Method of and Apparatus for Winding Ribbons or Tapes of Insulating Material around Electrical Conductors.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 16th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 17th Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Method of and Apparatus for Winding Ribbons or Tapes of
Insulating Material around Electrical Conductors.
1, SYDNEY PITT, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, (a communication
to me from abroad by James Bassnett Atherton, now residing in New York City,
State of New York, U.S.A.,) do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its primary purpose the application of ribbons of paper
spirally around conductors Heretofore in machines for this purpose the bobbins of
paper have been placed to one side of the wire and revolved bodily around it to apply
the paper. According to the present invention the wire passes centrally through the
paper bobbin or roll which, being revolved as the paper is taken from it, the paper is
laid spirally around the wire. The paper passes through suitable tension devices so
that a proper strain is applied to draw it tightly around the wire; and a suitable
"knock-out" or stop mechanism is provided that is normally held out of action by
the strain upon the paper. As will be obvious the weight of the revolving parts
is small and momentum is reduced to a minimum. The bobbin from which the paper
ribbon is being taken may lie upon a light plate that is revolved by gearing or belt,
and the paper covered wire preferably passes through smoothing dies to, and back
and forth over, grooved stretching drums. The tension upon the papor will cause the
roll to revolve on the plate upon which it lies, as the diameter of the roll decreases.
The paper bobbin instead of lying directly upon this driven plate may lie upon a plate
that slips or moves with it and between this plate and the driven plate a lubricated
anti-friction washer may be placed. This is to prevent breakage of the paper when
running at very high speeds.
As it is of course desirable, and indeed essential, to run long lengths of wire through
this machine, it is necessary to provide reserve bobbins, since it would not be practicable
to have a sufficient length of paper in one roll to cover the entire length of wire. A
reservoir or holder for additional bobbins through the centres of which the wire is
threaded is therefore provided, and as soon as one bobbin is run out a new one is
dropped into position and the operation continued. This is an important feature of the
invention.
As it is necessary to apply a number of ribbons one upon another in superposed
layers to give the desired insulation, I provide a number of bobbin-holders and reserve
bobbins in the same machine, and pass the wire through them all at once so that as
it leaves the coverers and passes to the stretching drums it is covered with the desired
number of ribbons. Or each bobbin holder may be separately driven and the wire
first passed entirely through one and then through another until the desired number
of ribbons are wound thereon. This latter plan is desirable for the following among
other reasons:
:
First because if a ribbon breaks, the only loss of time is in connection with that
particular ribbon whereas by the first plan all the ribbons would be stopped while one

page_text: Second by the latter plan the ribbons may be successively wound upon the wire in
reverse spirals, thus producing a more compact and perhaps better insulation and
protection of the wire.
Dated this 17th day of Jenue 1800
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
Method of and Apparatus for Winding Ribbons or Tapes of
Insulating Material around Electrical Conductors.
I, SYDNEY PITT, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, (a communication
to me from abroad by James Bassnett Atherton, now residing in New York City,
State of New York, U.S.A.,) do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
The general object of this invention is to wind on electrical conductors, ribbons of
material, either for insulation or protection. The special purpose, however, is to
wind spirally upon electrical conductors, ribbons of paper to be applied in superposed
layers for insulation.
Heretofore, in most machines of this class, the bobbins of material to be wound upon
the wire are carried by a revolving flyer, and are rotated bodily around the wire, as
it is drawn through the machine. The An improved method of operation constituting
a part of the present invention, consists in passing the conductor centrally through
the bobbin of material to be applied thereto.
The ribbon of material, taken either from the exterior or centre of the bobbin, has
therefore a spiral form which adapts it to be laid around the wire in a most perfect
manner at a high speed, the centre of motion of the bobbin being the wire covered.
In order that the operation may be continued for the covering of suitable lengths of
wire without interruption, I provide reserve bobbins of the desired number to properly
cover the length of wire which has been started through the machine and when one
bobbin is exhausted, another one is dropped into its place, and the operation
continued, only a momentary interruption being required.
