IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING AND CLEANING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBRE-YIELDING PLANTS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING AND CLEANING
FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBRE-YIELDING PLANTS."-A communication from
abroad by James Edward Mallory and Gelston Sanford, both of New
York City, United States of America.
Sealed the 19th January 1864, and dated the 24th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th November 1863.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING AND
CLEANING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBRE-YIELDING PLANTS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements on machinery for breaking and
cleaning flax, hemp, and other fibre-yielding plants requiring a like mode of
treatment, in which the fluted rollers, the better to operate on the fibrous
substances, have a rotary reciprocating motion so that the flutes of the rollers
may have a rubbing action on the fibres alternately in opposite directions, the
range of such reciprocating motion being greater in a direction from the
feeding table than towards it; and one of the said improvements is for imparting

page_text: cog
such reciprocating rotary motion by means of a screw or worm which engages
wheels on the shafts of the rollers, the said screw having also a longitudinal
reciprocating motion in the line of its axis so as to impart a rotary recipro-
cating motion to the rollers on their axes, while at the same time the screw
has a continuous rotary motion, which, if it did not have a reciprocating motion
on its axis would impart a slow but continuous rotary motion to the rollers on
their axes, both of which motions of the screw will have the effect of imparting
to the rollers a reciprocating rotary motion of greater range in one direction
than in the other, so that the fibrous material while being acted upon in
alternately opposite directions shall gradually travel through the machine.
Another improvement consists in making the last pair of rollers with flutes
or grooves in the direction of the circumference and crossing the longitudinal
flutes so as to form zones of teeth, and to one of these rollers a longitudinal
reciprocating motion in the line of its axis is communicated to it as it rotates.
By this compound motion the woody particles are more effectually separated
from the fibres of the plant.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 FOR BREAKING AND CLEANING FLAX, HEMP, AND
OTHER FIBRE-YIELDING PLANTS," being a communication from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,

page_text: by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to improvements on machinery for breaking and
cleaning flax, hemp, and other fibre-yielding plants, requiring a like mode
of treatment, in which the fluted rollers, the better to operate on the
fibrous substances, receive a rotary reciprocating motion so that the flutes of
the rollers may have a rubbing action on the fibres alternately in opposite
directions, the range of such reciprocating motion being greater in a direction
from the feeding table than towards it. One of the said improvements consists
in imparting such reciprocating rotary motion by means of a screw or worm
which engages cog wheels on the shafts of the rollers, the said screw having a
longitudinal reciprocating motion in the line of its axes to impart a rotary
reciprocating motion to the rollers on their axes, while at the same time the
screw has a continuous rotary motion, which, if it did not have a reciprocating
motion on its axis, would impart a slow but continuous rotary motion to the
rollers on their axes, both of which motions of the screw result in imparting to
the rollers a reciprocating rotary motion of greater range in one direction than
in the other, so that the fibrous material while being acted upon in alternately
opposite directions shall gradually travel through the machine.
The Invention also consists in making the last pair of rollers with flutes or
grooves in the direction of the circumference, and crossing the longitudinal
flutes so as to form zones of teeth, and imparting to one of this last pair of
rollers a longitudinal reciprocating motion in the line of its axis as it
rotates, the better to separate the woody particles from the fibres of the
plant.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan; Fig. 2 a side elevation;
and Fig. 8 a longitudinal vertical section. The same letters indicate like parts
in all the Figures.
a represents a suitable frame, and b a table on which the flax or other fibre-
yielding plant to be operated upon is placed by an attendant, and from which
it is presented to the bite of the first pair of fluted rollers c, c¹, by which it is

page_text: taken, operated upon, and passed to the second pair of fluted rollers d, d', and
by them presented to the third pair of rollers e, e', and by them acted upon
and delivered. The flutes of the second pair of rollers are finer than the flutes
of the first pair, and the third pair of rollers are fluted longitudinally, and
grooved to a less depth in the direction of their circumference so as to form
zones of teeth from near one end to the other. The journals of the lower
rollers c, d, e, are mounted in fixed boxes, and their shafts outside of the frame
carry each a cogged wheel f, the cogs of which are fitted to engage the thread
or worm of a screw 9, which is hollow and mounted on a shaft h, on which it
slides, and to which it is feathered so as to rotate with it. The shaft h is
mounted in boxes attached to the side of the frame, and receives rotary motion
from the driving shaft i by two bevil cog wheels j and k. The screw 9 thus
rotated imparts a slow and continuous rotary motion to the lower rollers c, d, e,
by the wheels f, f, f, which motion being communicated to the upper rollers
c², d, e, by the interlocking of the longitudinal flutes, carries the flax or other
fibrous substances gradually through the machine. And although the carrying
of the fibrous material between the rollers will break the woody parts, such
action alone even when carried at a high velocity, is not however sufficient to
thoroughly break and separate the woody fragments from the fibres. This
desired result is obtained by a back and forth rubbing action of the flutes of
the rollers on the fibres, which results from imparting to the rollers a recipro-
cating rotary motion. This motion is imparted by giving to the screw ga
longitudinal reciprocating motion in addition to the rotary motion above
described. One end of the screw is grooved and the groove embraced by a
collar, and this collar is connected by a connecting rod / with a crank m on
the end of the driving shaft i, so that the revolution of the crank imparts a
reciprocating motion to the screw 9, and as the thread of this screw is engaged
in the cogs of the wheels f, f, f, on the shafts of the rollers c, d, e, it follows
that the rollers receive therefrom the required reciprocating rotary motion,
which is equal in both directions, but as the screw by its rotation drives the
rollers always in the same direction, it results that the range of motion of the
rollers from the feeding table is greater than towards the feeding table, so that
whilst the flutes of the rollers have a back and forth rubbing action on the
fibres they at the same time cause the fibres to travel from the feeding table
to the delivery end of the machine. The upper roller e of the third pair of
rollers, which are toothed, is shorter than the lower one e, and the journals of
its shaft are fitted to slide longitudinally in its boxes whilst it receives the
rotary motions above described. This longitudinal reciprocating motion is
received from a crank n on the end of a shaft o, which receives motion from

page_text: the driving shaft i by two bevil wheels p, q, the crank n being connected with
the end of the shaft of the roller e¹ by a rod r connected with the shaft of the
roller by a ball-and-socket joint or other equivalent universal joint, which will
permit the roller to be rotated as it is reciprocated longitudinally by the crank
motion. The number of pairs of rollers may be increased or decreased at
pleasure, and the structure of the rollers may be varied without departing from
the character of the said Invention. Imparting to the rollers of machinery
for breaking and cleaning flax and other fibrous substances a reciprocating
rotary motion of greater range in one direction than in the reverse direction is
not claimed herein as new. It will be obvious that other and equivalent
means may be employed for communicating the rotary and the longitudinal
reciprocating motions to the screw.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in
machinery for breaking and cleaning flax, hemp, and other fibre-yielding plants
as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent, I claim,--
First, imparting to one or more pairs of rollers a rotary reciprocating
motion with the range of motion greater in one direction than in the opposite
direction by combining with the rollers a screw or worm having a rotary and
a longitudinal reciprocating motion, substantially as herein described.
Secondly, giving to one of the pair of toothed rollers a longitudinal recipro-
cating motion in the direction of its axis in combination with the rotary motion
of both rollers, substantially as described, whether such rotary motion be
reciprocating or continuous.
In witness whereof, J, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)