CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY FOR THE SPINNING OF WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB- STANCES, THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGE OF WHICH INVENTION CONSISTS IN THE USE OF SPRING LEVERS IN SUCH SPINNING, ON AN ENTIRELY NEW PLAN, AS PULLY SHOWN IN MY SPECIFICATION HEREIN CONTAINED
Year: 1817

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY SIMPSON, of Bickington in the County of Devon, Mechanic, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Third, in and by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Tenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and seventeen,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, did grant and give unto the said
William Henry Simpson His special licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Henry Simpson, my exors, admors, and
assigns, and every of them, by myself and themselves, or by my and their
deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I, the said William
Henry Simpson, my exors, admors, or assigns, shall at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
of fourteen years from the date thereof, to be fully compleat and ended, shall
and lawfully may make, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MACHINERY FOR THE SPINNING OF WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES, THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGE OF WHICH INVENTION CONSISTS IN THE USE OF
SPRING LEVERS IN SUCH SPINNING, ON AN ENTIRELY NEW PLAN, AS PULLY SHOWN IN
MY SPECIFICATION HEREIN CONTAINED:" And whereas there is in the said Letters
Patent a proviso obliging me, the said William Henry Simpson, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which it is

page_text: performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within two months next immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, as in and by the same will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, and being
desirous fully to ascertain and exhibit my said Invention, so that the same
may be well understood, I, the said William Henry Simpson, do hereby
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in the following description thercof (that is to
To avoid the many evils attending the old mode of spinning either wool or
cotton, or other fibrous substances, but more especially the former, to work with
more uniformity and regularity, and to prevent the great waste now made in
worsted and cotton mills by the present mode, the following Invention is offered
to the public-Let there be a bobbin to hold about five ounces of worsted,
with a brass washer of a circular shape, two inches and a quarter in diameter,
and about one ounce three drachms in weight, to fit the spindle easily; let its
collar or socket rise and enter the bottom of the bobbin about half an inch.
It must fit tightly in the bobbin, or it will be found requisite to rivet a piece
of brass or iron wire into the washer near the socket, to enter the bottom of
the bobbin. As a counterpart to the brass washer and collar before mentioned,
a brass cap and collar turned neatly must be added and hollowed, and made
to fit the top of the bobbin, and sufficiently large to project a little over its
edge, in order to guard and protect the thread from injury by broken or rough
edged bobbins, which injury frequently occurs on the old plan. At the
bottom, adjoining the brass washer before mentioned, must be fixed two spring
levers, the length of the levers about seven inches and a half, and of the
springs five inches and a half, each well tempered, the width of the spring
being about one sixth of an inch; and at the further end of each lever must
be a small metallic pivot, with a hole in it, that it may run loosely on the pin
on which it is fixed. A small pillar of brass, about half an inch in height,
must be placed on the lever near the pivot, and on the top of it the spring
must be inserted. Each lever must have at its near end a brass ball; the ball
on one lever must be an ounce, the other half an ounce in weight, being
moved occasionally to increase the pressure of the springs upon the brass
washer, whenever it may be thought necessary to add to the speed of the
mill. Near the ball must be another small pillar of brass, with a groove in
it about a quarter of an inch in depth for the spring, and wide enough for it

page_text: to move in. In this pillar are two small thumb screws to regulate the
strength of the spring, and to give it a less or greater degree of power. This
pillar is moveable on the lever. The ball must be made to move to and fro
on a screw at the near end of the lever, for the purpose of increasing its
weight and power. In the front of the frame is a small plate of brass or
iron, about six inches in length and one inch in depth, accurately divided
into ten divisions or indents, five on cach side. On the top of each division
or indent is a small notch, and in these divisions and notches the levers are
moved backward or forward as the bobbin varies in weight and size, which
will allow a bobbin to be regulated in a moment, and prevent the necessity
of stopping the frame and taking off the bobbin, as usually done. Instead
of, the small bobbins now used in every mill, a bobbin which will hold four
times as much may, on this plan, be worked with the greatest case, the
thread not being in the smallest degree injured by the weight of the bobbin
as formerly; and the bobbin being so much larger, the disadvantage of so
frequently changing it is obviated in a similar proportion. Instead of the
levers described, another lever of a more simple and less expensive form
may be used. This lever of steel or iron must be of the same length as '
before described, with the spring upon it fastened to the lever at the further
end with a thumb-screw, the spring being elevated a little at that end under
the screw. The spring ending in one or two circular turns, must be fastened
at the near end with a small wire link, and the link must be moveable to and
fro on indents made in the under part of the lever; and on indents at the
upper part the ball is hung by a small wire link, and moveable to and fro to
increase or decrease its weight and power, on the principle of the common
steelyard. At the bottom of the washer should be placed a brass or steel
collar or button across the bobbin carrier, about one inch and a half long and
half an inch wide, on which the washer works to lessen the friction and
resistance occasioned by the old plan. The springs of the levers, should it be
necessary, may pass over and press on the washer, either together or singly,
for the purpose of regulating its motion; and the evils of the two extremes
of an empty and a full bobbin will be obviated entirely by the due application
of the levers.
I rest the merits of this plan on the great advantages of the spring levers.
In the first place, by adopting them as above described, the speed of the mill
may be doubled, consequently the manufacturer will be enabled to sell cheaper
at home and abroad; secondly, the great waste made on the old plan is
prevented; and, thirdly and lastly, by preventing the friction & resistance
ccasioned by the plans hitherto adopted, a bobbin much larger may be used

page_text: Inrolled the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventeen.