IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR AFFA- RATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Whitehead, of Newton Moor, in the County
of Chester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR AFFA-
RATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 24th February 1868, and dated the 1st September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Whitehead
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st September 1862.
I, JAMES WHITEHEAD, of Newton Moor, in the County of Chester, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHI-
NERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in an improved method of twisting and winding
on the yarn or preparings, either in cops or bobbins, by means of a ring instead
of the ordinary flyer; the said ring works either upon a hollow bearing or
on antifriction rollers, and performs the office of twisting and winding on the
yarn or preparings, the ring being driven by a band or gearing, and, when
required, I employ a suspended wire or tube, along or through which the yarn
or roving passes on its way from the guide to the ring, pressers being used when
necessary.

page_text: Secondly, in an improved mode of obtaining the drag when spinning and
doubling. I employ a spindle similar to the ordinary mule spindle, and cause
it to revolve either at a constant or varying speed according to the numbers,
or, in some cases, I make the spindle stationary or not to revolve. The upper
part of the spindle supports a tube, which in some cases rests on the point of
the spindle, and in others on a bobbin braid fast to the spindle; in either case
the tube carries the cop and revolves on the spindle by the tension of the yarn,
and the friction of the tube on the spindle causes the drag, which may be
varied by causing the spindle to be stationary, that is, not to revolve, or causing
it to revolve at different speeds, or, when the friction of the tube on the spindle
is not sufficient, pressure is applied to the flange at the bottom of the tube.
The aforesaid tubes are employed when making cops, but when the. yarn is
placed on bobbins the bobbins are placed on the spindles in the same manner
as the tubes, or placed upon the tubes and caused to revolve by the tension of
the yarn. The forms of the cops or bobbins are obtained by moving the frame
containing the spindle up and down by any traversing motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Whitehead in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WHITEHEAD, of Newton Moor, in the County of Chester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Whitehead, Her special license that I, the said James
Whitehead, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Whitehead, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND
DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Whitehead, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands

page_text: and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cau.
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 James Whitehead, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :-
This Invention consists, first, in an improved method of effecting the twisting
and winding on of the yarn or preparings, either in the form of cops or bobbins,
by means of a ring instead of the ordinary flyer, which ring is used in the several
operations of preparing, spinning, and doubling or twining, and is applicable to all
machines where flyers are used in the manufacture of yarns or threads of cotton
or other fibrous substances. I place the said ring either upon a hollow bearing
or upon "antifriction" rollers, and drive it by band or gearing, and, when
required, I employ a suspended wire or tube, along or through which the yarn
or preparing passes on its way from the guide eye to the revolving ring, which
wire or tube rests in a ball-and-socket or other bearing over the centre of the
ring, and is carried round at its lower end by the ring. Tho said wire or tube
is not necessary in spiuning or doubling the ordinary counts of yarn in the
form of cops, but is useful in some cases where the yarn is to be placed upon
bobbins, or when spinning or doubling very fine counts; its most essential
use is in the preparing machines known by the names of the "slubbing," the
"intermediate," and the "roving" frames, where the substanco produced is
soft and has very little twist imparted to it, and will not stand the action of the
atmosphere upon it whilst being carried round by the ring, thus it will be seen
that the use of the said wire or tube is merely to protect the substance passing.
along or through it from the action of the atmosphere, and not to effect the
twisting or winding on of the yarn or preparings, which in all cases is performed
entirely by the ring, and therefore these wires or tubes can be made exceed-
ingly small and light in comparison with the ordinary flyer, or that of the
roving frame or other machine. When pressers are used they work on a
stud fixed to the ring, and are made to press the bobbin either upon the
centrifugal principle or by means of a spring.
Secondly, in improved methods of obtaining the drag when spinning and
doubling. In some cases I employ a spindle similar to a mule spindle, and
drive it by band and wharve, which spindle is mounted in bearings like the
mule spindle. The spindle is driven either at a constant or varying speed
according to circumstances, or it is not driven at all, in which caso it can be

