IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FOR
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Alton Calvert, of the City of Manchester,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND
APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FOR
Sealed the 14th September 1866, and dated the 24th March 1866. |
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Alton Calvert
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th March 1866.
I, FRANCIS ALTON CALVERT, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FOR
OPENING TWISTED YARNS AND WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a suitable toothed drum or cylinder in combination
with a series of blades or combs placed above or around its circumference;
these blades or combs are lifted alternately by a cam or other equivalent to
strip them from the fibres or foreign matters that may be arrested by
the edges of the said blades or combs. The toothed drum or cylinder
referred to is supplied by a feeding roller, and around a portion of this feed
roller is a perforated concave hollow shell containing steam which acts on the

page_text: fibrous substance to be operated upon. The foreign matters are discharged
at the back of the toothed drum or cylinder and the fibres underneath.
When cleaning fibres from foreign matters the drum or cylinder is stripped
by a brush or other suitable revolving instrument, and when preparing fibrous
substances and opening twisted yarns and woven fabrics the drum or cylinder
discharges the fibres from its circumference by centrifugal force.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Alton Calvert in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
ALTON CALVERT, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Francis Alton Calvert, Her special license that I, the said
Francis Alton Calvert, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, 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 AND APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FOR OPENING TWISTED YARNS
AND WOVEN FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Francis Alton Calvert, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 nud
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, 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, (that is to say) :-
-:
My Invention consists of a suitable toothed drum or cylinder in combination

page_text: with a series of blades or combs placed above or around its circumference;
these blades or combs are lifted alternately by a cam or other equivalent to
strip them from the fibres or foreign matters that may be arrested by the
edges of the said blades or combs. The toothed drum or cylinder above
referred to is supplied by a. feeding roller, and around a portion of this feed
roller is a perforated concave hollow shell containing steam which acts on the
fibrous substance to be operated upon. The foreign matters are discharged
at the back of the toothed drum or cylinder and the fibres underneath. When
cleansing fibres from foreign matters the drum or cylinder is stripped by a
brush or other suitable revolving instrument, and when preparing fibrous
substances and opening twisted yarns and woven fabrics the drum or cylinder
discharges the fibres from its circumference by centrifugal force.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will proceed to
describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a side view of a machine for cleaning
and preparing wool, cotton, and other fibrous substances.
In these views a is a toothed drum or cylinder, the circumference of which
is covered by preferénco with concentric comb plates b, shewn detached in
Figures 3 and 4; the front edge of one of these plates is a little distance
from the back of the adjacent one, the space between the two allowing the
fibres to be caught by the teeth of the drum or cylinder. The cylinder a is
supplied with the fibrous substances to be cleaned by the feeding apron c,
which delivers them to the feed roller d; above which' is the perforated hollow
concave shell containing steam to warm the fibres before they are carried
forward by the comb plates 6 of the cylinder a; this concave shell is provided
with a series of holes at about half an inch apart extending the whole length
of the feed roller d to allow the steam to penetrate, heat, and moisture the
fibres as they are carried forward to the cylinder a. The edge of the shell ..
is also serrated, as shewn detached in Figure 5; above the cylinder a is placed.
a series of bars and conibs f. f, the ends of which pass through slots in. the.
frame sides; these bars and combs are shewn detached in Figures 6 and 7,.
and they are lifted alternately by the arms 9 which are fixed to the ratchet
wheels h for the purpose of stripping them against the sheet metal guards n
which are hinged to the frame sides, and are of the full length of the combs ;.
these ratchet wheels h and the ratchet wheel c¹ on the axle of the roller of
the feeding apron are turned slowly round in the following manner, or by
any other convenient arrangement of gearing:-To each end of the axle of
the cylinder a is fixed a spur pinion a¹ gearing into the wheels i, which are
fixed on short shafts revolving in the bearings j; in the face of these wheels

page_text: are grooves for the crank pins which take into slots in the levers k which
vibrate on the bearings of the cylinder a. To the upper ends of the levers k
are jointed catches taking into the ratchet wheels h, which are also mounted
on the bearings of the cylinder a, and to one of the levers k is jointed the
catch m for giving motion to the ratchet wheel c². The axle of the feeding
apron c gives motion by suitable pinions to the feed roller d. When the
cylinder a is in motion the fibres are carried upwards over the serrated edge
of the concave trough e, and they are caught in succession by the combs f;
exposing the seeds or other impurities entangled with the fibres ou the surface
of the cylinder. The seeds and other impurities are then submitted to the
action of the comb bars f, which are alternately lifted to allow the impurities
and entangled fibres to go forward to the next comb bar, and so on to the
end of the series of comb bars. The seeds and other impurities aro finally
thrown off the surface of the cylinder a on to the floor or into a suitable
receptacle by the ribbed roller o. The fibres aro stripped from the cylinder a
and blown out at the spout p¹ by the revolving brush p. The motion is
communicated to the toothed cylinder a and to the brush p from the line shaft
or countershaft by straps and pulleys, and I prefer to drive the brush three
revolutions to one of the cylinder a. The stripping roller o is turned round
by a crossed band passing over a grooved pulley on the axle of the brush p.
The speed of the stripping roller may be varied according to the nature of
the fibrous substances under operation.
Figure 8 is a front elevation of the principal parts of a machine for pro-
paring fibrous substances, and for opening twisted yarns and woven fabrics.
In this machine the cylinder a is provided with combs b, fixed to the blades b';
these combs and blades are shewn detached in Figures 9 and 10; the feeding
apron c, the feed roller d, and perforated concave shell e are made in the
manner above described and shewn in Figures 1 and 5. The series of blades
and combs f, f, one of which is shewn detached in Figures. 11, 12, and 13, are
placed tangentially for about one-fourth of the circumference of the cylinder a,
and radially for about one-eighth of its circumference, but the number and
position of these combs can be varied according to the nature of the fibres or
materials to be operated upon. The combs and blades fare stripped in the
manner above described, and they are lifted alternately by the pinions a', wheels i,
crank pins, elbow levers k, catches I, ratchet wheels h, and arms 9, and the
feed roller d is turned round by the weighted catch m jointed to one of the
elbow levers taking into the teeth of the ratchet wheel d' fixed to the axle
of the feed roller. In this machine the fibres are thrown off the cylinder a by
centrifugal force.

page_text: Figures 14, 15, and 16 represent another mode of supporting the bars or
blades and combs f; the ends of these bars are round and fit into bearings t,
which slide in the slots of the end frames and are adjusted by set screws, as
shewn in Figure 14. The arms 9 act on the projections t¹ to raise the bars f,
as above described.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of carrying the same into operation, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the details given, as they may be considerably modified; but
what I do claim is,―
First, the application of heat to a perforated concave trough when applied
to the feed rollers of machines for opening, cleaning, and preparing fibrous
substances, or twisted yarns, or woven fabrics.
Secondly, the combination of a toothed drum or cylinder and a series of
comb bars which are lifted alternately in the manner and for the purposes
described.
Thirdly, I claim the combination of a cylinder with concentric teeth, a
perforated hollow shell combined with a feeding roller, a series of lifting comb
bars, a stripping roller, and a brush, as shewn and described in reference to
Figure 1.
And, lastly, I claim the combination of a toothed drum or cylinder, a
perforated hollow shell combined with a feeding roller, and a series of lifting
comb bars, as shewn and described in reference to Figure 8.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.