IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING ROPE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Frederick Stansbury, of the firm of Nourse
& Co., American and General Patent Agents, of No. 17, Cornhill,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING
ROPE." A communication from William Robinson, junior, of Warsaw,
in the State of New York and United States of America.
Sealed the 2nd February 1855, and dated the 5th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Frederick Stans-
bury at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th August 1854.
I, CHARLES FREDERICK STANSBURY, of the firm of Nourse & Co., American
& General Patent Agents, of 17, Cornhill, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY. FOR MAKING
ROPE," being a communication from William Robinson, junior, of Warsaw,
in the State of New York and United States of America, to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment, in the manner hereafter to be
described, of a ring, with cogs on both inner and outer edges, said ring being
revolved by pinions meshing into the exterior cogs, for the purpose of regu-
lating the relative twist of the separate strands and the entire rope, by dimi-
nishing to a greater or less extent, as will be described, the number of the
revolutions of the fliers upon their axes, while performing a single revolution
about the main axis; also in an arrangement of clamps, hereafter to be
described, for receiving the finished rope, firmly holding it during the laying
operation, and finally conveying it from the machine.
The power is applied to a main shaft, securely fastened to which are tri-
branched bearings, each pair supporting one of three fliers, these fliers being
long boxes containing the spools and rollers, the number of the former being

page_text: regulated by the size of rope required. On the inner extremities of the fliers
are pinions which work into the inner circle of cogs on a ring, the outer cogs of
said ring meshing into the pinions, and being held between two wheels. The
main shaft has on its outer extremity two cog wheels, working into two wheels
on the two side shafts. Inside of the ring, before mentioned, is a beveled cog
wheel, which works beveled pinions which carry grooved rollers on their largest
faces; pressing against said rollers are other rollers, held by the arms of a
small ring, a spring which acts on said ring serving to keep the rollers closely
in contact.. At its inner support the main shaft is enlarged, so to contain
channels for the passage of the twisted yarn to the laying piece, which fits into
its socket, the bore being regulated to the size of rope. The socket screws
upon the head of the main shaft, upon which, between the outlets for the
twisted yarn, is a point, around which the lay of the rope is made. Upon the
inner end of the main shaft is a cog wheel, by which the system of clamps or
pincers is driven. These clamps or pincers have in their extremities wheels,
which by running over the cams close the jaws of the clamps or pincers,
which at all times have a tendency to open by means of springs. The velocity
of the clamps or pincers is regulated by simple means, which will be fully
described and illustrated in my Complete Specification. The principal advan-
tages of this machine consist in the facility which it affords for regulating the
twist of the strands, a feature of the utmost importance in machines of this
character, as the too great twisting of the strands prevents the effectual lay of
the rope, and the back of twist is equally detrimental to its quality, defects
well understood by ropemakers, and the importance of the proper regulation of
which will require no argument to render apparent.
My Invention mainly consists in,―
1st. The employment of a cogged ring arranged and operating as described,
for giving the fliers their independent rotation for twisting the strands, and by
its own revolution regulating the amplitude of that twist.
2nd. The employment of rotary clamps in combination with cams and springs
for grasping, conveying, and releasing the rope, as herein fully set forth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Frederick Stansbury in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FREDERICK STANSBURY, of the firm of Nourse & Co., American and General
Patent Agents, of No. 17, Cornhill, London, send greeting.
3

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Frederick Stansbury, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Frederick Stansbury, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Frederick Stansbury, my executors, administrators, and
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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING ROPE," a communication from
William Robinson, junior, of Warsaw, in the State of New York and United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles Frederick Stansbury, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Charles Frederick Stansbury, do
hereby declare the nature of 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 Sheet of
Drawings; in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Figure 2 is
a top view of the same; Figure 3 is a vertical section on line x, x, Figures 1
and 2, looking towards the fliers; Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the.
laying piece; Figure 5 is a side and face view of meeting piece. The same
parts are indicated by the same letters of reference in all the Figures.
My Invention consists in the employment, in the manner hereafter to be
described, of a ring, with cogs on both inner and outer edges, said ring being
revolved by pinions working into the exterior cogs, for the purpose of regu-
lating the relative twist of the separate strands, and the entire rope, by
diminishing to a greater or less extent, as will be described, the number of
the revolutions of the fliers upon their axes while performing a single revo-
lution about the main axis; also in an arrangement of clamps, hereafter to be
described, for receiving the finished rope, firmly holding it during the laying
operation, and finally conveying it from the machine.
In the Drawing, a is the main shaft to which the power is applied, securely
fastened to which are the tri-branched arms b, each pair supporting one of the

