AN IMPROVEMENT IN BRAIDING MACHINES AND WARP REGULATORS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tunstill, of Paterson, in the State of New
Jersey, United States of America, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tunstill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
September 1866.
I, WILLIAM TUNSTILL, of Paterson, in the State of New Jersey, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN BRAIDING MACHINES AND WARP REGULATORS," to be as
follows:-
Braiding machines are usually constructed with a plate through which in
an 8 shaped slot, or a series of them, in which carriers are moved by revolving
plates below with notched edges.
My improvement consists in a sheet metal thread case fitted upon each of
these carriers, in which is introduced a bobbin or cop so as to keep the same
always clean, and from which the thread passes off endwise and vertically
with uniformity and without friction or strain, instead of sidewise and horizontally
as heretofore usual, and under the friction and strain due to rotating the spool.
The thread passes around a grooved ratchet wheel once or more, which ratchet

page_text: wheel is placed above the thread case and held by a pawl. A pulley attached
to a variable weight guided by wires hangs upon the thread as it passes down
from the grooved ratchet wheel, below the pulley, and up through the delivering
eye to the point where it is braided. This mechanism prevents friction on the
thread, keeps up a regular tension on it, and takes up the slack by the rise
and fall of the weighted pulley, and when the pulley rises high enough a finger
extending upwards from the weight lifts the pawl from the grooved ratchet
wheel to let it turn and give out more thread. The motion is communicated
to the revolving plates (acting on the carriers) by means of conical or mitre
friction wheels, so that the starting will be gradual (and not sudden as with
gearing), and the stopping and starting lever presses one of these wheels
against the other, an india-rubber washer intervening so as to yield to
inequalities and keep the friction surfaces in contact; and from the stopping
and starting lever is a latch bar extending to a lever in a position to be acted
upon by the base of the aforesaid weight to the pulley in case that falls by the
breaking of a thread and thereby stop, the machine. The driving belt is flat
and passes from a main revolving shaft to a pulley connected to one of the mitre.
friction wheels. The take-up of the braided fabric is effected by a vertical
shaft and worm pinion acting upon a roller or pair of rollers. The aforesaid
weighted roller, grooved ratchet wheel, and pawl may be employed to give
tension to one or more warps in a loom, and thereby act as a warp regulator
and let-off motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Tunstill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM.
TUNSTILL, of Paterson, in the State of New Jersey, United States of America,
send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, A.D. One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign, did,, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Tunstill, Her special license that I, the said. William Tunstill, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William.
Tunstill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter during

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
BRAIDING MACHINES AND WARP REGULATORS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Tunstill, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 I, the said William Tunstill, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 is an elevation showing a braiding machine with only three spools
or bobbins, and illustrating my improvement; and Fig. 2 is a plan below the
line x, x, one of the. bobbins and its case being shown in section.
In braiding machines it is usual to have the bobbin or spool carriers travel
through an 8 shaped slot, or through a series of such slots, the thread passing
off the spool beneath or through a weight that takes up the slack thread
when the carrier is nearest to the point where the braiding takes place; this
causes considerable strain and wear on the threads or strands, so that in
practice it is found that the braiding machines cannot be used with threads
finer than a certain size. Besides this the tension is rendered irregular in
consequence of the thread passing off sometimes at right angles to the spool,
and at others above and below that point as the thread unwinds from towards.
the end of the spool.
The nature of my said Invention consists in an automatic let-off and'
weighted pulley combined with a bobbin or cop in which the thread is taken'
off at or near the line of the axis, thereby enabling me to occupy much less'
room or horizontal space than has heretofore been required for effecting the'
movements of the bobbins in braiding, and the friction and wear on the thread
are entirely avoided by the pulley, as that turns with the thread and the tension
is rendered uniform at all times, so that there is very little liability for the
5. thread. to break, and I enclose the bobbin or cop in a case so that the thread'
is kept from the dust and dirt and the machine may be allowed to stand over
night or for a number of days without the exterior layer of thread becoming
soiled as heretofore usual, particularly with silk and other delicate threads.
I make use of a friction mechanism between the driving pulley and the main

