CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING COTTON, SITE MAY WOOL HEMP AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Felton Kirkman, of Argyll Street, Regent
Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING COTTON,
SITE MAY WOOL HEMP AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES"
Sealed the 25th January 1856, and dated the 27th July 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Felton Kirkman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the
27th July 1855.
I, CHARLES FELTON KIRKMAN, of Argyll Street, Regent Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING
COTTON, SILK, FLAX, WOOL, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,"
follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of constructing and working the flyers of
spinning machinery, so as to put two twists in the roving or yarn at every
turn of the flyer instead of only one, and at the same time causing the yarn
to wind upon a bobbin, which is placed vertically or horizontally, and made to
rotate within the flyer as it travels round it.
The flyer consists of an oblong frame, at the top and bottom of which are

page_text: attached cross bars, furnished with eyes, through which the yarn passes from
the delivering rollers.
The additional twist is given to the yarn by causing it to pass from the
upper part of the flyer several times round one of the legs or arms of the
flyer to the lower part of the same, and from thence through an eye beneath
the bobbin on to and around the latter, which is caused to rotate at a proper
surface speed by means of a roller, which rotates in contact therewith, and is
actuated by suitable gearing within the flyer.
By this new plan 1 obtain a much more regular strain upon the roving or
yarn, and make it more even and regular in appearance, and in every way a
better article. and the flyer is much more simple and inexpensive in its con-
struction than those heretofore used for similar objects.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Felton Kirkman in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FELTON KIRKMAN, of Argyll Street, Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Ierself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Felton Kirkman, Her special license that I, the said Charles
Felton Kirkman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Felton Kirkman, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING COTTON, SILK, FLAX,
WOOL, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Felton Kirkman, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Felton Kirkman, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in machinery for spinning and twisting
cotton, silk, flax, wool, hemp, and other fibrous substances, relates to a mode
of constructing and working the flyers of certain descriptions of spinning
machinery, so as to put two twists in the roving or yarn at every turn of the
flyer instead of only one, as is usually the case, and at the same time causing
the yarn to wind upon a bobbin, which is placed vertically or horizontally, and
made to rotate within the flyer as the latter travels round it. The flyer which
I propose to employ in carrying out my Invention consists of an oblong
frame, at the top and bottom of which are attached cross bars, furnished with
eyes, through which the yarn passes from the delivering rollers above to the
bobbin within the flyer. The additional twist is given to the yarn by causing
it to pass from the upper part of the flyer several times round one of the legs
or arms of the fiyer to the lower part of the same, and from thence up
through an eye beneath the bobbin on to and around the latter, which is
caused to rotate at a proper surface speed by means of a roller, which rotates
in contact therewith, and is actuated by suitable gearing within the flyer.
By this new plan I obtain a much more regular or uniform strain upon the
roving or yarn, and make it more even and regular in appearance, and in every
way a better article, and the flyer is much more simple and inexpensive in its
construction than those beretofore used for similar objects.
In order, however, that my improvements may be perfectly understood, I
have shewn in the accompanying Drawing various views of my improved
flyers, and of some of the parts thereof detached.
Fig. 1 is a front view of one of the improved flyers complete, with all its
appendages; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; and Fig. 3 is a view of
the opposite side of the complete flyer. a, a, a, a, is a rectangular frame,
secured to the upper and lower discs and b. which are provided with bushes
c, c', through which pass the upper and lower spindles d and d'. The bobbin c
and its presser roller f, shewn detached at Fig. 3, together with the traversing
carrier, the traverse screw for actuating the same, and some of the other parts,
are mounted in the rectangular frame a, a. The axle of the presser roller f
turns in holes made in the sides of the frame a, a, but the spindle of the
bobbin works in a vertical slot g. made in the side of the frame, as shewn in
Fig. 3, and also in the detached side view of the frame a at Fig. 4, a lateral

