Slubbing machineTheslubbing machine, orbilly, reduces the separate rolls ofcardingsinto a continuous slightly twisted spongy cord, which is sometimes called a roving.Fig.1213.is a perspective representation of the slubbing machine in most common use.A,A, is the wooden frame; within which is the movable carriageD,D, which runs upon the lower side rails ata,a, on friction wheels at 1, 2, to make it move easily backwards and forwards from one end of the frame to the other. The carriage contains a series of steel spindles, marked 3, 3, which receive rapid rotation from a long tin drumF, by means of a series of cords passing round the pulley or whorl of each spindle. This drum, 6 inches in diameter, is covered with paper, and extends across the whole breadth of the carriage. The spindles are set nearly upright in a frame, and about 4 inches apart; their under ends being pointed conically, turn in brass sockets called steps, and are retained in their position by a small brass collet, which embraces each spindle at about the middle of its length. The upper half of each spindle projects above the top of the frame. The drum revolves horizontally before the spindles, having its axis a little below the line of the whorls; and receives motion, by a pulley at one of its ends, from an endless band which passes round a wheelE, like the large domestic wheel formerly used in spinning wool by hand, and of similar dimensions. This wheel is placed upon the outside of the main frame of the machine, and has its shafts supported by upright standards upon the carriageD. It is turned by the spinner placed atQ, with his right hand applied to a winchR, which gives motion to the drum, and thereby causes the spindles to revolve with great velocity.Each spindle receives a soft cylinder or carding of wool, which comes through beneath a wooden rollerC,C, at the one end of the frame. This is thebilly roller, so much talked of in the controversies between the operatives and masters in the cotton factories, as an instrument of cruel punishment to children, though no such machine has been used in cotton mills for half a century at least. These woollen rolls proceed to the series of spindles, standing in the carriage, in nearly a horizontal plane. By the alternate advance and retreat of the carriage upon its railway, the spindles are made to approach to, and recede from, the rollerC, with the effect of drawing out a given length of the soft cord, with any desired degree of twist, in the following manner:—The carding rolls are laid down straight, side by side, upon the endless cloth, strained in an inclined direction between two rollers, one of which is seen atB, and theother lies behindC. One carding is allotted to a spindle; the total number of each in one machine being from 50 to 100. The rollerC, of light wood, presses gently with its weight upon the cardings, while they move onwards over the endless cloth, with the running out of the spindle carriage. Immediately in front of the said roller, there is a horizontal wooden rail or barG, with another beneath it, placed across the frame. The carding is conducted through between these two bars, the movable upper one being raised to let any aliquot portion of the roll pass freely. When this bar is again let down, it pinches the spongy carding fast; whence this mechanism is called the clasp. It is in fact theclove, originally used by Hargreaves in his cotton-jenny. The movable upper railG, is guided between sliders, and a wire 7, descends from it to a leverC. When the spindle carriageD,D, is wheeled close home to the billy roller, a wheel 5, lifts the end 6 of the lever, which, by the wire 7, raises the upper bar or railG, so as to open the clasp, and release all the card rolls. Should the carriage be now drawn a little way from the clasp bars, it would tend to pull a corresponding length of the cardings forward from the inclined planeB,C. There is a small catch, which lays hold of the upper bar of the claspG, and hinders it from falling till the carriage has receded to a certain distance, and has thereby allowed from 7 to 8 inches of the cardings to be taken out. A stop upon the carriage then comes against the catch, and withdraws it; thus allowing the upper rail to fall and pinch the carding, while the carriage, continuing to recede, draws out or stretches that portion of the roll which is between the clasp and the spindle points. But during this time the wheel has been turned to keep the spindles revolving, communicating the proper degree of twist to the cardings in proportion to their extension, so as to prevent them from breaking.It might be imagined that the slubbing cords would be apt to coil round the spindles; but as they proceed in a somewhat inclined direction to the clasp, they receive merely a twisting motion, continually slipping over the points of the spindles, without getting wound upon them. Whenever the operative or slubber has given a due degree of twist to the rovings, he sets about winding them upon the spindles into a conical shape, for which purpose he presses down the faller-wire 8, with his left hand, so as to bear it down from the points of the spindles, and place it opposite to their middle part. He next makes the spindles revolve, while he pushes in the carriage slowly, so as to coil the slubbing upon the spindle into a conical cop. The wire 8, regulates the winding-on of the whole series of slubbings at once, and receives its proper angle of depression for this purpose from the horizontal rail 4, which turns upon pivots in its ends, in brasses fixed on the standards, which rise from the carriageD. By turning this rail on its pivots, the wire 8 may be raised or lowered in any degree. The slubber seizes the rail 4 in his left hand, to draw the carriage out; but in returning it, he depresses the faller-wire, at the same time that he pushes the carriage before him.The cardings are so exceedingly tender, that they would readily draw out, or even break, if they were dragged with friction upon the endless cloth of the inclined plane. To save this injurious traction, a contrivance is introduced for moving the apron. A cord is applied round the groove in the middle part of the upper roller, and after passing over pulleys, as shown in the figure, it has a heavy weight hung at the one end, and a light weight at the other, to keep it constantly extended, while the heavy weight tends to turn the rollers with their endless cloth round in such a direction as to bring forward the rovings, without putting any strain upon them. Every time that the carriage is pushed home, the larger weight gets wound up; and when the carriage is drawn out, the greater weight turns the roller, and advances the endless apron, so as to deliver the carding at the same rate as the carriage runs out; but when the proper quantity is delivered, a knot in the rope arrives at a fixed stop, which does not permit it to move any further; while at the same instant the roller 5 quits the lever 6, and allows the upper railG, of the clasp to fall, and pinch the carding fast; the wheelE, being then set in motion, makes the spindles revolve; and the carriage being simultaneously drawn out, extends the slubbings while under the influence of twisting. In winding up the slubbings, the operative must take care to push in the carriage, and to turn the wheel round at such rates that the spindles will not take up faster than the carriage moves on its railway, or he would injure the slubbings. The machine requires the attendance of a child, to bring the cardings from the card-engine, to place them upon the sloping feed-cloth, and to join the ends of the fresh ones carefully to the ends of the others newly drawn under the roller. Slubbings intended for warp-yarn must be more twisted than those for weft; but each must receive a degree of torsion relative to the quality of the wool and of the cloth intended to be made. In general, however, no more twist should be given to the slubbings than is indispensable for enabling them to be drawn out to the requisite slenderness without breaking. This twist forms no part of the twist of the finished yarn, for the slubbing will be twisted in the contrary direction, when spun afterwards in the jenny or mule.I may here remark, that various machines have been constructed of late years formaking continuous card-ends, and slubbings, in imitation of the carding and roving of theCotton Manufacture; to which article I therefore refer my readers. The wool slubbings are now spun into yarn, in many factories, by means of the mule. Indeed, I have seen in France the finest yarn, for themousseline-de-lainefabrics, beautifully spun upon the self-actor mule of Sharp and Roberts.[72][72]See this admirable machine fully described and delineated in myCotton Manufacture of Great Britain, vol. ii.Tentering.—When the cloth is returned from thefulling-mill(which see), it is stretched upon the tenter-frame, and left in the open air till dry.In the woollen manufacture, as the cloth suffers, by the operation of the fulling-mill, a shrinkage of its breadth to well nigh one-half, it must at first be woven of nearly double its intended width when finished. Superfine six-quarter broad cloths must therefore be turned out of the loom twelve-quarters wide.Burlingis the name of a process, in which the dried cloth is examined minutely in every part, freed from knots or uneven threads, and repaired by sewing any little rents, or inserting sound yarns in the place of defective ones.Teasling.