Provision for applying a number of strips to a wire according to this plan may be
made in a single machine, the wire in its passage through the machine passing through
the centre of each bobbin from which the ribbon is being taken and also, of course,
through the centre of all the reserve bobbins. Instead of this arrangement, however,
a number of distinct machines each adapted to apply a single bobbin only to the wire
may be employed, and the length of wire may first be passed entirely through one
phachine, and subsequently through another, and so on until the desired number of
layers of paper are wound upon the wire. I prefer the latter plan for some reasons,-
the principal ones being,
First: If in the form of machine first described, a single ribbon breaks, the
application of all the other ribbons to the wire is suspended until the breakage of that
particular ribbon is corrected. Where separate machines are employed for each
ribbon, there is no interruption in the operation except in connection with the
particular ribbon that breaks.
Second I prefer the use of independent machines, because I may then conveniently
wind the successive layers of ribbon reversely, thus producing a stronger, and perhaps
more cyimpact, insulation. Of course, this might be accomplished in a single machine
of the character first suggested by rotating the alternating bobbins in opposite directions,
but this would require an unnecessary complication of mechanism, and is, for that
reason, not to be preferred.
In the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a machine for simultaneously
applying a number of ribbons to a wire.

page_text: Figure 2, a front elevation of the upper part only of the machine.
Figure 3, a plan.
Figure 4, a horizontal section on the line 4, 4 of Figure 1.
Figure 5, a detailed plan showing the paper bobbin, its rotating supporting plate,
the guide fingers or devices for directing the paper to the wire, the tension and the
knock-out device.
Figure 6 is a detailed, vertical sectional view of the same matter.
Referring first to the machines shown in Figures 1 to 6, the main frame may be
composed of vertical, angle-iron standards A, and cross-bars A¹. B is the driving
shaft, and B¹ the driving pulley. C represents the friction clutch devices of, an
ordinary construction well known, and C is a sliding clutch working on a spline c on
the shaft B. When this clutch is moved to the left, as viewed in Figure 1, the shaft B
is driven by the driving pulley, and when the clutch is moved to the right, it engages
a stationary friction surface fixed upon the frame and arrests the motion of the
shaft. The shaft carries a beveled gear D, gearing with a corresponding wheel D¹ on
a short countershaft mounted in suitable bearings, and the opposite ends of which
carry a beveled gear D2, that gears with a corresponding bevel D³ on the upper end
of a vertical shaft E. This shaft carries at different points a series of driving gears E¹,
four being shown, and each of which gears with a pinion e on a short, vertical hollow
shaft F, mounted in bearings in the front cross-bars of the frame. Each shaft F
carries upon its upper end a plate G, and upon this plate the bobbin H of paper to be
applied to the wire, lies.
The diameter of the central opening in the bobbin of paper is such as to accom-
modate two vertical posts or standards I that carry the divided die-block T, through
which the covered wire passes, and which serves to smooth and compact the paper
upon the wire. These posts I are removably seated in sockets in the plate G. A
bent guide finger G' is similarly seated in the plate, and it, as well as the posts I'
are readily removable for the placing of a fresh bobbin of paper in position.
In the construction shown the paper ribbon is taken from the outside of the
bobbin and passes between tension pins g located near the outer edge of the plate G,
from whence it passes around an arm of the knock-out latch K and thence under the
guide finger to the wire. The wire a passes around a guide pulley X and up vertically
through all the revolving plates G and bobbins of paper, to stretching drums L, L,
over which it passes back and forth, the drums being provided with grooves of
decreasing depth so that the covering material is thoroughly stretched and packed
upon the wire. The wire finally passes to any suitable storage reel. The stretching
drums are driven by a worm M on the driving shaft B that gears with a pinion Mi
on the shaft of the first stretching drum L.
As is clearly seen in Figure 6, the knock-out latch K is held up by the strain of
the ribbon h. Upon the breakage of the ribbon, the latch falls, and its end k is thrown
into the path of a rod N projecting from a vertical shaft O. The momentum of the
plate G causes the latch K to partially turn the shaft O, and by means of a rod o,
working between ears o¹ on a horizontal sliding rod P, the rod is moved end wise
against the pressure its spring p and the end of the rod P, which dogs the hand-lever Q,
carried by a rock shaft Qis withdrawn from the lever, and by the action of a spiral
spring R, the rear end of the lever is drawn down, the rock shaft turned, and by means
of a crank S thereon the lever T is thrown outwardly, as viewed in Figure 1, and the
clutch C is pressed against the clutch surface (and the motion of the machine
immediately arrested. The broken ribbon is then repaired and the parts of the
apparatus restored to the normal position and the operation continued. The reserved
bobbins Y, are heid above each plate G and the parts mounted thereupon in any
suitable manner. The arrangement shown is a simple and convenient one and consists
of bracket arms y, projecting from the front standards of the frame and held by set-
screws. When a bobbin is exhausted, the die-block 1' and guide finger G are
removed, a fresh bobbin dropped into place and the parts restored to the normal
condition.
