IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATus FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wrigley, Manager for the Firm of
Messrs. Fielden Brothers, of Todmorden, in the County of Lan-
caster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATus
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wrigley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th December 1875.
I, THOMAS WRIGLEY, Manager for the Firm of Messrs. Fielden
Brothers, of Todmorden, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,”
to be as follows:-
"
This Invention relates, firstly, to a method of regulating the drag
upon the bobbins employed for. the above purposes. In cases wherein
fixed or dead spindles and the bobbin's caused to revolve thereon by the
:

page_text: tension of the yarn or thread, I accomplish this object by employing
bobbins closed at one end so as to rest on the top of the spindle,
which is pointed or made conical for that purpose, or may be slightly
flat or slightly rounded. Very little force is required to cause a bobbin
thus supported to revolve, so that in order to subject the yarn or thread t
to the required tension or drag it may be necessary to retard the motion
of the bobbin by frictional contact, which may be effected by means of
a washer or other well known appliance placed between the bottom of
the bobbin and the spindle rail. The spindle is so fixed that it may be
raised and lowered in the rail, and according as these alterations are 1
made the bobbin presses more or less upon the washer or frictional
surface, and by these means the amount of friction upon the bobbin or
drag induced upon the yarn may be regulated with the greatest nicety.
Instead of the spindle being movable in the rail we may mount
thereon a collar or boss, and place the washer on the face thereof. In
this case the friction is regulated by moving the collar instead of the
spindle..
In using bobbins with one end closed, as aforesaid, and resting on
dead spindles, the flyers are supported in suitable bearings separately
from the spindles, and are driven by ordinary means.
:
In some cases the spindle may be allowed to rotate by the frictional
contact of the bobbin against a collar on the spindle under the bottom
of the bobbin or against the side of the spindle, or the spindle may be
driven by any well-known means.
In cases where "live" or rotary spindles are employed I mount the
bobbin on a tube, through which the rotary spindle passes, and the
bobbin rests upon and is carried by the tube instead of upon the end of
the spindle. The end of the bobbin is not entirely closed, as in the first
instance, but the opening is reduced to the extent of the thickness of
the tube. The regulation of the friction is effected by moving the tube
up or down in the lifting rail.
J.
I construct the bobbins for the foregoing method entirely of metal,
but ordinary wooden bobbins, by inserting therein suitably shaped plugs
or bushes, may also be used.
The second part of my Invention relates to a new arrangement of
spindles, whereby the operation of "doffing" is effected whilst the

page_text: machine is in motion. I employ two sets of spindles, which are brought
into position for doffing and filling alternately by the rotation of a
shaft upon which they are mounted, such shaft being carried by the
lifting apparatus. The spindles are so mounted upon the shaft that
portions or sections of them may be moved or changed independently of
the rest of the spindles in the frame.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Wrigley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WRIGLEY, Manager for the Firm of Messrs. Fielden Brothers, of Tod-
morden, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Wrigley, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Wrigley, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Wrigley, 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 OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Wrigley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands 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 Thomas Wrigley, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings :-
This Invention relates to a method of regulating the "drag" upon
the bobbins employed in machinery or apparatus for spinning and
doubling cotton and other fibrous substances, and my improvements
consist in so constructing the bobbins and parts of the machinery which
support and communicate rotation thereto that the weight of the bobbin
and yarn thereon shall be borne by the point or top part of the spindle
or tube, whilst the amount of friction or "drag" upon the bobbin may
be regulated so as to be invariable, and entirely unaffected by the weight
of the bobbin and the yarn accumulated thereon.
The manner in which my Invention is to be performed will be readily
understood from the following description, aided by reference to the
Drawings annexed :-
Fig. 1 illustrates my construction and arrangement of apparatus when
using fixed or dead spindles. A is the spindle, which is fixed so as to
be readily adjustable in the rail B, which is connected and travels with
the ordinary spindle rail C. In the rail Care bushes or collars D,
through which the spindle passes, and is steadied thereby. E is the
bobbin resting on the point a of the spindle, and fitting at its lower end
into the loose tube F, which carries a cloth washer G, the under side of
the washer resting on the bush or collar D. By raising the spindle in the
rail the bobbin may be lifted clear of the washer, so as to be supported
entirely by the point of the spindle. Very little force is required to cause a
bobbin thus supported to revolve; therefore, in order to subject the yarn
or thread to the required tension or "drag," I retard the motion of the
bobbin by lowering the spindle in the rail B, and bringing the bottom
of the bobbin in contact with the cloth washer. So long as the bobbin
continues to bear on the point of the spindle the frictional retardation is
not influenced by the extra weight of the bobbin as it becomes full of
yarn, and there is no appreciable difference in the tension on the thread
from beginning to end of a bobbin.
Modifications of the foregoing arrangement are shewn in Figs. 2 and 3,
Fig. 2 shewing the bobbin supported on a pin 6 fitting in a hole bored
i
in the top of the spindle, and Fig. 3 shewing the bobbin placed on a
sheath or hollow tube c, similarly supported, the effect in the latter case
being the same as if the sheath formed part of the bobbin.

