IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SPECKLED OR SPOTTED THREADS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
February 1867. A communication from abroad by Veran Sabran and
Gaston Jessé, both of Paris, France.
I, CLINTON EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and
Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SPECKLED OR SPOTTED THREADS," to be as
follows:
Speckled or spotted threads (known in France as "fils monchetés,") are
threads composed of one or more central threads upon which one or more
threads of a different color or colors is or are wound in a spiral direction, but
at intervals the latter thread or threads is or are wound several times round
the central thread or threads at the same points, whereby a speck or spot is
formed at this point; the whole constituting a speckled or spotted thread
suitable for weaving or otherwise.
This Invention consists in constructing machinery as hereafter described for
the manufacture of these speckled or spotted threads. Upon one end of a
longitudinal shaft mounted on a suitable frame I fit a fast-and-loose driving
pulley and a fly wheel; at the opposite end of the shaft is a toothed wheel in
gear with another wheel on a supplementary shaft. Holes are formed in the
face of the latter wheel to vary the position of a pin which acts as a pivot to
Upon another longitudinal shaft a large reel or
winder is mounted, extending nearly the length of the frame, and this shaft
the slotted end of a rod.

page_text: carries a ratchet wheel at the end next the toothed wheels. The upper end of
the rod is bent to form a catch to engage into the ratchet wheel; the rod and
ratchet give an intermittent motion to the reel; a strap or cord from the fly
wheel drives a pulley on the end of another longitudinal shaft below, and this
shaft carries a large roller which by cords drives a number of spindles.
Bobbins free to turn on pins fitted in a transverse beam below supply the
central threads drawn by the large reel. Each central thread after leaving
its bobbin is directed between three small rollers, and its torsion is produced
by the pressure between them; each central thread then passes through &
corresponding hollow spindle; the spindle carries the winding thread, the
torsion of which is produced by a weighted string pressing the thread between
the tube of the spindle and a fixed piece above the tube.
The action is as follows:-The bobbins being charged with the central
threads and the spindles with the winding threads, the machine is set in motion.
The large roller drives all the spindles, and the reel draws the central thread
of each bobbin; but the drawing movement of the reel is interrupted
periodically, while the spindles turn continuously. The periodical stoppage of
the reel is effected by the bent rod taking into another tooth of the ratchet
wheel at every turn of the second toothed wheel. During the stoppage of the
reel the winding threads produce specks or spots round the stationary central
threads; then the bent rod again moves the reel which draws the central
threads for the regular winding of the winding threads until the next stoppage,
when a speck or spot is again formed on each central thread, and so on. The
space between the specks or spots may be varied changing the number of
teeth of the ratchet wheel, or by causing the bent rod to pass over several teeth
at once; for this purpose the pin of the rod is changed into another hole, or
the thickness of the specks may be varied by changing the respective pro-
portions of the two toothed wheels. To vary the spiral interlacement of the
winding thread or threads round the cental thread, the spindles may have
a rising and falling movement imparted as follows:-All the spindles are
carried by a movable frame in contact at each side of the machine with a roller
fitted on the end of a lever pivoted at about the middle; the other end of the
lever carries another roller in contact with a cam. The shaft of the cam is
fixed on a pulley driven by a strap from the fly wheel. The cam produces
the up and down movement of the frame which carries the spindles. In this
two toothed wheels, one on
arrangement motion is given to the large roller
the cam shaft and one on the roller shaft. The spindles have thus both a
rotary motion and a rising and falling movement. The lever before mentioned
may have teeth or notches to vary the course of the spindle frame; thus with

page_text: the same cam and by changing a hooked rod from one tooth to another of the
lever the travel of the spindle frame may be varied, and consequently the rise
and fall of the spindles. Threads of varied colors may be placed on the
bobbins as well as on the spindles, or to give greater variety the threads of
several bobbins may be caused to pass into the tube of the same spindle, and
the threads of several spindles caused to wind upon a single or multiple central
thread; for this purpose several spindles having threads of different colors
may be carried on a plate and the threads be wound round the threads from
one or several bobbins which pass through a tube independent of the spindles.
A break may be fitted to each spindle to allow any spindle to be stopped
separately in case a thread breaks, or for other cause.
The main features in this Invention are, the combination of parts acting as
described, the combined rotary motion and rising and falling movement
of the spindles, and the intermittent rotary motion of the reel or winder.