Improvements in Lap Machines for Cotton and other Fibres.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lap Machines for Cotton and other Fibres.
We, JOSEPII DUGDALE, Junior, of Paradise Mills, Blackburn, in the County
of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner and Manufacturer, and THOMAS HINDLE, of Planta-
tion Mill, Blackburn, aforesaid, Carder, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows;-
:—
Our invention relates to improvements in machines for forming cotton and
other fibres into a roll or lap after the fibres have been cleaned and opened in an
opening machine, or after it has been further cleaned in a scutching machine.
When a lap is finished it frequently happens that it is allowed to continue
running and having still the usual "weight" on, the lap is flattened and assumes
an oval shape the result being that in the subsequent operation the fibre comes
off in thick and thin layers, and the outer layers are "drawn" and roughened
so that the "end" is lost and an amount of the "lap" needs to be stripped and
thrown to waste in order to find the said end.
The object of our improvements is to prevent the injury to the lap after com-
pletion which is caused in the ordinary way by the lap continuing to run under the
weight of the usual pressers, and we accomplish this object by providing an auto-
matic arrangement for taking off the weight from the lap when the machine
knocks off after any required length has been wound upon the lap roller, or
alternatively, by automatically stopping the rotation of the fluted rollers after
the required length has been wound upon the lap roller.
At present the lap, on completion, remains with the "presser heads" and racks
in such a position that the lap bar or centre cannot be taken out of the lap until
they have been raised by releasing the brake in the usual way, whereas, with our
automatic arrangement, they are automatically lifted and maintained at a suffi-
cient height so as to allow the bar or centre to be taken out of the lap whilst
still upon the fluted rollers.
Doted thie 19th dow of June 1899
Improvements in Lap Machines for Cotton and other Fibres.
We, JOSEPH DUGDALE, Junior, of Paradise Mills, Blackburn, in the County
of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner and Manufacturer, and THOMAS HINDLE, of Planta-
tion Mill, Blackburn, aforesaid, Carder, do hereby declare the nature of this
Pic 871

page_text: invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention relates to improvements in machines for forming cotton and
other fibres into a roll or lap after the fibres have been cleaned and opened in an
opening machine, or after it has been further cleaned in a scutching machine.
When a lap is finished it frequently happens that it is allowed to continue run-
ing and having still the usual "weight" on the lap is flattened and assumes an
oval shape, the result being that in the subsequent operation the fibre comes off in
thick and thin layers, and the outer layers are drawn" and roughened so that
end" is lost and an amount of the lap needs to be stripped and thrown to
waste in order to find the said end.
the
66
The object of our improvements is to prevent the injury to the lap after com-
pletion which is caused in the ordinary way by the lap continuing to run under
the weight of the usual pressers, and we accomplish this object by providing an
automatic arrangement for taking off the weight from the lap when the machine
knocks off after any required length has been wound upon the lap roller, or,
alternatively by automatically stopping the rotation of the fluted rollers after the
required length has been wound upon the lap roller.
At present, the lap, on completion, remains with the " presser heads" and racks
in such a position that the lap bar or centre cannot be taken out of the lap until
they have been raised by releasing the brake in the usual way, whereas, with our
automatic arrangement, they are automatically lifted and maintained at a suffi-
cient height so as to allow the bar or centre to be taken out of the lap whilst still
upon the fluted rollers.
In the accompanying two sheets of drawings
Figure 1 is an end elevation, and Fig. 2 a side elevation of part of a lap
machine illustrating the application of our improvements.. Fig. 3 is a side
elevation, and Figs. and 5 are detail views of an arrangement for carrying out
our invention by stopping the rotation of the fluted rollers.
1...
