1160 



WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE 



motion is given to the frame g, by which the lower needles carrying the wool are pro- 

 gressively advanced as the operation goes on ; and also, that by the other wheels of 

 the train" the heart-wheel cam is made to rotate, for the purpose of giving such vary- 

 ing directions to the stroke of the lever which slides upon its periphery, and to the 

 working comb, as shall cause the comb to operate gradually upon the wool as it is 

 brought forward. The construction of the frames which hold the needles, and the 

 manner of fixing them in the machine, present no features of importance ; it is there- 

 fore unnecessary to describe them further, than to say, that the heckles are to be 

 heated when used for combing wool. Instead of introducing the wool to be combed 

 into the lower needles by hand, it is sometimes fed in, by means of an endless feeding- 

 cloth, as shown in fig. 2121. This endless cloth is distended over two rollers, which 

 are made to revolve, for the purpose of carrying the cloth with the wool forward, by 

 means of the endless screw and pinions. 



2121 



2122 



A slight variation in the machine is shown at fiff. 2122, for the purpose of combing 

 wool of long fibre, which differs from the former only in placing the combs or needle- 

 points upon a revolving cylinder or shaft. At the eud of the axle of this shaft, there 

 is a toothed wheel, which is actuated by an endless screw upon a lateral' shaft. The 

 axle of the cylinder on which the needles are fixed, is mounted in a moveable frame 

 or carriage, in order that the points of the needles may, in the first instance, be brought 

 to act upon the ends of the wool only, and ultimately bo so advanced as to enable the 

 whole length of the fibres to be drawn through. The progressive advancement of this 

 carriage, with the needle-cylinder, is effected by the agency of the endless screw on the 

 lateral shaft before mentioned. 



Some combing-machines reduce the wool into a continuous sliver, which is ready 

 for the drawing-frame ; but the short slivers produced by the hand-combing, must bo 

 first joined together, by what is called planking. These slivers are rolled up by the 

 combers ten or twelve together, in balls called 'tops,' each of which weighs a half 

 pound. At the spinning-mill these are unrolled, and the slivers are laid on a long 

 plank or troxigh, with the ends lapping over, in order to splice the long end of one 

 sliver into the short end of another. The long end is that which was drawn off first 

 from the comb, and contains the longer fibres ; the short is that which comes last 

 from the comb, and contains the shorter. The wool-comber lays all the slivers of 

 each ball the same way, and marks the long end of each by twisting up the end of the 

 sliver. It is a curious circumstance, that when a top or ball of slivers is unrolled and 

 stretched out straight, they will not separate from each other without tearing and 

 breaking, if the separation is begun at the short ends ; but if they are first parted at 

 the long ends they will readily separate. 



The machine for combing long wool, for which Messrs. Donisthorpe and Rawson 

 obtained a patent in April 1835, has been found to work well, and therefore merits a 

 detailed description. 



Fig. 2123 is an elevation, fig. 2124 an end view, and Jig. 2125 a plan, in which 

 , a, is the framing ; A, the main shaft, bearing a pinion, which drives the wheel and 

 shaft c, in gear with the wheel d, on the shaft e. Upon each of the wheels c and d, 

 there are two projections or studs f, which cause the action of the combs g, g, of 

 which h, h, are the tables or carriages. These are capable of sliding along the upper 

 guide-rails of the framing a. Through these carriages or tables h, h, there are open- 

 ings or slite, shown by dotted lines, which act as guides to the holders i, i, of the 

 combs ff, g, rendering the holders susceptible of motion at right angles to the course 

 pursued by the tables h. The combs are retained in the holders t, t, by means of the 

 lever-handles j, j, which move upon inclined surfaces, and are made to press on the 

 surface of the heads of the combs g, g, so as to be retained in their places; and they 



