IMPROVEMENTS IN COP TUBES AND HOLDERS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of the Firm of Harris and
Mills, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COP TUBES AND HOLDERS." A com-
munication from abroad by George Washington Dyer, of Washington, in the
County of Washington and District of Columbia, in the United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th March
1879.
BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of 23, South-
ampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent. IMPROVEMENTS IN
COP TUBES AND HOLDERS." A communication from abroad by George Washington
Dyer, of Washington, in the County of Washington and District of Columbia, in
the United States of America.
In the use of the long rigid metal cop tubes it has been found necessary to
reduce the spindles to an exact and uniform size and shape to make a close fit with
the tubes; and it has also been found that these tubes on account of their weight,
and the high rate of revolution of the spindles, bend the spindles when the tubes
or the spindles are the least out of a true vertical position, rendering it necessary to
remove the spindles for straightening.
It is the object of this Invention to produce long cop tubes which will conform
to the peculiar shape of the spindles, will be much lighter than the metal tubes,
requiring less power to run; the spindles will not be damaged by being bent when
empty, and at the same time will have means for retaining the cop upon the tubes,
and will possess all the advantages of the metal tubes in preventing waste; and a
further object of this Invention is to provide means for holding and supporting the
long metal tubes on the spindles, so that the tubes need not fit the spindles closely,
and the necessity of grinding all the spindles to the same exact size and shape will
be done away with, such means being also adapted for holding the improved tubes
D

page_text: upon the spindles if desired, but the improved tubes being flexible require no such
devices, but are adapted to hold themselves upon the spindles.
The Invention consists, first, in making a long cop tube by weaving, braiding, or
knitting the same in conical form, without requiring any cutting and lapping or
stretching of the fabric to give the taper to the tube; second, in providing such a
tube with a flange or head at its lower end; third, in the peculiar manner of
forming this flange; fourth, in a long flexible cop tube made of tape, or equivalent
narrow textile fabric wound spirally, and the edges secured; fifth, in making a
flexible tapering long cop tube with solid walls, and of other material than textilo
fabric, such as india rubber, gutta percha, celluloid, paper, papier-maché, raw hide,
leather, or artificial leather; such tube being provided with a flange at its base or
large end and having means upon its exterior for holding on the cop; sixth, in a
long cop tube of paper or papier maché of the form of the ordinary long paper cop
tube with tapering walls, and without a flange at its large end, such tube being
made with a rough exterior to hold on the cop, such roughness being obtained
either by the quality of the paper used to make the tube, or by preparing the
surface of the paper before or after the tube is formed, and further in securing upon
the spindle a spring cup, into which the lower end of the cop tube is set and held
by the spring for holding the tube upon the spindle without regard to an exact fit
of the tube and spindle, or instead thereof a spring collar secured upon the spindle
to set into the enlarged lower end of the cop tube or into a bobbin.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th September 1879.
BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of 23, South-
ampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COP TUBES AND HOLDERS." A communication from abroad by George Washington
Dyer, of Washington, in the County of Washington and District of Columbia, in
the United States of America.
In the use of the long rigid metal cop tubes it has been found necessary to reduce
the spindles to an exact and uniform size and shape to make a close fit with the
tubes; and it has also been found that these tubes on account of their weight, and
the high rate of revolution of the spindles bend the spindles when the tubes or the
spindles are the least out of a truc vertical position, rendering it necessary to
remove the spindles for straightening.
It is the object of this Invention to produce long cop tubes which will conform
to the peculiar shape of the spindles, will be much lighter than the metal tubes,
requiring less power to run the spindles, will not be damaged by being bent when
empty, and at the same time will have means for retaining the cop upon the tubes,
and will possess all the advantages of the metal tubes in preventing waste; and a
further object of this Invention is to provide means for holding and supporting the
long metal tubes on the spindles, so that the tubes need not fit the spindles closely,
and the necessity of grinding all the spindles to the same exact size and shape will
be done away with; such means being also adapted for holding the improved tubes
upon the spindles if desired, but the improved tubes being flexible require no such
devices, but are adapted to hold themselves upon the spindles.
The Invention consists, first, in making a long cop tube by weaving, braiding, or
knitting the same in conical form without requiring any cutting and lapping or
stretching of the fabric to give the taper to the tube; second, in providing such a
tube with a flange or head at its lower end; third, in the peculiar manner of
forming this flange; fourth, in a long flexible cop tube made of tape or equivalent
narrow textile fabric wound spirally, and the edges secured; fifth, in making a
flexible tapering long cop tube with solid walls, and of other material than textile
fabric, such as india-rubber, gutta-percha, celluloid, paper, papier-maché, raw hide,.
leather, or artificial leather; such tube being provided with a flange at its base or
large end, and having means upon its exterior for holding on the cop; sixth, in a
long cop tube of paper or papier maché of the form of the ordinary long paper cop
tube with tapering walls, and without a flange at its large end, such tube being
made with a rough exterior to hold on the cop, such roughness being obtained
either by the quality of the paper used to make the tube or by preparing the
surface of the paper before or after the tube is formed; and further, in securing
upon the spindle a spring cup, into which the lower end of the cop tube is set
and held by the spring for holding the tubes upon the spindle without regard
to an exact fit of the tube and spindle, or instead thereof a spring collar secured
upon the spindle to set into the enlarged lower end of the cop tube, or into a
bobbin.
And in order that the said Invention may be more clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying Drawings,
more fully to describe the same,

page_text: Figure 7, a section of the small end of one of the woven, braided, or knit tubes
tipped with metal.
Figure 8 shows a long flexible cop tube made of tape wound spirally, and the
edges secured.
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, views in elevation, and partly in section of
the long flexible tapering cop tubes with solid walls and with flanges.
Figures 15, 17, and 18, elevations of the long paper cop tube with rough exterior,
and without flanges.
Figures 19, 20, 22, and 23, views of spring cups for holding and supporting the
cop tube on the spindle; and
Figures 21 and 24 views of spring collars for same purpose to be used with
cop tubes having their bores enlarged at the lower ends, or with bobbins.
The cop tubes shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, are woven, braided, or knitted, in
tapering form as shown, and of sufficient length to extend entirely through the cop.
The tubes may be sized, varnished, or coated with shellac, on the outside to give
tliem greater stiffness, but this is not necessary if the threads of the fabric are
drawn close together. At the small end of the tubes the ends of the threads may
be secured by stitching, and prevented from unravelling by any suitable adhesive
substances. The tube A, in Figure 1, is made by weaving, braiding, or knitting,
commencing near the large end of the tube and working downwards a short
distance, then passing around a ring a of india-rubber or suitable flexible material
to produce the flange at the large end of the tube, then continuing to the small
end of the tube where the ends of the threads are secured by an adhesive
material.
This produces a tube with double walls at its large end and flexible throughout,
and one that will cling to the spindle and hold itself firmly thereon. One or more
threads larger than the rest can be worked into the tube to make the exterior more
rough if desired, but the tube will be rough enough to hold the cop without such
projecting threads.
The tube A, in Figure 2, has the flange a at its large end formed by weaving,
braiding, or knitting the material back and forth, as shown. This tube is double-
walled only near its large end, and the loose ends of the thread at the small end of
the tube are secured in any suitable manner. In Figure 3 no flange or head is
provided at the lower end of the tube, but the tube has a double thickness at that
point to make it firmer.
The tube A, in Figure 4, is of single thickness. The threads at both ends of this
tube are secured together by adhesive material.
3
In Figures 5 and 6 the woven, braided, or knitted tabes, are shown as provided
with a metal flange a. This is made by pinching a metal ring over the ends of the
thread, and over a filling of suitable material (Figure 5), or by pinching such ring 4
over the ends of the thread, and over a filling formed by the out-turned end of an
internal metal tube, as shown in Figure 6. These tubes may have their small ends
tipped with metal (Figure 7).
All of the cop tubes described are woven, braided, or knitted of any suitable
fibre, or of wire in a single piece without any seam, and of conical form; the taper 4
of the tube being secured without cutting and lapping the fabric or stretching the
same into form.
In Figure 8 is shown a long cop tube A' made of tape or other narrow textile
fabric wound spirally upon a mandrel of proper tapering form, and the edges of the
tape secured by sewing or gumming, so as either to leave the surface of the tube 5
even or with a spiral rib.
The long flexible cop tubes B shown in Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, are
made of tapering form with flanges at their large ends, and some of them with
spiral ribs or rings to hold on the cop. These tubes are made with solid walls of
other than textile fabric.
