IMPROVE- MENTS IN SOFTENING YARNS AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Tod and Ralph Walker Stewart, both of Dun-
fermline, in the County of Fife, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SOFTENING YARNS AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREFOR
"
Sealed the 17th May 1878, and dated the 5th March 1878.
:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Tod and Ralph
Walker Stewart at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th
March 1878.
MICHAEL TOD and RALPH WALKER STEWART, both of Dunfermline, in the County
of Fife, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SOFTENING YARNS AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
This Invention, which relates to improvements in softening yarns, has for its
object to more thoroughly and quickly effect the softening operation than hitherto..
The mechanism constituting this Invention, and by means of which the foregoing
operation is effected, consists of an upright framing, in the upper part of which is
carried a shaft, on the portions whereof projecting outside the framing are fixed
fluted rollers, immediately below which is another horizontal shaft, on either end of
which is a reel.
The hanks or skeins of yarn to be softened are carried around the fluted rollers
and the reels, and on either side of these fluted rollers there are arranged other
fluted rollers, the teeth of which when the machine is in operation press and-bend
the yarns into the spaces between the teeth of the central fluted rollers.
On the shaft which carries the central fluted rollers there are arranged two
driving pulleys, over one of which is placed an open belt, and over the other a cross
belt, so that the shaft together with the fluted rollers may be driven in opposite
directions, an automatic clutch being provided for the purpose of engaging the
pulleys alternately, and thus causing the automatic reversal of the direction of
motion of the machine.
j

page_text: The fluted rollers at the sides of the central fluted roller are carried in bearings
in bell-crank levers, these being again connected to other levers, which are also pro-
vided with screws working into nuts for raising and lowering the same, so that as
the said levers are raised and lowered the outer fluted rollers are drawn further from
or nearer to the central fluted roller, and the said side fluted rollers brought to bear.
with any required degree of pressure upon the yarn.
The levers carrying the side fluted rollers are raised, either by manually operating
the screw shaft by bevilled gearing, or through bevilled gearing driven from the
first shaft in combination with an automatic clutch actuating it.
When it is desired to stop the machine, this is effected by the levers, herein-before
referred to, operating a wedge which shifts the main driving clutch into a central
position between the two driving pulleys on the first motion shaft, so that the said
clutch does not engage with either of the said pulleys, and simultaneously with this
action the cam by which the said clutch is operated is thrown out of gear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Michael Tod and Ralph Walker Stewart in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th September 1878.
MICHAEL TOD and RALPH WALKER STEWART, both of Dunfermline, in the
County of Fife, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SOFTENING YARNS AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Our said Invention has for its object to effect the softening of yarns more
thoroughly and quickly than hitherto, and this result we produce by means of
mechanism consisting mainly of grooved or fluted rollers mounted between other
similarly fluted rollers, which, as herein-after set forth, project outside or beyond
the framing in which they are carried.
A motion of revolution is imparted to the fluted rollers alternately in opposite
directions.
The hanks or skeins of yarn to be softened by the machine constituting our said
Invention are placed over the central fluted rollers, and also around reels carried
in the ends of a shaft beneath tho said rollers. The shaft carrying the recls is
arranged loosely in slotted or oblong holes, in which it is free to move or be moved
up and down.
By the operation of the machine the yarn is softened through being repeatedly
pressed and bent by the teeth or ribs of the side rollers into the grooves or spaces
between the teeth or ribs of the central rollers.
Arrangements, as herein-after set forth, are provided for regulating the pressure
with which the fluted rollers bear upon the yarn, and also for stopping the machine
,and separating the rollers for the removal of the softened yarn.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood we now proceed
more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner in or under which the

page_text: same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in end elevation, our improved
machinery or apparatus for effecting the softening of yarns.
