IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUTED ROLLERS USED IN MACHINES FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUCH ROLLERS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Weild, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FLUTED ROLLERS USED IN MACHINES FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING
COTTON, WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SUCH ROLLERS."
Sealed the 16th March 1860, and dated the 20th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Weild at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
September 1859.
I WILLIAM WEILD, of the City of Manchester. in the County of Lan-
caster, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUTED ROLLERS USED IN MACHINES FOR PREPARING. SPIN.
NING, AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS.
AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUCH ROLLERS," to be as follows:--
Hitherto fluted rollers used for preparing, spinning, and doubling fibrous
materials have been made with straight flutes parallel to the axis of the roller,
another roller generally covered with leather working on the top of the fluted
roller, the leather cover in time gets fluted and cut up by the action of the
bottom fluted roller, which is a great evil. Now, it is one of the objects of
my Invention to lessen or remove this evil, and my Invention consists in-
making the flutes on the roller in the screw or spiral form, with a pitch of,
Price 8d1

page_text: say, one turn in about eight inches, more or less, as required.
By this means,
the upper roller will rest upon the tops of several flutes (depending upon the
length of the boss pitch between the flutes and the pitch of their screw
curve) instead of resting entirely upon one flute as in the ordinary fluted
roller. In the ordinary fluted roller, the flutes being parallel to the roller's
axis, the upper roller must have a slight ascent and descent in passing over
the top and groove of each flute, while with the screw curved flute it is
uniformly supported, and will not have the least ascending or descending
movement. **
A further improvement is in making the incline or curve of the flutes of onc
boss reverse to those of the adjacent boss, so that by turning the top roller
any tendency to flute may be wholly or partly corrected, as the flutes
formed by one "boss" would be wholly or partly effaced by the reverse incli-
nation of the flutes of the other boss."
"
One method of manufacturing these improved fluted rollers. in which my
Invention consists, is by modifying the ordinary machinery used for making
the straight flutes in such manner as to be able to turn the roller on its axis
simultaneously with the straight end movement, so that the result of the two
movements is a curve of the pitch required.
Another rapid method of manufacture, producing a very perfect result,
in which my Invention consists, is by a "milling tool," which 1 find only
requires to be placed and traversed over the roller at an angle to give the screw
curve required. The roller may be placed in a lathe, the milling tool"
being carried by a slide rest, the tool being arranged so that it can be adjusted
and held at the angle required. Several milling tools" may be arranged on
the same slide rest, so that each tool may operate upon one of the several
"bosses" of a roller at the same time. Rollers may be also made by the
milling process with straight flutes parallel to the roller's axis. The
result of this method of manufacture is, that the flutes are much harder, and will
consequently wear much longer than those made by the ordinary cutting system.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Weild in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. WILLIAM
WEILD, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, hearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine. in the twenty-third year
of Iler reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Weild, Her special license that I. the said
William Weild, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I. the said William Weild, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agrée 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 FLUTED ROLLERS USED IN MACHINES FOR PREPARING,
SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL. FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUCH ROLLERS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Weild, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Weild, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say)
--
Hitherto fluted rollers used for preparing, spinning, and doubling fibrous
materials have been made with straight flutes parallel to the axis of the roller,
and in many cases the top roller working on the fluted roller is covered with
leather, the leather cover of such rollers in time gets fluted and cut up by the
action of the fluted roller, which is a great evil. Now, it is one of the objects
of my Invention to lessen or remove this evil: and my Invention consists in
the use of rollers, having flutes formed upon them in a spiral form, with a
pitch of about one turn in about eight inches, more or less as required. By
this means the upper roller will rest upon the tops of several flutes (the
number depending upon the length of the boss, the pitch, or distance between
the fintes and the pitch of their screw curve) instead of resting entirely upon
one flute as in the ordinary fluted roller. In the ordinary fluted roller, the
flutes being parallel to the axis, the upper roller must have a slight (though
very slight) ascent, and descent in passing over the top of each flute and the
groove between every two flutes, while with my improved flute, it is uniformly

page_text: supported, and will not have the least ascending or descending movement,
For this reason fluted rollers made with a screw, curved, or inclined fluting,
according to my Invention (though most advantageous where the upper or top
roller is covered with leather) will be also advantageous when the upper roller
is plain or uncovered.
