IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON-COVERED-WIRE, AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON-COVERED-WIRE, AND IN
MACHINERY THEREFOR.” A communication from abroad by Henry Splitdorf,
of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer of Covered Wire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd March 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
COTTON-COVERED-WIRE, AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR." [A communication
from abroad by Henry Splitdorf, of New York, United States of America,
Manufacturer of Covered Wire.].
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of cotton-covered
wire, and in machinery therefor, and comprises an improved method of applying
cotton fibres straightened, but in their natural condition, as a covering for wire for
electrical and other purposes; and a machine adapted to this purpose, constructed
as hereinafter described.
In carrying this Invention into practice I use the cotton in the form of
slivers, viz., cotton carded and cleaned with the fibres placed parallel and
collected into a looose yarn slightly twisted to cause the fibres to hold together,
or the cotton in that stage of manufacture when it is ready to be spun and drawn
into threads.
In covering the wire the sliver is untwisted and spread so as to be approximately
of the thickness of one fibre, and is spirally wound round the wire by means of a
suitable machine, such as is hereinafter described.
The wire is by preference prepared by a coating of shellac before applying the
cotton fibre thereto, and the fibres are caused to adhere to the said wire by heating
the wire after it is covered. Instead of winding the cotton fibres upon the wires
coated as above stated, and then heating the whole to cause the cotton to adhere,
the wire may be caused to pass through a heating device just before the cotton
fibres are applied thereto; or the fibres may be simply wound on the wire, or
round on, and then the covered wire passed through a suitable varnish or coating;
or the wires may be first coated with a suitable varnish, and the cotton fibres
applied thereto before the varnish dries or sets, according to the purpose for which
the covered wire is to be used. .

page_text: The great advantage of this method of covering wire for electrical purposes are
that perfect insulation without great increase in the size of the wire is obtained,
thus allowing helices of electro-magnets to be constructed of given sizes with much
greater length of wire than has heretofore been practicable, or a given length of
wire may be formed into smaller helices than hitherto; and the method permits
helices to be better and more evenly formed on account of the soft nature of the
covering; and furthermore I effect thereby a great reduction in the first cost of the
material, the difference in the cost of cotton, in the sliver, and of the finest cotton
thread used for insulating purposes, being about as one is to six, whereas the
difference in its cost and that of silk is many times more; and the wire so covered
is a perfect substitute for silk-covered wire for electrical and other purposes, by
reason of the soft nature and glossy appearance of cotton fibres and the facility
with which they receive any color.
The machine made according to this Invention is composed of a sliver-carrier
provided with feed-rollers so constructed and operated as to draw the sliver off its
bobbin as the carrier rotates in bearings on the frame of the machine, and pass the
sliver to a pair of rollers in line with the feed-rollers of the sliver-carrier. The
sliver is untwisted between these two pairs of rollers by the rotation of the sliver-
carrier. A spreading device acts on the sliver after it is untwisted to form it into
a flat ribbon composed of parallel cotton fibres, and it acts on the principle of
pressing the collected fibres to cause them to assume positions side by side, by
means of dull knife edges passing rapidly by one another, with the collected
untwisted fibres between them.
This spreading device may be dispensed with when certain kinds and sizes of
slivers are used, and when it is not required to lay a very thin covering on the
wire, as the untwisting of the sliver spreads the fibres sufficiently for most purposes.
After the sliver is untwisted it is taken by conveying belts or a system of rollers
which carry the spread fibres to the last operating device of the machine, consisting
of a pair of-rollers or guides set close to the wire to be covered. The wire is drawn
through a hollow fixed spindle, on which the whole of the operating parts of the
machine revolve. These rollers or guides are sufficiently close to the wire, so that
tension may be applied to the spread fibres as they are wound around the wire
without disturbing the continuity of the ribbon formed by the parallel and
unconnected cotton fibres. The various devices are connected by such an arrange-
ment of gearing that a positive and uniform motion is imparted to them to
perfectly control the sliver in its passage from the bobbin to the wire.
To balance the machine, and also to enable the covering of the wire to be
expeditiously performed, I propose to duplicate the working parts of the machine
as desired, and arrange the corresponding parts of each machine diametrically.
opposite one another on the one machine-frame; the rollers or guides which pass
the fibres to the wire of one machine are set higher than those of the other, so that
the two cotton fibre ribbons are wound on the wire in alternate spirals.
