IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING FLAX AND Tow
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Stevenson, of Dungannon, County of
Tyrone, Spinner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR SPINNING FLAX AND Tow."
Sealed the 8th July 1858, and dated the 24th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Stevenson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th January 1853.
I, JOHN STEVENSON, of Dungamon, County Tyrone, Spinner, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR SPINNING FLAX AND Tow" to be as follows :—
My improvements consist in forming the bobbins and flyers of flax
and tow spinning machinery in a conical shape, the bobbin being built
up in this peculiar form instead of that usually adopted, & the motion
of the builder being so regulated as to wind the thread on to the bobbin
in the requisite proportions at each point to produce this effect. The
wag on the bobbin is so governed by means of the sliding rail in front
of the builder that it shall be greatest when the builder rises to the top
of its traverse and the thread is being wound on to the thick part of

page_text: the bobbin. The upper ends of the flyers are pierced with guide grooves
for the threads, which are brought down perpendicularly from the
drawing rollers, instead of at an angle, as customary. The use of these
guide grooves enables the threads to be held steady without the employ-
ment of thread plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Stevenson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd July 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN STEVENSON, of Dungannon, County of Tyrone, Spinner, send
greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Stevenson, Her special licence
that I, the said John Stevenson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as -T, the said John-Stevenson, 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
MACHINERY FOR SPINNING FLAX AND Tow." upon the condition (amongst
others) that 1, the said John Stevenson, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 John Stevenson, 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

page_text: the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings annexed,
that is to say:
My improvements consist in forming the bobbins and flyers. of
flax and tow spinning machinery of a conical shape, the bobbin being
built up in this peculiar form instead of that usually adopted. The
motion of the. builder is so regulated as to wind the thread on to the
bobbin in the requisite proportions at each point to produce this effect,"
and the drag on the bobbin is so governed by means of the sliding rail in
front of the builder that it shall be greatest when the builder rises to
the top of its traverse and the thread is being wound on to the thick
part of the bobbin. The upper ends of the flyers are pierced. with guide
grooves for the threads, which are brought down perpendicularly from
the drawing rollers, instead of at an angle, as customary; and the use
of these guide grooves enables the threads to be held steady without
the employment of thread plates.
Figure 1, of the Drawings annexed is a sectional elevation of so much
of an ordinary spinning frame arranged according to my Invention as
will enable me to make my improvements clearly understood; and
Figure 2, represents my improved bobbin and flyer detached. a. is
part of the framework; b, the step rail, in' which are formed the foot
bearings of the bobbin spindles c, c; d, the neck rail, with the necessary
bearings for the upper parts of the spindles & c; c, the builder, with
sliding rail e, in front, over which the drag, bands, and weights hang.
This sliding rail (is notched on its upper edge, as shewn, and is con-
nected to the builder e, by pins passing into the slots e", so that it is
free to move endwise when acted on as herein-after explained. The
sliding rail acts in a similar manner to what was described in the
Specification of a Patent for England, granted to me the Twenty-third
day of March, Oie. thousand eight hundred and fifty, but receives
motion in a different manner, so that the greatest amount of drag is
exerted by it on the drag bands, and by them on the bobbins, when the
builder rises to the top of its traverse and the thread is being wound
on the thick part of the bobbin. This motion is obtained by the follow-
ing arrangement: is a small lever connected to the builder e, by a
joint g, on which it works, and to the sliding rail el, by a pin h. The
.

page_text: upper end of the lever f, is furnished with a friction pulley, which runs
in the groove, formed in or bolted on the end framing a. As the
builder rises it carries up the sliding rail, which, by means of the lever
f, and its friction roller in the groove i, is shifted endwise, and thus
draws the drag bands tighter on the bobbins, and as it falls and the
thread comes to the small part of the bobbin, the sliding rail is drawn
back, relaxing the drag on the bobbin gradually and regularly until the
builder reaches the bottom of its traverse, when the drag is again
increased as before. k. k, are the drag weights attached to bands or
cords m, m, which pass over the sliding rail e', in the notches on its upper
edge, and produce a drag on the bobbins by running against pulleys
attached to them, which are grooved to receive the cords as shown at p².
Figure 2: n, n, are wharves or pulleys on the bobbin spindles c, c, by
which they are driven; 0, 0, are grooves or slots in the top of the flyers,
through which the threads p, p, are conducted perpendicularly from the
drawing rollers (not seen in the Drawings) to the eyes in the legs of
flyers. I employ these grooves or slots instead of the tubes described.
in my former Patent, and am thus enabled to hold the threads steady
without the aid of a thread plate. Figure 2, represents one of my
improved bobbins with the conical flyer detached from the machine.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,―
The employment in machinery for spinning flax and tow of conical
flyers and conical bobbins in combination with arrangements for regu-
lating the drag on the bobbins and threads, as represented in the
Drawings and herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Stevenson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOHN STEVENSON. (L.S.).