IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR SPINNING HEMP AND OTHER TEXTILE FIBRES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Horace Brandon, Engineer, of 13, Rue
Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR SPINNING HEMP AND OTHER TEXTILE
FIBRES." A communication by William Sparks Thomson, Manu-
facturer, also of Paris.
Sealed the 24th November 1868, and dated the 26th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Horace
Brandon at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th June 1868.
I, ALEXANDER HORACE BRANDON, Engineer, of 13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING HEMP AND OTHER
TEXTILE FIBRES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to the method of driving the said
spinning machinery, and to the means employed for accelerating,
diminishing, or stopping the movement of such machinery, for which
purpose I make use of a vertical shaft conveying a constant velocity

page_text: to the spindle by ordinary pullies and a variable velocity to the flyer
by coned pullies; and for the greater convenience of stopping or starting
the machinery I make use of a friction clutch adapted to the main
pulley on the said vertical shaft.
Secondly. To a special arrangement of draw tubes or nippers for
holding the sliver to prevent the twist running back, for which purpose
I employ brass or other metal blocks perforated with straight or taper
holes, and divided into two or more segments either vertically or spirally,
which I retain together by elastic rings or springs, and I employ such
perforated metal blocks in one or several sets superposed on each
other.
Thirdly. To an improvement in the flyer, which I construct in steel,
to give the greatest strength with the least possible weight. The
elasticity of the steel also enables me rapidly and readily to attach
and detach the bobbin, I attach the bottom end of one arm of the
flyer to a cross piece from which it receives its movement by a nut
and bolt, and the corresponding arm of the flyer fits into a kind of
slot in the opposite end of the cross piece where it is retained by its
elastic force. To remove the bobbin I press the loose end of the flyer
inwards, by which it is released from the slot on the cross piece. I
then lift it upwards to release it from the upper end of the spindle,
and traverse it horizontally entirely free of the bobbin, these movements
are reversed to place the flyer in position.
Fourthly. To an improvement by which the thread is regularly drawn
with a velocity always constant in relation to the rate of twisting, for
which purpose I make use of a pulley fixed on the spindle which turns
the bobbin; in this pulley I turn a V-shaped groove to which the thread
is conveyed from the arms of the flyer by means of hooks and guides
passing round, and in this groove it returns to the flyer to be con-
veyed to the bobbin.
Fifthly. To an improvement relating to the distribution of the spun
yarn upon the bobbin by which I avoid the usual practice of
dividing the bobbins into compartments by discs; for this purpose I
use a movable arm put in motion as follows:-On the bobbin spindle
and above the base or cross piece carrying the flyer is a pulley, on the
edge of which I make a curvilinear groove; in this groove works the
end of a lever having its fulcrum in a standard fixed upon the base
or cross piece carrying the flyer. As the flyer and bobbin revolve the

page_text: lever acted upon by the curvilinear groove acquires an up-and-down
motion, which I transmit by jointed arms or levers to the movable
arm distributing the yarn upon the bobbin; or by this same lever
working in the curvilinear groove I actuate a pawl and ratchet wheel,
which latter carrying a crank pin transmits the movement to the
moveable arm.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Horace Brandon in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HORACE BRANDON, of No. 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, Her special
licence that I, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Horace
Brandon, 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 SPINNING HEMP AND OTHER TEXTILE
FIBRES," being a communication to me from abroad by William Sparks
Thomson, Manufacturer, also of Paris, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, 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, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say)
:-
The improvements which I have made in these machines apply more
particularly to the spinning of hemp, flax, and other vegetable fibres,
but they can nevertheless be advantageously adopted for other different
materials, such as silk, wool, alpaca, cotton. They are five in number,
which I will describe successively in referring to the thirteen Figures
of the accompanying Drawing; where Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a
machine fitted with these improvements; Fig. 2 a front elevation;
Figures 3, 4, and 5, respectively a plan in section on the line A, A,
Fig. 5, a plan in section on the line B, B, Fig. 5, and a front elevation
upon a larger scale of the main parts for effecting the spinning; Figures 6
and 7 represent a modification of the construction, Fig. 5; and Figures
8 to 13 different views of two detached pieces.
FIRST IMPROVEMENT.
My first improvement relates to the construction of the machine as
well as to the manner of transmitting to the same the necessary move-
ment. I arrange for the driving of each bobbin a little vertical shaft a
turning in a bearing a¹ and a step a², this shaft being driven at a regular
velocity by a belt a³ acting upon the pulley a', and from this shaft I
transmit an equally regular motion to the bobbin spindle b by means
of the belt 6' acting upon the pullies 62 and b³, and a movement with a
variable velocity to the flyer by means of the belt c¹ surrounding the
cones and c; to change the velocity of the rotation of the flyer whilst
the machine is at work I use the fork d embracing the belt c', and
working upon a vertical screw e', as well as upon a fixed vertical shaft f
acting as a guide to it, and I lower or raise this fork as required by the
handle g, keyed upon the horizontal shaft g', carrying a worm g³,
which gears into the wheel e³ keyed on the upper end of the screw e¹; (or,
if required instead of these two conical belt pullies) by two riggers
of the same form and size, provided with grooves for driving with a
cord, and each of these apparatus is provided with a coupling so that
it can be geared or ungeared rapidly and independently; for this
purpose I prefer to use a friction clutch mounted on the driving

