IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING COPS AND IN SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING COPS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Combe, of 23, Strawberry Road, Pendleton,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WINDING COPS AND IN SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING COPS."
Sealed the 30th May 1871, and dated the 3rd December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Combe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd December 1870.
I, JOHN COMBE, of 23, Strawberry Road, Pendleton, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WINDING COPS AND IN SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING
Cors," to be as follows:→
My Invention consists, firstly, in producing the traverse motion of cop
winders by means of a heart wheel, so as to deliver a lesser proportion
of yarn on the outer and inner surface, and make cops of much greater
solidity than have heretofore been produced by the eccentric wheel or

page_text: crank traverse motion hitherto adopted; and in order to relieve the
apparatus of such traverse motion of the severer mechanical action of
the heart wheel as compared with the excentric wheel I make the
rocking shaft tubular instead of solid, and to this tubular shaft I attach
two arms of sheet steel, which carry a half tube of sheet steel extending
in front of six or eight cups which form the cops round the spindles, and
I also carry the two antifriction rollers on tubular axles, which joint
into a connecting rod of sheet steel, and are notched at the ends so as to
drop into two corresponding notches in the ends of a slip of sheet steel
bent in the form of three sides of a rectangle, two sides of which are
pierced with holes to receive the studs on which these double levers of
sheet steel oscillate up and down as the heart revolves, the antifriction
rollers being kept in contact with the heart wheel by a spring attached
to the double levers, and drawing them towards each other. And in
order to make machines of two rows of spindles more compact I place
the shaft nearest to the cups of the opposite spindles, and bend the sheet
steel arms downwards so as to allow them to oscillate up and down
to the required extent clear of the tubular shaft of the opposite row of
'spindles.
My Invention consists, secondly, in raising and lowering the spindles :
of cop winders by means of a bell-crank lever rocking on a pin placed
above and in front of the spindle wheel, and carried by two lugs cast on
the cast-iron bridge which carries the entire apparatus of two opposite.
spindles, the shorter and horizontal arm of which bell-crank lever is
made to embrace two half sockets or bushes, so as to allow the spindle 1
to revolve freely in the half bushes, but to slide upwards or downwards
according as the longer and vertical arm of the bell-crank lever is moved.
to or from the spindle. On the upper side of the horizontal arm of the
bell-crank lever are cast two lugs through two holes, in which a small
rod of steel wire is past, and bent at right angles on each side, and of':
such a length as to reach and pass through two holes pierced in two
Ings cast on the cast-iron bridge, and so placed that two compressed
spiral springs placed one on each side of the small steel rod in the effort
to expand will simultaneously throw the short arm of the bell-crank
lever upwards, and the longer vertical arm of the same lever towards the
spindle. To the lower end of the vertical arm of the bell-crank lever
a horizontal catch bar with a hook end projecting outside of the framing
and in front of the spindle is jointed, and a notch in this catch bar

page_text: receives the arm of a small spring catch, so that when the hook end of.
'the catch bar is pulled outwards the small spring catch will prevent its
return, and the spindle will be retained in its lowest position against the
expansive effort of the two spiral springs, in which position the spindle
clutch being locked into the spindle wheel the spindle will be in motion.
The compensating lever oscillates to and from the spindle on a small
pin adjacent to the small spring catch, the pin of which as well as that
of the compensating lever are carried between two lugs which form
parts of the cast-iron bridge, and the small spring catch has an arm
extending upwards, which is acted upon alike by the extreme outward
and inward movement of the compensating lever, so as to release the
catch bar and allow the two spiral springs to expand and simultaneously.
raise and stop the spindle. A small steel rod bent in a half circle con-
centric with the pin of the oscillating lever is fixed by a cross head
screwed to the sides of the cast-iron bridge, and carries a spiral spring,
the effort of which to expand acting on the compensating lever throws
it outwards from the spindle, and puts the requisite tension on the yarn
being wound. The compensating lever is connected with a drag weight
which rests on the lower end of the bobbin and retards it in its motion
until the compensating lever is raised to about an angle of forty-five
degrees, when it lifts the drag weight clear of the bobbin, which is then
free to revolve with the spindle on which it is placed, the lower end of
which is carried in a sloping position by an oiled socket fixed 'to the
front rail of the machine.
5 My Invention consists, thirdly, in covering the oscillating traverse
shafts with an inverted hollow trough of thin polished cast iron, in the
sides of which the sheet steel arms oscillate freely in slots cut clear
down, so as to allow of the trough being lifted off from its place in.
which it rests on side rails fixed' to the cast-iron bridges, and filling up
the spaces between the bottoms of the cups, which are screwed to the
upper surface of bearings which form parts of the cast-iron bridges.
Against the front edge of these rails a covering plate also of thin
polished cast iron rests on its top edge, and bending downwards in-a
quarter of a circle is hinged at its lower edge into a rail in slots in which
the compensating levers oscillate, and which rail is screwed in lengths
to the side rail carried by the framing, the outer face of which is also
polished, and thus all the working parts are protected from dust, and
are at the same time accessible by lifting the inverted hollow, trough,

