IMPROVEMENTS IN CORD MAKING, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Motiron, Pierre Huchard, and Achille
Drouot, of Rue Bondy, Paris, in the Empire of France, Merchants,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORD MAKING, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH.
"
Sealed the 17th February 1871, and dated the 22nd August 1870.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Pierre Motiron, Pierre
Huchard, and Achille Drouot at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 22nd August
1870, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment
Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, PIERRE
MOTIRON, PIERRE HUCHARD, and ACHILLE DROUOT, of Rue Bondy,
Paris, in the Empire of France, Merchants, send greeting.
WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CORD MAKING, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," and have

page_text: petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto us, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and made solemn
Declaration that we are the true and first Inventors thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Pierre Motiron, Pierre Huchard,
and Achille Drouot, do hereby declare that the following Complete
Specification, under our hands and seals, fully describes and ascertains
the nature of the Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
Cord making is one of the manufactures that have been until now the
most subordinate to routine, and it is only with great difficulty that
mechanical apparatus has been introduced for some few of the operations
and handwork performed in the fabrication of cord. This manufacture
comprehends, as is generally known, three special operations, viz., the
spinning of the yarn, the warping or stranding, and finally, the cabling.
Several contrivances have been conceived for the spinning, and even
for the cabling, but in general being founded on inconsequent principles
they have given but unsatisfactory results for the spinning, as for the
warping and cabling, and the old system of spinning wheels and
carriages is thus still in actual service.
This Invention consequently relates to a new and improved complex
system intended to remedy the defects in the. known apparati, and at
the same time to introduce in cord making generally sundry improve-
ments which overcome all the obstacles that have presented themselves
up to now in the application of mechanical apparatus, to this important
branch of industry.
To render this Specification more intelligible we will at once indicate
the characteristic points of our Invention, viz.
1st. The reduction into two instead of three operations of the work of
rope making by the complete union of the two latter operations, viz., the
warping and the cabling. This point is of the greatest importance, for
whilst it diminishes the handwork it also presents the considerable
advantage of avoiding the deformation of the strand after it has been
made by the inevitable winding and rewinding it has to undergo. under
all the actual systems. It results from this that our improved manu-
facture includes two distinct operations only, viz., the spinning the yarn
and the cabling direct and warping simultaneously.

page_text: 2nd. A description of die or elastic gauge destined to give the calibre
to the thread or strand during the operation.
.
3rd. An improved system of mathematical drawing or pulling for
the matter being worked, whether thread, strand, or cable as fast as it is
manufactured.
The apparati destined for these operations, viz., spinning and cabling,
are different in their shape only, both being established on one and the
same principle common to all the operations, which principle is that of
the mathematical torsion and tension obtained between invariable
lengths and points of rest, as will be explained in the course of the
Specification. This principle upon which should be based all rational
manufacture of this article, results 1st, in a perfect homogeneity between.
all the fibres which form the yarn and the cord, which in consequence
of each twist supporting a strain proportional to its dimensions, causes.
the whole to offer more resistance than in any other system, even with a
less diameter, which is of capital importance for cords used for marine
purposes; 2nd, a considerable economy in the handwork; 3rd, a great
increase in the production.
We will now successively describe each operation, having reference to
the annexed Drawing, where we have shewn as specimens and examples
the different parts and improved apparati embraced by the Invention.
1st. The Spinning of the Yarn. This first operation is performed by
a spindle arranged as indicated Fig. 1. We will only refer briefly to
the mechanism common to almost all spindles, and describe specially
those improved parts which characterize our Invention. The spindle is
mounted on a frame where there is place for a certain number of the same,
it is actuated by two differential movements of which one is intended'
to give the torsion to the sheet of hemp by means of the fly and the
other to determine by means of the spindle the drawing of the spun
thread to be rolled on to the reel or bobin. For this purpose each
spindle is arranged in the following manner :-The central spindle c has
at about two-thirds of its height a fly d which is adjusted by means of
a concentric socket. This fly is provided laterally with two standards,
united at their upper part by a cross piece on hinges. This arrangement,
which is pretty general, is intended to facilitate the convenient position
of the winding reel or spool, and at the same time to avoid the height
of the fly. Immediately above the foot of the fly is fixed by any suitable

page_text: means on to the spindle c, the delivry apparatus of the spun thread.
This apparatus in the shape of a tube h with double collar i, j, is pro-
vided laterally with two contrary grooves in each of which works a piece
forming a slide with a double pincer K, K', one above the other.
Below the lower pincers K¹ two spiral springs act, driving said pincers
constantly against the collars i, j, and finally the foot of each piece is
furnished with a little loose roller
bearing on the bottom of a circu-
lar cam m with two parallel plans. This cam is firm on the foot itself
of the fly. As it has been said the movement of the spindle and that
of the fly being differential, it follows that the former turning more
quickly carries in its movement the delivry apparatus K' and along
with it the slides and their rollers, these latter meeting successively the
two plans of the cam, are influenced by them, and lower or raise the
slides and their pincers at every turn of the spindle. This part is essential
for the proper regular working of the thread, and reference will be again
made to the same in the description of the working of this apparatus.
Above the upper collar i is a round piece constituting an oil box a, and
furnished exteriorly with any suitable grooves, in which is placed a
hinged break n with a double jaw fixed by its eye to the upper part
of the collar i. The opening part of this break is maintained by a bolt
with a double nut, with which the box a is screwed as tightly as desired
(see Figs. 1 and 3); little holes are made in the lateral surface of the
⚫box in order that the oil may slightly grease the friction parts of the
break, and avoid its becoming warm during the quick working of
the apparatus. On the plate iron lid of the box a are rivetted pins
intended to retain the reel or bobin p and connect it with the box a.
This reel or bobin p is furnished with several grooves one above the
other, it is placed on the upper part of the spindle c and is retained in
its place by the cross piece of the fly. At the middle of this cross piece
there is a pulley upon which passes the thread as fast as the torsion is
operated which is done by the rotation of the fly, and the thread coming|
directly from a gauge to the spring die which catches the sheet of hemp
coming from a receptacle and passing on to a guide. This gauge being
one of the essentiel parts to obtain a thread or a strand perfectly round
and homogeneious, it necessitates a special description. It is composed
(see the three views in Fig. 2) of two parts r, 8, entering into one
another and formed so that when brought nearer to or further from
one another a smaller or larger hole is produced, not always quite round,
4

page_text: that resulting from the widening of each part of the opening of each of
the pieces. The alternative partitions uniting together interiorly form
a canal perfectly smooth, in which passes the sheet of hemp, and when
it is sufficiently compact to prevent the torsion given by the fly exceeding
the gauge. To facilitate the passage of the sheet of hemp and the union
in a longitudinal sense of the fibrils in the gauge, the upper face D is
hollowed out like a funnel and thus brings the fibrils parallel with one
another to receive the torsion immediately on the gauge going out.
This latter is hollowed out laterally in order that the dust made by the
hemp may be driven away by the natural ventilation produced by the
fly. To facilitate the passage of the ligneous uncombed parts which
might exist in the hemp, one part of the gauge is pushed by a spring
regulated at will which permits said gauge to be temporally withdrawn
at the moment the thickest part of the hemp passes. The spindle c and
the fly being independent are each actuated by their pinions F and G,
which are themselves actuated by the principle motor. We shall have
to refer again in the description of the cabling to the arrangement that
we adopt in preference to obtain this differential movement which is the
same for both operations.
We will now follow the general working of the operation of spinning.
The sheet of hemp contained in the receptacle placed in front of the
frame engages in the gauge D, r, s, where it is maintained with a certain
pressure which, however, allows it to slide gently as fast as it is drawn.
This gauge being immoveable, and the fly turning, the sheet of hemp is
twisted and passes to the state of yarn upon different pulleys, which
conduct it to the lower one t, around which it passes to go between the
upper collar and the pincer K, after which it passes on to a little
pulley u to return and pass round the circumference of the tube between
the lower collar j and the pincer k¹. As has been said before, the spindle
and its parts being actuated with more swiftness than the fly, a constant
draw of thread at every turn of the spindle is obtained, and this length
is itself automatically wound on the reel p, which nearly follows the
movement of the spindle; but as the diameter of the reel increases as
fast as it is filled, and with it the developpement of its circumference, it
is necessary that this movement be gradually lessened, and the break n
is employed for this purpose to allow the reel to slide slowly and only to
advance the lengths of thread delivered to it by the double draw.

page_text: apparatus., The grooves of the reel are filled one after the other, and as:
soon as it is full it is taken away and replaced by an empty one. It will
be understood by what preceeds that according to the number of the:
thread that is being manufactured more or less torsion should be given
to the sheet of hemp in consequence of its size, it is consequently by
changing the relations between the pinions and the wheels of the original
motor that this result is arrived at. The differential movement thus
obtained, as also the draw of the spun thread, are strictly mathematical,
and can produce no sliding in the working. In short, the matter
manufactured has a perfect regularity and homogeneity which have
never been obtained to the present day. The yarn after being spun, as:
has been described, is wound (tarred or not) upon special bobins to be.
submitted to the second operation, of which the description follows.
2°. Stranding and Cabling simultaneously.-This complex operation is
performed in the following manner:-The bobins q, with the yarn wound
on them are arranged by groups of 6 or 8 upon boards T, T, mounted
one after the other on threc parallel shafts E, E, (see Fig. 4). These_
three series of boards should, consequently, contain as many bobins as the
cable should have threads. To be able to place and displace the bobins q
each board T has around it corresponding notches in sufficient number
for all the bobins, and the axis of these latter are maintained in place.
by a special spring work whose prolongations are connected together by.
rods J, which carry the funnel guide threads. Each shaft or series of
boards T represents the number of threads destined to each strand; and
it is easy to understand that to execute cable with four strands four
shafts will be necessary, and so forth.
The accompanying Drawing represents a combined apparatus for
stranding and cabling for three strands. To obtain this stranding every
shaft or series of boards T is submitted to a movement of rotation in the
same sense by means of the pinions L, L, arranged on the back; a
central wheel M operates them all by the pinion M' operated by the
main shaft N, which is furnished with a wheel O. A large intermediate
wheel P is supported by a slide .lever Q and puts the two wheels M¹, O;
into communication. It results from this arrangement that the relation
between the principle motor N and the stranding shafts can be varied
indefinitely. This same arrangement is also applicable to the spinning
spindle to vary the relation between the torsion and the draw. All the

