CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING SILK, COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Paul Heilmann, of Mulhouse, Town in the French
Empire, Gentleman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
SPINNING SILK, COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
aled the 13th April 1858, and dated the 15th October 1857.
PECIFICAT
by
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
October 1857.
I, PAUL HEILMANN, of Mulhouse, Town in the French Empire, Gentleman,
do. hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN SPINNING SILK, COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to substitute. another binding agent for the
torsion or twist hitherto had recourse to in spinning to bind the threads
together.
My Invention consists in the employment of a gummy material or com
position with which the fibres are impregnated, and whereby they are held and
bound together and formed into thread, which may be afterwards wound
spirally upon a gathering drum of a peculiar construction, and there allowed
to dry.

page_text: My Invention also consists in machinery for carrying my improvements in
spinning into effect. The principal advantages arising from this new method
of spinning or of binding the fibres together are brilliancy of the thread, which
is impaired or destroyed by the twist hitherto given to the filaments or fibres,
and elasticity of the fabric arising from the non-torsion of the filaments. The
gummy or adhesive matter may be removed by washing after a fabric has been
woven, or at any other stage after formation of the thread.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, is an end view of the
improved machinery which I employ for carrying my improvements in spinning
into effect; and Figure 2 is a front view of part of the machine, shewing parts
in section. A; A, B, B, C, C¹, Figure 1, are cylinders or rollers placed
one above the other, the lower roller is in fluted iron, and the upper is clothed
with leather. The journals of these cylinders revolve in bearings a, a, b, b¹,
c, c¹, fixed in the supports D, E, F, which can be brought closer to or set more
distant from each other, as desired, according to the length of the fibre to be
worked. G, G', (Figures 1 and 2) are small- rollers placed one above the
other, fixed on the shafts L, L', which turn in the bearings M, M', fixed on
the supports N, N¹; H is a small reservoir fixed to the support I, which is kept
against the cross bar K, by means of a pin, bolt, or screw traversing a groove,
whereby the reservoir H may be raised or lowered as desired; 0, 0', are
small 'bosses furnished with' arms fixed on the shafts P, P', revolving in bear-
ings in the uprights Q, Q'; one of the bosses carrying the arms is shewn in
section at Figure 3; R, R¹, Figures 1 and 2 are bearings on which the shaft S
is fixed. On this shaft are placed first a wheel T, acting as a driving pulley,
and which is loose on the fixed shaft S¹; 2nd, two wheels U, U', turning
on the fixed shafts S¹¹, Sv. the axes of which are in a different line to that of
the shaft S¹; 3rd, two wheels V, V₁, turning on the fixed shafts S, S", the
axes of which are also in a different line to that of the axes of the shafts S¹,
and S, S; the shafts 'S", S, have both the same axis; the shafts S", SI,
have also the same axis, while the shaft S has a separate axis for itself.
The two wheels U, U¹, carry vanes or wings, each of which is fixed by its
extremities to these two wheels.. These vanes or wings are free to move
laterally in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation; the two wheel's V, V¹,
carry similar vanes, with this difference, that they are not moveable. These
four wheels with their vanes move together, and form two drums, the vanes of
which are interpolated one in the other; Y, Figures 1 and 2 is a cross bar
fixed in an arm of each of the wheels V, V', and traversing slots g¹, g, g
formed in an arm of each of the wheels T, U, U. in order to transmit to the

page_text: drums U, U, V, V, rotatory motion imparted by the pulley T in such a
manner that this bar may have play in the slots g¹, g, g, necessary in con-
Instead of
sequence of the eccentricity of the axes of the different wheels.
employing a cross bar Y to transmit the motion from the pulley T to the
wheels U and U, V, V, the motion can be communicated either by projecting
pieces arranged and fitted in such a manner that the motion of one of the
wheels would transmit motion to the next, or by any other arrangement which
will accomplish the same end. Z is a guide shewn separately at Figure 4,
which is intended to push sideways the moveable vanes of the drum U, U¹, as
often as they are presented to it.
(1) is a guide, shewn separately at Figure 5, to restore the moveable vanes
of the drum U, U', to their original position; Figure 6 is an end view of part
of the machinery, shewing the manner in which motion is communicated to
the various parts thereof shewn in the Figures.
WORKING OF THE MACHINERY.
The fibres 20 are fed into the machine through the funnels 21, pass
through the drawing rollers or cylinders A, A, B, B, C, C, where they
receive the desired extent of drawing out or stretching. On issuing from the
last drawing roller C, they pass between the two rollers G, G', the lower G¹
of which rotating in a bath of a gummy or sticky material or size contained in
the reservoir H, lifts a sufficient quantity thereof to cause the fibres to imbibe
it as they pass, and so form them into a thread which pass over the boss O
and then under the boss O' to the drum.
From the description given of the drum, it will be seen that the vanes X,
Figures 2 and 7, carry the thread on the upper half of the drum, that is to
say, when they are acted on by the guide Z, and that the vanes W (Figure 8),
carry it on the under half of the drun. The thread is continually moveable
on the two drums, and forms a spiral whilst it is winding on them; the
distance between each spiral being equal to the distance through which the
vanes move in a lateral direction when they are acted on by the guide Z. The
thread having been wound on the drum, and having there become dried by the
natural or artificial action of hot or cold air, can be drawn off continuously or
otherwise, as desired, on to a bobbin or otherwise. By increasing at will the
number of the baths, and placing different coloring matters in them, the fibres
may be dyed while passing through the machine.

