IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING YARN OR THREAD
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wood, of Newton Heath, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING YARN OR THREAD."
Sealed the 24th May 1872, and dated the 30th November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th November 1871.
I, JOHN WOOD, of Newton Heath, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING YARN OR THREAD," to be as
follows:--
My Invention relates to machinery employed in the polishing of yarn
or thread in the hank, and principally to such machines as are fitted with
two sets of rollers, in order that one set may be supplied with yarn
during the time when the yarn on the other set is being polished.

page_text: I mount each pair of rollers upon arms, which project from a vertical
pillar which is fitted to swivel in top and bottom bearings so that the said
rollers may be moved to and from the polishing wheel as in machines
constructed previously to my said Invention. The said rollers revolve on
the said arms, one end of the upper arm being fixed in the pillar, and in
order that the said arm may be adjusted to a true horizontal position or
to a position parallel with the lower arm the said end of the arm is
secured in an opening formed in the said pillar by means of two pairs of
set screws, there being an upper and a lower set screw on each side of the
said pillar. One end of the lower arm is fitted to slide up and down in
a slot formed in the lower part of the pillar, and is suspended by means
of two adjustable links from two levers or crank arms which are fixed or
formed on the two ends of a shaft, which is mounted in a bearing or in
bearings formed on or fixed to the said pillar. I may so form the afore-
said arms as that steam may be conveyed through the said arms and into
the interior of the rollers in order to assist in the drying of the yarn or
thread. The said shaft is provided with a lever, or handle, or hand
wheel, by means of which it may be partly rotated so as to raise the
lower roller when hanks have to be placed on or removed from the
rollers. It will be understood that there are two pillars similarly fitted
and provided, and so situated as that two sets of rollers sustained by
the said pillars may be alternately applied to the machine. When so
applied the outer end of the upper arm rests on and is sustained by a
ledge or projection formed or fixed on the framing of the machine. The
lower arm is drawn down for the tightening of the hanks by the usual
or suitable means.
A further portion of my Invention has for its object to effect the
slackening of the hanks after the polishing has been completed by self-
acting means. For this purpose I use a notch wheel instead of the
ratchet wheel, which has been previously employed, to transmit motion
to the parts which draw down the lower roller in order to tighten the
hanks. The said notch wheel is provided with a reversable pawl capable
of acting in opposite directions on the said notch wheel, so that the same
parts will effect either the tightening or the slackening of the hanks
according as the said pawl is caused to act in one direction or the other,
in manner as is well understood.
In place of the said notch wheel I may employ right-hand and left-

page_text: A remaining part of my Invention consists in so mounting the pedes-
tals in which the journals of the polishing wheel revolve as that the said
pedestals may be slid to and fro on the framing of the machine, in order
that the action of the polishing wheel upon the hanks may be regulated.
SPECIFICI
ON m pursuance of
Спо
ол
filed by the said John Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th May 1872.
•
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WOOD, of Newton Heath, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Wood, Her special license that
I, the said John Wood, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Wood, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 POLISHING YARNS OR THREADS," upon the condition, amongst others,
that I, the said John Wood, my executors or administrators, 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
Lettere Patent

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to machinery employed in the polishing of yarn
or thread in the hank, and principally to such machines as are fitted with
two sets of rollers, in order that one set may be supplied with yarn
during the time when the yarn on the other set is being polished.
Each pair of rollers is carried by a vertical pillar which is fitted to
swivel in top and bottom bearings so that the said rollers may be moved
to and from the polishing wheel as in machines constructed previously
to my said Invention. I prefer that the said rollers shall revolve on
upper and lower arms, one end of the upper arm being fixed in the
pillar, the corresponding end of the lower arm being fitted to slide up
and down in a slot formed in the lower part of the pillar. The said
lower arm is suspended by means of two adjustable links from two levers
or crank arms, which are fixed, formed, or mounted on the two ends of
a shaft, which is mounted in a bearing or in bearings formed on or fixed
to the said pillar. The said shaft is provided with a lever, or handle, or
hand wheel, by means of which it may be partly rotated in order to
raise the lower roller when hanks have to be placed on or removed from
the rollers. This arrangement may be modified in manner as will be
indicated herein-after.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I have
prepared a Sheet of Drawings to accompany this my Specification, the
said Drawings being made to a scale of about two and a half inches to
the foot and being marked with letters of reference, the same letters
being employed to indicate corresponding parts in the various Figures.
Referring in this place to the said Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a front
elevation of a hank polishing machine constructed in manner according
with my Invention, Fig. 2 being a side elevation of the same.
In the said Figures a is the said upper roller, and 6 is the said lower
roller in each of the two swing frames or "gates " A, B, with which the
machine is fitted. The gate A is represented in the position occupied
when the yarn upon the rollers carried by the said gate is being polished,
the gate B being open, that is to say, in the position occupied during
the removal of the polished yarn from the rollers and the replenishing of
the said rollers with unpolished yarn. The roller a in each gate is fitted

