IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDING OR BALLING AND IN THE MANIPULATION OF TWISTED FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Combe, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim,
and Kingdom of Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WINDING OR BALLING AND IN THE MANIPULATION OF TWISTED FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 9th July 1867, and dated the 29th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Combe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1867.
I, JAMES COMBE, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, and Kingdom of
Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WINDING OR BALLING AND IN THE MANIPULATION OF TWISTED FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to the winding of twisted fibrous substances into
a cylindrical form or roll on a bare spindle with a traverse sufficiently quick
to make the roll hold together when removed from the spindle, and in the
application and use of these rolls in processes subsequent to the spinning or
twisting.
By means of these improvements the material can be taken from the spinning
frame bobbin, or from the bank, or other state, and put into a convenient form
for sale, storing, or for any subsequent operation, thus dispensing with the use
of spools and with the reeling and bundling, and of course avoiding the waste,
labour, and expenses connected with these operations.

page_text: The means by which the rolls are formed may vary, but I prefer the
following arrangement:-The spindle on which the roll is formed has a
varying speed communicated to it by driving it with an expanding pulley
which takes the place of a wharve; this pulley is acted on by a roller in
contact with the outside surface of the roll in formation through a system of
levers in such a way that the driving diameter of the pulley is always kept in
the same proportion to the increasing diameter of the roll; this causes the
material to he wound on the roll at a uniform speed, which in conjunction
with a uniform traverse makes a roll with flat ends, the layers composing
which cross each other at the same angle from the beginning to the end of
each roll. The rolls may be built either with flat or conical ends, as may best
suit the work. Provision is made for stopping any spindle independently of
the others composing the machine. I also apply any well-known or approved
self-acting arrangement for stopping each spindle when the material breaks or
when the bobbin is unwound, or when the material is entangled in windir -
and also when the roll has attained the proper size.
The rolls formed as above described I propose to employ in the working up
of wet and dry twisted fibres.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Combe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
COMBE, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, and Kingdom of Ireland, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Combe, Her special licence that I, the said James Combe,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James 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
WINDING OR BALLING AND IN THE MANIPULATION OF TWISTED FIBROUS SUB-

page_text: STANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Combe,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 James Combe, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
These improvements relate to the winding of twisted fibrous substances into
a cylindrical form or roll on a bare spindle with a traverse sufficiently quick
to make the roll hold together when removed from the spindle, and in the
application and use of these rolls in processes subsequent to the spinning or
twisting.
By means of these improvements the material can be taken from the
spinning frame bobbin whether wet or dry, or from the bank or other state,
and put into a convenient form for sale, storing, or for any subsequent
operation, thus dispensing with the use of spools and with the reeling and
bundling, and of course avoiding the waste, labor, and expenses connected with
these operations.
The means by which the rolls are formed may vary, but I prefer the
following arrangements, which will be readily understood on reference to the
annexed Drawings, where Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a "roll winder"
with a varying speed given to the spindle; the dotted lines shew the position
of the reel when winding on to the roll from the bank. Fig. 2 is a sectional
elevation of "roll winder" with the spindle to run at a uniform speed
throughout the formation of the roll, which suits well for some kinds of work;.
Fig. 3 is a top view shewing the arrangement of the pressing roller and
guide wire which is maintained at a uniform distance from the surface of the.
roll.
Referring to Fig. 1, the roll a is formed upon the blade of the spinille 6, to
which motion is given by means of the driving band c; this band passes
round an expanding pulley b¹ which is connected to the spindle 6 by means of
a frictional clutch 62. The clutch is free to slide but not to turn upon the.
spindle b, and it is kept in contact with the expander 6¹ by the spiral spring b³,.
which is compressed between the collar on the spindle 6 and the boss of the

page_text: friction clutch b².
When the thread e breaks or becomes too tight, or slack,
or the roll a is completed, the stop lever f is liberated and brought into contact
with the flange 6* of the friction clutch 62, which it draws out of contact by
compressing the spring b³.
The varying speed is obtained by means of the expanding pulley 61, which
is gradually closed, and its working diameter thereby increased by means of
the lever g; this lever g is acted upon by the bell-crank lever g¹ which is in
contact with a rocking frame g that carries the pressing or guide roller h;
this roller h bears upon the forming roll of twisted fibres as it is pressed out-
wards as the diameter of the roll a increases. The backward movement of
the frame g causes the crank lever g¹ to rock and press down the lever g, and
the expanding pulley is thus compressed and its driving diameter increased
in the same proportion as that of the roll a increases; thus a uniform speed
is ensured to the thread e. The spool or bobbin i from which the material is
being wound is placed in any convenient position to ensure the action of the
stop lever f, the yarn or thread e passes from the bobbin i over the drag
lever fand through the thread guide k on to the "roll" a. A quick traverse
is given to the thread guide k by the "heart" or excentric k¹ through the
levers and rocking shaft ³, to which the thread guide k is attached by the
spring or lever ; this spring k as the diameter of the roll a increases is
pressed aside by a projection (see Fig. 3) on the rocking roller frame g³, and
thus the thread guide k is always kept at the same distance from the surface
of the roll a; this arrangement forms the yarn into a roll or cylinder with flat
ends. To make the ends of the roll or cylinder conical it is necessary to have
an independent set of levers to each spindle for working the thread guides, the
connecting rods being moved to or from the fulcrums to reduce the length of
traverse as the roll increases in diameter.
Fig. 2 is a simpler form of machine than that just described for forming
the roll, but is not so completely self-acting as that shewn at Fig. 1. The
spindle is driven at a uniform speed, and is stopped by the worker when
necessary by pressing the knee against the lever m which has a friction
pad m³ that comes in contact with the wharve 65. Where one wharve does
not give sufficient range two or more sizes may be used, the band c being
shifted by hand to suit the work; the pressing guide roller frame in this
arrangement acts upon the lever m to arrest the movement of the spindle
when the roll is completed.
or
The twisted fibres formed into rolls as above described admit of being
further manipulated in the processes subsequent to the spinning or twisting
process (and that whether in a wet or dry state) without first requiring reeling

page_text: or bundling, the cost of which operations will consequently be by my Invention
avoided.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of improvements
in winding or balling, and in the manipulation of twisted fibrous sub-
stances, 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 twisted fibres into rolls or balls in the manner and for the
purpose above set forth.
Secondly, the application of the rolls in the manipulation of wet and dry
twisted fibres.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Combe, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
JAMES COMBE. (L.S.)