IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Curtis, of the Firm of Messieurs Curtis, Sons,
and Company, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and
William Henry Rhodes; of the same Place, Foreman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 31st January 1879, and dated the 15th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Curtis and William
Henry Rhodes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th
August 1878.
RICHARD CURTIS, of the Firm of Messieurs Curtis, Sons, and Company, of Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and WILLIAM HENRY RHODES,
of the same Place, Foreman. IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
"
This Invention consists in certain improvements upon the machinery for
imparting the requisite variations in the speed of the bobbins of slubbing, inter-
mediate, roving, and jack frames by positive gearing instead of by cones and straps
as usual, and for which Letters Patent were applied for by us in conjunction with
John Wain on the 15th day of March 1878, No. 1034.
Our present Invention consists of an improved arrangement of parts for driving
the plate wheel with radial slots, described in the Provisional Specification filed on
applying for the Letters Patent above referred to, also for traversing the said plate
wheel laterally as the rovings accumulate on the spools by means of a worm with a
varying pitch acting on a stud projecting from the cross bar carrying the plate
wheel, under which is a cross stay with a circular groove containing as many seg-
ments as there are radial slots in the plate wheel, as described in the Provisional
Specification above referred to. The lift is changed by means of a cam shaft which
is driven by suitable gearing from the upper cone shaft. On the cam shaft is a
Dana All

page_text: clutch apparatus, which acts on a double lever, one arm of which enters between
the horns of a shaper plate connected to the ordinary lifting rail. As this rail
moves up and down the shaper plate acts on the lever to bring the clutch into gear,
by which the reversing motion is driven. By this arrangement the ends of the
spool can be made of any desired shape.
The worm above described is turned partly round at every change by a cam on
the cam shaft acting on a ratchet wheel. The cam shaft above described and the
parts acting in combination therewith can also be applied to frames in which the
ordinary cones are used; in this arrangement the usual reversing gear is dispensed
with.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Richard Curtis and William Henry Rhodes in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 12th February 1879.
RICHARD CURTIS, of the Firm of Messieurs Curtis, Sons, and Company, of Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and WILLIAM HENRY RHODES,
of the same Place, Foreman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
This Invention consists in certain improvements upon the machinery for
imparting the requisite variations in the speed of the bobbins of slubbing, inter-
mediate roving, and jack frames by positive gearing instead of by cones and straps
as usual, and for which Letters Patent were applied for by us in conjunction with
John Wain on the 15th day of March 1878, Number 1034.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of part of an ordinary roving frame to which our improve-
ments are applied; Fig. 2 is an end view; and Fig. 3, a plan of the same, and
Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are detached views of parts of the machinery.
a is the frame end; b, b, two of the spring pieces carrying the roller beams c;
d, the driving shaft; e, the shaft corresponding to the ordinary top cone shaft ; and
g, the reversing shaft. To the shaft e is fixed the bevel wheel e', which gears into
and drives a similar wheel h¹ on the upright shaft h, which, by bevel wheels h²
and, drives the horizontal shaft i; j is the shaft for reversing the lift of the
bobbins, this shaft is connected to the jack-in-the-box motion d¹, by the upright.
shaft k and the two pairs of bevil wheels and pinions as usual, and as shewn in the
Drawing; is the plate wheel, in which are eight or other convenient number of
radial slots;
this wheel is fixed to the stud, which revolves in a bush in the
movable cross bar m. Under the plate wheel is the fixed cross stay n, in which
is a circular groove containing as many segments o, see Fig. 6, as there are radial
slots in the plate wheel 7; these segments have studs, on which the pinions o¹ are
mounted; these pinions gear into the central wheel p, to the boss of which is fixed
the bevel wheel p', gearing into a similar wheel on the shaft z, at the end of
which is the pinion gearing into the pinion j¹ on the shaft j.
The parts above enumerated are made either in the ordinary manner or in the
manner described in the Specification of the Letters Patent above referred to.
