Improvements in Machines for Winding Yarn or Thread from Hanks or Chains on to Filling Bobbins or Quills.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Aug. 1894-Accepted, 26th Jan.,
1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Winding Yarn or Thread from Hanks
or Chains on to Filling Bobbins or Quills.
We, HERBERT LEANDER PRATT, of 50 Bartlett Street, in the City of
Lewiston, County of Androscoggin, and State of Maine, United States of
America, Cotton Manufacturer, and CHARLES THOMAS UPTON, of 63 Mount
Vernon Street, in the City of Lowell, County of Middlesex, and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, Draughtsman, 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 :-
This invention relates to machines for winding yarn directly from the chain on
to the filling bobbins for use in the shuttles for wearing and thereby dispense with
the spooling or beaming of the yarn.
In winding yarn, after the same has been dyed or bleached, directly from the
chain on to the filling bobbin the individual threads of the chain have to be
separated and connected each to its respective spindle. The machines for winding
the yarn on the cop or bobbin have usually eight banks of spindles and contain as
many spindles as there are threads in the chain. As the cops or bobbins must be
wound in conical layers to the very end of the same and must form a well-wound
nose at the end, to make the cops or bobbins perfect and prevent stripping when
used in the shuttle in weaving, it is essential to the practical and successful use of
these machines that the tension on all the threads of the chain shall be uniform
and all soft places in the cops or bobbins avoided.
from one
In these machines the successful operation of all the spindles receiving the yarn
common source, (the chain), requires mechanical refinements and
automatic self-adjustments that in the ordinary spinning, twisting, or winding
machines, in which each spindle is supplied from an independent source, are either
unnecessary or not of such importance as would make the machine useless without
them. In machines for winding the thread directly from the chain on the cop or
bobbin the great saving in time, labor and mill room has been made possible by close
attention to the details of the machines by which the uniform speed of the spindles,
the accurate adjustment of the tension of the yarn, the accessibility of the spindles
in doffing, the uniform and regular laying of the yarn on the cops or bobbins,
the protection of the yarn from floss and fiber, and the other advantages are
secured.
The invention consists in the peculiar and novel constructions and arrangements
of the machine, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter and more particularly
pointed out in the claims.
Figure 1 is a view of the end of the winding machine and the chain-tension
machine which delivers the yarn under the required tension to the winder.
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the yarn-winding machine.
Figure 3 is a frout view of the machine in which only two vertical rows of
spindles are shown, the other spindles being left off so as to show the construction
of the machine more fully.
Figure 4 is a top view of the delivery-rolls showing the rods, for concentrating
the threads when doffing, in the normal position.
Figure 5 is the same view as Figure 4 showing the threads concentrated for
doffing
::

page_text: Figure 6 is an end view of the pinion, connecting the cop-building mechanism
with the driving mechanism, showing part of the gear and the stop-link by which
the pinion is secured.
Figure 7 is a view of the shaft and pinion and a sectional view of the stop-link
shown in Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a view of one of the spindles partly in section.
Similar numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the machine is provided with
eight lines of spindles secured to bolster-rails extending from one end to the
opposite end of the machine and placed so that the second bolster-rail is behind
the first and above the same, and all the other bolster-rails (whether four, six,
eight, or more are used) are each placed in the rear of the rail in front and above
the same, so that the spindles form an inclined bank or slope and can each be
readily reached by the attendant for the purpose of doffing or piecing.
The numbers 1 designate the end frames and 1' the central frame of the machine
which form the supports to which the bolster-rails 2-2 are secured and also the
supports for the driving-cylinders and the mechanism by which the various parts
of the machine are operated. The central frame 1' is an important feature, the
large number of spindles require to be so closely grouped together that the driving
cylinders can be only of limited diameter and, therefore, require a central support.
The bolster-rails 2 each support a line of spindles. In Figure 3 only two spindles
are shown as secured to each bolster-rail; but in the machine as used the spindles
are placed along nearly the whole length of the bolster-rail as close together as the
practical working will permit.
The numbers 3 represent the spindles the construction of which is more clearly
shown in Figure 8 and will be more fully described hereinafter.
Numbers 4 designate the bobbins or quills on which the yarn is wound in the
shape of a cop ready for use in the loom-shuttle.
