IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING OR POLISHING YARNS OR THREADS."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Christian Koeffler, of Rochdale, in the County
of Lancaster, Bleacher and Dyer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FINISHING OR POLISHING YARNS OR THREADS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Christian Koeffler
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th July 1854.
I, the said LOUIS CHRISTIAN KOEFFLER, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Bleacher and Dyer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING OR POLISHING YARNS OR THREADS
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improvement upon a Patent granted to me, and
bearing date January 31st, 1854. Upon the original plan, I cause the yarn
to be finished to pass over a heated surface, and at the same time operate
upon it by means of a revolving surface covered with a soft substance.
According to my present Invention, I also use the heated surface, but cause a
portion of the yarn itself travelling thereon to act as a soft bed, upon which the
other portion of the yarn rubs. The arrangement of machinery I employ for
effecting this is upon the following plan:-The prepared yarn passes from a
revolving roller to a rounded end of the heated surface, and from thence
around another roller and back to the first mentioned, passing over that por-
tion of the yarn which is in contact with the heated apparatus. The rollers

page_text: are covered with felt or some other soft substance if necessary, and have a
lateral reciprocating motion, so as to shift the position of the yarn. The heated
surface is mounted, so as to be capable of being brought backward or forward
and retained in any required position, in order to gain any required tension
upon the yarn and admit of its ready adaptation. If steam be used as a
heating medium, I mount the steam pipe in a stuffing box, so as to move with
the heated surface and retain its joint. The machine is formed double, that is,
with two sets of apparatus, as above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Christian Koeffler in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
CHRISTIAN KOEFFLER, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Bleacher and
Dyer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Louis Christian Koeffler, Her special license that I, the said Louis
Christian Kocffler, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Louis Christian Koeffler, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully night
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FINISHING OR POLISHING YARNS OR THREADS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Christian Koeffler, 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 Louis Christian Koeffler, 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 Drawing, that is to say :-.

page_text: My Invention relates to an improvement upon a Patent granted to me, and
bearing date the Thirty-first January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Upon the original plan, I cause the yarn to be finished to pass over a heated
surface, and at the same time operate upon it by means of a revolving surface
covered with a soft substance. According to my present Invention, I also use
the heated surface, but cause a portion of the yarn itself to act as a soft bed,
upon which the other portion of the yarn rubs. This improvement I accom-
plish by aid of certain machinery, which I will now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 is a front view of the apparatus used; Fig. 2, a cross section of the
same. The machine is constructed double, that is, with two sides of corre-
sponding arrangement; the heated surface over which the material passes is,
however, removed at the left-hand side of Fig. 2, in order to expose other parts.
Upon a fixed shaft a is mounted loosely a driving pulley b, the boss of which is
provided with a pinion c, taking into an intermediate d, which drives a wheel e
upon an axis f, extending across the machine, and carrying at either end a
roller g, of wood, or it may be of metal, for operating upon dark colors;
beneath the rollers g is a shaft h, provided with rollers i, of similar material;
the dotted lines suppose it, however, to be of metal. These rollers extend, as
well as the first-mentioned pair, beyond the side framework. Upon the fixed
shaft a is mounted loosely a second driving pulley k, the boss of which carries
a pinion c, taking into a wheel e*, affixed to a shaft f*, furnished with rollers
g, as described in reference to the other side of the machine, and beneath is a
shaft h*, carrying also in like manner other rollers *. The shaft a is provided
with loose running pullies l, m, so that by shifting the driving straps thereon
by means of the rods n, o, the rollers at the two sides of the machine may be
stopped separately or together. Upon a rail p are mounted two sliding pieces,
one of which is seen at g; they are provided with nuts, within which are situate
screws r,, capable of turning in bearings s, and carrying at their outward
ends pinions t, t", one for each of the four screws; these pinions are in gear
with others u, u, mounted upon crank shafts v, v*, by turning which, therefore,
the sliding pieces 9 may be caused to move inward or outward at pleasure.
Upon the pieces q are formed flanges w, w*, to which are affixed steam chests
a, x, there being consequently one for each of the four pairs of rollers, 9,
g, i; steam is admitted to these chests at one end by means of pipes, one of
which is shewn at y, passing through a stuffing box, at the upper part, and
through another stuffing box 1 into a pipe 2, which pipe is capable of turning
upon its centre, by being mounted in a stuffing box 3, adapted to the steam
supply pipe; when, therefore, the steam chests are moved inward or outward by
the screws r or r, the pipes y 2, will oscillate upon the same centre, and the
i,

page_text: former will pass into or out of the latter, in order to admit of the parallel
motion of the steam chests. The steam passes from one steam chest to that
at the opposite end of the sliding piece 7, through a passage formed therein,
which second chest is provided at its outward part with pipes, similar to y 2;
but instead of being connected to a steam pipe, they are provided with an
ordinary float valve, for allowing the escape of water arising from condensation.
The bearings of the shaft which carries the rollers i, i", are mounted in guides
of the stationary framework, so as to be capable of moving up or down therein;
to these bearings are connected links 4, 4*, their other ends being jointed to
levers 5, 5, aflixed to studs, upon which are also other levers 6, 6*, situate
within the grooves of nuts placed upon screws 7, 7*; by turning these nuts,
therefore, the rollers i, i, may be raised or lowered at will. The axis of the
rollers i, i, are also provided at the other side of the machine with a similar
apparatus, so that they may be moved equally. This arrangement for raising
and lowering the rollers is shown in Fig. 2, but omitted in Fig. 1, in order to
avoid confusion. The method of operating with this machine is as follows:-
The hanks of yarn to be finished, having been sized, stiffened, or prepared by
any of the substances usually employed, are strung upon the rollers g, i, for
instance; the steam chest a having been drawn back by turning the shaft v,
steam is then admitted to the chest, and it is moved outward until the yarn is
distended, as shewn by the blue color in Fig. 2; the driving strap is now thrown
on to the pulley 6 by the rod n, and rotatory motion is thereby communicated to
the rollers 9, i, by which means the yarn will be caused to travel, as indicated
by the arrows, the outward portion thereof rubbing against the inward, which
is passing over the heated surface. The tension and consequent friction to
which the yarn is subjected may be regulated within certain limits by moving
the steam chest inward or outward, but in order to reduce it considerably for
operating upon fine yarns, the heated surface may be moved inward, until its
outward end is nearly in a vertical line with the peripheries of the rollers g, i,
and the proper distance apart from the length of hank obtained by lowering the
roller by means of the screw above described. In cases of operating upon
fine yarn, it will also be desirable to connect the two rollers g, i, by gearing or
otherwise, so that they will both be driven by the motive power. It will be
observed that the two sides of the machine are driven by.separate pullies, and
may therefore be worked independently of each other, as if they were separate
machines.
b
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,―

page_text: Firstly, the use of a portion of the yarn as a bed or surface upon which
another portion thereof travels.
Secondly, in the arrangement of machinery, I claim mounting the heated
surface, so as to render it capable of being moved inward or outward.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Christian Keoffler, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
L. C. KOEFFLER. (LS.)