IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SORTING AND OFFER THREADS
Year: 1863

page_text: the State of Massachusetts, United States of North America, temporarily
residing at the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SORTING
AND OFFER THREADS "
Sealed the 19th October 1863, and dated the 25th April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ira Dimock, at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th April
1863.
I, IRA DIMOCK, Machinist, of Hampshire County, in the State of Massa-
chusetts, United States of North America, temporarily residing at the City of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SORTING ACCORDING
TO SIZE, AND DOUBLING SILK AND OTHER THREADS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to machinery for cleaning, sorting according
to size, and doubling threads, and to mechanism operating in a manner similar
to that described under the sixth and seventh heads of the Specification of
the Patent granted to me and numbered 3180, and dated the Twenty-eighth
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty, and this part of my Invention consists in the employment of "surfaces"
[Price 8d.]

page_text: which will clean the silk or other threads as well as size them, and it also
consists in making the space or spaces between the "surfaces" wedge-shaped,
or less at one end than at the other end of the space or spaces, so that the
threads to be sized or cleaned, sized and doubled, may be made to pass through
the spaces at different points, for the purpose of modifying the friction of the
passing threads upon the "surfaces." This variation of the threads in the
wedge-shaped spaces is rendered self-adjusting, being consequent upon the
movement of the "surfaces" in relation to the line of the thread or threads,
which can be adjusted by suitable guides. or by a lever acted upon by the
mechanism with which the "surfaces" are connected.
This part of my Invention also consists in the use of a piston connected
with mechanism which can oscillate to and fro in sizing silk and other thread,
which piston dips into a tube, cup, or cylinder containing oil or other fluid
the object of the arrangement being to check or prevent irregular and acci-
dental oscillations, which are not due to a definite change in the thickness of
the thread or threads.
This part of my Invention also consists in arrangements of mechanism for
stopping the winding or changing the position of the mechanism which dis-
tributes the thread upon the bobbin, and it consists in connecting with the
moveable guaging "surfaces" a spring or other arrangement, which as the
guaging surfaces are moved will be changed in position, and at certain given
positions will come in the way of vibrating mechanism actuated from the
rotatory motion imparted to the machine, and cause it to operate upon mecha-
nism to stop or chang the winding. A spring is used, so that it will give
way when caught by the vibrating mechanism.
My Invention relates, secondly, to an arrangement of mechanism for
equalising the tension on two threads when doubling them together, and con-
sists in causing one thread in passing to act upon one end and the other
thread upon the other end of a balanced lever or equivalent arrangement, so
that an increase of the tension in one thread will act upon the lever or other
arrangement, and cause a corresponding increase of tension in the other thread
till the two have an equal tension.
My Invention relates, thirdly, to mechanism for unwinding thread which
has been distributed upon a long bobbin by mechanism acting in a similar
manner to that described in the Specification of Alfred Vincent Newton, num-
bered 1945, and dated the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, and for winding each sort
from the long bobbin upon separate bobbins, so as to form a connected length
of thread of one sort upon each bobbin, and this part of my Invention con-

