IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, OR THROWING AND DOUBLING COTTON, SILK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS OR FILAMENTOUS SUBSTANCES." SP
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Strange, F.R.S., Lieutenant-Colonel
in Her Majesty's Indian Army (Retired), and Kenneth Henry
Cornish, of York Road, Battersea Park, S.W., for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, OR THROWING
AND DOUBLING COTTON, SILK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS OR FILAMENTOUS
SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Strange
and Kenneth Henry Cornish at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 30th April 1873.
We, ALEXANDER STRANGE, F.R.S., Lieutenant-Colonel in Her
Majesty's Indian Army (Retired), and KENNETH HENRY CORNISH, of
York Road, Battersea Park, S.W., do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, OR
THROWING AND DOUBLING COTTON, SILK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS OR FILAMENTOUS.
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention is applicable to slubbing and roving frames and to
machines for spinning and doubling, and to throwing machines, and is

page_text: rubber may be stretched over the lower surface of each disc. When the
spindle discs thus covered are brought into contact with the revolving
periphery's of the iron driving wheels they will bite well and run with
great smoothness and regularity.
It is evident that the velocity at which the spindles revolve must mainly
depend, 1, upon the size and speed of the driving wheels; 2, upon the
distance from the centre of each spindle disc at which contact is made
with its driving wheel. When contact is made near the circumference of
the smaller wheel or disc the speed at which the spindle revolves will be
far less than when contact occurs near its centre, the speed of the
driving wheel being a constant in both cases. We therefore arrange
our horizontal shaft to be moveable longitudinally, bringing our driving
wheels nearer to or further from the centres of the spindles by the action
of a screw, lever, or any other suitable power capable of accurate
adjustment, so that the relative number of revolutions of the spindles as
compared with each turn of the driving wheels may be read off on a
divided scale, when the result multiplied by the number of revolution's
per minute of the driving wheels will give the revolutions per minute of
each spindle with great accuracy.
If we arrange for the spindles to be carried in their bolster rails from
side to side so as to shift the points of contact between the spindle discs
and the driving wheels we obtain identical results, the essence of this
part of our Invention, as also of so much of it as relates to the reversal
of the twist of the spindles being to have the power of bringing the
discs at any desired points in their diameters into contact with the
driving wheels. Therefore whether it be the driving wheels or discs,
or both, that are moved is immaterial.
In order to enable the twist of the spindles to be reversed at will we
have simply to push the principle already laid down to its legitimate
issue. We merely arrange the horizontal shafts of our driving wheels
or our sliding bolster rails in such a manner that the wheels are brought
into contact with the spindle discs at any given point in the entire
diameter of these latter.
It is evident that the direction in which the spindles revolve will
depend upon the points in the discs at which contact is made with the
driving wheels. If the driving wheels turn the spindles from right to
left at a given velocity when in contact with the discs at a given distance

