CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON, SILK, FLAX, AND OTHER FIBROUS. MATERIALS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
SHARP, of Manchester, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, and RICHARD
ROBERTS, of the same Place, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of October, in the fifth year of his reign, did, for
himself, his heirs, and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Thomas
Sharp and Richard Roberts, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that we, the said Thomas Sharp and Richard Roberts, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Sharp and
Richard Roberts, our executors, administrators, 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, an
Invention communicated to us by a certain foreigner residing abroad, for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON,
SILK, FLAX, AND OTHER FIBROUS. MATERIALS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso. that we, the said Thomas Sharp and Richard Roberts,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Thomas Sharp and Richard Roberts, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say):-
These improvements in machinery for spinning and doubling cotton, silk,
flax, and other fibrous materials, consist, firstly, in a peculiar construction or
arrangement of the parts of a throstle frame for spinning and doubling; secondly,
in the adaptation of upright drums, for driving the warves or whirls of both the
spindles and the flyers by distinct bands in a throstle frame; thirdly, in peculiar
modes of mounting and driving the bobbins and the flyers in a throstle, for the
purpose of causing them to revolve with distinct and dissimilar speeds; and,
fourthly, in the adaptation of a peculiarly formed spiral guide, sliding round a
circular bead, which guide is intended to act as a flyer in a throstle frame con-
structed to suit it. For the purpose of more clearly illustrating these improve-
ments, we have hereto appended several Drawings, exhibiting the complete
throstle frame in different positions, with the situations of the upright driving
drums and of the bobbins and flyers, and the manner in which they are actuated;
also, sectional Figures of the bobbins and flyers detached from the machine,
and likewise of a spindle with a pin-cop bobbin, and the spiral guide in place
of a flyer, with the manner of adapting the part of the Invention to a throstle
frame.
Figure represents a spindle a, a, upon which a dise bis fixed, carrying the
bobbin c; this spindle is made to revolve by a band from the driving drum
passed round the warve or whirl d; a tube c. e, is affixed by its socket and
screw nut to a stationary rail j. f. the upper part being bushed to give steadiness
with little friction to the spindle, which revolves within it, and is caused to
slide up and down by the movement of the copping rail. On the outside of the
tube e another tube g. g. is fitted, carrying the flyer h, h, and warve or whirl i,
and which last-mentioned tube, with the flyer, is made to revolve by a band
from the driving drum passed round the warve or whirl i. Hence it will be
perceived, that the bobbin and the flyer may be made to revolve by one driving
drum at dissimilar speeds, according to the different diameters of the warves
or whirls, and that in this instance the bobbin will run before the flyer, but by
driving the flyer with a speed nearly equal to that of the bobbin, the drag will
be tempered and a yarn of very high numbers may be readily spun and wound
on the bobbin. Figure 2 is a variation of the same principle, in which the
flyer his affixed to the top of the spindle a in an inverted position, the tube g,

page_text: carrying the bobbin c, being driven by the warve or whirl i at a greater speed
than the spindle and flyer is driven by the warve d, in order to effect the same
object, as described in reference to Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a front elevation of a throstle frame constructed on the im-
proved arrangement, with the series of bobbins and flyers driven by upright
cylinders or drums; Figure 4 is a transverse section of the same, shewing
the manner in which the driving bands pass from the upright drums to
the warves or whirls of the spindles and the flyers. Figure 5 is an eleva-
tion of the throstle frame taken at that end where the driving pulley
or rigger is applied. Figure 6 is an elevation of the reverse end of the
throstle frame, shewing the bands and pullies by which the upright drums
are driven; the similar letters of reference pointing out the same parts
in the four last-mentioned Figures. The end frames or standards of the
throstle are shewn at a, a, a, and b, b, are the longitudinal stationary rails,
by which the ends are braced together and the principal parts of the
machinery supported; c, c, are the fast and loose pullies or rigger, over
which a strap is passed from the first mover to drive the machinery; d is the
main shaft or axle communicating motion to the working parts of the
machine, and e is a fly wheel and pulley affixed to the end of the main
driving shaft, round which pulley an endless band, f. f. passes over diagonal
guide pullies g. 9, and round the grooves at the upper parts of the upright
drums h, h, h, for the purpose of giving rotary motion to the driving
drums. These drums turn upon vertical axles bearing in steps on a
longitudinal rail at bottom, and are confined by a similar rail at top, as shewn
in Figures 3 and 4. The spindles i, i, i, are ranged in series on each side of
the frame, supported in steps at bottom by the copping rails k, k, and passed
through tubes and sockets in the stationary longitudinal rails b. b. The
construction of these spindles is the same as Figure 1, having a warve ort
whirl affixed to each at the lower part, the bobbin bearing upon a disc
mounted on the upper part of the spindle, and turning therewith.
The flyer
is attached to a tube, as before described. with a warve or whirl affixed to the
flyer tube supporting the spindles. The copping rails k, k, supporting the
spindles are made io rise and fall for the purpose of winding the yarns in
uniform coils upon the bobbins by the ordinary contrivance; that is, by con-
necting those rails to pendant chains 1 1. attached to rollers m, m; another
chain attached to one of the rollers, and passed over the other. being made
fast to one end of the lever o, o, which lever is mounted on a stud set in a
transverse carrier rail p, and is made to vibrate by the rotation of the heart
cam q, a cord and balance weight being attached to the reverse end of the

