IMPROVEMENTS IN POLISHING THREAD AND YARN, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Evans, Walter Evans, and Henry Evans,
of Derby, in the County of Derby, Cotton Manufacturers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN POLISHING THREAD AND YARN, AND IN
MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE."
Sealed the 27th April 1860, and dated the 10th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Evans, Walter
Evans, and Henry Evans at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 10th November 1859.
We, SAMUEL EVANS, WALTER EVANS, and HENRY EVANS, of Derby, in the
County of Derby, Cotton Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN POLISHING THREAD AND YARN, & IN
MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in polishing thread and
yarn. For this purpose the threads or yarns to be polished are, when sized
and in a damp state, and when distended, passed over and against the surface
of a polished rapidly revolving heated cylinder or cylinders of metal, such
cylinder or cylinders having attached to their periphery at intervals narrow
brushes or strips of cloth or other suitable material, for causing the fibre of
the thread to adhere and lie in one direction whilst the thread is dried and
polished by the combined action of the bright heated cylinder or cylinders and
the brushes or other material attached to them. Thread or yarn may be

page_text: polished in the above manner when in the hank or skein, or whilst passing
from one beam to another, as in the common sizing or dressing machine, or
during their progress from one set of bobbins to another. When arranging
machines for polishing threads in the hank or skein, we mount a hollow bright
metal cylinder, having three or other narrow brushes or strips of cloth or
other material attached to its periphery on hollow axes (turning in bearings
in a suitable framing), through which steam may be passed to heat the
cylinder. The hanks to be polished are spread over two rollers, the axes of
which are parallel with the axis of the cylinder. The upper roller turns in
bearings in the framing vertically above the cylinder, and the lower roller is
below the cylinder, and is supported on a weighted lever, so that the bank
is stretched between the rollers, and the lower roller is sufficiently below the
cylinder to cause one side of the hank to press against one side of the heated
cylinder. The heated cylinder is caused to revolve rapidly, and the upper
roller is at the same time caused to revolve slowly, so that the hank is moved
gradually past the rapidly revolving cylinder. When the whole of the hanks
are dried and polished, the upper roller is lifted out of its bearings, and moved
down an incline in the framing to one side of the polishing cylinder, and the
tension taken off the hanks; the banks are then removed, and another set of
hanks arranged along the rollers. On each side of the machine there is a like
arrangement of rollers for supporting the hanks to be polished, so that when
the upper roller on which one set of hanks is spread is moved out of its
bearings, and down the incline to one side of the machine, another roller,
having another set of hanks spread on it, is moved up a similar incline from
the other side of the machine into the bearings above the heated cylinder, so
that one set of hanks may be arranged on one set of rollers whilst another set
of hanks on the other set of rollers is being polished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Evans, Walter Evans, and Henry Evans in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
EVANS, WALTER EVANS, and HENRY EVANS, of Derby, in the County of
Derby, Cotton Manufacturers, send greeting.
⚫ WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Samuel Evans, Walter Evans, and Henry Evans, Her special licence
that we, the said Samuel Evans, Walter Evans, and Henry Evans, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel
Evans, Walter Evans, and Henry Evans, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree 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 POLISHING THREAD AND YARN, AND IN MACHI-
NERY TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Samuel Evans, Walter Evans, and Henry Evans, our.
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Samuel Evans, Walter Evans, and
Henry Evans, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and.in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in polishing thread and
yarn. For this purpose the threads or yarns to be polished are, when sized
and in a damp state and when distended passed over and against the surface
of a polished rapidly revolving heated cylinder or cylinders of metal, such
cylinder or cylinders having attached to their periphery at intervals narrow
brushes or strips of cloth or other suitable material for causing the fibre-of-the
thread to adhere and lie in one direction, whilst the thread. is. dried and
polished by the combined action of the bright heated cylinder or cylinders and
the brushes or other material attached to them. Thread: or yarn may be polished
in the above manner when in the hank or skein, or whilst passing from one
beam to another as in the common sizing or dressing machine, or during their
progress from one set of bobbins to another. When arranging machines for
polishing threads in the hank or skein, we mount a hollow bright metal
cylinder having three or other number of narrow brushes or strips of cloth or
other material attached to its perephery on hollow axes (turning in.bearings in
a suitable framing) through which steam may be passed to heat the cylinder.
The banks to be polished are spread over two rollers, the axes of which are

