In this branch of business, a long stapled and firm fibre is required to
form a smooth level yarn, little liable to shrink, curl, or felt in
weaving and finishing the cloth. It must not be entangled by carding,
but stretched in lines as parallel as possible, by a suitable system of
_combing_, manual or mechanical.
When the long wool is brought into the worsted factory, it is first of
all washed by men with soap and water, who are paid for their labour by
the piece, and are each assisted by a boy, who receives the wool as it
issues from between the drying _squeezers_ (see BLEACHING). The boy
carries off the wool in baskets, and spreads it evenly upon the floor of
the drying-room, usually an apartment over the boilers of the
steam-engine, which is thus economically heated to the proper
temperature. The health of the boys employed in this business is found
to be not at all injured.
[Illustration: 1203]
The wool, when properly dried, is transferred to a machine called the
_plucker_, which is always superintended by a boy of 12 or 14 years of
age, being very light work. He lays the tresses of wool pretty evenly
upon the feed-apron, or table covered with an endless moving web of
canvas, which, as it advances, delivers the ends of the long tufts to a
pair of fluted rollers, whence it is introduced into a fanning
apparatus, somewhat similar to the _willow_ employed in the cotton
manufacture, which see. The filaments are turned out, at the opposite
end of this winnowing machine, straightened, cleaned, and ready for the
combing operation. According to the old practice of the trade, and still
for the finer descriptions of the long staple, according to the present
practice, the wool is carded by hand. This is far more severe labour
than any subservient to machinery, and is carried on in rooms rendered
close and hot by the number of stoves requisite to heat the combs, and
so enable them to render the fibres soft, flexible, and elastic. This is
a task at which only robust men are engaged. They use three implements:
1. a pair of combs for each person; 2. a post, to which one of the combs
can be fixed; 3. a comb-pot, or small stove for heating the teeth of the
combs. Each comb is composed either of two or three rows of pointed
tapering steel teeth, _b_, _fig._ 1203., disposed in two or three
parallel planes, each row being a little longer than the preceding. They
are made fast at the roots to a wooden stock or head _c_, which is
covered with horn, and has a handle _d_, fixed into it at right angles
to the lines of the teeth. The spaces between these two or three planes
of teeth, is about one-third of an inch at their bottoms, but somewhat
more at their tips. The first combing, when the fibres are most
entangled, is performed with the two-row toothed combs; the second or
finishing combing, with the three-row toothed.
[Illustration: 1204]
In the workshop a post is planted (_fig._ 1204.) upright, for resting
the combs occasionally upon, during the operation. An iron stem _g_,
projects from it horizontally, having its end turned up, so as to pass
through a hole in the handle of the comb. Near its point of insertion
into the post, there is another staple point _h_, which enters into the
hollow end of the handle; which, between these two catches, is firmly
secured to the post. The stove is a very simple affair, consisting
merely of a flat iron plate, heated by fire or steam, and surmounted
with a similar plate, at an interval sufficient to allow the teeth to be
inserted between them at one side, which is left open, while the space
between their edges, on the other sides, is closed to confine the heat.
In combing the wool, the workman takes it up in tresses of about four
ounces each, sprinkles it with oil, and rolls it about in his hands, to
render all the filaments equally unctuous. Some harsh dry wools require
one-sixteenth their weight of oil, others no more than a fortieth. He
next attaches a heated comb to the post, with its teeth pointed upwards,
seizes one-half of the tress of wool in his hands, throws it over the
teeth, then draws it through them, and thus repeatedly: leaving a few
straight filaments each time upon the comb. When the comb has in this
way collected all the wool, it is placed with its points inserted into
the cell of the stove, with the wool hanging down outside, exposed to
the influence of the heat. The other comb, just removed in a heated
state from the stove, is planted upon the post, and furnished in its
turn with the remaining two-ounce tress of wool; after which it
supplants the preceding at the stove. Having both combs now hot, he
holds one of them with his left hand over his knee, being seated upon a
low stool, and seizing the other with his right hand, he combs the wool
upon the first, by introducing the teeth of one comb into the wool stuck
in the other, and drawing them through it. This manipulation is
skilfully repeated, till the fibres are laid truly parallel, like a flat
tress of hair. It is proper to begin by combing the tips of the tress,
and to advance progressively, from the one end towards the other, till
at length the combs are worked with their teeth as closely together as
is possible, without bringing them into collision. If the workman
proceeded otherwise, he would be apt to rupture the filaments, or tear
their ends entirely out of one of the combs. The flocks left at the end
of the process, because they are too short for the comber to grasp them
in his hand, are called _noyls_. They are unfit for the worsted spinner,
and are reserved for the coarse cloth manufacture.
