IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR DRAWING ROVINGS AND SPINNING YARNS OF COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by
the Office of the Commissioners of
George Frederick Redfern at
Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th June 1868.-A communication from abroad by George
William Philip, of Philmont, in the United States of America.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the General Patent Office,
4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR DRAWING ROVINGS AND SPINNING YARNS
OF COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBRES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The Invention communicated to me relates to improvements in
machinery for drawing the roving and spinning yarns of cotton, wool,
and other fibres.
These improvements consist, firstly, in novel mechanism for stretching,
condensing, drawing, and twisting the rovings of wool, cotton, and other
fibres in a stationary frame, either in direct connection with spindles
operating on the principle of throstle spinning to spin a continuous
thread, or connected with spools to wind the yarn on in the usual
manner.

page_text: The devices for drawing, twisting, and spinning simultaneously and
continuously in a stationary frame consist, firstly, in a hollow shaft or
tube carrying small drawing rollers at one end, which rollers are geared
independently of the twisting tube in such a manner that they have a
compound motion, whereby they rotate on their own axes, while at the
same time they turn end over end with the tube, as herein-after
explained.
The operation of these drawing rollers involves four distinct kinds or
modes of motion, to wit:-
First, conjoint motion. The drawing rollers turn with the twisting
tube end over end at right angles with their own axes for the purpose
of twisting the roving.
Second, independent motion.-The drawing rollers revolve on their
own axes independently of the twisting tube, and at right angles to the
line of its axis, for the purpose of drawing the roving.
Third, relative motion. The drawing rollers revolve slower or faster
on their own axes in relation to the speed of the twisting tube to
regulate the draft on the roving.
Fourth, positive motion. The drawing rollers are operated positively
by cog gearing independently of the twisting tube, to prevent them from
slipping while the tube runs by belt and pulley.
The drawing rollers are so constructed and arranged in connection
with other devices that they shall admit of being exactly adjusted
independently of each other, and in such relation to the twisting tube
as to maintain a central position in line with its axes, that is to say,
so that the axial line of the twisting tube shall pass through the point
of contact of their peripheries, and the rollers shall also be subject to
an equal spring pressure on their opposite sides to bear alike on the
roving, and yield equally to any inequality or extraneous substance in
the roving while it passes between them.
Secondly. These improvements consist in combining these drawing
and twisting devices with spindles operating on the throstle spinning
principle, with a continuous thread twisted by mean of flyers, rings,
or cups.
The Invention is carried out as follows:-The drawing and twisting
machinery together form a single device or drawing and twisting head

page_text: which is placed singly or in pairs in a spinning frame, one pair only
being herein described for the purpose of illustration. Motion is com.
municated from a driving shaft carrying a drum or in any suitable
manner. A train of gear wheels on one side of the frame actuates
the press or feed rollers, and another train of wheels on the opposite
side actuates the take-up rollers. Behind the feed rollers a drum
supports a spool to carry the roving and run it off in the usual way,
or it may be taken directly from the cards to the feed rollers and
drawing heads. Between the feed rollers and the take-up rollers the
drawing and twisting heads are placed horizontally in line with the
spindles respectively, which spindles are constructed to work on the
throstle principle with flyers or may be provided with cups or ring
travellers in the ordinary manner as employed in cotton spinning.
Instead of a series of ordinary press rollers to draw the roving in short
lengths at a time as usual in throstle spinning to deliver it continuously
to the spindles, which operation has been hitherto employed only in
spinning cotton yarns, but has never succeeded in spinning woollen
yarns; this improved machinery is alike applicable and successful in
spinning both cotton and woollen yarns with the throstle spindle,
whereby jacks and mules are superseded and dispensed with entirely,
and great economies and improvements are introduced into both woollea
and cotton manufactures. In the improved drawing and twisting heads
the twisting tube is supported in a bearing which is fitted on a cross
rail connected with side rails that are made adjustable to regulate the
distance between the twisting tube and the feed rollers according to
the quality of the roving. The twisting tube is driven by a belt running
from a drum over an adjustable pulley fitted on the tube and secured
by a screw. On the front end of the twisting tube is fitted a loose
spur wheel which engages a driver placed between a pair of tubes. A
skew bevel or shouldered wheel is placed on the front side of the spur
wheel gearing into cog wheels which are fitted on opposite ends of the
drawing rollers, which are placed in front of the end of the twisting
tube at right angles to it and are supported in the sides of an open
box projecting from the end of the tube, the sides are secured by end
pieces or caps screwed on them. In the sides are recesses for receiving
the journals of the drawing rollers between the bottoms of the recesses;
in each of the sides is a neck, the recesses are made deep enough in
the sides to permit the drawing rollers to touch each other while the

page_text: journals shall not touch the neck at the bottom of each. The drawing
rollers may be smooth, but are made fluted preferably, and they are
provided with adjustable spring bearings or followers which set upon
the journals in the recesses and press both rollers equally against each
other to bear upon the roving with a graduated pressure while passing
between them. The followers of each roller are connected by semi-
elliptical springs which are adjusted accurately by set screws that pass
through the middle of the caps and impinge with their points upon
them, the set screws are provided with jam nuts to keep them fixed
when adjusted. The drawing rollers are adjusted independently of
each other by the spring bearings on their opposite sides and are thus
maintained exactly in the axial line of the twisting tube passing through
the point of contact of their peripheries. Their motion is rendered
positive by means of the gear wheels on their opposite ends actuated by
the skew bevel on the loose spur wheel, and their velocity in relation to
that of the twisting tube is regulated by an intermediate driver which
may be changed to run with more or less speed as desired while the
twisting tube revolves with greater velocity than the drawing rollers
by means of the belt on the adjustable pulley. The drawing rollers thus
revolve on their own axes independently of the twisting tube and also
turn over conjointly with it. The roving passes from the press rollers
into and through the twisting tube between the drawing rollers, and is
thus twisted and drawn at the same time, whereby it is condensed in a
continuous thread that passes to the take-up rollers and thence to the
spindles. By means of this constant and simultaneous action of the
drawing rollers and twisting tube upon the roving it is stretched and
condensed evenly from the feed rollers without undue strain on the
weaker parts which are never broken. The roving is thus supplied
continuously to a spindle working on the throstle principle with a flyer
or with either the cup or ring, and both wool and cotton may be spun to
make a perfectly level thread of any degree of twist or tenuity. The
take-up rollers do not draw upon the roving, but only receive the fila-
ment from the drawing rollers as fast as it is delivered by them and the
speed of the take-up rollers is adjusted accordingly. The roving passes
thence to the spindle to be spun directly or to a spool for winding.
The roving may be doubled and further condensed by running from the
take-up rollers into another set of drawing and twisting heads placed in
advance of them in the same frame, and by this arrangement of a series

page_text: of successive drawing and twisting heads the roving may be formed
directly from the cards and reduced to any degree of tenuity in a single
operation from the cards to the spindles.