Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Nov., 1886.
Specification Accepted, 18th Jan., 1887.
We, EDWARD WILLIAM SERRELL junior, civil engineer of New York, United
States, temporarily residing in Chabeuil, Department of the Drôme France and
EDOUARD FOUGEIROL, civil engineer, member of the French Chamber of Deputies,
residing in Paris, 125 Boulevard Saint Germain, 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:-
the
This invention has for its object the so called "beating" of silk cocoons;
purpose of the operation is to remove the floss or waste found upon the exterior of
each cocoon, in order to find and seize the continuous filament of which the cocoon is
principally composed.
Before the filaments of silk cocoons can be practically unwound, the cocoons have
to undergo an operation which consists, firstly in softening the gum or natural
cementing material which binds the filaments of the cocoon together and secondly in
removing the floss and broken ends of the filaments, so that the true end of the
continuous thread, of which the cocoon is principally formed, may be found and
seized.
The softening of the gum is accomplished by an operation called the "cooking" of
the cocoon; it is effected by placing the cocoons in boiling water and by means of
various apparatus, which have nothing to do with the present invention.
When the cocoons have been properly cooked and the gum is sufficiently softened,
the next operation consists in the removal of the floss and broken ends.
The process hitherto employed for this purpose is called the "beating" of the
cocoons and to this process our invention refers.
In practice, the beating operation is always carried on while the cocoons are
floating on hot water. The brush or other device employed is worked either by
hand or by machinery. When it is effected by hand, it is generally as follows: the
attendant has a stiff brush, usually made of heather or grass and of a conical shape
having the base of the cone at its lower end. The brush, being held by its upper
smaller part, is moved delicately against the cocoons floating on the water, in such
manner that the bottom ends of the brush touch the cocoons, and the floss and
filament ends of the latter adhere to the brush.

page_text: When the attendant deems the operation to have lasted sufficiently, the brush is
raised out of the water, the floss and filament ends thereto adhering are removed and
it is found that the true ends of some of the cocoons are also attached to the brush.
After laying these cocoons aside, the operation is continued on the remaining cocoons
and so on, until all the true ends of the cocoons contained in the basin are found.
The floss and broken ends which sometimes form lumps are then removed by the
fingers of the operator and this done, the cocoons are ready for reeling.
Another mode of beating cocoons consists in moving a twig, wire, bristle or similar
bodies gently among the cocoons, and the operation is completed in the ordinary
manner; in some cases, the said body is provided with bristles or twigs of different
natures.
The automatic machines hitherto used for beating cocoons consist, substantially, of
a brush brought mechanically in contact with the upper surface of the cocoons floating
on the water and of a clutch so arranged as to arrest the operation at determined
intervals, for the purpose of removing the beaten cocoons and recharging the basin.
These machines usually have circular rotary brushes.
Other machines have also been made in which the brush receives a to and fro
motion, but up to the present day, the action of cocoon beating machines has always
been based upon the motion of the brush in direct, but yet delicate, contact with all
the cocoons, as well as upon the entanglement of the floss and filaments while the
brushes bears upon or touches the upper surface of the cocoons.
Owing to the delicacy of the cocoon filament and to the irregularity and
imperfections of all systems of beating hitherto employed, a considerable waste of
silk occurs, because when the floss is being detached, the utilisable filament is either
entangled or cut, and thus rendered improper for reeling.
In the accompanying drawings, sheet 1 fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of an
entire machine which we have invented for carrying our process into practice. Fig. 2
is a side view, fig. 3 an end view and fig. 4 a plan of certain portions thereof, on a
larger scale.
B is a basin supported by a table T carrying the machine. The basin B contains
water heated by steam or otherwise. 1 is the brush fastened to a vertical shaft
2 above the basin at the required height to permit of the end of the brush to
always be below the water level during the beating operation. The brush i should
preferably be capable of turning on its axis, and to this end, it is secured to the
shaft 2 by means of any suitable attachment 3, to be hereinafter described.
The cooked cocoons to be beaten are put into the basin B and float on the water.
A to and fro rapid motion is imparted to the brush by the shaft 2, the stroke varying
according to circumstances, but should be so regulated that the end of the brush be
always immersed in the water when the brush is at the end of its up stroke and that
when in the lowest position, the points of the brush be always at least 2 or 3
centimeters above the bottom of the basin.
