Improvements in Spool and Bobbin Holders and Thread Tension Devices.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 29th July, 1893-Accepted, 16th Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spool and Bobbin Holders and Thread Tension
Devices.
I, HENRY ANSON BATES, of No. 189 North Broadway, Yonkers, in the County
of Westchester and State of New York, United States of America, Salesman, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention is made for holding spools or bobbins and supplying the thread
under the proper tension to sewing machines, and it is especially adapted to book
sewing machines in which a number of spools are used simultaneously in the
machine.
I make use of a plate, preferably in the form of a semicircle with openings in the
same, and into these openings are inserted holders for the bobbins or spools. Each
of said holders is provided with a stem adapted to the particular kind of bobbin or
spool that is made use of, and also there are projecting feet, preferably four in
number, two of which rest upon the surface of the plate and two pass through
notches and interlock beneath the plate by a partial rotary movement given to the
bobbin or spool holder.
The bobbins or spools and the thread upon the same are to be of any desired
character, and usually these bobbins or spools are large so as to hold a sufficient
quantity for the rapid use in sewing articles such as books, and I provide with each
spool a flyer having an eye through which the thread passes as it is drawn along,
such flyer describing a circle larger in diameter than the spool, so that the thread
is drawn off without the risk of two or more coils slipping off simultaneously.
Above the plate and supported by suitable rods or columns is a second plate or
tension support provided with holes that are axially or nearly so over the respective
spools, and the threads pass up through these holes, and are brought down through
adjacent holes or notches in the plate, and there is applied to each thread a tension
spring regulated in its action by a set screw, and such tension spring bears upon
the thread, pressing it down with more or less force upon the plate.
By this device the threads are drawn off with great regularity and facility, and
the tension can be regulated upon each thread with the greatest accuracy, so that
it will pass to the machine without the risk of obstruction and without the risk
of the tension varying, whether the spool is full or whether it may be nearly
empty.
The holes or notches for the thread are preferably in separate plates placed upon
the upper plate, because the threads wear the metal and enlarge the holes and the
separate plates can be replaced when worn.
Deted this 16th day of November 1800
BREWER & SON,
Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spool and Bobbin Holders and Thread Tension
Devices.
I, HENRY ANSON BATES, of No. 189 North Broadway, Yonkers, in the County
of Westchester and State of New York, United States of America, Salesman, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention is made for holding spools or bobbins and supplying the thread

page_text: under the proper tension to sewing machines, and it is especially adapted to book
sewing machines in which a number of spools are used simultaneously in the
machine.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a device adapted for supporting six main spools or
bobbins.
-
Fig. 2 is a part sectional elevation of said device.
Fig. 3 is a plan of part of the bottom plate, and
Fig. 4 is a detached perspective view of one of the centering pins for centering
the bobbin.
A is the main or base plate and B the top plate, the two connected together by
upright standards 1, 1, each of which is provided at the lower end with a thread
which extends through an opening in the lower plate and carries two nuts 2, 3,
between which the plate A is clamped and the upper threaded end of each rod
extends through the plate B which is clamped between two nuts 4, 5, the latter
extending above the end of the rod 1 so as to receive the lower threaded end of a
short pin 6, which serves as a centering pin for small auxiliary spools sometimes
used. The lower plate A is provided with studs or centering pins a for the large
non-rotating spools or bobbins X, and the upper plate B serves as a support for
the tension devices each of which consists of a long flat plate 7 extending over a
plate 8, secured to or forming part of the plate B, the plate 7 having downward
projecting lugs 9 at each corner of the outer end, which lugs fit a transverse
recess 10 in the plate 8, and a screw pin extends from the plate B upward through
openings in the plates 8. 7 and carries the nut 12 which may be brought to bear
upon the plate 7 to press its inner end with greater or less pressure against the
upper surface of the plate 8.
x
The plate 8 has two eyes 13, 14, one at the inner and the other at the outer end,
and the thread is conducted from the bobbin X upward through the eye 13, over
the upper surface of the plate 8 and below the plate 7 and downward through the
eye 14, to the sewing machine. According to the degree to which the plate 7 is
depressed the friction upon the thread will be increased, and this friction will
remain uniform, is capable of ready regulation and adjustment by turning the
nut 12, and in consequence of the long bearing surface presented to the travel of
the thread the device is sensitive in its operation permitting any desired degree of
frictional regulation to be effected, while should the thread be knotted it can pass
between the friction surfaces without breaking it.
It will be seen that the above described friction device preserves a uniform
tension upon the thread regardless of the amount upon the spool or bobbin, and in
order that the friction may not vary from any inequalities in unwinding, I make
use of a flier in the form of a light pin 15 preferably of wood adapted to fit loosely
in the opening in the bobbin provided with a head or shoulder for limiting its
downward movement and with a lateral curved arm 16 having a terminal eye y
through which the thread passes from the bobbin to the tension device. As the
thread is drawn through the tension device and from the bobbin the flier revolves
without friction or momentum and holds the thread away from the head of the
spool, preventing it from drawing across the edge of the latter and also from
binding against the coils upon the bobbin, and this results whether the bobbin is
full or nearly empty.
In consequence of the guide eyes 13 being in line with the axes of the respective
spools, or nearly so, the distances between the eyes y at the ends of the flier arms 16
and the eyes 13 remain unaltered by the rotation of the flier arms, and the thread
draws off with uniformity. To prevent the thread coils from slipping down under
the lower head I prefer to make the plate A dished or with a sunken portion w
around each stud a, so that the edge of the lower head will have a close bearing
preventing the thread from passing beneath.
To facilitate the packing of the machine it is preferable to make the studs a
detachable from the plate A. This may be done in any suitable manuer,,preferably

