Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Winding Thread, Filling, or Yarn.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1894-Accepted, 22nd Dec.. 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Winding Thread, Filling,
or Yarn.
A communication by JOHN WILLMARTH FOSTER, of Westfield, in the County
of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, in the United States of America,
Superintendent.
I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
66
Winding machines now commonly in use for winding thread or yarn on cops or
bobbins after the method of what is denominated as filling wind "for use in loom
shuttles and other places, commonly contain spindles which rotate within conical
caps, the caps serving to shape the nose of the cop or bobbin.
In this class of
machine the friction of the thread or yarn against the cap is very considerable and
very objectionable, especially in connection with fine threads or yarns, or threads
or yarns which are coloured.
is
By the term thread as hereinafter used, it is intended to cover any usual threads
or yarns.
The machine herein to be described has been devised to effect the winding of
thread or yarn onto cops or bobbins after the method of the "filling wind" without,
however, employing the usual conical cap.
The machine herein to be described contains a rotating spindle and has
co-operating with said spindle a thread guide which is controlled as to its
movements by a pattern device which, for greatest simplicity, may be a cam-shaped
track, one portion of said pattern device being of suitable shape to control the
building of the heel of the cop, if the thread is to be wound on a bare spindle or
upon a paper tube, the remainder of the track causing the thread-guide to be moved
toward the free end of the spindle more or less slowly according to the number
or size of the thread, thus providing for the winding of one conical layer after
another.
During the winding operation, the rotating spindles have imparted to them a
reciprocating motion equal in extent substantially to the length of the required
traverse.
The thread or yarn to be wound is shown as taken from a skein on a reel, and
means have been devised to take the thread from its source of supply, a skein or
otherwise, at a uniform speed, notwithstanding different diameters of the thread
mass being accumulated upon the spindles, and this is provided for by rotating the
spindles frictionally from one side of a disc, said spindles having friction wheels to
contact with said discs, the spindles, however, crossing the axis of rotation of the
driving disc, so that the friction wheels on the spindles may be driven from parts
of the disc at the rear side of their centres of rotation, rather than at their front
sides, the driving of said spindles from the rear sides of said discs enabling the
friction wheels on the spindles to be moved back and forth between said shafts,
and the outer edges of said discs, the movement being toward the outer edges of
the discs as the thread being wound approaches the bare spindles, at which time
the rotation of the spindles must be faster in order to take up the same quantity of

page_text: thread the rotation of the spindle while winding from the centre thereof toward
the periphery of the thread mass being slower, for at such time the friction wheels
on the spindles are being moved toward the centre of rotation of said discs.
A heart cam device, of peculiar construction, acts upon suitable devices, preferably
a rock-shaft with arms to reciprocate the spindles longitudinally substantially in
unison, but in opposite directions one to the other as regards the outer ends or
points of the spindles.
The spindles are mounted in movable bearings controlled as to their positions by
or through suitable stop motion mechanism depending for its operation upon the
breaking of the thread, said bearings being moved to break the driving contact
between the friction wheel of a spindle and its driving disc upon the failure of the
thread going to that particular spindles.
Means have also been devised by which to quickly change the speed of movement
of the thread-guide, or the feed of the thread, according to the number of the yarn,
and the reel or swift may be rotated positively to thus supply thread to the
spindle at the speed required for the thread being wound so as to avoid straining
the thread.
One part of this invention consists in the use with a spindle and devices to
rotate it at a variable speed while winding each layer of thread or yarn thereon,
and to also reciprocate said spindle during its rotation, of a thread-guide, a pattern
device or surface, and connections between said thread-guide and said pattern
device whereby the latter may gradually move said thread guide toward the point.
of the spindle as the thread is being wound thereon, as will be described.
Also, in the use in a machine for winding thread or yarn into cop form, of a
spindle, devices to reciprocate it, and also to rotate it at a variable speed as the
thread or yarn is being wound from a larger to a smaller diameter and vice versa,
a screw, a pattern device having a portion thereof shaped to build the heel of the
thread mass as the latter is wound, a thread guide, and connections between said
thread guide and said pattern device and between said pattern device and said
screw whereby said thread guide may be moved more or less rapidly toward the
point of the spindle as one layer after another of thread is added thereto, the speed.
of movement of the thread guide being controlled by said pattern device.
Also, in the use in a thread or yarn winding machine, of a spindle, a thread
guide, and devices to reciprocate said spindle and to rotate it at a variable speed,
devices to move said thread guide toward the point end of said spindle, a reel, its
shaft, and devices to engage and rotate said reel whereby the thread carried
thereby is unwound without straining the thread, substantially as will be described..
Also, in the use in a thread or yarn winding machine, having a spindle, a threa
guide, and devices to reciprocate the spindle, and devices to rotate it at a variable
speed, of devices to move the thread guide toward the point end of the spindle, a
reel, means to positively rotate said reel to enable it to pay off its thread as
required by the thread guide, a feeler to bear on the thread between the reel and
spindle, and devices to arrest the rotation of the reel on the occurrence of slack
thread, substantially as will be described.
Also, in the use in a thread or yarn winding machine, having a rotating shatt..
provided with friction discs, and a thread guide, of a spindle extended across said,
shaft and having a friction wheel secured to it upon said shaft, said wheel being.
adapted to bear against and be rotated by said disc, a movable bearing in which
the spindle is mounted, and devices to move said bearing to remove said friction
wheel from driving contact with said friction disc, and devices to reciprocate said
spindle longitudinally.
Also, the use in a thread or yarn winding machine having a rotating shaft
provided with an attached friction disc, of two spindles having their rear ends,
extended across said shaft from opposite directions, each spindle having a friction
wheel and adapted to be rotated by contact of said friction wheels with said.
rotating disc, a coupling to connect said spindles, a heart cam, and devices between
said heart cam.and said coupling to reciprocate said spindles substantially in unison

page_text: in the direction of their length and enable them at the same time to be rotated
at a variable speed in opposite directions.
Also, in the use in a thread or yarn winding machine provided with a rotating
shaft having a friction disc, of two spindles crossing said shaft substantially at
right angles and provided each with a friction wheel to co-operate with said friction
disc, a coupling to connect said spindles, a heart cam, and devices intermediate said
heart cam and coupling, said devices being adjustable to provide for a greater or
less length of reciprocation of the said spindle.
Also, in the use in a thread or yarn winding machine having a spindle, and
devices to both rotate and reciprocate the same, of a thread guide, a pattern
device, and connections to control the movements of said thread guide, and a thread
cutter to cut the thread going to the spindle when the thread mass has been wound
to the desired size, substantially as will be described.
Also, in the use in a thread or yarn winding machine having a spindle, to which
is imparted both a rotating and a reciprocating movement, of a reel, a screw shaft,
and gearing between it and the shaft of the reel to rotate the screw shaft, a sleeve
having a threaded nut embracing said screw shaft, a thread guide, and connections
between said nut and said thread guide, and a pattern surface co-operating with
the connections between the screw and the thread guide to move the said thread
guide according to the requirements of the pattern device to gradually provide for
building the nose of the cop or thread mass, substantially as will be described.
Fig. 1. in front elevation, partially broken out, shows a sufficient portion of a
thread winding machine with my improvements added to enable my invention to
be understood.
Fig. 2. is a section in the line a, Fig. 1. looking to the left in that figure.
Fig. 3 is a detail shewing the movable bearing for one of the spindles.
Fig. 4 is a detail showing on an enlarged scale some of the devices employed to
reciprocate the spindles.
Fig. 5. shews a drop wire detached.
The frame-work A, composed chiefly of side frames united by cross-beams or
ties, is and may be of any suitable shape to support the working parts, said frame
supporting at its top side a beam or plate A', upon which, as herein represented,
there are erected suitable standards a at the upper ends of which are suitable heads
or yokes, see Fig. 1, to support each shaft a of a reel or swift A2, which may be
of any usual or suitable construction.
The upright a has suitable lugs to constitute bearings for a rotating feed screw a²
having connected with it at its upper end a disc a³, against which bears a friction
wheel at secured to the swift shaft preferably in an adjustable manner by a screw a³,
so that said friction wheel may be adjusted longitudinally on said shaft toward and
from the centre of said disc, that depending upon the speed at which it is desired
to rotate the screw shaft a², the said shaft being rotated the more rapidly as the
friction wheel a' is moved toward the centre of the disc, these differences in speed
enabling the use of yarns of different numbers by the use of one and the same size
reel.
The screw referred to has co-operating with it a pawl-nut b, the end of which
next the screw is threaded to engage the threads of the screw, the pawl-nut
being pivoted at 6¹ upon a lug attached to a sleeve 62 surrounding the said screw
loosely.
