IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY. FOR WRINGING YARNS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Nichols, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY.
FOR WRINGING YARNS."
Sealed the 10th May 1867, and dated the 15th November 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Nichols at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
November 1866.
⚫I, JOHN NICHOLS, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR WRINGING YARNS," to be as follows:-
In one arrangement for wringing washed, dyed, or bleached yarns I attach
a bracket to one side of each vat carrying a revolving hook, and at the
opposite side another bracket carrying a hook which does not revolve, but can
be slided or adjusted in the bracket according to the length of the hank. To
the shaft of each revolving hook I fix a worm wheel gearing into and driven
by a worm fixed on the main shaft of the machine, which shaft extends the
entire length of the vats, and carries as many worms as there are hooks and
worm wheels, there being at the driving end of the shaft one fast and two
loose pulleys. By placing the shaft between two sets of vats and using right

page_text: and left hand worms and worm wheels I can work two sets of revolving hooks
with one main shaft, but in either case the shaft is put in motion alternately
in opposite directions by a belt from a driving shaft; the said belt passes over
a pulley fixed to the driving shaft and over the pulleys on the main shaft, and
on its return passes over a loose pulley on the driving shaft or on a counter-
shaft, thereby giving one revolving motion to wring or twist the banks of yarn,
and another reverse motion to untwist them. The strap fork is connected to
a two-armed lever, one arm carrying a weight and also a bowl or roller placed
in the grooves of a cam or tappet fixed to the shaft of one of the revolving
hooks, on which shaft there is a pinion gearing into a toothed wheel fixed to
the cam for giving it revolving motion. In addition to this cam I employ
another 'cam or tappet revolving on a countershaft at a slow speed and acting
at regular periods on a lever connected by a rod to the lever carrying the
strap fork.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The last-mentioned cam or tappet
at the exact time required acts upon the lever in connection with it and gives
motion to the strap fork lever, the fork shifting the strap from one of the loose
pulleys on the main shaft to the fast one, and at the same time placing the
bowl in the groove of the first-mentioned cam, the effect of which is to put
the worms and wringing hooks in motion, the strap being kept in position by
the cam and lever until the exact number of revolutions have been given to the
wringing hooks for wringing the hanks. The cam now ceases to support the
lever, and therefore its weighted arm falls, and its other arm shifts the strap
from the fast pulley back again to the loose pulley, and the other part of the
strap which moves in a reverse direction is brought on the fast pulley, thereby
causing the hooks to revolve in a contrary direction until the hanks are
untwisted, at which time the cam causes the strap to be on both loose pulleys,
and the main shaft and hooks remain stationary, the hooks being always per-
pendicular when the machine stops for enabling the wrung hanks to be taken
off and fresh hanks placed on. During these operations the other cam or tappet
is slowly turning, and at the period required again acts on the levers and shifts
the strap fork on to the fast pulley for wringing the hanks, and the operations
before described are repeated, and so on continuously. These arrangements
may be modified by causing one cam working slowly on an independent shaft
to regulate all the movements of the strap, but I prefer the use of two cams
for enabling the operations to be performed with great exactness.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Nichols in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
NICHOLS, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Nichols, Her special license that. I, the said John Nichols, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or. such others as I, the said John
Nichols, 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 WRINGING YARNS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Nichols, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Nichols, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the figures on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon (that is
to say):-
For wringing washed, dyed, or bleached yarns I attach brackets to near
one side of each vat carrying a revolving or wringing hook, and at the opposite
side another bracket carrying a book which does not revolve, but can be slided
or adjusted in the bracket according to the length of the bank. To the shaft
of each revolving book I fix a worm wheel gearing into and driven by a worm
fixed on the main shaft of the machine, which shaft extends the entire length
of the vats, and carries as many worms as there are hooks and worm wheels,
there being at the driving end of the shaft one fast and two loose pulleys. "By

