IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOBBINS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lockhart, junior, of Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew; North Britain, Wood Turner, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOBBINS,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lockhart at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
January 1854.
I, JOHN LOCKHART, junior, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Wood Turner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOBBINS " to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of self-acting
apparatus for the rough shaping and drilling out of the blanks, cylinders, or
blocks from which bobbins or thread holders are ordinarily made. The wood
or other material, out of which the blanks or blocks are to be cut, is primarily
prepared in the form of large slabs or pieces, the thickness or depth of which
coincides with the intended length of the blanks; the piece or slab thus pre-
pared is placed upon a horizontal table fitted up with a traverse apparatus for
the necessary shift as each cut is made.
The shaping mechanism is fitted up on an upright frame somewhat resem-
bling a vertical drill. This frame carries an upper and lower revolving spindle
placed with their axis in the same vertical line. The lower spindle is in the

page_text: form of a tube, the upper end of which has saw-teeth upon it, so that when
revolving rapidly it answers as a cylindrical cutting-out saw or punching cutter,
like a trepanning instrument. This is capable of longitudinal traverse up
through the wood from below. The upper spindle is, a plain drill, also capable
of longitudinal traverse.
Thus when the wood or other material is laid on its carrying surface, the
saw and drill-both revolving are made to approach each other, so that the saw
cuts out the blank whilst the drill perforates its centre. As each blank is cut
out it falls down through the tubular saw clear of the machine.
The wood or material under treatment then receives a shift to bring a fresh
part into action. In this way one operation completes the blanks or blocks for
the turner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Lockhart, junior, in the.Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LOCKHART, junior, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Wood
Turner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me; the said John Lockhart, junior, Her special license that I, the said
John Lockhart, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Lockhart, junior, my executors, administrators,
or 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF BOBBINS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Lockhart, junior,
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 John Lockhart, junior, 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 follow-
ing statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of self-acting
apparatus for the rough shaping and drilling out of the blanks, cylinders, or
blocks from which bobbins or thread holders are ordinarily made. The wood
or other material out of which the blanks or blocks are to be cut is primarily
prepared in the form of large slabs or pieces, the thickness or depth of which
coincides with the intended length of the blanks. The piece or slab thus pre-
pared is placed upon a horizontal table, fitted up with a traverse apparatus, for
the necessary shift as each cut is made. The shaping mechanism is fitted up
on an upright frame somewhat resembling a vertical drill. This frame carries
an upper and a lower revolving spindle, placed with their axes in the same vertical
line. The lower spindle is in the form of a tube, the upper end of which has
saw teeth upon it, so that when revolving rapidly it answers as a cylindrical
cutting-out saw or punching cutter, like a trepanning instrument. This is
capable of longitudinal traverse up through the wood from below. The upper
spindle is a plain drill, also capable of longitudinal traverse. Thus, when the
wood or other material is laid on its carrying surface, the saw and drill both
revolving are made to approach each other, so that the saw cuts out the blank
whilst the drill perforates its centre. As each blank is cut out it falls down
through the tubular saw clear of the machine. The wood or material under
treatment then receives a shift to bring a fresh part into action. In this way."
one operation completes the blanks or blocks for the turner.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I shall now
proceed to describe the explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
attached. Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a side, and Figure 2 is a
front elévation of a machine for cutting out bobbin blanks, as constructed
according to my Invention. The framing of the machine consists of a cast
iron pillar standard A, with fire plates B, cast upon it for the attachment of
the various brackets which support the spindles of the cutting tools, with their
gearing and other details. The wood out of which the bobbin blanks are to be
cut is placed upon a table C, bolted bracket-wise to the lower face plate B, an
aperture being formed in the table for the lower tool to work through it and
pass into the wood. The lower tool is a tubular or crown saw D, fixed upon
the upper extremity of a vertical tubular spindle E, which revolves in bearings
in the brackets F, bolted to the lower face plate B. The upper tool is a drill

