759,069. Carding-engines; card clothing. TAINE, R., and PELISSIER, J. March 3, 1954 [June 12, 1953; July 3, 1953], No. 6186/54. Classes 120 (1) and 120 (3). A carding unit for use in a carding-engine comprises at least four rotatable carding members one, of which is a slow-running member and the other three are high-speed members the first of which is a transfer member covered with card - clothing having low fibre-retaining power e.g. rigid clothing of saw teeth having a slight inclination, and low height or flexible " brush " type clothing, the bristles of which are metallic or of nylon and have little or no inclination. The carding members may be so arranged that fibre carried around the periphery of the slow-running member is subjected in succession to a carding action at two or more points. The unit shown in Fig. 1 is integral with feeding members 5 and a licker-in 6 and comprises a transfer member 1 having clothing 1a of low fibre-retaining power, slow-running fibre-carrying member 2; carding member 3, and a delivery member 4; in operation the clothing 1a transfers all the fibre with a carding action at c<SP>1</SP>, and at c<SP>2</SP> the member 3 cards all the fibre presented by 2 (removing a portion thereof) and most of the fibre there remains to be gathered at d<SP>2</SP> by member 4 (which also gathers at d<SP>3</SP> the material which remained on 3) which is stripped by the member 7 which has clothing similar to la. The carding-engine represented in Fig. 2 comprises three units G<SP>2</SP>, G<SP>3</SP>, G<SP>4</SP>. In the unit G<SP>2</SP> a member 10, fed at d<SP>5</SP> by a lickerin 9 co-operating with feeding members 8, transfers fibre with a carding action at c<SP>4</SP> to a carrier member 11 having standard clothing and, while at c<SP>5</SP>, the fibre is carded by a member 12, and the fibre divided between members 11 and 12 is regrouped at d<SP>6</SP> and d<SP>7</SP> by the action of a delivery member 13 having transfer clothing. The member 13, constituting the first member of the unit G<SP>3</SP>, transfers fibres with a carding action at c<SP>6</SP> to a member 14 on which at c<SP>7</SP> fibre is carded by a member 16 which also takes at d<SP>9</SP> fibre previously removed by 15 from member 14 at d<SP>8</SP>. The member 16, which in turn constitutes the first member of the unit G<SP>4</SP>, transfers its fibre at c<SP>8</SP> to a member 17 on which the fibre is carded at c<SP>9</SP> by a member 18, which also gathers at d<SP>11</SP> the fibre which a member 19 had taken from member 17 at d<SP>10</SP>, and a transfer member 20 strips the fibre from the member 18 at d<SP>12</SP> and transfers it with a carding action at c<SP>10</SP> on to a doffer 21 whence fibre is removed by a doffer comb 22. The card shown in Fig. 3 comprises two units G<SP>5</SP> and G<SP>6</SP>. In G5 a transfer member 23 passes the fibre with a carding action at c<SP>11</SP> to a drum 24 on which at c<SP>12</SP> fibre is carded by a member 25, and the fibre divided between the members 24 and 25 is gathered at d<SP>13</SP> and d<SP>14</SP> by the action of a delivery member 26 which, optionally, is in engagement with the drum 24; a member 29 cards at c<SP>14</SP> the fibre carried by the drum 24 and the portion of the fibre carried thereby is detached at d<SP>17</SP> by a member 28 and relinquished thereby at d<SP>16</SP> to a transfer member 27 which, in turn, passes the fibre at c<SP>13</SP> to the drum 24 whence it is removed at d<SP>18</SP> by a transfer member 30. Members 30, 31, 33 and a drum 32 form a unit similar to G<SP>4</SP>, and the drum 32 partially passes the fibre with a carding action at c<SP>17</SP> to a carding member 34, the fibre retained thereby being removed at d<SP>21</SP> by a transfer member 35. In the unit G<SP>6</SP> the member 35 passes fibre with a carding action at c<SP>18</SP> to a member 36 on which at c<SP>19</SP> fibre is again carded, and fibre divided between members 36 and 37 is gathered together at points d<SP>23</SP> and d<SP>24</SP> under the action of the drum 32; a member, as at 38, may provide in effect two additional carding points. Fig. 3 also shows a member 39 which, if fitted with a standard card clothing will remove a fraction of the fibre and transfer it to a subsequent carding unit and, if fitted with transfer clothing, will pass on to the same slow-running member while carding, the portion of fibre it had derived therefrom.