IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND SPINNING FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
CARDING AND SPINNING FIBROUS MATERIALS."-A communication from
abroad by John Goulding, of Worcester, Massachusetts, United
States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition.
and Declaration, on the 26th August 1869, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND SPINNING FIBROUS MATERIALS," and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made

page_text: solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad
by John Goulding, of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of
America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming
a part of this Specification :-
These improvements relate particularly to spinning yarn directly from 1
the carding cylinder, so as to obviate the necessity for the employment
of a mule or other separate machine to operate upon the sliver made
by the carding machine.
And the said Invention consists primarily in combining with the
carding mechanism and the draw-off rolls and twister tubes a stopping
device or brake, which falling upon the sliver (after its delivery from
the card cylinder through the draw rolls and through the first twister
tube) pinches it against a bar and prevents the back sliver from further
delivery, until the front draw rolls have drawn the front part of the sliver
(between them and the bar) under the twist produced by a second twister
tube, thus producing a yarn having a uniform and even twist, the yarn
passing from the second draw rolls to the main twister flier, and thence
to the bobbin.
The said Invention also consists in the mechanism for producing the
rise and fall of the bobbins and graduating the rise and fall so as to
properly fill the bobbins from head to point.
The accompanying Drawings represent a machine embodying these
improvements.
Figure 1 shews the machine in side elevation; Figure 2 is a vertical
longitudinal section of the said machine.
a denotes the frame mounted in suitable bearings, at the top of which
is the main card cylinder b, to the action of which the sliver is introduced
from the second card, the sliver entering the machine between the
top roll cand feed rolls d, d, thence passing over the "leader"
roll e under the tumbler f, from which it is taken by the main card
or cylinder b, around and acting with which are the clearers 9, 9,
workers h, h, "fancy" i, and "doffer" .k, from which doffer the carded
or

page_text: sliver or roving is stripped or wiped by the wiper or take-off roll .
The card clothing is not shewn in the Drawing, the arrangement and
operation of the carding mechanism being the same or much the same
as in other carding engines. From the take-off roll the roving passes
to and through a twister tube m, to and between drawing rolls n and a
top roll o, the twister imparting a slight temporary twist sufficient to
enable the roving to be drawn along by the drawing rolls which rotate
at the same velocity with the doffer roll. From the drawing rolls n, n,
the roving passes through another twister tube p to draw rolls q, q,
which rotate at an increased velocity, the roving being drawn out or
attenuated these rolls under the temporary twist imparted by the twister
tube p. Instead, however, of passing the roving directly to the twister
tube P and draw rolls q, q, a brake or holdfast mechanism is employed
as follows, to intercept the delivery of the roving and allow it to be
stretched while twisting :-Across the frame extends a stationary bar r,
in the top of which is a long grooves; into this groove drops the tooth j
of a jaw t, and when the roving is passing under this tooth or gripe, if
the tooth descends it gripes the roving and arrests its render, so that the
roving from the gripe to the front draw rolls is stretched or attenuated,
the twist and stretch extending into the large as well as into the small
parts of the roving, and reducing it all to a uniform size, after which the
griper is raised, the roving is again drawn along (its slack being taken
up) until another rotation of the rear draw rolls, when the griper again
descends and nips the roving, and so on, thus imparting a uniform
stretch and a uniform size to the roving, and bringing it into condition
for the final and permanent twist preparatory to its being wound upon
the bobbin.
The griper is worked as follows:-The griper jaw is attached to a
collar u fixed upon a rocker shaft v, on the end of which is an arm wo
resting upon a cam x on the shaft of the adjacent draw roll n, and at
each rotation of the roll n the cam lifts the arm w, and thereby raises
the gripe or tooth j, and releases the roving, while as the cam point
passes around the arm is released and the gripe or tooth falls down and
rests by its weight (and the weight of the arm w) upon the roving,
holding it, while the roving in advance is stretched while twisting. Thus
stretched and made uniform or nearly uniform in size, the roving is
ready for its final or permanent twisting by the flier that lays the yarn
the bobbin. The rotative movements of the
thus spun and twisted upon
feed rolls, main card, clearer, worker, and of the draw rolls, the twisters,