page_text: by providing the plate with openings surrounded by flanges 17 having notches 18,
said flanges increasing in thickness from the edge of one notch to the edge of the
opposite notch and each stud has radiating wings 19, two of which have lugs 20
adapted to pass through the notches 18 and bear against the under sides of the
flanges, while the other wings have overhanging lugs 21. To secure the stud in
place the wings with the lugs 20 are passed through the notches 18 and the stud is
then turned until the shoulders or lugs 21 bind upon the upper inclined faces of the
flanges 17. Where the bobbins consist of paper tubes the thickness. of the studs is
increased by extending the wings upward to the top end of the stud, as shown in
Fig. 4.
It will be seen that the construction above described permits the studs to be
detached and the rods 1 and 6 to be readily disconnected from the plates so that
the parts may be separated and closely packed.
While I have described a device adapted for supporting six bobbins, it will be
evident that the construction may be varied to adapt the device to any required
number of spools.
As shown, the plates A and B are curved and the tension devices carried by the
upper plate are arranged radially and preferably at substantially equal distances
from a common point or center to which the threads are all to be led for delivery
to the machines which are to use them.
In binding books by the use of sewing machines, it is necessary to employ
independent sewing mechanisms operating upon independent threads, and at the
same time it is absolutely necessary that the tension upon each thread shall be
maintained uniform with that of the others, as otherwise the binding will not be
properly effected. By the arrangement above described the course of each thread
is maintained precisely similar to that of the others and access is readily had to
each thread tension device to permit such regulation of the tensions as will secure
uniform tension upon all the threads.
I am aware that a single spool holder and a single tension device have been used,
but an assemblage of such structures would not effect the purpose of that above
described, because the threads could not be symmetrically arranged in respect to
the sewing mechanisms, nor at equal distances therefrom and extending through
similar courses.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
First. The combination in a spool stand, of a base plate A, having a series
of supports for spools, cones or bobbins and a plate supported in a position
above the plate A, and tension devices upon such plate and guide eyes for the
threads in line or nearly so with the axis of the respective supports and flier
arms, and eyes for the threads whereby the threads will draw off with uniformity
from the respective spools, substantially as specified.
Second. The combination with the support for a spool or bobbin, of another
plate or support carrying a perforated tension plate 8, the spring tension plate 7
having downward projecting lugs 9 at one end which hold the plate at one end
above the plate 8, the said lugs being separated from each other, and the plate 8
being provided with the holes 13 and 14, the hole 13 being in front of the
opening between the lugs 9 whereby the thread may pass through the said hole
and through the space between the lugs and between the tension plates to the
hole 14, and the adjusting screw, substantially as set forth.
Third. The combination of the base plate A provided with the spool or bobbin
studs, the upper plate B provided with the tension devices, the standards uniting
the two plates, and the detachable spool pin supported above the plate B, sub-
stantially as described.
Fourth. The combination of the base plate provided with the spool or bobbin
studs, the upper plate provided with tension devices, the standards uniting the two

page_text: plates, the nuts 4 and 5 upon the said standards between which the upper plate is
clamped, and the detachable pins 6 screwed into the nuts 5, substantially as set
forth.
Fifth. In a spool stand the combination of the base plate having an opening
surrounded by a notched flange, and the detachable spool or bobbin stud provided
with the shoulders and lugs which embrace the said flange and hold the stud in
place, substantially as set forth.
BREWER & SON,
Agents.