IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS." A communication from abroad by John Goulding, of
Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 9th February 1869, and dated the 14th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th October 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING WOOL AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a machine in which the roving is fed at
intervals to the twisting mechanism. The latter consists of a revolving

page_text: tube whose speed is governed according to the amount of twist desired.
The yarn or thread after having been twisted is taken up by spools
placed on spindles which are supported by rails; the said rails receive
an automatic motion by the action of a conical cam mounted on a longi-
tudinally sliding shaft in such manner that cops of the required form are
produced with ease and rapidity. A frame is provided which supports
the bearings for a shaft on which are mounted a fast and loose pulley, a
drum, and another pulley. From the said drum a series of belts extend
and pass around the whirls of the flyers which are intended to be
arranged on both sides of the frame. The roving is received from short
spools which rest on a drum, each of their gudgeons being placed between
two pins or projections rising from curved arms which extend from the
top rail of the frame. These arms hold the said spools in position, but
permit them to bear with their full weight upon the drum. This drum
is mounted on a shaft, whose bearings are supported in standards rising
from the frame, and the said shaft receives an intermittent revolving
motion by means of the following devices:-On the end of the said shaft
is mounted a toothed wheel, which through an intermediate wheel gears
with a pinion mounted on the feed roller. This roller extends throughout
the whole length of the frame, having its bearings in suitable boxes on
the top of the said frame, and it acts in connection with a pressure roller
which bears on the roving as the same passes from the short spool over
the feed roller to the twisting mechanism. On the outer end of the feed
roller next to the pinion is also mounted an india-rubber roller preferably
made in the following manner :-On the shaft of the feed roller is firmly
secured a flange, then the rubber is slipped on and held in place by
another flange, which may be secured to the first flange by two or more
set screws, or in any other desirable manner. This india-rubber roller
is exposed to the action of a segment which is mounted on a stud
secured in the frame, and to which a revolving motion is imparted by a
train of toothed wheels and pulleys which are actuated by a belt from
a pulley on the axle of the driving drum. This belt may be replaced
by a train of wheels, and in practise it might be preferable to use spur
wheels as they transmit the motion without slip. As the segment
revolves its circumference bears against the circumference of the india-
rubber roller and imparts to the same together with the feed roller an
intermittent revolving motion. To keep the feed roller from over-
running itself, or in other words to stop the feed motion as soon as
the segment passes out of contact with the india-rubber roller, a brake

page_text: lever provided with a shoe is employed, the same being actuated by a
pin projecting from the inner surface of one of the toothed wheels, and
arranged to act at the proper time on a stud secured to the brake lever,
the relative positions of the actuating pin and stud being such that the
brake shoe is forced up at the proper moment against the periphery of
a disc mounted on the axle of the feed roller. The segment is made in
two parts, which are secured on the hub of the toothed wheel which
carries the pin by set screws, so that by turning one part in one and the
other in the opposite direction the length of the bearing surface of the
segment can be increased or diminished and the amount of roving fed
to the twisting mechanism can be regulated as desired. The tube of the
twisting mechanism rests loosely in forked bearings secured to the frame.
A rapid revolving motion is imparted to this tube by a belt which extends.
from a drum and over a whirl fixed or formed on the tube. The said
whirl lies between the forked bearings and thereby serves to prevent any
endwise movement of the said tube. The tube is placed in an inclined
position, and from its lower end extends a staple. The roving after it.
has been passed through the tube is wound once or twice around one of
the legs of the said staple, and is then passed between the drawing
rollers to the flyer. Two of the drawing rollers extend the whole length
of the frame, and they are placed so close together that the other roller
will rest loosely between them, and will serve to keep the roving or yarn
in contact with them. These rollers are geared together by toothed
wheels or pinions, so that they revolve in the same direction; and on the
end of one of the said rollers is mounted a toothed wheel which gears.
into a pinion forming one of the train of wheels above mentioned.
The rotation of the drum from which motion is transmitted to the
twisting tube is produced by belts or toothed wheels from the driving
drum or shaft. The spindles of the flyers are supported by movable
rails, and the said spindles carry the spools on which the cops are
formed. In order to produce cops of the proper form the rails receive
an automatic irregular rising and falling motion by means of the
following mechanism :-In the lower part of the frame is arranged a
shaft which revolves freely in its bearings, and also has a sliding motion
in the direction of its axis. This sliding motion is produced by means
of a screw clamp, which is placed loosely on the said shaft between
collars which prevent its sliding on the said shaft, the shaft being left
free however to revolve independently of the clamp. This clamp is
provided with an internal screw thread, which can be thrown in gear

