AN IMPROVEMENT IN REELS FOR REELING COTTON
Year: 1835

page_text: AL
THESE PRESENTS DRALL COME, I, IICHARD
BARBER, of Leicester, Cotton Winder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, hearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of October, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Barber, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Richard Barber, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Richard Barber, my exors, adiñors, or 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, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN REELS FOR REELING
COTTON;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
Richard Barber, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
His said 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, I, the said
Richard Barber, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):
The reels now in use for recling or having wound upon them sewing cotton
for the purpose of sale, and which constitutes an important manufacture, are
most commonly constructed of wood, which is turned or cut down in the
middle to form the barrel on which the sewing cotton is wound, such as is
shewn at Figure 1, there being a hole drilled up the centre, which enables
the reel to be placed on a spindle during the operation of winding or reeling
on of the sewing cotton; and on the upper end it has been common to paste
a circular piece of paper with the number or class of sewing cotton which the
reel contains, by which a person purchasing sewing cotton wound on such reels
may readily make choice of the reels containing the particular number or
class of cotton required, all which is well understood. And I have only thus
particularly described these reels in order to point out the nature of the
reels to which my Invention relates; and I would remark, that in place of
paper being affixed to the ends of such wooden reels, there have, in some
instances, been wooden reels made having a circular piece of thin metal
affixed at each end with the number and class of cotton embossed thereon,
both which descriptions of reels, however, are expensive. Now, the object of
my Invention is to construct the barrels of such description of reels of metal
with ends of metal or horn, or other material, whereby greater facility of con-
struction will be obtained and a greater variety of ornamented or plain ends
may be produced, and, when manufactured extensively, may be obtained at a
very moderate cost.
Figure 2 represents a reel made according to my improvement.
a being
the metal barrel or tube on which the cotton is wound or reeled; bis the upper
end, and c the lower end of the reel. One of these ends is shown separately
at Figure 3, consisting of a circular plate of metal; and the metal I most
generally employ is brass, which may be lackered, bronzed, plated, or other-
wise, but I do not confine myself to that metal.
Figure 4 shows the barrel a separately. In making the ends b, c, I make
two slits in the centre, as shown at Figure 3, and then force the opening into
a circular form, so that the ends b, c, when passed on to the barrel a and
soldered, will be the more strongly secured on that barrel, owing to the

page_text: portions of metal d, d, offering considerable extent of surface for the solder
to hold by, though other means may be resorted to for that purpose. The
soldering I perform by a lamp and blowpipe, in like manner to that
pursued in order to the fixing or soldering of ornamental and other parts of
plated goods, which is well understood; or I affix such ends by other means.
I would remark that the ends b, c, are turned up all round, as shewn by
Figure 5, by a fly press. The two ends b and c, being fixed on the barrel a,
by soldering or otherwise, it will be ready to receive the ornamental or other
ends.
Figure 6 represents a thin plate of metal turned up all round, and capable
of being placed on the ends b, c, and affixed thereon in the following manner :-
Having put the reel thus far formed into a suitable chuck of a lathe, and
placed the end, Figure 6, on the reel, the chuck is caused to revolve, at the
same time the edges of the covering plate are pressed with a burnisher or such
like tool, and thus those edges are turned over the ends b, c, and securely
affixed thereon, care being observed, however, that one covering plate has a
hole perforated in the centre in order to allow of a spindle passing into the
barrel a when reeling or winding on the cotton. I would remark that
such curving plates, Figure 6, may be embossed by stamping in various ways.
I usually have the King's Arms raised thereon, and in the center the number
of the cotton which the reel contains, but other devices may be used.
I will now describe the manner of forming the ends of metallic reels with
horn. Figure 7 shows a side view of a mould or die, with the parts together,
for forming horn ends to a series of reels at one time...
Figure 8 shows the plan of the lower die separately; Figure 9, the
plan of the middle plate or die; and Figure 10, a plan of the under side
of the upper plate of the mould or die. e, e, are a series of spindles
affixed on the lower die in the centre of each of the dies or shapes, for
forming the end of the reel. f show the series of circular recesses for
moulding the horn. g. g, are two studs or projecting pins affixed in the
lower plate or die; these studs pass through the middle and into the upper
plate, and hold them correctly together. The middle plate or part of the
die consists of three parts, which, when together, are held by the screw
bolts and nuts h. The upper die, like the under die, has a series of recesses
f formed therein for the ends of the reels.
pressing born (usually ox hoofs) into various
handles, &c., being well understood, and forming no part of my Invention, it will
not be necessary to enter into more than a general description, in order to apply
The process of preparing and
articles, such as buttons, knife

page_text: that process to the making of the ends to metallic reels constructed according
to my improvement. The horn being boiled, and thus reduced to a soft state,
portions thereof are to be formed by cutting to nearly the shape and thickness
of the ends of the reels. The pieces which are to form the lower ends of the
reels are to have holes formed therein, so that they can be forced on the
barrels a on the spindles e, and into the recesses of the lower mould. The
middle plate is then to be put on, which can readily be done, in consequence
of it being in three parts, and the screw nuts are then screwed up, which hold
the parts together. Pieces of horn are then to be forced on to the upper
ends of the barrels a, but those pieces are not to be perforated, and are to be
worked on to the upper end of the barrel by the fingers of the workmen, by
moving the horn in different directions and pressing it at the same time;
and when the whole of the barrels in the mould are supplied with horn, the
upper surface of the mould or dies is to be placed thereon, and the whole being
heated, as is well understood, to a proper degree, the mould is to be placed
under a press, and considerable pressure exerted thereon, by which means
the horn will be moulded to the figure desired for the ends of the reels;
and it will be evident that the surfaces of the recesses f may be engraved to
any device which may be desired in order to ornament the ends of the reels.
I would remark that the metallic barrels a, when they have horn ends formed
thereon, as above described, should be split down in several places for a short
distance at each end, and that portion of the metal being turned or bent
outwards, will form projections in the midst of the horn ends, which will cause
those ends more securely to be held by such barrel.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner I have
pursued to carry the same into effect, I would wish it to be understood that I
do not confine myself thereto, but what I claim as my Invention is the
constructing the description of reels for reeling sewing cotton, herein
explained, with metal barrels, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Barber, have hereunto set my
hand seal, this Nineteenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Nineteenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord 1836, the aforesaid Richard Barber came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.