Carding machine

“ In 1748 a carding machine was devised to supersede the hand process, [Pg 257] but it was not until toward the close of the century that carding machines took such form as to become an important factor in the cotton-manufacturing industry. Even in the closing quarter of the eighteenth century the prejudice on the part of hand laborers against machines was so great that for several miles around Blackwell every spinning jenny containing more than 20 spindles was destroyed, while a mill erected by Arkwright near Chorley was destroyed by a mob. ”

“ It is a romantic but unsubstantiated idea that either of these is the first Scholfield carding machine set up in the Byfield factory in 1794. The author's opinion is that all three were built by Arthur Scholfield during his years in the Pittsfield factory. Examination of the National Museum machine supports this opinion. The woods used are all native to the New England region. The frame, the large cylinder and the roller called the fancy are constructed of eastern white pine (the Sturbridge machine is also constructed principally of pine) . ”

“ Arthur never applied to Congress for the recognition his contemporaries felt he deserved. [13]
Several changes in the construction of wool-carding machines took place during this period. As early as 1816 John Scholfield, Jr., was reported to have in his mill in Jewett City, Connecticut, a double-cylinder carding machine 3 feet wide. And in 1822 a Worcester, Massachusetts, machine maker advertised that he was "constructing carding machines entirely of iron." [14] Although a few of these iron carding machines were sold, they did not become common until 50 years later. ”

“ The next was a machine called 'The Man'—and truly named, for a more marvellous production can scarcely be conceived—for making implements for carding wool or cotton, the article passing in as raw wire, going through before our eyes four processes of the most delicate description, and finally coming out a perfect card, with its wire-teeth exactly set, and ready for use. ”

“ Picking machines at $30 each. Wool carded on the same terms as last year, viz.: eight cents per pound for white, and twelve and a half cents for mixed, no credit given.
With both carpenters and machinists working under his direction, he soon abandoned completely the carding of wool and devoted his full time to producing carding machines. An advertisement in the Pittsfield Sun shows Alexander and Elisha Ely providing carding service there with a Scholfield machine in 1806. Scholfield machines were also set up in Massachusetts at Bethuel Baker, Jr., & Co. ”

“ The carding machines were built by Messrs. Standring, Armstrong, and Guppy, under the Scholfields' immediate direction. All the machinery with the exception of the looms was run by water-power; the weaving was done by hand. The enterprise was in full operation by 1795. ”

“ It is fed into the first of a series of cleaners, from the last of which it issues in a long, flat sheet, to go through the processes of carding, combing, drawing, and making into roving. The carding product consists of a very delicate web, which, after being run through a trumpet and between rollers, forms a "sliver" of the size of two of one's fingers, from which it issues in a long strand. This strand or sliver Is threaded into a machine with other ends of slivers and rolled out again in one stronger strand ”

“ The first record of Arthur's sale of carding machines appeared in the Pittsfield Sun in September 1803. The next year, in May 1804, his advertisement informed the readers that A. Scholfield continued to card wool, and also that:
He has carding-machines for sale, built under his immediate inspection, upon a new and improved plan, which he is determined to sell on the most liberal terms, and will give drafts and other instructions to those who wish to build for themselves ”

“ In an interesting description (that appeared in the Times for Saturday, February 27) of the working of the "Jacquard Card-Preparing Machine," which is, it appears, "a machine for superseding the human brain, eye, and hand"— (so that soon all who can afford it will be fitted up with these machines, and keep their brains, eyes, and hands in reserve for very special occasions) —it was stated that "the blank cards are automatically fed to the punches." ”

“ Stationary cards are also fixed to a part of the upper lining of the box. The machine is fed by a pair of rollers, which unwind the sheet of cotton from the roller of the spreading machine, and pass it into the cards. These lay out the fibres in one direction, and leave behind upon the stationary cards lumps and imperfections that have escaped the other cleaning operations. As the fibres are carried over on the large cylinder, they are gathered and taken in a fine fleece by the teeth of another cylinder called a doffer, which revolves slowly in a contrary direction. ”

“ The sorting machines are used to sort the perforated cards so as to classify them by the selection and segregation, in the desired manner, of those signifying any particular type of information. The tabulating machines are used to record the information denoted by the perforated cards or to make computations based upon it. In the Remington Rand machines the control is not electrical, but is accomplished by the use of cards which admit of the movement, into the perforations, of small pins which, by linkage, guide the mechanical operation of the machine so as to effect the desired result. ”

“ The cards commonly used are of a size to receive 600 holes, and hence that number of punches are required.
The cards (E) to be cut are drawn over a “reel” or “idler” (F, Fig. 26,) at the back of the machine, and thence pass through openings in the base frame to the front of the machine, and over a square cylinder having a step-by-step rotary motion. By each quarter turn of this cylinder, the chain of cards is drawn forward sufficiently to bring a new card in the die. ”

“ There is rarely a best machine for all purposes.
Fig. 39
These machines are much in use, and can be run at a high speed, say 160, or even 180, and by many are preferred to the double-cylinder machines, as there is no danger of one cylinder getting before the other, and the cards are all laced in one set; besides, it may be more convenient for working, as some arrange their machines so that the cards for one loom hang to the back, and those of the next to the front. ”

