IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND FINISHING OF
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Blackwood, of Arthurlie, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Bleacher, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
m
DENON OR THREADS OR VIDS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Blackwood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
April 1854.
I, WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, of Arthurlie, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Bleacher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND FINISHING OF THREADS OR YARNS" to be
as follows:
This Invention relates to various arrangements of machinery or means for
effecting the finishing or final polishing of thread used for sewing and for other
purposes. Under one form the finishing apparatus consists of a vertical frame,
carrying an upper and lower longitudinal shaft capable of revolving in bearings
in the standards. The overhanging ends of these shafts carry broad drums or
pulleys of metal, made hollow, as receptacles for steam to heat the thread, which
is finished in the form of hanks. The hanks are passed upon the respective
upper and lower pulleys or drums on each side of the framing, and they are
stretched during the finishing action by proportionably separating the two
shafts. For this purpose, whilst the upper shaft revolves in fixed 'overhead
bearings, and is driven by gearing from the space comprehended between the
two standards, the lower shaft bearings are capable of traversing vertically

page_text: in guide slots; and this shaft runs loose, being connected to the piston rod of a
small steam or pressure cylinder, set on the floor between the two standards.
When the hanks are put on the drums of the machine, to undergo the finishing
process, the lower shaft is clevated by admitting steam or other agent beneath
the piston of the small supporting cylinder, and when the hanks are properly
disposed upon the drums the steam is allowed to escape, and the weight of the
shaft and connections then comes upon the suspended hanks, and gives them
the necessary tension: After this the upper shaft is put in motion, carrying
round the hanks over the four drums, and during this movement a set of
traversing brushes are put in action to work the thread up to the necessary
degree of polish, starch or other agent being supplied in any convenient manner.
The brushes are conveniently worked by cranks, being made to traverse back
and forward with considerable rapidity, but only brushing or really operating
upon the hanks in one direction. The brushing is performed both inside and
outside the hanks. This system of finishing is obviously applicable only for
finishing in the lank. Instead of this particular process, the threads may bo
individually finished or polished, by being passed through a suitable apparatus,
thread by thread, at or about the final operation of winding upon bobbins, in
the actual process of manufacture of the thread.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Blackwood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BLACKWOOD, of Arthurlie, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Bleacher,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in-the-seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Blackwood, Her special license that I, the said William Black-
wood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Blackwood, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands; and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN

page_text: THE TREATMENT AND FINISHING OF THREADS AND YARNS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Blackwood, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said William Blackwood, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to various arrangements of machinery, or means
for effecting the finishing or final polishing of thread used for sewing and for
other purposes. Under one form, the finishing apparatus consists of a vertical
frame, carrying an upper and lower horizontal shaft capable of revolving in
bearings in the standards; the overhanging ends of these shafts carry broad
drums or pulleys of metal, made hollow, as receptacles for steam to heat the
thread, which is finished in the form of hanks. The hanks are passed upon
the respective upper and lower pulleys or drums on each side of the framing,
and they
are stretched during the finishing action by proportionately separating
the two shafts. For this purpose, whilst a upper shaft revolves in fixed
overhead bearings, and is driven by gearing from the space comprehended
between the two standards, the lower shaft bearings are capable of traversing
vertically in guide slots, and this shaft runs loose, being connected to the piston
rod of a small steam or pressure cylinder, set on the Hoor between the two
standards, or in any other convenient position. When the hanks are put on
the drums of the machine to undergo the finishing process, the lower shaft is
elevated, by admitting steam or other agent to act on the piston of the small
supporting cylinder; and when the banks are properly disposed upon the
drums, the steam is allowed to escape, and the weight of the shaft and con-
nections then comes upon the suspended hanks, and gives them the necessary
tension. After this the upper shaft is put in motion, carrying round the banks
over the four drums; and during this movement, a set of traversing brushes
are put in action to work the thread up to the necessary degree of polish,
starch or other agent being supplied in any convenient manner. The brushes
are conveniently worked by cranks or eccentrics,. being made to traverse back
and forward with considerable rapidity, but only brushing or really operating
upon the hanks in one direction. The brushing is performed both inside and