page_text: and by turning down on its hinges the circular plate which covers the
bell-crank levers and the spindle gearing.
My Invention consists, fourthly, in using driving and spindle wheels
of eighty-six and thirty teeth respectively, which give a variation of
forty-two revolutions of the spindle before repeating in the same frame !
radial direction in laying on the yarn.
My Invention consists, fifthly, in fixing a small friction roller to the
half tubular traverse bar, so as to give friction and resistance to the
yarn when winding from mule cops, and in placing the cops wound from
on spindles to which motion is communicated at a rate slower than the
rate at which the yarn is taken up by the winding of the cop, and
allowing the cop to slip on the spindle as required, by this means pre-
venting too much slack yarn being given out between the cop and the
tubular traverse bar.
My Invention consists, sixthly, in using a sliding top on the spindle
to give pressure on the top of the cop as it is wound and slides upwards
on the spindle. A spring lever attached to this sliding top presses
tightly on the spindle, and has an arm projecting upwards, by pressure
on which the spring lever is released from its nip of the spindle, and the
sliding top can then be removed when the cop is to be taken off the
spindle, and replaced on the lower part of the spindle when a fresh cop
is to be wound. And this moveable top is made to act on an adjustable
catch fixed on a sliding wire which lifts the small spring catch, and by
releasing the horizontal catch bar stops the spindle when the cop is
wound to the required length.
My Invention consists, seventhly, in making shuttles for weaving cops
with a sliding block, which is pressed endways on the cop by the pull
of a leather strap actuated by a spring box containing a spiral spring
placed at the end of the shuttle. This block is made with a bottom
plate of sheet steel, which slides in two grooves formed of sheet steel,
and fixed in the bottom of the shuttle, and the sheet steel of which the
block is formed is carried round the end of the cop, and formed with a
hook which hooks into the end of the leather strap, so that the pull of the
strap takes the block with it and keeps the open end of the cop from
which the yarn is continually pulled out as the cop is woven firmly
pressed into a recess in the shuttle formed to receive it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Combe in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd June 1871..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COMBE, of 23, Strawberry Road, Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs. and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Combe, Her special licenso that I, the
said John Combe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such.
others as I, the said, John Combe, 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
WINDING COPS AND IN SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING COPS," upon the condition.
(amongst others) that I, the said John Combe, my executors or adminis-.
trators, by an instrument in writing under-my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 John Combe, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to that class of machinery for winding cops in
which (as is described in the Specifications of former Patents granted to
me) a conical cup is used to support the bottom of the cop whilst it is.
wound, and in which the cop is built from the bottom by winding the
› yarn layer under layer within the supporting cup.
"
My Invention also relates to shuttles for weaving, cops wound in this
manner. I produce the traverse motion of cop winders by means of a

page_text: heart wheel so as to deliver a lesser proportion of yarn on the outer and
inner surface, and make cops of much greater solidity than have here-
tofore been produced by the eccentric wheel or crank traverse motion
hitherto adopted; and in order to relieve the apparatus of such traverse
motion of the severer mechanical action of the heart wheel as compared
with the eccentric wheel, I make the rocking shaft tubular instead of
solid, and to this tubular shaft I attach two arms of sheet steel which
carry a half tube of sheet steel extending in front of six or eight cups
which form the cops round the spindles; and in order to make machines
of two rows of spindles more compact I place the shaft nearest to the
cups of the opposite spindles, and bend the sheet steel arms downwards
so as to allow them to oscillate up and down to the required extent
clear of the tubular shaft of the opposite row of spindles. I raise and
lower the spindles of cop winders by means of a bell-crank lever rocking
on a pin placed above and in front of the spindle wheel, and carried by
two lugs cast on the cast-iron bridge which carries the entire apparatus
of two opposite spindles, the shorter and horizontal arm of which bell
crank lever is made to embrace two half sockets or bushes so as to allow
the spindle to revolve freely in the half bushes, but to slide upwards or
downwards according as the longer and vertical arm of the bell-crank
lever is moved to or from the spindle. On the upper side of the hori-
zontal arm of the bell-crank lever are cast two lugs through two holes in
which a small rod of steel wire is past and bent at right angles on each
side, and of such a length as to reach and pass through two holes pierced
in two lugs cast on the cast-iron bridge, and so placed that two com-
pressed spiral springs placed one on cach side of the small steel rod in
the effort to expand will simultaneously throw the short arm of the bell-
crank lever upwards, and the longer vertical arm of the same lever
towards the spindle. To the lower end of the vertical arm of the bell-
crank lever a horizontal catch bar with a hook end projecting outside of
the framing and in front of the spindle is jointed, and a notch in this
catch bar receives the arm of a small spring catch, so that when the
hook end of the catch bar is pulled outwards the small spring catch will
prevent its return, and the spindle will be retained in its lowest position
against the expansive effort of the two spiral springs, in which position
the spindle clutch being locked into the spindle wheel the spindle will
be in motion.
The compensating lever oscillates to and from the spindle on a small

