AN IMPROVEMENT IN CERTAIN MACHINES USED FOR ROVING, SPINNING, AND TWISTING COTTON, FLAX, SILK, WOOL, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCE
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN GREEN,
of Mansfield, in the County of Nottingham, Whitesmith, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the fourth year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Green, His especial licence that I, the said John Green, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Green, my exors, adñors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CERTAIN MACHINES
USED FOR ROVING, SPINNING, AND TWISTING COTTON, FLAX, SILK, WOOL, OR OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCE;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a pro-
viso obliging me, the said John Green, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Green, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention doth con-

page_text: sist in an improvement in the manner by which the taking up or winding the
roving or thread on the circumference of the bobbin is effected by means of an
apparatus by which a motion is given to the bobbin, which I call its secondary
rotary movement, and which motion is independent of that given to it by the
spindle, which I call its primary rotary movement. And, in further compli-
ance with the said proviso, I, the said John Green, do hereby describe the
manner in which I perform my said Invention by the following description
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, and to the letters and
Figures marked thereon; that is to say :-
Figure 1, in Sheet I. of the Drawings hereunto annexed, represents a
spindle, with its flyer, bobbin, and other appendages, adapted for a roving,
spinning, or twisting machine; Figure 2 shews a section of the same, supposed
to be taken through the middle, in order to explain its internal construction;
and Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 represent detached parts of the spindle or its
appendages. (Note, the same characters or letters of reference (in Sheet I.)
are used to denote corresponding parts in all the Figures.) A, A, represents
the spindle, having the flyer B, B, screwed on to or otherwise attached to its
upper extremity, and the wharve or pulley C fixed near its lower extremity
(by which the spindle receives its motion). The spindle at the point or toe
works into the brass or metal step D, which is secured by a nut k to the
stationary rail of the framing E. F represents the bobbin, which is fitted
upon the spindle, so as to turn round and slide up and down freely, and is
supported upon a small circular plate a, a, which plate has openings cut
through it to receive a small screw or stud which projects from the under side
of the bobbin, as seen at S, in Figure 2, so that when the plate a, a, revolves,
it carries the bobbin round with it. The plate a, a, has a small tube or
collar 6 fixed to and projecting from its under side. This collar slides easily
upon the spindle, and is fixed to the upper part of a larger metal tube G, G,
which, for distinction, I will denominate the copping tube. This copping tube
is made to slide easily over an inner tube H, in the manner of a telescope,
but without the power of being turned round independently of the tube H, in
consequence of the small rib or fillet c, c, which is fixed upon the tube H, and
which enters into a groove or channel formed in the tube G. d, e, is a tube
made of steel or other suitable material, and is made to fit the lower part of
the tube H, and is placed within in. I then (near each extremity of the
tube d, e) drill two or more holes through both tubes (viz. H and d, e), after
which I take out the tube d, e; and, by means of a cutter of about 1/8 of an
inch thick placed in a lathe, I cut, entirely through 'one half of the circum-
ference of the tube d, e, a right-handed spiral groove or channel, of the form

page_text: in which right-handed screws are usually cut, and of an inclination of about
30 to 40 degrees to the axis of the said tube (but the angle of inclination is
not very material). I then cut a similar groove round and entirely through
the other half of its circumference in a left-handed or contrary direction to the
former, the two grooves or channels intersecting each other at their extreme
ends, by which it will be perceived that the tube d, e, is divided into two parts.
I then cut a notch or recess at the extreme ends of the said spiral grooves), to
assist the escapement of the stud i in passing the angles of the spiral grooves,
which notches or recesses are shewn in the Drawings *. After this I place
the divided tube d, e, within the tube H, and bringing the parts again into the
same position as when the holes before mentioned were drilled, I securely
fix the tube H to the tubes d, e, by rivets, screws, or otherwise; and they
may then be considered as forming one tube, the interior of which has two
spiral grooves or channels cut in it, running into and intersecting each other
at their two extremities. The said spiral groove or channel is represented by
different views in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8, but in Figure 3 it is supposed to
be seen in profile, so that only half of it can be seen, while the other half is
represented by dotted lines. The lower part of the tube d, e, projects below
the tube H, and forms a collar d, which collar is made to fit and slide easily
upon the spindle, in the same manner as the collar 6 before mentioned. This
collar d, at the bottom, has a projecting flanch or rim, for the purpose of being
moved by the taking-up rail h, h, which will be herein-after described. When
the tubes are thus arranged a small pin or stud, which I make of a lozenge
shape, as seen at i, in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 6 (and which is also distinguished
by a red colour), is inserted into the spindle A, A, through the said groove, for
which purpose an opening must be made in the side of the tube H. The stud i,
being thus inserted into the spindle, must be there firmly fixed, so as to project
therefrom sufficiently to take into the aforesaid groove or channel, but not to
come through so far as to rub against the inside of the tube H. Now it may
be perceived, from the above description, that the spindle A, A, with its pin or
stud i, cannot revolve without carrying along with it the tubes d, e, H, and G,
as also the bobbin F, unless the tubes H and d, e, be moved up and down on
the spindle A, A, in a sufficient degree to allow the pin or stud i to traverse or
circulate without interruption in the said groove or channel. Therefore, if
we suppose the tubes H and d, e, to be prevented from sliding up and down
upon the spindle, and the spindle and stud i be caused to revolve, the tubes G, H,
and d, e, and bobbin I, will revolve with it, making the same number of revc-
lutions as the spindle makes in the same time, and therefore no roving or
thread will be taken up or lapped on the bobbin, because the eye of the flyer