5 designates the driving-cylinders turning in the bearings 6 in the ends 1 and
center-frame 11 of the machine. Each one of the cylinders 5 is made to operate
two lines of spindles. The bands 7-7 pass partly around the driving-cylinders 5
and the whirls of the spindles 4, so that for a machine with eight lines of spindles
four driving-cylinders are used.
The machine is driven by means of a belt communicating power from a prime
motor to the pulleys 8-9, 8 being a pulley secured to the driving-shaft, and 9 a
pulley loose on the shaft. The power is transmitted from the fixed pulley 8 by
means of the gears 10 and 11 to the main driving-cylinder 5". On the opposite
end of this main driving-cylinder 5 the gears 12 transmit the power to the other
driving-cylinders 5, so that all the driving-cylinders, and, by means of the driving-
bands 7, all the spindles, revolve with the same speed. To the projecting end of
the shaft of main driving-cylinder 5 the chain-gear 13 is secured, and from the
same the chain 14 passes under the flanged gravity-binder 14' and over the chain-
gear 15, secured to the shaft of the roll 18, from which, by means of the gears 17,
motion is transmitted to the roll 16. The top-roll 19 rests on the two rolls 16
and 18 and turns with them. The iron center of this top-roll 19 is very slender, to
allow it to deflect to conform to the deflection in rolls 16 and 18, and is covered
with rubber or similar elastic material to secure a firm bearing at all points of the
surface of the rolls 16 and 18, and is then covered with felt or other fibrous
material to enable it to take up any broken threads. On the top of the machine,
in the rear of the rolls 16, 18 and 19 is suspended the reed 20; this movable,
suspended reed 20 is specially made for this work and is equally spaced over its
entire length to conform to the space of the spindles.
To the projecting end of the shaft of the lowest driving-cylinder 5 the pinion 22
is secured by a spline and held in the locked position by the stop-link 22', so that
when the stop-link is removed the pinion 22 can be drawn outward and the pinion
disconnected from the gear 222. The chain 23 connects the sprocket-wheel on the
sbaft of the gear 22 with the chain-gear 24 from which motion is imparted, by

page_text: means of gearing, to the cop-forming mechanism by which the reciprocating guide-
wires 26 are operated. These guide-wires are secured to the horizontal rods 27,
extending from end to end, and are supported on the inclined frame 27" which is in
turn secured to the upright supports 29, the feet of which rest on the levers 30,
which levers are provided with the balance-weights 31 by which the cop-building
guide-wires, the horizontal rods, and the frame in which the rods are carried, as
well as the upright supports 29, can be counterbalanced or slightly overbalanced,
so that the cop-building mechanism can operate the same with the least practical
strain. The counterbalanced levers 30 are placed near each end and the middle of
the machine and are connected so as to be operated together by the cop-building
mechanism, as is shown clearly in Figure 3.
The cop-building mechanism consists of the cam 40 revolved by means of the
shaft carrying the chain-gear 24 and intermediate gears 49 and 50. (Shown in
Fig. 2.) The edge of the cam 40 bears against a stud 51 projecting from the side
of the horizontal lever 41. On the opposite side of the horizontal lever 41, on a
stud projecting from the said lever, is the pulley 42 having the worm-gear 45
secured to it. To the pulley 42 is secured one end of the chain 43, which, passing
over a sheave, is connected with the arm 44 mounted on the lever 30.
The cam 40 in the cop-building mechanism shown in the drawings is a circular
disk secured to the shaft at one side of the center so as to impart, in revolving,
reciprocating motion to the horizontal lever 41 the disk 40 bearing on the stud 51
secured to the lever 41. A heart-shaped cam may be used so as to impart a
quicker motion to the guide-frame in one direction, preferably a slow downward
motion, so as to lay the yarn on the quill or bobbin in close spirals, and a quicker
upward motion so as to bind the yarn by an open spiral binding thread. The
motion of the lever 41 is transmitted by the chain 43, secured to the pulley 42, to
the levers 30, and by the said levers to the inclined frame 27a, upright supports 29,
and rods 27, carrying the guide-wires, which are reciprocated vertically to guide
the yarn on the conical base of the bobbin, thus laying one layer of yarn as the
horizontal lever 41, operated by the cam 40, moves upward and another as it
moves downward, the weight of these reciprocating parts being counterbalanced or
nearly counterbalanced by the weights 31.
