IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MEASURING, WEIGHING, SORTING, AND DOUBLING SILK OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Trafford at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th March 1881.
WILLIAM TRAFFORD, of Leek, in the County of Stafford, Silk Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MEASURING, WEIGHING, SORTING, AND
DOUBLING SILK OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
This Invention relates to improvements in the machinery for which former
Letters Patent were granted to me on the 16th day of December 1873, No. 4137,
and on the 1st day of January 1876, No. 4, and it consists, first, in winding and
measuring one or more threads of yarn on to rims, reels, pulleys, or bobbins of
equal weight before it receives any spin or twist; it is also applicable for the reeling
and classifying of the silk yarn from the cocoons. In winding the yarn on to the
bobbins or their equivalents I employ a spur wheel on a stud fitted to the frame
or standard; this wheel gives motion to a pinion upon a spindle that carries the
bobbins or its equivalents, the rims or shell bobbins. On the boss of this wheel is
fitted a worm which fits into another wheel; upon the boss of this second wheel is
another worm which rotates a third wheel; this third wheel is fitted to a swing
lever attached to the frame or standard; upon this wheel is a boss or pulley cast for
a chain to wrap or wind round as it revolves. At the end of this chain is attached
a rod with a thread and nut upon it; this nut is to regulate the number of
revolutions the take-up bobbin is to go for any given length of yarn to be wound
upon it, or the yarn may be measured by passing it round a pulley in the usual
way, but I prefer measuring it by the number of revolutions of the receiver, as the
same number of revolutions of the lower counts or coarser yarn will increase the
diameter of the receiver and consequently the length, which extra. length will
allow for the extra take-up in spinning or twisting the lower counts. When the.
required length is wound upon the bobbin or its equivalent the top of the nut
comes in contact with a studded lever attached to the swing lever which holds
the wheel and wind up pulley; on the underside of this lever is a stud which fits
into a hole in the bracket which is attached to the frame or standard. When this
stud is lifted out of the bracket a spring or weight draws the wheel out of gear
with the worm which allows the nut and rod to drop and take their original
places ready to measure another length upon the next receiving bobbin. The rod
is marked with figures to denote where the nut is screwed to for the lengths to be
71

page_text: wound upon the bobbin. The opposite end of the studded lever is bent up to
come in contact with a plate or fan lever; one end being a little over-weighted
causes it to take a slanting position to keep out of the way of a stud or studs
which are fitted on the underside of a slightly bevilled wheel, which wheel is
fitted upon an upright shaft which works in brackets fitted to the standard, and
receives its motion from a shaft which runs from end to end of the machine, which
gives motion to the first named spur wheel which has teeth cast on the side and
edge. When the studded lever is liberated the bent end comes in contact with the
fan lever and puts it in a horizontal position; this fan lever is attached to a tumbler
lever, and when in a horizontal position the studs on the underside of the wheel
knock against the fan lever and overturn the tumbler lever which falls upon a
scroll lever and keeps it in a horizontal position by falling into a notch on the
scroll lever; a pin in a collar on the upright shaft now mounts the incline, lifts the
upright shaft out of gear with the main driving shaft and stops the rotation of the
bobbin. The threads on passing on the bobbin or its equivalent pass through
detector levers, one end having an eye and the other end being turned up. When
an end breaks, the eye end falls, and the other that is turned up rises and lifts the
fan lever into the horizontal position, which stops the rotation of the bobbin as
before described.
To operate and measure the yarn upon more than one bobbin or its equivalents
by one apparatus I attach the pinion that works upon the spur wheel to a shaft to
hold any number of the shell bobbins required, or upon which shaft I place a friction
roller or rollers, upon which the shell bobbins to contain the yarn operate by
friction which will give equal revolutions and length of yarn to the shell bobbins
before being classified; two rollers can be used if required. To each apparatus I
employ a long balance lever or levers the length of the bobbins operated upon and
detector eyes for each receiving bobbin; when an end breaks the eye falls upon
the lever which operates upon the fan lever and stops the apparatus. To
each apparatus I attach a heart guide to distribute the yarn upon the receiving
bobbin as required; this is to insure the equal cross or layer of yarn upon each
bobbin.
