Improvements in Machines for Combing or Heckling Flax, Hemp, Jute, and other Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd June, 1886.
Complete Left, 23rd Mar., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 26th Apr., 1887.
Improvements in Machines for Combing or Heckling Flax, Hemp,
Jute, and other Fibrous Materials.
I, GEORG STELLING, of 22 Schiffgraben Hanover, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a machine for combing or heckling flax, hemp, jute and
other textile fibres, and is distinguished from other machines of this class, chiefly by
the fact that the material to be combed is presented to the combing device by
continuously or intermittently moving tongs, and is then taken by a smaller system
of tongs, which present the uncombed ends of the fibre to a second combining device,
after which the combed material leaves the machine.
The first mentioned tongs are preferably attached to a horizontally rotating crown,
but may be so arranged as to receive a horizontal rectilinear movement. They can,
moreover, be combined with more than one small system of rotating tongs, to each
of which systems corresponds an introducing apparatus and a combing device. Each
system of small tongs is also combined with a discharging apparatus.
The material to be combed is conducted by the introducing apparatus to the tongs
of the large system, which are hereinafter termed the large tongs, and from these is
presented to the combing devices, and then to the tongs of the small system, herein-
after termed the small tongs, which present the uncombed ends of the fibre, which
was held by the main tongs, to the combing devices. The combed material then
passes from the machine through discharging apparatus.
The material to be combed is conducted to the introducing apparatus in the form
of a band, which passes, between a pair of rollers carried in a fixed support, to feed
rollers mounted upon a slide moving to and fro. This slide receives its motion from
a cam, in the groove of which slides a roller on one end of an arm, upon the axis of
which is fixed a toothed segment.
An oscillating motion is thus imparted to the said segment, the velocity of which
movement, at different parts of the oscillation, depends upon the curvature of the
groove in the said cam.
This peculiar motion is transmitted by gear-wheels to a rack arranged upon the
said slide, so that the latter receives an uninterrupted to-and-fro motion.

page_text: On the fixed frame on which the slide moves, is arranged a fixed rack, with which,
in the displacement of the slide, a toothed' wheel, which is supported in the slide,
engages, so as to drive the said feed rollers by means of suitable gearing. These
feed rollers must, however, turn only in the forward motion of the slide, and must
remain at rest in the backward motion of the same. The said toothed wheel is
therefore arranged upon its shaft in such a manner that it turns the same only in
the forward motion of the slide, but rotates in the other case loosely upon its shaft,
which rotation can be obtained, for instance, through the medium of pawls.
From the feed rollers which are pressed by spring pressure firmly towards one
another, the material passes between a series of auxiliary feed rollers, which conduct
it to the large tongs. These auxiliary rollers are held against one another with such
slight pressure that the latter just ensures their turning. Above these auxiliary
rollers is arranged a plate, which is provided with downwardly projecting needles,
and which receives a rectilinear up-and-down motion by means of a camí, a connecting
rod and a guide.
The motions of the parts of the introducing apparatus which have been described
above are performed as follows:-
Suppose the slide is at the end of the motion to the right, that is to say, in the
position of rest, and the needle-plate is out of contact with the material passing
between the auxiliary rollers as soon as the motion of the slide to the left commences, the
feed rollers turn; a plate arranged below the rollers is then shifted forward by means
of an excentric and a bunch of fibre leaves the auxiliary rollers and is placed upon
the said plate. In the progressive motion of the slide this receiving plate moves over
the lower jaw of one pair of the large tongs and then moves rapidly back, shortly
before the termination of the forward motion of the slide, under the action of a
spring, and allows the bunch of fibre to lie in the tongs upon the lower jaw. As
soon as the forward motion of the slide ceases, the needle plate is lowered and the
needles pass through the said bunch of fibre.
'
By reason of the said slide being actuated by a cam, the former remains in the
advanced position until the jaws of the respective pair of tongs are closed.
