The card-end or fleece taken off the doffer h by the crank and comb mechanism i k m, passes through the tin plate or brass funnel n, [fig. 323.], whereby it is hemmed in and contracted into a riband, which is then passed through between a pair of drawing rollers o. It is next received by the rollers u v, which carry it off with equable velocity, and let it fall into the tin cans placed below, or conduct it over a friction pulley, to be wound along with many other card-ends upon a lap roller or large bobbin. The latter mechanism is not shown in this figure. A sloping curved tin or brass plate, channelled or ridged along its surface, conducts the card ribands separately; there are two smooth iron rollers for condensing the several ribands, and a wooden pin round which the ribands are lapped, resting between two leather-covered rollers, one of which receives motion from mill geering, and imparts it by friction to the lap roller over it. The iron ends of the lap roller lie in upright slots, which allow them freedom to rise as the roller gets filled with fleece.
The two pairs of rollers at o, effect the extension of the card-end, and reduce its size. The under rollers are made of iron and fluted; the upper ones are also made of iron, but they are covered with a coat of leather, nicely glued on over a coat of flannel, which two coats render them both smooth and elastic. Two weights, w, press the upper cylinders steadily down upon the under ones. Between the first and second pair there is a certain interval, which should be proportioned to the length of the cotton staple. The second, or that furthest from the funnel, revolves with greater velocity than the first, and therefore turns out a greater length of riband than it receives from its fellow; the consequence is a corresponding extension of the riband in the interval between the two pairs of rollers.
The motions of the several parts of the engine are effected in the following way. The band, p p, [fig. 324.], which comes down from the pulley upon the main shaft near the ceiling of the work-room, drives, by means of the pulley q, the drum f, [fig. 323.], with a velocity of from 120 to 140 revolutions in a minute. From another pulley r, on the axis of the drum, the axis of t is driven by the band s working round the pulley t on its end. This shaft drives the crank and lever mechanism of the stripper knife i. A third pulley of the same size as r is fixed just within the frame to the other end of the drum, and from it a crossed or close band r′ goes to a pulley upon the small runner h′, to give this its rapid rotation. Upon the opposite end of the engine in [fig. 323.], these wheels and pulleys are marked with dotted lines. Here we may observe, first, a pulley y upon the drum, and a pulley a′, which receives motion from it by means of the band z. The axis of a′, carries in front a pinion m′, which sets in motion the wheel n′. The latter imparts motion, by means of a pinion and intermediate wheel o′, to the wheel h on the doffer cylinder, and consequently to that cylinder on the one hand; and it turns, by the carrier wheel p′, a wheel x, whose axis is marked also with x in [fig. 323.], upon the other hand. The axis of x′, [fig. 323.], carries, towards the middle of the engine, a very broad wheel, which is represented by a small dotted circle. The toothed wheel v of the smooth roller v′, [fig. 323.], and the two toothed wheels o o, [fig. 324.], of the under rollers o o, [fig. 323.], work into that broad wheel. The wheel of the second or delivery fluted roller is seen to be smaller than that of the first, by which means the difference of their velocities is obtained. The large runner i is driven from the main drum pulley, by means of the band s′, and the pulley u′, [fig. 323.] The said band is crossed twice, and is kept in tension by the pulley t′, round which it passes. The motion of the fluted rollers e, which feed in the cotton fleece, is effected by means of a bevel wheel b′ on the end of the doffer, which works into a similar wheel c′ on the oblique axis d′ (dotted lines across the drum), of the pinion e′ upon the lower end of the same axis which turns the wheel f′, upon the under feed roller.
Each of the feed rollers, [fig. 324.], bears a pinion e e at one end, so that the upper roller turns round with the under one. The roller b, [fig. 323.], is set in motion by means of its wheel x′; which is driven by a wheel v′ on the other end of the under feed roller, through the intervention of the large carrier wheel w′. The original or first motion of b must be as quick as that of the fluted feed rollers e, in order that the former may uncoil as much lap as the latter can pass on.
The annexed table exhibits the proper velocities of the different cylinders and rollers of the carding engine, which, however, are not invariable, but may be modified according to circumstances, by changing the pinions e′, [fig. 323.], and w′, according to the quality or length of the cotton staple. The velocities stated in the table will be obtained when the pulley a′, [fig. 323.], is made greater than y in the proportion of 3 to 2, and the wheels and pinions have the following number of teeth: m′, 18; n′, 50; its pinion, 18; h, 128; x, 24; the broad wheel upon the shaft of x, 37 teeth; the wheel o of the first fluted roller, 35; that of the second, 21; v, 44; b′ and e′, 54; e′, 10; f′, 63.
| Names of the parts. | Diameter in inches. | Circum- ference in inches. | Revolutions in one minute. | Velocity. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drum f | 35 | 109 | ·9 | 130 | 142 | ·87 | ||
| Doffer h | 14 | 43 | ·96 | 4 | ·38 | 192 | ·5 | |
| Runner or urchin i′ | 6 | ·25 | 19 | ·62 | 5 | · | 98 | ·1 |
| Ditto h′ | 3 | ·5 | 11 | · | 470 | · | 5170 | · |
| Fluted feed roller e | 1 | ·167 | 3 | ·664 | 0 | ·696 | 2 | ·55 |
| First drawing roller o | 1 | · | 3 | ·14 | 68 | ·71 | 215 | ·75 |
| Second ditto | 1 | ·167 | 3 | ·664 | 114 | ·52 | 419 | ·6 |
| Smooth delivery roller v | 2 | ·5 | 7 | ·85 | 54 | ·66 | 429 | ·08 |
The operation of the runners, h′ and i′, becomes very plain on comparing their speed with one another and with that of the main-drum, and taking into account the direction of the card teeth. The cotton wool, taken off from the feed-rollers by the drum, is caught by the opposite teeth of the large runner i′, which, on account of its slower surface rotation (98 inches per minute) may be considered to be at rest with reference to the drum, and therefore, by holding the cotton in its teeth, will commence its carding. The small runner h′, in consequence of its greater surface velocity (5170 inches per minute) will comb the cotton-wool back out of the teeth of the large runner, but it will give it up in its turn to the swifter teeth of the drum, which, in carrying it forwards, encounters the teeth of the top cards, and delivers up the filaments to their keeping for some time. We thus see how essential the runners are to the perfection as well as to the acceleration of the carding process for ordinary cotton wool, though for the slenderer and longer filaments of the sea-island kind they are not so well adapted. In cleaning the carding-engines the little runner must be looked to every time that the drum is examined. The large runner and the doffer require to be cleaned together. The quantity of cotton spread upon the feed-cloth, the velocity of it, and of the drawing-rollers, must all be carefully adjusted to the grist of the yarn intended to be spun.