The wool finally drawn off from the comb, though it may form a uniform
tress of straight filaments, must yet be combed again at a somewhat
lower temperature, to prepare it perfectly for the spinning operation.
From ten to twelve slivers are then arranged in one parcel.
To relieve the workman from this laborious and not very salubrious task,
has been the object of many mechanical inventions. One of these,
considerably employed in this country and in France, is the invention of
the late Mr. John Collier, of Paris, for which a patent was obtained in
England, under the name of John Platt, of Salford, in November, 1827. It
consists of two comb-wheels, about ten feet in diameter, having hollow
iron spokes filled with steam, in order to keep the whole apparatus at a
proper combing heat. The comb forms a circle, made fast to the periphery
of the wheel, the teeth being at right angles to the plane of the wheel.
The shafts of the two wheels are mounted in a strong frame of cast iron;
not, however, in horizontal positions, but inclined at acute angles to
the horizon, and in planes crossing each other, so that the teeth of one
circular comb sweep with a steady obliquity over the teeth of the other,
in a most ingenious manner, with the effect of combing the tresses of
wool hung upon them. The proper quantity of long wool, in its ordinary
state, is stuck in handfuls upon the wheel, revolving slowly, by a boy,
seated upon the ground at one side of the machine. Whenever the wheel is
dressed, the machine is made to revolve more rapidly, by shifting its
driving-band on another pulley; and it is beautiful to observe the
delicacy and precision with which it smoothes the tangled tress. When
the wools are set in rapid rotation, the loose ends of the fleece, by
the centrifugal force, are thrown out, in the direction of radii, upon
the teeth of the other revolving comb-wheel, so as to be drawn out and
made truly straight. The operation commences upon the tips of the
tresses, where the wheels, by the oblique posture of their shafts, are
at the greatest distance apart; but as the planes slowly approach to
parallelism, the teeth enter more deeply into the wool, till they
progressively comb the whole length of its fibres. The machines being
then thrown out of geer, the teeth are stript of the tresses by the hand
of the attendant; the _noyls_, or short refuse wool, being also removed,
and kept by itself.
This operation being one of simple superintendence, not of handicraft
effort and skill, like the old combing of long wool, is now performed by
boys or girls of 13 and 14 years of age; and places in a striking point
of view the influence of automatic mechanism, in so embodying dexterity
and intelligence in a machine, as to render the cheap and tractable
labour of children a substitute for the high-priced and often refractory
exertions of workmen too prone to capricious combinations. The chief
precaution to be taken with this machine, is to keep the steam-joints
tight, so as not to wet the apartments, and to provide due ventilation
for the operatives.
[Illustration: 1205]
The following machine, patented by James Noble, of Halifax,
worsted-spinner, in February, 1834, deserves particular notice, as its
mode of operation adapts it well also for heckling flax. In _fig._ 1205.
the internal structure is exhibited. The frame-work _a_, _a_, supports
the axle of a wheel _b_, _b_, in suitable bearings on each side. To the
face of this wheel is affixed the eccentric or heart-wheel cam _c_, _c_.
On the upper part of the periphery of this cam or heart-wheel, a lever
_d_, _d_, bears merely by its gravity; one end of which lever is
connected by a joint to the crank _e_. By the rotation of the crank _e_,
it will be perceived that the lever _d_, will be slidden to and fro on
the upper part of the periphery of the eccentric or heart-wheel cam _c_,
the outer end of the lever _d_, carrying the upper or working comb or
needle-points _f_, as it moves, performing an elliptical curve, which
curve will be dependent upon the position of the heart-wheel cam _c_,
that guides it. A movable frame _g_, carries a series of points _h_,
which are to constitute the lower comb or frame of needles. Into these
lower needles the rough uncombed wool is to be fed by hand, and to be
drawn out and combed straight by the movements of the upper or working
comb.
As it is important, in order to prevent waste, that the ends of the wool
should be first combed out, and that the needle-points should be made to
penetrate the wool progressively, the movable frame _g_, is in the first
instance placed as far back as possible; and the action of the lever
_d_, during the whole operation, is so directed by the varying positions
of the cam-wheel, as to allow the upper comb to enter at first a very
little way only into the wool; but as the operation of combing goes on,
the frame with the lower combs is made to advance gradually, and the
relative positions of the revolving heart cam-wheel _c_, being also
gradually changed, the upper or working needles are at length allowed to
be drawn completely through the wool, for the purpose of combing out
straight the whole length of its fibre.
In order to give to the machine the necessary movements, a train of
toothed wheels and pinions is mounted, mostly on studs attached to the
side of the frame; which train of wheels and pinions is shown by dots in
the figure, to avoid confusion. The driving power, a horse or
steam-engine, is communicated by a band to a rigger on the short axle
_i_; which axle carries a pinion, taking into one of the wheels of the
train. From this wheel the crank _e_, that works the lever _d_, is
driven; and also, by geer from the same pinion, the axle of the wheel
_b_, carrying the eccentric or heart-wheel cam, is also actuated, but
slower than the crank-axle.
