A NEW OR IMPROVED SELF-FEEDING COTTON GIN
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jules Alfred Chaufourier, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris, in the Empire of France, Advocate, for the Invention of "A NEW
OR IMPROVED SELF-FEEDING COTTON GIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Alfred Chaufourier
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th September 1866.
I, JULES ALFRED CHAUFOURIER, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, in
the Empire of France, Advocate, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED SELF-FEEDING COTTON GIN," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to improved apparatus for ginning cotton. The
improvements consist, 1st, in a self-acting feed of the raw material to be
ginned, which is effected by the machine instead of by hand, and possesses the
further advantage of reducing the labor of the attendant charged with this
special duty, while the yield of the machine is much more considerable;
2ndly, in an arrangement of parts whereby ginning rollers, may be employed
of any desired length; 3rdly, in the use and application in gins of a self-acting
blower or fan serving for the injection of cold air to cool the rollers and other

page_text: parts, so as to prevent any heating of the cotton. This latter improvement is
more especially applicable to what are known as long staple machines, in
which the drawing rollers are of small diameter and driven at a high speed.
For short staple machines the employment of a blower is unnecessary, as the
drum is of a relatively large size, it being further made hollow and provided
with perforations to afford access to the air for ventilating and cooling its
interior; 4thly, in the employment in the said short staple machines of a
mechanical arrangement provided with an endless apron acting in combination
for effecting simultaneously the drawing out of the ginned cotton and the
cleaning or clearing of the ginning cylinder.
In my improved apparatus with a self-acting feed the raw cotton is placed
in a hopper, the bottom of which is occupied by a comb or rake oscillating on
an axis, and raising the material in order to facilitate the separation of the
pods and prevent the cotton from lodging. The ginning rollers are placed
one below the other under one side of the hopper, the cotton being introduced
at regular intervals by means of a second comb also movable on its axis, which
is driven by the machine. I also reserve the right of disposing any number
of ginning rollers to be all driven from the same source of power, so that the
work, performed by the machine. may be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled in
amount.
In order to render my Invention better understood I have represented two
arrangements of ginning apparatus as specimens merely in the accompanying
Drawings, Figure 1 of which shows a first arrangement of gin in sectional
elevation provided with a bellows or cooler; Figure 2 is an elevation of the
same showing the method of transmitting motion to the various parts, as also
the self-acting arrangement of the comb or rake, while Figure 8 is. a. front
view of the same machine. The same letters serve for all the three Figures.
a, frame of the machine carrying the various parts; b, driving axis set in
motion either
er by pullies c, c, or cranks; d, d, ginning rollers turning in
bearings on the frame a; g, drawing roller of wood or other material, also
turning in the bearings f. This roller, which is of comparatively small
diameter, and has a rapid rotary motion, necessitates the employment of a
cooling current of air; a scraper or clearer is employed for removing any
material which may adhere to this roller; h, cleaning roller furnished with
flexible arms serving to clear at the same time both the ginning roller d and
the drawing roller g. The roller h might be smooth instead of being provided
with arms as above mentioned, in which case a roller provided with flexible
arms should be placed below in order to clean it; i, bellows driven by an
eccentric keyed on the driving shaft b, serving to inject air through the

