IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER YARNS OR THREADS ON TO SPOOLS, CARDS, OR BALLS, AND IN ADDITIONAL APPARATUS TO BE USED WHEN WINDING BALLS FOR TICKETING THE SAME
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Smith, of Chorlton-upon-Medlock, in
the City of Manchester, County of Lancaster, Machinist, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING COTTON, SILK,
AND OTHER YARNS OR THREADS ON TO SPOOLS, CARDS, OR BALLS, AND IN
ADDITIONAL APPARATUS TO BE USED WHEN WINDING BALLS FOR TICKETING
THE SAME,"
.
Sealed the 18th September 1868, and dated the 24th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Smith' at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th March 1868.
I, ROBERT SMITH, of Chorlton-upon-Medlock, in the City of Man-
chester, County of Lancaster, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING
COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER YARNS OR THREADS ON TO SPOOLS, CARDS, OR BALLS,
AND IN ADDITIONAL APPARATUS TO BE USED WHEN WINDING BALLS FOR TICKETING
THE SAME," to be as follows:-
These improvements apply to the self-acting machines for winding a
number of spools, balls, or cards of cotton, silk, or other threads, and
[Price 8d.]

page_text: have for their object the obtaining of a better drag or tension on the
thread during the process of winding it upon the spools or cards, and
also to prevent any thread being unwound from the creel bobbin by the
momentum given to it during the process of winding when that process
is stopped. For this purpose the thread on its course from the creel
bobbin, from which the thread to form the spool or card is unwound, to
the guide which conducts the thread upon the spool or card is so
arranged as to support one end of a lever which oscillates upon a fixed
centre, and when the operation of winding is arrested the thread
becomes slack through the creel bobbin continuing to unwind, the lever
then drops, and the other end of it or a suitable stop comes in
contact with the creel bobbin, and prevents it unwinding any more
thread.
This Invention is also applicable when the thread is drawn over
the head of a fixed creel bobbin; the thread in this case is made to
pass round a small roller, to which it gives a rotary motion, the lever
being used to arrest the motion of this roller; the tension upon the
thread is also regulated by the said lever.
My Invention further consists in an appara.us to be applied when
winding balls of thread having a ticket placed at one end before the
winding is completed, and the finishing layers of thread securing the
ticket thereon. This apparatus is composed of a series of tubes
corresponding to the number of balls made in the machine, and
carrying the paper tickets indicating the number of quality of the
thread, and also of an equal number of suitable receptacles containing
a glutinous material or gum; these tubes and receptacles are supported
by levers attached to a rod or bar placed parallel to the frame of the
machine carrying the spindles upon which the balls are made. To this
rod or bar is connected an arrangement of levers by means of which
the attendant of the machine can bring, firstly, the gum receptacles in
contact with the balls of thread or ends of spindles carrying the same,
leaving a thin deposit of gum thereon; and afterwards by like means
the tubes carrying the paper tickets are pressed against the spindle
ends, when the gum upon the spindle ends adheres to the tickets and
withdraws them from the receptacles, the process of winding the balls
of thread is then completed in the ordinary manner, and the ticket
secured by the overlapping layers of thread.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SMITH, of Chorlton-upon-Medlock, in the City of Manchester, County of
Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Smith, Her special license
that I, the said Robert Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Robert Smith, 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 WINDING COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER YARNS OR THREADS ON TO SPOOLS, CARDS,
OR BALLS, AND IN ADDITIONAL APPARATUS TO BE USED WHEN WINDING BALLS
FOR TICKETING THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others ") that I,
the said Robert Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
of the said
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
These improvements apply to the self-acting machines for winding
a number of spools, cards, or balls of cotton, silk, or other yarns or
threads, and also to the single heads when only one spool, card, or
ball is wound.

page_text: They have for their object, firstly, the obtaining of a better and
more equable drag or tension on the thread during the process of
winding than has hitherto been obtained, and so that it can be wound
with little pressure of the guide ("when guides are used,") and the
thread is laid evenly side by side on the spools without being flattened.
One method used in winding spools, balls, or cards is to place the
creel bobbin upon a spindle ("which may be upright, horizontal, or
inclined,) rotation is given to the creel bobbin by the pull of the
thread that is drawn from it by the spool, ball, or card that is being
filled; the disadvantage of winding on this plan has been that when
the machine ceases winding on the completion of a set of spools, or
is stopped suddenly from any cause, the momentum acquired by the
creel bobbin causes it to continue its revolutions and to give out a
quantity of loose thread which is objectionable, as it is liable to break
when the machine is set in motion. Another evil is that the creel
bobbin is liable to overun, if any variation takes place in the take up
of the spool that is being filled, and the thread is not laid so evenly
as it should be. Various plans for putting a break or drag upon the
revolving crecl bobbin have been tried with a view of putting such a
tension on the thread as will ensure its being wound correctly, and not
leave any loose or slack thread when the winding ceases.
One plan is to put friction on the spindle of the revolving creel
bobbin, by passing a cord over a V-shaped pulley on the spindle of
the creel bobbin, with a drag weight attached to it, so arranged that
the friction of the pulley on the cord will raise the weight to a certain
height, and on the machine ceasing to wind, the weight will give a
backward movement to the creel bobbin so as to take up any slack
thread.
Another plan is to have a drag plate free to move upon a centre,
resting on the revolving creel bobbin, and acting as a break; and a
third plan is the use of the common cord and drag weight used in
many kinds of winding, the cord passing round the spindle and putting
a drag upon it by the gravity of the drag weight; none of these plans
have done well, as any drag put upon the creel bobbin spindle causes
the thread to break frequently, if run at a high speed, and the drag
that is right when the bobbin is full is not right when the bobbin is
nearly empty, and if too light a drag be used, the creel bobbin will
overrun and give out slack thread. The whole of these difficulties are

page_text: overcome by using my improved drag or tension apparatus, and I will
now describe it: The creel bobbin filled with thread is placed upon
a spindle free to revolve, the thread in its course from the creel bobbin
to the guide which distributes the thread upon the spool passes over
two rods or small pullies, between these rods or pullies the thread
supports when winding one arm of a lever; this lever which I call the
drag or tension lever has two arms, and is free to osscilate upon a
centre, and to the other arm of said lever is attached a brush or other
suitable contrivance to act as a break, which presses lightly against the
revolving creel bobbin, or against, a disc on the spindle, and puts upon it
the exact; amount of drag required. On the stoppage of the machine
the arm of the tension lever resting on the passing thread being no
longer supported. allows its opposite arm to press hard upon the creel
bobbin or disc on the. revolving spindle, and at once. stops. its rotary
motion, and so effectually prevents any slack thread. When the machine
is, again set in motion the sudden, pull of the thread. raises the arm
of the tension lever, considerably, and takes its opposite: arm entirely
clear of the creel bobbin, and when this has attained. the speed. required,
the arm of tension lever supported by the passing thread descends,
and oscilating upon. its centre raises its. opposite arm until it comes
in contact with, the revolving creel. bobbin and puts on the proper
amount of drag required by the spools that are being filled. Attached
to the arm of the tension lever is an elastic cord and weight for the
purpose of regulating the drag so, that it can be increased or diminished
to suit the various: numbers and strengths of silk or cotton.
When it is desirous to draw the thread over the end or head of the
creel bobbin I adopt the following method' of applying the tension
lever. The thread after leaving the creel. bobbin passes either wholly
round or as much round a small pulley as will impart a rotary motion
to it; in front of this there is another small pulley, and between these
the arm of tension lever is supported, as before described, the other
arm with its break either runs clear of the rotating pulley, or puts
upon it the axact amount of drag required. On the stoppage of the
machine the arm of the tension lever comes in closer contact with the
rotating pulley in a similar manner to the plan described for stopping
the revolving creel bobbin.
I will now to describe the Drawings hereunto. annexed, and forming
Port of this Specification
in Wisure 1 in the revolving areal bobbin

page_text: B, is the spindle upon which it revolves; C 1, C 2, C 3, are the
small V-shaped pullies, running freely on centres; D, is the tension
or drag lever osscillating on the centre E, having at one end the
small V-shaped pulley C 2, and at the other end a brush or some other
suitable contrivance acting as a break on the revolving creel bobbin.
F 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are weights hanging to the tension lever for
regulating the amount of drag; this weight it will be seen can be
increased or lessened by the washers 1, 2, 3, 4, which are removable.
To the lever end of the weight there is attached an elastic cord, which
hangs loosely when the machine is at its full speed; the object of
this cord is to prevent the sudden pull that is put upon the thread
at starting the machine from raising the tension lever too quickly.
The dotted line marked by arrows shews the course of the thread
in its passage from the creel bobbin to the guide of flyer that distributes
the thread on the spool, ball, or card that is being wound.
I will now describe the action of the balance lever. When the
machine is set in motion and begins to draw thread from the creel bobbin
A, the arm of the tension lever D is raised until its opposite arm takes
away the break that was pressing against the creel bobbin, this allows
the creel bobbin to rotate very freely, and its dead weight is soon
overcome; when it has attained the speed required to supply the thread
to the spools the arm of the tension lever descends, and puts on as
much drag on the creel bobbin as is required. Fig. 2 represents an
elevation of the apparatus used when the thread is drawn off from the
end of a stationary bobbin, and the description herein-before described
applies equally to it with the exception of the modifications shewn.
My Invention further consists in the adaptation of certain apparatus
for ticketing balls of cotton previous to the winding of the last few
layers of thread as applied to the self-acting machine for which Letters
Patent were granted unto William Young, A.D. 1848, No. 12,353; it
consists in a number of receptacles corresponding with the number of
spindles in the machine for the reception of the tickets, and likewise a
number of receptacles containing gum or other glutinous matter.
The principle of action is shewn in Fig. 3 of the accompanying
Drawings and in the following explanation:―
G is the ball of thread in process of being formed upon an ordinary
spindle H, when the ball has been formed, with the exception of the
few last layers of thread. The attendant on the machine by means of a

page_text: handle Z lowers the radial arm K, which works on a centre L, thus
bringing the receptacle M in contact with the spindle H, leaving a
deposit of adhesive matter thereon. The receptacle M is then withdrawn
by the attendant and the handle N is pressed down, thus turning the
radial arm P on its centre Q. At the extremity of the radial arm P is
a receptacle R, in which are placed numbered or lettered tickets, and
when the handle N is pressed down the mouth of the receptacle is
brought over the spindle and the outer ticket adheres to the end thereof,
which has been previously covered with adhesive matter, the ball is
afterwards completed. Within the receptacle R containing the tickets
is a weight W, which presses the tickets outwards, and a light finger Y
acted upon by a spring is arranged at the mouth of the receptacle, so as
to prevent the tickets falling out, but at the same time to render their
withdrawal easy by the action of the adhesive matter. The receptacle R
is formed by three or more metal rods, which can be adjusted radially,
so as to be applicable for all sizes of tickets.
What I claim is,-
1stly. The application of a tension lever, as herein-before described
and shewn in the Drawings.
2ndly. The method of taking the tickets from a receptacle and
applying them to the balls of thread by means of gum or other suitable
adhesive matter, substantially as herein-before described and shewn
in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
Witness,
0
JOSEPH WILLCOCK,
Engineer,
Stockport.
ROBERT SMITH. (L.S.)