IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Cowell Craven, of Greenbush, in the County
of Rensellaer and State of New York, United States of America, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS."
Sealed the 15th March 1864, and dated the 13th October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Cowell Craven
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th October 1863.
I, THOMAS COWELL CRAVEN, of Greenbush, in the County of Rensellaer,
and State of New York, United States of America, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS," to be as
follows:-
I provide two cylinders on one stationary shaft, the one cylinder inside the
other, and connected by pins or blocks in holes or notches so that both
cylinders will turn together, and the shaft of these cylinders is made with two
sets of bearings, the bearings for the inner cylinder being eccentric to the
outer cylinder, and I connect upon the surface of the inner cylinder a series
of teeth formed like large needles, said teeth having an L-shaped bend at
their inner ends retained in a groove by a band; these teeth pass diagonally

page_text: through holes in the outer cylinder. By this construction the eccentricity of
the inner cylinder causes the teeth to be projected on one side of the cylinder
and retracted on the other. On the side where the teeth are projected I
apply a hopper with a sheet metal grate, into which the cotton is supplied,
and forms a roll as usual. The teeth of the cylinder pull the cotton through
this grate, and leave the seeds behind to fall away from a mouth at the bottom
of the hopper. The cotton is dropped from the cylinder at the side where the
teeth draw into the cylinder, and is taken up inclined boards by a suction
draft produced by a blower, and deposited on a revolving cylinder of wire
gauze, the air being drawn away from the inside of such wire cylinder by said
blower. The cotton lodging on this wire cylinder is taken off, and delivered
in a bat or sheet by means of two revolving rollers; previous, however, to the
delivery of the cotton by said rollers I brush it off against a roller by a
revolving brush that loosens the cotton, and by the centrifugal force throws
off any heavy pieces of seeds or motes, but delivers the cotton again contiguous
to said revolving wire cylinder, upon which it is drawn and held by the
suction current of air drawn from the inside of said cylinder of wire gauze;
this current of air conveys away dust, and from the blower should be passed
outside the building.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Cowell Craven in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
COWELL CRAVEN, of Greenbush, in the County of Rensellaer and State of New
York, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Cowell Craven, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Cowell Craven, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Cowell Craven, my 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
HENTS IN COTTON GINS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Cowell Craven, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
ix calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Cowell Craven, do hereby
leclare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
e performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
ollowing statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 is a plan of my gin.
39
2 is a vertical section of the same.
3 is a longitudinal section of one end of the ginning cylinder.
4 is an end view of said cylinder.
"
"
5 is a cross section of the same at the line j, j, of Fig. 3.
6 is a portion of the rings composing the cylinder in section, and
"
"
7 is an elevation of the hopper and guards between which the teeth of
the cylinder pass, as seen from the rear side.
Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.
Efforts have been made to construct cotton gins with teeth drawing down
nto the cylinder, in order to allow the cotton to be taken away without injury
o the staple.
The nature of my said Invention consists in two cylinders, one within and
excentric to the other, revolved in unison by gearing of such a character that
he revolution of the two cylinders is in no particular dependent on the
ginning teeth; hence strain, wear, and friction on said teeth are avoided.
The teeth themselves are formed of pointed wires secured in a peculiar
nanner, but allowed to vibrate as the excentricity of the inner cylinder causes
heir projection or retraction. I make use of guards formed of sheet metal,
raced at their upper ends, so that the roll of cotton will be easily taken by
he teeth of the ginning cylinder, thereby said teeth do not require to project
rom the cylinder as much as would be the case if the ordinary cast guards or
rates were employed; and the cotton as delivered from the ginning cylinder
s taken by a current of air upon a condensing cylinder, and from that
elivered by a pair of rollers that prevent the escape of any cotton in a state of
gnition from the ginning operation.