In Figures 9 and 10 tubes are shown made of india-rubber, gutta-percha,
5

page_text: or celluloid, with flanges b and spiral ribs or horizontal rings 6' of the same
material.
In Figures 11 and 12 tubes B are shown made of paper or papier-maché. In
Figure 11 the flange b is a metal ring secured directly to the out-turned edge of
the paper or papier-maché, and the spiral rib b' is of the same material as the tube,
and secured at the small end of the tube by a metal sleeve. The tube B in Figure 12
has a short metal tube inserted in its lower end, to which the metal ring forming
the flange b is secured.
The rib b' is made by a wire which is wound spirally upon the tube, and covered
by a thin layer of the tube material.
In Figures 13 and 14 are shown tubes made of raw hide, leather, or artificial
leather.
The spiral rib or the rings 61 of these last tubes are made of the same material as
the tubes. The flanges b of the tube shown in Figure 13 is made of the same
material as the tube, while in Figure 14 the tube is shown with a short metal
tube inserted in its large end, to which the metal ring forming the flange is
secured.
All of the tubes B are long tapering tubes extending entirely through the cop,
have flanges at their lower ends, bave sufficient flexibility to conform to the shape
of the spindles and to hold themselves thereon, and are provided with means on
their exterior for holding on the cop.
The difficulty in the use of the ordinary long paper cop tubes, which are made
of tapering form with smooth walls and without flanges, has been that the cop is
often thrown off of the tubes in the process of weaving. This defect is overcome
by the tubes C shown in Figures 15, 17, and 18. These tubes are the ordinary
long paper cop tubes, or tubes of papier-maché made with rough outer surfaces.
This roughness may be obtained by making the tubes of rough uncalendered
paper, or any rough surfaced paper; and by preparing the surface of the paper by
suitable instruments either before or after the tube is formed (as shown in
Figure 15), or the tube may be coated with sizing, glue, or other adhesive material,
and covered partly or wholly with sand, emery, pumice stone, saw dust, short fibre,
cloth of coarse texture, or other suitable material; or a tube of thread may be knit,
woven, or braided over the paper or papier-maché tube with long stitches, and
secured by elastic gum (Figures 17 and 18). This roughness will serve to retain
the cop on the tube, and the tube produced is very cheap to manufacture, is very
light, and is efficient in use. This tube can also be made of papier-maché without
flanges, and with a rough outer surface as just described.
To hold the rigid cop tubes (or the flexible flanged tubes if desired) and support
the same upon the spindles without regard to an exact fit of the tubes and spindles,
by this Invention there is secured upon the spindles spring cups D (Figures 19, 20,
22, and 23). These cups may be made of metal with slitted sides, or with spring
tongues cut in the side of the cups, or of india rubber, or of rigid material lined
with a ring of rubber.
The cop tube is slipped on the spindle and set down into the cup, and its flange
is held by the spring of the cup.
In Figures 21 and 24 spring collars E, either of rubber or metal, are shown as
secured upon the spindles for holding cop tubes with enlarged lower ends or
bobbins.
The spring cups and the collars can also be applied to shuttle skewers as well as
to spindles.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the mode in
which the same is carried into effect I would have it understood that what I
claim is,
First. A seamless cop tube woven, braided, or knitted in conical form, in one
piece.
Second. A seamless cop tube woven, braided, or knitted, in conical form in one
piece, and provided with a flange or head at its large end.

page_text: Third. Making this flange or head by weaving, braiding, or knitting the fabric
back and forth at the large end of the tube, or over a flexible ring, or by securing a
metal ring upon the large end of the woven, braided, or knitted tube.
Fourth. A long flexible tapering cop tube made of tape or other narrow textile
fabric wound spirally, and the edges secured.
Fifth. A long flexible cop tube made with solid tapering walls of other than
textile fabric, and having a flange at its large end, and means upon its exterior for
holding on the cop.
Sixth. A long paper or papier-maché cop tube of ordinary tapering form without
flanges, and having a rough exterior surface.
Seventh. A spring cup secured upon the spindle for holding and supporting a
cop tube.
.
Eighth. A spring collar secured upon the spindle for holding a cop tube with
enlarged lower end or a bobbin.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.