CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF PREPARATION AND SPINNING MACHINERY
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NICHOLSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of June, in the seventh year of His
reign, did, for Himself, Ilis heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Nicholson, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Nicholson, my exors, adññors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Nicholson, my exors, adñors,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF PREPARATION AND SPINNING
MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the
said William Nicholson, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Nicholson, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention, com-
municated to me by a foreigner residing abroad, consists,―
Firstly, in an improved arrangement of machinery for preparing the leather
and placing the same on the rollers used in preparation and spinning machi
nery; and, secondly, in an improved construction or arrangement of machinery
for driving the spindles of the preparation machine, known by the name of the
bobbin and fly frame, which construction or arrangement is equally applicable
to other preparation machines requiring a similar rotation of the spindles; and
the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into effect is set
forth and described in the annexed Drawings, and the following description.
The scale to which the various Drawings are made is marked thereon, and the
same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts throughout the
whole of the Drawings.
The first part of my improvements, or that which appertains to the pre-
paring of leather and covering or placing the same on the rollers, is delineated
in various views and sections on Sheet 1 and 2, and I shall now proceed to
describe the construction and mode of operating with reference to the Figures
there represented. On Sheet 1, Figure 1 represents a front view, and Figure 2
an end view, of an improved machine for the purpose of grinding or cutting the
surface of leather designed for the purpose of covering rollers, and to reduce it
to an equal and uniform thickness, which is essential to the covering of rollers,
so as to, present a perfect and cylindrical external surface when completed, at
the same time producing a rough internal surface on the leather, which pre-
vents its turning on the cloth covering with which the metallic roller is first
covered. Figure 3 is the driving end of the same machine (on an enlarged
scale); Figure 5, the reverse end; and Figure 4, a transverse section. Figure 6
is a perpendicular lateral section through the driving shafts of this machine;
and Figure 7 is the same through the delivering rollers G, G, which will be
hereafter explained. Figure 8 is a plan, and Figure 9 represents a plan and
elevation, of part of the above machine at full size. All these Figures having
the same letters of reference, it will be easy to refer to that in which the part
spoken off in the following description is best seen. Returning to Figures 1
and 2, A represents a drum placed on the driving shaft of the machine, which
receives motion in any convenient manner; and B is a cross strap, conveying
motion to a pulley above on the shaft of the cylinder C, which is constructed
of steel, fluted in a lateral direction with grooves of about one-tenth of an inch
distance, and afterwards turned with a spiral groove of the same pitch, so as
to form the surface of the cylinder into a rasp, or continuous surface of

page_text: diamond points; the form and arrangement of which will be best seen at full
size in plan and elevation at Figure 9. The way in which this cylindrical
rasp is supported will be best seen at Figure 6, one end being secured in
conical support, into which it is forced home by means of the screw C³, and
the other supported by the screw itself. This cylinder I drive at about one
thousand revolutions per minute. Immediately above the revolving rasp C
is placed the straight edge D, the position of which is governed and regulated
by means of the three screws D', D', D', which determines the distanco
or space between it and the surface of the revolving rasp C; for the form
and construction of which, see Figure 4 and 6. Immediately below the
revolving rasp C is placed a circular brush E, which is revolved by means
of a strap from the drum A, in an opposite or contrary direction to the under
side of the circular rasp C, thereby keeping the rasp clear of any leather or
dirt which may accumulate on its surface as hereafter explained. F represents
a pair of friction rollers, and G a pair of delivering rollers, which are weighted
and geered together, and receive a slow motion by means of bevils through the
upright shaft G, driven from the driving shaft by a worm and worm wheel
at G; H and H' are rests or circular rods for guiding the leather in the pro-
cess of preparation. Supposing a strap, fillet, or continuous length of leather,
of a width suitable for the covering to top rollers, to be passed between the
friction rollers F in the direction indicated by the pink line I, I, (see Figure 4.)
over the rests II. and H', and under the straight edge D, and, lastly, between
the drawing or delivering roller G, it will be uniformly drawn forward in the
direction indicated by the arrows, at the same time that its surface is subjected;
to the rasping action of the cylinder C, the amount of which action is governed
by the position of the rest or straight edge D, at the same time that the
rasp C is cleared of dust of leather which may accumulate by means of the
revolving brush E, which is driven below, as scen at Figure 1 and 2.
I would here remark, that I have found this method of rasping and
equalizing the surface of soft leather suitable for the intended purpose far,
superior to any attempts at cutting the same, inasmuch as it is not irregularly,
stretched, and the rough surface left by this process is desirable in the subsequent
operation of placing it firm on the wollen with which the metallic roller is.
generally first covered.
:
The leather being prepared by this machine, and in the mode above described,.
is next cut into suitable lengths and formed into cylindrical tubes in tho;
ordinary manner, in which form it is forced or placed on the rollers by another,
machine, which I shall now proceed to describe.
Sheet 2: Figure 10 represents a front view, and Figure 11 an end view, of
:

page_text: the machine in a complete form driven from the drum K. The remaining
Figures on this Sheet are detached parts of the same machine, on an enlarged
scale; which will be referred to as I proceed with the description, always
bearing in mind that the same letters indicate the same parts throughout.
Referring to Figures 10 and 11, Sheet 2, L is a loose pulley driven by a strap
from the drum K below, which either runs free, or is connected with the hori-
zontal screw M, by means of a clutch on the boss, as best seen at Figures 12
and-13. The position of the pulley L being governed by the pressure of the foot
on the tradle N, which, tightening the band or cord, seen at Figure 1, c, forces the
horizontal stop rod O in the direction to connect the pulley L with the screw M,
while the weight P, acting in an opposite direction, disconnects the pulley Las
soon as the pressure on the tradle N is removed. Parallel and on each side of
the screw M are placed the two guide rods Q, Q, which carry a small sliding
carriage R', as best seen at Figures 12, 13, and 16, provided with the horizontal
rod cr forcer R. In the center, and connected with this carriage R', is placed
a pair of plyers or vibrating levers, the lower part of which constitute a nut to:
correspond with the screw M when forced together, but which is free of the
screw when open, so that when closed or forced together by the levers or arms
S, S, (see Figure 16,) and held by the catch with which they are provided, the
carriage R' is carried forward by the rotation of the screw M in the direction
indicated by the arrow; but when the catch is removed from the arms or
levers S, S, and the nut allowed to free itself from the screw M, the sliding car-
riage R¹ may be run or passed by hand in the opposite direction. T represents
a series of straight elastic springs, similar to the spring used as the main spring
in a watch. These are placed round a common center, and held-firm at one
extremity by means of an open nut, the construction of which will be best seen
at Figure 14; and the position in which the same are placed at Figures 10, 12,
and 13. Figure 15 is an enlarged end elevation of the driving end of this
machine; Figure 16, a transverse section; and Figure 17, an end view of the
opposite end to that at which it is driven. To operate with this machine, a
cylinder or covering of leather must be the first passed over the springs T, the
elasticity of which permits it to be run on by hand without any effort, and the
carriage R¹ and forcer R run back free of the screw M, which is at that time
freed from the driving pulley L. A roller properly prepared with woollen or
other suitable covering is then placed in the position N, see Figure 10, and
the levers S, S, forced together by hand, which bring the nut at their lower
extremity in contact with the screw M, with which it is held by the catch
already described; the foot of the operator is then placed on the treadle
N, and the pulley L connected to the screw M, which traverses the forcer R

page_text: forward, and places the roller within the cylindrical leather placed on the
springs T. As soon as it is in the proper position, the operator presses the
leather covering by hand, and the roller along with the leather covering, is forced
forward by the part R, and relieved from the springs T in a finished state; the
foot is then taken off the treadle N, and the catch from the levers S, S, and
the carriage R' moved by hand to its former position, preparatory to renewing
the same operativion. The covered roller being thus forced off the springs T,
a new cylinder of leather is placed in the same position.
The second part of my improvements, which consist in an arrangement for
driving the spindles of the bobbin and fly frame, and similar. preparation
machines, is delineated on Sheet 3. On this Street, Figure 18 represents an end
elevation, and Figure 19 a plan, of two spindles u, u, placed as they generally
are, in two rows, in this machine; and W is an horizontal shaft passing between
the spindles the whole length of the machine. This shaft W is provided with
a series of driving wheels X, cut in a peculiar manner, with spiral teeth, as
represented in the Drawing, which geer into smaller pinions or wheels of the
same construction Y, placed on the respective spindles u.. Figure 20 represents
an end elevation, and Figure 21 a plan, of another modification of this driving
apparatus, in which the double face wheel Z, which I name a radical screw
wheel, is substituted for two of the wheels X in the former Figures. The con-
struction of the wheel Z will be clearly seen by reference to the Drawings,
driving a spindle from each surface, and the effect is very similar to that
produced at Figures 18 and 19, except that the difference between the driver
and driven wheels is increased. This improved mode of, driving possesses all
the advantages of bevil or skew geer usually used for the purpose, at the same
time that a single shaft W drives both rows of spindles, instead of requiring
a separate shaft to each row of spindles, as in the ordinary arrangement.
Having now described my certain improvements in the construction and
arrangement of preparation and spinning machinery, together with some of the
advantages derived from the application of these improvements, I declare
that I do not claim any common, separate, or well-known part of the machinery
described; but I do claim, as regards the first part of my Invention, described
on Sheet 1 and 2, the general arrangement of both machines, together with the
application of the quick revolving circular rasp C in the first machine, and the
application of the spring head formed by the T springs in the second machine.
And as regards the second part of my Invention, described at Sheet 3, I am
fully aware that similar wheels to those represented have already been con-
structed and used for various purposes, and I make no claim to the construction
of such wheels separately; but I do claim the application and arrangement of

page_text: such wheels, as set forth and described in this Sheet, as applied to the bobbin
and fly frame or similar preparation machines.
And such improvements being communicated to me by a foreigner residing
abroad, and being to the best of my knowledge and belief new, and never
before used in that part of Her Majesty's Dominions called England and
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I deliver this as a true and
faithful Specification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Nicholson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven