IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Valentine Scattergood, of Albany, in the
State of New York, United States of America, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS."
Sealed the 13th April 1865, and dated the 5th November 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Valentine
Scattergood, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, ou the 5th November 1864.
I, HENRY VALENTINE SCATTERGOOD, of Albany, in the State of New York,
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS," to be as follows:-
My ginning cylinder is composed of a series of narrow circular rings on
arms that are slipped over the shaft of said cylinder, and between, these rings
I retain circular ranges of teeth, which are formed by curved pointed wires
retained in cast metal segments, which segments are formed with grooves on
their sides, so as to set between and be retained by the said circular rings, so
that my ginning cylinder as a whole is made up of circular ranges of curved
pointed teeth, between which are depressions (where the said circular rings
are introduced), and the cylinder is provided with heads at the ends pressed
towards each other by screws or wedges to lind the segments of teeth and
the rings to each other. Between the circular ranges of teeth are guards of a
peculiar construction, which form the grid or grating of the hopper into which
the cotton to be ginned is fed. These guards, set into the depressions named
in the ginning cylinder, and are held in place at top and bottom firmly. The

page_text: guards at the upper part above the cylinder take a curved form upwards and
towards the front of the machine. The guards are so attached to the frame-
work as to leave a space between it and the guards for the passage upwards
of the lint, which discharges itself into the hopper instead of clogging the grid.
Between the guards the cotton is ginned by the rotating teeth, which draw the
cotton from the hopper through the guards, leaving the seeds- to fall away as
usual.
The cotton is taken off the cylinder by a brush, blower, or other device, and
blown over a screen that allows dust and motes to fall away, and the cotton is
deposited upon a condensing cylinder or cylinders formed of perforated sheet
metal or other smooth material, such as hard rubber, whence it is taken by a
pair of rollers in the form of a sheet or bat, one of said rollers being hung on
links from the shaft of said condensing cylinder, so as to rise and fall with
varying thicknesses of bats.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Valentine Scattergood, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY.
VÁLENTINE SCATTERGOOD, of Albany, in the State of New York, United States
of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said 'Henry Valentine Scattergood, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Valentine Scattergood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Valentine Scattergood, my executors, adminis-.
trators, 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 COTTON GINS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry. Valentine Scattergood, 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

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Valentine Scattergood, 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 the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Fig. 1, represents the gin in profile, with the pullies and belts in place;
Fig. 2, is a vertical section of the machine, through its length, showing the
arrangement of the machinery; Fig. 3, is a front view of the machine, with
the covering to the machinery removed in order to show it; Fig. 4, is a rear
view of the machine showing the condensing machinery as attached to it; and
Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9, are sectional views of parts of the improved machinery:
Similar letters denote the same parts of the apparatus.
The nature of my said Invention consists in forming the teeth of a cotton
gin of finished and tapering needle-pointed wires set obliquely to the radial
lines of. the ginning cylinder, so as to seize and draw away from the seeds
the cotton or lint without injury to the staple. I also construct my cylinder
of a series of separate rings or segments of rings, so that one portion can be
removed if injured; and I employ a condenser for receiving the cotton and
allowing the air from the brush or blower to pass away, said condenser being
formed of a cylinder or cylinders with a smooth perforated surface, to which
the cotton will not adhere as with the wire cloth cylinders heretofore
employed.
In the Drawing A is the frame of the machine formed in any usual manner;
C is the ginning cylinder; R, the guard or range of ribs; B, the brush
cylinder or blower, with its brushes, b, as usual.
'
The ginning cylinder is formed with circular ranges of teeth, and each
tooth is made of wire with a smooth finished tapering needle point, so as to
take hold of the cotton and draw the same away from the seeds without
injuring the staple. The teeth are to be set obliquely to the radii of the
cylinder, as at r, r, Fig. 5, or formed with their points curved forward, as at.
n, n, Fig. 5.
To make my cylinder both strong, light, and true, I provide a series of
rings E, having arms S, Fig. 7, fitted to be set upon the shaft G, of the
ginning cylinder, and between these I introduce my ranges of teeth secured in
a curved metal stock or base D. These toothed stocks are to be formed
either as complete rings or as sections or segments of rings, and made by

