CERTAIN MACHINERY FOR CONVERTING ROPES INTO TOW, AND CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP OR FLAX FOR SPINNING, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PREPARING OF COTTON, WOOL AND SILK FOR SPINNING
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SHARP, of the Borough of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, in North Britain,
Flax Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King Williain the Fourth, by His
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain & Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of October
last, in the seventh year of His said Majesty's reign (One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-six), did give and grant unto me, the said John Sharp, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said John Sharp, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Sharp, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times hereafter during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of His said Majesty's Dominions called England, Ilis Dominion
of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
MACHINERY FOR CONVERTING ROPES INTO TOW, AND CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
CERTAIN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP OR FLAX FOR SPINNING, PART OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PREPARING OF COTTON, WOOL,
AND SILK FOR SPINNING;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso that I, the said John Sharp, shall particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo

page_text: performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same to be enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as, from reference being thereto had, may more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Sharp, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly ascertained and
described in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the three Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:
First, as to that part of my said Invention which relates to Machinery for
Converting Ropes into Tow. The same consists of two revolving cylinders,
disposed side by side, one opposite to the other, with their axes parallel and
horizontal, each having two or more coarse heckle tools fixed upon its circum-
ference at equal distances asunder around the same, and also having prominent
edges of plates or rulers disposed on the said circumferences in the intervals
between those heckle tools, the sd edges being rather more prominent from
the cylinders than the points of the said heckles are. The ropes which are to
be converted into tow are introduced by letting them slowly down through
suitable feeding rollers, so that they will descend between the said revolving
cylinders in such manner as to subject the ropes to the action of the several
heckles of each of the two revolving cylinders by turns, or alternately; that is,
so that each rope shall first be heckled on one side by one of the heckles of one
of the said cylinders, and then immediately after on the other side by the next
succeeding heckles on the other cylinder; the aforesaid prominent edges on
each cylinder in all cases applying to the said ropes at the contrary side
thereof to that side on which the heckles of the other cylinder are at the same
time operating, in order thereby to sustain the ropes whilst they are receiving
the action of the heckles, and by which action they are converted into tow. See
Figures 1 and 2, Sheet I. A and B are two revolving cylinders, having
plates C with permanent edges, and having also coarse heckles D affixed to
the circumference of each cylinder, the number of such plates and heckles
being according to the diameters of the cylinders. I find three heckles D and
three plates C for each cylinder when the same is about ten inches in
diameter, as represented in the Drawing, to answer very well, but I do not
confine myself to any particular number of them. In any case a plate C and
a heckle D are fixed in alternating order upon each cylinder A, B, and arranged
so that when the two cylinders are revolving with corresponding motions by

page_text: their cog wheels G, H, the plates C of one cylinder (for instance, that which
is marked A) will always come above the heckles D of the other cylinder
marked B; and the outer edges of the said plates C project over the sharp
points of the said heckes D about an inch, in order that the ropes which are
presented between the two cylinders may be pressed into the heckle D on one
cylinder B by the prominent edge of the plate C on the other cylinder A, and
then that the next succeeding plate C upon the cylinder B (as they both
revolve) may press the ropes into the next heckle D on the cylinder A, by
which same action the ropes will be removed or cleared from that heckle D
of the cylinder B with which they were previously engaged. The ropes are
fed or introduced between the two revolving cylinders A, B, by means of a
revolving roller K., which extends horizontally across all the breadth of the
machine, having flutes formed upon. it at such parts of its length as are to'
receive each distinct rope; and pairs of fluted rollers L, 1, Figure 1,. are
applied opposite to the said fluted parts, and pressed towards the same by the
action of the loaded levers Q. One pair of the said fluted rollers L, l, is shewn
in the plan, Figure 1, where the fixed eye board, with holes through which
the ropes are fed, is supposed to be partly removed in order to shew the said
pair of rollers L, 1, and the roller K. Each such pair of fluted rollers L, l,
takes in two ropes between the same and the corresponding fluted parts of the
rollers K; and although one of the said two ropes should be left out from one
of the eyes, and from either of the rollers L or 7 of such pair, nevertheless
the pressure of the loaded lever Q and its weight, being applied between the
two rollers L, l, of the pair, will hold the rope which is going through the other
eye, and through the roller L or of the same pair. Or, in place of the fluted
parts upon the roller K, grooves, as shown at S, may be formed for each rope,
a little wider at top than the diameter of the rope, and not quite so deep, and
strong pikes fixed into and placed about an inch asunder around the bottom of
the said grooves, and projecting about three eighths of an inch therefrom;
then the rollers L, l, being furnished with similar strong pikes, the pressure of
the loaded lever Q will force the pikes into the ropes and hold them firmly.
The rollers L, 1, will require to be of greater breadth than the grooves cut
in the roller K, in order, by their bearing on the roller K, to prevent the
pikes from being injured when the ropes are not between them. The
feeding roller K is turned slowly round by means of a spur cog wheel k on
its axis, deriving motion, in the manner shewn in Figure 1, from a pinion h
affixed to another spur cog wheel i, and which is turned by another. pinion m
fixed to another spur cog wheel n, and that is turned by a pinion p fixed on the
end of the axis of the cylinder B. When the several ropes have been thus