—The object of this operation is to raise up the loose filaments of the woollen yarn into a nap upon one of the surfaces of the cloth, by scratching it either with thistle-heads, called teasels, or with teasling-cards or brushes, made of wire. The natural teasels are the balls which contain the seeds of the plant calledDipsacus fullorum; the scales which form the balls, project on all sides, and end in sharp elastic points, that turn downwards like hooks. In teasling by hand, a number of these balls are put into a small wooden frame, having crossed handles, eight or ten inches long; and when thus filled, form an implement not unlike a curry-comb, which is used by two men, who seize the teasel-frame by the handles, and scrub the face of the cloth, hung in a vertical position from two horizontal rails, made fast to the ceiling of the workshop. First, they wet the cloth, and work three times over, by strokes in the direction of the warp, and next of that of the weft, so as to raise all the loose fibres from the felt, and to prepare it for shearing. In large manufactories, this dressing operation is performed by a machine called a gig-mill, which originally consisted, and in most places still consists, of a cylinder bristled all over with the thistle-heads, and made to revolve rapidly while the cloth is drawn over it in a variety of directions. If the thistle be drawn in the line of the warp, the points act more efficaciously upon the weft, being perpendicular to its softer spun yarns. Inventors who have tried to give the points a circular or oblique action between the warp and the weft, proceed apparently upon a false principle, as if the cloth were like a plate of metal, whose substance could be pushed in any direction. Teasling really consists in drawing out one end of the filaments, and leaving the body of them entangled in the cloth; and it should seize and pull them perpendicularly to their length, because in this way it acts upon the ends, which being least implicated, may be most readily disengaged.When the hooks of the thistles become clogged with flocks of wool, they must be taken out of the frame or cylinder, and cleaned by children with a small comb. Moisture, moreover, softens their points, and impairs their teasling powers; an effect which needs to be counterbalanced, by taking them out, and drying them from time to time. Many contrivances have, therefore, been proposed, in which metallic teasels of an unchangeable nature, mounted in rotatory machines, driven by power, have been substituted for the vegetable, which being required in prodigious quantities, become sometimes excessively scarce and dear in the clothing districts. In 1818, several schemes of that kind were patented in France, of which those of M. Arnold-Merick, and of MM. Taurin frères, of Elbœuf, are described in the 16th volume ofBrevets d’Invention expirés. Mr. Daniell, cloth manufacturer in Wilts, renewed this invention under another form, by making his rotatory cards with two kinds of metallic wires, of unequal lengths; the one set, long, thin, and delicate, representing the points of the thistle; the other, shorter, stiffer, and blunter, being intended to stay the cloth, and to hinder the former from entering too far into it. But none of these processes have succeeded in discarding the natural teasel from the most eminent manufactories.The French government purchased, in 1807, the patent of Douglas, an English mechanist, who had, in 1802, imported into France, the best system of gig-mills then used in the west of England. A working set of his machines having been placed in theConservatoire des Arts, for public inspection, they were soon introduced into most of the French establishments, so as generally to supersede teasling (lainage) by hand. A description of them was published in the third volume of theBrevets d’Invention. The following is an outline of some subsequent improvements:—1. As it was imagined that the seesaw action of the hand operative was in some respects more effectual than the uniform rotation of a gig-mill, this was attempted to be imitated by an alternating movement.2. Others conceived that the seesaw motion was not essential, but that it was advantageous to make the teasels or cards act in a rectilinear direction, as in working by hand; this action was attempted by placing the two ends of the teasel-frame in grooves formed like the letterD, so that the teasel should act on the cloth only when it came into the rectilinear part. Mr. Wells, machine-maker, of Manchester, obtained a patent, in 1832, for this construction.3. It was supposed that the teasels should not act perpendicularly to the weft, but obliquely or circularly upon the face of the cloth. Mr. Ferrabee, of Gloucester, patented, in 1830, a scheme of this kind, in which the teasels are mounted upon two endless chains, which traverse from the middle of the web to the selvage or list, one to the right, and another to the left hand, while the cloth itself passes under them with such a velocity, that the effect, orresultant, is a diagonal action, dividing into two equal parts the rectangle formed by the weft and warp yarns. Three patent machines of Mr. George Oldland—the first in 1830, the second and third in 1832—all proceed upon this principle. In the first, the teasels are mounted upon discs made to turn flat upon the surface of the cloth; in the second, the rotating discs are pressed by corkscrew spiral springs against the cloth, which is supported by an elastic cushion, also pressed against the discs by springs; and in the third machine, the revolving discs have a larger diameter, and they turn, not in a horizontal, but a vertical plane.4. Others fancied that it would be beneficial to support the reverse side of the cloth by flat hard surfaces, while acting upon its face with cards or teasels. Mr. Joseph Cliseld Daniell, having stretched the cloth upon smooth level stones, teasels them by hand. 5. Messrs. Charlesworth and Mellor obtained a patent, in 1829, for supporting the back of the cloth with elastic surfaces, while the part was exposed to the teasling action. 6. Elasticity has also been imparted to the teasels, in the three patent inventions of Mr. Sevill, Mr. J. C. Daniell, and Mr. R. Atkinson. 7. It has been thought useful to separate the teasel-frames upon the drum of the gig-mill, by simple rollers, or by rollers heated with steam, in order to obtain the combined effect of calendering and teasling. Mr. J. C. Daniell, Mr. G. Haden, and Mr. J. Rayner, have obtained patents for contrivances of this kind. 8. Several French schemes have been mounted for making the gig-drum act upon the two sides of the cloth, or even to mount two drums on the same machine.Mr. Jones, of Leeds, contrived a very excellent method of stretching the cloth, so as to prevent the formation of folds or wrinkles. (See Newton’s Journal, vol. viii., 2nd series, page 126.) Mr. Collier, of Paris, obtained a patent, in 1830, for a greatly improved gig-mill, upon Douglas’s plan, which is now much esteemed by the French clothiers. The following figures and description exhibit one of the latest and best teasling machines. It is the invention of M. Dubois and Co., of Louviers, and is now doing excellent work in that celebrated seat of the cloth manufacture.In the fulling-mill, the woollen web acquires body and thickness, at the expense of its other dimensions; for being thereby reduced about one-third in length, and one-half in breadth, its surface is diminished to one-third of its size as it comes out of the loom; and it has, of course, increased threefold in thickness. As the filaments drawn forth by teasling, are of very unequal lengths, they must be shorn to make them level, and with different degrees of closeness, according to the quality of the stuff, and the appearance it is desired to have. But, in general, a single operation of each kind is insufficient; whence, after having passed the cloth once through the gig-mill, and once through the shearing-machine (tondeuse), it is ready to receive a second teasling, deeper than the first, and then to suffer a second shearing. Thus, by the alternate repetition of these processes, as often as is deemed proper, the cloth finally acquires its wished-for appearance. Both of these operations are very delicate, especially the first; and if they be ill conducted, the cloth is weakened, so as to tear or wear most readily. On the other hand, if they be skilfully executed, the fabric becomes not only more sightly, but it acquires strength and durability, because its face is changed into a species of fur, which protects it from friction and humidity.Gig-millFigs. 1214 and 1215 enlarged(271 kB)Figs.1214,1215., represent the gig-mill in section, and in front elevation.A,B,C,D,A′,B′,C′,D′, being the strong frame of iron, cast in one piece, having its feet enlarged a little more to the inside than to the outside, and bolted to large blocks in the stone pavement. The two uprights are bound together below by two cross-beamsA′′, being fastened with screw-bolts at the earsa′′,a′′; and at top, by the wrought-iron stretcher-rodD, whose ends are secured by screw-nuts atD,D′. The drum is mounted upon a wrought-iron shaftF, which bears at its right end (fig.1215.), exterior to the frame, the usual riggers, or fast and loose pulley,ff′′,f′, which give motion to the machine by a band from the main shaft of the mill. On its right end, within the frame, the shaftF, has a bevel wheelF′, for transmitting movement to the cloth, as shall be afterwards explained. Three crown wheelsG, of which one is shown in the section,fig.1214., are, as usual, keyed by a wedge to the shaftF. Their contour is a sinuousband, with six semi-cylindrical hollows, separated alternately by as many portions of the periphery. One of these three wheels is placed in the middle of the shaftF, and the other two, towards its extremities. Their size may be judged of, from inspection offig.1214.After having set them so that all their spokes or radii correspond exactly, the 16 sidesH, are made fast to the 16 portions of the periphery, which correspond in the three wheels. These sides are made of sheet iron, curved into a gutter form,fig.1214., but rounded off at the end,fig.1215., and each of them is fixed to the three felloes of the wheels by three boltsh. The elastic part of the plate iron allows of their being sufficiently well adjusted, so that their flat portions furthest from the centre may lie pretty truly on a cylindrical surface, whose axis would coincide with that of the shaftF.Frame and clampsBetween the 16 sides there are 16 intervals, which correspond to the 16 hollowings of each of the wheels. Into these intervals are adjusted, with proper precautions, 16 frames bearing the teasels which are to act upon the cloth. These are fitted in as follows:—Each has the shape of a rectangle, of a length equal to that of the drum, but their breadth only large enough to contain two thistle-heads set end to end, thus making two rows of parallel teasels throughout the entire length, (see the contour infig.1214.) A portion of the frame is represented infig.1216.The large sideI, against which the tops of the teasels rest, is hollowed out into a semi-cylinder, and its opposite side is cleft throughout its whole length, to receive the tails of the teasels, which are seated and compressed in it. There are, moreover, cross-barsi, which serve to maintain the sides of the frameI, at an invariable distance, and to form short compartments for keeping the thistles compact. The ends are fortified by stronger barsk,k, with projecting bolts to fasten the frames between the ribs. The distance of the sides of the frameI,I′, ought to be such, that if a frame be laid upon the drum, in the interval of two ribs, the sideIwill rest upon the inclined plane of one of the ribs, and the sideI′ upon the inclined plane of the other, (seefig.1214.); while at the same time the barsk, of the two ends of the frame, rest upon the flat parts of the ribs themselves. This point being secured, it is obvious, that if the ends of the barskbe stopped, the frame will be made fast. But they need not be fixed in a permanent manner, because they must be frequently removed and replaced. They are fastened by the clamp, (figs.1217,1218.), which is shut at the one end, and furnished at the other with a spring, which can be opened or shut at pleasure. 