IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOUBLE TWISTS OR DEFECTIVE THREADS FORMED IN SPINNING
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Charles Henderson, of 6, Southampton Buildings,
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOUBLE TWISTS OR DEFECTIVE
THREADS FORMED IN SPINNING." A communication from abroad by Célestin
Paul Maillard, Spinner, of Fismes, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 3rd October 1879, and dated the 15th April 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Charles Henderson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th April 1879.
ARTHUR CHARLES HENDERSON, of 6, Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
BREAKING DOUBLE TWISTS OR DEFECTIVE THREADS FORMED IN SPINNING." A
communication from abroad by Célestin Paul Maillard, Spinner, of Fismes, in the
Republic of France.
The improvements referred to relate to self-acting or taking up machines employed
in spinning textiles of various descriptions, and the object of the Invention is to
break the union of two threads caused by accident, which produce a double twist
by intertwining and spinning together on one and the same needle.
Apparatus for effecting this object are not new, but the features of novelty in this
Invention consist,―
1st. In the rupture of the united threads immediately before the exit of the
carriage, and soon enough before this movement so that they may wind round the
end of the spindle, say, about 5 centimetres, before the complete exit of the carriage.
2nd. In breaking these threads from top to bottom, that is to say, the break twist
needles act in that sense.
3rd. This principle is applicable to all kinds of looms spinning textiles, such as
wool, cotton, silk, and so forth, and in no way hinders the superintendent's ordinary
labours.
The apparatus consists of or may be divided into three principal parts viz.:-
1st. A horizontal bar or rod bearing a number of hooks or break twist dards so
arranged on the bar as to occupy positions in the centres of the spaces between the
threads. This rod or bar is parallel with the drawing and pressing rollers, and is in
communication with a rack and pinion.

page_text: 2nd. A horizontal bar placed in a plane perpendicular with the former and
bearing the aforesaid rack. This bar slides in a guide of the frame of the loom,
and is furnished with a triangular wedge or catch engaging in a block of the
frame.
3rd. A bar connected with the frame of the carriage at right angles with the
second named bar, and supplied with a platform bearing the spindle on which the
spun thread is wound.
The characteristic features of the Invention therefore may be classified as
follows:-
1st. Adapting the break twist needle carrier or bar to the pressing and drawing
roller portion of the machine, this bar performing either alternate rotary movements
or alternate and vertical up and down motions.
2nd. Rupture of the double twist threads from top to bottom.
3rd. Government of the movement by the carriage when it executes its exit
motion.
4th. Rupture of the double twist threads as late as possible during the exit of
the carriage, but sufficiently soon to allow the broken threads time to wind them-
selves round the end of the spindle before the exit of the carriage.
5th. Sustaining the break twist needles or dards raised by the platform so that
the double twist threads displaced by the shaped branches of the head of a needlė
may have time to approach the plane of this needle so as to effectually determine
the breakage of the threads.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Arthur Charles Henderson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th October 1879.
ARTHUR CHARLES HENDERSON, of 6, Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
BREAKING DOUBLE TWISTS OR DEFECTIVE THREADS FORMED IN SPINNING." .A
communication from abroad by Célestin Paul Maillard, Spinner, of Fismes, in the
Republic of France.
The improvements referred to relate to self acting or taking up machines employed
in spinning textiles of various descriptions, and the object of the Invention is to
break the union of two threads caused by accident, which produce a double twist
by intertwining and spinning together on one and the same spindle.
The rupture of the united threads is effected immediately before the exit of the
carriage, and soon enough before this movement so that they may wind round the
end of the spindle, say, about 5 centimetres, before the complete exit of the carriage,
the breakages of the threads being made from top to bottom, that is to say, the
break twist needles act in that sense.
This system of breaking the twist is applicable to all kinds of looms spinning
various kinds of textiles, and to looms whose mesh guide bar is submitted to a
backward and forward movement, and it in no way hinders the operatives' labours.
' In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 shows a side view of the apparatus applied
to a self acting loom; the Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are views in demonstration of the
action of the apparatus; Fig. 6 indicates by a front and transverse section the
carrier or part of the loom bearing the pressing or drawing rollers; Figures 8, 9,
and 10 are details.
Figs. 11, 12, and 13 exemplify the application of the principle to looms whose
mesh guide bar is animated with a backward and forward movement.
For rendering the description more clear the apparatus may be divided into three
principal parts.
1st. A horizontal bar a bearing hooks or break twist dards d parallel with the
carrier p, to which it adheres by several supports p¹, and gearing by means of the
pinion a¹ with the rack end of a perpendicular bar b; 2nd, a horizontal bar b, c. f,
parallel with the side frame of the loom, to which it adheres by a socket b¹¹ and by
the piece c. This rod is forined of three parts b, e, f. The part b terminates with
the rack b', and engages in a slide b³ (Fig. 6) made in the carrier p; it is united at
the part e by a hinge e¹. This second part e bears a triangular wedge or stop m
engaging in the piece c. This third part terminates in the vertical piece f, to which
it is connected by a compass joint f¹; a rod g adhering to the side of the carriage
frame at right angles to the part f is furnished with a platform g¹.