page_text: with a screw spindle to which a slow revolving motion is imparted by
any suitable belt or other connection with the driving drum. As this
spindle revolves its action on the clamp produces the endwise motion of
the shaft. The revolving motion of the said shaft is derived from a long
pinion which gears into a toothed wheel mounted on the shaft. The
axis of this pinion may be driven by any suitable means in connection
with the driving shaft. On the sliding shaft is mounted a taper cam
which acts on a tappet arm mounted loosely on the hub of a lever, the
latter being keyed fast to another shaft. This latter shaft turns freely in
its bearings, and on it are mounted two chain wheels or segments, from
which chains extend in opposite directions over rollers to the rails in
such a manner that when the shaft is turned in one direction the rails
are raised, and when the said shaft is turned in the opposite direction the
rails are lowered. The end of the tappet is armed with a friction roller;
which is brought to bear against the surface of the cam by a sliding
wedge mounted on the end of a screw rod and inserted between the ends
of the tappet arm and the lever; the said arm and lever are provided
with semicircular sockets to retain the wedge. The screw rod is con-
nected by suitable gearing to a screw spindle, and as it revolves slowly
the wedge is gradually drawn in or moved out, and the end of the tappet
arm is made to follow automatically the surface of the cam.
By the
action of this cam on the tappet arm the spindle rails are gradually
raised and cops of the required form are produced. A hand wheel
secured to the end of the screw rod serves to withdraw the sliding wedge
and also to set the same by hand whenever it may be required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, South-
ampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Con-
sulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the

page_text: thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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 MACHINERY FOR SPINNING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings forming a part of this Specification :-
This Invention relates to a machine in which the roving is fed at
intervals to the twisting mechanism. The latter consists of a revolving
tube whose speed is governed according to the amount of twist desired.
The yarn or thread after having been twisted is taken up by spools placed
on spindles which are supported by rails; the said rails receive an
automatic motion by the action of a conical cam mounted on a longi-
tudinally sliding shaft in such manner that cops of the required form are
produced with ease and rapidity.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 represents a transverse section
of a machine embodying this Invention, the plane of section being
indicated by the line x, x, Figure 2; Figure 2 is a horizontal section
thereof, the line y, y, Figure 1, indicating the plane of section; Figure 3
is an end view of the said machine.
A designates a frame which forms the bearings for a shaft B, on which
shaft are mounted a fast and loose pulley C, C', a drum D, and a pulley E.

page_text: From the drum D belts a extend and pass round the whirls 6 of the
flyers F, which flyers are intended to be arranged on both sides of the
frame, one flyer only being shown in the Drawing. The roving is
received from short spools c, which rest by their inherent gravity on a
drum G, their gudgeons being placed each between two pins d rising
from curved arms e, which extend from the top rail of the frame A, and
which hold the said spools in position, but permit them to bear with their
full weight upon the drum G. This drum G is mounted on a shaft H,
which has its bearings in standards frising from the frame A, and the
said shaft receives an intermittent revolving motion by means of the
following devices:-On the end of the said shaft is mounted a toothed
wheel g, which through an intermediate wheel h gears with a pinion i
mounted on the feed roller I. This roller extends throughout the whole
length of the frame A, having its bearings in suitable boxes on the top of
the said frame, and it acts in connection with a pressure roller J, which
bears on the roving as the same passes from the spool c over the feed
roller I to the twisting mechanism. On the outer end of the feed roller I,
next to the pinion i, is also mounted an india-rubber roller j, which is
preferably made in the following manner:-On the shaft of the feed
roller is firmly secured a flange, then the rubber is slipped on and held
in place by another flange, which may be secured to the first flange by
two or more set screws or in any other desirable manner. This india-
rubber roller is exposed to the action of a segment k, which is mounted
on a stud / secured in the frame A, and to which a revolving motion is
imparted by a train of toothed wheels m, n, o, and pulleys p, q, which
are actuated by a belt r from the pulley E on the axle of the driving
drum D. This belt may however be replaced by a train of toothed
wheels, and in practice it would be preferable to use spur wheels as they
transmit the motion without slip. As the segment k revolves its
circumference bears against the circumference of the india-rubber
roller j, and imparts to the same, together with the feed roller I, an
intermittent revolving motion. In order to prevent the feed roller from
overrunning itself, or in other words to stop the feed motion as soon as
the segment / passes out of contact with the india-rubber roller j, a brake
levers provided with a shoe is employed, the same being actuated by a
pint projecting from the inner surface of the toothed wheels m, and
arranged to act at the proper time on a stud u secured to the brake lever,
the relative positions of the actuating pin t and stud u being such that
the brake shoe is forced up at the proper moment against the periphery

