IMPROVE- MENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1843

page_text: EDMOND DONISTHORPE, of Bradford, York, Top Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of June, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said George
Edmond Donisthorpe, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, 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 England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and im-
mediately 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
George Edmond Donisthorpe, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully

page_text: described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates,-
First, to a mode of returning wool or other fibrous material which requires
to be combed from the working combs back on to the carrying comb, with
which the working combs are acting, thus preventing the working combs
becoming filled with wool or other fibrous material, and at the same time the
wool or other fibrous material under process being returned to the carrying
or holding comb will be again worked or combed out by the working combs.
Secondly, the Invention relates to the use of projecting bristles or points in
combination with sliding plates or moving surfaces, used to force wool or other
fibrous materials out of the working combs, in order to the same being re-
turned to the carrying combs.
And, thirdly, the Invention relates to a mode of applying heat to a
circular or endless comb, by applying one or more heating stoves or boxes
thereto, in such manner that the heating boxes or stoves may be out of the
way when the machine is stopped.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawings shew various views of parts of a machine similar to what
was described in the Specification of my former Patent, which was granted to
me, dated the Sixth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-two,
and the present Drawings only shew so much of the machinery consisting of a
circular or endless comb, with working combs, as will enable me to explain the
present improvements; and it will be seen on comparing the present Drawings
with those attached to my former Specification, that the heads of the working
combs are not arranged for being heated, as in the former Specification, and
there are other detail variations in the framing and in the proportion of the
several parts, which will be readily understood on examining the Drawings.
I have not thought it necessary to shew the apparatus for feeding or lashing
wool or other fibrous material into the carrying combs, nor the apparatus for
drawing off the wool or other fibrous material from the carrying comb after
the same has been combed, apparatus for this purpose being fully described in
my former Specification, and the present improvements do not relate to appa-
ratus which perform those processes. The mode of giving motion to the
working combs being varied from that formerly described, it will be desirable

page_text: to enter into a description thereof; and in order to facilitate the workman when
comparing the present Drawings and description to those of my foriner Speci-
fication, I have marked the parts which are similar to those in the former
Drawings with the same letters of reference to those formerly used. The
nature of each of the Figures being written on the Drawings, it will not be
necessary to repeat them here, and it will be found that the same letters and
figures of reference are used in the various Figures of the Drawings to indicate
the same parts.
The first of the present improvements consists in so arranging working
combs that only part of the whole length of each working comb is cleared of
the wool or other fibrous material (whether each working comb be composed
in one length or of two or more parts) in order that the portion of such work-
ing comb which is not cleared may work the wool which is returned by the
parts of the combs which are cleared, for it will be understood that if the
whole length of each working comb be cleared, that the wool or other fibrous
material which is cleared off the finishing end of a comb will not be again
combed out, and will only attach itself loosely to the carrying comb; there-
fore the finishing end of each working comb is so arranged as not to be cleared
by the apparatus, which continually cleans the other parts of the combs, and it
is preferred that the part (2) of each working comb should be separate from
the working comb, and the teeth closer set, and it will evident that where
two or more working combs are used to work the wool or other fibrous
material contained in different parts of the carrying comb, that the first work-
ing combs may have clearing apparatus applied, while the comb which acts
last upon the wool or other fibrous material may have no clearing apparatus
applied thereto. By this arrangement any wool or other fibrous material
which may be in a working comb will, by the sliding plates (3), which aro
guided by staples, 3x, be delivered back on to the carrying comb (b), the wool
delivered from the outer end of a comb being worked by the succeeding work.-
ing combs, and the portion of wool delivered from the finishing end of a
working comb will be again worked by the finishing combs (2), or those parts
of the working combs which are not cleared continuously by the sliding plates
(3), or other proper apparatus, whereby no wool or other fibrous material
which is delivered back to the carrying comb 6 from the working combs can go
away uncombed. The workman, as the finishing ends or finishing combs (2)
become filled with wool, may readily clear the same by hand as the machine
works. In working with clearing apparatus or sliding plates it is found de
sirable to apply projecting surfaces or points, which it is preferred should be
bristles, as is shewn at (4), and it is the application of these projecting points

