IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING, ROVING, AND DRAWING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Combe, of Trinity, in the County of
Edinburgh, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
SPINNING, ROVING, AND DRAWING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 15th December 1874, and dated the 4th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Combe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th July 1874.
I, JOHN COMBE, of Trinity, in the County of Edinburgh, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR SPINNING, ROVING, AND DRAWING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in making the flier continuous round
the top and bottom of the bobbin, and providing it with a tubular
bearing at the bottom end which revolves in a brass bush or collar
-1471

page_text: formed with an internal tube which retains the oil, and through which
a fixed spindle carrying the bobbin is made to slide up and down by the
traverse motion. The top end of the flier is made with an eye hole for
the yarn to pass through, and the sides of the flier are provided with
projecting horns at the top and at the middle, the horns at the top
projecting upwards, and the horns at the middle projecting downwards,
so that the yarn passes in a sloping direction clear of the bobbin head in
its highest position between the upper horn and the side of the flier, and
then passes downwards and between the lower horn and the side of the
flier, from which it then passes horizontally round the stem of the
bobbin. Outside of the eye hole the top of the flier is made with a
circular groove, which retains the oil and receives a fixed tubular
bracket made of steel, and provided with a brass ring or hoop which
forms a bush or bearing between the tubular portion of the fixed
bracket and the circular groove in the top of the flier, which is thus
kept steady in its revolution by the fixed tubular bracket. The whorl
or pulley which gives motion to the flier is fixed on the lower tubular
bearing immediately above the. brass bush or collar in which the flier
revolves. The top of the driving cylinder receives the tapes from
the whorls or pulleys of one side, and a guide roller carried on
pivots receives the tapes from the cylinder and delivers them at the
level of the whorl or pulley; and on the other side a guide roller
receives the tapes from the whorls at a suitable angle of depression,
and another guide roller above delivers the tapes at the level of the
whorls.
My Invention also consists in placing the bobbin on a tube carrying
at its top end a pin which drops into a hole in the top of the spindle
containing a little oil, the lower end of the tube being received in the
circular groove of a brass collar or bush so formed as to retain the oil
which lubricates the lower end of the tube. Immediately above the
brass collar or bush a horizontal disc is fixed on the tube, and carries
two pins which are received by two holes in the bottom of the bobbin,
and this disc rests on a leather washer which rests on another disc
below, which is fixed on the spindle, and by this means the two pins in
the upper disc retaining the bobbin cause it to be dragged by the
friction of the under and upper surfaces of the upper and lower discs
against the leather washer, which is placed between them and the brass
bush or collar in which the lower end of the tube revolves, being made

page_text: free to slide up or down on the spindle. I retain the brass bush or
collar from revolving on the spindle by cutting two notches in its lower
part, which receive and rest on the top ends of two slips of steel, which
are continued downwards through the boss of the lower disc at opposite
sides of the spindle, which are flattened to the width of the slips of steel,
which are also continued downwards through the bush or collar in
which the tubular bearing at the lower end of the flier revolves, and
immediately below this brass bush or collar the ends of the two slips of
steel are fastened with small screws to a brass ring or collar which slides
on the fixed spindle which carries the bobbin, and this brass ring or
collar rests on a spiral spring coiled round the spindle, and this spiral
spring rests on a brass collar or nut which screws on the lower part of
the spindle, which is chased with a fine thread to receive it, and by
screwing this nut or collar up or down the drag on the bobbin caused
by the friction of the two discs above can be diminished or increased as
desired by the action of the spiral spring counteracting the pressure
caused by the weight of the bobbin and the upper disc together
resting on the leather washer interposed between the two discs, and
by this means also the increasing weight of the bobbin as it fills
gives to a certain extent a self-regulating increase of drag to the
bobbin.
In applying the continuous flier, as above described, to cone roving
frames I place the bevel pinnions, which give motion to the fliers, im-
mediately under an ordinary collar or bush through which the tubular
bearing at the lower end of the flier is prolonged to receive the bevel
pinion, and I cast lugs or bearings which receive the bushes of the
driving shafts for two rows of spindles on the rails which carry the
bushes in which the lower ends of the fliers revolve, these lugs or
bearings projecting downwards and receiving the bush or collar in its
place on the shaft, which bush or collar is retained in its place by a
pin which passes through holes drilled in the horns or lugs of the
bearings cast on the rails. A similar rail is fixed below, but with the
lugs or bearings projecting upwards, carrying the bushes of two similar
shafts, the wheels on which drive the pinions which give motion to the
spindles which carry and give motion to the -bobbins, these pinions
being keyed fast on a socket provided with a feather, which takes into a
groove in the spindle, which slides up and down in the socket, which
causes it to revolve. The driving shafts which give motion to the fliers