page_text: through which the roving or thread passes would remain opposite the same
point of the bobbin's circumference. But if, during any certain number of
revolutions of the spindle and stud i, the tubes H and d, e, be moved up and
down upon the spindle so as to cause or allow the stud i to escape or traverse
any certain number of circuits along the said groove or channel, each such
circuit, or up-and-down motion, will occasion a difference of one revolution
between the bobbin and flyer, and effect one lap of roving or thread round the
bobbin. If, for instance, the spindle, with its flyer and stud i, perform ten
revolutions during the period that the tube H and d, e, moves once up and
down, it will appear evident that the stud i upon the spindle would have
escaped or traversed one entire revolution in the groove, and by that means
the spindle would have gained upon the bobbin one revolution, and the
spindle and flyer would have performed ten revolutions, and the tubes H and
d, e, and bobbin only nine revolutions, thereby causing a lap or taking up of
roving or thread equal in length to the circumference of the bobbin; and, in
like manner, still supposing the spindle to make ten revolutions, if the tubes H
and d, e, move twice up and down, then the bobbin will make but eight revo-
lutions, and will have received two laps, each equal in length to its circum-
ference, and so on. The taking up or winding of the roving or thread upon
the bobbin is thus determinable by the quantity or degree of up-and-down
motion given to the tubes H and d, e, without regard to the velocity or speed
of the spindle. The up-and-down motion which I have above described does
not interfere with the operation of copping, (that is to say) the laying of the
laps or coils of roving or thread by the side of each other upon the bobbin,
this operation being performed by means of the copping rail seen at K, in
Figures 1 and 2, which has the usual up-and-down motion communicated to
it; and this rail is adapted to embrace the small tube or collar b, and thus it
will be seen that the copping tube G, G, can slide freely up and down upon
the tube H, although it cannot revolve independently of the tube H, by reason
of the small projecting rib or fillet c, c, before mentioned. The letters h, h, in
Figures 1 and 2, represent a rail which has openings formed in it adapted
to embrace the lower part of the tube d, e, at the small rim or flanch d,
for the purpose of communicating the requisite up-and-down motion to the
said tube to effect the taking up of the roving or thread, as herein-before
described. This rail I will denominate, for distinction, the taking-up rail.
Figure 6, upon the Drawing Sheet I., represents an horizontal section of
the spindle and tubes; and Figure 7 shews a contrivance for keeping the
spindles from jumping or rising out of their steps at the bottom (this contri-
vance is also seen in section at D, in Figures 1 and 2). It consists of a small