At the end of the axle of the wheel _b_, and cam _c_, a bevel pinion is
affixed, which geers into a corresponding bevel pinion on the end of the
lateral shaft _k_. The reverse end of this shaft has a worm or endless
screw _l_, taking into a toothed wheel _m_; and this last-mentioned
toothed wheel geers into a rack at the under part of the frame _g_.
It will hence be perceived, that by the movements of the train of
wheels, a slow motion is given to the frame _g_, by which the lower
needles carrying the wool are progressively advanced as the operation
goes on; and also, that by the other wheels of the train, the
heart-wheel cam is made to rotate, for the purpose of giving such
varying directions to the stroke of the lever which slides upon its
periphery, and to the working comb, as shall cause the comb to operate
gradually upon the wool as it is brought forward. The construction of
the frames which hold the needles, and the manner of fixing them in the
machine, present no features of importance; it is therefore unnecessary
to describe them farther, than to say, that the heckles are to be heated
when used for combing wool. Instead of introducing the wool to be combed
into the lower needles by hand, it is sometimes fed in, by means of an
endless feeding-cloth, as shown in _fig._ 1206. This endless cloth is
distended over two rollers, which are made to revolve, for the purpose
of carrying the cloth with the wool forward, by means of the endless
screw and pinions.
[Illustration: 1206 1207]
A slight variation in the machine is shown at _fig._ 1207., for the
purpose of combing wool of long fibre, which differs from the former
only in placing the combs or needle points upon a revolving cylinder or
shaft. At the end of the axle of this shaft, there is a toothed wheel,
which is actuated by an endless screw upon a lateral shaft. The axle of
the cylinder on which the needles are fixed, is mounted in a movable
frame or carriage, in order that the points of the needles may, in the
first instance, be brought to act upon the ends of the wool only, and
ultimately be so advanced as to enable the whole length of the fibres to
be drawn through. The progressive advancement of this carriage, with the
needle cylinder, is effected by the agency of the endless screw on the
lateral shaft before mentioned.
Some combing-machines reduce the wool into a continuous sliver, which is
ready for the drawing-frame; but the short slivers produced by the hand
combing, must be first joined together, by what is called _planking_.
These slivers are rolled up by the combers ten or twelve together, in
balls called tops, each of which weighs half a pound. At the
spinning-mill these are unrolled, and the slivers are laid on a long
plank or trough, with the ends lapping over, in order to splice the long
end of one sliver into the short end of another. The long end is that
which was drawn off first from the comb, and contains the longer fibres;
the short is that which comes last from the comb, and contains the
shorter. The wool-comber lays all the slivers of each ball the same way,
and marks the long end of each by twisting up the end of the sliver. It
is a curious circumstance, that when a top or ball of slivers is
unrolled and stretched out straight, they will not separate from each
other without tearing and breaking, if the separation is begun at the
short ends; but if they are first parted at the long ends, they will
readily separate.
The machine for combing long wool, for which Messrs. Donisthorpe and
Rawson obtained a patent in April, 1835, has been found to work well,
and therefore merits a detailed description:--
[Illustration: 1208 1209 1210]
_Fig._ 1208. is an elevation; _fig._ 1209. an end view; and _fig._ 1210.
