IMPROVE- MENTS IN COTTON GINS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gustavus Rollins, of No. 24, Circus Street,
Greenwich, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COTTON GINS."-A communication from abroad by Caleb
Carpenter Allen, residing at Boston, Massachusetts, United States of
America.
Sealed the 7th October 1864, and dated the 21st April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gustavus Rollins at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st April 1864.
I, JOHN GUSTAVUS ROLLINS, of No. 24, Circus Street, Greenwich, in the
County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COTTON GINS," to. be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cotton gins, and is
applicable to the gins known as saw gins; in these gins the seed cotton is
put into a hopper, one side of which is made with a grating consisting of bars
placed parallel the one to the other, and a short distance apart. Between
these bars a number of circular saws enter a short distance, and the saws in
revolving catch the cotton and draw it between the bars, but the seeds are
stopped back, the bars being too close together to allow them to pass. The

page_text: cotton is taken off the teeth of the saws and discharged from the machine by
a revolving brush.
Now according to this Invention the saws, after they have taken the cotton,
are caused to carry it through a second grating placed on the opposite side of
the axis of the saws to that on which the hopper is situated, and beyond this
second grating the cotton is also carried through a stationary brush before it
is taken from the saws by the rotatory brush, as heretofore. By these
additions the working of saw gins is found to be greatly improved.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Gustavus Rollins in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GUSTAVUS ROLLINS, of No. 24, Circus Street, Greenwich, in the County of
Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Gustavus Rollins, Her special licence that I, the said John Gustavus
Rollins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Gustavus Rollins, 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
COTTON GINS," a communication to me from abroad by Caleb Carpenter Allen,
a person résident at Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gustavus Rollins,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one 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 Gustavus Rollins, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: between the bars d2 and then through the second grating f, the bars of which
are formed of strips of wood nailed to the cross bar a¹ of the frame; these
strips are of such a width as just to enter freely the spaces between the saws,
and they serve effectually to keep back and separate any seed which may be
drawn between the bars d. g is a brush immediately behind the grating fi
it is fixed to the cross piece a', and has on it a number of tufts of bristles
arranged at distances apart equal to the spaces between the saws, so that there
is a tuft for each saw, and the brush is adjusted in position so that the teeth
of each saw may pass through its tuft; this brush tends to keep back burrs
and knots and to straighten the fibre. h, h, are guards at each end of the
grating to prevent the passage onwards of any fibre or material which might
otherwise escape past the grating f; at its ends i is a rotating brush such as
is usually employed to strip the cotton from the saws and throw it out of the
machine. The gin may be driven either by the crank handle 6', or by a strap
passing around the pulley b², both of which are mounted on the axis 6 of the
saws; is another pulley on the same axis, and around it a belt k passes;
this belt also encircles the tightening pulley 1, and it passes in contact with
the small pulley i¹ on the axis of the rotating brush i, which is thus driven.
The pulley acts by its weight to keep the belt k at a proper tension; its
bearings are formed in two pieces 11, 11, which slide up and down in contact
with upright guides on the frame. A tongue on one of the pieces l¹ entering
a groove in its guide ensures the parallel rise and fall of the pulley.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gustavus Rollins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
J. G. ROLLINS. (L.S.)