page_text: passed slowly all their length through the feeding rollers, and the heckles have
operated on them to convert them into tow, which falls from the heckles upon
the inclined board or plane N, it will be found that a short end of each piece
of rope will remain unconverted into tow. These short ends fall, together with
the tow, upon the same inclined plane N, and slide down thereon to the
revolving drum O, which is enclosed with a circular sweep beneath it, and has a
number of coarse pikes projecting from its circumference, as shewn in Figure 2.
This drum O is turned round at a considerable speed by an endless belt from
the pulley P, Figure 1, passing over a pulley on the end of the axis of the
drum O (not shewn), and by the action of the pikes on the drum O the said
unconverted short ends of the ropes are projected to a distance into a suitable
receiving chamber, but the tow, which is also projected in the same manner,
falls nearer to the machine. The said unconverted ends are afterwards col-
lected separately from the tow in the said chamber, and may be opened or
untwisted by hand, and made into tow by the ordinary course of proceeding,
without the aid of my improvement.
Second. Another of the said improvements in machinery for preparing hemp
or flax for spinning, consists in an improved machine for rubbing hemp or flax
in order to soften the fibres thereof.
Figure 6, Sheet I., is a section of such parts of a rubbing machine as
are requisite for explaining this improvement, which consists in having three
plates of metal u, v, x, disposed side by side, with the edges upwards, in
contact one with another, and having an oblong hole or slit through each plate
to admit the hemp or flax to pass through all three. The middle plate v (a
front view of which is shewn at Figure 7, to shew the oblong hole or slit) is
similar to the other two plates u, x, but it is moved rapidly upwards and down-
wards by the action of the revolving crank y, its ends being guided in sliders
or grooves, whereas the other two outermost plates u, x, have no motion upwards
and downwards, but are pressed laterally towards the middle plate v by the
springs 4, 5, and yield or vibrate slightly in that direction. The hemp or flax
is introduced between feeding rollers, and is thereby passed slowly through the
oblong slits in all the three plates u, v, a; and by the up and down motion of the
middle plate v the hemp or flax is bent upwards and downwards alternately, and
is thereby rubbed betwixt the plate a and the middle plate v, and also betwixt
the middle plate v and the other plate u. If the hemp or flax is not sufficiently
rubbed by passing once through the machine with such triple rubbers, u, v, x,
it may be put through the same oftener, or else two or more such sets of three
rubbing plates u, v, x, may be combined in the same machine for the hemp or
flax to pass through, one triple set after another. I am aware that similar

page_text: plates of metal, with openings through them like those in Figure 7, have been
employed before for rubbing hemp or flax, such plates being arranged in pairs
of two only, or else in considerable numbers, side by side, every alternate plato
being moveable up and down; but such plates have not been arranged as I have
described and represented in sets of three, whereof the middlemost is moveable
up and down; this part of my improvements is therefore limited to the afore-
said arrangement of the plates in sets of three together, the middlemost plate
of the three being moveable up and down between the other two in the
manner described. I have found that arrangement to answer better than the
aforesaid old arrangement in pairs, or else in considerable numbers side by
side; for, in the old arrangement by pairs, four cranks would be required to
perform the same amount of rubbing as is performed by one crank in the triple
set above described, and moreover the springs in the double set are injured and
worn away by the constant friction of the alternating plates against them,
which does not take place in the triple set, as the two outer plates therein,
next to the springs, have no motion except laterally in the direction of the
pressure. Again, when the plates are arranged in considerable numbers,
it is found in practice that the fore action of all the plates, except the extreme
ones, is much impeded in consequence of some interfering with and preventing
the effective operation of others, so that the hemp or flax, in place being pro-
perly rubbed, comes to be choked up or cut in its passage through the plates,
or the machine breaks.
Third. Another of the said improvements in machinery for preparing hemp
or flax for spinning, is in the construction of a machine for softening hemp
or flax (see Figures 8 and 9, Sheet II.). It operates by means of two cast-
iron fluted rollers A & B revolving one above the other, with their flutes
interlocking into each other, and pressed together by heavy weights c, sus-
pended by links from the pivots at each end of the uppermost fluted roller B.
Before the hemp or flax is subjected to the action of these fluted rollers it
is formed into slightly twisted ropes or bands by the help of the machine
represented in Figures 10 and 11, Sheet III., wherein the stricks of hemp or
flax are spread upon the feeding table F, Figure 10, and are passed between
the fluted rollers E, D, and as they come out between those rollers are slightly
twisted by hand into ropes or bands. When the first strick has passed about
half its length through the rollers E, D, the end of the strick which is next
to the person who is feeding the machine is opened in the middle, and the
point of the next strick inserted into it, and each succeeding strick is similarly
treated. This process is continued until a twisted rope or band is formed of
the required length. These ropes or bands are then taken to the before-

page_text: mentioned machine, Figures 8 and 9, Sheet II., and put over one end a of the
lowermost fluted roller A, Figure 9, where the diameter thereof is smaller,
and where there are no flutes thereupon; and one end of each rope or band
being twisted into the other end, each forms an endless rope or band of hemp
or flax. These are afterwards removed one by one from the small end a of
the roller A, and are introduced betwixt the fluted parts of the rollers A and B
at each end thereof, in order to be subjected to their softening action, and
are there kept circulating betwixt the fluted parts of the rollers, and confined
together by conductors or guides V, X, at one end a, and similar conductors
or guides Y, Z, at the other end b, there being only one rope or band at a
time circulating in the smaller conductors V, Z, and from four to eight ropes
or bands at a time, according to their size, circulating in clusters in the larger
conductors X, Y, and they are so kept circulating until the attrition of one rope
upon another and of the flutes of the rollers upon the ropes shall have made
the hemp or flax sufficiently soft. The rope or band which is circulating in the
conductor z is then taken out of it, and removed from between the fluted
parts of the rollers to the small part 6 of the roller A, where there are no
flutes,, and is then untwisted and removed from the machine in the softened
state. One of the endless ropes or bands which was circulating in the con-
ductor Y is then removed from it and put into the conductor Z, and one of the
ropes or bands which was circulating in the conductor X is at the same time
shifted to the conductor Y; and in like manner the rope or band which was
circulating in the conductor Y is shifted to the conductor X; and the rope or
band which was upon the small part a, where there are no flutes, is then
shifted into the conductor V, and the small part a is supplied afresh with a
new rope or band, and so on continually, there being always only one rope
or band on the small part a at one time. Fluted rollers have been commonly
used for softening hemp or flax, but my improvement consists in making up
the hemp or flax into endless bands or ropes slightly twisted, and confining
these together by conductors or guides, such as X, Y, in considerable quantities,
whilst passing through between the pair of fluted rollers at each end thereof,
whereby the hemp or flax which is contained in them will be uniformly
softened.
Fourth. Another of the said improvements in machinery for preparing hemp
or flax for spinning consists in the following machinery for making compound
slivers of any required length, breadth, and thickness, by progressively accu-
mulating several successive laps of the slivers proceeding from carding ma-
chinery or drawing frames, and rolling up the same within the convolutions
of a suitable web, without risk of any of the said several laps being wanting