page_text: opening as at 1 being made in the slot to admit of doffing or removing the
bobbin e when required. The presser roller f is actuated by means of a
toothed wheel on one end of its spindle, and which wheel h is driven by a
toothed pinion on the outer end of the short horizontal shaft j, which carries
at its inner end a bevel-toothed wheel k, driven by a similar wheel on the lower
end of the short vertical spindle d, that supports the upper part of the flyer.
This flyer consists of an oblong frame m, m, composed of round iron wire, or,
if preferred, it may be constructed of light tubing, and is provided at top
and bottom with horizontal arms n, n, and n', n', having eyes at each extremity.
The upper arms n, n, are shewn detached in plan and section at Figs. 5, and
the lower arms n¹, n', are shewn in plan and side elevation at Figs. 5. By
causing the roving or yarn to lap round the outside of the legs or arms of the
flyer, as above mentioned, the roving will be supported to a certain extent, and
enabled to resist the strain to which it will necessarily be subjected in its
passage from the delivering rollers to the lower part of the flyer. It will
also be found to be much more convenient for piccing or repairing broken
rovings than if the said rovings were passed down the inside of a tube.
A traverse screw or shaft o, with a right and left handed screw cut thereon,
as shown in Fig. 1, is mounted below the bobbin, and is the thread
carrier, which is shewn detached at Fig. 6, and is made concave to fit the
screwed shaft o, and has a projecting feather or pin inside to work in the
thread of the screwed shaft o. The thread carrier is supported by and runs on
a round rod or rail 7, which passes through a hole 7 (Fig. 6) in the lower
part of the thread carrier, so as to admit of the latter moving to and fro
thereon as the screwed shaft o rotates. The axle of the screwed shaft o
passes through the vertical slot of the sides of the rectangular frame a, and
turns in bearings in the cheek pieces 1, 2, which work up and down outside
the rectangular frame a, a. These check picces are shewn detached at
Figs. 7, and are moveable vertically against the sides of the frame, and
they are continually drawn upward by means of the india-rubber springs s, s,
on each side, and which are attached at top to fixed pins 4*, 4*, and at
bottom to pins or studs 5, 5, fixed in the cheek pieces. The axle of the
bobbin e is inserted in the notch 3 of the cheek pieces 1, 7; and therefore
as these latter are drawn up by the tension of the springs s, s, the bobbin
will be forced against the under side of the pressing roller f, and as this
latter is made to rotate at an uniform speed by means of the gearing
before described, it will be seen that the surface of the bobbin e, whatever
may be its diameter, must also always rotate at an uniform speed. On
the axle of the bobbin e is mounted a pinion t, which gears into a toothed

page_text: wheel u on the end of the screwed shaft o, so that the motion of the screwed
shaft o, and consequently the speed of the thread carrier p, will depend upon
the speed of rotation of the bobbin, and as this latter is driven by friction of
contact, the speed of the several parts will be in proper proportion one to the
other. The roving from the delivering rollers, after passing down the inside
of the spindle d, which is made hollow for this purpose, as shown at the
detached sectional view, Fig. S, issues from an aperture 4 therein, and is
conducted through one of the eyes at the end of the horizontal arm n, and
from thence, after passing two or three times round the vertical arm of the
flyer and through the eye of the lower horizontal arm n', the roving enters
the hole 2 in the lower spindle d', which is also made hollow for the purpose,
as shewn detached in section at Fig. 9. As the flyer m, m, is made to rotate
round the rectangular frame a, a, and the bobbin e, the reving will, between
the point at which it enters the upper hollow spindle d, and leaves the lower
hollow spindle d', have a double twist imparted to it, and in this state may be
wound on to the bobbin. It is necessary here to explain that the lyer m, m,
and its upper and lower horizontal arins 2 and n¹³, are screwed on to the upper
and lower hollow spindles d and d', which are provided with screws 6, 6, for
this purpose, as shewn in the detached views Figs. 8 and 9, and consequently
the flyer with its arms and must all rotate together, as will be the case
upon communicating motion to the lower spindle d' by any of the well known
or any other suitable contrivance.
It will also be observed that the spindles d and d pass freely through the
lises and band the parts connected therewith, and consequently these parts
are free to move on the said spindles. In order, however, that the proper
amount of twist should not only be put into the roving but allowed to remain
therein, it is necessary that the frame a, a, which carries the bobbin, and the
accessories thereof, should remain stationary while the flyer m and arms n, n',
are made to rotate round it with considerable speed, and this object is effected
by the following arrangement of parts-The lower disc of the rectangular
frame a, a, is provided with a bush c', which is screwed into the under side
thereof, as shewn in Fig. 10, which represents a detached sectional view of the
dise b. The periphery of this bush is cogged, and gears into a toothed wheel u
of the same size and number of teeth, and mounted on the upper end of the
short vertical shaft v, which turns in the bearing w, fixed on to or forming
part of the horizontal arm n³, as shewn in the detached views, Figs. 5, and con-
sequently rotates therewith. At the lower end of the short shaft vis another
toothed wheel w', of the same size and number of teeth as the wheel u, and
this wheel u gears into the cogged periphery of the fixed bush a, shewn