page_text: fliers A; these fliers are long boxes containing the spools B and rollers C, the
number of the former being regulated by the size of the rope required. On
the inner extremities of the fliers A are the pinions c, which work into the
inner circle of cogs on the ring d, the outer cogs of said ring working into the
pinions e, and being held between the wheels f and y. The shaft a has on its
outer extremity the cog wheels and h', working into the wheels i and i' on
the shafts D. Inside of the ring d is the beveled cog wheel 1, in which work
the beveled pinions, which carry the grooved rollers m on their largest faces.
Pressing against said rollers m are the rollers n, held by the arms O of the ring
p; the spring q, which acts on the ring p, serving to keep the rollers m and n
closely in contact. At its inner support E the shaft a is enlarged, so as to
contain channels for the passage of the twisted yarn to the laying piece r,
which fits into the socket s, as shewn in Figure 4, the bore being regulated
to the size of the rope. The sockets screws upon the head t of the shaft a,
upon which, between the outlets for the twisted yarn, is a point u, around which
the lay of the rope is made. Upon the inner end of the shaft a is the cog
whcel v, working into the wheel w on the shaft æ, the screw y of which revolves
the wheel z, turning the shaft a', and with it the system of clamps or pincers.
These clamps or pincers b¹ have in their extremities the wheels c', which, by
running over the cams d', close the jaws of the clamps or pincers, which at all
times have a tendency to open by reason of the springs c¹. The shaft can be
shifted from the bearings f¹ to the bearings g', so as to cause the screw y
to work into the cogs of the wheel ', and change the velocity of the clamps or
pincers b¹.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The requisite number of spools
B filled with yarn are inserted in each flier A, the number depending upon the
size of the rope to be made. The yarn from every spool in each flier is passed
around the rollers c of the fliers, and carried through the openings s¹ of the
pinions C, and between the grooves of the rollers m and n to the channel t, in
the enlarged portion of the shaft a, whence the strands issue by the outlets b,
and passing through the laying piece r, are carried together over the pulley c¹¹ to
the jaws of one of the clamps or pincers b'. The yarn being thus arranged, the
shaft a is rotated by power suitably applied, carrying with it the fliers A, which,
as they revolve, have each an independent rotation about their own axes, in
the opposite direction from their revolution about their main axis. This inde-
pendent rotation is caused by the working of the cog wheels C in the inner cogs
of the ring d, and gives the twists to the strands while the revolution of the
fliers about the shaft a causes the laying of the rope. The rotation of the shaft
a revolves the shaft x in the opposite direction through the wheels v and w,

page_text: and by the movement of its screw y, in the cogs of the wheel, rotates the
shaft a', in the direction indicated by the arrow, causing a movement of
the clamps b in the same direction, with the effect of drawing out the
yarn secured by them in the direction indicated by the red line in Figure 1.
During the movement of the fliers and other parts of the machine, as
above described, one of the wheels h, or h¹, revolves the shaft D through the
wheels i or, causing, by reason of the pinions e, the revolution of the ring d,
in the direction shewn by arrow 2, with a velocity depending upon the following
causes: The wheels h and h' are so attached to the shaft a as that but one at
a time is revolved by it, the other at that time turning loosely upon it; conse-
quently, if the wheel h be secured to shaft a, the wheel i will govern the revo-
lution of the shafts D, and the velocity of the ring d; while on the other hand,
if the wheel drives the shafts D, the velocity of the ring d will be greatly
increased. Any of the usual devices for gearing and ungearing may be employed
for fastening the wheels h and h'. The effect of the above-described motion of
the ring d upon the formation of the rope will be readily understood from an
examination of the functions performed by the several parts. The revolution
of the fliers A about the shaft a performs the laying of the rope, while the
rotation of the same about the axes and in the opposite direction gives the
requisite twist to the several strands, the amount of which twist will depend on
the number of rotations on their own axes to a single revolution about the
main axis a, which number of revolutions of the fliers will of course depend on
the distance passed over on the inner edges of the ring d by the pinions c of the
fliers A; therefore the greater the velocity with which the ring d revolves,
the smaller will be the number of cogs which the pinions c can work into
during a single revolution of the fliers A about their own axes in the same
space of time; consequently it will be seen that to regulate the twist given to
the strands composing the rope, it will merely be necessary to give the ring d
the proper velocity, by a suitable arrangement of the driving gearing; for,
instead of employing wheels of but two sizes, as shewn in the Drawing, there
may be series of wheels of various sizes, any desired set of which may be
thrown into gear to properly graduate the velocity of the ring to the nature of
the rope to be made. The several strands enter the enlarged shaft a, as shewn
in Figure 1, and pass through channel t, seen in Figure 5, and issue by the
aperture 6" around the point u, which enters the cavity in the laying piece, as
shown by Figures 4 and 5. This laying piece r has a bore adapted to the
size of the rope required, through which the rope passes to the clamp b', as
shown in Figure 1, the lay being made around the projection u by the revo-
lution of the fliers, as above described, the clamps 6' keeping the finished

page_text: portion perfectly tight during the operation, and finally carrying the rope clear
of the machine. But four clamps 6' are shown in the Drawing, though in
practice there may be more employed, the object being to seize and hold the
rope as it passes over the pulley c", before the preceding clamp has released
its hold. The cams d' close the jaws of the clamps as the clamps advance to
the rope, and the springs e' open them when the form of the cam d causes a
relaxation of the pressure. The velocity of this portion of the machine' must
be adjusted to the movements of the other portions, for which purpose a
number of wheels z, z, &c. are provided with bearings 'f', 9', &c., into which
the shaft may be shifted, so that the required velocity may always be
secured.
The principal advantages of this machine consist in the facility which it
affords for regulating the twist of the strands, a feature of the utmost im-
portance in machines for this purpose, as the too great twisting of the
strands prevents the effectual lay of the rope, and the lack of twist is equally
detrimental to its quality, defects well understood by rope makers, and the
importance of the proper regulation of which will require no argument. to
render apparent.
What I claim as my Invention is,―
First, the employment of the cogged ring d, arranged and operating as
described, for giving the fliers their independent rotation for twisting the
strands, and by its own revolution regulating the amplitude of that twist, as
required, and for the purposes set forth.
Second, the employment of the rotary clamps 6' in combination with the
cams d¹ and springs e', for grasping, conveying, and releasing the rope, as
herein fully set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Frederick Stansbury, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Third day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
---- בד רזבו
CHARLES FREDERICK STANSBURY.
(L.S.)