IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OF COMMUNICATING MOTION TO THE SPINDLES OF SPINNING, ROVING, DOUBLING, TWISTING, WINDING, AND OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste de Smet, of Ghent, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Administrator of the Société Liniere Gantoise of that Place,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OF COMMUNICATING MOTION
TO THE SPINDLES OF SPINNING, ROVING, DOUBLING, TWISTING, WINDING, AND
OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES."
Deigrum,
that face,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OF COMMUNICATING MOTION
TO THE SPINDLES OF SPINNING, ROVING, DOUBLING, TWISTING, WINDING, AND
OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES."
Sealed the 14th January 1868, and dated the 17th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste de Smet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the 17th
July 1867.
I, AUGUSTE DE SMET, of Ghent, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Administrator
of the Société Liniere Gantoise of that Place, do hereby declare that the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OF COMMUNICATING MOTION
TO THE SPINDLES OF SPINNING, ROVING, DOUBLING, TWISTING, WINDING, AND OTHER
SIMILAR MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the means of communicating motion to the
spindles of spinning, roving, doubling, twisting, winding, and other similar
machines. Motion is now generally communicated to such spindles by means
of cords or bands from a drum acting on pulleys or rollers affixed on the

page_text: spindles. These improvements consist in substituting friction gearing for
such cords or bands and pulleys, whereby greater regularity of motion is
obtained to the spindles, and the wear and tear of the cords or bands is
avoided. Upon each spindle place a friction wheel or roller, the said
spindle passing through the centre of the said friction roller, so that the
friction roller is capable of a limited up-and-down sliding motion upon the
said spindle, but cannot rotate without its spindle, and this is effected either by
means of a groove or slot in the spindle being taken into by a pin or screw in
the said friction roller, or by a projection on the spindle taking into a groove or
slot formed in the said friction roller or by other suitable means. Each friction
roller on the spindles rests upon and is actuated by a vertical friction wheel
or roller affixed on a horizontal shaft or axis situated below and in the same
plane with the said spindles and extending along the face of the machine, and
the said horizontal shaft or axis which works in suitable bearings has upon it
as many friction wheels or rollers as there are spindles, motion being given to
the said horizontal axis by means of wheel gearing or by a suitable strap or
band from a driving pulley. I cover the lower surface of the friction rollers
on the spindles with leather, but gutta percha, india-rubber, or any other
suitable material may be used for the purpose of increasing the friction of the
said friction rollers. The friction wheels or rollers may be of any suitable
shape, either cylindrical, the base of the upper roller on the spindle resting
upon the periphery of its driving wheel or roller, or they may be angular or
bevilled, or the periphery of the driving wheels or rollers may be rounded or
curved. When it is required to stop a spindle momentarily its motion may
be arrested by hand, the driving friction roller sliding in contact with the
spindle roller; but when the motion of a spindle is to be arrested for an
indefinite period the friction roller on the said spindle may be raised from its
driving roller and suspended on the spindle, for which purpose when the
spindle is constructed with a vertical slot in it taken into by a projection on its
friction roller as herein-before described. A lateral slot is also formed at the
top of the said vertical slot, and the projection of the friction roller may be
turned into the said lateral slot and the roller suspended thereby; or when a
vertical slot in the roller is taken into by a projection on the spindle, by
raising the said friction roller above the said projection and turning it
partially round it will rest upon the said projection out of the way of its
driving roller.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Auguste de Smet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
DE SMET, of Ghent, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Administrator of the Société
Liniere Gantoise of that Place, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Auguste de Smet, Her special licence that I, the said Auguste de Smet, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Auguste
de Smet, 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 MEANS
OF COMMUNICATING MOTION TO THE SPINDLES OF SPINNING, ROVING, DOUBLING,
TWISTING, WINDING, AND OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES," upon the edition (amongst
others) that I, the said Auguste de Smet, 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 Auguste de Smet, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the means of communicating motion to the
spindles of spinning, roving, doubling, twisting, winding, and other similar
machines. Motion is now generally communicated to st.ch spindles by means
of cords or bands from a drum acting on pulleys or rollers affixed on the
spindles. These improvements consist in substituting friction gearing for
such cords or bands and pulleys, whereby greater regularity of motion is
obtained to the spindles, and the wear and tear of the cords or bands is
avoided. Upon each spindle I place a friction wheel or roller, the said
spindle passing through the centre of the said friction roller, so that the friction

