IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WINDING SLIVERS OR LAPS OF WOOL, FLAX. COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Leach, Thomas Leach, and James Good-
year, all of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WINDING SLIVERS
OR LAPS OF WOOL, FLAX. COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Leach, Thomas
Leach, and James Goodyear at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 22nd February 1869.
We, JOHN LEACH, THOMAS LEACH, and JAMES GOODYEAR, all of
Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
WINDING SLIVERS OR LAPS OF WOOL, FLAX, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-

page_text: In guides at the upper part of two side frames I place slides carrying
two discs forming the flanges of the bobbin, there being a central hole in
one disc for the bobbin to pass through, and a central hole in the other
disc for a pin which passes through the centre of the bobbin. Below
the slides there is a shaft carrying a pulley or toothed wheel for working
the machine, a surface drum for causing the bobbin to revolve, and a
pinion or pulley for giving motion to a wheel placed at an angle for
working the traversing lever. On the shaft there is also a fixed ratchet
wheel and a loose cam having at one side a catch and at the other side a
crank pin, the catch gearing with the ratchet wheel when revolving
motion is required to be given to the cam and the crank pin for working
a lever used for pushing off the bobbin when the winding on is com-
pleted, and to prevent the gearing of the catch with the ratchet until
required it is held back by a finger on one of the slides. In the groove
of the cam there is a bowl on a stud fixed to a lever having at the top a
slot in which is placed one end of the bearing pin of the bobbin, and this
lever is connected by a rod to another lever having at the top a slot
linked to a block working on a rod or in a bracket projecting from the
slide at that side of the machine, and to the block is connected a piston
having a central hole for supporting the other end of the bearing pin of
the bobbins. The empty bobbins are supplied to the machine by placing
them in shells on a travelling belt or chain or other revolving motion or
on a large pulley, or the bobbins are placed in a box or guides, which
allow the bobbins to fall one by one in front of the piston when a change
has to take place. The sliver or lap from the carding engine passes
through one, two, or more holes in the traversing lever, and is wound on
the bobbin when the machine is set to work, and as the winding proceeds
the slides carrying the discs and bobbin rise in their guides until the
required winding on is completed, and at that instant the finger on one
of the slides escapes from the catch to allow it to gear with the ratchet
wheel and give revolving motion to the cam, the groove of which moves
the two levers outwards, one for removing the bearing pin from the
bobbin and the other for moving back the piston, and then the lapped
bobbin is pushed off by the pushing-off lever. A fresh bobbin is now
brought by the travelling belt or revolving motion or descends in the
supply box to the bottom part of one of the slides, and then as the cam
revolves one lever causes the piston to push the bobbin into the space
between the discs and the other lever pushes the bearing pin through the
centre of the bobbin. The sliver behind the completed lap is now caught

page_text: by an arm and brought to a nipper, and a roller carried by the arm moves
the sliver to the top of the revolving bobbin to be wound on by means of
the surface drum, and as the sliver winds on it severs itself from the
nipper, and thus one operation of winding on is completed and another com-
menced, and so on continuously. In some cases instead of the arm and
roller for carrying the sliver to the top of the bobbin after the completed
lap has been pushed off I employ an arm for carrying the sliver to a
nipper and also to pins or hooks on one of the discs, so that as the disc
revolves the sliver will be carried round the bobbin and be severed from
the nipper.
We have before described how the bobbin is placed between the
flanges by being passed through the centre of one of them and a pin
pushed through the centre of the other flange and through the centre of
the bobbin, thus acting as a bearing for the bobbin. Instead of this the
bobbin may be placed between the flanges by an arm and a bearing pin
pushed through the centre of each flange to act as bearings for the bobbin
by entering the centre of the bobbin at each end.
In
When desired the machinery is slightly modified for the purpose of
winding slivers or laps with the employment of one bobbin only.
this case the hobbin is fixed to the bearing pin and withdrawn from the
lapped ball and discs when the winding on is completed, and afterwards
replaced for a fresh lap to be wound on, the movements being operated
by means of the before-mentioned cam on the driving shaft of the
machine.
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Leach, Thomas Leach, and James Goodyear
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
LEACH, THOMAS LEACH, and JAMES GOODYEAR, all of Rochdale, in the
0 County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in
the thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and

