AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ROPES, CORDS LINES. TWINES. AND MILL BANDINGS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wilkinson, of the Town and County
of the Town of Nottingham, Frame Work Knitter, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ROPES, CORDS
LINES. TWINES. AND MILL BANDINGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wilkinson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th April 1853.
1, WILLIAM WILKINSON, of the Town and County of the Town of
Nottingham, Frame Work Knitter, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ROPES,
CORDS, LINES, TWINES, AND MILL BANDINGS," to be as follows:-
In making the threads and strands, of which the said ropes, cords,
lines, twines, and mill bandings are composed, I proceed in the following
manner :-
The threads are made of hemp, twisted in the usual manner, excepting
that a wire of iron, or other suitable metal, or alloy, is introduced into
[Price 8d.1

page_text: the said thread during the twisting of the same, that is to say, the hemp
is twisted upon and around the said wire as an axis, the said wire
remaining untwisted, and as a straight line or axis, in the middle of the
said thread.
I afterwards combine these threads together into strands, and the
strands into ropes, cords, &c., the said combining of the said threads
into strands, and the said strands into ropes, cords, &c., being effected
in the usual manner; the essence of my Invention consisting in the
introduction of a metallic wire into each of the threads of which the
strands of ropes, cords, &c. are composed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Wilkinson, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 18th June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM WILKINSON, of the Town and County of the Town of Not-
tingham, Frame Work Kuitter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Wilkinson, Her special
licence that I, the said William Wilkinson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Wil-
kiuson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others; from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
muke, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, un Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ROPES, CORDS, LINES,
TWINES, AND MILL BANDINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Wilkinson, by an instrument in writing under my
4
...

page_text: hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 William Wilkinson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained-in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say) :
My Invention consists in the introduction of a metallic wire into the
middle or axis of the threads of hemp or other fibrous substance, of
which ropes, cords, lines, twines, and mill bandings aro made. I prefer
the use of iron wire in carrying my Invention into effect, but I do not
limit myself thereto, as, under various circumstances, wires of other
metals may be preferable; forexample, where great flexibility is required,
copper may be employed; and where there is risk of exposure to water,
tinned iron wire, or wire of a metal less readily oxidizable than iron,
should be employed. In carrying my invention into effect, however,
I ordinarily use iron wire, the diameter of the said wire varying with
the properties required in the rope, cord, line,twine, or mill banding to
be produced. In making threads according to my Invention I proceed
as follows:-I attach one end of the wire to the whirl or rotating axis
usediu rope making, and by which a rotatory motion is communicated
to the hemp as it is spun out by the workman, or 1 communicate a
rotatory motion to the said wire in any other convenient manner; the
other end of the said wire is attached to a swivel, and the said wire is
stretched in a nearly horizontal line between the said "whirl" and
swivel, the said wire being supported at suitable intervals, as the
"threads" in the ordinary manufacture of rope are usually supported.
A rapid rotatory motion is communicated by the" whirl" to the wire,
but the said wire suffers no permanent twisting, for the rotatory motion
communicated by the said "whirl" is transmitted to the other end of
the wire attached to the swivel; the wire is thus put into rapid rotatory
motion throughout its whole length. The workman connects the hemp,

page_text: with which he is provided, as in the ordinary manufacture of "threads,"
with the "whirl," or the end of the wire connected therewith, before the
rotation of the said "whirl" and wire is commenced, and he recedes
from the said whirl, spinning out the hemp, with which he is provided,
exactly as in the ordinary manufacture, excepting that the rotating
wire is under his left arm, (or his right, as the case may be,) and he
delivers the said hemp on the said rotating wire. Having made a
number of "threads," each containing a straight metallic wire in its
axis, I combine the said threads together to form "strands," and I com-
bine thesaid "strands" together to form ropes, cords, lines, twines, and
mill bandingsexactlyas threadsofthe ordinary manufacturearecombined
into "strands," and the said "strands" into ropes, cords, lines, twines.
aud mill bandings.
I wish it to be understood that I herein use the word "thread "in
the sense in which it is used by ropemakers, that is to say, to designate
'the single line or thread produced by the first twisting of the hemp.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not limit myself to the precise method of carrying my
Invention into effect herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; for example,
although I have herein described my Invention in connection with
rope, cords, lines, twines, and mill bandings made of hemp, yet my
said Invention may be carried into effect in connection with any fibrous
substance which has been or may hereafter be used for the manufacture
of ropes, cords, lines, twines, and mill bandings; and although I have
only described and prefer using wires of a cylindrical figure, I do not
confine myself thereto, as wires of a prismatic or other figure may be
employed in carrying my Invention into effect; and although I prefer
using only threads, each of which contains a metallic wire, in making
the strands of ropes, cords, lines, twines, and mill bandings, yet I do
not limit myself thereto, as I sometimes make the said strands partly
of threads containing a metallic wire, and partly of threads without
such a metallic wire. But I claim as my Invention the introduction of a

page_text: metallic wire into the threads of which the strands of ropes, cords, lines,
twines, and mill bandings are composed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wilkinson, have hereunto
set may hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM WILKINSON. (L.B.)
Witness, E. C. COLE.