page_text: In the Drawing a is the frame of any suitable material, carrying the
shaft b, around which the ginning cylinder revolves. The part 1 of this shaft
is larger than the end portion 2, and exentric to the same, as seen in Figs. 2,
3, and 5. The heads of the ginning cylinder are formed with pipe-shaped
journals within the boxes d, d, on a, the part 2 of the shaft & passing through
these journals, and terminating at one end in a square 3 (see Fig. 1), upon
which an arm 4 is placed, which resting against or being connected with the
stud 5 that projects from the frame a, retains the shaft in a given position,
in order that the excentric portion 1 of the shaft may rise above the parts 2
'for a purpose hereafter explained. The arm 4 may be made as a segment of
a circle with a clamping screw to adjust the shaft if required. On the
portion 1 of the shaft ba cylinder e is mounted on heads 6, and this cylinder e
is grooved longitudinally, as shown at 7, 7, with as many lines of grooves as
there are to be ranges of teeth in the ginning cylinder. In these grooves are
introduced the inner ends of the teeth 8; these teeth are formed of pointed
wires bent at an angle similar to card teeth, as seen in Fig. 2. These teeth
are to be connected at their inner ends to the cylinder e in such a manner
that they can vibrate slightly in the plane of their rotation. I have shown
and prefer an L-shaped bend at the inner end of these teeth lying in the
aforesaid grooves 7, and secured by means of bands 9, 9, slipped on succes-
sively as the circular ranges of teeth are filled in. The outer cylinder fis
composed of rings or segments set together, in order the more easily to
introduce the teeth 8, 8. I have shown rings that are to be set into each
other with successive flanges and recesses, as represented in Fig. 6, so that
said rings when set together will form a perfect cylinder, but yet so con-
structed that the teeth can be introduced between the respective rings through
holes formed by cutting tapering notches in the edges of these rings sufficient
for these teeth to pass through and for allowing the slight vibration and
change of angle of the teeth as they are alternately projected and retracted as
the cylinders e and f revolve. The heads c, c, are drawn together, and the
rings f. f, bound firmly to each other by the tie rods 10, 10. It will be
evident that the shaft 6 remaining stationary, and the cylinders e and f
revolving on their respective parts, thereof, that the excentricity of e will cause
the teeth 8 to be drawn in on one side, and projected on the other, and to
avoid friction on these teeth by their binding in the holes in f, it is necessary
that the cylinders e and f be so connected as to revolve in unison regardless
of their excentricity. For this I prefer and use pins 11, 11, projecting from
the end or ends of e, and passing into circular openings in the discs 12 secured
on the inside of the heads c; these openings are shown in Fig. 5, and they

page_text: being of a size corresponding to the amount of motion in the parts resulting
from the excentricity drawing said pins 11 nearer to the centre of c at one
point than another, said pins are allowed really to slide around against the side
of said circular openings as the cylinders revolve, ensuring uniformity of
rotation, but allowing for the excentric position of said cylinders. If the
centre parts of the discs 12 were removed so that only semicircular scallops
were left, the operation would be the same. If the relative position of the
cylinders e and f is changed by setting one of them around farther on its axis,
the teeth 8, in consequence of their inclined position, would be projected
farther or retracted, according to which way the change took place; in order,
therefore, to compensate for wear on the teeth 8. I attach these discs 12 by
screws 13 in slots in c (see Fig. 4). The parts being at rest, if these screws
are slackened, and the discs 12 turned partially forward, the cylinder e
through the pins 11 will be turned slightly, and the teeth 8 projected farther,
or the reverse movement would cause them to be drawn farther into
the cylinder f. The position of the excentric portion 1 of the shaft is to
be so adjusted (by the arm 4) that the teeth 8 project at the part where the
cotton is taken from the hopper, and are drawn in at the point where the
cotton is delivered from the ginning cylinder. The hopper h is formed of a
suitable size and shape, and hinged at 15 to the cross piece of the frame of
the machine, so that it can be lifted off the cylinder f, and a screw or screws
at 16 regulates the position of the hopper and the proximity of the guards g
to the surface of said cylinder f. These guards g are formed of sheet metal,
and extend from the cross piece 17 of the hopper to the cross piece 18, to
both of which the respective ends are securely fastened, and the width and
location of these sheet metal guards is such that the teeth 8 project through
between them, and gin the cotton from the seed, the seed falling away at the
opening between the guards and the edge of the adjustable bottom board i of
the hopper h. The sheet metal guards are far preferable to the cast metal
one heretofore in use, because the teeth 8 do not require to project so far
through the cylinder f, as would be the case with the cast guards; but these
sheet metal guards would be valueless were it not for the braces 14 which I
apply at the back of the guards, as seen in Figs. 2 and 7. These braces are
connected at their respective ends to the cross piece 18, and the sheet metal
guards g. t is a roller which I prefer to be of metal with a covering of
rubber; this is driven by any suitable gearing or bands. I have shown the
pulleys u and u, Fig. 1, for this purpose, and y is one of the delivery rollers
driven by suitable means; the pulleys 20 & 21 are shown as designed for
this purpose. m is a cylinder formed of wire gauze, and having ring-shaped

