IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DOUBLING OR TWISTING YARN, THREAD, BRAID, ROPE, OR SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DOUBLING OR
TWISTING YARN, THREAD, BRAID, ROPE, OR SIMILAR ARTICLES."-A com-
munication from abroad by Jean Marie Daillon, of Lyons, in the Empire
⚫ of France.
Sealed the 21st August 1868, and dated the 27th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th February 1863.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 128, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DOUBLING
OR TWISTING YARN, THREAD, BRAID, ROPE, OR SIMILAR ARTICLES," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Jean Marie Daillon, of Lyons, in the Empire of
France, to be as follows:-
For doubling or twisting two or more strands or threads at one operation into
a cord or thread I use a fly wheel placed in a vertical position so as to revolve
on its centre, motion being given to it by a driving strap or band on the boss
of the fly wheel, or a small wheel fixed behind it with a groove or grooves on
its periphery to guide the driving strap or band. On the front surface of the
said vertical fly wheel are placed other small wheels with frames, to hold each
a bobbin, containing the material to be doubled or twisted into a cord, band,
or braid, the said small wheels being also grooved to receive a band or strap

page_text: to give them separate motion, the number of the said small wheels to vary
according to the number of threads or strands to be twisted together, a spring
acting on each bobbin to keep the strands to a regular tension. There is also
a fixed pulley with grooves placed in front of the fly wheel and on the same
shaft, which pulley must have as many grooves as there are strands in the
cord, or, in other words, as many grooves as there are bobbins of thread.
When a cord is required to have a thread in the middle, a bobbin is fixed in
front of the pulley containing the centre thread, which it gives off as required,
whilst the other threads or strands lap round the centre thread in a spiral
form, the bobbin carriers and fixed pulley being fixed on the fly wheel as
already described. Motion may be given to the fly wheel either by hand or
power, which turns from left to right, the bobbin carriers being turned in a
contrary direction by means of the strap or belt round the fixed pulley. The
two contrary rotations of the fly wheel and bobbin carriers also produce two
twistings simultaneously in contrary directions, the first operates on each
strand in the space contained between the bobbin and the point of junction of
those strands which unite for twisting, and the second works the twist. The
bobbin carriers make as many revolutions on their own axes from right to left
as the fly wheel makes from left to right. The rotation of the fly wheel pro-
duces a separate twisting on the strands equal to the twisting it produces on
the cord; the contrary rotation of the bobbin carriers also produces a twisting
of those strands in the same way equal to the twisting that is produced on the
bobbin carriers by the fly wheel, which shews that the twisting of the strands
is double that of the cord.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licence, that I, the said Edward
Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as

page_text: I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DOUBLING OR TWISTING YARN,
THREAD, BRAID, ROPE, OR SIMILAR ARTICLES," a communication to me from
abroad by Jean Marie Daillon, of Lyons, in the Empire of France, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, 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 Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say:-))
For doubling or twisting two or more strands or threads at one operation
into a cord or thread I use a fly wheel placed in a vertical position so as to
revolve on its centre, motion being given to it by a driving strap or band on
the boss of the fly wheel, or a small wheel fixed behind it with a groove or
grooves on its periphery to guide the driving strap or band. On the front
surface of the said vertical fly wheel are placed other small wheels with frames,
to hold each a bobbin, containing the material to be doubled or twisted into a
cord, band, or braid, the said small wheels being also grooved to receive a band
or strap to give them separate motion, the number of the said small wheels to
vary according to the number of threads or strands to be twisted together, a
spring acting on each bobbin to keep the strands to a regular tension. There
is also a fixed pulley with grooves placed in front of the fly wheel and on the
same shaft, which pulley must have as many grooves as there are strands in
the cord, or, in other words, as many grooves as there are bobbins of thread.
When a cord is required to have a thread in the middle, a bobbin is fixed in
front of the pulley containing the centre thread, which it gives off as required,
whilst the other threads or strands lap round the centre thread in a spiral
form, the bobbin carriers and fixed pulley being connected to the fly wheel as
already described. Motion may be given to the fly wheel either by hand or
power, which turns from left to right, the bobbin carriers being turned in a

