IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS POR WASHING YARNS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John McLeod, of Renton, in the County of
Dumbarton, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS POR WASHING YARNS."
Sealed the 21st August 1868, and dated the 25th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John McLeod at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th February 1868.
I, JOHN MCLEOD, of Renton, in the County of Dumbarton, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING YARNS," to be as follows,
that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the washing of yarns in a rapid,
continuous, and convenient manner, and the apparatus employed in
carrying it out is of the kind in which the hanks of yarn are carried
by reels through a trough of the washing water or liquid. The reels
have a slow progressive motion and a rapid reciprocating rotatory motion,
the latter working the hanks which hang down from them forwards

page_text: and backwards through the water. The trough is made with two parallel
straight portions which may be of any convenient length, and which
are united by a semicircular part at one end. There is an endless series
of the reels which are connected together and moved progressively by
an endless chain or band that is distended by pulleys on vertical shafts
at each end of the apparatus, one of these pulleys being driven in any
convenient way. The reels, which are by preference square in cross
section, are mounted loosely on spindles attached to the endless chain
or band and stand out horizontally therefrom. The reciprocating rotatory
motion is imparted to the reels by means of pulleys fixed on the reels,
and which as the reels are passing along the straight parts of the trough
rest on straight rails arranged at the inner sides of the trough. These
rails rest upon antifriction wheels and have a longitudinal reciprocating
motion imparted to them by means of revolving cranks with connecting
rods and levers, or in any other convenient way. At the end where the
two straight portions of the trough are not united the reels pass through
a semicircle clear of the trough, and this affords ample and convenient
space for taking off the washed hanks and for putting on fresh hanks to
be washed. The washing water or liquid is made to enter the end of the
trough at which the hanks leave it, and it passes along in the opposite
direction to that of the progressive motion of the hanks. The trough is
made with an inclined bottom so as to deepen towards the end at which
the hanks enter, and so as to facilitate the clearing of the trough when
required. In some cases the two straight portions of the trough may
be made quite separate and without the semicircular uniting portion
herein-before referred to. The apparatus will in these cases constitute
a double machine, separate sets of hanks being operated upon in each
trough, and the washed hanks of one trough being taken off at the end
at which the fresh hanks for the other trough are put on.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, a
filed by the said John McLeod in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MCLEOD, of Renton, in the County of Dumbarton, North Britain,
Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty, Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of February in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John McLeod, Her special licence
that I, the said John McLeod, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John McLeod, 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
APPARATUS FOR WASHING YARNS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John McLeod, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 John McLeod, do liereby 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 in writing, reference being had to the accom
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object the washing of yarns in a rapid,
continuous, and convenient manner, and the apparatus employed in
carrying it out is of the kind in which the hanks of yarn are carried.
by reels through a trough of the washing water or liquid.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing-
the same, may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a
Sheet of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and
representing by way of example one modification. of my improved
apparatus.
Figure 1 is a plan of the apparatus, but with a part supposed to be
broken away from the middle in order to reduce the length of the
Drawing; Figure 2 is a side elevation of one end, whilst Figure 3 is
a longitudinal vertical section of the other end;. and Figure 4. is. a

