US522516A - Machine for scutching flax - Google Patents

Description

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E. DONISTHORPE 8v T; BURROWS. MACHINE 'FOR SGUTGHING FLA X, HEMP, 650- No. 522,516.; v Patented-July 3,1894.

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G. B. DONISTHORPE & T. BURROWS. MAGEINE FOR SGUTGHING FLAX, HEMP, &c.

No. 522,516. I Patented July 3, 1894.

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' UNI ED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

GEORGE EDMUND'DONISTHORPE AND TAYLOR BURROWS, OF, LoNDoN, ENGLAND.

MACHINE Foe SCUTCHING FLAX, HEMP, 88c.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,516, dated July 3, 1894.

Application filed March 31, 1393. Serial No. 468,545. (No model.) Patented in England October 25, 1892, No. 19,168; in France March 1 1 93, N 228,359; in Belgium March 4, 1893, No. 103,670 {in India May 19, 1893, No. 148, and in Canada August To all whom it may concern.-v

B911. known that we, GEORGE EDMUND DONISTHORPE, merchant, of 46 Queen Victoria Street, and TAYLoR'BURRoWs, engineer, of

have obtained patents in Great Britain, dated October 25,1892, No. 19,168; in France, dated March 3, 1893, No. 228,359; in Belgium, dated March 4,1893, No. 103,670; in Canada, dated August 9, 1893, No. 43,879, and in India, dated May 19, 1893, No. 148,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved machine or apparatus for scutching flax, hemp, rhea, jute or other like fibrous stems or plants and is designed to produce a machine for beating, cleaning and softening such fibrous straws, stems or plants (after same has been crushed'previously by passing through any suitable breaking and crushing machine) the object of the present invention being" to produce a complete finishing-scutching action on such fiber or fibrous material.

Our machine consists essentially of an endless horizontally revolving carrying band (or bands) or carrying device of metal which has upwardly projecting teeth or serrations on the upper edge (or edges) thereof in which the fibrous stems, &c., are held and carried along to present the same to the beating and scutching devices, which latter consist of oppositely revolving boaters or scutching de-.

vices which are so arranged and mounted and operated in such a manner as to very thoroughly and efiectively scutch the fibrous stems as the same are thus mechanically held and presented thereto.

We will now proceed to fully describe and set forth our'said present invention with reference tothe drawings hereuntoannexed.

, Figure lis a side elevation ofthe complete scutching machine. Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end view of the machine looking in the opposite direction to the arrow m of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a viewin cross section on line 'yy Fig.1 and 2-2 Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the views.

A is the support or frame. B B are horizontally disposed pulleys arranged and mounted as shown at each end of the frame A.

' O O are fast and loose pulleys by which the Whole machine is driven by means of an ordinary driving belt (not shown).

D is the main driving shaft actuated by the pulley'O or this main driving axle D may be driven in any other suitable'manner.

E is a second shaft on the opposite side of the machine to the shaftD and each shaft D and E has respectively thereon a pulley and a driving belt F running round said pulleys by which means the shaft E is rotated or said shaft E may be revolved in any other convenient manner.

Gis a worm shaft driven by a suitable train of wheels from the driving shaft D.

, H H are worms on worm shaft G.

I I are worm wheels on the vertical axles J of horizontal pulleys B.

K is a bevel toothed wheel (cone wheel) on end of shaft D.

L is an intermediate bevel or cone toothed wheel gearing with the wheel K.

M is is a bevel cog wheel fixed on a shaft N and gearing with the wheel L so that said shaft N is then revolved in the opposite direction to the shaft D. A similar arrangement ofthree bevel toothed wheels K L M on the other side of the machine causes the shaft 0 to revolve in the opposite direction to the shaft E. It willth'us be seen that the shafts D and N revolve in opposite directions as also the ing shafts D and N on one side of the machine and similarly on the other side of the machine on the oppositely revolving shafts E and O.

If desired the beating device may consist of any number of blades P other than three as above described.

Q Q are radial arms fixed respectively to the separate shafts D. E. N and O.

R is a metallic toothed blade orcoarse comb which is mounted on each blade P on the opposite side thereof to that which strikes the fiber, as shown in Fig. 4-the blade P revolving in the direction of the arrow wthis I 5 pronged blade or coarse comb having a boneficial action on the fibrous material. This combing blade extends only a small part of the length of the blade P, and may be omitted if desired.

S is the endless metallic band toothed or serrated on its upper edges and two of such endless metal ribbons or bands S are shown in the drawings (see Fig. 4) to form the carrier these bands being arranged and mounted so as to be carried around by the horizontally disposed pulleys B so that such endless carrier S is caused to travel around in a horizontal plane.

If desired any othersuitable number of the bands S (other than two) may be used.

T is agrooved plate forming an undersupport for said carrier S.

U is a depressing and locking plate or plates which intersect between these bands S and 5 therebyloek and firmly hold the fibrous stems &c., above the scutchers while being seutched (see Fig. 4:) to prevent the same being dragged out of the carrier S. These locking plates hold the fiber firmly in the carrier comb while said fiber is being seutched.

V is a table or platform in the central part of the machine within the line of travel of the carrier S. This table V serves as a support for the inner ends of the fiber, which 5 ends are not being seutched, and the fiber traveling along the top of this table may be readily grasped by an operator after it has been carried from the feed table W to the feed table Y.

W is the first feed table.

