IMPROVED METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPINNING SILK AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lako
& Co Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an invention of
"IMPROVED METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPINNING SILK AND OTHER
MATERIALS A communication from abroad by Messieurs Louis Martin and
Company, of Lyons, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th April 1882.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVED METHODS OF, AND APPARATUS FOR,
SPINNING SILK AND OTHER MATERIALS [A communication from abroad by
Messieurs Louis Martin and Company, of Lyons, France.]
"
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for spinning silk as it comes
from the cocoons, either alone or in combination with other threads.
The object of the said invention is to simplify the spinning operations in order
to permit of the employment of comparatively unskilled persons, further to complete
these operations by directly obtaining threads with the twist required for the
weft, or the first spinning for the warp or chain; and also to enable the silk to be
spun, by the same apparatus, around any kind of textile thread so as to completely
cover it. These different results are obtained in the manner and by means of the
apparatus hereinafter described.
According to the said invention I provide a tube or flyer which is placed
vertically above a basin and to which is imparted a rapid rotary motion. This
tube or flyer is furnished at its upper end with a wooden funnel, and at its lower
end with a disc of metal, wood, or other suitable material. This disc is provided
on its periphery with a notch, the object of which is to carry the thread,
presented by the operator, against a fixed knife which cuts it at the required
moment.
The silk fibres from the cocoons pass through two rings of porcelain or other
ware fixed in the ends of the said flyer and are then wound upon a reel or winder
bearing upon the interior surface of the wooden funnel as they pass therefrom. In

page_text: their passage through the said tube or flyer the threads or fibres are assembled and
wound together by means of the rapid rotation of the tube, they then receive upon
the surface of the wooden funnel a progressive twisting movement, produced by
friction from the centre to the circumference, which, without weakening them,
gives them all the regularity and polish which can be obtained by the ordinary
methods of twisting or doubling, which reduces the strength of the silk.
The winder or reel and the flyer receive motion from a pulley with two grooves,
fixed upon a main shaft provided with a clutch so that by a single movement the
motion of the reel and flyer can be stopped. The flyer is driven by a cord passing
over two guide-pulleys mounted upon the ends of spring plates thus forming very
sensitive tightening pulleys, which prevent any vibration of the said cord.
The apparatus as herein before described is arranged for spinning silk alone, but
it may also be made to spin silk with any other material forming the coarse thread
over which the silk is to be wound. This may be effected by the addition of a
conducting tube which is fixed upon the edge of the basin and the front part of
which pusses through the liquid in the basin until it arrives under the centre of the
flyer. The thread of other material which is upon a bobbin, passes through a
thread-guide and then through the conducting tube, and the flyer, within which it
is-covered by the threads or fibres-of-silk-which are caused to pass through with it.
In order to ensure regularity in the covering_and_nt the same time-employ_as_
little silk as possible, the thread may be covered in two operations, that is to say,
when the thread which has received part of its covering in the first flyer comes
from the corresponding funnel, it is passed through another thread-guide and
-returns-into-a second flyer passing through a second conducting tube, which need
not be moistened like the first. The thread pusses out of the second flyer after
being covered with the additional threads or fibres of silk. This division of the
operation between two Olyers facilitates the supervision which is thon required upon
two groups of cocoons, and contributes to the perfection of the product.
According to another modification the apparatus consists essentially of a vertical
tube or flyer which is placed above a basin, and a second tubular guide shorter
than the first, and placed in the same plane as the first at any suitable distance.
This second tube carries at its lower part a ring of porcelain or other ware and a
cone or funnel similar to that of the flyer. To these two tubes rapid rotary motion
is imparted, in opposite directions, by means of pulleys. The textile thread coming
from a bobbin passes into a basin below the cocoons and then vertically through
the flyer, then through the other tube to a reel or winder or directly on to a bobbin
which receives rotary motion.
In the first described arrangement, if it is desired to obtain by means of the
apparatus the twist or first spinning, either of silk, alone or mixed with other
material, the lower disc is made of wood and the threads are passed over a small
fixed guide-plate or tongue which brings them into a suitable position in relation
to the conical interior of the said disc. The friction upon this disc gives a first
twist to the threads or fibres which is completed by the upper cone or funnel, and
the threads thus obtained may be employed for weft or warp according to their
nature.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th October 1882.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVED METHODS OF, AND APPARATUS FOR,
SPINNING SILK AND OTHER MATERIALS"-A communication from abroad by
Messieurs Louis Martin and Company, of Lyons, France.
The objects of this invention are to simplify spinning operations in order to
permit the employment of comparatively unskilled operatives; to complete these
operations by directly obtaining threads with the twist required for the weft, or
the first spinning for the warp or chain; and to enable the silk to be spun, by the
same apparatus, around any kind of textile thread so as to completely cover the
BILme.
According to the said invention those different results are obtained in the manner
and by means of the apparatus hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawing is illustrated the apparatus which I prefer to
employ in carrying the said invention into practice.
