IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDING MACHINES FOR WINDING YARN OR OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Muir, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDING MACHINES FOR
WINDING YARN OR OTHER MATERIALS."
Sealed the 28th March 1877, and dated the 20th January 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Muir at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th January 1877.
WILLIAM MUIR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WINDING MACHINES FOR WINDING YARN OR OTHER MATERIALS."
This Invention which relates to improvements in winding machines has for its
object to avoid the employment of pirns as at present adopted for holding the yarns
which are used in the shuttles of looms for weaving, and to enable winding machines
to wind the yarns into a solidly or firmly built cop on a thin tube of paper, wood,
or other material, thereby rendering it capable to employ a much greater length of
yarn in the shuttles than with the pirns at present employed.
It is to be understood that the spinning of yarns on to tubes in the form of a cop
forms no part of this Invention, but it essentially consists in appliances adapted to
winding machines, by which the yarns after being dyed or not are wound either
from the hank, bobbin, or crude cop into a finished cop for the shuttle. The
Invention then consists in arranging on the rail through which the upper parts of
the spindles pass two or more inverted cones over each spindle at a distance apart
equal to the diameter of the cop to be produced. These cones are carried on
vertical studs on which they are free to revolve, and as the yarn is built up upon
the tube carried by the spindle the weight by which the spindle is pressed upwards
presses the cop as it is being wound against the cones so that the cop is firmly and
tightly wound or compacted. The travel or laying on motion or finger is recipro-
cated within the space occupied by the length of the cones, and as the spindle during
the winding operation is always being lowered, the lower part or bottom of the cop
is wound of the desired rounded form.
While the foregoing modification is well adapted for winding most descriptions of
yarn the second modification is better suited for winding yarns of an elastic or
springy nature, such as linen, polished cotton, mohair, silk, and other yarns of
CD..

page_text: analogous character. Under this second modification a long cone free to revolve on
its axis is used on one side, and a short one also free to revolve on the other side of
the spindle or cop, and on the same side whereat the short cone is situated is a
building lever acted upon by a spring or weight so formed that in conjunction with
the long cone it regulates the shape and build of the cop, and by its pressure secures
tight winding without straining the yarn; the cops are therefore not liable to break
in the shuttle while weaving.
Under a third modification the same result is attained by using two long upper
cones, and a short building cone bearing on the bottom part of cop by a spring or
weight, the pressure of which is so regulated as to impart the firmness that the
inaterial may require.
Instead of the revolving cones for the top stationary or fixed convex conical
surfaces, as distinguished from flat or concave conical surfaces, may be used and
are preferable when winding coarse dusty yarn. In this arrangement the building
lever or the building cone, as in the second modification, acts precisely in the
same way in forming the bottom of the cops and pressing the yarn on firmly.
Under a fourth modification with one cone either stationary or revolving on
one side of the cop spindle, and a building lever or building cone on the other
side for forming the bottom and pressing on the yarn, a solid or compact cop is
formed.
These improvements may be applied to vertical inclined or horizontal winding
machines and used for winding sewing thread as well as the other yarns herein-
before mentioned..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Muir in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th July 1877.
WILLIAM MUIR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain. "IMPROVE
MENTS IN WINDING MACHINES."
My said Invention which relates to improvements in winding machines has for its
object to avoid the employment of pirns as at present used for holding the yarns
which are carried in the shuttles of looms for weaving, and to enable winding
machines to wind the yarns into a solidly or firmly built cop on a thin tube of
paper, wood, or other material, thereby also rendering it capable to place a much
greater length of yarn in the shuttles than with pirns as previously used.
It is to be understood that the spinning of yarns on tubes in the form of a cop
forms no part of my said Invention, but it essentially consists in appliances adapted
to winding machines, whereby they are rendered capable of winding the yarns from
'the hank, bobbin, or crude cop into a compact or solid finished cop for the shuttle.
The Invention then consists in arranging on the rail (or on brackets carried on the
rail) through which the upper parts of the spindles pass, one, two, or more inverted
cones, or their equivalents, near to each spindle, and at a distance apart correspond-
ing to the diameter of the cop to be produced, together with building lever or its
equivalent, acting as herein-after described.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I now proceed
more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being had to the
annexed Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a spindle with attachments for winding cops in
accordance with the first modification of my said Invention; Figure 2 is a section
of the same at right angles to Figure 1; and Figure 3, a side elevation of the same.
In each of these Figures the spindle is marked A, and it is or may be driven in
any of the modes adopted for actuating the spindles of winding machines. When
a cop is to be wound there is first of all placed upon the spindle a thin tube X of

