Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Covered Wire.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Covered Wire.
We, WALTER HERBERT AVIS, Manufacturer, of 158 Adelaide Street West, in
the City of Toronto, in the County of York, and Province of Ontario, in the
Dominion of Canada, and ROBERT CHARLES FISHER, Salesman, of No. 30 King
Street East, in the City of Toronto, aforesaid 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 :-
The object of the invention is to design a simple, effective and quickly-operating
machine advantageously applicable for covering wire with insulating material, and
it consists, essentially of one or more arms carrying bobbins of yarn or similar
material and attached to a revolving spindle through which the wire to be covered
is drawn, and a dish containing a suitable insulating compound fixed to the revolving
spindle and provided with rollers arranged to direct the yarn through the said
compound on to the wire, mechanism being provided for the purpose of drawing
upon and reeling the wire thus covered, which before reeling is preferably covered
with twisted yarns of various colors, substantially as hereinafter more particularly
explained.
In order that our said invention may be clearly understood we will not proceed
to describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of our improved machine.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail of the dish used to contain the insulating
material.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective detail, partially in section, of the flier.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the reel for carrying the finished covered
wire.
Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged sectional details of the frictional feed.
Fig. 7 is a plan, partially in section, of the feeding device.
A, is a hollow spindle carried vertically in suitable bearings formed in the
frame B.
C is a pulley connected to any suitable driving power for the purpose of revolving
the spindle A, at a high rate of speed.
D is a dish fixed to the spindle A and designed to contain the prepared starch
or other insulating compound or material.
E represents an arm fixed to the spindle A and designed to carry a bobbin F,
on which is wound the yarn intended to form the first covering of the wire; two
arms and two bobbins are shown in the drawing, but we do not confine ourselves
to any special number but find that about six bobbins will be found the proper
number.
On reference to Fig. 2 the special construction of the dish D, will be under-
stood. Each piece of yarn G is carried through a tube H placed in the dish, then
around the pulley I down through the insulating material and around the pulley J
placed in the bottom of the dish D thence upwardly between the sleeve K and
squeezing roller L, which is elastically held by the spring M and squeezes out
any surplus insulating compound which may adhere to the yarn. The insulating
yarn is then carried up a groove in the egg-shaped sleeve N to its upper point
which directs the yarn to the wire O, on which it is laid as the machine revolves.
By passing the yarn G through the insulating material while the yarn is loose
the said yarn is more thoroughly impregnated with the insulating material than
it would be if the yarn were carried through it after being twisted or wound upon
the wire, and in this way we secure a more thoroughly insulated wire than is
possible in any other process with which we are familiar.

page_text: In order to keep the prepared starch or other insulating material contained in
the dish D in proper condition to penetrate the yarn, we keep it hot, as desired,
by providing a gas jet P, held close to the dish D as indicated. Instead of the
gas jet P, a coil of steam pipe or other means for applying the heat to the dish
may be adopted.
With the view of applying to the wire O, an additional layer of insulated yarn,
we provide another winding and insulating device similar to that already described
placing the same above the device just described the only difference being that it
is run in the reverse direction so that the yarn wound upon the wire by the lower
device shall be closed by the yarn applied by the upper device.
The joint made in the spindle A is made substantially as shown in Fig. 2, so
that the two parts of the spindle shall work independently of each other. In this
joint a cap Q is shaped as shown to fit over the egg-shaped sleeve N, narrow
grooves being cut in the sleeve N, for the passage of the yarn. The cap Q forms
a step on which the bottom bell-shaped end R, of the upper spindle A, rests.
cap effectually protects the egg-shaped spool N, from oil or dirt and constitutes
a suitable step to support the portion of the spindle A above the lower dish D.
