Improvements in Thread Tension Devices for Spinning or Twisting Machines.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Oct., 1891-Accepted, 28th Nov., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by JAMES STEWART MACFARLANE, of Chaplin,
Connecticut, United States of America, Manufacturer.]
Improvements in Thread Tension Devices for Spinning or Twisting
Machines.
I HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co. Patent Agents
45 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex 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 object of my invention is to provide a simple, compact and easily operated
device by the use of which a more delicate and positive tension may be put upon
the thread in spinning, the same device serving as a very effectual preventer of
kinking as the thread passes over, and it is particularly adapted for use with a
single thread the first time over, and on silk spinning machinery.
My invention consists in the details of the arrangement of the drag and its
connected parts, and in their combination, as more particularly hereinafter
described and pointed out in the claims.
Referring to the drawings:
Figure 1 is a detail view in side elevation showing the relative arrangement of
the bobbins of a silk spinning frame; the bobbin being shown in section.
Figure 2 is a detail top view of the lower bobbin showing the drag.
Figure 3 is a detail view in side elevation of part of the bobbin showing the drag
on enlarged scale.
On the ordinary form of spinning frame and with the use of the old devices a
thread is carried from the lower bobbin through or over a guide and tension device,
the tension being adjusted by taking one or more turns of the filament about the
upright portion of the guide and the thread then passes on to the receiving bobbin,
usually mounted horizontally on the frame, but owing to the great speed at which
the bobbins are rotated there is danger of kinking of the thread as it passes from
the lower to the receiving bobbin, and it is difficult to arrange the proper degree of
tension to compactly wind the thread upon the receiving bobbin, and owing to the
outlay and loss of time involved in stopping the machine and consequent kinking
of the thread as the machine stops it is customary to "band up" only once
a week.
By the use of my invention a very delicate and positive tension upon the thread
is obtainable and at the same time all kinking of the thread or filament is
absolutely prevented.
In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes a spindle on a spinning frame
on which is supported a bobbin b in an upright position, the bobbin fitting in the
usual manner upon the blade of the spindle, the latter being driven by the usual
appliances. The single thread organzine with which this bobbin is loaded is
unwound therefrom and upon the receiving bobbin c in the operation of the
machinery, and upon the top of the lower bobbin is supported a drag that consists
preferably of a single piece of wire having a loop d' that slips over the end of the
spindle blade a¹ that forms a pivot for the drag. It is not essential to my invention
that this pivot should be formed by the end of the spindle, but it is preferably so
formed on account of the convenience of such construction.
The pivot is formed with a reverse taper a² so that the drag which is rapidly
revolving about this centre shall always tend to remain close down upon the top of
the bobbin on which it normally rests. The inward slope of the reverse taper
provides an effective and simple means for retaining the drag at a desired level.
The thread e passes up from the bobbin back of the drag which
opposes the

page_text: unwinding of the filament with a force depending upon the weight of the drag
and the frictional resistance due to the contact of the drag with the top surface
of the bobbin.
These drags are preferably made of a piece of wire having a loop formed by a
simple bend of the wire, and they are made of different sizes of wire and of
different lengths depending upon the degree of tension desired and the size of the
thread.
I have found by extended use of this device that a much larger quantity of silk
can be wound on a given size of receiving bobbin than when the old form of tension
device is used, and that in addition to its function as a tension regulator the drag
serves as an absolute preventive of the kinking of the organzine as it is unwound
from the bobbin. It is of great advantage in connection with this invention to
have the delivery bobbin b made with the lower flange less in diameter than the
upper flange 62 as the former affords an exact gage by means of which an operative
can determine when the bobbin has been wound sufficiently full for use. As the
under surface of the flange at its edge is curved and rounded it is difficult for an
operative to determine or judge by the location of the thread or filament on the
flange just when the bobbin has been filled to a degree that best adapts it to be
used on the spinning frame.
When it is desired to change the tension of any given bobbin it may be done by
changing the drag, different sizes of which are supplied for this purpose, but for
ordinary uses on single thread organzine a uniform size of drag made of practically
the same diameter of wire and of a uniform weight will be found to meet all the
requirements. By the use of my invention I have found it possible to stop the
spindles at any time without any chance of loss through kinking of filaments from
any cause.
I do not limit myself to the specific construction of the drag or to the use of the
spindle blade as a pivot.
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. In combination with a bobbin, a pivot having a reverse taper, and a drag
having in one end a loop surrounding the pivot and an arm extending beyond the
periphery of the top of the bobbin upon which the drag rests, all substantially as
described.
2. In a spinning frame, in combination with a spindle having near its upper end a
reverse taper, a bobbin supported on said spindle, and a drag composed of a piece of
metal formed to shape with a loop adapted to engage the pivot, and an arm
extending beyond the periphery of the top of the bobbin upon which the drag is
normally supported, all substantially as described.
Dated this 1st day of October 1891.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.