US321852A - Cotton and othee fibers - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) '2 SheetsSheet 1 J.- O. POTTER. MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING GOTTON AND OTHER FIBERS.

Patented July 7, 1885..

, (No Model.) 2. Sheets-Sheet 2. J. 0. POTTER.

MACHINE FOE OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIBERS. No. 321,852. Patented July 7, 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. POTTER, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ATHERTON MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIBERS.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,852, dated July 1885- Applioation filed April 1, 1885. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. POTTER, of Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Opening and Cleaning Cotton and other Fibers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for opening and cleaning cotton and other fibers.

\Vil-h a view to preventing the material operated on-by the beater or opening-cylinder from sticking or gathering upon the same, and to assisting the proper passage of the ma terial through the machine, it has heretofore in several instances been proposed to make the interior or center of the beater hollow, to provide at the ends of the same passages communicating with the external air, and to perforate or slit the interior or center of the beater, so that the external air taken i 11 through the inlet-passages might escape from or be discharged through the interior perforations of the beater. Under this arrangement it is desirable to provide some means for varying the supply of air taken in, in order to insure the proper passage of the fibers from the beater to the collecting-cages under all conditions. Some material may need more air than others; and, again, the condition of the atmosphere must be consulted-for instance, more air is needed on a damp day than when the atmos phere is dry. To this end I control the admission of the external air by one or more registers or gates applied to the inlet or inlets in such manner that the latter may be opened more or less, according to circumstances.

Again, it not nnfrequently occurs that the machine makes what may be called a tapering lap -that is to say, the fibers composing the lap are more compacted and solid toward one edge of the lap than the other. This is attributable to unevenness in the air current or draft, the air passing in greater quantity or with greater force on one side of the machine than on the other. For example, if the opener stand broadside of an open window,

the lap on the side next to the window is likely to be more compact than it is on the side farthest removed from the window. To c0rrect this difficulty, I admit air to both ends of the perforated center of the beater, and I provide at each end a register or gate, each of which can be operated independently of the other. I can thus regulate the volumes of air taken in at each end, and by varying these volumes with'relation to each other can readily correct irregularities due to the cause above mentioned.

This improvement is applicable to heaters of any type. In illustration of the invention I have in the accompanying drawings represented it as applied to a cotton-opener of the Whitehead and Atherton type, such as described in Patent No. 240,484, having what is known as a whipper-beater.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of so much of the machine as needed for the purpose of explanation. Fig. 2 is a vertical axial section on enlarged scale of the whipper-beater, its end bearings, and the parts adjacent thereto, the central portion of the beater being broken away so as to shorten the figure, and the shaft being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 is a side elevation enlarged of the upper portion of the whipper beater case (including the hinged cover) and the register applied thereto.

In Figs. 1 and 3 a portion of the registerplate It is broken away. The machine itself is similar in its general features to the first section of that described in. the Letters Patent above named, and requires no detailed description here. It is sufficient to say that A is the feed-apron. B are the feed-rolls. C is the case containing the beater, (indicated in dotted lines,) and D is the grid-passage leading from the beater-case to the collecting-cages E. Both D and E are represented in dotted lines.

My improvement is illustrated more y in Figs. 2 and 3. The whipper-beater in this instance is the Whitehead and Atherton whipper-beater described in Reissued Patent No. 7,159, consisting of the heads a fast to shaft d, and connected by rods 1), on which are hung the whippers c. The perforated center, from which the air is discharged, consists of the perforated metal shell or cylinder 6, extending between the two heads, a, with itsi'ends received within annular flanges f, cast upon the interior opposite faces of the heads, to which flanges the cylinder is fastened by bolts or other suitable means. In those parts of the heads included within the compass of the cylinder 0 are formed air passages or openings Upon the exterior face of each head is formed an annular flange, h, which, in effect, constitutes a prolongation of the perforated center 0, and is received and tits within an annular flange, t, formed on the interior opposite face of the adjoining portion of the case or frame 0. This flange is formed the lower half on the case and the upper half on the cover C, so that the upper half will lift with the cover. In that portion of the case or cover-in this instance the cover-ineluded within the compass of the flange 17 are formed air-admission openings 7', similar to those of an ordinary register. Air entering through these openings travels through the passage formed by the flange 6 and openings 1 into the perforated center 0, whence it is discharged continuously from all the perforations therein. To control the air admission, I provide each set of openings with a register or gate of any suitable kind. The register consists in this instance of the plate 7;, with register-openings corresponding to those in the cover 0, said plate having a half-round or semicircular concave bearing edge, which is seated and adapted to turn in an annular groove formed for it in the hub or projecting portion of the bearing of shaft (1. In this way while the register-plate is centered with respect to the shaft, the latter can revolve without affecting the plate, and the latter can lift with the cover or can be readily put on and taken off, as desired. At the top of the register-plate is a central tongue or prolongation, 7;, through which screws a set or clamping-screw, Z, which serves at once to clamp the register in place and as a handle for moving it. The set-screw screws into a slide, 9)), held in asmall curved slotted guide-piece, or,

attached to the cover in proper position. By tightening the screw the register will be locked in place, and when the screw is loosened the register can be adjusted to close or open more or less the openings j, as desired. The registers at each end are the same, so that a description of one will answer for both. Each register can be adjusted independently of the other, so that the supply of air to each end of the beater can be varied as desired.

I have described one way of carrying my improvement into effect; but it is obvious that the mechanical details can be widely varied without departure from the invention. \Vhat is essential is that the air inlet or inlets should be controlled by a register, gate, valve, or the like in such manner as to regulate the volume of air admitted to the perforated ecu ter of the beater.

\Vhat, therefore, I claim as new and of my own invention is as follows:

1. The combination, with the beater provided with a perforated hollow center and an inlet through which the external air is admitted to the interior of the perforated center, of means, substantially as described, whereby said inlet maybe opened or closed more or less, as desired, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbeforc set forth.

2. The combination, with the beater having a perforated hollow center, of an air-inlet at each end of the beater through which external ai r is admitted to the hollow center, and an independent register, or its equivalent, for each of said inlets, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of March, 1885.

JAMES C. POTTER.

\Vitnesses:

A. T. ATHERTON, E. E. RIPLEY.

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