Each of the three parts above mentioned will here be explained in detail, being
represented in the Drawing as applied to a self acting loom of 300 spindles of the
Stéhelin construction.
1st. The bar a is of flat galvanized iron. Its total length is equal to that of the
side of the loom, to which it is applied. It is formed of a certain number of
segments furnished with 30 dards or break twists, and united one with the other
end to end inside a muffle, to which they are solidly fixed by two pins. The muffle,
which is perfectly cylindrical, is engaged in a support p' pierced for the purpose
with a circular hole perfectly bored, and in which it can rotate; there are conse-
quently as many muffles and supports as there are segments, plus one.
This bar a
bears throughout its length a double series of holes pierced in its thickness, destined
to receive the rivets for fixing the dards d (Fig. 6).
The two holes for the rivets of each dard are therefore, as well as the axis of the
dard itself, in the centre line which separates two neighbouring threads. At the

page_text: outer extremity the bar a terminates in a cylindrical portion, which receives by
keying the toothed pinion a¹ intended to receive the motion of the rack b'. The
dards are V shaped, having a tail; they are of galvanized iron, and with perfectly
smooth edges, they execute at the same time as the bar a alternate movements
from bottom to top, and vice versa, so that they describe vertical semicircles in a
vertical plane by the centre of the space which separates each thread (Fig. 7),
their length is such that when they are erect or raised (Fig. 2) the ends of the
branches of the V emerge above the horizontal plane passing by the series of threads.
The space between the branches of the V is such that it can always sieze the united
or double twist threads, whilst at the same time avoiding the single threads, it is
therefore theoretically equal to the maximum to the space of two neighbouring
threads or of the spindles. 2nd. The part 6 of the bar b, e, f, is round, of cast or
malleable iron, intended to execute horizontal backward and forward movements;
its posterior end after engaging in the socket 61 which supports it is articulated
with the part e by a hinge c¹, allowing this latter to move in a vertical plane, its
anterior extremity of square section bears the rack 6', engages in the slide b³ of
carrier p (Fig. 6), and gears with the pinion a'. The portion e is of rectangular
section and nearly horizontal, it bears a wedge shaped piece m (Figs. 8, 9, and 10)
having the form of a rectangular triangle. The wedge engages in the piece c,
bearing at its lower part a roller h movable on its axis. At its upper edge it bears
& spur m¹.
This portion of the bar performs alternate movements back to front
and vice versa, rendered oblique on account of the presence of the wedge m. The
part is vertical and connected to the preceding by an articulation or compass
joint, rigid during the exit of the carriage and flexible during its entry or return.
3rd. The bar g is cylindrical, horizontal, and supplied with a platform g', and
adheres to the side frame of the carriage; it encounters either during the exit or
the return of the carriage the vertical portion fof the rod b, e, f, and as its point of
implantation is easily modified by means of slides the regulation of the precise
moment when the part f should escape its action is very simple. Action of the
Apparatus or Break Twist.-Supposing the apparatus at rest, that is to say, the
carriage C led near the carrier p, the dards turn the points down. Whilst the
carriage moves out (Fig. 1) the bar g ends in meeting the vertical part of the
bar b, e, f, this is drawn in rear from bottom to top by reason of the disposition of
the wedge m sliding on the roller h; and at a given time the lower end of this
vertical portion becomes tangent to the point i¹ of the platform g¹; at this juncture
the dards are erect (Figs. 2, 8, and 9). The carriage continuing its course, the
point becomes tangent at i¹ (Figs. 2 and 10), the spur m¹ is liberated from the
piece c to abut against its superior and posterior face c'. When the point i is in 28
the dards are still erect, but if at this moment the carriage continues its course
(there only remains to it 5 centimetres to run) the bar b, e, f, escapes all at once
from the action of g, the portion of lowers itself, the spur m¹ is freed (Fig. 4), the
wedge m engages in the piece c, and the bar a acting by its own weight leads the
dards and the rod b, e, f, to their primitive position. What have the dards done
during the time they have executed their double movement of partial rotation from
bottom to top, and vice versa ? If a twist has occured it has been separated by
the branches of the V during the ascending action, the dard has rested a certain
time erect (during the traject of the point i on the platform g¹) to allow of the
twisted thread to reach the plane of its axis, where its elasticity would be
insufficient to conduct it directly in this plane; and as soon as the spur is freed it
has in executing its brisk descending movement infallibly determined the rupture
of the twisted thread. The speed of descent can easily be moderated either by
detents or springs conveniently disposed. The result of this action is, 1st, that the
break twist is effected from top to bottom, an eminently favourable circumstance
for preventing the broken thread being projected on the neighbouring threads; 2nd,
that the rupture takes place before the thread leaves the point of the spindle to
re-descend, so that the twist cannot wind itself except on the end of the spindle B,
maintained as it is by the iron thread of the counter faller q¹². The winding takes

page_text: place in the form of an inverted cone, very easily seen, and easy to seize for tying.
