IMPROVE- MENTS IN STOP MOTIONS FOR MACHINES FOR SLUBBING, ROVING, AND WEAVING PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Wilkinson, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Yarn Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STOP MOTIONS FOR MACHINES FOR SLUBBING, ROVING, AND WEAVING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Wilkinson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th August 1875.
I, FREDERICK WILKINSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Yarn Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOP MOTIONS FOR MACHINES FOR SLUBBING, ROVING,
AND WEAVING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to a method of arresting the motion of the
machine when a strand or thread is broken. In order to effect this I.
cause the material under operation to keep apart two surfaces, which

page_text: would complete an electric current, but when a breakage of the said
material or a portion thereof takes place, then the said two surfaces come
into contact, and establish the electric current. When this happens a
magnet is charged, which causes a lever or other such part to operate
upon any of the ordinary stop motions now in usc.
To illustrate this I will take the case of two strands to be doubled at
a slubbing or roving frame. These strands I cause to pass between two
rollers, one projecting into a groove formed in the other, that on the
upper side having a convex periphery, and the axes of these two rollers
I connect with the poles of a galvanic battery. So long as the proper
number of strands are between the rollers they are kept apart, but when
an end breaks then the deficiency of material allows the upper roller
to fall on to the surface of the lower, and completes an electric circuit,
which then charges a magnet, and brings any ordinary stop motion
into action.
In the case of weaving the weft when the shuttle enters its box is
pressed between two surfaces as aforesaid; if the material be present
they are kept from contact, but if absent they touch each other, and the
electric current is established to act in the aforesaid manner; or the
tension of the yarn may be employed to keep the two surfaces apart.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Wilkinson in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 28th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WILKINSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Yarn Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Wilkinson, Her
special license, that I, the said Frederick Wilkinson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Wilkinson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agrec

page_text: "C
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 STOP MOTIONS FOR MACHINES FOR SLUBBING, ROVING, AND
WEAVING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition,
amongst others, that I, the said Frederick Wilkinson, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and scal, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Wilkinson, 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 :-
My Invention relates to a method of arresting the motion of the
machine when a strand or thread is broken. In order to effect this in
slubbing and roving frames I cause the material under operation to keep
apart two surfaces of peculiar construction, which would complete an
electric current, but when a portion of the said material is absent then
the said two surfaces come into contact, and establish the electric
current. When this happens a magnet is charged, which causes a lever
or other such part to operate upon any of the ordinary stop motions now
in use.
In the case of weaving the weft when the shuttle enters its box is
pressed between two surfaces; if the material be present they are kept
from contact, but if absent they touch each other, and the electric
current is established to act in the aforesaid manner.
Figs. 1 and 2 shew the peculiar form of apparatus I employ in slubbing
and roving frames, they being drawn upon an enlarged scale, in order
more clearly to explain the operation. At 1 is a metal roller formed
with a concave periphery situated between two flanges 2, 3, of a roller 4,
the said flanges being made of wood or other electric insulating material,
and the roller 4 of metal. The two or more strands, as they pass from
the creel or other receptacle, pass between the two rollers 1, 4, as shewn by.

page_text: the circles colored blue, two of such strands being shewn at Fig. 1, and
it will be seen that they thus keep the rollers 1, 4, from contact, and
this because they respectively occupy a position on cach side of the
centre line; but suppose one of the said strands to become broken, then
the remaining one by travelling to the centre will allow the roller 1 to
fall, and arrive in contact with the other roller 4, which position of the
parts is shewn at Fig. 2.
It is evident that the surfaces 1, 4, might be reversed, for by turning
Figs. 1 and 2 upside down it will be seen that the effect would be the
same.
Having thus explained the peculiar description of apparatus I employ
I will proceed to point out its practical application.
Fig. 3 represents in cnd view the drawing rollers of a slubbing, roving,
or as it is sometimes called an intermediate frame, with my Invention
applied thereto, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same. At 5, 6, 7, are the
drawing rollers of the usual construction, and at S the ordinary traversing
rail, which carries the usual curl 9, through which the strands pass as
they proceed from the creel; two of such strands are shown in the
Drawing. Upon the rail S is mounted a frame 10, which carries the
axis 11 of the roller 4, and above is the axis 12 of the roller 1, the forms
of which rollers have already been described in reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
That part of the axis 12 which touches the frame 10 is insulated by a
covering of wood, vitreous matter, or other such suitable substance, and
Attached to
is capable of moving upward or downward in a slot 13.
the frame 10 is a conducting wire 14, and at 15 is another conducting
wire attached to the metal part of the axis 12.
Referring now to Fig. 5 the apparatus shewn therein is at another
part of the machine, and in any situation where stop motions of this
class are usually situated. At 16 is the well-known vibrating lever
turning upon a centre 17 carried by a bracket 18, and on this bracket is
mounted an electro-magnet 19, above which is a catch 20 answering to a
keeper for the said magnet, the part 20* in the position shewn being
just clear of the vibrating lever 16, and being maintained in that position
by the spring 21.
To explain the action some of the parts must now be considered as
represented by a diagram, as they cannot be shewn in practical relative
position. Let 10 denote a portion of the frame indicated by the same

page_text: number in Fig. 3 and 14, the wire attached thereto and proceeding to
one pole of a galvanic battery A placed in any convenient situation, the
other pole of the said battery being connected to one part of the
magnet 19. At 15 is the other wire attached to the shaft 12 of Fig. 3,
and this after traversing the other part of the magnet 19 in the usual
manner passes to the said shaft 12. So long as the rollers 1, 4, are kept
apart, as shewn in Fig. 1, the magnet 19 has no power, because the
means of establishing a current of electricity is broken; but when a
strand fails, and the parts assume the position shewn at Fig. 2, then the
circuit is completed, the roller 1 by falling upon that shown at 4 placing
its wire 14 in communication with the other wire 15 through the medium
of the non-insulated part of the axle 12 and frame 10. This condition
having been established the magnet 19 will have become charged, and
will draw down the catch 20*, so as to cause it to intercept the vibrating
lever 16, the consequence of which will be a stoppage of the machine in
the well-known manner.
Reference has been made to one boss only of the drawing rollers, but
the same detocting apparatus is of course applied to cach boss; two arc
shewn in the Drawing.
Figs. 6 and 7 represent a modification of my Invention, the only
difference however being that the two surfaces, the one projecting into
the other, are mounted so as not to revolve. At 10 is the frame placed
behind the rollers 5, 6, 7, and provided with a trumpet 22, within which
there projects one end of a finger 23 pressed downward by a spring 24.
The strands shown by the blue color pass between those two parts, and
they are thus kept from touching each other during the presence of the
two strands, but when one is absent then, as in the formerly described
arrangement, the spring 24 forces the finger 23 downwards, and by
bringing the two metallic surfaces 23, 22, together completes the electric
circuit through the wires 14, 15, to act as before described. The
centre 25, upon which the finger 23 turns, is of course insulated, as in
Figs. 3, 4.
My improvement relating to weaving is shown at Figs. 8 and 9, of
which the former represents in transverse view a portion of a woollen
loom, and the latter a front view of the same. At 30 is the shuttle box;
at 31 the lathe caused to vibrate in the usual manner upon the
centre 32 by the crank shaft 33. In front of the shuttlo box is a

page_text: bracket 34, which carries a short axis provided with a finger 35 capable
when turned over with the said axis of arriving in contact with a metal
plate 36 extending from the shuttle race. Upon the axis which carries
this finger is a toothed pinion 37 taking into a wheel 38, which turns
upon a centre 39, and this wheel has a crank pin connected to a rod 40,
the other end of which is jointed to a lever 41, 41, capable of turning
upon the centre of motion 32 of the lathe. The part 41 of the lever
carries a rod 12, which extends downward, and by a forked end
embraces the crank shaft 33. Upon this shaft is mounted loosely a
cam 44, which is driven from the tappet shaft by equal wheels 44*.
acting against a roller 45 carried by the rod 42. The cam 44 is driven
as described from the tappet shaft, because the arrangement shown is
only intended to act on one side of the loom. According to the positions
of the parts, as shewn, the shuttle 46 has entered its box, and the
finger 35 is turned down, but is prevented from touching the plate 36,
because the weft thread is present, and situate between those two
surfaces. The crank shaft 33 revolving brings the cam 44 to act
against the roller 45, whereby the rod 42 is thrust upward, and by
turning the lever 41, 41*, upon its centre pushes downward the rod 40,
and this through its crank pin turns the wheel 3S a portion of a revo-
lution, thereby causing the pinion 37 to revolve and lift the finger 35
upward, leaving a clear space for the shuttle to travel in performing its
pick. When the shuttle again arrives at its box the cam 44 will be in
the position shewn, and the rod 40 will have turned the wheel and
pinion 37, 38, in the other direction, so as to turn over the finger 35
towards the face of the plate 36, and if the weft thread is absent those
two metallic parts will arrive in contact, and will establish an electric
current through the medium of the wires 50, 51, the former being
attached to the plate 36, and the latter to the bracket which carries the
axis of the finger 35. These two wires are connected to a magnet and
battery as in the first part of my Invention, which magnet may act in
any suitable manner to bring a stop motion into operation according to
the method shewn in the Drawing. The magnet 19 is carried by a
bracket attached to the bottom of the lathe, and at 60 is an arm which
acts as the keeper turning upon a centre 61 upon a bracket 62, which is
provided with a projecting part 63. At one end of the arm 60 is a
pendant part 64 with a recess 65 formed in its thickness.
usual knocking-off lever formed with a projecting part 67.
ordinary working of the loom the lathe as it advances carries forward
At 66 is the
During the

page_text: the piece 64, and the recess 65 arrives opposite to the projecting part 67,
so that no effect is produced; but suppose the weft thread to be
absent, then the finger 35 having arrived in contact with the surface of
the plate 36 an electric current will have been established, so as to
charge the magnet A. This having taken place the arm 60 will have
been drawn downward, and the consequent rising on the opposite side
of its centre will have carried upward the part 64. The lathe now.
advancing will bring the thicker portion of the part 64, which now acts
as a filling piece, against the projecting part 67, and the "knocking off”
will be effected as usual. The wires 50, 51, must. of course be slack
enough to allow the free motion of the lathe,-
This part of my Invention is chiefly applicable to woollen mules,..
but may also be used in other cases when coarse weft is employed.
'
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, and for the purposes above set forth,-
Firstly. As applied to such preparing machines as above mentioned
the use of the two surfaces taking into each other in the manner parti-
cularly represented at Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7.
. Secondly. As applied to looms for weaving the use of the weft thread
for insulating two surfaces; which would in the absence of the said
thread establish an electric current.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Wilkinson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
'six.