page_text: from the centres of the discs in one half of the diameter of the said
discs, they will drive them at an equal velocity, but from left to right, if
contact occurs between the discs and the wheels at an equal distance
from the centres of the discs in the half diameters which are on the
opposite sides of the centres of the spindle discs.
The backward & forward movement of the shafts which carry the
driving wheels or spindle discs, effects the desired mutation with
precision, and a proper division of the scale before referred to will enable
the velocity of twist to be read off with equal accuracy whether the
spindles are revolving from right to left or left to right.
It is clear that by this arrangement any ordinary spinning or
equivalent machine may be made to spin either ordinary or cable twist
with equal precision and velocity, and this without stopping or reversing
the driving gear or motive power, a result which we believe has been
considered unattainable from the time of Richard Arkwright up to the
present time.
The above improvements can be applied either separately or in com-
bination, and the advantages of our Invention are many. We may
mention perfect uniformity, smoothness, and increase of speed, and
therefore of twist; saving of power and of friction, as lateral pressure
against the long axis of the spindles is almost entirely got rid of;B
diminution of noise; power of increasing or diminishing the rate of
twist with accuracy; enabling the same or different materials, e. g.
cotton, silk, wool, jute, hemp, flax, &c., to be twisted at different
velocities in various stages with exactitude and in the same frame,
great facility in stopping any of or all the spindles, enabling a machine
to spin any material at any required speed, and finally, perhaps most
important of all, enabling the twist of the spindles to be reversed at will,
so that one of our machines can spin cable twisted yarns, threads, &c.,
just as easily as ordinary yarns, threads, &c., without reversing the
driving gear or motive power.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Strange and Kenneth Henry Cornish
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ALEXANDER
STRANGE, F.R.S., Lieutenant-Colonel in Her Majesty's Indian Army
(Retired), and KENNETH HENRY CORNISH, of York Road, Battersea
Park, S.W., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-thrce, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Alexander Strange and Kenneth
Henry Cornish, Her special licence that we, the said Alexander Strange
and Kenneth Henry Cornish, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Alexander Strange and Kenneth Henry
Cornish, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, OR
THROWING AND DOUBLING COTTON, SILK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS OR FILAMENTOUS
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Alexander Strange and Kenneth Henry Cornish, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the 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 Alexander Strange and Kenneth
Henry Cornish, 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 statement, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawing forming a part of this
Specification:

page_text: otherwise fastened to the said lower surface. When the spindle discs
thus covered are brought into contact with the revolving peripheries of
the iron driving wheels they will bite well, and run with great smooth-
ness and regularity. The india-rubber may be placed as a tire on the
rim of each driving wheel if such an arrangement be preferred.
It is evident that the velocity at which the spindles revolve must
depend, 1, upon the size and speed of the driving wheels; 2, upon the
distance from the centre of each spindle disc at which contact is made
with the driving wheels. When contact is made near the circumference
of the small wheel or disc the speed at which the spindle revolves will
be far less than when contact occurs near the centre, the speed of the
driving wheel being constant in both cases. We therefore arrange our
horizontal shaft to be moveable longitudinally, bringing our driving
wheels nearer to or farther from the centres of the spindles by the action
of a screw lever or any other suitable power capable of accurate adjust-
ment, in order that the number of revolutions made by the discs për
revolution of the driving wheels may be read off on a divided scale, when
the result multiplied by the number of revolutions per minute of the
driving wheels will yield the number of revolutions made per minute by
each spindle with great precision.
If we arrange for the spindles to be carried in their bolster rails from
side to side, so as to shift the points of contact between the spindle discs
and the driving wheels we shall obtain identical results, the essence of.
this part of our Invention, as also of so much of it as relates to the
reversal of the twist of the spindles being to have the power of bringing
the discs at any required distance from the centres of their lower
surfaces into contact with the driving wheels, therefore, whether it be
the driving wheels, or discs, or both that are moved is immaterial.
In order to enable the twist of the spindles to be reversed at will we
have only to push the principle already laid down to its legitimate issue.
We merely arrange the horizontal shafts of our driving wheels (or our
sliding bolster rails) in such a manner that the wheels can be brought
into contact with the lower surfaces of the spindle discs at any required
distance from the centres of these latter.
It is evident that the direction in which the spindles revolve will
depend upon the points in the discs at which contact is made with the
driving wheels. If the driving wheels turn the spindles from right to