Our present Invention consists in driving the plate wheel from the horizontal
shaft by the bevil wheel is gearing into the wheel h³, which is fixed to the same
shaft as the pinion h gearing into the plate wheel l.
Our improved machinery for traversing the cross bar m and the plate wheel
laterally, consists of the stud m¹ which takes into the worm with varying pitch 8,
and this worm is turned partly round at every change by the cam t¹ on the cam
shaft t; this cam in revolving acts on the lever t2, to which the catch is jointed,
and this catch acts on the ratchet wheel 81 fixed to the axle of the worm 8.
The cam shaft t, which is similar to the cam shaft of the self-acting mule, is
driven from the upright shaft h by the bevel pinion ho gearing into the bevel
wheel u, which is cast or fixed to the spur wheel u¹, gearing into the wheel t
loose on the cam shaft. t. On the face of this wheel is cast the half of a clutch
box to, the other half of the clutch box marked is keyed on the cam shaft.
To the ordinary lifting rail, which is not shewn in the Drawings, is fixed the
shaper plate v; as the lifting rail is moved up and down in the ordinary manner
the horns or inclines of the shaper plate act alternately on the end of the lever v1;
this lever is hinged on a stud projecting from the lever v², to which the
plate is suspended; this plate shewn detached in Fig. 4 is provided with two
inclines which act alternately on a pin passing through the clutch box t. As
this plate is moved up and down by the action of the shaper plate v and the levers v¹

page_text: and, the inclines act on the pin passing through the clutch box to, and when the
incline has moved beyond the end of the pin the spring acting on the wheel t
brings the clutch box into gear, and causes the cam shaft to perform one-half of a
revolution. The position of the lever v¹ is varied in proportion to the traverse of
the plate m by means of a link 1, connected at one end to a boss of the plate m,
and at the other to the lever z, the shorter arm of which is connected by the
link to the lever v¹, or the same effect can be produced by a worm on the
axle of the worm 8 acting on the lever ³ connected to the lever v¹, as shewn
in Fig. 5.
The grooved cam t8, fixed on the cam shaft t, acts on a horizontal rod w, to which
is fixed the fork w¹, taking into the grooved collar g¹ on the reversing shaft g; by
this means it will be seen that every half revolution of the cam shaft gives motion
to the worm 8 and to the ordinary reversing gear.
The ends of the spool can be made of any required shape by varying the shape of
the horns of the shaper plate v.
In the Specification of the Patent above referred to the pinions o¹ were shewn to gear
into a solid toothed segmental rack; we now propose to cast the pinions o¹ with the
ratchet toothed pinions o³, which gear into the series of small ratchet racks x, see
Figs. 6 and 7; these portions of racks fit in a V groove in the lever y, which is
hinged at y; each portion of the rack is acted upon by a spring to allow it to yield
if the points of the teeth of the pinions o² should come in contact with the points of
the teeth of the racks x. The lever y is also acted upon by a spring to press the
V groove in the lever against the V shaped ratchet teeth of the pinions o
The cam shaft above described, and the parts acting in combination therewith,
can also be applied to frames in which the ordinary cones are used'; in this
arrangement the usual reversing gear is dispensed with.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner of
performing the same, we declare that we claim,-
First. The improved arrangement of gearing for driving the plate wheel l, as
shewn and described..
"
Secondly. The application of the worm with varying pitch 8 and the parts acting
in combination therewith for traversing the plate m and the plate wheel Z, as shewn
and described.
Thirdly. The combination of a cam shaft with the positive gearing for obtaining
the requisite variations in the speed of the bobbins, as shewn and described.
And, Fourthly. The shaper plate v and the parts acting in combination there-
with for. distributing the slubbings or rovings on the spools, as shewn and
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Curtis and William Henry Rhodes,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eleventh day of February,
One thousand eight hundred and coventy-nine
RICH. CURTIS. (L.S.).
W. H. RHODES. (L.S.)