IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING, DOUBLING, AND MANU- The MAUREATO . FACTURING COTTON AND OTHER FLIDROUS MARZATO 11 PROAL SP
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stevenson, of Johnstone; in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Manager to George Houstoun and Company,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING, DOUBLING, AND MANU-
The MAUREATO
.
FACTURING COTTON AND OTHER FLIDROUS
MARZATO
11
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stevenson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th April 1859.
I, WILLIAM STEVENSON, of Johnstone, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Manager to George Houstoun and Company, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING, DOUBLING, AND
MANUFACTURING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows, that
is to say :-
This Invention relates to the so arranging what are technically known as
"throstle" spinning frames or machines as used in spinning or manufacturing
cotton and other fibrous materials, that the present indirect drag upon the
bobbins may be done away with, the winding-on action being effected by a

page_text: special movement for the purpose. Instead of allowing the bottom end or
flange of the bobbin to rest upon the ordinary stationary frictional washer or
cloth disc, as at present practised, the present Invention comprehends the
separate and distinct mechanical actuation or driving of a small pulley or disc
on which the bottom flange of the bobbin rests. The upper surface of this
pulley is covered with cloth or other suitable material, and it is placed over
or upon the spindle upon the copping or bobbin rail, which rises and falls for
the purpose of raising and lowering the bobbins. This pulley may be driven
in various ways, its rate being always somewhat less than that of the spindle.
A convenient plan of driving it is to fit up a short vertical spindle in bearings
just inside the main side or front of the framing. This spindle has near its
lower end a small band pulley, which is passed between or through the
opening or loop in the spindle band, and thus receive a rotatory action from
the band. The upper portion of this small spindle has also upon it another
but larger pulley, carrying a short endless band, which is also passed over or
round the pulley beneath the bobbin. In this way, the necessary revolving
action is given to the bobbin pulley in a very simple manner. With this
arrangement, the greatest part of the "drag" is taken off the yarn, and much
finer yarn can be spun on throstle frames than at present. The relative speeds
of the spindle and the bottom bobbin pulley must be modified according to
the fineness of the yarn being spun and the general quality thereof. For very
fine numbers, the speed of the pulley must be brought proportionately nearer
to that of the spindle; coarser numbers may be spun very soft, and the quality
greatly improved by this arrangement. If very hard twisted yarn or thread is
made on the improved frames, the drag may be increased as required by
reversing the direction of the motion of the pulleys, as regards that of the
spindles.
This Invention is applicable in various other processes of spinning and
manufacturing cotton and other fibrous materials, and it may of course be
carried out in practice under many mechanical modifications, as its essence
consists in the fact of applying a separate and special rotatory or revolving
motion or action to the bobbins to operate in place of the usual dead or
stationary "drag."

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Stevenson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
STEVENSON, of Johnstone, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Manager
to George Houstoun and Company, 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 fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Stevenson, Her special license that I, the said William
Stevenson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Stevenson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SPINNING, DOUBLING, AND MANUFACTURING COTTON AND OTHER.
FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Stevenson, 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 next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Stevenson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the so arranging what are technically known
as "throstle" spinning frames or machines as used in spinning or manufac-
turing cotton and other fibrous materials, that the present indirect drag upon
the bobbins may be done away with, the winding-on action being effected by a
a special movement for the purpose. Instead of allowing the bottom end' or
flange of the bobbin to rest upon the ordinary stationary frictional washer. or.
cloth disc; as at present practised, the present Invention comprehends- the
separate and distinct mechanical actuation or driving of a small pulley. or dise

page_text: on which the bottom flange of the bobbin rests. The upper surface of this
pulley is covered with cloth or other suitable material, and it is placed over or
upon the spindle upon the copping or bobbin rail, which rises and falls for the
purpose of raising and lowering the bobbins. This pulley may be driven in
various ways, its rate being always somewhat less than that of the spindle.
A convenient plan of driving it is to fit up a short vertical spindle in bearings
just inside the main side or front of the framing. The spindle has, near its
lower end a small band pulley which is passed between or through the opening
or loop in the spindle band, and thus receive a rotatory action from the band.
The upper portion of this small spindle has also upon it another but larger
pulley carrying a short endless band,, which is also passed over or round the
pulley beneath the bobbin. In this way the necessary revolving action is
given to the bobbin pulley in a very simple manner. With this arrangement
the greatest part of the "drag" is taken off the yarn and much finer yarn can
be spun on throstle frames than at present. The relative speeds of the spindle
and the bottom bobbin pulley must be modified according to the fineness of
the yarn being spun, and the general quality thereof. For very fine numbers
the speed of the pulley must be brought proportionately nearer to that of the
spindle. Coarser numbers may be spun very soft, and the quality greatly
improved by this arrangement. If very hard twisted yarn or thread is made
on the improved frames, the drag may be increased as required by reversing
the direction of the motion of the pulleys as regards that of the spindles.
This Invention is applicable in various other processes of spinning and
manufacturing cotton and other fibrous materials, and it may of course be
carried out in practice under many mechanical modifications as its essence
consists in the fact of applying a separate and special rotatory or revolving
motion or action to the bobbins to operate in place of the usual dead or
stationary "drag."
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of
Drawings which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing certain
modifications under which my improvements may be judiciously carried out in
practice, that is to say, Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawings is a partially
sectional end elevation of a "throstle" spinning frame arranged according to one
modification of my improvements in spinning, doubling, and manufacturing
cotton and other fibrous materials; Figure 2 is an elevation of another arrange-
ment for driving the spindles of spinning frames, and Figure 3 is a plan of the
drum and arrangement for driving the spindles. The framing A is of the

page_text: ordinary kind, so also is the arrangement of the bobbins B, on which are
wound the rovings to be spun; these rovings are passed between the drawing
rollers C, and thence down to the flyers D, by the agency of which the yarn
is wound on to the bobbins E, which rotate on the spindles F, in the ordinary
manner. The lower flanges or disc ends of the bobbins E, instead of resting
on discs of cloth fixed to the copping rail G are according to my improved
system carried on the pulleys H, which pulleys run on the spindles F, and are
arranged between the copping rail and the bottoms of the bobbins E. The
object of interposing the pulley H between each bobbin and the rail G, is to
take the drag off the bobbin and so render the ordinary throstle frame capable.
of producing fine numbers, or in other words much superior qualities of yarn
than has hitherto been spun with it. This is effected by imparting to the
pulleys H a rapid rotatory movement, the speed of which should not, however,
be so high as that imparted to, the bobbin spindles F, preference is given to a
difference of speed of about twelve hundred revolutions per minute, that is to
say, in spinning the quality of yarn technically known as 40's the pulleys H
should revolve about 3200 times per minute, whilst the spindles are rotated
4400 revolutions. The pulleys H may be driven in various ways. The
accompanying Drawing illustrates three different modes of doing this. In
Figure 1, the longitudinal rails I, which support the bobbin spindles extend
inwards so as to form a secondary supporting rail, on which are fitted the
footstep bearings for the inner row of spindles J. The upper extremities of
these spindles pass through holes made in the longitudinal rails K which are
pendent from the upper cross rails of the end standards A. Each of the
spindles J passes through the two small drums or cylinders of wood L and M,
which are fixed thereto. The endless bands N, which pass round the central
main driving drum or cylinder O, are carried on each side of the smaller
cylinders or pulleys L, and so serving to give motion to the spindles J, and
thence are passed round the band pulleys or wharves Q on the lower part of
the bobbins F. A small endless band P is also passed round the cylinder or
pulley M on each of the spindles J; this band is carried round the pulley H
of its contiguous bobbin spindle, and thus imparts its motion thereto. In this
manner the spindles J revolve at a slower rate than the spindles F, this
reduced velocity being imparted to the pulleys EI, the motion greatly facilitates
that of the bobbins, resulting in the production of very superior yarn. Another
mode of driving the spindles J is shown in Figure 2 of the accompanying.
Drawing; in this modification the spindles J are driven by means of separate
endless bands R, which are carried from the driving drum or cylinder O,

page_text: round the band pulleys or wharves S, fitted on the spindles J and sufficiently
high to run clear of the bobbin spindle driving bands N; the other parts of
Figure 2 are marked with letters of reference to correspond with similar parts
shown in Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawing. Figure 3 illustrates
another mode of driving the pulleys I on the bobbins spindles, in which
modification eight or more pulleys are driven by means of or from one
secondary spindle J. The endless bands N which pass from the main driving
cylinder O, are carried round the wharves on the bobbin cylinders as herein-
before described, whilst the pulley or wharve S on the spindle J is driven by
the band R from the cylinder O. The pulley S is double grooved, and in the
upper groove is carried the band T, which is then passed round the pulleys
below the bobbins E, being passed round the back and front of the first pair
of pulleys, and then carried to the next pair of pulleys and so throughout the
series. In lieu of the foregoing modes of imparting motion to the pulleys
below the bobbins, the same object may be effected by means of a series of
vertical frictional discs fitted on a longitudinal driving shaft, the friction dises
being arranged to give motion to smaller horizontal discs fixed on the secondary
spindles; or in lieu of this arrangement bevel wheels and pinions may be
substituted for the discs. In some cases it may be preferred to drive the
pulleys on the bobbin spindles, by means of frictional discs or wheels fitted on
the spindles themselves, and so giving motion to the vertical discs or wheels
for driving the pulleys. These modifications in spinning machinery are equally
adapted for spinning hard twisted yarns, for by reversing the motion of the
interposed pulleys any amount of drag can be at once put on the bobbins by
simply regulating the velocity of the retarding pulleys.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusiou that what I consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for spinning, doubling, and manufacturing cotton and other fibrous materials
as herein-before described and shown in the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Second, the system or mode of spinning fine or coarse numbers of yarns by
means of the improved machinery or apparatus herein-before described and
shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the application to and use in spinning machinery or apparatus of
pulleys or wharves arranged on the bobbin spindles for the purpose of taking

page_text: the drag off the spindles in spinning fine numbers; or by the reversing of the
motion imparting an increased drag to the bobbins when hard twisted
yarns are required to be spun as herein-before described and shown in the
accompanying Drawings.
Fourth, the several mechanical arrangements for imparting motion to the
said supplementary pulleys or wharves whether such motion is imparted by
means of secondary spindles driving one or more of the pulleys or wharves, or
by means of frictional discs or bevel gearing as herein-before described and
partly shown in the Drawing hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I the said William Stevenson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, One thousand eight
liundred and fifty-nine.