2 and 4, infig.1215.(near the right end of the shaftF), shows the place of the clamp,figs.1217,1218.The bar of the right hand is first set in the clamp, by holding up its other end; the frame is then let down into the left-hand clamp.The cloth is wound upon the lower beamQ,fig.1214.; thence it passes in contact with a wooden cylinderT, turning upon an axis, and proceeds to the upper beamP, on to which it is wound: by a contrary movement, the cloth returns from the beamPtoQ, over the cylinderT; and may thus go from the one to the other as many times as shall be requisite. In these successive circuits it is presented to the action of the teasels, under certain conditions. In order to be properly teasled, it must have an equal tension throughout its whole breadth during its traverse; it must be brought into more or less close contact with the drum, according to the nature of the cloth, and the stage of the operations; sometimes being a tangent to the surface, and sometimes embracing a greater or smaller portion of its contour, it must travel with a determinate speed, dependent upon the velocity of the drum, and calculated so as to produce the best result: the machine itself must make the stuff pass alternately from one winding beam to the other.Infig.1215., before the front end of the machine, there is a vertical shaftL, as high as the framework, which revolves with great facility, in the bottom stepl, the middle colletl′, and top colletl′′, in the prolongation of the stretcherD. Upon this upright shaft are mounted—1. a bevel wheelL′; 2. an upper bevel pinionM, with its bossM′; 3. a lower bevel pinionN, with its bossN′. The bevel wheelL′ is keyed upon the shaftL, and communicates to it the movement of rotation which it receives from the pinionf, with which it is in geer; but the pinionf, which is mounted upon the shaftFof the drum, participates in the rotation which this shaft receives from the prime mover, by means of the fast rigger-pulleyf′. The upper pinionMis independent upon the shaftL; that is to say, it may be slidden along it, up and down, without being driven by it; but it may be turned in an indirect manner by means of six curved teeth, projecting fromits bottom, and which may be rendered active or not, at pleasure; these curved teeth, and their intervals, correspond to similar teeth and intervals upon the top of the bossM′, which is dependent, by feathered indentations, upon the rotation ofL, though it can slide freely up and down upon it. When it is raised, therefore, it comes into geer withM. The pinionN, and its boss, have a similar mode of being thrown into and out of geer with each other. The bossesM′ andN′, ought always to be moved simultaneously, in order to throw one of them into geer, and the other out of geer. The shaftLserves to put the cloth in motion, by means of the bevel wheelsP′′ andQ′′, upon the ends of the beamsP,Q, which take into the pinionsMandN.The mechanism destined to stretch the cloth is placed at the other end of the machine, where the shafts of the beamsP,Q, are prolonged beyond the frame, and bear at their extremitiesP′ andQ′, armed each with a brake. The beamP(fig.1214.), turns in an opposite direction to the drum; consequently the cloth is wound uponP, and unwound fromQ. If, at the same time as this is going on, the handleR′, of the brake-shaft, be turned so as to clasp the brake of the pulleyQ′, and release that of the pulleyP′, it is obvious that a greater or smaller resistance will be occasioned in the beamQ, and the cloth which pulls it in unwinding, will be able to make it turn only when it has acquired the requisite tension; hence it will be necessary, in order to increase or diminish the tension, to turn the handleR′ a little more or a little less in the direction which clasps the brake of the pulleyQ′; and as the brake acts in a very equable manner, a very equable tension will take place all the time that the cloth takes to pass. Besides, should the diminution of the diameter of the beamQ, render the tension less efficacious in any considerable degree, the brake would need to be unclamped a very little, to restore the primitive tension.When the cloth is to be returned from the beamP, to the beamQ,Zmust be lowered, to put the shaftLout of geer above, and in geer below; then the cloth-beamQ, being driven by that vertical shaft, it will turn in the same direction as the drum, and will wind the cloth round its surface. In order that it may do so, with a suitable tension, the pulleyQ′ must be left free, by clasping the brake of the pulleyP′, so as to oppose an adequate resistance.The cloth is brought into more or less close contact with the drum as follows:—There is for this purpose a wooden rollerT, against which it presses in passing from the one winding beam to the other, and which may have its position changed relatively to the drum. It is obvious, for example, that in departing from the position represented infig.1214., where the cloth is nearly a tangent to the drum, if the rollerT′ be raised, the cloth will cease to touch it; and if it be lowered, the cloth will, on the contrary, embrace the drum over a greater or less portion of its periphery. For it to produce these effects, the roller is borne at each end, by iron gudgeons, upon the heads of an arched rackT′′ (fig.1214.), where it is held merely by pins. These racks have the same curvature as the circle of the frame, against which they are adjusted by two bolts; and by means of slits, which these bolts traverse, they may be slidden upwards or downwards, and consequently raise or depress the rollerT. But to graduate the movements, and to render them equal in the two racks, there is a shaftU, supported by the uprights of the frame, and which carries, at each end, pinionsU′,U′′, which work into the two racksT′,T′′: this shaft is extended in front of the frame, upon the side of the head of the machine (fig.1215.), and there it carries a ratchet wheelu, and a handleu′. The workman, therefore, requires merely to lay hold of the handle, and turn it in the direction of the ratchet wheel, to raise the racks, and the rollerT, which they carry; or to lift the click or catch, and turn the handle in the opposite direction, when he wishes to lower the roller, so as to apply the cloth to a larger portion of the drum.CLOTH CROPPING.Of machines for cropping or shearing woollen cloths, those of Lewis and Davis have been very generally used.Fig.1219.is an end view, andfig.1220.is a side view, of Lewis’s machine, for shearing cloth from list to list.Fig.1221.is an end view of the carriage, with the rotatory cutter detached from the frame of the machine, and upon a larger scale:a, is a cylinder of metal, on which is fixed a triangular steel wire; this wire is previously bent round the cylinder in the form of a screw, as represented ata,a, infig.1219., and, being hardened, is intended to constitute one edge of the shear or cutter.Cloth shearing machineCarriage and platesThe axis of the cylindrical cuttera, turns in the frameb, which, having proper adjustments, is mounted upon pivotsc, in the standard of the travelling carriaged,d; ande, is the fixed or ledger blade, attached to a barf, which constitutes the other edge of the cutter; that is, the stationary blade, against which the edges of the rotatory cutter act;fandg, are flat springs, intended to keep the cloth (shown by dots) up against the cutting edges. The form of these flat springsf,g, is shown atfigs.1222.and1223.,as consisting of plates of thin metal cut into narrow slips (fig.1222.), or perforated with long holes, (fig.1223.) Their object is to support the cloth, which is intended to pass between them, and operate as a spring bed, bearing the surface of the cloth against the cutters, so that its pile or nap may be cropped off or shorn as the carriagedis drawn along the top rails of the standard or frame of the machineh,h, by means of cords.The piece of cloth to be shorn, is wound upon the beamk, and its end is then conducted through the machine, between the flat springsfandg(as shown infig.1221.), to the other beaml, and is then made fast; the sides or lists of the cloth being held and stretched by small hooks, called habiting hooks. The cloth being thus placed in the machine, and drawn tight, is held distended by means of ratchets on the ends of the beamskandl, and palls. In commencing the operation of shearing, the carriaged, must be brought back, as infig.1221., so that the cutters shall be close to the list; the frame of the cutters is raised up on its pivots as it recedes, in order to keep the cloth from injury, but is lowered again previously to being put in action. A band or winch is applied to the rigger or pulleym, which, by means of an endless cord passed round the pulleyn, at the reverse end of the axle ofm, and round the other pulleysoandp, and the small pulleyq, on the axle of the cylindrical cutter, gives the cylindrical cutter a very rapid rotatory motion; at the same time a worm, or endless screw, on the axle ofmandn, taking into the teeth of the large wheelr, causes that wheel to revolve, and