IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING SEWING THREAD OF COTTON, LINEN, OR SILK
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William McGee, of Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING SEWING THREAD OF COTTON, LINEN,
OR SILK."
Scaled the 9th June 1876, and dated the 13th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William McGee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th December 1875.
I, WILLIAM M'GEE, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for 66 IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING SEWING THREAD OF COTTON,
LINEN, OR SILK," to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to machinery specially adapted for winding
sewing thread of cotton, linen, or silk, upon paper or other tubes, or
on wooden or other spindles.
In carrying out the Invention the thread is wound in what is known
as the cop form, or, in other words, in conical layers, so that it can be

page_text: :
drawn off endways and without rotation of the cop. The winding
spindles are by preference placed vertically, and may be driven by
toothed gearing or by cords from one or more long drums, or by
frictional discs; but in each case well known means are employed either
to cause the speed of the spindles to vary or to alternately take up and
give out thread, so as to compensate to a greater or less extent for the
varying diameter of the conical surface upon which the thread is being
wound.
In one modification the improved machinery is designed so as to
deal with a comparatively large number of winding spindles in a small
space and in a compact manner, but so that each spindle is conveniently
accessible to the attendant. The framing is formed with horizontal
rails for three, four, or more rows of spindles on each side; and the
rows of spindles are inclined in plan, one end of the framing being
narrower than the other, whilst each row above the lowest is arranged
nearer the middle of the framing than the row below it. The traverse
guide bars correspond in arrangement to the rows of spindles, and are
carried by frames which are guided vertically at the two ends of the
fixed framing, and which are connected to levers on a rocking shaft,
to which the traverse motion is imparted by preference through parts
which are in duplicate at the ends of the framing. The rocking shaft
is made to oscillate by a modification of the usual heart motion, but
the spindles are not moved endways as they fill, an equivalent result
being obtained in a much simpler manner by giving the traverse bars
a slow progressive movement in addition to their reciprocation. A lever
on each end of the rocking shaft carries a pulley, over which there
passes a chain connected at one end to a lever acted on by the heart
cam, whilst the other end of the chain is connected to a barrel, to which
worm and worm wheel gearing imparts a slow motion. The action of
the heart cam on the chain causes the oscillation of the rocking shaft
and the vertical reciprocation of the traverse bars necessary for laying
the threads up and down the conical surfaces of the cop, whilst the slow
motion of the barrel gradually winds up the chain, and thereby
gradually alters the mean position of the traverse bars. A larger or
smaller winding-up barrel is used accordingly as a quicker or slower
progressive motion is required in each case. The spindles are fitted
with spring clips in which to engage the thread ends when commencing
to wind; and the threads are led to the traverse bars in horizontal or

page_text: nearly horizontal lines parallel to the longitudinal centre line of the
machine, guide rails with separating pins being arranged for the threads,
at the narrow end of the framing and at other parts.
The threads may be drawn off bobbins or reels, but are by preference:
drawn off one or more beams placed horizontally and transversely at a
short distance beyond the narrow end of the framing carrying the
spindles. When the spindles are driven with a uniform motion the
threads from the beam or beams are led between a pair of separated:
rollers carried by an oscillating frame which is moved by a heart or
other cam, so as to give the threads a direct course at one time and a
tortuous one at another to correspond with the variation in the taking
up of the threads on the larger and smaller parts of the conical
surfaces.
The compensation for obtaining the uniform winding of the thread.
on the conical surfaces may be effected partly by varying driving gear
and partly by means of the oscillating roller frame. The traverse.
motion may be rendered adjustable by arranging the pulley on the
rocking shaft lever, so as to be moved inwards or outwards by a screw"
or otherwise; one object of this being to alter the traverse at the com-*
mencement of winding in such a way as to make the conical bottom of
the cop
shorter than it would otherwise be.
Detectors or stopping appliances such as are used in existing winding
machines may be adopted for stopping the machine when a thread
breaks or fails or when the cops are completed:
:

page_text: thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William M'Gee, Her special
licence, that I, the said William M'Gee, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William McGee, my exe-
cutors, administrators, 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 WINDING SEWING THREAD OF COTTON,
LINEN, OR SILK," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William McGee, my executors or administrators, 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 William M. Gee, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to machinery specially adapted for winding
sewing thread of cotton, linen, or silk upon paper or other tubes, or on
wooden or other spindles.
In carrying out my Invention the thread is wound in what is known
as the cop form, or, in other words, in conical layers, so that it can be
drawn off endways and without rotation of the cop. The winding
spindles are by preference placed vertically, and may be driven by
toothed gearing or by cords from one or more long drums, or by
frictional discs; but in each case well known means are employed
either to cause the speed of the spindles to vary or to alternately take
up and give out thread, so as to compensate to a greater or less extent
for the varying diameter of the conical surface upon which the thread
is being wound.
In one modification my improved machinery is specially designed so
as to deal with a comparatively large number of winding spindles in a

page_text: small space and in a compact manner, but so that each spindle is con-
veniently accessible to the attendant. It is also an important object of
the arrangement to admit of the threads or "ends "being led in a direct
manner to the winding spindles from one or more beams or rollers
placed horizontally and transversely at a short distance from the
machine. The ends may however be drawn off bobbins or reels when
more convenient. The framing is formed with horizontal rails for three,
four, or more rows of spindles on each side; and the rows of spindles
are inclined in plan, one end of the framing being narrower than the
other, whilst each row above the lowest is arranged nearer the middle
of the framing than the row below it. The traverse guide bars corre-
spond in arrangement to the rows of spindles, and are moved by means
of a modification of the usual heart motion. The spindles are not
moved endways as they fill, but an equivalent result is obtained in a
much simpler manner by giving the traverse bars a slow progressive
movement in addition to their reciprocation. The spindles may be
fitted with spring clips in which to engage the thread ends when com-
mencing to wind.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append two Sheets
of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
my improved thread winding machinery. In these Drawings the same
reference numerals ars used to mark the same or like parts wherever
they are repeated.
Figures 1 and 2 on Sheet 1 of the Drawings are a plan and a side
elevation, and Figure 3 on Sheet 2 is an elevation of the end frame at
the driving gear end of the machine with the parts on and near it. The
framing consists of three transverse vertical standards 1, 2, 3, connected
by the horizontal rails 4 which carry the winding spindles 5, and which
are bolted to brackets formed on the standards. In this modification
there are five.rows of spindles on each side of the machine, each row
being supported by footstep and collar bearings in two rails 4. The
spindles 5, only a few of which are shown in the Drawings, are in this
example driven by means of wharves or pulleys fixed on them between
the two rails, and acted on by cords from drum 6 placed horizontally
one over the other along the middle of the machine and driven by bevil
wheels 7 from a vertical shaft 8 at the end of the machine. The
spindle rails 4 are inclined in plan, and are disposed at graduated
-

page_text: distances from the middle of the machine, those for the higher spindles
being nearer the middle, so that the threads or ends can be led all in
parallel longitudinal directions from beyond the narrower end of the
framing towards their respective spindles in a convenient manner and
without interfering with each other. The threads are led to their
spindles through guide eyes on traverse bars 9, which are horizontal and
parallel to the spindle rails 4, being all at the same distance each from
its row of spindles. The traverse bars 9 are fixed to end frames or
brackets 10, which are adjustably fixed to vertical rods 11 fitted to
move vertically in guide eyes fixed to the frame standards 1, 3. The
two vertical rods 11 at each end of the machine have a cross bar 12
fixed to and uniting them, and the two cross bars 12 are at their centres
suspended by chains 13 from the ends of levers 14 fixed at the opposite
ends of a longitudinal rocking shaft 15 carried by brackets 16 formed on
or attached to the frame standards 1, 2, 3. Each lever 14 on the
rocking shaft 15 extends in both directions, and has adjustably attached
to its outer end a pulley 17, over which there passes a chain 18 having
one end attached to a lever 19 centered near the floor. One of these
levers 19 is shown separately in Figure 4, together with a cam 20 which
acts on it to produce the traverse reciprocation or up-and-down move-
ment of the traverse bars 9 necessary for building the thread on the
spindles in the cop form, as is well understood. Along with this
reciprocation for the traverse, there is combined a slow progressive
movement which raises the mean positions of the traverse bars 9 in pro-
portion as the cops increase in length. This progressive movement is
imparted to the other end of the chain 18, which end is attached to a
small barrel or pulley 21 carried on a stud, and having fixed to or
formed with it a worm wheel which is acted on by a worm on a
spindle 22, itself driven by worm and worm wheel from the vertical
shaft 8.
The barrel or pulley 21 is, by preference, formed with a spiral or
slightly increasing diameter, so that the progressive movement is
slightly accelerated as the winding goes on, an arrangement which is in
practice found to produce a cop of more nearly uniform firmness from
end to end. The vertical shaft 8 is driven by bevil wheels 23 from a
the cooning hoing annonceed on that this choft malese

