IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH SPINNING MACHINE SPINDLES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Barff Thomson, of Dundee, in the County of
Forfar, North Britain, Engineer, for an invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
CONNECTED WITH SPINNING MACHINE SPINDLES
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Barff Thomson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th March 1882.
ROBERT BARFF THOMSON, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain,
Engineer, " IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH SPINNING MACHINE
SPINDLES
"
This invention has for its object, by an improved construction to obtain increased
steadiness in the running of spinning machine spindles, so that they may be driven
at an increased speed with a small expenditure of power, and so that in consequence
of their comparatively small weight and their diminished tendency to vibration
larger bobbins can be used with them than heretofore.
In carrying out the Invention a fixed or dead spindle is employed, the running
spindle being hollow or tubular; and an important feature is the supporting of
the weight of the running spindle at its bottom end or lower part, instead of such
support being given wholly or partially by the top of the dead spindle. The dead
spindle may be fixed to the frame rail in any convenient way, but is by preference
held in the hollow stem of a cup which is itself fixed in the rail. The bottom of
the dead spindle which is cylindrical is made a good but by preference not a rigid
fit in the hollow stem of the cup and if secured by a pinching screw such screw is
applied near the bottom end. A pinching screw is however by preference dispensed
with, and the spindle is made sufficiently tight in its socket by fibrous material
placed in two or more grooves formed on the spindle, such fibrous material also
preventing the leakage of the lubricant. In some modifications a screw is tapped
through the bottom end of the cup stem and serves for adjusting the height of the
spindle, whilst on its being removed the hole facilitates the cleaning out of the cup
when this is required. The cup is a reservoir for the lubricant and it is provided
with a cover, which is formed with a tubular part projecting down from its central

page_text: part to act as a stop to prevent the running spindle from rising. The cover is
fitted so that it can be adjusted to some extent vertically on the cup and a
pinching screw is provided for fixing it when adjusted.
The dead spindle may be made solid or tubular and entirely of one uniform
diameter throughout; or it may be made with two or three portions of its length
of different diameters, but each such portion is parallel or uniformly cylindrical
throughout. In a preferable modification the lower end of the dead spindle by
which it is held is made of the largest diameter so as to be strongest; and the part
next above is made of an intermediate diameter and strength, being the part which
receives the strain of the driving wharve or pulley, whilst the upper part is made
of the smallest diameter so as to admit of bobbins or pirns with centres or barrels
of moderate size being put on it. The dead spindle may be made of two or more
pieces screwed or otherwise fixed together, and the part on which the tubular
spindle runs may have one or more helical grooves formed on it to cause the
lubricant to be raised to the upper parts.
The tubular spindle may be made of brass, or steel, or other suitable metal and
in one or two pieces. When the upper smaller part which receives the bobbin or
pirn is made separately it can more readily be made with the desired accuracy and
so as to have its inner and outer surfaces as nearly concentric as possible. The
upper part of the tubular spindle may be made externally parallel or tapered but
internally it is in all cases parallel. The tubular spindle has a ring or collar formed
or fixed upon its bottom end and it rests with this collar on a collar fixed on the
dead spindle or on a square shoulder formed on the dead spindle. The cover of
the cup is adjusted so that its central downwardly projecting part nearly bears
upon the collar on the bottom end of the tubular spindle; and when the cover is
fixed it keeps the tubular spindle in its place. The tubular spindle may be arranged
so as by an internal shoulder to also partly bear on a step on the dead spindle
when the latter is made with portions of different diameters but in that case the
shoulder and step are made square or at right angles to the axis and not conical.
A tip is, by screwing or otherwise, fixed in the top of the tubular spindle but care is
taken to have a small space between it and the top of the dead spindle. A flyer
may be fixed on the tip or top of the tubular spindle or the spindle may be used
in combination with the ring and traveller or other known substitute for the
ordinary flyer.
'

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Robert Barff Thomson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th September 1882.