When operated as above stated, the brush creates an agitation of the water and of
the cocoons floating thereon. The cocoons are more or less attracted towards the
brush, part of the floss detaching from the cocoons and attaching itself to the small
stems or bristles composing the brush. The operation is carried on until a certain
number of the cocoons gives up its floss; the brush is then stopped and lifted out of
the water and a number of the true ends of the silk filaments are found to adhere to
the said bristles. The said filaments together with their respective cocoons are
removed from the brush and laid aside and the operation is continued and so on.
The brush should preferably be stopped and lifted out of the water mechanically,
after it has performed a given number of up and down strokes, this being accomplished
as follows: the shaft 2 is moved up and down in a guide 5 as hereinafter described.
A spring 40 secured to an axis 11 presses downwards on projections 8 of the shaft 2,
so that the brush has a constant tendency to remain at the end of its down stroke.
A bell-crank lever 9 pivoted on an axis 10 is connected to the shaft 2 by the links 6
and axis 7; a cord C connects the lever 9 to the operating parts, as hereinafter
described. When the said cord C is drawn in the direction shown by the arrow figs. 1

page_text: and 2, the lever 9 acts upon the shaft 2 by means of the links 6 and axis 7 and raises
it together with the brush 1, at the same time compressing the spring 40. When, on
the other hand, the cord C is slackened, the spring 40, pressing upon the projections 8,
lowers the shaft 2 and brush 1, thus effecting the down stroke.
The guide 5, the axis 10 and the axis 11 are all adapted upon a framing 4 pivoted
at 16 upon the frame 32 of the machine. When the framing 4 is tilted, the brush 1
and parts connected therewith are raised out of the water and assume the position shown
by the dotted lines in fig. 1, this position being assumed every time the weight W
fig. 1 is free to descend, but this motion is prevented, during the beating operation,
by the hook 21 engaging 22, as hereinafter described.
34 is the driving pulley and 35 the loose pulley on shaft 36. 15 is the fly wheel.
17 is a disk secured onto the driving shaft 36 and having an adjustable piece 20
with an axis 19 carrying a friction roll 18. By adjusting the piece 20 and setting the
same by means of screws, the relative positions of the axis 19 and 36 can be adjusted,
thereby regulating the amount of excentricity of the roll 18. This roll 18 revolving
at the same time with the shaft 36, but more or less excentrically, forms a cam or
crank of adjustable throw, which, acting against the lever 13, imparts a to and fro
movement to it, and by means of the cord C, the bell crank 9, the connecting pieces
6, 7 and shaft 2, this to and fro movement of the lever 13 (which continues as long as
it is in contact with the roll 18) is converted into a vertical reciprocating movement
of the brush 1.
The cord C is connected to its operating lever 13 pivoted at 14 which receives its
motion from the roll 18 thus imparting the hereinbefore described up and down
motion to the brush 1.
33 is a worm keyed on the shaft 36 and gearing into a wheel 25, on a shaft 26 so
that the latter shaft rotates a fraction of a revolution for each complete revolution of
the shaft 36. If, for instance the wheel 25 has 60 teeth, the shaft 26 will make one
revolution for every 60 revolutions of the shaft 36. On the said shaft 26 is keyed a
pinion 37 passing in two grooves formed in the radial support 23; the support 23 is
capable of turning on the axis 26 but its motion is limited in one direction as soon as
the axis of a spring 39 bears against the frame 32. A wheel 24 carried by an axis 38
on the radial support 23, gears with the pinion 37. Owing to the motion of the
support 23 on its axis 26, the wheel 24 may be put in and out of gear with the
wheel 27, but always remains in gear with the pinion 37.
A wheel 27 is keyed onto a shaft 29 and rotates the same at a speed proportional
to that of the shaft 36 during the time the said wheel is in gear with the wheel 24;
but as soon as both wheels are out of gear, the wheel 27 and its shaft are free to turn
in either one or the other direction, independent of the action of the other devices of
the machine.
On the shaft 29 is secured a drum 28 upon which winds the chain of a weight W₁
fig. 1.
The relative arrangement of the parts is such that while the machine operates, the
chain of the weight W winds onto the drum 28, that is to say as long as the
wheels 27 and 24 are in gear; but as soon as the said wheels are out of gear and the
wheel 27 with the drum 28 become free to turn, the weight W₁, when descending,
rotates the drum 28 until the chain is completely unwound. The hooked lever 22
pivoted at 30 carries an eye 31 through which the chain of the weight W₁ passes; the
hooked lever 22 engages a counterhook 21 when the framing 4 is horizontal; as shown
in full lines in the drawings.
The lever 22, 31 forms with the hook 21 a catch which is liberated as soon as the
weight W¹ presses from below against the eye 31.
The hook 21 is prolonged downward so as to press down upon the radial support 23
when the framing 4 is horizontal.