page_text: in the sliver which is compounded thereof. See Figures 12 and 13, Sheet II.,
and see also Figure 16, Sheet III., which latter represents the machinery now
to be described as if it were added to a carding machine for tow to receive
the sliver therefrom, and make the same up into a compound sliver of uniform
thickness, in readiness for carding the same tow a second time, or for drawing
the same. G and H, Figure 12, are two cylindrical rollers placed one above
the other, and having cog wheels g and h fixed upon the ends of their arbors,
and gearing into an intermediate cog wheel L, so as to cause the two rollers
G and H both to turn round in the same direction. P and O are two small
rollers around which is rolled the web N, wherein the successive laps of sliver
are to be enveloped, each roller P and O having one end of the web (which
passes over the uppermost roller G) fixed to it. The web N is rolled up around
these two rollers P and O in turn, so as to be unrolled from the one and
rolled up upon the other alternately; that is, it is at one time unrolled from
the roller O upon the other roller P, and then at the next time is unrolled
back again from the roller P upon the roller O, and so on. These two rollers
P and O, with the web N upon them, are constantly urged towards the two
rollers G and H, so as to press the web into contact with both those rollers
by the action of the weight W, which is appended to a cord passing over
a directing pulley w, to cause it to draw horizontally, and then going around
other pulleys fitted loosely on the end pivots of the rollers O and P, as
shewn in the Figure; and there are corresponding pulleys fitted loosely on
the opposite end pivots of the said rollers O and P, with another cord
having its directing pulley and weight W, so as to draw the rollers P
and O towards the rollers G and H at the other end, in order to bring the
web N, which is rolled round the rollers O and P, into such close contact
with the two rollers G and H that it will derive motion from them. The
pivots at the ends of the rollers P and O are supported (as shewn in Figure 16,
Sheet III.) in a fixed horizontal groove at each end, which grooves allow either
of them to recede from the rollers G, H, as the web winds up around either
of the rollers P or O, and enlarges its diameter by numerous convolutions, as
is represented in Figure 12, at N. And also the same fixed grooves allow
either of the rollers 0 or P to approach towards the rollers G, H, by
action of the weights W, as the web winds off from the roller O or P, and
diminishes the diameter thereof, as is shewn at O, Figure 12; or otherwise
the web N, with the sliver, may be made to pass between the two rollers
G, H, which will not in that case require to have the cog wheels g, h, fixed
upon their arbors, or, if such wheels are applied, the same must gear into each
other without the intermediate cog wheel L; and the two rollers G and H,

page_text: are to be pressed towards each other by levers and weights, or by springs,
so as to pass the web and sliver between them with a uniform rate, just as fast
as the same is delivered by the carding machine or drawing frame; and in
such case, in lieu of supporting grooves for the bearings of the pivots of the
rollers P and O to move in, those pivots may be lodged in fixed bearings
placed at such distances from the rollers G, H, as that when the web and
sliver are accumulated to their greatest bulk around either roller P or O,
they will be clear of the said rollers G, H; then the weights W, with the cords
and their pulleys before described, will be unnecessary, but in place thereof
suitable pulleys being fixed fast upon one of the ends of each of the arbors of
the rollers P and O, the same may be driven by means of slack belts or
bands, so as to cause the web and sliver to be wound up around one roller
O or P, and then to be wound back again in the manner that a web of cloth
is taken from a calendar, the strength of the web N preventing the said slack
belts or bands from taking up the web and sliver faster than the rollers G, H,
will pass or deliver the said web and sliver through between them. But to
return to the description of the Drawings:-Q, Figure 12, is a sliver coming
down from a carding machine or from a drawing frame, the sliver Qbeing
of the full breadth as it is delivered by the drawing-off rollers from the doffer
cylinder of the machine, or from the drawing frame, without being contracted
laterally. This sliver Q is led into a conductor b, b, or it may be taken
betwixt the two receiving rollers a, d, which press upon the web where the
same passes over the uppermost roller G. By the motion of the rollers in
the direction of the arrows, Figure 12, the web is unwound from off the
roller O and around the roller P, and in its progress over the roller G it
takes in the sliver betwixt it and the roller a, whereby the slivers become
wrapt up betwixt the successive convolutions which the web makes one around
another about the roller P, until nearly the whole length of that web is
unrolled from off the roller O, and a large mass of web and sliver together
become accumulated around the roller P, as appears in Figure 12, at N.
When that is done the motion of the rollers G, H, and the other rollers con-
nected therewith, is suddenly reversed, so that they turn round in a contrary
direction to that shewn by the arrows, whereby the web and the aforesaid
sliver begin to be wound back again from off the roller P, and to be wound
up around the roller O, together with an additional lap of the sliver Q, which
is all the while coming down from the carding machine or drawing frame, and
is taken between the small receiving roller d, and applied over the preceding
lap of sliver which is upon the web, at the part where the same with the said
preceding sliver is passing over the roller G, so that the additional lap will

