CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE COURING OF WOOL AND ATHED AIDRATO
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux, of Reims, in
the Empire of France, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE COURING OF WOOL AND ATHED AIDRATO MAR
Sealed the 20th October 1858, and dated the 29th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacques Stanislas
Vigoureux at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th April 1853.
I, JACQUES STANISLAS VIGOUREUX, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMBING OF
WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the employment, for the purpose of com-
ing wool or other fibrous substances, of two wheels or discs, mounted
side by side, and furnished with a ring of heckle points or card teeth,
set perpendicularly to their faces, (after the manner of the teeth of a
crown wheel,) one wheel having the teeth inside, and the other outside,
so that the teeth of the two wheels, when working, may be brought close
together. The shafts upon which these wheels rotate have shogging
motions imparted to them, which motions are so timed that the toothed
faces of the wheels may first approach each other, or that one may

page_text: approach the other, so as to cause the teeth completely to penetrate the
fibrous substance to be operated upon, and then separate, first, in the
direction necessary for drawing ont the fibres, and then in another
direction, either for the purpose of approaching the substance as it is
fed in, or in order to resume their first position in contact with each
other suitable for performing the operation of combing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 29th October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JACQUES STANISLAS VIGOUREUX, of Reims, in the Empire of France,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux,
Her special licence that I, the said Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux,
my executors, adininistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
COMBING OF WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux, 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 six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what man-
ner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention consists in the employment, for the purpose of comb-
ing wool or other fibrous substances, of two wheels or discs, mounted
side by side, and furnished with a ring of heckle points or card teeth,
set perpendicularly to their faces, (after the manner of the teeth of a
crown wheel) one wheel having the teeth inside, and the other outside,
so that the teeth of the two wheels when working may be brought
close together. The shafts upon which these wheels are mounted have
a shogging or lateral motion imparted to them; and the notions of the
two wheels are so timed, that the toothed faces of the wheels inay first
approach each other, or one may approach the other, so as to cause the
teeth completely to penetrate the fibrous substance to be operated upon,
and then separate, first, in the direction necessary for drawing out the
fibres, and then in another direction, either for the purpose of approach-
ing the substance as it is fed in, or in order to resume their first
position in contact with each other, in a manner suitable for performing
the operation of combing.
.
I will now describe the improved construction of machine which I
have found to answer this purpose, although I desire it to be under-
stood that I do not confine myself thereto, as the same object may be
effected in a variety of ways, without departing from the principle of my
Invention, which consists in the employment of combing discs or wheels
operating in the manner above described.
In the accompanying drawings (which are drawn to a scale of one-
fifth the real size, and in which similar letters indicate corresponding
parts), Fig. 1, is a plan view of the machine complete; Fig. 2, is a
partial plan, shewing by dotted lines the different positions the comb-
wheels assume when working; and Fig. 3, is a longitudinal elevation.
A, is the driving pulley, the shaft of which carries a bevel pinion A',
gears into and drives the bevel wheel L, for the purpose of commu-
that

page_text: nicating motion to the vertical shaft O, which carries at its upper
extremity the cam plate F, with a stud C, placed excentrically upon it.
B, B, is the main framing of the machine; and M, is a slotted frame
in which the cam C, works, and which franc is made to follow all the
movements of the cam C. P, P, are bearings adapted to the frame
M, which bearings work to and fro in guides, and carry the shaft with
the comb wheel V, mounted on the end thereof. These comb wheels
will consequently follow the movements of the slotted arm M, as it is
made to reciprocate by the excentric stud C, on the plate F, at the
upper end of the vertical shaft O. D, is a bevil wheel on the shaft D',
upon which is also mounted a pinion D", which by the train of wheels
H, gearing into each other, (see Figures 1, and 3,) communicates motion
to the comb wheels V, V. R, is a pinion which is mounted so as to
slide up and down when in gear with the long grooved cylinder or pinion
S, which transmits its motion to the comb wheel by means of the bevil
wheels T, T. On the other extremity of the same shaft N, upon which
the long pinion S, is fixed, is a bevil wheel Q, gearing into another
bevil wheel Q, on the shaft U, of the comb V, which shaft slides
through the bevil wheel Q', as the wheel V, is reciprocated backwards
and forwards by the stud C', of the slotted frame M. G, G¹, are the
drawing rollers which receive their rotary motion from the wheel I,
which is mounted upon the shaft of the comb wheels, and gears into
the train of wheelwork J, J.
The cross piece K, which carries these drawing rollers, is fixed to the
slide pieces X, X', so that the comb wheels, the drawing rollers, and the
guide pieces, are all caused to slide together on the main framing.
In Fig. 1, the excentrics C, C', are represented at the top of their
course. The guide pieces X, X, moved thereby, are at the extremity of
the carriages; and the comb wheels V, V', are in contact.
In Fig. 2,
the excentric C, is represented at the bottom of its course, consequently
the disc V, has been shifted backwards as there shewn, during which
time the excentric C', has moved in the slotted arm M', without shift-
ing it. V, Fig. 2, represents in dotted lines the position of the disc
V', when the excentric C, is at the bottom of its course, and the comb
discs or wheels V, VI, are separated from each other in both directions.