The action of the machine is as follows: the driving pulley 34 turns the shaft 36
and the parts thereto attached. A to and fro motion is imparted to the lever 13 by
the excentric roll 18 against which the said lever bears owing to the tension of the
Cord C; an up and down motion is thus imparted to the brush 1, as previously

page_text: described, the up stroke being given by the tension of the cord and the down stroke
by the spring 40. At the same time, the worm 33 operates the train of wheels 25 37
24 and as the wheel 24 is kept in gear with the wheel 27 because the lower end of
the hook 21 presses onto the radial support 23 the wheel 27 is also rotated and winds
the chain of the weight W¹ upon the drum 28.
These movements are continued until the weight W¹ touches the eye 31 of the catch
lever 22 the weight W¹ being so attached to its chain that it will strike the said eye as
soon as the brush 1 has effected a sufficient number of strokes for the proper beating
of the cocoons.
As soon as the weight W presses from below against the eye 31 it forces the latter
to move up, thus liberating the catch 22, 21 and the weight W thereupon causes the
framing 4 to tilt on its axis 16. The brush is then lifted out of the basin. At the
same time owing to the relative positions of the axis 16 14 and points of attachment
of the cord C to the levers 13 and 9 the cord C is slackened thus enabling the lever 13
to move out of reach of the excentric 18 the result being that the shaft 2 is moved
downward by the spring 40 and that the brush is stopped, so as to enable the filaments
thereto attached to be withdrawn.
As the framing 4 tilts, the hook 21 no longer rests upon the radial support 23 and
the spring 39 causes the support 23 to turn on its axis 26 at a sufficient distance
upward to put the wheels 24 and 27 out of gear. When this has taken place, the
weight W¹ is free to descend, because the wheel 27 and drum 28 are no longer geared
with the wheel 24.
In order to restart the machine, the tilting framing 4 is restored to its original
horizontal position, thus tightening the cord Cand pulling the lever 13 in contact with
the excentric 18. At the same time, the hooks 21 and 22 reengage and the radial
support 23 is pressed downward, thereby causing the wheels 24 and 27 to be put in
gear and the whole machine to act.
As herein before stated, the brush 1 should be capable of turning on its axis 2 and
to this end, it is secured to the said axis by any suitable attachment 3. In fig. 5, 6, 7
& 8 sheet 2, we have shown one mode of attachment. Fig. 5 is a front elevation,
fig. 6 a side elevation, fig. 7 a sectional elevation and fig. 8 a sectional plan of a brush
and its attaching devices.
To enable the brush to turn freely on its axis, it is held by a clasp a closed by
thumb nuts b b and connected to a swivelling collar c by arms d d. The collar c is
fitted at the bottom end of the vertical shaft 2 of the machine and is connected thereto
by a pin e passing through the collar and into a channel of the shaft 2, as shown in
fig. 6 & 7.
Any suitable modification may be introduced in this construction of swivelling
brush-holder, to suit any kind of brush.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :
First. The hereinbefore described process of beating cocoons consisting in the use
of a brush partly immersed and receiving an up and down motion, whereby the floss
and the filaments of cocoons are drawn towards and from the brush by means of
currents of water created by the motion of the brush, substantially as described and
shown.
Second. The combination of the brush 1 receiving an up and down motion with any
suitable basin B for producing currents of water and drawing the floss and filaments
towards the brush substantially as described and shown.
Third. The combination of the brush 1, shaft 2 and attaching device 3 allowing of
the brush to turn, substantially as described and shown.
Fourth. The combination of a vertically moving brush 1 and support with an
excentric cam or crank 18 and a shaft for imparting motion to the apparatus
substantially as described and shown.
Fifth. The combination of a vertically moving brush 1 its shaft 2 and support 5
with an automatic stopping motion capable of adjustment and arranged substantially
as and for the purpose described.

page_text: Sixth. The combination of the brush 1 and shaft 2 with the spring 40 and an
excentric, a cam or crank 18 capable of being regulated so as to determine the stroke.
Seventh. The combination of the shaft 2, bell crank lever 9, and cord C with the
spring 40, lever 13 and tilting frame 4, for stopping the action of the brush,
substantially as described and shown.
Eighth. The combination of the radial support 23, hook 21, and hooked lever 22,
with the weight W¹, tilting frame 4 and stop motion, substantially as described and
shown.
Ninth. The combination of the brush 1 with its support for raising the same out of
the water of the basin, substantially as described and shown.
For E. W. SERRELL, JUNR.,
And E. FOUGEIROL,
Brandon & Sons,
Agents.