IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WARPING AND BEAMING YARNS OR THREADS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Knowles, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the
County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, for the Invention of "IM-
Sealed the 9th November 1853, and dated the 2nd June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Knowles
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd June 1853.
I, WILLIAM KNOWLES, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancas-
ter, Cotton Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WARPING AND BEAMING YARNS OR
THREADS to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in the application of a self-acting stop
notion to the machines commonly called warping mills, and to other
machines of the like nature for preparing and beaming warps. The
parts constituting the stop motion may be constructed in various ways;
one mode of construction is as follows: to the end of the counter
shaft, on which are fitted the fast and loose pulleys for driving the
machine, is fixed a bevel pinion, which gives motion to a second shaft

page_text: placed parallel to but at some distance from the counter shaft; this
second shaft is furnished with a cam or crank, acting on a lever pro-
jecting from a bar running along the back of the creel containing the
bobbins to be warped; this bar is hinged to a bearing placed beyond
the creel, and the other end hooks on the strap guide lever; near each
bobbin is hinged a weighted wire which forms a bridle extending over
the bobbin, and to the bar which runs at the back of the creel short
levers are fixed, furnished with uprights reaching to the top of the
creel, and to the uprights as many hooks are attached as there are rows
of bobbins in the creel. When the warp threads are being drawn off
the bobbins, cach weighted wire is held by the thread beyond the reach
of the hooks in the uprights before mentioned, which are constantly
moving up and down; but when an end breaks, the weighted wire falls
towards the upright, the hook in which in descending catches on the
wire, thereby raising the bar and unhooking the end of it from the
strap guide lever, which is furnished with a weight by which the strap
is moved from the fast to the loose pulley. In order to prevent the
.sudden moving of the strap from the fast to the loose pulley the end
of strap guide lever is furnished with a pendent catch taking into
a worm on the second shaft before mentioned; this worm in revolving
moves the strap guide lever slowly, thereby avoiding the injurious
effects of suddenly stopping the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Knowles in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 2nd December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM KNOWLES, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Cotton Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said William Knowles, Ifer special license
that I, the said William Knowles, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Knowles, 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 MACHINERY FOR WARPING AND BEAMING YARNS OR THREADS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Knowles,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 William Knowles, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists in the application of self-acting machinery to
warping and beaming mills, or machines for stopping them when any of
the yarns or threads break, or otherwise cease to be unwound off the
bobbins or rollers with which such mills or machines are supplied; and
in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,
reference being had to the annexed Drawing, and to the figures and
letters marked thereo
1,
levation or the outine or a
mode of constructing my improvements is applied.
Το
ich one
Fig. 2, is a plan;
and Fig. 3, another elevation of the same. a, is the reel, which is
made to revolve in the ordinary manner by a strap b, passing over the
drum c, and pulley d; this pulley gives motion to the upright shaft e,
as shewn in Fig. 1, and the pulley e', communicates motion to the
reel by a strap passing round the pulley a', on the shaft of the reel; b¹

page_text: is the guide for the strap b; b, is the rod on which the strap guide is
fixed; and 63 is the starting lever; f, is the creel, containing any con-
venient number of bobbins f¹. To the same shaft as the pulley d, is
fixed a small grooved pulley d¹, a band from which communicates
motion to the pulley g, on the shaft g', which is supported in bearings
attached to the ceiling of the room or other convenient fixture. To one
end of the shaft g', is fixed an excentric g², which gives a vibrating
motion to the shaft h, by means of the clip g', a projecting arm from
which fits on a stud fixed to the lever h', keyed on the shaft ; this
shaft is supported in a swivel bearing at h³, see Fig. 2, and in an
open bearing at ; the weighted lever, is to counterbalance the
weight of the shaft and other parts attached to it. Upon the shaft h,
are also fixed two levers h², from which depend two rods i, attached
below to the segment j, placed near the floor; this segment extends
along the back of the creel, and it is moved slightly up and down by
the rods i; it is guided by three or other number of studs ', fixed to
the floor. To the segment j, are fixed the rods 2; see also Figs.
4, 5, and 6, which represent parts of the machinery on an enlarged scale;
these rods are guided by brackets projecting from the creel, and each
rod is furnished with as many of the forked pieces j³, as there are rows
of bobbins in the creel; the feelers j, are jointed to the forks j³.
When the segment j, is at the top of its lift the feelers are raised
above the skewers of the bobbins, as shewn by the full lines in Fig. 5;
and when the segment j, in descending brings the ends of the feelers
directly over the skewers of the bobbins, the friction of the revolving
skewers acting on the lower ends of the feelers moves them beyond
the skewers, thereby allowing the segment to continue moving down-
wards. When the segment is down the feelers come into the positions
shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 5, but if any one of the skewers is not
revolving when the segment and feelers descend, the feeler, instead
of being moved into a diagonal position, remains vertical, thereby pre-
venting the further descent of the parts, and stopping the machine, as
will be explained hereafter. I wish to observe here, that as some
of the bobbins in the crecl revolve in one direction and some in the
other, it is requisite to suspend the feelers so that in descending they
may be moved in contrary directions, as shewn in Fig. 5. Near the

