Improvements in the Manufacture of Yarn from Waste.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 6th Feb., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Yarn from Waste.
I, DANIEL EDGAR COE of Darby, County of Delaware and State of
Pennsylvania, United States of America, Wool Spinner, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YARN
FROM WASTE, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :--
In the manufacture of yarn from wool, silk and other fibres, as is well known, a
large proportion of the fibre employed therein is, during the various steps of the
process necessary to its transformation, converted into waste, the percentage of
which varies within wide limits depending upon the skill of the operatives, the
condition of the machinery through which the fibre is passed, and various other
circumstances not necessary to enumerate herein. The loss that would result from
casting this waste aside as a by-product would be so great that efforts are made to
reclaim it and utilize the same in the manufacture of yarn, by returning it to its
original condition as fibre, and, after mixing it with fresh material, transforming
it therewith into yarn by the usual process, or that through which it was passing
when extruded.
The return of the waste to its original condition, when no twist has been imparted
to it, or when in the condition of what is known as "soft waste," is easily
accomplished by simply pulling or picking it apart, which may be effected either by
hand or by the usual picking machinery. When however the waste has passed that
point in the manufacture before being thrown off, and twist has been imparted to it,
forming what is known as "hard waste," its return to its original condition, is
a more difficult operation, the difficulty increasing in proportion to the amount of
twist which the waste possesses; and it is more especially in connection with this
character of waste that my present invention is concerned.
In this last mentioned condition, the reconversion of the waste into fibre can only
be practically effected by picking or carding machinery, which, acting upon the
strands of fibre as they are passed through it, tends to comb out the twists from the
strands and brings the separate fibres or filaments thereof into parallelism, or
approximately so, ready for incorporation with other fibre and transformation with
it into yarn by the process through which it was originally passing. This mode of
treatment however, while serving to remove the twists from the strands and
straighten the individual fibres thereof, is found objectionable in practice, principally
because of the deleterious effects upon the fibres, due to the breaking thereof by the
action of the picking or carding mechanism thereon, and because of the cost incident
thereto.
The object of any invention is to obviate these objections, and provide not only
a method whereby the transformation of waste, of the character last mentioned,
into yarn may be more cheaply and efficiently effected than has been possible
heretofore, but also a greatly superior yarn as a result thereof.
To these ends the invention consists, first, in the peculiar method of procedure
whereby the results specified are accomplished, and second, in the yarn produced
thereby, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.
In carrying out my invention, the hard waste as it comes from the various
machines is first fed to and passed through an ordinary preparing gill box, which,
without removing the twist therefrom, breaks the strands thereof into lengths and
brings them into parallelism with respect to one another, or into an approximation
thereto. From this machine the waste, as thus treated, is delivered in the form of
a lap which is afterwards preferably cut up into sections, of, say, sixteen inches in
length or thereabouts, by shears or otherwise, and the sections so formed are then

page_text: continuously fed to a second lap preparing gill box, through which they are passed
whereby to further straighten the strands of the waste and more thoroughly
intermix them, while yet in no substantial degree removing the twist therefrom.
After having passed through this last mentioned gill box and received treatment,
the product is again discharged in the form of a lap, which is next fed to, and
passed through, an ordinary can preparing gill in a continuous manner, and is
delivered into a. can in the form of a continuous sliver.
The slivers thus produced are then combined and. a number of them together in a
mass passed through a finishing preparing gill box, forming a single resulting sliver
which is delivered by such machine into a can or other suitable receptacle. The
number of slivers combined in this machine will depend, as will be understood,
upon the size of the composite slivers to be produced; and making up such combina-
tion, slivers composed wholly of hard waste may be selected, or slivers composed of
hard waste may be united with slivers formed from soft waste, or with slivers made
up from new material or with both, as may be desired, the operation of the machine
upon the slivers as they pass therethrough serving to intermix them and bring the
strands or yarn composing each into more perfect parallelism with respect to those
composing the others, without in any great degree disturbing the twist therein.
As thus formed, the resulting sliver is fed to and passed through an ordinary
wool combing machine, by which operation all knots and imperfect threads are
removed, and a sliver, made up in whole or in part of substantially perfect threads,
depending of course upon the character of the individual slivers combined in the
last preceding operation, produced.