The upright a serves to support a pattern device b³, shown as a track fixed at its
opposite ends, the track being herein represented as being of cam-shape and slotted
for the reception of a roller or other stud 64 carried by a radius bar or arm b³,
pivoted at its upper end to the said sleeve b².
The radius bar has jointed to it a connection 6 shown as a rod, which at its
opposite end is jointed to a thread-guide of suitable shape, which is mounted
upon a guide be preferably fixed at one end to some part of the frame-work.
As the swift or reel is rotated, which may be either by the pull of the thread
upon it on its way to the spindle, or positively, as will be hereinafter described, the

page_text: screw a³ is rotated at a greater or less speed and the sleeve 6 through the action of
the nut b is drawn down causing the roller or other stud 64, co-operating with the
track, to move the thread-guide upon its guide 68, such movement being a slow
movement and the speed depending upon the number of, the yarn.
When the thread is to be wound upon a bare spindle or a tube, then the upper
end of the pattern device will be more or less curved or irregular in shape to
enable the thread 61 to be wound into a more or less conical shape, according to
the shape desired for the heel of the thread mass, such heels being commonly
employed as starters for winding in spinning machines.
If the thread is to be wound upon a bobbin having a conical base, then the track
casting will be changed to adapt it to do that class of work, the cam being almost
obliterated or being of but slight extent.
The frame work has bearings for what I shall denominate the main shaft C,
it having attached to it at suitable intervals discs C¹ against which bear friction
wheels or pulleys c, d, attached respectively to spindles c', d', said spindles having
suitable bearings as c³, c³, and d³, d³, in which they may slide in the direction of
their length, the said bearings c, d, being preferably each pivoted so that it may
be moved laterally or about a pivot substantially at right angles to the axis of the
shaft C, so that the friction wheels c and d, may when a thread breaks, as will be
described, be removed from driving contact with the discs.
In this class of machine it is desired frequently to wind different classes of cops,
quills, or bobbins, and to do this effectually the tips 2 and 3 of the spindles c', d¹,
are made removable by or through suitable threaded portions, as shewn at 4, at
the left Fig. 2, so that said tips may be removed and a tip of any desired length,
shape, or diameter be employed in connection with the spindle according to the
work to be done.
The spindles c¹, d¹, see Fig. 2, are extended from the sides of the machine across
and beyond the main shaft C, so that the friction wheels c and d, may be rotated
from the portions of said disc C' at the rear side, as, for instance, the spindle c¹ is
having wound upon its free end, as at the left in Fig. 2, thread, and the opposite
end of the spindle goes beyond the shaft C to the right viewing said figure.
The spindles c¹ and d¹ have fast upon them suitable collars 5, preferably two
such collars to each spindle, and between said collars the said spindles are
surrounded by a coupling 610, best shewn in the detail Fig. 4, said coupling having
adjustably connected with it by screws 60, a slotted plate 61, having a stud 62,
which, as shown, is engaged by a slotted arm 61 of a rock-shaft 61 having another
arm, as 6, provided at its end with a ball or other like end to enter a groove in a
double heart cam 68 fast on a shaft 61 mounted in suitable bearings supported by
the frame, said shaft 61, as herein represented, being provided with a worm-gear b
which is engaged by a worm 6" secured to the shaft C, so that said heart cam is
rotated uniformly from the said shaft C, and in its rotation the heart cam, through
the rock-shaft, reciprocates the said spindles in unison in their bearings, but the
spindles are rotated in opposite directions with relation to their points, the length
of reciprocation being determined by the adjustment of the pin 62 in the slot of
arm 61, such adjustment providing for the traverse required for the spindle, that
depending upon the number of the thread to be wound.
The thread coming from, as herein shown, the reel or swift, is passed under a
suitable drop wire e, thence over a tension or guide-roll e' and down to and through
a suitable eye in the thread guide 6'.
The drop wire, shown separately in Fig. 5, is guided in a suitable bar e³, and,
as represented, straddles a pivoted lever e³, which at its rear end is so weighted as
to normally keep the outer end of said lever pressed up to, or nearly to, said bar,
at which time a hook et on said lever is out of the range of movement of a ratchet
wheel es mounted on a suitable shaft which is rotated by a suitable belt, as e.