page_text: .
SPECIFICATION. in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Paul Heilmann in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th April 1858.
Y
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PAUL
HEILMANN, of Mulhouse, Town in the French Empire, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Paul Heilmann, Her special licence that I, the said Paul Heilmann,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Paul
Heilman, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN SPINNING SILK. COTTON. WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Paul Heilmann, 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 Paul Heilmann, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say;
The object of my Invention is to substitute another binding agent for the
torsion or twist hitherto had recourse to in spinning to bind the threads
together. My Invention consists in the employment of a gummy material or
composition with which the fibres are impregnated, and whereby they are held
and bound together and formed into thread, which may be afterwards wound
spirally upon a gathering drum of a peculiar construction and there allowed to
dry.

page_text: My Invention also consists in machinery for carrying my improvements in
spinning into effect. The principal advantages arising from this new method
of spinning or of binding the fibres together are brilliancy of the thread which
is impaired or destroyed by the twist hitherto given to the filaments or fibres,
and elasticity of the fabric arising from the non-torsion of the filaments. The
gummy or adhesive matter may be removed by washing after a fabric has been
woven, or at any other stage after formation of the thread.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is an end view of the improved
machinery which I employ for carrying my improvements in spinning into
effect, and Figure 2 is a front view of part of the machine shewing parts in
section. A, A, B, B¹, C, C, D, D', Figure 1, are cylinders or rollers placed
one above the other. The axles of the lower cylinders revolve in bearings
fixed in the supports E, E', and are moveable in one direction in such manner
that the cylinders of the respective pairs can be set closer to or more distant
from each other, as desired, according to the length of the fibre to be worked.
The upper cylinders are also moveable in one direction, in order that the
distance between them may be varied; F, F¹; (Figures 1 and 2) are small
rollers placed one above the other, fixed on the shafts G, G¹, which turn in the
bearings H, H', fixed on the supports N, N'; I is a small reservoir containing
the adhesive mixture. It is fixed to a support which is kept against the cross
bar by means of a pin, bolt, or screw traversing a groove, whereby the reser-
voir I may be raised or lowered as desired; M, M¹, are small bosses furnished
with arms (Figures 1 and 3) fixed on the shafts O, 0¹, revolving in bearings
in the uprights P, P'. One of the bosses carrying the arms is shewn in
section at Figure 3. In place of small bosses carrying arms,' I sometimes
employ tail pieces or other equivalent contrivances; R, R¹, Figures 1 and 2,
are bearings on which the shaft S is fixed. On this shaft are placed, 1st, a
wheel T, acting as a driving pulley, and which is loose on the fixed shaft S¹;
2nd, two wheels U, U¹, turning on the fixed shafts S¹¹, SV, the axes.of which
are in a different line to that of the shaft S¹; 3rd, two wheels V, VI, turning
on the fixed shafts S", S", the axes of which are also in a different line to
that of the axes of the shafts S₁ and S", S. The shafts S", S', have both the
same axis the shafts S, S", have also the same axis, while the shaft S¹ has
a separate; axis for itself. The two wheels U, U¹, carry vanes or wings X, X,
each of which is fixed by its extremities to these two wheels. These vanes or
wings X, X, are free to move laterally in a plane parallel to the axis of
rotation. The two wheels V, V, carry similar vanes, with the difference that
they are not moveable. These four wheels with their vanes move together

