IMPROVEMENTS IN RING SPINNING AND DOUBLING FRAMES "
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Muir Hetherington of Manchester in the County
of Lancaster Engineer for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RING
SPINNING AND DOUBLING FRAMES
""
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Muir Hetherington
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd October 1883.
JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON of Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN RING SPINNING AND DOUBLING FRAMES
"
My Invention which relates to ring spinning and doubling machinery consists
of improvements in means for assisting the rotation of the ring travellers used in
such machines and for carrying and adjusting the rings.
As the lifting rail traverses up and down in the course of winding, the angle of
pull of the yarn between the traveller and the cop becomes altered from time to
time according as it is being wound upon a part of the cop closer to or further
from the centre of the spindle. The angle of pull most favourable for traversing
the ring is that which the thread or yarn assumes when being wound upon or near
to the outer circumference of the cop and the pull becomes less effective the
nearer the yarn approaches the circumference of the cop tube or bobbin, so that
frequent breakages occur when the yarn is in the latter position owing to the
greater strain it has to endure.
With the object of remedying this defect I use auxilliary yarn drivers or whirls
which are placed upon the tops of the spindles the said whirls having a curved
or rounded edge over which the yarn is led from the guide wire above. These
whirls partake of the rotation of the spindles and by carrying the yarn around
with them, assist to rotate the travellers beneath, and thus decrease the strain
upon the yarn as it passes from the traveller to the cop or bobbin, whereby
breakage of the yarn and consequent stoppage of the spindle is lessened.
The first part of my Invention relates more particularly to the means for
readily removing the said drivers or whirls when it is necessary to doff the cops
or bobbins. I employ forks, grippers or whirl doffers which are carried by or
formed upon a rail, shaft or part which is advanced and moved so as to engage
°

page_text: with, remove and carry back the whole of the whirls or the whirls or a number
of the whirls on one side of the frame preparatory to the ordinary doffing of the
cops or bobbins and to replace the whirls so removed after the doffing has been
effected. In the formation and arrangement which I consider to be suitable the
boss of each whirl is formed with a collar and the part below such collar is made
of two diameters. The whirl doffer is formed with a slot equal in breadth to the
lesser diameter on the whirl boss and opening out behind into a circular
enlargement equal to the greater diameter. The said doffer is formed upon or
carried by a rail which is moved forward by one cam and then upward by another
so as to engage with the said boss and to remove the whirl from the spindle after
which the rail retires carrying the whirls out of the way. When fresh cops tubes
or bobbins have been placed upon the spindles the said whirls are replaced and
the spinning operation proceeds as before. The shaft or shafts carrying the said
cam or cams is or are worked by the attendant or by mechanism put into action
by such attendant. I may provide means for substituting one diameter of whirl
for another in the course of the spinning or doubling operation.
To prevent the thread or yarn on its way from the guide wires from becoming
entangled with the doffer plate I provide a fence or guard so arranged as to push
the thread aside when the doffer plate is advanced to remove the whirl from the
spindle in the manner hereinbefore described.
My Invention relates further to improvements in or applicable to the ring rails
of doubling machines and consists in supporting the ring in position between two
plates which grip a flange formed on the outside of the ring. The said plates are
secured by screws so as to be adjustable and I am thus enabled readily to shift the
position of the ring relatively to the spindle

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Muir Hetherington in the Patent Office on the 2nd April
I
1884.
JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTION [sic] of Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer IMPROVEMENTS IN RING SPINNING AND DOUBLING FRAMES
My invention which relates to ring spinning and doubling machinery consists
of improvements in means for assisting the rotation of the ring travellers used in
such machines and for carrying and adjusting the rings.
As the lifting rail traverses up and down in the course of winding the angle of
pull of the yarn between the traveller and the cop becomes altered from time to
time according as it is being wound upon a part of the 'cop closer to or further
from the centre of the spindle. The angle of pull most favourable for carrying
the ring around is that which the thread or yarn assumes when being wound upon
or near to the outer circumference of, the cop and the pull becomes less effective
the nearer the yarn approaches the circumference of the cop, tube or bobbin, so
that frequent breakages occur when, the yarn is in the latter position owing to the
greater strain it has to endure.
With the object of remedying this defect I use auxilliary yarn drivers or whirls
which are placed upon the tapered tops of the spindles the said whirls having
curved or rounded edges over which the yarn is led from the guide wire above.
The first part of my invention relates more particularly to the means for readily
removing the said drivers or whirls when it is necessary to doff the cops or
bobbins. I employ forks, grippers, plates or whirl doffers which are carried by or
formed upon a frame, shaft or part which is advanced and moved so as to engage
with remove and carry back the whole of the whirls or the whirls or a number
of the whirls on one side of the frame preparatory to the ordinary doffing of the
cops or bobbins and to replace the whirls so removed after the doffing has been
effected.
My invention relates further to improvements in or applicable to the ring rail
of doubling frames and consists in supporting the ring in position between two
plates which grip a flange formed on the outside of the ring.
In order that my invention may be fully understood. I have attached hereto a
sheet of drawings to which reference will be made hereinafter. In the drawings
Fig 1 represents a front elevation and Fig: 2 an end elevation of so much of a
ring spinning frame as is necessary to the proper illustration of the first part of my
invention the said Figs being made to a scale of about four and a half inches to the
foot. In the said Figs a, a, are the spindles b, b, are the said auxilliary yarn
drivers or whirls and c is the whirl doffer which is actuated by the apparatus to be
described. The whirls b are turned true so as to be in balance and have smooth.
rounded edges over which the yarn passes from the guide d to the bobbin as
indicated in Fig 2. On the top of each whirl is a knob or button b¹ which is
turned in the shank part to two diameters the part of the larger diameter being
slightly tapered. The whirls are bored to fit the tops of the spindles so as to
revolve therewith and at the same time, they are sufficiently free to be capable of
being lifted off by the whirl doffer. The whirls tend to carry the yarn. around
and thereby assist to carry around the traveller the result being that the strain
upon the yarn as it passes from the traveller to the bobbin or cop is decreased and
breakage of the yarn and consequent stoppage of the spindles are lessened. The
whirl doffer o consists of a plate which extends the length of the frame or behind
as many spindles as it may be desirable to doff at one operation. In the front
edge of the said plate and exactly behind the axis of each spindle is a slit or notch.