page_text: lever. In order to drive the spindles and flyers, bands or cords r, r, are passed
round the respective warves or whirls of the spindles i, i, and round the
upright drums, and similar bands s, s, are passed round the respective
warves of the flyers i, j, and also round the upright drums h, by which means
when the upright drums are made to revolve by the means before described,
the spindles and flyers will be driven, and as the spindles ascend and
descend, their driving bands or cords r, r, move up and down upon the
periphery of the driving drums, always preserving the same altitude as the
warves, and thereby keeping the bands or cords at all times at the same
tension. The cotton or other material in the state of rovings is placed in the
machine upon large bobbins u, u, u, u, from whence it is conducted through
the system of drawing rollers e, t, r, (see Figure 4.) the upper or pressing
rollers of the drawing system deriving their pressure from the transverse
bars bearing on their axles, which are drawn down by hooks with tension
cords and weights y, y, y.
Having now fully exhibited and described the three first heads of our
improvements, we proceed to explain the construction and adaptation of the
spiral guide to be used in place of a flyer in a throstle frame.
Figure is a front elevation of a throstle adapted to the employment of
the spiral guide; Figure 8 is a transverse section of the same; and Figure 9
an end elevation. Figure 10 represents one of the spindles q. a. on an
enlarged scale, detached, with its bobbin b, b, shewn in section, also the
copping rail c, c, the step rail d, and the guide rail e, in section. A series
of similar apertures are made in the copping rail for the purpose of allowing
the spindles and bobbins to pass through. These apertures may be made to
receive cylindrical sockets f, f, adjusted and held fast by a screw, as shewn,
or the apertures may be left open without sockets. A ring 9. g. the upper
side of which is represented at Figure 11, its under surface at Figure 12, and
edgewise in section at Figure 13, is to be affixed over each aperture in the
copping rail, either by fitting into the groove of the socket . . or by any
other convenient mode of attachment, as by screwing down its rim h, h, to
the copping rail. The form of the bead, which constitutes the upper and
inner edges of the ring g, is shewn sectionally on a large scale at Figure 14,
its precise form being of importance as to the correct working of the spiral
guide, which is to be sprung on to it, as shewn at i, in Figures 10, 11, 12, 13,
and 14. These spiral guides may be formed by binding thin flat steel wire,
about the size of a watch spring, round a rod, as represented at Figure 15, so
as to give it a screw or spiral figure, and when that figure is impressed upon
the steel wire it is to be cut through longitudinally, that is, in the direction

page_text: of the dotted line a, b, (in Fig. 15), which will separate it into several distinct
spiral pieces, shewn at Figure 16. each of these pieces constituting one of the
improved guides to be employed as a flyer, or these spiral guides may be
formed from round steel wire coiled upon a cylindrical rod at such an oblique
angle as shall produce the required spiral. A convenient mode of applying
these spiral guide flyers in a throstle frame is shewn in the Figures 7, 8,
and 9. in which the yarns or threads as they come down from the drawing
rollers are represented as severally passed under the spiral guides sliding on
the beads or inner edges of the rings g, and from the guides the yarns or
threads severally pass to the barrels of the bobbins on the spindles. The
spindles being made to revolve by bands from the driving drums passed
round their warves as usual, the tension of the yarn extending from the
bobbin will drag the spiral guide, and cause it to fly round upon the bead at
the edge of the ring, and thereby twist the yarn; but the friction produced by
the spiral guide, rubbing against the ring as it revolves, will partially retard
its progress, and therefore as the spindle and bobbin must revolve faster than
the spiral guide flyer, the yarn will be taken up or wound upon the pin-cop
bobbin as well as twisted, the form in which it is wound upon the bobbin
depending upon the ascending and descending movement of the copping rail,
which raises and depresses the guide; but the manner of effecting the form of
the cop is well known, and constitutes no part of this Invention. In adapting
the improved spiral guide flyer to throstle frames of the construction first
described, and shewn in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, we find it convenient to mount
the guide ring, Figures 11, 12, 13 (round the bead of which the spiral flyer
slides), upon the tops of arms rising perpendicularly from a disc, with, a tubé
turning upon the spindle, as shewn in Figure 17; by this arrangement the
spindle and bobbin may be driven at one speed, and the ring which carries
the spiral flyer at a dissimilar speed, which will afford the means of relieving
the friction of the spiral flyer, and thereby tempering the drag to suit
yarns of a higher number and of more delicate textures than are usually spun
by throstles.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-five
THOMAS (L.S.) SHARP.
RICHARD (L.S.)
ROBERTS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourth day of April, in the
fifth year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
Thomas Sharp and Richard Roberts came before our said Lord the King in
His Chancery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
Instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the
Inrolled the Eighth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and