page_text: sliding plate of metal m, situated within the brass step piece, having an oblong
opening formed through it, of the form represented at m, in Figure 7, and
when inserted in its place it embraces a small groove or nick, which is turned
in the lower part of the spindle, and thereby prevents it from rising out of the
hole in the step D. At the same time the spindle may be easily removed by
drawing back the sliding plate m until the wide part of the opening becomes
central with the spindle. The slider m is kept in its place by a small box or
cap, which surrounds the step D, having a hole through it for the spindle to
pass through, as seen in the section D, Figures 1 and 2.
The operation
which has been herein-before described, for the purposes of taking up the
roving or thread upon the circumference of the bobbin, may be produced if
the spiral groove or channel before mentioned was formed or cut out in the
circumference of the spindle A; and the stud or pin i, which was to act in the
said groove, was fixed firmly into the tube H, so as to project inwards suffi-
ciently to enter the spiral groove formed round the spindle. This latter mode
of construction I have occasionally used, but I prefer the mode of construction
which is described by reference to the Drawings in Sheet I.
Figure 1, upon the Sheet II. of Drawings hereunto annexed, represents
the principal parts of a roving, spinning, or twisting machine, supposed to be
viewed from behind, with some part of the framing removed, to shew its
construction more clearly.
Figure 2 represents a tranverse section of the machine taken at about
the line marked Z, Z, in Figure I., and supposed to be viewed from the right-
hand end of the same Figure.
Figure 3 shews another tranverse section of the machine, taken about the
line Y, Y, in Figure 1, and supposed to be viewed from the left-hand end of
the same Figure.
And Figure 4 represents an horizontal plan of the lower part of the machine
taken about the line marked X, X, Figure 1.
Note, the same characters or letters of reference are used upon correspond-
ing parts in the above-mentioned Figures.
A, A, represents the driving shaft, on one end of which is fixed the driving or
fast and loose pulleys B, and on the other end is fixed a pinion C, which com-
municates motion to the front roller D through the medium of the carrier
wheel E. The shaft A, A, has a cylinder F fixed upon it, which gives motion
by the endless strap G to the cone H. The proportionate diameters of the cone
at those parts where the troverse of the strap upon it begins and ends, depends
upon the diameters of the bobbins when filled and when empty. Thus, if the
barrel of the empty bobbin was one inch, and the diameter of the bobbin when

page_text: filled with roving or thread was three inches, then the diameters of the cone at
the parts or points above mentioned would be in the proportion of three to one,
and so on for any other size of bobbin. The cone H is fixed upon an axis a, a,
which turns in bearings or collars in the frame C, C. This frame is so made
as to swing or turn upon gudgeons at the ends of the long screw R as an axis
of motion (this screw is supported by two fixed brackets he, h); by this
means the cone will be, as it were, slung in or supported by the strap G, and
by its weight will always keep the said strap in a proper degree of tension,
although it moves from a larger to a smaller part of the cone. One end of the
axis of this cone projects out beyond the framing of the machine, and is fur-
nished with the pinion d, as seen in Figures 1 and 4; this pinion engages with
the teeth of a wheel I, which is fixed upon a short axis turning in a fixed collar
or bearing screwed to the framing, as seen at e, being exactly in a line with the
axis or screw R, before mentioned, in order that the pinion d, when the cone
rises or falls (by reason of the strap moving upon a larger or a smaller part
thereof), may roll as from a centre round the wheel I, and still remain in gear.
Upon the same short axis as the wheel I, but at the opposite and, is fixed a
heart wheel i, which is caused to operate upon the connecting rod m by means
of two short pins or studs fixed in the said connecting rod, and which embrace
the heart wheel, as seen in Figures 4, and also by the small dotted circles in
Figure 2; thus the heart wheel will convey an alternating or reciprocating
motion to the connecting rod m. The other extremity of the rod m is formed
to a rack which takes into the teeth of a pinion n fixed on one end of a
shaft o, o, extending the length of the machine; the other end of the shaft o, o,
has another pinion like n fixed upon it, and these two pinions engage with the
teeth of two perpendicular racks p, p, attached to a rail h, h, which I have
before mentioned, with the same letters of reference, in the Sheet I. of Draw-
ings hereunto annexed. The rail h, h, by means of projections from each end,
takes into slots or grooves in the frame ends, and is at liberty to move therein
freely up and down. The eccentricity of the heart wheel I is adapted to the
perpendicular height of the before-mentioned spiral groove, so as to give a
sufficient degree of up-and-down motion to the rail h, h, and thereby to the
tubes H and d, e, so that the stud I may pass the angles and circulate freely in
the said spiral groove. The point of the heart i has a slight prominence formed
on it, and the hollow or opposite circumference of said heart has a slight recess
or depression in it for the purpose, of quickening the passage of the stud i when
passing the extremities of the spiral groove as herein-before mentioned. The
endless strap advancing along the cone H produces a decrease of speed of the
cone, and also a corresponding or proportionate decrease of the number of reci-

