AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PREPARING AND SPINNING WOOL, COTTON, SILK, FLAX, FUR, AND ALL OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1820

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
MAIN, of Bagnio Court, Newgate Street, in the City of London, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of January, in the sixtieth year of the reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant uuto me, the said
Joseph Main, His especial licence, that I, the said Joseph Main, my exors
admors, or assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Main, my exors,
adors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also within all His Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PREPARING AND
SPINNING WOOL, COTTON, SILK, FLAX, FUR, AND ALL OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said Joseph Main, by au instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be en-
rolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto bad, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Main, do hereby declare, that this present Instrument and the expla-
natory Drawing hereunto annexed and hereby referred to, and to which I have
set my hand and seal, contains a full, faithful, accurate, and perfect account of
my aforesaid Invention or improvement, and of the manner in which the same
is to be produced and carried into effect (that is to say) :-
After the wool, cotton, silk, flax, fur, or other fibrous material to be operated
upon has been hackled, carded, or otherwise dressed or prepared (according to
its nature), for the purpose of its being spun, it must be drawn by some or
one of the usual and accustomed modes of preparing and drawing such
materials, and which forming no part of my Invention or improvement, I do
not specify After this I take up the process and proceed to rove it by the
improved spindle, bobbin, and flyers herein-after described, and by which it is
not only further drawn but slightly twisted at the same time, and by this
means the loose fibres and short staple become worked in with that which is
longer, and the roving becomes so much improved that much less doubling
than heretofore used is sufficient. The twisting and drawing of my rovings
is brought about by machinery similar to that which I use for spinning and
doubling, its size and velocity only being varied, and it consists principally in
improvements upon the ordinary spindle, bobbin, aud flyers, and in regulating
their comparative velocity to each other, which I do with so much nicety and
delicacy as to enable me to produce much finer rovings, and as good or better
yarns or threads, in greater quantity in a given time than could be done by
any other process heretofore in use; and the construction is the same (strength
and magnitude only excepted) whether the same is applied to hand or mill
spinning. The operation of my machinery is like wise more steady, and may
be made more rapid than that of any other, because this delicacy of adjust-
ment produced by my Invention permits my spindles to revolve with greater
velocity. The spindle which I use is shewn with its flyers, bobbiu, and whorl
at Fig. 1, but their dimensions must vary with the nature of the work and
material which they are applied to rove or spin, and which will require them to
be larger or smaller. A, B, is the entire length of the spindle, formed of well
polished steel, and the whorl or driving pulley C, instead of being placed
near the end B, is near the end A, and the roving or material to be spun, when
delivered from the rollers according to the usual mode of machine spinning,
passes through it and the upper end of the spindle by means of the opening
drilled through it, as dotted at z, z, and the eye X beneath that opening.
The flyer D, D, E, E, instead of being of one piece as heretofore, and being
screwed or otherwise fixed upon the end of the spindle, from which it must be

page_text: removed whenever a bobbin is to be changed or doffed, is not moveable in my
arrangementexcept for adjustments to the bobbin, repairs, or other cause, and is
made in separate pieces viz: D, D,is the head, formed of brass or other metal,
having a hole formed in its center at y, of proper dimensions to fit upon the
spindle to which it is fixed by the screw x, and by means of which it may be
attached to any part of the spindle, and therebyadjusted or accomodated to any
length of bobbin. E,E,are the two arms of the flyer, formed of separate pieces
of steel wire fitting into holes w, w, and fixed there by the screws v,v.so that if
an arm should be broken, or an eye becomes gulled or cut, it may be instantly
changed. t, t, are two eyes to conduct the thread from z to either point E of
the flyer. The bobbin is shewn at F, and is of the ordinary form, but has a
very smooth grove turned in it as at S, for receiving the regulator hereafter
described. I place the whole of this spindle with its bobbin and flyers in an
horizontal position, both for hand and mill-spinning; G being a fix collar of
brass or other metal for the head of the spindle to turn in, and H a moveable
one, which forms a bearing for the other end; and my reason for making this
moveable is, that instead of removing the flyer to doff and replace my bobbin,
I do it for this end and for this purpose the cock or bearing H turns back
upon the screw q into the direction dotted in at r, r, while that screw not only
acts as a pivot for it to turn upon, but also serves to fix it down to the front
spindle bearer rail S when at work. By thus supporting the spindle at its
two ends, a much greater degree of steadiness is obtained than when it
revolved upon the usual bearings in a perpendicular position. The spindleis
prevented from being drawn out of its bearing G by means of a small hook or
The
turnbuckle Q, which may be turned over the whorl C to confine it.
velocity of the bobbin is regulated by means of an apparatus which I call the
regulator, and is one of the most essential parts of my Invention; it's best
form is shewn at Fig. 2, which is drawn of a proportionate size to Fig. 1, and
it consists of a small brass or other swivel or carriage I, which turns freely.
in a cock or projecting piece K, which is screwed or otherwise fixed on
to the traverse bar R, or other contrivance by which the bobbin is made to
traverse or move backwards and forwards, for the due distribution of the spún
material. The swivel I carries the two long wire springs L, M, one of which,
L, is tapped into or ortherwise attached to one end of the swivel, while the
other, M, is fixed into the separate piece N, in which the screw O, or some
other means of adjustment, acts, so that M can be moved with great nicety
nearer to or further from L, by which the bobbin F is pinched in a greater or
less degree between the springs, and its draft may thereby be so regulated as
to cause it to take up the roved or spun material with any required degree of