page_text: ย
threads carried by each stranding shaft pass into the skimmer x, and
from there into the central tube v, forming the centre of the extreme
carry of each shaft, and turning in the frame A. On issuing from each
tubě v all the threads of each shaft are caught by the elastic gauge or
spring die D, which has been described in the spinning operation. It is
unnecessary to say that this part is of a size in proportion with the
strand. The only difference existing between the two operations is that;
for spinning, the gauge is immoveable, whilst here it turns with the
boards carrying the threads. On issuing from the gauge each strand
passes on to one of the grooves on the conical piece B, which is invariably.
fixed to the centre. of the three or four stranding shafts. It results from
this arrangement that this piece being immoveable and the boards T
turning the torsion of the threads united into strands is effected between
the gauges D and the grooves of the said piece; and as these strands are
supported throughout until the cablage, the torsion once given by the
gauge cannot sustain any deformity, and the cablage is obtained with
the greatest perfection by the fly now to be described.. The cabling fly a¹
is formed of an annular or oval piece terminated at each end by tubes b.
and 6', which answer as collars. Two diagonal cross pieces 9 are fixed:
flat on each face of the fly to receive the axis S of the drawing apparatus,
which only differ in shape and not in principle from those which have
been described for spinning, and this difference is necessitated by the
greater power required for drawing the cable. In those double drawing.
apparati which are separated instead of being superposed on the same.
axis the slide pincers are replaced by a moveable collar V, which.
oscillates although concentric with the collar i or j and turning with it,
but able to take a declination in an oblique plan with that of the
immoveable collar, so as to touch it in one point only. This result is
obtained by a strong spring fixed in an invariable manner on the fly a¹,
and having the loose contact roller A, which constantly rolls against the
oscillating collar V. The two axis of the double drawing apparatus are
operated by two wheels with helicoidal gearing y, which cause them to
turn in inverse directions; one of these wheels receives its movement by
an endless screw U, of which the rod part has a pinion X operated by a
toothed wheel Y. fixed permanently on the frame A concentricly to
the axis of the fly. The tube 6' extends from the other side of this
frame to receive the winding fly Z, in which is arranged the bobin p¹ of
the cable, turning on itself by a special transmission during the rotation:
1

page_text: of the fly, and having, like the spinning bobin and for the same reason,
the automatic break described. The bobin p' is placed transversally to
the axis of the winding fly, but, we also place it in the same sense as the
axis when desired. A reciprocal automatical movement regulates the
winding of the bobin p'. The rotating movement of this double fly is
obtained at the end by the pinions and gear wheels L', O¹, the latter of
which is fixed on the main shaft N. As in the case of the back of the
machine, the relations between the wheels L', O', may vary, the arrange-
ment of the intermedium P' with its slide lever Q being again adopted
so as to vary as desired the torsion of the cable at the same time as that
of the stranding. It will be seen by what preceeds that the strands
issuing from the piece B are immediately caught and cabled by the fly,
and in order to draw these strands as fast as desired the finished cable
passes into the first fly (cabling fly), "goes round cach of the draw
apparati, and redescends into the winding fly, where it is immediately
put on to reels. The two operations of stranding and of cablage are thus
performed in one and the same operation and simultaneously, which
does away on the one hand with any expensive and considerable work,
and on the other it prevents all the distorsion of the strands which
inevitably takes place in all the known systems.
:
By varying the proportion from front to back any desired rigidness
may be given to the cable, whatever be its diameter, in the same way
that the spirals of the cable may be prolonged or shortened, according to
the requirements, without in any way departing from the fondamental
and rational principle of this Invention, that is to say, equal and
constant torsion on lengths always equal and constantly proportional
whatever be the speed of working and the dimensions of the cable.
The above are the important improvements we have invented in
mechanic cord making, relating on one hand to the reduction of the
work, and on the other to the special contrivances and parts with which
we have attained this perfection in the manufacture, said contrivances
and parts being the characteristic points of our Invention, and included
in all our apparati.
•
Having thus described our said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is performed, we would have it understood we do not confine.
ourselves to the precise details herein indicated and represented in the
accompanying Drawings, as these may obviously be modified without

page_text: departing from the principle of the said Invention; but what we claim
and desire to secure by the said Letters Patent is, an improved system
of mechanical operation relating to the manufacture of cord generally,
by means of the apparati and organs above described and shewn in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Pierre Motiron, Pierre Huchard,
and Achille Drouot, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.