WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE 



1163 



frame ; but the wheel a, introduced into the machine in place of the lower front 

 drawing roller, being made to revolve much faster than b, the sliver of wool extended 

 over the upper part of its periphery from b, to the tension roller/, will be subjected to 

 very considerable friction from the contact; and, consequently, the natural curl of the 

 wool will bo taken out, and its elasticity destroyed, which will enable the wool to 

 proceed in a connected roving down to the spindle or flyer h, where it becomes twisted 

 or spun into a worsted thread. 



In order to increase or diminish the extent to which the fibres of wool are spread 

 over the periphery of the wheel a, a regulating roller is adapted to the machine, as 

 shown at g, in place of the tension roller/. This regulating roller (j, is mounted by 

 its pivots in bearings on the circular arms h, shown by dots. These circular arms turn 

 loosely upon the axle of the wheel a, and are raised or depressed by a rack and a 

 winch, not shown in the figure ; the rack taking into teeth on the periphery of the cir- 

 cular arms. It will hence be perceived, that by raising the circular arms, the roller g, 

 will be carried backward, and the fibres of wool pressed upon the periphery of the 

 wheel to a greater extent. On the contrary, the depression of the circular arms will 

 draw the roller g, forward, and cause the wool to be acted upon by a smaller portion 

 of the periphery of the wheel a, and consequently subject it to less friction. 



When it is desired to employ steam for the purpose of heating wool, the wheel a, 

 is formed as a hollow drum, and steam from a boiler, in any convenient situation, is 

 conveyed through the hollow axle to the interior of the drum, which, becoming heated 

 by that means, communicates heat also to the wool, and thereby destroys its curl and 

 elasticity. 



Breaking-frame. Here the slivers are planked, or spliced together, the long end of 

 one to the short end of another ; after which they are drawn out and extended by the 

 rollers of the breaking-frame. A sketch of this machine is 'given in fig. 2127. It con- 



2127 



sists of four pairs of rollers A, B, c, D. The first pair A, receives the wool from the 

 inclined trough E, which is the planking-table. The slivers are unrolled, parted, 

 and hung loosely over a pin, in reach of the attendant, who takes a sliver, and lays 

 it flat in the trough, and the end is presented to the rollers A, which being in motion, 

 will draw the wool in ; the sliver is then conducted through the other rollers, as 

 shown in the figure : when the sliver has passed half through, the end of another 

 sliver is placed upon the middle of the first, and they pass through together ; when 

 this second is passed half through, the end of a third is applied upon the middle of it, 

 and in this way the short slivers produced by the combing are joined into one regular 

 and even sliver. 



The lower roller c, receives its motion from the mill, by means of a pulley upon the 

 end of its axis, and an endless strap. The roller which is immediately over it, is borne 

 down by a heavy weight, suspended from hooks, which are over the pivots of the 

 upper roller. The fourth pair of rollers D, moves with the same velocity as c, being 

 turned by means of a small wheel upon the end of the axis of the roller c, which 

 turns a wheel of the same size upon the axis of the roller D, by means of an inter- 

 mediate wheel d, which makes both rollers turn the same way round. The first and 

 second pair of rollers, A and B, move only one-third as quick as c and n, in order to 

 draw out the sliver between B and c, to three times the length it was when put on the 

 planking-table. The slow motion of the rollers A, is given by a large wheel a, fixed 