page_text: contrary direction by means of the strap or belt round the fixed pulley. The
two contrary rotations of the fly wheel and bobbin carriers also produce two
twistings simultaneously in contrary directions, the first operates on each
strand in the space contained between the bobbin and the point of junction of
those strands which unite for twisting, and the second works the twist or cord.
The bobbin carriers make as many revolutions on their own axis from right to
left as the fly wheel makes from left to right. The rotation of the fly wheel
produces a separate twisting on the strands equal to the twisting it produces on
the cord; the contrary rotation of the bobbin carriers also produces a twisting
of those strands in the same way equal to the twisting that is produced on the
bobbin carriers by the fly wheel, which shews that the twisting of the strands
is double that of the cord.
Thus this process consists in twisting or manufacturing thread, braid, cord,
or similar articles by a peculiar mechanism, all fibrous or flexible materials
capable of being twisted or corded in two, three, four, or more threads or
strands, either fine or coarse, such, for instance, as fancy silk, cotton, wool,
hemp, flax, or similar materials, whether they are coloured or not, provided
they have passed through the first stage of spinning. Hitherto, in manufac-
turing cord of any description, when it is necessary that the threads or strands
of which it is composed should be twisted in a contrary direction to the twisting
of the cord, two distinct operations had to be performed, the first consisted in
twisting each thread or strand in one direction, the second in uniting all the
threads or strands by twisting them in a contrary direction. By means of
this Invention the two separate operations are condensed into one, the contrary
twisting being produced proportionally as the cord is manufactured. The
process consists in the simultaneous twisting separately of each thread or
strand and the twisting of the cord of itself in a contrary direction. These are
the principle advantages obtained by this Invention. Its secondary advantages
are, that the cord can be manufactured with a straight thread in the middle,
on which can be placed, in proportion as it is manufactured, all the other
threads or strands; the advantage of manufacturing the cord with an indefinite
number of threads or strands, with the power of augmenting or diminishing
the proportions of the machinery (or mechanism); and the cord can be manu-
factured of any indefinite length or of any number of yards.
These improvements will be clearly understood by the following complete
description thereof, reference being had to the figures and letters on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2 are oblique and
side views of the main parts of the improved machinery or apparatus for the
manufacture of thread, cords, braids, or other similar articles; Figs. 3 and 4,

page_text: views of modifications of parts of the same; Fig. 5, a front view of a machine
actually in use, having ten fly wheels; and Fig. 6, a view of a modification of
the system shewn in Figs. 1 and 2:
The machinery consists of a fly wheel A, Figs. 1 and 2, placed vertically
in front of the framework B, Fig. 2, and is connected to the framework by a
shaft passing through the centre of the fly wheel, on which shaft the fly wheel
turns. The fly wheel has a circular projection behind it forming a small
wheel or pulley C, Fig. 2, with grooves in its circumference. In either of
these grooves there is an endless band, which puts in motion the fly wheel
together with the rest of the machinery. In front of the fly wheel, and near
its outer circumference, are vertically placed at equal distances small square
grooved wood pulleys B, B', B", Fig. 1, and D; D', D, Fig. 2; the grooves
receive an endless caoutchoue band. Each of these pulleys is connected to
the fly wheel by a bolt on which each pulley turns; a single groove would
suffice, as only one is used at a time, but these pulleys have several, for the
convenience of changing the caoutchouc band into either one groove or the
other. The number of these pulleys must be equal to the number of threads
or strands of which the cord is composed. Each of these pulleys carries a
small metallic frame on its flat surface, and the pulleys are called bobbin
carriers. Each frame of the bobbin carriers C, C¹, C, Fig. 1, and E, E¹, E",
Fig. 2, is divided into two parts; the first, D, D¹, D", Fig. 1, and F, F¹, F",
Fig. 2, is the space occupied by the bobbin containing the material to be
used in the manufacture; the second, E, E¹, E", Fig. 1, and G, G¹, G",
Fig. 2, is the space for a metal spring having a ring, through which is passed
the thread of the bobbin; these springs serve to always keep the threads which
pass through the rings at the same tension, so that the unrolling of the bobbins
which may vary shall not interfere with the regularity of the manufacture. The
metallic springs F, F, F", Fig. 1, and H, H', H", Fig. 2, continually press on
the contents of the bobbins, which regulates the unrolling of them, whether they
be full or partly so with the material. The fixed pulley G, Fig. 1, and I,
Fig. 2, has grooves similar to those of the bobbin carriers; it is placed in the
centre and in the front of the fly wheel, and the fly-wheel shaft passes through
it; this pulley is immoveable, being fixed between a flange and nut. This
pulley must have as many grooves as there are threads or strands to the cord,
that is, it must have as many grooves as there are bobbin carriers, for in each
groove of the pulley must be placed a band corresponding to a bobbin
carrier. When it is desired to make a cord of any description having a
straight thread or strand in the middle, there is a small apparatus or holder in
front of the fixed pulley for carrying a bobbin H, Fig. 1, which contains the

