ends'h³ of the
adjustable brackets k k substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
5. In a carding engine, the combination with revolving flats of the ordinary
construction of rings c, substantially as described with reference to Fig. 5.
Dated this 21st day of M 1806