THE

REPERTORY

OF

PATENT INVENTIONS.

No. 1. VOL. VIII. ENLARGED SERIES.-JULY, 1846.

Specification of the Patent granted to JAMES WEBSTER HALE, of Fitzroy-square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for Improvements in Machinery for Cleaning or Freeing Wool, and certain other Fibrous Materials, of Burs and other extraneous Substances.(Communication.)-Sealed October 16, 1845.

WITH AN ENGRAVING.

To all to whom these presents shall come, &c., &c.— The invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the construction, arrangement, and combination of mechanical means for picking, ginning, and carding wool, hemp, or cotton, so as to separate the fibres of those articles from burs, seeds, leaves, twigs, or other foreign and useless substances, by an arrangement of mechanical means, either acting separately or in combination with the common carding-machine, and when so combined, also acting in place of the tumblers usually employed with the carding-machine; or, when employed separately, by acting as a gin with the common whipperin, or any other competent means of removing the clean material. And the said improvements, and the mode of constructing, arranging, combining, and using the same, and the effects produced thereby, are fully and substantially shown and set forth in the following description, aided by the drawings annexed to, and making part of this No. 1.-VOL. VIII.

B

specification, wherein fig. 1, is a side elevation. Figure 2, a top plan of an arrangement of apparatus with the improvements applied.

The construction is as follows :—The frame, (a), is of a suitable form and size to support the machinery, and at one end is an endless apron, (b), stretched over two horizontal rollers, (c), (c'); next to this, and running quite near, is a feeding roller, (d), the surface of which is composed of a number of rings, which are formed with teeth on their outer edges, as shown. This roller receives the wool or cotton, with the dirt, burs, or seeds, on it, and carries it forward between its periphery, and the grating, (ƒ), which is curved round just near enough to the cylinder, (d), to let the seeds pass. The wool or cotton is then conducted on to the cylinder, (e), which runs close to the cylinder, (d,) and is composed of wood, tin, iron or other material, with a series of alternate steel and pasteboard rings, lipped on to it, which cover its periphery, as is also the case with the cylinder, (d). The projection of the steel rings, beyond the pasteboard ones, is represented at, e', figure 1, and they have notches or teeth cut out of their periphery, at intervals of half an inch or more, the said teeth are hooked, and have a round enlarged gullet, as shown in the drawing. This form of tooth, together with the spaces between the steel rings, allows the wool, &c., to be drawn in below the surface of the teeth, (no two of which in adjoining rings are opposite,) while the burs, dirt, or cotton seed remain on the top. In passing the grate above named, the seed, &c., are rolled over, and the fibre in a manner separated from them, and drawn in between the teeth. At the top of the cylinder, (e), there is a tin, iron, or steel stripper, (g); this is formed by a cylinder, around which are placed, at equal distances, metal rings, g', with connecting piece, g, standing out from the surface radially, and so as to run close to the surface of the teeth or cylinder, (e), and scrape off the burs, dirt, or cotton seed into the receptacle, (h); on the side of the buring cylinder, opposite the feed rollers, a brush cylinder, (i), is situated, which brushes the fibre from the teeth of the cylinder, (e).

The machine is driven by a band passing over a pulley, on the shaft of the cylinder, (e), on which there is another pulley, (k), on which a band passes to a pulley, (7), which is joined to a pinion, (m), upon a stud in the frame near

the feed roller, (d); on the shaft of this there is a spurwheel, (), that works into the said pinion, by which the feed roller is driven. Outside the pulley, (k), on the same shaft there is a large drum or pulley, (0), over which a band passes to the pulley, (p); on the shaft of the brush cylinder, or, instead of brushes wire cards might be used, and the pulleys are so proportioned, as to give the brushes the necessary velocity; on the brush cylinder shaft, there is a pulley, (q), from which a cross-band, r, communicates motion to the stripper, (g); this mode of gearing, it will be obvious, however, can be varied. The roller, (c'), receives motion from the axis of the cylinder, d, as shown by dotted red lines in figure 1.

What I claim as the invention, in the above-described machine, is arranging the metallic rings, composing the cylinders, (d), and (e), so near together that burs or seeds, &c., cannot fall in between them, the rings having hooked teeth cut in the periphery as described, and so placed around the cylinders, as not to have the teeth on any two adjoining rings to come opposite to each other, by which the wool or cotton is drawn in below the surface of the rings, and the seeds or burs are cleaned off.

