IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OB APPARATUS FOR SPINNING, DOUBLING, AND THROWING SILK, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Michael Bailey and William
John Almond at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 13th April 1870.
We, MICHAEL BAILEY of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, and
WILLIAM JOHN ALMOND, of Cheapside, in the City of London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OB APPARATUS FOR SPINNING, DOUBLING, AND THROWING SILK, COTTON,
AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in machinery or apparatus for spinning,
doubling, and throwing silk, thread, or other fibrous material at one
operation instead of submitting the fibre to three successive operations
as at present, also the silk or other fibre when made into twist requires
no stretching, and will work up in a raw state without curling
or snarling, a result never before accomplished in any one machine.
The silk is wound on their bobbins revolving on spindles supported in
framework in the usual way, but as it is found that the ordinary form
of spinning flyer produces a large amount of friction against the air and
prevents the fibre from passing freely through it, we construct our
flyers of a single sheet of tin of about the same size as the top of the
bobbin on which it reposes running loose on the spindle. On this flyer

page_text: are two eyes, one of which projects downwards, and a small groove over
which the fibre passes from the bobbin, by this means we can dispense
with the eye on the top of the flyer and run with much less friction
than when the fibre passes through the ordinary flyers.
Or, according to a modification of our improved flyer, we place fast on
the spindle above the tin plate a round block of wood on which is
pivotted a piece of bent wire not truly balanced, this wire revolves in a
horizontal position with the spindle by reason of the centrifugal motion
imparted thereto by the rapidity of revolution, but when the machine
stops for any cause or when it is just starting the heavier end of the
unbalanced wire falls on the flyer and holds it steady till the motion
of the roller is sufficiently accelerated to move the threads again, by
which means the tension is much better regulated than with the
ordinary form of flyer. In this case we prefer to wind the silk on the
bobbin the reverse way to reduce the tension on the fibre. In the event
of one of the bobbins running slack and another being required in its
place we stop the machine automatically and gradually instead of
throwing a catch into the spindle and suddenly stopping it as at present.
To prevent "running single "therefore as soon as one of the bobbins
is empty its wire drops upon a lever which throws a second lever
between the spokes of a star wheel constantly revolving with the
machine. One of the spokes or arms of this wheel catches the said
lever and throws over a vertical rod pivotted on the frame of the machine,
the other end of which is in communication with a catch operating on
a fork embracing the driving strap, so that on the said rod being thus
thrown over the strap is passed from the fast to the loose pulley and
the machine gradually and automatically stops. We find that the twist
flyer in its rotary passage generates a great amount of friction with the
air, we therefore construct this flyer of a solid cylinder of tin passing
over the bobbin as usual. A flyer constructed in this way does not open
out as the ordinary flyer is in the habit of doing, thus a much stronger
article is the result. In order that the twist bobbin shall not be affected
by the rotation of the spindle that passes through it and so that there
shall be less drag on the bobbin we place a brass tube between the
spindle and the bobbin. This tube is screwed into a transverse support
affixed to the frame, and has a bearing bush at the upper part near the
flyer, so that the vibration of the spindle is materially reduced. The
bobbin revolves on this tube and is lubricated in the following manner :-

page_text: The "heart motion" raises and lowers the bobbin in the usual manner,
but the lever that is in direct communication with the bobbin is in the
shape of a fork, having a small interior projecting piece taking into a
loose disc beneath the bobbin which turns partially around on the pro-
jecting piece to compensate for the variation in the distance of the
projection from the centre of the bobbin. As the bobbin drops down
it enters partially into an oil cup placed around the spindle, thus it sucks
up the oil and is thoroughly and automatically lubricated. Before
starting the machine we gather up the ends from the bobbins and pass
them over a series of rollers arranged to prevent the threads from
slipping, and to ensure their travelling true to the motion of the rollers,
the threads are twisted around or over cach of these rollers consecutively
in such manner that the separate threads will not intersect one another.
Some of the series of rollers are placed upon a tension lever pivotted on
a part of the frame and having its ends raised and depressed by a cam
on the driving shaft to prevent the strain in the silk, and avoid the
formation of "corkscrews." The roller on one end of the tension lever
is driven by frictional contact with the drum on the driving shaft, by
which means the motion is much more regular and even than with the
ordinary cog gearing. In front of the machine we place a cleaner
consisting of a forked piece of metal placed so that when a coarse thread
passes through it it will fall on the stopping lever to arrest the pro-
gress of the machine in the same way as before explained for the wires.
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