page_text: channel on to the ginning and drawing rollers; k, hopper receiving the raw
cotton to beginned. At the bottom of this hopper there is a comb 1,
oscillating on an axis m; this comb serves to raise the material and allows of
the separation of the pods which fall into the receptacle n; it also prevents
the ginning rollers from becoming choked. This comb is actuated by an
eccentric o, see Figures 2 and 3, keyed on the driving shaft 6 and connected
to a slotted lever p, whereby its motion may be regulated as desired; q, second
comb or feeder for supplying the material in the same manner as in hand
feeding; it is arranged to oscillate on an axis v, during which movement.it
furnishes a certain quantity of cotton, at the same time retaining the surplus
raw material in an unginned condition. This movement is effected by means
of a levers, shown dotted in Figure 1, on which acts a tappet t carried on the
toothed wheel mounted on the end of the driving shaft 6'; a counterbalance a
returns the comb g to position when its action is no longer required.
The following is the mode of operation of the drawing, ginning, and clearing
rollers:-The shaft b is provided at one end with a fly wheel v, and at the
other end is keyed a toothed wheel gearing with the pinions y, z, mounted
on the ends of the lower ginning roller and clearing. roller; the other end of
the clearing roller carries two pinions 1, 2, gearing with pinions 3, 4, the
pinion 3 being keyed on the end of the drawing roller. If the ginning
rollers d are required to be of considerable length, or liable to become bent,
I may provide another supporting roller turning in frictional contact with the
former and preventing any deflection; this additional roller is represented in
red in the Drawing.
.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent another arrangement of apparatus showing
the application of an endless apron for drawing off the cotton and cleaning
the ginning rollers; Figure 4 is an elevation of the apparatus; Figure 5 a
longitudinal section, and Figure 6 a front view of the same; the supply table
and pod receptacle being removed. The same letters of reference serve for
all the three Figures..
A, frame of the machine carrying a driving shaft B, on which is keyed the
drawing cylinder C, which is hollow, grooved on its periphery, and provided
with end openings D for the admission of air. A toothed wheel C¹ is keyed
on one end of the shaft B, imparting movement by the aid of an endless
chain E to a clearer, consisting of a shaft provided with radial arms F serving
to clear the drawing drum C and deliver the ginned cotton. On the shaft B
is also mounted a toothed wheel G, imparting motion by the aid of a pinion J
to a toothed wheel H, keyed on the shaft I. The other end of the shaft I
carries a large toothed wheel K in gear, 1st, with a pinion L, mounted on the

page_text: spindle of the grooved ginning roller M; 2ndly, with a toothed wheel N,
keyed on the end of the axis O of a drum P, carrying the endless apron Q.
This endless apron also passes round the drawing roller R, and serves to draw
through the ginned material, at the same time keeping the gin clear; the
endless apron is further acted on by means of a clearer S, driven by an endless
chain T encircling the wheels T', T; U, roller turning by frictional contact
with the gin roller and serving as a support therefor. The three gin rollers
and the drawing drum turn in bearings on the framing A of the machine;
V, metal cover enclosing the roller U to prevent the cotton from entering
between it and the gin roller; X, table for the supply of material to be ginned,
in front of this table is placed a comb surface, through which the pods fall
into the receptacle Y.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jules Alfred Chaufourier in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULES
ALFRED CHAUFOURIER, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Advocate, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jules Alfred Chaufourier, Her special licence that I, the said
Jules Alfred Chaufourier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Jules Alfred Chaufourier, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED SELF-FEEDING COTTON GIN," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jules Alfred Chaufourier, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jules Alfred Chaufourier, 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 accompanying Drawings:-
My Invention relates to certain new arrangements in cotton gins, which
arrangements consist, first, in a self feed of the raw material which is to be
ginned or shelled; this self feeding by the parts of the machine is a very
advantageous substitute for the manual feed as hereto used; besides it
reduces the manual labour of the operator, and, finally, the effective work by
the machine is far more consider. ble; secondly, in an arrangement of the
parts which permits of using shelling or picking cylinders of any length;
thirdly, in the new application to cotton gins of a self-acting blower or
ventilator injecting cold air for the purpose of cooling the shelling cylinders
and other working parts, and preventing the cotton from being overheated;
this new application is chiefly intended for long staple cotton gins, in which
machines the drawing drum has but a small diameter, and has imparted to it
a very rapid rotary motion. In short staple cotton gins the use of a blower
is quite useless, as the drawing drum is of a comparatively large diameter,
and it is besides hollow and pierced with holes which admit the surrounding
ventilating air whereby the insides are cooled; fourthly, in the use as regards
short staple cotton gins of a stretcher or endless band, whereby are both at
once effected the drawing or stretching of the shelled cotton and the cleaning
of the shelling cylinder. In my new self-feeding or distributing machine the
raw material is placed in a hopper placed on the machine for that purpose.
At the bottom of this hopper is fitted a moveable comb or rack oscillating
round an axis or shaft, and raising up the material so as to make the release
of the feed easier, and prevent the cotton from being obstructed. The shelling
or ginning parts are next or below the bottom of the hopper, cotton is intro-
duced in an intermittent but regular way by means of a second comb or
driving rack which is, like the former, moveable on its axis and operated by
the machine.
I claim arranging in my machines any number of shelling or picking
cylinders worked by the same motor, and entended to double, treble, and even
quadruplicate the effective work of the machine.
I have in the annexed Drawing represented two specimens of my improved
cotton gins, wherein Figure 1 shows a first arrangement of said machine in
sectional elevation, and provided with a blower; Figure 2 is an external
elevation of the same, showing the manner of transmitting motion, and also
the automatic motion of the comb or rack; Figure 3 is a front view of the

