IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING FLAX, HEMP, PHORMIUM TENAX, AND OTHER LIKE FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING FLAX, HEMP,
PHORMIUM TENAX, AND OTHER LIKE FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."- A commu-
nication from abroad by La Societé Magnier Pouilly Brunet et Cie
and Gustave Prévost, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
•
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th October 1872.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING
FLAX, HEMP, PHORMIUM TENAX, AND OTHER LIKE FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," a
communication to me from abroad by La Societé Magnier Pouilly
Brunet et Cie and Gustave Prévost, of Paris, in the Republic of France,
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates partly to an improved flyer for reducing the
injurious friction on the thread during the operation of spinning
resulting from its close contact with the leg of the flyer round which

page_text: it is usually passed in a spiral of one or more turns, also the friction
against the head of the bobbins.
The improved flyer is provided with a curved lug or guide car situate
one on each side of the central boss and a similar curved guide on each
of the two elbow bends of the flyer, but on different sides thereof. The
thread is simply passed under the central guide, then over the elbow
guide, then passes down the side of the leg of the flyer parallel thereto,
and finally before entering the bobbin is guided through a notch or slot
in the bottom of the leg of the flyer.
.
The spindles on both faces of the improved spinning frame are driven
by a peculiar arrangement of driving strap and pulleys. The strap is
passed round a driving drum at one end of the frame, thence along the
back of the range of spindles against the "whirls" of which it is pressed
with just the required amount of pressure by adjustable pressing rollers
behind. After leaving the range of spindles the strap passes round a
weighted tension pulley, which keeps it always in a proper state of
tension, and thence passes over a guide pulley and returns to the drum
at the opposite end of the frame. A like arrangement of strap, driving
drum, and guide and tension pulleys is disposed on the opposite face of
the frame, and the whole is covered over by a special form of cover,
which covers the collars and footstep bearings of the spindles and the
driving belt both in front and rear. This cover consists of two distinct
parts, vizt., the back and portion of the top, also the front and portion
of the top. The front has its upper and lower part hinged so as to be
capable of being turned up or down for affording access to the collars
and footsteps for lubrication or other purpose.
The pressure is applied to the drawing rollers by means of a cushion
or block of caoutchouc acted upon by a lever of the third order. This
block of india-rubber is contained within a hollow piece, which is jointed
to the longer arm of the lever, the short arm being jointed to a forked
pin, through the end of which passes an adjusting screw, which is con-
nected to the bearing of one of the drawing rollers. The hollow piece
containing the india-rubber also contains a sliding block or piston, which
is adjusted towards or from the india-rubber by a screw spindle, and
thereby regulates the action of the opposite end of the lever upon the
bearing of the drawing roller. By this arrangement all metal springs
are dispensed with and the objections attendant thereon are obviated.

page_text: The threads are guided to their respective spindles and smoothed or
polished by a thread guide, consisting of a bar of L or angle iron, in the
vertical side of which are drilled the holes for the passage of the threads,
each hole being open to the front by an oblique slot communicating
therewith to facilitate the introduction of the threads. This bar is
mounted on pivots or centres so as to be capable of being turned
over,
The threads are guided between the drawing rollers by peculiar
reciprocating guides or conductors attached to a longitudinal recipro-
cating rod, each guide or conductor consisting of a piece of tin plate
bent up at the sides so as to form a directing guide, and soldered to a
piece of bent wire, by which it is attached to the reciprocating bar, the
bent end of the wire being inserted into a hole in the bar.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or 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 OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING FLAX, HEMP, PHORMIUM TENAX, AND
OTHER LIKE FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," a communication to me from abroad by
La Société Magnier Pouilly Brunet et Cie and Gustave Prévost, of Paris,
in the Republic of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: The thread is thus subjected to a more powerful tension than necessary,
which tension cuts the flyer at the shoulder and on the leg, so that when
a coarse number is spun after having spun a finer one the coarse thread
not being able to enter the small groove hollowed out by the finer, its
motion is arrested and a cutting or chafing action is produced. The
thread moreover is bearded, and if the head of the bobbin be notched in
the smallest degree the thread is as it were sawn by the bobbin and
becomes broken.
In order to obviate these numerous inconveniences a mode of spinning
without friction of the thread on the bobbin has been contrived, which I
mode constitutes one essential feature of this Invention.
In carrying out this system of spinning a peculiar description of flyer,
which is designated a guide flyer, is employed. The details of this flyer
are shewn in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, but its form and arrangement
may be varied as considered desirable. Figure 7 represents a projection 1
of the flyer in a plane parallel to its principal meridian. The guides A
and B corresponding to the left leg are alone visible in this figure.
Figure 11 shews a horizontal projection of the flyer. The four guides
are there shewn, namely, A. and B for the left leg and C and D for the
right leg. Figure 8 is an elevation of the flyer at right angles to 2
Figure 7. The guides A and B correspond to the leg behind, and those
C and D correspond to the front leg. Figures 9 and 10 are sections taken
along the lines R, S, and P, Q, respectively.
With regard to the manner of passing the thread over the flyer this
is represented sufficiently clearly by the red ink lines, which shew the
thread in Figures 7, 8, and 11. This system of spinning is as applicable
to wet as to dry thread. The flyer may also be made with hollow and
slit legs similar to those of spindle and fly-roving frames.
The following advantages are obtained by the use of this flyer,
namely,―
First. The labour of the spinner is facilitated, since some of the causes
of the breakage of the thread are obviated, and the course of the thread
is more simple.

