IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS POR COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Muir Hetherington, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Sealed the 18th September 1863, and dated the 21st March 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Muir Hetherington
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st March 1863.
I, JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Maker do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS POR COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention refers to that description of machine for combing cotton and
other fibrous materials known as Heilmann's, and consists in a method of
feeding the material to the nippers thereof. According to the usual arrange-
ment this is effected by instruments to which a rotatory motion is imparted, but
according to my Invention I employ a blade which is caused to move back
ward and forward, seizing the material by the latter of these motions and
thrusting it towards the said usual nippers. By preference I construct this
blade with a comb upon its edge, and it may be used by itself as a feeder.
propose, however to joint, or in a similar manner combine with it, another
blade, the two, when so combined, forming a clip which grasps the material
within its jaws and then carries it forward to the aforesaid nippers.
I

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Muir Hetherington in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st September 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MUIR HETHERINGTON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Muir Hetherington, Her special license that I, the said
John Muir Hetherington, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Muir Hetherington, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR COMBING COTTON
AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the
said John Muir Hetherington, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and scal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the samo was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Muir Hetherington, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by tho
following statement, and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention refers to that description of machine for combing cotton and
other fibrous materials known as Heilmann's, and consists in a method of
feeding the material to the usual nippers thereof. In the above-mentioned
description of machine this feeding is effected by a pair of rollers which, by
their occasional revolution, convey forward the material so as to afford a given
length to the aforesaid nippers, which then present it to the revolving comb
working in conjunction with other rollers, so as to afford a combing of both
ends thereof. Now my Invention consists in the removal of the said feeding
rollers and in substituting therefor a reciprocating apparatus, which thrusts
the material frward by a rectilincal action as distinguished from that of

page_text: rotatory surfaces, by which means I am enabled to allow that point which acts
upon the material to approach nearer to the usual nippers, and therefore to
operate upon fibrous material of comparatively short staple.
The accompanying Drawing represents in full size so much of a combing
machine of the above-mentioned description as will enable me to describe my
Invention..
At a is the part which carries the ordinary bar or cushion 6 acting as the
bottom part of the usual nippers, the upper part of which is shewn at c; at d
is one of the rollers employed for detaching the tuft of material and drawing
the uncombed end through the top comb. These are all ordinary parts,
and I will now describe those which constituto my Invention. The part a
which is usually hollowed out to receive the feed rollers, is made up to a flat
face, and upon this is placed a bar e capable of sliding upward and down-
ward thereon, being guided in its motion by screws for other suitable
arrangement. To the upper end of this bar is jointed a rod 9 which, at its
other end is mounted upon a shaft h carried by a bell-crank lever i, k, formed,
however, as shown in the Drawing, in two parts, mounted fast upon a shaft 7.
The part of this bell-crank lever is situate above the usual cylinder shaft m,
upon which is a cam n. Upon the shaft h is fixed a lever o, the lower end of
which is situate above a cam p, p, of two rises, the object of which will bo
hereafter explained. The shaft h also carries a lever q, to the outward end of
which is jointed a rod r, connected at its other end by a joint to an arm s
turning upon a centre at t which is carried by the sliding plate e. Upon the
arms is a bar u provided at its outward end with a blade comb v capable of
passing into a notch formed in the plato e, as shewn in the Drawing. The
operation is as follows:-According to the position sliewn in the Drawing a
tuft of material has been delivered to be combed and the preparation for the
feeding action is about to commence. The shaft m being put in motion tho
part p of the cam will arrive in contact with the roller of the lever o, thereby
causing it to turn upon its centre, by which means the shaft p and lever 9, fast
thereon, will also be turned. This motion will draw forward the rod r and
cause the arms to turn upon its centre t so as to move the blade comb v
upward out of the notch in the plate e, so that there will be a space between
these two parts sufficient for the passage of the material (shewn by red colour)
which is to be fed. The cam n will now arrive in contact with the lever k,
which, being thus caused to turn upward, will impart motion to the shaft ?,
thus causing the other part i of the bell-crank lever to turn backward the
shaft bodily, and with it all parts mounted thereon. By these means, there-
fore, the sliding plate e and comb blade v will be drawn backward together, so

page_text: that the said comb blade and the notch in the plate e may be opposite to that
part of the material which is to be laid hold of and passed forward. If, how-
ever, a provision to the contrary were not made, this carrying forward bodily
of the parts would cause the comb blade v again to enter the notch before the
end of the retrograde motion was effected; to obviate this the second rise p*
of the cam is adapted, and this, coming into action shortly after the plate e
begins to slide, causes the arms to turn again upon its centre. The above
described motions are those which have been preparatory for the feed, that is
to say, the parts which are to lay hold of the material have been brought into
the position for doing so, and the continued revolution of the cam p* will now
allow the lever o to fall, thus bringing the comb blade v into the notch and
nipping the material between the two parts, after which the cam n, by its
decreasing radius, will gradually allow the lever k to fall, thus permitting the
plate e and comb blade v to move forward bodily and thrust forward the
necessary length of material to the usual nippers, and thus the desired feed is
effected. I have, in the above description, spoken of the several levers and
arms in the singular number, but they are of course repeated in the direction
of the width of the machine as often as required.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I desire it to be understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise arrangement and construction of parts
above described, as modifications thereof may be made without departing from
the essential character thereof, as for instance, the plato e or equivalent part
may be stationary, and the thrusting forward of the material may be effected
by the blade v made either with or without comb teeth, or with one or more
rows of teeth pressing the material thereon and thrusting it forward, that
which I claim as secured to me by the above in part recited Letters Patent,
and as applied to the above description of combing machine being the employ-
ment of a pair of sliding nippers, or a sliding comb or blade, for the purpose
above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Muir Hetherington, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN M. HETHER
GTON. (S.)