AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING FEEDING APPARATUS FOR COTTON GINS."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Brace, of Manchester, and William Savory,
of Gloucester, Engineers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING
FEEDING APPARATUS FOR COTTON GINS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Brace and William
Savory at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 22nd September 1866.
We, THOMAS BRACE, of Manchester, and WILLIAM SAVORY, of Gloucester,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN Ix-
PROVED SELF-ACTING FEEDING APPARATUS FOR COTTON GINS," to be as follows:-
We construct self-acting feeding apparatus for cotton gins in the following
manner: A series of metal prongs or tangs curved at one end, by preference
semicircular or slightly exceeding half of the circle (and which we propose to
designate as " fingers"), are mounted at one end upon a shaft or rail, or they
may be fitted into notches or slots, and be secured thereon by screws, rivets, or
pins so as to be free to move sideways; they are also connected together and
held at the proper distances apart by a bar or rod having pins, bolts, or screws,
which also permit of a free motion of the "fingers" sideways. At each end
the horizontal shaft or rail to which the upper ends of the "fingers" are
attached is mounted in and carried by a bearing, which may form a carriage

page_text: to be bolted to the side of the cotton gin; by means of a stud disc or slotted
crank arm securely keyed on to one end a vibrating or partial rotatory motion
is given, the extent of which is readily regulated. Between one of the bearings
and the stud disc or slotted crank arm is fitted a pulley having a grooved cam
upon its side, or connected therewith so as to revolve freely thereon. Whilst
the pulley is thus caused to rotate by means of a band, the grooved cam
actuates the bar or rod by which the fingers are held apart and caused to
vibrate sideways; for this purpose one end of the bar or rod is suitably bent
and fitted with a friction roller to work in or upon the cam. By the simul-
taneous movement of the shaft or rail carrying the "fingers," and the lateral
-action upon the "fingers" through the cam actuated by means of the strap
pulley, a compound motion of the "fingers" is produced analogous to that of
hand feeding, whilst the shape or form and the mode of mounting the "fingers"
produces upon the cotton a lifting action just prior to its entering the gin, and
imparts a third motion to the material whilst being fed in. For the purpose
of automatically regulating the speed of the feed, and preventing a clogging
or choking of the uncleaned cotton in front of the machine, we have devised
the following arrangement or contrivance :-As the quantity of material forced
forward depends to some extent upon the amount of side movement of the
fingers"
" in relation to their vibrating action, and as the length of stroke or
extent of partial revolution of the "fingers" can be regulated by the position
of the stud in the disc or in the slot of the crank arm, the side movement of
the "fingers" remains to be operated upon or controlled in accordance with
the requirements of the gin and the rate of the performances. We give a
rotatory motion to the cam pulley by means of a slack strap or band (driven
from a pulley fitted on the roller shaft of the gin), which passing over another
and larger pulley suitably placed produces by means of a stud or pin therein
the vibratory motion or partial revolution of the "fingers." This strap is held
tight by means of a weighted pulley or a pulley mounted on a lever arm so
nicely loaded and arranged that upon the cotton accumulating on the feed
board or shoot too rapidly the cam action as well as the vibrating motion of
the "fingers" ceases for a time, until the accumulation is sufficiently reduced,
when both the motions will again come into play and the compound action of
the "fingers" be again produced. In like manner the partial rotation of the
"finger," shaft or rail is effected by the movement of the stud disc or crank
arm, which is in turn produced by a connecting rod having at one end the
sliding stud of the disc or crank arm, whilst the other end works upon the
fixed stud pin projecting from the face of the intermediate band wheel or
pulley, around which passes the driving strap for actuating the cam pulley.
"

page_text: Thus when the accumulation of feed occurs, and a certain amount of resistance
is offered to the movement of the "fingers," the driving band slips, and
the intermediate band wheel or pulley ceases to revolve and actuate the
fingers."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Brace and William Savory in. the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
BRACE, of Manchester, and WILLIAM SAVORY, of Gloucester, Engineers,.send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters,
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second 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 us,
the said Thomas Brace and William Savory, Her special licence that we, the
said Thomas Brace and William Savory, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Brace and William Savory,
our 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 "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING FEEDING-
APPARATUS FOR COTTON GINS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,.
the said Thomas Brace and William Savory, our executors or administrators,.
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and:
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-.
tion, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Brace and William Savory,
do hereby declare the nature of our said 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 Sheet of Drawings:-
We construct self-acting feeding apparatus for cotton gins in the following
manner: A series of metal prongs or tangs curved at one end, by preference
semicircular or slightly exceeding half of the circle (and which we propose to