page_text: parallel with the axis of the cylinder, the upper roller turns in bearings in the
framing vertically above the cylinder, and the lower roller is below the cylinder,
and is supported on a weighted lever so that the hank is stretched between the
rollers; and the lower roller is sufficiently below the cylinder to cause one side
of the bank to press against one side of the heated cylinder. The heated
cylinder is caused to revolve rapidly, and the upper roller is at the same time
caused to revolve slowly so that the hauk is moved gradually past the rapidly
revolving cylinder. When the. whole of the hanks are dried and polished, the
upper roller is lifted out of its bearings and moved down an incline in the
framing to one side of the polishing cylinder, and the tension taken off
the hanks. The hanks are then removed, and another set of hanks arranged
along the rollers. On each side of the machine there is a like arrangement of
rollers for. supporting the hanks to be polished, so that when the upper roller
on which one set of hanks is spread is moved out of its bearings and down the
incline to one side of the machine, another roller having another set of banks
spread on it is moved up a similar incline from the other side of the machine
into the bearings above the leated cylinder, so that one set of banks
may be
arranged on one set of rollers whilst another set of hanks on the other set of
rollers is being polished.
And in order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed. :
:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view and Figure 2 an end view of a machine arranged as
above described for polishing threads in the hank or skein. A is the framing
of the machine on which is mounted the hollow bright metal cylinder B, the
axes of this cylinder are hollow, and one axis is connected by means of the
stuffing box C, with the steam pipe D; the other axis is connected in a similar
manner to the pipe E, through which the condensed water is conveyed away,
the pipe E being bent downwards within the cylinder, so that its end is close
to the lowest part of the cylinder. The cylinder has three grooves formed in it
into which the brushes or strips of felt F are fixed. The brushes may be fixed in
the grooves by small screws, or when strips of felt or other yielding material
are used they may be fixed in the grooves as shewn at Figure 5. The cylinder
is set in motion by a pulley G on one of its axes, which is caused to rotate by
the strap G. The hanks to be polished are spread over and stretched between
two rollers H, I, the axes of which are parallel with the axis of the cylinder;
the upper roller H turns in bearings in the top of the framing vertically above

page_text: the centre of the heated cylinder. The lower roller I is supported on the
weighted lever K, which turns on a centre at L, and is sufficiently below, the
centre of the cylinder B to cause the banks to press against the surface of
the cylinder; on one end of the roller H there is a toothed wheel to which
motion is communicated by a toothed wheel on a short axis, on which is a
pulley M, to which a slow motion is given by a strap. When the rollers H
and I, with the banks spread upon them, are in position, the cylinder B is caused
to revolve rapidly, and the hanks are moved slowly round by the roller being
caused to revolve slowly. When the banks are dried and polished the roller II
is lifted out of its bearings and moved down the incline on the top of the
framing to the point N, and the lever K is lifted so as to take the tension of
the banks. The banks are then removed, and another set of banks arranged
along the rollers. On each side of the machine. there is a like arrangement of
rollers for supporting the hanks to be polished, so that when the upper roller
on which one set of hanks is spread is moved out of its bearings and down the
incline to one side of the machine, another roller, having another set of hanks
spread on it, is moved up a similar incline from the other side of the machine
into the bearings above the heated cylinder; so that one set of hanks may be
arranged ou one set of rollers, whilst another set of hanks on the other set of
rollers is being polished. Figure 3 is an end elevation of a machine arranged
for polishing thread whilst passing from one set of bobbins to another, or from
one beam to another. Figure 4 is a side view of the polishing machine,
A represents a set of bobbins on which the thread is wound previous to
polishing. B, a trough containing size through which the threads are passed,
the superfluous size being pressed out by the rollers C and D, the required
tension being put on the thread by retarding the roller C by means of a strap
and weight E. F represents the framework of the polishing machine; G the
rapidly revolving cylinder supported as in the machine above described, on
hollow axes and heated by steam supplied by the pipe H, through one of the
hollow axes.
I and K are rollers over which the threads are wound in a
spiral form during their progress, and are so placed that the threads whilst
stretched over them are slightly pressed against the heated cylinder. To the
end of the upper roller a stepped pulley M is attached, which is driven by a
similar pulley N on the axis of the cylinder G, and by which the speed of the
rollers is regulated, or the roller I may be driven by suitable wheel gearing:
L is a reed which guides and separates the threads. In working the machine
the threads after passing the sizing trough in the form of a small warp, are
passed under the roller K, and are threaded through a portion of the reed
commencing at the point P (Figure 4), either singly or a few threads together,

page_text: they are then passed over the upper roller I, and again threaded through the
next portion of the reed. They are then again passed under the roller K
through the next portion of the reed and over the roller I, and so on until the
reed is filled and the rollers covered, the threads being wrapped in a spiral
form over both rollers from end to end, and separated and kept in their places
by being passed through the reed at each wrap. The cylinder is then set in
motion by the driving pulley O (Figure 4) and revolves rapidly, whilst the
upper roller I is driven slowly by the pair of stepped pullies N and M. The
roller I in its revolution carries the thread forward, drawing it slowly from
the bobbins through the sizing trough and on to the rollers, and again giving
it off at the delivery end. The threads in their progress and whilst distended
between the two rollers are polished and dried, and caused to acquire a glacé
appearance by the friction of brushes or other materials attached to the
cylinder, and by the heat of the cylinder itself. The finished threads on
leaving the roller I may be either wound at once on to separate bobbins on a
common winding machine, or they may be wound on to a small roller, and
from thence transferred to the winding machine.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, we would have it understood that what claim is the polishing
threads or yarns by the friction of a rapidly revolving heated metallic cylinder
having strips of a yielding substance attached at intervals to its periphery as
herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Samuel Evans, Walter Evans, and
Henry Evans, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifth day
of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
SAMUEL EVANS (re)