COTTON MANUFACTURE

( Filature de Coton , Fr.; Baumwollespinnerei , Germ.) Cotton is a filamentous down, which invests the seeds of the plant called go ypium by Linnæus, and placed by him in the cla mon a delph i a and order mon and ria , but belonging to the natural family of malvaceæ . It has a cup-shaped calyx, obtusely five-toothed, inclosed in a three-cleft exterior calyx; the leaflets are united at their base, of a heart shape and toothed; stigmas three to five; capsule three to five celled and many-seeded; seeds bearing a downy wool. Thirteen species are described by Decandolle, but their characters are very uncertain, and no botanist can a ign to a definite species of the plant, the very di imilar staples of the cotton filaments found in commerce. The leaves are generally palmate and hairy; and the blo oms are large, and of a beautiful yellow. The go ypium religiosum of Tranquebar has white blo oms in some of its varieties, to which, probably, the white cotton of Rome, cultivated in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, belongs. The filaments differ in length, flexibility, tenacity, and thickne , in different cottons, whence the great differences of their value to the cotton-spinner, as the prices current in the market show. Thus, at Liverpool, on the 1st of December, 1835, the following values were a igned to the following cottons :— | s. | d. | | s. | d. | | Sea-island | 1 | 6 | | to | 2 | 6 | | | Demerara and Berbice | 0 | 9 | | | 1 | 0 | | | Pernambuco | 0 | 10 | 3⁄4 | | 1 | 1 | 1⁄2 | | Egyptian | 0 | 11 | 1⁄2 | | 1 | 2 | 1⁄2 | | New Orleans | 0 | 7 | 1⁄8 | | 1 | 0 | | | Bahia | 0 | 8 | 1⁄4 | | 0 | 10 | | | Upland Georgia | 0 | 7 | 1⁄8 | | 0 | 11 | 1⁄2 | | West Indian | 0 | 7 | 3⁄4 | | 0 | 9 | | | Surat | 0 | 6 | 1⁄8 | | 0 | 8 | | | Madras | 0 | 6 | 1⁄2 | | 0 | 8 | | | Bengal | 0 | 5 | 1⁄4 | | 0 | 6 | 1⁄2 | But it is to be observed, that there are varieties of the Sea-island Georgian cotton, so highly prized by the spinner of fine yarn, as to fetch 3 s. , 4 s. , or even 5 s. per pound. The filaments of cotton, when examined with a good microscope, are seen to be more or le ribbon-like, and twisted; having a breadth varying from 1 ⁄ 800 of an inch in the strongest Smyrna or candle-wick cotton of the Levant, to 1 ⁄ 2500 of an inch in the finest Sea-island. The main distinction between cottons in the pod, is that of the black seeded, and the green seeded; for the former part with their downy wool very readily to a pair of simple rollers, made to revolve nearly in contact, by the power of the human arm; while the latter retain the wool with much force, and require to be ginned, as the operation is called, by a powerful revolving circular saw-mechanism, usually driven by horse or water power. After the cotton wool is thus separated from the seeds, it is packed in large canvas bags, commonly with the aid of a screw or hydraulic pre , into a very dense bale, for the convenience of transport. Each of the American bags contains about 340 lbs. of cotton wool. When this cotton is delivered to the manufacturer, it is so foul and flocky, that he must clean and disentangle it with the utmost care, before he can subject it to the carding operation. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0344.png:Cotton gin Fig. 317. A B , is a roller, about 9 inches in diameter, which revolves in the direction of the arrow. This cylinder consists of a parallel series of oblique pointed circular saws made fast to one axis, and parted from each other by wooden rings nearly one inch and a half in thickne . Above the cylinder is a kind of hopper E F , into which ginner throws the seed cotton, which falls upon a grating, up though which small segments of the saw-teeth project, so as to lay hold of the fibres in their revolution, and pull them through, while the seeds being thus separated, roll down the slope of the grid, to be discharged from the spout I K . M is a cylindrical brush placed below the grating, which revolves against the saw teeth, so as to clear them of the adhering cotton filaments. The willow , which was originally a cylindrical willow basket, whence its name, but is now a box made of wood, with revolving iron spikes, is the first apparatus to which cotton wool is exposed, after it has been opened up, picked, and sorted by hand or a rake, in what is called a bing . The willow exercises a winnowing action, loosens the large flocks, and shakes out much of the dirt contained in them. The frame of the willow is about 2 feet wide, and turns with its spikes at the rapid rate of 600 revolutions per minute, whereby it to es the cotton about with great violence. The heavy impurities fall down through the grid bottom. It is exposed, however, for only a few minutes to the action of this machine. For factories which work up chiefly the coarser and fouler cottons of India, and Upland Georgia, the conical self-acting willow, as constructed by Mr. Lillie at Manchester, is much employed. In