A NEW WOOL-COMBING APPARATUS
Year: 1841

page_text: 'Ross, of the Borough of Leicester, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Ninth day of November, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Jesse
Ross, Her special license that I, the said Jesse Ross, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jesse Ross, my exors, admors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW WOOL-COMBING
APPARATUS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging
me, the said Jesse Ross, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jesse Ross, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and

page_text: ascertained by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:-
The ordinary process applied to wool by machinery, for the purpose of what
is called combing it, does in fact consist of three operations, namely, filling,
combing, and drawing.
And the first part of my Invention relates to the filling, or first process of
combing, and consists in placing the combs vertically in the gates, and,
by an arrangement hereafter described, causing the parts carrying the combs
which are fixed in the gates of the machine to be brought into contact with an
inclined plane or planes placed at each angle of the machine, by which the
wool is taken or lashed from the rollers in a direct line or thereabouts with
the centre of the machine; this, together with the application of the double
spiral springs, and spring placed at the back of the lever, upon which is
formed the inclined plane, against which the parts carrying the comb strike,
affords to this part of the machinery the peculiar properties of yielding to the
wool in the same manner as combing by hand, with these advantages, that the
machine, being unerring in its action, the wool can be combed in considerably
less time and much better than by any other means now in use for a similar
purpose.
.
The second part of my Invention relates to the combing apparatus, and is in
all other respects similar to the foregoing machine, excepting as regards the
substituting of combs in the place of the rollers used in the filling apparatus,.
as herein-after described.
The third part of my Invention relates to the drawing apparatus; the
backing and milking processes of which form the subject of my Invention, and
consists in the application of rollers having cards passed around them for the
purpose of removing the wool contained in the chambers of the combs'; and
further, in the application, of ordinary doffing knives to the backs of the said.
card rollers, for the purpose of removing the wool therefrom. By this arrange-
ment I am enabled to bring the said card rollers into close contact with the
combs, which has never yet been accomplished by any other machine, and
consequently effecting a very considerable saving of time and material.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 represents an elevation, and Figure 2 a plan, of one of
my new combing machines; Figure 3, a detached view of one part of the
same; Figure 4, an elevation of the machinery used for filling the combs;

page_text: Figure 5, plan of the same; Figure 6; an end view; the Figures in all the
Sheets being drawn to a scale of one and a half inches to a foot.
In Sheet 2, Figure 1 represents a partial elevation of a drawing head,
shewing the manner of working the backing and milking rollers and doffing
knives; Figure 2, a vertical section of the same; Figure 3, an end view of the
same: As to the filling process, A, A, is the framing, the bottom of which is
furnished with a step B, for receiving the axis of the vertical casting or shaft
C, which is made to revolve by a pinion D, fixed upon one end of the driving
shaft E, taking into a bevilled wheel F; keyed upon the shaft C; this shaft
is maintained in a vertical position by the centre screw G, situated at the
top of the framing. At the under side of the bevelled wheel F is formed
another bevilled wheel F*, taking into pinions I, II, fixed upon one of
the ends of the horizontal shafts I, I, the other ends being furnished with
worms K, K, working in loose stud wheels a, a; at the under side of which, as
represented on the Drawing, are pinions taking into a train of wheels for
imparting motion to the shaft b, and keyed upon the vertical shaft 6; upon
this shaft pinions c, c, are firmly secured, taking into the stud wheels f;f,
and are for the purpose of advancing the endless feeding cloths g, g, passing
over rollers placed at each end of the feeding troughs. L, L, gates for
carrying the flying combs M, M; the axis of these gates aro supported
at their upper and lower ends by the steps and collars N,N, fixed in the
castings O, O, which are firmly secured to and move with the shaft C; upon
another part of this shaft is keyed a casting P, having four arms furnished
with vertical and horizontal pullies Q, Q, over which the' double spiral springs
R, R, pass (see Figure 3); these spirings are connected together by chains
passing over. top and bottom pullies s, s, fixed to the sliaft C.- At the opposite
side to the axis of the gate L a hooked stud 1 is firmly secured, and connected
to one end of the double spiral springs R, R, the other end being connected to
a hook T, which acts as a fulcrum when the springs are in motion, the action
of which will hereafter be more fully explained. U, U, vertical fluted rollers,
for the purpose of receiving and conveying the wool from the feeding cloths to
the flying combs M, M; these rollers are set in motion by the pinion V, fixed
úpon the shaft b, taking into a train of wheels 2, 3, 4, 5. I would here:
remark,. that in order that the wool may be uniformly distributed or nearly
so throughout the combs, I arrange the feeding troughs placed at the angles
of the machine, so that the spaces between the troughs at one of the angles
shall be supplied by the troughs at the next angle, by being so placed as to
feed at this point or space, and so on throughout the machine. W, a vertical
Brush roller, which revolves in the same direction as the flying combs (as shown