page_text: foot of the framing of the starting apparatus is a stud k, which serves
as a fulcrum for the long lever k'. the upper end of which is guided in
a grooved plate, fixed to the ceiling of the room; near the top of the
lever ', is attached one end of the cord k³, which is carried over a
pulley, and furnished at its other end with a weight . To the lever k¹,
is also hinged a bar 7 which has a notch in it to receive a stud 1º, pro-
jecting from the end of the shaft h; the notch in the bar l, is held
against the said stud by the weighted cord ke, as long as all the yarns
continue to be unwound off the bobbins in the creel, but when an end
breaks, or whenever one of the skewers on which the bobbins are
mounted ceases to revolve, the descent of the segment j, and parts
connected therewith, is arrested, and a portion of the weight is taken
off the levers h²; the excentric g, acting on the lever h', and the
weight on the lever h°, cause the end of the shaft h, to be raised suffi-
ciently to liberate the stud he, from the notch in the bar l; the weighted
cord k³, then draws the lever k, into the position shewn by a dotted
line, and as the side of the lever k, is in contact with a collar or
stud b, on the rod 62, of the strap guide b', it is evident that the motion
of the lever k, moves the strap, from the fast pulley d, to the loose
pulley d, thereby stopping the machine. As it is desirable to move
the strap b, gradually from the fast to the loose pulley, there is hinged
to the lever k', a pendant catch 4. the lower end of which comes against
the end of the worm g*, on the shaft g', as soon as the notch bar l, is
liberated; this catch comes against a stop in the lever ', and as the
shaft continues to revolve the end of the catch takes into the worm g',
consequently the weight k', is prevented from acting too suddenly on
the lever k, and the strap b, is moved gradually from the fast to the
loose pulley. As soon as the broken end has been pieced, or a full
bobbin put in the place of an empty one, the attendant, by moveing
the lever b, into its original position, moves the strap b, again on to the
fast pulley d, and in so doing the pendant catch, is drawn out of
the groove in the worm g'. and drops into the proper position for again
checking the sudden action of the lever ', when the notch bar 7, is
liberated. The action on lever, also draws the bar 1, back so that
the stud h, may drop into its retaining notch. The machine can be
stopped at any time in the usual manner by bringing the lever b³, into

page_text: the position shewn by a dotted line in Fig. 1, without interfering with
the self-acting stopping motion, the stud or collar on the rod b²,
being on the outside of the lever, as shewn in Fig. 1, consequently
the driving strap b, can be moved from the fast pulley d, to the loose
pulley d', without altering the position of the lever
In Figs. 7, and 8, I have shewn another modification of my Inven-
tion; in these views f, f',, and 3, are similar to the pieces marked
with the same letters and figures in the machinery above described.
The feelers j, are dispensed with, and the yarn or thread is carried
over a bridle n, which is supported in hinges attached to the creel; the
bridle is furnished with a counterpoise n¹. When the yarn or thread
continues to be supplied from the bobbin f¹, the bridle n, and counter-
poise n', remain in the position shewn by the full lines in Fig. 7, and
the rod, and forks continue to move up and down without
hindrance, but when the yarn or thread fails the counterpoise n', drops,
and thereby brings the bridle n, into the position shewn by dotted
lines consequently, the forks, in descending come against and
their descent is stopped by the bridle n, the effect of which is to
disengage the stud h, see Fig. 2, from the notch in the bar 1, thereby
moving the driving strap b, from the fast to the loose pulley in the
manner before described.
Figs. 9, and 10, represent another combination of parts for effecting
the stoppage of the machine in the absence of the yarn or thread.
In these views the skewers of the bobbins, instead of being supported in
slots and holes of the usual construction, as shewn in Figs. 5, and 7,
are supported in slots sloping gently downwards, as seen in Fig. 9. As
long as the yarn or thread continues to be drawn off the bobbin, the
bobbin is held at the end of the slots, and the forks, are at liberty
to move up and down, but as soon as an end fails the skewer and
bobbin run by their own gravity down the inclined slot into the
positions shewn by dotted circles, and the forks in descending come
in contact with the skewer; by this means the stud h, is disengaged
from the retaining notch in the bar 1, and the machine stopped in the
same way as before described. The buttons o, are to prevent the
bobbins dropping out of the slots when an end breaks, but they can be
moved to one side when full bobbins have to be supplied.

page_text: Figs. 11, and 12, represent another modification of my Invention;
in this arrangement the forks, before referred to, are dispensed with,
but cach row of bobbins must be provided with a rod j; to these rods
the bridles p, are hinged, and each bridle is supported and held in its
proper angle by a stud p'. The angle of the bridles p, must be such
that when the rod 2, is down, the bridle shall point below the fulcrum
of the bobbin. The rods ', in moving downwards bring all the
bridles p, in contact with the bobbins f', and as these bobbins revolve
as long as the yarn or thread is being drawn off them, it is evident that
the friction of the bobbin against the bridles moves them into the
positions shewn by the dotted lines, and allows the rods j', to descend;
but if, owing to the breaking of the yarn or from any other cause, a
bobbin should cease to revolve, the bridle p, when it came in contact
with the bobbin, instead of being moved forward by the friction of the
revolving bobbin, would remain stationary, and thereby prevent the
further descent of the rod j, by which means the driving strap would
be moved from the fast to the loose pulley, as before described.
When my improvements are applied to a beaming machine it is
evident that the creels with which such machines are supplied must
be vertical instead of horizontal or diagonal, as usual.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best
means with which I am acquainted for performing the same, I would
have it understood that I do not limit myself to the details herein set
forth; but what I do claim is, the application to machines for warping
and beaming yarns or threads of self-acting machinery by which such
machines are stopped when any of the yarns or threads break or
otherwise cease to be supplied.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Knowles, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of December One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM KNOWLES. (L.s.)