page_text: procating or up-and-down motions of the tubes H and d, e (and also of the
copping rail K, K), proportionate to the increase of the diameter of the bobbin
by the successive coils or layers of roving or thread laid upon it. Motion is
communicated to the screw R by means of a small weight Z, having a cord or
line attached to it, which passes over a pulley y, then descends and winds
upon a small roller or barrel s fixed upon the end of the screw, so that
the weight Z tends constantly to turn the screw round, which is restrained by
a detent q acting against the teeth of a rachet wheel S, somewhat in the
manner of a clock escapement. The detent q is connected (as shewn in the
Figures) with the axis r, r, of the mangle pinion t, and from the well-known
reversing movement which is occasioned by the mangle pinion taking alter-
nately into the inner and outer circumference of the mangle which wheel, it
suffers the rachet wheel S and screw R to move round a short space, and
thereby causes the nut 5 (which embraces the lower half of the screw only)
and strap guide 6 to advance long the round rod 8 on which it slides; thus the
endless strap is caused to advance at intervals along the cone towards the
larger end. The speed of the up-and-down motion to be given to the taking-
up rail may be estimated thus: if the diameter of the bobbin be equal to the
diameter of the front roller, then (after making a slight allowance for the
shortening of the thread or roving by the twist given to it) one up-and-down
motion ought to be given to the taking-up rail for each revolution of the front
roller; but as the bobbins increase in diameter, from the successive coils of roving
or thread laid upon them, then the speed of the taking-up rail must decrease
in inerease inverse proportion, and such decrease is effected by the traverse of
the strap upon the cone in the manner herein-before described, and which strap
moves along upon the cone in equal divisions instead of unequal ones, as has
heretofore been generally used.
The copping rail marked K, K, in Figures 1, 2, and 3, is raised and lowered in
the following manner:-A small pinion, marked 10 is fixed upon the common
axis of the wheel I, and heart wheel i, which pinion engages with the teeth of a
wheel L situated upon the extremity of an axis r, 7, the opposite end of which
has a small pinion t fixed upon it, adapted to take into the teeth of the mangle
wheel M, which, from its well-known property of producing a reversing or alter-
nating movement, communicates an alternating or reciprocating motion to the
shaft or axis v, v. This shaft has two pinions w, w, fixed upon it, which take
into the perpendicular racks x, x, attached to the copping rail K, K, and
thereby affect the copping motion.
Now the only part of the machinery herein-before described, the arrange-
ment of which I consider to be new as regards machines for roving, spinning,

page_text: and twisting cotton, flax, silk, wool, or other fibrous substance, are the tubes
G, H, and d, e, and the stud i, and the collars b & d, e, annexed to the said
tubes, and those parts immediately connected with the up-and-down move-
ment, namely, the heart wheel i, the connecting rod m, the pinions n, n, the
racks p, p, and the taking-up rail h, h. But an apparatus as aforesaid,
which causes the roving or thread to be taken up or wound upon the circum-
ference of the bobbin (in machines used for the roving, spinning, or twisting of
cotton, flax, silk, wool, or other fibrous substance) by means of an up-and-down
or backward and forward motion, in a direction from heel to point and point to
heel of the spindle, which said up-and-down motion causes the said secondary
rotary movement to be given to the bobbin independant of the said primary
rotary movement given to it by the spindle, and which said secondary move-
ment is not in any way affected by the rotation of the spindle, being, to the
best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used in this
kingdom, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same; and that
I do verily believe that this my said Specification doth comply in all respects,
fully and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in my said herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent contained, wherefore I do hereby claim
to maintain my exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Green, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the fourth year of
the reign of King George the Fourth, and in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.

page_text: At the Rolls.
Master of the Rolls.
Wednesday, the 14th day of April, in the 5th year
of the reign of His Majesty King George the
Fourth, 1824. In the matter of John Green, of Mansfield, in the
County of Nottingham, Whitesmith.
HIS LORDSHIP DOTH ORDER that one of the Deputy Clerks of the
Inrolments be at liberty to correct the original Specification inrolled by the
Petitioner in this Court, in pursuance of the Letters Patent granted to him by
His present Majesty, in the fourth year of His reign, for the Petitioner's In-
vention of "An Improvement in Certain Machines used for Roving, Spinning,
"and Twisting Cotton, Flax, Silk, Wool, and other Fibrous Substances," as
in the Petition mentioned, by substituting in the paragraph in the said Peti-
tion and Specification mentioned, for the words "into the inner and outer
"circumference of the mangle which it suffers," the words "into the inner
"and outer circumferance of the mangle wheel it suffers;" and for the words
"then the speed of the taking-up rail must decrease in increase proportion,"
the words "then the speed of the taking-up rail must decrease in inverse
"proportion."
AND IT IS ORDERED that the Inrollment of the said Specification
accordingly be corrected by the said Deputy Clerk of Inrolments.
Enta J. R.
Enta J. R.
Therefore on the 26th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1824, the
alterations abovesaid were made accordingly.