The several parts of the said machine are carried by the framing A. On the ends
of the shaft B, which project beyond the framing A,.are fixed the central fluted
rollers C. The shaft B also carries two loose driving pulleys b, b¹, one of the said
pulleys being driven in one direction by an open band, and the other being driven
in the reverse direction by a crossed band. The shaft B is caused to revolve alter-
nately in opposite directions by the conical friction clutch D sliding upon it being
alternately engaged with the one and the other of the pulleys b, b. The shifting of
the clutch from one pulley to the other is effected by means of the tangent screw b
formed upon the axis of the pulley b₁1 engaging with a worm wheel & upon a short
shaft E mounted in brackets, one of which is shewn at a in Fig. 1, the other
being behind the shaft M. Upon the other end of the shaft E is a cam el bearing
against an antifriction roller f upon the shaft F, which shaft carries a clutch shifter d
in connection with the clutch D.
When the machine is in operation, the shaft B and rollers C being driven in one
direction by virtue of the clutch D being engaged with the pulley b¹, the worm be
will, through the worm wheel e and shaft E, cause the cam e' to rotate and to
press upon the roller f, thereby urging the shaft F in the direction of the arrow
against the tension of the spring f¹. The clutch D is thus moved horizontally by
its shifter & from contact with the pulley b¹ until it engages with the pulley b, at
which point the motion of the shaft B and that of the rollers C is thereby reversed.
The pulley b, however, continuing to be revolved (by its driving belt) loosely upon
the shaft B, and thereby carrying on the revolution of the cam e¹, gradually releases
the shaft F, which is therefore moved back again by the re-action of the spring f'
until the clutch D leaves the pulley band again engages with the pulley b', when
the motion of the shaft B and rollers C are again reversed, and so on continuously
during the time the machine is in operation.
On the ends of the shaft G, projecting beyond the framing A and immediately
under the rollers C, are mounted reels H; this shaft G is mounted so as to turn in
long slotted holes in the framing A, and so that it may move in the slides J upwards
or downwards, by which arrangement, when moved vertically, any strain upon the
yarn under treatment beyond that due to the weight of the said shaft and reels is
prevented.
Turning in bearings in the framing A, and passing from side to side of the
machine beyond the framing A, are two shafts I, upon the ends of each of which
shafts are carried bell-crank levers i, the upper arm of each of which is formed with
a bracket which carries a fluted roller c in a position on either side of each of the
fluted rollers C, as shewn in the Drawings.
In guides j at each end of the machine are sliders J having projections j¹, with
which are connected by rods i¹ the lower arms of the aforesaid boll-crank levers, the
lower end of the said sliders being connected with levers K keyed upon a shaft k
turning in bearings in the framing A.
A screw L works in a screwed nut carried in one of the levers K, the said screw
being formed upon the lower end of a shaft L¹ turning in a bearing . Upon the
upper end of the said shaft is a bevel wheel , with which engages a bevel wheel m
upon a shaft M, and upon this shaft is loosely mounted another bevelled wheel m¹,
with which a friction clutch m³ is engaged or disengaged, as required, the said
clutch being actuated by a shifter n carried by a trunnion rod N capable of being
slidden in its bearings by means of the hand levers n¹ so as to cause the shifter n
to move the clutch m² into or out of the clutch box of the wheel m³, and thus cause
the shaft M to receive motion from the lower of the two bevel wheels 6³ and b*
keyed upon an inclined shaft mounted in the bracket 65. The upper of these bevel

page_text: wheels, namely, that marked *, gears with a bevel wheel 6º on the boss of the
pulley b.
One of the levers K. carries a rod with a wedge-like end ac, which enters a slot
in the rod N ; and one of the sliders J carries at its top a like rod ³ with a similarly
formed end, which enters a slot in the shaft F.
The yarn to be treated is passed around the rollers C, C, and reels H, H, and the
machine being driven alternately in either direction by means of the movement of
the clutch D from the one pulley b¹ to the other pulley 6 through the action of the
cam e and spring 1, as herein-before set forth, the rollers C, C, and c, c, being in
the position shewn in the Drawing, the yarn is repeatedly pressed and bent into the
spaces between the teeth or ribs of the central fluted rollers C. The sliders J are
of such weight or are so weighted as to cause the necessary pressure of the rollers c
upon the rollers C..
When the yarn is sufficiently softened, and it is desired to stop the machine, the
rod N is moved by means of the handles n' so as to shift the clutch into the
clutch box m² of the wheel m², when the shaft M will revolve, and the bevel wheel m
thereon will communicate a motion of rotation through the wheel to the screw L;
which has the effect of raising the levers K, and therefore of lifting the sliders J, so
that the lower arms of the bell-crank lever i being thrust up by the rods ¹ con-
nected to the sliders J, the rollers c are thereby moved away from the rollers C.
The motion of the rollers C and the shaft B are also stopped by the wedge picce
rising in the slot in the shaft F, and urging the clutch D into a position in which it
will be held midway between the pulleys and b¹ (that is to say, without being in
gear with either pulley b or b¹), so that both pulleys rotate upon the shaft B
without turning it. The wedge piece x also rises in the slot in the rod N, and
urges the said rod into a position which causes the clutch n to be thrown out of
gear with the wheel m¹, and consequently the motion of the screw L will be
stopped.
At this stage of the operation the yarn which has been treated is taken off the
rollers C and reels H, and a fresh quantity of yarn put upon the machine, which is
again started by turning the shaft M by means of the handle m³ in a direction
which will, through the wheels m and , cause the screw L to urge down the
levers K, and consequently the sliders J and the lower arms of the bell-crank levers i,
whereby the rollers c, c, are again brought with any required degree of pressure
against the yarn passed around the rollers C. The broad part of the wedge piece
at the same time passing down from the slot in the rod F, allows the cam e¹ (when
the levers K are fully lowered) to act upon the shaft F, and cause the shaft B to
revolve alternately in opposite directions, in the manner herein-before described, so
that the operation of the softening is thus again proceeded with.
The cam e may be of a shape to move the clutch once or more than once during
each revolution of the said cam.
The spindle on which the cam e' is fixed is so made that it moves back when the
machine is stopped, and prevents the said cam from, pressing the clutch D into gear
with the driving pulleys b, b¹; or at this period the said cain may be lifted clear of
the roller on which it nets, either by hand, or by the upper part of the wedge piece
as it rises, forcing it upwards to a position out of gear with the roller in the shaft E.
According to the arrangement for this purpose illustrated in the Drawings, one of
the levers K carries a rod X having at its upper part two inclined pieces x', ',
which slide in the brackets a, and against which the brasses of the shaft E bear.
When the levers K are raised on stopping the machine, the inclined pieces ³, a³,
rise in the brackets a, and their lower parts being of less width than their upper
parts, allow the shaft E to yield, so that the cam el does not impart motion to the
shaft F, this yielding of the shaft E being effected by the cam e¹ bearing against the
roller f..
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and the system, niode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be
used or practically carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we

page_text: consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The improved machine for softening yarns, constructed essentially as herein-
before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The arrangements of mechanism for giving the central fluted rollers a
motion of revolution alternately in opposite directions, essentially as herein-before
described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The arrangements of mechanism for pressing the side fluted rollers against
the yarn upon the central fluted rollers with any required degree of force, and for
urging the said side fluted rollers away from the said central rollers when the yarn
is to be removed, essentially as herein-before described and illustrated.
Fourth. The arrangement of the shaft G, which carries the reels H in long slotted
holes, so that it shall not produce any strain on the yarn being softened beyond that
due to its own weight and the weight of the reels.
Fifth. The arrangements of mechanism for stopping the action of the machine by
means of a wedge piece acting upon the shifter of the clutch of the driving
pulleys to urge it into a position in which it imparts no motion to the central fluted
rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Tod, on behalf of myself and the said
Ralph Walker Stewart, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second
day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-eight.
MICHAEL TOD. (L.S.)