A machine or apparatus embodying my Invention is constructed as follows, viz. :-
The frame which carries all the operative parts of the machine in duplicate is caused
to rotate on a fixed spindle by means of a belt passing around a grooved roller on
the lower end of the frame and around a driving pulley. The wire is drawn
through a longitudinal hole in the spindle and passes over the guide pulley to
its feeding device, which is adjusted to move the wire at such a rate of speed as
to cause it to be perfectly covered by two ribbons of cotton fibres as the machine
revolves around the wire. The wire feeding device and the driving pulley for the
belt need no special description as their construction and arrangement will be fully
understood by those conversant with the art of wire covering, since any of the
ordinary feeding devices and driving mechanisms of this class of machines now in
use are adapted to be used with my improvements.
The hollow spindle through which the wire passes as stated is secured to a base
plate which is fastened to the frame of an ordinary wire-covering machine.
The vertical parts of the frame of my improved apparatus are cast in one piece

page_text: with the grooved roller or pulley above mentioned, and the lower bearings of the
sliver carriers, and at their upper ends they are connected together by a bearing
which fits over the upper end of the hollow spindle. A plate is secured to the top
of the vertical parts of the revolving frame, and is provided with bearings for the
upper ends of the sliver carriers directly in line with the bearings in the lower part
of the said frame.
The sliver-carrier is composed of another light frame secured to one end to a gear-
wheel, the hub of which forms the journal for the upper bearing of the sliver
carrier; the lower journal works in the bearing at the lower part of the revolving
frame previously referred to. Inside the sliver-carrier frame at its lower end and
in line with its lower end, and in line with its axis of rotation, is fixed a short post
on which the bobbin of the sliver is placed. On the top of the bobbin is secured &
dise made of glass, or other suitable material, capable of receiving a fine polish on
the rounded edge to allow the aliver to be drawn over it with as little friction as
possible.
The hub of the gear-wheel above the plate on the revolving frame is enlarged
and forms a rectangular box in which are fitted two rollers; one of said rollers is
pressed against the other roller by means of small springs secured to the sides of
the rectangular box. Motion is imparted to these rollers when the gear-wheel
above mentioned and the sliver carrier are rotated by means of a bevel screw-wheel
secured to the shaft of one of the said rollers and gearing with the teeth of an
internal screw, which is secured to the plate on the revolving frame concentric
with the journal of the wheel on the same. A bell shaped hole is formed centrally
through this wheel and its hub through which the sliver passes to the rollers.
One or both of these rollers may be covered with rubber, and they are connected
by pinions.
On the hollow spindle between the bearings and the plate above is secured a
key, a pinion with which and the gear-wheel above mentioned gears an adjustable
intermediate pinion, so that as the revolving frame and sliver-carrier revolve around
the fixed hollow spindle in one direction, the sliver-carrier and the feed-rollers are
caused to rotate in the revolving frame in an opposite direction, and so untwist
the sliver as it leaves the rollers. By loosening the collar and raising the revolving
frame until the end of the hollow spindle is below the pinion, the latter may be
taken out and replaced by another to regulate the amount of sliver fed according
to the size of the wire.
A modification of this apparatus may be constructed as follows, viz.,-A frame is
secured to the plate in the upper part of tho revolving frame, and a top plate is
pivotted to it. In the frame are fitted the rollers around which is placed an apron
in lugs; on the top plate of the frame last described are fitted other rollers carrying
a counter apron.
"'
The surfaces of the aprons are caused to lay close together by means of a curved
plate, or by another roller placed so as to cause the aprons to travel in a curved
line between the first two rollers. The top plate with the rollers thereon is turned
back away from one apron to allow the sliver being placed between the aprons
after it is drawn up through the rollers in the revolving frame, and so secured to
the wire in starting the machine. The hinged plate is held down by a catch bar.
The second pair of rollers I propose in some cases to set at an angle other than a
right angle to the wire.
Motion is imparted to the aprons through the medium of a 'pinion secured to a
vertical shaft and gearing with the gear-wheel previously described; a worm on
the upper end of the vertical shaft actuates a worm wheel on the shaft of one roller
on the top plate.
All the gear-wheels, pinions, and the like, are so proportioned that the rollers,
the revolving frame, and the aprons move at the same rate of speed about equal to
the spiral circumference of the wire, being covered for every revolution of the
machine on the hollow spindle.