page_text: shaft a, and which is formed of a cast-iron cap h fitting in the conical
head h' of the driving pulley a*; a spiral spring placed in the part h³
constantly presses the cap upon this cone to maintain it in gear, whilst
a lever h³ mounted on the axle h* serves to separate these pieces, and
thus stop the transmission of the motion.
My second improvement consists in the employment of a special
apparatus placed between the sliver can n, holding the sliver of material
to be spun, and the flyer, in which apparatus the sliver is so held that
the twist from the flyer cannot pass beyond it. I know that different
arrangements of tubes or conductors, rigid and elastic, have been
employed for this purpose. I only claim, therefore, the particular con-
struction of the apparatus which I have invented, and which consists
of three or a larger number of helicoidal segments i, i, i, Figs. 9
and 10, which united constitute a little cylinder with a hole in the
centre, and provided externally with an elastic ring k. I fix this
apparatus on a bracket ¹ projecting from the frame, as it is shown in
Fig. 1. The pressure of the elastic ring is sufficient to prevent the twist
of the flyer passing beyond it, but allows the sliver to pass freely towards
the bobbin, whilst the segments separate sufficiently to allow all the
inequalities in the size of the sliver to pass through. The helicoidal
form of the segments in the central hole of the apparatus is adopted to
prevent the fraying of the sliver as it passes through.
The Figures 11, 12, and 13 represent another construction of this
apparatus, where I employ two pieces i, i, of a rectangular form, united
by an elastic band k, and capable of opening or closing to allow the
passage of knots, &c., these pieces being arranged in a box k¹. I prefer
to employ two or a greater number of these apparatus superposed, but
with their line of junction at right angles to each other, as is shewn in
the Drawing.
the part which surrounds the bobbin of one piece of steel, with the
double object of giving it, first, the greatest possible strength in respect to
its size, and secondly, an elasticity sufficient to allow it to be bent in order

page_text: to change the bobbins, see Figures 3, 4, and 5. To this end the right side
or arm of this piece can be pivotted in the hole of the cross arm at m,
whilst the left side or arm by a pressure directed towards the bobbin can
be extracted from its place; this done, it only requires slightly lifting to
disengage the top of the spindle; on turning then the flyer upon m as
a centre the bobbins can be removed and replaced without difficulty.
I avail myself of the elasticity of the upper bar of this flyer to give the
requisite frictional resistance to the bobbin; for this purpose I mount
the latter on a disc t provided with a screwed tube t, upon which are
placed the nut and the set nut '; with the first of these I make the
bobbin bear directly on the pulley n, and I keep it in place by the set
nut, according to the pressure exerted by the nut the cross bar is more
or less strained, and thus the frictional resistance on the bobbin can

page_text: upon the whole height of the bobbin, so that it is wound upon the
bobbin in the form of a cylinder. This apparatus is represented on a
larger scale, Figures 4 and 5, it is composed of a curvilinear groove p
cut in the boss of the pulley n of a lever p' attached by its centre to
the cross bar of the flyer, one end of it entering into the groove the other
end carrying a vertical rod q, on the top of which is the distributing
lever & fixed by one end to the universal joint z, pivotting upon the
upright arm 1, so that its point can travel, not only up and down the
entire height of the bobbin, but out laterally from the bobbin as the latter
augments in diameter by the accumulation of the thread. It will be
understood that whatever may be the velocity of rotation of the bobbin
or flyer that of the distribution will be relatively very slow, since it
results from the difference of the speed of the bobbin and the flyer. As
the said distributing lever is attached to a round part of the upright
this latter can be turned round for the replacing of the bobbin without
drawing with it the lever or its accessory parts.
The Figures 6 and 7 serve to illustrate a second mode of construction
of the distributor, according to which I employ a simple arm p' acted
on by the cam p, and pivotting on a little block attached to the cross
bar this lever p carries a pall p, gearing into the ratchet wheel p³,
fitted with a crank pin, upon which is adapted a rod q, the opposite end
of which is jointed to the distributing lever s pivotting on a universal
joint z attached to the arm 7. It is easy to understand that in this way
the to-and-fro motion of the lever p' will be converted into an inter-
mittent rotatory motion of the ratchet which will distribute the thread
regularly over the whole length of the bobbin.
Having thus explained the nature of my improvements, and the
best means that I am acquainted with for carrying them into practice,
I claim,-
Firstly. The construction of the machine and the manner of trans-
mitting motion to its several parts, as described under the first head of
my improvements.
Secondly. The construction and application of the pressure boxes n, i,
which, whilst they allow the sliver to pass freely through, intercept
the passage of the twist.
Thirdly. The construction and arrangement of the steel flyer 1, as set
forth under the third head of my improvements.

page_text: Fourthly. The construction and application of the grooved pulley n,
for the purposes set forth.
And, fifthly. The two different arrangements of parts described under
the fifth head of my improvements for distributing automatically the
thread over the entire height of the bobbin.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty eight
Witness,
W. MORGAN BROWN.
A. H. BRANDON. (L.S.)