Each pair of tongs consists of two independently movable jaws. The upper jaw of
each pair of tongs is pivotted on an arm attached to a ring which is common to all
the pairs of tongs, and is adapted to turn between two cylindrical guides upon a
supporting ring. Each upper jaw is connected by a rod with a lever, carrying at one
end a roller which bears against the upper edge of the outer cylindrical guide, under
the action of a spring. The edge of the guide is provided with elevations and
depressions, which cause, at suitable times when the ring rotates, the raising and
lowering of the lever and thereby also, through the medium of the said connecting
rod, the raising and lowering of the upper jaw. The lower jaw is guided vertically
in the rotating ring, and has a roller which slides in a groove of the inner cylindrical
guide. This groove is in profile similar to the upper edge of the outer cylindrical
guide, and the lower jaw is accordingly lifted and lowered at the proper time. The
turning of the rotating ring is effected by means of teeth arranged on the same.
When, during the slow rotation of the rotating ring, the upper jaw of a pair of tongs
passes over the portion of fibre projecting from the auxiliary rollers and lying upon
the lower jaw, the said lower jaw is lifted, owing to its roller passing through a
rising portion of the groove arranged in the inner cylindrical guide. At the same
time, however, the roller which was upon a high portion of the edge of the outer
cylindrical guide and had thereby kept up the upper jaw against the tension of its
spring, enters a depression in the said edge, the spring then acts and closes the upper
jaw suddenly. The portion of fibre between the jaws is in this manner completely
held by reason of the pressure of the spring. The slide now commences its back-
ward motion, whereby the fibre seized by the tongs is torn off as far as the feed
rollers.
During the continued backward motion of the slide, the tongs, as mentioned, hold
the portion of fibre torn form the band fast, and draw it out from between the
auxiliary rollers. In this operation the needles of the needle plate retain all the coarse

page_text: impurities, and the knots and entangled short fibres, so that they are neither retained
before the feed rollers nor seized by the tongs.
By this arrangement the fibres not completely torn off are prevented from hanging
from the auxiliary rollers and interfering with the further treatment of the torn-off
portion of fibre. In the ensuing forward feeding of the fibre through the auxiliary
rollers, the coarse and imperfect fibres retained in the preceding movement are also
discharged.
When the slide has arrived at the end of its course, the needle plate is again lifted,
and the pair of tongs is lowered so far, by reason of the profile of the groove in the
inner cylindrical guide, that the receiving plate, pushed forward when the slide
advances again, can pass over a portion of the upper jaw of the tongs previously
supplied. If then the said receiving plate is moved suddenly back, the material lies
partly upon the upper jaw of the said pair of tongs previously supplied and partly
upon the lower jaw of the following pair of tongs. In the further turning of the
rotating ring the upper jaw slides away from under the fibre placed upon it so that
the latter is caused to lie completely upon the lower jaw of the empty pair of tongs.
When the closed pair of tongs filled with fibre has passed out of reach of the slide-
it is lifted again and passes to the combing apparatus, whilst an empty pair of tongs
passes before the feeding apparatus and tears off a fresh portion of material.
=
In order that the fibre protruding from the tongs shall not hang down irregularly,
polished or smooth plates are arranged in a suitable manner upon the whole
circumference of the rotating ring and serve to support and guide the material.
The combing roller upon which the fibre passes in the further movement of the
tongs is flattened at one place. These flattened surfaces are at the same height as the
said polished guide plates, so that the material sliding upon the latter can pass easily
and unhindered onto the combing roller. When the fibre held by a pair of tongs is
placed with its entire breadth upon the combing roller, the latter makes a sudden turn,
combs out the fibre and then comes to rest again. This motion is imparted to the
combing roller, for example, by means of a four-armed lever.
The needles of the combing roller are all equally strong and at an equal distance
from one another, but differ in their length in such a manner that the needles in the
first row are shortest, whilst the needles of the second, third, and fourth rows
successively increase in length. The needles of the succeeding rows are of about the
same length as the needles of the fourth row, so that, during the rotation of the
combing roller, the needles of the first row do not pass quite through the bunch of
fibre, whereby only a portion of the superposed fibres are placed straight and parallel.