page_text: Each
roller is capable of a limited' up-and-down sliding motion upon the said
spindle, but cannot rotate without its spindle, and this is effected either by
means of a groove or slot in the spindle being taken into by a pin or screw
in the said friction roller or by a projection on the spindle taking into a groove
or slot formed in the said friction roller or by other suitable means.
friction roller on the spindles rests upon and is actuated by a vertical friction
wheel or roller affixed on a horizontal shaft or axis situated below and in the
same plane with the said spindles and extending along the face of the
machine, and the said horizontal shaft or axis which works in suitable
bearings has upon it as many friction wheels or rollers as there are spindles,
motion being given to the said horizontal axis by means of wheel gearing or
by a suitable strap or band from a driving pulley. I cover the lower surface
of the friction rollers on the spindles with leather, but gutta percha, india-
rubber, or any other suitable material may be used for the purpose of
increasing the friction of the said friction rollers. The friction wheels or
rollers may be of any suitable shape, either cylindrical, the base of the upper
roller on the spindle resting upon the periphery of its driving wheel or roller,
or they may be angular or bevilled, or the periphery of the driving wheels or
rollers may be rounded or curved. When it is required to stop a spindle
momentarily its motion may be arrested by hand, the driving friction roller
sliding in contact with the spindle roller; but when the motion of a spindle is
to be arrested for an indefinite period the friction roller on the said spindle
may be raised from its driving roller and suspended on the spindle, for which
purpose when the spindle is constructed with a vertical slot in it taken into
by a projection on its friction roller, as herein-before described, a lateral slot
is also formed at the top of the said vertical slot, and the projection of the
friction roller may be turned into the said lateral slot and the roller suspended
thereby; or when a vertical slot in the roller is taken into by a projection on
the spindle, by raising the said friction roller above the said projection, and
turning it partially round, it will rest upon the said projection out of the way
of its driving roller.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the means pursued by me in
carrying the same into effect.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 a side view, partly in section, of
parts of a spinning machine wherein motion is communicated to the spindles
according to my Invention; Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and, 7 are detached views
drawn to an enlarged scale of a spindle and parts connected therewith;
Figures 3 and 4 being a front and side view of the said spindle, exhibiting the

page_text: frictional gearing giving motion thereto; Figure 5 being a front and side
elevation of one of the brackets supporting the spindles, and horizontal roller
shaft, and Figure 6 being a front view partly in section, a side elevation, and
plan of one of the friction rollers upon the spindles; Figure 7 represents a
sectional horizontal view of one of the spindle friction rollers traversed by a
pin or screw taking into a groove in the side spindle. Similar letters of
reference refer to like parts in all these Figures.
A (Figures 1 and 2) is the framing of the machine; B are the spindles,
the lower ends of which are supported on brackets D affixed upon the rail E.
Upon the said brackets D are affixed bearings V (Figure 5) which support a
rotary horizontal shaft or axis a situated below and in the same plane with
the spindle B, and extending along the face of the machine. Upon the said
horizontal axis a are affixed the friction wheels or rollers A¹, one for each
spindle B, and upon each of the said spindles B is a friction wheel or roller B¹,
which rollers B¹ rest upon the rollers A¹ and receive motion therefrom. The
rollers B¹ are capable of a limited up-and-down sliding motion upon the
spindles B, but when resting upon the rollers A¹ the rollers B¹ cannot rotate
without their spindles, each of the said rollers B¹ being traversed by a pin or
screw e (Figures 3, 4, and 7), which pin takes into a groove e¹ formed in the
spindle; or a projection i (Figure 6) upon the spindle B may be made to
take into a groove or slot in the friction roller B¹. At the top of the
groove e¹ in the spindle B, Figures 3, 4, is a short lateral groove e³, and when
it is required to arrest the motion of a spindle for an indefinite period the
friction roller B¹ may be raised, and when its pin e has reached the top of the
groove e¹ the said roller B' is turned so as to bring the said pin e into the side
slot e; the roller B¹ will then be suspended and out of contact with its driving
roller A¹. The roller B¹ (Figure 6) may likewise be suspended when
required by raising it above the projection i, and turning it slightly round so
that the bottom of the said rollers will rest upon the said projection. When
it is required to stop a spindle momentarily its motion may be arrested by
hand, the driving roller A¹ being allowed to remain in contact with the spindle
roller B. In order to increase the friction of the rollers B₁ I cover the
lower surfaces thereof with leather, as shown at b, Figures 8, 4, 6, but gutta
percha, india-rubber, or other suitable material may be used for the same
purpose. Instead of the friction wheels or rollers A¹, B¹, being cylindrical, as
represented, they may be made of an angular or bevilled shape, or the
periphery of the driving wheels or rollers A¹ may be rounded or curved.
K, K', are a fast and loose driving pulley; F, F¹, are pulleys for driving the
shaft or axis a by means of a band s, Figure 2; if preferred the said shaft or

page_text: axis a may be actuated by wheel gearing. Motion being given to the said
shaft a, the friction rollers A¹ being in contact with the friction rollers B' on
the spindles, communicate to the said rollers B¹ and spindles B their required
rotary motion.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be well understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of my said Invention; but what I claim as my Invention is,
the mode of communicating motion to the spindles of spinning, roving,
doubling, twisting, winding, and other similar machines by means of friction
wheels or rollers, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste de Smet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.