page_text: beads n, n; this forms my condensing cylinder, which lays upon and is
supported by these rollers t and y, and is revolved by their rotation, it having
no axial bearing. From the hollow or open ends n of this condensing
cylinder trunks o, o, extend to the suction fan or blower p; I have shown and
prefer that these trunks be formed in the frame a, or attached to it. The
said trunks connecting at the centre of the blower produce a suction into the
said condensing cylinder through the meshes of the wire gauze in the direction
indicated by the arrows, and the air is blown away out of the blower case q
through suitable openings r. The pulleys 25 and 26 with a belt are
represented as the means for driving this blower. A closed cover s over
the condensing cylinder m prevents air passing into the same, as shown.
The cotton is dropped by the withdrawal of the teeth 8, as shown, and is
taken by the current of air caused by the suction fan, that is drawn in between
the slide or board k, and the cylinder f, and by the air passing in at the
opening 19, and carried up the incline I, and deposited on the condenser m,
and said condenser carries the cotton down over the roller t, near which point
I apply a brush that is revolved by the pulley 24, and brushes the cotton
off the surface of the condenser m, and carries it around in the case w and
throws it off towards the said cylinder m again, so that a current of air
admitted at the opening 23 carries the cotton up and deposits it again on the
condensing cylinder m. The air passing through the cotton in both instances
draws out dust and fine impurities which are taken away by the suction fan o.
The action of the brush v causes a slight outward current between the end of
the case w and the roller t, to counteract the current of air that would other-
wise be drawn in at this point by the blower o, and this case w is adjustable
so that the edge 22 thereof can be raised or lowered, the object of which
is to cause a separation of the motes and small lumps that are found in the
ginned cotton; these motes being small, loose, and heavier than the cotton will
be thrown off by the centrifugal force of the brush over this edge 22, while
the cotton travels around in the case w. By adjusting the case at this point
nothing but motes will be thrown over. Cotton as it comes from the gin is
sometimes on fire from the speed and friction on one piece that may be
partially detained; to extinguish this by pressure while in a loose state will
often prevent accidents. I therefore employ the roller that is corrugated in
order to take the cotton off the condenser, and deliver it between itself and
the roller y, and the weight of this roller will extinguish any fire by pressure
on the loose cotton. 27 are gears connecting the rollers y and z. A metal
extension plate between the blower case 7 and roller y excludes air and com-
pletes the construction of the machine. The operation of this. machine as a