To this apparatus I fix cleaners so that I can clean and measure the single yarn
by the same operation.
The yarn is now taken on the bobbins or their equivalents to the indicator
to be weighed and classified ready to be doubled into any counts or sizes of thread
before spinning.
The second part of my Invention is the improved indicator to weigh and classify
the silk yarn in the single or raw state before receiving the spin, and also in the
other processes of manufacturing from the shortest lengths of the single to the
largest hanks of the manufactured threads.
I take a scale beam and attach to one end a pointer of any required length and
to the same end of the beam I place pins or centres to carry the weights to indicate
the heavier counts or sizes of the yarn; the indicator without the weights is to
indicate the finest counts of yarn, the first or smallest weight placed upon the first
pin or centre to the left hand of the beam is to indicate the finest counts of a given
length of yarn; the same weight placed upon the other centres is to indicate the
coarser counts of the same length; for each centre there is a line on the dial with
figures from the bottom to the top. The bottom figures indicate the finest counts,.
and so on as the pointer rises.
The second, third, or other heavier weights placed upon the same centres indicate
for each weight. a greater given length of yarn. I provide a figured dial for each
weight, which I slide or otherwise attach to the apparatus.
For the purpose of testing the skeins, hanks, and rolls of yarn or thread
I put a centre or centres to the right side of the tram or opposite end to the
pointer any distance required from the end centre, to which I attach the scale
bottom or bobbin holder.
In performing the third part of my Invention, when the yarn has been classified

page_text: I put the bobbins upon spindles or creel spindles, which I place on a disk or
bracket mountings attached to a boss which fits upon a spindle; these spindles are
placed in front of the machine about two feet from the floor in suitable bearings
below the bottom disk; I call these disk spindles. To the bracket mountings I
fix pulleys on edge smaller than the other to form bearings for the creel spindles,
upon which I place the shell bobbins containing the yarn to double two or more
threads together; upon these creel spindles I put a friction pulley at one end, or.
one at each end of the bobbin. When the yarn is being doubled upon the bobbins
for spinning, twisting, or throwing, a friction bearer rests upon the friction pulley
to give equal tension to the threads of yarn being doubled upon the receiving reels
or their equivalents. One side of the bearing pulley being smaller than the other,
when the friction pulley works against the bearing pulley it will cause the latter
to revolve, which will constantly change the creel spindle bearing, reducing and
equalising the tension upon the yarn. Over the before named disk or bracket
mounting and on the same spindle I fix by means of a boss, as before, a second set
of bracket mountings or disk, upon which and over the centre of each bobbin I fix
a steel or glass rod for the yarn to pass over on its way to an eye or twizzle on the
top of the disk spindle to collect the threads of yarn together before passing round
a roller, which I place over the centre of and connect to the disk spindle to equalise-
the tension of the threads before they receive the spin required to keep them
together; the yarns pass through detector levers on their way from the bobbin to
the collecting eye or twizzle on the top of the spindle and on the underside of the
roller. These detector eyes pass from above the top plate or disk to the underside,
where they are connected to a balanced faller wire which passes through the bottom
disk. When any of the threads break or a bobbin is empty the top eye falls, and
the balanced detector goes through the bottom disk and comes in contact with a
rod which raises the fan lever to the horizontal position, stopping the receiving
bobbin as before described. On the upright shaft is a pulley, and on the disk
spindle another pulley; round these two pulleys I put a cotton or other band to
communicate the motion from the upright shaft to the doubling disks or bracket
mountings; upon the upright shaft I place a brake to prevent the momentum of
the disks and bobbins from revolving when the upright shaft is lifted out of gear;
the threads being put together with a little spin prevents breakage and facilitates
the spinning or twisting.
I use tension spindles with two or more wheels upon them for winding the yarn
from the bobbins to the doubler and twister, these bobbins being of the same
diameter, and having the same lengths of yarn upon each. I place them upon
spindles with wheels upon them, as in spinning, which wheels gear with those on
the tension spindles; these can be mounted upon my disk spindles for doubling or
otherwise for twisting, which gives off the same length of classified yarn from each
bobbin.