IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ADAM
COTTAM, of the firm of John Elce and Company, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Machine Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS in consequence of a communication made to me by Charles
Abegg, of Zurich, in the Republic of Switzerland, Machinist, who was and is a.
foreigner residing abroad, I became and am in possession of an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON
AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES:" And whereas Her present most Excellent
Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster,
the Second day of November now last past, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Adam Cottam, my exors, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence that I, the said Adam Cottam, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Adam Cottam, my exors, admors, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, the said Invention; in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, obliging me, the said Adam Cottam, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: recited Letters Patent, as in and by the said Letters Patent, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Adam
Cottam, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention consists,-
First, in certain combinations and arrangements of mechanism for doubling,
twisting, and winding slivers, drawings, or rovings of cotton or other fibrous
substances, so as to form 'a bobbin.
Secondly, in an improved spring for giving pressure to the pressers of roving
frames and other machines of the like nature.
Thirdly, in the application of vulcanized and mineralized india-rubber for
covering drawing rollers used in preparing and spinning cotton and other
fibrous substances.
And, lastly, in an improved method of driving the rim band or
pulley which
communicates motion to the spindles of self-acting mules, in which a mangle
wheel is used for working the carriage.
.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, and in order that the said
Invention may be better understood and readily carried into effect, 1 will
proceed to describe the two annexed Sheets of Drawings, in which the same
letters and figures of reference are placed upon corresponding parts in the
different views. The scales to which the various Figures are made are also
marked upon the Drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 represents a transverse sectional elevation of a machine
for doubling, twisting, and winding slivers, drawings, and rovings; Figure 2 is
a front elevation of the same; in this view only three spindles are shewn, but
the machine may be made with any convenient number. Figure 3 is a
detached plan view of the driving flange V, and spring upon which the flange
of the bobbin rests; Figure 4 is a plan view of the cap or cannon K, and
internal wheel K'; Figure 5 is a plan view of the circular discs Ę; Figure 6
is a plan view of the small discs O; and Figure 6* represents the position of
the coils forming the bobbin. In Sheet 2, Figure 7 is a front elevation of a
flyer, with an improved spring for giving pressure to the presser; Figure 8 is
a plan view of part of the pieces shewn in Figure 7; Figure 9 is à side view
of an implement on which vulcanized or mineralized india-rubber is distended,
previous to its surface being prepared for covering drawing rollers; Figure 10
is a top roller covered with vulcanized or mineralized india-rubber; and
Figure 11 is a side elevation of a mule headstock, shewing an improved mode

page_text: of giving motion to the rim band or pulley, which communicates motion to the,
spindles. In Figures 1 and 2, A, A; represent: the drawing rollers, provided
with-the top rollers A', A!; these drawing rollers are constructed in the usual.
manner, and they are set in motion from the twist shaft H by the train of
wheels shewn by red circles in Figure 1. In front of the drawing rollers are
placed the two delivering rollers-B, B, between which the fibres of cotton, wool,
or other fibrous substances: pass.. These fibres, form the slivers, drawings, or,
rovings after having been united, in the spouts C, and they are conducted by
these delivering rollers to the twisting and winding apparatus, which will be
explained hereafter. Near the upper part of the standards or frames D, I
have placed, a horizontal table D', which contains the circular discs or metal
plates E, seen detached in Figure 5. These plates are suspended by means of
a screw from and fixed to the lower part of the vertical tubes or cylinders F;
these latter carry near the top the skew bevil wheels G, which are driven by
similar wheels G, fixed upon a horizontal shaft H. . This shaft is necessarily
placed sideways, and communicates thus to each of the apparatus a continuous
rotatory motion, which is obtained from the driving shaft Y by means of inter-
mediate gearing, in the following manner:-On the shaft Y is fixed the pinion"
y, gearing into, the intermediate wheel y', which gives motion to the pinion h¹
fixed on the shaft H. The shaft H is thus, made to twist the slivers, drawings;
or rovings with the requisite rapidity. Upon each of the tubes. Fa, cannon or
cap K, seen detached in Figure 4, twins freely; this cap is of one piece with
the internal toothed wheel K. Upon the boss of the cap K is fixed the spur
pinion I, worked by the pinions M, which are. fixed to the mitre pinions, M¹:
These pinions are driven; by the pinions (L; placed, upon a horizontal shaft L,
parallel to the shaft H; this shaft also receives its motion from the shaft H
by means of spur, wheels, as will be explained presently. Into the internal
wheel K of the cap K gears a sinall' pinion N,,with a hole through its, centre,
and being of one piece with a cylindrical tube f, the neck of which is embraced
by a bush fixed into the upper portion of the plate E, see Figure 1. The lower
part of the tube f fits into the boss of the cylindrical disc O, placed on the
same level as the lower portion of the plate,E, but the axis of which is neces-
sarily eccentric, as shewn in, the vertical section in Figure 1. The disc O
performs, therefore, two continuous motions, the one round its centre, by means
of the pinion N, which is in gear with the internal wheel K of the cap: K, and
the other round the axis of the disc. or plate E, which carries it along in its
course. By this, arrangement the winding up is effected in the manner shewn
in Figure 6+, because the sliver, which on issuing from the delivering rollers-is

page_text: conducted into the tube F, passes through the same into the tube f, and
descends directly underneath the disc O, see Figure 6, through the small
opening a, near the circumference of the disc O, the velocity of which corre-
sponds with that of the delivering rollers B. In order to increase or diminish
the amount of twist and of the winding up, it is of course requisite that the
number of revolutions of the plate E, and those of the disc O, be either increased
or diminished. This is effected either by means of the pinions P and Q
(Figure 2), which are fixed near the ends of the shafts H and L, and which I
call change pinions, as they may be changed at will, to obtain all the requisite
correctness, even to the most minute gradations, through the intermediate
wheels R and R', which may likewise be changed along with the pinions.
Between the two cast-iron frames or standards D, which carry the horizontal
table D', there is a slide frame S, which moves vertically in the slots with
which the said standards are for that purpose provided. This slide frame is
suspended by means of the two chains C, to each of which a heavy counter-
poise T is attached, and which pass over guide pulleys, and over the chain
pulleys of the horizontal shaft u, at the extremity of which a handle. is
attached, which can be moved by hand. In the same slide frame S, and
immediately under each of the tubes F, are placed other discs V, seen detached
in Figure 3, with long bushes, through each of which passes a perpendicular
spindle W, and upon which a wooden dise V¹ is fitted, provided with a cast or
wrought iron centre, and a lug or pin, which drops into a slot or hole in the
disc V, in order that it may be carried along by the rotatory motion of the
latter. The upper surface of the driving disc V is furnished with a spring V2,
by which a slight degree of elasticity is given to the pressure caused by the
weights T. Each of the spindles W is furnished with a straight groove,
extending the whole of its length, for the feather which is to connect it with
the driving disc V, and for the wooden disc V₁ to slide in both upwards and
dowwards without changing its horizontal position. The rotatory motion
given to the driving disc V takes place in the same direction as that of the
upper disc E, and may be modified by the number of rings in each layer. This
motion is produced by means of the skew bevil wheel X, driven by the wheels
X', which are fixed upon a horizontal shaft X², which sets at the same time
all the others in motion. This shaft receives its own motion from the main
driving shaft Y, near the extremity of which is fixed the bevil wheel Y¹,
gearing into the wheel Z', fixed near the top of the vertical shaft Z. The
shaft Z has a groove cut in it from top to bottom, to receive a feather or key
fixed into the spur pinion Z, shewn by. red lines. in Figure 1. This pinion

page_text: moves up and down with the slide S, and gives motion to the pinion Z³, to
which is fixed the bevil pinion Z, gearing into a similar pinion on the shaft X²,
to which it communicates a continuous rotary motion. The pinions Z³ and Z*
are both loose on a stud forming part of the bearing of the shaft X. It is
easy to change the number of rings or circles forming each layer, according to
the thickness of the sliver, by changing the pinions Z³ and Z³. At the com-
mencement of each set of bobbins the wooden discs V' are pressed against the
discs E and O, and as the end of each sliver passes through the tube f, it is
inserted between the discs E and V₁; whilst these latter resolve, the small disc
O turns also upon its own axis, so that the sliver is wound up, as I have said,
in circles or rings, and in proportion as the delivery of the sliver takes place.
As the layers increase in number the bulk of cotton or other fibrous substance
that is being wound up overcomes the resistance caused by the weight T, and
the slide frame S is pushed downwards until the spindles, are full. The
lower extremity of each of the spindles W works in a socket let into the
shaft D, which is hinged at each end in the frames or standards D. The
shaft D has the two slot pieces D³ keyed to it, and to one of these pieces
the lever J. is fixed. The slots in the pieces D³ are held in a line with the
slots in the standards D by the hook J', which is hinged to the lever J, and
catches on the stud J, shewn by a dotted circle in Figure 1. When the
bobbins are full of slivers, drawings, or rovings, and the slide frame S has been
depressed until the ends of the said slide frame are held by the slot pieces D³,
the attendant unlatches the hook J¹ from the stud J, and pulls the bobbins
and parts in connection therewith into the position shown by blue lines.. The
full bobbins, with the flanges V₁ and spindles W are then removed, the lever J
brought back into its vertical position, and empty spindles and flanges are sub-
stituted instead of the full ones, and the attendant, by turning the handle at the
end of the shaft u, elevates the slide frame S, and brings the flanges V¹ into
contact with the under side of the disc E, or into the requisite position for again
starting the machine. The full bobbins or spindles are then placed in a
stationary position behind the jack frames, or other machines performing the
next operation, and the slivers, drawings, or rovings, forming the bobbins,
are drawn off over the ends of the spindles W.
The foregoing description and the accompanying Drawing will be sufficient to
illustrate one mode of forming bobbins according to the improved method; but
I wish it to be understood that many modifications may be made in constructing
the machine without departing from the nature of the Invention.
In Sheet 2, and, in Figures 7 and 8, I have shewn an improved spring
for giving pressure to the pressers of roving frames and other machines