page_text: become superadded to the former sliver, making a double thickness of sliver,
which is wound up in the same manner as the former single thickness was
in the convolutions which the web is making one around another about the
roller O. When nearly all the web is thus wound upon the roller O
with the double sliver, the motion is again reversed as before, and the web
again wound up with an additional or triple layer, and so on, until, by repeated
additions of successive laps of the sliver Q, a compound sliver is obtained of
such number of plies of sliver or thickness as is required; and as soon as
such compound sliver is completed, it is broken off an instant before the next
reversing of the motion takes place; and one end of such compound sliver being
separated from the web, it is begun to be wound or rolled up without the web
around a roller which is laid upon the top of the convolutions of accumulated
web on the roller P, so as to be turned round by resting thereon, in order
that it may wind or gather the compound sliver off from the web and around
itself until the whole sliver is rolled up, and the same may then be taken
away with the said roller in it, and the end of the compound sliver put to the
next preparing machine to which the hemp, flax, or tow is to be submitted in
its progress of preparation for spinning, that is, by being carded a second time,
or drawn or otherwise treated.
Figure 13, Sheet II., is a front elevation of the same machine, shewing how
the alternations of the motion are effected. G and H represent the same rollers
as described in the section, Figure 12. Upon the arbor of cach of these
rollers a cross and m is fixed to receive the action of the ends of the sliding
fork pieces i and k, called bayonets, which are applied to the driving pulleys
I and K, by means whereof the machine derives its motion from two suitable
endless belts or straps encompassing those pulleys, and which straps are applied
in such manner that one pulley I is always turned round in one direction, and
the other pulley K in a contrary direction. That may be accomplished by the
well-known expedient of crossing the aforesaid endless strap for turning the
one pulley (as I, for instance), the strap for turning the other pulley K not
being crossed. When one of the bayonets, as k, for instance, is in gear with its
cross m, on the arbor of the roller H, the other bayonet i will be out of gear
with its cross on the arbor of the roller G. This results from the two bayonets
i and k being connected by means of their respective striking levers E and L,
and their common connecting rod M. Upon the extremity of the arbor of
the roller G is fixed an endless screw n, working into a screw or worm wheel
p, to which is fixed a spur pinion working into an intermediate spur wheel 7,
driving another spur wheel F, into one of the arms of which a projecting pin
is fixed, in order to act upon the lever R, which has a heavy ball at the end

page_text: of it. This lever R is fitted loosely upon the extremity of the axis of the
wheel F, and the said projecting pin of the wheel F causes the lever R to
revolve with that wheel F until its ball has passed by the end of a fixed blade
spring S, so as to quit contact therewith, and then the ball by its weight
descends with the lever R in a semicircular sweep, and strikes into the cup
Tat the upper end of the striking lever L so as to move the same, and slide
the forked bayonet i of the pulley I into gear with the cross on the arbor of
the roller G, whilst the other bayonet of the pulley K is withdrawn by the
rod M and lever E from the cross m on the arbor of the roller H, leaving the
same disengaged. The motion of the rollers G, H, and of the wheelwork p, q,
F, is thus reversed, and the web and sliver wound from off the roller P upon
the roller O, at the opposite side of the rollers G, H, whilst the lever R, with
its ball, is also lifted up in a semicircle by the action of the pin in the arm of the
wheel F, which is now turning in a contrary direction to what it did before; and
when the ball of the lever R has again passed by the end of the blade spring S,
it will descend again by its weight as before, with a semicircular sweep, but in
a contrary direction, so as to strike into the other cup U at the upper end of
the lever L, and move the same, together with the lever E, so as to with-
draw the bayonet i from its cross l, and engage the other bayonet k with its
cross m, in order again to reverse the motion of the machine, and turn it in
the same direction as it was turning at first. The web N which I use in this
machinery for wrapping up the slivers in manner aforesaid may be woven of
yards or threads of cotton, linen, or silk; but I propose to weave strong yarns
of either cotton, linen, or silk, into thin cloth, similar to what is called gauze,
or wire cloth, that is, with the yarns or threads at considerable distances from
each other. This thin cloth is then to be taken to a paper mill and passed
through a paper-making machine in such manner as that the interstices
between the threads may become filled up with pulp, and then, being passed
through the heated drying rollers of the paper-making machine, the web will
have the smoothness of paper on its surface, and almost the tenacity of cloth
in its substance.
Fifth. Another of the said improvements in machinery for preparing hemp
or flax for spinning, is for heckling hemp or flax, being in part similar to the
machine (Figures 1 and 2) herein-before described for converting ropes into
tow, having plates c with prominent edges, and having also heckles D fixed in
alternating order on the circumference of two revolving cylinders A and B,
see Figures 3 and 4, Sheet I., but the heckles D have finer teeth or pins, and
the same are more thickly set in the stocks than those previously described in
the machine for converting ropes into tow. Also in place of the feeding

