IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING EYELETED HEALDS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Randall Harris and James Gould Cooper both
of the City of Manchester in the County of Lancaster for an Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING
EYELETED HEALDS.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Randall Harris and
Jaines Gould Cooper at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
18th July 1882.
WILLIAM RANDALL HARRIS and JAMES GOULD COOPER both of the City of
Manchester in the County of Lancaster " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF
AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING EYELETED HEALDS
,,
Our Invention relates to the Harris Patent Healds which are provided with metal
eyelets in accordance with a former invention of the said William Randall Harris
for which Letters Patent dated Feb. 25th 1869 No. 590 have been granted and in
the first place to the preparation of the said eyelets. We take the punched and
softened blanks which have a flange on one side only and we feed them into a
machine having top and bottom dies which shape the eyelets into a double flanged
form similar to a grooved pulley. We then soften the eyelets and subject them to
the so-called silvering process. The eyelets are then "ovalised
in a machine
which is provided with a pair of dies which slide towards each other. Each die is
cut to shape the eyelet and to fit against and support the flanges. An oval tongue
rises and receives the eyelet and holds it whilst the dies advance and shape it.
We prefer to form the dies to shape two or more eyelets at once the feeding box
being formed with two or more shutes.
Our Invention relates in the second place to the machine which fixes the eyelets
in the yarn which is untwisted to receive the eyelets between its strands. Previously
to our invention the untwisting and re-twisting have been uniform. We now
impart an increased twist to the yarn preparatory to the closing of the eyelet in
order that the twist may extend closer to the metal whereby the yarn is enclosed
more completely. We apply two side springs to the shute of the feeding box

page_text: whereby the eyelets are more correctly fed on to the tongue which rises to receive
them. We also apply between the closing dies and the taking-up wheel a set of
dies and an inner rising shaping tongue for pressing and improving the shape of
the eyelets a movable stop arresting the eyelet in the required position for the
said tongue to enter. The yarn passes over and under a set of three pulleys to
take up some of the length of yarn one or more of these pulleys being adjustable.
The eyelets are finally pressed between revolving rollers which we apply to the
winding frame or to the setting machine or otherwise as preferred. We apply a
brake clutch or escapement to the driving shaft and control the driving by means
of a treadle. When the foot is pressed upon the said treadle the machine is actuated
sufficiently to set one eyelet when the movements cease until the treadle is again
pressed. A further improvement is in the knitting machine. In the said machine
a revolving wheel is used to catch the eyelets and to deliver them on to the end
of a tongue. Grooves to permit the passage of the yarn and at the same time to
stop the eyelets are formed in the said wheel but do not fulfil the latter purpose
with certainty. We apply levers or hinged forked stops to the said wheel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Randall Harris and James Gould Cooper in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 17th January 1883.
WILLIAM RANDALL HARRIS and JAMES GOULD COOPER both of the City of
Manchester in the County of Lancaster "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF and
IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING EYELETED HEALDS
33
Our Invention relates to the Harris Patent Healds which are provided with
metal eyelets in accordance with a former invention of the said Williain Randall
Harris for which Letters Patent dated February 25th in the year 1869 and
numbered 590 have been granted and in the first place to the preparation of the
Faid eyelets. We take the punched and softened blanks which have a flange on
one side only and we feed them into a machine having top and bottom dies which
shape the eyelets into a double flanged form similar to a grooved pulley. We then
soften the eyelets and subject them to the so called silvering process. The eyelets
are then "ovalised in a machine which is provided with a pair of dios which
slide towards each other. Each die is cut to shape the eyelet and to fit against and
support the flanges. An oval tongue rises and receives the eyelet and holds it
while the dies advance and shape it.
Our Invention relates in the second place to the machine which fixes the eyelets
in the yarn which is untwisted to receive the eyelets between the strands. Previouslý
to our invention the untwisting and re-twisting have been uniform.