page_text: of the like nature., a is the flyer, of the ordinary construction; and 6 is the
improved spring, consisting of a piece of steel wire, made square near its
upper extremity, where it is held by the bearing c, and passing freely through
the lower bearing'd; e is the presser, made fast to, the lower end of the
spring b. It will be evident to all persons conversant with machinery of this
class, that when the flyer is put on the spindle for which it is intended, the
presser e must be brought into its proper position, against the surface of the
bobbin to be filled; by so doing, a certain amount of tortion will be given to the
wire spring b, because the upper end thereof is made fast in the bearing c, and
this tortion will gradually increase according to the-increasing diameter of the
rovings that are wound on the bobbin. I wish to remark that flat or other
shaped springs may be used, and other means may be employed for securing
them to the flyer; but I prefer those shewn in, the, accompanying Drawing.
The next improvements which I will proceed to describe consist in covering
the drawing rollers of machinery used in preparing and spinning cotton and
other fibrous substances with vulcanized or mineralized india-rubber. For this
purpose.it is necessary to obtain a tube of the vulcanized or mineralized india-
rubber of a convenient. length and suitable thickness, .but of a somewhat
smaller size in the inner part than the diameter of the roller.to be covered. An
instrument of the kind ordinarily used in covering rollers is then introduced
into one end of this tube, for the purpose of stretching or enlarging the said end
to an extent greater than the diameter of those parts of the rollers requiring to
be covered; this increased extent must bear a proportion to the various sizes of
rollers to be covered. A round block of wood. or metal, marked fin Figure 9,
is then passed through the tube of india-rubber, so as to keep it in this distended
state after the instrument' used for enlarging it has been withdrawn; the india-
rubber tube with the block f is then immersed in strong. nitric acid, having
bismuth or other sustable metal dissolved in it, for the purpose of giving a
smooth surface to the outer part of, the india-rubber tube, and in order to
prevent the cotton or other fibrous substance to be drawn from lapping or
adhering to it. The vulcanized or mineralized india-rubber tube, after being
prepared in the above-described manner, or in any other way; or in its original
state, without having its surface prepared, is removed from the block, cut into
the lengths required, and placed, by means of the instrument generally used in
covering rollers, upon those portions of the drawing rollers that require to be
covered. It will then be found, that, owing to the. contraction of the india-
rubber tube, arising from the block f being larger than the roller to be covered,
shewn in Figure 10, the outer surface. of the india-rubber will be granulated,

page_text: and this granulated surface may be rendered smoother, if requisite, by polish-
ing in a lathe with plumbago, or by varnishing. The advantages resulting
from the use of vulcanized of mineralized india-rubber. for "covering.drawing.
rollers are the following: The draught on the sliver is more uniform, owing to
the greater elasticity, and, as they require less pressure than drawing rollers of
the ordinary construction, there will be less pressure on the bearings, and con-
sequently a saving of power for driving the machines; and as the vulcanized or
mineralized india-rubber coverings are more durable than others, there will be
a proportionate saving..
Figure 11 represents an improvement in mules, by which the velocity
of the rim band or pulley for driving the spindles may be regulated with
greater facility than in the mules of the ordinary construction. h is the
driving pulley of a mule, known to persons conversant with machinery
for spinning cotton as Smith's patent, self-acting mule; i is another pulley on
the same shaft, which gives motion to the pulley k on the shaft 1, by means of
a crossed strap; m is' afspur wheel on the shaft gearing into an intermediate
wheel n, which drives the wheel o on the same shaft as the rim band or grooved
pulley p, from whence the spindles are driven in the usual manner. By
changing the relative diameters of either or both the wheels m and n, it is
evident that any suitable speed may be given to the pulley.p without altering
the speed of those parts of the mule which do not require to be varied.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention,-and-the manner in which
the same may be carried into effect, I declare that I claim,-
First, the combination and arrangement of mechanism herein-before
> described, and shewn in Sheet 1 of the Drawings, for doubling, twisting, and
winding slivers, drawings, or rovings, and the arrangement of apparatus for
doffing the full bobbins or spindles, or any modification of the same.
Secondly, I claim the spring 6, shewn in Figures 7 and 8, when used for
applying pressure to the pressers of flyers of roving frames, and of other
machines of the like nature.
Thirdly, I claim the application of vulcanized and mineralized india-rubber
to the covering of drawing rollers used in preparing and spinning cotton and
other fibrous substances, whether the said vulcanized or mineralized india-
rubber be used in its original state or with its surface suitably prepared.
And, lastly, I claim the application of gearing for driving the rim band or
grooved pulley by which the spindles are set in motion in self-acting mules,
when a mangle wheel is used for working the carriage.
And this my Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's

page_text: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called, England, Her Dominion of
Wales, and 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 do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to the
said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Adam Cottam, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this
day of
, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
Enrolled the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundered and fifty.