After leaving this combing machine, the sliver is passed through the appro-
priate drawing machines, and by a series of combinations and drawings therein
evened and attenuated to the proper degree to form the yarn required. When the
coarser kinds of yarns are to be produced these drawing machines will consist of a can
gill box, a spindle gill box, an open drawing finishing box, an open drawing reducing
box, and a roving frame, through which several machines the slivers combined and
united to the desired number will be successively passed, the roving frame in this
case effecting not only a portion of the drawing of the mass passing therethrough,
but also the spinning thereof. When however, on the other hand, the finer grades
of yarn are to be produced, the several drawing machines above mentioned will
be supplemented by a flyer spinning machine, by means of which, after the slivers
have been combined and drawn in the preceding machines, the resulting product
may be spun, or if desired, still further drawn and then spun.
Although in the preceding I have described the conversion of the waste into
slivers as requiring the action of no less than three different gill boxes, and the
combining and uniting of the slivers as effected in each of the drawing machines
constituting the series, it is obvious that in some cases one or more of such gill
boxes may be omitted, and the combining and uniting of the slivers effected in
only certain of such drawing machines, while through the remainder such slivers
will be passed singly.
Again, while the treatment above set forth is the one which I prefer to adopt in
most cases, yet with some characters of hard waste, as, for instance, warp ends, and
other like kinds where the threads or ends are arranged parallel to each other or
substantially so at the outset, such waste may be cut or divided into sections of the
appropriate lengths, and its conversion into yarn effected without subjecting it to
the action of the combing machine, in which event that machine may be dispensed
with.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that I provide a simple and inexpensive mode
of procedure whereby the conversion of hard waste into yarn may be effected,
without returning it to its original condition as fibre, the severing of the yarns or
strands composing the waste into sections of comparatively short lengths permitting
of its being readily drawn and attenuated in the usual drawing machinery, without
removing the twist therefrom.
By following the method of procedure as thus described, a yarn is produced,

page_text: which, instead of being formed from a number of independent filaments of fibre
twisted together, is made up either in whole, or in part, from a number of short
sections of twisted composite threads or strands combined and likewise spun or
twisted together.
In carrying my improved method into effect, any of the well known forms of
preparing gill box, lap preparing gill box, can preparing gill, finishing preparing
gill box, wool combing machine, can gill box, spindle gill box, open drawing
finishing box, open drawing reducing box, roving frame, and flyer spinning machine,
may be employed; but, as such machines form no part of my present invention,
and may be replaced in whole or in part by others of an analogous character,
they have not been illustrated, and need no further description herein.
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. The improvement in the art of converting fibrous hard waste into yarn,
which consists in severing the threads or strands composing the waste into sections
of the appropriate length, then drawing the waste until the proper degree of
attenuation is reached, and then twisting the same into yarn, substantially as
described.
2. The improvement in the art of converting fibrous hard waste into yarn, which
consists, first, in dividing the threads or strands composing the waste into sections
of the appropriate length, then drawing the mass to bring such threads or strands
into parallelism and the waste into the form of a sliver, then combining and drawing
the slivers thus formed until the proper degree of evenness and attenuation is
attained, and then twisting the product so formed into yarn, substantially as
described.
3. The improvement in the art of utilizing fibrous hard waste in the manufacture
of yarn, which consists, first, in forming the waste into laps, next, in cutting or
dividing these laps into sections of the appropriate length, next, in forming these
sections again into laps, next, in drawing such laps and converting them into slivers,
next, in combining a number of slivers and drawing them until another sliver is
formed, next, in combing these last mentioned slivers without changing their form,
next, combining and drawing a number of the slivers thus combed until the proper
degree of evenness and attenuation have been attained, and then twisting the product
so formed into yarn, substantially as described.
4. A yarn, having a number of short sections of twisted threads or strands
incorporated therein and forming an integral part of its body, substantially as
described.
5. A yarn, composed of a number of short sections of twisted threads or strands
spun or twisted together, substantially as described.
Dated this 5th day of January 1892.
HUGHES, SON & Co.,
38, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.