page_text: outside the hanks. This system of finishing is obviously applicable only for
finishing in the hank. Instead of this particular process, the threads may be
individually finished or polished, by being passed through a suitable apparatus,
thread by thread, at or about the final operation of winding upon bobbins, in
the actual process of manufacture of the thread.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Draw-
ings hereunto attached. Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of the Drawings is a front, and
Figure 2 on the same Sheet is a side, elevation of my improved thread-finishing
machine; Figure 3 on Sheet 2 of the Drawings is a plan, and Figure 4 on
the same Sheet is a horizontal section of the machine, the latter being taken
a little above the shaft which carries the eccentrics for working the brushes.
The framing of the machine consists of the two cast-iron side standards A,
bolted down to a base plate B, and connected together above by the tie rods C.
Bearings are formed at D in the top of the side standards for a transverse
horizontal shaft E, to the overhanging ends of which metal drums F are bolted,
and serve as the upper supporters for the banks G of thread to be finished.
The shaft E has fast upon it a spur wheel H, which is in gear with a pinion I
on.a parallel shaft J; and the shaft J carries a spur wheel K in gear with 'a
pinion L on a third parallel shaft M, which has fast upon it a pulley N,
connected by a belt, .with a pulley O, on an overhead driving shaft P. These
driving details are set in and out of gear by means of a clutch box on the
shaft J, this clutch box being shifted when necessary by means of the hand
lever R, which acts on the shifting fork through a short spindle S, carried by
brackets standing up from the tie rods C. The bearings of the lower shaft T
slide in slots U in the lower part of the side standards, and the shaft has drums
'V, similar to the drums F above, bolted to its overhanging ends. The banks
G of the thread to be finished are passed upon the drums F, V, and when the
machine is working, the lower shaft T and drums V are supported by the
thread, their weight serving to stretch the thread to the proper working tension.
When-the-hanks-are-to-be-put-on-or-taken-off-the-drums,-or-when-they-require
to be relieved of the weight of the lower shaft T for any purpose, this shaft is
lifted by means of a cylinder and piston W, the piston rod of which is con-
nected by pendant rods X to a lever Y, oscillating on standards Z upon the
base plate, and jointed at its other end to a short rod a, jointed by a strap head
to the shaft T. The upper end of the cylinder W communicates through a
three-way cock b, with a steam pipe c, and an outlet pipe d. The stop-cock b
is shifted by means of a handled rod e, carried to the front of the machine, and
jointed to the lever of the cock plug. When the steam. is admitted into the

page_text: cylinder W, it depresses the piston and raises the shaft T; then, on the hanks
being adjusted upon the drums, the steam is allowed to escape, and the shaft
T and drums V stretch the threads by their weight; and if this is not sufficient,
an extra weight f may be hung to the rod a. Whilst the thread is being finished,
it is exposed to strong currents of heated air, so as to dry the starch or other
composition with which the thread has been previously treated. The air issues
from mouth-pieces g in a pipe h, of large bore, into which the air is blown
by suitable fan or other apparatus, and it is heated by means of a steam pipe i
passing along the interior of the pipe h. The threads are finished or polished by
means of four, pairs of brushes, two j acting upon the outsides of the hanks,,and
two k on the inner sides of the hanks. Each pair of brushes is attached to. a
bar, passing across the machine through vertical slots in. two frames m, which
are capable of sliding horizontally in guides n, bólted or formed upon the side
standards. The two pairs of inside brushes are fixed to a single bar 1, whilst
the bars of the outside brushes are rigidly connected together by the links or
brackets o. The several pairs of brushes are made to reciprocate vertically by
means of a series of eccentrics p, carried by a transverse shaft 9, revolving in
carries a
bearings on brackets. r, bolted to the side standards. The shaft.
pulleys, which is driven by a belt from a pulley t on the overhead .shaft P.
The rods of the eccentrics p are severally jointed to levers u, carried loosely
by an overhead shaft v.. Two of the levers u are jointed at their other ends
to rods w, which connect them to the links o of the outside brushes j; and the
other two levers u are jointed to rods a, which connect them to the inside
brushes k, the rods a being bent, so as to clear the upper shaft E.. The eccen-
trics of the outer and inner brushes respectively are set opposite to each other,
so that when one set of. brushes is rising, the other is falling. The shaft q
carries an additional eccentric y, the rod of which is jointed to. a cross bar Z,
fixed to, and connecting the two horizontally sliding guide frames m.
eccentric y is set so as to shift the guide frames from side to side at each change
in the direction of the brushes' motion, in such a manner that each brush only
acts upon the threads in one direction; thus, in Figure 2 of the Drawings, the
outside brushes are represented as descending whilst the inside brushes are
ascending, and the guide frame is drawn towards the shaft q, so that one pair
of outside brushes j is in contact with the ascending sides of the banks G,
5 whilst one pair of the inside brushes k is in contact with the opposite or
descending sides of the banks, the brushes in both cases going in the contrary
direction to that of the thread in contact with them; on the return movement
the guide frame will be shifted to the other side, and the ascending outside
brushes will be in contact with the descending sides of the banks, and the
The

page_text: descending inside brushes will be in contact with the ascending sides of the
hanks. Instead of stretching the hanks by means of the weight of the lower
shaft, or by means of a weight applied thereto, the requisite tension may be
given wholly or partially, by means of the cylinder and piston arrangement,
the steam or other fluid being made to act on opposite sides of the piston,
according as the lower shaft is to be raised or lowered.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describę or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery, apparatus,
or means, for finishing or polishing threads or yarns, as herein-before
described.
Second, the application and use in thread-finishing machinery of a cylinder
and piston arrangement, actuated by steam or other suitable fluid, for the
purpose of relieving the tension of the hanks of thread, or for the purpose of
giving tension to such hanks, as herein-before described.
Third, the application and use in thread-finishing machinery of reciprocating
brushes acting on both the outsides and insides of the banks of thread, as
hercin-before described.
Fourth, the application and use in thread-finishing machinery of a shifting
guide frame for the reciprocating brushes, to cause each of them to act on the
hanks in one direction only, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Blackwood, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty foun