a small drums, upon its axle, to coil up the cord, by which the carriaged, with the cuttersaande, and the spring bedfandg, are slowly, but progressively, made to advance, and to carry the cutters over the face of the cloth, from list to list; the rapid rotation of the cutting cylindera, producing the operation of cropping or shearing the pile.Upon the cutting cylinder, between the spiral blades, it is proposed to place stripes of plush, to answer the purpose of brushes, to raise the nap or pile as the cylinder goes around, and thereby assist in bringing the points of the wool up to the cutters.The same contrivance is adapted to a machine for shearing the cloth lengthwise.Shearing machineFig.1224.is a geometrical elevation of one side of Mr. Davis’s machine.Fig.1225.a plan or horizontal representation of the same, as seen in the top; andfig.1226.a section taken vertically across the machine near the middle, for the purpose of displaying the working parts more perfectly than in the two preceding figures. These three figures represent a complete machine in working condition, the cutters being worked by a rotatory motion, and the cloth so placed in the carriage as to be cut from list to list.a,a,a, is a frame or standard, of wood or iron, firmly bolted together by cross braces at the ends and in the middle. In the upper side-rails of the standard, there is a series of axles carrying anti-friction wheelsb,b,b, upon which the side-railsc,c, of the carriage or frame that bears the cloth runs, when it is passing under the cutters in the operation of shearing. The side-railsc,c, are straight bars of iron, formed with edgesv, on their under sides, which run smoothly in the grooves of the rollersb,b,b. These side-rails are firmly held together by the end stretchersd,d. The sliding frame has attached to it the two lower rollerse,e, upon which the cloth intended to be shorn is wound; the two upper lateral rollersf,f, over which the cloth is conducted and held up; and the two end rollersg,g, by which the habiting railsh,h, are drawn tight.In preparing to shear a piece of cloth, the whole length of the piece is, in the first place, tightly rolled upon one of the lower rollerse, which must be something longer than the breadth of the cloth from list to list. The end of the piece is then raised, and passed over the top of the lateral rollersf,f, whence it is carried down to the other rollere, and its end or farral is made fast to that roller. The hooks of the habiting railsh,h, are then put into the lists, and the two lower rollerse,e, with the two end rollersg,g, are then turned, for the purpose of drawing up the cloth, and straining it tight, which tension is preserved by ratchet wheels attached to the ends of the respective rollers, with palls dropping into their teeth. The frame carrying the cloth, is now slidden along upon the top standard rails by hand, so that the list shall be broughtnearly up to the cutteri,i, ready to commence the shearing operation; the bed is then raised, which brings the cloth up against the edges of the shears.Shearing machineThe construction of the bed will be seen by reference to the cross sectionfig.1226.It consists of an iron or other metal rollerk,k, turned to a truly cylindrical figure, and covered with cloth or leather, to afford a small degree of elasticity. This roller is mounted upon pivots in a framel,l, and is supported by a smaller rollerm, similarly mounted, which rollerm, is intended merely to prevent any bending or depression of the central part of the upper roller or bedk,k, so that the cloth may be kept in close contact with the whole length of the cutting blades.In order to allow the bedkto rise and fall, for the purpose of bringing the cloth up to the cutters to be shorn, or lowering it away from them after the operation, the framel,l, is made to slide up and down in the grooved standardn,n, the movable part enclosed within the standard being shown by dots. This standardn, is situated about the middle of the machine, crossing it immediately under the cutters, and is made fast to the framea, by bolts and screws. There is a levero, attached to the lower cross-rail of the standard, which turns upon a fulcrum-pin, the extremity of the shorter arm of which lever acts under the centre of the sliding-frame, so that by the levero, the sliding-frame, with the bed, may be raised or lowered, and when so raised, be held up by a spring catchj.Details of cuttersIt being now explained by what means the bed which supports the cloth is constructed, and brought up, so as to keep the cloth in close contact with the cutters, while the operation of shearing is going on; it is necessary, in the next place, to describe the construction of the cutters, and their mode of working; for which purpose, in addition to what is shown in the first three figures, the cutters are also represented detached, and upon a larger scale, infig.1227.In this figure is exhibited a portion of the cutters in the same situation as infig.1221.; and alongside of it is a section of the same, taken through it at right angles to the former;p, is a metallic bar or rib, somewhat of a wedge form, which is fastened to the top part of the standarda,a, seen best infig.1220.To this bar a straight blade of steelg, is attached by screws, the edge of which stands forward even with the centre or axis of the cylindrical cutteri, and forms the ledger blade, or lower fixed edge of the shears. This blade remains stationary, and is in close contact with the pile or nap of the cloth, when the bedk, is raised, in the manner above described.The cutter or upper blade of the shears, is formed by inserting two or more strips of plate steelr,r, in twisted directions, into grooves in the metallic cylinderi,i, the edges of which bladesr, as the cylinderirevolves, traverse along the edge of the fixed or ledger bladeg, and by their obliquity produce a cutting action like shears; the edges of the two blades taking hold of the pile or raised nap, as the cloth passes under it, shaves off the superfluous ends of the wool, and leaves the face smooth.Rotatory motion is given to the cutting cylinderi, by means of a band leading from the wheels, which passes round the pulley fixed on the end of the cylinderi, the wheelsbeing driven by a band leading from the rotatory part of a steam-engine, or any other first mover, and passed round the riggert, fixed on the axles. Tension is given to this band by a tightening pulleyu, mounted on an adjustable sliding-piecev, which is secured to the standard by a screw; and this rigger is thrown in and out of geer by a clutch-box and lever, which sets the machine going, or stops it.In order to give a drawing stroke to the cutter, which will cause the piece of cloth to be shorn off with better effect, the upper cutter has a slight lateral action, producedby the axle of the cutting cylinder being made sufficiently long to allow of its sliding laterally about an inch in its bearings; which sliding is effected by a camw, fixed at one end. This cam is formed by an oblique groove, cut round the axle, (seew,fig.1227.) and a toothx, fixed to the frame or standard which works in it, as the cylinder revolves. By means of this tooth, the cylinder is made to slide laterally, a distance equal to the obliquity of the groovew, which produces the drawing stroke of the upper shear. In order that the rotation of the shearing cylinder may not be obstructed by friction, the toothx, is made of two pieces, set a little apart, so as to afford a small degree of elasticity.The manner of passing the cloth progressively under the cutters is as follows:—On the axle of the wheels, and immediately behind that wheel, there is a small rigger, from which a band passes to a wheely, mounted in an axle turning in bearings on the lower side-rail of the standarda. At the reverse extremity of this axle, there is another small rigger 1, from which a band passes to a wheel 2, fixed on the axle 3, which crosses near the middle of the machine, seen infig.1226.Upon this axle there is a sliding pulley 4, round which a cord is passed several times, whose extremities are made fast to the ends of the sliding carriaged; when, therefore, this pulley is locked to the axle, which is done by a clutch box, the previously described movements of the machine cause the pulley 4 to revolve, and by means of the rope passed round it, to draw the frame, with the cloth, slowly and progressively along under the cutters.It remains only to point out the contrivance whereby the machinery throws itself out of geer, and stops its operations, when the edge of the cloth or list arrives at the cutters.At the end of one of the habiting railsh, there is a stop affixed by a nut and screw 5, which, by the advance of the carriage, is brought up and made to press against a lever 6; when an arm from this lever 6, acting under the catch 7, raises the catch up, and allows the hand-lever 8, which is pressed upon by a strong spring, to throw the clutch-box 10, out of geer with the wheel 8; whereby the evolution of the machine instantly ceases. The lower part of the lever 6, being connected by a joint to the top of the leverj, the receding of the lever 6, draws back the lower catchj, and allows the sliding framel,l, within the bedk, to descend. By now turning the lower rollerse,e, another portion of the cloth is brought up to be shorn; and when it is properly habited and strained, by the means above described, the carriage is slidden back, and, the parts being all thrown into geer, the operation goes on as before.Mr. Hirst’s improvements in manufacturing woollen cloths, for which a patent was obtained in February, 1830, apply to that part of the process where a permanent lustre is given usually by what is called roll-boiling; that is, stewing the cloth, when tightly wound upon a roller, in a vessel of hot water or steam. As there are many disadvantages attendant upon the operation of roll-boiling, such as injuring the cloths, by overheating them, which weakens the fibre of the wool, and also changes some colours, he substituted, in place of it, a particular mode of acting upon the cloths, by occasional or intermitted immersion in hot water, and also in cold water, which operations may be performed either with or without pressure upon the cloth, as circumstances may require.