page_text: rollers herein-before described for ropes, a pair of vertical fixed guides or
grooves are formed upon the upper part of the framing for the reception of
the two ends of a sliding cross bar R, which has two arms r, r, projecting hori-
zontally from it to receive the two ends of a holder or griper a, b, in which the
hemp or flax is held by nearly the middle of the length of the strick. The
cross bar or slider R is lowered down slowly by the action of a heart motion
D, with levers and links and chains passing over pulleys, the revolving heart
D being turned round by the intervention of a pair of eccentric elliptical cog
wheels 8, S, whereof that one which is marked s is turned slowly round by a cog
wheel m, Figure 4, on its axis, and the same derives a regular but slow motion
from a small toothed pinion to which a pulley wheel n is fixed, and the latter
is turned by an endless strap from a small pulley fixed on the end of the axis
of the revolving cylinder B. The effect of that intervention of the said pair
of eccentric elliptical cog wheels s, S, is to turn the revolving heart D with a
variable rate of motion, which is communicated to the said cross bar R and
griper a, b, by the levers, links, chains, pulleys, and other machinery aforesaid,
and by which variable motion, and according as it varies, the cross bar R and
griper a, b, holding the stricks to be heckled, are allowed to descend slowly in
the guiding grooves until the necessary operation of heckling is performed,
and then it is caused to ascend with a rapid motion, so as to lift the stricks so
heckled quickly up again out of the reach of the heckles; or the same effect
may be produced by snails or cams, such as D, only suitably formed and
turned by the cog wheel m, without the intervention of the eccentric elliptical
wheels s, S. This machine is particularly applicable for performing what is
termed ending of hemp or flax, that is, heckling the extremities of its fibres
before the same goes to be heckled by other machines, or by hand. If the
pointed pins of the heckles D, D, are very thickly set, they may require to be
kept clear from the tow which they have separated from the hemp or flax.
This may be done by means of thin plates of metal T, Figure 3, placed among
the pins of the heckles D, which plates are moveable in the direction of the
length of those pins, and are guided in such motion by slides at each end of
each plate T. When the heckles are acting upon the hemp or flax, the plates
Tare pressed to the bottom of their slide, so as to retreat within the circle
described by the points of the heckle pius; but after that the plates T are
thrown outwards by their centrifugal force of rotation with cylinders A, B, to
the outer extremity of their slides, so as to clear out the tow from amongst
the pins of the heckles; or these plates T may be made to rise and fall alter-
nately (in the manner above described) by making their ends work into or
circulate in fixed curved guiding grooves, to be applied at each end of each
revolving cylinder A, B, as is done in gill frames.

page_text: Sixth. Another of the said improvements in machinery for preparing hemp
or flax for spinning, is in the construction of the holder or griper a, b, Figure 5,
Sheet I., for holding two of the stricks of hemp or flax which are to be heckled,
instead of one strick. This consists of two plates of metal a and b, a having
two steady pins 2 and 3, and a screw bolt d fixed into it, and having three holes
in it through which the steady pins and bolt & pass, but which holes are some-
what clongated in the direction of the length of the plate b. Two stricks of
hemp or flax are placed between these two plates a, b, one on each side of the
bolt d, each strick being between that bolt and one of the steady pins 2 and 3;
and the nut c, being screwed down on the bolt d, fixes both stricks firmly.
And in order to prevent any of the fibres of the hemp or flax from draw-
ing through the said griper, I place a flexible tube or vessel formed of india
rubber, or of cloth with india rubber and leather, the guts of animals, or of
other suitable material, and partially filled with water, air, or other fluid, the
said tube forming a cushion below the hemp or flax, and applied in a suitable
recess in the inside face of the lower plate a of the griper, so that when the
said cushion with fluid is pressed by action of the screw bolt and nut, the
flexible surface of the tube or vessel is forced to bear upon the hemp or flax,
and, by its yielding nature, will hold every fibre of it, although the strick may
be of unequal thickness.
Seventh. Another of the said improvements in machinery for preparing
hemp or flax for spinning, is for equalizing the feeding of tow to carding
machines, that is, for making a sliver of tow of uniform thickness for feeding
carding machines by means of machinery (see Figures 14 and 15, Sheet III.),
which is in part similar to the machine herein-before described for converting
ropes into tow. A and B are two feeding rollers with pikes projecting out
from each of them, which pikes work into each other, as is shewn at Figure 15.
D, Figure 14, is an endless feeding cloth upon which the hemp or flax is
spread by hand when it is in the state of tow. The endless feeding cloth
circulates around the roller C, and also around another roller not represented.
The tow so fed on the cloth D is carried by the motion thereof over the
roller C, and introduced betwixt the feeding rollers A and B (which have two
brushes a and b behind them to prevent the tow from lapping round them);
and the tow is held by means of their intersecting pikes whilst it is plucked
or drawn down therefrom by the concurrent action of a series of plates and
heckles which are fixed in alternating order around the circumferences of the
two revolving cylinders E and F, and which are similar to those of the
machine herein-before described for converting ropes into tow, except that
the heckle pins or teeth are much finer, and are not so thickly set in the
stocks. By a similar action to that already explained in reference to the said