page_text: paper, or wood, or other suitable material, over which the yarn is wound by the
joint action of the spindle, and the travel or laying on finger or guide, which being
well understood, is not shown on the Drawings. This laying on finger is recipro-
cated upwards and downwards by any of the means ordinarily employed in the
space between the two inverted cones B and C. As the yarn accumulates on the
tube X, carried on the spindle A, during the winding operation it commences to
bear or press against the upper part of the two inverted cones B and C, so that a
downward pressure is exerted on the spindle A, that is to say, a pressure contrary
to that by which the spindle is forced upwards by counterweights or the equivalent
thereof, not shown in the Drawings, and thus the spindle together with the yarn
wound thereon becomes gradually lowered, this having the effect of making the
lower portion of the cop into a more or less rounded or bluntly conical form, as
shown at D, Figure 11. The inverted cones B and C in this arrangement are
carried upon studs E, which are adjustable and capable of being fixed at any
desired distance apart by means of the set nuts F at their upper ends. The upper
part of the spindle A is made separate from the lower part, and it may be of wood,
metal, or other material. The lower part of the spindle is formed with a central
stud, and two driving studs a, b, and c respectively, as shown at Figure 4, which fit
into corresponding holes in the under face of the enlargement G at the lower end of
the upper part of the spindle. At the back of the spindle there is also a building
lever H acted upon by a spring I, which forces it against the yarn or cop being
wound on the tube X. The building lever H, being acted upon by the spring I,
always produces. the requisite degree of elastic pressure against the cop whilst being
wound, and thereby secures tight and close winding of the cop without the yarn
being strained, and its special office is to form the lower part of the cop of the
requisite shape, also to press the yarns well on to the tube X at the time the winding
commences, so as to prevent the yarn slipping down or becoming tangled.
Under a second modification of my Invention, shown in front elevation at
Figure 5, and in side elevation at Figure 6, the building lever H is provided with
a conical roller J at its lower end for pressing on the yarn. This arrangement
produces less friction on the yarn than that shown at Figures 1, 2, and 3, and
thereby prevents certain kinds of dyed yarns which have a tendency to glaze when
rubbed, from becoming glazed.
Under a third modification of my Invention, shown in front elevation at
Figure 7, and in side elevation at Figure 8, I dispense with rotating cones or
conical surfaces, and in lieu thereof I substitute the fixed inclined guide A, whose
surface which bears on the yarn during the operation of winding it into a cop is
convex (in contradistinction to being concave), the object of making it convex
being that as small a portion as possible of the inclined surface shall be in contact
with the yarn, thereby preventing it from being rubbed or worn so much as would
be the case if a concave surface were used. Opposite the longer inclined guide A
is a short inclined guide B. The building lever H acts in the same manner as the
lever H in Figures 1, 2, and 3. Both the inclined guides A and B are adjustable to
any desired distance apart by the bolts and nuts E.
Under a fourth modification of my Invention, shewn in front elevation at
Figure 9, and in side elevation at Figure 10, two fixed convex or conical surfaces A
and B respectively are employed, and in combination with a building lever H, acted
upon by a spring I, which operates in the same manner as the building lever H,
herein-before described with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the Drawings. In
this arrangement the convex surfaces A and B are carried upon studs provided with
nuts for adjusting their position, so that not only may the conical surfaces A and B
be varied in their distances apart, according to the diameter of the cop required, but
any portion or side of their convex surfaces may from time to time be presented as
the surface for the yarn to bear upon whilst being wound, thus as one portion of the
convex surface wears, a fresh or unworn portion may be presented.
In all the foregoing arrangements the essential object achieved is the production
of a continuous elastic pressure on the cop during the winding operation, whereby
.

page_text: the winding machine is rendered capable of producing cops compacted or wound as
tightly as possible without straining the yarn to an injurious extent.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be
used or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that 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 are, the several mechanical
arrangements herein-before described and shown upon the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, consisting of one or more revolving or stationary inverted conical or
inclined convex surfaces combined with building levers or building cones or their
equivalent, so operated or acted upon as to produce during the winding operation a
degree of elastic pressure on the cop which causes it to be compactly wound without
injuriously straining the yarn, substantially as herein-before described and shown
upon the annexed Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Muir, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
WILLIAM MUIR. (L.S.)