page_text: casting type metal or other suitable metal around the lower ends of the said
wire teeth. In the sides of these rings or segments I form grooves a, a, as
represented in Figs. 6 and 8, to receive the flanges of the rings E; and
the corresponding flanges on the cylinder heads or ribs might be formed on
the bases of the teeth and the rings E, and cylinder heads be made with
grooves to receive the same. One or both heads of the cylinder are made
movable and set up by a screw or wedge to clamp the segments and rings
firmly together and produce a perfect strong light and true ginning cylinder.
It is manifest that this construction will produce a light and strong cylinder,
and at the same time admit of easy and quick repairs in case of injury to any
of the rings carrying the ranges of teeth; in that case by loosening the nut,
and drawing back the cylinder head, the rings may be separated, the injured
part removed, and a new section introduced, the head replaced and screwed
up ready for service without removing the cylinder from the machinery.
The ribs in thé gins now in use are generally formed in reference. to
their profile as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, commencing at the
lower girt of the hopper at e, and extending to the upper girt at G,
where their upper ends are fastened.
It will be seen that at the upper
angle of the space behind this style of rib, there is a place where the
lint carried upward by the operation of the teeth upon the cotton in the
hopper may collect and pack. This frequently occurs, retarding and often
entirely stopping the movement or rolling of the cotton in the hopper, com-
pelling the operator to stop the gin and clear away the obstruction. The form
and arrangement of ribs in my machine is intended to obviate this difficulty.
These ribs are shown in profile at Fig. 2, in front view at Fig. 3, and in
cross section (of full size) as seen from above in Fig. 9. It will be seen that
I give the middle part of the ribs from their point g, where they become
tangent to the cylinder, a curved form, and carry that curve back above the
cylinder, and then give to the ribs a reflex curve upwards and forwards, as shown
in the Fig. 2. The ribs are secured at their bottom ends to the lower girt e
of the hopper by means of a brace g¹, see Fig. 9, fastened to the lower
surface of the girt, the brace and rib being connected by a narrow neck P,
holding the rib a small space off from the girt. The use of this narrow neck
is to leave between contiguous ribs a space Q for the passage of the lint
upwards behind said ribs, issuing at last from between said ribs at the point p,
Figs. 2 & 3, and re-entering the hopper. By this double curve of the ribs
carry that part which is over the cylinder further back than usual, thereby
exposing the cotton to the action of a greater number of teeth than in other
I

page_text: gins, consequently enabling the machine to do more work at every revolution
of its cylinder.
For the purpose of cleansing the lint more perfectly from the dirt and dust,
which cannot be entirely removed by the action of the brushes, and which in
existing machines driven by the wind of the brushes, pass with the lint to the
condensing roll and become there incorporated with the bat of cotton as it is
formed. I provide a space between the -mote board M, and the back part of
the frame, which is inclosed, making a tight box or dead air chamber, and I
cover it with a screen or smooth surface freely perforated (see V. Fig. 2.)
The effect of this arrangement is that the lint thrown down by the brushes
upon the mote board is carried along the screen, and there being no current
of air from the dead air chamber to carry along the particles of dust and dirt,
they fall through the screen into the chamber. However, if preferred, this
casing might be dispensed with, the air and dust passing out through the
screen V.
The condenser, so called because by it the loose flock or lint delivered from
the brush blower is collected and formed into a compact bat, is constructed as
follows:-
In ordinary machines the lint is passed to a hollow cylinder, extending
across the machine at some distance behind the brush cylinder or blower, and
which cylinder is formed of wire cloth, upon which the lint passes. This kind
of covering gives the bat a coarse uneven appearance, and there is difficulty
in separating the cotton from such wire cloth. To avoid this difficulty, I
employ one or more condensing rollers or cylinders, formed with a smooth
surface perforated with small holes. For this I prefer sheet metal with
numerous small holes punched in it, but hard rubber or other material that
possesses sufficient strength and can be formed with a smooth surface capable
of being perforated with numerous small holes, without leaving rough edges
or projections to catch the cotton or lint may be employed. I have represented
two such condensing rollers 1 & 2, Fig. 2, with their doffing or delivery
rollers 3 & 4. The rollers 2 and 4 should be set in stationary boxes, while
the roller 3 is allowed to rise and accommodate the thickness of the 'bat.
The pair of rollers 3 & 4 are of wood with smooth surfaces, about two
inches in diameter. The roller 4 runs in stationary boxes, and condenser
roller 1 has a free movement up and down. The roller 3 runs in arms m,
which hang from the axis of No. 1, the condenser, and can turn thereon as
the roller 3 rises or falls. The object of this is that the roller 3 may always
maintain the same distance from the condenser, so that it will never fail to