The needles of the second row penetrate deeper into the bunch and so on. In this
manner, when the material is very impure and entangled, the fibres are laid parallel
more easily than if the needles of the first row were of the same length as the needles
of the other rows. With very clean material the length of the needles need not be
graduated in this manner, but can be of equal length.
When the material is of suitable length, the combing roller is sometimes made so
that the needles do not then commence to comb the fibre close to the tongs, but begin
a certain distance from the same and then gradually advance with the heckles. The
fibre is thereby less liable to damage than in the processes heretofore employed.
The combing roller is freed from noils by a brush-roller and a carding-roller.
After the fibre protruding from the large tongs has passed the combing apparatus,
it is grasped by a pair of the small tongs which are shaped similarly to the large
tongs and work in a similar manner. From the polished plate the fibre protruding
from the large tongs slides upon the lower jaw of a small pair of tongs, and whilst
the upper jaw of the large pair of tongs is lifted slightly, the upper jaw of the small
pair of tongs closes and seizes the protruding fibre which has been combed.
The lower jaws of the small pairs of tongs cannot be displaced in the vertical
direction. The closing and opening of each pair of the said small tongs is accordingly
effected by the upper movable jaw which is actuated by a draw rod and lever, the
roller of which runs upon a crown of the frame when the system of tongs rotates,
which crown is provided with elevations and depressions.

page_text: In order that the small tongs shall seize the fibre protruding from the large tongs
as closely as possible to the jaws of the same, cach small pair of tongs is pushed
forward shortly before it is closed. The small pairs of tongs are for this purpose
capable of being displaced in radial slots, and are provided with rollers running in a
groove.which is provided on the frame, and for the most part made circular, but is
hollowed out at one point, towards the series of large tongs, so that when a pair of
small tongs passes this point it is pushed forward, that is to say, it is caused to
approach the series of large tongs before it closes.
The material seized by the small tongs is, in the further turning of the series of
small tongs, conducted from the large tongs gradually to the second combing
apparatus. The fibre is here again guided upon polished plates until it passes upon
the flattened portion of a combing roller, when it is combed through in a similar
manner to that described for the first combing apparatus.
Brush and carding rollers here also effect the cleansing of the combing roller.
The second half of the fibre having been thus heckled, the material is now
conducted in a well-known manner to discharge rollers. An endless cloth causes the
fibres to move towards the discharging apparatus.
In order to prevent the fibre seized by the discharging rollers from leaving the
small tongs suddenly, the upper jaw of the same is provided on its inner face with
needles. These needles during the closing of the tongs penetrate into and through
the material and thereby cause the fibre to be gradually drawn out. The discharging
rollers then deliver the material in the known manner.
By the employment of the large revolving series of tongs it is possible to actuate
a whole series of single combing machines simultaneously by a common driving
imechanism. The large tongs then serve several machines in common, inasmuch as,
after operating in connection with one set of apparatus, they again operate in
connection with the next set of apparatus during their revolution.
Dated this 23rd day of June 1886.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: the needle plate y designed to be lifted and lowered at certain times, and the
guide plate e arranged below the rollers h, and moved intermittently, the said
guide plate e laying the uncombed bunch of material in the tongs D, the rollers,
which do not turn in the back motion of the slide A, being forcibly pressed
against one another to tear off the portion of fibre from the band whilst the
smaller rollers exert only such a weak pressure upon the said torn off portion
that it can easily be drawn from between them, in which operation thic needles
of the plate y lowered at the commencement of the back motion retain the noils
and impurities of the material.
The combination of the tongs D with the guides p and q by whose edge and
guiding groove the tongs D are in their forward motion periodically opened,
closed, and lifted and lowered.
The arrangement of the flattened intermittently, rotating, combing rollers »,
whose flattened parts serve as supports and guides for the fibre.
The employment in the tongs d, capable of being displaced radially, of a jaw b¹
which is only vertically movable.

page_text: Improvements in Machines for Combing or Heckling Flax, Hemp,
Jute, and other Fibrous Materials.
