COTTON- SPINNING 



965 



open pipe a, to the bottom of the vortical beater b. This beater revolves rapidly, its 

 arms striking the cotton against the grids c c, by which it is surrounded, and sepa- 

 rating the dirt and leaf from the cotton. These fall into the dirt grid g, below, whilst 

 the draught from the fan, aided by the shape of the beater, causes the cotton gradually 

 to ascend, till it arrives at the discharge pipe, whence it descends to the bottom of the 

 next beater, and is again similarly operated upon. The cotton, after passing the second 

 beater, is discharged through a pipe to a cage e, and creeper d, and without any pressure 

 leaves the machine in an open, well cleaned, fleecy state. 



Various other forms of Opener are in use. All, however, rest upon the application 

 either of centrifugal force, or of toothed rollers or cylinders for the loosening of the 

 cotton, and upon the pneumatic force derived from the fan for the purpose of drawing 

 away dust and other impurities. One recent improvement, however, we may mention 

 (that of Messrs. Lord, of Todmorden) which is not so much a separate machine as a 

 new method of feeding the opener. It consists in passing the cotton through a long 

 horizontal tube, the lower portion of which is grated. The cotton is forced through 

 the tube by pneumatic pressure, created by the revolution of a fan in the ordinary 

 way. The distance traversed by the cotton serves to loosen it to a considerable ex- 

 tent, and to disengage much of the dirt from it, whilst at the same time there is no 

 violent tearing or strain upon the fibre. 



Perhaps the most common description of Opener in use is known as the Scutcher, 

 a name which is associated with a particular form of construction easily recognised in 

 fig. 546. The cotton is placed upon the travelling creeper marked a, which is made 



of a number of narrow slips, or laths, of wood, screwed to three endless bands of 

 leather, the pivots of which are marked b and c. Motion is given to the roller e, by 

 a wheel on the end of the feed roller, thus causing the creeper to advance, carrying 

 with it the cotton to the feeding rollers d ; these revolving slowly pass the cotton to 

 the second smaller pair of fluted rollers, which serve it to the beater. The top feeding 

 rollers are weighted by levers and weights e e, and hold the cotton sufficiently tight 

 for the beater to act upon it. The beater is placed inside the machine at f, and ex- 

 lends quite across its breadth, its shaft or axis being shown with the pulley upon itntg. 

 The form of the beater varies, but we give the following as an example On a shaft 

 are placed four or five spiders, each having three or four arms (fig. 547) ; 

 to the ends of these arms are attached steel blades, which pass along the 

 whole length of the beater ; two of the arms being shorter than the 

 others, allow the blades attached to them to contain a double row of 

 spikes in each, the points of the spikes being at the same distance 

 from the axis as the other two blades. As the beater revolves about 

 800 turns per minute, the blades and spikes strike the cotton with con- 

 siderable force as it is passed from the feeding rollers, and thus loosen 

 and disengage it from much of its impurity. Immediately under the feed rollers 

 and beater are placed a number of wedgo-shaped bars, which form a semicircular 

 grid, through the nan-row openings of which the dirt and seeds fall to the floor, their 

 removal being effected through the doors in the framing. To prevent the cotton 

 passing with the dirt through the grid, a current of air, to draw the cotton from the 

 beater to the cage, is produced by an exhaust fan (its axis being shown at h, fig. 546) 



