CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING, DOUBLING, AND TWISTING SILK AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1830

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEEDHAM, of Longnor, in the County of Stafford, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bear-
ing date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of December, in the first year of
His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Needham, His especial licence, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Needham, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Needham, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make.
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING,
DOUBLING, AND TWISTING SILK AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Needham, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Needham, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist in an improved machine by which the operations of spinning, doubling,
and twisting are carried on at the same time and in one machine; and in fur-
ther compliance with the said proviso, I, the said William Needham, do hereby

page_text: describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed by the
following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawing annexed,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING:
Figure 1 is a front elevation of one of my said machines. A, B, are two
bobbins of raw silk: C, D, are two wire eyes or guides fastened into sliding
pieces of wood E and F, which have an adjusting screw at the back, in order
that by raising the eye higher or lower from the bobbin the thread may be
brought at a greater or less angle over the cap, or perhaps it would be better
to say with a shorter or longer nip over the edge of the cap of the bobbin,
thereby causing a greater or less resistance to the unwinding of the silk from
the bobbin as ocension may require. From the eyes C, D, it will be seen that
the threads ascend and pass over the angular piece of tin or saddle G, over
which the threads meet, and are twisted into organzine by the twist machine,
or rather, I should say the twist gear at H, as this twist gear will be further
explained hereafter; and I shall only here observe that I is what I call the
twist bobbin for taking up the organzine, and that the same gear that twists
the two threads of silk into one thread of organzine, also winds them when.so
twisted on to the said twist bobbin.
Figure 2 is a view of the twist gear of full size, with a part of the neck
shown in section, the better to exhibit the internal arrangement. J is a per-
pendicular fixed spindle, screwed firmly into the top front rail of the frame as
shown at H, in the last Figure; the bottom of this spindle is furnished with an
endless screw or worm K, occupying the centre of a small oil chamber, which
is fed through the hole L when it requires to be replenished. m is a horizontal
shaft, furnished with pinions n and o, one at each end; the pinion n works
round the endless screw K, and drives itself thereby, and the pinion o com-
municates the necessary motion to the twist bobbin I by means of the spur
gear P and Q. At the opposite end of the shaft of the twist bobbin is other
spur gear T and V, communicating with the horizontal toothed wheel S,
which moves a crank guide wire, for laying the thread evenly on the twist
bobbin, in manner shewn in by the Drawing.
Figure 3 is a plan of the horizontal toothed wheol, wire guide, and crank,
which sufficiently shows how this motion is obtained from the spur gear T
and V. This Figure is also of the full size. But to return to Figure 2, W is a
driving pulley fast on the cylinder or tube and frame X, X, X, X, X; when
therefore motion is given to this pully, it drives the whole frame, twist bobbin,
spur gear, and all, round any given number of times required in a minute, while

page_text: the pinion n, being thus driven round the endless screw K, gives motion to the
spur gear at the same tinie; and it will be observed that the shaft m is fur-
nished with a piece of leather at Y, where it passes out of the oil chamber, to
act as a sort of stuffing box to prevent the two rapid escape of the oil out of
the oil chamber.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the machine, shewing the general arrange-
ment of the driving pullies, and the mode by which the machine is thrown out
of gear by the breaking of either of the single threads. No. 1 is the main
driving pulley. No. 2, the pulley that drives the bobbins. No. 3, the pulley
that drives the pulley W; and it may be as well here to observe that similar
letters are used to denote similar parts in all the Figures, which prevents the
necessity of repeating the description in each Figure.
gear
when
I will now describe the apparatus for throwing the machine out of
a thread breaks. a, e, is a balance lever turning on the fulcrum f, and heaviest
at the end a, and which therefore, if not acted upon by a weight at the end c,
would remain in the position shown by the dotted lines; but g is a wire with an
eye at each end, one passing over the top of the pin h, with a shoulder to support
it, and the other resting on a cross bearing R, Fig. 9, over the saddle G, at the
end e of the lever a, e. The threads from the bobbins pass over the saddle, and
are then passed through the eye of the wire, thus keeping the wire exactly over
the saddle upon which it rests, and thus by its weight keeps it in the position
shown in this Figure; but if either of the threads break, the other, drawing
into a straight line, pulls the wire with it to whichever side remains unbroken,
and the moment the wire is pulled off the saddle, which thereby becomes
relieved from its weight, the end e of the lever rises and the end a drops into
a position ready to act upon the mechanical contrivance Z, which I will now
proceed to explain, and which throws the machine at once out of gear. Z is
a spring catch let into the main driving pulley, and as it will be better
described by the following Figures, I shall only observe here that j is a stud or
arm fixed to the catch, and when pulled out releases the pully from the main
driving shaft, and throws the machine out of gear. Now this act of pulling.
out of the arm j is performed by the angle head of the arm a of the lever a, e,
which, when in the position shown by the dotted lines, forces itself (for the
pulley turns round in a direction towards it) between the stud or arm j, and
the side of the pulley (t being a friction plate fixed to the pully for the angle
head to act against), and thus forces out the stud and withdraws the catch,
thus releasing the pully from the driving shaft.
I will now explain the next Figure, which will show how the main driving
pully is made a fast and loose pully at pleasure.

page_text: Figure 5 is a view of the opposite side of the driving pulley to that shown in
the last Figure. is the driving shaft, and on this shaft it will be seen is an
iron wheel with four arms fixed firmly on the shaft. Z is the spring.catch,
the bolt of which, when the stud j, mentioned in the last Figure, is pressed.in
by the hand or by a lever for that purpose, catches or acts against one or other
of the arms of the iron wheel before mentioned. In this Figure y represents
the bolt acting against the arm u, and when in this position, the iron wheel,
being driven round in the direction shown by the arrow, of course carries the
pully round with it; but when the bolt Y is withdrawn, as before described,
the pully being loose on the main driving shaft, of course the, whole machine is
thrown out of gear.
Figure 6 is a side view of the spring catch, drawn to the full size. p is the
spring against which the back of the catch or bolt acts.
Figure 7 is a plan of the spring, catch, y being the bolt or catching part,
which, when in the projecting position here drawn, acts against the arm of the
iron wheel, but which, when in the position shown by tho dotted lines, allows
the wheels to turn round without driving the pulley, with it.
Figure 8 is a plan of the main driving pulley, showing the manner in which
the angle head of the arm a of the lever a, e, acts upon the bolt j of the spring
catch Z.
Fig. 9 is a plan of the saddle, showing the cross, bearing R, on which the
wire g rests.
Now whereas I claim as my Invention the twist gear herein-before de-
scribed, and tho contrivance for throwing the machine out of gear either of the
threads from the bobbins breaks, and such my Invention being, to the best of
my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used within that part
of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, His said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I
do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily
believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects,, fully and without
reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent contained; wherefore: I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right
and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Needham, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Thirteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
WILLIAM (L.s.) NEEDHAM:

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1831, the aforesaid William Needham came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.
Inrolled the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.
Lord One