page_text: left at a given velocity when in contact with the discs at a given
distance from the centres of the discs in one half of the diameters of the
said discs they will drive them at an equal velocity, but from left to
right if contact occurs between the wheels and the discs at an equal
distance from the centres of the discs in the half diameters which are on
the opposite sides of the centres of the said spindle discs.
The backward and forward movement of the shaft which carries the
driving wheels effects the desired mutation with precision, and a proper
division of the scale before referred to will enable the velocity of twist to
be read off with equal precision, whether the spindles are revolving from
right to left or from left to right. The choice of means by which the
shaft is made to move backwards and forwards is large. The system
employed to raise or lower the drill in an ordinary drilling machine can
be adapted, and is too well known to need description. If the lower
surfaces of the spindle discs are not flat, but conical or bossed, the
bearings of the moveable shafts which carry the driving wheels
must be so constructed as to admit of their being raised and lowered
sufficiently to enable the driving wheels to obtain biting frictional
contact at any and every distance from the centres of the said lower
surfaces. This rising and falling of the bearings must be adjustable, and
may be effected by screws, levers, inclined and adjustable planes, or
cams. When the spindle discs are thus coned or bossed the driving
wheels must be beviled or rounded at the edges in such manner
that they may obtain biting frictional contact with the lower surfaces of
the discs at any and every distance from the centres of the said lower
surfaces. This arrangement however is more costly than when flat discs
are used, and involves more friction against the bearings of the spindles,
but in some machines this may be a desideratum.
It is clear that by this arrangement any ordinary spinning or
equivalent machine may be made to spin either ordinary or cable twist
with perfectly regulated precision and velocity, and this without stopping
or reversing the motive power; results which we believe have been
unattained since the time of Richard Arkwright.
To stop any single spindle separately or any row of spindles, or all the
spindles in a frame instantaneously and simultaneously, we can either
hinge the bolster rails suitably, or we can apply a simple system of levers
and inclined and adjustable planes or cams to each set of bolster rails,

page_text: spindle, or any row of, or all the spindles in the frame can be lifted out
of contact with the driving wheel or wheels, and we intend to adopt this
method in preference to hinging the bolster rails because it is simpler
and cheaper.
The Drawings, Figures 3, 4, 5, will illustrate the general-principles
of this part of our Invention, as well as the special construction which
they represent, as being cheap and generally available, and therefore
likely to be most used. We aim at enabling the operative, 1, to lift
any spindle out of contact. with its driving wheel by a touch of the
finger, the spindle remaining out of gear, but set in motion at pleasure
by another touch; this enables a bobbin to be doffed in safety and at
leisure; 2, to enable the operative to lift any row of spindles out of
contact with their driving wheels instantaneously and simultaneously by
a simple and easy movement of either hand; 3, to enable all the
spindles in a frame to be raised out of contact with the driving wheels
instantaneously and simultaneously, the operative having only to pull on
a cord, rod, lever or levers situated at the middle of the frame, or in any
other convenient place. It is desirable that the spindle discs in all these
cases be held away from the driving wheels till the operator desires that
they should be set in motion again.
Another object which we attain is the preventing the spindle discs
from flying up out of proper biting contact with their driving wheels.
As this contact is solely due to the gravity of the spindles it is clear that
unless the weight of the spindles is so adjusted as to accord with the
force and velocity of their driving wheels they will have a tendency to
fly upward out of contact. We prefer to weight our spindles by metal
discs slipped on or off. the spindles. The position in which the weights
are placed most advantageously is upon the upper surface of the spindle
discs, but if the spindles are revolving at a very high rate of speed their
steadiness will be greatly increased by placing an additional weight
below the flyer or bobbin upon the ring K. These weights are similar
to those commonly used by clock, makers. Friction on the bearings is
not increased by weighting the spindle judiciously.
The plan which we prefer to adopt for stopping the spindles as being
simple, efficacious, and easily adaptable to all existing machinery is
shewn in Figures- 3, 4, 5, it has moreover the advantage of serving to

