AN IMPROVED ASSORTING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE 'NUMBERING OF RAW SILKS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marc Antoine François Mennons, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire
of France, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ASSORTING APPARATUS
APPLICABLE TO THE 'NUMBERING OF RAW SILKS."-A communication from
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Marc Antoine François
Mennons at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 28th August 1862, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARC
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices, 24,
Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED ASSORTING
APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE 'NUMBERING' OF RAW SILKS," communicated to me
by Henri Travi, a person resident at Lyons (Dept. du Rhône), in France, and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and made solemn
declaration that it is a communication.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, do
hereby declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and

page_text: seal fully describes and ascertains the nature of the Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, reference being had to the Figures
of the accompanying Drawing, and to the letters marked thereon, that is to
Bay:
This Invention consists in an improved combination of mechanism by means
of which the process of "numbering" ("titrage") of raw silks may be per-
formed with mathematical precision and with greater celerity than by the
methods at present in general use.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a view of the complete apparatus;
a is a
Figure 2 is a section of the same through the line A, B, Fig. 1.
wooden framework supporting the entire mechanism; b, b, is a crank or
pulley communicating with the motor, and mounted freely on a horizontal
shaft d by which the movement is transmitted, 1stly through the rack
gear 1,2, to the winding tubes g set on the cylinder e. 2dly, to the unclinching
hammer f, by which the rotation is checked after a given number of revolutions;
c, gearing discs acting on the shaft d; g, winding tubes fixed by the nut h to
the cylinder e, and drawing off in their rotation the threads to be numbered
contained in the bobbins i set freely on a horizontal tablet. The diameter of
these winding tubes is calculated according to the standard required, and is
the same for all in each apparatus; j. glass thread guides; k, roller, covered
with a velvet tissue, and serving to stretch the silk on its passage to the winding
tubes;, rigid bar carrying the guides ; and executing a come-and-go motion
on the guide rollers m. The movement of this bar is executed by the cam n,
fixed on the toothed wheel r and acting on the roller o, the lever p and the
connecting rod q. The roller o is set excentrically on the shaft on which it
revolves and is constantly maintained in contact with the cam by means of the
springs; t is a vertical pinion communicating to the arbor u, the motion of
the driving shaft d; V, cam fixed on the arbor u and acting on the catch
bar W;, articulated lever raised by the cam V and falling when freed on
the bar W which is connected with the gearing lever y, and secured with it
by the holdfast Z; o, spring pressing on the lever y and tending constantly to
throw out of gear the discs c; &, casing of the mechanism. The object of
the combination above described is to obtain on a cylinder of known diameter
a number of turns of the thread wound off in such a manner that this number
of turns may always represent an invariable length of thread whatever may be
the speed at which the machinery is driven, or the moment at which the
operation is performed. Thus all the winding tubes of the same machine
being, as before stated, of the same diameter, it is essential that the movement
should be suspended at the precise moment at which the required number of

page_text: turns are obtained, so that the numbering of the threads wound off may be
deduced from their weight, the length being always the same. To obtain an
unvarying length of thread it is indispensable that the mechanism by which
the rotation of the winding tubes is produced, and that by which the rotation
is checked should work in conjunction, as if one portion were allowed to act
independently of the others, a loss of time would necessarily be incurred by
the latter, and the suspension of the movement would consequently take
place either before or after the completion of the conventional number of turns.
For this reason the different elements of the apparatus are so combined that
the movement is instantaneously suspended as soon as the given length of
thread (say for instance 500 yards) is wound off from the feeding bobbins.
The driving shaft & being started by any suitable force applied to the crank or
pulley its motion is decomposed into three others, viz., Istly, the motion of
the winding tubes produced by the cog wheels 1, 2. 2dly, the motion of the
rigid bar carrying the guides ; produced by the toothed wheels 3, 4, the
cam n, the roller o, the lever p, and the connecting rod q. 3dly, the unclinching
motion produced by the endless screws 5, 6, by the pinions 7, 8, with which
they work, and by the cam V. The elements of the motions 1 and 3 are so
combined that the stroke of the hammer f on the unclinching gear exactly
coincides with the completion of the 4188th revolution of the winding tubes,
while the curves of the cam n, and the excentricity of the roller o, are
calculated to distribute uniformly on these tubes the threads proceeding from
the feeding bobbins. Figures 3, 4, represent in front and side view a
modification of the machine above described, in which the rackwork acting on
the winding tubes is replaced by friction gear. The numbering process is
performed by this arrangement as correctly as by that shewn in the previous
Figures for even were the pulley wheel A, which is worked by the friction
of the corresponding wheel B, to slide on the latter, the suspension of the
rotation of the winding tubes would be accompanied by the inaction of the
unclinching or counting mechanism. All these movements are communicated
by the tube axle instead of by the driving shaft as in Figures 1; 2. The
unclinching gear is formed by the pinions T, U, the cam V, and the spring F.
When the required lengths of thread are wound off the spring F (previously
retained by the cam V), expands and acts on the bolt W, which raises slightly
the tube shaft and prevents the contact of the two wheels A & B, thus
checking the rotation of the tubes. Figure 5 is a section of the winding tubes
provided with a stop piece X, which serves to retain the threads before and
after the winding. These tubes are guided in a longitudinal groove formed in
the shaft by the stud Z, by which they are at the same time keyed in position.

page_text: Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention, and
the manuer of carrying it into effect, I declare that I claim and desire to
protect by Letters Patent the novel combination of mechanism as herein
specified, and shewn in the Figures of the annexed Drawing, by aid of which
the process of numbering raw silks may be performed with greater precision
and celerity than by any of the methods hitherto adopted.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
two.