page_text: Y,
and form two drums, the vanes of which are situated between each other.
(Figures 1 and 2) is a cross bar fixed in an arm of each of the wheels V, V¹, and
traversing slots y', y", y, formed in an arm of each of the wheels T, U, and
U¹, in order to transmit to the drums U, U, V, V, rotatory motion imparted
by the pulley T in such a manner that this bar may have play in the slots
,,, which is necessary in consequence of the eccentricity of the axes of
the different wheels. Instead of employing a cross bar Y to transmit. the
motion from the pulley T to the wheels U and. U, V, V, the motion can be
communicated either by projecting pieces arranged and fitted in such a
manner, that the motion of one of the wheels would transmit motion to the
next, or by any other arrangement which will accomplish the same end. Z is
a guide, shewn separately. at Figure 4, which is intended to push sideways the
moveable vanes of the drum U, U', as. often as they are presented to it. 1 is
a guide, shewn separately at Figure 5, to restore the moveable vanes. of the
drum U, U,. to. their original position.
Figure 6 is an end view of part of the machinery, shewing the manner in
which motion is communicated to the various parts thereof. On the shaft A
is fixed a pulley which receives motion from a prime mover; 3, Figure 1 is a
, wheel of 15 teeth on the cylinder A; 4 is a wheel of 120 teeth; 5 is a pinion
of 70 teeth; 6 is a wheel of 130 teeth fixed on the cylinder D; 7 is a wheel
of 16 teeth fixed on the cylinder A; 8 is a
wheel of 30 teeth; 9 is a wheel of
33 teeth fixed on the cylinder D; 10 is a wheel of 33 teeth fixed on the
cylinder C; 11 is a wheel of 17 teeth fixed on the cylinder B. The shaft A
communicates motion to the cylinder D by means of the intermediate wheels
4 and 5; the shaft D transmits motion to the cylinder C through the wheel
12, and the cylinder C communicates motion to the cylinder B through the
wheel 13; the shaft G carries two pullies, one of which drives the pulley T of
the drum, and another pulley placed on the shaft O' transmits motion to the
shaft O.
WORKING OF THE MACHINERY.
The fibres fed into the machine at the back pass through the drawing rollers
or cylinders where they receive the desired extent of drawing out or stretching.
On issuing from the last drawing roller C, they pass between the two rollers
F, F, of which the lower rotates in the bath of gummy or sticky material, or
Dack pass through the drawing rollers
or cylinders where they receive the desired extent of drawing out or stretching.
On issuing from the last drawing roller C, they pass between the two rollers
F, F, of which the lower rotates in the bath of gummy or sticky material, or
size contained in the reservoir I, and lifts a sumcient quantity thereof to cause
the fibres to imbibe it as they pass, whereby they are formed into a thread
which passes over the boss M; and then under the boss M' to the drum. The

page_text: adhesive substance in the bath I may consist of a mixture of water with
chloride of zinc,. or sulphate of zinc, or with' chloride of calcium, or sulphate
of copper, and a thickening agent such as starch, gum, dextrine, gum arabic,
&c. The substance will. vary in its composition according to the nature of the
fibres. The bath which I usually prefer to employ consists of about 1 lb. of
dextrine, 1 gallon of water, and 1 oz. of sulphate of zinc, or ½ oz. of sulphate
of copper instead of the sulphate of zinc.
From the description given of the drum, it will be seen that the vanes or
wings X, X, (Figures 2 and 8), carry the thread on the upper half of the
drum when they are pushed laterally by the guide Z, but 'gradually recede and
leave the thread when they approach the lower part of the drum, where they
are pushed back by the guide 1, in order that they may resume their first
position. The vanes W, Figures. 2 and 7, are projected beyond X, X, and
receive the thread upon them, as X, X, recede and carry it round the lower
part of its course. The projecting and receding motions of X, X, W, W, are
produced by the eccentricity of their axes before explained. It therefore
follows, that the thread is continually moved on the two drums and forms a
spiral upon them; the distance between the threads of the spiral being equal
to the distance through which the vanes move in a lateral direction when they
are acted on by the guide Z. The thread having been wound on the drum,
and having there become dried by the natural or artificial action of hot or cold
air can be drawn off continuously or otherwise, as desired, on to a bobbin or
otherwise.
By increasing at will the number of the baths, and placing different coloring
matters in them, the fibres may be dyed while passing through the machine.
In some cases I find it desirable, in order to prevent the separation of the
fibres, to give them a slight degree of torsion by condensing tubes or otherwise
as they leave the drawing rollers, for the purpose of momentarily uniting them
before they enter the bath to receive the adhesive material which renders their
union permanent. With the same view I sometimes apply the adhesive
material near to, at, or even in the rear of the drawing rollers.
And, having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not confine myself to
the details herein-before described, as they may be varied considerably without
departing from my Invention, but what I do claim is,--
First, the employment of a gummy or other adhesive material whereby the
fibres may be held together for spinning purposes, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the construction and employment of machinery, for applying the said

page_text: adhesive material, and for receiving the fibres or thread to which it is applied,
essentially as herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Paul Heilmann, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of April One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-eight.
PAUL HEILMANN. (L.S.)
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Ing Conseil,
23, Boulevt de Strasbourg, a Paris.