CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING, DOUBLING, OR TWISTING COTTON, FLAX, WOOL, SILK, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY IN GENERAL
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GODFREY
ANTHONY ERMEN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Second day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
nine, in the third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Godfrey Anthony Ermen, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Godfrey
Anthony Ermen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as
I, the said Godfrey Anthony Ermen, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should agree with, and no other, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR SPINNING, DOUBLING, OR TWISTING COTTON, FLAX, WOOL, SILK,
OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE
TO MACHINERY IN GENERAL;" in which Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, that 1, the said Godfrey Anthony Ermen, shall cause a particular.

page_text: description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the late
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Godfrey Anthony Ermen, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and
the following explanation thereof (that is to say) :-
My improvements in machinery or apparatus for spinning, doubling, and
twisting cotton, flax, wool, silk, and any other fibrous materials, have reference
to that kind of machinery wherein the spinning, doubling, and twisting is
performed by a spindle and flyer.
These improvements consist, firstly, in the application of the conjoined
action of the centripetal and centrifugal forces to the motion of the revolving
spindle, subjecting such spindle, or spindle and tube fixed thereon, or spindle
and bobbin fixed thereon, or subjecting any thing whatever upon which the
thread is to be spun or doubled or twisted, to their united influence, by not
confining it laterally, either by a fixed bearing, or an elastic bearing, or any
bearing whatsoever that may cause the revolving spindle to rebound, and
thereby impart vibratory motion.
Secondly, in the application of an independent expansive swivel bolster and
moveable cup placed between the bottom and 'the top of the spindle, which
apparatus shall yield to any lateral pressure of the revolving spindle, tube, or
bobbin, and shall prevent the spindle from rebounding, and at the same time
cause the required retardation or drag upon the spindle, which drag is necessary
for the taking up of the thread whilst it is spun, doubled, or twisted.
.44
Thirdly, particularly with reference to spinning what are commonly called
pin cops" upon a tube, or upon the bare spindle, I am enabled to employ a
flyer with 'arms much shorter than those in ordinary use, and consequently to
run at a much higher velocity, by simply reversing the manner of spinning
or forming the cop, that is, by forming it with its shorter cone or taper at the
upper end of the spindle, when the length of the flyer will only be required to
be the same as the longest cone or taper of the cop.
Fourthly, in the novel and peculiar arrangement of the mechanism or
apparatus for the purpose of lowering the boulster or "drag" rail as the
thread or yarn increases in diameter upon the bobbin.

page_text: Fifthly, in the application of a morticed swivel lever to spinning, doubling,
or. twisting machinery, for the purpose of more easily changing the "change
wheels" for regulating the draft and twist.
:
And, lastly, in converting the ordinary conc drum, which is usually driven
by a strap, into a geared cone, with rings of teeth formed upon its surface, and
so formed or arranged, that it shall be worked by a single driving pinion
gearing therein, and capable of being slidden or moved from end to end of
the toothed cone, in order to alter the speed thereof, and in order to insure its
proper action in roving, slubbing, and other preparing machinery, and also in
the general arrangement of apparatus in immediate connection therewith, for
the purpose of regulating the various motions of the spindles or bobbins in
roving, slubbing, or preparing machinery.
But in order that these several improvements may be more perfectly.
explained, I have attached to these Presents a Sheet of Drawings, in which
the various Figures represent their particular and respective application to
spinning, doubling, or twisting machinery, and it will be seen that similar.
letters of reference are placed upon corresponding parts of the mechanism
is all the Figures.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 exhibit the first part of my improvements, shewing the
spindle and flyer with the independent expansive swivel boulster and loose
bearing in its relative situation, and drawn half the real scale. Figure 1 is
an elevation of the spindle and flyer complete, with the top rail, boulster
rail, and step rail in section; Figure 2, a plan of the ball and socket,
forming the bolster; and Figure 3, a third portion of the ball detached.
The spindle a, a, with its bobbin b, b, and flyer c, c, is supported in the step d
below, which is fixed in the bottom lifting or copping rail e, e, and passes inde-
pendently through the top rail f*, f*, and also through the boulster or drag:
rail ff. This elastic boulster or bearing is of a novel and peculiar construction,
and consists of a loose socket or cap 9, 9, resting on its rail, but capable of
lateral motion, in which is placed the small turned ball h, h, which is composed:
of three pieces, through the centre of which the spindle is passed, and the
whole is enclosed by an adjustable loose weighted top or cover i, i. The effect
of this peculiar combination or arrangement of apparatus (forming an expan-
sive and independent boulster) will be, that as the spindle revolves at a very:
high velocity, it is thus subjected to the united impulse of the centrifugal and
centripetal forces, and caused to revolve centrally and perpendicularly to the
plane of the flyer, whilst at the same time any requisite amount of "drag":
or resistance may be given as the cop or bobbin is filled, by lowering
the drag or boulster rail f, f, and thus allowing the ball to act against the

page_text: conical sides of the spindle, as seen at k, k. The ball segments, forming an
universal joint within the cup and the socket, resting loose on the even drag
rail, will yield to any lateral push of the spindle. The three segments enclose
the spindle, and being made to press against it, friction is thereby caused, and
this friction causes the desired retordation of the spindle. Again, as the spindles
tube, or bobbin is filling with thread, its diameter increases; this increased
diameter demands more friction, and this is obtained by making that part of
the spindle where the segmented ball and socket are to act, tapered downwards
for about four inches, and allowing this taper to increase downwards about
one thirty-second part of an inch to the inch in length. By lowering
the drag rail with its segmented balls and sockets unto the thicker part of
this taper or cone, friction is of course increased, and by adjusting the
lowering of this rail, proportioned to the time in which the bobbin or spindle
fills, any desired retardation or drag upon the spindle may be obtained.
Fig. 4 represents my improved spindle and flyer for spinning pin cops, in the
manner before explained, that is, with the cop spun or formed in the reverse
position. a, a, represents the spindle; b, b, the short-armed flyer; and c, c, the
cop, which is spun or wound on from the top, and therefore requiring the arms
of the flyer to be the exact length of the longest taper of the cop, and no more,
and which will allow of the flyer rumming at a very high velocity.
Fig. 5 represents an elevation of a spinning frame called a throstle, with my
improvements applied thereto; Fig. 6 is an end view; Fig. 7, the reverse end
view; and Fig. 8, a plan or horizontal view of the same.
These Figures
represent more particularly the third and fourth features of my improvements
in such machinery. a, a, a, a, are the spindles; b, b, b, b, the bobbins;
c, c, c, c, the flyers; and d, d, the lifting or copping rail below; the drag rail,
supporting the loose boulsters, is seen at ff; and the boulsters g, g, are con-
structed as just explained with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3. Now, in order
to impart any requisite degree of "drag" or resistance to the spindle while
running at its full velocity, I lower this boulster rail ff, with its loose boulsters,
on the conical part k, k, of the spindle as the bobbin fills, by means of the mangle
wheel and pinion 1, m, actuated by the worms and wheels n, n, o, o, which will
be readily understood by the practical spinner. The application of the morticed
swivel lever to spinning machinery is also shewn in these Figures, and to
doubling machinery in Figures 9 and 10. p, p, is the morticed lever, for the
purpose of carrying the ordinary change wheels 9, 9, to work the twist and draft;
and it will be seen that by the employment of this lever as the carrier for the
change wheels, as it is turned upon its swivel joint the change may be more
readily accomplished.

page_text: Fig. 11 represents an elevation of an arrangement of apparatus for the
purpose of regulating the various motions of the bobbins or spindles in
roving, slubbing, or preparing machinery, and consists principally in the
substitution of a geared cone a, a, instead of the ordinary strap cone, used
in such machinery for the said purpose. Upon the driving shaft b, b, there is
a fast pinion c, driving by means of the carriers d, d,. the spur wheel e, which
gears into the toothed periphery of the cone a, a, which communicates motion
to the bobbins by means of the mangle pinion and wheel f, f, and spur wheel g,
which is fast upon its boss. The lifting or cop motion is communicated to the
machine by means of the wheel h, also driven by the cone a upon the shaft i, i,
and by means of the jointed shaft j to the mangle pinion and wheel l. It will
be seen that at every revolution of the mangle wheel 7, a pin m comes in contact
with the catch lever n (see Fig. 12), and thus disengages it from the rack o, o,
which has teeth formed alternately on each side, and thus the wheel / is slidden
(by means of the weighted cord p) upon a feather on its shaft into the next ring
of teeth in the cone a, a, and so on, at every rise or fall of the bobbin, and thus
ensures the regularity of its motion.
Having now particularly described each feature of novelty in my improve-
ments, I desire it to be understood that, although I have described parts, and
also shewn in the Drawing attached many things which are common to
spinning machinery, such has been done only for the sake of illustration, and
more readily to explain the application of my improvements; but I claim as
my Invention,
Firstly, the application of a moveable independant boulster placed between
the top and bottom of the spindle, that as the spindle revolves therein, the
conjoined action of the centrifugal and centripetal forces, in combination with
such expansive boulster, shall cause such spindle to revolve centrally and
perpendicularly to the plane of the flyer.
Secondly, the mode of spinning the cop in a reversed position by means of
a short-armed flyer, the length required being only that of the longest taper
of the cop.
Thirdly, the peculiar arrangement of mechanism for lowering the boulster or
drag rail.
Fourthly, the application to spinning, doubling, or twisting machinery of the
morticed swivel lever for carrying the change wheels.
And, lastly, the peculiar arrangement of mechanism or apparatus for the
purpose of regulating the motions of the bobbins or spindles in roving,
slubbing, and preparing machinery, and particularly the substitution of a

page_text: cone composed of toothed gear and worked by a spur wheel instead of having
a plain surface to be worked by a strap; this part of my improvements being
also applicable to machinery in general.
In witness whereof, I, the said Godfrey Anthony Ermen, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of June, in the year of our Lord 5
One thousand eight hundred and forty.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of June, in the third
year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Godfrey Anthony
Ermen came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Second day of June. One thousand eight hundred and forty