A further improvement, in which my Invention consists, is in making the
angle or curve of the finies of one boss reverse to those of the adjaceni boss,
so that by turning the top roller so as to reverse its ends, any tendency to
flute or wear into impressions of the fluted roller below may be wholly or
parily corrected as the flutes formed on the leather by one hoss would be
wholly or partly effaced by the reverse inclination of the flutes of the other
boss.
One method of manufacturing these improved fluted rollers is by modifying
the ordinary machinery used for making straight fluies in such manner as to
be able to turn the roller on its axis simultaneously with the straight end
movement thereof, so that the result of the two movements is a curve of the
pitch or angle required. Another method of manufacture, producing a very
perfect result, is by a "milling tool." which (when the flutes, on the tool are
made parallel to its axis) only requires to be placed and traversed over the
roller at such an angle as to give the screw curve required. Traversing
milling tools with diagonal flutes, as well as non-traversing milling tools which
cover the entire boss to be fluted, may be employed: but I prefer a traversing
milling tool like that first mentioned, in using which the roller is placed in a
lathe, the milling tool being carried by a slide rest, and arranged so that it
can be readily adjusted and held at the angle required. Several milling tools
may be arranged on the same slide carriage, so that each tool may operate
upon one of the several bosses of a roller at the same time
This part of my Invention may be also used for forming straight Anies
parrallel to the axis of the roller. The result of this method of manufacture
is, that the flutes are much harder, and will consequently wear much longer than
those made by the ordinary cutting system. The manner in which my Invention
is carried into effect is particularly described in the illustrations on the accom-
panying two Sheets of Drawings.
Fig. 1 shews a roller. The lines upon the bosses (2) represent the direction
of the flutes. It is not important that the flutes should be perfectly uniform
in their pitch or inclination from one end of each boss to the other, and as
far as my present experience goes, prefer finer pitches, or in other words
smaller spaces between the flutes, than those now commonly employed, as the
flutes of rollers by my improved method of manufacture by the "milling"

page_text: process can be readily renewed or brought up again when worn: Fig 2 is
a side elevation, parts in section, and Fig. 3 an end view of an ordinary
planing machine adapted for the manufacture of my improved fluted rollers
with reversed diagonal or inclined flutes, as shewn in Fig. I by the ordinary
cutting or planing process. The bed of the machine is marked a. its feel a².
and the upright side framing a. the cross slide way b, the slide e, the too!