I, GEORG STELLING, of Hanover, Germany, 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 :—
This invention relates to a machine for combing or heckling flax, hemp, jute and
other textile fibres, and is distinguished from other machines of this class, chiefly for
the reason that the material to be combed is presented to a combing device by
continuously or intermittently moving tongs, and is then taken by a smaller system
of tongs, which presents the uncombed ends of the fibre to a second combing device
after which the combed material leaves the machine.
The first-mentioned tongs are preferably attached to a horizontally rotating ring,
but may be so arranged as to receive a horizontal rectilinear movement. They can
morcover be combined with more than one small system of rotating tongs, to each of
which systems corresponds an introducing apparatus and a combing device; each
system of tongs is also combined with a discharging apparatus.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 represents the plan of a combing machine having a rotary ring provided
with tongs and four sets of introducing apparatus, four sets of combing apparatus, and
four small systems of tongs with appurtenances; of these systems however only two
are completely represented.
Figure 2 is a vertical section through one of the small systems of tongs.
Figure 3 is a section through the combing device, and
Figure 4 is a section through the introducing apparatus.
Figures 5 to 9 are hereinafter described.
The material to be combed is conducted by the introducing apparatus E Figure 1,
to the tongs D and by these presented first to the combing devices K and then to the
tongs of the small system S, which grasp the fibre and present the uncombed ends of
the same to the combing devices, K. The combed material then passes from the
machine through discharging apparatus Z.
The material to be combed is conducted to the introducing apparatus E, in the form
of a band which passes between the rollers 8 to the feed rollers figure 4, mounted
upon the slide A adapted to move to and fro.
The slide A receives its motion from the cam u, in the groove of which runs a roller
on one end of an arm r, upon the axis of which is fixed the toothed segment a.
An oscillating motion is imparted to the said segment by the arm and cam, the
velocity of which movement at different parts of the oscillation, depends upon the
curvature of the groove in the said cam.
This peculiar motion is transmitted by the gear wheels ßßß to a rack e arranged
upon the slide A, as indicated in figure 4 by a dotted line), so that the latter receives
an interrupted to and fro motion.

page_text: On the fixed frame B in which the slide A moves, is arranged a fixed rack c', with
which, in the displacement of the slide, the toothed wheel (figure 4) which is
supported in the slide A. engages, so as to drive the said feed rollers by means of
suitable gearing. These feed rollers must, however, turn only in the forward motion
of the slide A, and must remain at rest in the back motion of the same. The said
toothed wheel is therefore arranged upon its shaft in such a manner that it turns
the same only in the forward motion of the slide, but rotates in the other case loosely
upon its shaft, which can be attained for instance through the medium of pawls.
From the feed rollers, which are pressed by spring pressure firmly towards one
another, the material passes between a series of auxiliary feed rollers h, which conduct
it to the tongs D. These rollers are held against one another with such slight
pressure that the latter just ensures their turning. Above these rollers his arranged
a plate y, which is provided with downwardly projecting needles, and which receives
a rectilinear up and down motion through the medium of a cam w, a connecting roda,
and guide a¹.
The motions of the parts of the introducing apparatus above described are as
follows-
Suppose the slide A is at the end of its motion to the right, away from the tongs D
as in Figure 5, that is to say in the position of rest, and the needles y out of contact
with the material passing between the rollers h. As soon as the motion of the slide A
to the left commences, the feed rollers turn; a plate e arranged below the rollers is
then shifted forward by means of an eccentric (not represented in the drawing), and a
bunch of fibre leaves the roller and is placed upon the plate e (figure 6). In the
progressing motion of the slide A the receiving plate e moves over the lower jaw m of
one pair of e tongs D, and then moves rapidly back, shortly before the termination
of the for motion of the slide A under the action of a spring 1 (figure 7), and lets
the bunch of fibre lie in the tongs D upon the jaw m. As soon as the forward motion
of the slide A ceases, the needle plate y is lowered and the needles pass through the
said bunch of fibre.
•
By reason of the slide A being actuated by the cam w, the said slide remains in the
advanced position until the jaws of the respective pair of tongs D are closed.
Each pair of tongs D (figure 4) consists of two independently movable jaws band m.
