IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES."-A communication from abroad
by Paul Jacquel, Manufacturer, of 13, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
Sealed the 7th January 1870, and dated the 21st July 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st July 1869.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES," to be as
follows:-
In carding engines the operation of stripping the card cylinders by
band can only be perfectly accomplished by experienced operators; and
this Invention is designed with a view to render this operation automatic
by the aid of mechanism serving as a substitute for hand strippers. The
stripper of this Invention may be made to penetrate the teeth of the
card to any desired depth, and has this further advantage of never

page_text: injuring the cards, as the teeth of the stripping roller always move in a
plane perpendicular to the axis of the carding cylinders. This improved
rotary stripper is applicable to all kinds of carding engines, whether used
for preparing cotton, wool, silk, or other materials, the dimensions being
varied to suit each case. By employing a stripper of this nature a
saving of time is effected, while the carded material will also be in a
more perfect condition than that obtained by a manual operation.
This Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1
of which shows a side elevation of the improved rotary stripper, and
Figure 2 a plan of the same. The same reference letters apply to both
Figures.
The stripping apparatus consists of a cylinder H covered with a card
surface, and mounted on two supports provided with regulating screws.
The stripping roller is provided at one end with differential gearing X
of any suitable kind, so as to permit of its rotation simultaneously with
its to-and-fro motion (always in a plane perpendicular to its axis) by the
aid of crank arm G, connecting rod F, and eccentric D. A crank may
also be substituted for the eccentric, which is mounted on a shaft M
carried in bearings bolted to the frame of the machine. This shaft is
operated by the pulley B fixed on the loose pulley A of the card cylinder
acting on driving pulley R. It will thus be understood that the
stripping cylinder acts when the carding cylinder is out of action. A
pulley K fixed on the opposite end of driving shaft M serves to impart
a slow rotary motion to the cylinder to be stripped in either direction,
and said cylinder operates in its turn by the aid of pulley J the
differential wheel carried on pulley I. The motion produced by the
wheel causes the stripping cylinder to continually present a clear
portion for removing the carded material from the cylinder to be
stripped. A small plate T is disposed above the stripping cylinder, as
shown in Figure 1, to prevent the return of the matters in the direction
of the arrow. A plate U is also placed below the stripping cylinder
curved concentrically therewith, which acts as a friction surface during
the combined rotary to-and-fro motion of said cylinder, and so coils the
carded material. The motion may be imparted to the several parts,
either by the aid of bands, endless chains, or gearing of any kind, as
convenient.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th January 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special licence
that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES," a communication to me from abroad
by Paul Jacquel, Manufacturer, of 13, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Melville
Clark, 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 Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):-
:-
In carding engines the operation of doffing or stripping the card
cylinders by hand can only be perfectly accomplished by experienced
operators, and this Invention is designed with a view to render this.
operation automatic by the aid of mechanism serving as a substitute for

page_text: hand strippers. The stripper of this Invention may be made to penetrate
the teeth of the card to any desired depth, and has the further advantage
of never injuring the cards, as the teeth of the stripping roller always
move in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the carding cylinders. This
improved rotary deffer or stripper is applicable to all kinds of carding
engines whether used for preparing cotton, wool, silk, or other materials,
the dimensions being varied to suit each case. By employing a stripper
of this nature a-saving of time is effected, while the carded material will
also be in a more perfect condition than that obtained by a manual
operation.
This Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1
of which shows a side elevation of the improved rotary stripper, and
Figure 2 a plan of the same.
The stripping apparatus consists of a cylinder H covered with a card
surface and mounted on two supports provided with regulating screws.
The stripping roller is provided at one end with differential gearing X of
any suitable kind so as to permit of the rotation of said cylinder on its
axis simultaneously with the reciprocating motion imparted to it by the
aid of crank arm G, connecting rod F, and eccentric D.
A crank may
be substituted for the eccentric, which is mounted on a shaft M carried
in bearings bolted to the frame of the machine. This shaft is operated
by the pulley B (fixed on the loose pulley A of the card cylinder)
acting on pulley R. It will thus be understood that the stripping
cylinder acts when the carding cylinder is out of action. A pulley K
fixed on the opposite end of shaft M, which then becomes the driving
shaft of the machine, serves to impart a slow rotary motion in either
direction to the cylinder to be stripped, and said cylinder operates in its
turn, by the aid of pulley J, the differential wheel carried on pulley I.
The motion produced by this wheel causes the stripping cylinder to
continually present a clear surface for removing the carded material
from the cylinder to be stripped. A small plate T is disposed above
the stripping cylinder, as shown in Figure 1, to prevent the return
of the matters in the direction of the arrow. A plate U is also placed
below the stripping cylinder curved concentrically therewith, which
acts as a friction surface during the combined rotary and reciprocating
motion of said cylinder, and so coils the carded material. The motion
may be imparted to the several parts either by the aid of bands, endless
chains, or gearing of any kind as convenient.

page_text: Another arrangement of the apparatus is shown in side view and plan
at Figures 3 and 4 of the Drawings. In this case pulley I receives
motion from driving pulley A by means of a band N. The reciprocating
rotary motion is imparted by the aid of connecting rod P jointed at S
at one end to the loose pulley B and pivoted at the other end at I¹
to the lever arm G, the pivot I' being adjustable in the slot of arm G,
so as to give the stripper H greater or less motion. The speed and
direction of motion of the small card drum O enables me to strip the
latter automatically when in action by the aid of the apparatus of
this Invention. This has never been hitherto attained, and is more
particularly of advantage for some kinds of cotton where the smaller
cylinder O requires to be "doffed" more frequently than the large drum.
The arrangement of the parts, except as regards their relative speeds, is
the same as in the machine first herein described. Instead of plate T
before referred to I use a comb with teeth set wide apart for cleaning
the doffer H, and lastly I provide two rollers driven at a suitable speed
for drawing off the strippings.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
the improved doffing or stripping apparatus having a combined recipro-
cating and rotary motion, as herein described and illustrated in the
Drawings, which is applicable to all kinds of carding engines and to
either large or small carding cylinders.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)