page_text: .
In all cases where dead spindles are employed the "flyers" are supported
in bearings separately from the spindles, and driven by ordinary means.
To enable "flyers" of a light weight to be used I construct them in
the manner shewn in all the Figs., where flyers are shewn with rings of
metal placed about the centre of the length of the " legs," and con-
necting them together, thereby preventing expansion of the same, which
would be caused if these rings were not employed, and by placing them
in the above position no hinderance to the yarn is caused in passing from
the rollers down the leg of the flyer, which would not be the case if
placed in any other position.
In the Drawings already referred to are shewn several forms of flyer
bearing, the construction of which will be readily understood without
further description.
Instead of the spindle being adjustable in the rail I may mount
thereon a collar or boss, and place the washer on the face thereof. In
this case the friction is regulated by moving the collar instead of the
spindle. Fig. 4 illustrates this arrangement, the friction being regulated
by turning round the screwed bush D instead of raising or lowering tlie
spindle..
In cases where live or rotary spindles are employed I mount the
bobbin on a tube d (see Fig. 5), through which the rotary spindle
passes, and the bobbin rests upon and is carried by the tube instead of
upon the end of the spindle. The end of the tube is screwed into the
spindle rail, and fastened by screws J, and the friction is regulated by
raising or lowering the tube (or it may be in the same manner as
described in Fig. 4), the washers resting on the spindle rail.
'
Fig. 6 is a modification, shewing the bobbin supported by an inter-
vening sheath or loose tube e, which is carried from the top of the
adjustable tube d.
I may construct the bobbins for the foregoing methods entirely of
metal, as shewn in Figs. 5 and 7, but ordinary wooden bobbins by
inserting therein suitably shaped plugs or bushes may be used.
When it is desired to use
"
ring flyers" in combination with my
improvements it will be necessary to cause the loose tube to be driven
instead of the spindle, the bottom being supported upon the point of the
spindle, as before described.

page_text: By the use of the foregoing arrangements I am enabled to use larger
bobbins than have heretofore been used in the processes of spinning
and doubling.
Hitherto it has been found impossible to use very large bobbins in
consequence of the excessive friction or" drag" caused by the weight of
the bobbin and yarn, but by any of the methods herein described the
tension upon the yarn may be so regulated as to render the use of large
bobbins practicable and advantageous.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention I would have
it understood that I do not confine myself to any precise method or
methods of construction and arrangement of apparatus, as the examples
herein given may be still further modified without departing from the
main features of my Invention, but what I claim and consider to be new
is, the construction and arrangement of apparatus substantially as herein
shewn and described, whereby the friction or drag" upon the bobbin
may be regulated and rendered independent of the weight of the bobbin
and yarn.
"
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wrigley, have hereunto set
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
my