X is an incline or plow to lift the fibrous stems, 850., out of the teeth of the carrier S and acts also as astop to prevent any of the said stems from being carried around the pulley B. I

Y is the second feed table.

Z is the second incline same as X and for the same purpose at the other end of the ma chine.

The operation is as follows:-The crushed fibrous stems, straws or stocks are fed on to the machine in any suitable manner but for the sake of example we will describe the operation of the machine with three attendants thereto and such attendants may be either boys or girls as no skilled labor is required in working this machine. The main driving shaft D is set going so that the endless carrier S is steadily caused to travel around in the direction of the arrows at b Fig. 2. The first operator stands at or near the table W (Fig. 2) and lays the fibrous stems, the, c (1 across the carrier S (as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2) and the latter carries such stems under the depressing plate U so that the said stems are caused to assume a zig-zag or undulating form and are thus locked and held securely between the teeth of the carrier S and the looking plate U, while being carried along by the carrier S. The outermost ends 0 now reach the first beating device viz: on the shaft N and thereby the said ends 0 are well beaten and seutched (as they are carried along by the carrier S) until the metallicpronged plate or coarse comb R is reached and thereupon the latter acts to straighten out the fibers somewhat so as to smooth and parallelize same. The carrier S (continuing to travel) new carries the ends 0 clear of the heating device on shaft N and immediately afterward these ends 0 reach the beating device on shaft D (which revolves in the opposite direction to N) and consequently the depending ends a are now thoroughly beaten from the opposite direction and then are subjected to the action of the device It so that when the ends cmove clear of the blades P on the shaft D they are most thoroughly seutched and finished. The stems now come from under the locking plate U and are then automatically raised clear of the carrier S by the incline X, the unscntched ends (Z resting on the table Vand the now seutched ends 0 hanging down overthe shaft D. The second operator placed at or near the second table Y now reaches over and grasps the ends (I and draws the same toward Y until the fully seutched part elies over the carrier S at the table Y and the unscutched ends d rest on the table Yand thus laid onto the carrier S which then carries same on under the locking plate U on that side of the machine and the stems, &c., are thus held and the ends at are now presented to the heat ing blades P (and devices R) on shaft E and then to the blades on shaft 0 revolving in the opposite direction to E and thus the ends (Z are as thoroughly seutched, softened and finished as the ends a and the fibrous ma terial is now completely seutched and finished from end to end and then comes from under the locking device U near the second plow or incline Z which latter acts same as X to lift the fiber clear of the carrier S and the finished seutched fiber is then lifted off the ma chine by a third operator placed close to Z.

It will be obvious that various modifications of the herein-described devices might be made which could be used without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut of the United States, is-

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination with an endless carrier com 522,516 I e r 3 sisting of a plurality of toothed combs moving in an approximately horizontal direction, a rigid support for said combs, and a locking plate adapted to press the fibrous material between the teeth of and hold it firmly down on said combs, of a plurality of scutchers arranged to. act on the fibrous material alter-- .nately from opposite sides, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination with an endless carrier consisting of a plurality of toothed combs moving in an approximately horizontal direction, a rigid support for said combs, and a locking plate adapted to press the fibrous material between the teeth of and hold it firmly down on said combs, of a plurality of combs and scutching devices and means for operating the same from opposite directions with regard to said fibrous material, substantially as and for the purposes described. 1

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with two pulleys, of an endless carrier mounted thereon consisting of a plurality of toothed combs moving in an approximately horizontal direction, a rigid support for said combs, atable arranged between opposite sides of the said carrier, and a lockin g plate adapted to hold the fibrous material down on said carrier combs; of a plurality of combing and scutching devices arranged at either side of said carrier whereby one end of the fibrous material may be scutched and subsequently the other end may be scutched, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. In a machine of the character described,

7 the combination with two pulleys, of an endless carrier mounted thereon consisting of a plurality of toothed combs moving in an approximately horizontal direction, a rigid support for said combs, a table arranged between opposite sides of the said carrier, and a locking plate adapted to hold the fibrous material down on said carrier combs; of a plurality of combing and scutching devices arranged at either side of said carrier and operating in scribed.

5. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with two pulleys, of an endless carrier mounted thereon consisting of a plurality of toothed combs moving 1 n an approximatelyohorizontal direction, a rigid support for said combs a table arranged between opposite sides of the said carrier, and a looking plate adapted to hold the fibrous material down on said carrier combs; of aplurality of combing and scutching devices arranged at either side of said carrier whereby one end of the fibrous material may be scutched and subsequently the other end may be scutched, and plows for lifting said fibrous material from said carrier teeth at the end of each scutching, substantially as and for the purposes described. 7

6. In a machine of the character descrlbed,

the combination with two pulleys, of an end- I less carrier mounted thereon consisting of a plurality of toothed combs moving 1 n an approximately horizontal direction, a rigid support for said combs, a table arranged between opposite sides of the said carrier, and a looking plate adapted to hold the fibrous material down on said carrier combs; of a plurality of combing and scutching devices arranged at either side of said carrier and operating 1n pairs in opposite directions, whereby one end of the fibrous material may be scutched and subsequently the'other end may be scutched, and plows for lifting said fibrous materlal from said carrier teeth at the end of each scutching, substantially as and for the purposes described.

GEORGE EDMUND nomsrnorrr. TAYLOR BURROWS.

Witnesses:

THOMAS LAKE, 17 Gracechurch Street, London.

J. OHALMERS WILSON.

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