IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED FOR SIZING YARNS OR THREADS." MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED FOR SIZING YARNS OR THREADS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Nichols, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Manager for Sir Elkanah Armitage & Sons, Cotton
Spinners and Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED FOR SIZING YARNS OR THREADS."
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED FOR SIZING YARNS OR THREADS."
Sealed the 21st May 1858, and dated the 80th November 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Nichols, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th November 1857.
I, JOHN NICHOLS, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Manager for Sir Elkanah Armitage & Sons, Cotton Spinners and
Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED FOR SIZING YARNS OR THREADS,"
to be as follows:-
In sizing yarn in the hank, the plan hitherto adopted has been, after
steeping it in the size trough, to wring it by hand to take out the surplus size,
or partially dry it and then to shake it, so as to open or separate the threads;
instead of which I fix over the size trough an apparatus constructed of two
large plates or discs fixed to each end of a shaft, which revolves on suitable
bearings driven by wheel gearing or other mechanical contrivance, forming a
kind of open or skeleton cylinder. On the faces of the said plates or discs. I
fix any convenient number of projecting hooks, on which the skeins or hanks
of yarn are put when taken from the size, the revolving motion of the

page_text: discs giving the necessary twisting to any convenient number of hanks at the
same time, from which they are passed either by hand or slidden off by a
guide to an apparatus for shaking or opening them.
The shaking or opening apparatus consists of a vertical pillar with projecting
arms, the top ones being fixed and the bottom ones loose, so that when the
hanks are placed on the two arms the bottom one shall fall, and thus stretch
the hanks to their full length and shako or open the threads at the same time
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Nichols in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
NICHOLS, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Manager for Sir Elkanah Armitage and Sons, Cotton Spinners and Manu-
facturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Nichols, Her special licence that I, the said John Nichols,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Nichols, 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 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 OR APPARATUS USED FOR SIZINO YARNS OR THREADS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I. the said John Nichols, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly 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 noxt and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Nichols, 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 (that is to say) :-

page_text: My Invention consists of performing certain operations connected with the
sizing of yarns or threads by improved machinery or apparatus instead of manual
labour. In sizing yarn in the hank the plan generally adopted has been, after
steeping it in the size trough, to wring it and afterwards stroke it by hand,
in order to take out the surplus size, or partially dry it and then to shake it,
so as to open or separate the threads; instead of which I place over the size
trough two plates or discs, so as to form a kind of open or skeleton cylinder,
and fix them on a shaft driven by gearing or other mechanical contrivance.
Each plate or disc is furnished with a set of hooks, of any convenient
number, one set having square shanks or otherwise formed, so that they can
be adjusted laterally, but not revolve independently of the disc, and the other
set baving round shanks or spindles, so as to revolve in holes or bearings, or be
stationary, as required; such revolution one way, when the hanks are on the
hooks, gives the necessary twisting and partial drying of the yarn, which is
afterwards cleaned by passing through either stationary or moveable brushes.
The banks untwist of themselves simply by being released, and are then taken
off by hand or slidden off by a guide to an apparatus for shaking and opening
them.
This shaking or opening apparatus consists of two pairs of arms, one pair
slowly revolving in bearings and the other pair connected to cranks or levers,
so that they may move to and fro vertically, horizontally, or at an angle, and
when the hanks are placed on the arms, and the machine put in motion, the
arms move to and fro, and thus stretch the hanks to their full length and shake
or open the threads at the same time.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings and the letters of reference thereon, in which Fig. 1
is a front elevation of the machinery or apparatus for twisting or partially
drying the yarns; Figs. 2 and 3 are end elevations of the same; and Figs. 4.
and 5 are detached parts; Fig. 6 is an elevation of one of my arrangements
for shaking and opening the yarn; and Fig. 7, a front elevation of the same.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, representing my machinery for twisting hanks of yarn
or thread, a represents the framing; b, the size trough; c, the driving pulley,
which turns the worm d, geared into the toothed wheel e for giving motion to
the shaft f, and the plates or discs g and h. The hanks are shewn at i, k, l,
and m, hooked at one end on the adjustable sliding hooks n, and at the other
on the hooks o, p, q, and r, the spindles passing through the disc 9 and
working in the bearings s. To cach revolving spindle is fixed a pinion t, which
gears into a stationary toothed segment u, so as to give the spindle hooks a
few revolutions; the last tooth of the segment works on a stud and is held.