page_text: or bristles which constitutes the second of the present improvements, by which
the wool or other fibrous material in the working combs will be better laid into
the comb. The means of working the sliding plates (3) are as follows:-(5)
is a cog wheel, which is driven by the cog wheel (1) affixed on to the axis of
the working combs, the cog wheel (5) turning on a fixed axis, as is shown,
and the cog wheel (5) takes into and gives motion to the intermediate cog
whcel (6), which takes into and drives the cog wheel (7) on the axis of the
arms (8), which force down the sliding plates (3) as they come in the way of
the arms (8), and the sliding plates (3) are again forced towards the heads of
the working combs by the fixed curved plates 4×, all which may readily be
traced on examining the Drawings. The mode of giving motion to the comb
b and some of the other parts being different to that formerly described, it will
be desirable shortly to describe the means of getting motion to the comb band
other parts, as shown in the present Drawings, not that they are claimed as
novelties of importance, but as advantageous to the present arrangement of
the machine as shown in the Drawings. (9) is a fixed axis on which the
driving pulley turns freely, (10) being a cog wheel affixed to the driving pulley;
the cog wheel (10) takes into and gives motion to the cog wheel (11) affixed
on the axis (12). On the axis (12) is affixed a bevilled cog wheel (13),
which takes into and drives the cog wheel affixed on the axis (14). On the
axis (14) is also affixed the cog wheel or pinion (15), which takes into and
drives the cog wheel (16), which turns on the axis (17). To the cog wheel
(16) is also affixed the cog wheel (18), which takes into and drives the cog
wheel (19), which takes into and drives the cog teeth of the comb b, and thus
is a constant rotatory motion kept up to the comb b, and motion is communi-
cated to the axis of the working combs by a bevilled cog wheel affixed on the
axis (12), which takes into and drives a bevilled toothed wheel affixed on the
axis (20), on which is affixed the cog wheel (21), which drives the cog wheel
(22), which turns freely on a fixed axis. 23 is a cog wheel affixed to the cog
wheel (22). The cog wheel (23) takes into and drives the cog wheel (1)
affixed on the axis of the rotatory working combs.
The third part of the present improvements consists in so applying fire-boxes
or heaters to the surfaces of the teeth of an endless or circular comb b, that
such fire-boxes or heaters may be out of the way when the machine is stopped.
(24) (24) show two fire-boxes or heaters, they being open only towards the
teeth of the comb b, where there is a row of upright firebars (25) (25) there
being fire or grate bars at (26) (26), so that the ashes may fall into the ash-
pits (27) (27), which are fixed to the framing of the machine. (28) is a
plate which covers the space between the fire-boxes or heaters, and this plate

page_text: prevents the fire-boxes coming too close to the teeth of the comb b, as well
as prevents the heat getting away in that direction. The fire or heat is kept
up by the use of charcoal introduced above, the covers or tops of the fire-boxes
being moveable for that purpose, or any other mode of heating the boxes may
be applied which is found desirable. The fire-boxes are capable of being
moved from and to each other, in order to be out of the way of the teeth of
the combs when the machine is stopped, otherwise the teeth would get too
much heated; and it is this giving of movement to fire-boxes or heaters when
combined with the use of a circular or endless comb b, which constitutes the
peculiarity of this improvement in applying fire-boxes or heaters, for very
similar heaters have before been applied for heating such a description of
comb, but the heaters were not then made capable of being moved out of the
way when the machine stopped. The heaters slide on the ashpits, and are
guided in so doing by projections (29) (29) on the under surfaces, working
against the sides of the ashpits. The fire-boxes or heaters are moved from
and to each other in the following manner:- -(30) is a lever. the upper end
being attached by a pin joint to the projection (31) of one of the fire-boxes or
heaters. This lever moves on an axis at (32); motion is communicated to the
lever (30) by means of the lever (33), which is connected to the lever (30)
by means of the connecting rod (34). the lever (33) moving on an axis (35),
and the other fire-box is attached by a pin joint (36) to the lever (33); hence
when this lever is moved the two fire-boxes will also be moved from or to each
other, and in order that the machine may be stopped when the heaters or fire-
boxes are separated, a projection (37) is affixed to the connecting rod (34),
this projection (37) acting on the lever which moves the driving strap on, to,
or off the driving drum or pulley.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would remark that I do not
confine myself to the particular arrangement of working combs herein shewn
and described, as the same may be varied, provided the mode of clearing part
of the working comb or combs whilst working be retained, or so long as the
using projecting points or bristles, in combination with clearing plates or bars,
be resorted to for clearing the whole or part of the length of each working
comb. in order to return the wool or other fibrous material thereon to the
carrying comb used therewith; and the arrangement of the fire-boxes or
heaters may be varied. and the apparatus for moving the same, so long as
similar heating stoves or boxes be combined with a circular or endless comb,
as herein described. But what I claim is,-
First, the so working of combs that the wool or other fibrous material

page_text: thereon may be returned during the working of the machinery from part only
of the length of the working combs on to the carrying or holding comb work-
ing therewith.
Secondly, I claim the combining projecting points or bristles, with moving
plates or bars employed to remove wool or other fibrous material from the
whole or part of the length of a working comb whilst working, in order to
return the wool or other fibrous material to the carrying or holding comb
working therewith.
And, thirdly, I claim the mode of applying fire-boxes or heaters to a circular
or endless comb, whereby such fire-boxes or heaters are capable of going out
of the way when the machine is stopped.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.