a plan; in which _a_, _a_, is the framing; _b_, the main shaft, bearing
a pinion which drives the wheel and shaft _c_, in geer with the wheel
_d_, on the shaft _e_. Upon each of the wheels _c_ and _d_, there are
two projections or studs _f_, which cause the action of the combs _g_,
_g_, of which _h_, _h_, are the tables or carriages. These are capable
of sliding along the upper guide rails of the framing _a_. Through these
carriages or tables _h_, _h_, there are openings or slits, shown by
dotted lines, which act as guides to the holders _i_, _i_, of the combs
_g_, _g_, rendering the holders susceptible of motion at right angles to
the course pursued by the tables _h_. The combs are retained in the
holders _i_, _i_, by means of the lever handles _j_, _j_, which move
upon inclined surfaces, and are made to press on the surface of the
heads of the combs _g_, _g_, so as to be retained in their places; and
they are also held by studs affixed to the holders, which pass into the
comb-heads. From the under side of the tables, forked projections _i_,
_i_, stand out, which pass through the openings or slits formed in the
tables _h h_; these projections are worked from side to side by the
frame _k_, _k_, which turning on the axis or shaft _l_, _l_, is caused
to vibrate, or rock to and fro, by the arms _m_, moved by the eccentric
groove _n_, made fast to the shaft _e_. The tables _h_, are drawn
inwards, by weights suspended on cords or straps _o_, _o_, which pass
over friction pulleys _p_, _p_; whereby the weights have a constant
tendency to draw the combs into the centre of the machine, as soon as it
is released by the studs _f_, passing beyond the projecting arms _g_, on
the tables. On the shaft _c_, a driving-tooth or catch _r_, is fixed,
which takes into the ratchet wheel _s_, and propels one of its teeth at
every revolution of the shaft _c_. This ratchet wheel turns on an axis
at _t_; to the ratchet the pulley _v_ is made fast, to which the cord or
band _w_ is secured, as also to the pulley _x_, on the shaft _y_. On the
shaft _y_, there are two other pulleys _z_, _z_, having the cords or
bands A, A, made fast to them, and also to the end of the gauge-plates
B, furnished with graduated steps, against which the tables _h_, _h_,
are drawing at each operation of the machine. In proportion as these
gauge-plates are raised, the nearer the carriages or tables _h_, will be
able to advance to the centre of the machine, and thus permit the combs
_g_, _g_, to lay hold of, and comb, additional lengths of the woolly
fibres. The gauge-plates B, are guided up by the bars C, which pass
through openings, slots, or guides, made in the framing _a_, as shown by
D.
To the ratchet wheel _s_, an inclined projection E, is made fast, which
in the course of the rotation of the ratchet wheel, comes under the
lever F, fixed to the shaft G, that turns in bearings H. To this shaft
the levers I and J, are also fixed; I serving to throw out the click or
catch K, from the ratchet wheel, by which the parts of the machine will
be released, and restored to positions ready for starting again. The
lever J, serves to slide the drum upon the driving shaft _b_, out of
geer, by means of the forked handle L, when the machine is to be
stopped, whenever it has finished combing a certain quantity of wool.
The combs which hold the wool have a motion upwards, in order to take
the wool out of the way of the combs _g_, _g_, as these are drawn into
the centre of the machine; while the holding combs descend to lay the
wool among the points of the combs _g_, _g_. For obtaining this upward
and downward motion, the combs M, M, are placed upon the frame N, and
retained there just as the combs _g_, _g_, are upon the holders _i_,
_i_. The framing N is made fast to the bar or spindle O, which moves
vertically through openings in the cross-head P, and the cross-framing
of the machine Q; from the top of which, there is a strap passes over
pulleys with a weight suspended to it; the cross-head being supported by
the two guide-rods R, fixed to the cross-framing Q. It is by the
guide-rods R, and the spindle O, that the frame N is made to move up and
down; while the spindle is made to rise by the studs _f_, as the wheels
_c_ and _d_ come successively under the studs _s_, on the spindle O.
A quantity of wool is to be placed on each of the combs _g_, _g_, and M,
M, the machine being in the position shown in _fig._ 1210. When the main
shaft _b_, is set in motion, it will drive by its pinion the toothed
wheel _c_, and therefrom the remaining parts of the machine. The first
effect of the movement will be to raise the combs M, M, sufficiently
high to remove the wool out of the way of the combs _g_, _g_, which will
be drawn towards the centre of the machine, as soon as they are released
by the studs _f_, passing the projecting arms _q_, on the tables _h_;
but the distance between the combs _g_, _g_, and the combs H, H, will
depend on the height to which the gauge-plates B, have been raised.
These plates are raised one step at each revolution of the shaft _c_;
the combs _g_, _g_, will therefore be continually approaching more
nearly to the combs M, M, till the plates B, are so much raised as to
permit the tables _h_, to approach the plates B, below the lowest step
or graduation, when the machine will continue to work. Notwithstanding
the plates B, continuing to rise, there being only parallel surfaces
against which the tables come, the combs _g_, _g_, will successively
come to the same position, till the inclined projection E, on the
ratchet wheel _s_, comes under the lever F, which will stop the machine.
The wool which has been combed, is then to be removed, and a fresh
quantity introduced. It should be remarked, that the combs _g_, _g_, are
continually moving from side to side of the machine, at the same time
that they are combing out the wool. The chief object of the invention is
obviously to give the above peculiar motions to the combs _g_, _g_, and
M, M; which may be applied also to combing goat-hair.
For the purposes of the worsted manufacture, wool should be rendered
inelastic to a considerable degree, so that its fibres may form long
lines, capable of being twisted into straight level yarn. Mr. Bayliffe,
of Kendal, has sought to accomplish this object, first, by introducing
into the _drawing_ machine a rapidly revolving wheel, in contact with
the front drawing roller, by whose friction the filaments are heated,
and at the same time deprived of their curling elasticity; secondly, by
employing a movable regulating roller, by which the extent of surface on
the periphery of the wheel that the lengths of wool is to act upon, may
be increased or diminished at pleasure, and, consequently, the effect
regulated or tempered as the quality of the wool may require; thirdly,
the employment of steam in a rotatory drum, or hollow wheel, in place of
the wheel first described, for the purpose of heating the wool, in the
process of drawing, in order to facilitate the operation of
straightening the fibres.