page_text: of the compensating lever are carried between two lugs which form.
parts of the cast-iron bridge, and the small spring catch has; an arm
extending upwards, which is acted upon alike by the extreme outward
and inward movement of the compensating. lever, so as to release the
catoh bar and allow the two.spiral springs:to expand and simultaneously.
raise and stop. the spindle. A small steel rod bent, in a half circle
concentric with the pin of the oscillating lever is fixed by a cross head
screwed to the sides of the cast-iron bridge, and carries a spiral spring,
the effort of which to expand acting on the compensating lever throws it
outwards from the spindle, and puts the requisite tension on the yarn;
being wound; the compensating lever is connected with a drag weiglit
which rests on the lower end of the bobbin, and retards it in its motion..
until the compensating lever is raised to about an angle of forty-fivo
degrees, when it lifts, the drag weight clear of the bobbin, which is then
free to revolve with the spindle on which it is placed, the lower end of
which is carried in a sloping position by an oiled, socket fixed to the front,
rail of the machine..
I cover the oscillating traverse shafts, with an-inverted hollow trough,
of thin polished cast iron, in the sides of which the sheet steel arms
oscillating freely in slots cut clear down so as to allow of the trough .
being lifted off from its place in which it rests on side rails fixed to
the cast-iron bridges, and filling up the spaces between the bottoms of
the cups which are screwed to the upper surface of bearings which form
parts of the cast-iron bridges. Against, the front edge of these rails a
covering plate also of thin polished cast iron rests on its top edge, and-
bending downwards in a quarter of a circle is hinged at its lower edgo
into a rail, in slots in, which the compensating levers.oscillate, and which
rail is screwed in lengths to the side rail carried by the framing, the
outer face of which is also polished, and thus all, the working parts arc
protected from dust, and are at the same time accessible by lifting the
inverted hollow trough, and by turning down on its hinges the circular
plate which covers the bell-crank levers and the spindle gearing. 1 use
driving and spindle wheels of 86 and 30 teeth respectively, which give a
variation of forty-two revolutions of the spindle before repeating in the.
same radial direction in laying on the yarn. I use a sliding top on the
spindle to give pressure on the top of the cop, as the cop is wound the
top slides upwards on the spindle; spring levers attached to this sliding
top press tightly on the spindle, they have, arms projecting upwards by

page_text: pressure on which the spring levers are released from their nip of the
spindle, and the sliding top can then be removed, when the cop is to be
taken off the spindle and replaced on the lower part of the spindle for a
fresh cop to be wound. And this moveable top is made to act on an
adjustable catch fixed on a sliding wire which lifts the small spring
catch, and by releasing the horizontal catch bar stops the spindle when
the cop is wound to the required length, When winding from mule
∙cops I fix a small friction roller to the half tubular traverse bar, so as to
give friction and resistance to the yarn (this arrangement may be used
in other cases besides when winding from mule cops), I also place the
mule cops to be wound from on spindles, to which motion is communi-
cated at a rate slower than the rate at which the yarn is taken up by
the winding of the cop, and allow the cop to slip on the spindle as
required, by this means I prevent too much slack yarn being given out
between the cop and the tubular traverse bar, I make shuttles for :
weaving cops with a sliding block, which is pressed endways on the cop
by the pull of a leather strap actuated by a spring box containing a
spiral spring placed at the end of the shuttle. This block is made with
a bottom plate of sheet steel which hooks into the end of the leather
strap, so that the pull of the strap takes the block with it, and keeps the
open end of the cop from which the yarn is continually pulled out as the
cop is woven firmly pressed into a recess in the shuttlo formed to
•

