IMPROVEMENTS IN SPOOLING MACHINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas A. Mathewson, of Pawtucket, County
of Providence, State of Rhode Island, United States of America,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPOOLING MACHINES.”—Partly
a communication from George W. Paine, of Pawtucket, County of
Providence State of Bbode Island. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas A. Mathewson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th May 1875.
I, THOMAS A. MATHEWSON, of Pawtucket, County of Providence,
State of Rhode Island, United States of America, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPOOLING MACHINES,"
partly a communication, to be as follows:-
One object of this Invention is the production of a machine that will
wind thread automatically on spools. having a conical base and a central
extension of uniform diameter, so that during the whole length of the
bobbin, the thread will be laid alternately upward and downward on the

page_text: cone successively until the whole bobbin is completed. Such bobbins
give up the thread freely without entangling, and are used for knitting,
embroidery, and other similar machines.
Other objects of the said Invention are to enable me to use bobbins
wound with or without copping motion, and to provide a bobbin holder
in which a uniform tension is maintained on the thread.
The nature of the said Invention consists in the arrangement of a
cone supported by a pawl on a screw having a saw tooth sectioned
thread in a vertical position and supporting a thread carrier, so that
the said carrier is raised by the cone but does not revolve with the same,
when the latter is in contact with the bobbin and the adjustable
cylindrical case for holding the bobbin, and a weighted tension bar, by
which a uniform but elastic tension is maintained on the thread.
In my improved spooling frame the spools are generally of considerable
diameter and height. They are therefore placed upon spindles resting
in a step and rotated around their vertical axis, rotation being imparted
by bands passing around the driving cylinder and the whirl secured to
the spindle. By this arrangement all the spools are in sight of the
operative. The frame also occupies less room than when such spools
project laterally, while the power required to drive a frame in which the
spindles carrying the large and heavy spools rest on a step is much less
than where such spindles are supported horizontally in long bearings.
The spooling frame being especially designed for winding cone spools or
bobbins, the reciprocating motion imparted to the rails is of such length
and relative speed as will maintain the original shape of the cone at the
base of the spool.
screw.
An automatic guide cone and an adjustable carrier are mounted on a
As the spool is revolving with the spindle and the rail carrying
the screw,
the cone and carrier reciprocate vertically and the thread is
wound on the bobbin or spool downward until the cone comes in contact
with the revolving spool at the moment when the downward motion of
the rail changes to the upward motion.
When the automatic cone and adjustable carrier are opposite the
top of the empty bobbin it would be difficult for the operative to
place the said conc and carrier in the proper position, so that when the
downward motion of the rail carrying the screw, conc, and thread carrier,

page_text: ceases, and the upward motion commences, the thread would be wound
exactly at the lowest point of the cone on the spool and with an ordinary
screw great skill and experience would be required. In my improved
arrangement this is a simple operation. The thread being started on
the empty spool the operative places one finger into the cone on a trigger
or loop attached to a pawl and detaches the same from the said screw.
The cone and carrier are now free to slide down to the bottom of the
screw and rest on the rail. As soon as the cone comes in contact with
the conical part of the spool the automatic cone and carrier will be
raised, and slide on the screw until the lowest point of descent is
reached, at which point the thread carrier will be on a line with the
lowest edge of the cone on the spool, and as soon as the ascending
motion commences the cone and carrier will be relieved from the spool,
and guide the thread upward over the cone of the spool, and on the
return motion downward on the same.
In place of the screw a simple ratchet may be used so that the carrier
will be lifted when the same comes in contact with the spool to the
proper height, and continue to lift the same at each reciprocating
motion.
The carrier swinging loosely within the groove on the sleeve and
forming an eye for carrying the thread and guiding the laying of the
same on the spool adjusts itself to the different positions required.
At the upper end of the reciprocating movement the projecting eye
extends from the sleeve towards the spool, and in this position offers but
little ressistance, friction, or drag to the thread.
When winding from cops or bobbins on to the spool at the end of a
bobbin, or when the yarn breaks by accident, it becomes difficult with
the square threaded screw to so adjust the carrier that the winding shall
be continued at the same part of the bobbin, and the carrier must
therefore be adjusted so as to be in exactly the proper position to form a
regular spool. By placing the cone at the bottom of my saw toothed
section screw the cone and carrier will be lifted by the spool exactly
into the proper position without exerting too much pressure on the yarn
on the spool.
In a modification of this Invention I use a cylindrical case or
receptacle for the bobbin. This receptacle is secured to the frame of
the spooling or winding machine by a stud and screw. The said

