IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR SPINNING
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Tatham, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR
SPINNING."
Sealed the 19th September 1871, and dated the 21st March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Tatham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st March 1871.
I, JOHN TATHAM, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iμ-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
FOR SPINNING," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to the feed apparatus of carding engines,
and consists in an improvement upon that arrangement for which
Letters Patent were granted to Philip Charles Evans and Henry James
Hogg King, dated 20th January 1869, No 184.
According to the Invention therein described the wool is delivered
to a scale pan which when overbalanced is turned suddenly over by a
constantly revolving cam to which motion is imparted from the carding

page_text: engine, and the periods of feed from the scale pan are therefore regulated
by the weight of material delivered to it.
By my Invention I still use the said scale pan but regulate the
delivery of the material deposited therein by the motion of the "lattice,"
so that cach charge may represent a certain space through which the
said "lattice" has passed. To accomplish this I propose to use a catch
which intercepts the turning over of the pan before it arrives at the
delivering position. This catch is connected by rods or similar means
to the axis of the "lattice "roller or part connected therewith, and
when a fixed amount of travelling forward has taken place, the afore-
said catch is liberated, the scale pan is turned over, and the material
delivered. At the first movement of the scale pan the passage of the
material thereto is discontinued.
Secondly. My Invention relates to the "cross feed" of carding engines,
and consists in an arrangement whereby the same parts which effect the
rotation of the conducting rollers effect their traverse. For this purpose
I employ a rotary shaft furnished with a groove within which is situate
a key upon the driving wheel which so far is a known arrangement,
but instead of using a strap to effect the traverse as is now in use I
form a right and left handed screw upon the aforesaid grooved shaft,
which screw works within a boss formed upon the bracket which carries
the conducting rollers and their wheels. As applied to the said cross
feed" I also employ a peculiar apparatus for turning over the rollers
thereof. For this purpose I use a lever provided with inclines and the
lower part of which acts against a stop by which means it is turned
its centre. This lever bears against other inclines formed upon a
bolt which is pressed forward by a spring.
upon
Thirdly. My Invention relates to condensing carding engines, and
consists in the adaptation of a brush or other such apparatus working
against and clearing the divided roller.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, One thou-
sand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
5 me, the said John Tatham, Her special license, that I, the said John
Tatham, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Tatham, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL
AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR SPINNING," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Tatham, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Tatham, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention relates, firstly, to the feed apparatus of carding engines,
and consists in an improvement upon that apparatus for which Letters
Patent were granted to Philip Charles Evans and Henry James Hogg
King, dated Twentieth January One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine, No. 184.
According to the Invention therein described the wool is delivered
to a scale pan which when overbalanced is turned suddenly over by a
constantly revolving' cam to which motion is imparted from the carding
engine, and the periods of feed from the scale pan are therefore regulated
by the weight of material delivered to it.
By my Invention I still use the said scale pan but regulate the
delivery of the material deposited therein, so that each charge may
represent a certain space through which the "lattice" has passed.
This part of my Invention is shewn at Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the first of
which is a side view of the feeding apparatus complete, and the others

page_text: detached views of certain parts. The lattice upon which the material
is to be placed is shewn at 1, and may be adapted to the carding engine
in any ordinary manner. At 2 is the framework of the feed apparatus
supporting at its upper part the box 3, into which the material is placed
by hand to be delivered by the self-acting apparatus. At 4 is a shaft
driven from any convenient part of the carding engine, and provided
with a pulley 5 on which there is a band 6, driving two pullics 7, 8.
The former of these 7 is on a shaft 9 which is provided with blades 10,
and upon the same axis is another pulley 11 which by means of a
band 12 gives motion to a short shaft 13, on which there is a worm 14
in gear with a wheel 15 upon the axis of the spiked roller 16 mounted
within the box 3 as already in use. On the shaft 9 is another pulley 17
but this is loose upon its shaft and at times receives the band 12, as will
hereafter be described. Upon the pulley 8 is a crank pin 18 carrying
a rod 19, which at its upper end is jointed to a lever 20, the axis of
which carries a blade 21 situate within the box 3. At 22 is a rod
capable of moving in guide pieces 23 and carrying a projecting pin 24,
which is situate within a slot 25 formed in a plate which is fixed to the
framework, and the said rod has an enlarged part 26, which according.
to the position shewn rests upon a pin 27 projecting from a lever 28
which is capable of turning upon a fixed centre 29, and by this lever
the rod 22 is therefore supported. At 30 is the scale pan carried by a
lever 31 which is carried by a fixed arm 32 and upon which it is capable
of turning, and at 33 is the weight attached to the scale pan and which
becomes overbalanced when a certain weight of material has been
delivered from the box 3. At 34 is a lever turning upon a fixed centre
at 35, and the upper end of which is situate beneath the scale pan 30,
the lower end being provided with a projecting pin 36 (see Fig. 3).
Upon the axis of the front roller of the lattice 1 are two cams or
wipers 37, 38. Upon the shaft 4 is a pulley 39 which by means of a
band 40 drives a pulley 41, the axis of which is provided with a
pinion 42 in gear with a pinion 43, and upon the axis of this is a wheel
provided with hooked teeth 44. At 45 is a fixed cam the interior
periphery of which acts as a guide for a pin projecting from a rod 46,
which is jointed at its upper end to the lever 47 on the axis of the
scale pan 30. According to the positions of the parts as shewn in
the Drawing the scale pan is in its position for receiving material from
the box 3, and on motion being communicated to the shaft 4 the spiked
roller 16 will be caused to revolve in the direction of the arrow, taking

page_text: up the material as it travels, which rotation of the said roller is effected
by the band 6 and pullies 5, 7, and worm, and worm wheel 14, 15. At
the same time the band 6 will give motion to the rotatory blades 10 by
means of which the material will be flirted off the spikes 16 and thrown
into the pan 30, any that remains after the action of those rotatory
blades being removed from the spikes by the vibrating blade 21 which
is put in motion by the crank pin 18. A certain weight of material
having been thus deposited in the scale pan 30 it moves downward by
its weight and a projecting part 30* thereon rests upon the lever 34
without delivering its charge until a certain space has been passed
through by the "lattice" 1. This moving downward of the pan 30 will
have brought a pin 48 on the lever 47 into contact with the lever 28,
which is thus caused to turn upon its centre 29, and remove its sup-
port 27 from the rod 22, and this rod then falling down will carry its
pin 24 along the inclined slot 25, by which means the said rod will be
partially turned, and in so doing bring a fork 49 attached thereto to
bear upon the band 6 and shift it from the fast pulley 7 to the loose
pulley 17, and thus the motion of the shaft 9 will be arrested, and con-
sequently the operations of the spiked roller 16 and blades 10 will cease.
The scale pan with its charge of material is now in a preparatory state
for discharging the same, and the lattice 1 moving onward the wiper 37
will arrive in contact with the pin 36 and cause the lever 34 to turn
upon its centre 35, thereby removing the upper end thereof from bencatlı
the scale pan 30, and this being no longer supported will turn over upon
its centre 32* and deliver its charge to the lattice. The parts have now
to be restored to the positions shewn, and the band 6 has to be placed
upon the fast pulley 7. This is effected as follows:-The above-men-
tioned downward motion of the scale pan on to the lever 34 will have
conveyed the pin on the rod 46 on to a fixed incline 50 which keeps the
said pin beyond the range of the hooked teeth 44, but when a further
descent of the said scale pan takes place then the pin on the rod 46 is
guided within range of the teeth 44 by the cam 45, and is carried round
by them against the periphery of the said cam. By these means the
rod 46 is thrust upward, and as the lever 47 turns upon its centre it
moves the pan 30 into the position shewn, after which the rod 46
swings by its own gravity into a perpendicular position and conveys its
pin from the tecth 44. The travelling of the lattice will by this time
have brought the wiper 38 into contact with the rod 22, which will thus
become lifted, and as the pin thereon moves along the slot 25 the said

page_text: rod 22 will be turned back into the position shewn, and the fork 49 will
place the band 6 on to the fast pulley 7, and the material will be con-
veyed as before into the pan. At 51 is a spring against which a pro-
jecting part of the pan 30 arrives when it moves upward, the said spring
serving to steady it, but it is held back while the pan descends by the
finger 24. It will now be seen that as the tipping over of the scale pan
is regulated by the motion of the "lattice" a given quantity of material
will be deposited thereon for a given space through which the said lattice
passes, and that the quantity fed to the machine is constant or nearly so.
I would, however, observe that I do not confine myself to taking the
said tipping motion direct from the lattice roller, as the same principle
may be carried out by taking the said motion from any other moving
part of the machine which works uniformly in relation to the speed of
the lattice. I would also observe that although I have not shewn it
in the Drawing there is the usual spreading apparatus adapted to the
lattice.
The next part of my Invention relates to the "cross feed" of carding
engines, and consists in an arrangement whereby the same parts which
effect the rotation of the conducting rollers accomplish their traversing
motion. For this purpose I employ a rotatory shaft furnished with a
groove, within which is situate a key upon the driving wheel, and this
so far is the ordinary arrangement, but instead of using a strap to effect
the traverse, as is now in use, I form a right and left handed screw upon
the grooved shaft, which screw works within the bracket which carries
the conducting rollers and their wheels. The consequence of this
arrangement, as will be seen, is that the turning over of the conducting
rollers as is now practised is dispensed with, and also the said screwed
shaft takes the place of the supporting bar ordinarily employed.
This part of my Invention is shewn in the detached view, Fig. 4.
At a, b, are the two conducting rollers for the sliver, which, as is well
known, are usually formed with radial vanes or blades, and which deliver
the material to the feed apron or creeper in a transverse direction either
diagonally or at right angles thereto. These rollers are mounted in the
usual bracket or frame c which, according to ordinary arrangements,
carries rollers which run upon rails extending across the feed apparatus,
but according to my Invention the said frame c is provided with an
orifice, from the inside of which there extends a pin d situate within a
cross-threaded screw e formed upon a shaft f, these cross threads there-

