Bullion.
Year: 1887

page_text: TWISL or Bullion.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS carrying on business under the firm or
style of Harris and Mills of 23 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, 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:-
:-
Gold and other metallic bullion or twist is, as is well known, formed of a very
slender metallic wire or thread wound spirally it is still manufactured by hand and
the attempts at mechanical manufacture have not up to the present given satisfactory
results on account of the difficulty of causing the twist to advance regularly in
proportion as it is made.
The machine constituting the subject of the present invention effects the solution
of this problem. The accompanying drawing represents it in longitudinal elevation
at Figure 1, in plan at Figure 2 and in end view at Figure 3. The same letters of
reference indicate like parts in all the figures.
The apparatus consists, First of a mandril a forming the end of a small shaft
mounted in a lathe poppet head and upon which is wound the thread or wire from
which the bullion or twist is to be made. Second of a conducting disc b of wood or
other compressible material intended to cause the manufactured product to advance
regularly and to give it the desired firmness; Third and lastly of shears or scissors
put in motion by electricity to cut the bullion or twist in regular lengths in proportion
as it is made.
The mandril a is a part of the shaft d of the lathe which receives its motion by a
cord or band passing around one of the grooves of the cone pulley e.
This shaft turns
in the front in a conical bearing where it is held by a thrust screw fin such manner
as to have neither lateral nor longitudinal play. The mandril a is terminated by a
cylindrical or slightly conical needle c having at its base the diameter necessary for

page_text: the winding of the thread or wire coming from a bobbin k with the requisite tension.
This thread or wire passes over a grooved pulley g which conducts it just to the base
of the needle around which it is wound by the motion of the lathe.
The conductor b is the essential organ of the machine, it is composed of a disc of
wood or other compressible material the edge or periphery of which is applied against
the needle c with a pressure sufficient to cause the spirals of the bullion or twist to
slightly penetrate it. The disc thus receives a rotary motion at the same time that its
circumference receives from the bullion or twist itself impressions in the form of
parallel grooves with which each new spiral successively engages.
The bullion or twist is thus regularly drawn forward by its own rotation the spirals
screwing, as they are formed, into the grooves of the disc.
The disc b is carried by an arrangement of carriages of which the one marked i
travels in a direction parallel and the other j perpendicularly to the shaft of the lathe.
It is carried by a small poppet h, which can turn on the carriage j around a vertical
axis, by means of an endless screw m.
It results from this arrangement that the disc may take a certain inclination which
enables it to work upon the entire width of its edge or periphery or only upon
an angle..
It may also be displaced parallel to the axis, so that it may be placed at the desired
point or position of the needle c and finally perpendicularly to the axis so that it may
be applied more or less strongly against the spirals. This pressure is regulated with
precision, according to the degree of firmness which it is desired to give to the twist
or bullion by means of the screw / which operates the carriage j.
The same result can be obtained by making the disc fixed, the twist or bullion
would then rub along its edge and there trace a portion of a screw which would serve
in the same manner to carry it forward. This method can be employed whenever the
thread or wire can support the friction there would be only necessary in this case a
simple piece of wood fixed to the carriages in place of the disc.
Besides the regular drawing forward which it procures and which alone permits of
mechanically manufacturing this article, the conductor also enables to be obtained
with the same regularity clear twists or bullions, that is to say twist or bullion the
spirals of which are more or less separated from each other; for this purpose it is only
necessary to cause a portion of twist or bullion more or less closely made, to trace the
threads of the conductor, to obtain afterwards very regularly the same spacing of the
spirals, there can thus be readily manufactured twists or bullions composed of several
threads or wires wound side by side which by varying the colors enables new effects
to be obtained which are very difficult to realize with the means at present in use.
The twist or bullion is thus manufactured in indefinite lengths, which may be
afterwards cut as may be required, but as this product is generally delivered to
commerce in regular lengths, the machine is also charged with this operation by
means of the very simple apparatus which I will now describe.
On its leaving the mandril the twist or bullion falls into a funnel the bottom of
which is formed of a plate of steel n pierced with a circular hole provided with a
cutting edge, below which works a blade o which is operated by an electro magnet p.
After having traversed the scissors or shears formed by the plate n and the blade o the
twist or bullion follows an inclined guide along the length of which can be adjusted
a contact a which serves to close the circuit of the electro magnet as soon as it is
touched by the twist or bullion the latter is then cut by the scissors or shears and the
current being broken by this operation the scissors or shears open being acted upon
by a spring y and the twist or bullion continues to descend until a new contact has
been effected.
8
The establishment and the breaking of the current necessary for cutting the twist
or bullion may take place directly by causing this current to pass by the twist or
bullion itself as represented in the drawing, in this case the circuit leaving the
contacts traverses the electro magnet p and rejoins the twist or bullion by passing
by the lathe poppet but it is to be feared with this arrangement that the twist or
bullion will offer too great resistence to the passage of the current and it is preferable

page_text: to cause it to act upon a very light balance which establishes the current by an
adjacent conductor, of stronger section. This arrangement which will be readily
understood can be modified in a variety of ways. Finally in lieu of causing the
electro magnet to act directly upon the scissors or shears, this latter can be operated
by a movement taken from the machine and which the electro magnet only causes
to come into operation at the desired time; Figure 4 represents an example of this
latter arrangement.
On the shaft t is keyed a cam u acting through the agency of levers v, vl, upon the
shear or blade 0, the lever is jointed at in such manner as to be able to escape
the action of the cam as represented in the drawing, it is held in this position by a
spring y, the tension of which can be overcome by the action of the electro magnet p
at the moment of contact. It will be understood that at this moment the lever v will
be attracted and receiving the action of the cam will act upon the blade or shear to
cut the twist or bullion after which the current being interrupted the spring y will
bring the lever v back to its original or normal position.
I would here remark that I do not limit myself to the precise details of construction
above described as such may be varied without departing from the peculiar character
of the present invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The employment in the manufacture of gold or other metallic twist or bullion
of a conductor of wood or other compressible or tender material rolling or rubbing
with pressure on the twist or bullion the spirals of which are impressed on its surface
thus forming regular threads which effect the advancement of the bullion or twist in
proportion as it is produced at the same time giving by its pression the desired
firmness to the product substantially as herein shown and described.
2. The employment in machinery for the manufacture of gold or other metallic
bullion or twist of shears or scissors the action of which is determined by an electric
contact established by the twist or bullion itself when it has attained a length
previously determined.
1
1005