Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1888.
Complete Specification Left; 19th, Jan., 1889-
Complete Specification Accepted, 23rd Feb., 1889
I JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON of the Vulcan Works, Pollard Street, Manchester in
the County of Lancaster Machine Maker do hereby declare the nature of this
Invention to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the feeding apparatus of carding engines and especially to
the apparatus of the description generally known as the "shell feed.". In such
apparatus the fibrous material is fed to the "taker in." by means of a small feed.
roller which acts in conjunction with a cylindrically concave seat sometimes terined
the "shell" the intention being to bring the nip of the feed close to the taker in.
Previously to my invention the feed roller has been controlled in, its movements due
to the varying thickness of the material upon which it rests by means of fixed guides
which have compelled the roller to move in a straight line or thereabouts toward and
from the shell. The consequence of this restriction has been that an extra thickness
of material lying upon the back part of the shell-that is upon the part furthest
away from the taker in--has caused the roller to relax its hold upon the fibres at
the front, or otherwise an extra thickness at the front has caused a relaxation at the
back. To remedy this defect and at the same time to simplify the construction and
facilitate the manufacture of the apparatus I mount the roller in bearings formed in
the upper ends of the weighting links or in parts secured thereto so that the roller
is free to accomodate itself by lateral movement to any variations in the thickness of
the fibrous material or in other words the roller is quite free to bed itself upon the
general surface of the layer of fibrous material instead of being sustained only by the
thicker parts of such layer.. By dispensing with the said guides the apparatus is
simplified and also the preparation of the shell is facilitated owing to the absence of
the projecting guide lugs the result being a reduction in the cost of production of the
carding engine. The weighting links and levers are so arranged as that the pressure
upon the feed roller due to the load shall be transmitted in a direction which will tend
to keep the roller in place and to cause the roller to hold the fibres, firmly at the
front of the shell.
Dated this 20th day of Auril 1888
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.

page_text: I JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON of the Vulcan Works, Pollard Street, Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying
drawings:-
My Invention relates to the feeding apparatus of carding engines and especially to
the apparatus of the description generally known as the "shell feed." In such
apparatus the fibrous material is fed to the "taker in" by means of a small feed
roller which acts in conjunction with a cylindrically concave seat generally or some-
times termed the "shell" the intention being to bring the nip of the feed close to the
taker in. Previously to my invention the feed roller has been controlled in its
movements due to the varying thickness of the material upon which it rests by means
of fixed guides which have compelled the roller. to move in a straight line or there-.
abouts toward and from the shell. The consequence of this restriction has been that
an extra thickness of material lying upon the back part of the shell-that is upon the
part furthest away from the taker in has caused the roller to relax its hold upon the
fibres at the front, or otherwise an extra thickness, at the front has caused a relaxation
at the back. To remedy this defect and at the same time to simplify the con-
struction and facilitate the manufacture of the apparatus I mount the rollers in
bearings formed in the upper ends of the weighting links or in parts secured thereto
so that the roller is free to accomodate itself by lateral movement to any variations.in
the thickness of the fibrous material or in other words the roller is quite free to bed
itself upon the general surface of the layer of fibrous material instead of being sustained
only by the thicker parts of such layer.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I will describe the same more
fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the said drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the parts at the feeding or taker in
end of a Carding Engine:
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation the section being taken on the line A in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 illustrates the arrangement of the weighting apparatus.
In Fig. 1a is the ordinary licker in or taker in b is the bevel spur wheel upon the
shaft which is formed at one end of the feed roller and c is the sheli.
In Fig. 2 d is the feed roller.
In Fig. 3 the wheel 6 is left out in order that the parts behind such wheel may appear
more clearly. The feed roller shaft at each end of the roller revolves in a bearing
formed in the boss or end e¹ of a link e. The other end of the said link is hooked
upon or adapted to engage with a stud or pin which is fixed to the shorter arm of a
bell crank lever f. This lever is mounted to turn upon a fulcrum at g, the said
fulcrum being carried by a bracket gl which is fixed to the shell and therefore
maintains its relations with the shell when it is adjusted. In the example a. stud

page_text: fixed to the lever turns in a bearing in the said bracket but this construction may
be varied. From the longer arm of the said lever is suspended the weight
whereby the feed roller is loaded. It will be seen that the lever is connected
with the link e at a point which is not vertically below the axis of the feed roller. The
dotted line i passing through the centre of connection of the said lever and link and the
centre of the bearing e' in the link indicates the line of action of the load-that is to
say the direction in which the load tends to move the feed roller. This deviation
of the line i from the vertical is a little in excess of what would be required to
keep the feed roller in place. The object has been to so transmit the effect of the load.
to the feed roller as that there shall be a good nip at the front of the shell which
is nearest to the taker in whereby the fibres shall be firmly held. By making the
bracket g' adjustable horizontally the line of action could be altered to recede further
from or to approach nearer to the vertical so as to regulate the nip of the feed roller.
It will be understood that there is a corresponding weighting arrangement upon
the other side of the Engine. It will be seen that the feed roller has greater
freedom to accomodate itself to variations in the thickness of the fibrous material
and also that the apparatus is simplified. An advantage also arises from the fact
that the preparation of the shell is facilitated owing to the absence of the ordinary
projecting guide lugs the result being a reduction in the cost of production of the
parts. I do not confine myself to the formation of the lever nor to the employment
of such a lever so long as the feed roller is kept in place by means of links through
which the load is transmitted in a direction which will keep the roller in place without
the use of guide lugs or cheeks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
(1) The combination of parts for weighting and keeping in place the feed roller of
a Carding Engine substantially as set forth and indicated.
(2) The bearing e formed upon or attached to the link through which the load is
transmitted to the feed roller of a carding engine.
(3) The link e formed with a. bearing and connected with the weighting lever f
in such a manner as that the strain due to the load tends to keep the feed roller in
place substantially as set forth and indicated.
(4) The arrangement of the parts of the feed froller weighting apparatus of a
carding engine whereby the loading strain is transmitted in the direction indicated
by the line or thereabouts as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 18th day of January 1889.
. DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.