Breaker card
William Tatham and Company
Category
Machinery and industrial devices
Date
1923
Materials
Metal
Measurements
190 cm (height)331 cm (length)189 cm (width)
Place of origin
Rochdale
Order this imageCollection
Quarry Bank, Cheshire
NT 1453860
Summary
A breaker carder made by William Tatham, Rochdale, in 1923. This is the second machine to process the raw cotton. The lap (roll) of raw cotton is fed into the machine from the back by a set of rollers, it is then brushed by sharp combs rotating on a series of internal rollers underneath the wooden canopy. The web of carded cotton is then fed along a conveyor belt and through compressing rollers, becoming a sliver (strand) of cotton. Waste cotton drops underneath the machine, or into the modern dust extractor, and the finished product is stored in tall leather cans.
Marks and inscriptions
End, beside can that collects slivers: Wm Tatham and Co. Rochdale Patent End, beside can that collects slivers: Wm Tatham and Co. Rochdale Patent Front of canopy: Wm Tatham Ltd Rochdale Eng End, beside can that collects slivers: Wm Tatham and Co. Rochdale Patent Front of canopy: Wm Tatham Ltd Rochdale Eng Front of canopy: white; 24 End, beside can that collects slivers: Wm Tatham and Co. Rochdale Patent Front of canopy: Wm Tatham Ltd Rochdale Eng Front of canopy: white; 24 Front of canopy beneath 24: black; A
Makers and roles
William Tatham and Company, manufacturer