IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING OR TWISTING TOBACCO
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Robert Ward at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
April 1868.
I, ROBERT WARD, of the North of England Advertizer Office,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING OR TWISTING TOBACCO," to be
as follows:-
In place of the present methods of running the tobacco on to the
reel, to be afterwards taken off and formed into rolls, I run the tobacco
on to the reel in the roll form as required for sale. For this purpose
I employ such an arrangement of the ends and spindle of the reel and
of the other parts of the machine as will permit of the roll being taken
from the machine without its being necessary to resort to the second
process of rolling, as now required.
For tobacco intended to be put into the press for conversion into
black roll I use two round metallic or wooden plates for the ends of
the reel, with holes in the centres to admit the spindle of the machine.
For the spindle of the reel I use two tubes made to work one within
the other, so as to lengthen or shorten the reel, as required. The reel
is placed on the spindle of the machine, with the ends drawn at least
as far apart as will admit of the pressure of the roll press, the reel being
put into the press with the roll. The ends of the reel thus form the

page_text: top and bottom of the roll, which they preserve from dirt whilst in the
press. When the tobacco has been pressed the reel is drawn from the
roll in two pieces. For brown twist I make the ends of the reel loose,
and I prefer them of a wheel fashion, so as to afford greater facility for
the insertion of pegs or ties to hold the tobacco more securely together.
The spindle may be dispensed with, but I prefer a loose spindle of
suitable length or a spindle made as before described of tubes (without
the ends) so as to shorten or lengthen as required, Tobacco rolled in
a reel constructed with a spindle of a fixed length may, when required,
be pressed between two boards with holes in the centre of one or both,
into which the end or ends of the spindle will be pressed when the
pressure is applied, but this will not be necessary when no spindle is
employed or when tubes are used, and the roll may also be placed in the
reel previously described and so pressed. If for any reason the tobacco
is not required in the solid roll form as when it is to be out up into
lengths for pressing into cavendish it may be run on to a reel con-
structed like that described for black roll. When the reel is full it may
be drawn off the spindle of the machine and another substituted, and
when required it may be placed on a spindle apart from the machine,
and so constructed as to allow the reel to revolve as the tobacco is drawn
off. The use of ties fixed in the ordinary way may be altogether
dispensed with by the following process. A suitable number of ties,
tapes, or cords are placed at intervals round the spindle of the reel in a
longitudinal direction when commencing to run the tobacco on to the
reel, the ends of the cords being stretched up the sides of the reel ends.
When the required quantity of tobacco has been run on to the reel the
ends of each cord are tied together, and the tobacco is readily drawn off
the machine. To facilitate this object the spindle may he made in two
halves either divided transversely or longitudinally; if the former each
half may be made, though not necessarily, of a conical form; if the
latter, the circle of the spindle must be diminished to the extent of one
quarter of an inch, thus-

page_text: When placed upon the spindle of the machine the two halves of the
spindle of the reel may be held in their places by means of an india-
rubber band or string. Rolls or balls of brown twist thus formed may
as required be placed in a box thus constructed. In the centre of the
box is a shaft or spindle in an upright position to receive the ball of
twist by means of the hole in its centre made by the spindle of the reel.
This shaft may be longer than the thickness of the ball, so that it may
receive a lid with a hole in its centre of suitable diameter. The height
of the box and the diameter of the lid are so regulated as to allow the
tobacco to be easily withdrawn as wanted. A simpler plan is to put
the tobacco into a box similar to those used for holding cord or twine,
with or without a lid, in which case the tobacco may be drawn from the
centre of the ball. In each case the tobacco is to be put into the box
before the ends are removed.
And other modifications in the arrangement of the ends and spindle
of the reel for permitting the tobacco to be taken off the reel in the
roll form for the press or for immediate sale may be used. In place of
the present mode of oiling the tobacco I propose to use a contrivance
similar in principle to that by which water is supplied to bird cages, a
bottle so reversed in a shallow vessel as only to allow a small quantity
of oil to escape as used, or a bottle with a small aperture at the side or
bottom to allow a limited supply of oil to escape into a vessel or cup
formed for the purpose, the oil to be applied by a brush or other suitable
means to the tobacco as run on to the reel. To one end of the reel
I apply a brake for overcoming the impetus which would cause the reel
to revolve after the motive power was withdrawn.
The object of my Patent dated November 25th last (No. 3332) was by
placing the machine under the more immediate control of the spinner to
turn a number of spinning reels or wheels by one power, whether hand
or steam. In order to accomplish that object more satisfactorily I now
propose in place of the usual mode of shafting to arrange the tables
singly in parallel lines with the reels or machines in the usual position
at the end of each. The machines are thus all brought together in a
row. With each set of machines I provide one with a driving wheel,
placed by preference under the upper cone or fast and loose sheaves.
Instead of the ordinary pulley driven from the shafting as contemplated
in the before-mentioned Patent I attach two pulleys to the spindle of the
lower cone of each machine, or one pulley of extra width, and by

page_text: preference with a division or rim round the centre of the periphery.
I link all the machines together by belts so that the driving wheel
acting upon one puts in motion the whole set.
The arrangement of the two pulleys and belts or bands for connecting
and working the set of machines may be varied as circumstances
require.