We now
impart an increased twist to the yarn preparatory to the closing of the eyelet in
order that the twist may extend closer to the metal whereby the yarn is enclosed
more completely. We apply two side springs to the shute of the feeding box
whereby the eyelets are more correctly fed on to the tongue which rises to receive
them. We also apply between the closing dies and the taking-up wheel a sot of
dies and an inner rising shaping tongue for pressing and improving the shape of
the eyelets a movable stop arresting the eyelet in the required position for the
said tongue to enter. The yarn passes over and under a set of pulleys to take up
some of the length of yarn one or more of these pulleys being adjustable. The
eyelets are finally pressed between revolving rollers which we apply to the winding
frame or to the setting machine or otherwise as preferred. We apply a brake
clutch or escapement to the driving shaft and control the driving by means of a
treadle. When the foot is pressed upon the said treadle the machine is actuated
sufficiently to set one eyelet when the movements cease until the treadle is again
pressed. A further improvement is in the knitting machine. In the said machinė
a revolving wheel is used to catch the eyelets and to deliver them on to the end
of a tongue. Grooves to permit the passage of the yarn and at the same time to
stop the eyelets are formed in the said wheel but do not fulfil the latter purpose
with certainty. We apply levers or hinged forked stops to the said wheel.
In order that our invention may be fully understood we have attached hereunto
two sheets of drawings to which we will refer in this place. In the said drawings
Fig 1 drawn to a scale of about one and a half inches to the foot represents a
front elevation Fig 2 a cross sectional elevation and Fig 3 a plan of the machine
which we use to shape the eyelets into the double flanched form. In the said Figs
a is a driving shaft upon which is secured a cam b' which actuates the moving parts
of the machine. The eyelets are acted upon by upper and lower shaping dies c, d,
which are represented about the full size in section in Fig: 4. Within the lower
die d is a sliding tongue which is carried by a rod which is jointed to the end of
a lever f which is acted upon by the cam so that at the proper times the said
congue is pushed upwards to receive an eyelet from the feeding box g. The said
feeding box is similar in its action to the feeding box used in the machine for
nserting the eyelets and which will be referred to hereinafter. At the proper
imes the said box is advanced by the cam to bring an eyelet over the end of the

page_text: tongue. The upper die c is fixed in the end of a lever h which turns upon a
fulcrum piece which is secured to the table of the machine. The other end of the
said lever is furnished with an anti-friction bowl which runs in a snail groove in
the face of the cam which is formed to raise and lower the die at the required
times. The form of the eyelets as they are fed into the machine is indicated by 5
section 1 in Fig 4. When the feeding box has been advanced to present an eyelet
over the tongue e the latter rises to receive the eyelet and the feeding box retires.
The die c is now forced downwards by the turning of the lever h and a central
projection enters the eyelet taking the place of the tongue e which retires down-
wards the eyelet being pressed between the two dies. Annular grooves are formed
in the dies which curve the edges of the eyelet so as to form rounded flanches the
section being altered to the form indicated in section 2. The die c then rises and
a finger i which is attached to one end of a lever j knocks off the eyelet the said
lever being acted upon by the cam for the purpose. The levers fand j and the
feeding box lever are moved in one direction by the cam and in the other direction
by springs but this may be varied. The eyelets after being thus shaped are softened
and "silvered" and are placed in the feeding box g of the machine which is illus-
trated by the remaining Figs in sheet 1. Fig: 5 being a front elevation Fig 6 a
cross sectional elevation and Fig. 7 a plan of our improved ovalising machine which
is adapted to ovalise two eyelets at cach operation. In the said Figs. I is a driving
shaft upon which are fixed cams which actuate the parts. A cam m gives motion to
the feeding box lever and two cams n, n, act upon levers o, o, which give motion to the
ovalising dies p, p which dies are represented about the full size in Figs. 8 and 9.
The said dies are formed of steel plates which are secured to bars q, q which are
fitted to slide in a straight line in bearings and are acted upon by the levers o, o.
In the ends of the steel plates are formed undercut recesses as seen in Figs 8 and 9
and also in the vertical section Fig. 10 which is drawn larger than the full size.
