CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB- STANCES FOR SPINNING
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SIDEBOTTOM, of Waterside, near Glossop, in the County of Derby, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of Jane, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto me, the said James
Sidebottom, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said James Sidebottom, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said James Sidebottom, my executors, administrators,
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 mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my.Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES FOR SPINNING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said James Sidebottom, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW ANOW 1, that i compiance with the sapro
James Sidebottom, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say:
My Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Preparing Cotton and
other Fibrous Substances for Spinning consist in the novel application of certain
mechanism or apparatus to the front or delivering end of carding engines, and
also roving or drawing frames or machines, as commonly used in the prepa-
ration process. The principal object of my improvement is, to cause the
sliver or filament of the material under operation to be delivered into the cans
(usually placed in front of the machines to receive the same) in the form of
crimped or zigzaged parallel slivers, tapes, or bands, instead of being delivered
in plain or twisted slivers or rovings as commonly done. Another feature of
improvement is also simultaneously effected by crimping or slightly folding
every portion of the band, sliver, or filament in a zigzag direction, as it
proceeds out of the carding, roving, or other preparing machines into the
said cans, in order to impart the necessary tenacity or strength to the fila-
mentous material as it advances through preparation processes, and which
crimping, zigzaging, or folding of the slivers will be found greatly superior in
effect than the partial twisting usually employed. Thus, it will be understood,
that the object of folding or crimping the band or sliver of the filament
throughout, in preparing the same for the subsequent process of spinning, is
entirely to obviate the necessity of putting in any twist whatever in the pre-
paration processes, and still to give the filaments a sufficient degree of
stability and adherence to allow the sliver to proceed perfectly even, and
without disturbance to the fibres. The principal advantages of this improve-
ment in preparation machinery are, the great saving. of time and labor, as
one third only of that usually employed is necessary to prepare the fibrous
material for the spinning machinery. The economy of room and power is
also greatly increased, as the preparation machinery may be run at so much
higher speed that one machine will accomplish the same amount of work as
three of the usual construction. The remaining advantages consequent upon
such improvement will be quite obvious to persons conversant with the pre-
paration and spinning processes; as it will be evident that the cans will
contain about six times the quantity, and as the drawing frame may be driven
three times as fast as on the old plan, the amount of "piecing up" the slivers
is greatly reduced, and, consequently, the yarn produced is much more level
and even, and thus being greatly improved in quality.

page_text: In order that these improvements in preparation machinery may be fully
and distinctly explained, I have attached to these Presents two Sheets of
Drawings, the first representing my improvements as applied to a carding
engine for carding cotton, and the second shewing a slightly and niodified
arrangement, of the same, as applied to a roving frame, both arrangements
being drawn about half the real scale in.Sheet 1. Figure 1 represents a plan
or horizontal view, as seen from above; Figure 2: a front elevation; and
Figure 3 a transverse section, taken vertically through the middle of the appa-
ratus. The same letters of reference distinguish corresponding parts in all
the Figures. a, a, is the front rail of an ordinary carding engine, at the
delivering end, the filament or, sliver of cotton b, b, proceeding from the doffing
cylinder in the usual manner, passes through the cone or trumpet c, c, (this
cone or trumpet has an oblong aperture, instead of being circular as usual),
and thence between a pair of fluted or delivering rollers d, d, proceeding
through a pair of callendering or presser rollers e, e, into a small box or
chamber ff, placed immediately in front of the said rollers in a small frame
or carriage; the cotton or filament is thus firmly pressed into an even flat
band or parallel sliver g, 9, and by still proceeding, it accumulates in the box
or chamber f, f, and being retarded in its passage by a flap or valve h'opening
outwards, becomes slightly crimped or folded in a zigzag form throughout its
entire length, instead of being slain or partially twisted as commonly done.
This valve or door h merely hangs on its hinge above, and opens to allow a
certain portion of the sliver to escape or fall out of the box as the crimped
sliver advances, which now proceeds into the cans placed below to receive.
The callendering rollers e, e, are weighted by means of a small apparatus
suitably constructed for this purpose. Small rollers i, i, run upon a shaft or
axis k, k, by friction of contact with the necks of the upper callender rollers,
and are kept down upon the said rollers with considerable pressure by means
of the connecting links 1, 1, and the force of the spring m below bearing
against the framing. Motion may be communicated to this apparatus from
spur wheels placed upon any convenient revolving shaft of the carding
engine geering into the pinions n, n, upon the ends of the rollers d and e.
A clearer o, o, is to be placed above the rollers d, and weights p, p, are to be
applied to the necks of the top roller d, and the apparatus is complete.
I have shewn at Figure 4 an external and sectional view of a slight modifi-
cation of the box or chamber f; it is here shewn tubular instead of square,
and a slight steel spring q, may be employed to retard and crimp the slivers,
instead of the flap or valve h, but to this or any other slight modification or
variation of course I am not confined.

page_text: In Sheet 2, Figures 1, 2, and 3 exhibit exactly the same apparatus as applied
to a drawing or roving frame; it will be seen by any person conversant with
such machinery that it is only very slightly modified and arranged, in order
to suit its application to such machines, and as the letters of reference placed
upon the mechanism represent corresponding parts to those just described
with reference to Sheet 1, it is unnecessary to enter into any repetition of the
details, the greatest variation being in the weighting applied to the rollers, as
here it is required to be more powerful.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim as of my Invention the apparatus or mechanism exhibited
in the Drawings, and above described, as applied to carding, drawing, or
roving machinery, or any other "preparation" machinery used or employed
prior to spinning cotton or other fibrous substances, in order to deliver the
filamentous slivers or rovings in a zigzag or crimped state, instead of being
plain or twisted as herebefore done, without being confined to its precise
dimensions or arrangement, as I am aware that many mechanical variations
may be effected without departing from the principle of my Invention, but I
have exhibited in the Drawings such arrangement of the mechanism as I have
found to be the most practically useful.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Sidebottom, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and forty one.