IMPROVEMENTS IN MA- CHINERY FOR CRUSHING, BRUISING, AND PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS REQUIRING SUCH TREATMENT
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomson Carter, of Belfast, in the County
of Antrim, Flax Spinner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY FOR CRUSHING, BRUISING, AND PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS REQUIRING SUCH TREATMENT."
Sealed the 81st August 1859, and dated the 2nd March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomson Carter at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd March 1859.
I, JOHN THOMSON CARTER, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Flax.
Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CRUSHING, BRUISING, AND PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS REQUIRING SUCH TREATMENT," to be as follows, that is
to say-
My Invention relates to improvements in the machinery for crushing,
bruising, and preparing flax, hemp, and other fibrous materials requiring such
treatment, for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the First day of
February, Eighteen hundred and forty-seven, " & numbered 11,558."

page_text: The Invention secured to me by the above-named Letters Patent, consisted
in passing the fibrous materials to be operated upon between two hollow
rollers or cylinders heated by steam, the lower roller revolving on a stationary
bearing, whereas the upper roller, on the contrary, revolved upon a spindle
which moved in a slot in the frame of the machine. The pressure applied to
the fibrous materials passing between the rollers was thus regulated by the
weight of the upper roller. My present improvement consists in applying the
force of springs to the above machine instead of depending upon the mere
weight of the upper roller; and the mode in which I propose to apply them
is, by placing the springs on a table below the axle of the lower cylinder or
roller, and this table is so constructed as to be capable of being screwed up or
down to any level within the compass of the working power of the springs, the
pressure upon the materials passing between the cylinders being thus regulated
according to the quantity or quality of the article under manufacture.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said John Thomson
Carter in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 12th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THOMSON CARTER, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Flax Spinner, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Thomson Carter, Her special licence that I, the said John
Thomson Carter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Thomson Carter, 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 Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CRUSHING, BRUISING, AND PREPARING FLAX,
HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS REQUIRING SUCH TREATMENT," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Thomson Carter, my execu-
tors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or, one

page_text: of their hands and seals, 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 six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Thomson Carter, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to improvements in machinery for crushing, bruising,
and preparing flax, hemp, and other fibrous materials, and for which Letters
Patent were granted to me on the 1st day of February, 1847.
upon
This I effected by passing the fibrous materials to be crushed or prepared.
between metallic rollers, heated by steam or other means, the lower roller
being fixed and working in a stationary bearing; the upper roller, on the
contrary, working in a bearing which moved in a vertical slot in the frame of
the machine. By this arrangement the weight of the upper roller pressed
the lower one, and the flax or other fibrous material introduced between
them, was compressed by being passed between the lower roller, which was
caused to revolve in one direction by straps or gearing, and the upper roller,
which moving freely in its bearing necessarily revolved in a contrary direction.
My present improvement consists in the substitution of the force of buffer or
other springs in lieu of the force of gravity of the upper roller. This I effect
by placing the springs on a table or frame below the bearing of the lower
cylinder or roller. This table or frame is so constructed as to be capable of
being raised or lowered by screws or other means to any level within the
compass of the working power of the spring. This table or frame is suspended
by an iron band, which embraces the axles of both rollers, and it is so con-
trived that the top or extreme end of the spring reaches up to and presses
against the axle of the lower roller, while the bottom of the spring rests upon
the table or frame. Thus, the force of the spring at one end presses the axle
of the lower cylinder upwards, and presses the table or frame downwards,
which table or frame draws downwards the axle of the upper cylinder. Thus,
when the table or frame is at the greatest distance from the axle of the lower
roller, the pressure is at its minimum, and when the table or frame is screwed
or moved as close up to the axle of the lower cylinder as the compass of the
spring admits, the pressure is at its maximum. By means of the above-
described improvement, the cost of the machine is greatly reduced, the

page_text: pressure may be regulated according to the quantity or quality of the materials
under manufacture, and the machine occupies a smaller space.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomson Carter, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JOHN T. CARTER. (L.S.)