“ The reliability of work with punch cards and punch-card machines is often much better than 99 per cent: in 10,000 operations, failures should be less than 2 or 3. This is, of course, much better than with clerical operations.
There are a number of causes for machine or card failures. Sometimes cards may be warped and may not feed into the machines properly. Or, the air in the room may be very dry, and static electricity may make the cards stick together. Or, the air may be too humid; the cards may swell slightly and may jam in the machine. ”

“ The machine responds according to its general design and its wiring for the particular problem: it punches new cards, or it prints new marks, or it puts information into new storage places. Clerks, however, move the cards from one machine to another. They wait on the machines, keep the card feeds full, and empty the card hoppers as they fill up. A human error of putting the wrong block of cards into a machine may from time to time cause a little trouble, especially in sorting. Actually, in a year, billions of punch cards are handled precisely. ”

“ A complete scribbler or first card engine consists of a breast, or small swift, and two swifts with the accompanying workers, strippers, fancies, doffers, &c. The wool is stripped from this card as a thin film by means of the doffing comb. This is usually weighed onto the next machine—whether intermediate or condenser—a given weight giving a definite count of condensed sliver. Should an intermediate be employed, there must be an automatic feed, taking the wool, as stripped from the last doffer of the intermediate, and feeding it perfectly evenly on to the feed sheet of the condenser. ”

“ They are of very compact build, and operated by belt-power. The whole card is punched at one revolution or stroke. The rack on top of the machine holds the design. The punches for peg-holes and lace-holes are immovable, while the key punches act independently, at the will of the operator. Jacquard cards for these machines are generally composed of the strongest pasteboard, and require a very strongly constructed machine.
II. Piano Card Stamping Machines.
These are operated in two ways, by the belt or foot-power. There are two kinds of each: “French index” and “American index.”
[87]
Fig. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Before commencing this work a clear conception of the tie-up and leasing of the heddles is required. The holes in the cards for the needles to penetrate, or the spots in cards where no hole is to be stamped, must be arranged in an uninterrupted chain from one row to the other, until all the rows are taken up. As previously mentioned, the method observed in tying-up the loom is the guide for stamping the cards. The number of ends required in a certain design may repeat only once in the number of hooks and needles employed in the Jacquard machine ”

“ Any boy or girl can repeat the cards, instead of requiring a card-cutter to read them.
A more useful machine is the railway press repeater; it is taken from the old method of cutting described on page 142. The cards to be repeated are placed on a cylinder the same as that used in the jacquard, and pass down over the ends of long needles similar to the jacquard needles, but arranged in a box, and with long helical springs on them. In a thick plate, or box, in front of the needles is a set of punches, and the stamping plate rests in front of the punch box, close up against it. ”

“ These machines have a great number of cylinders of different sizes covered with wire cards of various degrees of fineness, so arranged that they take the wool from one another, separating the fibres, and transferring it until it has passed quite over every cylinder, and is carded out at the farther end of the machine (sixteen or eighteen feet from where it was put in) in a thin flake like gauze. ”

“ It is well constructed, simple, and a most effective machine. Piano Foot-Treading Card-Stamping Machine. I have lately reconstructed this machine, making it more compact by a novel and durable escapement of the rack. Jacquard Card-Lacing Machine. The only successful machine ever introduced for this purpose. Far superior to hand lacing for regularity and durability. Light-running, simple and durable. Can be operated by a small girl or boy. Will lace 800 to 2000 cards per hour. ”

“ Normally, all the keys are above the punches, and all would punch when the die ascends, but when a pattern card is carried by the pattern cylinder against the ends of the selecting needles, certain needles are moved and produce a reverse movement of the corresponding key-wires, and draws certain keys out of reach of their punches; no resistance being offered to the upward movement of such punches, they do not perforate the cards. ”

“ We have scarcely left the library, and we are already in the department where they print the notes.
The printing from the plates is simple enough. The wonders of the machinery consist chiefly in the spontaneous advance of the numbers (each note has its own number, and a double set too) , and in the control which the machine exercises over the workmen. There is no inspector to watch the printer. The machine, which he compels to print, compels him to be honest. The machine registers the exact numbers that are being printed, and registers them too in a distant part of the establishment. ”

“ These machines rule either straight or curved lines. They can be adjusted to rule several thousand lines to an inch, but that is only done for microscopical work, not for engraving. The general principle of a medallion ruling machine is a rod, fixed on a pivot, at one end of which is a pin which is drawn across a medallion, while at the other end a graving point traces a corresponding line on the steel. The large stamps issued in the United States in 1865, for the payment of postage on newspapers and periodicals, are examples of this work. ”

“ Under the keys runs a rod connected by a crank motion with the pusher G, which, with every depression of a key, pushes forward the line of type in the composing stick, thus making room for the next letter. The matter is thus set in one continuous line, ready to be divided into lines of the required length either by the operator at the machine or by another hand working in conjunction. The speed of the machine varies from 6000 to 12,000 types per hour, but is regulated solely by the skill of the operator, as the machine will work as fast as the keys can be pressed. ”