holding slide 7, the table of the machine g. The driving pulleys are marked /
and are placed on the first and slow motion shaft. . which drives by a pinion
(P), a wheel (), on the shaft. f; a wheel on the boss of one of the driving
pulleys () on the shaft drives a pinion (f) on the quick motion shaft. (F)
upon which is a pinion which also gears with the wheel on the shaft /. The
shaft carries a pinion (f) which gears with the toothed rack (a) on the
under side of the table (4). The parts above referred to are the ordinary and
well-known parts of a planing machine. The roller (z) is mounted on the
fable (g) of the machine as when cutting straight flutes, and the manner of
rotating the roller, to cut another flute, is also partly the same, so far as using
a ratchei wheel and click for rotating the roller: . is a headstock secured to
the table (g): it carries a spindle or axis ', upon which two ratchet wheels ²
are secured, and between them the fulcrum of a lever . which is free to
oscillate on the axis or spindle (4): the ratchet wheels, have as many leeth
as there are flutes intended to be cut in the roller, and they are placed on the
spindle with the teeth of one reverse to those on the other: a ratchet
click () jointed on one side of the lever () taking into the teeth of one
ratchet (h) and another jointed on the other side of the lever () into the
teeth of the other ratchet (P), the ratchets being set so that there will be
no more play when the lever (') is moved than is necessary to enable
one click (h) to be lifted from its ratchet wheel. The spindle (4) has a
square end which fits the square hole in the end of the roller (a) which is
supported at intervals by brackets () secured to the table (g). The lever h
is jointed with a rod i, which is also jointed to another lever (7) on a shaft
which is carried by two bearings secured to the bed (a) of the machine:
the shaft has a groove from end to end, into which a key fits, which is
secured in the boss of the lever (P) which is slided along the shaft (7) by
the movements imparted to the table (g). the boss of the lever () being
slided to and fro on the shaft () by a bracket (g) secured to the table (g),
which bracket () fits on each side of the boss of the lever On the end
of the shaft, a lever is keyed, which is jointed to one end of a rod, the
other end being jointed on a crank pin j. which is adjustable so as to get a
onger or shorter radius in a groove formed in a disc plate j' secured on the

page_text: "
end of a shaft () rotating in bearings (a) attached to the bed (a) of the
.machine. The shafi () is geared by bevil wheels (4) with the intermediate
shaft e, which by a wheel e. and pinion e' gears with the shaft /'. giving
motion to the table (g). The wheels gearing the two shafts (, and e) should
be so proportioned that while the table (g) travels over a space equal to the
length of a boss, and the blank space between the bosses on a roller, the shaft
will have made one half a rotation, and the crank disc (j) should be set so
that, when the connecting rod () arrives at what are commonly termed the
-"dead points" or centres the point of the cutting tool will be at the same
time midway on the blank space between the bosses on the roller. It will
be seen that with the arrangement, of mechanism described the .shaft will
be made to oscillate, and that its oscillations will be conveyed to the roller ().
The cutting tool (1) is similar to that usually employed for cuiting straight
Antes, being a thin piece of steel secured by a bolt in a slit formed in a holder
(7). "This holder (1) is circular, and is placed in bearings in the tool holding
slide (c) so that it can be freely rotated or oscillated on its axis, the point of
the cutting tool (1) being placed in a line corresponding with the axis, on
which the tool holder (1) oscillates. The object of this arrangement is to bring
the cutting tool in the line of the cut. The upper end of the tool holder l' has
an arm P. fixed upon it which is jointed to one end of a rod 1. the other end
being jointed with one end of a lever l. having its fulcrum on a stud ()
secured to the framing, the lower end of this lever (1) has an antifriction bowl
upon it which enters the groove of a double action or box cam (16) (detached
view of which is shown by Fig. 4) fixed on the shafi . This cam (1) is
formed and arranged to change the inclination of the cutting tool (1) as the
direction changes in which the roller is made to oscillate. The ordinary self-
acting arrangements are employed for traversing the belt by which means
the movements of the table (g) are reversed, and to this mechanism the
ordinary mechanism is connected which is employed for self-acting the vertical
movement of the cutting tool (1), but instead of the lever being loose on the
screw (), and acting by a click on a ratchet wheel fast on the said
screw, the lever is fast to the screw (e) so that the reversing gear imparts
oscillating movements to it, consequently the tool will be raised at one end and
lowered at the other end of the movement of the table, this being arranged
so that the tool will be down during the cuiting stroke of the table, but
up so as to pass clear of the roller during the back stroke: the roller is turned
so as to cut the next flute by means of an incline piece (m) fixed an the tool-
holding slide (c) which acts upon a tail piece from one of the clicks (h),
working in the ratchet wheels (2), and lifts it clear of the jeeth at the end of

page_text: the cutting movement of the table (g). To explain the operation of this
incline piece (m) more clearly it may be assumed that the table (g) has just
arrived at the end of its cut, the point of the cutting tool (1) being half of the
length of the blank space between the losses past the last boss on the roller.
