Improvements in the Manufacture of Balls, and Means therefor.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 22nd Aug.. 1895-Accepted. 19th Oct. 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Balls, and Means therefor.
I THOMAS MARSDEN COCKROFT of 67 Burley Lodge Terrace, Leeds, in the
County of York, Depôt Manager do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
My said invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of balls and in
machinery to be used in such manufacture.
I first form a core or body for the ball of waste fibrous materials such as shoddy
cotton fly flocks flax or hemp waste and the like.
coat the core with an
To the said adhesive
such as is commonly
After being consolidated and bound with thread or yarn I
adhesive coating of boiled linseed oil or other drying oil.
coating while in a sticky state I apply comminuted fibre
known in the felt trade as veneering fibre." When dry the ball will retain the
said coating of veneering fibre.
The material to form the body or core of the bali is soaked in water squeezed
out and roughly shaped pressed and bound with a few threads by hand. It is then
placed in a machine to be further consolidated and at the same time to be wrapped
in all directions with yarn or thread. In its essential features this machine consists
of two sliding arms carrying at their inner ends cups or dishes between which the
ball is placed. Working through slits in the cups are serrated feed dogs or bars
having reciprocating motions which cause the ball to rotate.
Between the serrated dogs and under the ball is a wheel or disc on which the
ball rests. The periphery of the disc is divided into serrated and plain portions
alternating with each other. The plane of the said disc is at right angles to the plane
in which the feed dogs operate and as the serrated portions of the disc pass under
the ball they cause it to rotate. The action of the feed dogs and of the disc is so
regulated that the feed dogs operate when a plain portion of the periphery of the
disc is under the ball. To ensure this the feed dogs are preferably operated by
cam surfaces on the sides of the disc. While the ball is undergoing these
intermittent and varied rotations it is pressed in every direction by the cups and
consolidated into a round ball. At the same time it takes up a binding thread
which is led to the ball from a reel swift or bobbin through suitable guides or
tension devices.
The oil coating is then applied and while still in an adhesive state the balls are
placed in a box the floor of which is covered with the veneering fibre. The box is
agitated by means of a crank and lever motion and thus the balls take up the
veneering fibre.
In another compartment of the box I provide in some cases a shelf or frame of
gauze or the like on which the balls are agitated to remove the superfluous or
non-adherent veneering fibre which then falls into a drawer beneath to be used
over again.
Dated this 21st day of November 1894.
E. T. WHITELOW, A.M. Inst. C.E.,
70 Deansgate, Manchester, Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: prevents in the manufacture of Balls, and means therefor.
I THOMAS MARSDEN COCKROFT of 67 Burley Lodge Terrace, Leeds, in the
County of York, Depôt Manager do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My said invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of balls and in
machinery to be used in such manufacture.
According to my said invention I first form a core or body for the ball of
waste fibrous materials such as shoddy, cotton fly, flocks, flax or hemp waste and
the like.
After being consolidated and bound with thread or yarn I coat the core with an
adhesive coating of boiled linseed oil or other drying oil. To the said adhesive
coating while in a sticky state I apply comminuted fibre such as is commonly
known in the felt trade as "veneering fibre." When dry the ball will retain the
said coating of veneering fibre.
To explain my said invention I refer hereinafter to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of a machine for consolidating and winding thread or yarn
over the core or body of the ball.
In its main features this machine consists of two bars b pulled towards each
other by the weighted lever 9 (or by springs in lien thereof). The inner ends of
the arms & carry cups a between which the ball is placed. Working through slots
in the cup are serrated feed dogs e operated in opposite directions by cams fou a
central disc c. The dogs e when in operation effect a rotation of the ball at right
angles to the plane of the central disc c. The dogs e are raised by cams formed on
or attached to two sides of the disc c. Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of the right
hand cam on the periphery of which the dog rests. As the cam rotates in the
direction of the arrow the dog will be lifted as the swells of the cam pass and will
fall by its own weight at other parts. Besides the cam surface f there are lateral
projections which as they come round push out the lower part of the feed dog
and cause it to turn about its pivot so as to engage with the ball. Each feed dog
is connected by links 2 e³ with brackets e' on the frame of the machine. Slots are
provided in the links for permitting the free action of the dogs.
The cam at the left hand side of the disc is similar to that at the right hand
except that the feed dog bears against the inner surface of the cam f being kept in
engagement therewith by a spring b¹. In this manner the motions of the dogs are
opposed to each other. The serrations of the feed dogs are so shaped as only to
engage with the ball when turning it.
The periphery of the wheel or disc c (which receives motion from the main
driving shaft) on which the ball rests has serrations c² alternating with plain
parts c. The serrations cause the ball to rotate in a direction opposite to the
rotation of the disc and at right angles to the rotation produced by the feed dogs.
The cams and the plain portions care so arranged with regard to each other that
the plain portions of the disc c come under the ball when the feed dogs are in
operation thus any tearing of the ball is prevented.
The combined result of the action of the dogs e and the disc c is that the ball is
turned about its centre in almost every possible direction and is at the same time
pressed or consolidated by the cups a.
Prior to being placed in the cups a the material which forms the core of the ball
is soaked in water, squeezed out roughly shaped and bound with a few threads by
hand.
While in the cups a one or more threads from a bobbin reel or other convenient

page_text: holder are led through a hole in a guide plate h behind the cups to the ball which
as it rotates winds the thread on itself and thus binds the core together.
On leaving the machine last described the balls are coated with boiled linseed or
other drying oil and are then coated with comminuted veneering fibre in the
machine shown in sectional elevation in Fig. 2. This machine consists mainly of a
rapidly reciprocating or sliding box m actuated by a crank s and a bell crank
lever s as shown in side elevation in Fig. 3.
In the box m are one or more drawers for holding the balls and permitting their
ready insertion and withdrawal.
The veneering fibre may lie in the said drawers and will be taken up by the
balls as they are agitated. I prefer however to cover each drawer with a sieve lon
to which the veneering fibre is placed through openings m¹ in the lids of the box.
By this arrangement only the finest dust reaches the balls and they thus obtain
a better surface.
A finish may if desired be given to the balls after veneering by varnish paint or
in other well known ways.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.―
1. The herein before described process of producing a ball by binding a core of
waste fibrous material with thread coating the same with drying oil and then
applying comminuted fibre substantially as set forth.
2. A machine for consolidating and winding with thread the core of a ball
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 1.
3. A machine for coating balls with comminuted fibre substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Fig. 2.
Dated this 21st day of August 1895.
E. T. WHITELOW, A.M. Inst. C.E.,
70 Deansgate, Manchester, Agent for the Applicant.