The fan is inclosed in a cylindrical case. The wings or vanes revolve from 120 to 150 times in the minute; and while they throw the air out with nearly this velocity at their excentric outlet in the circumference, they cause it to enter, with equal velocity, at the centre. With this centre the squirrel cage is connected by a pipe, as above stated. The sound filaments of the cotton are arrested by the sieve surface of the cylindric cage, and nothing but the broken fragments and the light dust can pass through.

The cotton wool in the blowing machine is wafted by the second scutcher into the space x, w w, provided with a fine grid bottom; or it is sometimes wound up there by rollers into a lap.

In [fig. 318.] an additional ventilator is introduced beneath at m, o o, to aid the action of the scutchers in blowing the cotton onwards into the oblong trough a. The outlet of that fan is at t; and it draws in the air at its axis q. u and v, are two doors or lids for removing the cleaned cotton wool. This last fan is suppressed in many blowing machines, as the scutching arms supply a sufficient stream of air. The dotted lines show how the motion is transmitted from the first mover at s, to the various parts of the machine. 6′ 6′ represent the bands leading to the main shafting of the mill. A machine of this kind can clean fully 600 pounds of short-stapled cotton wool in a day, with the superintendence of one operative, usually a young woman, to distribute the cotton upon the first feed cloth.

[Fig. 319 enlarged] (123 kB)

The second Blowing machine is usually called a lap machine, because, after blowing and scutching the cotton, as above described, it eventually coils the fleece upon a wooden roller at the delivering end of the apparatus. It is sometimes also called a spreading machine. A section of it is shown in [fig. 319.] The breadth of this machine is about 3 feet as the lap formed is prepared for the usual breadth of the breaker cards, namely 3 feet. Where the cards are only 18 inches broad, the lap machine is also made of the same breadth. In the figure we see the feed-cloth, the scutching barrel, the squirrel suction, and spreading cage, and the rollers for coiling up the lap. The lever shown below is for removing the pressure weight from the axis of the lap rollers, when a full one is to be removed, and replaced by an empty one. m, at the top, is the commencement of the pipe which leads to the suction fan, or ventilator. The thickness of the lap in this machine must be nicely regulated, as it determines, in a great measure, the grist of the card ends, and even the rovings. In 12 hours such a lap machine will prepare 650 pounds of cotton.

[Fig. 320.] is the first scutching machine, now never seen except in the oldest factories. A B is the feed cloth; G H and M N are the two scutcher frames.