and that the lever has at the same time arrived at one of its extreme move-
ments to the right, looking at Fig. 3; in this case the ratchet click (4) on the
right will be the pushing click, and that to the left will be free and can be
lifted. Now the incline m is set so as to have lifted the ratchet click (h') on
the left clear of the teeth before the lever (4) has completed its oscillation to
the right, say, by the space of a tooth and a quarter of the ratchet, conse-
quently when the back oscillation of the lever () and back movement of the
table (g) commences, the ratchets (h) and roller (2) will have no motion, the
click on the right will lift and pass over a tooth in its ratchet and drop, and.
the click on the left will have passed over a tooth of its ratchet, being held up
by the incline m. but before it can pass over another tooth it will have escaped
from the incline (m), and thus both clicks will again have hold of their ratchet.
wheels, the roller having been rotated to the extent of one tooth by the
operation which will be repeated at the end of every cut. The incline of the
flute produced by the crank pin will not be uniform in pitch, but that part of it
which comes upon the boss will be a sufliciently near approximation, and by
the use of a crank pin (made adjustable) the increase or decrease of the
inclination is readily obtained, but if an uniform inclination is required it will
be obtained by substituting à suitably shaped cam in place of the disc and
crank pin, the cam acting on a bowl carried by a lever having its fulcrum on
a stud fixed in the framing, to which lever the end of the connecting rod (i)
must be jointed. The arrangements described will be, found sufficient for a
large class of fluted rollers, namely, those having bosses and spaces of uniform
length. But there is another arrangement of mechanism which I employ for
fluting rollers with either regular or irregular bosses or spaces. In substi-
tuting this mechanism the shafts and e are dispensed with, and a lever is
employed, the axis of its fulcrum (being a stud secured to the bed (a)) is
placed in a vertical position; one end of the lever is jointed to the rod ; the
other end of the lever (the fuleruin being between its two ends) carries an anti-
friction owl, which works in a box cam path secured to the edge or under side
and lengthway of the table g; this cam path is equal to the length of the roller
to be operated upon, and is shaped with inclines of the length and pitch
required by the bosses and spaces on the roller, and the inclination of the
required flutes. The lower end of the lever is connected with the said lever
actuated by the cam path on the side of the table ge so that the inclination of

page_text: the cutting tool is changed in accordance with the change in the inclination
of the flute. When rollers are to be operated upon having only one boss of
considerable length, then it may be necessary to give a considerable amount of
oscillating movement to the roller, in which case the lever clicks (') and
ratchet wheels must be placed on a shaft in another headstock (but on the
table ). the shaft for the ratchet wheels having a wheel fixed upon it gearing
with a pinion on the spindle axis ', by which means the movements imparted
to the ratchet wheels he will be multiplied: the shaft will only have in this case
to make half a rotation for the length of the one boss and proportionate space
at each end. It will be readily understood that several rollers may be placed
end to end (the table of the machine being long enough) and that there may
be several headstocks and cutting tool slides according to the width of the
machine, all actuated from the same sources, by merely adding connecting
mechanism, which can be readily accomplished by a mechanic conversant with
this class of machines. Fig. 5 shews a front elevation, and Fig. 6 a plan view,
Fig. a cross sectional elevation, and Fig. 8 an end elevation of a lathe
adapted for forming flutes by the milling process. a is the bed; a¹ the
feet; b. the headstock: e. the following headstock: d. a slide carriage, with
transverse slide e upon it, all of ordinary construction. The slide carriage d
and transverse slide e are sufficiently broad to give room for as many separate
milling tool holding rests", as there are bosses on the roller to be fluted;
cach rest can be adjusted in the lengthway of the roller, and secured by the
bolt . The construction of each rest and tool holder
understood from Fig. 7. The tool holder
in the socket in the rest . in which it fits, and is secured at any angle by
the set screw f. which acts against a saddle piece f.