page_text: Third. A much smoother thread is obtained, since the greater part of
the causes which produce a barbing of the thread are obviated.
It is to be observed that the proprictor of a spinning mill who may
wish to adopt this system will simply require to change his flyers without
making any alteration in his frame.
I shall now proceed to describe the system of driving the spindles
which is represented in Figures 1, 2, and 4. Each face of the frame is
driven separately by a single band, and this driving is effected in the
same manner on each of its two faces.
I shall direct attention to one only, namely, the face A, C, (Figure 4).
Starting from C the band of a width of about 3/8ths of an inch passes
behind the whole of the range of spindles, being maintained or sup-
ported against rollers G disposed behind. When it has reached the
extremity A it turns round the last roller and passes on to the pulley P
which drives it; it then leaves the pulley P, passes over the roller D,
and returns to the extremity C, passing over two other rollers E and F.
Each of the horizontal pullies P is driven by means of two bevel wheels
from the horizontal shaft on which the driving pulley is keyed. The
roller F which slides freely in a horizontal groove parallel to a, b, is
drawn towards b by a weight, so that the band may be capable of
stretching and contracting without its tension being changed. The
carriers of each of the rollers G may be moved forward or backwards by
means of small grooves formed in the roller-carrying bar, and which
admit of each of these rollers being readily secured in a suitable
position. According as the substance to be spun requires greater or
less
power for the spindles the tension weight which tends to cause the
roller F to slide in its groove is increased or diminished.
This novel system of driving exercises much less strain upon the
collar than the old system, the less so as in this system the pressure
caused by the tension of the band which bears on the spindle is pro-
duced in the reverse direction to that of the pressure resulting from the
friction of the plumb line; the spindle will therefore require less power

page_text: to drive it, and the tension on the band, whether such band be new or
old, wet or dry, will be always uniform. The collar morcover not being
subjected to any torsion will be relatively more durable. This system
also admits of a covering being adapted which preserves the collars and
footsteps from dust, and such covering forms one of the most important
improvements embraced by this Invention. This cover, which is shewn
in Figures 1 and 2, is composed of two distinct parts, namely, g, h, i,
behind (Figure 2), and g, f, e, d, c, in front. This latter portion is pro-
vided with two hinges, shewn at e and d respectively, which admit of
the portion e, f, g, being lowered and of the portion d, c, being elevated
on their hinges into the positions shown by red lines so as to admit of
the lubrication of the collars and footsteps.
The pressure apparatus with springs of caoutchouc, which forms part
of this Invention, is illustrated by Figures 12 to 17. It is composed of
a lever D and of three picces connected to the lever by three axes a, b, c.
The piece B which is screwed at S to the roller-carrier support renders
the axis b fixed. A rod d, e, which is provided with a screw thread and
moves forward in a stationary nut U forming part of the roller-carrier
support, serves to exercise a pressure on the long arm of the lever through
the intervention of the piece A. The short arm of the lever transmits
this pressure increased in the proportion of the lever lengths to the
bush E of the axis of the roller by means of the piece C (according to the
diameter of the roller the bush E is moved forward or backwards by
means of the screwed rod f). Figure 16 is a section along the line q, r,
(Figure 12). The piece A is composed of a cast-iron cylinder hollowed
out as shewn in Figure 13. At the bottom of the hollow there is dis-
posed a small cylinder h, i, k, l, of caoutchouc, on which is placed.
another small cylinder o, h, l, p, also hollowed out, in the interior of
which the screwed rod d, e, bears. The use of this caoutchouc cylinder
is a very important feature. By its elasticity it mitigates the reaction,
so that an accidental enlargement or increase in the bulk of the sub-
stance would be capable of passing without breaking the apparatus.
F (Figures 12 and 17) is a forked piece on the rib N of the roller-carrier
support, which serves to maintain the cylinder A when the roller is
withdrawn. This system of applying pressure in which caoutchouc is
employed admits therefore (without necessitating the use of metal
springs, which are always liable to be broken) of the obtaining a pressure
which is capable of being varied according to the substance to be spun,