page_text: by the arrow's flight), and is worked by a wheel 6 keyed upon the shaft b,
taking into a stud wheel 7 and pinion 8, keyed upon one end of the shaft
of the brush roller W; this brush is for the purpose of supporting the fibres
of the wool between it and the. fluted rollers after the comb has left it,
otherwise they would become crossed. X, X; bars for receiving the ends of
the feeding rollers; these bars and rollers are made to traverse through.slots
in top and bottom brackets fixed to the framing A, by a friction roller and
eccentric h, which is worked by a bevilled wheel g, taking into a pinion 10,
keyed upon the shaft b, and is for the purpose of uniformly distributing the
wool between the fluted rollers U, U. .Y, a lever, having its fulcrum at Z; at
the end of this lever is formed an inclined plane *; and is for the purpose
hereafter described. The operation of this filling part of the apparatus being
the first process of combing, I will describe first, as follows:- Having first
supplied the troughs equally or nearly so with wool, the machine being put into
motion, the wool will be advanced between the fluted rollers U, U, by the
means herein-before described, when the empty flying combs M, M; being
brought into contact with the wool, will "lash" it; but in order that the fibres
of the wool may not be broken by the combs passing in a continuous circle,
I place levers Y, Y, at the ends of which are formed inclined planes *; *.. It
will appear evident, that as the shaft C revolves, carrying with it the gates and
combs L and M, the top and bottom ends of the gates opposed to the axes will
be brought into contact with the inclined planes *, *; these planes forming a
resistance to the progress of that end of the gate in which the comb is placed,
will cause the double spiral springs R, R, to be acted upon by the hooked
stud 1, and as the shaft C revolves, the ends of the gate will be made to slide
against the inclined plane *, and perform the operation of "lashing" or filling
the chambers of the comb in a similar manner to combing by hand. The
combs so filled are taken out and placed in another machine, and the wool
submitted to a second process called combing, which I shall now describe.
This part of the apparatus differs only from the filling part as far as regards
substituting in the place of the drawing rollers and feeding troughs, and
apparatus for actuating the same, the following parts:
the bottom end of which has a worm wheel k turning loose upon it, taking
into the worm K, which is driven as before described, in the filling apparatus.
At the under side of the worm wheel k; as represented in the Drawing, is a
pinion, taking into a train of wheels for imparting motion to the shaft i.
17, pinions sliding upon the square part of the shaft i. These pinions take
into racks m, m, fixed to the saddle n, working in V slides carrying the dead
comb; and are for the purpose of advancing the same towards the centre of
is a vertical shaft,

