Improved Machinery for Winding Thread upon Disc Holders.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Apr., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 16th Jan., 1893-Accepted, 18th Feb., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Machinery for Winding Thread upon Disc Holders.
I JOHN KEATS of Bagnall near Stoke-upon-Trent, in the County of Stafford,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to wind upon disc holders carrying an odd number
of spurs or arms (the subject of a Patent granted to me and bearing date
12th January 1887 No. 518), thread in greater quantity than it has been heretofore
possible to place upon such holders without increasing their diameter.
The slits made in these holders to form the arms or spurs, have been modified
from time to time, and now generally terminate in a wedge shape. This form 1
now propose to retain, and I commence the winding of the thread upon the holder
by packing it well into the wedge shaped space around the root of the arms, to
form a bed for the succeeding laps, and, then as the winding proceeds, press the
succeeding laps of thread down upon the bed thus prepared for it. By this means
I can accumulate upon the holder some three, four, or more times the length of
thread which I have hitherto been enabled to wind upon such holders.
In carrying out this object, I use a thread guide which passes constantly across
the path of rotation of holder, travelling through the slits as they are severally
presented, in the rapid rotation of the holder, to the reciprocating thread guide.
This guide, beside reciprocating, is caused to recede from the centre of motion of
the holder as the thread accumulates on the holder. To provide for this retreating
movement, I mount the thread guide on a hinged frame which carries a hood-shaped
pressing piece for condensing, by its weight, the laps of thread as they are wound
npon the holder, as the thread accumulates under the pressing piece. The hinged
frame is caused slowly to retreat from the centre of motion, and carry with it the
reciprocating thread guide, which, remaining always close to its work, will permit
of little or no slackness of the thread delivered to the holder, however slight the
tension put upon the thread in rear of the thread guide may be.
Various means may be employed for reciprocating the thread guide, the rapidity
of which will be determined by the rate of rotation of the holder, multiplied by
the number of arms which the holder carries. Thus, for example, a rotating cam
may be used, or a pair of electro-magnets brought alternately into circuit by a
rotating switch mounted on the holder axle.
In order to obtain a good delivery of the thread from the containing bobbin, I
propose to hold down the unwinding flyer upon the bobbin, by interposing a coiled
spring between the flyer neck and an adjusting nut screwed onto the end of the
bobbin spindle. As the rotating holder puts a draught upon the thread, the flyer
will be caused to rotate and unwind the thread from the bobbin, and deliver it to
the reciprocating thread guide through an intervening measuring apparatus, such
as that described in the Specification of my Patent dated November 18th 1890,
No. 18662.
Dated this 14th day of April 1892.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Machinery for Winding Thread upon Diso Holders.
I, JOHN KEATS of Bagnall near Stoke upon Trent, in the County of Stafford,
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 :-
The object of this invention is to wind upon disc holders carrying an odd number
of spurs or arms (the subject of a Patent granted to me, and bearing date
12th January 1887 No. 518) thread in greater quantity than it has been heretofore
possible to place upon such holders, without increasing their diameter.
The slits made in these holders to form the arms or spurs, have been modified
from time to time, and now generally terminate in a wedge shape. This form I
now propose to retain, and I commence the winding of the thread upon the holder
by packing it well into the wedge shaped around the root of the arms, to form a
bed for the succeeding laps, and then, as the winding proceeds, press the succeeding
laps of threads down upon the bed thus prepared for it. By this means, I can
accumulate upon the holder some three, four, or more times the length of thread
which I have hitherto been enabled to wind upon such holders.
To effect this object, I use a thread guide which passes constantly across the
path of rotation of the holder, travelling through the slits as they are severally
presented, in the rapid rotation of the holder, to the reciprocating thread guide.
This guide, beside reciprocating, is caused to recede from the centre of motion
of the holder as the thread accumulates on the holder. To provide for this, I
propose to hold down the unwinding flyer upon the bobbin, by interposing a coiled
spring between the flyer neck and an adjusting nut screwed onto the end of the
bobbin spindle. The thread-containing bobbin I fit with a feather-weight tension
flyer, and as the rotating holder puts a draught upon the thread, the flyer will be
caused to rotate, and unwind the thread from the bobbin, and deliver it to the
reciprocating thread guide through an intervening measuring apparatus.
In the accompanying drawings
:-
Fig. 1 shews in plan view, and Fig. 2 in side elevation, my improved arrangement
of winding machine, and
Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are detail views of the mechanism used for starting and stopping
the machine.
This machine is designed, like that described in the Specification of my Patent
dated November 18th 1890, No. 18662, to wind two thread holders simultaneously,
and the manner of mounting and of driving the holders is practically identical
with that described in the said Specification.