page_text: sists in placing a lever having arms which come over the long bobbin at about
the divisions between the sorts upon the bobbin, so that when the thread in
unwinding passes from one sort to another it will come in contact with one
of the arms of the lever and give motion to it, so as to stop the bobbin upon
which the thread is being wound; or I fix pins in the long bobbin, one in each
of those parts occupied by a different sort of thread, one of which pins, when
the thread changes from one sort to the other will, owing to the angle of the
thread after the change, catch upon and hold or break the thread and stop the
winding.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ira Dimock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
October 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, IRA
DIMOCK, of Hampshire County, in the State of Massachusetts, United States
of North America, temporarily residing at the City of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said Ira Dimock, Her special license, that I, the said Ira Dimock,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ira Dimock,
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 might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SORTING ACCORDING TO SIZE, AND DOUBLING SILK AND
OTHER THREADS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ira
Dimock, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Ira Dimock, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in v manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My Invention relates, firstly, to machinery for cleaning, sorting according
to size, and doubling threads, and to mechanism operating in a manner similar
to that described under the sixth and seventh heads of the Specification of
the Patent granted to me, and numbered 3180, and dated the Twenty-eighth
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty, and this part of my Invention consists in the employment of surfaces
which will clean the silk or other threads as well as size them, and it also
consists in making the space or spaces between the surfaces wedge-shaped,
or less at one end than at the other end of the space or spaces, so that the
threads to be sized or cleaned, sized and doubled, may be made to pass through
the spaces at different points, for the purpose of modifying the friction of
the passing threads upon the surfaces. This variation of the threads is rendered
self-adjusting, being consequent upon the movement of the surfaces in relation
to the line of the thread or threads, which can be adjusted by suitable guides,
or by a lever acted upon by the mechanism with which the sur-
faces are connected.
The main distinction between my improvements above referred to and those
described in the Specification of my said Patent in respect to the cleaning
of the threads consist in this, that according to improvements described in
the Specification of the said Patent, the surfaces upon which the thread or
threads act are rounded at the edges, and arranged so that small lumps and
short lengths of irregular or lumpy threads may easily pass the surfaces with-
out affecting them, while the surfaces, according to my present Invention. are
made so as to arrest any lamp or irregularity of thickness in the thread, and
stop the winding, so that such portions of the thread or threads may be
removed, and it is in this sense that my present improvements act to clean,
size, and double silk and other threads. Fig. 4 is a plan view, and Fig. 5
an edge view detached, of a lever arrangement of such surfaces as I employ,
according to my present improvements, for cleaning and sizing a single thread;
it is formed of two bars a on the same axis a', which is properly balanced on
adjustable centres . One of the bars a is fixed on the axis, the other is
moveable; and at one side of the axis there is an india-rubber band a", to
draw the loose bar against the fixed one, and at the other side of the axis an
adjusting screw a' is placed, to regulate the distance between them. By this
means a wedge-shaped space is formed between the bars.
For cleaning,
sizing, and doubling at the same time, and at one operation, as many thin bars
will have to be mounted on the same axis as will form spaces between them

page_text: for the number of threads to be cleaned, sized, and doubled at the same time;
and in this case one of the outside bars will be fixed on the axis, and the
adjusting screw for the spaces will have to be placed in the outside fixed bar,
and act upon the other outside loose bar to give the required total spaces in
the manner explained in the Specification of my aforesaid Patent. The
manner of using the guaging levers with wedge-shaped spaces between them
is illustrated in Fig. 3. A represents the beam or framing of the machine,
and A brackets secured to it; b, the shaft giving rotatory motion to the
bobbin z, upon which the thread is to be wound; c, a lever having its fulcrum
at c¹, the upper end of this lever being levelled so that when moved in one
direction, it will come under the friction bowl, which is placed at one end of
the axis of the bobbin z, upon which the thread is being wound, and lift this
friction bowl from the friction pulley, and thus stop the rotating motion wind-
ing the thread; d is another lever, which acts upon the end of the lever c, and
this lever d is acted upon in a manner herein-after explained. If a thread
is passed through a fixed space in sizing apparatus, and an increase of thickness
occurs, then the friction and drag upon the thread will increase, which tends to
break it. The friction due to a change of thickness, when the space is fixed,
is more than is necessary to maintain the guaging mechanism in the required
position, and by means of the wedge-shaped space or spaces for the threads I
am enabled to increase the space in a proportion to the increase of thickness,
and vice versa. This is accomplished, as shewn in Fig. 3, by adjusting the
angle at which the thread passes through the wedge-shaped spaces in relation
to the position of the guaging lever a. The thread z passes from the bobbin
at the floor, and then through a guide eye at 21, and then through the wedge-
shaped space in the guaging lever a, and then through another guide eye z,.
then over the distributing bar e, and, lastly, on to the bobbin 2.
It will now
be seen that if the guaging end of the lever descends, the thread will pass
through the space in the lever at a point nearer its axis, which is of less width,
and vice versa if the guaging end of the lever ascends. This part of my
Invention consists also in the use of a piston, connected with mechanism,
which can oscillate to and fro in sizing silk and other threads, which piston
dips into a tube, cup, or cylinder containing oil or other fluid, the object of the
arrangement being to check or prevent irregular and accidental oscillations
which are not due to a definite change in the thickness of the thread or
threads. This part of my Invention is illustrated by Figures 1 and 3. A
small piston rod is jointed to the guaging lever (a), and the piston attached
descends into a tube (f) (shown in section in Figures 1 and 3), containing oil;
the piston does not fit the tube, but a space is left for the oil to get past

