972 



COTTON-SPINNING 



masses upon the cylinder by the licker-in, as in the ordinary mode, it is first well opened 

 and carded, separated from dirt and seeds at the most convenient point, and then dis- 

 tributed lightly and evenly over the main cylinder at three separate points. 



Fig. 557 also exhibits a view of a 'coiler' immediately in front of the carding 



engine. By means of this ingenious contrivance the sliver or riband of cotton instead 

 of coming directly out of the rollers and falling into the can, is made to pass through 

 the upper portion of the coiler, which folds itself with a circular coil into the can placed 

 upon the flat disc-stand at the foot of the coiler. The disc, and with it the can, is 

 made to revolve very slowly in a contrary direction to that of the coiler, and thus 

 every part of the am is equally filled, and the appearance of the sliver when taken out 

 of the can is that of a series of neat and closely-packed spiral convolutions. 



In some districts where the yarns spun are of medium 'counts' or thickness 

 ' double carding engines ' are used, engines in which there is a second cylinder fed 

 directly by the doffer of the first. These machines turn out a large quantity of work, 

 and in the preparation of coarse cottons are efficient and economical. 



The efforts to improve the carding engine have of late years been directed rather to 

 cleaning and maintaining the efficiency of the engine than to .any changes in its 

 method of working. The delicate points of the wires both on the cylinder doffer 

 rollers and flats of the machine need to be kept constantly sharp. Frequent 'grinding ' 

 is therefore necessary. This is accomplished by friction against prepared surfaces of 

 emery. Formerly manual labour was necessary to effect this purpose as regards the 

 cards on the cylinders. Now, however, it is accomplished entirely by mechanical 

 means. The most recent improvement of this kind is the grinding roller of Mr. 

 Horsfall, which is made to traverse the width of the cylinder in contact with the wires 

 whilst they are revolving rapidly in a backward direction. It is obvious that the 

 impurities remaining after scutching must tend to clog up the wires of the carding 

 engine. And, as a matter of fact, some parts of the cards need to be cleansed many 

 times in a day. Especially is this the case with flats. This operation called ' stripping ' 

 was until late years a very laborious one ; now, however, the labour is much lighter, 

 in consequence of the various contrivances for machine stripping. The most impor- 

 tant inventions of this kind are the self-stripping flats of Mr. Evan Leigh, of Mr. 

 Buchanan, and Mr. Wellman. Of the last two there are many modifications, and 

 indeed the mechanical stripping of carding engines is still in a state of progress. 



It has already been stated that in preparing the longer stapled cottons for the 

 spinning of fine yarns, a single carding operation is not sufficient. After passing 

 turough the first or ' breaker card,' the cotton is put through the ' finisher." Even the 