page_text: rapidity, by which the softest roving or the hardest, yarn or thread may be
produced. The joint at P prevents one of the springs from acting with
greater force than the other, and since the cock K is attached to the traverse
bar underneath the bobbin, it is evident that the motion of that bar from A
towards B (Fig. 1) and back again will cause a due and equal distribution
upon the bobbin. This motion is brought about by a heart wheel, in the
usual way, and I accordingly apply such a wheel or wheels, as the case may
be, according to the extent of the traverse bar, and I give motion to it or
them from the main wheel or drum, or in any of the accustomed methods,
and which, being no part of the present Invention, I do not specify, nor is it
necessary to describe how these spindles may be applied to hand or mill or to
machine spinning, as this must be evident to every one acquainted with the
process. I also occasionally make use of a weight and lever as a regulator
for regulating the velocity and traverse of the bobbin, instead of the spring
regulator, as shewn at Figure 2; and when this is used I apply it as
shewn at Figure 3, in which F is the bobbin, as at Figure 2; H, the
carriage or bearing to support one of its ends, as fixed upon the piece S
by the screw q; R, part of the traverse rail, upon which is fixed the upright
iron or other standard Z, c, the heighth of which must be equal to the
S in the bobbin in Fig 1, and in this grove the slight lever b, c, is placed,
turning upon the double joint or fulcrum C, so constructed as to prevent a
lateral motion in the lever, and to support it when turned up for doffing the
bobbin, as at S, while a weight a is applied at it's opposite end. This weight
may be made to operate with more or less force upon the bobbin by sliding
the standard, c, to a greater or less distance from the spindle, and by
changing the weight; and it is evident that as the traverse' bar moves back-
wards and forwards, the lever b, c, will also cause the bobbin to traverse upon
the spindle for the due distribution of the spun material. In some cases it
may be necessary to increase the adhesion of the bobbin to the spindle, and
thereby to take off the weight or drag of the bobbin, and this I do by using
a spiral (or other spring) at one or both ends of the bobbin, as shewn at p,
Figure 4, which contains a perspective view of such bobbin, and in which it
will be seen that the spring overlays the central or spindle hole, and thereby
produces a pressure upon the spindle whenever the same is introduced.
grove
Fig. 4 shews a side perspective view of the spindle, bearings, flyers, and
spring regulator, above described, as fixed in their proper relative situations
with respect to each other, and in which the same letters of reference are
used as before to denote the same parts. In this Figure the situation of a
roller n, which I apply between the spindle and the usual delivering roller,

page_text: and which I move by proper connection with that roller, or any of the moving
parts of the machine, is shewn. This roller is drawn as moving in a reservoir
to contain water or any other fluid: As it may be used dry or wet, and the
velocity with which it must move, as well as it's being used wet or dry,
must depend upon the nature of the material to be spun; but in general I
find it better to give it a greater velocity than that of the yarn or thread
passing over it, in order that it may brush, rub, or lay down any loose fibres,
which are thus better incorporated in the spinning; but I do not consider this
roller as any part of my Invention, nor do I claim it as such. It will be
unnecessary for me to describe the framework or mounting requisite for using
these spindles and the manner of giving motion to them, as they are similar
to those at present in use, except only as to the situation of the driving
wheel or roller, which must be accomodated to the altered position of the
spindles as herein-before described. Flax, silk, wool, or other fibrous sub-
stances are to be roved, spun, or doubled by this machine in the same manner
as cotton, taking care to accomodate the size of the spindle, flyers, and
bobbin to the material to be operated upon, as well as the velocity of motion;
for roving in every case requires the spindle and flyers to move much more
slowly than spinning or doubling, which require a nearly equal and more rapid
motion.
From the above description, it will appear that my Invention of an
improved method of preparing and spinning the materials which I profess to
operate upon does not depend so much on the introduction of new parts or
new processes, but upon the improvement which I have made on those already
in existence, and my general combination of them, by which I am enabled to
produce, as herein-before stated, the most delicate roving or the strongest
yarns or threads. Thus the spindle has been used horizontally in the common
spinning wheel, and receives it's threads in a manner similar to that shewn
at z, z, x, Fig. 1; and for the facility of removing the bobbin, I alter the
situation of the whorl as at C. The flyers in like manner are similar in
operations to those already in use, but I have improved their construction and
application by making their arms removeable, and by the whole flyer being
adjusted to any part of the spindle, the means of the screw x. The bobbin
again differs from that in common use by having the regulator groove S
turned upon it, and by it's regulating spring p, Fig. 4, so that these several
parts all differ in a greater or less degree from similar parts in ordinary use.
The regulator is an entirely new application, and, as before observed, is of the
utmost importance to the perfection of my Invention; and if this alone.could
be applied to the bobbin, as ordinarily used, without alteration, such an

page_text: application would be the essence of my Invention, and I so claim it
accordingly; and it is for the greater facility of this application that I have
made some of the alterations above specified, so that, upon the whole, by the
combination of that which is new with that which is old, whether my altera-
tions may be considered as improvements or not, I contend that I have pro-
duced a new machine or combination of machinery, which in practice will be
found capable of producing rovings, yarns, and threads of better quality and
in greater quantities in equal times than could be done before; and likewise
that by my construction the spindles may be made much lighter for the same
work, by which much less power is required for the whole machine, and
which consequently constitutes a new and useful Invention to the public.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Main, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Fifteenth day of July, in the year cf our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty.