Improvements in and in Apparatus for Waxing, Doubling and Twisting, and Finishing Threads, Part of such Apparatus being applicable to Spinning and Twisting generally.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 18th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 16th Mar., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in Apparatus for Waxing, Doubling and
Twisting, and Finishing Threads, Part of such Apparatus being
applicable to Spinning and Twisting generally.
We,
HENRI ROGEZ and LOUIS ROGEZ, both of 125, Rue du Marché, Lille,
(Nord) France, Manufacturers of Sewing Thread, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
"
This invention relates to processes and apparatus for separately waxing each
strand of a waxed thread (which is the reverse of what has always hitherto been
the practice) and afterwards doubling and twisting the strands and "wire-drawing
the waxed strands or the thread composed of separately waxed strands, through
die-plates for the purpose of finishing the same.
The invention thus consists of a novel industrial means of waxing and finishing
either single or doubled yarns or threads generally, whether made of flax, hemp,
jute cotton, silk, or other textile materials, for use either in hand or machine sewing
of leather in the manufacture of boots and shoes, saddlery, military equipments,
etc., etc. By the use of threads thus waxed to the core the sewing is both stronger
and more durable.
In order that the invention may be more readily understood we have illustrated
the machines employed in carrying it into effect, in the accompanying drawings,
wherein
Figure 1 represents a front elevation and Figure 2 a side elevation of the com-
bined waxing and twisting machine.
Figure 3 is a cross-section of the waxing trough and also showing the means for
guiding the strands or threads.
Figure 4 is a face view of a machine for. "wire-drawing" or finishing the
waxed thread;
Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 3, the waxing and twisting machine comprises a
sort of creel A arranged in the manner following:-Upon a wood panel a, for
example, slightly inclined backwards, are fixed a number of spindles b to receive as
many bobbins of single threads or strands. These bobbins, which are provided
with a metal disc at each end, project horizontally from the board A and are
arranged in such manner that each bobbin shall be in a vertical plane slightly to
the right of that in which the one next below is situate and so on in regular
progression. Adjacent to each of the spindles 6 are mounted tension spindles c
Farrying glass tubes over which each of the strands passes before being led down-
wards to the lower part of the creel. In this manner each strand may be considered
as having only the very slightest initial tension, as each bobbin being mounted
horizontally upon its spindle, whether full or not, unwinds under the least possible
effort. On motion being imparted to the feed roller B the whole of the strands
will be unwound from their bobbins and drawn down over their tension spindles in
arallel and exactly regular order to the lower part of the creel where they are led
na horizontal direction beneath the guide bar C and thence through a reed d by
which they are kept separate. The strands in continuing their course are then
ubjected successively to the action of slight independent pressures obtained by
27

page_text: means of the weights D and glass tubes which have the effect of correcting any
slight irregularities of tension, after which the strands are conducted in perfect
tension and separated by a reed f, to the waxing trough E. The shoemakers' wax
in the trough is kept constantly liquid and very hot by means of a steam pipe g
passing through the trough or by means of a water bath kept at a boiling tempera-
ture. The strands, according as they are required to be more or less charged and
saturated, are either immersed in the melted wax, or brought in contact with a
copper roller F revolving slowly in the bath at a regulated speed so as to present
all points of its circumference to the strands. Whichever method is adopted it is
essential that all the strands should be kept separated in order that the wax may
come in contact with their whole surface. To ensure the attainment of this latter
condition when operating by immersion which effects the most complete saturation
of the strands, we use the bent lever G (Figure 3) provided with a reed / which
can be immersed or raised as required. In operation, the reed / dips in the wax
and the strands passing between the dents of the reed are kept separate from one
another. Should a strand break it can be easily pieced up by raising the reed out
of the bath. A small bar is placed across the ends of the dents of the reed so as to
prevent the strands from escaping whether the reed be raised or lowered.
The bunch of strands on leaving the trough require to be wiped and freed from
the excess of wax which they have taken up, especially as in the operation of
doubling and twisting the compression of the strands causes the exudation of more
WAX. The trough is therefore extended towards the feed roller B, in the form of a
tray H upon which is placed one or more lead weights i covered with cloth, which
by resting upon a heated part of the cloth become heated by conduction so that
their covering remains constantly supple and by compressing the strands remove
the excess of wax which they contain. The strands then pass to the feed roller B.
the speed of which can be regulated by means of the change gearing j, mounted in
a bracket k, so as to obtain any degree of torsion desired. The periphery of the
roller B is of peculiar form, being toothed on the edges and formed with a central
flat bottomed groove for the passage of the threads. The pressing roller P which
receives motion from roller D is similarly toothed and provided with a flat bottomed
groove, and is in fact exactly similar to roller B as regards its teeth, groove, and
diameter, and is journalled in slotted arms (, the bottoms of the slots being at such a
height that the teeth of the wheels cannot gear so deeply as to bottom in one another.
The roller P is so placed that the axis of the flyer spindle is exactly tangential to
it. The advantages of this arrangement are that if the upper roller were smooth
instead of toothed and bore directly upon the lower roller, the sticky waxed threads
would be flattened and crushed and would deposit a portion of the wax upon the
rollers and prevent working, whereas with the above described arrangements the
threads remain free to detach themselves easily from the rollers and pass on to
the spindle Q. The passage of the thread to the bobbin presents a difficulty which
if not obviated would impair the regularity of the twist. With the ordinary flyer
whereof the twizzle acts as a drag, there is danger of the thread depositing
portion of the wax thereon and more or less clogging it. This is avoided by the
use of a flyer of the following construction:-The head of the flyer is provided
with a small steel arm bent to form the axis of a small copper guide roller R, to which
on the side at which the thread passes the axis of the spindle is exactly tangential.
At the shoulder, and also at the lower end, of the flyer other similar rollers m m are
pivoted, the thread in passing around these rollers to the bobbin casily turns them
and as it is thus relieved from the drag caused by a fixed twizzle it continues its
progress with perfect regularity.
al
It may be added that the flyer spindles are driven by bevel gearing n to avoid
slip and that the speed of the feed roller B depends directly upon that of the
spindle so that should the speed of the latter be diminished by slip of the driving
belt a corresponding diminution of speed of the feed roller will also take place.
Having thus described the essential features of the combined thread waxing and
doubling machine and indicated the progress of the operations of waxing and then

page_text: immediately afterwards doubling and twisting the threads, it remains to describe a
finishing operation necessitated by the condition of the threads after they have been
waxed and doubled. The threads saturated with highly heated wax are in con-
siderable tension on arriving at the bottom and the coils superposed upon said
bobbin adhere together and after a time can only be separated and unwound with
difficulty so that instead of preserving the roundness of ordinary doubled threads
they are of irregular shape being flattened where they adhere most strongly and are
deficient in wax at some points and contain too much at others so that they are
unsuitable for use, it is therefore indispensable to renler uniform the shape of the
threads and equalize the waxing. To this end we employ a machine illustrated in
Figure 4 for "wire-drawing" or finishing the waxed thread. The reel of thread
to be finished is placed loose on a horizontal spindle p from which the thread passes
in succession through three small metal die blocks J placed in line with each other
at a distance of about four inches apart each block being about two-fifths of an
inch in thickness and perforated with a hole which is flared at the side at
which the thread enters. The hole in the first block is slightly larger in
diameter than the thread and made flaring both on the side at which the thread
enters and also on that at which it leaves the die. The hole in the second die block
is of similar form but slightly smaller and of a diameter nearly approaching that of
the thread. The third block has a hole of a diameter slightly smaller than that of
the thread. The three die blocks are mounted upon steam pipes K by which they
are heated to a regulated temperature. The thread on being drawn freely through
the first die block by means of a pair of rollers L, q, geared together by teeth
becomes slightly softened and roughly smoothed by contact with the die block then
by passing through the second die block having a smaller orifice it is still further
softened and acquires a much more uniform and cylindrical form all points of its
circumference being in contact with the sides of the orifice. Moreover any wax in
excess at certain points of the thread is deposited at the mouth of the orifice and as
it is almost liquefied by the heat it will be absorbed by and carried away by those
parts of the thread which are deficient in wax. The thread thus prepared on being
caused to pass through the third die block will be highly compressed and this the
more easily the hotter it is; and as all the strands have been severally saturated
with wax before being doubled and twisted they will be so tightly bound and
cemented together that they cannot be separated. By means of this thrice repeated
sort of "wire-drawing" operation, a doubled and twisted waxed thread is obtained of
great strength and absolute uniformity and of which the strands are so indissolubly
united as to make a homogeneous thread. The thread is now finished except that
it is still hot and sticky and requires to be dried before being wound on bobbins for
Ilse. For thus purpose the thread is caused to pass through a blast of cold air
supplied by a fan M driven at a high velocity whereby to cause the wax to acquire
the necessary consistency which it retains used.
66
=
These above described operations are also applicable for beeswaxing, lustreing,
glazing, sizing, and dressing or finishing threads generally. The operation of
wire-drawing" may also be applied to threads already twisted before waxing,
lustreing, or finishing the same. The guide roller arrangement applied to the flyer
as a substitute for the ordinary twizzle may also be applied to flyers for spinning
and twisting generally.
Dated this 21st day of April 1894.

page_text: Improvements in and in Apparatus for Waxing, Doubling and
Twisting, and Finishing Threads, Part of such Apparatus being
applicable to Spinning and Twisting generally.
We, HENRI ROGEZ and LOUIS ROGEZ, both of 125, Rue du Marché, Lille,
(Nord), France, Manufacturers of Sewing Thread, 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 processes and apparatus for separately waxing each
strand of al "waxed" thread, (which is the reverse of what has always hitherto
been the practice), and afterwards doubling and twisting the strands and "wire-
drawing" the waxed strands or the thread composed of separately waxed strands,
through die-plates for the purpose of finishing the same.
The invention thus consists of a novel industrial means of waxing and finishing
either single or doubled yarns or threads generally, whether made of flax, hemp,
jute, cotton, silk, or other textile materials, for use either in hand or machine
sewing of leather in the manufacture of boots and shoes, saddlery, military
equipments, etc., etc. By the use of threads thus waxed to the core the sewing is
both stronger and more durable.
In order that the invention may be more readily understood, we have illustrated
the machines employed in carrying it into effect in the drawings accompanying our
Provisional Specification, wherein
Figure represents a front elevation and Figure 2 a side elevation of the
combined waxing and twisting machine.
Figure 3 is a cross-section of the waxing trough and also shewing the means for
guiding the strands or threads.
Figure 4 is a face view of a machine for "wire-drawing" or finishing the waxed
thread.
Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the waxing and twisting machine comprises a
sort of creel A arranged in the manner following:-Upon a wood panel a, for
example, slightly inclined backwards, are fixed a number of spindles b to receive as
many bobbins of single threads or strands. These bobbins, which are provided
with a metal disc at each end, project horizontally from the board a and are
arranged in such manner that each bobbin shall be in a vertical plane slightly to
the right of that in which the one next below is situate and so on in regular
progression. Adjacent to each of the spindles are mounted tension spindles c
carrying glass tubes over which each of the strands passes before being led
downwards to the lower part of the creel. In this manner each strand may be
considered as having only the very slightest initial tension, as each bobbin being
mounted horizontally upon its spindle, whether full or not, unwinds under the least
possible effort. On motion being imparted to the feed roller B the whole of the
strands will be unwound from their bobbins and drawn down over their tension
spindles in parallel and exactly regular order to the lower part of the creel where
they are led in a horizontal direction beneath the guide bar C and thence through
a reed d by which they are kept separate. The strands in continuing their course
are then subjected successively to the action of slight independent pressures
obtained by means of the weights D and glass tubes e which have the effect of
correcting any slight irregularities of tension, after which the strands are conducted
in perfect tension and separated by a reed f, to the waxing trough E. The shoe-
makers' wax in the trough is kept constantly liquid and very hot, by means of a
steam pipe g passing through the trough, or by means of a water bath kept at a

page_text: Doming temperature. The strands, according as they are required to be more or
less charged and saturated, are either immersed in the melted wax, or brought in
contact with a copper roller F revolving slowly in the bath at a regulated speed so
as to present all points of its circumference to the strands. Whichever method is
adopted, it is essential that all the strands should be kept separated in order that
the wax may come in contact with their whole surface. To ensure the attainment
of this latter condition when operating by immersion, which effects the most
complete saturation of the strands, we use the bent lever G (Figure 3) provided
with a reed which can be immersed or raised as required. In operation, the reed /
dips in the wax and the strands passing between the dents of the reed are kept
separate from one another. Should a strand break, it can be easily pieced up by
raising the reed out of the bath. A small bar placed across the ends of the dents
of the reed so as to prevent the strands from escaping, whether the reed be raised
or lowered.
The
The bunch of strands on leaving the trough require to be wiped and freed from
the excess of wax which they have taken up, especially as in the operation of
doubling and twisting the compression of the strands causes the exudation of more
wax. The trough is, therefore, extended towards the feed roller B in the form of
tray H upon which is placed one or more lead weights i covered with cloth,
which by resting upon a heated part of the trough become heated by conduction so
that their covering remains constantly supple and by compressing the strands
remove the excess of wax which they contain. The strands then pass to the feed
roller B, the speed of which can be regulated by means of the change gearing j,
mounted in a bracket k, so as to obtain any degree of torsion desired.
periphery of the roller B is of peculiar form, being toothed on the edges and formed
with a central flat bottomed groove for the passage of the threads. The pressing
roller P which receives motion from roller D is similarly toothed and provided
with a flat bottomed groove, and is, in fact, exactly similar to roller B as regards
its teeth, groove, and diameter, and is journalled in slotted arms 1, the bottoms of
the slots being at such a height that the teeth of the wheels cannot gear so deeply
us to bottom in one another. The roller P is so placed that the axis of the flyer
spindle is exactly tangential to it. The advantages of this arrangement are that if
the upper roller were smooth, instead of toothed and bore directly upon the lower
roller, the sticky waxed threads would be flattened and crushed and would deposit
a portion of the wax upon the rollers and prevent working, whereas with the above
described arrangements the threads remain free to detach themselves easily from
the rollers and pass on to the spindle Q. The passage of the thread to the bobbin
presents a difficulty which, if not obviated, would impair the regularity of the twist.
With the ordinary flyer, whereof the twizzle acts as a drag, there is danger of the
thread depositing a portion of the wax thereon and more or less clogging it. This
is avoided by the use of a flyer of the following construction:-The head of the
flyer is provided with a small steel arm bent to form the axis of a small copper
guide roller R, to which on the side at which the thread passes the axis of the
spindle is exactly tangential. At the shoulder, and also at the lower end, of.
the flyer other similar rollers m. m, are pivoted. The thread in passing around
these rollers to the bobbin easily turns them and as it is thus relieved from the
drag caused by a fixed twizzle it continues its progress with perfect regularity.
It may be added that the flyer spindles are driven by bevel gearing a to avoid
slip and that the speed of the feed roller B depends directly upon that of the
spindle so that should the speed of the latter be diminished by slip of the
driving belt a corresponding diminution of speed of the feed roller will also take
place.
.
