IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF COTTON OR MATERIALS FOR SPINNING." OTHER FIBROUS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Walsh, of Over Darwen, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF COTTON OR
MATERIALS FOR SPINNING."
OTHER FIBROUS
Sealed the 21st March 1871, and dated the 31st December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Walsh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st December 1870.
I, JAMES WALSH, of Over Darwen, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS FOR SPINNING," to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention is applicable to drawing frames, and to slubbing,
intermediate, and roving frames, and the object of the Invention is to
equalize the thickness of the sliver produced by such machines by
causing any increased thickness of the sliver passing through the
drawing rollers to decrease the "feed" of the said rollers, and at the
same time to cause any diminution or thinness of the sliver to increase
the said "feed," the rate of revolution of the said rollers being always

page_text: constant, so that the sliver in passing through or between the said
rollers equalizes itself, and a more uniform sliver is produced. I propose
to effect this equalization by making the back or feeding rollers (that is,
both the fluted and the top rollers) slightly conical or tapered, the
fluted rollers being tapered in one direction, and the top rollers in the
opposite direction, instead of their both being cylindrical, as heretofore,
and to cause the lifting of the top rollers by any increase of thickness in
the sliver to act upon a guide which moves the sliver towards the
smaller diameter of the fluted roller, where the surface velocity is less,
and hence the feed is decreased; on the other hand the lowering of the
top roller caused by any thin place in the sliver will move the guide
in the reverse direction, so as to increase the " feed," and hence the
"feed" being automatically decreased at the thick places and increased
at the thin ones an almost perfectly regular and uniform sliver is the
result.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Walsh in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 29th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WALSH, of Over Darwen, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Walsh, Her special
license that I, the said James Walsh, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Walsh, 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 "IиPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF COTTON OR OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR SPINNING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Walsh, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands

page_text: and seals, 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..
NOW KNOW YE; that I, the said James Walsh, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to
say) :—
This Invention is applicable to drawing frames, and to slubbing,
intermediate, and roving frames, and the object of the Invention is to
equalize the thickness of the sliver produced by such machines by
causing, any increased thickness of the sliver passing through the
drawing rollers to decrease the "feed" of the said rollers and at the
same time to cause any diminution or thinness of the sliver to increase
the said "feed," the rate of revolution of the said rollers being always
constant, so that the sliver in passing through or between the said rollers
equalizes itself and a more uniform sliver is produced.
I propose to effect this equalization by making the back or feeding
rollers (that is both the fluted and the top rollers), slightly conical or
tapered, the fluted rollers being tapered in one direction, and the top
rollers in the opposite direction, instead of their both being cylindrical
as heretofore, and to cause the lifting of the top rollers by any increase
of the thickness in the sliver to act upon a guide which moves the sliver
towards the smaller diameter of the fluted roller where the surface
velocity is less, and hence the feed is decreased, on the other hand, the
lowering of the top roller caused by any thinness in the sliver will
move the guide in the reverse direction so as to increase the "feed"
and hence the "feed" being automatically decreased as the sliver
becomes thick and increased as it becomes thin an almost perfectly
regular and uniform sliver is the result.
kr
It will be obvious that a slight modification of the above arrangement
would be equally applicable in cases where the automatic regulation
is not considered desirable for regulating the feed or amount of draft
by hand, without the use of change pinions, the speed of the bottom
rollers remaining always constant.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for " Improve-

page_text: ments in Machinery or Apparatus used in the Preparation of Cotton,
or other Fibrous Materials for Spinning," I will now proceed to describe
more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the same
may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings
illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters
of reference corresponding with those in the following explanation
thereof:-
:-
In the annexed Drawing Fig. 1 is a partial back elevation of so much
of a drawing frame as is necessary to illustrate the practical application
of my Invention as arranged to work automatically, and Fig. 2 is a
transverso section of the same.
a, a, is the roller beam; and b, b, the back bottom or fluted roller
which is driven in the usual manner by means of the spur gearing c, c;
d, d, are the top rollers which are of the usual material, and weighted
by saddles and weights e, e, in the ordinary manner. It will be observed
that the rollers b, b, and d, d, instead of being cylindrical (as has here-
tofore been invariably the case) are made slightly conical, the fluted
roller being tapered in one direction whilst the top rollers are tapered in
the opposite direction. The back of each saddle e, e, carries a pin f,f,
attached by a gut or chain g, g, passing round a guide pulley to the
lower or shorter arm of a lever h, h, the upper or longer arm of which
is forked so as to form a guide through which the sliver passes from the
can i, i, to the rollers. The action is as follows:-Whenever the sliver
becomes thick it raises the top roller d, d, and with it the saddle e, e,
which causes the gut or chain 9, g, to draw the lower arm of the lever
towards the rising end of the roller, thus causing the other end of the
lever to guide the sliver towards the smaller diameter of the fluted roller
and thus decrease the feed. On the other hand if the sliver becomes
thin the top roller falls and allows the spiral spring k, k, to move the
lever in the reverse direction, and consequently increase the feed.
Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of part of a drawing frame illustrating
the modification of my Invention, which I propose to use in cases where
the automatic arrangement is not considered desirable to effect the
regulation of the feed by hand without the use of change pinions. In
this case I use the tapered or conical rollers b, b, and d, d, as before,
but instead of connecting the movable guides h, h, to the saddles e, e,
as in the former arrangement, I connect them to a rod or bar f,f, which

page_text: is carried by pillars g, g, and is screwed at or near the end and pro-
vided with lock nuts k, k, so that its position can be adjusted by hand
so as to guide the slivers through any desired part of the rollers in
order to regulate the speed of the "feed" or "draft" as required. It
will be evident that in both cases the rate of speed or number of
revolutions per minute at which the fluted rollers b, b, are driven, being
always constant, the surface velocity is greater towards the larger end,
and according to the position of the sliver between the rollers, the top
rollers d, d, will be driven at a velocity equal to that of the surface
where the sliver forms the point of contact between the top and bottom
rollers, and hence the rate of "feed" or "draft" of the sliver will be
proportionally increased or diminished as the slivers are moved by the
guides h, h, towards the larger or smaller diameter of the fluted rollers.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention the novel and peculiar arrangements of
mechanism herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings
annexed, or any mere modification or imitation thereof for the purpose
of regulating the feed or draft in drawing frames, or in slubbing, inter-
mediate, and roving frames. And more particularly I claim the use
of conical or tapered back rollers, in connection with movable guides,
whether the latter be moved automatically or by hand, for regulating the
amount of feed or draft without altering the speed or rate of revolution
of the bottom or fluted rollers.
In witness whereof I, the said James Walsh, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year
11
JAMES WALSH. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN HUGHES,
Clerk to George Davies, C. E.,
Patent Office, 4, St. Ann's Square,
Manchester.