IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SORTING SILK OB OTHER THREAD ACCORDING TO ITS SIZE OR THICKNESS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent. Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SORTING SILK OB
OTHER THREAD ACCORDING TO ITS SIZE OR THICKNESS."-A communication.
Sealed the 25th January 1859, and dated the 27th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th August 1858.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SORTING SILK
OR OTHER THREAD ACCORDING TO ITS SIZE OR THICKNESS," to be as follows:-
The principal feature of this Invention consists in certain means whereby
threads of silk or other fibrous material, produced by spinning, or obtained in
any other way, is so directed on to a bobbin or other winding apparatus, that
it will be distributed or arranged upon different parts of the said bobbin or
apparatus according to its size or thickness, that is to say, with the thicker
and thinner portions separate, or with the portions of one size or thickness on
one portion of the bobbin or apparatus, and those of another size or thickness
on another portion:

page_text: The Invention further consists in certain means of controlling the winding
of the thread or threads on a series of bobbins or spools from the main bobbin
or winding apparatus, on the several parts of which it has been distributed
according to its size or thickness, so that all of one thickness will be wound
upon one bobbin or spool, and all of another thickness on another, and the
whole be sorted in as many quantities of different size or thickness, but each
having nearly the same thickness throughout, as may be desired.
Both these operations are effected by the same machine. The silk or thread
to be assorted is brought on a bobbin or reel to the machine, and mounted
loosely on a fixed axle. From this bobbin the thread is passed between a
pair of pressing surfaces, one of which consists of an excentric weighted
wheel, and the other of a roller pressed up to the excentric wheel by a spring.
Passing upwards, the thread enters the eye of a traversing guide, whose duty
it is to lay the thread upon a roller which is mounted in the upper part of the
machine, and driven by friction of contact. The excentric wheel being adjusted
so that it will without moving allow a medium size of thread to pass over its
periphery; it will, when a thicker portion is presented, be caused to rock by
the increased friction put upon it, and if a thinner is presented it will rock in
the opposite direction, by reason of the weight attached to the wheel. This
movement is employed to shift the thread guide, and cause it to distribute the
thread according to its thickness on different parts of the roller. A cam on
the excentric wheel boss works two arms or shifters, which regulate the move-
ments of the thread guide as circumstances require. This guide is mounted
on a slide carried by a sliding bar, which receives an endway motion from a
cam and counter spring, and carries with it the slide and thread guide, unless
their movement is arrested. By this means the medium thread may be wound
on the middle of the roller, and the thicker and thinner at the opposite ends
respectively. A roller thus filled with thread is lifted from its bearings and
brought to the other side of the machine, under a set of bobbins placed to
receive the assorted thread, and driven by friction rollers. The thread is led up
to the bobbins through a carriage formed of two plates with V-shaped recesses,
which when placed together form an opening, whose length is about equal to
one-third of the length, over which the thread is distributed. This carriage
slides on a fixed rod, and is capable of being fixed immediately under either of
the bobbins, according to which is for the moment to receive the assorted
thread. The thread passes up through this carriage to the bobbins, and as the
Jay of the thread on the winding-off roller changes from the sides to the
middle, or vice versâ, its progress will be arrested in the acute angle of the
slot, and indicate to the attendant the necessity for shifting the the thread to

page_text: another bobbin. The carriage is then re-adjusted and the winding proceeds
as before.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SORTING SILK OR OTHER THREAD ACCORDING
TO ITS SIZE OR THICKNESS," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to certain means whereby a thread or threads of silk or other fibrous
material produced by spinning or obtained in any other way, is so directed on
to a bobbin or other winding apparatus, that it will be distributed or arranged