page_text: successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Leach, Thomas
Leach, and James Goodyear, Her special license that we, the said
John Leach, Thomas Leach, and James Goodyear, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such other as we, the said John Leach,
Thomas Leach, and James Goodyear, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR WINDING SLIVERS OR LAFS OF WOOL, FLAY, COTTON, OR OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said John Leach, Thomas Leach, and James Goodyear, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly 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 we, the said John Leach, Thomas Leach, and
James Goodyear, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Figures on the accompanying two Sheets of
Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is
to say-
The object of this Invention is to perform the operations of winding
the slivers or laps, removing the completed laps, and supplying fresh
bobbins by self-acting mechanical movements.
On Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are
end and front elevations of one arrangement of our improved machinery
for carrying out our Invention; Figure 3 an end view, and Figure 4
a sectional plan of part of the same; and Figures 5, 6, and 7 are
detached views for illustrating some of the movements and parts, the
Figures being drawn to a scale of about three inches to the foot.
In guides a at the upper part of two side frames we place slides c, d,
carrying the discs e, f, forming the flanges of the bobbin g, there being
a central hole in the disg e for the bobbin to pass through, and a

page_text: central, hole in the disc f for a pin which passes through a hole in
the centre of the bobbin. In the slide c is formed a seating i, Figure 5,
of the same radius as the bobbin and central with it, and in the other
slide & there is a central hole corresponding with the hole in the disc
for the bearing pin to pass through. Below the slides there is a shaft /
carrying a toothed' wheel or pulley for working the machine, a surface
drum m for causing the bobbin and lap to revolve, and a pinion n for
giving motion by means of the gearing n' to a wheel o placed at, an
angle for working the traversing lever p. On the shaft is also fixed
a ratchet wheel and a loose cam having at one side a catch and
arm s, t, and tappets u, v, the catch gearing with the ratchet wheel
when revolving motion is required to be given to the cam and the
tappets u, v, for working a lever and plate w, æ, used for pushing off the
bobbin and lap when the winding on is completed, and to prevent the
catch gearing with the ratchet wheel until required the armt of the
catch is held back by a finger y on the front slide d. In the groove of
the cam 7 there is a bowl a' on a stud fixed to the arm b' of
an L lever b', c', the arm & having at the top a slot in which is placed
one end of the bearing pin of the bobbin, the pin being held to
the lever by the collar c', washer d', and screw e'. The L lever b', c', is
connected by a pin or stud to another L lever f', g', the arm f having
at the top a slot linked to a block working in guides fixed to the
slide c, and to the block is fixed or cast a piston U, Figure 4, having
a central hole for supporting the other end of the bearing pin h of the
bobbin 9. The empty bobbins are supplied to the machine by placing
them in shells n' on a large pulley o' or on a travelling belt or chain,
or the bobbins are placed in a box or guides which allow them to
fall one by one in front of the piston when a change has to take
place. When the machine is set to work the sliver or lap p from the
carding engine passes through one, two, or more holes in the traversing
lever ? to the surface drum m to be wound on the bobbin g, and as the
winding proceeds the slides c, d, carrying the discs and bobbin rise in
their guides until the required winding on is completed, and at that
instant the finger y on the slide d escapes from the arm and allows
the spring q', Figure 2, to cause the catch s to gear with the revolving
ratchet wheel and give revolving motion to the cam 7, the groove
of which moves the two arms b', f, of the L levers outwards, as seen
by the dotted lines, Figure 1; the arm b' for removing the bearing pin
from the bobbin and the other arm f' for removing back the piston l',

page_text: and the filled lap is pushed off the surface drum by the pushing-off
lever wand plate a to jaws or nippers ' fixed to the side frames b, the
plate being kept vertical by the rod s between bowls t' on the
bracket u'. At the same time the filled lap is pushed between the
jaws a fresh bobbin is brought by the pulley o', or other feeding
apparatus, to the bottom of the seating i in the slide c, Figure 5, and
then as the cam r revolves the arm f' of the L lever f', ', causes the
piston to push the bobbin out of its shell into the space between the
discs, and the arm b' of the other L lever pushes the bearing pin h
through the central hole of the bobbin, after which the sliver behind
the filled or completed lap is severed and carried by the roller on the
lever to the revolving bobbin to be wound on by means of the sur-
face drum until it forms another completed lap, and thus the operations
of winding on are commenced and completed by self-acting means,
and so on continuously, the completed laps one after the other being
pushed out of the jaws into a receptacle by the curved part 1, Figures
1, 2, and 7, of the lever w', when the lever is raised, as shewn in Figure
7, for acting on the sliver.
In the sectional plan, Figure 4, we represent the mode of placing the
dises and slides together. The disc e has a flange and recess into which
is placed a rim a projecting from the slide c, and the disc f has a
socket into which is entered the boss b projecting from the slide d,
and through which the bearing pin h is passed; or the boss may be
formed on the disc and the socket in the slide.
For giving motion to the pushing-off lever and plate w, x, Figures
1, 2, 3, and 6, we employ in conjunction with the tappets u, v, on
the back plate of the cam a tumbler lever having a bowl and
stud e, which lever is fastened to the shaft to which the pushing-off
lever w is fixed, and when the lap is completed and the bearing pin h
removed from the bobbin the tappet u acts upon the bowl &² and
turns the lever and with it the pushing-off lever w, so as to move
forward the plate a, as seen in Figure 6, and push the filled lap into
the jaws, after which the stud is acted upon by the tappet v, and
the pushing-off lever and plate are returned to their original stationary
positions, as shewn in Figure 2.
For working the pulley o' with the shells and bobbins to supply a
fresh bobbin at the required time we employ the following mechanical

page_text: movements: We place on a stud fixed to the back side frame a double
lever g, h, one arm g carrying the catch and the weighted lever
, m, and the other arm , connected to the spring held to the
flange of the side frame. The catch gears into the teeth of the
ratchet wheel of fixed to the boss of the pulley o', and the part m² of
the weighted lever rests on the boss 2 to keep the lever rigid, and
the other part is in contact with the edge of the back slide c, in
which there is a recess q for the part to enter when required.
When this part is out of the recess the catch is in its forward
position for taking a tooth of the ratchet wheel; but when at the
descent of the slides the recess is opposite the part the spring n
forces the said part into the recess to bring back the catch and
turn the ratchet wheel and pulley and place a fresh bobbin on the
seating, Figure 5, to be afterwards placed between the discs, as
before described, and when the slides rise with the winding on the
lower incline of the recess forces the part out of the said recess to.
the edge of the slide, and brings forward the catch to take another
tooth of the ratchet wheel, and so on continuously.
For giving the double movement to the severing lever a, Figures
1, 2, and 7, we fix the lever to a small notched lever s, acted upon
by a bowl
On the back plate of the cam ? and to the front slide
we fix a projection ". When the fresh bobbin is supplied and the
bearing pin passed through it the bowl acts on the lever and turns
it upwards, thereby moving the severing lever. upwards and forwards,
as shewn in Figure 7, the notched part of the lever s passing over the
projection a, and when the slides rise by the winding on the said
projection forces back the notched lever and returns the severing lever
to its original position, as seen in Figure 2. Instead of passing the
sliver through one or more holds in the traversing lever to press or
condense it before it arrives at the surface drum we pass the sliver
over and between pins fixed to the lever, as shewn in Figure S, Sheet 2,
in which a represents the top of the, lever, the pins, and e² part of
the sliver, or we cast or fix to the upper end of the lever a bracket
carrying a roller, between which and the flat surface of the bracket
the sliver is passed and pressed, the roller being made sufliciently heavy
to press the sliver as required. This arrangement is shewn in Figure 9,
in which represents the top of the lever, e the bracket, 3 the roller,
and g part of the sliver.