page_text: same, and in these three Figures the same letters and figures of reference
stand for the like parts where they recur.
a, bed or frame of the machine, upon which are placed all the parts
thereof; b, driving shaft operated either by pulleys c, c', or by cranks; d, d,
shelling cylinders turning in bearings f formed or cast in the bed or frame a ;
9, drawing wood or other cylinder, likewise turning in bearings f; this
cylinder, to which is imparted a rapid rotary motion, is of a comparatively
small diameter, which necessitates the use of a refrigeratory current of air,
which constantly cools it. A scraper or clearer carries off the material which
may have kept adherent to this cylinder. h, cleaning cylinder with flexible
pallets or paddles, cleaning both at once, the shelling cylinder d and the
drawing cylinder g; this cylinder instead of being provided with small blades
may be made smooth, and then beneath this plain-smooth cylinder another
cylinder should be fitted with flexible pallets for cleaning the same. i, blower
set in motion by the excentric j keyed on the driving shaft or axis b, and
injecting through the conduit atmospheric air on the shelling and drawing
cylinders. k, hopper for receiving the raw material or cotton to be picked.;
the bottom of this hopper is formed with the comb or rack / oscillating round
the axis m, said rack being intended to lift up the material and allow the
liberation of the seed, which drops in the receptacle n, thus preventing the
shelling cylinder from being obstructed. Motion is imparted to this rack
by means of an excentric o, Figs. 2 & 3, keyed on the driving shaft b, and
connected to a slotfed lever p which allows of its being regulated at will.
'g, another arched rack, which I call a repeller, and which fulfils the same
office as the hand; it oscillates at r, and by this movement supplies the
shelling cylinders with a certain amount of cotton, at same time keeping up
the remaining raw unpicked material; its motion is imparted by means of a
-levers, shown in dotted lines, Figures 1 & 3, upon which acts a pin t
planted in the toothed wheel, which is keyed on the end of shaft b. A
counterweight u brings back the rack 9 as soon as its work is accomplished.
I will now describe in what manner is given the motion to the drawing,
shelling, and cleaning cylinders. At one end of shaft 6 is a fly wheel'v, and
on the other end is keyed a toothed wheel a gearing with the pinions y &
on the ends of the lower shelling and of the cleaning cylinders. The other
side of the cleaning cylinder carries two toothed pinions 1 & 2 gearing each
with the pinions 3 & 4, keyed the one 3 on the end of the upper shelling
cylinder, and the other 4 on the end of the drawing cylinder. If the shelling
cylinders were to be above a certain length, or if there were any fear
of deflection I may (and I claim especially this application) provide them