page_text: are placed below the pinions to which their driving wlieels givë motion;
but the driving shafts which give motion to the spindles on which the
bobbins are retained by a cross key which drops into a slot in the top of
the spindle are placed above the pinions to which their respective
driving wheels give motion, and by using driving wheels and pinions of
a suitable diameter and pitch the two sets of driving shafts are con
tained within the lines of spindles by the skew of the bevel gearing
being respectively reversed for the back and front rows of spindles:
The rail which carries the tubular brackets as previously described,
which hold the tops of the fliers; are made serpentine in the lower part
so as to allow clear space for the revolution of the fliers, and the tubular
brackets of the front row of fliers project forwards while those of the
back row of fliers project backwards.
My Invention also consists in placing immediately over the flier, as
above described, a drawing roller, the circumference of which is cut out
in notches into which the projecting rims of two discs, cut out to
correspond, are received, these two discs being of a diameter larger than
the drawing roller, and pressed together by spiral springs so as to nip
closely together between the notches and beyond the circumference 'öf
the drawing roller when nothing is interposed between them. This
being so I place a small disc below and a little in front of the centre
line of the drawing roller, the edge of which disc is made to interpose
between the other two discs, which are thus made to nip closely together
at that point of their circumference which is opposite the point where
the small disc or roller is interposed between them. Behind thẻ
drawing roller a retaining roller of a diameter proportional to the length
of fibre of 'the material operated upon is so placed that the common
tangent of the drawing roller and retaining roller is of a suitable length
to suit the draft of the drawing roller on the delivery of the retaining
roller. At the back of the retaining roller a pressing roller is suspended
in a forked lever, the lower end of which is pulled by a weight or spiral
spring in a direction forward, so that the pressing roller is caused to nip
and retain the material operated upon, the fibres of which are thus
retained from running into their places by the joint action of the twist
and the pressure of the material operated upon against the circum-
ference of the retaining roller caused by the pull of the drawing roller.
The object and purpose of the arrangement described being by
*11* *
of the notched drawing roller and the 'double discs combined with it to

