A CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL MACHINE FOR SPREADING SILK
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sault, of South Manchester, in the County
of Hartford, State of Connecticut, in the United States of America,
for the Invention of "A CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL MACHINE FOR
SPREADING SILK."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Sault at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 22nd July 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SAULT, of South Manchester, in the County of Hartford, State of Con-
necticut, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A CERTAIN NEW
AND USEFUL MACHINE FOR SPREADING SILK," and have petitioned Her
Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that I am the first and true Inventor thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Sault, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof (reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the figures and letters marked thereon), that is to
say:
-
Waste silk has long been utilized by dividing it by suitable means
into short separate fibres of a few inches in length, and subsequently
drawing these fibres in slivers in a manner analogous to the drawing of
flax and hemp.
The object of my Invention is to properly supply such waste silk to
the drawing rolls with less labor than heretofore.
Instead of whipping or beating the fibre by hand and supplying it to
the feeding apron in small handfuls requiring careful arrangement to
match the ends of the fibre properly together, and to distribute the mass
over the breadth of the feeding apron, my Invention requires simply that
the masses of fibre as they come from the dressing room in the ordinary
condition, viz., in what are technically termed "books" shall be laid
directly by a single operation on a supplementary feeding apron.
The following is a description of the Drawings forming a part of this
Specification.
Figure 1 is a side elevation with a few parts represented as broken to
better show the work beyond; and Figure 2 is a plan view.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the both Figures.
A, A, are the ordinary feeding rolls which seize the fibres and deliver
them to the gills or other drawing mechanism not represented; B, B',
are drums impelled by gearing or other convenient means in the
direction of the arrow; C is an endless apron running over these drums
in the ordinary manner. All these parts, as also the frame by which
they are supported, and the mechanism by which motion is com-
municated may be of the ordinary construction. A single set or
more may be used in one machine as may be preferred. The Drawings
represent two sets. D, D', are drums mounted in the position repre-
sented and rotated by gearing or other mechanism in the directions
indicated by the arrows. E is a feeding apron running over these
drums. The fibre is represented by G. The feeding aprons E are of

page_text: sufficient length to accommodate more than the contents of one book.
The contents of the books are simply matched together in the obvious
manner, so that the fibres lie side by side and the motion of these cross
feeding aprons E, E, deposits the fibre upon the ordinary feeding
aprons C, C, with the fibre in the right direction, that is to say, the
fibres lie crosswise on the cross feeding belts E, and lengthwise on the
common feeding belt C. The positions of the rollers D and the lengths
of the cross feed aprons E are arranged as represented, so that one shall
feed one of the belts C, and the other the other belt C. The drums D, D¹,
are both mounted in a frame M which is so mounted on the general
framing of the machine that it may be reciprocated longitudinally. A
slow reciprocating motion is given to the frame M, and its connections
by means of the link m and crank N properly geared to ensure its
revolution. O is a rocking shaft mounted on the framing as represented;
P, P, are rods extending horizontally and turned up slightly at their
ends as represented. P¹ is an arm (or a continuation of one of the same
rods) extending in an opposite direction from the rocking shaft O; R is
a link connecting the end of the arm P¹ to the crank U, which is rotated
rapidly by gearing or other suitable means. It follows that the
rods P, P, are both vibrated rapidly in the vertical plane. At each down
stroke they impinge on the silk fibre on the belts E, E, and loosen it so
as to make it readily separable to facilitate its even distribution as it
falls upon the belts C, C. I, I, are guides adapted to prevent the fibres
from falling off of the belts E in undergoing the whipping or loosening
operation just described. I can duplicate the rods P, P, and give them
a great variety of forms and arrangements without materially changing
the effect of my Invention. The extent of the vibratory movement of
the frame M and its contents may be increased or diminished by
increasing the range of the crank N, as will be obvious, and the effect of
increasing the vibration will be to spread the silk over a wider space on
the belts C, C. The speed of the belts E may be graduated relatively
to the speed of the belts C by ordinary means, and the effect will be to
supply the silk in greater or less quantities on a given length of the
belt C.
Having now fully described my Invention, what I claim as new and.
desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:-
-
First. I claim in combination with the driving mechanism A and
feeding apron C a vibrating cross feeding device adapted to receive the

page_text: fibre lying transversely, and to deliver it in its proper position upon the
ordinary feeding apron, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
herein set forth.
Second. I claim in combination with the above an automatic beating
or loosening device, acting on the fibre near the point where it is b
delivered from the vibrating cross feed to the true feeding apron, sub-
stantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sault, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
RICHARD OTIS CHENEY.
JOHN SAULT. (L.S.)