CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
BADNALL the younger, of Leek, in the County of Stafford, Silk Manufacturer,
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 Thirtieth day of July now last past, in the sixth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Badnall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His special licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Richard Badnall, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by himself and them-
selves, or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants, or agents, or such
others as I, the said Richard Badnall, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter, during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of His Majesty's United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His Dominion of
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also within all His Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SILK;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Richard Badnall, 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

page_text: cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six 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
Richard Badnall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say):-
Figures 1 and 2 represent a side view and plan of a machine for winding
silk or any other fibrous substance. A, A, are swifts on which the hank of silk
or other fibrous substance is placed or stretched in the ordinary manner; B, B,
are pulleys firmly attached to the axis of each swift, with a groove in them
from which a band or cord passes round the small pulleys C, C. Motion is
communicated to the pulleys C, C, by the driving wheels D, D, which are
actuated by any convenient power. Tho periphery of the driving wheels D, D,
and of the pulleys C, C, being in contact with each other, of course when the
former are set in motion, the latter are also caused to revolve, and consequently
the swifts likewise upon which the silk is placed or stretched. Upon the
periphery of the driving wheels D, D, are placed small wheels E, E, to which
the spindles are attached, which carry the bobbins upon which the silk is
intended to be wound from the swift, as may be seen by reference to Figure 2,
where a, a, represent the bobbins. F, F, are levers which act under the pivot
of the spindles of the wheels E, E, upon any tension being applied to the longer
arms of the said levers, the fulcra being placed as near as convenient to the
point where the shorter arms of the levers come in contact with the pivots of
the said wheels E, E.
Having described the separate parts of this machine, it is now only requisite
to state the effect which takes place when put in motion. On power being.
communicated to the driving wheels D, D, motion is thereby communicated to
the pulleys C, C, and B, B, and also to the small wheels E, E, which carry the
bobbins. The consequence of this is, that a revolution of the swifts A, A, is
occasioned, and by a proper calculation of the diameters of the pulleys B, B,
and C, C, and of the small wheels E, E, and the receiving bobbins which are
placed on the spindles of the same, the silk given off by the swift will be
received by the bobbin. To regulate, however, any variation caused by the
increase of silk on the bobbin on becoming full, and its consequent increased
circumference in decrease of the hank, the levers F, F, are brought into
action; for on the slightest increased pressure of the thread or threads which

page_text: pass over the levers F, F, the pivots of the wheels E, E, are instantly acted
upon, and they are consequently raised from contact with the driving wheels
D, D, and the speed of the bobbin retarded until a further supply of silk be
given off from the swift. From this it is evident that unless the silk be pro-
viously broken in the bank, it is next to an impossibility for any breakage
to occur in the winding of the same, as the lever is at all times the compen-
sating power or mediator between the swift and the bobbin, and as it is so
arranged as to be elongated or shortened at pleasure, it can be accommodated
to every description of silk, or other fibrous substance.
It is necessary to state that the silk should pass over the glass rails H, H,
from thence over the levers F, F, through the eyes or guiders G, G, and from
thence to the bobbins.
By this improvement in winding silk, the great difficulties, cause of waste,
and expense in time, &c. which attend the customary methods are effectually
avoided, and, what is an object of the greatest importance, any desired speed
may be obtained, an increased motion of the swift by no means adding to tho
tension of the silk.
Figure 3 represents another arrangement of the foregoing mechanism, which
is, perhaps, preferable to all kinds of silk, and has the advantage of being
applicable to that description termed long-reeled. A is the driving wheel; B,
the receiving bobbin; C, the compensating lever, similar to like parts in
Figures 1 and 2, but instead of employing a swift, the silk is stretched on
two cylinders D, E, of tin or other material, technically called rise heads; the
upper rise head D, resting on the driving wheel A, is actuated in the same
manner as the band wheel C in Figures 1 and 2. It will, therefore, be easily
understood that the silk being stretched over the two rise heads D, E, and
the upper one D being put in motion by the driving wheel A, it will revolvo
round in the manner of an endless strap or band, giving off its thread to the
receiving bobbin B in the manner shewn in the annexed Drawing. The lever
C acts in this arrangement exactly in the mode described in Figures 1 and 2,
and therefore need not be described again. To prevent the silk from getting
entangled, which it might do where the skein allowed to pass from one riso
head to the other without any support, it is made to pass over a plane of tin
or other suitable material F, F, of the same breadth as the skein of silk, or,
what is the same thing, the two rise heads D or E, its sides, are turned up to
prevent the silk from running off it. It is shewn detached in Figure 4. The
rise head F has the power of being moved to a greater or less distance from
the rise head D to accomodate itself to the length of the skein of silk by
means of the screw and slide G; and in order to allow the plane F, F, to

page_text: accommodate itself likewise to the rise heads, it is divided into two or more
pieces of any length, which being placed as at a, b, c, d, one under the other,
admit of any degree of extension short of the united length of the several
pieces of which it is composed. In Figure 1 is a small ratchet to prevent
the silk from being wound off again from the bobbins E, E, which sometimes
happens when the silk gets fastened on the skein. This apparatus is more
plainly shewn by Figure 5. A is the driving wheel that carries the receiving
bobbin. B, B, is a small standard of metal fixed to the frame of the machine;
C, D, a piece of metal attached by the hinge D to the standard B, B, and
swinging like a pendulum in the direction of the dotted line, but prevented
from taking an opposite direction by the small peg E. From the face of the
wheel A projects another small peg F, so placed as in each revolution of
the wheel A to strike the ratchet C, D. Hence when the wheel revolves in the
direction of the dart (its proper course), once in each revolution it elevates
the ratchet C, D, in the direction of the dotted line and passes it, but should
anything drive A in a contrary direction, the peg F coming in contact with
the piece C, D, which is itself prevented moving in any but the first direction
by the peg or stop E, stops the wheel A from revolving at all.
Figures 6 and 7 represent an elevation and plan of an improved machine
for doubling silk or other fibrous substance; any number of bobbins, on which
the silk or other material has been previously wound, are placed in an upright
position on any suitable frame or board B, B, and according to the number of
threads wanted to be doubled, such number are passed between the rods or
bars C, C, C, (which are constructed of glass or any other suitable material),
and separately conveyed through the small loops or eyes of the wires a, a, a,
and from thence through the guider loop or eye b to the receiving bobbin D,
the glass rods or bars C, C, C, are fixed in an upper and lower frame, the
upper one being moveable on hinges c, c, so that instead of passing tho silk
under one bar and over the other, the same is immediately effected by the top
frame being raised, and when the threads are passed over the lower frame let
down again, which forms upon the silk such angles or curves as may be seen
by reference to Figure 8, and by which means sufficient friction is produced
to lay the silk with proper tightness on the bobbin D, and to keep the loops
or eyes of the wires a, a, a, elevated as long as the threads continue whole.
E is a lever exactly balanced, one end of which has a plate of tin or other
suitable substance attached to it, and which plate is placed exactly under the
wires a, a, a, so that if any of the said wires by the breaking of the thread
which elevates them should fall, the end of the lever upon which it falls
(namely, the plate of tin or other substance above alluded to) would imm-

page_text: diately preponderate, and the opposite end consequently be elevated. On the
spindle upon which the receiving bobbin D is placed, is a kind of ratchet or
stop F, which catches the end of the lever E the moment it is clevated, and
stops the bobbin until the end which was broken (and caused this stoppage)
be pieced. Motion to the bobbin D is communicated by the driving wheel G,
Figure 6, acting upon the small wheel H, which is attached to its spindle.
Figure 9 represents a bobbin A, at the top of which a circular rim B of
polished metal or other suitable substance whose surface is not liable to be
injured by ordinary wear or use. The use of this is to prevent the breaking
of the silk by what frequently occurs where the common guider or flyer is
used. It is necessary here to remark that this circular metallic rim may be
either loose or attached to the bobbin. The former for most purposes I prefer,
particularly in its application to throwing, where, by a reference to the fol-
lowing Figures 10 and 11, the advantage resulting from it may be easily
distinguished.
Figures 10 and 11 are a side and front view of my improved machine for
spinning, doubling, and throwing silk by one operation, which were patented
on the Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred
and twenty-three, and specified accordingly. The intention of introducing it
here is to include some further improvements on it.
Figure 12 represents a bobbin and guider or flyer as commonly used,
to which guider or flyer I chiefly attribute the greatest portion of the
waste made in the throwing of silk. The causes of this are obvious;
the guider or flyer A moves loosely on the spindle; to this spindle the
bobbin B is firmly attached, considerable friction and strain is therefore
produced upon the silk by the power required to draw round the guider
or flyer A, independent of the angular position which it necessarily takes
in being drawn off the bobbin. To counteract this, therefore, the circular
metallic rim, as described in Figure 9, is substituted, whether attached to the
bottom, or placed loosely upon the top of it. In Figures 10 and 11, A, A, are
bobbins, upon which the silk has been previously wound or doubled according
to the description of manufactured article required; at the top of these bobbins
are either attached or placed loosely the circular metallic rims B, B, which I
call "waste preventers," and which are made to extend about one-fourth of
an inch beyond the circumference of the bobbin. C is a rectangular bar of
wood or metal, covered with woollen cloth, or any other material capable
of producing friction. Over this bar, and once or more round it, as required,
the ends of silk are taken from the bobbins A, A, and conveyed through the
loops or eyes D, D, through the rol'ers E, E, to the receiving bobbin F.