page_text: designate as "fingers"), are mounted at one end upon a shaft or rail, or they
may be fitted into notches or slots and be secured thereon by screws, rivets, or
pins, so as to be free to move sideways; they are also connected together and
held at the proper distances apart by a bar or rod having pins, bolts, or screws,
which also permit of a free motion of the "fingers" sideways. At each end
the horizontal shaft or rail to which the upper ends of the "fingers" are attached
is mounted in and carried by a bearing which may form a carriage to be
bolted to the side of the cotton gin by means of a stud disc or slotted crank
arm securely keyed on to one end; vibrating or partial rotatory motion is
given to the finger bar, the extent of which is readily regulated. Between
one of the bearings and the stud disc or slotted crank arm is fitted a pulley
having a grooved cam upon its side or connected therewith so as to revolve
freely thereon. Whilst the pulley is thus caused to rotate by means of a
band the grooved cam actuates the bar or rod by which the fingers are held
apart and caused to vibrate sideways; for this purpose one end of the bar or
rod is suitably bent and fitted with a friction roller to work in or upon the
cam. By the simultaneous movement of the shaft or rail carrying the
'fingers," and the lateral action upon the "fingers" through the cam actuated
by means of the strap pulleys, a compound motion of the "fingers" is produced
analogous to that of hand feeding, whilst the shape or form and the mode
of mounting the "fingers" produces upon the cotton a lifting action just prior
to its entering the gin, and imparts a third motion to the material whilst being
fed in. For the purpose of automatically regulating the speed of the feed, and
preventing a clogging or choking of the uncleaned cotton in front of the
machine, we have devised the following arrangement or contrivance: As the
quantity of material forced forward depends to some extent upon the amount of
side movement of the fingers in relation to their vibrating action, and as the
length of stroke or extent of partial revolution of the "fingers
can be
regulated by the position of the stud in the disc or in the slot of the crank arm,
the side movement of the "fingers" remains to be operated upon or controlled
in accordance with the requirements of the gin and the rate of the perform-
ances. We give a rotatory motion to the cam pulley by means of a slack strap
or band (driven from a pulley fitted on the roller shaft of the gin), which
passing over another and larger pulley suitably placed produces by means of
a stud or pin therein the vibratory motion or partial revolution of the "fingers."
This strap is held tight by means of a weighted pulley or a pulley mounted on
a lever arm so nicely loaded and arranged that upon the cotton accumulating
on the feed board or shoot too rapidly the cam action as well as the vibrating
motion of the "fingers" ceases for a time until the accumulation is sufficiently
כי

page_text: reduced, when both the motions will again come into play and the compound
action of the "fingers" be again produced. In like manner the partial
rotation of the "finger" shaft or rail is effected by the movement of the stud
disc or crank arm, which is in turn produced by a connecting rod having at
one end the sliding stud of the disc or crank arm, whilst the other end works
upon the fixed stud pin projecting from the face of the intermediate band
wheel or pulley, around which passes the driving strap for actuating the cam
pulley. Thus when the accumulation of feed occurs and a certain amount of
resistance is offered to the movement of the "fingers" the driving band slips
and the intermediate band wheel or pulley ceases to revolve and actuate the
fingers.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings we have shewn several views of
the apparatus constructed according to our Invention and applied to a well-
known type of cotton gin. In these several views the parts of the apparatus
have been so designed and arranged as to permit of their being fitted on to or
fixed to cotton gins which have been completed and sold without any arrange-
ment or contrivance for feeding-in the uncleaned cotton by mechanical means.
The kind or description of cotton gin to which we have applied our Invention
permits of the band wheel and other portions of the feeding apparatus being
attached to or mounted thereupon by means of carriages, plates, and other
mountings which would only require to be modified in their form or shape to
adapt them to other varieties or descriptions of cotton gins.
Figure 1 is an end elevation showing the method of working the vibrating
bar or lever for actuating the fingers, and also shows the arrangement by
which the fingers and their feeding action are governed through the weighted
or "jockey pulley" employed for regulating the bite of the driving band;
Figure 2 is a side elevation taken on the feeding side showing the method of
communicating the lateral motion to the fingers by means of the cam;
Figure 3, a plan view of the preceding Figures; Figure 4 is an enlarged view
of one of the fingers, the dotted lines showing the maximum amount of
motion which may be conveniently given by the vibrating bar or lever in the
apparatus shown in the previous Figures, and as applied to the description of
cotton gin to which our improved feeding apparatus is there adapted. In
each of the views the corresponding parts of the apparatus are distinguished
by the same letters of reference.
A, the horizontal shaft or rail upon which the "fingers" are mounted; B,
the fingers or prongs; C, C, the bearings on which the shaft or rail A rests
and is free to be moved or turned; D, D, the revolving cam and the small
band pulley, by the rotation of which together the lateral movement of the