page_text: upon different parts of the said bobbin or apparatus according to its size or
thickness, (that is to say,) with the thicker and thinner portions separate, or
with the portions of one size or thickness on one portion of the bobbin or
apparatus, and those of another size or thickness on another portion.
The Invention further relates to certain means of controlling the winding of
the thread or threads on a series of bobbins or spools from the main bobbin
or winding apparatus, on the several parts of which it has been distributed
according to its size or thickness, so that all of one thickness will be wound
upon one bobbin or spool, and all of another thickness on another, and the
whole be sorted in as many quantities of different size or thickness, but each
having nearly the same thickness throughout as may be desired.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is a front view of the machine; Fig. 2 is a back view of the same; Fig. 3 is
a transverse vertical section of the same; Fig. 4 is a plan of the same;
Figures 5 and 6 represent separate portions of the machine, as will be found
herein-after explained. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
A, A, are two standards, and B, B', are longitudinal pieces of timber or iron
which combine with the standards to constitute the framing of the machine;
C is a bobbin on which the thread t to be sorted is placed in the machine,
the said bobbin being fitted to rotate freely on a stationary spindle a attached
to the lower part B¹ of the framing; D is a long bobbin or roll upon which
the thread is wound singly from the bobbin C, and upon which the thread as
it is wound is distributed nearer to one or the other end according to its size
or thickness, the bobbin or roll D being fitted tightly on a spindle which is
arranged in fixed bearings at the top of the machine, and being driven by the
contact of a friction roller b at one end of it, with another friction roller c on a
shaft E arranged in suitable bearings below it. The shaft E derives rotary
motion through a pair of spur gears d, e, from a shaft F, which is the driving
shaft of the machine, and to which rotary motion is imparted by any suitable
agency.
The thread in its course from the bobbin C to the longer bobbin or roll D,
passes between the smooth peripherical surfaces of a cylindrical wheel G and
a smaller cylindrical roller H. The wheel G has a slightly excentric axle g,
which works between two centre screws h, h, in a frame I, which is bolted to
the lower rail B¹ of the main framing. The axle of the wheel G may, how-
ever, be provided with journals, and fitted to work in suitable journal boxes.
The roller H is mounted between two centre screws f, f, in a small frame J,
which is attached to the frame I by centre screws k, k, or otherwise, in such a

page_text: manner as to be capable of swinging, to adjust the roller nearer to or further
from the wheel G, which may be termed the eccentric wheel. The roller H
is held towards the eccentric wheel G by means of a spring i applied to an arm
', forming part of its swinging frame, but is prevented from approaching the
wheel G too closely by means of an adjusting screw j, which projects through
the arm and bears upon the frame I. By this means the roller H may be
adjusted to the proper distance from the eccentric wheel to ensure the thread t
receiving a slight pressure in passing between the roller and wheel. The
thread t passes through a guide on its way from the bobbin C to the wheel G
and roller H. The excentric wheel has a weight G₁ attached in such a manner
as to draw that part of its periphery which is farthest from its centre in a
downward direction towards the roller H, as indicated by the arrow upon the
wheel in Fig. 1, which action of the weight causes the wheel always to press
the thread against the roller H. As the thread is drawn up from the bobbin
C, it slides over the surface of the wheel G and causes the roller H to turn;
and as a thicker portion comes between the wheel and roller, its friction upon
the wheel causes the latter to turn in the opposite direction to the arrow shewn
upon the wheel, to present a sufficiently wider space between the wheel and
roller to permit it to pass, but as a thinner portion comes between the wheel
and roller, the weight G¹ draws back the wheel in the direction of the arrow.
In this way it will be seen that the thickness of the thread passing between
the wheel and roller determines the position of the wheel, and this position of the
wheel controls, by means presently to be described, the position of a traversing
guide m, which direct the threads t toward one or another portion of the long
bobbin or roll D, so that the thickness of the thread may be regularly
graduated, or nearly so, from one end of the bobbin or roll to the other.
The travelling guide m is attached to a horizontal bar K, which is fitted to
slide longitudinally and in a direction parallel with the bobbin or roll D, in
guides L, L, on the top of the framing; and this bar derives a longitudinal
motion by the action of a cam M, working on a fixed stud n at one end of the
framing, aided by a spring * on a crosshead N, to which the bar K. and
another sliding bar N¹, constituting a guide bar, are attached, the said cam
being driven by a belt n' from a pulley p on the shaft F. The length of
movement of the bar K is about or a little more than one-third of the length
of that part of the bobbin or roll D on which it is desired to distribute the
thread. The traversing guide m is not attached rigidly to the bar K, but to
a slide K', which fits on the bar with a sufficient degree of friction to prevent
it moving thereon by the action of the thread on the guide, but to permit of it
being moved by coming in contact with one or other of two arms or shifters