Slubbing machine
Theslubbing machine, orbilly, reduces the separate rolls ofcardingsinto a continuous slightly twisted spongy cord, which is sometimes called a roving.Fig.1213.is a perspective representation of the slubbing machine in most common use.A,A, is the wooden frame; within which is the movable carriageD,D, which runs upon the lower side rails ata,a, on friction wheels at 1, 2, to make it move easily backwards and forwards from one end of the frame to the other. The carriage contains a series of steel spindles, marked 3, 3, which receive rapid rotation from a long tin drumF, by means of a series of cords passing round the pulley or whorl of each spindle. This drum, 6 inches in diameter, is covered with paper, and extends across the whole breadth of the carriage. The spindles are set nearly upright in a frame, and about 4 inches apart; their under ends being pointed conically, turn in brass sockets called steps, and are retained in their position by a small brass collet, which embraces each spindle at about the middle of its length. The upper half of each spindle projects above the top of the frame. The drum revolves horizontally before the spindles, having its axis a little below the line of the whorls; and receives motion, by a pulley at one of its ends, from an endless band which passes round a wheelE, like the large domestic wheel formerly used in spinning wool by hand, and of similar dimensions. This wheel is placed upon the outside of the main frame of the machine, and has its shafts supported by upright standards upon the carriageD. It is turned by the spinner placed atQ, with his right hand applied to a winchR, which gives motion to the drum, and thereby causes the spindles to revolve with great velocity.
Each spindle receives a soft cylinder or carding of wool, which comes through beneath a wooden rollerC,C, at the one end of the frame. This is thebilly roller, so much talked of in the controversies between the operatives and masters in the cotton factories, as an instrument of cruel punishment to children, though no such machine has been used in cotton mills for half a century at least. These woollen rolls proceed to the series of spindles, standing in the carriage, in nearly a horizontal plane. By the alternate advance and retreat of the carriage upon its railway, the spindles are made to approach to, and recede from, the rollerC, with the effect of drawing out a given length of the soft cord, with any desired degree of twist, in the following manner:—
The carding rolls are laid down straight, side by side, upon the endless cloth, strained in an inclined direction between two rollers, one of which is seen atB, and theother lies behindC. One carding is allotted to a spindle; the total number of each in one machine being from 50 to 100. The rollerC, of light wood, presses gently with its weight upon the cardings, while they move onwards over the endless cloth, with the running out of the spindle carriage. Immediately in front of the said roller, there is a horizontal wooden rail or barG, with another beneath it, placed across the frame. The carding is conducted through between these two bars, the movable upper one being raised to let any aliquot portion of the roll pass freely. When this bar is again let down, it pinches the spongy carding fast; whence this mechanism is called the clasp. It is in fact theclove, originally used by Hargreaves in his cotton-jenny. The movable upper railG, is guided between sliders, and a wire 7, descends from it to a leverC. When the spindle carriageD,D, is wheeled close home to the billy roller, a wheel 5, lifts the end 6 of the lever, which, by the wire 7, raises the upper bar or railG, so as to open the clasp, and release all the card rolls. Should the carriage be now drawn a little way from the clasp bars, it would tend to pull a corresponding length of the cardings forward from the inclined planeB,C. There is a small catch, which lays hold of the upper bar of the claspG, and hinders it from falling till the carriage has receded to a certain distance, and has thereby allowed from 7 to 8 inches of the cardings to be taken out. A stop upon the carriage then comes against the catch, and withdraws it; thus allowing the upper rail to fall and pinch the carding, while the carriage, continuing to recede, draws out or stretches that portion of the roll which is between the clasp and the spindle points. But during this time the wheel has been turned to keep the spindles revolving, communicating the proper degree of twist to the cardings in proportion to their extension, so as to prevent them from breaking.
It might be imagined that the slubbing cords would be apt to coil round the spindles; but as they proceed in a somewhat inclined direction to the clasp, they receive merely a twisting motion, continually slipping over the points of the spindles, without getting wound upon them. Whenever the operative or slubber has given a due degree of twist to the rovings, he sets about winding them upon the spindles into a conical shape, for which purpose he presses down the faller-wire 8, with his left hand, so as to bear it down from the points of the spindles, and place it opposite to their middle part. He next makes the spindles revolve, while he pushes in the carriage slowly, so as to coil the slubbing upon the spindle into a conical cop. The wire 8, regulates the winding-on of the whole series of slubbings at once, and receives its proper angle of depression for this purpose from the horizontal rail 4, which turns upon pivots in its ends, in brasses fixed on the standards, which rise from the carriageD. By turning this rail on its pivots, the wire 8 may be raised or lowered in any degree. The slubber seizes the rail 4 in his left hand, to draw the carriage out; but in returning it, he depresses the faller-wire, at the same time that he pushes the carriage before him.
The cardings are so exceedingly tender, that they would readily draw out, or even break, if they were dragged with friction upon the endless cloth of the inclined plane. To save this injurious traction, a contrivance is introduced for moving the apron. A cord is applied round the groove in the middle part of the upper roller, and after passing over pulleys, as shown in the figure, it has a heavy weight hung at the one end, and a light weight at the other, to keep it constantly extended, while the heavy weight tends to turn the rollers with their endless cloth round in such a direction as to bring forward the rovings, without putting any strain upon them. Every time that the carriage is pushed home, the larger weight gets wound up; and when the carriage is drawn out, the greater weight turns the roller, and advances the endless apron, so as to deliver the carding at the same rate as the carriage runs out; but when the proper quantity is delivered, a knot in the rope arrives at a fixed stop, which does not permit it to move any further; while at the same instant the roller 5 quits the lever 6, and allows the upper railG, of the clasp to fall, and pinch the carding fast; the wheelE, being then set in motion, makes the spindles revolve; and the carriage being simultaneously drawn out, extends the slubbings while under the influence of twisting. In winding up the slubbings, the operative must take care to push in the carriage, and to turn the wheel round at such rates that the spindles will not take up faster than the carriage moves on its railway, or he would injure the slubbings. The machine requires the attendance of a child, to bring the cardings from the card-engine, to place them upon the sloping feed-cloth, and to join the ends of the fresh ones carefully to the ends of the others newly drawn under the roller. Slubbings intended for warp-yarn must be more twisted than those for weft; but each must receive a degree of torsion relative to the quality of the wool and of the cloth intended to be made. In general, however, no more twist should be given to the slubbings than is indispensable for enabling them to be drawn out to the requisite slenderness without breaking. This twist forms no part of the twist of the finished yarn, for the slubbing will be twisted in the contrary direction, when spun afterwards in the jenny or mule.
I may here remark, that various machines have been constructed of late years formaking continuous card-ends, and slubbings, in imitation of the carding and roving of theCotton Manufacture; to which article I therefore refer my readers. The wool slubbings are now spun into yarn, in many factories, by means of the mule. Indeed, I have seen in France the finest yarn, for themousseline-de-lainefabrics, beautifully spun upon the self-actor mule of Sharp and Roberts.[72]
[72]See this admirable machine fully described and delineated in myCotton Manufacture of Great Britain, vol. ii.
[72]See this admirable machine fully described and delineated in myCotton Manufacture of Great Britain, vol. ii.
Tentering.—When the cloth is returned from thefulling-mill(which see), it is stretched upon the tenter-frame, and left in the open air till dry.
In the woollen manufacture, as the cloth suffers, by the operation of the fulling-mill, a shrinkage of its breadth to well nigh one-half, it must at first be woven of nearly double its intended width when finished. Superfine six-quarter broad cloths must therefore be turned out of the loom twelve-quarters wide.
Burlingis the name of a process, in which the dried cloth is examined minutely in every part, freed from knots or uneven threads, and repaired by sewing any little rents, or inserting sound yarns in the place of defective ones.
Teasling.—The object of this operation is to raise up the loose filaments of the woollen yarn into a nap upon one of the surfaces of the cloth, by scratching it either with thistle-heads, called teasels, or with teasling-cards or brushes, made of wire. The natural teasels are the balls which contain the seeds of the plant calledDipsacus fullorum; the scales which form the balls, project on all sides, and end in sharp elastic points, that turn downwards like hooks. In teasling by hand, a number of these balls are put into a small wooden frame, having crossed handles, eight or ten inches long; and when thus filled, form an implement not unlike a curry-comb, which is used by two men, who seize the teasel-frame by the handles, and scrub the face of the cloth, hung in a vertical position from two horizontal rails, made fast to the ceiling of the workshop. First, they wet the cloth, and work three times over, by strokes in the direction of the warp, and next of that of the weft, so as to raise all the loose fibres from the felt, and to prepare it for shearing. In large manufactories, this dressing operation is performed by a machine called a gig-mill, which originally consisted, and in most places still consists, of a cylinder bristled all over with the thistle-heads, and made to revolve rapidly while the cloth is drawn over it in a variety of directions. If the thistle be drawn in the line of the warp, the points act more efficaciously upon the weft, being perpendicular to its softer spun yarns. Inventors who have tried to give the points a circular or oblique action between the warp and the weft, proceed apparently upon a false principle, as if the cloth were like a plate of metal, whose substance could be pushed in any direction. Teasling really consists in drawing out one end of the filaments, and leaving the body of them entangled in the cloth; and it should seize and pull them perpendicularly to their length, because in this way it acts upon the ends, which being least implicated, may be most readily disengaged.