page_text: G, fixed on the lower extremity of a vertical spindle H, which revolves in
bearings in the brackets I, bolted to the upper face plate B. The spindles
E, H; are driven by means of pulleys J, fixed upon them, and round which
belts are passed from pulleys on a revolving first motion shaft. In cutting out
the bobbin blank the upper and lower tools D, G, are made to approach each
other by means of a cam movement, their journals being elongated to allow of
the necessary play in the bearings: The cam K is fixed upon a short hori
zontal shaft L, which revolves in bearings in a bracket M, bolted to the top
of the upper face plate B. The shaft L of the cam has keyed upon it a spur
wheel N, which is driven by a pinion O; on a short parallel shaft P, carried in
the brackets Q. bolted to the pillar standard A. . The shaft P carries fast and
loose pulleys R, by means of which it is driven from the first motion shaft.
The cam K has two scroll or cam grooves formed upon it, one on the front,
which depresses and raises the drill spindle H, and one on the back or opposite
face, which depresses and raises the tubular saw spindle E, below. The cam
actuates the spindle H, by means of a pin S, connected to the spindle by a
swivel joint at T, and the pin is kept from turning with the spindle by means
of the small cross head U, formed with eyes at its two extremities to work upon
the two vertical guide pins V, bolted to the bracket M. The back groove of
the cam K acts on a pin W, fixed to a rod X, which passes through guide
eyes in the brackets M and I, and which is bent to one side at Y, to clear the
cam shaft L. The rod X is screwed to a bent bar Z, which works vertically
in a groove cut out of the front of the pillar standard A. The lower end of
the bar Z is bent forward, and is formed at its extremity into an eye, into
which eye the lower end of the spindle E is entered, the spindle resting upon
the bar by a collar. With these arrangements, as the cam K revolves the
tools D and G approach each other, and a suitable rotatory motion being
imparted to them by means of the pulleys J, they gradually cut into the mass
or block of wood a, after which they recede from each other in order to act
upon a fresh portion of wood. Each bobbin blank as it is formed passes down
the tubular spindle E; and a fresh portion of the wood is brought between the
tools by means of partially self-acting mechanism driven in this instance from
the shaft P. This shaft has keyed upon it a bevil wheel b, in gear with a bevil
wheel c, fast on the upper end of a vertical shaft.d, carried in bracket bearings
e, bolted to the pillar standard A. The shaft & has fast upon its lower end a
bevil wheel f, in gear with a bevil wheel g, fast on the horizontal shaft h, one
end of which revolves in a bearing in the lower bracket e. This shaft is carried
near its other end in a bearing i, upon a rectangular casting j, bolted to the
bracket c, and additionally supported by a rod k, standing upon or bolted to the