page_text: are driven by a belt passing around a pulley on the extremity of one of
them. There are bevelled toothed wheels on the axes e, and they drive
the pinions ff, having tubular stems which are received into sockets in
the bridge pieces. The pinions fhave thirty teeth, and the bevilled wheels
which drive them have eighty-six teeth, a proportion which gives a great
number of revolutions (viz. forty-two) before the spindle returns to the
same relative position in respect to the traverse motion. 7 are the
spindles, they are supported in the tubular stems of the pinions f, and
have projections 9' upon them, which by engaging with corresponding
projections on the pinions cause the spindles to revolve; these projections
are clearly seen in Figure 4, which is a section taken through one of the
spindles on the line 1, 1, Figure 3. Each spindle passes up through a
conical cup h, but without contact with it. The cup his fixed on the
corresponding bridge piece c, and has a slit from top to bottom for the
passage of the yarn. The yarn is drawn off bobbins i, and after
traversing the tension regulating apparatus hercin-after referred to, it
passes over the traversing.bar k. This bar controls the yarn as it
passes
on the lower part of the cop which is being built, leading it in a spiral
course up and down the conical bottom of the cop in course of formation.
The bar is to ensure lightness in the construction, made of sheet steel
bent to a semi-tubular form, it is supported by arms 7 at each end, and
these arms are also of sheet steel, Each bar k is of a length to serve
for six, eight, or more spindles, and by using these guide bars & in place
of a separate guide arm to each spindle, the traverse mechanism is con-
siderably lightened, which is of great importance when heart wheels are
used to actuate it. is a finger fixed on the bar & to prevent the yarn
rising from it. The arms are fixed upon a hollow steel axis m. There
are two of these axes m, one corresponding to each of the two rows of
spindles and cups h, and the arms 2 of these axes cross each other, an
arrangement from which great compactness results. The axes in receive
a rocking motion from the heart wheels n, n, fixed upon the axes e, e.
Connecting rods o, having small friction wheels at their ends, rest on
the heart wheels, and are guided by them, and the connecting rods o are
coupled with arms » unon the axes m.
I

page_text: yields to avoid breakage, if from any cause the proper action of the parts
is impeded.
Figure 6 is a section of the lever q and parts in connection therewith.
The spindles so long as they are in the positions in which they appear in
Figure 3 revolve with the pinions f; when it is desired to stop them they
are lifted, and this is done by means of the bell-crank lover r; this lever
turns on a pin ™ª¹ carried by lugs on the bridge piece c, and it embraces
two half sockets or bushes in which the spindle revolves,, as is seen at
Figure 7, which is a section taken on the line 2, 2, Figure 3. Flanges
on the half sockets or bushes, both above and below retain the forked
end of the lever between them, and the socket or bush is itself retained
between flange rings on the spindle; 78, 78, are lugs on the lever r,
through which the rod s is passed, it is bent to a staple-like form, and
its ends passed into socket holes at c', c', in the bridge piece. Com-
pressed coiled springs, not represented in the Drawing, encircle the two 1
limbs of the rods, and tend constantly to lift the lever r and the spindle,
and this they do whenever the lever is set free to move, and it will
be observed that when the spindle is lifted the pinion of ceases to have
power over it to drive it. The lever is usually retained by a rod &
connected with it, in which is a notch at t, and a pawl or lever stop u. 2
drops into this notch. v is a socket ʊne of a series for carrying the
spindles which support the bobbins of yarn from which the cops are to
be wound. The spindles run freely in these sockets which contain oil,
and from the bobbins i upon them the yarn is led over a guide bar at x,
then around a guide disc or pulley fixed at the end of the compensating
lever Y, and so to the traverse guide bar which lays it on to the cop.
The compensating lever y is forked at its lower end and embraces the
curved pin y', on which is a coiled spring (not shown) so that the lifting
of the lever by the tension of the yarn takes place against the resistance
of this spring. When the tension is sufficient, the lever y comes against 3
the wirez, and draws the drag weight A out of contact with the rim of
the bobbin, and so removes the slight resistance which the drag weight
at other times offers to the rotation of the bobbin; the drag weights are
jointed to the sockets of the bobbin spindles, and these sockets arc
formed (in sets of six or eight each) on bars which are mounted in 3
supports on the frame, as is shewn.
When from the yarn becoming entangled or otherwise the tension