page_text: fore constituting a right and left handed thread upon the same shaft, as
is well known as applied to other purposes. The screwed shaft e is
provided with a longitudinal groove g, within which is a key carried by
a bevil pinion h, through which the said shaft passes; and the pinion h
is situate in a fork i, an arm extending from which is attached to the
frame c. Upon the axis of the delivery roller a is a spur wheel j in
gear with a wheel %, which is carried by the frame c, and upon the face
of this wheel k are bevil teeth in gear with the aforesaid bevil pinion h.
The pin dis mounted as in other known cases of the use of right and
left handed screws, so as to turn upon a centre, and at one end of the
shaft is attached a boss which carries a filling. piece. The boss /
being held by a set screw may be moved from one position to another
by being turned, the filling piece causing it to move to the right or
to the left, as may be desired, and at the other end of the shaft f
is a fixed filling piece or guide to reverse the motion, as is well
understood.
Rotatory motion is communicated to the shaft f from any convenient
part of the carding engine, and by means of one of the screws thereon
the frame c is caused to traverse (say to the left hand), and this
traversing of the said frame c will by means of the fork i carry with
it the bevil pinion h, but as a key thereon is situate within a groove g
of the shaft the said pinion will also be caused to revolve, and will
through the intervention of the bevil teeth with which it is in gear
impart rotatory motion to the wheels k, j, and consequently delivering.
rollers, which by means of pinions 1*, m, causes the other delivering
roller to revolve at an equal speed, and thus the material conveyed to
the said rollers is carried across the feed apron. The pin d having
arrived at the filling piece is guided into the thread for moving it in
the reverse direction, and when it has traversed the width of the feed
apron the said pin arrives in contact with the other filling piece, and
the motion of the frame c is again reversed.
The object of using the moveable filling piece carried by 1 is to make
the apparatus available for different widths of feed, but the stop at the
other end of the shaft f may be fixed, as it may be adapted to one side
of any width of feed apron.
It will now be perceived that the shaft f not only traverses the
delivering rollers a, b, but gives rotatory motion to the same by means

page_text: of the bevil pinion h. Also that no turning over of the rollers for
placing them alternately in and out of gear with their driving pin is
necessary, inasmuch as the part which traverses them (the shaft f) is
always revolving in the same direction and continually drives them in
the proper direction for delivering. Also that there is no necessity for
a guide bar as the shaft performs that office.
.
The next part of my Invention also relates to the cross feed, and
consists in a peculiar arrangement for turning over the rollers when
they are caused to traverse in the ordinary manner. This arrangement
is shewn at Fig. 5; at c is the frame which carries the delivering
rollers a, b, and which runs upon a rail n by means of wheels o, the
traversing motion being effected by a band p provided with a pin 2 within
a slot formed in the frame c, this being the usual arrangement. At
q* is a band fast at both ends, or held by a weight at one end and
passing around a pulley ", on the axis of which is a pinion s in gear
alternately with pinions t, u, on the axes of the delivering rollers a, b,
and this alternate gearing is necessary, as is well known, in order to
cause the delivering rollers a, b, to revolve in the same direction in the
traversing motions. The delivering rollers are mounted in a frame v
capable of turning on a centre by means of an axis w, and to this axis
is attached an arm x provided at its upper end with a double inclinc y
situate against a similarly formed bolt which slides in the frame c, and
is continually pressed downward by a spring . The frame c having
moved in the direction of the arrow to the end of its traversing motion
the lower part of the arm x arrives in contact with a fixed stop whereby
it is caused to turn upon the centre w forcing up the boltz by means
of its incline, and thus the delivering rollers will be turned over and
their gearing changed as required, and when this has been done the
bolt will descend upon the other incline, and by means of its spring *
keep the driving wheels in gear. On the return traversing motion
having been effected the parts will again be brought into the position
shewn by the arrival of the arm x in contact with an adjustable stop a*
on the other side of the machine.
2
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it
to be understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part
recited Letters Patent,--
་

page_text: Firstly. In reference to such feeding apparatus as aforesaid regulating
the periods at which the scale pan shall turn over by the motion of the
lattice or other part moving in relation thereto, as aforesaid.
Secondly. As applied to the cross feed of carding engines the use of
the right and left handed screw and pinion thereon.
Thirdly. As applied to the said cross feed the use of the army with
its inclines and sliding bolt.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Tatham, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
ΤΟΤΕ ΠΑΠΙΤΤΑΚ
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