page_text: cylindrical case is divided from the top to near its bottom by a slit
through which the yarn or thread of the bobbin is passed. The
cylindrical case turns freely on the stud when the screw is loose, but
is firmly held when the screw is tightened and any required tension can
be readily obtained by turning the cylindrical case.
When fine loosely twisted yarn or thread or yarn made of short and
inferior staple is to be wound from the bobbin, an unyielding tension or
frictional surface is liable to injure the same. When such yarn is to be
spooled I place on the cylindrical case or bobbin holder, the weighed
and hinged pressure bar. This bar is secured to the hinge bar by wires
whose ends form stops having sufficient spring to yield when the
weighted bar is raised by the yarn but they also increase the pressure on
the yarn.
The weight of the tension bar allows the yarn to be wound
freely without any undue strain, as the weight of the bar can be made
such as will keep the yarn in tension without causing serious strain,
while the bar may give freely. to any sudden strain, rising and lowering
with the variation of the strain on the yarn, thus producing a positive
but yielding tension adjusting itself to all the conditions and allowing
the yarn
to be unwound from the bobbin and wound on the spool evenly
and uniformly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas A. Mathewson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
A. MATHEWSON, of Pawtucket, County of Providence, State of Rhode
Island, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas A. Mathewson, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas A. Mathewson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas A.
Mathewson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any

page_text: time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great.
Britain and Ircland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, an In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPOOLING MACHINES," partly a communi-
cation from George W. Paine, of Pawtucket, County of Providence,
State of Rhode Island, United States of America," upon the condition,
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas A. Mathewson, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas A. Mathewson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification :—
One object of this Invention is the production of a machine which
will wind thread automatically on spools, having a conical base and
central extension of uniform diameter, so that during the whole. length
of the bobbin the thread will be laid alternately upward and downward
on the conc successively until the whole bobbin is completed; such
bobbins give up the thread freely without entangling, and are used for
knitting, embroidering, and other similar machines.
Other objects of the said Invention are to enable me to use bobbins
wound with or without copping motion, and so provide a bobbin holder
in which a uniform tension is maintained on the thread.
The nature of the said Invention consists in the arrangement of a
cone supported by a pawl on a screw having a saw-toothed section
thread in a vertical position and supporting a thread carrier, so that
the said carrier is raised by the cone but does not revolve with the
same when the latter is in contact with the bobbin and the adjustable
cylindrical case for holding the bobbin, and a weighted tension bar, by
which a uniform but clastic tension is maintained on the thread.

page_text: Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same showing one spool OF
bobbin partly filled with the automatic guide cone and adjustable carrier
in its proper position, the other spool being empty and newly placed 5
on the spindle; the automatic guide cone is shown at the upper end of
the screw and about to be placed in its position.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the automatic cone and the adjustable
carrier.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of the automatic cone and the screw,
the thread of which has a peculiar saw-tooth section, so that the pawl
in the automatic cone will slide freely upward, and also prevent the conc
sliding downward.
1
Figure 5 shows the carrier supported by the automatic cone, free to
rise and fall with the cone, but kept from rotating with the same by 1
passing on and around a vertical rod.
Figure 6 shows the carrier supported by the cone, and held in its
proper position by a spline fitting loosely in a groove made longitudinally
along the screw.
Figure 7 shows another kind of thread carrier also supported on 2
the automatic cone, and held in its position by the groove in the side
of the screw.
Figure 8 is an end view of my weighted tension bobbin holder;
Figure 9 is a view of its other end; and Figure 10 is a perspective view
of the same.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout
the Drawings.
I will first describe the parts of my Invention illustrated in Figures
1, 2, 3, and 4.
2
In my improved spooling frame the spools are generally of con- 3
siderable diameter and height; they are therefore placed upon spindles
resting in a step, and rotated around their vertical axis, rotation being
imparted by bands passing around the driving cylinder f and the