page_text: aforesaid central or straight thread or strand, which thread or strand unrolls in
proportion as the cord is manufactured, and during the manufacture all the
other threads or strands place themselves in spiral lines on that straight
thread. The bobbin carriers and fixed pulley being fixed on the fly wheel, as
already mentioned, a caoutchouc band is placed in one of the grooves of the
fixed pulley, and also in one of the grooves of the bobbin carrier, the grooves
being opposite each other, and the band in a straight line, and there are as
many bands I, I, I, Figs. 1, and J, J, J", Fig. 2, as there are bobbin
carriers. These small caoutchouc bands give place to toothed chains in case of
need, or they may be replaced, but not advantageously, by well stretched endless
bands.
The mechanism being thus arranged, the fly wheel is put in motion by
any motive power. This wheel turns from left to right, and the bobbin
carriers, making the same revolution as the fly wheel, are compelled to turn
from right to left, the bands forcing them to turn in a contrary direction to
that of the fly wheel. It is by the straps running round the fixed pulley that
the two torsions or turnings are obtained in contrary ways. The two contrary
rotations of the fly wheel and bobbin carriers produce consequently two tor-
sions simultaneously in contrary ways, the one operates on each thread or
strand in the space contained between the bobbin and the point of junction of
those threads or strands which unite for cording together on entering a glass
ring contained in the support J, Fig. 1, and the other forms the cord. The
bobbin carriers make as many turns from right to left as the fly wheel makes
from left to right. The rotation of the fly wheel produces a separate torsion on
the threads or strands equal to the torsion it produces on the cord; the con-
trary rotation of the bobbin carriers produces also a torsion on those threads or
strands in the same way equal to the torsion that is produced on the bobbin
carriers by the fly wheel, which shews that the torsion of the strands or threads
is double to that of the cord.
The proportions of the mecanism, are such that the first torsion that
operates on the threads or strands will always be double to that which operates
on the cord, and to be so the diameter of the fixed pulley must be double to
that of each of the bobbin carriers, these diameters being measured on the
bearing parts of the grooves.
This arrangement is made for the manufacture of silk, sewing cotton, silk
cord, silk for embroidering on canvas, and other articles, where it is necessary
for the first torsion to be double that of the second. In spite of the strongest
torsions, articles manufactured in this way are never liable to untwist. The
first torsion is produced by the fixed pulley, and the second by the cone shewn

page_text: in Fig. 5, and hereafter described; by means of this cone more or less torsion
or twist is given to the cord. To have the facility of diminishing or augmenting
the strength of the torsion on the separate threads or strands and on the cord,
as, for example, when making organsins or wefts, I substitute the fixed pulley
G, Fig. 1, and I, Fig. 2, for another fixed pulley having a diameter greater or.
smaller, as may be required, for the first torsion, either weak or strong; but to
avoid the changing of the pulleys, it is preferable to replace the fixed pulley by
a speed pulley, as the one indicated at Fig. 3, when each speed would produce
a different torsion, so that when it is desired for the first torsion to be more or
less strong, the caoutchouc band would be placed on either of the speeds whose
diameter would be larger or smaller, and as the diameter increases so will the
strength of the torsion. When obliged to employ the speed pulley all the
bands of the bobbin carriers cannot be made to correspond with it; to obviate
that inconvenience the bands are placed in the following manner :-The band
of one bobbin carrier R, Fig. 4, is placed on one of the-speeds of the pulley P ;
then all the other bobbin carriers are made to correspond with the bobbin
carrier R by means of bands from one to the other. The rotation that the
pulley P gives to the bobbin carrier R is communicated by that bobbin
carrier to all the other bobbin carriers, causing their rotation in the same
direction.
Fig. 5 represents this Invention as actually in use reproduced ten times,
but it can be worked on a larger scale with an indefinite number of machines.
By means of a crank the shaft of the two wheels of transmission A, B, is put
in motion, and causes the wheels to rotate. The toothed wheel A puts in motion
by a toothed chain the toothed wheel c, which itself turns the wheel D. The
wheel D.has two grooves in its periphery, and each groove is intended to
receive an endless band, which turns the fly wheels fixed to the cross rail or
frame of the machine. The toothed wheel B acts by a toothed chain on the
toothed wheel E, on the shaft of which is placed the cone F. The endless
band G is placed in one of the grooves of the wheel D, and then passed into
one of the grooves of the projections or pulleys C, Fig. 2, of the fly wheels;
this band turns from left to right the five fly wheels on the left side, and the
band H turns in the same way the five others on the right side. Between
every pair of fly wheels there are small pulleys I, I, I, I, which work
on studs fixed to the upper cross beam of the framework. The bands G, H,
pass under these pulleys, in order that they may be kept tight on the projec-
tions or pulleys of the fly wheels, and keep the wheels in regular rotation.
The cone F is placed on the shaft of the wheel E, and the said cone, which is
the regulator for the torsions or twists required to be given, has a certain