For convenience we form each of these recesses in both dies by one operation by
means of a revolving cutter so that each recess is a segment of a circle. In central
position between the ends of the two die plates and in exact line with the said
recesses in the same two oval tongues are fitted to rise and fall sliding in holes
formed in a fixed block as seen in Fig 9. The lower ends of continuations of
these tongues are connected with one end of a lever 8 and the other end of this
lever is acted upon by a cam t to raise the said tongues to receive eyelets from the
shutes of the feeding box and to withdraw the tongues after the ovalising
operation. The feeding box is provided with two shutes each holding an eyelet in
the manner hereinbefore described. When the two tongues rise they receive
two eyelets as seen in Fig. 8 and the feeding box retires. The cams n, n, press
outwards the ends of the levers o, o, so that the two die plates are caused to
approach each other and the round cyclets become compressed between the opposed
die plates and by the joint effect of the .oval tongues and the curved recesses
become ovalised or changed from the form 3 in Fig 4 to the form 4. The pro-
jecting edges seen in Fig. 10 pass over and under and support the flanges of the
eyelet during the operation. Before the dies give the final squeeze their ends are
slightly raised from the surface of the block by means of two side plates u, u,
which come below the die plates and are attached to a lever v which is acted upon
This movement lifts the eyelet off
by means of a snail groove in the cam m.
square shoulders on the oval tongues the office of the said shoulders being to centre
the eyelets. The die plates theu retire the tongues are drawn downwards and a
knocking off finger w which is acted upon by a cam x advances and pushes off the
finished eyelets.
The Figs. on sheet 2 with the exception of Fig. 16 illustrate the second part of
our invention and represent parts of the machine for inserting the eyelets in the
yarn. Purts of the machine not represented appear in the drawings accompanying
the specification of an Invention for which Letters Patent number 2540 of the
year 1875 have been granted to one of us the said William Randall Harris and
parts appearing in such drawings and also in the drawings hereunto attached hav

page_text: been marked with the same letters. In sheet 2 of the attached drawings Fig 11
drawn to a scale of about three inches to the foot is a front view and Fig 12 is a
cross sectional view illustrating the parts which act upon the yarn to untwist and
to retwist the same. Previously to our present invention the cam k which
effected the untwisting and retwisting of the yarn by acting upon the sector lever
which vibrated the band wheel p which rotated the hollow spindles j, k, through
which the yarn is led was formed to impart equal twisting and untwisting move-
ments to the said spindles. In our Invention the groove in the said cam is
formed to rotate the said spindles to a greater extent during the twisting than
during the untwisting. The cam is altered in the part of the groove extending
from 1 to 2 which was formerly concentric with the axis the band wheel p
remaining stationary for an interval during which the yarn was being drawn
forwards. As altered the cam imparts a backing motion to the spindles which
would have the effect of untwisting the yarn if the spindles had hold of it.
When the part 2 begins to act the spindles take hold of the yarn and the
untwisting begins. When the part from 3 to 1 acts the yarn is twisted not
only to the extent of the untwisting but to the additional extent of the aforesaid
backing motion effected by the part from 1 to 2 whereby we obtain a better
covering or enclosure of the yarn. Fig. 13 illustrates an improvement in the
feeding box L.
The eyelets descending the shute are kept from falling out at
the end by means of two springs instead of by means of one only the springs
holding the eyelet like the two fingers of a hand. A front view of the additional
apparatus for improving the shape of the eyes appears in Fig 11 and the parts
are also seen in plan in Fig 14 and in side elevation in Fig 15. The eyeleted
yarn passes from the spindle around a set of pulleys a³, as in the manner indicated
in a larger scale in Fig 17 the pulley a being adjustable. The use of this
arrangement is to take up an exactly adjustable length of yarn to ensure one
of the eyelets resting over a die bed b² during the intervals between the drawing
forwards of the eyeleted yarn. The eyelet so resting over the bed &* comes
against a stop finger which is lowered to stop the eyelet. The said finger is
formed upon a spindle which is fitted to turn in a bearing and is acted upon
by a lever d which turns upon a fulcrum e² and is acted upon by a cam
upon the cam shaft D. A toothed quadrant is formed upon the said lever and
gears with a pinion fixed on the said spindle. The effect of this arrangement
is that when the lever is turned by the cam in the direction indicated by the
arrow the finger end is lowered. When the lever moves in a contrary direction
the end of the finger is raised to permit the eyelet to pass forwards. When the
eyelet is brought to rest over the die bed 63 an oval tongue g³ descends and
enters the eyelet. This tongue is attached to a sliding bar which is drawn down-
wards by means of a rod which is jointed to a lever i which is acted upon to
draw downwards the said bar and tongue by means of a cam on the ordinary
driving shaft P. The die bed b' is formed with a side ledge which is hollowed
and shaped to smooth and shape one side of the eyelet the other side being
shaped by means of a die which is carried by the upper end of a cranked
lever which is acted upon by a cam upon the shaft P so that when the tongue g¹
has entered the eyelet the die k is advanced towards the eyelet and squeezes
it thereby smoothing the edges which meet over the yarn and improving its form.