page_text: detached and in section at Fig. 11. This bush is screwed into the horizontal
supporting bar y of the spinning frame, and consequently is a fixture, and does
not rotate. It will now be seen, that upon communicating rapid motion to
the flyer m, the bearing w, and consequently the shaft with the toothed
wheels and ', will be carried round with it; and as the bush a with its
cogged periphery is fixed in the horizontal bar y of the spinning frame, it
follows that the wheels and must rotate twice on their axes for every
time they are carried round the fixed bush aæ; and all the wheels u, u', a, and
c', being of the same diameter and number of teeth, it follows that the cogged
bush c', although free to move on the spindle d', will in fact remain stationary,
like the fixed bush a, and consequently the twist that has been put into the
roving before it issues from the hollow spindle will remain undisturbed.
As the bearing w with the shaft v and its wheels and a rotate at a very
high speed, it will be necessary to lubricate the same, which I do by having a
little reservoir at top, and making a hole down the shaft v, and filling the
same with oil; and by making a small hole horizontally from the outside of
the shaft v to the vertical hole therein, the oil will be allowed to flow down
the same, and lubricate the bearing.
The roving with the twist therein, as aforesaid, passes from the hollow
spindle d to the thread carrier p, and in order to maintain an equal amount
of tension at whatever point of its traverse the thread carrier may be, a curved
bar p (shewn detached at Fig. 12) is fixed in the check pieces 7'. It should
be observed, that the thread carrier p is provided with au arm or arms, having
at the end thereof an eye, through which the yarn, thread, or roving passes to
the bobbin e above; and as the latter increases in diameter by the winding on
of the twisted yarn, it must of course descend in the frame a, and carry down
with it the cheek pieces 1, r, and the parts connected therewith. This will of
course stretch the india-rubber springs s, s, which will keep the bobbin e in
contact with the under side of the presser roller f. As the bobbin fills with
yarn, and the check pieces consequently descend, the lower ends of the latter
will come against a spring catch, fixed to the sides of the frame a, a, and this
catch upon the cheek pieces continuing to descend, will enter the hole 7 in the
latter, and will by that means hold down the cheek pieces until the full bobbin
is removed and an empty one put in its place, when the cheek pieces may be
released from the spring catch by pushing back the studs or pins 8 projecting
therefrom, as shown at Fig. 1, and also in the detached views of the spring
catch at Figs. 13.
Having now described my improvements in machinery for spinning and
twisting cotton, silk, flax, wool, hemp, and other fibrous substances, and

page_text: explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in
conclusion, that although, in order that my Invention may be fully under-
stood, I have described and shewn in the accompanying Drawing certain
parts of spinning machinery which have been before known and used for
similar purposes, I do not mean or intend to claim such parts separately
under the present Patent, nor do I intend to confine myself strictly to the
precise arrangement or construction of parts herein shewn and described, as
they may doubtless be varied in some particulars without departing from
the nature and object of my present improvements; but that which I consider
to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, is,-
Firstly, the improved construction or arrangement of parts herein shewn
and described, or any mere modification thereof, whereby a regular and per-
manent twist may be put into rovings or yarns, and the said rovings or yarns
wound upon bobbins with the twist therein, both ends of the rovings or yarns
being held without turning round.
Secondly, claim the mode herein described, or any mere modification
thereof, of constructing and applying the flyer, whereby a more regular strain
is secured, and consequently a more perfect yarn obtained.
Thirdly, I claim the method herein shewn and described, or any mere
modification thereof, of constructing and working the thread carrier and its
accessories.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Felton Kirkman, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
CHARLES F. KIRKMAN. (L.S.)