IMPROVEMENTS IN SILK TWISTING AND THROWING
Year: 1884

page_text: I, EDWIN TRAFFORD, of London Mills, London Street, Leek, in the County of
Staffordshire, Silk Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN SILK TWISTING AND THROWING to be as follows:-
--
Three bobbins A. B. C. (in the accompanying drawing in duplicate) with several
fibres of silk doubled together wound upon them, in an upright position, are made
to revolve rapidly so as to twist the silk being slowly drawn from each.
The three twisted strands of silk are then received from the upright bobbins
A. B. C. altogether, side by side, on a horizontal cylinder D, of metal or wood, more
than six inches long, made to revolve by a revolving spindle being passed through
it, and the treble thread thus formed is spread from end to end of, and all over the
cylinder, by means of a loop E, through which it passes, and which moves parallel
with the cylinder a little distance from it.
It is necessary for my invention that the cylinder D be more than six inches
long, as if it be shorter the layer of silk upon it becomes very quickly so deep, that
by increasing the diameter of the surface round which the silk is wound, the silk is
drawn from the upright bobbins more quickly than at first and gradually becomes
therefore less and less tightly twisted-In the common process therefore, where
short cylinders are used; the cylinders must be often changed or contrivances used
to alter their speed of revolution, but by using long cylinders they need not be
changed until the silk is all wound off from the upright bobbins.
My invention further differs from the process universally used in that by the
latter each twisted strand of silk is received on a separate small cylinder about 4
inches long, and then these separate cylinders are placed in another machine by
which the strands, of which each cylinder contains one, are trebled.

page_text: I, EDWIN TRAFFORD, of London Mills, London Street, Leek in the County of
Staffordshire, Silk Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN SILK TWISTING AND THROWING and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :—
Three bobbins A, B and C (in the accompanying drawing in duplicate) with
several fibres of silk doubled together wound upon them, in an upright position, are
made to revolve rapidly by being fixed each on an upright spindle F turned by the
passage over it of the band G which turns the spindle rapidly owing to the rapid
motion, or turning, by steam power of the large cylinder H over which the band G
also passes.
I is a leather strap moved by steam power which turns the pulley J
and therefore the cylinder H with which the pulley J is connected, K being merely
a fly-wheel. The rapid motion of the three bobbins A, B and C twists the several
fibres of silk doubled together which are being slowly drawn from each bobbin.
The three twisted strands of silk are then received from the upright bobbins A B
and C, altogether, side by side, on a horizontal cylinder D, of metal or wood, more
than six inches long, made to revolve by a revolving spindle being passed through
it, which spindle is made to revolve by the teethed wheel L turning the teethed
wheel M fixed on the end of the revolving spindle. The axis bearing the teethed
wheels L is made to turn by steam power.
The treble thread thus formed is spread from end to end of; and all over the
cylinder, by means of a loop E through which it passes and which moves parallel
with the cylinder D a little distance below it. The horizontal bar supporting the
loops E moves from right to left and from left to right by steam power.
It is necessary for my invention that the cylinder D be more than six inches long,
as if it be shorter the layer of silk upon it becomes very quickly so deep, that by
increasing the diameter of the surface round which the silk is wound, the silk is
drawn from the upright bobbins more quickly than at first and gradually becomes
therefore less and less tightly twisted. In the common process therefore, where
short cylinders are used, the cylinders must be often changed or contrivances used
to alter their speed of revolution, but by using long cylinders they need not be
changed until all the silk is wound off from the upright bobbins.
My invention further differs from the process universally used, in that by the
latter each twisted strand of silk is received on a separate small cylinder about
4 inches long, and then these separate cylinders are placed in another machine by
which the strands, of which each cylinder contains one, are trebled ready for the
twister who twists them into a three-cord or three-stranded sewing silk.
Instead of receiving the twisted strand from either of the bobbins A, B or C
singly and by itself on a cylinder, and then trebling the strands from three of these
cylinders on another machine, I, by my invention treble the strands on the same
machine on which the single strand is twisted, and at the same time.
Instead of using the common small cylinders usually about 4 inches long on
which a single strand is received I use the long cylinders D which are always more
than six inches long, and thus overcome the difficulty caused by the layer of silk
upon them becoming very quickly so deep (especially as three times as much silk
are being received by them as in the old process) that, by increasing the diameter
of the surface round which the silk is wound, the silk is drawn off from the upright
bobbins A, B and C more quickly than at first, gradually becoming therefore less
and less tightly twisted.

page_text: I thus perform on one machine, and at one operation, a piece of work which has
always been done hitherto by two machines and two separate operation".
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 :-
=
The arrangement of the three bobbins A. B. C. in combination with the long
roller D substantially as and for the purpose described.