Improvements in the Manufacture of Cotton Ropes, and in Apparatus Used in such Manufacture.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 20th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 10th Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Cotton Ropes, and in Apparatus
Used in such Manufacture.
66
I GEORGE WORRALL (trading as Roger Brighouse") of No. 15 Sugar Lane
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of cotton ropes, the object of the
invention being to enable such ropes to be made in a limited space without any
splice and of a length considerably longer than the room, shed, or other place in
which such ropes are made.
Hitherto in making a cotton rope of (say) five hundred yards long without a
splice it was necessary to have a shed or walk of about seven hundred to seven
hundred and fifty yards long to commence owing to the shortening of the strands
and rope in twisting, but according to my invention I am enabled to make a cotton
rope of such a length or longer in an ordinary shed or walk of (say) sixty or
seventy yards long only, or even less.
For the purposes of my invention I use the ordinary fixed wheel or head with a
winch handle, toothed gearing and with (say) three or more twisting hooks and I
also employ a weighted movable sledge fitted with three (or more) corresponding
fixed hooks and with a winch for winding up the rope as it is formed somewhat
similar to that used for making long ropes of hemp or Manilla fibre, but instead
of attaching the hooks of the fixed wheel or head direct to the axles of the
toothed wheels, as hitherto done, I attach the said hooks to the said axles by means
of long spindles the twisting books being fixed to the ends of the spindles furthest
from the toothed wheels.
In commencing I wind or coil each strand of untwisted yarn round one of the
spindles leaving free only a sufficient length to reach to the fixed hooks on the
sledge to which the ends are attached. The strands are then drawn tight and tied
or otherwise attached to their several twisting books. These hooks are then by
means of the winch handle caused to revolve in the usual manner so as to twist
the three strands tightly to the right and as the untwisted portion of each strand is
coiled round its respective long spindle behind the twisting hook, and as each
spindle revolves in the same direction and at the same speed as the hook, it follows
that no twist whatever is put into the strands behind the twisting hooks as they
are merely carried round with the spindles.
"
The twisted strands are then " topped or twisted together from the sledge end
in the opposite direction to form them into a rope in the ordinary manner; after
which the length of rope thus formed is detached from the hooks and wound up
onto the winch, drawing forward a second portion of untwisted strand from each
spindle which is then tied or otherwise attached to its respective hooks and the
twisting and "topping" operations are repeated on the second section or length of
the strands, and 'so on until the whole length of the strands which was originally
wound on the spindles has been unwound, twisted and "topped" thus forming a
long continuous rope without any splice, each yarn or strand being made originally
of the full length and in one piece, and wound upon its own spindle as hereinbefore
lescribed.
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1
1
ADA
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Cotton Ropes, and in Apparatus
Used in such Manufacture.
I GEORGE WORRALL (trading as "Roger Brighouse") of 15 Sugar Lane,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of cotton ropes, the object of the
invention being to enable such ropes to be made in a limited space without any
splice and of a length considerably longer than the room, shed, or other place in
which such ropes are made.
Hitherto in making a cotton rope of (say) five hundred yards long without a
splice it was necessary to have a shed or walk of about seven hundred to seven
hundred and fifty yards long to commence with, owing to the shortening of the
strands and rope in twisting, but according to my invention I am enabled to make
a cotton rope of such a length (or longer) in an ordinary shed or walk of (say)
sixty or seventy yards long only, or even less.
I am aware that it has been the practice to make ropes of hemp and Manilla
fibre of considerable length in a limited space by continuously spinning fresh fibre
onto the end of the strands but in using cotton this plan is impossible as the full
length of strand required must be made all in one piece before starting and then
the difficulty arose of putting twist into any portion or section of this cotton rope
without putting any twist into the remainder which is part and parcel of the same
length of yarn.
The nature of my said invention and the manner in which the same is to be
performed or carried into practical effect will be readily understood on reference
to the sheet of drawings hereunto annexed and the following explanation thereof.
