IMPROVED APPARATUS AND MACHINERY FOR SCOURING, SIZING, AND WARPING WOOLLEN, WORSTED, LINEN, OR COTTON YARNS IN SECTIONS, IN ONE CONTINUOUS OPERATION, AND WINDING THE WARP WHEN MADE ON THE LOOM BEAM READY FOR WEAVING."
Year: 1878

page_text: "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Leach at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 14th January 1878.
JOHN LEACH, of the Borough of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist.
IMPROVED APPARATUS AND MACHINERY FOR SCOURING, SIZING, AND WARPING
WOOLLEN, WORSTED, LINEN, OR COTTON YARNS IN SECTIONS, IN ONE CONTINUOUS
OPERATION, AND WINDING THE WARP WHEN MADE ON THE LOOM BEAM READY FOR
WEAVING."
The woollen yarns, or those combined of wool and cotton, or other fibrous
materials, are previously wound on spools in the usual manner, the spools being
placed in a creel fitted up with a surface roller or surface strap to unwind the yarns,
the creel being fixed at a convenient distance from a cistern, consisting of two,
three, or more divisions, the cistern being fixed at an angle of about 40° to 45° to
the central line of the drying machine.
The yarns from the spools pass through a reed or heck bolted to the front of the
cistern into the first division containing a liquor diluted more or less with ammonia
or other scouring fluid, the yarns passing over and under corrugated rollers made of
wood or of anti-corrosive metal, to squeezing rollers into the second division
containing water or a weaker solution of ammonia; and then under and over
corrugated rollers and between squeezing rollers into the last division containing
animal or vegetable size, from whence the yarns pass under corrugated rollers to the
last squeezing rollers; and then over an oblique roller adjustable to any angle to
suit the transfer of the yarns to an improved arrangement of drying machine, the
object being to enable the yarns to be efficiently dried in far less time than in any
machine at present in use.
The drying machine consists of three parallel cylinders heated by steam, and the
yarns from the oblique roller at the end of the sizing cistern pass under another
oblique roller attached to the frame of the drying machine, and over a transfer drum
placed above the cylinders to be delivered first to one of the said cylinders, then to
a second, and afterwards to the third large cylinder, and from thence to another
transfer drum adjustable to any angle. The yarn is deposited as before on the
steam cylinders in a spiral form in close proximity to the previous deposit, the

page_text: process of passing the yarn round the transfer drums and cylinders being repeated
until the surface of the steam cylinders are covered with yarn, and by that time the
material will have become dry.
The transfer drums are placed obliquely on two series, one above the other, so
that the yarns shall encircle and travel on the cylinders like worms or screws, and
as there may be any number of drums the cylinders may be of great length and
travel at a high speed, and thereby effectually dry a long length of yarn in a
comparatively short time, and as each transfer drum works in a separate standard,
which can be adjusted and fixed in any required position, the overlapping of the
yarn on the cylinders is effectually prevented.
The dried yarns pass from the main steam cylinder to a roller, and then through
a reed or heck over a vessel containing a coloured liquid, in which there is a
revolving brush or dabber to mark the yarn in consecutive lengths, and when
desired there is another marker traversed by a screw working in bearings in the
framework of the machine, the screw being turned by gearing from a cylinder
shaft.
From the marker the yarn passes to a cylinder, commonly called a section
cylinder, placed on a moveable carriage on a tramway parallel to the main steam
cylinder, the yarn passing into as many sections as may be required to suit the
reed, the proper tension of the yarn being maintained by driving the section
cylinder by means of a strap and cone pulley, the strap being shifted in a self-
acting manner, by spur, ratchet, and worm gearing; and to enable the yarns
wound on the section cylinder to be measured with exactness and to have the
section cylinder stopped either by hand or self-acting means, there is a long screw
at the top of the framework, carrying a finger or pointer in front of a graduated
scale, the screw being turned by wheels from the shaft of the section cylinder, and
when the pointer arrives at a point fixed upon, the cylinder stops; but if preferred
an alarum is struck to warn the operative.
When all the required spaces are filled with the desired quantity of warp, motion
is given to the beam to be used as the warp beam of the loom, and the warp
transferred from the section cylinder to the said warp beam of the loom, the proper
tension being maintained by means of a brake lever, and strap on the periphery of
a pulley or drum.