This
With the view of giving a handsome finish to the insulated covered wire, we
provide the following device for twisting and laying in one operation a handsome
outer coating of yarn or similar material which may be of various colors. To
accomplish this, we connect to the spindle A two disks T, and arrange a series of
fliers U, around the said disks. Only two fliers are shown in the drawing but as
many as desired may be employed. For each flier U, a slot is made in each
disk T, in which slot the spindle V of the flier U, is inserted. In the bottom of
each slot we make a hole into which the plunger W is placed, a spring X being
placed behind each plunger; on each plunger a fork Y is made the said fork con-
stituting a bearing into which the spindle V, is fitted. On this spindle V we fix a
friction roller Z.
a,
is a ring fixed to the frame B. The revolving of the spindle A, causes the
disks T to revolve, and as all the fliers U, are carried in slots made in the disks T
the centrifugal force produced by the rotary movement will throw all the fliers
outwardly, forcing the friction rollers Z, against the rings a, thereby imparting a
rotary movement to each of the fliers U. The tension of the spring X, is arranged
to force the rollers Z, against the ring a, thereby ensuring the revolving of the
fliers immediately upon the disk T, revolving and before centrifugal action has
commenced.
b, is a bobbin spindle hinged at d to the spindle V, its bottom end fitting into a
recess or hole made in the top of the step e, which step is supported by a spring f,
fitted into the bearing spindle g, fixed to the centre of the friction roller h, corre-
sponding with the friction roller Z. The step e being elastically supported by the
spring, it may be moved down so as to permit the end of the bobbin spindle b to
be pressed into place or removed as required. For that purpose we provide a
light spindle provided with a button 3, so that by pushing upon the button; the
step e may be pulled down clear of the spindle 6 to permit it to be moved out so
that the bobbin may be taken off and a fresh one put on.
With the view of increasing or decreasing the tension of the spring f, we provide
an adjustable nut k which may be moved for that purpose.
A series of vertical rods m, are arranged around the bobbin spindle b, and are
carried on spiders n, suitably journalled as indicated in Fig. 3. These spiders are
held by frictional contact so that they will revolve with the spindle V, but not
sufficiently tight to prevent them revolving on their own axis should it be necessary
to prevent the breaking of the yarn p, which is carried around the rods m, arranged
as shown for the purpose of imparting the necessary friction to the said yarn.
It will be observed on reference to Figs. 1 and 3 that the yarn p, is carried from
the bobbin around the rods m, thence through the loop q, up to the spiral groover,
to the central hole in the spindle V, thence over the pulleys, to the centre of the
hollow spindle A, where it is wound upon the wire O. By carrying the yarn p

page_text: through the centre of the spindle V, which is revolving at a high rate of speed,
the said yarn is twisted before it reaches the wire O, and when every flier is
supplied with a different colored yarn, the twisted yarns thus applied impart a
very handsome finished appearance to the covered wire O. By carrying the
yarn p, through a spiral groover, located at the bottom of the hole through
the spindle V, we ensure that the twisting of the yarn p shall be completed at
the commencement of the spiral groove r, which is a very important factor in the
manipulation of the yarn. By the time the wire O has reached the top of the
frame B, the covering of the said wire is completed as it has been treated first-
with yarn thoroughly impregnated with a suitable insulating compound which is
soaked through the yarn while the latter is in an untwisted condition and before
it is applied to the wire, and secondly-by twisted yarns preferably of contrasting
colors which impart to the covered wire a handsome finished appearance.
In order to move the wire O through the covering mechanism described and to
wind the same in bobbins ready for commercial purposes, we provide the following
simple and effective machinery.
