IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND FOR TWISTING OR DOUBLING, FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Clayton Mewburn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th July 1873. À communication from abroad by H. Detraux,
of Arques, France.
I, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City
of London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
SPINNING AND FOR TWISTING OR DOUBLING, FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
In machinery constructed according to this Invention no flyers are
used on the spindles, the bobbins are driven by friction and there is
an arrangement for releasing the bobbins, that is to say,
for stopping
their rotation.
The spindle receives rotary motion in the ordinary manner; it differs
from ordinary spindles in that it is conical near its upper part, while its
uppermost part which has generally been formed with a worm to
receive the flyer is plain and cylindrical. This cylindrical part serves as

page_text: a guide to the bobbin when the latter is raised by the releasing
apparatus and is no longer in contact with the spindle.
The bobbin is composed of an outer cylindrical tube, preferably of
thin brass strengthened at the lower end by a ring; it carries internally
a conical brass tube corresponding with the conical portion of the
spindle. This conical tube is connected at its upper end to the outer
cylindrical tube by a washer. It is not in contact with the outer tube
at any part and is therefore protected from any injury which the outer
tube may receive.
The lower end of the bobbin rests upon the flange of a collar
of boxwood or other suitable material, which fits easily at its upper
part between the spindle and the bobbin. This collar serves to
communicate to the bobbin the movement of the releasing apparatus
upon which it rests. It has also another purpose herein-after explained.
The releasing apparatus consists of a flat bar bent square so as to be
partly horizontal and partly vertical; it carries a handle for working it.
At its lower end is a groove which engaging into the guide bar serves to
keep it in the position which the attendant gives it. A spring keeps
the face of the releasing apparatus in contact with the side of the
guide bar.
The releasing apparatus which acts vertically is guided by the guide
bar and by a screw, which latter also serves to fix the bearing of the
spindle.
The flyer usually employed is replaced by a ring or disc fixed to a
rising and falling or distributing bar, and an cyclet is adapted thereto.
The yarn or roving on coming from the delivery roller engages in this
eyelet before passing round the bobbin, which communicates a rotary
movement thereto.
The guide bar runs from end to end of the machine. It is formed
opposite cach spindle with a rectangular hole in which the lower end of
the releasing apparatus engages. The distributing bar receives a double
movement, viz., a rising and falling movement and a movement from
bottom to top. This movement is produced by a heart-shaped excentric
which communicates a to-and-fro motion to one end of a bent lever.
This lever at its other end carries a nut in which a threaded rod
engages. This rod is connected at its lower end by means of a chain to

page_text: two distributing bars in such manner that the movement of the lever
should be the inverse of that of the bar, that is to say, that the bar
should descend when the lever rises and vice versa. The threaded rod
also receives a rotary motion by means of an endless screw and gearing,
the endless screw being driven by pulleys the speed of which can be
varied. It follows that the threaded rod which always receives the
to-and-fro motion from the bent lever communicates to the distributing
bars, by becoming more and more disengaged from the nut which it
carries, a continuous motion from bottom to top. This movement should
naturally be the more rapid as the yarn or thread manufactured becomes
thicker.
The action is as follows:-The yarn on leaving the drawing roller
passes through the eyelet before becoming wound round the bobbin.
The bobbin resting with its whole weight on the conical portion of the
spindle is dragged by it into the rotary motion; the adherence is more
than sufficient to assure the bobbin a speed equal to that of the spindle.
In consequence of the double rising and falling movement the yarn is
wound on the bobbin in successive layers which give to the bobbin
conical ends when full. If during the work the yarn breaks the
attendant lifts the releasing apparatus by means of the handle and
thus raises the boxwood collar together with the bobbin; the latter
being thus no longer in contact with the spindle immediately stops.
The attendant then finds the end of the broken yarn, and having
passed it through the eyelet lowers the releasing apparatus, and the
bobbin being now again in contact with the spindle begins again to`
rotate.
When the bobbin is sufficiently full the doffing is effected as follows :-
The attendant with one hand raises a catch and with the other turns a
crank handle until the bearing of the threaded rod before mentioned is
in contact with the nut. This first operation brings the distributing bar
opposite the lower part of the bobbin; she then by means of a handle
lifts the end of the bent lever and with her other hand stops the
machine; she then releases the last named handle which allows the
distributing bar to return to its first position. During this second
operation the distributing bar has descended lower than the bobbin, and
the yarn instead of continuing to be wound thereon becomes wound on
the collar on which the bobbin rests, this collar having a groove for the
purpose. But as the machine has been stopped almost at the same
3

page_text: instant there are only about 3 or 4 turns on the collar which are
quite sufficient. By then breaking the yarn which unites the
bobbin to the collar the full bobbins may be removed and empty ones
substituted.
When the machine is again set to work it is not necessary to reattach
the yarns to the new bobbins since the distributing bar being returned
to its normal position compels the yarn, the end of which is held on the
collar, to wind round the bobbin.
The machine can also be employed for twisting or doubling by simply
reversing the spindles.