page_text: number of grooves. In one of these grooves and on the moveable pulley J is
placed an endless band, which is encircled on the drum or cylinder K, and
passed from it to the moveable pulley L, and from thence to the cone, which is
its place of departure. The band being kept tight gives the cylinder a regular
rotation, and the manufactured cord, after passing through the eyes or rings in
the supports M, is wound round the said drum or cylinder proportionally as it
is manufactured.
In order that the manufacture be good, the holes of the support must be in
front, and in a horizontal line with the axis of the fly wheel, because, as before
stated, it is there the threads or strands are united, and also where the second
torsion or twisting of the cord takes place. The supports are placed about
15 centimêtres from the frames of the bobbin carriers, but this distance can be
varied without deranging the regularity of the manufacture. It is the revo-
lution of the cylinder, more or less accelerated, which produces a stronger
or weaker torsion to the cord. As it is desired to manufacture the cord
with more or less twist or torsion, the band of the cone is placed in one
of the larger or smaller grooves of the circumference, and the larger the
circumference the weaker will be the torsion, and the smaller the circum-
ference the stronger will be the torsion, thus enabling with great facility the
manufacture of cord having the greatest possible twist, as well as
embroidering on canvas, which has a torsion extremely weak.
advantages obtained by the working of this
manufacturing the cord to any desired length.
empty of material it is replaced by a full one, and the end of the thread or
strand on the full bobbin is tied to the one delivered from the bobbin which
was emptied, so that any length of cord can be manufactured, no matter what
the first material may be.
Invention is the
the silk for
One of the
capability of
When one of the bobbins is
Fig. 6 represents a modification of the system shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 5,
and it consists in doing away entirely with the fixed pulley G, Fig. 1, and I,
Fig. 2, and instead of turning the fly wheel vertically on its centre it is turned
horizontally on a pivot. The alterations made to the bobbin carriers are
insignificant, and therefore the grooved pulleys attached to each bobbin carrier
are only shewn, each groove being intended to receive the caoutchouc band.
The fixed pulley G, Fig. 1, and I, Fig. 2, is replaced by a hook C, Fig. 6,
fixed to part of the framework of the machine, and at the distance of about a
centimètre of the fly wheel. The hook C, in the eye or ring of which is placed
the caoutchouc band, serves as a stop or point of tension to the band, which
band is placed in each of the grooves of the pulleys of the bobbin carriers, and
produces on the bobbin carriers the same effect as the fixed pulley G by the

page_text: first system, that is to say, the bobbin carriers will turn in a contrary way to
the fly wheel. In the first system three caoutchouc bands are required to
turn the bobbin carriers, but by this modification one will suffice to turn all
the bobbin carriers of the fly wheels with the same speed and regularity. By
the suppression of the fixed pulley the dimensions of the fly wheel can be
diminished by approaching nearer to its centre the bobbin carriers B, B¹, B",
Fig. 6. The fly wheel A placed horizontally on a pivot will turn with more
ease than if placed vertically, and it requires only half the force to turn
an equal number of fly wheels.. When the fly wheels are placed in this
manner, the fittings of the bobbin carriers are easily adjusted, and in pro-
portion to the length of the machine many more rows of fly wheels can be
placed in accordance with the motive power to be disposed of. By the first
system, shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, the cylinder K, which winds the cords
proportionally as they are manufactured, is placed in front of the machine,
but now the cylinder is replaced by spools or reels, which are placed above the
fly wheels, and so arranged that they wind the cords as fast as manufactured.
This arrangement annuls but one of the advantages of the Invention, which is
that of manufacturing the cords with a straight thread in the middle; but in
order to have the facility of making articles having a straight thread in the
middle, it will be necessary to work the Invention in accordance with the first
system, represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 5. For this reason some machines
should be made in accordance with the first system, and others in the way
now just described, so that the principle of the Invention shall be complete.
In the working of this Invention, either on a large or small scale, a con-
siderable economy is obtained in the manufacture, in consequence of the
simultaneousness of the twists or torsions, instead of making them separately,
as hitherto adopted. The products of the manufacture by this improved
machinery are superior and more regular in the twists or torsions than in
those manufactured in the ordinary way, it being understood that when once
the machinery is arranged for making a certain twist or torsion, that twist or
torsion can never vary, whether it is manufactured quickly or slowly, or the
first materials be regular or not.. In the accompanying Drawings, Figs. 1, 2,
and 6 are drawn full size; Fig. 5 represents the 13th part of its natural size;
and Figs. 3 and 4 are different parts of the apparatus drawn to a metrical
scale, and of variable dimensions.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I desire it to be understood that I claim the
improvements in machinery or apparatus for doubling or twisting yarn, thread,

page_text: braid, rope, or similar articles, as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
E. T. HUGHES. (L.S.)