page_text: bring what is technically called the nip nearer to the tangential point
of the retaining roller than is now possible by means of the drawing and
pressing rollers in ordinary use. And in wet spinning as applied to flax,
in which the lower portion of the retaining roller is immersed in water
contained in a suitable trough, the fibres being retained by the joint
action of the water, the twist, and the pressure of the rove on the cir-
cumference of the retaining roller are capable of being drawn and spun
into a smoother, leveller, stronger, and more clean-skinned yarn than is.
now practicable with the spinning machines in ordinary use, in which
the longer fibres not being, as in my arrangement as now described, at
liberty to slide through each other as they are drawn are necessarily
broken short by the severity of the action of the fluted rollers and short
reach at which they are held between the drawing rollers and the
retaining rollers.
My Invention also consists in providing the circumference of the
retaining roller with cross rows of steel pins or gills, and using such
retaining roller as a substitute for screw gills now used in drawing
fibrous substances, and I give these rows of steel pins or gills a radial
motion so that the points of the pins may be drawn within the line of
the circumference of the retaining roller when the row of steel pins or
gills in question is passing the point of contact with the pressing roller,
and immediately the point of contact with the pressing roller is passed I
cause the row of steel pins or gills to move outwards so as to pierce
through and retain the fibrous substance operated upon from running
into thin places, and I cause the rows of steel pins or gills to be drawn
in again at the tangential point of the retaining roller where the fibrous
material operated upon begins to be separated from the retaining roller by
the drawing action of the drawing roller. In applying this arrangement
now described to roving frames I use a drawing roller with double discs,
as previously described as applied to spinning frames, or I use a plain or
fluted drawing roller with one or more small pressing rollers under it,
so as to bring the nip of the pressing roller next to the retaining roller,
within a short distance of the tangential point of the retaining roller;
and I use this arrangement also for spinning in place of the notched
drawing roller with double discs, as desired. I also use a similar
arrangement of drawing rollers and retaining rollers, with movable gills
of a greater width, in doubling and drawing fibrous substances in the
processes, preparatory to roving, as a substitute for screw gill drawing

page_text: frames now in ordinary use. And I also use retaining rollers with
moveable gills in spinning frames, with steel pins for dry spinning, and
brass or other non-rusting metal pins for wet spinning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Combe in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COMBE, of Trinity, in the County of Edinburgh, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Combe, Her special license that
I, the said John Combe, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Combe, my executors, adminis-
trators, and 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, exercise, and vend
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR SPINNING, ROVING, AND DRAWING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Combe, my executors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 I, the said John Combe, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists firstly in making the flier continuous round the
top and bottom of the bobbin, and providing it with a tubular bearing

page_text: at the bottom end, which revolves in a brass bush or collar formed with
an internal tube which retains the oil, and through which a fixed spindle
carrying the bobbin is made to slide up and down by the traverse motion.
The top end of the flier is made with an eye hole for the yarn to pass
through, and the sides of the flier are provided with projecting horns at
the top and at the middle, the horns at the top projecting upwards, and
the horns at the middle projecting downwards, so that the yarn passes in
a sloping direction clear of the bobbin head in its highest position
between the upper horn and the side of the flier, and then passes down-
wards and between the lower horn and the side of the flier, from which
it then passes horizontally round the stem of the bobbin. Outside of
the eye hole the top of the flier is made with a circular groove, which
retains the oil and receives a fixed tubular bracket made of steel and
provided with a brass ring or hoop, which forms a bush or bearing
between the tubular portion of the fixed bracket and the circular groove
in the top of the flier, which is thus kept steady in its revolution by the
fixed tubular bracket. The whorl or pulley which gives motion to the
flier is fixed on the lower tubular bearing immediately above the brass
bush or collar in which the flier revolves. The top of the driving
cylinder receives the tapes from the whorls or pulleys of one side, and a
guide roller carried on pivots receives the tapes from the cylinder and
delivers them at the level of the whorl or pulley; and on the other side
a guide roller receives the tapes from the whorls at a suitable angle of
depression, and another guide roller above delivers the tapes at the level
of the whorls.
My Invention also consists in placing the bobbin on a tube carrying
at its top end a pin which drops into a hole in the top of the spindle
containing a little oil, the lower end of the tube being received in the
circular groove of a brass collar or bush so formed as to retain the oil
which lubricates the lower end of the tube. Immediately above the
brass collar or bush a horizontal disc is fixed on the tube and carries two
pins, which are received by two holes in the bottom of the bobbin, and
this disc rests on a leather washer which rests on another disc below, and
by this means the two pins in the upper disc retaining the bobbin cause
it to be dragged by the friction of the under and upper surfaces of the
upper and lower discs against the leather washer which is placed between
them, and the amount of friction put upon these discs, and consequently
the amount of drag placed upon the bobbin I regulate, as herein-after

