USRE3610E - Improvement in m ach ines for com bing cotton - Google Patents

Description

l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILTON D. wHIrrLE, 0E CAMBRIDGE, MASSAcHUsETTS, ASSIGNEE,I BY

MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS, or HIMSELE. l

IMPROVEMENTIN MACHINES FOR COMBING COTTON.

Specification forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 21,932, dated October 2G, 18758; Reissue No. 3,6 l0, dated August 17', 1869.v

. ing in Cambridge, in the county and State aforesaid, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Ooinbing Cotton; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the machine, and Fig. 2 represents a vertical transverse section through the same.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate figures, denote like parts ofthe machine in both ofthe drawings, first premising that the drawings represent a doubleacting combing-machine having two sets of cards, nippers, and doffers so arranged that as the arms which carry the nippers are vibrated7 and one pair of nippers is carrying the cotton which it has drawn from the feedrolls up to one doffer, the other pair of nippers will be returning, for a fresh supply to be carried up to the other doifer, as willbe hereinafter more fully explained. It iS evident, however, `that the machine may be made single-acting, or with one pair of nippers and one doffer.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe. the same with reference to the drawings...

On the frame A are arranged suitable bearings, in which is supported the driving-shaft B, to which motion is communicated by means of the pulley C, Fig. 2. l

A rockingshaft, D, near the upperypart of the machine, has its bearings at a, and has secured to it, near each end, a pair of arms, E

E', which extend laterally each way from the shaft and carry at their ends heavy blocks viz., on one side the arms E carry at their outer ends the block F, and the arms E carry the block G. Each of these arms terminates in a clamp, b, to which the block isrsecured.

As the operating parts on each side of the machine are substantially alike, I will describe the construction, arrangement, and operation of but one Set, as follows:

The block F, whiuch extends across the machine inside of the frame A, is secured rigidly to the clamps b on the ends of the arms E, and this block has attached to its face a card, d, the points of the teeth of which incline downward. A strip or plate of metal, c, extending the whole length of the block, is Secured by screws l to the top' of it. A piece of metal, j', of the form shown in Section, Fig. 2,- also extends the length of the block F, and it is hinged near each end to the upper part of the clamp 1),'at 2, the clamp being bent over the top of the block F, as shown in Fig. 2. As the piece f is vibrated on its pivots 2, (in a manner which will be presently explainech) the lower portion or jaw, 3, of said piece shuts down in contact with vthe strip c, forming with it a pair of nippers, which are vopened and closed at proper intervals, as follows: A shaft, II, lying parallel to the shaft D, has its bearings in and projects through the arms E, between the shaft D and the ends of the arms. To this shaft II is secured, at or near the middle of its length, by a screw, 14, the short arin I, to which is pivoted, at 5, another arm, K, the other end of which is pivoted at 6 to the top of the piece f of the nippers. A short arm, g, is Secured to the outer end of the shaft II, beyond ,the arm E, and hangs down below it. This arm g is secured to the shaft II by a set-screw, 7, Fig. 1, and is continued down and bent back, as at 8, Fig. 2.- Aspring, e, draws the lower end of the arm g toward the'block F and opens the j aw 3 of tlie nippers. jaw is held vopen during the descent of the block F,Aand is closed and held shut during its'ascent in the following manner: A bent lever, L, having a friction-roll, h, at, each end of it, is pivoted at to a cross-brace at one end of the frame A of the machine. This lever is vibrated at proper intervals by a cam, M, (dotted in Fig. 2,) secured to the shaft B, which.

bears against the friction-roll at the lower end` of the lever and presses the upper end against ythe arm g, which closes the jaw 3 of `the nippers. The cam M is so formed that it shal.1 retain the lever L in the position shown in Fig. 2 for a certain period of time, while the bent portion 8 of the arm g is so arranged that it will bear against the friction-roll l at the upper end of the lever L during the ascent This of the block F and arms and thus keep the j aw 3 shut. until. the block F has reached the highest point toL which it ascends, at which time the roll h drops off the point 24 of the cam M, when the retraction of the spring e opens the jaw 3. A doffer, N, is supported in suitable bearings inthe frame A, and is revolved in the direction of its arrow by the gear k on the end of its shaft engaging with a small intermediate gear on an arm, m, which gear in turn engages withv one on the end of the roll n, that strips or aidsin stripping the doffer.