page_text: n
floor, the casting serving as a frame for the details of the shifting movement.
The shaft / has keyed upon its overhanging enda pinion 7, in gear with a spur.
wheel 'm, carried, by a short parallel shaft n, revolving in bearings in the frame j.
The shaft carries two, bevil wheels o, p, one, o, of which is connected to it by
a' groove and feather, whilst the other, p, is free to revolve upon it. Motion is
communicated to the loose bevil wheel p by a third bevil wheel q, also in gear
with the bevil wheel o, so that the motion of the hevil wheel p is in the reverse.
direction to that of the bevil wheel ọ. The bevil wheel q is mounted on a
short vertical spindle, to which a cross spindler is fixed, working in guide eyes
in the frame j, and the three bevil wheels o, p, q, are connected together in such
a manner as to be capable of being traversed longitudinally upon the shaft n by
means of the hand lever s. The wood a is held in position, and is shifted when
required by the holder t, which lies on the top of the block of wood, having a
series of sharp points on its under side, which points enter the wood, and hold.
it with sufficient firmness for the purpose. The holder t is bolted to a frame u,;
which is capable of, oscillation on centres v, carried by a bracket piece w. This
bracket piece w is bolted to a sliding piece, formed with V grooves, which fit
upon a transverse double slide flange y, formed upon the front end of the table
C. The sliding piece a carries a pendant transverse horizontal pin rack z,
which is capable of a short transverse traverse in V grooves in the sliding piece
c. The pin rack is duplex, having pins on both its front and obverse sides,
and it is acted upon by pins 1, carried by the bevil wheels o, p, between which
bevil wheels it is arranged to lie. I have already mentioned that these bevil,
wheels revolve in opposite directions. They are arranged so that only one of
them can be in gear with the rack z at the same time, and they drive the rack
in different directions, according as one or other of them is put into gear with
the rack by means of the hand lever s.. By these means the sliding piece a
is moved from side to side, carrying with it the frame u, the holder t, and the
piece of wood a. This shift takes place after each bobbin blank is completed,
the wheels o, p, each carrying a single pin, and being geared to revolve at the
same rate as the cam k above, which makes one revolution for each bobbin
blank that is cut out. I have herein mentioned that the rack has a short
transverse traverse in the sliding piece ; this traverse is limited by screw.
pins 2, held in lugs, projecting downwards from the sliding piece a, and takes
place only when the motion of the rack z is reversed. It is by means of this
movement that as each row of bobbin blanks is cut out, and the direction of the
wood's shift is reversed (by means of the hand lever s) for a succeeding row,
the wood is made to shift backwards a sufficient distance to bring a fresh line
of wood between the cutters. The contrivance consists of a species of e escape.
z

page_text: ment which allows 'a weight to pull back the holder t a certain limited distance
at each transverse traverse of the sliding piece a. A lever 3 is carried by a
centre pin fixed to the bracket piece w, and is connected to the rack piece =
by a slot and pin, so as to receive an oscillatory movement from the rack
piece at each change in the direction of transverse traverse. The upper end
of the lever 3 is formed into an escapement fork 4, arranged to take into
either side of a double rack 5, fixed to the frame w. This frame is capable of
traversing back and forward, the side rods of which it is composed passing
through eyes in the centre piece 6, upon which it oscillates. The frame u is
drawn backwards by a weight, not represented in the Drawing, but the cord 7
from which is shewn as descending from an overhead pulley. This cord 7
passes round a pulley carried by the oscillating centre piece 6, and round a
pulley 8 fixed to the front of the frame u on the underside, the end of the cord
being fixed to the centre piece 6 on the other side. In this manner the frame
u has constantly a tendency to move backwards, and as the escapement lever 3
oscillates its fork allows a tooth of the escapement rack 5 to pass at each
movement, and the weight draws the frame i backwards an equal distance,
thereby bringing a fresh line of the wood between the cutters. When the
piece of wood is exhausted, the frame he is tilted up, and a fresh piece of wood
is placed under the holder t, which is drawn by hand to its starting position,
or as far forward as to bring the inner edge of the new piece of wood between
the cutters. It will be obvious to the practical man that the lever s may be
actuated by the machine itself by means of a little additional mechanism, so
as to render the apparatus entirely self-acting, and enabling it to cut up an
entire piece of wood into bobbin blanks, without requiring any adjustment
beyond that which is obviously necessary at starting.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confiné or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom, without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for cutting out bobbin blanks, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of cutting out bobbin blanks from a block or
piece of wood or other material by means of a revolving tubular or crown saw
or cutter, in combination with a drill' for forming the centre hole, the two tools

page_text: being made to act simultaneously on the wood, and to enter it in opposite
directions, as herein-before described.
Third, the application and use of a tubular or crown saw or cutter for
cutting out or shaping the blocks or blanks for bobbins..
Fourth, the herein-before described mechanism for feeding the wood up to
the cutting or shaping tools.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lockhart, junior, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN LOCKHART, JUNE. (L.S.)