The lever eis pivoted at es on a slide-bar e mounted in suitable bearings 12, 12 X,
underneath the plate A', said slide-bar having a suitable cam lug or projection 10
beveled at one end near the bearing 12, so that as said bar e' is drawn forward by

page_text: means of the ratchet wheel e, the said cam acting against the bearing 12 will lift
the said bar, and by or through a connecting rod 32, see Fig. 3, joined at its lower
end to a finger 13 of the bearing c², will cause said bearing to be tipped about its
pivot 14 to carry the spindle c' away from the disc C', so that the friction wheel c
carried by said spindle will cease to rotate.
It will be understood in order to wind the yarn upon the spindle at a uniform
speed that the spindle itself must be rotated at a variable speed, it rotating. the
faster as the thread is nearer the centre of rotation of the spindle, and it is only by
arranging the friction wheels c and d, referred to, at points behind the said shaft C
that this variation in speed may be practically made to accommodate the
requirements of the thread to the movements of the spindle, and this manner of
driving the spindle is one of the essential features of my invention.
I have shown one simple way of moving the spindles so as to stop their rotation
when the thread breaks and lets the lever 3 drop, but it will be obvious to a
skilled mechanic that many different forms of devices, without the exercise of
inventive genius, might be substituted for the devices shewn.
As the thread masses increase in length and diameter and reach the proper size
the machine should be stopped, and to effect this automatically there is mounted
upon the guide 8 a blade holder f having a suitable notch or blade f¹, against
which the thread between the thread-guide and the thread mass strikes when the
proper amount of thread has been wound, said blade automatically cutting the
said thread and letting the drop-wire act to stop further winding on, as before
described.
It is, with some classes of yarns, a very great desideratum to feed the thread
from the swift or reel positively, so that the said thread shall not be called upon
to furnish the power to rotate the reel, so to rotate the reel positively, when
desired, the reel shaft a' is provided with a bevel gear y which is engaged by the
bevel gear g' on a shaft g² extended upwardly from the machine, said shaft having
fast
upon it at its lower end a friction wheel g³ which bears against the face of a
disc g fast upon a suitable shaft g' having a suitable pulley, so that the said shaft
may be rotated in any suitable manner, as for instance by the belt 9º, extended
over the pulley 9' on the shaft C.
The disc g rotates the shaft 92 and the latter rotates the reel shaft.
To prevent the too rapid rotation or over-running of the reel in this instance of
my invention the reel shaft is provided with an adjustable collar h between which
and one of the bearings for the reel shaft there is placed a washer or friction
device, herein represented as a spiral spring h.
If for any reason the thread becomes slack, it is not then desired to further
rotate the reel shaft, and to obviate this there is combined with the machine a
suitable feeler, as m, it being shewn as a wire pivoted upon a stand m', see Fig. 2,
the rear end of said feeler lying under a lever m² which is pivoted upon a stand m³,
shown best in Fig. 1. at the left, the short arm of said lever bearing against the
shaft g².
Fig. 2. shows the feeler in its normal position, but should the thread become slack
the formation of further injurious slack would be prevented by the dropping
of the feeler, so that it would turn the lever m² and cause that lever acting against
the shaft g2 to push it away from the disc against the spring m* and thus
break the driving contact between the wheel g and the said disc g.
This provision of positively rotating the swift or reel so that it may give off
its thread at a desired speed, enables very tender yarn to be wound directly
from the skein in cop-form without intermediate handling heretofore considered
necessary.
If the yarn is strong enough to furnish the power to rotate the swift or reel I
will then in practice remove the gear g from the reel-shaft or so place it on the shaft
that it will not mesh with the bevel gear g¹.
The shaft C in practice will be driven by any usual or suitable fast and loose
pulleys controlled by any usual shippers.

page_text: By adjusting the block upon the guide 6 the thread-cutting or breaking
device may be made to operate sooner or later, that depending upon the length
of the thread mass to be wound upon the spindle, quill, or other device carried
by the spindle, as it will be understood that the conical thread masses herein
produced will be largely used in loom shuttles, and loom shuttles vary in length and
diameter.
It will be understood that the speed of rotation of the reel may be made faster
or slower, and the length of reciprocation of the spindles be correspondingly
changed to thus enable one to wind thread more or less compactly and into masses
of any desired size.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The use with a spindle and devices to rotate it at a variable speed while winding
cach layer of thread or yarn thereon, and to also reciprocate said spindle during its
rotation, of a thread-guide, a pattern device or surface, and connections between
said thread guide and said pattern device whereby the latter may gradually move
said thread guide toward the point of the spindle as the thread is being wound
thereon, substantially as described.