In order to reduce the weight of the rotating parts to a minimum and to economizę

page_text: space, I prefer that the spools or cores upon which the bobbins are wound shall
be punched out, or removed, before the various bobbins are placed in the
machine.
In operation, as the plates G carrying the bobbins are rotated, the hobbins by
reason of the tension upon the ribbon, will slip on the plate, and, as is obvious,
as the diameter of the bobbin decreases, the strain of the ribbon upon the bobbin,
comes nearer the centre of motion, and the leverage being diminished, an unequal
strain is thrown upon the paper. When running at high speed, this is liable
to cause breakage.
To overcome this, I place upon the plate G an anti-friction plate G2, on which
another plate G³ loosely rests, and on the plate G³, the bobbin lies. Where the
bobbin has a spool, pius G4 on the plate G³ may enter sockets in the spool, as
indicated in Figures 5 and 6. The surfaces of the plates G2, G3, being thoroughly
lubricated, the independent movement of the bobbins mentioned takes place with the
least possible strain upon the ribbon, and the variation of leverage due to decreasing
diameter is fully compensated for.
The clutch mechanism shown, and the use of stretching drums with grooves of
decreasing depth, are old and well known.
A machine thus organized may be run at a speed far in excess of that of the old
style of machine referred to at the beginning of this Specification. One reason for
this is that the parts rotating with each bobbin are of a minimum weight, and the
entire weight is disposed symmetrically around the entire rotation, and this sym-
metrical distribution of weight is maintained constantly, irrespective of whether the
bobbin is full or nearly run out, whereas in the old style of machine, the bobbins
on one side of the flyer might be full, while those on the other were about
exhausted, and this unequal distribution of weight would produce an uneven motion
of the apparatus.
Furthermore, in this improved machine, the weight being reduced to a minimum,
there is but slight momentum of the parts and liability of breakage of the paper from
that cause is diminished.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 illustrate the organization of my invention in which a length of
wire is run entirely through one machine and then subsequently run entirely through
another machine and I have shown a machine so organized that the succeeding ribbons
of paper are wound in reverse directions.
Figure 7 is a plan view partly in section on the line 7, 7, of Figure 8.
Figure 8 is a front elevation of a gang of four machines with part of the frame
broken away and some of the parts in section at the left hand side of the
figure.
Figure 9 is an end view of the same looking at the driving pulley end of the
machine.
The framing is of any suitable construction and needs no description. The bobbin-
holding plate G is mounted substantially as shown before, and similar tension devices,
guide-fingers and condensing and polishing dies are employed. Reserve bobbins Y
are provided and supported in the manner already described all as is plain from the
drawings. The driving-shaft B in the present instance passes continuously beneath
all four of the machines shown. B is the driving-pulley. The power for each
machine is taken from the shaft B by means of a loose sleeve B' carrying a
pinion D that drives the pinion D' on the lower end of the shaft D2, which has
at its upper end a worm D³ gearing with the wheel D on the shaft of the
stretching roll.
The clutch C¹ is mounted upon the opposite end of the sleeve B2 being loosely
connected therewith, so as to slide endwise thereon, but so that the sleeve must
rotate therewith. This may be done by having a spline c on the clutch projected
into a slot in the sleeve as indicated at the 1 ft hand side of Figure 8.
When the clutch is thrown to the left as viewed in this figure, it is driven by the
driving pulley B¹, and the sleeve B2 is revolved, thus driving the stretching drums,
and also the bobbin holding plate by means of the gear wheel E' also fast on the

page_text: shaft D2. When the clutch is thrown to the right, as viewed in Figure 8, it
engages the fixed friction surface C2 fast on the frame, and the machine is instantly
stopped.
The driving clutch surface C in the succeeding machines is keyed directly to the
shaft B. The knock-out K is of the same character as that already described, but the
mechanism for throwing the clutch is somewhat different, and will now be described.