page_text: déscribed, by means of apparatus below the bottom wearing
flier.
оно
At Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown a
sectional elevation of a bobbin and flier arranged as above described.
In this Figure a is the flyer, having at its bottom end a tubular bearing a¹
revolving in a tubular recess in a brass bush 6, the oil used for lubri-
cation being retained in the recess; through the bush ŉ passes the fixed
spindle c, which carries the bobbin d, and which is made by the traverse
motion to slide up and down; a² is an eye at the top of the flyer for
the yarn to pass through; a³ are horns projecting from the sides of the
flyer, as shewn at Figure 2. The yarn, which is led down through the
eye over these horns and on to the bobbin, is shewn by the line e.
Outside of the eye hole a² the top of the flyer is formed with a circular
recess, into which is received a tubular bearing f, which is surrounded
by a small brass ring, and is carried by a bracket f¹ from the rail u;
I is the whorl or pulley at the lower end of the flyer, and by which it
is driven. The diagram view, Figure 3, shows how two sets of flyers,
one on either side of a machine, may be driven by tapes from one
driving cylinder h. The top of the driving cylinder receives the tapes
from the whorls or pulleys of the flyers on one side, and a guide roller /¹
receives the tapes from the cylinder, and delivers them at the level of
the whorl g. On the other side of the machine a guide roller h² receives
the tapes from the whorls at a suitable angle of depression, and another
This
guide roller delivers the tapes at the level of the whorls.
arrangement for driving the flyers on the two sides of the machine from
'one driving cylinder is rendered admissible with my arrangement of
bobbin and flyer, as any of the bobbins may be doffed when full without
stopping the driving cylinder. The bobbin d is placed upon a tube i,
which carries at its top end a pin . This pin drops into a hole in the
'top of the fixed spindle c. The lower end of the tube is received in a
circular recess in a brass collar k, which is fixed upon the spindle.
Above this collar ka disc is fixed to the tube, and carries two pins
which are received in holes in the bottom of the bobbin. The disc/
´rests on a leather washer /, which rests on a disc l². This latter disc
can be raised or lowered upon the fixed spindle c, but cannot turn
around it; and it is held up against the leather washer and disc / by
"a strip of metal connected at its lower end to a lever m, as shewn,
and the amount of drag thus applied to the bobbin can be adjusted by

page_text: varying the position of the weight m' upon the lever. The same result
may also be obtained by making the disc a fixture upon the spindle c,
and the tubular bearing k movable thereon, and upheld by means of a
weighted lever or spiral spring in the manner described in my Pro-
visional Specification. I however prefer the arrangement shewn in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
The advantages derived from the above arrangement of bobbin and
flyer are that a comparatively light flyer may be used, that the oil is
retained in the bearings in which it is supported, and that whenever a
bobbin is full the full bobbin may be doffed without removing its
flyer.
In applying the continuous flyer as above described to cone roving
frames I place the bevel pinions which give motion to the flyers imme-
diately under. an ordinary collar or bush, through which the tubular
bearing at the lower end of the flyer is prolonged to receive the bevel
pinion; and I cast lugs or bearings which receive the bushes of the
driving shafts for two rows of spindles on the rails which carry the
bushes in which the lower ends of the flyers revolve, these lugs or
bearings projecting downwards and receiving the bush or collar in its
place on the shaft, which bush or collar is retained in its place by a pin
which passes through holes drilled in the horns or lugs of the bearings
cast on the rails. A similar rail is fixed below, but with the lugs or
bearings projecting upwards carrying the bushes of two similar shafts,
the wheels on which drive the pinions which give motion to the spindles
which carry and give motion to the bobbins, these pinions being keyed
fast on a socket provided with a feather, which takes into a groove in the
spindle, which slides up and down in the socket which causes it to
revolve. The driving shafts which give motion to the flyers are placed
below the pinions to which their driving wheels give motion, but the
.driving shafts which give motion to the spindles on which the bobbins
are retained by a cross key which drops into a slot in the top of the
spindle are placed above the pinions to which their respective driving
wheels give motion, and by using driving wheels and pinions of a suitable
diameter and pitch the two sets of driving shafts are contained within
the lines of spindles by the skew of the bevel gearing being respectively
reversed for the back and front rows of spindles. The rail which carries
the tubular brackets, as previously described, which hold the tops of the
flyers are, made serpentine in the lower, part so, as to allow clear for
space