Secondly, I claim the combination of the burring cylinder (e), constructed as above described, with the feeding cylinder, (d), and brush cylinders, (g), to separate the fibres of cotton, wool, from foreign or useless substances. In witness, &c.

Enrolled April 16, 1846.

JAMES WEBSTER HALE.

Specification of the Patent granted to JOHN WHITE, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for Certain Improvements in Engines, Machinery, or Apparatus, for Raising and Forcing Water.-Sealed November 27, 1845.

WITH AN ENGRAVING.

To all to whom these presents shall come, &c., &c.—

Description of the Drawings.

Fig. 1, represents a sectional elevation of one form of

fire-engine, of my improved arrangement or construction, and,

Fig. 2, is a plan of the same.

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, represent detached parts of the same engine, which are hereinafter referred to. The fireengine here represented is designed for factories or large works, and may be moved by hand on the two wheels, as represented; but when at work it is kept steady by the supports, G, and, G', the latter of which is adjusted by means of a screw, as seen at figure 1. In this arrangement of my fire-engine, the water to be forced is placed in the tank or reservoir, f, (or it may be drawn or raised through a section pipe which I have not shown in the drawing,) and is thence forced, by a series of separate pumps, marked, B, and numbered from figures 1 to 12 in the plan, into an air-vessel, A, and thence through the exit pipe, c, and out of the jet, P, in the ordinary manner; the pumps, B, being provided with the ordinary entrance and exit valves, each of the force pumps, B, are provided with a separate lever or handle, D, the vibration of which is indicated by red lines at figure 1; and, s, represents a stage for the fireman, holding the jet, to stand on. By this arrangement of a number of small force pumps, B, all acting on one air-vessel, a, it will be seen that each pump must do its own work, and as half the number of pumps are acting with their full force, while the remainder are passing the centres, there is little or no check in the flow of the jet of water, even without an airvessel, which is the only means of equalising the flow in ordinary engines; moreover, one or any greater number of the pumps may be started, before there is force or hands enough arrived to work the whole, while the whole, or any less number, being in operation, every man must work alike, or be detected, which is not the case in the ordinary fire-engine, besides the greater pressure gained on each square inch of water, by the decreased area of each pump, and the great power of its handle or lever. Fig. 3, is a sectional elevation, and fig. 4, is a plan of my improved air-vessel for fire-engines.

The water is forced into the lower part of the vessel, A, in the ordinary manner, and the upper part is provided with a spherical dome, pierced full of holes, over which a covering of vulcanized caoutchouc, or india rubber, is placed, as seen tinted red. The perforated dome, and the

the Manufacture of Apparatus for Raising Water, &c. 5

caoutchouc, are both bolted down along with the solid dome top, as seen in the drawing, and the space between charged with air, compressed to about two atmospheres, or thirty pounds on the square inch, so that the space between the caoutchouc and the top of the vessel, forms an elastic spring of air, which is further compressed by the water forced into the air-vessel by the various pumps. Supposing, therefore, water to be forced into the vessel, A, the caoutchouc at the top of the vessel expands and compresses the air above it, which, by its elasticity, acts as in other air-vessels, without being liable to mix with the water, and escape at the jet with the crackling noise experienced when forcing with the ordinary air-vessel, which is necessarily constantly diminishing the utility of such vessels, as represented at A, fig. 1. Fig. 6, represents sectional elevation of a modification of my improved airvessel, which I place on the exit-pipe or hose, near to the jet, P, and figure, 5, is the coupling or screw by which it is connected to the pipe. This air-vessel consists of an air-tight copper cylinder with ends, through the centre of which a perforated copper tube is passed, and this tube is covered with another of vulcanized caoutchouc, or india rubber, and made air-tight by the covers, and the spaces between the caoutchouc and the copper cylinder is also charged with compressed air, as explained in the airvessel, before described. So that the pressure of the water from the exit-pipe expands the caoutchouc, and further compresses the air in the outward cylinder, without coming in contact with it, and thus acting as a second elastic spring, to ease any strain on the hose or pipe, and equalise the flow of water from the jet, P.

Having described one form of engine, machinery, or apparatus, for raising and forcing water, to which my improvements are applied, the application of such improvements to other engines, machinery, or apparatus, of whatever shape or form they may be constructed, will be readily understood by persons conversant with work of this nature. And, although I make no claim of invention to any particular form, or to any separate or well-known parts of the apparatus before described, yet I do claim as my invention,

The adoption and arrangement of as many small separate pumps, as may be found to discharge the same quantity of water that the two or more large ones usually em