IMPROVE MENTS IN 'SPINNING' OR TWISTING WIRE FOR FENCING AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Bedson, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Manager of Iron Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVE
MENTS IN 'SPINNING' OR TWISTING WIRE FOR FENCING AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 7th February 1865, and dated the 18th August 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Bedson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1864.
I, GEORGE BEDSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manager of
Iron Works, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN 'SPINNING' OR TWISTING WIRE FOR FENCING AND OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
According to the usual method of "spinning" or twisting wire a series of
reels or bobbins are wound, from which the several wires are drawn and
twisted together.
According to my Invention I propose to dispense with the aforesaid
winding upon reels or bobbins, and to effect the required spinning or twisting
direct from the galvanizing apparatus or from the original hanks produced at
the drawing or rolling machinery.
The following are the methods I propose for carrying my Invention into
effect:-I conduct the several wires through apertures in a stationary plate,
after which they are united at a pair of rollers, which draw them forward and
at the same time revolve bodily, so that the delivery to the necessary drum is

page_text: effected, and the required "spinning'
'spinning" or twisting is accomplished. The
receiving drum also revolves bodily with the aforesaid rollers, and the distri-
bution of the twisted strands thereon may be effected by a traversing guide, or
the drum itself may traverse.
According to another method I mount the receiving drum in a revolving
frame, which also carries the rollers at which the wires are united and twisted,
the said rollers receiving rotatory motion by gearing for the purpose of
delivering the twisted strand. The receiving drum is caused to take up by
friction surfaces or gearing driven independently of the revolving frame, and
the distribution of the twisted wires is effected by a traversing guide.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Bedson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BEDSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manager, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said George Bedson, Her special license that I, the said
George Bedson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Bedson, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN 'SPINNING' OR TWISTING WIRE FOR FENCING AND OTHER
PURPOSES," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said George
Bedson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
1. NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Bedson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in improvements whereby the wire is "spun" or
twisted direct from the original coils or from the galvanizing apparatus, that
is without the preparatory process of winding upon reels, bobbins, or drums,
as in the usual manufacture.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machinery I employ to effect this purpose,
and Fig. 2 a view looking at the left-hand end of Fig. 1.
The driving pulley is at a mounted on a shaft which runs in a pedestal b.
This shaft is attached to a disc c, connected by longitudinal rods d to another
disc c*, which bears upon an antifriction roller e, and is supported latterally by
other rollers e*. These two discs c, c*, and rods e therefore constitute a frame-
work capable of being caused to revolve by motive power applied to the-
pulley a. To the disc is affixed a bracket f carrying a short shaft g, upon
which is mounted a pinion h, gearing into a wheel i, fixed so as to be stationary
to a standard k. The short shaft g also carries a bevil pinion 2, taking into
another m, mounted upon a short shaft n, the other end of which is provided
with a spur pinion o, gearing into another P, mounted upon a shaft 9,
which is capable of turning in bearings carried by the bracket f. This
bracket also carries another shaft situate behind that seen at q, and each of
them is provided with a roller r. The bevil pinion m drives another .s,
mounted upon a shaft supported at one end by a boss formed upon the disc c*,
at the other in a step t, carried by one of the longitudinal bars d. This
shaft is furnished with a pinion u, which drives a shaft v, also supported by
the bars d, and upon it is a pulley w, communicating motion by means of a
band to a pulley y, mounted upon au axis z, on which there is also a drum 1
for receiving the "spun" or twisted wires. The axis z turns at one end in a
socket carried by one of the arms d, and at the other in a slot within which it
is confined by a pin 2. Upon the withdrawal of this pin therefore the axis z
may be removed and with it the drum 1. Upon the shaft v is a worm 3,
taking into a worm wheel 4, mounted upon a shaft 5, carried by bearings
attached to one of the rods d, and the other end of this shaft is furnished with
a crank pin 6, situate within a slot formed in a cross bar 7, which is capable
of sliding to and fro in guides carried by the rods d. To the standard k is
adapted a plate 8, pierced with a series of holes corresponding in number to
the wires which are to be spun or twisted; the Drawing shews six, with a
central hole for the core wire. This plate is attached by screws and may be
changed to suit any desired number of wires.
The operation is as follows:-The wires to be twisted are not, as in the

page_text: ordinary operation of spinning or twisting, wound by a preparatory process on
to drums, but are conducted direct from the original coils or from the
galvanizing apparatus to the holes in the plate 8, as shewn by the red lines,
from thence to an aperture in the bracket f, where they are brought together,
and after this they pass to the rollers r, which hold them within grooves with
which they are provided. Motive power being now applied through the
pulley a, the framework, constituted by the discs c, c*, and rods d will be
caused to revolve, and as the gearing above described and also the drum 1 is
carried by this framework, the whole of such gearing and the said drum will
also revolve bodily in like manner, carrying with them the rollers r, which by
the hold they have upon the wires will cause them to be spun or twisted
around each other. The revolution bodily of the piuion h will cause it to run
around the periphery of the stationary toothed wheel i, by which means the
said pinion will be caused to turn upon its axis and communicate a like axial
motion to the rollers r through the medium of the pinions l, m, o, p, so that
the wires at the same time that they are spun or twisted will be conveyed
forward to the drum 1, to which they are at starting conducted by hand. As
the spinning or twisting proceeds the drum 1 is caused to revolve by the
pulleys w, y, and a degree of rotation is imparted to the said drum slightly in
excess of that required for winding on the quantity forwarded by the rollers r,
by which means sufficient strain is put upon the spun or twisted wires to
cause them to be wound in a compact form, but when this strain exceeds
certain limits then the band will slip and the rate of winding on will
decrease, and this effect will also compensate for the extra quantity taken up
by the increasing diameter of the drum. During the above described operations
the shaft v, driven by the pinion u, will impart a slow rotatory motion through
the medium of the worm and worm wheel 3, 4, to the crank pin 6, which, by
revolving, will cause the guide rod 7 to move to and fro, and as the spun or
twisted wires pass through this guide rod they will be distributed gradually
over the breadth of the drum 1. I have above described the drum as being
driven by connexion with other parts of the machine, but it may be driven
independently thereof.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited
Letters Patent,
Firstly, "spinning" or twisting wires direct from the original coils or from
the galvanizing bath.
Secondly, the machinery above described for effecting the said spinning or

page_text: twisting, the main features thereof being the employment of the twisting and
delivering rollers and the receiving drum turning bodily while at the same
time they revolve upon their axes.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Bedson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE BEDSON. (L.S.)