By the use of the center-frame 1' great stability is secured for the rails 2 on
which the spindles are supported and the driving cylinders also are more firmly
held by being journaled in bearings supported in the central frame. To secure the
same stability to the mechanism by which the cops are built and the yaru is laid
on the quill or bobbin, we have secured together the rods 27, which carry the guide
eyes or wires, and formed them into a substantial frame by the use of the three
rails 27 and the end rails 27b and have supported this frame on three sets of
counterbalanced lifting-rods 29.
The gradual raising of the frame and rods 27 is controlled by the cop-building
mechanism. The worm 52, supported by the lever 41, gears with the worm-
gear 45 on the same shaft with the pulley 42 to which the chain 43 is secured.
The ratchet-wheel 46 is secured to the end of the worm-shaft. The lever 48,
connected at one end to the stop-rod 47, is provided at the other end with a pawl
which engages with the ratchet wheel, at each reciprocation the stops on the
rod 47 raise and lower the end of the lever 48 and, by means of the pawl on the
other end of the same lever engaging with the ratchet-wheel 46, turn the worm-
shaft, the worm and by it the worm-gear 45 and wind a portion of the chain on
the pulley 42, thus at each reciprocation slightly raising the frame and rods 27
to lay one cone of threads on the other until the bobbins are filled.
In a machine for winding yarn directly from the chain, where the spindles are
arranged in sloping banks close to each other, it would be difficult to remove and
replace the quills or bobbins as the threads of yarn practically cover the whole of
the front, to facilitate the doffing of the spindles, we support, in suitable guides
in the rear of the top-rolls and close to the roll 16, the rods 55 and 55', as shown
in Figures 4 and 5. On these rods 55 and 55¹ we place vertically-projecting pins

page_text: so that the yarn of each two vertical rows of spindles passes between two pins one
on each of the rods, and we provide suitable means for shipping the rods 55 and 55¹
so that all the threads, namely, in a machine of the present construction sixteen
threads, leading to two vertical rows of spindles are brought or bunched together,
as shown in Figure 5, between the two rows of spindles and so leave wide spaces
between the bunched threads of yarn and free access to the spindles for doffing.
We do not wish to confine ourselves to any particular means for operating these
rods 55, but have shown them each at one end provided with a rack and have
shown a pinion between the racks so that by turning the pinion the bars may be
operated. These bars 55 may be shipped or operated by hand or by any other
suitable means.
Practical experience has demonstrated that the reed 20 requires to be placed
near the top-rolls so as to accurately guide the yarn on to the delivery-roll 18 and
from the same to the spindles, but in bunching the yarn in doffing this close
proximity of the reed to the top-rolls interferes with the bunching; we, therefore,
suspend the reed 20 by the rods 20¹ at each end from the vertical posts 202 extending
at each end above the end frames of the machine, so that the operator on preparing
for doffing, before he stops the machine, pushes the reed 20 backward from the
position shown in Figure 4 to the position shown in Figure 5.
The spindles 3 are driven at a speed sufficient to wind all the yarn delivered to
them at the smallest diameter of the quill or bobbin and to permit the automatic
adjustment and uniform tension at all diameters of the quill or bobbin,-the bobbin
is not secured to the spindle but to the bobbin-holder 4ª which is loose on the
spindle and is supported on the whirl 3ª, a friction-disk 3b, of felt or other suitable
material, being placed between the whirl and the bobbin-holder. The frictional
resistance can be regulated by increasing or diminishing the diameter of the
friction-disk 3 and the quills or bobbins wound as close and hard as may be
required.
The machine is covered in and protected from loose ends and floss, detached by
the thread passing through the reed 20, by the table 56 which extends over the
length of the machine and the whole of the width except the front portion protected
by the top-rolls.
The chain tension-device is placed in the rear of the machine and consists of the
frame 57 in which the two cylinders 58 and 59 are journaled, each of these
cylinders is partially surrounded by a friction strap one end of which is secured to
the frame 57 and the other to one of the levers 60 pivotally connected at one end
to the frame 57 and provided at the other end with an adjustable weight. The
chain 61 passes through the eye 62, under the roll 63, over the weight-roll 64 and
then between the rolls 63 and 64, under the cylinder 58, then over the cylinder 59,
thence two or more times around both the cylinders 58 and 59 and then over the
roll 65, the chain is now split and the individual threads passed through the
reed 20 over the top-rolls and to the respective spindles.
These machines are usually built of greater length than the proportional length
shown in Fig. 3, and as six, eight, or more lines of spindles are banked above and
behind each other a very large number of spindles may be used and easily overlooked
by the operative.