To 'the roll n there is attached a pulley, O, over which and over a pulley, 0, on the drive- Y shaft B, a belt or cord passes to give motion to the roll n. Another roll, p, lies immediately over the roll n, and; these rollsl take the lapfrom` the doffer N and deliver` it toa pair of: calender-rolls, q,- hung on the arms P, which rise from the back of the frame A. Before enteringthese latter rolls, however, the lapl is passed-through a-hole in a piece of sheet metal,

r, which rises from the cross-brace s, which' connects andsteadies the arm P; The sliver is thus, condensed in` the usual; manner topass into the can. The rolls` q are driven by a cord or belt over a small pulleyon theshaft of one lof them, which passes over the pulley o, beforereferred to. (The cords or belts-arenot shown inthe drawings.)

Immediately below the doffer N there issecured to theframe A a block, Q, ,whichl extends across the machine, and to the face of this block is attached a card, t, the teeth of which incline downward. Beneath the block Q, and ruiming in suitable. bearings 'in the frame, is a pair of feed-rolls, the lower oneu, g

of which runs in permanent bearingsand carries on the end of-its axle lor shaftCwhich projects beyondl the side of the frame) a ratchetwheel, c, Fig. 1. The shaft of the other roll, x, runs inv loose bearings 19,'which are held up tothe frame at each end of the shaft by a spring, 4, attached to the frame. y This allows the roll to be pushed back or away from the center of the machine at intervals, as will be hereinafter explained.

The ratchet-wheel c is fed in the direction of -its arrow,one notch at each revolution of theshaft B, in the following manner: A cam, fw, on the shaft B vibrates a lever, y, pivotedv at 15 to the side of the frame A, and to this` lever y, near the middle of its length, is pivoted, at 16, a long rod, z, in the upper end-of which is inserted a pin, 17, that engages with..

the teeth of the wheel c and moves this wheel one notch at each-vibration of the lever y, A

spring, 18, secured to the lower end of the rod-L z and to the frame A at a point somewhat higher up, tends to keep the lever y in contact with the cam w, and also the'pin 17 in contact l with the wheel a card d, This bar is so 'placedwith respect yto thel rolls that the upper edge of it (which is v moved back from the knife-edge in the following manner: A bar, S,'the notched end of vwhich bears against the axle of the roll w, is

pivoted at 9 in the middle of its length to a i broad flat lever, T, which is pivoted at 1J to a cross-brace of the frameA, and is forked at its; lower end-,forming acam, a', that embraces the shaft B, between the side of theframe and the cam M, previously spoken of. A pin, 10, Fig. 1, proj ects from the side of this latter cam into the cam. c', and vibrates the lever T 'at the. proper intervals. This causes the bar S t0l push, back the roll x from the bar R and .allowthe fibers to be drawn through between the roll and the bar. The system consisting ofthe bar S, lever T,- and its cam is in duplicate at the other end of the machine, so that as the lever Tfisvibrated in one direction the :two bars S willbear one against, each end of vthe roll a: and push it back square, (or withi out throwing it out of parallelism with the roll u.) The nextvibrationof the levers T in the opposite direction operates in the same manner'the roll x, belonging to theset of machinlery on the opposite side of the machine.

Immediately beneathY the rolls x and u, and extending across the machine to the frame A,y to which it is rigidly attached, is an other block, U, to the face of which is attached a card, b', similar to the card tk above-the rolls. Both of these cards are inclined so as to bring their faces nearly in a circle, of which the shaft D is the center. A spool, V, hung on the lower part of the arms l?, carries the lap, which is led up to the feed-rolls above it.

I have heretofore described the parts and their arrangement on one side of the machine only, as thus far the parts on the other side have been similar with the cams which operate they machinery on one side, secured to one `end of the shaft B, and those which operate the machinery onthe other side, secured to the other end of the shaft; but asthe two pairs of arms E E are cast together, it only requires that one pair be vibrated to cause the other pair to move in the opposite direction, the shafty D, to which theyare attached, rocking in its bearings a. VThese vibrations are effected in the following manner: An eccentric, W, secured to the shaft B, near one side of the frame, is embraced by a strap which is attached at c to a pitman, X, the upper end of which is connected to one of the arms E in amanner which allows ofv an adjustment lof the vibration of the arms. Thus a screw, e', on the end of the Thisl gives two means of adjusting the vibration of the arms Fl: first, by altering the length ofthe pitman, and, second, by altering the point at which it is attached to the arm E.