page_text: I
increases, notwithstanding the removal of the drag weight from the rim
of the bobbin, the lever y acts on the tail of the pawl or catch u,
throws it out of its notch, and stops the spindle; the action is similar
when the yarn breaks and the lever y falls. The spindle is stopped when
the cop is finished by the wires u², which are moved up by the top on the
spindle and lift the catch u. The spindle is started again when desired
by drawing out the rod t to the position in which it appears in Figure 3,
B is a top or clip sliding with friction upon the spindle to keep the
cop in place whilst it is being built. This clip slides up the spindle as
the cop grows beneath it. The clip consists of a disc with a socket on its
upper side, into which two semicircular clip pieces are inserted and
retained by pins. The upper ends of the clip pieces are pressed apart by
a coiled spring, and their lower ends are so caused to nip the spindle.
This sliding olip top is very much more convenient than the weight
which I have heretofore used for a similar purpose. C, O, are the
trough-like covers which enclose the working parts, they are readily.
removed when access to these parts is required. When winding from
hanks I mount one of the swifts over the spindles and the other below.
Figure 8 shows the arrangement I adopt when winding from mulo
The spindle on which the mule cops are mounted are driven by a
band passing over wheels upon them, and also around a pulley on the
shaft e, Small rollers of hard wood are carried in spring clips on the
bar k, and the yarns pass under them to the spindles. The roller can by
means of the adjusting screw shown in the Drawing, be made to nip
the yarn against the bark with more or less pressure, and so the tension
is regulated. The compensating apparatus may be dispensed with.
cops.
Figure 9 is a plan, and Figure 10 is a longitudinal section of a shuttle
constructed according to my Invention; Figure 11, a transverse section
taken at the line 1, 1, Figure 10.
:
a, a, is the wooden body of the shuttle; it contains a skewer b, which
receives upon it the cop c. The skewer has a cross head 6', and pointed
screws enter from either side into recesses in the skewer and hold it,.
forming pivots on which it can turn. d is a steel plate, which is placed
on the skewer and then has the wooden block screwed to it. This-
5 block presses against the cop and keeps its other end constantly up to
the eye e, through which the yarn is drawn. The block is drawn forward
as the cop is used by the leather straps, which is hooked on to a horn

page_text: on the plate d and passes to the spring barrel 9, to the periphery of
which it is attached.. e¹is a cover formed in the same piece with the
eye e to keep the cop in its place; these parts e and e' can turn upon a
pin e to make room for the introduction of a fresh cop. The yarn
passes from the eye e out at the side of the shuttle through the guide 5
bead h. Between the hole or eye e and the guide bead & the yarn is
pressed upon by the spring & to prevent it running too freely; the
pressure of this spring can be adjusted by a screw, as is shown. j is a
fixed spring, which when the shuttle is full bears on the block ď³,
the block moves forward it comes against the skewer 6. to ensure that 10
the skewer shall not rise when the shuttle is empty, as damage might
result where it to do so.
and as
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim
as my improvements in cop winding machines in which the cop is built 15
from the bottom or end by winding the yarn layer under layer,—
1st. The adaptation of a heart wheel to produce the traverse motion
so that the amount of traverso may be proportional to the rotatory
motion of the spindle, substantially as described..
2nd. The arrangement of the machine with two parallel rows of cop 20
cups and spindles and two distributing shafts between them, the
distributing shaft belonging to one row of cups and spindles being:
between the other row of cups and spindles and its distributing shaft,.
substantially as described.
3rd. The arrangement of the compensating lever and the apparatus in 25
connection therewith for lifting and stopping the spindle, substantially
as described.
4th. The arrangement of the driving gear so that the traverse.
mechanism and the spindle may have the proportional speeds. hercin.
set forth.
5th. The arrangement of the machine with its frame and casing,
substantially as described.
6th. The adaptation to the traverse bar or guide of a friction roller
for putting tension on the yarn, substantially as described.
30.
7th. The arrangement for winding from mulo cops by providing 35
spindles to receive such cops, such spindles being driven at a speed

page_text: -
to deliver nearly as much yarn as is taken up, substantially as
described.
8th. The adaptation to the spindles of spring clips nipping the
spindles and sliding upon them with friction, substantially as described.
9th. The adaptation of traverse bars extending over several spindles
and carried by two arms in place of as heretofore using a separate guide.
arm to each spindle, substantially as described.
I also claim the construction of shuttles substantially as described.
-"
In witness whereof, I, the said John Combe, have hereunto' set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
1.
JOHN COMBE. (L.S.)
'