page_text: the machine. This sliding motion is particularly desirable in facilitating the
process, as by this motion the wool is gradually.combed from the ends of the
fibres or staples. 0, 0, a fork for connecting the pinions 1, 1. When the pinions
are in gear with the racks, this fork rests at its under side upon a catch p;
which is acted upon by an inclined plane 1*, fixed upon the rod 9, attached at
its upper and lower end to the racks 'm, m,, which as the saddle n advances
is brought into contact with the catch p; for the purpose of throwing the
pinions 1, 1, out of gear with the racks when the saddles have advanced the
necessary distance. To facilitate the bringing back of the saddles, which is
done by hand, I fix a stud r at the back of the saddle, and connect it by a
chain to one end of a bell-crank lever s, the other end of which is fastened to
a double spiral spring t, and made fast at the bottom to a hook attached to
the framing A; but to ensure an uniform motion of the saddles in coming
back, I connect the saddles (which are placed at opposite. angles of the
machine) together, by the forks o, o, and rods and bell-crank levers u, v, w;
a spiral spring a being attached to one side of the fork to ensure the pinions
coming out of gear. X a bell-crank lever, attached to a bracket fixed to the
framing A. This lever is connected at one end to. the lever y by the rod a',
the other end being connected to the saddle by the rod b', having a spiral
spring passed around it, which as the spring collapsės takes its abutment
against a projecting piece c¹, fixed to the saddle. d', d', chains passing over
pulleys e, e¹, and connected to the rods q, q, to enable the person attending
the machine by pulling back one saddle to act equally upon the other at the
same time. y a lever, having its fulcrum at Z; at the end of this lever is an
inclined plane, which is for the same purpose and has the same. effect as
those in the filling apparatus, with this difference, that as the saddle advances
the bell-crank lever X is acted upon, and the inclined plane becomes
lengthened, thus allowing the flying comb M to comb the wool in a more direct
line than at the commencement of the process. The operation of combing is as
follows:-The combs containing the wool being secured in the gates, and the
dead or empty combs secured against the saddles, which must be pulled back,
as herein-before described, and the pinions thrown into gear with the racks, the
machine being put into motion, the wool contained in the flying combs will be.
brought into contact with and pass between the spaces of the dead combs;
thereby lashing or combing the wool, which, if long, is prevented from falling
down from the dead combs by a brush fixed at the back of the saddle, as
represented in the Drawing. The centrifugal force of the gates, in which the
flying combs are placed, being sufficient to prevent the fibres of wool contained
in such combs from falling, which is deemed very important in combing wool;

page_text: of
the saddles being now advanced to their full extent, and the inclined plane 1
having acted upon the ends of the catch p, the pinions will thus be thrown out
gear
with the racks, when the machine, which is driven and stopped by the
fast and loose pullies, shown in the Drawings, Figures 2 and 3, Sheet 1, may
be stopped; and the comb containing the wool thus combed is taken out and
put into a drawing head; the operation of which being well-known it is
unnecessary to describe, except as regards the processes of backing and milking
which form an essential part of my Invention, and which I effect in the following
manner, a, the combs' containing the wool, sliding in guides or boxes b, b;
c, c, pinions, taking into the racks d, d, formed upon one side of the comb,
and for the purpose of. traversing the same in the guides or boxes - b, b;
e, e, a pulley, keyed upon the driving shaft f. Upon this shaft is keyed the
spur, wheel g, taking into a corresponding wheel h, keyed upon one end of the
shaft of the fluted roller i, i. Upon the other end of this roller a wheel k is
keyed, for imparting motion to a suitable. train of wheels for working the
several parts of the machine, as represented by the Drawing; in front of the
comb a are placed the ordinary fluted rollers %, %, for forming the sliver, or
taking the long fibres of wool from the comb; i, i, card or milking rollers,
placed in front of the combia, and beneath the fluted rollers i, i, for the
purpose of removing the shorter wool which remains in the front chamber of
the comb after the long fibres have been drawn off by the fluted rollers i, i;
but in order that the intermediate and back chambers of the comb may be
cleared of the wool contained therein, and the backing more perfectly effected,
I place backing or card rollers m, m, worked in the same direction to that of
the comb, but slower, by the application of which I am enabled to come into
close contact with the comb, by which means the wool is more effectually
removed from the chambers, and. consequently less refuse or "noil" remains,
thereby effecting a very important saving of time and material. The wool
thus taken from: the comb by the backing and milking rollers is removed
therefrom by ordinary doffing knives, as shewn in the annexed Drawings,
Sheet 2.
And whereas I claim as my Invention the new combination of machinery
herein before described, for the purpose of what is called wool-combing, being
as a whole a new apparatus, whereby I perform the various' operations of
filling, combing, and drawing with greater speed, precision, and effect, and conse-
quently at a cheaper rate, than by the machinery now in use for that purpose;"
and such my, Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said

page_text: Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare
this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my
said Specification doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve or
disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jesse Ross, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of May, in the year
of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid Jesse Ross came before our said Lady the
Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
T
11
1
H
Imolled the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two.