Having thus described the essential features of the combined thread waxing and
doubling machine and indicated the progress of the operations of waxing and then
immediately afterwards doubling and twisting the thread, it remains to describe a
finishing operation necessitated by the condition of the threads after they have been
waxed and doubled. The threads, saturated with highly heated wax, are in

page_text: considerable tension on arriving at the bobbin and the coils superposed upon said
bobbin adhere together and after a time can only be separated and unwound with
difficulty so that, instead of preserving the roundness of ordinary doubled threads,
they are of irregular shape, being flattened where they adhere most strongly, and
are deficient in wax at some points and contain too much at others, so that they are
unsuitable for use. It is, therefore, indispensable to render uniform the shape of
the threads and equalize the waxing. To this end we employ a machine illustrated
in Figure 4 for "wire-drawing" or finishing the waxed thread. The reel of thread
to be finished is placed loose on a horizontal spindle p from which the thread
passes in succession through a series of small metal die blocks J placed in line with
each other at a distance of about four inches apart, each block being about two-
fifths of an inch in thickness and perforated with a hole which is flared at the side
at which the thread enters. The hole in the first block is slightly larger in
diameter than the thread and made. flaring both on the side at which the thread
enters and also on that at which it leaves the die. The hole in the second die
block is of similar form but slightly smaller and of a diameter nearly approaching
that of the thread. The third block has a hole of a diameter slightly smaller than
that of the thread. The die blocks are mounted upon steam pipes K by which
they are heated to a regulated temperature. The thread on being drawn freely
through the first die block by means of a pair of rollers L, q, geared together by
teeth becomes slightly softened and roughly smoothed by contact with the die
block, then by passing through the second die block having a smaller orifice it is
still further softened and acquires a much more uniform and cylindrical form, all
points of its circumference being in contact with the sides of the orifice. Moreover,
any wax in excess at certain points of the thread is deposited at the mouth of the
orifice and as it is almost liquefied by the heat it will be absorbed by, and carried
away by, those parts of the thread which are deficient in wax. The thread thus
prepared on being caused to pass through the third die block will be highly
compressed and this the more easily the hotter it is, and as all the strands have
been severally saturated with wax before being doubled and twisted they will be so
tightly bound and cemented together that they cannot be separated. By means of
this thrice-repeated sort of "wire-drawing" operation a doubled and twisted waxed
thread is obtained of great strength and absolute uniformity and of which the
strands are so indissolubly united as to make a homogeneous thread. The thread
is now finished, except that it is still hot and sticky and requires to be dried before
being wound on bobbins for use. For this purpose the thread is caused to pass
through a blast of cold air supplied by a fan M driven at a high velocity, and
finally beneath a weight o whereby to cause the wax to acquire the necessary
consistency which it retains used.
These above described operations are also applicable for beeswaxing, lustreing,
glazing, sizing, and dressing or finishing threads generally.
The operation of "wire-drawing" may also be applied to threads already twisted
before waxing, lustreing, or finishing the same. The guide roller arrangement
applied to the flyer as a substitute for the ordinary twizzle may also be applied to
flyers for spinning and twisting generally.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1st. The herein described process of impregnating threads with shoemakers'
wax, beeswax, or analogous material, which consists in passing the yarns or strands
separately through the waxing or other bath, then doubling and twisting them to
form threads, and finally drawing the threads thus prepared through series of
heated die blocks whereby the impregnation of the threads is equalized and they
are rendered uniform both in the circular and longitudinal direction, as specified.
2nd. The herein described process of waxing or otherwise impregnating threads,
which consists in passing the threads already formed through the bath and

page_text: then finishing them by drawing through series of heated dies, substantially as
specified.
3rd. The herein described combination of apparatus for carrying out the above
described process of waxing yarns, doubling and twisting them to form threads, and
finishing the threads by wire-drawing them, substantially as specified.
Dated this 18th day of January 1895.
A. M. & W M. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.