A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING SLIVERS OF FLAX, Tow, OR OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS MATERIALS INTO LAPS OR BALLS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Fairbairn, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Mechanist, for the Invention of "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY
FOR WINDING SLIVERS OF FLAX, Tow, OR OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS MATERIALS
INTO LAPS OR BALLS."
Sealed the 21st April 1854, and dated the 24th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Fairbairn at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
February 1854.
I, PETER FAIRBAIRN, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mechanist, do hereby
5 declare the nature of the said Invention for "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN
MACHINERY FOR WINDING SLIVERS OF FLAX, Tow, OR OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS
MATERIALS INTO LAPS OR BALLS," to be as follows:— .
My improvement in machines for winding slivers relates to the driving of
both the winding on cylinder and the bobbin upon which the slivers are wound.
The means I employ to effect this are as follows:--I drive the winding on
cylinder at the required speed. I also drive the bobbin by means of friction:

page_text: at a greater surface speed than the cylinder. As the winding on of the sliver
proceeds, the friction motion permits the speed of the bobbin to be governed
by the winding-on cylinder, thereby causing the slivers to be wound tight upon
the bobbin.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Fairbairn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
FAIRBAIRN, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mechanist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Fairbairn, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Fairbairn,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others, as I, the said Peter
Fairbairn, 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 "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN
MACHINERY FOR WINDING SLIVERS OF FLAX, Tow, OR OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS
MATERIALS INTO LAPS OR BALLS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Peter Fairbairn, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what matter 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 Peter Fairbairn, do hereby 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,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to wind the slivers of fibrous materials into
laps for the purpose of being placed behind the feed rollers of succeeding
machines..
ย

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2, an end
elevation, partly in section, of the machinery employed for this purpose. A, A,
is the framework of the machine; B, B, are the fast and loose belt pullies
mounted upon the driving shaft C, which is carried in suitable bearings in the
framework A, A; D is a spur pinion keyed upon the driving shaft C, and taking
into the spur wheel E, keyed upon the shaft F, which also carries the winding-
on drum G. This shaft F is mounted in suitable bearings in the forked lever H.
The driving shaft C also acts as a fulcrum for this lever. A preponderating
weight L is fixed on the other end of the lever H, to enable it to bear up the
drum G, in contact with the bobbin on which the fibrous material is to be
lapped. M is a spur wheel keyed to the driving shaft C, and taking into an
intermediate wheel M", which takes into another spur wheel N. This wheel N
has one side truly turned so as to correspond with the friction plate P, which is
keyed upon a shaft O. Between this friction plate and the spur wheel N is a
washer, made of leather, felt, or other suitable material; the spur wheel N is
loose upon the shaft O, and pressed against the friction plate P by means of a
spiral spring Q.
R and Rare two disc plates mounted upon their respective shafts O and T,
and provided with recesses into which the bobbin S is fitted. U is a pawle
which drops into a groove in the shaft T, and thereby holds the shaft in position,
but when raised it permits of the plate R* being drawn back for the purpose
of putting in and taking out the bobbin S.
It will be seen that when rotary motion is given to the driving shaft C, the
train of spur wheels M, M, and N, will actuate the disc plate R and R*, by
means of the friction plate P, and thereby cause the bobbin to rotate in contact
with the winding-on drum G, but at a superior surface speed.
Slivers of fibrous material being now supplied to the machine in the usual
manner, they are wound upon the bobbin S, and as the diameter of the lap
increases, the drum G will be forced down, and the pressure of the drum upon
the lap will, to a certain degree, overcome the power communicated to the fric-
tion plate P, and cause that plate to slip over the surface of the wheel N, by
which means the speed of rotation of the lap will be regulated, and the slivers
will be tightly wound upon the bobbin.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "A certain
Improvement in Machinery for Winding Slivers of Flax, Tow, or other Vege-
table Fibrous Materials into Laps or Balls," I wish it to be understood, that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, communicating motion

page_text: to the bobbins of such lap machines, by the means above described, or any mere
modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Fairbairn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JOHN BATLEY,
of Wellington Foundry,
Leeds.
PETER FAIRBAIRN. (L.S.)