Cheney Stereoviews Collection (22 of
)
Silk Industry, So. Manchester, Conn., U.S.A.
The dressing room takes the pierced cocoons and the filatures after the washing process and completes the cleaning process by removing all dirt, chrysalis shells and foreign matter. This dressing machine consists of a large wheel upon the surface of which the lengths of fibre are fastened, as they come from the picker machine. As this wheel revolves, the fibre is carried past two rapidly revolving rollers, the surfaces of which are covered with a fine needles. As the silk passes through the rollers the needles comb out all of the chrysalis shells, sticks and other foreign matter, which have not been removed previously. The needles also straighten the fibre in the lengths attached to the large wheel and pull off the shorter fibres which cling to the rollers.
In the picture the large wheel with the lengths of fibres on the rods from the picker machine is seen in the right-hand upper part. In the lower part one of the rollers bearing the needles is shown. The boy is removing a "lap" of short fibres from its surface. The roller shown in the picture carries 68,000 needles. When the fibres have passed twice around the large wheel they are rolled up on cloths and removed as "flags."
The large dressing machine here shown was photographed in the plant of Cheney Bros., silk manufacturers in South Manchester, Conn. These machines are especially advantageous in that they do not require much attention, while they turn out a large amount of dressed silk, and that with unerring regularity.