The jaw of each pair of tongs is pivotted on an arm attached to a ring which is
common to all the pairs of tongs and adapted to turn, between two cylindrical
guides p, q, upon a ring. Each upper jaw bis connected by a rod with a lever a²
carrying at one end a roller of which bears against the upper edge of the cylindrical
guide p under the action of a spring p. The edge of this guide p is provided with
elevations and depressions which cause at suitable times when the ring & carrying the
series of tongs D rotates, the raising and lowering of the levers and thereby also,
through the medium of the connecting rods, the raising and lowering of the upper
jaws b. The lower jaws m are guided vertically in suitable recesses in the ring k, and
each is provided with a roller o sliding in a groove in the guide .
This groove is, in profile, similar to the upper edge of the guide p, the lower jaws m
are accordingly lifted and lowered at the proper time. The turning of the ring is
effected by means of teeth n arranged on the same, as shown, for example, in figures 2
to 4. When during the slow rotation of the ring & the upper jaw of a pair of tongs 1
passes over the portion of fibre projecting from the rollers and lying upon the lower
jaw m, the said lower jaw is lifted, owing to its roller o passing through a rising
portion of the groove in the guide .
At the same time, however, the roller o, which was upon a high portion of the
edge of the guide pand had thereby also kept the upper jaw braised against the
tension of its spring p, enters a depression in the said edge; the spring p then acts
and closes the upper jaw suddenly whilst at the same time the jaw m is lifted.
The portion of fibre between the jaws b, m is, in this manner, completely held fast
by reason of the pressure of the spring p. The slide A now commences its backward
motion whereby the fibre seized by the tongs D is torn off as far as the feed rollers.
During the continued backward motion of the slide the tongs D, as mentioned, hold

page_text: the portion of fibre torn from the band fast, and draw it out from between the rollers h.
In this operation the needles of the needle plate y retain all the coarse impurities and
the knots and entangled short fibres, so that they are neither retained before the feed
rollers nor seized by the tongs D.
By this arrangement the fibres not completely torn off are prevented from hanging
from the rollers and interfering with the further treatment of the torn-off portion
of fibre.
In the ensuing forward feeding of the fibre through the rollers the coarse and
imperfect fibres retained in the preceding movement are also discharged.
When the slide A has arrived at the end of its course, the needle plate y is again
lifted and the pair of tongs D is lowered so far, by reason of the profile of the groove
in the inner cylindrical guide, that the receiving plate e pushed forward when the
slide A advances again, can pass over a portion of the upper jaw of the tongs
previously supplied. If then the said receiving plate e is moved suddenly back, the
material lies partly upon the upper jaw of the said pair of tongs previously supplied
and partly upon the lower jaw m of the following pair of tongs. In the further
movement of the rotating ring the upper jaw slides away from under the fibre placed
upon it, so that the latter is caused to lie completely upon the lower jaw m of the
empty pair of tongs.
When the closed pair of tongs filled with fibre has passed out of reach of the slide A,
it is lifted again and passes to the combing apparatus K (figures 1 and 3), whilst an
empty pair of tongs D passes before the feeding apparatus and tears off a fresh portion
of material.
In order that the fibre protruding from the tongs D shall not hang down irregularly,
polished plates indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1, are arranged in a suitable
manner upon the whole circumference of the rotating ring and serve to support and
guide the material.
The combing roller » (Figures 1 and 3) upon which the fibre passes in the further
movement of the tongs D is flattened at one place as shown in Figure 8. This
flattened surface is at the same height as the said polished guide plates &, so that the
material sliding upon the latter can pass easily and unhindered onto the combing
roller. When the fibre held by a pair of tongs is placed with its entire breadth upon
the combing roller, the latter makes a sudden turn, combs out the fibre and then
comes to rest again. This motion is imparted to the combing roller for example, by
means of a four-armed leyer (Figure 3).