page_text: machine, the tow is thrown down from the said heckles and distributed over
the space below the revolving cylinders E, F, upon another endless feeding
cloth (not shewn) which is placed at a considerable distance beneath them
within a suitable enclosure or chamber, the ends of which are marked z, z, in
Figure 15, and that second or lowermost feeding cloth passes onwards with
the tow so distributed upon it, and carries the same out of the said chamber in
order to supply or feed a carding machine with the said tow. By this means
any inequality in the thickness of the feeding of the tow by hand upon the
first-mentioned endless feeding cloth D is very much remedied; for when a
thick part or a thin part of that feed of tow comes betwixt the rollers A, B,
it is thrown by the action of the revolving cylinders E and F over a space
of from six to ten feet in the length of the second or lowermost feeding cloth
before mentioned, according to the height. The consequence is, that the tow
upon the said second or lowermost feeding cloth is brought almost to a
uniform thickness, and from the manner in which the tow is drawn down by
the action of the heckles and plates of the revolving cylinders E and F, and
taken away from the feeding rollers A, B, the fibres are much better arranged
for carding, and are not shortened or cut. Note, in place of having plates
and heckles placed in alternating order upon the cylinders E and F, as
described, the heckles may be omitted, and plates substituted for them similar
to the other plates; and all the plates must then be furnished with heckles
behind them, projecting about an inch beyond the edges of the plates, similar
to those upon the plate h; and also I would here remark that the same may be
done with the machine for converting ropes into tow, as well as with the heck-
ling machine, both previously described. Or all the said plates and heckles may
be omitted, and in lieu thereof the cylinders E, F, being enlarged, so as to be
about an inch clear of each other, may be furnished around their respective
circumferences with pikes interlocking into each other similar to the feeding
rollers A, B, and then one cylinder may be made to drive the other by the
cog wheels G, H, or each cylinder may be driven by a separate belt, but so as
to turn round in contrary directions, the same as would be done by the cog
wheels G, H. And if it is wished to hold the hemp or flax in the state of tow
at a shorter length than is represented in the Drawing, the feeding roller B
with pikes may be brought down so as to be just clear of the teeth of the
two cylinders E and F, and the other feeding roller A with pikes may be
somewhat over the roller B, so as just to keep clear of the teeth of the
cylinder E; but the pikes of the two rollers A and B interlocking, and then
the surface motion of the teeth of the cylinder F being made rather more
rapid than that of the teeth of the cylinder E, the teeth of the former will

page_text: clear the tow from the pikes of the lower feeding roller B. For this purpose the
cog wheel H must be rather smaller in proportion to the circle described by the
points of the teeth of the cylinder F than the cog wheel G is in proportion to
the circle described by the points of the teeth of the cylinder E; or if the
cylinders E, F, are driven by belts without the cog wheels G, H, then the
pulleys for those belts must be adapted to produce the like effect as such cog
wheels would produce. If it is thought that the feed of tow thus obtained
upon the said second or lowermost feeding cloth is not sufficiently equalized,
the same operation can be repeated by making the equalized feed of tow upon
the second or lowermost feeding cloth go through a similar process in the
same or in another similar machine to Figure 14. In place of making the
equalized sliver which is so obtained go directly from the aforesaid feed cloth
beneath the machinery Figure 14 to the tow-carding machine in order to be
carded, it may be rolled up or made into a lap by means of what is termed
a lapping-up machine, applied in a suitable manner for receiving the equalized
sliver from the aforesaid lowermost endless cloth, and then the said lap so
made may be put up to a tow-carding machine for feeding the same. Note,
the feeding rollers A, B, with projecting pikes working one into another, as
above described, are applicable to all kinds of carding machines or engines
for tow, cotton, wool, and silk, as well as to the equalizing machinery now
described.
Eighth. Another of the said improvements in machinery for preparing hemp
or flax for spinning, is in carding machines for tow (see Figures 16, 17, and 18,
Sheet III.). Figure 16 is an end elevation of a carding machine or engine,
with this part of the improvements applied thereto, and the same consists in
applying a set of heckles or gills, shewn at a, b, c, d, the same being mounted
upon a suitable part of the fixed frame opposite the main cylinder or drum
of the carding machine. These heckles are adjusted by means of bearing
screws, or otherwise, so as to place the pins of the heckles at a proper distance
from the teeth of the cards on the large drum suitably for the kind of material
to be carded. The hemp or flax in the state of tow is delivered to the pair of
feeding rollers X, Y, with pikes, Figure 16, in an equalized sliver obtained by
means of the machinery Figure 14, as herein-before described, or in any other of
the methods usually practised for feeding cards. The said feeding rollers X, Y,
have their pikes working into one another in the manner shewn in Figures
14 and 15, but the pikes are shorter, finer, and more thickly set in the feeding
rollers X, Y, now described than in the rollers in the said Figures 14 and 15,
and they hold the tow whilst the cards upon the main cylinder take it away
therefrom, and it is worked by the cards on the several small cylinders as

page_text: usual in other carding machines; and as the tow gets round it is then thrown
partly into the heckles at d, c, b, and a, so as by the action thereof, in con-
junction with the cards on the main cylinder, to become effectually carded,
and the fibres arranged. The same are then raised in the usual manner by a
rapid action of the cards on the small cylinder called the frizzler, and are
then laid upon the small cylinder called the doffer, and are finally taken off
therefrom by the drawing-off rollers in a broad continuous sliver Q, which
may be either contracted by a conductor, as usual, and received into cans in
the ordinary way of carding machines, or else the said broad continuous
sliver Qmay be rolled up within the convolutions of a web N by means of the
sliver-making machine represented in the Drawing, Figure 16, and herein-
before described in reference to Figures 12 and 13. Figure 17 is a longi-
tudinal or front view, and Figure 18 a cross section or side view, shewing how
I propose to make the heckles a, b, c, d, when the same are to be applied to
coaise carding machines, that is, by means of a dovetail-grooved case or stock
of iron into which a piece of beach or other suitable kind of wood is fitted,
with the teeth, or heckle pins, or gill pins driven into it.
When it is pro-
posed to apply such heckles to finer carding machines, they are to be made
of fine gill pins fixed into brass stocks, and those fastened to suitably formed
iron bars.
Ninth. Another of my said improvements in machinery for preparing
hemp or flax for spinning, when the same is previously made up into ropes, con-
sists in taking the ropes one at a time, and fastening one end of it by means of
a screw and jaws in the manner in which a vice operates, or in any other
suitable manner, and which rope so fastened is attached to the end of a
spindle, which is provided with pulleys and belts or wheels to make it revolve
as required; then the other end of the rope is to be taken and the strands
separated a little, so as a portion of them may be in the right hand of the
person attending the machine and another portion in his left hand. The
spindle being then made to revolve by means of the pulley & belt, or by the
wheels, in a direction contrary to that of the twist upon the rope, the same
will be separated into strands, and these may in like manner be separated into
the original yarns, which are then to be submitted to the rubbing action of the
machine, Figure 6, or to the softening action of the machine, Figures 8 and 9,
and then being cut to proper lengths, the same are to be taken to the heckling.
machine, Figures 3 and 4, which heckles their ends and takes off a portion
of the, remaining twist, and fits them for being finally heckled and made into
dressed hemp or flax yarns. All the machines before described are applicable
for preparing hemp or flax for spinning, and the machinery represented in