page_text: with a second supporting cylinder, which would be made to rotate by friction,
and thus prevent any deflection of the former; this supporting cylinder is
shown in red colour.
Figures 4, 5, & 6 represent another arrangement of my machine with appli-
cation of endless band for the stretching out the cotton and cleaning of the
picker or shelling cylinder; Figure 4 is an external elevation of this machine;
Figure 5, a longitudinal section; and Figure 6 a front view thereof, the
loading table and receptacle being cut off. In these three Figures the same
letters of reference indicate the like parts.
A, bed or frame of the machine, and supporting the driving shaft B, upon:
which is keyed the drawing cylinder C roughened or corrugated on its external
periphery, and hollow and pierced with holes D for admitting a current of
atmospheric air. One end of this shaft B carries a toothed wheel C¹ im-
parting by means of an endless chain E motion to a paddle cylinder F intended
to clean the drawing cylinder C, and to eject the picked material. On the
same axis or shaft B is keyed another toothed wheel G giving motion to a
gearing wheel H keyed on shaft I; the other end of shaft I has a large toothed
wheel K keyed on it, which gears, 1rst, with the pinion L formed on the end
of the roughened or corrugated shelling cylinder M; 2dly, with the toothed:
wheel N keyed to the end of the axis O of drum P, which carries the endless
band Q; this endless band Q is wound upon a stretching cylinder R, and is
intended to stretch out the shelled material, at same time serving to clean the
picker or shelling cylinder. This endless band Q is itself cleaned by the
paddle cylinder S operated by an endless chain T, which is wound up or
engaged on the wheels T & T"; U, supporting cylinder turning by friction,
and holding up the shelling cylinder. The three shelling, stretching, and
supporting cylinders turn all of them in a bearing formed in the bed or frame A
of the machine; V, metallic covering which surrounds the supporting.cylinder,
and prevents the material from being rolled between this and the shelling
cylinder; X, table for receiving the material to be shelled. The fore part of
this table is formed with a comb permitting the release of the seed as it drops
into the receiver Y.
:
Having thus described the nature of my improvements in cotton gins, I
wish it to be distinctly understood that what I claim as my Invention.and
desire to be secured by Letters Patent is, the new arrangements of my.cotton
gins as described, and which may be characterized thus,-
Firstly, by the self feeding as described by means of combs, racks, or other
equivalent means, substantially as and for the purposes described.
Secondly, by a self-acting or automatic refrigeratory ventilator. or by in-

page_text: jecting a current of atmospheric air in the interior of the drawing cylinder,
this last means being more especially applicable to short staple machines,
substantially as and for the purposes described.
Thirdly, by the use of supporting cylinders intended to prevent the deflection
of the shelling cylinders.
Fourthly, by the use of an endless band fulfilling the double office of
stretcher and cleaner, substantially as described.
number of
Fifthly, by the faculty (which I claim especially) of doubling, trebling, &.
the effective work of the machine by a combined application of a
shelling or picking cylinders worked by the same motive power.
Sixthly, by the peculiar arrangement of two descriptions of machines, as
represented.
Just at the moment that I was going to close the present Specification I
thought that I had omitted to mention various other useful improvements to
my cotton gin, which improvements I beg to describe summarily in this place
and claim. These improvements are the following:-
1-
1st, in the long staple machine a new arrangement of the self-feeding comb,
in which new arrangement, as represented in Figure 7, the speed of said self-
feeding comb is accelerated, consequently the number of strokes is increased
or greater than with the arrangement represented in Figures 1, 2, & 3,
for the purpose of increasing the productive work of, the machine. This
acceleration of the self-feeding comb is obtained by a suitable arrangement and
size or diameter of gears according to the speed which it is desired to
obtain.
2ndly, in my cotton gin I have substituted for the flexible blades or pallets
of the cleaning cylinders, which prevented the machine from working inversely,
a buff leather or other flexible matter band of a single piece, which I nail or
fix otherwise on the periphery of the cleaning cylinder; this new arrange-
ment permits of the machine moving in every direction, and of the cleaning
being effected thoroughly.
Srdly, in the short staple machine I have suppressed the endless apron Q,
Figures 4, 5, 6, and adopted the arrangement represented, Figure 8, where
said endless apron is replaced by a cleaning cylinder Q' having on its periphery
a leather band, as above mentioned.
I should observe in this place that the supporting cylinder U intended to
prevent deflections is not located in the axis of the carrying and shelling
cylinder C & M. This supporting cylinder U is placed obliquely to the
latter, and this is the required position to effectively prevent the crushing of
the seed and the deflection of cylinder M, the strain of which takes place at

page_text: the intersecting point, that is to say, at the contact point of the cylinders
C & M and of the seed.
I therefore claim together with the already claimed points,-
The accelerated speed of the self-feeding comb, as described and represented
in Figure 7.
The new arrangement of the cleaning cylinder, as and for the purposes
described.
The suppression of the endless apron, and, finally, the obliquity of the
supporting cylinder, as and for the purposes herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jules Alfred Chaufourier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred & sixty-seven.
J. A. CHAUFOURIER. (L.s.)