page_text: of a disc
mounted on the axle of the feed roller. The segment cam k
is made in two parts, which are secured on the hub of the toothed
wheel m by set screws, so that by turning one part in one and the other
in the opposite direction the length of the bearing surface of the segment
can be increased or diminished, and the amount of roving fed to the
twisting mechanism can be regulated to suit circumstances. The
twisting mechanism consists principally of a tube K, which rests loosely
in forked bearings secured to the frame A. To this tube a rapid revolving
motion is imparted by a belt wo, which extends from a drum L and over a
whirl a¹ which is secured to the tube K between its forked bearings, and
this whirl a serves to keep the said tube from moving in the direction of
its axis. The tube K is placed in an inclined position, and from its lower
end extends a staple 6'. The roving after it has been passed through the
tube is wound once or twice around one of the legs of the said staple,
and is then passed through between the drawing rollers c, d, e', to the
flyer F. The drawing rollers c¹, e¹, extend the whole length of the
frame A, and they are placed so close together that the roller & will rest
loosely between them, and will serve to keep the roving or yarn in
contact with the said drawing rollers. These rollers are geared together
by toothed wheels or pinions, so that they revolve in one and the same
direction, and on the end of one of the said rollers is mounted the toothed
wheel n, which gears into the pinion o and receives the required motion
as previously stated. The motion of the drum L, from which motion is
transmitted to the twisting tube K, is produced by belts or toothed
wheels from the driving shaft on drum D. In practice it is preferable to
use toothed wheels, and to provide different trains of wheels, so that the
speed of the twisting tube can be changed to suit circumstances, the feed
motion of the roving being so regulated that for each revolution of the
segment ka quantity of roving is given out sufficient to produce yarn or
thread of the required thickness. The spindles f¹ of the flyers F are
supported by movable rails M, and they support the spools g¹ on which
the cops are formed. In order to produce cops of the proper form the
rails M receive an automatic irregular rising and falling motion by
means of the following mechanism :-In the lower part of the frame A
is arranged a shaft N, which revolves freely in its bearings and also has
a traversing motion in the direction of its axis. This traversing motion
is produced by means of a screw clamp O, which is placed loosely on the
shaft N in a position between the collars, which prevent its sliding on
the said shaft, leaving the shaft free however to revolve independently of

page_text: the clamp. This clamp is provided with an internal screw thread, which
can be thrown in gear with a screw spindle P, to which a slow revolving
motion is imparted by any suitable belt or other connection with the
driving drum. As this spindle revolves its action on the clamp O pro-
duces the traversing motion of the shaft N. The revolving motion of
the said shaft is derived from a long pinion h', which is mounted on a
shaft and gears into a toothed wheel mounted on the shaft N. The
said shaft Q receives motion by any suitable belt or wheel connection
from the driving shaft. On the shaft N is mounted a taper cam R,
which acts on a tappet arm mounted loosely on the hub of a lever k',
which is keyed fast to a shaft S. This shaft turns freely in its bearings,
and on it are mounted two chain wheels or segments T, from which
extend chains in opposite directions over rollers m¹ to the rails M in
such a manner that when the shaft S is turned in one direction the rails
are raised, and when the said shaft is turned in the opposite direction the
rails are lowered. The end of the tappet j¹ is armed with a friction roller
which is brought to bear against the surface of the cam R (see Figure 1)
by a sliding wedge n', which is mounted on the end of a screw rod o¹ and
is inserted between the ends of the tappet arm j¹ and the lever . The
said arm and lever are provided with semicircular sockets to retain the
wedge. The screw rod n¹ is connected by gearing to the screw spindle P,
and as it revolves slowly the wedge is gradually drawn in or moved out,
and the end of the tappet arm j¹ is made to follow automatically the
taper surface of the cam R. By the action of this cam on the tappet arm
the spindle rails M are gradually raised and cops of the required form
are produced. A hand wheel p¹ secured to the end of the screw rod o¹
serves to withdraw the sliding wedge and also to set the same by hand
whenever it may be required.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. The twisting tube K provided with a staple b', and serving to
produce the twist of the roving fed to it, substantially as herein set forth.
Second. The intermittent feed mechanism of the roving, consisting of
and elastic roller j or their equivalents, substantially as
a segment
described.
Third. The cam R made in two parts so that its bearing surface can

page_text: be increased or diminished, and the quantity of roving given out for each
revolution of the said cam can be regulated, as set forth.
Fourth. The brake lever & and disk v in combination with the cam R
and elastic roller j which produce the feed motion of the roving,
substantially as and for the purpose described.
Fifth. The arrangement of the conical cam R mounted on the
traversing shaft N in combination with the tappet arm j, lever k¹, sliding
wedge n', chain wheels T, and chains ", which support the spindle
rails M, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Sixth. The combination of the segment cam k in two parts, elastic
roller j, brake lever 8 with its pin u, and disc v, or their equivalents, for
giving an intermittent feed to the roving, and so that the quantity of
roving given out for each revolution of segment cam k can be regulated,
substantially as set forth.
Seventh. The drum G, rollers J, I, spools c, or their equivalents,
combined together for the purpose of delivering the roving by intervals,
substantially as set forth.
Eighth. The segment cam k in two parts, elastic roller j, brake lever s
with its pin u, disc v, drum G, rollers J, I, and spool c, in combination
with the twisting tube K, provided with a staple 6', or their equivalents,
to give a counter twist to the roving, substantially as set forth.
Ninth. The segment cam k in two parts, elastic roller j, brake lever s
with its pin u, disc v, drum G, rollers J, I, spool c, twisting tube K,
with a staple b', in combination with drawing rollers c², d, e¹, flyer F,
spindle f, bobbin g', or their equivalents, to produce yarn from roving,
substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)