The machine is started and stopped by shipping the driving-belt to or from the
driving-pulley by the shipper 32 which is connected by means of the bell-crank 33
with the rock-shaft 34 to which the levers 35 are securely fastened and provided
at their end in front of and extending the whole or nearly the whole length of the
machine with the treadle 36. The weight of these levers and connecting board is
counterbalanced by the weight 37 adjustably secured to the lever 38 which is
fastened securely to the rock-shaft 34.
The operation of our improved machine we will now describe with reference to
various mechanical parts already described.
The dyed or bleached yarn in the chain is placed into a suitable receptacle, or
on a platform, or the floor from which the chain 61 is passed over any suitable rod

page_text: or roller above the receptacle, then down through the eye 62 and through the
tension machine, as shown in Figure 1 and previously described, to the winder.
Each thread is now passed over the rolls 16 and 18 (the top roll 19 being removed)
and through one of the guide-wires 26 to one of the spindles. The different threads
extend in diverging lines from the delivery-roll 18, the front of which is on or
nearly on a line with the front and lowest row of spindles, to the several rows of
spindles, as is shown in Fig. 2. By this arrangement every thread between the
delivery-roll and the guide-eyes is within reach of the attendant without stopping
the machine. When all the threads of yarn have thus been connected with the
spindles, the top-roll 19 is placed on the delivery-rolls 16 and 18, holding every
thread firmly to the delivery-rolls and thereby securing a uniform delivery of the
yarn to all the spindles and a uniform tension on the yarn. This uniform tension
enables us to form a perfect nose to the cop which will not strip in the shuttle and
cause waste of yarn as well as loss in the product by the necessary stoppage of the
loom. This most important advantage is secured partly by the construction of
the machine in which, the spindles being placed in a bank, one behind and above the
other, the distance from the delivery-roll to each of the spindles is practically
the same and the stretch or elasticity of the yarn uniform, and partly by drawing
the yarn by means of the rollers 16, 18, and 19 directly from the hank or chain
by which a more uniform tension and delivery is secured than can be secured when
the yarn is drawn or delivered from a reel or beam.
The elasticity of the yarn under a strain is considerable, and when the strain is
reduced the nose of a bobbin, cop, or quill, on which the yarn has been laid while
strained, will be ruined by the yarn entering the previously-wound nose of yarn
by contraction and thus ruining the cop for use in the shuttle, or at least causing
waste and stoppage by the stripping of the nose.
When all the yarns from the chains to be wound have each been secured to the
quills or bobbins on the spindles of the machine, the same is started by depressing
the board 36 on the ends of the levers 35. The operative has full and clear view
of all the spindles and the threads of yarn, he can easily and quickly reach any
thread while the machine is in operation, and can quickly stop the machine by
raising the board 36 and thus throwing the belt on the loose pulley.
In a machine, for winding yarn, having a bank of spindles consisting of a number
of rows of spindles one above and behind the other, it is essential to the practical
working of the machine that the delivery roll or rolls can be easily reached by the
operative. The said rolls must be so located that the length of yarn between the
delivery-rolls and the guide-eyes on all the lines of spindles can be easily reached
by the operative to facilitate piecing up, and all the yarn for all the spindles must
be delivered from the sides of the delivery-roll facing the operative. To accomplish
all this we project the side frames and place the rolls 16, 18 and 19 so far forward
that the face of the delivery-roll 16 is nearly on a line with the front line of spindles
and all the yarn within reach of the operative.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination with a bank of spindles 4 and the driving-cylinders 5,
of the chain-gear 13 secured to the shaft of one of the driving-cylinders, the
chain 14, chain-gear 15, the intermediate gear 17, the rolls 16, 18 and 19, and the
reed 20 constructed to deliver the yarn to the spindles, as described.
2. The combination with the reed 20, rolls 16, 18 and 19, the gears 13 and 15,
and the chain 14, of the bank of spindles 4 placed each row above and behind the
front row, the driving-cylinder 5 and bands 7 connecting and driving two rows of
spindles from one cylinder, the inclined frame 28 carrying the rods 27 and guide-
wires 26, a cop-building mechanism for reciprocating the frame and guide-wires,
and the driving mechanism, substantially as described.