page_text: q, q', whose operations are so controlled by the action of a cam P attached to
the wheel G as to shift the slide along the bar as the said wheel is caused to
change its position by the varying thickness of the thread, and thus cause the
guide m to traverse opposite to a different part of the bobbin or roll D. The
shifters q, q', are attached to two rock shafts Q, Q, arranged parallel with the
bar K and bobbin D, between suitable centres r, r, in the upper part of the
frame I, and which have weights s, s, applied to them in such a manner as to
pull back the arms q, q', or shifters (which stand in front of the bar K and
slide K¹) toward, the bar K. The rock shafts have also attached two other
arms t, t¹, one on each, which arms stand behind the cam P, which has four
inclined steps u, u, u³, u, shown in Fig. 5; and the slide K' has four square
projections v¹, v², 3, 4, shown in Fig. 4. The steps u¹ and u are even with
each other, and so are the more prominent steps u² and us. The projections v
and on the slide K³ have equal prominence, and so have the more prominent
ones,. The distance of the two arms t, t, from each other is such that
there is room to admit the two steps u² and u between them, and permit the
said arms to rest upon the steps u¹ and u; and the distances between the
shifters q, q, and between the projections and on the slide K¹ are
respectively such that when the slide is properly placed upon the bar K, the
slide moving with the bar may not be interfered with by the shifters. The
distance from either of the more prominent projections 3, 3, on the slide K¹
to the nearest of the projections v¹, v, is slightly less than the length of
traverse of the bar K. The cam P is formed of two thin plates of metal, in
form the reverse of each other, fitted to slide one under the other; and they
are attached to the shaft 9 of the excentric wheel G, by separate arms w, w¹,
and hubs x, x¹.. The outer piece, which conforms to the periphery of the
excentric wheel, has formed upon it the two steps u¹ and u², and the inner
piece the two steps u³ and u. The construction of the cam permits the steps
u, u, to be set further apart or nearer together. The operation of the
slide K to control the direction of the thread on to the bobbin D is as
follows: When the thickness of the thread passing between the excentric
wheel G and roller H is about an average of the whole quantity to be sorted,
the position of the wheel G will be such that the steps u², u³, will be between
the arms t, t¹, attached to the shifters, which arms are always pulled towards
the cam by the weights s¹, s¹, and while the arms t, t', rest against the two
steps u, u, the slide K¹ occupies such a position on the bar K, that the
projections v³, v³, work between the shifters q, q', without touching either of
them, and the guide m is caused to traverse opposite the bobbin D to an
equal distance from the centre of the portion on which the thread is to be

page_text: distributed; and through the projections v³, v, pass the shifters; the latter
are prevented by the action of the steps u', u', of cam P, on the arms t, t¹,
from advancing far enough to be struck by the last-mentioned projections.
As soon, however, as the excentric wheel is caused to change its position in
any considerable degree by a variation in the thickness of the thread passing
it, one of the arms t, t, is thrown back by the action of one of the steps u², u³,
upon it, and its shifter q or q¹ is allowed to be thrown forward entirely out of
the way of the slide, while the other arm t¹ or t is allowed, by the removal of
the step or u', to be thrown forward by its weight 8 or s¹; and the
corresponding shifter q¹ or q allowed to fall back as the projection * or v¹
passes it with the motion of the bar K; the consequence of this is, that as the
bar K returns the projection or v₁ of the slide K¹ meets the shifter, which
has fallen back, and the slide is thus arrested while the bar K completes its
movement in that direction. The slide having been thus shifted on the bar
the operation of the traversing guide m is the same as before, but takes place
opposite to a portion of the bobbin D, nearer to one or the other end thereof,
according as the change of position has been caused by an increase or
diminution in the thickness of the thread. The shifters now remain stationary
till there is again a sufficient variation in the size of the thread to make the
excentric wheel and its cam resume their first-mentioned positions, when that
shifter which has been thrown forward out of the way of the slide K¹ is
allowed to fall back and stop the slide K' while the bar moves onward, which
causes all parts to return to the condition or positions first specified, where
they remain till there occurs another sufficient variation in the size of the
passing thread to cause the cam P to operate the shifters. By the above
operation of the traversing guide m, it is obvious that the thread is distributed
with that portion which is of a size forming an average of the whole on the
middle of the bobbin D, and that which is thinner nearer to one and that
which is thicker nearer to the other end. In the example of the Invention
shown in the Drawing, the thickest portion will be towards that end of the
bobbin which is towards the right hand in Fig. 1; but this depends upon the
arrangement of the excentric wheel G, which, if turned to operate in a
direction the reverse of that explained with reference to the arrow shown upon
it in Fig. 1, would cause precisely the reverse arrangement of the thread on
the bobbin. When as much thread as is considered desirable is wound upon
the bobbin D, the latter is removed with its spindle from the bearings over
the shaft E into bearings in two brackets R, R, at the back of the lower
rail B¹ of the framing, to have the thread unwound from it in three different
sizes on to the three spools S1, S2, S3, which are fitted tightly on to independent