When the hooks of the thistles become clogged with flocks of wool, they must be taken out of the frame or cylinder, and cleaned by children with a small comb. Moisture, moreover, softens their points, and impairs their teasling powers; an effect which needs to be counterbalanced, by taking them out, and drying them from time to time. Many contrivances have, therefore, been proposed, in which metallic teasels of an unchangeable nature, mounted in rotatory machines, driven by power, have been substituted for the vegetable, which being required in prodigious quantities, become sometimes excessively scarce and dear in the clothing districts. In 1818, several schemes of that kind were patented in France, of which those of M. Arnold-Merick, and of MM. Taurin frères, of Elbœuf, are described in the 16th volume ofBrevets d’Invention expirés. Mr. Daniell, cloth manufacturer in Wilts, renewed this invention under another form, by making his rotatory cards with two kinds of metallic wires, of unequal lengths; the one set, long, thin, and delicate, representing the points of the thistle; the other, shorter, stiffer, and blunter, being intended to stay the cloth, and to hinder the former from entering too far into it. But none of these processes have succeeded in discarding the natural teasel from the most eminent manufactories.
The French government purchased, in 1807, the patent of Douglas, an English mechanist, who had, in 1802, imported into France, the best system of gig-mills then used in the west of England. A working set of his machines having been placed in theConservatoire des Arts, for public inspection, they were soon introduced into most of the French establishments, so as generally to supersede teasling (lainage) by hand. A description of them was published in the third volume of theBrevets d’Invention. The following is an outline of some subsequent improvements:—
1. As it was imagined that the seesaw action of the hand operative was in some respects more effectual than the uniform rotation of a gig-mill, this was attempted to be imitated by an alternating movement.
2. Others conceived that the seesaw motion was not essential, but that it was advantageous to make the teasels or cards act in a rectilinear direction, as in working by hand; this action was attempted by placing the two ends of the teasel-frame in grooves formed like the letterD, so that the teasel should act on the cloth only when it came into the rectilinear part. Mr. Wells, machine-maker, of Manchester, obtained a patent, in 1832, for this construction.
3. It was supposed that the teasels should not act perpendicularly to the weft, but obliquely or circularly upon the face of the cloth. Mr. Ferrabee, of Gloucester, patented, in 1830, a scheme of this kind, in which the teasels are mounted upon two endless chains, which traverse from the middle of the web to the selvage or list, one to the right, and another to the left hand, while the cloth itself passes under them with such a velocity, that the effect, orresultant, is a diagonal action, dividing into two equal parts the rectangle formed by the weft and warp yarns. Three patent machines of Mr. George Oldland—the first in 1830, the second and third in 1832—all proceed upon this principle. In the first, the teasels are mounted upon discs made to turn flat upon the surface of the cloth; in the second, the rotating discs are pressed by corkscrew spiral springs against the cloth, which is supported by an elastic cushion, also pressed against the discs by springs; and in the third machine, the revolving discs have a larger diameter, and they turn, not in a horizontal, but a vertical plane.
4. Others fancied that it would be beneficial to support the reverse side of the cloth by flat hard surfaces, while acting upon its face with cards or teasels. Mr. Joseph Cliseld Daniell, having stretched the cloth upon smooth level stones, teasels them by hand. 5. Messrs. Charlesworth and Mellor obtained a patent, in 1829, for supporting the back of the cloth with elastic surfaces, while the part was exposed to the teasling action. 6. Elasticity has also been imparted to the teasels, in the three patent inventions of Mr. Sevill, Mr. J. C. Daniell, and Mr. R. Atkinson. 7. It has been thought useful to separate the teasel-frames upon the drum of the gig-mill, by simple rollers, or by rollers heated with steam, in order to obtain the combined effect of calendering and teasling. Mr. J. C. Daniell, Mr. G. Haden, and Mr. J. Rayner, have obtained patents for contrivances of this kind. 8. Several French schemes have been mounted for making the gig-drum act upon the two sides of the cloth, or even to mount two drums on the same machine.
Mr. Jones, of Leeds, contrived a very excellent method of stretching the cloth, so as to prevent the formation of folds or wrinkles. (See Newton’s Journal, vol. viii., 2nd series, page 126.) Mr. Collier, of Paris, obtained a patent, in 1830, for a greatly improved gig-mill, upon Douglas’s plan, which is now much esteemed by the French clothiers. The following figures and description exhibit one of the latest and best teasling machines. It is the invention of M. Dubois and Co., of Louviers, and is now doing excellent work in that celebrated seat of the cloth manufacture.
In the fulling-mill, the woollen web acquires body and thickness, at the expense of its other dimensions; for being thereby reduced about one-third in length, and one-half in breadth, its surface is diminished to one-third of its size as it comes out of the loom; and it has, of course, increased threefold in thickness. As the filaments drawn forth by teasling, are of very unequal lengths, they must be shorn to make them level, and with different degrees of closeness, according to the quality of the stuff, and the appearance it is desired to have. But, in general, a single operation of each kind is insufficient; whence, after having passed the cloth once through the gig-mill, and once through the shearing-machine (tondeuse), it is ready to receive a second teasling, deeper than the first, and then to suffer a second shearing. Thus, by the alternate repetition of these processes, as often as is deemed proper, the cloth finally acquires its wished-for appearance. Both of these operations are very delicate, especially the first; and if they be ill conducted, the cloth is weakened, so as to tear or wear most readily. On the other hand, if they be skilfully executed, the fabric becomes not only more sightly, but it acquires strength and durability, because its face is changed into a species of fur, which protects it from friction and humidity.
Gig-millFigs. 1214 and 1215 enlarged(271 kB)
Figs. 1214 and 1215 enlarged(271 kB)
Figs.1214,1215., represent the gig-mill in section, and in front elevation.A,B,C,D,A′,B′,C′,D′, being the strong frame of iron, cast in one piece, having its feet enlarged a little more to the inside than to the outside, and bolted to large blocks in the stone pavement. The two uprights are bound together below by two cross-beamsA′′, being fastened with screw-bolts at the earsa′′,a′′; and at top, by the wrought-iron stretcher-rodD, whose ends are secured by screw-nuts atD,D′. The drum is mounted upon a wrought-iron shaftF, which bears at its right end (fig.1215.), exterior to the frame, the usual riggers, or fast and loose pulley,ff′′,f′, which give motion to the machine by a band from the main shaft of the mill. On its right end, within the frame, the shaftF, has a bevel wheelF′, for transmitting movement to the cloth, as shall be afterwards explained. Three crown wheelsG, of which one is shown in the section,fig.1214., are, as usual, keyed by a wedge to the shaftF. Their contour is a sinuousband, with six semi-cylindrical hollows, separated alternately by as many portions of the periphery. One of these three wheels is placed in the middle of the shaftF, and the other two, towards its extremities. Their size may be judged of, from inspection offig.1214.After having set them so that all their spokes or radii correspond exactly, the 16 sidesH, are made fast to the 16 portions of the periphery, which correspond in the three wheels. These sides are made of sheet iron, curved into a gutter form,fig.1214., but rounded off at the end,fig.1215., and each of them is fixed to the three felloes of the wheels by three boltsh. The elastic part of the plate iron allows of their being sufficiently well adjusted, so that their flat portions furthest from the centre may lie pretty truly on a cylindrical surface, whose axis would coincide with that of the shaftF.
