IMPROVEMENTS IN SOFTENING, PREPARING, AND SPINNING FLAX AND SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS AND FINISHING YARNS MADE THEREOF, AND TH APPARATUS THEREFOB." PROAL
Year: 1868

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to David Martin, Flax Merchant, of Dundee, in
the County of Forfar, North Britain, William Small, Flax Merchant,
of the same Place, Alexander Hutton, Banker, of Arbroath, in the
same County, and Andrew Key, Doctor of Medicine, also of Arbroath,
Executors of Douglas Fraser, late of Arbroath, in the County of
Forfar, North Britain, Manufacturer, deceased, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SOFTENING, PREPARING, AND SPINNING FLAX AND
SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS AND FINISHING YARNS MADE THEREOF, AND
TH APPARATUS THEREFOB."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Douglas Fraser at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th August 1868. .
I, DOUGLAS FRASER, of Arbroath, in the County of Forfar, North
5 Britain, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention

page_text: for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SOFTENING, PREPARING, AND SPINNING FLAX, AND SIMILAR
FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND FINISHING YARNS MADE THEREOF, AND IN APPARATUS
THEREPOR," to be as follows:-
This Invention comprises various improvements in and relating to the
manufacture of flax and similar fibrous materials.
The first improvement consists in softening the hard ends of flax by
means of suitable apparatus, whereby the flax is made to yield more
in the hackling, and to join better when being spun into yarns. This
improvement is conveniently effected by means of a fluted plate upon
which the flax ends are laid, and where they are acted on by a fluted
roller pressed upon them by weights or otherwise, and made to roll back-
wards and forwards along the plate by a revolving crank or equivalent
mechanism.
The second improvement consists in treating the tow (before sending
it to the carding engines) in combined cramping and teasing apparatus,
by which it is softened, mixed, damped, and teased. In this apparatus
the tow being put on an endless feed cloth passes thence between a
series of twelve or other suitable number of fluted rollers, on leaving
which it is damped by jets of steam issuing against it from a perforated
pipe. The tow next passes by an endless feed cloth to a pair of feed
rollers, which subject it to the action of a teasing cylinder furnished
with strong steel pins, which completes the operation of this stage.
The third improvement consists in applying steam to the flax or
similar rove when spinning it, and is conveniently carried into effect by
arranging a perforated steam pipe so as to direct the jets of steam upon
the rove slivers at the parts where the twist begins to take effect on
them, that is, close to the drawing rollers of the spinning frame.
The fourth improvement consists in finishing the flax or similar yarns
by submitting them in the hank form to shaking, polishing, and softening
actions in apparatus comprising two rotating hand wheels, by one of
which the hanks can be twisted backwards and forwards, whilst by the
other they can be stretched and shaken. The hanks are strung by their
opposite ends on opposite sets of bobbins carried by crank spindles,
the spindles of one set having on them pinions in gear with a spur
wheel actuated by the first hand wheel, whilst the spindles of the other
set are carried by a frame or slide which is moved backwards and

page_text: forwards by means of a rack and pinion actuated by the second hand
wheel.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said David
Martin, William Small, Alexander Hutton, and Andrew Key in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DAVID
MARTIN, Flax Merchant, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North
Britain, WILLIAM SMALL, Flax Merchant, of the same Place, ALEXANDER
HUTTON, Banker, of Arbroath, in the same County, and ANDREW KEY,
Doctor of Medicine, also of Arbroath, Executors of DOUGLAS FRASER,
late of Arbroath, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, Manufacturer,
deceased, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said David Martin, William Small, Alexander
Hutton, and Andrew Key, Her special licence that we, the said David
Martin, William Small, Alexander Hutton, and Andrew Key, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
David Martin, William Small, Alexander Hutton, and Andrew Key, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SOFTENING, PREPARING, AND SPINNING FLAX AND SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS,
AND FINISHING YARNS MADE THEREOF, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said David Martin, William
Small, Alexander Hutton, and Andrew Key, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one of our or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office on or before the Fifth day of March 1869.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said David Martin, William Small,
Alexander Hutton, and Andrew Key, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say:-
The said Invention comprises various improvements in and relating to
the manufacture of flax and similar fibrous materials.
And in order that the nature of the said Invention and the manner
of performing the same may be properly understood, there are hereunto
appended three Sheets of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred
to, and representing various machines with the improvements applied to
them. The same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like
parts in all the Figures in which they occur.
The first improvement consists in softening the hard ends of flax by
means of suitable apparatus whereby the flax is made to yield more in
the hackling and to join better when being spun into yarns.
One modification of apparatus for conveniently effecting this improve-
ment is shown upon Sheet 1 of the Drawings, Figure 1 being a plan,
and Figure 2 a side elevation.
The machine consists of a rectangular framing 1 fitted with a hori-
zontal plate or table 2 occupying not quite half the length of the
framing. A portion 3 of this plate or table 2 is fluted transversely, and
the flax is laid longitudinally on the table with the hard ends upon the
fluted portion. A fluted roller 4 is arranged to roll horizontally back-
wards and forwards upon the flax ends, being pressed down upon them
by levers 5 which are centred at one end of the machine and which
rest on the journals of the roller 4, their other ends being weighted to
whatever extent is found necessary. The roller is moved backwards and
forwards by a pair of connecting rods 6 jointed on its journals and on
the pins of cranks 7 on a transverse horizontal shaft 8 revolving in
bearings in the framing and driven from a first-motion shaft 9 having
fast and loose belt pulleys 10 on it by means of a pinion 11 on the
latter in gear with a spur wheel 12 on the former shaft.

