IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS, CANS, SPOOLS, AND BOBBINS, AND IN THE TUT
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Fletcher, of Rochdale, in the County. of
Lancaster, Tin Plate Worker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS, CANS, SPOOLS, AND BOBBINS, AND IN THE
TUT
13
Sealed the 12th May 1863, and dated the 26th November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Fletcher at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th November 1862.
I, THOMAS FLETCHER, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Tin Plate
Worker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS, CANS, SPOOLS, AND BOBBINS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in an improved mode of forming the joints of sheet
metal rollers, cans, spools, and bobbins employed in machinery for manu-
facturing cotton and other fibrous substances.
In performing my Invention I take a piece of sheet metal of the size
required, and bend the edges over, so that when the piece of sheet metal is
formed into a cylinder the bent edges are hooked into each other to form the
joint, the seam being inwards. The sheet-metal cylinder is then placed on a
mandril, in which is a groove to receive the seam, the cylinder and mandril
are then passed between rollers to flatten the joint and to make the surface

page_text: perfectly smooth and true. The rollers are then completed by attaching the
sheet-metal cylindrical portion to flanges or ends fixed to the axle, The cans
are completed by attaching the cylinder to a bottom plate and to a top ring,
and the spools and bobbins are completed by attaching the requisite top and
bottom flanges or ends, which are made of cast iron, or of malleable cast iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Fletcher in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
FLETCHER, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Tin Plate Worker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Fletcher Her special license, that I, the said Thomas
Fletcher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Fletcher, my 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS, CANS, SPOOLS, "AND BOBBINS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Fletcher, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Fletcher, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per--
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists in an improved mode of making the
joints of sheet-metal rollers, cans, spools, and bobbins, employed in machinery

page_text: for manufacturing cotton and other norous 'substances, and in the machinery
employed in making the said joints..
In order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being.had.to the figures and letters marked thereon.
I will first describe my improvements as applied in the construction of
spools for roving frames. Figure 1 represents a piece of sheet iron, of the
length of the spool, and rather more in width than the circumference thereof,
the corners are cut away to allow the spool when complete to fit on the bobbin
wheel. The first operation is to bend over the edges, as shewn in Figure 2,
which is done by an edging tool of the ordinary' construction. The next
operation is to bend the plate into a circle, and this is done, as now customary,
by hooking one of the bent edges on to the hooked ledge of a roller, which is
turned round, and presses the plate against a second roller. When the plate
is thus bent into a circle, the bent edges are hooked into each other as shewn
in Figure 3, to form the joint. The sheet metal cylinder thus formed is then
placed on a mandril, in which is a groove, as shewn in Figure 4, to receive
the seam, and the mandril, with the cylinder upon it, are then passed between
the rollers a and b, see Figures 5 and 6, which flatten the joint or seam, and
make the cylinder perfectly smooth and true. The rollers a and b are shewn
with two-grooves, for operating upon two cylinders at a time, and they are
pressed together by screws or otherwise, to give the requisite finish to the
surface. The spools are then completed, as shewn at Figure 7, by soldering
the bush c at the top end, and the flange with recesses d at the bottom. The
bushes and flanges c and d are made, by preference, of malleable cast iron.
When bobbins are made according to my improvements, top and bottom
flanges of the requisite shape are soldered to the tube. Bobbins and spools of
this construction are very much more durable than those made of wood, and a
greater quantity of rovings or yarns can be wound upon them, owing to their
reduced thickness.
Figure 8 is an end view, and Figure 9 a side view of my improved
machinery for making cans and rollers. The sheet of metal having been cut
to the required dimensions, has the edges bent over, and formed into a cylinder,
as above described; this cylinder is then forced on to the mandril e, which
fits on the axle f, supported in the two bearings g and h; above the mandril e
is the roller i, which is turned round by hand or steam power. When the
roller i is in motion, the mandril e is traversed under it, along the axle f, in
order to flatten the seam, as above described in reference to the spools. As
soon as the mandril has passed under the roller i, the bearing h, which is
'

page_text: hinged to the bed plate j, is swivelled over to allow the mandril, with the
roller upon it, to be taken off the axle f. In order to reduce the diameter of
one end of the cylindrical tube; it is. put, with. the mandril, on a stud k, and
the roller is put on the axle of the roller. i. The roller in revolving is
lowered by screws to give the requisite pressure. The rollers are then
completed by soldering flanges or ends to the sheet-metal cylindrical portions,
which are stayed internally by wrought-iron rings. In making cans they are
completed by attaching the requisite bottom plate and top ring to the
cylindrical portion.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim as my improvements in the
construction of spools, bobbins, rollers, and cans, the application thereto of the
lap joint with the seam inwards.
And I also claim the machinery shewn and described for making such
joints.
In witness whereof,. I, the said Thomas Fletcher, have hereto set
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
THOMAS FLETCHER. (L.s.)