A is the bed plate of the machine; B is a horizontal spindle fitted to receive, at
its opposite ends, a disc thread holder C. This spindle is mounted in bearings
carried by a standard A', secured to the bed plate A.
A' A' is a pair of standards set in line with the standard A', and al opposite
sides thereof, for carrying sliding rods B¹ B', which press against the thread
holders C, and hold them firmly in position while being rotated by the spindle B.
The threads to be wound on the holders are drawn from the bobbins D, which
are supported by fixed spindles D', standing up from the bed plate. These bobbins
are held fast by means of lock nuts d, working on screw threads carried by their
respective spindles, and the threads are unwound from the bobbins by the feather-
weight tension flyers D', whose freedom to rotate under the drag of the thread is
limited by the adjustable elastic pressure of the coiled spring d' on the flyer neck.
The threads, as they pass from their respective unwinding flyers, are led over
guide pulleys 1.1, and down to, in the one case, a guide pulley 2, carried by a stud
axle, and in the other, to a grooved measuring pulley E, keyed on a horizontal
spindle E', mounted in a loop frame A' bolted to the bed plate A.

page_text: From this pulley E, the thread passes to a rocking frame F, and thence to a
swivel frame F, in which the thread guide for laying the thread on the holder C
is mounted.
The thread from the guide pulley 2 passes to a similar arrangement of frames,
to be delivered to its holder.
As the winding of the two threads is simultaneous, it is required only to measure
one, to determine the quantity of thread delivered to each holder C.
The movement of the swivel frames is effected by peripherical cams G, G,
into the grooves of which enter bowles carried by a tail piece of the frames F.
These cams are keyed to a shaft G', mounted in standards A', made fast to the
bed plate A, and it is from this shaft that the holder spindle B is driven.
The cam shaft G' receives rotary motion through friction discs g, h, from the
main driving shaft H, which is mounted in line therewith and is supported in
standards A, attached to the bed plate.
g is a pinion keyed to the cam shaft G₁, and gearing into an intermediate
wheel I, mounted loosely on a stud axle adjustable in a segment slot of the
standard A'.
This wheel I gears into a spur pinion B', keyed on the holder spindle B, and by
replacing this spur pinion by one having a greater or less number of teeth, and
adjusting the wheel I into gear therewith, the speed of rotation of the holders
relatively to the reciprocating motion of the thread layers, may be changed to suit
the work in hand.
Thus, when holders of a greater or lesser number of arms than that for which
the machine is adjusted are required to be filled, the speed of rotation of the holders
must be diminished or increased, to suit the change of holder.
The swivel frames F¹, which carry the thread layers ff, are mounted upon
Bocketed standards A, a stud pin projecting from the underside of the frames
fitting the sockets of the standards.
Each swivel frame carries a cylinder, in which is fitted a sliding rod f', which
forms a holder for the thread layer f. The cylinders are slotted longitudinally at
their sides, to allow of a transverse pin projecting through their sides, and
entering vertical slots made in the sides of the rocking frame F.
The rocking frames F are pivotted respectively to the base of the standards Aº,
and they are so shaped as to override their respective swivel frames F', and leave
them free to move laterally under the action of their respective cams.
The frames F carry, at their front, a divided saddle piece f³, into the division
of which the arms of the holders enter, and within which they are free to
rotate.
These divided saddle pieces serve to press upon the thread as it accumulates
upon the holders, and thus condense the laps into a compact mass.
ffare coiled springs connecting a cross-bar of the rocking frames with fixed
points on the bed plate, and thereby giving the frames a tendency to press upon
the work.
ƒ³ƒ³ are guide rods carried by the frames F, and it is over these that the threads
pass from the measuring pulley E and the guide pulley 2, respectively, on their
way to the thread layer f, they being led under a small guide pulley f*, carried by
the frame F¹, before entering the eye of the thread layer.
By mounting the thread layers as above described, it will be readily understood
that they are rendered capable of accommodating their position with respect
to the thread holders C, to the accumulation of compressed laps of thread upon
the holders, and retiring from the slots in the holders, as the winding on is
completed.
The rotation of the holder spindle being continuous and uniform in speed
(when the proper adjustment is secured), and the oscillation of the frames F
being also uniform, it follows that the thread layers will pass between the arms
of the holders, as every fresh opening, or every alternate opening (as the case may
.be), is presented to them, and will lay a lap of thread over the arms.

page_text: .