2. The use in a machine for winding thread or yarn into cop form, of a spindle,
devices to reciprocate it and also to rotate it at a variable speed as the thread
or yarn is being wound from a larger to a smaller diameter and vice versa, a screw,
a pattern device having a portion thereof shaped to build the heel of the thread
mass as the latter is wound, a thread guide, aud connections between said thread
guide and said pattern device and between said pattern device and said screw
whereby said thread guide may be moved more or less rapidly toward the point
of the spindle as one layer after another of thread is added thereto, the speed of
movement of the thread guide being controlled by said pattern device substantially
as described.
3. The use in a thread or yarn winding machine, of a spindle, a thread guide,
and devices to reciprocate said spindle and to rotate it at a variable speed, the
devices to move said thread guide toward the point end of said spindle, a reel, its
shaft, and devices to engage and rotate said reel whereby the thread carried thereby
is unwound without straining the thread, substantially as described.
4. The use in a thread or yarn winding machine having a spindle, a thread guide,
and devices to reciprocate the spindle, and devices to rotate it at a variable speed,
of devices to move the thread guide toward the point end of the spindle, a reel,
means to positively rotate said reel to enable it to pay off its thread as required
by the thread guide, a feeler to bear on the thread between the reel and spindle,
and devices to arrest the rotation of the reel on the occurrence of slack thread,
substantially as described.
5. The use in a thread or yarn winding machine, having a rotating shaft provided
with friction discs, and a thread guide, of a spindle extended across said shaft and
having a friction wheel secured to it upon said shaft, said wheel being adapted to
bear against and be rotated by said disc, a movable bearing in which the spindle is
mounted, and devices to move said bearing to remove said friction wheel from
driving contact with said friction disc, and devices to reciprocate said spindle
longitudinally substantially as set forth.
6. The use in a thread or yarn winding machine having a rotating shaft provided
with an attached friction disc, of two spindles having their rear ends extended across
said shaft from opposite directions, each spindle having a friction wheel and adapted
to be rotated by contact of said friction wheels with said rotating disc, a coupling
to connect said spindles, a heart cam, and devices between said heart cam and said
coupling to reciprocate said spindles substantially in unison in the direction of their
length and enable them at the same time to be rotated at a variable speed in opposite
directions, substantially as set forth.

page_text: 7. The use in a thread or yarn winding machine provided with a rotating shaft
having a friction disc, of two spindles crossing said shaft substantially at right
angles and provided euch with a friction wheel to co-operate with said friction disc,
a coupling to connect said spindles, a heart cam, and devices intermediate said heart
cam and coupling, said devices being adjustable to provide for a greater or less
length of reciprocation of the said spindle, substantially as set forth.
8. The use in a thread or yaru winding machine having a spindle, and devices to
both rotate and reciprocate the same, of a thread guide, a pattern device, and
connections to control the movements of said thread guide, and a thread cutter to
cut the thread going to the spindle when the thread mass has been wound to the
desired size, substantially as described.
9. The use in a thread or yarn winding machine having a spindle, to which is
imparted both a rotating and a reciprocating movement, of a reel, a screw shaft,
and gearing between it and the shaft of the reel to rotate the screw shaft, a sleeve
having a threaded nut embracing said screw shaft, a thread guide, and connections
between said nut and said thread guide, and a pattern surface co-operating with the
connections between the screw and the thread guide to move the said thread guide
according to the requirements of the pattern device to gradually provide for building
the nose of the cop or thread mass, substantially as described.
10. The construction, arrangement, and use of means or apparatus for winding
thread, filling or yarn whereby the speed of movement of the thread guide, or the
feed of the thread according to the number of the yarn, may be quickly changed
and the reel or swift may be rotated positively to thus supply thread to the spindle
at the speed required for the thread being wound so as to avoid straining the
thread, substantially as set forth.
11. The construction, arrangement and use of machinery for winding threads,
yarn or filling wherein are combined a series of rotating spindles co-operating with
a thread guide whose movements are controlled by a pattern device so as to properly
build the heel of the cop and wind the thread one conical layer after another, means
for imparting adjusted reciprocating motion to said spindles means for securing
uniform feed of thread irrespective of differing diameter of the thread mass on the
spindles, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth and shewn by the
drawings.
12. The construction, arrangement and use of the various devices for effecting
and controlling the winding of thread filling or yarn onto cops, bobbins or the like
without employing usual conical caps, substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before set forth and illustrated by the drawings.
Dated the 16th day of November 1894.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.