ROBERT BARFF THOMSON, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain,
Engineer,
" IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH SPINNING MACHINE
SPINDLES
"
My said Invention has for its object, by an improved construction to obtain
increased steadiness in the running of spinning machine spindles, so that they may
be driven at an increased speed with a small expenditure of power, and so that in
consequence of their comparatively small weight and their diminished tendency to
vibration larger bobbins can be used with them than heretofore.
In carrying out my Invention a fixed or dead spindle is employed, the running
spindle being hollow or tubular; and an important feature is the supporting of the
weight of the running spindle at its bottom end or lower part, instead of such
support being given wholly or partially by the top of the dead spindle. The dead
spindle which may be fixed to the frame rail in any convenient way, has its lower
end which is cylindrical made a good but, by preference not a rigid fit in its socket,
and if secured by a pinching screw such screw is applied near the bottom end. A
pinching screw is however by preference dispensed with, and in some modifications
the spindle is made sufficiently tight in its socket by fibrous material placed in two
or more grooves formed on the spindle. In other modifications a screw is tapped
through the bottom end of the socket and serves for adjusting the height of the
spindle, whilst on its being removed the hole facilitates the cleaning out of the
socket when this is required; or the dead spindle may itself have a screw thread
formed on its bottom end to screw into an internal thread at the bottom of the
socket, a jam nut being added below to secure the fastening.
The tubular spindle may be made of brass, or steel, or other suitable metal and
in one or more pieces. When the upper or smaller part which receives the bobbin
or pirn made separately it can more readily be made with the desired accuracy
and so as to have its inner and outer surfaces as nearly concentric as possible.
The upper part of the tubular spindle may be made externally parallel or tapered
but internally it is in all cases parallel. The tubular spindle has a ring or collar
formed or fixed upon its bottom end, and a cover which closes the top or opening
of the oil receptacle is adjusted so that a downwardly projecting part of it nearly
bears upon the collar and keeps the tubular spindle in its place. The tubular
spindle may be arranged so as by an internal shoulder to also partly bear on a step
on the dead spindle when the latter is made with portions of different diameters
but in that case the shoulder and step are made square or at right angles to the axis
and not conical. A tip is by screwing or otherwise fixed in the top of the tubular
spindle but care is taken to have between it and the top of the dead spindle a
small space which is generally full of oil. A flyer may be fixed on the tip or top
of the tubular spindle, or the spindle may be used in combination with the ring
and traveller or other known substitute for the ordinary flyer.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood I hereunto append a sheet of explanatory drawings to
be hereinafter referred to and representing various modifications embodying my
improvements.
Figures 1 and 2 on the accompanying sheet of drawings are vertical sections of
two modifications, and figures 3 and 4 are respectively a vertical section and an
elevation of a third modification, the dead and running spindles and the carrying and
lubricating parts being shown in these four figures. Figures 5 and 6 are forms of dead

page_text: spindle figure, 7, is a section of a modification of the tubular spindle; and in
figures, 7, 8, and 9, different modes are shown of fixing the tips at the upper ends
of the tubular spindle. In these figures the same reference numerals are used to
mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
In the modification shown in figure, 1, the dead spindle, 10, is solid and made
with three parts, 10, 11, 12, of graduated diameters, each part however being
cylindrical or parallel. The socket in which the dead spindle, 10, is held is
formed in the stem, 13, of a cup, 14, which is fixed in the frame rail, 15,
and the part, 10, of the spindle in the socket has grooves, 16, formed on it to
receive fibrous material to make the spindle sufficiently tight without being rigid.
A screw, 17, is tapped through the bottom of the socket for adjusting the height of
the spindle, and is fixed by a jam nut, 18, a washer, 19, of leather or other suitable
compressible material being included to insure absence of leakage. The cup, 14, is
a reservoir for the oil or lubricant, and it is provided with a cover, 20, which is
formed with a tubular part, 21, projecting down from its central part to act as a
stop to prevent the running spindle, 22, from rising. The cover, 20, is fitted so
that it can be adjusted to some extent vertically on the cup, 14, and a pinching
screw, 23, is provided for fixing it when adjusted.
