969 



being in what we may call the teasing position of fig. 550 ; and also the play of a 

 cylinder card against the doffer cylinder, in what may be called the stripping position 

 otfig. 551. 



Cylinder cards, so essential to the continuity and despatch of cotton-factory labour, 

 were the ingenious invention of Lewis Paul, of Northampton, but were greatly 

 improved and brought into nearly their present operative state by Sir Richard Ark- 

 wright. A carding engine consists of one or more cylinders, covered with card- 

 leather (sometimes card-cloth), and a set of plain surfaces similarly covered, made to 

 work against each other, but so that their points do not come into absolute contact. 

 Some cards consist entirely of cylinders, the central main cylinder being surrounded 

 by a series of smaller ones called rollers. These are generally used for preparing the 

 coarser stapled cotton. 



Fig. 552 may be taken as a typical illustration of the carding engine, a is ono 



552 



of the two upright slots, which are fixed at each side of the engine for receiving the 

 iron gudgeons of the wooden rollers round which the fleece of the lapping machine is 

 rolled. The circumference of this coil rests upon a roller b, which is made to turn 

 slowly in such a direction as to aid the unfolding of the lap by the fluted cylinders e. The 

 lap proceeds along the table seen beneath the letter c, in its progress to the fluted rollers ; 

 g is a weight which hangs upon the axis of the upper roller, and causes it to press 

 upon the under one : /is the main card cylinder ; ggg, the arch formed by the flat 

 top cards ; h, the small card cylinder for stripping off the cotton, and therefore called 

 the doffer ; i, the doffer-knife or comb for stripping the fleecy web from the doffer ; 

 klqm, the lever mechaniam for moving these parts. At d there is a door giving 



553 



access to the interior of the engine, for the purpose of removing whatever dirt, &c. 

 may happen to fall into it. In Jig. 553 we see the manner of fixing the flat tops gg 