page_text: As
and the fliers are effected by geared and belted connections with the
main shaft y seen in the Drawing, or in any other suitable manner. The
fliers are journalled in stationary rails as and hang below the lower rail,
as seen at Figure 2. The bobbins stand upon spindles 62 mounted in a
rising and falling frame c³, which slides upon vertical ways or guide
rails d³, and the frame is reciprocated to cause the flier to lay the yarn
up and down the bobbin as follows:-Projecting down from the frame
are two toe pieces es, to which are attached the lower ends of two
straps, whose upper ends are fastened to the tops of two arch heads or
lifters g² fixed upon a rocker shaft h², at one end of which is an arm **,
jointed at the top to a long link through a slot, in the outer end of
which passes a swing bar hung on a cross rod m³, and carrying at its
lower end a roll n² resting against a peripheral cam o² on a rotary
shaft p², driven by suitable connection with the main driving shaft.
the roll is thrown outward by the cam the link k² turns the shaft h² and
its arch heads or lifters, which latter lift the bobbin frame. As the cam
completes the last half of its rotation the roll swings in by gravity (or
the action of a suitable spring or springs upon the bar ) allowing the
bobbin frame to fall, the alternate rise and fall of the bobbin frame
causing the yarn to be evenly wound upon the bobbin along a length of
the same corresponding to the extent of vertical movement of the bobbin
frame, and the extent of this reciprocating vertical movement may be
varied or adjusted by varying the point of connection of the link k* to
the arm by means of a slot q² and nut and screw. In filling the
bobbin it is necessary to begin to fill at the head and to work from the
head to but a short distance therefrom (such distance slowly increasing
however at each successive downward movement of the bobbin) until
the head is filled, and then to gradually work upwards until the whole
bobbin is evenly filled, and for this purpose a mechanism is necessary for
effecting the gradual permanent fall of the bobbin frame, so that at
each successive downward movement the bobbins shall descend slightly
further than in the previous descent of the bobbin frame. The first or
short varying reciprocations are effected as follows:-The swing bar
passes loosely through the connector k, so that the slotted end of the
connecter can slide freely in a vertical direction. Jointed to the end
of the connector is a pendant rack 83, with the teeth of which a toothed
pinion engages, this pinion being on the inner end of a short shaft
journalled in a bearing projecting from the foot of the bar. At the
outer end of this shaft is a ratchet wheel u³, with the teeth of which a

page_text: drag pawl or hook engages, this pawl being pivoted on a pin w³, pro-
jecting from the main frame. As the bar is moved out by the cam o³,
the ratchet swinging out with it will be turned by the hook or pawl &³,
thereby effecting a rotative movement of the pinion t, and a descent of
the racks, such descent letting down the link k³, bringing the point of
its connection with the bar farther from the centre of movement of the
bar, and thereby increasing the extent of throw or rocking movement
of the arm and arch heads and the extent of vertical movement of the
bobbin frame. When the slotted end of the link is near the rod m², the
extent of vertical movement of the bobbin frame is very slight, and this
movement increases as the connector is let down at each outward move-
ment of the swing bar, thereby laying the yarn over a greater space as
the winding progresses; but as this increase of movement of the bobbin
frame would carry it up further as well as down further than before the
swing bar is set at an inclination (in normal position) so that as the
connector moves down it also moves back, and thus keeps the bobbin
frame down or from ascending too high, that is to say, to such height as
would cause the yarn to wind over the head, the increase of movement
being wholly in the downward movement of the bobbins. The extent
of increase of movement of the bobbin frame may be varied by setting
the drag pawl or hook more or less out upon its pivot pin w by means
of a slot and pin y. The rack continues thus to regulate the
varying movement of the bobbin frame until the head and lower part of
the bobbins have become filled, and then a mechanism is brought into
operation that causes the bobbin frame to gradually fall (at each
reciprocation) until the bobbin is filled, the frame rising less high at
each upward movement and descending lower at each downward move-
ment; this mechanism being automatically brought into operation, and
that just described automatically thrown out of operation when the
bobbin is filled at the head. This mechanism is as follows:-The rocker
shaft h which carries the arch heads carries near one end a worm wheel
or sector a³, into the teeth of which engages a worm b' on a shaft c³,
turning in suitable bearings in projections from the rocker arm . At
the top of this shaft is a bevel wheel d", meshing into and driven by a
bevel pinion e' on a shaft f, at whose outer end is a ratchet wheel g³,
actuated by an impelling pawl h³, which operates (negatively) to turn
the ratchet, when the top of the arm moves back or inwardly, that
is to say, when the bobbin frame is rising, the pawl turning on a pin
projects from the frame a. The point of the pawl is kept in engage-