On the annexed drawing Fig. 1 illustrates the ordinary method of manufacturing
cotton ropes and Fig. 2 my improved method drawn to a smaller scale.
The ordinary apparatus Fig. 1 consists of a fixed wheel or head a at one end
provided with a winch handle 6 toothed gearing c and with (say) three or more
twisting hooks d; and at the other end a weighted movable sledge e fitted with
three (or more) corresponding fixed hooks f
The strands were first twisted separately by turning the hooks d by the winch
handle band toothed gearing c and then "topped or twisted together by hooking.
all three strands on the centre hook on the movable sledge e at the other, end and
turning the same by the winch handle.
For the purposes of my invention I employ practically the same parts (see
Fig. 2) and in addition thereto I fit the weighted movable sledge e with a
winch for winding up the rope as it is formed, somewhat similar to that used for
making long ropes of hemp or Manilla fibre, and instead of attaching the twisting
hooks d of the fixed wheel or head a direct to the axles of the toothed wheels cas
hitherto done (see Fig. 1) I attach the said hooks d to the said axles by means of
long spindles (see Fig. 2) the twisting hooks being fixed to the ends of the
spindles furthest from the toothed wheels.
In commencing I wind or coil the full required length of untwisted yarn round
each of the spindles h leaving free only a sufficient length to reach to the fixed
hooks on the sledge e to which the ends are attached. The strands are then
drawn tight and tied or otherwise temporarily attached to their several twisting
hooks d.
These hooks d are then, by means of the winch handle b and gearing e, caused
to revolve in the usual manner so as to twist each of the three strands tightly to
the right, and as the untwisted portion of each strand is coiled round its respective

page_text: long spindle behind the twisting hook d, and as each spindle h revolves in the
same direction and at the same speed as the hook, it follows that no twist whatever
is put into the strands behind the twisting hooks d as the strands are merely
carried round on the spindles.
The twisted strands are then "topped or twisted together from the sledge end
in the opposite direction to form them into a rope in the ordinary manner; after
which the length of rope thus formed is detached from the hooks d and fand
wound up onto the winch g, drawing forward a second portion of untwisted strand
from each spindle which is then tied or otherwise attached to its respective
hooks & and f, and the twisting and "topping" operations are then repeated on the
second section or length of the strands and so on until the whole length of the
strands which was originally wound on the spindles has been unwound, twisted,
and “topped,” thus forming a long continuous rope without any splice, each yarn
or strand being made originally of the full length and in one piece and wound
upon its own spindle has before described.
In cases where a very great length of rope is required it is necessary to have
the spindles h of a great length to contain a sufficient quantity of yarn, and in such
cases I employ a support or carrier i (see also face view Fig. 3) to support the
free ends of the spindles h at the commencement, but as soon as a strain has been
got upon the strands by twisting and they commence to draw the sledge e, the
tension of the strands will support the ends of the spindles h and the carrier i may
then be removed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that. what I
claim is':-
64
First. The improvement in the manufacture of long cotton ropes consisting in
coiling the long cotton strands round spindles connected to or forming part of the
twisting hooks, temporarily fastening a certain length of the same to the twisting
hooks, and to the fixed hooks on the sledge, then spinning or twisting and
topping" such length of yarn into a rope and finally unfastening such length of
rope from the hooks and winding the same onto a winch fixed on the weighted
sledge, drawing a fresh length of untwisted yarn off the spindles and then
repeating such operation upon successive sections or lengths of the yarn until the
whole length of yarn has been used up.
Secondly. I claim in apparatus for manufacturing long cotton ropes the com-
bination with the twisting hooks of long spindles attached to or forming a
continuation of such twisting hooks for the purpose of coiling thereon a sufficient
length of untwisted or lightly twisted cotton strands to make the whole length of
rope required substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by Figs. 2 and 3
of the drawings hereunto anuexed.
Dated this 19th day of December 1893.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.