The four machines in Figures 7 and 8 are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. In the first
machine, the bobbin holding plate revolves in the direction indicated by the arrows,
and consequently the knock-out lug k will, when the paper breaks, strike the lever N,
throwing it to the right, and rocking it upon its pivot O, so that its shorter arm
carrying the pin o is thrown to the bottom of a curved slot o' in one end of the
clutch operating lever P. This lever, as shown, is bent, about at right angles, its
longer end being pivoted at the front of the machine at p. It then embraces the
clutch, extends toward the rear of the machine and then turns, about at right angles,
its enlarged end being formed with the slot o', above mentioned. A coiled spring Pi
is connected at one end to the lever, and at the opposite end to one of the transverse
frane bars.
As will be obvious from the drawing, with the parts in the position there shown,
the strain of the spring is resisted by the pin o, and is thrown directly upon the
pivot of the lever N. When, however, the pin o is thrown to the bottom of the
slot by the action of the knock-out, the spring is free to act upon the lever P, and
throws the clutch C₁ into engagement with the fixed clutch surface 02, thus
instantly stopping the machine. An elongated handle N¹ running to the front of
the machine permits the ready restoration of the parts to the normal working
position, so that the opération may be continued immediately upon the repairing of
the broken ribbon.
As is apparent from the drawings, the second machine, No. 2, is geared to run
in an opposite direction, and the enlarged slotted end of the lever P is turned in
a direction opposite to that in which it was turned in machine No. 1 ; consequently,
when the pin o is thrown to the end of the slot, the spring T¹ is free to act upon the
lever P and the machine is instantly stopped.
The third machine is geared to run in the same direction as machine No. 1, and
the fourth machine in the same direction as machine No. 2. With this qualification
all four machines are identical in construction and operation. The purpose of running
the alternate machines in opposite directions is, as before described, to enable me to
apply the succeeding ribbons reversely, the purpose being to secure a more compact
and strong insulating wrapping.
Of course this manner of operation is optional, and all the machines might be
run in the same direction. As before remarked, if a ribbon in machine No. 1
breaks, delay in the application of any other ribbon does not occur, whereas, in
the first form of machine applying four ribbons simultaneously, if one ribbon broke,
all four must be idle while the broken ribbon is being repaired. This entails a loss
of time and necessarily reduces the output of the machines, but with the machines
last described, a length of wire taken from a suitable reel is run entirely through one
machine and wound upon the reel. From that reel the wire is then passed through
machine No. 2 and then through No. 3, etc. any desired number of ribbons being
applied in this way.
Of course two machines running in reverse directions would be sufficient the wire
being passed first through one and then through the other, but I prefer to arrange
them in gangs, as described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described improvement in the art of applying a ribbon paper around
an electrical conductor, which improvement consists in passing the conductor centrally

page_text: through a bobbin of the ribbon, and rotating the bobbin around the wire and applying
the ribbon-spirally thereto.
2. The herein described method of applying a ribbon or tape to a core or wire
which consists in passing the wire centrally through a number of bobbins of ribbons
one of which is netive at a time and the others held in reserve, rotating the active
bobbin around the wire to apply the tape spirally thereto and supplying on
additional bobbin from the reserve bobbins when an active bobbin becomes
exhausted.
3. The herein described method of operation of covering a wire or core with a
series of ribbons which consists in first passing the length of the wire-entirely
through one machine whereby a single ribbon is wound thereon and then passing
the wire successively-entirely through other machines for the application of successive
ribbons.
4. The herein described method of covering-electrical conductors with insulating
ribbons which consists in winding the ribbons spirally upon said conductors succeeding
ribbons being reversely wound.
5. As a new article-of-manufacture an electrical conductor-wound spirally-with
superposed-ribbons of insulating paper, adjoining ribbons being wound-in-reverse
direction, substantially as described.
61. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the revolving holder adapted to
carry a bobbin of ribbon in the manner described and shewn in Figs. 5 and 6 through
which holder and bobbin the wire centrally passes and a holder or receptacle for
reserve bobbins, arranged concentrically with said holders so that the wire may pass
through said reserve bobbins.
7.2. Mechanism substantially such as herein shown and described for winding
insulating ribbons of paper upon an electric conductor.
Dated this 16th day of October 1890.
CARPMAEL
AEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.