page_text: OPERATION OF THE MACHINE.
The working of the above described machine comprizes two principal
operations, viz., firstly, the charging of the comb wheels with the
wool or substance to be operated upon; secondly, the combing of the
same by the operation of the comb wheels.
As regards the feeding of the wool or substance to the comb wheels,
this operation is effected by means of a feed apparatus O', (Figures 1,
and 3,) which consists of a roller revolving at a slight pressure over a
plate, so as to allow of the passage (between the edge of this plate and
the roller) of the wool or other substance which is drawn forward by the
motion of the roller. This feel apparatus has a reciprocating motion, and
during each of these movements it advances in order to feed the fibrous
substance on to the comb teeth, at about the middle of their length, and
then recedes, and, in so doing, drives the fibrous matter down towards
the bottom of the teeth. A pair of rollers is attached to this feeder,
between which the substance to be operated upon first passes, and
which must be set at such a distance apart as to correspond to the
space between the feed roller and plate, in proportion to the length of
staple to be operated upon. In order to avoid confusion, these rollers
are not represented in the Drawings. It will be understood that the
construction of this feeder is not so important as the other parts of my
Invention about to be described.
As regards the operation of combing by means of the comb wheels
or discs V, V, this is effected by the double shogging or reciprocating
motion imparted to these latter, independently of their rotary motion at
each period of their action, so as to cause them first to separate from
cach other, either in the direction of the length of their axis, or per-
pendicularly thereto; and secondly, to approach into contact with each
other, and then again to separate, and so on.
The effects which are produced during each period are as follows:-
The substance to be operated upon having been fed, either on to both
the comb wheels simultaneously, or on to one of them only, (one may, if
desired, feed the other in working,) it is first operated upon at its
extremities only, and is successively acted upon throughout, from the
fact that by the rotation of the two comb wheels in contact, their teeth

page_text: are made to penetrate throughout the whole body of the substance with
which they are charged. This will be easily understood by describing a
tangential line at the point of contact, when the two discs are near each
other. For instance, at the point c, Fig. 3, the substance with which
one comb wheel is charged will be taken hold of by the other at c';
when a distance of about one-third of an inch has been traversed, while
the wheels are performing their shogging movement, the substance has
been driven about one-fifteenth of an inch on to the teeth; at c", about
two-thirds of an inch have been traversed, and the substance is at about
one-tenth of an inch. Lastly, as has been above said, the teeth are
caused to penetrate it successively throughout, in proportion to the
amount of rotation of the comb wheels or discs. Beyond the extreme
point of contact of the discs, the combing of the fibres is effected from
the end engaged in the teeth towards their other extremities.
As respects the arrangements for taking off the products after being
operated upon, they consist of well known ineans, applied in the follow-
ing manner-The wool, after being operated upon by the teeth of
the combs, is depressed by means of two small pressers Y, Y', for the
purpose of conducting it better to the drawing rollers, by which it is
formed into a continuous sliver. Small toothed wheels are employed
in the same manner as in the machine called "Collier's machine,"
ind are set at an inclination along the teeth, in order to facilitate the
drawing off of the sliver when it is on the middle of the teeth. Small
rotary brushes or doctors are in like manner employed behind the teeth,
for the purpose of clearing off the dust or flock, and extraneous matters
which are conducted on to an endless band, by which they are con-
ducted into a suitable receptacle.
The substance to be operated upon in this machine, is to be fed
thereto in the form of a sliver as it comes from the carding engine or
similar apparatus.
The comb discs V, VI, form what I shall call a "head," and these
may be multiplied at pleasure in one machine, without interfering with
the working. It will only be necessary to connect the discs with their
accessories on the same shaft.
The several slivers produced by the comb discs may be combined in

page_text: sets, and operated upon by a drawing head, such as is applied to all
machines employed for preparing fibrous substances for spinning.
Having now described my Invention, and the best means with which
I am at present acquainted for carrying the same into practical opera-
tion, I wish it to be understood, that I do not mean or intend to confine
myself rigidly to the precise construction or arrangement of machinery
herein shewn and described, as that may doubtless be varied without
departing from the nature and object of my Iuvention; and although,
in order that the present improvements may be better understood. I
have shewn and described certain well known contrivances which may
have been heretofore used for similar purposes, I wish it to be under-
stood, that I do not intend to claim them as of my Invention. But that
which I consider to be new, and therefore desire to secure by Letters
Patent, is,
Firstly, the double movement of the rotary combs by which they are
carried in the two directions necessary for performing their functions,
whether this double movement be obtained by the means herein-before
described and shewn, or by any other suitable means. I also claim
varying the pitch of the feed roller, as regards the plate, in proportion
to the length of the staple, in order to regulate the feed of the same.
Lastly, I claim constructing a machine with a successive series of
small comb wheels or rotary combs, the movements of which shall
always present (parallel to each other) the circles formed by the comb
teeth, whether they recede from or approach in contact with each other.
In witness whereof, 1. the said Jacques Stanislas Vigoureux,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of
October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three.
JACQUES STANISLAS VIGOUREUX. (L.s.)
o Witness, CHARLES A. PERPIGNA,
0
Advocate, of No. 46, Rue St. Ann. Paris.