page_text: to revolve upon a bar or arm c, which is fixed by one end by means of
the set screws n, n, to the pillar or swing post d, the upper end of which
is fitted to swivel in a bearing formed in the cross bar e and the lower
end in the footstep e¹, which is secured to the framing of the machine.
On the said arm are fixed blocks fand g, which rest upon the framing of
the machine when the gate is in the position occupied during the
polishing of the yarn sustained by the said gate. The roller 6 is also
fitted to revolve upon an arm h, one end of which passes through a long
slot formed in the post d, and the said arm is suspended by means of
the links i, i, from the levers or crank arms k, k¹, which are mounted
on the shaft 7. The said shaft is fitted to revolve or rock in bearings
formed in the post d, and is provided at one end with a lever m, m³, by
The upper
means of which the said bar may be turned in its bearings.
end m of the said lever is fitted or formed with a handle m² by means of
which it may be actuated, and the lower end m¹ is suitably formed to act
upon certain projections in manner as will be described. On the lever k¹
is fixed or formed a projecting piece 2, and on the link is fixed or
formed a projecting piece 3. When the lever m is in the position as
represented on the gate B in Fig. 1, the said lever is disconnected from
the link ♬ and rests against the boss of the block f. The said lever
remains in the said position during the polishing of the yarn, sustained
by the gate to which the said lever is attached, the roller b being drawn
down by the hooks o, o, operated on by screws, which are actuated by
means of the wheel p in an ordinary manner. When in the said position
the said lever is prevented by the cross bar e from falling down from any
cause. When the gate is swung outwards on the completion of the opera-
tion of polishing the attendant moves the lever m over in the direction
of the arrow. This motion of the said lever brings the end m¹ into
contact with the projection 2 on the lever /¹, and the said motion
continuing the said lever m² acting on the said projection gives motion
to the lever k', and as a consequence to the shaft and to the
lever k. The said parts are thereby moved into the position as repre-
sented in Fig. 3, and the levers k and k¹ raise the roller b by means
of the links i, ¹. The polished hanks may now be readily removed and
It will be seen that the said move-
be replaced by unpolished hanks.
ment of the parts has so altered the position of the projection 3 with
relation to the lever m¹ as that the lever m cannot be moved back into
the position as represented in Fig. 1 without coming into contact with
the said projection, and therefore when the attendant replaces the said

page_text: lever in the said position the part of the lever marked m¹ acts for a time
upon the said projection to move back the levers k and k¹, and as a con-
sequence to lower the roller b. By the time that the said projection has
moved out of contact with the lever m¹ the parts will be in such positions
as that the said roller will descend by its own gravity.
In order to facilitate the action of the lever m, and also to ensure that it
shall remain in the position represented in Fig. 1 until the attendant
desires to raise the roller b, a balance weight is formed on the outer end
of the said lever. By the employment of the means described the
roller 6 may be raised when required with great ease and expedition, and
is held in suspension in the higher position without the requirement of
supplementary fastenings, the parallelism of the rollers being maintained
during the raising and lowering of the said roller 6 with sufficient
exactness.
Each of the links i, i¹, is formed at its lower end with a number of
bolt holes, through any one of which the bolt, by means of which the
said link is secured to the arm h, may be passed, according to the lengths
of the hanks to be operated upon.
The arrangement may be modified without departing from the principle
of action, as for example the hand lever m, or a lever or other appliance
employed in lieu thereof and by means of which the shaft 7 is actuated,
may be fixed on the said shaft. Also one lever may be made to take the
place of the two levers k and k¹ and be connected with the arm h by
means of one link or of two links, the said lever being forked or being
formed with long bearings, or being otherwise formed to raise the roller b
whilst maintaining its parallelism with the roller a to a sufficient extent,
but the arrangement as illustrated in the Drawings is such as I consider
to be most suitable.
The arrangement herein-before described or a modification thereof
may be employed in machines wherein the rollers are not fitted to
revolve on rods or arms in the manner herein indicated.
The parts of the machine not herein referred to are or may be of an
ordinary description.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of my said
Invention, and my method of carrying the same into practical effect, I a
would have it to be understood that I do not lay claim to any of the
parts not connected with the raising and lowering of the lower roller,

page_text: notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in my Provisional
Specification; but that I claim,-
First. The employment of levers and links, or of a lever and of links,
or of a lever and link to raise the lower roller, substantially as and for
the purpose herein-before set forth and indicated.
And lastly. The employment for the said purpose of the parts formed,
arranged, and acting substantially as described, set forth, and indicated
herein-before and by the accompanying Drawings, particularly with
reference to the means for permitting the lower roller to be drawn down
when tightening the hanks without imparting motion to the lever m, or
to the part employed in lieu thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wood, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Signed and sealed by the said
John Wood, in the presence
of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent for the Patentee,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.
JOHN WOOD. (L.S.)