page_text: ment with the ratchet by weighting the opposite end of the pawl. Each
time the bobbin frame rises and the movement of the rocker arm by the
link to produce such rise is effected, the ratchet wheel is rotatively
moved by the pawl and movement is thereby imparted to the shaft c
and its worm, and by the worm to the worm sector a³, thus effecting a
change in the position of the arch head shaft, causing the arch heads to
turn and to lower the bobbin frame, so that at each descent such frame
will drop lower than at its previous descent; this successive dropping of
the frame continuing until the bobbins are filled, causing the yarn to
lay in uniform conical strata from head to point.
The change from one mechanism for thus regulating the movement of
the bobbin frame to the other may be automatically effected through the
mechanism of the weighted pawl h³, and mechanism connecting it with
the pawl as follows:-Over the pawl v is a weight or weighted
block hung to the frame by a pin ³, and having a tail picce projecting
from it as seen at P, the end of which is in the path of downward move-
ment of a pin p³ (projecting from the link k²) when the pawl v² is
in connection with its rachet. The pawl also has a tail piece under
which one arm m³ of a tripper lever extends, the other arm ³ of this
lever entering a notch o³ in the weighted end of the pawl h³, as seen in
Figure 1. The weight of the pawl holds its notch against the arm n³,
and keeps the point of the pawl out of connection with its ratchet, as
seen in Figure 1. The parts being in position, as seen in such Figure,
the pin p³ will strike the tail piece (when in the descent of the link k³,
the head of the bobbin has become filled) and will carry down the tail
piece, until the preponderance of weight passes over the pin ", when
the weight will swing down, causing a pin q³ (projecting from the tail
piece) to strike the tail piece of the pawl o³, throwing it down against
the arm m³, causing such arm to lift the opposite arm n³, thereby
liberating the pawl h³, the weighted end of which presses the pawl point
up into engagement with its ratchet, the pin q lifting the other pawl v²
from its ratchet. Thus one regulating mechanism is thrown out of
operation and the other into operation, the position of the mechanism
being denoted by the dotted lines in Figure 1. Each ratchet when in
operation is kept from back movement by a suitable detaining pawl.
When the bobbins have been filled, the actuating pawls are released
from the detainers and are rotated back by suitable crank handles,
letting the bobbin frame down to bring the bobbins below the flier for

page_text: removal and for application of empty bobbins. To facilitate such
removal and application, the bobbin frame is arranged to be swung out
from the main frame as follows:-The vertical rails upon which the
frame slides are cut away, as seen at 3, Figure 3 (which is an end view
of part of the machine) and when the bobbin frame is let down to its
lowest extent, the top rail of the frame may be tipped forward, as seen
in dotted lines in Figure 1, the frame hanging on the straps f and its
lower rail being kept upon the vertical guide rails.
The improvements thus described are intended more particularly for
wool spinning, but it will be obvious that they are to a greater or less
extent applicable to cotton and other spinning mechanism.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. In combination with a carding cylinder or main card, and with
draw rolls and twister tubes and main twisting fliers, mechanism or
devices for intermittently griping the roving between the two sets of
draw rolls, so as to uniformly stretch or draw and spin the yarn,
substantially as described.
Also, in combination with the bobbin frame the mechanism for pro-
ducing the rise and descent of the frame, substantially as described.
Also, in combination with the bobbin frame the mechanism for
varying the movement of the bobbins while they are filling at the heads,
substantially as described.
Also, in combination with the bobbin frame the mechanism for
gradually effecting the descent of the bobbin frame to fill the bobbins
evenly, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)