In Figures 1 and 2, a represents a tube or flyer which is placed vertically above
a basin b, and to which a rapid rotary motion is imparted by any suitable means.
This tube or flyer is furnished, at its upper end, with a wooden funnel or cone c
and at its lower end with a disc c of metal, wood, or other suitable material. This
disc is provided on its periphery with a notch, the object of which is to carry the
thread, presented by the operativo, against a fixed knife e which cuts it at the
required moment.
The silk fibres from the cocoons pass through two rings of porcelain or other
waro fixed in the ends of the said flyer, and are then wound upon a reel or winder f,
bearing upon the interior surface of the wooden funnel d as they pass therefrom.
In their passage through the said tube or flyer the threads or fibres are assembled
and wound together by means of the rapid rotation of the tube; they then receive
upon the surface of the wooden funnel or cone da progressive twisting movement
produced by friction, from the centre to the circumference of the said cone, which,
without weakening them, gives them all the regularity and polish that can be
obtained by the ordinary methods of twisting or doubling which reduces the strength
of the silk.
The winder or reel, and the flyer, receive motion from a pulley g with two
grooves, fixed upon the main shaft by means of a clutch so that by a single move-
ment the motion of the reel and flyer can be arrested. The flyer is driven by a
cord passing over two guide-pulleys i mounted upon the ends of spring plates,
thus forming very sensitive tightening pulleys which prevent any vibration of the
said cord.
The apparatus as herein before described is arranged for spinning silk alone, but
it may also be made to spin silk with any other material forming the core or coarse
thread over which the silk is to be wound. The flyer No 1, in Figure 2, is arranged
to effect this result by the addition of a conducting tube m which is fixed upon the
edge of the basin and the front part of which passes through the liquid in the basin
until it arrives under the centre of the flyer. The thread around which the silk is to
be wound and which is contained upon a bobbin n, passes through a thread-guide
and then through the conducting tube m and the flyer, within which it is covered
by the threads or fibres of silk which are caused to pass through with it. In order
to ensure regularity in the covering, and at the same time to employ as little silk
as possible, the thread is sometimes covered in two operations, that is to say, when
the thread which has received part of its covering in the first flyer comes from the
corresponding funnel or cone, it is passed through another thread-guide rand

page_text: returns into flyer No 2, Figure 2, passing through a second conducting tube m¹
which need not be moistened like the first. The thread passes out of the second
flyer after being covered with the additional threads or fibres of silk. This
division of the operation between two flyers facilitates the supervision which is
then required upon two groups of cocoons, and contributes to the perfection of the
product.
According to the modification of the said apparatus illustrated in Figure 3, I
employ a vertical tube or flyer a which is placed above a basin, and a second
tubular guide shorter than the first, and placed in the same plane as the first at any
suitable distance therefrom. This second tube carries at its lower part a ring of
porcelain or other ware and a cone or funnel similar to that of the flyer. To these
two tubes rapid rotary motion is imparted, in opposite directions, by means of
pulleys 8, 81, 81, 8. The textile thread coming from the bobbin f passes into the
basin below the cocoons and then vertically through the flyer, then through the
other tube to a reel or winder or directly on to a bobbin which receives rotary
motion in the proper proportion to that of the tubes.
The textile thread being attached to the reel, the tubes or flyers and the reel are
-set-in-motion.;_at the same time the threads or fibres of silk from the cocoons are
placed upon the said textile thread-below_the_disc which imparts motion to them.
The two concs impart by friction-a-rapid-rotary motion to the-textile thread so
that the latter receives a twist more or less strong and rapid as the adherence and
the speed are greater or less, and thus the complete winding of the threads or fibres
of silk around the textile thread is effected. The two cones D, E, serve simply to
effect the twisting by friction, and produce a winding of the silk which polishes it
while imparting the necessary twist thereto. The textile thread only preserves a
part of the twist which it thus receives.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 2, if it is desired to obtain, by means of the
apparatus, the twist or first spinning of silk either alone or mixed with other
material, the lower disc c is made of wood and the threads are passed over a small
fixed guide-plate or tongue p which brings them into a suitable position in relation
to the conical interior of the said disc. The friction upon this disc gives a first
twist to the threads or fibres which is completed by the upper cone or funnel, and
the threads thus obtained may be employed for weft or warp according to their
Dature.
It is evident that the effects above described, as regards either twisting or
polishing the thread, will vary with the speed of rotation and the diameters of the
funnel and disc.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim:
First. The improved methods above described of spinning or twisting silk and
other materials by means of friction, designed for either winding threads or fibres
of silk around any kind of textile thread by a movement of rotation imparting a
twist to the latter, or obtaining directly threads of silk with the twist necessary
for the weft or the first spinning of the warp or chain.
Second. The improved apparaiss above described, having the tubes or flyers
with their friction-cones and discs for rowing the threads.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twentieth day of October in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.