IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARING AND SMOOTHING SPUN SILK, YARN, AND OTHER LIKE THREADS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Alfred Cowper at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th May 1874.
I, EDWARD ALFRED COWPER, of No. 6, Great George Street, West-
minster, in the County of, Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR
CLEARING AND SMOOTHING SPUN SILK, YARN, AND OTHER LIKE THREADS," to be as
follows :-
Spun silk, yarn, and other threads are frequently cleared and
smoothed by being caused to pass round a number of rollers or pullies,
so that as it laps on to the roller or pulley it touches another part of the
thread which is leaving the roller or pulley. If there is any projecting"
lump or knot, or accumulation of fibres on that side of the thread,
leaving the roller or pulley, which is next to the thread coming on to
the roller or pulley, the latter lying on such a projection binds it to the
roller or pulley, and thus the projecting fibres are pulled off the leaving
thread by the grip of the on-coming thread. If however such projecting
fibres are not on that side of the thread, which is presented to the
on-coming thread, they are not so gripped or pulled off. The thread
being usually passed on to the successive rollers or pulleys in one
direction the action takes place mostly on one side or portion of the
periphery of the thread.

page_text: My Invention relates to means of exposing several sides or portions of
the periphery of the thread to the clearing action, so as more effectually
to clear the thread of projections and render its whole surface smooth
and even.
For this purpose I arrange the successive rollers or pulleys
with their axes at various angles round a thread, as for example, one
roller or pulley above the thread, one below, and one on each side of
the thread, or others in intermediate attitudes, so that on the thread
being passed round each roller or pulley in the same direction projecting
fibres will be gripped by the on-coming thread on one or other of the
rollers or pullies and be pulled off. Instead of fixing the several rollers
or pullies in these different attitudes they may be conveniently mounted
in pairs or other numbers on light frames with hollow axes, through
which the thread can be passed, slits being provided in the axes by
which the thread can be introduced. The frames being turned, so that
the rollers or pulleys are in the same plane, the attendant can easily
pass the thread around each, and then the light frames being turned
on their axes the several sets of rollers or pullies are thereby turned
to their different attitudes about the thread.
t
"
Instead of fixing the rollers or pullies in different attitudes, or turning
them to different attitudes round the thread, they may be all fixed in
one plane, and the thread can be made to turn on itself as it passes.
them successively, so as to present in its course many different portions.
of its periphery to the clearing action. Such turning of the thread may
be effected by means of an instrument like the "dyers' tube
used in
cotton spinning, or by two straps moving obliquely across each other,
one on each side of the thread, or by two rollers, one revolving obliquely
to the other, one on each side of the thread, so as to twist it round
while they feed it on. Other known means of turning the thread round
might be used, so as to avoid turning the rollers or pullies to different
angles, or the thread might be partly turned and the rollers or pullics
partly turned, or set to various angles.
When a number of clearing rollers or pullies are used the run of the
thread round them may be assisted by introducing one or more pairs of
drawing rollers driven at the speed with which the thread runs, or by
driving one or more of the rollers or pullies themselves.
In order to prevent the "fluff" or separated fibres or flocculæ from
impregnating the atmosphere of the room, where their presence is incon-
venient and deleterious, I place an electrical conductor of any convenient

page_text: form close to the machine, so that on its being charged with electricity
in any convenient manner (frictional electricity being preferred for this
purpose) the light particles are attracted to it and detained until swept off
by the attendant or by a scraper worked by the machine. The rubber
that excites the electricity may be conveniently applied as such scraper.
The threads may be "gassed" in the ordinary way after passing
through the machine, or the gassing apparatus may be combined with
the machine, so that the gassing and clearing of the thread may be
effected in a continuous manner as portions of one operation. For
removing the knots and fibres that naturally cling around the rollers or
pullies, and which would form rings and collars thereon if allowed to
accumulate, I direct small but powerful jets of steam or of air forced
under pressure by pumps, bellows, or other convenient means, against
the peripheries of the rollers or pullies; and on the other sides of the
rollers or pullies I provide a funnel-mouthed pipe leading to a box or
chamber, having a portion of its surface porous, through which the steam
or air can escape, leaving within the box or chamber the knots or fibres
so as to save them for further use.
For more effectually preventing the floss or fibres from forming rings
or collars on the peripheries of the clearing rollers or pullies and.
adhering thereto I arrange in close proximity to each roller or pulley a
plough, which may be a blade or wire, preferably inclined or helical,
and which is made to bear or nearly to bear upon the periphery as
closely as practicable to the thread which is running on it. The floss
or fibre detached from the thread is caught and broken up by such
plough, and is guided by its inclined or helical form off the pulley or
roller to be removed, as already described, by the air blast or otherwise.
For convenience in placing the thread on the pulley or roller I prefer
to mount the plough on a hinge or pivot, so that it can be moved or
turned aside when required. This arrangement of plough or clearing.
blade is obviously applicable to clearing rollers or pullies of known
construction, independently of the other improvements herein-before
described in the arrangement and operation of such clearing apparatus.