IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER FIBRE
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel Cunliffe Lister at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1868.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, in the County of
York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER FIBRE," to
be as follows:-
The cleaning instruments now used in
now used in machinery constructed
according to the Patent granted to myself and James Warburton, dated
December 13th, 1859, No. 2832, where the fibre is drawn through the
teeth of a circular feed comb by a circular nipper have been always
made with angle wire cards, and the teeth all of one length from that
cause, the teeth of the cleaning card first acting upon the silk have
seized it by the middle of the fibre close up to the nip, and by so doing
have broken the fibres and taken away more from the nipper or
holder than they should. This I prevent by having the teeth of the
cards that first act upon the fibre longer and coarser than those on the
finishing side, also having the teeth made with round wire. The teeth
of the cleaning card may be all of one length provided the above or

page_text: other means be used to put the fibre straight on to the card. I do not
confine myself to the means shown. Hitherto wool has not been
successfully combed upon the machine above described, but by making
the teeth of the cleaning instrument coarser on the side which first
combs the wool and finer on the finishing side, and when cards are
used making them with round wire, I succeed perfectly.
Another improvement consists in substituting (especially for wool)
combs in place of cards in machines such as above described. I make
the combs coarse at one end and finer at the other; these combs I prefer
to mount on an endless chain or leather, and they are so fixed to the
chain or leather that having a crank at the end of each comb which
travels in a groove the combs can be controlled in their motion and
made to enter the wool or other fibre at right angles to the nip and
draw through the wool or fibre nearly horizontally. I heat the combs
with gas or other suitable fire heat which is placed under and in direct
contact with the teeth of the combs, the heating of the combs is of
great importance in preventing the combs from robbing, and also very
much improves the appearance of the top. The wool or other fibre
that is robbed from the nip by the comb teeth is removed by a brush
and delivered by it to a card which is doffed in the usual manner.
Combs mounted on arms which as they rotate are controlled in their
motion by a crank working in a groove will answer, but I prefer to
have them mounted on a chain or endless strap. It is not of much
moment how they are controlled or governed in their movement so
long as they enter the wool nearly at right angles and draw out nearly
horizontally. Combs may be used with advantage especially for the
short end, that is, the noil end, which are not governed in their rotation,
but the teeth must be coarser at the end that first operates upon the
wool or other fibre.