CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMBING OR DRESSING OF WOOL AND WASTE SILK
Year: 1826

page_text: ANDERTON'S SPECIFICATION:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ANDERTON, of Cleckheaton, in the County of York, Worsted Spinner, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of March, in the seventh year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Anderton, His especial licence that I, the said George Anderton, my
exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Anderton,
my exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of " CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMBING OR DRESSING OF WOOL AND WASTE SILK;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said George
Anderton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, parti-
cularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Anderton, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist in placing combs on a horizontal revolving cylinder, to be worked

page_text: by power in such manner as to take wool from an ordinary feed cloth, and
partly dress the same, as also in placing other combs in such situations as to
complete the said dressing, which said last-mentioned combs are also on
horizontal revolving cylinders or axes, and also turned by power. And in
further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said George Anderton, do
hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed,
by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawing marked A is a side view of the machine, which performs the
first operation of combing the wool taken from the feed cloth. B is the feed
cloth, and C, C, C, C, the carrying rollers. D is a large cylinder, and the
parts marked E are combs fixed on the said cylinder. F is a drum for the
strap which turns the cylinder, and G is the end of its axis. H is merely the
general framework of the machine. I is a fixed comb which slides into the end
framework, and J is a double comb fixed on a roller or axis, to be used
as hereafter described. The arrows show the direction of the motion of the
various combs, and the parts coloured red represent the wool.
And now, having described the various parts of this machine, I will proceed
to describe the manner of using it. Wool, previously sorted and washed,
being placed on the feed cloth, it will be carried forward by the carrying rollers
till it is caught by the combs marked E, which will carry it round with
themselves, and will, in their revolutions, lash the ends of the wool against the
fixed comb I, and by a repetition of this operation all the combs marked E
will, after a time, become filled with combed wool, when this wool is to be
removed. Each comb marked E are to be brought under the combs marked J,
which is to be set in motion every rapidly, and will thus dress the upper side of
the ends of wool, which, by the previous operation, may have escaped the
comb. And it should here be observed, that during this operation the wool on
the comb E should be held down by a rod or any other contrivance to prevent
it being drawn off. When this is done the wool should be removed by the
combed ends being taken carefully between two leaves of wood, hereafter
explained, and drawn off the teeth of the comb, which will leave the noily ends
hanging out from the said leaves, and which noily ends are to be operated
upon in another manner, herein-after explained. The manner of leading the
straps to give motion to the different parts of the machine is not shewn
here, since this arrangement may depend on the locality of the engine or
other power by which it is to be turned. But it should here be stated, that

page_text: the speed of the different parts bear about the following proportions to each
other (that is to say), the cylinder D about fifty-four revolutions in a minute,
and the combs J about one hundred and fifty times in a minute. The
Drawing marked K represents a plan of the Figure shewn in the Drawing
marked A; and it should here be observed, that similar letters are used to
to denote similar parts in all the Drawings. X is the strap which turns the
feed rollers.
The Drawing marked L represents a perspective view of the machine to be
used in the second process, or process for combing and dressing the noily ends
herein-before described. Fig. 1 represents the leaves of wood herein-before
mentioned; they are merely two thin strips of wood held together by a leather
hinge. The dressed ends of the wool are received and held fast between these
wooden leaves when the wool is removed from the machine described in the
Drawing marked A, and the wooden leaves are placed into the circular frame M,
Fig. 2, with a plain piece of wood between each, as shown in the Drawing.
Every fifth piece of wood is fixed or bolted to the circular frame, as at a, a, a,
so as to enable the other pieces of wood and the alternate leaves to be wedged
tight into the circular frame. N are two double combs, similar to those
marked J in the Drawing marked A, and O, P, are a fast and loose drum for
turning the said combs, and both combs are furnished with these drums,
though in the perspective view only one is shewn as fitted with them. Qis a
rope fastened to the end R to the rim of the circular frame, and having the other
end led upwards over a pulley with a weight which just causes the said circular
frame to make one revolution before it needs to be wound up again. When
all the wooden leaves are filled with dressed wool they are placed in a circular
frame, as before described, till a complete cylinder is formed, having all the
noily ends on its surface, protruding from every pair of the leaves; and the
object of this machine now under description is to dress these ends. For this
purpose the circular frame is allowed to turn round slowly in the direction of
the arrow, while the double combs at one end or the other of the frame (but
never both together) are put in motion in the same direction. This causes
these combs to dress out the said noily ends, and when this has been
done the wooden leaves may be removed from the circular frames, and
will be found to contain a quantity of wool perfectly combed and dressed, and
ready to be made into slivers in the ordinary manner. The part S, colored
pink, is a small spring to keep the comb in its place, for it should be stated
that the double combs slide into the frame or ends of their axis T for the
convenience of being removed to be heated; and it should here be observed,
that all the combs which I have called double combs require to be heated in
the ordinary way, and I also apply heat in some way to the under side of the

page_text: cylinder D, in the Drawing marked A, and of the circular frame marked M, in
the Drawing marked L. With regard to the comparative speed of the circular
frame M, and the double combs N, N, it should be stated, that I cause the
combs to revolve about one thousand times for one revolution of the circular
frame. I have not thought it necessary to describe the bauds which work the
pulley, since their arrangement would depend upon the locality of the engine
or other power by which they are to be turned.
Now, whereas, I claim as my Invention the machines as hercin-before
described as applicable to the purpose of combing and dressing wool and waste
silk, with the exception of the ordinary feed cloth, and carrying rollers described
in the Drawing marked A, and the wooden leaves described in the Drawing
marked L, at Fig. 1, which said feed cloth and, carrying rollers and wooden
leaves I do not claim as any part of my said Invention. But that which I
have herein-before claimed as my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge
and belief, entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His
said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe
this my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without
reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive
right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Anderton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of May, in the year of our Lord 'One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
Inrolled the Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-six.