IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING, DOUBLING, OR TWISTING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Peter Swires Horsman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1878.
I, PETER SWIRES HORSMAN, of Saint John's, Beckermet, in the
County of Cumberland, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING, DOUBLING, OR
TWISTING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:—
J
The objects of these improvements in spinning machinery (parts of
which are applicable to the spinning and twisting frames now in
ordinary use) are to provide an improved drag and guide wire, and in
combination therewith to provide means whereby the vibration of the
flyer when driven at high speed may be prevented.
By these improvements the mechanism will be lightened, and may
therefore be driven at a greatly accelerated speed, with an uniform
winding up of the yarn (or drag), and without injurious vibration.
In applying my.improvements to the spinning and twisting frames at
present in use I mount upon the spindles of these machines, below the

page_text: traverse rail, a fan (consisting of two or more vanes) supported loosely
upon the spindle by a collar; this collar is supported upon or attached
to a light frame or bar carried from the under side of the traverse rail,
ascending and descending with it.
I connect the fan in the following manner with the bobbin which
rests upon the traverse rail, so that the fan will partake of the motion of
the bobbin From the boss or centre ring of the fan one or more pins
project upwards nearly through the circular hole made in the traverse
rail for the passage of the spindles, and pendant from the bottom of the
bobbins, which rest on the rail, are other pins arranged in the same
central line, and in length less than the thickness of the rail. The ends
of the two sets of pins will thus overlap and cause the bobbin to carry
the fan round with it, thus obtaining from the resistance of the air on
the vanes of the fan an uniform drag.
My improved method of conducting the yarn or thread to the bobbin
consists of a guide wire soldered to an arm provided with a collar, by
which it may be attached to the ends of the flyer by means of a square
or other socket, and secured by a pin or otherwise in such position that
the guide wire arm projects outward from the flyer. The yarn will thus
be kept farther from the spindle, and any danger of interference with
the ascent or descent of the bobbin will be avoided.
In some cases I propose to employ the ordinary inverted flyer.(fast on
the spindle), the legs of which I pass through holes made in a disc
carrying .the bobbin. This disc or ring is capable of sliding freely on
the spindle, and rests at its edge on the traverse or copping rail.
In this modification I cause the fan, which is mounted loosely upon
the spindle, to act upon the bobbin by friction in the following
manner: The legs of the flyer pass freely through short sleeve shafts or
collars, carried by, but turning freely in, the disc at opposite sides
thereof. The upper ends of these sleeve shafts, above the disc, are
furnished with a short arm, to which is secured one end of a cord, that
passes round a portion of the grooved periphery of the lower rim of the
bobbin, and is attached to a pin in the disc. At the lower end of the
sleeve shafts, and below the disc, are longer arms projecting nearly to
the spindle, from the ends of which the fan is suspended upon the

page_text: spindle by cords or chains. By this means the resistance of the air
upon the vanes will be transmitted through the arms of the sleeve shafts,
and will tighten the cords which bear upon the grooved periphery of the
bobbin, the increased friction of which will cause the speed of the
bobbin to be uniformly retarded in a soft and easy manner.
In another modification, suitable for fine yarns, I propose to use the
inverted flyer with the improved drag and guide wire, but in place of
the flyer being fast on the spindle, as is ordinarily the case, I mount the
head of the flyer (or ring collar) on the spindle, with a feather and
groove device, the projection or feather being in the collar, and the
spindle grooved the length of the required traverse; the copping rail
will thus act direct on the flyer. The bobbin is carried by a disc fast on
the spindle, and through this disc the legs of the flyer pass as in the
before-mentioned arrangement, by which means the legs and head of the
flyer will be driven direct from the spindle, thus esnuring great
steadiness of motion in the lightest mechanism.
I still further modify this arrangement for coarse yarns in order to
obtain an uniform drag, over which some control may be had during the
operation of spinning. In this modification (in place of the fan) a
grooved wheel or pulley is placed loosely upon the spindle, and is there
suspended from the longer arms of the sleeve shafts, which in this modi-
fication are continued down the whole length of the legs of the flyer,
and rest upon a collar. This description of sleeve shaft is square in
section, and passes loosely through a square hole in the upper arm,
which forms part of a collar or ring surrounding the sleeve shaft, for the
purpose of attaching the shorter arm to the disc, but so that it may turn
freely thereon. By this means the sleeve shaft will accompany the rise
and fall of the flyer in the traverse motion given by the traverse rail, the
sleeve shaft and legs of the flyer sliding freely through the holes in the
disc fast on the spindle, while at the same time the sleeve shafts will
transmit their axial motion at whatever part of the traverse resistance
is felt.
The suspending cords pendant from the longer arms of the sleeve
shafts pass down through slots made in the central collar or head of the
Alver and through the traverse rail, and are attached at onnosite sides of
•

page_text: periphery of this pulley is formed by a cord, one end of which is carried
by a lug from the under side of the traverse rail, and its opposite end
after passing through an eye or guide may be weighted according to the
requirements of the yarn under operation; an adjustable friction can
thus be put upon the speed of the pulley, which will be transmitted as 5
before through the arms and sleeve shafts to the bobbin.