page_text: •
somewhat of the form indicated by Fig: 3 the slit opening into a circular hole
which is a little wider than the slit. The width of the slit is sufficient to clear the
smaller diameter of the shank of the knob upon the whirl. The plate o is carried
by shafts d which slide horizontally in bearings e¹, e¹ in frames e and these frames
are fitted to slide vertically upon fixed studs f. A shaft g is fitted to be revolved
in bearings in the frame e and is provided with excentrics h. A second shaft i is
fitted to be revolved in bearings which are secured to the lower ends of the studs f
and upon this shaft are fixed excentrics j. The excentrics h act upon forks k
which are secured to the plate c and the excentries ; act upon forks 7 which are
formed upon or secured to the frames e. It will be seen that when the shaft g is
turned in it's bearings the plate c will be turned horizontally either towards the
spindles or from them according to the direction of rotation of the shaft or to the
position of the plate at the time so that the said plate can be advanced to and
retired from the spindles. By rotating the shaft ; the frame e can be raised or
lowered as required. When the frames are at rest they may be supported by stops
adjusted so that the plate c is exactly in line with the smaller diameter of the
parts b¹. When it is necessary to doff the whirls the shaft h is turned by means of
a handle or by suitable means whereby the plate is advanced in the direction of
the spindles the shanks of the knobs b¹ entering the slits in the doffer plate. The
shaft j is then turned to raise the doffer plate. The first upward movement of the
doffer plate brings the larger diameter of the shanks of the parts b' into the wider
ends of the slits the knobs resting on the plate. As the said larger parts of the
shanks cannot pass through the slits the whirls become securely held by the doffer
plate which continuing to rise lifts the whirls off the spindles as indicated by the
dotted lines in Fig 2. The shaft is then again turned and the doffer plate retires
taking with it the whirls. The ordinary doffing of the bobbins or cops can then
be effected. After the ordinary doffing the whirls are replaced upon the spindles
by first advancing and then lowering the doffer plate. In order to prevent the
yarn ends from becoming entangled with the slits in the doffer plates I fix a guard
wire n to the plate in advance of the edge of the plate this wire pushing the ends
before it as the plate advances and keeping them out of the slits. I may connect
the shafts h and j with suitable actuating mechanism which would be put in
operation by the attendant at the required times or I may so connect the shafts as
that the continued turning of one handle will effect the doffing of the whirls. I
may provide means for substituting one diameter of whirl for another in the course
of the spinning or doubling operation.
The remaining Figs illustrate the second part of my invention Fig: 4 being a
vertical cross section, Fig 5 a front view and Fig 6 a plan. In the said Figs o, o,
are two rails of a triangular section which are connected together by means of the
tee head of a vertical shaft p which is one of several which sustain the ring rail
and which are caused to slide up and down by the ordinary copping motion. To
the rails o, o, are secured the ring carriers 7 each consisting of two thin metal
plates having a central circular hole of a size to fit the ring and end slots to suit
the screws 8, 8. Two of these plates are used for each ring one below and one
above the projecting flange on the ring. When the pair of plates with the ring in
position is secured to the two rails by means of the screws 8 the said flange is
firmly gripped between the two plates and is thus securely held in position. The
position of any ring with relation to its spindle can be readily adjusted by
slackening the two screws and shifting the carrier until the requred adjustment
bas been effected. The ring and carrier can be readily and quickly reversed when
desirable.
Having now fully set forth and indicated the nature of my said invention and
the manner in which I carry the same into practical effect I would have it to be
understood that I do not claim the use of the whirls excepting when adapted to be
used in connection with doffing mechanism, but that I claim:-
>
•
First. The whirls or yarn carriers fitting the tops of the spindles and formed to
be doffed or lifted off the spindles all together or a number at once by means of a

page_text: doffing plate or whirl doffer substantially as set forth and indicated hereinbefore
and in and by the accompanying drawings.
Secondly. The doffer plate formed to engage with whirls mounted on the tops
of the spindles the said plate being acted upon by cams or excentrics or revolvable
shafts whereby the said plate can be advanced to engage with the whirls and be
raised to lift the whirls off the spindles and be retired to withdraw the whirls out
of the way of the doffing operation substantially as set forth and indicated.
Thirdly. In spinning and doubling machinery the whirls a the doffer plate c and
the two shafts provided with excentrics or cams for imparting the required
movements to the said doffer plate substantially as and for the purpose set forth
and indicated
And lastly. The ring carrier consisting of two sheet metal plates between which
the flange on the ring is gripped when the plates are screwed or secured to the rail
or to two bars substantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated.
In witness whereof I the said John Muir Hetherington have hereunto set my
hand and seal this first day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and eighty-four
JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON (L.S.)
Signed, sealed and
delivered in the
presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON
41 John Dalton St, Manchester.
(Agent for the Patentee)