Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Wool and other Fibre to Carding Machines, and in Apparatus for Cleaning, Dressing, and Removing Burrs and other Foreign Matter from the said Fibre.
Year: 1888

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Wool and other Fibre to
Carding Machines, and in Apparatus for Cleaning, Dressing, and
Removing Burrs and other Foreign Matter from the said Fibre.
I, ELI WILKINSON, of No. 3, South Parade, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
My invention relates to a novel form of apparatus for removing tufts or thin
layers of wool or other fibrous substances from a hopper, and also in apparatus for
straightening, lashing out, and removing burrs and other foreign matter from the said
fibre previous to its being conveyed to a carding engine.
In carrying out my invention I employ any ordinary form of hopper having
preferably a wire bottom, and three or more rows of steel pins caused to oscillate in
the bottom of the said hopper in order to take the fibre into contact with a rotary
roller working in the said hopper and provided on its surface at suitable distances
apart with fine steel hardened and tempered teeth. In conjunction with this
revolving roller I employ a flat steel blade or comb made to reciprocate over the
periphery of the said roller, the motion of which causes the flat comb to enter the
fibre and to lash it out whilst it is being carried around by the revolving roller.
After tufts of fibre have been separated and straightened in the manner just described,
the said tufts of fibre are taken hold of by a wire or other form of rotary brush
which strips the fibre from the roller in the hopper and carries it around over a
grate through which may drop burrs and other hard substances contained in the fibre,
after which the fibre may or may not be received by another rotary brush for trans-
ferring the fibre onto a burring cylinder revolving at a quicker surface speed than
the brushes previously mentioned, which burring cylinder receives the fibre for the
purpose of clearing it of any burrs or foreign matter contained therein. Upon the
surface of this cylinder I place hardened and tempered steel plates, combs, or indented
knives, which are arranged and fixed in such a manner as to take hold of the fibrous
material for dressing or cleaning it. The knives or steel blades are fixed on the
cylinder the whole width thereof, and above the cylinder is placed a detached blade
and a rotary brush caused to run at a moderate speed, which separates all foreign

page_text: matters from the fibre. The dressing cylinder is made with six or other number of
openings, in each of which openings I fix a hinged door which opens and closes
automatically as required. The said doors are kept closed during the operation of
the
brushing, allowing the blades on the dressing cylinder and brush to operate upon
fibre, keeping all the burrs and foreign substances on the outer surface of the said 5
cylinder; but when that operation is completed, one of the doors on the dressing
cylinder is caused to open at a given point, so that the compartment will receive all
the burrs and foreign matter which was on that part of the surface of the cylinder,
which door may afterwards be closed until that part of the cylinder is cleared of
the cleaned wool, which cleaned wool being now in the form of thin films is dabbed
onto a porcupine roller, whilst on the other side of such roller is a dish fixed in front
of an ordinary Garnett toothed cylinder rotating at a slow speed so as to comb out
the fibre from the said dish without breaking the staple thereof. Upon this Garnett
toothed roller I fix two knives full length of such roller, and upon these two knives
I place a keen toothed Garnett roller of smaller diameter, upon which a thin film of
fibre is formed, and which thin film of fibre is carried forward to the knife or blade
fixed over the first named Garnett cylinder. In order to place the above-named thin
film of fibre upon the smaller keen toothed Garnett roller a wire brush is employed
to lift the fibre from the larger cylinder which "mats" it upon the smaller Garnett
roller. The fibre now passes over the blade, before the large cylinder combs it, and
opens out all matted fibre, also opening any bits of rags or knotty material that may
be there. The fibre now passes onto the next blade, undergoing a similar operation,
after which it is in a fit condition to be placed upon the finest card teeth. It will
be seen that the fibre, on leaving the dressing or burring cylinder, is formed into
three separate films, each of which is subjected to a gentle combing operation, thus
not only opening out the wool, but mixing and regulating any inequalities that may
be in it when it arrives at this point. The wool may be placed in thin layers or
films upon the first "worker" of the carding machine, with a blade fixed over the
card cylinder, the wire brush being fixed in front of the worker and over the cylinder,
revolving at a moderate speed, thereby brushing out the wool from the cylinder,
which is covered with cards, thus making a thin film upon the worker, which
passes over the blade, the cylinder combing it between the retaining worker and the
blade. The operation can be repeated as often as is desirable, and whilst this requires
considerably less power than the ordinary scrubbing machine, it keeps the staplo
much better and more even.
Instead of having a number of openings with hinged doors on the periphery of the
burring cylinder, I may dispense with these and instead thereof I place the wire
brush in connection with the burring cylinder into a box or other receptacle, and
between the angle of the wire brush and the burring cylinder I place a steel blade
full width of the said rollers, and against the edge of such blade the fibre is carried
by the burring cylinder, whilst the revolving wire brush removes the burrs from the
fibre and throws them into the box in which it is revolving.
The hopper and parts connected therewith may be used without the burring
cylinder, in which case I would use thin steel plates or fingers, the points of which
would enter the spaces between the teeth on the roller revolving in the hopper, the
points of such teeth being also bent to the radius of the roller, so that the said pins
would lay flat on the said roller. These fingers receive a reciprocatory motion s
as to lift the film of fibre from the roller, which afterwards drops onto an endles
sheet or into scales to be carried forward to the carding machine.
L 1000

