IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW GILL ROVING FRAMES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenwood, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW GILL
ROVING FRAMES."
Sealed the 27th April 1869, and dated the 4th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenwood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th March 1869.
I, THOMAS GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SCREW GILL ROVING FRAMES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to increase the capacity for work of
screw gill roving frames by introducing into such machines a novel and
facile means of changing the speed of the spindles to suit the work in
hand.
The work done upon the screw gill roving frame is (as is well
known) limited by the speed at which it has been found safe to drive the
fallers and gills, and the spindles have hitherto been driven at one fixed

page_text: speed relatively to the driving pulleys; it follows therefore that when a
large amount of twist is required to be put in the roving with a medium
draft the speed of the front roller, and consequently that of the fallers,
has to be diminished in order to allow for the reduced rate of take-up of
the fibre by the spindles. The yield of roving is thus consequently
diminished, or, in other words, the machine is not worked up to its full
capacity. Again, when it is desired to have a longer draft the speed of
the fallers and gills and that of the feed rollers is still further reduced,
thus relatively diminishing the quantity of work done by the frame. To
remedy this instead of effecting the necessary changes of speeds as here-
tofore, that is, by changing the driving pulleys or the driving drum,
I propose to provide a set of change wheels for varying the speed of the
ordinary driving shaft without changing the speed of the driving
pulleys. To accomplish this I mount the driving pulleys upon a
separate axle, upon which axle I also mount the driving pinion, which
can be changed; this pinion takes into a stud wheel, which stud wheel
is mounted upon a stud adjustable in the slot of a radial arm; this stud
wheel has a boss capable of receiving a variety of change wheels
adjustable by means of the curved slot of the radial arm. These change
wheels take into another series of change wheels which are mounted on
the end of the ordinary driving shaft of the roving frame. By this
means I am enabled to transmit any desired rate of speed to the spindles
without altering the speed of the driving pulleys.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Greenwood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Greenwood, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Greenwood, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Greenwood,

page_text: 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
SCREW GILL ROVING FRAMES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Thomas Greenwood, 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
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Greenwood, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The object of this Invention is to increase the capacity for work of
screw gill roving frames by introducing into such machines a novel and
facile means of changing the speed of the spindles to suit the special work
in hand.
The amount of work hitherto done upon the screw gill roving frame
has (as is well known) been limited by the speed at which it has been
found safe to drive the fallers and gills, and the spindles have hitherto
been driven at one fixed speed relatively to the driving pulleys; it
follows therefore that in working with the machine as ordinarily
arranged when a large amount of twist is required to be put in the
roving with a medium draft the speed of the front roller, and conse-
quently that of the fallers, has to be diminished in order to allow for the
reduced rate of take-up of the fibre by the spindles. The yield of
roving is thus consequently diminished, or, in other words, the machine
is not worked up to its full capacity. Again, when in addition to a
large amount of twist it is desired to have a longer draft, the speed of
the fallers and gills and that of the feed rollers is still further reduced,
and thus the quantity of work done relatively to the capacity of the
frame is greatly diminished. To remedy this defect instead of effecting

page_text: the necessary changes of speeds as heretofore, that is, by changing the
driving pulleys or the driving drum, I propose to provide a set of
change wheels for varying both the speed of revolution and the trans-
mitted speeds of the ordinary driving shaft without changing the speed
of the driving pulleys.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in side elevation so
much of a screw gill roving frame with my improvements applied
thereto as will serve to explain the nature of my Invention; and
Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portion of the driving gear.
A, A, are the fast and loose band or driving pulleys, mounted on a
short shaft B, which is supported in fixed bearings, as shewn at Fig. 2;
on this shaft is keyed a driving pinion 1, which can be changed as
indicated by the pitch line of a larger pinion 1*; this pinion 1 takes
into a stud wheel 2, which stud wheel is mounted upon a stud axle 2*,
adjustable in the radial slot of a swinging arm C, which is supported
by the shaft B; this arm has a segment-shaped slotted lateral extension
for receiving a screw bolt, by which it is made fast to the main
framing at any required position to suit the diameter of the gearing.
Provision is thus made for throwing the wheel 2 into the dotted
position 2**. The stud wheel 2 has a boss capable of receiving upon it
a pinion 3, which may be changed at pleasure and adjusted by means of
the curved slot of the radial arm to gear into one of a set of change
wheels 4 mounted on the end of the ordinary driving shaft D of the
roving frame. From this shaft D the motions for the back and front
rollers, the screws for working the screw gills, the flyers, and the
bobbins are all derived. The trains of gearing for effecting these
several objects are indicated by different colors in Fig. 1, the better to
shew their connection with the shaft D, and to illustrate the extremes
of variation of speed that may be readily obtained for the working parts
of the machine. The pitch lines drawn in brown and marked 5 shew
the train of gearing for driving the spindles; those drawn in green and
marked 6 shew the train of gearing for driving the bobbins, and the
dotted circle marked 6* indicates an extreme variation of the change
wheels to adapt the take-up to the amount of twist put into the roving;
the pitch lines drawn in blue and marked 7 shew the train of gearing
for driving the front or drawing rollers, and the dotted blue circle 7*
shews an extreme of change that may be introduced in the speed of the
drawing rollers. The other motions are taken not directly from the

page_text: shaft D, but from the axle of the front drawing roller. The red circles
marked 8 shew the pitch lines of the train of gearing for driving the
back shaft E, from which the top and bottom screws of the gill
machinery derive their motion. The relative changes of speed allowed
for this back shaft E is indicated by the pitch line of its pinion 8 and the
dotted red circles 8*. A pinion 9 on the back shaft serves to drive a
train of gearing indicated by yellow pitch lines and marked also 9, by
which train motion is given to the back or feed rollers.
By the use of the above described arrangement of change gears it will
be readily understood that without overdriving the screw gills I can
readily increase the speed of the drawing rollers, the bobbins, and the
flyers to suit various kinds of work, and that by this means I am enabled
greatly to raise the productive power of screw gill roving frames.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in Screw Gill Roving Frames," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent I claim, transmitting any desired relative
rate of speed to the spindles of screw gill roving frames (without altering
the speed of the driving pulleys) in the manner and for the purpose
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Greenwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Second day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-nine.
THOMAS GREENWOOD. (L.S.)