page_text: The second improvement consists in treating the tow (before sending
it to the carding engines) in combined cramping and teasing apparatus,
by which it is softened, mixed, damped, and teased. This apparatus is
shown on Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings, Figure 3 being a plan,
and Figure 4 a side elevation partly in section. This apparatus com-
prises two separate framings on one of which, marked 13, there is an
endless feed cloth 14 on which the tow is laid for entering it into the
apparatus. This endless cloth 14 leads the tow in between a series of
twelve (or other suitable number of) fluted rollers 15, and on issuing
from these rollers at the other end of the first framing 13 the tow is
damped by jets of steam issuing against it from a perforated pipe 16
placed horizontally across just under the line of traverse of the tow and
supplied by a branch pipe and regulator valve 17. An endless feed
cloth 18 carries the tow onwards from the first framing 13 to the second
19, in which it is subjected to the action of a teasing cylinder 20, being
led in between a pair of feed rollers 21 which present it to the cylinder.
The machinery is driven by two separate belts, one acting on a pulley on
a transverse horizontal shaft 22 on the first framing 13, and the other
on a pulley on the shaft 23 of the teasing cylinder 20. The fluted
rollers 15 are driven from the shaft 22 by two trains of spur gearing 24,
which will be easily understood from the Drawing, and the endless feed
cloth 14 by spur wheels 25 connecting its front roller with the first lower
fluted roller 15. The feed rollers 21 which present the tow to the teasing
cylinder 20 are actuated by a train of spur wheels 26 from a shaft 27
driven by means of a belt 28 and pulleys from the cylinder shaft 23, and
another train of spur wheels 29 on the other side serve to drive two
pinned stripping rollers 30, 31, situated above the feed rollers 21. The
teasing cylinder 20 is constructed in the ordinary way with staves or
stocks 32 fixed round its circumference and with pointed steel pins.
The third improvement consists in applying steam to the flax or
similar rove when spinning it, and is conveniently applied, as shown in
Figures 5 and 6 on Sheet 3 of the accompanying Drawings, these Figures
being respectively a section and a front elevation of a portion of a spinning
frame. A horizontal perforated steam pipe 33 is carried along the front of
the frame so as to be immediately behind the rove slivers 34 at the parts
where the twist begins to take effect on them, that is, close to the
drawing rollers 35. By applying steam in this way to the rove the yarn

page_text: is much improved, being made stronger and more level, whilst there is
less waste in the spinning. The steam blows against each sliver in a
small jet from a perforation in the pipe 33 immediately behind. Short
lengths of the perforated pipe 33 are supplied by branch pipes 36, each
fitted with a regulator valve.
The fourth improvement consists in finishing the flax or similar yarns
by submitting them in the hank form to shaking, polishing, and softening
actions in apparatus of the kind shown in Figures 7 and 8 on Sheet 3 of
the accompanying Drawings, these Figures being respectively a plan
and a side elevation partly in section. This apparatus is actuated by
means of two rotating hand wheels 37, 38, on horizontal shafts 39, 40,
at right angles to each other and mounted on a rectangular framing 41.
On the shaft 39 of one hand wheel 37 there is fixed a spur wheel 42
which has in gear with it two pinions 43 on spindles 44 which are
cranked to receive bobbins 45 in transverse positions. The hanks are
hung between these bobbins 45 and similar bobbins 46 on cranked
bars 47 which are carried in bearings through which they can slide
longitudinally in a fixed transverse frame piece 48, whilst they are fixed
in a transverse frame piece 49 arranged to move on two guide rods 50.
The shaft 40 of one 38 of the hand wheels is carried in bracket bearings
on the movable frame piece 49 and has fast on it a pinion 51 which
is in gear with a rack 52 fixed down upon a longitudinal central frame
bar. With these arrangements the turning of the hand wheel 38 moves
the frame piece 49 and with it the bars 47 and their bobbins 46 from
or towards the other end of the machine so as to stretch or slacken
the hanks as required. The bars 47 cannot turn, so that when the
spindles 44 with the other bobbins 45 are turned by means of the hand
wheel 37 the effect is to twist the hanks. In using the machine the
hanks are twisted first in one direction and then in the other by means
of one hand wheel 37, and are stretched by means of the other hand
wheel 38, being also shaken by working the latter backwards and
forwards, and the effect is to impart an improved polish and finish,
which is more particularly advantageous in the case of weft yarns and
twines, and which supersedes the ordinary process of beating whilst
yielding less waste.
Having thus particularly described the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we have to state that it is not

page_text: restricted to the precise details herein described or delineated; but that
what we believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The softening of the hard ends of flax by means of apparatus
substantially such as is herein-before described and is delineated on
Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
2. The softening, mixing, damping, and teasing of the tow in
apparatus the parts of which are arranged and combined together in
manner substantially as herein-before described and as delineated on
Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
3. The applying of steam to the rove when spinning it substantially
as herein-before described.
And, 4. The finishing of the yarns in manner and by means of appa-
ratus substantially such as is herein-before described and is delineated in
Figures 7 and 8 on Sheet 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Hutton, on behalf of the
said David Martin, William Small, Andrew Key, and myself,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this First day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.