page_text: when the piston moves; by this means a certain length of time is necessary to
effect a change in the position of the piston or guaging machanism with which
it is connected, and consequently those irregularities, which only last for a
moment, do not materially affect the position guaging mechanism.
This part of my Invention relates also to arrangements of mechanism for
stopping the winding when a change of thickness occurs, and it consists in
connecting with the moveable guaging surfaces a spring or other arrangement,
which, as the guaging surfaces are moved, will change in position, and at a
certain given position will come in the way of vibrating mechanism actuated
from rotatory motion imparted to the machine, and cause it to operate upon
mechanism to stop the winding. A spring is used, so that it will give way
when caught by the vibrating mechanism.
This improvement for stopping the winding when a change of thickness
occurs is illustrated by Figures 1 and 3, which show a spring (g) secured at
one end to the side of, and projecting from, the guaging lever (a), the end of
this spring passes across the end of the lever (d), but does not touch it, except
when acted upon by the arm (h) from the rocking shaft (h'). This shaft
receives motion from an excentric crank or cam from some rotating part of
the machine, and the arm (h) passes close past the end of the lever (d), but
without touching it, and the end of the spring passes between the arm (h) and
lever (d).
When the guaging lever (a) is in the correct position for the size
of thread to be wound upon the bobbin (c) the end of the spring (g) is opposite
a gap formed in the arm (h), and consequently the arm as it oscillates does
not touch the spring, but should the guaging lever ascend or descend conse-
quent upon a change in thickness, then the arm (h) will come against the
spring (g), either above or below the gap, as the case may be,
and the spring will be forced forward by the arm and against the lever d, which
will transmit the movement to the lever C, the bevel end of which will be
forced forward till the friction bowl is lifted from the friction pulley. When
this occurs another thickness of thread must be substituted, as the arrangement
shown, having this peculiar stopping mechanism, is intended to wind thread
of a uniform thickness on to the same bobbin, and not to change the winding
of the thread from one bobbin or surface to another bobbin or another part of
the same bobbin.
1
My improvements relate, secondly, to an arrangement of mechanism for
equalizing the tension on two threads when doubling them together, and
consists in causing one thread in passing to act upon one end and the other
thread upon the other end of a balanced lever or equivalent arrangement, so
that an increase of the tension upon one thread will act upon the lever or other

page_text: arrangement, and cause a corresponding increase of tension upon the other
thread till the two have equal tension.
This part of my Invention is illustrated by Figures 6, 7, and 8, Figure 6 a
plan, Figure 7 a longitudinal section, and Figure 8 an end view. The part
k is intended to be added to an ordinary doubling machine and is fixed in
such position that the two threads to be doubled and equalized will pass over
the two ribs (¹) and under the ends of the lever , the axis 3. of which
is freely suspended in the two ribs, as shown; are guide pins to keep the
thread (2) from getting off the ends of the lever, there are also projections on
the under side of the lever (k) to prevent the threads from moving towards
the axis of the lever. If the tension on one thread becomes greater than that
upon the other thread the lever will be lifted at that end having the greatest
tension and depressed at the other end, the tension will diminish upon the
thread which is at that end of the lever which ascends, as the friction caused
by the angles made by the thread in passing under the lever (2) and over the
ribs (¹), will diminish, and the tension upon the thread at that end of the
lever which is depressed will be increased by the increase of the angle. If
the tension on one end of the lever becomes excessive the other end of the
lever will be made to press the thread upon it against the inclined surface of
the part (). as shown in dotted line.
My Invention relates thirdly, to mechanism for unwinding thread which
has been distributed upon a bobbin by mechanism acting in a similar manner
to that described in the Specification of Alfred Vincent Newton, numbered
1945, and dated the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, and for winding each sort from
the long bobbin upon separate bobbins so as to form a connected length of
thread of one sort upon each bobbin, and this part of my Invention consists in
placing a lever having arms which come over the long bobbin at about the
divisions between the sorts upon the bobbin, so that when the thread in
unwinding passes from one sort to another, it will come in contact with one of
the arms of the lever and give motion to it, so as to stop the bobbin upon
which the thread is being wound; or pins are fixed in the long bobbin about
the middle of each sort of thread, one of which pins, when the thread changes
from one sort to the other, will (owing to the angle of the thread after the
change) catch upon and hold or break the thread and stop the winding.
This part of my Invention is illustrated by Figures 1 and 2, which show
the two methods above referred to for carrying out this part of my Invention.
On one side of the frame, in Figure 2, the same method of stopping the rotation