page_text: made shorter than at present, and the lower portion with the wharve dispensed
with, and the upper portion or blade screwed fast to the rail which carries it.
The blade or upper portion of the spindle carries a tube, upon which the yarn
is spun or doubled, which tube revolves upon the spindle by the tension of the
yarn, and the weight of the tube rests either upon the point of the spindle or
upon a bobbin, braid, collar, or shoulder fast to the spindle, and the friction of
the tube upon the spindle causes the drag of the yarn, which drag may be
varied by causing the spindle to revolve at different speeds, or by not allowing
it to revolve at all, or when the friction of the tube upon the spindle is not
sufficient to form the requisite drag of the yarn to be spun or doubled, then
pressure is applied to the flange at the bottom of the tube, the flange being
attached to the tube for the sole purpose of applying a varying pressure,
friction, or drag, which drag requires to be adapted to the counts of yarn, and
varied as the winding on of the yarn proceeds from the smaller to the larger
diameter of the cop or bobbin, and vice versa. When the yarn is to be wound
upon bobbins, I place the bobbins either upon the spindles in the same manner
as the tubes, or place them upon the tubes, which tubes are chambered, and
bear upon the spindles only at the ends so as to reduce the friction of the tube
against the spindles. The requisite forms of the cop or bobbin to be spun or
doubled are obtained by moving the frame containing the spindles up and
down by any suitable traversing motion.
These improvements will be clearly understood by referring to the figures
and letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a transverse view, and Fig. 2 a top view, of one of my improved
arrangements of rings and antifriction rollers used in spinning and doubling.
The ring is shewn at a; it is driven by the band b, and works upon anti-
friction rollers c. The ring has two grooves, one a V-groove d, to which the
edges of the antifriction rollers are fitted, and another groove e, around which,
either partially or entirely, the yarn is wrapped, for answering the same
purpose as wrapping the yarn round the leg of the flyer of the throstle or
doubling frame. The dotted line f represents the passage of the yarn as it
passes downwards from the rollers g through the guide eye h to one of the
small holes i through the flange of the ring, and then along the groove, and
afterwards upwards through another hole i to the cop or bobbin. The small
holes i are cut through to the edge of the flange to facilitate the passing the
yarn through them in piecing. The antifriction rollers c have a groove
turned in them where they fit the V-groove of the ring, in order to give room
for the driving band to pass; the said rollers c work on a stud k, by the point
of which they are held down to the foot 1, upon which they rest; the stud

page_text: is fastened to the bracket m, and adjusted to the roller c by the screw n; the
bracket m is fastened to the rail o by the screw p, which passes through a slot
in the rail o, and allows the bracket m to be adjusted, so that the V-edge of
the roller c comes in contact with the V-groove of the ring. In this arrange-
ment each of the rings a rests upon three antifriction rollers. The rollers on
one side each bear against two rings, whilst those on the other side bear
against or support only one ring, by which arrangement the rings may be
driven from either side.
Fig. 3 is a top view of an arrangement in which the rings rest upon four
antifriction rollers; Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the ring working upon a
hollow bearing, and driven by a band. The ring is shewn at a, the hollow
bearing at p, and the band at q. A wire is suspended from the ball-and-
socket joints in the bearing t. The ball has a hole, through which the arm
passes, as shown by the dotted line u, and the arm passes around the wire as it
descends to the ring. Fig. 5 is a transverse view of the ring working upon
antifriction rollers, and driven by gearing as used in slubbing, roving, and
other preparing machines. The ring a has teeth v gearing into teeth in tho
wheel w, by which it is driven. The tube x is suspended from and works in
the ball-and-socket joint y in the bearing, and attached by a loop or other
equivalent to the stud a', upon which is the presser b', also shewn in Fig. 3.
The bobbin c' is placed upon the stud fixed to the lifter rail, at the bottom of
which stud is the wheel for driving the bobbin in the usual manner. 'The
roving passes through the ball and tube to the presser, and then to the bobbin,
as shewn by the dotted line d¹. If the presser is to be centrifugal, the heel
end is made heavier than the end which presses the bobbin; or, if not
centrifugal, the heel end is acted upon by a spring. Fig. 6 is a top view of
a ring which works in a hollow bearing e', and has teeth f¹ in gear with teeth
in the driving wheel, shewn by the dotted circle g'.
The second part of my Invention consists in improved methods of obtaining
the drag when spinning and doubling. One arrangement is represented in
Fig. 1. The spindle is shown at ; it is provided with a wharve l', which in
spinning fine numbers can be driven by a band from the tin roller. Upon the
blade of the spindle is placed the tube m', which is chambered, as shewn by
the dotted lines, so as to reduce the friction of the tube on the spindle, and
allow it to bear only at the ends of the tube, the weight of the tube resting on
the point of the spindle, or in other cases upon a bobbin, braid, or collar. At
the bottom of the tube n¹ there is a flange n¹, for the purpose of applying
pressure when the friction of the tube on the spindle is not sufficient. The
lover o¹
presses either against the upper or under side of the flange; if on the