The covered wire O, extends from the top of the idle pulley t, which directs it
to a clutching device constructed as follows:-A disk u is fixed to the shaft Vo
which is caused to revolve from some convenient. driving mechanism and on this
disk u, a series of fingers w, are pivotally arranged. The said fingers are held in
position by a cam-shaped disk æ, longitudinally movable upon the sleeve y, which
is loosely fitted on to the shaft V, and remains stationary notwithstanding the
revolving of the said spindle. The outer ends of the fingers w and the outer edge
of the disk , are flared so as to form a V-shaped groove between the two into
which groove a covered wire O fits. Owing to the shape of the cam-shaped disk x,
the fingers are caused to rock as they are carried around by the revolving motion
of the disk u, and the cam on the disk a is shaped so that the said fingers as they
travel over it are caused to grip the covered wire O as it enters, and they will
continue to draw upon the covered wire for about half the revolution of the disk,
when a fresh formation of the cam-shaped disk z, loosens the fingers and permits
the covered wire to pass towards the reciprocating guide, which directs it onto
the winding drum. This drum consists of two or more parallel bars 2, collapsably
connected to the spindle 3, which is suitably journaled and caused to revolve by
any suitable power. Two disks marked 4, are connected to the spindle 3, and form
the ends of the drum; one disk butts against a collar 5 formed on the spindle 3,
the other disk is held in position as indicated by means of a flanged sleeve 6, which
is held in position by the fly-nut 7, the groove pulley 8 being likewise held upon
the spindle 3.
When a sufficient quantity of the wire has been wound upon the drum, the
nut 7, is removed and the flanged sleeve 6 is taken off, as also the disk 4 next to
it when the parallel bars 2 may be collapsed and the whole removed.
It will of course be understood that instead of using my machine for covering
wire with insulating material, the upper portion of the machine which is used for
laying the twisted yarn on the covered wire, will be found equally as serviceable
for laying the cover on, or for use without a core of any other kind of material,
and the upper portion of the machine may be used independently of the lower
part. The upper part, which consists of the revolving disks carrying the
independently revolving fliers may be driven by an independent pulley or it may
be geared as indicated by mitre frictional gear marked 9, in Fig. 1.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
1. In a machine for covering wire one or more arms carrying bobbins of yarn
or similar material and attached to a revolving spindle through which the wire to
be covered is carried, in combination with a dish to contain a suitable insulating

page_text: compound and fixed to the revolving spindle substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
2. In a machine for covering wire one or more arms carrying bobbins of yarn or
similar material and attached to a revolving spindle through which the wire to be
covered is carried, a dish to contain a suitable insulating compound and fixed to the
revolving spindle, in combination with rollers arranged to direct the yarn through
the said compound on to the wire, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3. In a machine for covering wire one or more arms carrying bobbins of yarn
or similar material and attached to a revolving spindle through which the wire to
be covered is carried, a dish to contain a suitable insulating compound and fixed to
the revolving spindle, rollers arranged to direct the yarn through the said compound
on to the wire, in combination with mechanism for drawing the covered wire
through the hollow spindle and winding the same upon a collapsible reel, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. In a machine for covering wire one or more arms carrying bobbins of yarn
or similar material and attached to a revolving spindle through which the wire to
be covered is carried, a dish to contain a suitable insulating compound and fixed
to the revolving spindle, rollers arranged to direct the yarn through the said
compound on to the wire, in combination with a series of bobbins, each hobbin
pivoted on an independent flier, the yarn from the various bobbins being directed
through a hole in the centre of the flier to be twisted and then to the centre of the
hollow spindle where the twisted yarns thus conducted are wound upon the wire
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
5. A spiral groove made in the wire between the bobbin and the hole in the
centre of the flier substantially as and for the purpose specified.
6. A series of revolving fliers independently carried in separate grooves made in
a disk and thrown against a friction ring by the centrifugal force of the revolving
disk substantially as and for the purpose specified.
7. A bobbin carrier supported longitudinally on a spring contained in a hollow
spindle and actuated by a nut, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
8. A series of fingers pivoted on a revolving disk and arranged in connection
with a stationary cam for the purpose of rocking the pivoted fingers and causing
them to grasp and release at pre-determined intervals the covered wire or cord
passing from the covering mechanism described substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
7th day of Mo 1902
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.