IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ROPES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING THEM."
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Stirling Newall, of Gateshead-on-Tyne,
in the County of Durham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ROPES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING THEM."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Stirling Newall
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th March 1871.
I, ROBERT STIRLING NEWALL, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County
of Durham, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ROPES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING
THEM," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of round
and flat ropes. Instead of winding the yarns of which the strands are
to be formed upon bobbins, as practised at present, I wind them into
cops so as to form a cylindrical mass of yarn which may be two inches in
diameter by twelve inches in length, or of any convenient size.
put the required number of cops to form a strand of a given size into a
machine provided with a number of light tubes arranged in one or more
I

page_text: concentric circles around an axle, cach tube being large enough to hold
a cop. This axle is by preference hollow to allow of a core being passed
through it. The machine has a laying plate and drawing-off gear, and
the ends of the yarns which come from the inside of the cops pass
through the laying plate to the drawing gear. On the machine being
rotated the yarns are laid into a strand, and as the machine is of very
small diameter compared with a bobbin machine it may be driven at a
very high speed. A strand thus formed may be used as a core for a wire
rope, the wire covering of which will be applied with the well-known
mechanism used for that purpose; or strands thus made may be com-
bined (say three or more in number) to form a hemp rope in the manner
to be presently described. Ropes thus composed may also be used as
cores for wire ropes.
In converting round wire ropes (whether composed of the covered
strands or of the combined strands covered) into flat ropes I take any 1
given number of right and left handed ropes and stitch them together
in an improved manner. These ropes have hitherto been composed of
round ropes stitched together with round wire, forming a zig-zag along
the interior of the rope. These round wires in the course of working
become notched by the covering wires of the rope, or the covering wires ?
become notched by the stitching wires, and are consequently damaged.
My improvement is to sew the flat rope with thin flat wires, which
I prefer to be soft drawn or rolled, and about a quarter of an incli
broad.
I have said that the machine for forming the strands is provided with 2
a hollow central axle through which a core may be passed while the
strand is being formed. This core may consist of several yarns or it
may be of wire. In order to convert the strands into a round rope I
combine any desired number of the stranding machines above described
into one machine, arranging them around a common centre, and by the g
use of this machine I lay the strands into a rope. This rope may have
as a core a wire for increasing its strength, or an insulated wire may be
introduced as a core into the rope during its manufacture to fit it for
telegraphic purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Stirling Newall in the Great Seal Patent.
Office on the 7th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
STIRLING NEWALL, of Gateshead, in the County of Durham, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Robert Stirling Newall, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Stirling Newall, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Stirling Newall, 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
THE MANUFACTURE OF ROPES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING THEM,"
1," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Stirling Newall, 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 Robert Stirling Newall, 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 here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to

page_text: In carrying out the first part of the Invention, instead of winding the
hempen yarns of which the strands are to be formed upon bobbins, as
practised at present, I wind them into cops so as to form a cylindrical
mass of yarn which may be, say two inches in diameter by twenty-four
inches in length, or of any other convenient size. I put the required
number of cops to form a strand of a given size into a machine provided
with a number of light tubes arranged in one or more concentric circles
around an axle, cach tube being large enough to hold a cop, and this
machine I fit with á laying plate and drawing-off gear for the purpose of
laying the yarns into a strand.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in side clevation, and
Fig. 2 in cross section, my improved machine for manufacturing hempen
strands.
In these Figures a is a central hollow axle around which are arranged
in concentric circles any given number of tubes & constituting the cop
carriers. In this case eighteen are employed. These tubes are bound
The hollow axle
together and to the central axle by bands or collars c.
is shewn in longitudinal section at Fig. 3, and consists of a tube a fitted
at one cud with a hollow boss a¹ which carries a driving pulley a², and at
its other end with a flanged tube a³ which serves the purpose of and
which I therefore call the laying plate. This group of tubes is mounted
in bearings in a suitable framing A, and is intended to receive a rapid
rotatory motion around its axis. The axle is by preference mado hollow
to allow of a metallic or other core being passed through it and worked
up into the strand. For this purpose the machine is fitted with a guide
roller B for guiding the core into the machine, or a bobbin carrying the
core may be similarly situated. The tubes or cop carriers b, one of which
is shewn detached and in longitudinal section at Fig. 4, are closed at
one end and open at the other to allow of the insertion of a cop, which
cop is intended to fit tightly in the tube. The yarns are drawn from
the inside of the cops and are led through side openings a' mado in the
laying plate a, and from the laying plate they pass to the drawing-off
gear.
It will now be understood that as the machine is driven the yarns will
be laid into a strand, and as the machine is of very small diameter
compared with a bobbin machine it will admit of being driven at a very
high speed. I have found that satisfactory work can be done with
the machine while it is making five hundred revolutions per minute.

page_text: A strand thus formed may be used as a core for a wire rope, the
wire covering of which will be applied with the well-known mechanism
used for that purpose, or strands thus made may be combined (say three
or more in number) to form a hemp rope in the manner to be presently
described.
I have said that the machine for forming the strands is provided with
a hollow central axle through which a core may be passed while the
strand is being formed. This core may consist of several yarns or it
may be of wire, and when introduced into the machine, as shown at d
Fig. 1, the yarns drawn out of the cop carriers 6 will be laid around it,
and the whole will constitute a strand as shown at e.
In order to convert the strands into a round rope I combine any
desired number of the stranding machines, shewn at Figures 1 and 2,
into one machine, arranging them around a common centre, and by tho
use of this compound machine I lay the strands into a rope. The
manner of constructing this compound machine is shown in the diagram
at Fig. 5, where C, C, C, represent six of my improved stranding
machines set around a central hollow axle D and carried by any suitable
construction of rotating frame E. By the use of this compound machine
it will be understood that the conversion of the yarns into strands and
the strands into a rope will be one continuous and simultaneous opera-
tion. This rope may have as a core a wire for increasing its strength,
or an insulated wire may be introduced (through the hollow axle) as
a corc into the rope during its manufacture to fit it for telegraphic
purposes.
The second head of the Invention relates to the conversion of round
wiro ropes into flat ropes. In carrying out this part of my Invention I
take any given number of right and left handed ropes and lay them side
by side (alternating the quality of the ropes), and I stitch them together
in an improved manner. These ropes have hitherto been composed of
round ropes stitched together with round wire, forming a zig-zag along
the interior of the rope. These round wires in the course of working
become notched by the covering wires of the rope, or the covering wires
become notched by the stitching wires, and are consequently damaged.
My improvement in this manufacture is to sew the ropes together with
thin flat wires, which I prefer to be soft drawn or rolled, and about a
quarter of an inch broad, and thus I produce a flatter and more enduring
rope than is obtainable under the old system.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in the Manufacture of Ropes, and in Machinery for Making the same,"
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,―
First. Forming strands from cops of yarn supported in revolving
carriers, and arranged substantially as above described.
Secondly. Constructing rope machines by combining two or more of
my improved stranding machines in the manner above described.
Thirdly. The improvement above described in the manufacture of flat
wire ropes.
In witness whereof, I, tho said Robert Stirling Newall, havo here-
unto set my hand and scal, the Sixth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.