page_text: take the lint from No. 1, no matter how far the rollers 3 or 4 may be sepȧ-
rated by the thickness of the bat between them. The rollers 1 & 3 are to
be pressed downwards by suitable springs S, fastened to the frame of the
machine.
I consider the advantages of the combined improvements to be these:-
First, by the form of the needle-pointed teeth, and the mode of placing
them upon the cylinder, the points present themselves first, and as the per-
fectly round smooth body of the tooth comes forward there is a gentle
drawing movement upon the cotton, which separate the lint from the seed
without injury to the staple.
Second, the mode of constructing the cylinder gives a simple way of fitting
the needle-pointed teeth to its surface, and a prompt economical way of
repairing damages thereto.
Third, by the mode of forming the ribs a greater.surface of the cotton roll
in the hopper is exposed to the operation of the teeth, and a greater number
of teeth are acting at once. upon the roll; keeping up its motion and sepa-
rating the lint from the seeds without injury to the staple.
Fourth, by the mode of securing the upper part of the ribs to the frame,
without obstructing the space for the lint to pass back into the hopper, the
clogging of the machine and the delay in operating it are prevented.
Fifth, by the dead air chamber and its perforated screen all dirt and foreign
matter are removed before the lint reaches the condenser.
Sixth, by forming the condenser roller or cylinder with a smooth per-
forated surface, instead of wire cloth, the bat when it comes from the machine
is complete.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
First, a ginning cylinder formed with circular ribs or projections con-
taining or supporting the teeth, said ribs or projections being elevated above
the other portion of the surface of the ginning cylinder, and thus leaving
grooves for the reception of the guards, substantially as specified.
Second, I claim forming the ginning cylinder of a series of rings, between
which rings or segments of rings containing teeth are secured, substantially as
specified.
Third, in combination with a cylinder carrying circular ranges of needle-
pointed teeth, I claim the guards R, formed with openings to their upper.
ends, as and for the purposes specified.
Fourth, I claim attaching the delivering or doffing roller upon arms
extending from the axis of the perforated condensing roller or cylinder, so.

page_text: that said delivery roller is allowed to rise and accommodate the thickness of
the bat and is kept properly in contact with the condensing cylinder, as
set forth.
Fifth, in combination with the condensing roller or rollers formed with
smooth perforated surfaces, I claim the screen V and brush blower B for
conveying the cotton to the condenser, as specified.
Sixth, I claim the combination of a ginning cylinder with needle-pointed
teeth, a brush to remove the cotton and throw off the motes, and a condensing
roller or rollers formed of smooth perforated sheet metal or other material for
receiving the cotton and forming it into a bat substantially as specified.
Seventh, I claim the use of two or more doffing or delivery rollers, in
combination with a smooth perforated condensing cylinder or cylinders for
the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Valentine Scattergood have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witnesses,
HENRY VALENTINE SCATTERGOOD. (L.s.)
WILLIAM QUESTED,
Albany, N.Y.
CHARLES FOURIER SCATTERGOOD,
Albany, N.Y.