scattered fibres on the surface of A are collected into a light fleece.
In this condition they are stripped by a vibrating comb (F), drawn
together by a funnel, formed into a sliver, and deposited in a can (G).
This machine is now chiefly used to card waste and low-class cotton.
If such a card is made with two main cylinders, a connecting cylinder
called a tummer collects the fibres from the first and passes them on
to a second main cylinder, where they are again treated as already
described. In a stationary flat card the teeth in the flats are bent
to oppose those on the main cylinder, and by this means the fibres
are combed and straightened. In a revolving flat card the flats (H)
are formed into an endless chain, and they travel slowly in the same
direction as the cylinder. In other respects both flat cards are
similar to a roller and clearer card. Formerly double carding, namely,
two passages of the fibres through separate cards, or one passage
through a double card, was general, but single carding is now employed
for most purposes.
Combing.—For counts from 60s upward, and for exceptionally good yarn of lower counts, from 14 to 20 cans from the carding engine are taken to a sliver lap machine where the slivers are drawn alongside each other, passed between three pairs of drawing rollers and two pairs of calender rollers, and formed into laps that vary in width from 7½ in. to 12 in. This machine is provided with mechanical devices for stopping it on the failure of a sliver, and on the completion of a predetermined length of lap. When the sliver lap machine furnishes laps for the comber, the slivers are previously put through one head of drawing, namely, between four lines of drawing rollers, to straighten out the fibres. The more general practice is to pass sliver laps to a ribbon lap machine, at the back of which six laps are placed, end facing end, in one long line and simultaneously unrolled to feed each web between four pairs of drawing rollers. From the rollers the cotton passes in separate films over curved plates to a smooth table where one is superposed upon another, and in the combined state it is led between two pairs of calender rollers and formed into a lap from 7½ to 10½ in. wide. In the cotton industry the Heilmann comber, or some modification of that machine, is used to straighten thoroughly the fibres of carded cotton, to cast out all below a certain length, and leave only those that are perfectly clean and approximate to uniformity in length. For fine yarns of medium quality only part of the slivers required to form a thread are combed. But for fine yarns of good quality all slivers are once combed, and those for superfine yarns are twice, or “double combed.” This machine is made with six or eight heads, each of which is supplied with a ribbon lap. One end of every lap is fed by a pair of rollers between the open jaws of a nipper which immediately closes upon the sheet of cotton, but a fringe is left protruding into the path of a cylinder, on whose periphery either one set of 17, or two sets of 13, graduated needle combs, and one, or two, fluted segments are secured. The first comb to reach the cotton may have as few as 16, and the last 90 teeth per inch. After the combs have passed successively through the overhanging fringe of fibres, the nipper opens and a fresh length of about 316 to 410 of an inch is fed in. Meanwhile, a fluted segment on the cylinder has moved up to support the fringe; a top comb, which was inoperative when the cylinder combs were acting, has descended into the fringe, and three rollers first return a portion of the material already combed so that it may overlap that last treated. The rollers then reverse the direction of their rotation; one of them and the segment engage the fringe, and draw the tail ends of all free fibres through the teeth of the top comb. The product of all the heads is next united, condensed, formed into a continuous sliver, and deposited in a can. One cycle of movements, therefore, only combs from 816 to 410 of an inch of each fibre; the top comb deals with the tail ends, and the major portion of the work is done by the cylinder combs. The foregoing operations are repeated at the rate of from 85 to 90 times per minute, during which from 15% to upwards of 25% of carded material is removed; but this is capable of being spun into coarse yarns. A comber invented by John W. Nasmith is a modification of the foregoing. In his machine the cylinder combs act upon the forward ends of the fibres whilst under the control of the nipper, after which two pairs of rollers return a sufficient portion of the previously combed film to overlap, and to enable the front rollers to engage the fringe. The rollers then draw a part of the fringe through the teeth of the top comb, which, as a sequence, treats all but the forward ends of the fibres. Since one passage through the cylinder and top combs completes the operation for one set of fibres, this machine gives a higher production; it also gives a wider range of adaptability, and a lower percentage of waste than the Heilmann machine.
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| Fig. 6. |
The Drawing Frame.—For fine counts the slivers from the comber, and for low or medium counts those from the card, are passed to the drawing frame, because in both conditions the material is irregularly distributed throughout the several slivers, and it is the function of the drawing frame to eliminate all such irregularities by drawing several slivers down to the dimensions of one, for here the processes of combination and attenuation are carried further than in any other machine. A drawing frame consists of three or four heads, each of four pairs of drawing rollers (A, B, fig. 6). The lower rollers (B) are fluted longitudinally and the upper ones (A) are covered with leather, and weighted as at (H) to give the two a proper hold of the cotton. Each head contains several deliveries. Six or eight slivers (C) are put up to each delivery and drawn down into one by causing succeeding lines of rollers (A, B) to move at an accelerated speed; the front one revolving about six or eight times faster than the back one. On leaving the front roller the sliver is conducted to a trumpet-shaped tube (D), thence between a pair of calender rollers (E), and, finally, through a diagonal passage in a plate (F); the latter coils the sliver into a rotating can (G). Back and front devices are provided to arrest motion in this machine when a sliver fails. At the back, each sliver passes over and depresses a separate spoon-shaped lever (I), thereby lifting the hooked lower end of (I) high enough to allow an arm (J) to vibrate. On the failure of a sliver the hook of (I) engages with (J) and dislocates the driving gear. In front, the trumpet-shaped tube (D) is mounted on a lever (K), and so long as a sliver presses down the mouth of (D), the machine continues in motion, but when a sliver fails, the lever (K) causes the driving gear to stop the machine. Six or eight cans containing once drawn slivers are put up to the second head and similarly drawn, and finally, a similar number of twice drawn slivers are fed into the third head and again drawn, giving in all 6 × 6 × 6 = 216 doublings; or 8 × 8 × 8 = 512 doublings. Occasionally four heads of drawings are used and eight slivers drawn into one, which gives 8 × 8 × 8 × 8 = 4096 doublings; hence, irregularities in an original sliver have been minimized by successive combination and attenuation.
Flyer Frames.—Cotton in cans, from the final head of drawing, is transferred to the slubbing frame, by which it is attenuated, slightly twisted, and wound upon spools. Each sliver is drawn out by means of three pairs of rollers, and as it emerges from the front pair, a flyer (A, fig. 7), which revolves uniformly upon a spindle (B), carries the sliver (C) round with it to twist the fibres axially. This flyer coils the twisted material upon a wooden tube (D) in close-wound spirals and in successive layers. The tube is loosely mounted upon,