page_text: by a lever and weight, so that it may be tolerably firm and yet be able to yield
in order to prevent shocks and breakages.
yi
Each spindle hook is also furnished with a catch plato w, Figs. 1 and 4, and
held, after clearing the segment, until it passes the cleaning brushes a by the
catches the upper
brush is held to the framework, and the lower one is
linked over the shaft and held steady by a balance weight, as before said, the
brushes which supersede the shaking and cleaning by hand may either be
stationary or moveable.
The machine being in motion, a hanki is placed on its corresponding books,
and the pinion in line therewith soon gears into the toothed segment u,
thereby causing the spindle hook to turn and twist the hank, as seen at k, it
being still more twisted until the pinion leaves the segment, when it is held,
as before stated, until it arrives at about the position m, when the tail, shewn
in Fig. 5, of the catch in connection with it strikes a projection on the
framo and relieves the catch plate, when the hauk instantly uncoils; it is then
taken off and another supplied, and so the movements proceed performing
operations hitherto done by hand.
When desired, I place an endless chain or chains at the sides of the size
trough, for the purpose of forming a constantly or intermittently moving table,
on which the hanks may be placed and led onwards to the front of the
machine, ready to be applied as the hooks como forward by the revolving of
the plates or discs.
Although in the aforesaid machinery the hanks are twisted horizontally, I
may, by simply altering the position of the parts, place and twist the banks
either vertically or at any desired angle.
In Figs. 6 and 7, I represent one of my arrangements of machinery for
shaking and opening the hanks, it is shewn as giving an up-and-down motion.
The banks are shown at a, placed over the revolving shaft b, forming the two
upper arms, and also over the moveable rod c, constituting the two lower arms,
which rod has an up-and-down motion by its connection with the levers or bell
cranks d, working on the fulcrum e, and having at the bottom a bowl or roller
f pressing by the weight of the parts against the tappet wheel g, which as it
revolves causes the tappets h to move the levers d and also the rod or lower
arms c, as shown by the dotted lines, thereby giving a shaking and opening of
the banks; the cam i attached to or forming part of the tappet wheel is for
the
purpose of obtaining a dwell of sufficient duration to allow the finished
hanks to be taken off and fresh ones put on. The upper shaft b is furnished
with a pully, connected by a belt to a pulloy 7, having motion given to it by
means of the ratchet wheel in and catch n, the lever of which is connected by.

page_text: the rod o to the lower arms or rod c. The necessary motion is given to the
tappet wheel g by means of gearing or worm and wheel.
By changing the positions of the foregoing arrangements the moveable rod
or arms c may move horizontally or in an angular direction, as may be
desired.
The tappets on the tappet wheel instead of being external may be internal,
so as to move the rod and arms both ways, or, if external, a weight or spring
may be employed to give one of the movements; or, the to-and-fro motion of
the rod and arms may be imparted by a crank, and the dwell obtained by
means of a clutch or fast and loose pulleys.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, as
such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle thereof;
but I claim,―
Firstly, the use or employment of revolving hooks driven by pinions and
toothed segment, for the purpose of twisting and partially drying hanks of yarn
or thread.
Secondly, the employment of a moveable rod with one or two arms, driven
by tappets or a crank, for the purpose of shaking and opening the banks of
yarn or thread after they have been twisted.
And, thirdly, the general arrangement of machinery or apparatus for
twisting, shaking, and opening hanks of yarn or thread, as all such improve-
ments are herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Nichols, have hereunto set my band
and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
JOHN NICHOLS. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the within-
named John Nichols, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.