page_text: Figures 12 and 12, Sheet II., and in Figure 16, Sheet III., for making com-
pound slivers, as well as the machinery represented in Figures 14 and 15,
Sheet III., for equalizing the feeding of carding machinery, are also applicable
to the preparation of cotton, wool, and silk for spinning.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I, the said John Sharp, do hereby declare that
I claim as new Invention,-
First, the combination of parts of machinery for converting ropes into tow,
first herein-before described and represented at Figures 1 and 2, Sheet I. of
the Drawings herein-before referred to.
Secondly, the construction or arrangement second herein-before described
and represented by Figures 6 & 7, Sheet I., of three plates of metal in rubbing
machines for making hemp or flax, the middlemost of the three plates being
moveable up and down in a slide or groove between the other two plates,
which other two plates pressed laterally towards each other by springs, but
have no motion up and down.
Thirdly, the process thirdly herein-before described and represented by Figures
10 and 11, Sheet III., and Figures 8 and 9, Sheet II., for softening hemp or
flax by first forming the stricks thereof into slightly twisted ropes or bands, and
uniting the ends thereof together, so as to form endless ropes or bands of hemp
or flax, and then confining these in numbers together whilst they are caused
to circulate between revolving fluted rollers, and introducing such endless bands
one by one, and also withdrawing them from between the fluted parts of the
said rollers at each end thereof, as herein-before described.
Fourthly, the combination of machinery fourth herein-before described and
represented by Figures 12 and 13, Sheet II., and Figure 16, Sheet III., for
forming a compound sliver of hemp, or flax, or tow, or of cotton, wool, or
silk, by receiving the sliver proceeding from a carding machine, or from a
drawing frame, and wrapping that sliver up within the convolutions of a
suitable web, which is disposed upon two rollers so as to be wound from off
one of those rollers upon the other, and then back again upon the first-
mentioned roller, and so on alternately, an additional length of the sliver
proceeding from the carding machine or drawing frame being deposited on the
web, and wrapped up along with it, at each time that the same is so wound
from off one roller upon the other, whereby that additional length of sliver
becomes added to and enveloped along with the preceding lengths in such
manner that the said successive plies of sliver are formed into one compound
sliver.
Fifthly, the improvements fifth herein-before described and represented at

page_text: Figures 33, 14, and 5; Sheet 1.,in that which is: commonly called. heckling
machinery, the improvements consisting in the use of two revolving cylinders
or drums, having platos with prominent edges, and having also heckles fixed
in alternating order on each drum, and which plates and heckles: operate
alternately on each sile: of the strick of hemp.or.flax, in manner herein-before
described, in order to heckle the same at both sides, and also. consisting in the
application of eccentric elliptical cog wheels, as herein-before:described, to
turn the heart motion, or else in the application of an equivalently-formed cam
or snail in place of the heart without eccentric elliptical cog.wheels,. by which
machinery the stricks of hemp or flax descend slowly while they are subjected
to the operation of heckling, and are then lifted quickly out of the reach of
the heckles.
Sixthly, the construction of the griper or holder, Figure 5, Sheet I., for
holding the stricks of hemp or flax whilst the same are undergoing the opera-
tion of heckling by machinery, the said, griper. or holder receiving and fastening
two stricks side, by, side. with only one screw.bolt and..two steady pins, in
manner before described;, also the application .of.the flexible tube or vessel
containing fluid, as. before described, for forming. a cushion within the said
gripes for the purpose of preventing.the.fibres of hemp.or:flax. from escaping
from the griper whilst the same are being heckled.
ة
-
Seventhly, the combination of machinery seventh herein-before described
and represented by Figures 14 and 15, Sheet III., for equalizing the feeding of.
carding machines with hemp or flax in the state of tow, and also with cotton,
wool, and silk, in manner before described. Note, I claim the feeding
rollers in this machine with pikes working into one another, in manner herein-
before described, as applicable to all kinds of carding engines and machines
commonly called devils, as well as to the said machine herein-before described.
And although in this machine, as well as in the machine first herein-before
described and represented in Figures 1 and 2, Sheet I., and also in the
machine fifth herein-before described and represented in Figures 3 and 4,
Sheet I., I have described a plate of metal and a heckle, to be placed so as
that the plate of metal shall press the hemp or flax in the state of tow, or the
cotton, wool, or silk, or the ropes, or the hemp, or flax, as the case may be,
into the heckles as they revolve; yet, as the plates and heckles may be other-
wise arranged and answer the purpose, I claim as new Invention the combina-
tion of plates of metal and heckles upon two revolving cylinders for all or any
of the purposes above enumerated, and also for converting flax and hemp, or
flax and hemp codilla into tow, in whatever method or order of succession
B