page_text: under side the weight p' is employed, but if the pressure is to be on the upper
side the weight q' is used. The pressure can be regulated to the yarn by
sliding the weights p' or q'. The lover o' turns upon the axle r, which is
carried by the crank s' from the shaft t¹. Thus it will be seen that as the
winding on of the yarn proceeds from the smaller diameter of the cop or
bobbin to the larger diameter, and the tension of the yarn thereby diminishing,
the shaft t¹ can be made partially to revolve, so that the crank s¹ will move the
axle r', and so vary the position of the pressure of the lever o' from the centre
of the flange n¹ towards the periphery or outer edge. In this arrangement
the moving of the pressure in its position against the flange is effected by a
communication from the shaping motion applied to the shaft t'. The pressure
against the flange can also be varied in amount by the tension of the yarn
itself in this arrangement, whilst it is at the same time varied in its position
against the flange by the shaping motion and the shaft t. In this case the
lever o¹ has an arm u' extending downwards, and at its lower end there is a
pulley in contact with the arm w¹ of the communicating rod x³, which rod
turns in a foot y' and in a bearing ¹, and has an arm a² in contact with the
arm 6 of the guide lever c², which turns upon the axle d³, carrying at its
opposite end the guide eye h, through which the yarn passes, as shewn by the
dotted line. It will easily be seen that as the tension of the yarn increases as
its winding on proceeds from the larger to the smaller diameter, the increased
tension of the yarn pulls down the guide lever which actuates the com-
municating rod a', the arm w¹ of which presses against the pulley v' at the
lower end of the arm u' of the lever o', thus counteracting the action of the
slide weight q in proportion as the tension of the yarn increases, and
vice versa.
In Fig. 71 shew an arrangement in which the pressure is varied in its
position against the flange by the tension of the yarn. The guide lever and
communicating rod are the same as shewn in Fig. 1, the rod slightly turning
according to the tension in the same manner; but instead of the rod counter-
acting the pressure of the weight, as in Fig. 1, it is made to act upon the
pulley on the crank f* carrying the lever g³, which presses on the flange n'
by means of the slide weight q'; thus, as the tension of the yarn increases, it
nctuates the guide lever, slightly turns the communicating rod, and causes its
blade to press against the pulley 3 and turn the crank f* so as to advance the
lever nearer to the centre of the flange, and thereby lessen the drag in
proportion as the tension of the yarn increases, and vice versa.
In Fig. 8 I show an arrangement for varying the pressure in amount by
moving the slide weight h³ to or from the centre or axle of the lever by

page_text: means of the adjustable rod 2, which is actuated by a communication with the
shaping motion of the machine as the winding on of the yarn proceeds from
the larger to the smaller diameter, and vice versa; thus it will be seen that
the pressure is made to vary either in amount or in its position against the
flange, or in both ways, as the winding on of the yarn proceeds from the
smaller to the larger diameter, and vice versa, and the varying the said
pressure is effected either by a communication from the shaping motion, or
by the tension of the yarn itself, or by both combined.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim the improvements in machinery or apparatus for preparing,
spinning, and doubling cotton, wool, and other fibrous materials, as herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Whitehead, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, in the
year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named James Whitehead, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JAMES WHITEHEAD. (L.S.)