The repetition of this action causes a rapid accumulation of thread upon the
holders, which accumulations being pressed upon by the frames F, those frames will
be gradually raised against the pressure of their tension springs, and by reason
of the connection of the frames F and F, through the pins of the sliding rod f¹
entering the slots of the frames F, the compelled rise of these frames will draw
back the thread layers in exact proportion to the accumulation of the thread upon
the holders.
It now only remains to describe the mechanism used for starting and stopping
the machine, and the connection of that mechanism with the measuring device
which is set in action thereby.
This measuring device consists of a disc K, mounted loosely on a stud pin fixed
to the loop frame A³, in which the shaft E' is mounted.
This disc (see the detached view Fig. 6) is enclosed in a case K', in which a
radial slot is made, to receive a sliding block, which carries a sliding pin
with a flat head.
fitted
The disc is grooved on its outer face with a series of concentric rings (see the
detached view Fig. 6), and each ring is divided up by drilling holes therein,
equidistant from each other, to receive the end of the pin k¹, as shewn at Fig. 5.
The number of holes in each ring differs for the purpose of varying the amount
of rotation which the disc can make before the pin is enable to interlock therewith,
under the pressure of a coiled spring provided for the purpose.
The pin, it will be understood, is capable of adjustment in the radial slot,
to bring it into coincidence with any one of the annular grooves formed in
the disc.
As the amount of rotation imparted to the disc is the measure of thread passed
forward to the holders, the pin will interlock with the disc when the desired
length of thread to be measured has been laid on the holders C.
It is to draw the pin out of its locked position, that the measuring device is
brought into connection with the mechanism for starting the machine.
This mechanism (shewn in side view at Fig. 4, and in plan view at Fig. )
consists of a hand lever L fulcrummed on a bracket A' bolted to the bed plate. It
is formed with a tail piece l, and fitted with a cross pin 1, for the purpose to be
presently explained. L'is a clutch lever which swivels in a socket on the base
plate A. This lever is formed with a curved arm P, which is fitted with a bowl
that enters an annular groove in the boss of the friction disc h, for the purpose of
pressing the friction disc into contact with the friction disc g on the cam shaft G',
and thereby starting the machine.
The extremity of the clutch lever L' is made wedge shape, as shewn at 1,
Fig. 5, and it is against this wedge that the tail of the hand lever L bears, when
the hand lever is depressed, for the purpose of rocking the clutch lever, and
bringing the friction clutch into action.
On the same fulcrum that carries the hand lever, is a short lever L³, which is
fitted with a T head, and is designed, by bearing against the inner face of the head
of the spring pin k', to withdraw the pin, and hold it out of its locking position, on
the starting of the machine.
This lever L serves also, by means of a tail piece, to lock the clutch lever in its
acting position, and thus to allow of the hand lever returning to its normal position,
when the friction clutch has been put in action.
I have said that the hand lever is fitted with a cross pin l. One end of this pin
is borne upon by a pressure spring l, for the purpose of returning the hand lever to
the raised position of Fig. 2.
The other end of the cross pin stands in front of the lever L³, and serves, as the
hand lever is depressed, to draw back the lever L, and with it the interlocking
spring pin (4), at the same time placing the tail of the lever L' abreast of the
extremity of the clutch lever, where it will remain until a determined length of t
thread has been measured. At this time, one of the divisions in the annular groove
will have come opposite the pin, which, by the pressure of its spring, will be thrust

page_text: forward, and caused to interlock with the disc. This forward movement of the
spring pin will tip the lever L* free of the clutch lever, and the discs of the friction
clutch will then part.
When the pressure of the attendant's hand is removed, the lever L will rise to
its raised position, and thereby free the lever L³, and allow it to follow the forward
movement of the spring pin k', as before, on the completion of the next measure-
ment of the thread.
It now only remains to describe the means for imparting rotary motion to the
measuring disc.
Formed on the shaft Et, is a worm 2, into which takes a worm wheel k³, mounted
on a stud pin projecting from a cross bar of the loop frame A*.
Fast on this worm wheel k³, is a spur pinion k, into which gears a wheel k³ on
the boss of the disc K.
The rotation, therefore, of the shaft E', through the drag of the thread on the
measuring pulley E, will impart, through the gearing just described, a slow rotary
motion to the measuring disc K.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a machine for winding thread on a disc or star thread holder, the employ-
ment of a thread guide passing constantly across the path of rotation of the disc
thread holder, in the manner described & illustrated, and means for retracting the
said thread guide as the thread holder is filled.
2. In combination, with a thread winding machine fitted with rocking and
swivelling frames for operating the thread layer as described, the measuring device
shewn at Figs. 3, 4, and 5, which serves to automatically arrest the action of the
machine, when a given length of thread has been wound upon the holder.
Dated this 16th day of January 1893.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.