page_text: shaft of the machine in connection with the stopping and starting lever, so
that the starting, will be gradual and not liable to break the threads. as with
the positive gearing heretofore employed.
In the Drawing a represents the slotted plate; b, the drivers with notches.
in their edges-taking the pins c on the under side of the bobbin carriers d, and
e, e, are the driving wheels, all as usual; and I here remark that the number
of bobbins may be increased indefinitely, and the shape of the slot in the plate a
may be varied as desired. f is a beveled friction pulley below the wheel 9,
and h is a similar friction pulley contiguous to and rotated, by the, driving
pulley k, the surfaces of either or both these friction wheels f and. h are
covered with leather so as to produce the requisite friction when pressed into
contact. The pulley f is set upon a feather on the shaft 7, or otherwise con-
nected thereto, so that a slight movement may be given thereto for producing.
or relieving the friction with the wheel h, and a lever is provided to act
upon said pulley f through the washer of india-rubber i and a metal washer
next the pulley f, so that the yielding of said rubber washer i shall allow for
any inequalities in the friction surfaces off and h. The lever is raised for.
starting the machine and dropped for stopping it, the starting being gradual
in consequence of the friction. The pulley k has a flat belt passing to the
main driving shaft that runs parallel to the range of these machines placed
side by side. The lever has at its end a latch bar m that passes up and
takes over the lever m¹, which is acted upon by the base of the weighted
pulley hereafter described, in case said pulley falls by the breaking of a thread,
and unlatching the lever m' from the bar m allows the lever and pulley f
to drop out of contact with the wheel h. The shaft is continued up and
gives motion to any desired character of take-up for the braided fabric; I
have shown the worm n, wheel and shaft n¹, and barrel n' around which the
braided material passes once or twice, and thence goes to the winding reel n³
driven by a friction belt to a pulley n* on the shaft n³¹; o is the eye through
which the braided fabric passes. Upon each bobbin carrier I affix a case p
of sheet metal having in one side a swinging door or flap, through which the
bobbin or cop p is entered; the thread passes off from said bobbin or cop
around a grooved ratchet wheel q held by a pawl 2 and its spring 3; the
case p is to be of a size and shape adapted to the cop. is the pulley with
the weight set to slide vertically on suitable guide rods r¹, which also aid in
sustaining upon their upper ends the frame that supports the ratchet wheel q
and its pawl. The thread passes off from q below the grooved pulley and
out through the eye 4 above. The weight r of the pulley also forms its
support and guide, and may be increased by the addition of weights, each made

page_text: with a hole in its centre and placed over a stud 5 on the base of r; a finger 6
projects upwards from the slide weight r, and when the tension of the thread
lifts the weight r sufficiently said finger 6 comes into contact with the pawl 2,
and lifting the same allows the grooved ratchet wheel q to turn by the action
of the thread wound around it, and thereby allowing the weight to descend as
the thread is given off, the pawl 2 again entering the ratchet q holds the
thread as before until the braiding operation again drawing off the thread
raises the pulley and finger 6 into eontact with the ratchet q. It will be
seen that this weight and let-off might be used with a cop or bobbin and
without the case p, and in consequence of the pulley preventing friction and
wear on the thread a much greater weight and tension may be employed
without risk of breaking the thread. The pulley, weight r, grooved ratchet q,
and pawl 2 may be employed as a warp regulator in a loom to keep a definite
strain upon one or more warps passed around said ratchet wheel q and beneath
the pulleys, and let the same off from time to time as the weaving or braiding
progresses. The thread in my machine being drawn off from the end of the
cop uncoils without friction and with regularity the same as in an ordinary
shuttle, and there is no liability to break or become wedged in between the
other threads as there is in the usual braiding machines where the thread is
drawn off from the side of the spool against the friction and stop motion
applied to prevent the spool turning.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First, the case p fitted upon the carrier d in a braiding machine, and con-
taining the bobbin or cop from which the thread passes off upon the line, or
nearly so, of the axis of said bobbin or cop, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
Second, I claim a weighted pulley fitted to slide vertically, around which
the thread passes as specified, said weighted pulley acting as a tension upon
the thread in a braiding machine, substantially as set forth.
Third, I claim the ratchet pulley 9, pawl 2, and finger 6 in combination
with the weight 1, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
Fourth, I claim the grooved ratchet wheel q, pawl 2, and weight r in
combination with the cop or bobbin p', substantially as and for the purposes
specified.
Fifth, I claim friction wheels, applied in substantially the manner specified
between the driving pulley k and the main shaft of a braiding machine in
combination with the stopping and starting mechanism, so that the machine
may commence to move gradually instead of suddenly, as set forth.
Sixth, I claim a cop or bobbin applied in a braiding machine with the

page_text: thread passing off on the line; or.nearly so, of the axis of the said bobbin,. as.
set forth...
Seventh, I claim connecting the shaft with, the: pulley k by bevel wheels;
so that the belt passing from the pulley k to the. driving shaft shall be flat
instead of crossed as heretofore.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tunstill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February, A.D. One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witnesses,
. CHAS. H. SMITH,
121, Nassau St., New York.
GEO. D. WALKER,
121, Nassau St., New York,
WILLIAM TUNSTILL. (L.s.)