264 Class 6.— MANUFACTURING- MACHINES AND. TOOLS. [United

Noiiti-l Areas A. T>. 10 to 31 ; C. D. E. 1 to 10, & 19 to 33 ; G. II. 25, 26.

together with the links at the ends of the axis, whichcarry the weights, and thus the pressure continues uni-form. When the coil of lap has attained a certain size,the rollers which turn the aprons, cages, and feed-rollersare thrown out of gear, while the rollers which supportthe lap-coil continue to revolve. By this contrivancethe lap is torn across; the attendant then removes it,puts an empty lap-cylinder in its place, and throwsthe machine into gear.

The laps from different machines are frequently com-bined into one lap, for the purpose of further equalizingthe quality of different varieties of cotton. This is doneat a lap machine, in winch an endless apron movesbetween a frame, on which are slot-bearings for receivingthe ends of the pins which support the laps. There are asmany pairs of slot-bearings on this frame as there aredifferent laps to be mixed. Each lap being unwound bythe motion of the apron, the different laps are carried for-ward in parallel layers lying over each other; they arethen all scutched and formed into one single lap as before.This is sometimes called a spreading machine.

For the finer varieties of cotton the laps are formed byhand.—C. TJ

Breaker carding-engines: used for further cleansing,combing, and laying the fibres of the cotton. The lapsfrom the scutcher feed this machine, and are reduced byit into continuous webs, which are delivered into cans atthe front of the machine. The novelty of these machinesconsists, first, in the method of feeding the card bymeans of a dish, straight-edge, and large roller. Secondly,in the cylinders, doffers, rollers, and strippers being madeof iron. And, thirdly, in the method of adjustment ofthe bearers or carriers for the rollers and strippers. Bymeans of the dish, straight-edge, and large roller, thefibres of the cotton are held until combed away by thecards of the licker-in, and can be adjusted to suit anylength of staple of cotton. These machines, being con-structed of iron, are not liable to “warp ” from variationof temperature, and the method of applying the bearingsfor carrying the rollers, is so simple as to be capable ofthe finest adjustment.

Lap-machine : used for making laps to feed the finish-ing carding-engine. The cans from the breakers feedthis machine, and the cotton is again formed by it intolaps for the next operation. The patent consolidatingcalenders are also applied to this machine with the sameadvantage as in the scutcher.

Finishing carding-engines. The laps made in the lastmachine are taken in by this; and the fibres are againdrawn, combed, and so completely straightened as toinsure a more perfect evenness in the web, which is thendelivered and coiled into cans. These machines aresupplied with the same improvements as the breakercarding-engines.

Grinding machine: used for grinding and sharpeningthe teeth of the cards on the rollers, and flats of thecarding-engines.

[In the laps thus formed, the cotton filaments are in acompressed state, crossing each other in all directions.In the next operation, which is carding, they are madeparallel, or brought into a state favourable for parallelism.In this operation also any remaining impurities are com-pletely removed. Carding is a sort of double combing.If we suppose the teeth of one comb to be set or bent inone direction, and the teeth of another comb to be set inan opposite direction, and that these two combs be movedagainst each other, with a tuft of cotton between them,the fibres will be seized by the teeth, those of one cardwill pull them one way, those of the other card will pullanother way, and by repeating the operation many timesthe curls, and twists, and crossings of the cotton will beopened and drawn out. and the fibres will be arranged in

parallel lines. In the carding-engine the teeth areformed of thin iron wire, arranged on bands or fillets ofleather, or other suitable material, made of uniformthickness, and attached to a set of cylinders and curvedsurfaces, the former being made to revolve so as to sweepover the surfaces of the latter at rest; or a number ofparallel cards on the surface of a large drum work againstthe surfaces of smaller cylindrical cards moving with aless velocity. The two plans may, however, be com-bined in the same engine. The tufts of cotton are heldby the stationary or slow-moving cards, while the quick-moving cards comb out the fibres,and gradually disen-tangle them.

The main carding cylinder or drum has attached to itssurface strips of card-leather, equal in length to the widthof the drum. Over a portion of this drum is a number oflong strips, the under surfaces of which are covered withcard-leather; these strips are called card-tops, and theirends rest on the heads of adjusting screws, projecting fromthe side framing. Nearly in contact with the large drumare a number of small rollers, called urchins or squirrels ,covered with card fillets, wound spirally round them.

The lap-roll, prepared by the lapping-machine, ismounted at one end of the carding-engine; and beinggradually unwound, passes along the surface of a feed-board, between a pair of feed-rollers, until it comesin contact with the first roller-card, or licker-in, whichdraws in the filaments of the cotton. As this card,No. 1, rotates, its teeth come in contact with the teeth ofthe large drum, which strip off the filaments; but therotation of the drum almost immediately brings it incontact with the squirrel, No. 2, which strips off thefilaments from the drum, and, by its revolution, transfersthem again to No. 1, which again delivers them to thedrum, together with fresh filaments taken up from thefeeding-rollers : the filaments which escape the action ofNos. 1 and 2 are seized by No. 4, which is placed muchnearer to the drum; the cotton thus taken up by No. 4is combed out by No. 3, which is nearly in contact withit but moving with greater speed. From No. 3 it is againtransferred to the drum, to be carded out again by No. 4,and any filaments which still remain are arrested by thefirst flat top-cards, and held until they are disentangledby the revolution of the drum. In this way the filamentsbecome gradually arranged on the surface of the drum innearly parallel lines, which is the condition sought for,and in this state they are not teazed off by the urchins,but pass round to the opposite end of the machine, andare removed from the drum by a smaller drum-card,called a doffer or stripper, on the surface of which thecards are arranged in spiral lines. The fine fleece of thetransparent web is removed from the doffer by means ofa dotfing-knife, the lower edge of which is toothed likea fine comb, and this, by the action of a crank, ismade to strike down with a rapid motion over thepoints of the cards. The fleece thus shaved off is equalin breadth to the length of the card on the doffer, and itis disposed of in one of two ways. There are usually twocarding engines, the first called the breaker-card, andthe second the finisher-card, and the cotton is passedthrough both. In the breaker-card, as the fleece is takenoff by the crank and comb, it is wound upon a largewooden roller, which, when filled, is removed and usedfor feeding the finisher-card. As the fleece is removedfrom the finisher-card it is contracted into a narrowriband, by being passed through a funnel, then throughthree pairs of rollers, the bottom roller of each pair beingfinely fluted, and the top roller of each pair covered with