page_text: transverse vertical section taken, as viewed, towards the left-hand end.
The same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts
in all the Figures.
The trough 1 is made of cast-iron or other suitable material, and with
two parallel straight portions which may be of any convenient length,
and which are united by a semicircular part which is at the right-hand
end in Figure 1; the trough thus forms a continuous canal from one
end 2, at which the water enters by a pipe 3, round to the other end 4,
where the water is discharged by a pipe 5; and the bottom of the trough
is inclined down towards the discharge end 4 to facilitate its being
cleared when required. There is an endless series of the reels 6 on
which the hanks of yarn, shown in red, are carried, and which have
a slow progressive motion and a rapid reciprocating rotatory motion,
the latter working the hanks, which hang down from them forwards
and backwards through the water. The reels 6 are connected together
and moved progressively by an endless chain or band 7 that is distended
by pulleys 8, 9, on vertical shafts at each end of the apparatus, one, 8, of
these pulleys being driven in the manner shown on the Drawing, or in
any other convenient way. The reels 6 are by preference square in
cross section, and one is shown in longitudinal section in Figure 4; they
are made of sheet copper or other suitable material, and they are
mounted loosely on spindles 10. which are attached to the endless
chain 7 by being fixed in sockets formed for them, each in one piece
with one of the links of which the chain is composed, such sockets being
disposed in such a way that the spindles 10 with their reels 6 stand
out horizontally from the chain. The reciprocating rotatory motion is
imparted to the reels 6 by means of pulleys 11 fixed on the reels, and
which, as the reels are passing along the straight parts of the trough 1,
rest on straight rails 12 arranged at the inner sides of the trough. The
pulleys 11 are bevilled or wedge-shaped, and the rails 12 are grooved
to fit the pulleys, such bevilling and grooving securing the necessary
bite between the two. The rails 12 rest upon antifriction wheels 13
carried by framing in connection with the sides of the trough, and have
a longitudinal reciprocating motion imparted to them by means of
levers 14 on a transverse horizontal rocking shaft 15, being connected
to such levers by links 16.jointed to the levers, and to a horizontal bar 17
fixed across to the rails 12 on both sides. The rocking shaft 15 is
actuated by a connecting rod 18, indicated partly by dotted lines in

page_text: Figure 3, and jointed on a crank pin on a disc 19 on-a transverse hori-
zontal shaft 20 which is driven from the first-motion shaft 21 by means
of a frictional clutch 22, which can be put into or out of gear by means
of a lever on a rocking shaft 23 extending to the other end of the
apparatus, where a hand lever 24 is fixed on it. The progressive motion
of the reels 6 is obtained from the transverse horizontal shaft 20, that
shaft having on it a bevil pinion 25 which gears with a bevil wheel 26
on a short longitudinal shaft 27, whilst a bevil pinion 2S on this last
gears with a bevil wheel 29 on the vertical spindle 30 of the chain
pulley 8, which is fitted with pins to enter within the links of the
endless chain 7, and to thereby drive that chain. Where the endless
chain 7 passes alongside of the straight portions of the trough 1 it is
steadied by passing along guides 31 which are in the form of small
rectangular cast-iron troughs laid on their sides, and which are held
by brackets 32 fixed to the sides of the trough 1. At the end (on the
left hand in the Drawing) where the two straight portions of the
trough 1 are not united, the feels 6 pass through a semicircle clear
of the trough, and this affords ample and convenient space for taking off
the washed hanks and for putting on fresh hanks to be washed. The
progressive motion of the hanks is in the opposite direction to that
of the water, so that they leave the trough at the inlet end 2 just after
being subjected to the freshest and cleanest water. A quadrant-shaped
screen 33 is erected where the hanks are taken off to protect the workers
from the water wrung from the hanks. In some cases the two straight
portions of the trough may be made quite separate and without the
semicircular uniting portion herein-before referred to. The apparatus
will in these cases constitute a double machine, each trough will be
complete in itself, and whilst the reels will be carried by a single
endless chain over both troughs in succession different sets of hanks
will be operated upon in each trough, the hanks washed in one trough
being taken off at the end at which the fresh hanks for the other
trough are put on.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
same in to be nonfounad I have to state that I do not

page_text: for washing yarns, substantially in the improved manner herein-before
described, and more particularly the moving of the recls progressively
by means of an endless chain, and the giving of a rapid reciprocating
rotatory motion to the reels by means of reciprocating rails acting on
pulleys on the reels.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macleod, have hereunto sct
my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
rotatory motion to the reels by means of reciprocating rails acting on
pulleys on the reels.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macleod, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN MACLEOD. (L.S.)