The dead spindle, 10, may be made solid as shown in figures 1 to 5 or tubular
as shown in figure, 6, and entirely of one uniform diameter throughout as shown
in figure, 5, or it may be made with two or three portions of its length of different
diameters, each portion being parallel or uniformly cylindrical throughout. I prefer
to make the lower end, 10, of the dead spindle by which it is held of the largest
diameter so as to be strongest; the part 11, next above being made of an inter-
mediate diameter and strength being the part which receives the strain of the
driving wharve or pulley, 24, whilst the upper part, 12, is made of the smallest
diameter so as to admit of bobbins, 25, or pirns, 26, (figure, 2) with centres or barrels
of moderate size being put on it. The dead spindle may be made of two or more
pieces screwed or otherwise fixed together; and the parts, 11, 12, on which the
tubular spindle, 22, runs may have one or more helical grooves formed on it as
shown in figures 1 and 2, to cause the lubricant to be raised to the upper
parts.
In figure 1, the tubular spindle, 22, is shown as made with two portions of
different diameters corresponding to the different diameters, 11, 12, of the dead
spindle, but each part is of uniform thickness. A ring or collar, 27, is formed or
fixed on the lower end of the tubular spindle, 22, and rests on a ring or collar, 28,
formed or fixed on the dead spindle, a small passage being provided by which the
lubricant may have access to the interior of the tubular spindle, 22.
The modification shown in figure, 2, is suitable for a pirn, 26, and in it and by
way of example the dead spindle is shown as having parts 10, 12, of two diameters,
each part being cylindrical throughout, whilst the running spindle, 22, is made
with parallel internal parts fitting on the two parts of the dead spindle, but with
its upper part slightly tapered externally.
In the modification shown in figures, 3 and 4, the frame rail, 15, has formed along
its upper part a long chamber, 29, for the oil or lubricant; and it is also formed
with the stems, 13, made hollow or with sockets for holding the dead spindles, 10.
The openings in the top of the lubricant chamber, 29, do not require to be of a
size needing covers (20) but have screwed into them tubular pieces, 21, which
project down inside and serve as stops to keep the running spindles in their places.
The dead spindles, 10, are fixed by screw threads, 30, formed on them at or near
their bottom ends and screwing into internal screws formed in the bottoms of
the sockets, 13, a jam nut, 18, and compressible washer, 19, completing the
fastening.
Figure, 7, represents a running spindle as made of two pieces screwed together,
and in this example the tip 31, at the top is shown as fixed by a cross pin or rivet.
To prevent leakage of oil between the tip, 31, and the end of the tubular
spindle, 22, grooves, 32, may be formed in the tip as shown in figure, 8, and these

page_text: grooves may be filled with soft metal or any suitable compressible material. In
figure, 9, the tip, 31, is shown as fixed in by screwing. As hereinbefore indicated
it is essential to have a small space between the bottom of the tip, 31, and the top
of the dead spindle so that the running spindle may not rest on the top of the
dead spindle.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise details
herein described or delineated but that what I believe to be novel and original and
claim as the Invention secured to me by and in terms of the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is :
1. The combination of parts substantially such as is hereinbefore described with
reference to figure, 1, of the accompanying drawings, the parts of the said com-
bination being each modifiable in the manner shown in the other figures of the said
drawings and as herein before described.
2. The combination of a fixed or dead spindle and a tubular spindle running
thereon any collar or shoulder supporting the tubular spindle being at right angles
to the axis and not at the top but at the bottom or lower part whilst the rotational
contact surfaces are cylindrical or parallel to the axis, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
In Witness whereof I, the said Robert Barff Thomson have hereunto set my
hand and seal this fifth day of September in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.