A THREAD MEASURER
Year: 1884

page_text: We, THOMAS GLEN COATS, of Ferguslie Thread Works, Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Thread Manufacturer, and THOMAS WATSON, of the same
place, Mechanic do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for "A THREAD
MEASURER" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our said Invention has for its object the combination of parts to form a
convenient portable instrument for measuring thread. The instrument comprises
a pulley in contact with which the thread is made to pass and which is combined
with driving and indicating mechanism. The pulley is made with its circum-
ferential surface of a convenient size for measuring-for example, a quarter of a.
yard-or a submultiple of the measure unit employed in stating lengths of thread
on spools or bobbins. The instrument is arranged for being packed in a small box
and for being set up on the lid of the box when being used; and means is also
provided in connection with the box for holding the spool or bobbin the thread on
which is to be measured.
The instrument is delineated on the accompanying Sheet of explanatory.
Drawings, Figures, 1, and 2, being vertical sections as at right angles to each other,
and Figure, 3, being a separate view of a part of the indicating apparatus. In
Figures, 1, and 2, the instrument is shown as set on the closed-lid, 4, of tho
box, 5, within which it is placed when not in use. The working parts are carried
upon a frame comprising two vertical wheel-like frame pieces, 6, 7, connected' by
stays, 8, and by a transverse bottom plate, 9; and the bottoms of the frame
pieces, 6, 7, are formed with flanges to engage in grooved guides, 10, fixed to the
box lid, 4, for the purpose of holding the instrument steadily. The measuring
pulley, 11, is fitted to turn loosely on a stud, 12, fixed to one, 6, of the frame
pieces. The boss, 13, of the measuring pulley, 11, is made with pinion teeth to
gear with an internally toothed wheel, 14, fixed on a spindle, 15, carried partly by
a bracket, 16, fixed to the transverse frame piece, 9, partly by one, 7, of the main
frame pieces, through which last it passes. A small handle, 17, is provided for
placing on the end of the -spindle, 15, for turning it by and thereby causing the
measuring pulley, 11, to rotate. Upon the top of measuring pulley, 11, there rest
two rollers, 18, which are provided with tyres of vulcanised rubber or other
suitable frictional material, and which have their spindle ends connected by

page_text: links, 19: The links, 19, of the rollers are jointed to a pair of lever arms, 20,
which are centered on one of the stays, 8, and have applied to them an adjustable
pair of springs, 21, by means of which the rollers, 18, are made to bear with a
suitable pressure on the measuring pulley, 11. The thread to be measured (and
which may be drawn from a spool or bobbin or from a ball or from any source) is
entered through a guide eye fixed to the pressure levers, 20, and passed under the
rollers, 18. Motion is then given by means of the handle, 17, and the measuring
pulley, 11, draws the thread and passes it through, and in doing so measures it.
For indicating the measurement a bevil wheel, 22, fixed on the spindle, 15, gears
with a bevil wheel, 23, on an inclined spindle having also on it a worm, 24, which
gears with two toothed wheels, 25, 26. The back or inner wheel, 25, is fast on a
spindle, 27, which extends through to the front of the instrument and carries an
index or pointer, 28; and the other wheel, 26, is made with or has fixed to it a
tubular boss which encloses the spindle, 27, and is itself partly onclosed in
a bearing formed for it in the frame piece, 7, but projecting a little beyond that
bearing to receive a disk or dial, 29. The toothed wheels, 25, 26, acted on by the
worm, 24, differ by one tooth, and whilst the dial, 29, in turning indicates
relatively to a fixed pointer, 30, the parts of a turn made by it, the moving
pointer, 28, indicates on the dial the number of complete turns. The dial, 29, is
on its outer face suitably marked for both indications. The dial, 29, and
pointer, 28, are held by stiff friction and can be turned by hand for setting the
indications to zero without working the gearing. To facilitato the setting of the
dial, 29, accurately to zero there is behind it an oscillating catch, 31, shown in
Figure, 3, which catch turns out of the way of a pin on the back of the dial, 29,
when the dial is turned by the measuring gearing, but which acts as a stop to
arrest the dial at the zero position when turned in the other direction.
As the instrument is intended principally for measuring how much thread is
contained on a spool or bobbin a convenient holder is provided. This consists of
a crank arm, 32, provided with a stud by means of which it can be held in a
socket in the box lid, 4, and made with a bearing socket, 33, having loose in it
a spindle, 34, on which the spool or bobbin, 35, is placed. The spindle, 34, is
divided or split and being made of spring metal can enter the variously sized bores
of different spools or bobbins.
We do not restrict ourselves to the precise details hercinbefore described or
shown in the accompanying Drawings provided the distinctive features of our
Invention are retained:-these being, the combination of parts forming the thread
measurer as a whole; and the combination of a pulley with frictional spring-
pressed rollers for keeping the thread in contact with the pulley and with driving
and indicating mechanism.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. The combination of parts forming the thread measurer substantially as
hereinbefore described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
2. The combination of a pulley with frictional spring-pressed rollers for keeping
the thread in contact with the pulley and with driving and indicating mechanism
substantially as and for the purposes herein before described.
D
1004