page_text: placing the shaft between two sets of vats and using right and left hand worms
and worm wheels I can work two sets of revolving hooks with one main shaft,
but in either case the shaft is put in motion alternately in opposite directions
by a strap from a driving shaft. The said strap passes over a pulley fixed to
the driving shaft and over the pulleys on the main shaft, and on its return
passes over a loose pulley on the driving shaft, or on a countershaft, thereby
giving one revolving motion to wring or twist the hanks of yarn and another.
reverse motion to untwist them. The rod of the strap forks is connected to
one arm of a three-armed lever, a second arm carrying a weight, and the
third arm a bowl or roller placed.in connection with a cam or tappet working
on a stud, and to one of the shafts of the revolving hooks is fixed a pinion
gearing into a toothed; wheel fixed to the cam for giving it revolving motion.
In addition to this cam I employ, when desired, another cam³ or tappet on a
countershaft, revolving at a slow speed and acting at regular periods on a lever
connected by a lever and rods to the lever carrying the strap fork.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 are side and end
elevations, and Fig. 3 a plan representing the application of my improvements'
to two sets of vats, and Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged views of some of the
parts.
a represents the vats either in whole or in part; b, the revolving hooks;
c, the sliding hooks; d, the main shaft of the machine; e, f, g, the fast and
loose pulleys on the main shaft; h, the driving shaft; i, the driving pulley,
and the driving strap of the machine. Each revolving hook 6 is formed at'
one end of a round shaft, which works in bearings in the brackets or pedestals 1,
bolted or cast to the cross bar m fixed to the vat, and to each shaft is fixed
the worm wheel n gearing into a worm o fixed to the main shaft d. Each
sliding hook c is formed at one end of a square shaft placed in a square hole
in the bracket or pedestal p, the other. end of the shaft being connected to the
weight q by the chain. r passing over the guide pulleys, and in the square
shaft there are screwed holes, into one or other of which is screwed a pin t,
according to the length of the hank previous to its being wrung.
The strap
k.
passes over the driving pulley i over one of the pulleys on the main shaft, over
the loose pulley u, and finally over another of the pulleys on the main shaft,
and one half of the strap moves in one direction, and the other half in the
opposite direction, as shewn by the arrows, so that two motions in different
directions can be given to the main shaft and worms according to the position
of the strap. The three-armed lever for shifting the strap forks and strap is
marked w, x, y, and the cam or tappet for regulating the movements of the lever
is marked z, the lever and cam being shewn enlarged in Fig. 4. The lever

page_text: works on a stationary stud, and the cam or tappet works on a stud in the small
frame a¹, the revolving motion being given to the cam by the pinion 6' gearing
into the toothed wheel et fixed to the cam, the said pinion being fixed to the
shaft of one of the revolving hooks. The arm w of the three-armed lever is'
jointed to the rod 'd' carrying the strap forks e"; the arm a carries the weight f',
and the army a bowl g', which is alternately in contact with the groove-hu
and the projecting rim of the cam. One movement may be given by hand'
to the three-armed lever in order to shift the strap and set the machine in
motion, but I prefer the employment of the additional cam or tappet on the
countershaft m¹ for acting at regular intervals on the three-armed lever by
means of the lever and bowl n¹, the rod o³, the lever p³, and the rod g¹; there'
being on the countershaft a worm wheel r gearing into the worm.s on the
driving shaft h, for giving a slow revolving motion to the cam or tappet
When the machine is stopped the operative places the banks to be wrung on
the hooks, and the cam or tappet at the exact time required raises the
arma of the three-armed lever and causes the strap to be shifted to the fast
pulley e, and the loose pulley g, and at the same time the bowl on the arm y
is placed in contact with the projecting rim of the 'cam z; which now
commences its revolution in one direction; the effect of which is to put the
main shaft, the worms, worm wheels, and revolving or wringing hooks in
motion for wringing the hanks; the strap being kept: in. position. by the pro-
jecting rim of the revolving cam until the exact number of revolutions have
been given to the wringing hooks, and during the wringing the weights q rise
and the hooks c slide according to the torsion to prevent breakage. The cam
now ceases to support the arm and bowl, and therefore the weighted arm: a
falls until another part of the cam arrives at the bowl; and the-arm w causes
the strap to be shifted from the fast pulley back' again to the loose pulley f,
and the other part of the strap which moves in a reverse direction is brought
on the fast pulley, thereby causing the worms, worm wheels,. wringing hooks,
and cam to revolve in a contrary direction until the hanks are untwisted, at
which time the cam causes. the strap to be on both loose pulleys; and then the
worm wheels. and hooks remain stationary; the hooks always being per-
pendicular when the machine stops for enabling the wrung hanks to be taken
off, and fresh hanks placed on; the working parts being prevented from over-
running by a pin or projection t¹, Fig. 5, on the cam plate coming in contact
with a lever u' held by the spring v². During these operations the cam or
tappet is slowly turning, and at the period required again acts on the levers
and shifts the strap on to the fast pulley for setting the machine in motion,
and the operations before described are repented, and so on continuously.

page_text: These arrangements may be modified by causing one cam working slowly on
an independent shaft to regulate all the movements of the strap, but I prefer
the use of two cams for enabling the operations to be performed with great
exactness.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim,—
First, the cam or tappetz, and the three-armed lever w, a, y, for shifting
the driving strap on the fast and loose pulleys e, f, g, so that when the machine
is set to work the hanks shall be wrung to a certain extent, then unwrung,
and the machine stopped by self-acting mechanism.
Secondly, the connection of the sliding hooks to chains and weights for
allowing the hooks to slide during the wringing of the hanks for preventing
undue strain or breakage.
And, thirdly, the cam A, and the levers and rods in connection with it
for acting at regular periods on the three-armed lever to set the machine
to work, after each stoppage, as all such improvements are herein described
and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Nichols, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named John Nichols, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JOHN NICHOLS. (L.S.)