page_text: "fingers" or prongs is produced, whilst the driving band is kept tightly in
contact with the pulley D; E, a band pulley on the end of the shaft of the gin
roller, and by which motion is communicated to the other parts of the appa-
ratus; F, the connecting rod or bar for moving the fingers or prongs laterally,
and which receives its motion through the pin or roller, or the stud on its end
which takes into the groove in the cam D; G, a stud (for a pin and roller)
projecting from the end of the bar F; H, a crank, having a slot for enabling
the position of the crank pin or stud to be changed; I, a bracket for carrying
the weighted lever and "jockey pulley ;" J, the weighted lever; K, a stud
bracket for carrying the large band wheel and the crank arm; L, the "jockey
pulley "for tightening the strap or band; M, the large band wheel, having a
crank arm on the outer face thereof; N, the crank pin or stud by which
motion is through the connecting rod P transmitted to the vibrating lever
arm H; 0, 0, the two sides of the cotton gin, to which the brackets and other
parts of the apparatus are chiefly fixed; P, the connecting rod between the
pins or studs N and H. The fingers or prongs instead of being mounted upon
the bar or rail in the manner shown in the Drawing may each have a forked
end and clip. The bar or rail, or the upper or straight portion of each finger,
may be forked from the curved part, and the bar or rail, as well as the con-
necting bar, may work within or be received within the fork. Instead of a
weight a spring may be applied to the end of the lever J, and instead also of the
lever and weight for pressing the "jockey pulley " L against the flat hand the
"jockey pulley" may be held within a fork having a spiral or other spring
attached thereto, and the tension may be regulation by means of a screw and
nut. Instead of the cam D, as shown in the Drawing, a spiral or cam-like rib
may be substituted, or any of the well-known mechanical equivalent therefor
may be employed for producing the lateral movement of the fingers during
their vibration; or such lateral motion may be communicated to the fingers
without reference to the extent of or the period of motion of the vibrating
arm H.
Generally we wish it to be understood that we do not intend to confine
ourselves to the exact shape or configuration of the several parts of the
apparatus herein-before described, nor to the dimensions of such parts, or to
their relative and respective proportions; but what we claim as our Invention
is,-
First, the improved self-acting feeding apparatus for cotton gins, as herein
described.
Second, the novel arrangement and combination of parts of apparatus, as
berein described, for the purpose of feeding or supplying cotton, cleaning

page_text: machinery, or machinery for separating the seeds and or other foreign matters
from cotton fibres.
Third, the use or employment of a band or strap and pullies working as
herein described in combination with fingers or prongs, mounted and worked
as herein described, for the purpose of feeding in or supplying cotton or other
fibrous materials of a similar nature into machines or apparatus intended to
clean, separate, or otherwise treat or manipulate any such fibrous materials.
Fourth, the use or employment of fingers or prongs, as herein described,
having a combined action and movement, as herein set forth, in combination
with a flat band or belt passing over pullies, and working as herein described,
and used or employed in the manner herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Savory, on behalf of the said
Thomas Brace and myself, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Eighth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
JOSEPH HOLDER,
Painswick.
WILLIAM SAVORY. (L.S.)