IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WINDING THREAD ON TO BOBBINS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of the Clark Thread Company,
Newark, New Jersey, in the United States of America, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WINDING THREAD ON
TO BOBBINS."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 20th October 1870, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of the Clark Thread Company, Newark, New Jersey, in the
United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR WINDING THREAD ON TO BOBBINS," and have petitioned
Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for

page_text: the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the first and
true Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for
winding thread on to bobbins.
In winding sewing thread on to bobbins for sale automatic machinery
is commonly employed. Such machinery is described in the Specifi-
cation of a Patent granted to William Wield, and dated 22nd day of
January 1858, No. 122. In order to ensure the thread being tightly
wound on the bobbin the thread guide has been made to bear on the
bobbin by means of a weight, and when the bobbin is nearly full an
additional pressure has been put on by a cam to give an improved
finish to the surface of the layer of thread. I have found that when
winding in this manner the bobbins are liable to be filled to a some-
what larger diameter at one end than the other. I prevent this by
providing an absolute mechanical control of the thread guide throughout
the winding from its commencement until the bobbin is full or nearly
full.
I employ a heavier weight than heretofore, and I provide a stop to
limit its action. The stop releaves the bobbin from a portion of the
pressure of the weight and the stop is gradually moved by a cam as
the winding progresses. When the last layer of thread is being
wound on the bobbin the full pressure of the weight is allowed to
run on the bobbin. The thread guide and presser, which traverses to
and fro along the bobbin as heretofore, has a lever in connection with
it, and against the flat end of this lever a friction pulley bears. This
pulley is carried by a slide actuated by levers receiving motion from a
cam. The cam is rotated uniformly whilst the bobbin is filling, and
during this time it makes somewhat less than one revolution. The
cam is loose upon its shaft and takes motion therefrom through a
ratchet and pawl. Whilst the winding apparatus is stationary for the
filled bobbin to be removed and an empty one substituted the cam is
caused to complete its rotation to bring it back to its starting point.
This is effected by a driving pawl taking into a notch in a disc in con-
nection with the cam. The driving pawl receives motion from an
axis which rotates once whilst the winding parts are stationary, in

page_text: order to move the instruments connected with the discharge of the
filled bobbin and the substitution of an empty bobbin in its place.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
Figure 1 is a transverse section; Figure 2, a plan, and Figure 3 a back
view of a portion of a Wield's winding machine with my improvements
applied thereto. a, a, are parts of the frame of the machine; b is the
shaft which rotates the bobbins c by intermediate gearing; d is the
thread guide and presser turning on the rod d¹ and traversed to and fro
along the bobbin by the endway motion of this rod; d², d³, are arm in
connection with the thread guide and presser, they carry between them
a plane surface which by a heavy weight, not shewn in the Drawings,
is caused to bear against the pulley et at the end of the slide e.
The arm d³ has an eye at its end and a rod passes from this cyc to a
lever on which the weight is hung.
The slide e works' in a socket on a bracket fixed to the frame and a
jointed rod connects it with the lever arm f; 9, 9, are adjusting nuts.
The arms from end to end of the machine are fixed on an axis h
carried in brackets on the frame, and this axis has also upon it the slotted
arm ij is a lever connected with the arm i by the connecting rod k,
the length of which is adjustable by right and left handed screws, and
the lever also is slotted so that the point of connection of the rod k with
it may be easily varied; j¹ is a friction pulley at the end of the arm j,
it bears on the cam I and so the cam surface controls the thread guide
and presser d. The rotation of the cam whilst the machine is winding
is caused by four pawls m¹ carried by a disc m³ fixed on the shaft m, and
which take into a ratchet pinion cast with the cam; m³ is a pinion on
this axis gearing with the change wheel m which in turn drives the
wheel n, this wheel has fixed to its axis a worm wheel n' driven by the
worm o¹ on the shaft o; o² is a worm wheel on the same shaft driven by
the worm 6' on the shaft b. Whilst the winding is going on the cam
slowly rotates and moves forward the friction pulley e¹, raising gradually
the thread guide and presser as the thread accumulates on the bobbin,
this goes on until the finishing layer is going to be wound on the bobbin,
and at this time the nose of the cam passes the pulley and then the

page_text: "
thread guide d rests on the bobbin with the full pressure of the weight.
When the winding is complete the shaft b ceases to rotate and the
shaft p commences to turn as in the ordinary Weild's winding machine
and there is a cam on the shaft p which lifts up the thread guide and
presser clear of the bobbin, the shaft p makes one complete revolution
and then the winding recommences. The crank shaft q rotates with
the shaft p, and by a connecting rod q¹ it gives a downward and upward
movement to the lever arm r which is free to turn upon the cam shaft m;
is a driving pawl which the lever arm carries, it engages with a
notch or tooth in the periphery of a disc 1 which is bolted to a corre-
sponding disc 2 which is cast with a cam. These two discs bolted
together are employed to provide a ready means of adjusting the position
of the tooth in respect to the cam. The pawl in its upward move-
ment engages with the notch in the disc and turns it and the cam
completing the rotation, and bringing the parts back to the starting point
for the next winding.
The traverse of the thread guide and presser d is as heretofore
adapted to the incline of the ends of the bobbin, and the length of the
traverse increases progressively as the bobbin fills. The form of the
cam is adapted to this increase, its incline becoming continually flatter
and flatter as it rises from the centre.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I
claim, the construction of apparatus for winding thread in such manner
that the thread guide and presser is mechanically controlled from
the commencement to the end or nearly to the end of the winding
substantially as described.
I also claim the general arrangement of apparatus for winding thread,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.