[Illustration: 1211]
These objects may be effected in several ways; that is, the machinery
may be variously constructed, and still embrace the principles proposed.
_Fig._ 1211. shows one mode:--_a_, is the friction wheel; _b_, the front
drawing roller, placed in the drawing frame in the same way as usual;
the larger wheel _a_, constituting the lower roller of the pair of front
drawing rollers; _c_, and _d_, are the pair of back drawing rollers,
which are actuated by geer connected to the front rollers, as in the
ordinary construction of drawing machines, the front rollers moving very
considerably faster than the back rollers, and, consequently, drawing or
extending the fibres of the sliver of wool, as it passes through between
them; _e_, is a guide roller, bearing upon the periphery of the large
wheel; _f_, is a tension roller, which presses the fibres of the wool
down upon the wheel _a_.
Now, supposing the back rollers _c_ and _d_ to be turned with a given
velocity, and the front roller _b_ to be driven much faster, the effect
would be, that the fibres of wool constituting the sliver, passing
through the machine, would be considerably extended between _b_ and _d_,
which is precisely the effect accomplished in the ordinary drawing
frame; but the wheel _a_, introduced into the machine in place of the
lower front drawing roller, being made to revolve much faster than _b_,
the sliver of wool extended over the upper part of its periphery from
_b_, to the tension roller _f_, will be subjected to very considerable
friction from the contact; and, consequently, the natural curl of the
wool will be taken out, and its elasticity destroyed, which will enable
the wool to proceed in a connected roving down to the spindle or flyer
_h_, where it becomes twisted or spun into a worsted thread.
In order to increase or diminish the extent to which the fibres of wool
are spread over the periphery of the wheel _a_, a regulating roller is
adapted to the machine, as shown at _g_, in place of the tension roller
_f_. This regulating roller _g_, is mounted by its pivots in bearings on
the circular arms _h_, shown by dots. These circular arms turn loosely
upon the axle of the wheel _a_, and are raised or depressed by a rack
and a winch, not shown in the figure; the rack taking into teeth on the
periphery of the circular arms. It will hence be perceived, that by
raising the circular arms, the roller _g_, will be carried backward, and
the fibres of wool pressed upon the periphery of the wheel to a greater
extent. On the contrary, the depression of the circular arms will draw
the roller _g_, forward, and cause the wool to be acted upon by a
smaller portion of the periphery of the wheel _a_, and consequently
subject it to less friction.
When it is desired to employ steam for the purpose of heating the wool,
the wheel _a_, is formed as a hollow drum, and steam from a boiler, in
any convenient situation, is conveyed through the hollow axle to the
interior of the drum, which, becoming heated by that means, communicates
heat also to the wool, and thereby destroys its curl and elasticity.
[Illustration: 1212]
_Breaking-frame._--Here the slivers are _planked_, or spliced together,
the long end of one to the short end of another; after which they are
drawn out and extended by the rollers of the breaking-frame. A sketch of
this machine is given in _fig._ 1212. It consists of four pairs of
rollers A, B, C, D. The first pair A, receives the wool from the
inclined trough E, which is the planking-table. The slivers are
unrolled, parted, and hung loosely over a pin, in reach of the
attendant, who takes a sliver, and lays it flat in the trough, and the
end is presented to the rollers A, which being in motion, will draw the
wool in; the sliver is then conducted through the other rollers, as
shown in the figure: when the sliver has passed half through, the end of
another sliver is placed upon the middle of the first, and they pass
through together; when this second is passed half through, the end of a
third is applied upon the middle of it, and in this way the short
slivers produced by the combing are joined into one regular and even
sliver.
The lower roller C receives its motion from the mill, by means of a
pulley upon the end of its axis, and an endless strap. The roller which
is immediately over it, is borne down by a heavy weight, suspended from
hooks, which are over the pivots of the upper roller. The fourth pair of
rollers D, moves with the same velocity as C, being turned by means of
a small wheel upon the end of the axis of the roller C, which turns a
wheel of the same size upon the axis of the roller D, by means of an
intermediate wheel _d_, which makes both rollers turn the same way
round. The first and second pairs of rollers, A and B, move only
one-third as quick as C and D, in order to draw out the sliver between B
and C to three times the length it was when put on the planking-table.
The slow motion of the rollers A, is given by a large wheel _a_, fixed
upon the axis of the roller A, and turned by the intermediate cog-wheels
_b_, _c_, and _d_; the latter communicates between the rollers C and D.