The rows of needles 1, 2, 3, 4 of the combing roller (Figures 8 and 9) are all
equally strong and at an equal distance from one another, but differ in their length in
such a manner that in the row 1 the needles are shortest, whilst the needles of
rows 2, 3 and 4 successively increase in length. The needles of row 4 are almost as
long as the needles of the succeeding rows. During the rotation of the combing
roller the needles of row 1 do not pass through the bunch of fibre, so that only a
portion of the superposed fibres is placed straight and parallel. The needles of the
row 2 penetrate deeper into the bunch and so on. In this manner, when the material
is very impure and entangled, the fibres are laid parallel more easily than if the
needles of the row 1 were of the same length as the needles of the other rows. With
very clean material the needles need not be gradated in length but may, as indicated
in Figure 9 be of equal length.
When the material is of suitable length the combing roller may have the form
represented in Figure 9, so that the needles do not commence to comb the fibre close
to the tongs, but begin at a certain distance from the same, and then gradually
advance with the heckles. The fibre is thereby less liable to damage than in the
processes heretofore employed.
The combing roller» (Figures 1 and 3) is free from noils by the brush roller a and
carding roller t.
After the fibre protruding from the tongs D has passed the combing apparatus

page_text: and is completly separated from the following pair of tongs, it is grasped by a pair of
the small tongs d of the series of tongs S, which tongs dare shaped similarly to the
tongs D and work in a similar manner. From the fixed polished guide plate & the
fibre protruding from the tongs D slides upon the lower jaw m¹ (Figure 2) of a small
pair of tongs d, and whilst the upper jaw of the tongs 1 is lifted slightly the upper
claw of the small pair of tongs i closes and seizes the protruding fibre which has
been combed.
The lower jaws m³ of the tongs & cannot be displaced in the vertical direction. The
closing and opening of the tongs d is accordingly effected by the upper movable jaws b¹
which are actuated by draw-rods and levers (Figure 2), the rollers o² of which run
upon a crown of the frame when the system of tongs S rotates, which crown is provided
with elevations and depressions.
In order that the tongs d shall seize the bunch of fibre protruding from the tongs D
as closely as possible at the jaws of the same, cach small pair of tongs d is pushed
forward shortly before it is closed. The tongs supports (Figure 2) are for this
purpose capable of being displaced in radial slots in the rotary ring G, and are provided
with rollers running in the groove. This groove is formed in the frame and is for
the most part made circular, but is hollowed out at one point towards the series of
large tongs, so that when a pair of small tongs d passes this point it is pushed forward,
that is to say, it is caused to approach the series of large tongs before it closes
(Figure 1).
The material seized by the tongs d is, in the further turning of the series S of small
tongs, conducted from the tongs D (Figure 1) gradually, to the second combing
apparatus K. The bunch of fibre is here again guided upon horizontal polished
plates (indicated in Figure 1 in dotted lines) until it passes onto the flattened
portion of the combing roller (Figure 8), and is here combed through in a similar
manner to that described for the first combing apparatus.
Brush and carding rollers and t¹ here also effect the cleansing of the combing
roller.
The second half of the bunch of fibre having been thus heckled, the material is now
conducted in the known manner to the discharge rollers. An endless cloth T causes
the fibres to move towards the discharging apparatus.
In order to prevent the fibre seized by the discharging rollers from leaving the
tongs d suddenly, the upper jaw of the same is provided on its inner face with
needles (Figure 2). These needles, during the closing of the tongs penetrate into and
through the material and thereby permit the bunch of fibre to be gradually drawn
The discharging rollers then deliver the material in the known manner.
out.
By the employment of the large revolving series of tongs it is possible to actuate
a whole series of single combing machines simultaneously by a common driving
mechanism. The tongs D then serve several machines in common, inasmuch as after
operating in connection with one set of apparatus they can again operate in connection
with the next set of apparatus during their revolution.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is
First. A combing machine into which the fibrous material to be combed enters in
the form of a band between feed rollers, portions or bunches of the said material being
then successively torn from the said band by means of a series of automatically closing
tongs moving in a horizontal plane, the two ends of each detached portion or bunch
being then presented to combing or heckling devices, the turning of the 'said detached
portions or bunches being effected by transferring the same to a second series of rotary
tongs.
Second. In the machine referred to in the preceding claiming clause.
a) The fibro introducing device characterized by the employment of the