AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WARPS FOR THE MANU- FACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Luke Turner, of Leicester, in the County of
Leicester, Elastic Fabric Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF AND MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WARPS FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS."
Sealed the 4th September 1874, and dated the 9th March 1874.
1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Luke Turner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1874.
I, LUKE TURNER, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Elastic
Fabric Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WARPS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of an improved mode of and machinery for preparing
warps for the manufacture of elastic fabrics relates to that class of goods.
in which elastic strands covered with any fibrous substance, such as
cotton or silk, are employed to form the warps or groundwork of the:
fabric to be produced. When covered elastic strands have been, used for..

page_text: such purposes they have usually been covered singly and then subse
quently made into a warp. This mode of working consumes much time,
is therefore expensive, and morcover there is a liability of all the clastic
strands not being of the same tension; that is, in the weaving operation
some strands will be stretched more than others, and consequently when
the fabric collapses the surface will be irregular in appearance.
.
These objections are effectually avoided by my improvements, and in
carrying out my Invention the elastic strands are drawn off the beam.or
roller and passed through a reed or other equivalent device for the
purpose of keeping them at the proper distance apart. They then pass
over a tension roller and are conducted to a series of bobbins and flyers,
whereby the cotton, silk, or other thread on the bobbins is whipped or
laid round the clastic strands. The covered strands then pass round
another tension roller, and from thence are conducted to the warp roller
or rollers on which they are wound.
I would here remark that instead of the covering threads of cotton,
silk, or other fibre being wound round all the elastic strands in the same
direction as heretofore the covering of every alternate strand is laid
round in opposite directions, so that any irregularity of tension in the
strands will be neutralized.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Luke Turner in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th September 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,' LUKE
TURNER, of Leicester, Elastic Fabric Manufacturer, sond-greeting.
.
"
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Luke Turner, Her special licence
that I, the said Luke Turner, my executors, administrators, and assigns,.
or such others as I, the said Luke Turner, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WARPS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Luke Turner, my
cxccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and scals, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Luke Turner, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bö
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained-in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to
say):
My Invention of an improved mode of and machinery for preparing
warps for the manufacture of clastic fabrics relates to that class of goods
in which clastic strands covered with any fibrous substance, such as
cotton or silk, are employed to form the warps or groundwork of the
fabric to be produced. When covered elastic strands have been used for
such purposes they have usually been covered singly and then subsc-
quently made into a warp. This mode of working consumes much time,
and is therefore expensive, moreover there is a liability of the elastic
strands not being all of the same tension or stretched to the same extent.
It is well known that if in the warping and weaving operations some of
the strands are stretched more than others, the surface of the woven
fabric when it collapses will be irregular and uneven in appearance.
These objections are effectually avoided by my improved mode of
producing or preparing covered elastic warps, as all the clastic strands:
will be of uniform tension.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section.
of the machine whereby I am enabled to carry out my Invention; Fig. 2
is a front elevation of part of the machine showing a few of the covering.
bobbins and flyers, of which any convenient nuniber (according to tho

page_text: width of fabric intended to be produced) may be arranged in one
machine for covering elastic warps.
The elastic strands are drawn off the bobbins or rollers a, a, on which
they are wound in their normal state of tension and are passed through a
reed or other equivalent device 6 for the purpose of keeping them at the
proper distance apart. They are then passed (two or three times) round
a tension roller c, and are conducted to a series of fixed hollow spindles d,
up through which the elastic strands pass, and to which are adapted the
bobbins e, which are carried round the elastic strands by the gearing f
below, so that the cotton, silk, or other thread on the bobbins e is
whipped or laid round the elastic strands at or near the point where they
pass through the fixed eyes g.
In Figures 1 and 2 I have shewn only one whipping or covering
thread e adapted to the fixed spindle & for covering such clastic strand.
Elastic strands covered by only one thread may be used for weaving
various kinds of clastic fabrics, but for some kinds of elastic fabrics it
will be found advisable to more completely cover the clastic strands, for
which purpose I sometimes employ and adapt to each spindle d two
whipping or covering threads, as indicated by dotted lines at e* in Fig. 1.
Should one of the covering threads of the bobbins e break it will be
necessary to stop the machine instantly until the defect is repaired. This
is done automatically in the same way as a braiding machine is stopped
when one of the braiding threads breaks. It has been stated that the
elastic strands pass up through the fixed hollow spindles d to the eye g,
near which point the covering threads are laid round the elastic strands,
but such covering threads instead of passing through the eyes i, i¹, of
the flyer arm j direct to the point g, Fig. 1, are conducted from the
upper eye of the flyer arm to the cye of a short lever k, and from
thence down the tubular spindle of the bobbin e, in which is a weight
suspended on the covering thread. So long as this thread remains
unbroken the weight will be held up in the tubular spindle of the
bobbin e, but immediately the thread breaks the weight will drop down
and project below the lower end of the hollow spindle, and as it is carried
round it will come in contact with a rod or bar, and by driving the same
forward will throw the driving band on to the loose pulley and thereby
stop the machine. As this automatic stopping gear forms no part of my
present Invention, and is very similar in construction and operation to:

page_text: that used for an analogous purpose in braiding machines, I have not
considered it necessary to shew it in detail in the Drawings.
Instead of the bobbin and flyer arrangement just described and shewn
at Figures 1 and 2 the bobbin on which the cotton, silk, or other covering
thread is wound may be mounted on the fixed spindle d, through which
the clastic strand passes as shewn in the detached view, Fig. 3. The
covering thread in this arrangement is drawn off the bobbin e and passed
through an eye i, Fig. 3, on the vertical flyer arm j, from whence it
passes to another eye at the top of the vertical flyer arm j, which is
carried round the elastic strand by the gearing as in the former instance,
and thereby laps the covering thread round the elastic strand. A
stopping device may be adapted to this arrangement by suspending from
the thread (after it is passed through the lower eye i of the flyer arm ;)
a long weight 7 which extends down through the plate on which the
bobbin e is mounted. While the thread remains whole the weight will
be held up, but when the thread breaks the weight will drop, as indi
cated by dots in Fig. 3, and by coming in contact with a rod will throw
the driving band off the fast pulley and will stop the machine, as in the
former instance.
.
The clastic strands covered in either of these manners will then pass
from the eye g, Figures 1 and 2, to another tension roller h, around
which they will be wound two or three times, and from thence are con-
ducted to the warp roller or beam, not shewn in the Drawing, but on
which they are wound. The covered elastic warps are thus prepared
ready to be placed in the loom for weaving.
I would here remark that instead of the covering threads of cotton,
silk, or other fibre being wound round all the clastic strands in the same
direction as heretofore, the covering of every alternate strand is laid
round it in opposite directions, so that any irregularity of tension in the
strands or tendency of the strands to twist or curl when woven in the
fabric will be neutralized.
The covering bobbins and spindles are arranged (for convenience) in
two rows one behind the other, as shewn at Fig. 1, and all the toothed
wheels f of each row are geared together so that contiguous bobbins are
|driven in opposite directions.
.
If it be desired to drive all the bobbins in the same direction, then
intermediate toothed wheels must be employed, as is well known to every

page_text: intelligent mechanic. I however prefer that the covering threads of
every alternate strand should be laid in opposite directions for the reason
already mentioned.
I would here observe that the clastic strands must be covered while
they are in a state of tension, and in order to stretch them to the desired
extent and in an uniform manner a much quicker motion is imparted to
the tension or stretching roller than to the roller c below, which simply
acts as a holding roller, and gives off the elastic strands at a slow but
uniform speed. The upper roller on the other hand (while also rotating
at an uniform speed) rotates much quicker, and has a surface speed of
from five to ten times that of the lower roller, so that the elastic strands
before they are covered will be stretched to from five to ten times their
original length according to the particular purpose for which the covered
strands are intended to be employed.
The particular kind of gearing whereby the desired speeds may be
imparted to the rollers e and may be properly left to the discretion of
the machine maker, I have not therefore considered it necessary to shew
it in the Drawings, as it may be varied considerably without departing
from the nature and object of my Invention; I will therefore only say
that the mode I have found most convenient of obtaining the desired
speeds consists in communicating motion from the driving shaft by
means of bevil gear to a shaft, on the upper end of which is a snail or
worm, which gears
into and drives a worm wheel on the axle of tho
stretching roller 7. On the opposite end of this axle is a differential
grooved pulley provided with a band which drives a similar differential
grooved pulley mounted in bearings at the lower part of the machine.
On the axle of this second grooved pulley is another snail or worm,
which gears
into a
worm wheel on the axle of the holding roller c,
which is therefore driven at a much slower speed than the roller h
above.
It will now be understood that as motion is transmitted from the axle
of the stretching roller to the giving-off or holding roller c by means
of differential grooved pullies there is every facility for varying the
proportionate speeds of the two rollers c and has may be desired by
merely changing the position of the driving band on the grooved
pullics.
Having now described my Invention of "An Improved Mode of and
Machinery for Preparing Warps for the Manufacture of Elastic Fabrics,"

page_text: and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
Preparing elastic warps by first subjecting all the strands to the same
uniform tension so that they shall all be stretched to the same extent,
then covering them while in a stretched state with silk, cotton, or other
fibrous material, and finally winding the covered elastic strands in their
stretched state on to a suitable beam. or roller ready to be placed in the
loom for weaving in the ordinary manner.
I also claim covering the alternate strands of which elastic warps are
composed with cotton, silk, or other fibrous material wound thereon in
opposite directions, as and for the purposes herein set forth.
I further claim the arrangement and construction of parts herein
described and shewn, or any mere modification thereof, for simultaneously
covering all the several strands of elastic warps with fibrous material
while such strands are in a stretched or extended state.
In witness whereof, I, the said Luke Turner, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Seventh day of September in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.