page_text: spindles ww2, w, which are arranged in line with each other in bearings
in the top of the framing immediately over the shaft F. The spindles
w*, *, w³, are furnished each with a friction roller x, which rests upon one
of three friction rollers y, y, y, on the shaft F, and by that means the spools
S1, S2, S3, are caused to receive a rotary motion from the shaft F. A short
distance above the brackets R, R, there is rigidly secured a straight bar of
round iron or steel W, which is parallel with the direction of the axis of the
bobbin D when the spindle of the latter is supported in its bearings in the
brackets R, R; and to this bar is fitted a carriage T, having a long arm 8,
which is made with a V-shaped lower edge, to be received within one of three
notches,,, in the top edge of a plate U, which is bolted to the rail B',
the notches serving to keep the carriage from being moved along the bar
accidentally. The top of the carriage T consists of two plates formed as
shown in Fig. 6 (which is a plan view of the carriage), so as to present an
opening 7 (see Fig. 3 and 6), whose length is about equal to, or a little
greater than, one-third of the length over which the thread is distributed on
the bobbin D, and whose width diminishes from the middle towards its ends,
where it terminates in very acute notches 7*, 7*, in which a thread will catch.
To commence the winding of the thread from the bobbin D upon the spools
S1, S2, S³, its end is found, and if near the middle of the bobbin, the carriage T
is arranged with its arm 8 in the middle notch 23, and the thread t, after
being passed up through the opening 7, is made fast to the middle spool S³;
but if the end is nearer to either end of the bobbin, the carriage is arranged
with its arm in the nearest notch z¹ or 2, and the thread after being passed
through the opening 7, is made fast to the spool S or S³ nearest that end of
the bobbin. Suppose, for example, the end of the thread is found to be
nearest the left-hand end of the bobbin, the carriage is arranged with its arm
in the notch z¹, and the thread conducted up to the spool S¹. The spool being
in motion, the winding from the bobbin D commences, the latter being turned
by the draft of the thread. So long as the thread comes from that portion of
the bobbin within a certain distance from the middle, it passes freely through
the opening 7, but as soon as it draws from the middle portion, the oblique
direction it takes from the bobbin to the spool, brings it into one of the
notches 7*, in which it is held, and by that means the winding is stopped or
the thread would be broken, but such breakage is guarded against by the
driving of the spools by friction rollers. The stoppage will be observed by
the attendant, whose duty it will be to watch the machine, and who will then
break the thread close to the spool, and after moving the carriage by its
handle 9 to the next notch, will take the broken end coming from the

page_text: bobbin D and secure it to the spool S, which then commences winding. The
ends of the thread may be secured to the spools sufficiently to commence
winding by simply wetting them in the mouth and laying them on the spools.
The winding on the spool S² continues till the thread begins to unwind from
within a certain distance from either end of the bobbin D, when the oblique
direction it is caused to take between the bobbin and spool brings it into one
of the notches 7*, and again causes a stoppage of the winding; the thread is
then broken again by the attendant, and the carriage shifted to the notch &
or 22 nearest the part of the bobbin D, from which the thread comes, and the
end secured to the nearest spool S¹ or S³. In this way the operation proceeds,
the attendant breaking the thread and securing it to the next spool every time
the winding stops, until the thread is all unwound from the bobbin D, when
another bobbin on which the thread has been similarly distributed may be put
in its place. The spools S¹, S2, S3, may be taken out as fast as they severally
become full, and replaced by empty ones. While the winding off from one
bobbin D is going on, another may be in operation at the top of the machine,
having the thread wound on it in the manner herein-before described.
It is obvious that the thread may be sorted into more than three sizes by
increasing the number of steps on the cam P and stops on the slide K', and
the number of the spools S1, S2, S3, and notches 21, 22, 23.
It may be remarked that instead of the excentric wheel a weighted wedge
might be arranged to operate in combination with a roller, so as to produce
substantially the same effect; and two surfaces of other form might be
arranged to operate with a substantially similar result, but the use of the
excentric and roller will be found the most practical.
Having now set forth the nature and mode of carrying out the Invention
of "Improved Machinery for Sorting Silk and other Thread, according to its
Size and Thickness," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,-
First, a device by which the varying thickness of the thread is made to shift
a traversing guide or its equivalent to distribute the thread upon a winding
apparatus, according to its thickness, consisting of two surfaces, one of which
is caused to receive a reciprocating motion through the agency of variations in
the thickness of the thread passing between them, whether said surfaces
consist of the peripheries of an excentric wheel and roller, as represented in
the Drawing and herein described, or have any other form which permits of
their operation in an equivalent manner.
Second, the moveable carriage applied in combination with the series of

page_text: spools and bobbin or winder on which the thread has been distributed, for
stopping the winding operation as the passing thread varies in size or thickness,
as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)