page_text: check the tendency of the spindles to fly upwards without inducing
frictional contact under ordinary circumstances. For raising a single
spindle we employ a simple hinged lever with a longitudinal slot for the
spindle to pass through, this lever is hinged at the back of the bolster
rail; at the front part it terminates in a wire on which is strung a large
bead of glass or other suitable material. The end of the lever is bent
into a hook or ring which serves two purposes; 1; it keeps the bead
from slipping off; 2, it allows one end of a spiral spring to be attached
to it, the other end of which is fastened to the bolster rail. The
Drawings shew the relative positions of the lever, bolster rail, spiral
spring, spindle, and of a ring of metal which encircles the spindle just
above the lever. It is clear that when the lever is lifted the spindle is
raised out of contact. A bar of wood, metal, or other suitable material
running along the top of the bolster rail, as shewn in the Drawing, will
support the levers in a horizontal plane, and if an inclined plane be
made along the front of this bar it is evident that a spindle will be
raised and kept out of contact if the bead above described is pushed up
the inclined plane and left on the upper surface of the bar. It is
important that when the lever is in the horizontal plane it shall not
come into frictional contact either with the swell of the spindle below it
or the ring above it by contact with which the spindle is lifted, and that
there should be no contact between the hole through which the spindle
passes and the spindle itself..
We fasten a suitable spiral or other spring to the end of the lever and'
bolster rail, as shewn in Figures 3, 4, 5, which enables the lever to give
an elastic resistance to any tendency of the spindle to fly upwards when
in motion. A couple of screws passing through the lever F, one on each
side of the spindle, as shewn in Figures 3, 4, 5, enable the point at
which the tendency of the spindle to fly upwards is checked by the
lever F, and the spiral spring O to be adjusted with great nicety. The
heads of the screws will lift the ring K when the spindle is raised. So
far we have attained two of our objects; 1, the stopping of any single
spindle; and 2, the keeping each spindle in proper elastic yet biting
contact with its driving wheel.
To enable any row of spindles to be stopped instantaneously and
simultaneously, we have merely to hinge each bar to its bolster rail, as
shewn in Figure 5, and at proper intervals between any convenient pair
or pairs of spindles form a groove along the upper surface of each bolster

page_text: rail (upper or lower as may be found desirable), in which groove a bar
may be fitted to slide backwards and forwards, as shewn in the Drawings.
The
upper surface of this bar should be flush with the bolster rail and at
a convenient point an inclined plane or cam must be placed, as shewn in
the Drawings. As this inclined plane lies just behind the bar which
rests on the front of the bolster rail, the posterior and inferior angle of
which it meets, it is clear that when the sliding bar is pulled forwards
the bar upon which the levers rest is lifted up at its posterior superior
angle, as shewn in Figure 5, and that all the spindles in the row are
raised proportionally out of contact and kept so till the sliding inclined
plane is pushed out of contact with the bar on which the levers rest.
To stop all the spindles it is merely necessary to connect the sliding
bars by a suitable combination of rods, levers, cams, or other suitable
mechanical means. We prefer making this connection between the
sliding bars of each row of spindles at the centre of the frame, as less
power is required there than at cither end.
Another means of stopping all the spindles by raising the bars hinged
to the bolster rails simultaneously is by fastening a cord to the upper
surface of each bar near its posterior superior angle; the cords must
then be passed over suitable pullies fixed to the front of each bolster
rail. A lever hinged at a convenient point in the frame, the handle of
which is at the front (preferably) affords the means of pulling down the
cords, which are fastened to the arm of the lever at any desired point.
When the handle is depressed the bars are raised; and when the pressure
is removed they fall of their own weight, and the spindle discs get biting
contact again. A catch of any ordinary description will retain the lever
when depressed. It is obvious that this arrangement is adaptable to stop
a single row as well as all.
Though our Drawings refer to the upper bolster rails we apply our..
Invention to the lower bolster rails in every case where there is any
necessity for giving them the preference.
In order that the general principles of our Invention may be fully
understood we append Drawings of certain parts, premising that the
said Drawings are not given as shewing the only way or ways in which
the principles, the application of which to spinning machinery constitutes
our Invention, may be advantageously applied. There are, for example,
numerous combinations of levers, inclined planes, cams, &c., &c., known

page_text: to competent mechanics, by which one spindle, or any row of, or all the
spindles can be stopped, nearly, if not quite, as well and cheaply as by
the method set forth by us. Therefore we desire it to be known that the
essence of this part of our Invention consists in skilfully accomplishing
this by well-known mechanical means.
Figure 1 shews a front, and Figure 2 a side view of our method of
transmitting motive power to and regulating the speed of the spindles
and the direction of their twist. The dotted lines in Figure 2 shew how
the backward and forward movement of the shaft E brings the driving
wheel D into contact with the disc C at any required points in the entire
area of the lower surface of C.
Figure 3 shews a good arrangement of our levers, spiral springs, &c.,
for enabling any single spindle to be raised out of contact, and at the
same time the tendency of the spindle to fly upward at high velocities to
be counteracted judiciously..
Figure 4 shews a spindle raised out of contact.
Figure 5 shews how a row is raised out of contact. A is the spindle;
B, B, the bolster rails; C, the spindle disc with a india-rubber facing;
D, the driving wheel; E, the shaft, moveable, as and for the purposes
described; F is the lever hinged to I attached to the back of the bolster
rail B; G, the bead; H is the bar hinged to the front of the bolster
rail B; K is a ring of metal fixed to the spindle above F; k is an
adjustment screw, the head of which lifts K when the bead G is run up
the incline at the anterior superior surface of H, or the hinged bar H
is raised by the inclined plane or cam H; L is a bar sliding in a
groove N carrying an inclined plane or cam M; O is a spiral spring
hooked to F and B; P is a weight slipped on the spindle and resting on
the upper surface of C; R, an additional weight slipped on above and
resting on K.
We have now described a specific and simple manner of obtaining
these results, which it is the object of our Invention to attain. By the
application of one principle, viz., the driving spindle discs by frictional
contact between their lower surfaces and the peripheries of wheels
carried on a shaft, movable, longitudinally in such a manner that contact
may be made between the wheels and discs at any required points in
the entire areas of the lower surfaces of the latter, we can increase or
diminish the speed at which the spindles revolve with scientific exactness,

page_text: and reverse the 'twist of any row of or all the spindles at pleasure, and
without meddling with the motive power, while we reduce friction
greatly; and by the application of other principles, viz., the attaching
to the bolster rails a simple system of levers and inclined and adjustable
planes or cams we obtain results of secondary but great value, viz., we
enable the operator to stop any of or all the spindles instantaneously
without touching the gearing; and, finally, by weighting the spindles in
the way described, and employing a spiral spring as described, we can
keep up a good elastic and biting pressure, when required, between the
driving wheels and discs, and it is evident that our system is nearly, if
not quite, as available for existing as for new machinery.
The above improvements may be applied either separately or in
combination; and the advantages of our Invention are many.
We may mention perfect uniformity, smoothness, and increase of
speed and therefore of twist; saving of power and of friction, as lateral
pressure against the long axes of the spindles is almost entirely got rid
of; diminution of noise; power of increasing or diminishing the rate of
twist with accuracy, thus enabling the same or different materials,
e.g., cotton, silk, wool, jute, hemp, flax, &c., to be twisted at different
velocitics with exactitude and in the same frame; great facility in
stopping any of or all the spindles, enabling a machine to spin any
material at any required speed; and, finally, perhaps most important of
all, enabling the twist of the spindles to be reversed at will, so that
one of our machines, new or converted, can spin cable, twist, yarn,
thread, &c., just as easily as ordinary yarn, thread, &c., without reversing
the driving gear or shifting the motive power.
We claim in a spinning machine,-

page_text: 3. The employment of springs, separately or in combination with
weights to keep the spindle discs from flying upward out of biting contact
with their driving wheels, as herein described.
4. The combination of discs and wheels on movable shafts with levers
and inclined and adjustable planes or cams for lifting any of, or any row 5
of, or all, the spindles out of contact with the driving wheel or wheels,
and with springs, with or without weights, to keep the spindle dises in
biting contact with the said driving wheel or wheels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Kenneth Henry Cornish, on behalf
of myself and the said Alexander Strange, have hereunto set 10
my hand and scal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
KENNETH HENRY CORNISH. (L.S.)
Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.