The operation of this machine is as follows:

Y, The lap of partially-prepared cotton is brought to the machine on the spool V, from which the end is led up between the feed-rolls x and u, whence it passes over the edge of the bar R. The shaft B being driven in the direction of the arrow on the pulley C, the arms E will be vibrated in the manner above described, the card d on the block F will be brought down past the knife-edge R, and the fibers of the end of the lap which project over the knife-edge will -be combed out straight by this card. The

pressure of the spring 4 causes the roll xto nip the lap between itself and the edge of the,

bar It. This prevents the fibers from being drawn through by the card d as it descends, and the card thus combs out and lays straight the ends of the fibers of cotton which project over the knife-edge (the other ends of the fibers being held between the roll and the knife-edge) and combs off the waste and noiL After the card d has performed its work on the projecting fibers, the arms E continue their descent, the jaw 8 of the nippers on the block F (which has been held open during the descent by the spring e) is closed onto the fibers bythe vibration of the lever L, operated by the cam M on the shaft B. The block F now begins to ascend, and at this instantv the levers T are vibrated, and thebars S, attached to them, are moved in the direction of their arrows. This pushes back the roll w away from the bar R sufficiently to allow the lap to be fed up, and at `the same time the nippers draw the fibers from the end of the lap and carry them up past the face of the card t, by which the other ends of these same fibers are combed out as theblockFascends. Then as the block F reaches the upper limit of its vibration the lwer end of the lever L drops off from the cam M, and the spring e opens the jaw 3 and delivers the combed cotton onto the doffer N, from whence it is stripped off by the rolls p and n and passes between themto the callender-rolls q through piece fr. l As a portion of the bers is drawn out by the nippers from the endVV of the lap, (and before the card d again descends,) a fresh portion of the lap is fed up by the cam fw, vibrating the lever y and revolving the ratchetwheel o one or more notches, as required, the

nippers drawing the lap up between the rolls a; andthe bar R. When this has been done,

in the opposite dithe levers T are vibrated rection, and the bars .S being drawn away from the roll x, the spring 4C presses this roll up and nips the lap, feed is taking place, the lap, as it comes through the rolls, will be drawn up between the upper roll and the knife-edge, and then the fibers which are grasped by the nippers will be torn off from the lap, to be carried up past the card above the rolls. As the block F again descends to repeat these operations, the cardt is cleaned by the card d, which passes in contact with it, and this latter card is in turn cleaned at its neXt ascent by the card b', whichis in its turn cleaned by the card d as it descends. It will be observed that the vibrations of the arms E and E alternate, and that whenv the block F is ascending, as represented in the drawings, the block G of the other set of ma chinery is descending, the parts connected with one side are performing their functions, though with alternate movements, at the same time with the parts connected with the other side of the machine, which thus becomes, in a measure, double acting. The roll x and the knife-edge R grasp the lap in a manner similar to a pair of jaws, andas the nippers on the block'F can approach close to the edge of the bar R, I am enabled to grasp and draw out the shorter fibers of the cotton.

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim therein\as new, and vdesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The vibrating elastic feed-roll and per marient knife-edge for holding the staple, substantially as described. i

2. The combination of a feed for introducing the material into the machine, the vibrata ing card and nippers, and the stationary cards, operating together in the manner substantially as described.

3. In combination with thednippers for receiving and carrying the cotton in tufts p ast or to the cards to be carded and straightened,

the doffer for receiving said carded or combed tufts preparatory to their being formed into a continuoussliver, substantially as described. 4. In combination with the nippers for carrying 'and the doffer for receiving the cotton in tuft, the rolls for stripping the doffer and taking' off the c otton in a continuous sliver, substantially as described. j

l MILTON D. XVHIPPLE. Witnesses:

S.' NV. HArHnwiiY, Hormon DANIELs.

as before explained. Vhilethe'

Images