it, the cotton is put in at the narrow end of the truncated cone, which, being spiked, and revolving rapidly within a nearly concentric case upon a horizontal axis, wafts it on towards the wide end, while its impurities are partly shaken out through the grid or perforated bottom, and partly sucked up through revolving squirrel wire cages, by the centrifugal action of a fan. This is a powerful automatic engine, deserving the study of the curious, and is as safe as it is powerful. The cone of this huge machine makes from 400 to 600 turns per minute, and will clean 7200 pounds, or 24 bags, in a day. After shaking out the gro er impurities by the willow, the cotton spinner proceeds to separate each individual filament of cotton wool from its fellow, so as to prepare it for carding, and to free it from every particle of foreign matter, whether lighter or heavier than itself. This second operation is performed by what are called batting ( beating ), scutching, and blowing machines, which are all now much the same, whatever difference of signification the name may have. Indeed, each machine not only beats, scutches, but blows. Fig. 318. exhibits a longitudinal section of a good blowing engine of modern construction. The machine is about 18 or 19 feet long, and three feet acro within the case. The whole frame is made of cast-iron, lined with boards, forming a close box, which has merely openings for introducing the raw cotton wool, for taking out the cleansed wool, and removing the dust as it collects at the bottom. These doors are shut during the operation of the machine, but may be opened at pleasure, to allow the interior to be inspected and repaired. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0345.png:Blowing engine Fig. 318 enlarged (120 kB) The introduction of the cotton is effected by means of an endle cloth or double apron, which moves in the direction of the arrow a a , at the left end of the figure , by pa ing round the continually revolving rollers at b and c . The two rollers at e , being the ones which immediately introduce the cotton into the jaws, as it were, of the machine, are called the feed rollers. The batting arm, or revolving diameter, f e , turns in the direction of the arrow, and strikes the flocks violently as they enter, so as to throw down any heavy particles upon the iron grating or grid at n , while the light cotton filaments are wafted onwards with the wind, from the rotation of the scutcher in the direction of arrow a′ , along the second travelling apron, upon which the squirrel cage cylinder pre es, and applies the cotton in the form of a lap. Above the cylindric cage h , which turns in the direction of its arrow, there is a pipe k , the continuation of the case i . This pipe, though broken off in the figure, communicates by a branch pipe with an air-sucking fan ventilator, not seen in this figure, but explained under Foundry . The cage h , by its rotation, pre es down, as we have said, the half-cleaned cotton upon the cloth a′ , which carries it forward to the second scutcher f′ , by the second set of feed rollers e′ . The second scutcher throws down the heavy dust upon the second grid n′ , through which it falls upon the bottom of the case. The first scutcher makes about 1280 strokes of each of its two arms in a minute; the second 1300. The feed rollers for each are fluted. The feed cloth is either sustained by a board, or is made of parallel spars of wood, to secure it against bagging, which would render the delivery of the cotton irregular. The feed rollers make 8 turns in the minute, and as their diameter is 1 1 ⁄ 2 inches, they will introduce 8 times their circumference, or 37·7 inches of the cotton spread upon the apron in that time. Upon every 12th part of an inch of the cotton, therefore, nearly 3 blows of the scutcher arm will be applied. The second feed rollers move relatively with more slowne , so that for every 2·4 blows of the scutcher, only one twelfth of an inch of cotton wool is presented. 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 pa 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 suppre ed 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. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0346.png:Blowing machine 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 pre ure 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 thickne 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. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0347a.png:Scutching machine 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. Carding is the next operation in a cotton factory. Cards are destined to disentangle the individual filaments from each other, and to lay them lengthwise, instead of being doubled up and convoluted, as they usually are in leaving the blowing and lap machines. Carding consists in the mutual action of two opposite surfaces, which are studded thick with oblique angled hooks. The wires of which these hooks are made must be very hard drawn in order to render them stiff and elastic. The middle part of the figures shows one of the staples or double teeth, the structure of which has been partly explained under Card . Suppose a , fig. 321. to be a piece of a card fillet, and b to be another piece, each being made fast with pins to a board; the teeth of these two cards are set in opposite directions, but are very near together, and parallel. Now suppose a flock or tuft of cotton placed between two such bristling surfaces. Let a be moved in the direction of its arrow, and let b be moved in the opposite direction, or even let it remain at rest. Every filament of the cotton will be laid hold of by each set of teeth, when their surfaces are thus drawn over each other; the teeth of a will pull them in a forward direction, while those of b will tend to retain them, or to pull them backwards. The loops or doublings will, by both movements, be opened or drawn out, so that the flocks will be converted into rows of parallel filaments, lying alongside or before each other. Each tooth will secure to itself one or more of them, and by the friction of its sides, as well as the hooks of its points, will draw them to their utmost elongation. Though one stroke of the opposite cards be inadequate to produce this equable arrangement, yet many repeated strokes must infallibly accomplish the end in view, of laying the fibres parallel. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0347b.png:Card Let us suppose this end effected, and that all the fibres have been transferred to the card a , a transverse stroke of b will draw over to it a certain number of them, and indeed at each stroke there will be a new partition between the two cards, with increased parallelism, but still each card will retain a great deal of the cotton. To make one card strip another, the teeth of one of them must be placed in a reverse position, as shown in fig. 322. If a be now drawn in the direction of its arrow along the face of b , it will inevitably comb out all, or almost all, the filaments from it, since the hooks of b have, in this position, no power of retaining them. Even the doubled fibres or loops will slip over the sloping point of b , in obedience to the traction of a . By considering these two relative positions of the cards, which take place in hand cards, simply by reversing one of them, any person will be able to understand the play of a cylinder card against its flat top, or against another cylinder card, the respective teeth being in what we may call the teazing position of fig. 321. ; and also the play of a cylinder card against the doffer cylinder, in what may be called the stripping position of fig. 322. Cylinder cards, so e ential to the continuity and dispatch of cotton factory labour, were the ingenious invention of Lewis Paul of North amp ton, but were greatly improved and brought into nearly their present operative state by Sir Richard Ark wright. A carding engine consists of one or more cylinders, covered with card-leather (sometimes called card cloth), and a set of plane surfaces similarly covered, made to work against each other, but so that their points do not come into absolute contact. Some cards consist entirely of cylinders, the central main cylinder being surrounded by a series of smaller ones called urchins or squirrels. These are used solely for preparing the coarser stapled cotton, and sheep’s wool for the wool spinner. Fig. 323. represents a card of excellent construction, which may be called a breaker and finisher , as it is capable of working up the fleece roll of the lapping machine directly into a card-end or riband fit for the drawing machine. In fine spinning mills there are always, however, two cards; one coarser, called a breaker, which turns off the cotton in a broad fleece of extreme thinne , which is lapped round a cylinder; and constitutes the material presented to the finisher card, which has teeth of a finer construction. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0348.png:Carding machine a is one of the two upright slots, which are fixed at each side of the engine for receiving the iron gudgeons of the wooden cylinders round which the fleece of the lapping machine is rolled. The circumference of this coil rests upon a roller b , which is made to turn slowly in such a direction as to aid the unfolding of the lap by the fluted cylinders e . The lap proceeds along the table seen beneath the letter c , in its progre to the fluted rollers, which are an inch and one-sixth in diameter, and have 28 flutings in their circumference. g is a weight which hangs upon the axis of the upper roller, and causes it to pre upon the under one: f is the main card drum; g g g , the arch formed by the flat top cards; h , the small card cylinder for stripping off the cotton, and therefore called the doffer, as we have said; i , the doffer-knife or comb for stripping the fleecy web from the doffer; k l q m , the lever mechanism for moving these parts. At d there is a door for permitting the tenter to have acce to the interior of the engine, and to remove whatever dirt, . may happen to fall into it. In fig. 324. we see the manner of fixing the flat tops g g over the drum; and for making the matter clearer, three of the tops are removed. Upon the arched cast-iron side of the frame, a row of strong iron pins k are made fast in the middle line; and each top piece has, at each of its ends, a hole, which fits down upon two such opposite pins. l l are screws whose heads serve as supports to the tops, by coming into contact with the bottom of the holes, which are not of course bored through the wood of the tops. By turning the heads of these screws a little the one way or the other, the pins may be lengthened or shortened in any degree, so as to set the tops very truly in adjustment with the drum teeth revolving beneath them, h′ is the small runner or urchin, and i′ the large runner; both of which are spirally covered from end to end with narrow card fillets, in the same manner as the doffer. The main drum is on the contrary covered with card cloth, in strips laid on parallel to its axis, with interjacent parallel smooth leather borders. The teeth of these several cards are set as represented in the figure, and their cylinders revolve as the arrows indicate. The runners as well as the doffer cylinder may be set nearer to or farther from the drum f ; but the screws intended for this adjustment are omitted in the drawings, to avoid confusion of the lines. The card-end or fleece taken off the doffer h by the crank and comb mechanism i k m , pa es through the tin plate or bra funnel n , fig. 323. , whereby it is hemmed in and contracted into a riband, which is then pa ed 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 bra 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 , pre 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. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0349.png:Carding machine 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 cro ed 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 cro ed twice, and is kept in tension by the pulley t′ , round which it pa es. 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 acro 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 pa 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 e ential the runners are to the perfection as well as to the acceleration of the carding proce 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. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0350.png:Card and fleece Suppose the sizes and velocities to be as represented in the preceding table, that the engine is a double card 36 inches broad, and that it is furnished with a lap from the lap-machine of which 30 feet in length weigh 5 lbs. In one minute the surface of the feed-rollers, e , pa es 2·55 inches of that lap onwards; in the same time the main drum f will work it off. To card the whole 30 feet, therefore, 141 minutes, or 2 hours and 21 minutes will be required. In this time the circumference of the rollers, u v , moves through a space of 141 × 42,908 in. = 5042 ft., and delivers a card-end of that length, weighing 5 lbs., minus 6 per cent. for waste, that is 4 lbs. 11 1 ⁄ 2 oz. One pound will form a riband 1072 feet long, being, according to the English mode of counting, about number 1 ⁄ 3 , or 0·357. The extension of the cotton-fleece to this degree proceeds as follows:—In the 141 minutes which the feed-rollers take to introduce the 30 feet of lap, the doffer, h , makes 617·58 revolutions, and the comb, or doffer knife, i , detaches from the doffer teeth, a thin fleecy web of 2262 feet in length. The first drawing pair of fluted rollers, by its quick motion, with the aid of the funnel, m , converts this fleece into a riband 2535 feet long. The second pair of the fluted rollers extends this riband to 4390 feet, since their surface velocity is greater than the first pair in that proportion. The slight elongation (of only 112 feet, or about 1 ⁄ 44 ) which takes place between the delivery fluted rollers and the smooth cylinders, v , u , serves merely to keep the card-end steadily upon the stretch without folding. Fig. 325. is a plan of the card and the fleece, where h is the cylinder, n is the funnel, u the pre ing rollers, and h′ the card-ends in the can. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0351a.png:Carding machine Figs. 326 , 327. represent skeletons of the old cards to facilitate the comprehension of these complex machines. Fig. 326. is a plan; F is the main drum; M M is the doffer knife or comb; G , the carded fleece hemmed in by the funnel a , pre ed between the rollers b , and then falling in narrow fillets into its can. Fig. 327. K L are the feed rollers; A B , the card drum; C D , the tops; E F , the doffer card; M N , the doffer knife; d , b , c , the card-end pa ing between compre ing rollers into the can a .