Next to the mule, there is no doubt that the most beautiful machine used
in the cotton trade is Heilmann's comber. Although the details of this
machine are hard to master, when once its action is understood it will be
found to be really simple. The object of combing is to remove the short
staples and the dirt left in after the carding of the cotton, such as is
used in the spinning of fine and even coarse numbers. The operation is an
extremely delicate one, and its successful realization is a good
illustration of what is possible with machinery. Combing machines are
usually made with six heads, and sometimes with eight. As the working of
each head is identical, we only speak of one of them. By means of a pair
of fluted feeding rollers a narrow lap, about 7½ in. wide, is passed into
the head, in which the following action takes place: Assuming that the
stroke is finished, the lap is seized near its end by a pair of nippers,
so as to leave about half the length of the staple projecting. These
projecting fibers are combed by a revolving cylinder, partially covered
with comb teeth. When the front or projecting ends of the fibers are thus
combed, a straight comb in front of the nippers drops into them, the
nippers open, and the fibers are drawn through the straight comb. This
combs the tail ends, and at the same time the fibers, now completely
combed, are placed on or pieced to the fibers that had been combed in the
previous stroke, producing in this way a continuous fleece of combed
cotton. In short, in this most striking operation, the fiber during the
combing is completely detached from the ribbon lap, carried over, and
pieced to the tail end of the combed fleece, for a moment having no
connection with either. Since the expiry of the patent, Messrs. Bobson and
Barlow, of Bolton, have constructed a great many of these machines, and
have found that, as compared with the original make, it was possible to
greatly increase their efficiency. They accordingly devoted much attention
to this object, and have patents for several improvements. To describe
these so as to be understood by everybody would be a most difficult task,
and would take more space than we can afford. We simply wish to record
what these improvements are, and will suppose we are writing for those
who have a good acquaintance with Heilmann's comber.
[Illustration: DOBSON AND BARLOW'S IMPROVEMENTS IN HEILMANN'S COMBERS.]
We give herewith a perspective view of the improved machine. On
examination it will be noticed that an alteration is made in the motion
seen at the end of the machine for working the detached rollers. This
alteration we believe to be a decided improvement over Heilmann's original
arrangement. It dispenses with the large detaching cam, the cradle, the
notch-wheel, the catch and its spring, the large spur wheel which drives
the calender roller, and the internal wheels for the detaching
roller-shaft, substituting in their stead a much simpler motion,
consisting of a smaller cam, a quadrant, and a clutch. The arrangement,
having fewer parts, is also much more compact than the old one, for with
the driving pulleys in the best position it enables the machine outside
the framing to be shortened 10 in., an important point in a room full of
combers. The action of this detaching motion is positive, and enables the
machine to be run at a high speed without danger of missing, as happens
when the point of the catch for the old notch-wheel becomes broken or worn
away. Another important feature of the new arrangement is that it allows
the motion of the detaching-roller to be varied. By an adjustment, easily
made in a few seconds, the delivery may be altered to suit different
classes of cotton or kinds of work without the necessity of changing the
cams or the notch-wheels.
An improvement has been made in the construction of the nippers. In the
ordinary Heilmann's comber, the upper blade has a groove in its nipping
edge, and the cushion plate is covered with cloth and leather, the fibers
being held by the grip between the leather of the cushion plate and the
edges of the groove in the upper blade, or knife, as it is called. The
objections to this mode of construction were that the leather on the
cushion plate required frequent renewing, and unless the adjustment was
more accurate than could always be relied on, the grip of the nippers was
not perfect, for while at one end the nipper might be closed, at the other
end it might be open wide enough to allow the cotton to be pulled through
by the combing cylinder, and made into waste. In Messrs. Dobson and
Barlow's nipper there is neither cloth nor leather on the cushion plate.
Its edge is made into a blunt ^, upon which the narrow flat surface of a
strip of India rubber or leather fixed in the knife falls to give the nip.