The acting edge of the said die is curved and hollowed as in the case of the corre-
sponding part on the die bed. The eyelets. are finally finished and smoothed by
pressing between smooth revolving rollers between which the eyelets pass and
thereby have any twist or distortion removed. We apply a treadle starting
arrangement to the machine similar to the arrangement used in the label machine
for which Letters Patent number 4104 of the year 1880 have been granted to us
so that the machine can be stopped after fixing an eyelet and started again by
pressing upon the treadle. Fig. 16 illustrates the remaining part of our invention
and represents a full sized section of the roller U shewn in Fig. 11 of the aforesaid
specification of the year 1875. We turn two grooves around the said roller one

page_text: .
on each side of the central groove and in these two grooves we place forked
levers m³, m³, which turn upon pins n³ the levers m² being in one groove and the
levers m³ in the other groove. When the yarn is brought across it enters the fork
in one of the levers-say for example a lever m² and such lever forms a stop for
the metal eyelet. At the next traverse in the contrary direction the roller having
made a quarter turn one of the levers m³ serves as a stop for the eye.
Having now fully set forth and indicated the nature of our said invention and
the manner in which and the means whereby we carry the same into effect we
would have it to be understood that we claim :-
First the machine for flanching metal eyelets substantially as set forth and
indicated berein before and in and by the accompanying drawings.
Secondly a machine having grooved top and bottom dies for flanching metal
eyelets substantially as set forth and indicated with reference to Fig. 4 of the
attached drawings.
Thirdly the machine for ovalising metal eyelets substantially as set forth and
indicated hereinbefore and in and by the accompanying drawings.
Fourthly a machine having a pair of dies moving towards and away from each
other alternately in each of which dies is or are formed a curved recess or two or
more curved recesses in conjunction with an oval tongue or with two or more such
tongues substantially as set forth and indicated with reference to Figs 8, 9 and 10
of the drawings.
Fifthly in machines for fixing metal eyelets between the untwisted strands of
yarn so actuating the revolving spindles or parts which untwist and twist the yarn
as that the latter is twisted to a greater extent than it is untwisted substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
Sixthly in the said machine for fixing metal eyelets, the arrangements for
smoothing and pressing the fixed eyelets substantially as set forth and indicated
with reference to Figs 11, 14 and 15 of the attached drawings.
Seventhly the adjustable arrangement of pulleys substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and indicated with reference to Fig: 17 of the attached
drawings.
Eighthly the application to the shute of an eyelet feeding box of the two spring
fingers substantially as set forth and indicated hereinbefore and in Fig 13 of the
attached drawings.
Ninthly passing the eyeleted yarn between a pair of rollers to straighten or
flatten the metal eyes.
Tenthly applying to the eyelet setting machine the foot treadle starting and
stopping arrangement used in our label nachine patented in the year 1880..
And lastly the addition to the roller represented by Fig 16 of the drawings
of the hinged stops m², m³, substantially as and for the purpose set forth and
indicated.
In witness whereof I the said William Randall Harris for myself and on
behalf of the said James Gould Cooper have hereunto set my hand and seal
this sixteenth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and eighty-three
•
WILLIAM RANDALL HARRIS (L.S.)
Signed sealed and delivered
in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON
41 John Dalton St. Manchester
(Agent for the Patentees)