203

United Kingdom .] Class 6.— MANUFACTURING MACHINES AND TOOLS.

North Areas A. 1 >. 10 to 31; C. D. E. 1 to 10, & 19 to 33 ; G. II. 25, 20.

I’aper-makino machines arc illustrated by models ; but several large printing machines are exhibited ,noperation. Several varieties of these are found : the “ flat” machine, the horizontal cylinder machine, and therecently-invented vertical machine, capable of performing a very large amount o work m a short space of tune.An envelope-folder, and other apparatus connected with paper and printing, are also found among the machinery

U1 £ny'powerful machines employed in metal manufactures are met with. The drilling, punching, midclipping mi hies together with the slotting, chasing, and planing machines, and the large power-lathes fortuminv heavy eastings, borings, &c„ are extremely interesting, although essentially consisting o simple partsMills for various purposes, mineral and vegetable, presses, aerating, and a variety of otliei machines includedin tlic Class, arc represented in various parts of the building appropnatcd to it. It. hi.

1 Hibbert, Platt, & Sons, Hartford Works , Oldham —Inventors and Manufacturers.

An improved patent opening and cotton-cleaning ma-chine. This machine differs from others used for thesame purpose, inasmuch as all fibre cleaned in it ispassed between cylinders so constructed that all motes,seeds, &c. &c., are thrown down beneath it, making theoperation of cleaning simple and cheap. The diameterslu t * le . cylinders of this machine are 9 and 12 inches, andthe width 36 inches, making about 500 revolutions per"uuute, they consequently require less power than is ne-cessary to drive the machines constructed upon the oldPrinciple. The power required for cleaning 3,000 lbs.Per day, is from l to I \ horse, according to the state ofthe material. See Plates 122, 123.

[Cotton or cotton-wool is the hairy covering of these eds of several species of Gossypium growing in SouthAmerica, India, Egypt , &c. It is separated from theSe eds by a machine called a cotton-gin, then packed withstrong pressure in bags, in which state it is received inthis country.

The cotton is cleaned in a willowing machine, or in a>a tting, or scutching and blowing machine. The willowConsists of a conical drum, the axis of which is placedOfizontal, or nearly so. The surface of the cone car-lles a series of projecting pegs or spikes, and the upperPortion of the case which covers and partly enclosesh« cone is furnished on its inner surface with a similar® ei 'ies of spikes, the spikes of the cone moving in thejutervals between the spike of the case. This machinels fed at the smaller end of the cone by means of an end-less apron formed of thin spars of wood, each about three-quarters of an inch broad and half an inch apart, fixedat the ends to two endless leather straps which moveI°und rollers. The cotton being placed upon this creep-I n g apron, is slowly introduced into the willow, where itseized by the revolving spikes, and whirled round withluc reasiug velocity, due to the increasing surface of theuntil, in a few seconds, it arrives at the large^ end,ei ' e it falls upon a moving apron, which carries it awayt turns it out upon the floor. While the cotton is beingzed out by the spikes of the cone, the heavier impuri-Q es, such as twigs, sand, stones, &c., fall out through them ^ J attace or grid-work which forms the bottom of the. me - The lighter impurities, such as dust, &c., are\vl| Ven ^ cen *rifugal force to the large end of the cone,gQ ere the y pass out through a spiral cage sieve intoare P'Pes which convey them away.—C. T.]

the r? le - S ^ Utctler and lap-machine, used for taking outlaps toT. ln | n ® sant *> &c -> and f° r forming the cotton intothe cr> eC( ^ breaker carding-engine. The novelty ina Pl)lic^* truc i* on f* 1 * 8 machine consists chiefly in theby wh; .i? n i t * le “ patent consolidating calender rollers,”superior * le "fohing” of the cotton is performed in aof an • banner, and its bulk so compressed as to admitIbis n]on' Creasu °f P er cent,. on the “ lap ” roller, liythe o'iv,r llS a considerable saving of labour is effected atcaid 'ug-engiues.

[The batting or scutching and blowing machine carrieson the work of cleaning the cotton which lias been begunby the willow, and serves also to open the matted tufts.The cotton being spread upon a feeding apron, is intro-duced into the machine by means of feeding rollers; assoon as it gets within the machine it comes under thebeating action of flat bars, which are moved round withgreat rapidity, and strike with their fans upon the cottonfibres as they slowly escape from between the feeding-rollers. It is then conveyed out of the machine andturned out upon the floor. It is next passed to anotherscutching machine, in which, after being batted, it isformed into a cylindrical roll or lap, ready for the card-ing engine.

In many cases, however, the scutching machine andthe lapping machine are combined, in which case thewillowed cotton is spread by hand upon a feed-apronto the thickness of about 2 inches, and this is carriedforward at the rate of about 3 feet per minute between apair of coarsely fluted iron feed-rollers, which are pressedtogether by a weight acting through a lever on the brassbearings of the top roller. There is also a wooden roller,which serves to keep the cotton close to the apron, so asto allow it to pass readily between the feed-rollers. Asthe cotton passes into the machine between the feed-rollers it is struck by the first beater, which consists oftwo flat bars fixed at right angles upon the arms of ashaft revolving 2,000 times per minute. Tlie cotton, onbeing struck and whirled round by the beater, is at tliesame time struck against the edges of long flat bars,arranged in the form of a quadrant of a cylinder. Thecotton tufts are thus opened, and the filaments waftedupon an endless apron, near the end of which is a re-volving cage cylinder, enclosed under the general coverof the machine; over this cage is a pipe communicatingwith a rotatory fan, which, by rarifying the air, causesthe dust of the cotton to escape through the cage intothe pipe, whence it is carried away; the cage also servesto spread smoothly upon the apron the loose cottonfilaments into a level mass or lap. This is conveyedaway under a wooden roller, and passed between asecond pair of feed-rollers, to be exposed to a secondscutching by beater-bars revolving more rapidly thanthe former. This second beater delivers the fila-ments to a second apron, which passes it under a secondrevolving sieve cylinder connected with the fan venti-lator, by which means the cotton is again formed intoa lap, which is passed out of the machine by the rota-tion of rollers. It is then carried between two pairsof iron rollers, the upper of which are loaded, whichcompress the filaments and form them into a kind of felt.This felt or lap is delivered to a wooden lap-cylinder,the axis of which is loaded, and thus made to beardown between two rollers which revolve both in onedirection, and carry round by their friction the lap-cylinder. As this increases in diameter it rises up,