The pinions on the rollers C and D being only one-third the size of the
wheel _a_, C and D turn three times as fast as A, for _b_, _c_, and _d_,
are only intermediate wheels. The rollers B turn at the same rate as A.
The upper roller C is loaded with a heavy weight, similar to the rollers
A; but the other rollers, B and D, are no further loaded than the weight
of the rollers.
The two pairs of rollers A, B, and C, D, are mounted in separate frames;
and that frame which contains the third and fourth pairs C, D, slides
upon the cast-iron frame F, which supports the machine, in order to
increase or diminish the distance between the rollers B and C. There is
a screw _f_, by which the frame of the rollers is moved, so as to adjust
the machine according to the length of the fibres of the wool. The space
between B and C should be rather more than the length of the fibres of
the wool. The intermediate wheels _b_ and _c_, are supported upon pieces
of iron, which are movable on centres; the centre for the piece which
supports the wheel _b_ is concentric with the axis of the roller A; and
the supporting piece for the wheel _c_ is fitted on the centre of the
wheel _d_. By moving these pieces the intermediate wheels _b_ and _c_
can be always kept in contact, although the distance between the rollers
is varied at times. By means of this breaking-frame, the perpetual
sliver, which is made up by planking the sliver together, is equalized,
and drawn out three times in length, and delivered into the can G.
_Drawing-frame._--Three of these cans are removed to the drawing-frame,
which is similar to the breaking-frame, except that there is no
planking-table E. There are five sets of rollers, all fixed upon one
common frame F, the breaking-frame, which we have described, being the
first. As fast as the sliver comes through one set of rollers, it is
received into a can, and then three of these cans are put together, and
passed again through another set of rollers. In the whole, the wool must
pass through the breaker and four drawing-frames before the roving is
begun. The draught being usually four times at each operation of
drawing, and three times in the breaking, the whole will be 3 + 4 + 4 +
4 + 4 = 768; but to suit different sorts of wool, the three last
drawing-frames are capable of making a greater draught, even to five
times, by changing the pinions; accordingly the draught will be 3 + 4 +
5 + 5 + 5 = 1500 times.
The size of the sliver is diminished by these repeated drawings, because
only three slivers are put together, and they are drawn out four times;
so that, in the whole, the sliver is reduced to a fourth or a ninth of
its original bulk.
The breaking-frame and drawing-frame which are used when the slivers are
prepared by the combing-machines, are differently constructed; they have
no planking-table, but receive three of the perpetual slivers of the
combing-machine from as many tin cans, and draw them out from ten to
twelve times. In this case, all the four rollers contribute to the
operation of drawing: thus the second rollers B, move 2-1/2 times as
fast as the rollers A; the third rollers C, move 8 times as fast as A;
and the fourth rollers E, move 10-1/2 times as fast as A. In this case,
the motion is given to the different rollers by means of bevelled
wheels, and a horizontal axis, which extends across the ends of all the
four rollers, to communicate motion from one pair of rollers to another.
There are three of these systems of rollers, which are all mounted on
the same frame; and the first one through which the wool passes, is
called the breaking-frame; but it does not differ from the others,
which are called drawing-frames. The slivers which have passed through
one system of rollers, are collected four or five together, and put
through the drawing-rollers. In all, the slivers pass through three
drawings, and the whole extension is seldom less than 1000 times, and
for some kinds of wool much greater.
After the drawing of the slivers is finished, a pound weight is taken,
and is measured by means of a cylinder, in order to ascertain if the
drawing has been properly conducted; if the sliver does not prove of the
length proposed, according to the size of worsted which is intended to
be spun, the pinions of some of the drawing-frames are changed, to make
the draught more or less, until it is found by experiment that one pound
of the sliver measures the required length.
_Roving-frame._--This is provided with rollers, the same as the
drawing-frames: it takes in one or two slivers together, and draws them
out four times. By this extension, the sliver becomes so small, that it
would break with the slightest force, and it is therefore necessary to
give some twist; this is done by a spindle and flyer. See _Roving_,
under COTTON MANUFACTURE.
_Spinning-frame._--This is so much like the roving-frame, that a short
description will be sufficient. The spindles are more delicate, and
there are three pairs of rollers, instead of two; the bobbins, which are
taken off from the spindles of the roving-frame, when they are quite
full, are stuck upon skewers, and the roving which proceeds from them is
conducted between the rollers. The back pair turns round slowly; the
middle pair turns about twice for once of the back rollers; and the
front pair makes from twelve to seventeen turns for one turn of the back
roller, according to the degree of extension which is required.
