An Improved Thread, and Method of Making samė.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 27th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Thread, and Method of Making samė.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of Newark, Essex County and State of New Jersey, in
the United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
It is well known that six-cord thread is mostly used for hand and machine
sewing for domestic purposes, and that such thread is more costly to make than
three-cord thread, which is used at present more especially for basting and
manufacturing purposes.
My invention has for its main object to produce a three-cord thread for hand
and machine home sewing which shall not only be less expensive of manufacture
than six-cord thread, but which shall also be a product much superior to the best
six-cord -thread which has been made hitherto. My invention is also applicable
to the manufacture of two-cord thread and four-cord thread, but I shall describe
it herein more particularly with reference to the manufacture of three-cord
thread.
It is very desirable and it has been the aim of all manufacturers of thread
to produce an article which will stand the greatest amount of friction or rubbing
both in hand and machine sewing, but particularly in the latter, since there is
considerable friction on the thread in its passage through the tension devices,
guides and eyes of the needles, and for this reason many of the threads manu-
factured for domestic sewing purposes are dressed or lubricated for the purpose
of decreasing the friction or producing a smoother action or passage of the
thread.
The thread made according to my invention is not only cheaper of manufacture,
but tests show that it will withstand approximately one hundred (100) per cen'.
more friction or rubbing than any other three-cord or six-cord thread made
heretofore.
In carrying out my invention in the manufacture of three-cord thread three
strands are used, but the treatment of said strands involves an additional step to
the ordinary process in the manufacture of three-cord thread.
A common three-cord thread is made by twisting together three strands of
yarn, either mule or ring yarn. The improved three-cord thread is made by first
twisting the individual mule or ring yarn through water or while in a wet or
dampened condition, thereby producing a much harder twist and more compact yara
than can be spun by mule or ring frame.
Ordinary yarn is spun with a constant of about three; that is to say, the
twist per inch is about three times the square root of the number of the yarn.
Taking No. 36, the square root would be six, which would make the twist eighteen
turns per inch.
In the improved thread this yarn before being made into thread is first put
through an additional twisting process in water or while in a wet state, and a
constant of about five is added to each individual strand, thus increasing the twist
by about thirty turns to the inch, so that the yarn has a total twist of forty-eight
turns per inch, instead of eighteen, as formerly.
The advantage of this treatment prior to the twisting together of the three
strands is very great in practice, for it permits a harder twist of the three strands
in the opposite direction before the thread comes to what is technically known as

page_text: a
"Balance." If the same twist were put upon an ordinary three-cord thread it
would be rendered unfit for use. The improved three-cord thread has the appearance
of a six-cord thread, with the additional advantage of being capable of standing
vastly more friction and wear and tear.
'
From the foregoing it will be seen that the improved thread is made by first
putting a high degree of twist in each separate strand of yarn while the latter is
wet and in subsequently twisting together three such highly twisted strands.
I have found in practice that the required hard or high twist of the individual
strands cannot be accomplished when the strand is in a dry condition, and hence
I interpose a vessel of water through which the yarn is run before the twisting
operation takes place. The water causes the fibers to adhere or compact and in
the twisting to be more firmly incorporated. Without water the fibers would he
loose and weak and the thread would have a rougher surface and appearance,
besides which the requisite amount of twisting could not permanently remain in
the thread. The hard twist which I give each individual strand is a twist which
varies in number of turns to the inch for different numbers of threads, but the
constant for all of the numbers of threads is maintained throughout the series of
numbers. The constant which I prefer to employ for all numbers of threads is
between 7 and 8. I do not however wish to confine myself to the above constants
or numbers of twists to the inch, so long as each individual strand of the three which
compose the completed article is given what I have described as a "hard twist
and so long as the twisting is done while the individual strands are in a wet or
dampened condition.
"
In practice I give each individual strand a hard left-hand twist, and when three
such strands are twisted together to complete the thread the twist is done in the
opposite or right-hand direction, with sufficient number of turns to the inch to give
the thread what is technically known as a "perfect balance." By reason of having
previously given the individual strands a hard twist in a left-hand direction a much
harder twist may be given to the three strands in a right-hand direction before the
thread comes to a balance.
Such thread is not only cucaper to manufacture than six-cord thread, but it has
been found to possess almost double the resistance to friction of all previously made
thread, and on account of its hard twisting and firm texture the thread will last or
wear much longer in use.
After the thread has been made in the manner above set forth it may be dressed
in the usual way, if desired.
In the manufacture of my improved thread I employ substantially the same
machinery which has heretofore been used for twisting together two or more plies
of yarn.
I do not therefore claim any improvement in the means or machinery for making
the thread, but only in the thread and mode or process of its production.
While in the foregoing description I have confined myself particularly to the
manufacture of three-cord thread, nevertheless I do not wish to be understood as
limiting myself altogether to the making of three-cord thread, as my improvement
may be carried out with substantially equal advantage in the manufacture of two-
cord thread and four-cord thread, the gist of the invention consisting in subjecting
the separate individual strands of yarn to the hard twist described and in then
twisting together a plurality of such hard twisted strands until the thread has
reached a balance.
"
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The method of making thread which consists in putting a hard twist into
single individual strands of yarn while in a wet or dampened condition, and in then
twisting together in the opposite direction a plurality of such individual hard twisted
strauds until a balance is reached; substantially as described.

page_text: 2. The improved sewing thread consisting of a plurality of separate previously.
hard twisted strands twisted together; substantially as described.
3. The method of making thread which consists in putting a hard twist
into single, individual strauds of yarn while in a wet or dampened condition,
and in then twisting together in the opposite direction three of such individually-
hard twisted strands until a balance is reached; substantially as described.
4. The improved sewing thread consisting of three separate strands twisted
together, each of which strands had been previously hard twisted while in wet or
dampened condition; substantially as described.
Dated this 13th day of February 1897.
FELL & JAMES,
Agents for the Applicant..