page_text: well understood way, so as to drive the spindles 5 with a varying speed
suited to the cop form. The driving one of the two wheels 25 is on a'
third motion shaft 26 driven by pinion and spur wheel from a second
motion shaft 27, which is driven in a similar way from a first motion
shaft 28 having fast and loose pulleys on it for a driving belt.
The threads 29 are, in the example delineated, represented as being.
drawn off a beam 30, carried horizontally by a pair of standards 31 at
a short distance from the narrow end of the machine. From the beam
30 the threads first pass between the dents of a heck or open topped
reed 32, and thence diverge to a more widely-spaced heck 33, whence.
they are led between a pair of rollers 34. From the rollers 34 the
threads diverge upwards and downwards in sets, to near the levels
of the several horizontal rows of spindles 5, and pass over multi-grooved
guide pulleys 35 carried by a fixed frame 26 next proceeding to the
guide eyes on the several traverse bars 9.
"
When the spindles 5 are driven with a uniform motion, instead of
wheels 25 or friction disc arrangements giving a varying motion, the
threads 29 are led, as shown in Figure 5, on Sheet 2, between a pair of
separated rollers 37, 38, carried by an oscillating frame 39 formed with
trunnions which are held in bearings in the standards 31. The oscil-
lating frame 39 is connected by a link 40 to a leyer 41, which is moved
from any suitably moving part of the machine, so as to act in proper
correspondence with the traverse motion. In one position of the
oscillating frame 39, and indicated by dotted lines in the Figure,
the threads 29 proceed by a direct course, but in its other position
they are deviated therefrom, so that slack that would be formed when
the small part of the cop cone is being wound is taken up, being given
out again when the thread is being wound on the larger part of the
cone.
'
The compensation for obtaining the uniform winding of the threads
on the conical surfaces may be effected, partly by varying driving gear
and partly by means of the oscillating frame 29.
The traverse motion may be rendered adjustable or variable by
arranging the pulley 17 on the rocking shaft lever 14, so as to be moved
inwards or outwards by a screw or otherwise as the winding proceeds,
one object of this being to alter the traverse at the commencement of

page_text: winding in such a way as to make the conical bottom of the
than it would otherwise be.
cop shorter
Figure 6, on Sheet 2, is an enlarged view of one of the spindles 5,
and shows the spring clip 42 herein-before referred to, and which serves
for retaining the cop tube on which the cop is wound when such tube
is used, as well as for securing the end of the thread when beginning
to wind. I do not however make any claim to this contrivance by
itself.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described and delineated, and
that I do not claim any of the separate parts, excepting as herein-after
stated, but that what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
1. The combination or arrangement of parts constituting the entire
machine, as herein-before described.
2. The arranging of the winding spindles in horizontal rows which
are inclined in plan, and of which the higher ones are nearer the middle
of the machine, and the leading of the threads to the spindles in longi-
tudinal directions, from guides arranged across the narrow end of the
machine, or in an equivalent manner, substantially as herein-before
described.
.
3. The imparting of a progressive motion to the traverse bars in
addition to their reciprocating motion by means of a chain which is
gradually wound up, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William McGee, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
WILLIAM MCGEE. (L.S.)