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Wool and other Fibre to
Carding Machines, and in Apparatus for Cleaning, Dressing, and
Removing Burrs and other Foreign Matter from the said Fibre.
I, ELI WILKINSON, of Port Erin, Isle of Man, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a novel form of apparatus for removing tufts or thin layers
of wool or other fibrous substances from a hopper, and forming the same into a
matted sheet, and also in apparatus for straightening, lashing out, and removing burrs
and other foreign matter from the said fibre, previous to its being conveyed to a
carding engine.
In carrying out my invention, I employ any suitable form of hopper having two or
other number of rollers. At the bottom of the hopper is an endless travelling lattice
sheet, to which are attached blades or toothed bars for the purpose of removing from
the hopper a tuft or tufts or films of fibre, a vibrating knife being employed to prevent
too large a tuft being taken from the said hopper at one time. After the fibre leaves
the hopper it is taken up by a revolving brush composed of wire or other suitable
material, such brush transferring the fibre onto a burring cylinder, or such fibre may
be previously matted into a porcupine roller for the purpose of forming a continuous
sheet which is afterwards conducted to the burring cylinder which is covered or
partially covered with a spiral row of Garnett saw teeth, the intervening spaces of
such rows being filled, or partially filled, by a metal rib or blade, such rib or blado
projecting from the periphery of the burring cylinder to the same extent as the points
of the Garnett saw teeth, consequently all hard or foreign substances lodging in the
fibre cannot damage the Garnett teeth, because of the thin rib or blade, which blade,
however, whilst preventing hard substances getting into the saw teeth, does not prevent
the said teeth from getting hold of the fibre, and carrying it around to undergo subse
quent operations.
'
When the fibre is transferred onto the burring cylinder it is carried forward to a
revolving wire brush, and to a steel retaining bar placed full width of the cylinder, such
wire brush removing burrs and foreign substances from the fibre, which is now carried
forward and removed by the stripper onto a porcupine or other form of roller revolving
at a slower surface speed than the burring cylinder, so that a thin matted sheet of
fibre is formed, which may enter a dish or under or over a blade. The fibre is now
taken hold of by an ordinary Garnett cylinder, upon the top of which are two or
more strippers and retaining cylinders, which lash or dress the fibre as it is being
carried around by the Garnett cylinder against two steel knives or blades placed full
width of the said Garnett cylinder, by which means the fibre is cleaned and dressed
without breaking the staple, in addition to which the burrs or other foreign matter
are removed therefrom.
In order that my invention may be better understood, I will now make reference
to the accompanying sheet of drawings illustrative thereof, wherein Fig. 1 represents
section of my improved apparatus, the gearing necessary to give rotary motion to the
several parts being omitted for the sake of clearness. A is the hopper into which
the fibre is placed, and B are revolving rollers, which answer the double purpose of
preventing the whole body of fibre from resting upon the travelling lattice sheet C,

page_text: and also loosens the fibre previous to its being taken hold of by the steel blades a
attached to the said travelling lattice sheet. Dis a vibrating comb, and is employed
to prevent too large a tuft being taken from the hopper at one time. As the lattice
sheet with the steel blades travels along, a tuft or film of fibre is removed from the
hopper by each blade, such fibre being taken hold of by a revolving brush E composed
of wire or other suitable material, such brush transferring the fibre onto the burring
cylinder F which carries the fibre forward in the direction of the arrow, where it is
received by another revolving brush G which brushes the fibre against the steel
retaining bar H placed full width of the machine, such brush not only straightening
and lashing out the fibre, whilst it is retained by the retaining bar, but also removing
burrs and other foreign substances from the fibre. The fibre is now removed from
the burring cylinder by a revolving stripper I which transfers the fibre onto the
revolving porcupine roller J arranged to revolve at a slower surface speed than the
burring cylinder F so that a thin matted sheet of fibre is formed, which enters into
the convex plate or dish K and is removed therefrom by an ordinary Garnett toothed
cylinder. L which lashes the fibre against the angle of the corner plate K from which
latter Garnett cylinder the fibre may be removed by any suitable form of mechanism,
or the arrangement shewn on the drawings may be doubled so as to give the fibre
additional treatment.
The burring cylinder F is covered with a new and peculiar combination of teeth
and plain ribs, and is shewn in enlarged section Figs. 2 and 3. The periphery of
the cylinder is grooved spirally, and has inserted in such spiral grooves a row of
plain ribs or blades M, after which the Garnett saw teeth N are inserted in the inter-
vening spaces between such rows of ribs or blades M, the points of said Garnett saw
teeth projecting to the same height as the rib or blade M, so that all hard or foreign
substances lodging in the fibre cannot damage the Garnett teeth because of the
rib N, but whilst the rib prevents hard substances getting into the saw teeth, it does not
prevent the said teeth from getting hold of the fibre and carrying it around to be
received by other rollers.
By the arrangement and construction of apparatus as above described, the fibre is
cleaned and dressed and straightened out ready to be transferred or allowed to drop
onto an endless travelling sheet or into weighing scales, or as before stated it may
be first matted into a porcupine roller and formed into one continuous sheet to be
carried forward to a carding engine for the purpose of being operated upon in the
ordinary manner of carding.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
Firstly. The employment of an endless travelling lattice sheet provided with blades
or plates for removing fibre from a hopper in thin layers or films to enable it to be
matted into a porcupine roller so as to form a continuous sheet before entering into
a carding machine substantially as described.
Secondly. In a machine for cleaning and dressing fibre, the construction of a
burring cylinder composed of Garnett teeth in combination with a plain rib M, the
outer edges of which extend equally from the periphery of the burring cylinder,
substantially as described.
Thirdly. The combination of a hopper and a burring cylinder, covered as herein
described, with a retaining bar, stripper, and porcupine, all arranged substantially as
herein shewn and described.
Dated this outh 1
n
1000