page_text: :-
and that without altering the weight, as is done, or rather as should be
done, with the steelyards at present in use; moreover it occupies scarcely
any space in the interior of the frame, which is far from being the case
with steelyards, which have in addition the following inconvenience :-
When the roller passes over a hollow or recess the heavy weight which
is suspended at the end of the steelyard descends, and by virtue of the
velocity acquired resulting from this descent shocks are produced which
exercise a strain upon and cause the wear of the apparatus, and
especially of the roller. With this system the operator being no
longer required to raise heavy weights does not hesitate to change
a defective roller.
The new thread guide is shewn at O, O, (Figures 1, 2, and 3). It is
composed of a cast-iron bar of L section, the vertical portion of which
is perforated with holes in which the thread is lodged by means of slits
formed obliquely. This thread guide, which is made of a suitable
height, contributes to render the thread smoother, and it may be raised
into the position O¹ by turning it round a horizontal axis o so as to
admit of the dismounting.
The new system of guide or conductor for conducting the threads
between the drawing rollers is shewn in Figures 5 and 6. It is com-
posed of a piece of tin plate cut out and bent up as shewn in the
Drawing. This conductor is soldered to a piece of sufficiently stout
iron wire bent as shown at c, d, e. The end e of the wire is inserted in
a hole formed in the conducting rod L, so that when once put in its
place the conductor forms one with the rod and follows all its move-
ments.
One great advantage of this arrangement over the old systems of
conductors is that its position is rigid and determines the exact point
where the thread should pass. This conductor, in which the hooked
appendages which so frequently occasion entanglement or twisting are
dispensed with, has with the rod a longitudinal to-and-fro motion
imparted to it, the stroke of which is regulated according to the width
of the rollers M and of the faces of the drawing roller. As a result of
this to-and-fro motion the rollers do not always work at the same place,
and their durability is greatly increased.
In the frame shewn in Figures 1 and 2 the bar H, H, which guides
the thread at its entrance to the delivering rollers N has also a to-and-fro
motion imparted to it, and the bar K, K, may be moved backwards or

page_text: forwards by means of a screw in grooves parallel to k, l, so as to bridle
more or less the roving.
By the arrangement of guides and rods long staple and tow may be
spun with the same distance between the drawing and delivering rollers._
In Figure 1 the red lines indicate the passage of the roving. In the case 5
of the spindles 1, 2, and 3 it is arranged for long staple, and in
spindles 4, 5, and 6 for tow.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of
the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may
be used or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that 1
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 is,―
First. The mode of spinning without friction of the thread on the
bobbin and the peculiar arrangement of flyer, which admits of the same 1
being effected, substantially as herein-before described.
Second. The peculiar system of driving the spindles of a spinning
frame and the employment of a covering for the driving apparatus, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Third. The application of caoutchouc to the pressure apparatus applied 2
to the drawing and delivering rollers of spinning frames, as herein-before
described.
Fourth. The peculiar arrangement of thread guide having for its
object to render the thread smooth, as herein-before described.
Fifth. The system of guides or conductors having an alternate 2
to-and-fro motion, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day
of April One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)