Frame and clamps
Between the 16 sides there are 16 intervals, which correspond to the 16 hollowings of each of the wheels. Into these intervals are adjusted, with proper precautions, 16 frames bearing the teasels which are to act upon the cloth. These are fitted in as follows:—Each has the shape of a rectangle, of a length equal to that of the drum, but their breadth only large enough to contain two thistle-heads set end to end, thus making two rows of parallel teasels throughout the entire length, (see the contour infig.1214.) A portion of the frame is represented infig.1216.The large sideI, against which the tops of the teasels rest, is hollowed out into a semi-cylinder, and its opposite side is cleft throughout its whole length, to receive the tails of the teasels, which are seated and compressed in it. There are, moreover, cross-barsi, which serve to maintain the sides of the frameI, at an invariable distance, and to form short compartments for keeping the thistles compact. The ends are fortified by stronger barsk,k, with projecting bolts to fasten the frames between the ribs. The distance of the sides of the frameI,I′, ought to be such, that if a frame be laid upon the drum, in the interval of two ribs, the sideIwill rest upon the inclined plane of one of the ribs, and the sideI′ upon the inclined plane of the other, (seefig.1214.); while at the same time the barsk, of the two ends of the frame, rest upon the flat parts of the ribs themselves. This point being secured, it is obvious, that if the ends of the barskbe stopped, the frame will be made fast. But they need not be fixed in a permanent manner, because they must be frequently removed and replaced. They are fastened by the clamp, (figs.1217,1218.), which is shut at the one end, and furnished at the other with a spring, which can be opened or shut at pleasure. 2 and 4, infig.1215.(near the right end of the shaftF), shows the place of the clamp,figs.1217,1218.The bar of the right hand is first set in the clamp, by holding up its other end; the frame is then let down into the left-hand clamp.
The cloth is wound upon the lower beamQ,fig.1214.; thence it passes in contact with a wooden cylinderT, turning upon an axis, and proceeds to the upper beamP, on to which it is wound: by a contrary movement, the cloth returns from the beamPtoQ, over the cylinderT; and may thus go from the one to the other as many times as shall be requisite. In these successive circuits it is presented to the action of the teasels, under certain conditions. In order to be properly teasled, it must have an equal tension throughout its whole breadth during its traverse; it must be brought into more or less close contact with the drum, according to the nature of the cloth, and the stage of the operations; sometimes being a tangent to the surface, and sometimes embracing a greater or smaller portion of its contour, it must travel with a determinate speed, dependent upon the velocity of the drum, and calculated so as to produce the best result: the machine itself must make the stuff pass alternately from one winding beam to the other.
Infig.1215., before the front end of the machine, there is a vertical shaftL, as high as the framework, which revolves with great facility, in the bottom stepl, the middle colletl′, and top colletl′′, in the prolongation of the stretcherD. Upon this upright shaft are mounted—1. a bevel wheelL′; 2. an upper bevel pinionM, with its bossM′; 3. a lower bevel pinionN, with its bossN′. The bevel wheelL′ is keyed upon the shaftL, and communicates to it the movement of rotation which it receives from the pinionf, with which it is in geer; but the pinionf, which is mounted upon the shaftFof the drum, participates in the rotation which this shaft receives from the prime mover, by means of the fast rigger-pulleyf′. The upper pinionMis independent upon the shaftL; that is to say, it may be slidden along it, up and down, without being driven by it; but it may be turned in an indirect manner by means of six curved teeth, projecting fromits bottom, and which may be rendered active or not, at pleasure; these curved teeth, and their intervals, correspond to similar teeth and intervals upon the top of the bossM′, which is dependent, by feathered indentations, upon the rotation ofL, though it can slide freely up and down upon it. When it is raised, therefore, it comes into geer withM. The pinionN, and its boss, have a similar mode of being thrown into and out of geer with each other. The bossesM′ andN′, ought always to be moved simultaneously, in order to throw one of them into geer, and the other out of geer. The shaftLserves to put the cloth in motion, by means of the bevel wheelsP′′ andQ′′, upon the ends of the beamsP,Q, which take into the pinionsMandN.
The mechanism destined to stretch the cloth is placed at the other end of the machine, where the shafts of the beamsP,Q, are prolonged beyond the frame, and bear at their extremitiesP′ andQ′, armed each with a brake. The beamP(fig.1214.), turns in an opposite direction to the drum; consequently the cloth is wound uponP, and unwound fromQ. If, at the same time as this is going on, the handleR′, of the brake-shaft, be turned so as to clasp the brake of the pulleyQ′, and release that of the pulleyP′, it is obvious that a greater or smaller resistance will be occasioned in the beamQ, and the cloth which pulls it in unwinding, will be able to make it turn only when it has acquired the requisite tension; hence it will be necessary, in order to increase or diminish the tension, to turn the handleR′ a little more or a little less in the direction which clasps the brake of the pulleyQ′; and as the brake acts in a very equable manner, a very equable tension will take place all the time that the cloth takes to pass. Besides, should the diminution of the diameter of the beamQ, render the tension less efficacious in any considerable degree, the brake would need to be unclamped a very little, to restore the primitive tension.
When the cloth is to be returned from the beamP, to the beamQ,Zmust be lowered, to put the shaftLout of geer above, and in geer below; then the cloth-beamQ, being driven by that vertical shaft, it will turn in the same direction as the drum, and will wind the cloth round its surface. In order that it may do so, with a suitable tension, the pulleyQ′ must be left free, by clasping the brake of the pulleyP′, so as to oppose an adequate resistance.
The cloth is brought into more or less close contact with the drum as follows:—There is for this purpose a wooden rollerT, against which it presses in passing from the one winding beam to the other, and which may have its position changed relatively to the drum. It is obvious, for example, that in departing from the position represented infig.1214., where the cloth is nearly a tangent to the drum, if the rollerT′ be raised, the cloth will cease to touch it; and if it be lowered, the cloth will, on the contrary, embrace the drum over a greater or less portion of its periphery. For it to produce these effects, the roller is borne at each end, by iron gudgeons, upon the heads of an arched rackT′′ (fig.1214.), where it is held merely by pins. These racks have the same curvature as the circle of the frame, against which they are adjusted by two bolts; and by means of slits, which these bolts traverse, they may be slidden upwards or downwards, and consequently raise or depress the rollerT. But to graduate the movements, and to render them equal in the two racks, there is a shaftU, supported by the uprights of the frame, and which carries, at each end, pinionsU′,U′′, which work into the two racksT′,T′′: this shaft is extended in front of the frame, upon the side of the head of the machine (fig.1215.), and there it carries a ratchet wheelu, and a handleu′. The workman, therefore, requires merely to lay hold of the handle, and turn it in the direction of the ratchet wheel, to raise the racks, and the rollerT, which they carry; or to lift the click or catch, and turn the handle in the opposite direction, when he wishes to lower the roller, so as to apply the cloth to a larger portion of the drum.
CLOTH CROPPING.
Of machines for cropping or shearing woollen cloths, those of Lewis and Davis have been very generally used.
Fig.1219.is an end view, andfig.1220.is a side view, of Lewis’s machine, for shearing cloth from list to list.Fig.1221.is an end view of the carriage, with the rotatory cutter detached from the frame of the machine, and upon a larger scale:a, is a cylinder of metal, on which is fixed a triangular steel wire; this wire is previously bent round the cylinder in the form of a screw, as represented ata,a, infig.1219., and, being hardened, is intended to constitute one edge of the shear or cutter.
Cloth shearing machine
Carriage and plates
The axis of the cylindrical cuttera, turns in the frameb, which, having proper adjustments, is mounted upon pivotsc, in the standard of the travelling carriaged,d; ande, is the fixed or ledger blade, attached to a barf, which constitutes the other edge of the cutter; that is, the stationary blade, against which the edges of the rotatory cutter act;fandg, are flat springs, intended to keep the cloth (shown by dots) up against the cutting edges. The form of these flat springsf,g, is shown atfigs.1222.and1223.,as consisting of plates of thin metal cut into narrow slips (fig.1222.), or perforated with long holes, (fig.1223.) Their object is to support the cloth, which is intended to pass between them, and operate as a spring bed, bearing the surface of the cloth against the cutters, so that its pile or nap may be cropped off or shorn as the carriagedis drawn along the top rails of the standard or frame of the machineh,h, by means of cords.
The piece of cloth to be shorn, is wound upon the beamk, and its end is then conducted through the machine, between the flat springsfandg(as shown infig.1221.), to the other beaml, and is then made fast; the sides or lists of the cloth being held and stretched by small hooks, called habiting hooks. The cloth being thus placed in the machine, and drawn tight, is held distended by means of ratchets on the ends of the beamskandl, and palls. In commencing the operation of shearing, the carriaged, must be brought back, as infig.1221., so that the cutters shall be close to the list; the frame of the cutters is raised up on its pivots as it recedes, in order to keep the cloth from injury, but is lowered again previously to being put in action. A band or winch is applied to the rigger or pulleym, which, by means of an endless cord passed round the pulleyn, at the reverse end of the axle ofm, and round the other pulleysoandp, and the small pulleyq, on the axle of the cylindrical cutter, gives the cylindrical cutter a very rapid rotatory motion; at the same time a worm, or endless screw, on the axle ofmandn, taking into the teeth of the large wheelr, causes that wheel to revolve, and a small drums, upon its axle, to coil up the cord, by which the carriaged, with the cuttersaande, and the spring bedfandg, are slowly, but progressively, made to advance, and to carry the cutters over the face of the cloth, from list to list; the rapid rotation of the cutting cylindera, producing the operation of cropping or shearing the pile.