The spindles must revolve very quickly in the spinning-frame, in order
to give the requisite degree of twist to the worsted. The hardest
twisted worsted is called tammy warp; and when the size of this worsted
is such as to be 20 or 24 hanks to the pound weight, the twist is about
10 turns in each inch of length. The least twist is given to the worsted
for fine hosiery, which is from 18 to 24 hanks to the pound. The twist
is from 5 to 6 turns per inch. The degree of twist is regulated by the
size of the whirls or pulleys upon the spindle, and by the wheel-work
which communicates the motion to the front rollers from the band-wheel,
which turns the spindles.
It is needless to enter more minutely into the description of the
spinning machinery, because the fluted roller construction, invented by
Sir Richard Arkwright, fully described under COTTON MANUFACTURE, is
equally applicable to worsted. The difference between the two, is
chiefly in the distance between the rollers, which, in the
worsted-frame, is capable of being increased or diminished at pleasure,
according to the length of the fibres of the wool; and the draught or
extension of the roving is far greater than in the cotton.
_Reeling._--The bobbins of the spinning-frame are placed in a row upon
wires before a long horizontal reel, and the threads from 20 bobbins are
wound off together. The reel is exactly a yard in circumference, and
when it has wound off 80 turns, it rings a bell; the motion of the reel
is then stopped, and a thread is passed round the 80 turns or folds
which each thread has made. The reeling is then continued till another
80 yards is wound off, which is also separated by interweaving the same
thread; each of these separate parcels is called a ley, and when 7 such
leys are reeled, it is called a hank, which contains 560 yards. When
this quantity is reeled off, the ends of the binding thread are tied
together, to bind each hank fast, and one of the rails of the reel is
struck to loosen the hanks, and they are drawn off at the end of the
reel. These hanks are next hung upon a hook, and twisted up hard by a
stick; then doubled, and the two parts twisted together to make a firm
bundle. In this state, the hanks are weighed by a small index-machine,
which denotes what number of the hanks will weigh a pound, and they are
sorted accordingly into different parcels. It is by this means that the
number of the worsted is ascertained as the denomination for its
fineness: thus No. 24. means, that 24 hanks, each containing 560 yards,
will weigh a pound, and so on.
This denomination is different from that used for cotton, because the
hank of cotton contains 840 yards, instead of 560; but in some places
the worsted hank is made of the same length as the cotton.
To pack up the worsted for market, the proper number of hanks is
collected to make a pound, according to the number which has been
ascertained; these are weighed as a proof of the correctness of the
sorting, then tied up in bundles of one pound each, and four of these
bundles are again tied together. Then 60 such bundles are packed up in a
sheet, making a bale of 240 pounds, ready for market.
_Of the treatment of short wool for the cloth manufacture._--Short wool
resembles cotton, not a little in the structure of its filaments, and is
cleaned by the _willy_, as cotton is by the _willow_, which opens up the
matted fleece of the wool-stapler, and cleans it from accidental
impurities. Sheep’s wool for working into coarse goods, must be passed
repeatedly through this machine, both before and after it is dyed; the
second last time for the purpose of blending the different sorts
together, and the last for imbuing the fibres intimately with oil. The
oiled wool is next subjected to a first carding operation called
_scribbling_, whereby it is converted into a broad thin fleece or lap,
as cotton is by the breaker-cards of a cotton mill. The woollen lap is
then worked by the cards proper, which deliver it in a narrow band or
sliver. By this process the wool expands greatly in all its dimensions;
while the broken or short filaments get entangled by crossing in every
possible direction, which prepares them for the fulling operation. See
_Carding_, under COTTON MANUFACTURE.
[Illustration: 1213]
The _slubbing machine_, or _billy_, reduces the separate rolls of
_cardings_ into 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 carriage D, D, which runs upon the lower
side rails at _a_, _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 drum F, 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
wheel E, 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 carriage D. It is turned by the spinner
placed at Q, with his right hand applied to a winch R, 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 roller C, C, at the one end of the frame. This
is the _billy 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
roller C, 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 at B, and the other lies behind C. One carding is
allotted to a spindle; the total number of each in one machine being
from 50 to 100. The roller C, 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 bar G,
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 the _clove_, originally
used by Hargreaves in his cotton-jenny. The movable upper rail G, is
guided between sliders, and a wire 7, descends from it to a lever C.
When the spindle carriage D, 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 rail G, 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 plane B, C. There is a small catch, which lays
hold of the upper bar of the clasp G, 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 carriage D. 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 rail G, of the clasp to fall, and pinch the carding fast; the
wheel E, 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 for making continuous card-ends, and slubbings, in imitation of
the carding and roving of the COTTON 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 the _mousseline-de-laine_ fabrics, beautifully spun
upon the self-actor mule of Sharp and Roberts.[72]
[72] See this admirable machine fully described and delineated in my
_Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain_, vol. ii.
_Tentering._--When the cloth is returned from the fulling-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.
_Burling_ is 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 called _Dipsacus
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 of _Brevets 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 the _Conservatoire 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 the
_Brevets 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 letter D, 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, or _resultant_, 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.
[Illustration: 1214 1215]
_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-beams A´´, being
fastened with screw-bolts at the ears _a´´_, _a´´_; and at top, by the
wrought-iron stretcher-rod D, whose ends are secured by screw-nuts at D,
D´. The drum is mounted upon a wrought-iron shaft F, 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 shaft F, has a bevel wheel F´, for transmitting movement to
the cloth, as shall be afterwards explained. Three crown wheels G, of
which one is shown in the section, _fig._ 1214., are, as usual, keyed by
a wedge to the shaft F. Their contour is a sinuous band, 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
shaft F, and the other two, towards its extremities. Their size may be
judged of, from inspection of _fig._ 1214. After having set them so that
all their spokes or radii correspond exactly, the 16 sides H, 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 bolts _h_. 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 shaft F.
[Illustration: 1216 1217 1218]
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 in _fig._ 1214.) A portion of the frame is represented in _fig._
1216. The large side I, 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-bars _i_,
which serve to maintain the sides of the frame I, at an invariable
distance, and to form short compartments for keeping the thistles
compact. The ends are fortified by stronger bars _k_, _k_, with
projecting bolts to fasten the frames between the ribs. The distance of
the sides of the frame I, I´, ought to be such, that if a frame be laid
upon the drum, in the interval of two ribs, the side I will rest upon
the inclined plane of one of the ribs, and the side I´ upon the inclined
plane of the other, (see _fig._ 1214.); while at the same time the bars
_k_, 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 bars _k_ be 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, in _fig._ 1215. (near
the right end of the shaft F), 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 beam Q, _fig._ 1214.; thence it passes
in contact with a wooden cylinder T, turning upon an axis, and proceeds
to the upper beam P, on to which it is wound: by a contrary movement,
the cloth returns from the beam P to Q, over the cylinder T; 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.
In _fig._ 1215., before the front end of the machine, there is a
vertical shaft L, as high as the framework, which revolves with great
facility, in the bottom step _l_, the middle collet _l´_, and top collet
_l´´_, in the prolongation of the stretcher D. Upon this upright shaft
are mounted--1. a bevel wheel L´; 2. an upper bevel pinion M, with its
boss M´; 3. a lower bevel pinion N, with its boss N´. The bevel wheel L´
is keyed upon the shaft L, and communicates to it the movement of
rotation which it receives from the pinion _f_, with which it is in
geer; but the pinion _f_, which is mounted upon the shaft F of the drum,
participates in the rotation which this shaft receives from the prime
mover, by means of the fast rigger-pulley _f´_. The upper pinion M is
independent upon the shaft L; 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 from its
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 boss M´, which is dependent, by feathered
indentations, upon the rotation of L, though it can slide freely up and
down upon it. When it is raised, therefore, it comes into geer with M.
The pinion N, and its boss, have a similar mode of being thrown into and
out of geer with each other. The bosses M´ and N´, ought always to be
moved simultaneously, in order to throw one of them into geer, and the
other out of geer. The shaft L serves to put the cloth in motion, by
means of the bevel wheels P´´ and Q´´, upon the ends of the beams P, Q,
which take into the pinions M and N.
The mechanism destined to stretch the cloth is placed at the other end
of the machine, where the shafts of the beams P, Q, are prolonged beyond
the frame, and bear at their extremities P´ and Q´, armed each with a
brake. The beam P (_fig._ 1214.), turns in an opposite direction to the
drum; consequently the cloth is wound upon P, and unwound from Q. If, at
the same time as this is going on, the handle R´, of the brake-shaft, be
turned so as to clasp the brake of the pulley Q´, and release that of
the pulley P´, it is obvious that a greater or smaller resistance will
be occasioned in the beam Q, 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 handle R´ a little more or a little less in the
direction which clasps the brake of the pulley Q´; 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 beam Q, 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 beam P, to the beam Q, Z must
be lowered, to put the shaft L out of geer above, and in geer below;
then the cloth-beam Q, 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 pulley
Q´ must be left free, by clasping the brake of the pulley P´, 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 roller T, 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 in _fig._
1214., where the cloth is nearly a tangent to the drum, if the roller T´
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 rack
T´´ (_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 roller T. But to graduate the movements, and to
render them equal in the two racks, there is a shaft U, supported by the
uprights of the frame, and which carries, at each end, pinions U´, U´´,
which work into the two racks T´, 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 wheel _u_, and a handle _u´_. 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
roller T, 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.