CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, ROVING, AND SLUBBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FLETCHER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-second day of May, in the eighth year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Fletcher, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Fletcher, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said James Fletcher, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others; from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, ROVING, AND SLUBBING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said James Fletcher, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Fletcher, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof (that is to say):-
My Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Preparing, Roving, and
Slubbing Cotton and other Fibrous Substances apply to the ordinary machinery
employed for the above-named purposes, and particularly to that part of the
same called the "flyer." My improvements consist,―
Firstly, in a novel and peculiar combination of the parts constituting what
is known to spinners and manufacturers as the "presser flyer," which is
employed for winding the roving or sliver of cotton, &c. on to the bobbin in
the above-named preparation processes. This improved "presser flyer" con-
sists in the application of a helical wire spring, which is fixed to a ring or
neb at the bottom of the flyer leg. I employ a ring connecting the two legs
of the flyer together in such manner as to prevent expansion by the action of
the "presser" against the bobbin, or by centrifugal force. The helical spring
may be applied without the ring connecting the two legs of the flyer together,
by its application either to the "presser or to a neb fixed on the bottom of
the flyer leg and acting upon the heel of the "presser" in such manner as to
cause the other end of the presser to act upon the bobbin with equal pressure
from the empty to the full bobbin, so that the bobbin of rovings may be of an
equal density or hardness from the commencement to the full bobbin.
"
The second feature of novelty of my Invention consists in casting the
"flyer" in moulds or "chills," to dispense with the tedious process of forging
them as usual and forming them afterwards; the "flyers" will by this process
be of more equal dimension and weight one with another than when made by
the old process of forging, &c.
In order that my improvements may be fully understood and rendered prac-
tically evident, I have exhibited in the Drawings attached full size representa-
tions of my improved "presser flyers," with their respective spindle and bobbin
attached, each "flyer" being slightly varied in their construction.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3 exhibit the flyer with the helical spring & inserted in the
inside of a neb or tube cast upon the edge of the ring a, and a small neb or
tube c fitting the inside of the helical spring b; the spring being compressed
forces, out the small neb or tube c against the heel of presser d, and causes the
presser to press against the bobbin e, so that the pressure may be made uniform
against the bobbin, from the empty to the full bobbin, by the proper formation
of the heel of the presser d.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6. represent the helical spring 6 on the outside of the ring a, and

page_text: a small washer or collar c sliding between the compressed helical spring b and
the heel of the presser d, and causes the presser to act upon the bobbin in the
same way as in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
Figs. 7, 8, and 9 represent the helical spring 6 inserted in a hollow tube or
ring a, and having a hoop or washer c on the outside with a pin through it,
sliding in a slot in the ring a, against which the compressed helical spring b
acts and forces it against the heel of the "presser" d, and causes the "presser'
to act upon the bobbin in the same way as in the two preceding arrangements.
The helical spring may be applied without the ring a by having a small tube
attached to the bottom of the flyer leg, and the spring inserted into the
tube in the same way as it is applied to the nob of the ring in Figs. 1, 2,
and 8; and further, it may be applied by inserting the spring into a tube on
the presser, and having a small neb or table acting on another neb attached
fast to the bottom of the flyer leg. The helical spring being compressed forces
the small table against the neb on the flyer leg, and causes the presser to act
against the bobbin in the same manner as in the other flyers.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I desire it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, the application of a helical spring for giving pressure to the bobbin
either in the different arrangements described and shewn in the Drawing
attached or otherwise; and,
Secondly, I claim the Invention of casting the "flyers" of malleable iron
and other metals.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Fletcher, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of November, One thousand eight