IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEARING AND SMOOTHING Invention of YARN AND THREAD."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Travis and William Henry Prince,
both of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Silk Spinners, and
James Tomlinson, of the same Place, Machine Maker, for the
LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Travis and William Henry Prince,
both of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Silk Spinners, and
James Tomlinson, of the same Place, Machine Maker, for the
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEARING AND SMOOTHING
Invention of
YARN AND THREAD."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Travis,
William Henry Prince, and James Tomlinson at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 16th January'.
1868.
We, THOMAS TRAVIS and WILLIAM HENRY PRINCE, both of Rochdale,
in the County of Lancaster, Silk Spinners, and JAMES TOMLINSON, of.
the same Place, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEARING AND SMOOTH-
ING YARN AND THREAD," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to clear and smooth yarn and thread
by mechanism instead of by fire as customary.
In performing our Invention we make use of a machine very similar
to the ordinary gassing frame, that is to say, the bobbins containing
the yarn or thread to be cleared or smoothed are mounted at the back
of the machine, and in front are the usual friction rollers and bobbins

page_text: on which the finished yarn, or thread is wound, the space between the
front and back is occupied by sets of vertical skewers, supporting caps,
spools, or bobbins around which the yarn or thread is coiled or twisted.
When the yarn or thread is being wound on the bobbins it causes the
caps, spools, or bobbins to rotate on the fixed skewers and the friction
causes the loose fibres to fly off and lays the projecting fibres, thereby
clearing and smoothing the yarn or thread. By means of this improved
machinery the quantity of work turned off is greatly increased and our
improvements can be adapted to the ordinary gassing frames.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Travis, William Henry Prince, and James
Tomlinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
TRAVIS and WILLIAM HENRY PRINCE, both of Rochdale, in the County
of Lancaster, Silk Spinners, and JAMES TOMLINSON, of the same Place,
Machine Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her 'most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Thomas Travis, William Henry Prince, and
James Tomlinson, Her special license that we, the said Thomas Travis,
William Henry Prince, and James Tomlinson, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Travis,
William Henry Prince, and James Tomlinson, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might, make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CLEARING AND SMOOTHING YARN AND THREAD," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Travis, William Henry
Prince, and James Tomlinson, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the

page_text: said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Travis, William Henry
Prince, and James Tomlinson, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention is to clear and smooth yarn and thread
by mechanism instead of by fire as customary.
In performing our Invention we make use of a machine very similar
to the ordinary gassing frame, that is to say, the bobbins containing
the yarn or thread to be cleared or smoothed are mounted at the back
of the machine and in front are the usual friction rollers and bobbins
on which the finished yarn or thread is wound; the space between the
front and back is occupied by sets of vertical skewers supporting caps,
spools, or bobbins around which the yarn or thread is coiled or twisted.
When the yarn or thread is being wound on the bobbins it causes the
caps, spools, or bobbins to rotate on the fixed.skewers and the friction
causes the loose fibres to fly off and lays the projecting fibres, thereby
clearing and smoothing the yarn or thread. By means of this improved
machinery the the quantity of work turned off is greatly increased, and
our improvements can be adapted to the ordinary gassing frames.
And in order that our Invention may be more fully understood, we
will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation in section of our improved machinery for
clearing and smoothing yarn and thread, and Figure 2 is a plan of part of
the same. The machine consists of a driving shaft a with speed pulleys,
upon
it to drive the shafts b, b, which are provided with the winding
on drums c, c; these drums wind the yarn on to the bobbins d, supported
on studs projecting from the levers e, which are raised when required by
the levers e¹ as in the usual gassing frames. The yarn to be cleared and
smoothed is supplied to the machine on the bobbins f, which instead of
being mounted on skewers, as now customary, are mounted on spindles g;
supported in the bolster and footstep rails h and i; the object of so
supporting the bobbins f is to reduce the friction in unwinding the
yarn. The space between the supply bobbins f and the bobbins d on

page_text: which the yarn is wound is occupied by the diagonal rails which are
screwed into the plates, fixed to the beam 1; in these rails ; are
rivetted a set of skewers ¹, shewn full size in Figure 3, and these
skewers support the caps, spools, or bobbins which are free to turn
round on the skewers j'. The Drawing shews eleven of these caps to
cach rail, but the number may be varied. When the yarn leaves the
bobbin fit is drawn through the hook near the upper end of the
rail and then it is coiled or twisted around the caps or around any
number of them according to the degree of friction required, and then
the yarn is conveyed over the usual distributing guide m and wound on
the bobbin d by the friction of the drum c. When the yarn or thread
is being wound on the bobbins d it causes the caps to revolve on
their skewers, and the friction thus imparted to the yarn or thread
causes the loose fibres to fly off and lays the projecting fibres, thereby
clearing and smoothing the yarn or thread before it is wound on the
bobbins. We wish to observe that the form and position of the caps,
spools, or bobbins which give the friction to the yarn or thread can be
considerably varied, and that in some cases the cap or bobbin can be
fixed to its spindle, which spindle would then be supported in a socket
or footstep as shewn in Figure 4. We would also observe that the caps,
spools, or bobbins may for some purposes be stationary instead of
rotating.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, we declare that we claim the improved
machinery described for clearing and smoothing yarn or thread by
friction, and particularly causing the friction caps, spools, or bobbins to
be turned round by the drag of the yarn or thread.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Travis, William Henry
Prince, and James Tomlinson, have hereto set our hands and
seals, this Thirteenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
THOMAS TRAVIS.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM. HENRY PRINCE. (L.S.)
JAMES TOMLINSON.
(L.S.)