IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Coulthard, of Preston, in the County of Lan-
caster, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 26th June 1877, and dated the 28th April 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Coulthard at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th April 1877.
THOMAS COULTHARD, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist.
" IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON
AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
This Invention relates to that class of spinning and doubling machinery known as
"ring and traveller" throstles, being more particularly applicable to the construction
of spindle apparatus described in the Specification of Letters Patent, No. 737,
granted to John Billington Booth on the 18th day of March 1871, and consists in
an improved arrangement of parts whereby the doffing of a set of full bobbins and
the starting of a fresh set may be effected in an expeditious and reliable manner.
To this end I employ tubes (herein-after called "doffer tubes") mounted upon &
bolster of such a length as to extend upwards within the lower end of the bobbins,
and free to rotate upon the bolster. On the upper side of the ring rail is placed a
bar or rod having projections pointing towards the rings, these projections being
designed to arrest the progress of the travellers during the operation of winding
the yarn or thread upon the empty bobbins. This bar, which I term a check bar,
may be hinged or otherwise arranged so as to be conveniently put of action when
not required.
The operation of doffing and commencing a new set according to my improved
arrangements is as follows:-When the bobbin is full the ring rail is lowered below
the bobbin, so that the yarn or thread will be wound upon the "doffer tube" imme-
diately below the bobbin, suitable apparatus being provided whereby the frame will
stop by the time one or more turns of the yarn have been wound around the " doffer
tube." The ring rail is then raised to the position required for commencing the
next set, whereupon the full bobbin is removed by lifting it off the spindle, thereby

page_text: breaking the thread between the bobbin and the doffer tube, but leaving the thread
unbroken between the doffer tube and the rollers. An empty bobbin is then placed
upon the spindle, and the projection on the check bar having been brought into
position against the ring, the spindle is caused to make two or three revolutions, so
as to wind the yarn from the doffer tube upon the bobbin, thus dispensing with
'piecing up" by hand in the ordinary manner. The check bar is then taken out of
action, leaving the traveller free to traverse upon the ring, whereupon the frame
may be set in motion, and the process of spinning or doubling proceeded with as
before.
"
The check bar may be applied to other methods of mechanical doffing on ring
and traveller throstles than the one herein-before mentioned.
The projections on the check bar may be so formed as to answer as clearers for
the travellers when not employed for holding them, as herein-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Coulthard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
October 1877.
THOMAS COULTHARD, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist. "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON
ND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
This Invention relates to that class of spinning and doubling machinery known as
"ring and traveller" throstles, being more particularly applicable to the construction
of spindle apparatus described in the Specification of Letters Patent, No. 737,
granted to John Billington Booth on the 18th day of March 1871, and consists in
an improved arrangement of parts whereby the doffing of a set of full bobbins and
the starting of a fresh set of empty ones may be effected in an expeditious and
reliable manner. To this end I employ, mounted upon the bolsters, tubes (herein-
after called "doffer tubes") of such a length as to extend upwards within the lower
ends of the bobbins, and free to rotate upon the bolsters. On the upper side of the
ring rail is placed a bar or rod having projections pointing towards the rings, these
projections being designed to arrest the progress of the travellers during the opera-
tion of winding the yarn or thread from the doffers upon the empty bobbins. This
bar (which I term a "check bar") may be hinged or otherwise arranged so as to be
conveniently put out of action when not required.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are end elevations
partly in section shewing so much of the apparatus herein-before referred to as is
necessary to illustrate my said Invention; and Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are corresponding
plans of the same.
a represents the ring rail; b, the bolster; c, the doffer tube; d, the bobbin; e, the
ring, having upon it the traveller f; and g, the check bar with projections h; i repre-
sents the spindle (mostly shewn by dotted lines).
The operation of doffing and commencing a new set with my improved apparatus
is as follows: When the bobbin d is full the ring rail a is lowered below the bobbin
(see Fig. 1), so that the yarn or thread will be wound upon the doffer tube c imme-
diately below the bobbin, suitable apparatus being provided whereby the frame will
stop by the time one or more turns of the yarn have been wound around the doffer
tube. The ring rail is then raised to the position required for commencing the next
set (see Fig. 2), whereupon the full bobbin d is removed by lifting it off the spindle i,
thereby breaking the thread between the bobbin d and the doffer tube c, but leaving
the thread unbroken between the doffer tube and the rollers. An empty bobbin is
then placed upon the spindle (see Fig. 3), and the projection h on the check bar
having been brought into position against the ring e (see Fig. 6), the spindle is
caused to make two or three revolutions, so as to wind the yarn from the doffer
tube c upon the empty bobbin d, thus dispensing with "piecing. up" by hand, as is
g

page_text: ordinarily practised. The check bar g is then taken out of action, leaving the
traveller f free to traverse upon the ring e, whereupon the frame may be set in
motion, and the process of spinning or doubling proceeded with as before.
The check bar g may obviously be used on ring and traveller throstles where the
method of mechanical doffing differs from that herein-above described.
The projections h on the check bar g may be made to answer as clearers for the
travellers when not employed for holding them, as herein-before described. To this
end the extremities of the pins or projections h are so adjusted relatively to the
outer surface of the ring (see Fig. 4), as that the traveller f will pass near to the
point of the projection h, so that in the event of loose fibres attaching themselves
to the traveller, the point of the pin h may come in contact with the fibres, and
thereby take hold of and remove them.
In the arrangements heretofore in use, so far as I know, the projections designed
to answer as clearers have been permanently fastened to the top of the ring rail,
which consequently could not so easily be cleaned; whereas by the use of my Inven-
tion, wherein the check bar is capable of radial motion, and is also movable endwise
(in bearings m), the projections or clearers may be turned over (see Figs. 2 and 5)
so as to be easily cleaned, at the same time leaving the top of the rail clear for the
same purpose.
The doffer tube o, as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, consists of a shell of metal, hard
wood, or paper, free to rotate upon the bolster b; and in the process of doffing, the
tube c is held down between the finger and thumb of the attendant, so that when
the full bobbin is lifted off the spindle (see Fig. 2) the yarn or thread between the
bobbin and doffer tube will be broken.
The doffer tube, if made of sheet metal, may, if thought desirable, be provided
with projections or lips j (see c¹, Fig. 7). The projections or lips should not be con-
structed so as to catch or hold the yarn, as such an arrangement would interfere
with the free winding of the yarn from the doffer tube to the bobbin, and thereby
cause considerable breakage upon the frame being started; but they should be so
formed as to allow the yarn or thread to be freely unwound from the doffer tube at
the commencement of a fresh set. These projections are merely designed to faci-
litate the breaking of the yarn when the bobbin above is lifted off. The doffer
tube c¹, so designed, may be provided at its lower end with indentations k, which
enter a groove formed in the bolster 6 for the purpose of holding it down to its
place.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that
what I claim as secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
1. The above-described method of doffing ring and traveller throstles by arresting
the progress of the traveller whilst the yarn or thread is wound upon an empty
bobbin from a doffer tube.
2. The use on a ring and traveller throstle of the herein-described movable check
bar with its projections h, constructed, arranged, and operating as shewn and set
forth for the purposes specified.
3. In a ring and traveller throstle, the use, in combination with the rings, and
travellers, and doffer tubes c, of a check bar with projections for arresting the said
travellers whilst the yarn or thread is being wound from the doffer tubes to the
bobbins, all as herein-above described and shewn in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Coulthard, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.