Upon the cutting cylinder, between the spiral blades, it is proposed to place stripes of plush, to answer the purpose of brushes, to raise the nap or pile as the cylinder goes around, and thereby assist in bringing the points of the wool up to the cutters.
The same contrivance is adapted to a machine for shearing the cloth lengthwise.
Shearing machine
Fig.1224.is a geometrical elevation of one side of Mr. Davis’s machine.Fig.1225.a plan or horizontal representation of the same, as seen in the top; andfig.1226.a section taken vertically across the machine near the middle, for the purpose of displaying the working parts more perfectly than in the two preceding figures. These three figures represent a complete machine in working condition, the cutters being worked by a rotatory motion, and the cloth so placed in the carriage as to be cut from list to list.a,a,a, is a frame or standard, of wood or iron, firmly bolted together by cross braces at the ends and in the middle. In the upper side-rails of the standard, there is a series of axles carrying anti-friction wheelsb,b,b, upon which the side-railsc,c, of the carriage or frame that bears the cloth runs, when it is passing under the cutters in the operation of shearing. The side-railsc,c, are straight bars of iron, formed with edgesv, on their under sides, which run smoothly in the grooves of the rollersb,b,b. These side-rails are firmly held together by the end stretchersd,d. The sliding frame has attached to it the two lower rollerse,e, upon which the cloth intended to be shorn is wound; the two upper lateral rollersf,f, over which the cloth is conducted and held up; and the two end rollersg,g, by which the habiting railsh,h, are drawn tight.
In preparing to shear a piece of cloth, the whole length of the piece is, in the first place, tightly rolled upon one of the lower rollerse, which must be something longer than the breadth of the cloth from list to list. The end of the piece is then raised, and passed over the top of the lateral rollersf,f, whence it is carried down to the other rollere, and its end or farral is made fast to that roller. The hooks of the habiting railsh,h, are then put into the lists, and the two lower rollerse,e, with the two end rollersg,g, are then turned, for the purpose of drawing up the cloth, and straining it tight, which tension is preserved by ratchet wheels attached to the ends of the respective rollers, with palls dropping into their teeth. The frame carrying the cloth, is now slidden along upon the top standard rails by hand, so that the list shall be broughtnearly up to the cutteri,i, ready to commence the shearing operation; the bed is then raised, which brings the cloth up against the edges of the shears.
Shearing machine
The construction of the bed will be seen by reference to the cross sectionfig.1226.It consists of an iron or other metal rollerk,k, turned to a truly cylindrical figure, and covered with cloth or leather, to afford a small degree of elasticity. This roller is mounted upon pivots in a framel,l, and is supported by a smaller rollerm, similarly mounted, which rollerm, is intended merely to prevent any bending or depression of the central part of the upper roller or bedk,k, so that the cloth may be kept in close contact with the whole length of the cutting blades.
In order to allow the bedkto rise and fall, for the purpose of bringing the cloth up to the cutters to be shorn, or lowering it away from them after the operation, the framel,l, is made to slide up and down in the grooved standardn,n, the movable part enclosed within the standard being shown by dots. This standardn, is situated about the middle of the machine, crossing it immediately under the cutters, and is made fast to the framea, by bolts and screws. There is a levero, attached to the lower cross-rail of the standard, which turns upon a fulcrum-pin, the extremity of the shorter arm of which lever acts under the centre of the sliding-frame, so that by the levero, the sliding-frame, with the bed, may be raised or lowered, and when so raised, be held up by a spring catchj.
Details of cutters
It being now explained by what means the bed which supports the cloth is constructed, and brought up, so as to keep the cloth in close contact with the cutters, while the operation of shearing is going on; it is necessary, in the next place, to describe the construction of the cutters, and their mode of working; for which purpose, in addition to what is shown in the first three figures, the cutters are also represented detached, and upon a larger scale, infig.1227.
In this figure is exhibited a portion of the cutters in the same situation as infig.1221.; and alongside of it is a section of the same, taken through it at right angles to the former;p, is a metallic bar or rib, somewhat of a wedge form, which is fastened to the top part of the standarda,a, seen best infig.1220.To this bar a straight blade of steelg, is attached by screws, the edge of which stands forward even with the centre or axis of the cylindrical cutteri, and forms the ledger blade, or lower fixed edge of the shears. This blade remains stationary, and is in close contact with the pile or nap of the cloth, when the bedk, is raised, in the manner above described.
The cutter or upper blade of the shears, is formed by inserting two or more strips of plate steelr,r, in twisted directions, into grooves in the metallic cylinderi,i, the edges of which bladesr, as the cylinderirevolves, traverse along the edge of the fixed or ledger bladeg, and by their obliquity produce a cutting action like shears; the edges of the two blades taking hold of the pile or raised nap, as the cloth passes under it, shaves off the superfluous ends of the wool, and leaves the face smooth.
Rotatory motion is given to the cutting cylinderi, by means of a band leading from the wheels, which passes round the pulley fixed on the end of the cylinderi, the wheelsbeing driven by a band leading from the rotatory part of a steam-engine, or any other first mover, and passed round the riggert, fixed on the axles. Tension is given to this band by a tightening pulleyu, mounted on an adjustable sliding-piecev, which is secured to the standard by a screw; and this rigger is thrown in and out of geer by a clutch-box and lever, which sets the machine going, or stops it.
In order to give a drawing stroke to the cutter, which will cause the piece of cloth to be shorn off with better effect, the upper cutter has a slight lateral action, producedby the axle of the cutting cylinder being made sufficiently long to allow of its sliding laterally about an inch in its bearings; which sliding is effected by a camw, fixed at one end. This cam is formed by an oblique groove, cut round the axle, (seew,fig.1227.) and a toothx, fixed to the frame or standard which works in it, as the cylinder revolves. By means of this tooth, the cylinder is made to slide laterally, a distance equal to the obliquity of the groovew, which produces the drawing stroke of the upper shear. In order that the rotation of the shearing cylinder may not be obstructed by friction, the toothx, is made of two pieces, set a little apart, so as to afford a small degree of elasticity.
The manner of passing the cloth progressively under the cutters is as follows:—On the axle of the wheels, and immediately behind that wheel, there is a small rigger, from which a band passes to a wheely, mounted in an axle turning in bearings on the lower side-rail of the standarda. At the reverse extremity of this axle, there is another small rigger 1, from which a band passes to a wheel 2, fixed on the axle 3, which crosses near the middle of the machine, seen infig.1226.Upon this axle there is a sliding pulley 4, round which a cord is passed several times, whose extremities are made fast to the ends of the sliding carriaged; when, therefore, this pulley is locked to the axle, which is done by a clutch box, the previously described movements of the machine cause the pulley 4 to revolve, and by means of the rope passed round it, to draw the frame, with the cloth, slowly and progressively along under the cutters.
It remains only to point out the contrivance whereby the machinery throws itself out of geer, and stops its operations, when the edge of the cloth or list arrives at the cutters.
At the end of one of the habiting railsh, there is a stop affixed by a nut and screw 5, which, by the advance of the carriage, is brought up and made to press against a lever 6; when an arm from this lever 6, acting under the catch 7, raises the catch up, and allows the hand-lever 8, which is pressed upon by a strong spring, to throw the clutch-box 10, out of geer with the wheel 8; whereby the evolution of the machine instantly ceases. The lower part of the lever 6, being connected by a joint to the top of the leverj, the receding of the lever 6, draws back the lower catchj, and allows the sliding framel,l, within the bedk, to descend. By now turning the lower rollerse,e, another portion of the cloth is brought up to be shorn; and when it is properly habited and strained, by the means above described, the carriage is slidden back, and, the parts being all thrown into geer, the operation goes on as before.
Mr. Hirst’s improvements in manufacturing woollen cloths, for which a patent was obtained in February, 1830, apply to that part of the process where a permanent lustre is given usually by what is called roll-boiling; that is, stewing the cloth, when tightly wound upon a roller, in a vessel of hot water or steam. As there are many disadvantages attendant upon the operation of roll-boiling, such as injuring the cloths, by overheating them, which weakens the fibre of the wool, and also changes some colours, he substituted, in place of it, a particular mode of acting upon the cloths, by occasional or intermitted immersion in hot water, and also in cold water, which operations may be performed either with or without pressure upon the cloth, as circumstances may require.