It is the reverse if the breakage takes place after the thread has left the point of
the spindle to redescend as in the known systems, as in this case the broken twist
is held by the iron thread of the faller q, the winding occurs round the bobbin, its
end is much less visible to seize, and sometimes is wound up on the neighbouring
bobbin, which hinders retying. The Drawings faithfully represent the successive
phases of the apparatus in its action. In Fig. 1 the end of the platform g¹ having
come in contact with the vertical portion f the ascending movement of the dards
commences, the carriage C having already made its exit in great measure. H is
the screw of the mendoza pulley; 8, the supports of the pressing cylinders r and
drawing rollers r¹; B, the spindle; and q, q', the faller and counter faller. In
Figure 2 the point i is in ¹, the wedge is completely engaged in the piece c, the
dards are erect, and the carriago continues its exit. In Fig. 3 the point i is in i³,
the dards still erect the whole time occupied in the traject of the point i on the
platform g. The carriage continues its exit. Fig. 4 represents the apparatus:
immediately after the rod b, e, f, has excaped the action of g, the spur is disengaged,
the dard has commenced its descending movement, it depresses the twist it is
going to break. The carriage continues its exit movement. Fig. 5 shows the
apparatus immediately after the rupture, the dards and the bar b, e, f, are at
rest; the carriage terminates its course, but the thread has not left the point
of the spindle to redescend; the twisted thread after being broken has wound
itself in a visible cone shape at the end of the spindle B. In Figure 7 one of
the branches of the dards d¹ separates or opens a twist which it encounters
during its ascending motion in the centre of the space which separates two
defective twists; Figs. 11, 12, and 13, are for adaptation to looms whose guide
mesh bar is gifted with a backward and forward movement. Certain textiles,
especially cotton, are so resisting that if this backward and forward motion did not
exist the thread would soon wear a furrow in the pressing rollers, so that the
pressure would no longer be felt, and this insufficiency would be the cause of
sliding motions. The backward and forward movement equalizes the pressure of
the thread throughout the surface of the roller, which furnished with its envelope
remains cylindrical and without groove.
In these looms it is indispensable that the backward and forward motion of
the dard bar a should be in perfect unison with the backward and forward
movement of the guide mesh bar, so that the hooks cannot neglect the double
twists by breaking the simple threads. This result is effected as follows :-
The government of the backward and forward movement is produced by the
drawing cylinder r¹, whose end is furnished with the endless screw r11 gearing
with a counter E, which is maintained in a support or socket u The counter
is under the drawing cylinder in the vertical plane. It bears on one of its
faces a pin x, more or less eccentric according to the course to be given to the
backward and forward movement of the bar a of the dards d. The pin x by a
shaft x imparts to a crank a fixed by an adjusting screw to the end of the dard
bar a rectilineal backward and forward movement, which is communicated to the
bar of the dards itself. The ring of the crank x² does not turn with the bar a,
therefore the adjusting screw falls into the circular groove of the bar, which
prevents circular drawing whilst governing the rectilineal backward and forward
movement. At the other end of the bar a a ringed crank and adjusting screw,
analogous to the former ³, solidly unites by a tie piece, this latter with the guide
mesh bar, so as to insure a spontaneous motion of the two bars. The union of the
tie piece to the guide mesh is also effected by a ring bearing an adjusting screw,
which allows the guide mesh to slide in the ring, and which also admits of the
regulation of the displacements imparted to the meshes and to the threads. Thus
the dards can always be placed with exactitude in the centre of the interval which
separates two consecutive threads.
Finally, what is claimed as the Invention is the apparatus for breaking double
twists or defective threads, described and characterized by,-

page_text: 1st. The adaptation (to the pressing and drawing roller portion of the machine,
which has been described as the carrier) to looms of a bar or dard support a, which
executes alternate and partial rotations or vertical movements alternating from top
to bottom and vice versa, Figs. 1 to 10.
2nd. The rupture of false twists from top to bottom.
3rd. The government of the movements of the dard bar a by the carriage C when
it makes its exit movement.
4th. The breakage of the false twists as late as possible during the exit of the
carriage, but sufficiently soon to give the broken threads time necessary for winding
round the end of the spindle before the thread leaves the point of the spindle to
redescend (which occurs when the carriage has still 5 centimetres to complete
its exit.
5th. Maintaining the dards erect by means of a platform, so that the twisted
threads displaced by the branches of the V of the dard may have the time to
approach the plane of the dard, and so render their rupture inevitable.
6th. For looms having a guide mesh bar animated with a backward and forward
movement in the motion of translation of the dards or break twist needles combined
with their partial rotation, and in relation to the reciprocating or backward and
forward movement of the guide mesh bar, as represented and illustrated by the
Figures 11, 12, and 13.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Charles Henderson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
A. C. HENDERSON. (L.S.)