On Sheet 1 of the drawings,-1 denotes the frame of the machine,"2 the fluted
rollers which are driven by gearing (only part of which is shown) from the shaft 3;
4 is the roller or centre on which the lap 5 is wound: 6 the presser heads and 7 the
presser racks: 8,pinions with which the presser racks gear; 9 the shaft on which
are mounted the pinions S and also a ratchet wheel 10 and a spur wheel 11; 12 is
a pinion in gear with the wheel 11 and fixed on a short shaft 13 on which is also
fixed a brake pulley 14; 15 is a brake carried on a brake lever 16, which is
fulcrumed at 17 and weighted at 18 and connected by a link 19 to a foot lever 20
which is fulcrumed at 21; 22 is a setting on hand lever guided in a slotted
bracket 23 and fixed on a shaft 24 on which is also fixed a curved lever 25 the other
end of which is normally above and clear of the foot lever 20; 26 is a bar fitted
to slide in the hand lever 22 and to latch it and the curved lever 25 in the higher
of the two positions indicated in the drawings; 27 is a pawl pivoted to the setting
on hand lever 22 and arranged to engage with the ratchet wheel 10 when the
said lever is in its lower position; 28 is the knocking off lever by which the
machine is stopped and 29 is a pin or projection on the sliding bar 26 and which
pin is actuated when the lever 28 knocks off; 30 are guides for the presser racks 7.
In operation 'the lap 5 is formed on the roller 4 on which the presser heads
bear and with which they rise as the lap fills against the resistance of the brake 15
applied to the pulley 14 which is geared by the toothed wheels 12, 11, and 8,
with the presser racks 7.
When, however, the desired quantity has been wound on the roller and the
machine knocks off, the knocking off lever 28, striking the pin 29, withdraws the
sliding bar 26 and unlatches the setting on hand lever 22 and allows the latter
and its connected curved lever 25 to fall into their lower positions thereby causing
the pawl 27. to engage the ratchet wheel 10 and simultaneously (by the, lever 25
striking and depressing the foot lever 20) taking off the brake 15. The instant

page_text: the pulley 14 and its geared wheels are relieved from the frictional resistance of
the brake, the expansion, due to the elasticity of the lap, raises the presser heads 6
and racks 7 into the position shown in the drawings in which position they are
retained by the pawl 27 engaging the ratchet wheel 10. Whilst the presser heads
remain raised, the lap roller can readily be withdrawn and the lap doffed with far
greater facility than in an ordinary lap machine.
After doffing, the parts are re-set by hand.
As an alternative arrangement or preferably in combination with the foregoing,"
we may employ an arrangement such as that illustrated on Sheet 2 of the drawings
for automatically stopping the rotation of the fluted rollers 2 after the required
length has been wound upon the lap roller 4.
In this arrangement, 31 denotes the beater shaft: 32 the main cross shaft
from which the front of the machine is driven by the belt 33 and the tail end of
the machine by a crossed belt 34. On the tail end cross shaft 35 we mount a
loose pulley 36 in addition to the ordinary fast pulley 37. The fluted rollers 2
are driven as usual from the cross shaft 35 by a train of gears 38, 39, 40, and 41
respectively. On the shaft 24, on which is fixed the setting on hand lever 22 as
described in the previous arrangement, we fix a lever 42 which is connected by a
link 43 to an elbow lever 44 fulcrumed at 45 and connected at its other end to the
lever 46 of the strap fork 47 which guides the belt 34 by which the tail end cross
shaft 35 is driven.
When, therefore, the required length of lap has been wound upon the roller 4
and the machine knocks off, the setting on hand lever 22 is unlatched as previously
described and the movement of the shaft 24 and lever 42 guides the strap fork 47
and so shifts the belt 34 from the fast pulley 37 to the loose pulley 36 thereby
stopping the rotation of the fluted rollers 2. The fluted rollers are re-started by
the belt 34 being shifted to the fast pulley 37 as the setting on hand lever 22
is re-latched in position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:
1. The improvements which consist in combining with an ordinary lap machine,
an automatic arrangement by which when the machine knocks off, the presser
heads and racks rise and are retained in the raised position substantially as and
for the purposes herein set forth.
2. The combination with the presser heads and racks, the ordinary geared brake
mechanism and the knocking off lever, of the curved lever 25, sliding bar 26,
pin 29, pawl 27 and ratchet wheel 10, all substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
3. The combination with the setting on hand lever, or its equivalent, of
mechanism for automatically stopping the rotation of the fluted rollers when the
machine knocks off substantially as herein described with reference to Sheet 2 of
the accompanying drawings.
4. The general combination and arrangement of parts embodying our improve-
ments in lap machines substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
Dated this 3rd day of October 1899.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
Agents for Applicants,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.