page_text: Stops (c) are
of the bobbin by lifting the friction bowl out of contact with the friction
driving pulley is used, as is shown in Figure 3, that is. by a lever (c) with a
bevelled end, which when the lever is moved comes under and lifts the friction
howl; this lever is mounted on a shaft (c), which has its bearings in the
brackets (A). secured to the beam part (A of the framing.
fixed on one of the brackets to limit the movement of this 'lever (c): these
brackets have V-paris formed upon them to sustain the pivots of a frame lever,
which consists of a bar (), having its ends bent down and resting upon the
V-parts. In this bar two projections or arms (1) are fixed, so as to come
over the bobbin containing the sorted silk at the divisions where one sort
begins and another ends. There is also another projection (1) from the bar (1)
backwards from the bobbin (r), which comes under one of the projections (c).
which limit the movements of the lever (c): this backward projection prevents
the lever frame from falling upon the bobbin, as the lever frame is balanced.
so that it will tend to fall in that direction. There are supposed to be three
sizes of thread upon the long bobbin (z), and if the thread is winding from
the middle of the bobbin, it will traverse in unwinding to and fro between the
two projections (1) without affecting them, but when the thread changes to the
other part of the bobbin it will pass under one of the projections, as shown by
dotted line in Figure 1, and lift the lever frame: this will bring the cross
bar (1) against the lever (c), and stop the winding: when this occurs the thread
is broken and attached to the bobbin for the sorted thread, which is opposite
that part of the long bobbin from which the thread began to unwind when the
stoppage took place, at the same time the thread is passed to the other side
of the projection (1) from the bar 1. The bobbins upon which the sized
thread is wound are all placed on the same spindle, as shown, being secured
against each other by a screw on the end of the spindle. There is a separate
guide in the traverse bar for distributing the thread opposite each bobbin.
The second method for unwinding is by means of hook pins placed in the
long bobbin before the thread is wound upon it, as shown in Figures I and 2.
It will be seen that while the thread is going to right bobbin, it will not be
caught by the hooks. but should it pass to another sort it will be caught by
the hook over which it passes, as the line of the thread will then cross the
path of the hook; this will either break the thread or stop the winding, which
cannot go on till the thread is attached to the bobbin opposite that part of the
long bobbin from which it unwinds.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the mode
of carrying the same into effect, and claim as my Invention,

page_text: Firstly, the system or mode of cleaning and sizing threads at the same
time, also the system or mode of cleaning, sizing, and doubling at the same
time, as described under the first division of this Specification.
Secondly, the use of wedge-shaped spaces for sizing threads, and arrange-
ments for varying the position of the thread or threads to be sized, in such
spaces, as herein described under the first division of this Specification.
Thirdly, the use of a piston or its equivalent in connection with oscillating,
guaging, or sizing mechanism, to moderate or prevent irregularities, as
described under the first division of this Specification.
Fourthly, the use of stopping arrangements in connection with mechanism
for sizing threads acting in the manner described under the first division of
this Specification.
Fifthly, the system or mode of doubling two threads, as described under
the second division of this Specification.
Sixthly. the method and arrangements for unwinding sized thread, as
described under the third division of this Specification.
In witness whereof, I. the said Ira Dimock, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of October. in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
IRA DIMOCK. (L.S.)