page_text: Motion is given to the spinning spindles G, G, and to the throwing, spindle H
by an endless strap, band, or chain I, I, passing between their whorls o
stockings, as described in the Drawing annexed, which strap is actuated by a
drum or cylinder in the usual manner; it is evident, on reference to the
Drawing, that if the strap be set in motion, the spindles G, G, will be revolving
in an opposite direction to the spindle H, and if the rollers be also set in
motion, which motion is regulated so as to suit the exact quantity of twist the
kind of silk requires, the silk will be drawn from the bobbins A, A, and
received in the bobbin F, in the usual manner of cotton spinning. The
bobbin F, being loose upon its spindle, and the flyer attached fast to it, a
sufficient friction for all necessary purposes is produced by passing the silk
round the covered rail or bar c. By this contrivance the guider A, as described
in Figure 12, is rendered useless, and consequently the breakage of threads
very materially diminished. Independent of the above. great advantage
arising from the use of the "waste preventers," they allow a very great
increase in the speed, to which tho guiders commonly in use were an insur-
mountable obstacle, in, consequence of the centrifugal action being so great
as to cause an extension of the wires when they frequently came in contact
with each other, and this happened particularly in this method of throwing
where it is necessary to have the receiving or throwing spindle as close as
possible to the giving off or spinning spindles. In case the thread or threads
from either of the spinning bobbins A, A, which unite at the rollers, should
break, a cutter, as described in Figure 13, is provided, which is placed on
the lowest part of the frame K, K, which frame also supports the rollers, and
by passing the two ends of silk over the cloth bar C, C; then crossing the
threads round each other, and then passing them through the upper loops or
eyes D, D, they maintain, as long as they remain unbroken, a situation as
shewn in Figure 14; but as the points 1, 1, of the cutter, as described by.
Figure 13, are two small pieces of sharpened steel, on the breaking of either
thread, the remaining one being liberated will immediately comic in contact
with one of the said pieces of steel, and be instantly cut. According to the
diameters of the whorls or stockings, which are fixed upon the giving-off
spindles G, G, and the receiving spindle II, will be the proportion of twist or:
spin between them; and according to the speed of the rollers, will be the:
twist or spin given to the united threads. It is here necessary to state, that
by means of the above-described cutter and circular metallic rim, with the
cloth friction bar, the two operations of doubling and spinning may be
performed at one time on the common spinning mills. The mode of doing.
this will be easily understood by referring to Figure 10; and supposing the

page_text: rollers E, E, to have their place supplied by the ordinary receiving bobbins
of such mills, while the receiving bobbin F of this mill is taken away
altogether: If then the two threads are carried from the two spinning
bobbins A, A, in the manner described in the plate, to the receiving bobbin
that has taken the place of the rollers E, E, they will be gathered on that
bobbin, having been first spun by the revolution of the two bobbins A, and
thus doubling and spinning in one operation.
In Figures 1 and 2, I claim any means of giving motion to a swift rise
head, or any other reel upon which silk may be placed, for the purpose of
being wound, and to the receiving bobbin, at the same time in conjunction
with a compensating apparatus, or any imitation thereof whatever, whereby
the same effect may be produced; that is, I claim any means in conjunction
with an apparatus which can, through the agency of the silk, retard or
accelerate the receiving bobbin, whereby silk can be conveyed from a swift
rise head or reel, on which it is placed to be wound, to a bobbin which is to
receive it, without any friction or tension being employed upon it, except that
which is necessary for its action upon the said apparatus, and consequent self
preservation, and for laying it with a proper tightness on the bobbin, and.
which tightness may be increased or diminished at will by increasing or
diminishing the action of the said apparatus or the bobbin itself.
In Figure 3; I claim the arrangement there described, generally and par-
ticularly the channel of metal or other material F, F, for supporting the skein
in its passage from one rise head to the other.
In Figures 6 and 7, I claim the use of rods or bars of glass, or any other
suitable substance, as heretofore described, by passing the silk under and over
which a sufficient degree of tension is produced to lay it well upon the receiving
bobbin, whereby the wire guiders commonly in use are rendered unnecessary,
and much breakage and waste consequently prevented. If one or two of these
rods or bars be covered with woollen cloth, or any other suitable substance, it
would tend much to clean and brighten the silk, and to prevent loose ends
running up.
In the Figures 6 and 7, I also claim the particular arrangement, as described
in the Drawings, of the loops and wires a, a, a, which are made so peculiarly
light and small as to produce but the slightest tension on the silk, and yet
sufficiently heavy to answer every purpose.
In Figures 10 and 11, I claim the general arrangement of the machinery;
the particular arrangement of the cloth bar waste preventor with the cutter,
and the application of the same peculiar arrangement of parts to the common
spinning mills for the purpose of doubling and spinning at one operation.

page_text: Lastly, I claim, whether for this or any other purpose, the exclusive appli-
cation of the circular polished metal rims, or other suitablo substance, whoso
surface is not liable to be chipped or injured in ordinary use, termed "wasto
preventers," as a substitute for the old flyers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Badnall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
Inrolled the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year above written.