page_text: whirl secured to the spindles. By this arrangement all the spools
are in sight of the operator. The frame also occupies less room than
when such spools project laterally, while the power required to drive
a frame in which the spindles carrying the large and heavy spools.
rest on a step is mucli less than where such spindles are supported
horizontally in long bearings. The spooling frame being especially
designed for winding cone spools or bobbins, the reciprocating motion
imparted to the rails e, e, is of such length and relative speed as will
maintain the original shape of the cone at the base of the spool.
Figure 2 shews a spool on the right side of the frame, marked a; this
spool is shown about half filled with thread. The automatic guide
cone c and the adjustable carrier d are shewn in their proper position
on the screw 8. As the spool is revolving with the spindle and the rail e
carrying the screw s, the cone c and carrier d reciprocates vertically, and
the thread is wound on the bobbin or spool a downward until the cone c
comes in contact with the revolving spool at the moment when the
downward motion of the rail e changes to the upward motion, and by
this momentary contact the cone c is made to revolve on the screws,
sufficiently to raise the cone and thread carrier as much as the two
thicknesses of thread wound on the spool by the upward and down-
ward motion require. On the left-hand side of the same Figure 2 an
empty spool a¹ is shewn, and the automatic cone c and adjustable
carrier d are shewn opposite the top of the empty bobbin. It would
now be difficult for the operator to place the cone c and carrier d in the
proper position, so that when the downward motion of the rail e carrying
the screws, cone c, and thread carrier d ceases and the upward motion
commences the thread would be wound exactly at the lowest point of
the cone on the spool, and with an ordinary screw great skill and
experience would be required. In my improved arrangement this is a
simple operation. The thread being started, as shewn, on the empty
spool a, the operator places one finger in the cone c on the trigger or
loop attached to the pawl k, shewn in Figure 4, and detaches the same
from the screw s. The cone c and carrier d are now free to slide down
to the bottom of the screw and rest on the rail e. As soon as the
cone c comes in contact with the conical part of the spool the automatic
cone c and carrier d will be raised and slide upward on the screw s
owing to the peculiar shape of the thread on the screw, until the lowest
point of descent is reached, at which point the thread carrier will be on

page_text: .
a line with the lowest edge of the cone on the spool, and as soon as the
ascending motion commences the cone c and carrier & will be relieved
from the spool and guide the thread upward over the cone of the spool,
and on the return motion downward on the same. If no thread had been
wound on the spool during this reciprocation of the rail e, and by it of
the cone c and carrier d, the cone c would not touch the cone of the
spool and would continue to reciprocate, maintaining the same position
on the screw s. If however thread is wound on the spool the surface of
the cone on the spool is raised, and at the lowest point of the downward
motion of the cone c the same comes in contact with the spool, and the
rotation of the latter turns the conc c sufficiently on the screws to raise
the same and with it the carrier d. Layer after layer is thus regularly
and automatically laid on the spool.
The operation of this machine is continuous, for as soon as one spool
is completed another empty spool takes its place on the spindle. The
automatic cone and carrier are placed on the bottom of the screw 8 and
left to adjust. themselves, very little skill is required, and the spools pro-
duced are absolutely perfect, cach thread being laid with the greatest
precision. The machine is never stopped and continues to perform its
work automatically as long as the different parts are in
proper order.
.
In Figures 3 and 4 the screw 8, cone c, carrier d, and pawl k, are
shewn drawn to an enlarged scale, and it will be seen that the thread of
the screw is like the teeth of a saw or a ratchet in section, while the
pawl corresponds with this section and is held by a light spring against
the screw, and so supports the cone and carrier at any required position.
By this peculiar form of the screw the cone c easily slides upward on the
screw, but resists all downward motion when the pawl % is in place.
The cone is therefore easily raised when coming in contact with the
spool on starting a new spool to the proper position for winding the
thread on the bottom of the cone on the spool, and all subsequent
adjustment is automatically produced by the rotation of the cone con
the screws by the momentary contact of the cone at the lowest point of
the reciprocating motion with the spool.
In place of the screw a simple ratchet may be used so that the carrier
will be lifted when the same comes in contact with the spool to the
proper height, and continue to lift the same at cach reciprocating motion.
Such an arrangement, although practical, I do not consider as good as
the arrangement shown and described..