page_text: the revolution of the flyers, and the tubular brackets of the front row of
flyers project forwards while those of the back row of flyers project
backwards.
Figure 4 shews a sectional elevation of so much of a cone roving
frame as is necessary to render clear this part of my Invention. In this t
Figure n is a bevil pinion on the tubular bearing at the lower end of the
flyer; o, bearings projecting downwards from the rail p, which rail
carries the bushes in which the lower ends of the flyers revolve. The
bearings o support driving shafts q for two rows of spindles c as shewn.
r is a similar rail fixed below, but with bearings o projecting upwards 1
and carrying two similar shafts; 8, 8, the bevil wheels on which drive
pinions on two rows of spindles c which carry and give motion to the
bobbins. Each of the pinions t is keyed fast on a socket ť provided
with an internal feather, which enters a longitudinal groove in the
spindle and leaves the spindle free to be moved up and down. The 1
driving shafts q are below the pinions n, whilst the shafts s are above
the pinions t, and both sets of shafts lie within the space between the
two rows of spindles, the skew of the bevil wheels for driving the back
and front rows respectively of the spindles being reversed to allow of
this in the manner shewn at Figure 5. u is the rail which carries the 2
brackets for supporting the tops of the flyers, the lower part of which
rail is of a serpentino form, as shown in the plan view, Figure 5.
My Invention also consists in placing immediately over the flyer, as
above described, a drawing roller so constructed as to nip and hold
the fibres between nipping surfaces which travel round together with the 2
fibre held by them. Two forms of nipping roller constructed to act in
this manner are shewn in the Drawings annexed.
One arrangement is shewn at Figures 8 and 9, which are subsequently
described; the other arrangement is shewn in the sectional view, Figure 1,
and separately in side view at Figure 6, and at sectional plan at Figure 7. 3
In these Figures v is a shaft carrying pairs of discs v', v²; the face of one
of these discs v₁ is slightly coned, as shewn at Figure 7, so that when it
is pressed at one point of its circumference up to the face of the other
disc v², the discs stand apart from one another at the opposite point of
their circumference. The discs are pressed together in this manner at a
one point of their circumference by reason of the back of the discs v¹
resting against rollers w which are carried by brackets from the rail u

page_text: whilst the discs v² are pressed towards the discs v¹ by means of spiral
springs, as shewn at Figure 6. The discs v² have projections standing
out from them which enter corresponding notches in the discs v¹. These
projections serve to support the fibres and also to cause the discs v¹ to
revolve together with the discs v² which are carried round with the
spindle v. By this arrangement of drawing roller the fibres are nipped
between the discs at the point where the discs are pressed together and
are carried round with the discs to be delivered to the flyer. Behind
the drawing roller a retaining roller wx, of a diameter proportional to
the length of fibre of the material operated upon, is so placed that the
common tangent of the drawing roller and retaining roller is of a
suitable length to suit the draft of the drawing roller on the delivery
of the retaining roller. At the back of the retaining roller w* a
pressing roller x is suspended in a forked lever x², the lower end of which
is pulled by a spring x² or it might be by a weight, so that the pressing
roller is caused to nip and retain the material operated upon, the
fibres of which are thus retained from running into their places by the
joint action of the twist, and the pressure of the material operated upon
against the circumference of the retaining roller caused by the pull of
the drawing roller. The lines e shew two sets of yarns, one coming
from bobbins e¹, and the other from bobbins placed at a higher level
upon the frame of the machine, and which are not shewn in the
Drawings.
The object and purpose of the arrangement above described is to bring
what is technically called the nip of the drawing rollers nearer to the
tangential point of the retaining roller than is now possible by means of
the drawing and pressing rollers in ordinary use. And in wet spinning
as applied to flax in which the lower portion of the retaining roller is
immersed in water contained in a suitable trough, the fibres being
retained by the joint action of the water, the twist and the pressure of
the rove on the circumference of the retaining roller are capable of being
drawn and spun into a smoother, leveller, stronger, and more clean
skinned yarn than is now practicable with the spinning machines in
ordinary use, in which the longer fibres not being as in my arrangement
as now described, at liberty to slide through each other as they are drawn
are necessarily broken short by the severity of the action of the fluted
rollers and short reach, at which they are held between the drawing
rollers and the retaining rollers.