3. In a machine for winding yarn, the combination with a bank of spindles, as

page_text: described, of the driving-cylinders 5 and spindles 4, the bands 7 connecting two
rows of spindles, one above the other, with the driving-cylinder, the pinions 5 and
gears 12 for transmitting the power from the main driving-cylinder to the other
driving-cylinders, the gears 13 and 15 and the chain 14, the delivery-rolls 16, 18
and 19, the chain-gears 22 and 24, chain 23, and cop-forming mechanism, as
described.
4. The combination with the end frames 1 having their upper portion extending
forward over the bank of spindles, of the bank of spindles 4, the yarn-guides 26,
and the rolls 18, 19, 16, having their bearings in the forward projection of the end
frames 1, constructed to deliver the yarn for all the spindles on a line forward of
the center of the bank of spindles, as described.
5. In a machine for winding yarn directly from the chain to quills or cops for
direct use in loom-shuttles, the combination with a bank of spindles, placed one line
above and in the rear of the lower line to form an inclined series of lines of spindles,
and an inclined frame provided with guide-eyes and operated by a cop-building
mechanism, of a reed for guiding the individual threads, a delivery-roll located
over the bank of spindles so as to deliver the yarn directly to the guide-eyes, a top
or nipping roll, and operating mechanism substantially as described.
6. In a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on to filling bobbins,
the combination with the inclined banks of spindles, of a rigid frame consisting
of the horizontal rods 27 provided with the guide-eyes, the rails 27 and end
rails 27, the whole supported on the lifting-rods 29 and reciprocated to lay the
yarn on the bobbins, as described.
7. In a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on to filling bobbins,
the combination with the top-rolls 16, 18 and 19, of the reed 20, pivotally suspended
near the top-rolls, adapted to guide the yarn and to permit the bunching of the
yarn in doffing, as described.
8. In a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on to filling bobbins,
the combination with the top-rolls, of the rods 55 and 551 provided with vertical
pins and adapted to slide longitudinally in opposite directions to bunch the yarn
and facilitate doffing, as described.
9. In a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on to filling bobbins,
the combination with the inclined banks of spindles and the vertically-reciprocating
frame carrying the guide-eyes for laying the yarn on the bobbins, of the rolls 16,
18 and 19, the reed 20 suspended from a support above the rolls, and the rods 55
and 55'; the whole adapted to bunch the yarn and secure access to the spindles in
doffing, as described.
.
10. The combination with the top-rolls of a machine for winding yarn from the
chain directly on to filling bobbins, of the rods 55 and 55 provided with pins and
supported in suitable slides, and mechanism, substantially as described, adapted to
slide the rods in opposite directions to bunch the yarn, as described.
11. In a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on to filling bobbins,
the combination with the mechanism for driving the spindles, and the cop-building
mechanism, of the gear 222, the pinion 22 detachably secured to the shaft of one of
the driving cylinders, and the stop-link 221; the whole adapted to connect or
disconnect the driving and cop-building mechanisms, as described.
12. In a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on to the filling
bobbin, the combination with a live spindle provided with the whirl 3*, of the
bobbin-holder 4ª and friction-disk 3b; the whole adapted to automatically adjust
the tension on the yarn, as described.
13. The combination, in a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on
to the filling bobbin, with the banks of spindles, the top-rolls, the table 56 extending
from the top-rolls to the rear of the machine, and the swinging reed, of a tension
machine adapted to deliver the yarn at uniform tension to the spindles, as
described.
14. The combination with a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly
on to the filling bobbin, of the device, for regulating the delivery of the chain,

page_text: consisting of two cylinders journaled in a frame and provided with adjustable
strap-brakes, as described.
15. In a machine for winding yarn from the chain directly on to the filling
bobbin, the combination with the frames 57, the cylinders 58 and 59 governed by
friction brakes to control the delivery of the chain, a reed for separating the yarn,
top-rolls for delivering the yaru to the spindles, a bank of spindles consisting of
four or more horizontal rows placed one in the rear of and above the other, a rigid
frame provided with guide-eyes for controlling the laying of the yarn on the
bobbins, live spindles each driven by a whirl, bobbins supported on holders, loose
on the spindles, resting on friction disks interposed between the whirls and holders,
and mechanism, substantially as described, for operating the spindles and laying
the yarn on the bobbins, as described.
Dated this 10th day of A vanot A D 1904
HERBERT LEANDER PRATT.
CHARLES THOMAS UPTON.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.