page_text: In another arrangement we cast or fix to the top of the traversing
lever a bracket carrying a small two-armed lever and spring, and pass
the sliver between the bottom of one of the arms and the flat surface
of the bracket, and give the pressure by means of the spring.
In Figure 10, h³ represents the top of the lever, the bracket, 3, m³,
the two-armed lever, n³ the spring, and o³ part of the sliver. The
spring at one end is linked to a pin 2 fixed to the bracket, and at the
other end connected by a screw to the arm m³, and as the spring is
made to pull this arm upwards the other arm is forced downwards
and presses the sliver. In some cases, instead of the lever w¹ and
roller u', Figures 1, 2, and 7, for severing the sliver behind the com-
pleted lap and carrying it to the revolving bobbin, we employ an arm
working transversely for carrying the sliver to pins or hooks on one
of the discs, and also nipping it to a plate fixed to one of the side frames,
so that as the disc revolves the sliver will be carried round the bobbin
and he severed from the nippers.
In another modification of our improved machinery we place the
fresh bobbin between the discs by means of an arm, and employ L levers
worked by a cam on the driving shaft for pushing two pins, one at
each side, through central holes in the discs to nearly half way through
the bobbin for acting as bearing pins, and Figures 11 and 12, Sheet 2,
are front and end elevations of this arrangement, the Figures being
drawn to a scale of three inches to the foot. To one of the side frames a
we bolt a bracket b carrying a shaft c, to which are fixed four arms
d, e, f, g, and the ratchet wheel having four teeth, there being shells i
fastened to the arms for holding bobbins k, l, m. The discs o are both
alike, and both the slides p have central holes for the two bearing
pins q,, which are moved in and out by L levers worked by a cam u
having revolving motion given to it, when by the escape of the finger v
from the arm w the catch y gears with the ratchet wheel x, as before
described. At the inner side of the front cam plate there are two
bowls a', b', and on a stud fixed to the adjacent side frame is placed
a lever having two fingers c', d', for being acted upon by the bowls,
and an arm e' connected by the rod f' to the lever g' working loose on
the shaft c, which lever carries a weight and a catch for gearing
into the teeth of the ratchet wheel h. When after a lap is completed
the bearing pins are removed by the cam pulling the top of the L levers
outwards the cam continues to revolve, and the first bowl a' on the cam

page_text: arms.
plate lifts the finger c and depresses the arm e', rod f', and lever g' to
cause the catch to turn the ratchet wheel and give motion to the
The shell of the arm & partly pushes off the filled lap and places
the bobbin opposite the bearing pins q, r, which are then forced into
the central hole of the bobbin by the L levers worked by the cam u.
The bowl then comes in contact with the finger d', and still further
depresses the arm d, rod f', lever g', and catch, thereby giving
another movement to the ratchet wheel h, and carrying the arms farther
forwards, the shell on the arm d leaving the bobbin / between the discs,
and after entirely pushing off the filled lap the arm & takes the position
before occupied by the arm g.
When the bowl ' leaves the finger d'
the weight ' returns the lever g', the rod f', the arm e', and the fingers
c, d, to their original positions, so that when revolving motion is again
given to the cam u the movements of the fingers, levers, and ratchet
wheel will be repeated, the next arm and bobbin will be brought forward,
the arm and shell first partly pushing off the filled lap, then pausing
at the centre of the discs to receive the bearing pins, and finally move
to the position before occupied by the preceding arm, and there remain
until motion is again given to the cam .
When desired, the machinery
is slightly modified for the purpose of winding slivers or laps with the
employment of one bobbin only. In this case the bobbin is fixed to
the bearing pin and withdrawn from the lapped ball and discs when
the winding on is completed, and afterwards replaced for a fresh lap to.
be wound on. The bearing pin and bobbin are moved in and out by a
lever worked by a cam on the driving shaft of the machine similar to
that before described and shewn in the Drawings, and the movements
generally are the same as those of the first machine, with the exception
that the supply pulley of travelling belt with their shells and bobbins
are dispensed with, there being only one bobbin, which when removed
leaves a space in the completed lap.
Having now described the nature and particulars of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to
be understood that in machinery or apparatus for winding slivers or
laps of wool, flax, cotton, or other fibrous materials, we claim,-
First. The seating in one of the slides for the reception of the fresh
bobbin, and the large hole in the same slide and the hole in the disc or
flange connected with it for the passage of the bobbin.

page_text: Secondly. The employment of an arm or lever in connection with a
piston for placing the fresh bobbin between the discs by pushing it
through the before-mentioned large holes in the slide and disc.
Thirdly. The employment of an arm or lever for moving a bearing
pin to and fro in the slide and disc opposite those with the large holes,
and also two similar arms or levers when two bearing pins are used for
the bobbin.
Fourthly. The pushing-off lever and plate for pushing the filled lap
from between the discs or flanges, and also the employment of revolving
arms for the same purpose.
Fifthly. The large pulley, belt, or chain having shells fastened to
them for holding fresh bobbins and supplying them to the machine.
Sixthly. The cam on the driving shaft and parts connected with it for
giving motion to the several levers.
And, seventhly. The employment of nippers for holding the sliver
until it is severed, as all such improvements are herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Leach and James Goodyear,
for and on behalf of ourselves and the said Thomas Leach, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JOHN LEACH.
(L.S.)
JAMES GOODYEAR. (L.S.)