page_text: My Invention also consists in providing the circumference of the
retaining roller with cross rows of steel pins or gills, and using such
retaining roller as a substitute for screw gills now used in drawing
fibrous substances, and I give these rows of steel pins or gills a radial
motion so that the points of the pins may be drawn within the line of
the circumference of the retaining roller when the row of steel pins or
gills in question is passing the point of contact with the pressing roller,
and immediately the point of contact with the pressing roller is passed I
cause the row of steel pins or gills to move outwards so as to pierce
through and retain the fibrous substance operated upon from running
into thin places, and I cause the rows of steel pins or gills to be drawn
in again at the tangential point of the retaining roller where the fibrous
material operated upon begins to be separated from the retaining roller
by the drawing action of the drawing roller. In applying this arrange-
ment now described to roving frames I use a drawing roller.constructed
to nip the fibre in the manner previously described; or I use a plain or
fluted drawing roller with one or more small pressing rollers under it so
as to bring the nip of the pressing roller next to the retaining roller
within a short distance of the tangential point of the retaining roller,
and I use this arrangement also for spinning in place of the notched
drawing roller with double discs; as desired. I also use a similar
arrangement of drawing rollers and retaining rollers with movable gills.
of a greater width in doubling and drawing fibrous substances in the
processes preparatory to roving as a substitute for screw gill drawing
frames now in ordinary use. And I also use retaining rollers with
movable gills in spinning frames with steel pins for dry spinning and
brass or other non-rusting metal pins for wet spinning.
At Figure 8 I have shewn a retaining roller constructed as above
described with cross rows of pins capable of being moved radially inwards
or outwards from the roller. Figure 9 is a longitudinal section of one.
end of the same, and also shews the drawing rollers acting therewith.
In these Figures y, y, are the bars carrying the pins; these bars are pro-
vided at each end with rollers y' which are received between fixed cam
surfaces, which as the retaining roller revolves cause the pins to be
moved in and out from the roller in the manner shewn at Figure 8. x is
the pressing roller, and z, z, are drawing rollers constructed to act in a
similar manner to that herein-before described, but in place of the fibres
being nipped between two discs, as in the arrangement shewn at Figures

page_text: 1, 6, and 7, they are held between the surface of a disc z and the heads
of pins ¹ which are ranged around it near its circumference, as shewn.
The heads of the pins are drawn up to the disc z by spiral springs, as
shewn at Figure 9, and the rear ends of the pins bear against fixed cam
surfaces not shewn in the Drawing, which at the point where the fibre
is to be released from the grip of the drawing roller cause the heads of
the pins to move away from the disc and retain them in this position
until they again come round into position to lay hold of the fibre.
Narrow slivers of fibre are led over the pressing roller and on to the
retaining roller, and are conveyed by it to the drawing rollers, as shewn
in the Drawings, and delivered to the flyers a to be twisted and wound
In witness whereof, I, the
set my hand and seal, this
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
said John Combe, have hereunto
Fourth day of January, in the year