CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRAWING, ROVING, AND SPINNING HEMP, FLAX, Tow, SILK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
FAIRBAIRN, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of February, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Peter Fairbairn, Her especial license, full power, solo privilege and
authority, that I, the said Peter Fairbairn, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Peter Fairbairn, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR DRAWING, ROVING, AND SPINNING HEMP, FLAX, Tow, SILK, WOOL,
AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Peter Fairbairn, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1; the said
Peter Fairbairn, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thercon (that is to say) :-
:-
My Improvements in Machinery for Drawing, Roving, and Spinning
Hemp, Flax, Tow, Silk, Wool, and other Fibrous Substances, consist,―
Firstly, in certain variations in the means of actuating worm shafts that
conduct the heckle bars of gills and similar machinery by which the fibres of
flax and other fibrous materials are opened and drawn in the process of
forming them into slivers or rovings.
Secondly, in an improved construction of the framework in which the upper
drawing rollers of drawing and roving frames are mounted.
And, thirdly, in a novel mode of connecting the driving wheel to the
machinery of the gills, for the purpose of preventing the gear from being
broken by any extraordinary resistance.
In the accompanying Drawing, which exhibits my improvements, Fig. 1
represents, in sectional elevation, some of the known working parts of an
ordinary drawing frame, taken on the inner side near the driving end of a
the machine, the improved parts being added thereto, and shewn in their
proper situations; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal view of part of the same machine
as seen from above. The respective letters of reference indicate the same
parts in both Figures. A is the main longitudinal driving shaft, commonly
called the "back shaft," on which the band wheel or driving pulley is fixed
(but not seen in the Drawing). This main shaft extends longitudinally along
the back part of the machine, and turns in suitable bearings in the framework.
Upon this shaft is fixed an inclined tooth pinion or worm wheel B. The
upper and lower ordinary worm shafts C and D turn also in suitable bearings
in the framework for the purpose of conducting the heckle bars or fallers in a
the way commonly practised in gill machinery. At the outer end of the lower
of these worm shafts (D) an inclined tooth pinion or worn wheel E is affixed,
which gears into the before-described inclined tooth pinion B on the driving
shaft, and thus constituting one of the features of my novel and improved con-
struction of the machinery. It will be seen, that as the driving shaft A and
pinion B revolve, the pinion E, with the lower worm shaft D, will be driven
also; and, by the coupling wheels c and d, respectively affixed upon the worm
shafts C and D, those shafts will be made to turn simultaneously in opposite
directions, for conducting the heckle bars, as usual. The advantages which I

page_text: attain by the employment of the two inclined tooth pinions or worm wheels
B and E as the medium through which I actuate the conducting worm
shafts C and D are, a more smooth and uniform movement of the heckle bars
than could be attained by the old mode of driving them through the medium
of bevil gear, and an economical reduction of or dispensing with some parts of
the old driving apparatus, which also affords greater facilities for cleansing,
adjusting, and repairing the worm shafts and heckle bars than existed in the
previously constructed gill machinery.
The improved construction of the framework, which constitutes the second
head of my Invention, consists in shifting the situation of the outer brackets F,
in which the ends of the axles ff, of the outer pairs of top drawing rollers
are supported, as seen in Fig. 2. The former situation of these brackets were
such that it was always necessary to make the axle of the outer pairs of top
drawing rollers considerably longer than the axles of the other pairs of top
drawing rollers, which produced not only inconvenience to the workman, but
also unequal wear on the pivots of the axles, and hence variable pressure upon
the sliver. By thus bringing the outer brackets nearer towards the midde of
the machine the distance apart of all the brackets becomes the same, and any
one of the pairs of rollers (their axles boing all of the same length) will fit
into the spaces between the outer as well as the inner bearings.
The third feature of improvement is in the mode of connecting the driving
wheel G (see Fig. 2) to the shaft A. The former mode of attaching this
driving wheel G to the shaft A was by a key or other strong fastening, the
inconvenience of which was, that in the event of any extraordinary resistance
in the working of the internal machinery, arising from derangement in the
movements of the gill bars or fallers, some of the weaker parts of the machinery
would break. To obviate this inconvenience, instead of affixing the driving
wheel G to the main shaft A by a key or other strong fastening. I now
insert a slight pin into the side of the driving wheel G, shewn by dots at y, in
Fig. 2. which pin (where the shaft and driving wheel are put together, as seen
in the Figure) passes into a suitable hole in the shaft A, and connects the
driving wheel to the shaft with sufficient strength for the purpose of actuating
the wheels Band E, and thereby driving the worm shafts of the gills.
Having now described my Improvements in Machinery for Drawing,
Roving, and Spinning Hemp, Flax, Tow, Silk, Wool, and other Fibrous Sub-
stances, desire it to be understood that the particular novelties which I
claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent are,―
Firstly, the employment of oblique toothed pinions or worm wheels for
driving the screw shafts which conduct the gill bars or fallers, in place of the
ordinary bevel gear heretofore used for that purpose.

page_text: Secondly, the variation in the construction or position of the brackets which
support the outer pairs of top drawing rollers, as shewn.
And, thirdly, the mode of connecting the driving wheel or pinion G to the
shaft which actuates the worms and gills by means of a slight pin, which is
capable of breaking readily in the event of any extraordinary obstruction in
the gills or strain in the mechanical parts connected therewith.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Fairbairn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
PETER (L.S.) FAIRBAIRN.
Inrolled the Ninth day of August, in the year above written.