one of the clicks is inoperative upon its ratchet; but the other click is then driving the other ratchet, and with it the shaft n. It will now be seen, that by the reciprocating movements given to the steam pistons c, d, their rods e, f, and the wheel 7, will be actuated, and cause the segment racks m, and o, and their clicks r, r, to act upon the ratchet, and give such movements as will produce, in the shaft n, a continuous rotary motion, which rotary motion may be communicated to the running wheels of locomotive carriages, or be applied to the actuating of other machinery. [Inrolled in the Petty Bag Office, December, 1840.]

Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Berry.

TO PETER FAIRBAIRN, of Leeds, in the county of York, engineer, and WILLIAM SUTTILL, of the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, flax spinner, for certain improvements in drawing flax, hemp, wool, silk, and other fibrous substances.—[Sealed 26th January, 1841.]

THESE improvements in drawing flax, hemp, wool, silk, and other fibrous substances, consist in certain novel constructions and arrangements of the parts of a machine for preparing these fibrous materials, and bringing them into the state of sliver, ready for the further process of drawing and roving; by means of which improved machinery, the long fibres of the material are broken into shorter lengths, and the short fibres drawn straight, so as to produce nearly an equality in the staple or lengths of the fibres throughout the sliver; and at the same time the tow, floss silk, noils of wool, or other loose short fibres in the ends of each several strick or hand-full of the material, is drawn out of

the strick, and retained in the pins of lateral bands of heckles.

Fig. 1, Plate IX., represents a longitudinal section, taken through about the middle of the machine. A transverse sectional elevation is represented in fig. 2, and an horizontal view at fig. 3; the superincumbent rollers being, in this last-mentioned figure, removed, to shew the working parts below.

Four barrels or wheels a, a, a, a, with double flanges, are fixed upon horizontal shafts b, b, which are made to revolve in suitable bearings in the standard frames. These barrels carry two endless bands of leather c, c, c, c, which have longitudinal rows of pins inserted in them, like heckle points. Between these two endless bands, a series of transverse heckle-bars d, d, d, working upon the principle of what is called the "screw gill," travel a certain distance along the middle of the machine, conducted in the ordinary way by rotary screws or worm-shafts e, e.

A strick of flax, or other fibrous material, to be operated upon, is placed transversely across the machine, as shewn at f, f, in the horizontal view, fig. 3; the portions, near its ends, being inserted between the pins of the endless bands c, c.

Narrow rollers g, g, g, fixed upon a shaft h, which turns loosely in forks, standing up from the side frames, (see fig. 1,) bear upon the ends of the fibres of the strick, and by their weight press them down upon the endless bands c, c, between the pins, for the purpose of keeping the fibres tightly held and distended by the pins.

The fibres in the middle of the strick are then to be conducted forward between two conductors i, i, to the rollers j, k, which are feeding rollers, leading the fibres to the heckle-points, set in the bars d, d, of the gill; and these heckle-bars, moving onward at a speed about equal to

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the rotary motion of the feeding-rollers j, k, which is nearly ten times faster than that of the lateral bands and pins c, c, cause the fibres of the material, taken hold of about the middle of their lengths by the points of the gill, to be drawn out from the pins of the lateral bands,—leaving the tow, floss silk, noils of wool, or other short fibres, retained between those pins, whilst the clean fibres are carried forward, by the gill heckle-bars, to the drawing rollers l, m.

These drawing rollers l, m, revolve above twenty times faster than the gill heckle-bars travel, which necessarily cause the short fibres of the material to be drawn out from the pins of the gill, and thereby to become straightened; whilst the longer fibres, being held between the pins of the gill, are, by the draft of the rollers l, m, broken into lengths nearly equal to the ratch-reach, or distance between the bite of the drawing rollers and the retaining points of the gill.

The fibres, thus operated upon, assume the form or state of sliver, on passing the drawing rollers, which sliver is thence conducted through a trumpet n, and between the delivering rollers o, p, into a can or other receptacle below, for the purpose of being taken to other machinery, where it undergoes the second and third processes of drawing and refining.

The driving power, by which this machine is to be actuated, is applied through a pulley or band, and rigger, to the shaft of the lower drawing roller l, which roller l, should be made to revolve with a speed of about one hundred and twenty revolutions per minute.

The upper drawing roller m, turns upon its axis, merely by the friction of contact between it and the periphery of the lower roller 7; and, in order to produce a powerful pressure or bite between the drawing rollers, the upper one is held down by weighted levers q, q, which bear upon the

ends of its axle. By these means, the drawing rollers , and m, are actuated, and made to bring the fibrous material through the machine.

Upon the front end of the shaft of the lower drawing roller l, there are affixed two pinions r, and s, taking into carrier wheels, which communicate the driving power to the other parts of the machinery.

The pinion r, gears into the first of a train of carrier wheels and pinions 1, 2, 3, on the front side of the machine; and at the reverse end of the shaft of the pinion 3, there is affixed a smaller pinion 4, (see the horizontal view, fig. 3.) This pinion 4, drives a wheel 5, upon the axle of which, there is another pinion 6, gearing into a wheel 7, that gives motion to the wheel 8, fixed on the shaft of the lower feeding roller. Hence, by this train of wheels and pinions, the roller i, is made to turn with a speed of about one twentieth that of the drawing rollers I, m.

The axle of the upper feeding roller k, turns loosely in forks at the sides of the standard frame, and is pressed down upon the lower roller i, by hanging straps and weighted levers t, t, the upper roller turning by the friction of its contact with the lower one.

Upon the shaft n, of the pinion 3, 4, above described, there are also two bevil pinions v, v, affixed, which take into similar bevil pinions on the ends of the lower screw or worm shafts e, e, by which the heckle-bars d, d, d, of the gill are worked.

The operation of the screw gill, as a piece of mechanism, is so well known to flax spinners, that it is not necessary particularly to describe its actions, and the drawings fully exhibit the manner of its adaptation to this improved machine. It will therefore be sufficient here to say, that, by the rotation of the worm shafts e, e, driven by the means described, the bars d, d, d, with the heckle joints, are suc

cessively brought up into operation through the fibres of the material, and conducted along the range of the worms or screw-shafts e, e, carrying the material with them in the way above explained and that the middle parts of the fibres are taken from the descending heckle bar, by the driving rollers, which draw them out of the pins, and by equalizing the lengths of the fibres, as described, deliver the material, in the state of sliver, into a can below. It remains only to say, that the slow progressive movement of the endless band and points c, c, by which the tow, floss, or noils, at the ends of the stricks, are retained, is effected by the connection of a train of wheels, actuated by the wheel 8, on the end of the shaft of the lower feeding roller i.

This wheel 8, takes into a wheel 9, turning upon a stud fixed in the back frame of the machine, which wheel has a pinion on its boss, taking into a pinion 10; and another pinion 11, driven by the last, taking into the wheel 12, fixed on the end of the barrel shaft b, gives the very slow motion to the endless bands, of about one-tenth that of the feeding roller j.

The pinion s, on the main shaft 7, takes into a wheel 13, turning upon a stud fixed in the standard frame, and this wheel 13, drives a pinion 14, on the shaft of the lower delivering roller o, by means of which, the sliver is conducted from the trumpet and passed down to the can below.

As the surface of the upper drawing roller m, requires to be kept clean from tow or any short fibres which may attach themselves to it, a roller w, covered with cloth or felt, is fixed upon a short axle, which has its bearings in two arms, swinging upon a transverse shaft v, mounted at the upper parts of two standards x, x, as shewn by dots in fig. 2. The weight of this roller w, keeps it down in contact with the periphery of the roller m, and it is made to