page_text: The carrier d swinging loosely within the groove on the sleeve b, and
forming an eye for carrying the thread and guiding the laying of the
same upon the spool, adjusts itself to the different positions required.
At the upper end of the reciprocating movement the projecting eye
extends from the sleeve toward the spool, and in this position offers less
resistance, friction, or drag to the thread. The spool is therefore wound
more loosely in tlic centre, while at the lowest point of the reciprocation
the eye of the carrier is parallel with the machine the thread is wound
faster and the friction on the carrier is greater; consequently the bobbin
or spool is wound harder on the outside, making a better spool, which
will stand more handling and unwind more perfectly, while the same
sized spool will contain more thread. The carrier being loose on the
sleeve also allows the cone c to turn freely when in momentary contact
with the spool without changing the position of the carrier, except
in raising the same.
When winding from cops or bobbins upon the spool at the end of a
bobbin, or when the yarn breaks by accident, it becomes difficult with
the square-threaded screw to so adjust the carrier that the winding shall
be continued at the same part of the bobbin; the carrier must therefore
be so adjusted as to be in exactly the proper position to form a regular
spool. By placing the cone at the bottom of my saw-toothed section
screw the cone and carrier will be lifted by the spool exactly into the
proper position without exerting too much pressure on the yarn or the
spool.
In Figures 8, 9, and. 10 a is a cylindrical case or receptacle for the
bobbin b. This receptacle is secured to the frame of the spooling or
winding machine by the stud f and screw g. This cylindrical case is
divided from the top to near its bottom by a slit, through which the
yarn or thread of the bobbin is passed. The cylindrical case turns freely
on the stud when the screw is loose, but is firmly held when the
screw is tightened, and as different kinds of yarn require more or less
tension to secure the even winding of the same on spools, any required
amount of tension can be readily obtained by turning the cylindrical
case a, and thus increasing or decreasing the frictional contact of the
yarn with the outside surface of the case. The cylindrical case is more
cheaply made than bobbin holders of two or more pieces. It is strong
and durable, gives perfect protection to the bobbin, can be adjusted with

page_text: great facility to any tension required, and is not liable to get out of
order.
When fine loosely twisted yarn or thread, or yarn made of short and
inferior staple is to be wound from the bobbin an unyielding tension or
frictional surface is liable to injure the same. When such yarn is to be
spooled I place on the cylindrical case or bobbin holder the weighted
and hinged pressure bar c. This bar is secured to the hinge bar d by
the wires i, i, the ends of which form stops c, e, having sufficient spring
to yield when the weighted bar c is raised by the yarn; but they also
increase the pressure on the yarn, as is shewn in Figure 9 in broken
lines. The weight of the tension bar c allows the yarn to be wound
freely without any undue strain, as the weight of the bar can be made
such as will keep the yarn in tension without causing serious, strain,
while the bar may give freely to any sudden strain, rising and descending
with the variation of the strain on the yarn, thus producing a positive
but yielding tension, adjusting itself to all conditions, and allowing
the yarn to be unwound from the bobbin and wound on the spool evenly
and uniformly.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. In a spooling machine the thread carrier supported by the
automatic cone in any manner by which the cone is free to revolve when
in contact with the bobbin without revolving the carrier, as herein set
forth and for the purpose specified.
Second. The combination of the thread carrier & with the self-adjusting
cone when used either vertically or horizontally.
Third. In a spooling machine a screw for carrying the automatic cone
when the thread on said screw has a saw tooth section, as herein
described.
Fourth. The combination of the cone c, and carrier d, and the screw 8,
having the threads on the same of a saw tooth section, as herein set
forth and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. The cylindrical bobbin receptacle a open at one end, and having
a slit along one side with the stud f and screw g, by which the same is
secured to the frame of the machine, and by which the same can be
adjusted to give any required frictional tension, as above described.

page_text: Sixth. The weighted hinged tension bar c, which, when thread is
passed under the same, adjusts itself freely to any undue strain, and acts
as a drag on the yarn or thread by its weight.
Seventh. The combination of a bobbin holding receptacle and a
hinged bar acting upon the yarn to produce tension, and which is free
to yield to any extra strain, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas A. Mathewson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
THOMAS A. MATHEWSON. (L.S.)