By this plan the cushion is applied to the knife instead of to the plate,
which of course makes the cushion plate, after it has once been set, a
fixture; it also dispenses with the accurate setting, as is now necessary
in the old arrangement. It further does away with the frequent and
expensive covering of the cushion-plate with roller leather and cloth,
thus effecting a considerable saving, not only in cost of material, but
also in labor, inasmuch as the nipper knives can be taken off, recovered,
and replaced in one-sixth the time required to cover the cushion plates
and replace them on the old system. American cotton of 7/8" staple to silk
of 2½" staple can also be combed by this improved arrangement, an
achievement which has been attempted by many, but hitherto without
arriving at any success. Messrs. Dobson and Barlow have however overcome
the difficulty by their improvements, which combine three important
qualities, viz., simplicity, perfection, and cheapness. Many hundreds of
other makers' machines have been altered to their new arrangements. The
cam for working the nipper has also been altered to give a smoother motion
than usual; one that moves the nipper quietly and without jerks when the
machine runs from 80 to 95 strokes per minute. A very decided improvement
has been made in the construction of the combing cylinder. The combs are
always fixed on a piece called the "half-lap," which, in its turn, is
secured to a barrel called the "comb-stock." Now it is very desirable and
important that these half-laps should be perfectly true and exactly
interchangeable. When one half-lap is taken off for repairs, another
half-lap must be ready to take its place on the cylinder. The original
mode in which the cylinders were made rendered it a matter of mechanical
difficulty--almost an impossibility in the machine shop--to produce them
exactly alike. To avoid this difficulty, Messrs. Dobson and Barlow have
reconstructed the combing cylinder, and the parts being fitted together by
simple turning or boring, accuracy and interchangeability can always be
depended upon. The screws which fasten the cylinder to the shaft are also
cased up with the cylinder tins, thus avoiding any accumulation of fly on
the screw heads.
The motion for working the top detaching, the leather, or the piecing
roller, as it is variously called, has also been improved. The ends of
this roller are always carried on the top of two levers that are
oscillated by a connecting rod attached to their bottom ends. In the new
motion the connecting rod is dispensed with, and one joint saved. The
joint that remains is at the foot of the levers that carry the leather
roller. This joint is constructed so that it may be easily altered, and by
its means one of the most delicate settings of the combing machine, viz.,
that of the leather roller, may be made with greater readiness than with
the old system. Further, from the mode of mounting these rollers another
advantage is gained in the facility of setting them. In setting with the
old arrangement, only one end of the roller is adjusted at a time; in the
new, the adjustment sets the ends of two rollers. With regard to the
leather roller also, it was found that as the round brass tubes in which
its ends revolved had very little wearing surface, they got worn into
flats on the outside, and thus worked inaccurately. In the machine under
notice this defect is remedied. The tubes are made square on the outside,
and having ample bearing surface they keep their adjustment perfectly.
On the top of the detaching roller is a large steel fluted roller carried
at each end by a small arm called a "horse tail." In the original machine
this roller simply kept its place upon the detaching roller by its weight,
and when the machine came to be run at high speeds it was found that owing
to its lightness the contact thus obtained was not reliable, the flutes or
ribs of the roller slipping upon those of the detaching roller, which for
good work is undesirable. This is remedied by placing a heavier top roller
in the horse tails, which is made with a broader bearing so as to give
greater solidity to the top roller. Another good idea we noticed in this
machine was in the application of a treble brush carrier wheel, which
permits of the brushes being driven at three different speeds as they
become worn. For instance, when the brushes are new the bristles are long,
and consequently they are not required to revolve as quickly as when the
bristles are far worn. By this improvement the brush lasts considerably
longer than in any other system of machine. Their speed can also be
regulated according to the length of the bristles, and the change from one
speed to the other can be effected in a very few minutes.
A common defect in combing machines is the flocking that frequently
happens. This is the filling up of the combs on the cylinder with dirt and
cotton, which the brush fails to remove. Although in general appearance
the cleaning apparatus is the same as the ordinary one, modifications are
introduced which make its action always effective and reliable. We were
informed by a mill manager, who has a great number of these combers, that
he meets with no inconvenience from flocking from one week end to another.
Altogether, it will be seen that Messrs. Dobson and Barlow have almost
reconstructed the machine, strengthening and improving those parts which
experience showed it was necessary to modify. As a result their improved
machine works at a high speed (80 to 95 strokes per minute, according to
the class of cotton), with great smoothness and without noise, and from
the almost complete absense of vibration the risk of breakages is reduced
to a minimum.--_Textile Manufacturer_.
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