page_text: whole will be apparent from the description given of the action of the respec-
tive parts.
I would remark that two or more of the brushes v, and parts connected
therewith might be applied around the condensing cylinder to loosen the
cotton and separate dust and motes if desired, the said condensing cylinder
being sufficiently large for this purpose. It will be apparent that any con-
nection between the cylinder e and cylinder f, that ensures their uniform
rotation regardless of their relative diameter or excentricity will relieve the
tecth of the friction and strain that would come on them if the teeth were
the means of giving rotation from one cylinder to the other, and I would
remark that if the discs 12 had V-formed notches instead of circular or semi-
circular, and the pins 11 were made as tapering teeth taking these V-formed
notches, the rotation in unison of the two cylinders would be effected and the
ginning teeth relieved. The cotton is by this machine ginned from the
seed without injury to the fibre and cleaned from dust and motes and
delivered in a bat ready to be packed or used in carding machines.
It will be evident that my improved cylinder is adapted to the ginning of
cotton of any kind, and I find that with some characters of cotton a revolving
brush or stripper t', Fig. 8, may be employed to take the cotton from the
cylinder, and deliver it to two feed rollers 2, y', that are located at the end of
a trunk., and pass the cotton through into said trunk, from whence it issues
in a compact mass, being forced along by the cotton conveyed in by said
rollers.
It will be seen that the guards g can be raised partially off the cylinder f by
the screws 16, and hence the amount that the teeth project through the
guards towards the front part of the cylinder can be regulated, and according
to the proximity of the guards to the upper part of the cylinder near the angle
of said guards or the adjustment of the point at which the teeth shall be
retracted by moving the shaft b by the arm or segment 4, so the teeth will
project more or less at the ginning point, where the teeth pass through the
guards at the angle of the same. I have found that it is best for the teeth to
project the most through the guards at the point where the roll of cotton in
the hopper comes in contact with said guards in order that said roll may be
revolved, and the cotton on the surface thereof be loosened by the penetration
of such teeth, and that the guards be in such a position to the teeth at the
angle in said guards that the teeth only project sufficiently to draw the cotton
itself through without being liable to injure the seeds, and the teeth
passing point first through the guard or grating at the angle or bend, said

page_text: guards do not tend to lift the cotton off the teeth. It will be evident that
this action of the teeth on the cotton is the result of the peculiarity of said
guards, and is not dependent upon the use of movable teeth.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is, first, a series
of teeth connected near one end to a cylinder, within and excentric to
an outer cylinder so that said teeth will be alternately projected and
retracted in the revolution of such cylinder, when said cylinders are
connected together by gearing or equivalent mechanism, substantially as
described.
Second, I claim the plates 12, constructed and adjusted as specified, in com-
bination with the cylinders e and f, and teeth 8, whereby the teeth can be
adjusted and projected more or less as specified.
Third, I claim constructing the teeth of the cotton ginning cylinder of pointed
wires having L-shaped bends, by means of which they are secured to the
cylinder e, by bands 9, as set forth.
Fourth, I claim rotating the cylinder fin unison with the cylinder e by
means of the pins 11 entering into the openings in the plates 12 at the ends
of the cylinder f, as specified.
Fifth, I claim a series of ginning teeth formed with tapering or rounded
points in combination with a guard extending between the cylinder and roll
of cotton in the hopper, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
Sixth, I claim a metallic guard extending over the surface of the cylinder
having a sharp angle or bend at the point where the teeth draw the cotton
through the guard so as to prevent the cotton being lifted off the teeth sub-
stantially as specified.
Seventh, I claim conveying the cotton from the ginning cylinder up the
incline to the condensing cylinder by a current of air induced by the suction
blower entering the opening 19 as specified.
Eighth, I claim the arrangement of the roller t, brush v, and adjustable
guard w, whereby the action of said brush in separating the motes can be
regulated as specified.
Ninth, I claim the condensing cylinder m, supported and driven by the
rollers & y, as specified, whereby the said condensing cylinder can be
formed without any central axis, and with its ends open for the air to be
exhausted as specified.
Tenth, I claim the exhausted condensing cylinder o, fitted and acting as
specified in combination with the rollers y & z, for removing the cotton from
such cylinder as specified.

page_text: Eleventh, I claim a tooth for cotton gins made of a tapering wire finished
before it is introduced into the cylinder so as not to cut or injure the
cotton.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Cowell Craven, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
THOMAS COWELL CRAVEN. (L.S.)
Witnesses,
THO. GEO. HAROLD,
119 & 121, Nassau St. N. Y.
CHA³. H. SMITH,
119 & 121, Nassau St. N.Y.