Improvements in or connected with String or Twine Holders.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Nov., 1894-Accepted, 22nd Dec., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with String or Twine Holders.
We, SAMUEL MOORE, of 28, Church Street, Blackpool, Draper, and JAMES
CALLAGHAN ELLIOTT, of Dymchurch, Folkestone, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our invention relates to improvements in suspended twine holders for shop use,
and it has for its object to provide means whereby the twine may be drawn off from
the ball or reel as required and whereby after a parcel has been tied up and the
twine severed the end of the stock portion will be raised clear of the counter to a
height within easy reach of the attendant.
The invention consists in arranging the twine to act, in the manner of a tackle,
upon a weight resting in a bight of the twine so that a pull on the free end of the
twine will shorten the bight and raise the weight which when the twine is released
will extend the bight and raise the loose end of the twine out of the way. The
drawing of the twine from the ball or reel is checked so as to prevent it running
too freely and the range of motion of the weight is limited so that the loose end of
the twine will only be raised to a certain height by the descent of the weight and
when the weight is raised to the highest point it will cause the check to be
overcome and more twine to be drawn from the ball.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, wherein we have represented two examples of suspended twine holders
for shop counter use.
In the arrangement shewn in Figure 1 a is any suitable form of ball or reel
holder, such, for instance, as a spherical metal casing or cage made in halves hinged
together and locked by a catch. It is suspended from an overhead support and to
its underside are attached brackets b, c, d, in which are mounted grooved guide
pulleys e, f, g, the three pulleys being in the same plane. is a pendent weight
suspended by chains i from either side of the casing a, this weight having an eye j
through which the twine runs. The twine drawn from the ball or reel is led
through an aperture in the bottom of the holder a and makes a complete turn round
the central guide pulley e so that the parts of the twine running on and off this
pulley will cross and rub slightly against each other, the resulting friction preventing
the twine running too freely and enabling the weight h to be overcome when the
end of the twine is pulled upon. The twine passes from pulley e to pulley, thence
through the eye in the weight and over the other pulley g from which the end of
the twine hangs freely. The arrangement in this case is that of a double purchase
tackle and the motion of the weight is limited in the downward direction by the
chains and in the upward direction by the flat top of the weight coming against
the lower end of the bracket b. When this happens the friction which checks the
drawing off of the twine is overcome and more twine is drawn from the reel or ball
in the holder a.
In the arrangement illustrated in Figure 2 the weight is formed by a rod k fitted
to slide within certain limits imposed by stops in a guide tube or casing l. The rod,
which is of square section or otherwise prevented from turning in the casing, projects
at the lower end of the casing and carries a guide pulley m which rests in a double
bight of the twine, the apparatus in this case being in the form of a multiple
purchase tackle. The twine passes from the holder a through a spring clip n which

page_text: checks the running of the twine, then past a pulley o through one of a series of
guide slots p in ears fixed to the upper end of the casing / then round pulley m up
through a similar guide slot p¹ over pulley o, again through p, round pulley m
through pl, again over pulley o, and finally through p from which the free end of
the twine is pendent. To guard against the rod k sticking fast in the casing I, a
spring is inserted which is compressed when the rod is fully raised and by its
stress starts the rod on its descent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. The combination, with a twine holder and a series of pulleys or guides for the
twine, of a weight adapted to rest in a bight of the twine and capable of limited up
and down motion so as to act in conjunction with the twine, substantially in the
manner and for the purpose specified.
2. The combination of parts constituting the respective arrangements of twine
holding and drawing off device, substantially as described and illustrated in the
respective figures of the drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of November 1894
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.