Improvements in the Swifts of Reeling, Winding, and similar Machines.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 21st June, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 20th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 20th Apr.. 1889
Improvements in the Swifts of Reeling, Winding, and similar
Machines.
I ENOCH RUSHTON of Royal Depot Mills, Macclesfield in the County of Chester,
machine maker do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the braces tyeing together the arms, spokes or sticks of
swifts for reeling, winding, doubling, throwing and similar machines, round
which braces the skeins or hanks of yarn are passed and tightened and balanced
by adjusting said braces on the sticks, my invention. being more particularly applicable
to swifts for silk, but also applicable to swifts generally.
The or:linary braces consist of a loop of cord passed over the two sticks, and
frequently cause silk threads, especially when dyed, to become entangled in the
cords and the knots of the cords, occasioning breakages of the threads and extra
knots in the yarn where the broken threads are tied up again. These are very
objectionable especially in warps for weaving, as the threads are often broken at the
knots by the reeds passing backwards and forwards. To remedy this defect wire
braces have been introduced, consisting of a single wire bent into hooks at the ends,
which hooks are passed over the sticks and are flattened in the direction of the
brace in order to make them stiff and prevent them opening out. The open ends
of said hooks however also frequently entangle the skeins and cause breakages and
knots, and the flattened hooks have not sufficient hold or grip upon the sticks to
maintain their position on the sticks. Another kind of wire brace is made by
bending the wire round the sticks and then bending the ends over the brace into the
direction of the sticks with a short piece at the extremity bent towards the stick and
inserted into a hole, a series of which are drilled into the sticks. Although these
are free from the defects pointed out in case of the previously described braces,
hey have the drawback that their position is fixed by the holes and the skeins cannot
be tightened exactly as may be required or the swift perfectly balanced, and the wire
ends having to be pressed out of the holes they are troublesome to adjust.

page_text: The object of my invention is to obviate these drawbacks which I effect by
making the braces of wire bent at each end into a complete eye and brazing or
soldering the two ends to the wire, or by continuing one end of the wire to the opposite
end and soldering or brazing the two ends together, forming two loops or eyes for the
stick and a double wire between them to receive the hank. This makes perfectly
smooth braces without any projecting ends or roughness that could entangle the threads,
possessing at the same time sufficient grip on the sticks, as the eyes are not flattened
in the direction of the brace, and being readily adjustable for tightening the skeins or
balancing the swift. In some cases I increase the grip by flattening the wire at the
ends before bending it so that when the eye is formed and brazed or soldered the
flattened side of the wire bears upon the sticks of the swift.
Dated this 20th day of June 1888.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Swifts of Reeling, Winding, and similar
Machines.
I, ENOCH RUSHTON, of Royal Depot Mills, Macclesfield, in the County of Chester,
Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
My invention relates to the swifts of reeling, winding, and similar machines, and
consists in improvements in the construction or manufacture of the braces tying
together the arms, spokes, or sticks of said swifts, my improvements being more
particularly applicable to swifts for silk, but also applicable to swifts generally.
On the sheet of drawings appended hereunto figs. 1 and 2 shew previously used
braces, and figs. 3, 4, and 5 my improved braces.
The ordinarily used braces consist of a loop of cord passed over the two sticks
forming the arms of the swift, and frequently cause silk threads, especially when dyed,
to become entangled in the cords and the knots of the cords, occasioning breakages of
the threads and extra knots in the yarn where the broken threads are tied up
again. These are very objectionable especially in warps for weaving, as the threads
are often broken at the knots by the reeds passing backwards and forwards. To remedy
this defect wire braces have been introduced, consisting of a single wire bent into
hooks at the ends, which hooks are flattened in the direction of the brace in order to
make them stiff and prevent them opening out, as shewn by fig. 1. These open ends of
said hooks however also frequently entangle the skeins and cause breakages and knots,
and the flattened hooks have not sufficient hold or grip upon the sticks to maintain their
position on them. Another kind of wire brace, shewn by fig. 2, is made by bending the
wire round the sticks and then bending the ends over the brace into the direction of the
sticks with a short piece at the extremity bent towards the stick and inserted into a hole,
a series of which are drilled into the sticks. Although these are free from the defects
pointed out in case of the previously described braces, they have the drawback that their
position is fixed by the holes, and the skeins cannot be tightened exactly as may
required, or the swift perfectly balanced, and the wire.ends having to be pressed out of
the holes they are troublesome to adjust.
The object of my invention is to obviate these drawbacks which I effect by making
the braces of wire bent at each end into a complete eye and brazing or soldering
the two ends to the wire, as shown by fig. 3, or by continuing one end of the wire to
the opposite end and soldering or brazing the two ends together, forming two loops or
eyes for the stick and a double wire between them to receive the hank as shewn
by fig. 4. This makes perfectly smooth braces without any projecting ends or
roughness that could entangle the threads, possessing at the same time sufficient
grip on the sticks, as the eyes are not flattened in the direction of the braces, aud

page_text: being readily adjustable for tightening the skeins or balancing the swift. In some
cases I increase the grip by flattening the wire at the ends before bending it so that
when the eye is formed and brazed or soldered, the flattened side of the wire bears
upon the sticks of the swift. This form of brace is shewn by fig. 5. The flattening
may also be applied to braces made as shewn by fig. 4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,
In swifts for reeling, winding, and similar machines.
Firstly, wire braces made substantially as herein described with reference to fig. 3
of the drawings.
Secondly, wire braces made substantially as herein described with reference to
fig. 4 of the drawings.
Thirdly, wire braces 'made substantially as herein described with reference to
fig. 5 of the drawings.
Dated this 18th day of March 1889
EMMOTT & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.