page_text: Proposed to be entered. by Jon Sno
County of Forfar, in Scotland, Flax Spinner, with the Clerk of the
Patents in England, pursuant to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth
years of His late Majesty's reign, entituled "An Act to amend the Law
touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
In the machine for converting ropes into tow, Figures 1 and 2, Plate I.,
described under the first head of my Specification, and in the heckling
machine, Figures 3 and 4, Sheet I., described under the fifth head thereof,
in place of making the cylinders A and B of the dimensions in the Drawings,
I sometimes make each of them about three feet in diameter, and furnish
each cylinder with two double plates and two heckles, each of which double
plates takes in a heckle between it as the cylinders revolve by the wheels
G, II, and from the distance that the heckles are placed from each other upon
their respective cylinders, the one heckle quits the extremity of the strick of
hemp or flax before the heckle on the opposite cylinder is pressed into it by its
double plate on the cylinder corresponding thereto. I sometimes also make
the two cylinders recede from each other before putting the strick of hemp or
flax between them to be heckled. I place the griper or holder containing the.
hemp or flax so as that the heckles, when the cylinders are brought together
again, shall be just clear of it, in place of making it descend slowly, as
specified, and then I make the two cylinders approach each other slowly.
The manner in which I make the two cylinders recede from and approach.
each other is, by placing the axles of the respective cylinders into bushes or
bearings, which are fixed upon the tops of upright arms of about three feet in
length. These are moveable upon centres at. their lower extremities, and
move backward and forward about an inch in slides on the main framing,
close to the said bearings or bushes. The two wheels G, H, that drive the
cylinders have their teeth long enough to keep them in gear when the cylinders
are separated. Each pair of upright arms has a spring between them, which
separates the one cylinder from the other. After the separation a strick of.
hemp or flax is introduced, and they are brought slowly together by cranks or
cams pressing against the upright arms, and moved by the eccentric wheels S,
the plates formerly specified for clearing the heckles from the tow are kept
circulating on each cylinder about an inch clear of those on the opposite

page_text: cylinder by working into grooved guides fixed to the main framing. When
the cylinders recede from each other the points of the heckles retreat within
these plates, and they advance slowly through them and into the hemp or
flax as the excentrics push the two cylinders together, and thus take a small
hold of it at a time. In place of two cylinders with plates and heckles fixed
upon them, I sometimes fix the heckles and plates upon bars of metal which
are fixed to belts of leather or chains, and cause these to revolve into oblong
vertical curved grooved guides, of a length fully equal to the stricks of Lemp
or flax to be heckled; the said bars being driven by pullies or wheels' with
projections, which pitch between the bars or into the links of the chain; and
the oblong vertical curved grooved guides recede from and approach each
other, with the heckles circulating on them as above described, without the aid
of the upright. arms; for as the driving wheels are placed at the lower.centres
of the guides, the axes of the wheels are kept by their bushes in the same place,
and the grooved guides move around them upon. bearings concentric theretoż
And in order to clear the.heckles effectually from the tow when this arrange-
ment is adopted, I use two doffers covered with card covering, and a comb and
crank to clear each of them, as is well understood, and need not therefore. be
explained; or else I use two cylindrical gills, the bars of which, with the gill pins;
are drawn inwards by their fixed guides where they are not near the heckles,
and thus clear themselves.of.the.tow they have taken from the heckles. The
doffers or the. gills I place near the bottom of the vertical oblong curved
grooved guides, above described. I also sometimes make the plates a, b, of the
griper specified much broader, say about nine inches; and in. place of one
elastic tube with fluid I then use two of them, one at each edge of the plate,
and in place of plates of metal I sometimes, use boards of wood; I also use
these elastic tubes filled with fluid in place of padding or covering for the
rollers of drawing frames and cards. And in the method of untwisting ropes
so as to separate them into strands and yarns, described under the ninth head
of my Specification, instead of adopting the method. thereby described, I some-
times effect that object by separating the strands a little with the hand, and
then fixing each of them to the hooks of a machine similar to that used by
rope makers for laying ropes, or in any other suitable manner; and the machine
being then set in motion, in a direction contrary to that by which the rope was'
laid, the same will be untwisted and the strands separated.
"As witness my hand, this Tenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-eight years
SHOP.

page_text: To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify, John Sharp, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, in
Scotland, Flax Spinner, hath applied to me for leave to enter with you the
above-written Memorandums of Alteration of part of the Specification of a
certain Invention for which Letters Patent were duly granted to him under the
Great Seal, dated at Westminster, the Eighth day of October, 1836, and the
Specification of which was duly enrolled on the 8th day of April, 1837; and
on considering of the said application I directed him to advertize his said
alterations in the London Gazette, and in the Times & Morning Chronicle,
and the Dundee Courier Newspapers; and such advertisements have been
dily made in the Gazette, Times, and Morning Chronicle, on the 24th day of
August last past, and in the Dundee Courier on the 28th day of the same
inonth, and no objection having been made to the said application, I have ac-
cordingly granted leave to the said John Sharp to file. his said Memorandums
of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed in the sixth year of the reign
of His late Majesty, entitled An Act to amend the Law touching Letters
Patent for Inventions.
Thomas Wilkinson, of No. 59, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Gentle-
man, maketh oath and saith, that he is well acquainted with the handwriting
of "John Sturrock," one of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace acting in
and for the County of Forfar, in Scotland, and that the name "John Sturrock,"
set and subscribed to the Memorandum of Alterations in the Patent of John
Sharp, and hereto annexed, is the proper handwriting of him, the said John
Sturrock; and this Deponent saith, that he verily believes that the said