of each tool holder fare effected by a set screw (F),
nut upon it to keep it from turning when adjusted.
resisting the side pressure put upon the roller by the
at g. secured to the bed (a), each bearing being adjusted against the spaces
between the bosses upon the roller by, a set screw '; the roller is rotated by
a square centre in the spindle of the headstock b, which fits in the square hole
in the end of each roller. The rotation of the screw e' will advance or
withdraw the mills" to or from the roller. Reciprocating movement is given
to the slide carriage (d) by a rod (d), jointed on a stud fixed in the slide
carriage () at one end, and to an adjustable crank pin secured in the
groove in a disc plate () at the other end. This disc plate (³) is fixed on
a shaft (), carried in suitable bearings, attached to the lathe bed, and upon
this shaft (d) a worm wheel is fixed, which gears with a worm (d) on
will be readily
is round so that it can be turned
The end adjustments
each having a check
The back stays for
mills, are shewn

page_text: another shaft () in bearings attached to the bed (a), upon the end of which
a set of speed pulleys are secured, corresponding to other speed pulleys, on
the lathe spindle, motion being conveyed from one to the other by a belt. The
feeding motion to advance the mills against the roller is effected by the
lever k, which is free on the end of the screw (e), one end of it is joined with
a rod (), which is quite free to slide through a hole in a bearing formed by a
bracket secured to the framing: the upper end of the lever k carries a
ratchet click . which works upon a ratchet wheel, which can be adjusted
(by means of the concentric slots and screws) to the disc, secured on the
end of the screw shaft (e) giving motion to the transverse slide. Two
adjustable collars (6) are placed on the rod '. one on one side and the other
on the other side of the bracket If each of the collars (") is set so as
only to just touch the sides of the bracket (), at the end of each reciprocation
of the slide carriage (d), no movement will be imparted to the ratchet wheel
(), but if the collars () are set to come in contact with the bracket the
space of a tooth of the ratchet wheel before the ends of each stroke of the
slide carriage (d), the lever (k) will oscillate to the extent of one tooth of the
ratchet wheel, and thus advance it to that extent, each reciprocation turning
the screw (e'). With this arrangement the lever should have friction applied
so as not to turn too easily, or not to move by the friction of the rod () in
the bracket (k). To prevent the rotation of the screw e after the "mills"
have been sunk to the full extent required, the teeth of the ratchet wheel ()
cease at this point, so that the click has nothing to get hold of; and the
is to be able to turn the ratchet
Mills like those shewn detached full
object of the concentric slots in the plate
wheel to determine the feeding motion.
size by Fig. 9 (a side view), and Figs: 10 and 11, edge views, are employed';
one of them is shewn with flutes parallel to the axis, the other with the flutes
diagonal or inclined; I prefer to use the former, in which case to get a
diagonal incline or screw flute on the roller; the axis of the "mill" will have to
be set at an angle to the axis of the roller, this angle varying according to the
amount of inclination required; if the mill be angled one way the flutes will
be inclined to the right; if angled in the opposite direction, the flutes will be
inclined to the left.
1 have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, and desire it to be understood that
I claim,-
Firstly, the use in machines for preparing, spinning, and doubling fibrous
materials of rollers having their flutes arranged in a spiral form and at an angle
to the axis of the roller.

page_text: Secondly, the system or mode of reversing the angle or curve of the flutes as
herein-before. explained, and the use of rollers having the angle or curve of
their flutes so reversed.
Thirdly, the system or mode of cutting inclined, spiral, or angular flutes on
such rollers as aforesaid, whether by the arrangements of mechanism herein-
before described or any equivalent arrangement.
Fourthly, the systems or methods and arrangements of mechanism herein-
before explained and described for forming the flutes of rollers used in such
machines as aforesaid by a milling process, whether such flutes are parallel or
at an angle to the axis of such rollers.
In witness whereof. I, the said William Weild. have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
W. WEILD. (L.S.),