A very little twist is left in the sliver when it is above the mean size on the

page_text: bobbin, and a slight twist in the opposite direction when it is below the mean size,
but this variation is so little that the proper laying of the fibres on the wire is not
materially affected. I propose in some cases to impart to the sliver-bobbin a
rotation on its axis equal to the speed at which the sliver is drawn off the bobbin,
independent of the motion of the sliver carrier, so that the sliver will always
approach the rollers on the revolving frame in the same direction.
A device for spreading the sliver after it is untwisted I construct as follows,
viz., The principle on which it operates consists in pressing the sliver between
smooth dull knife-edges which are caused to pass rapidly by one another, thereby
causing the fibres to slip off one another where the sliver is more than one fibre in
thickness, and to lay side by side as above stated; the extent to which the fibres
are spread or divided is governed by the speed and the amount of movement
imparted to said edges. In the application of this principle a knife is caused to
press the fibres over the edges and into depressions of the grooves of a roller takes
the place of one of the rollers on the top plate, the said roller being located in this
case just behind the grooved roller, and another of the rollers in the top plate is
placed above it. Motion is imparted to the grooved roller which is geared to the
last named roller in the top plate by means similar to those described as operating
the roller in the top plate.
On the shaft of the grooved roller are secured two cams, each provided with as
many rises as there are grooves in the roller; these act against pins projecting
from the sides of the slide which carry the knife, said slides being pressed forward
to cause the knife to enter a groove in the roller each time the pins fall into a
depression of the cams by means of the spring, and the movement of the knife is
regulated by a nut on a rod connected with said knife. The aprons hereinbefore
described carry the fibres to the wire from the grooved roller, their speed relatively
to the said roller being increased to straighten out the corrugations in the sliver
caused by the knife pressing it into the grooves of the roller. This spreading
device is only required to be used with the larger sizes of slivers, the small slivers
epread sufficiently on being untwisted; and to assist the spreading of the fibres I
propose to make some of the rollers barrel shaped. The sliver when untwisted
may also be reduced in thickness by causing the conveyer or the last pair of rollers
to travel faster than the feed rollers which pull the sliver off the bobbin, and so
draw down the sliver to any desired extent. In place of the conveying aprong a
series of rollers connected by the gear wheels may be used.
This machine is also well adapted to be used for covering wire with the finest
sizes of yarns or threads; said operation on the ordinary wire covering machines is,
by reason of the frequent breaking of the fine yarns or threads, a slow and tedious
operation. And the machine may also be used to impart more twist to the sliver
and draw it out into a fine yarn by causing the conveying device to travel faster
than the feed rollers which pull the sliver off the bobbin, thus applying the covering
to the wire in a twisted condition and so converting the machine into a thread-
spinner at the same time as it is used as a wire coverer, and saving the expense of
previously twisting the sliver into a twisted thread or yarn.
It is obvious that the machine may be made single to apply only one set of fibres
to the wire, but I prefer to duplicate it, as thereby twice the amount of wire may
be covered in a given time. Or instead of the two sets of fibres being placed as
alternate spirals on the wire, one may be caused to lay over the other when an
extra thickness of insulating covering is required; or two machines may be
arranged one above the other and constructed to revolve in opposite directions, so
as to apply two layers of fibres on the wire in opposite direction.
And it is also obvious that the position of the various devices may be altered,
and any suitable connecting and driving gears other than those described may be
used without departing from the principles on which the machine operates.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd September 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
COTTON-COVERED WIRE, AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR." A communication
from abroad by Henry Splitdorf, of New York, United States of America,
Manufacturer of Covered Wire.
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of cotton-covered
wire, and to machinery therefor, and comprises an improved method of applying
cotton fibres in their natural but straightened condition as a covering for wire
for electrical and other purposes, and also a machine adapted to accomplish this
purpose.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I use cotton in the form of slivers,
viz., cotton carded and cleaned with the fibres placed parallel and collected into
a loose yarn slightly twisted to cause the fibres to hold together, or the cotton in
that stage of manufacture when it is ready to be spun and drawn into threads. In
covering wire the sliver is untwisted and spread so as to be approximately of the
thickness of one fibre, and is spirally wound around the wire by means of a suitable
machine, such as is hereinafter described.
The wire is preferably prepared by applying a coating of shellac before applying
the cotton fibre thereto, and the fibres are caused to adhere to the said wire by
heating the wire after it is covered. Instead of winding the cotton fibres upon
wire coated as above stated, and then heating the whole to cause the cotton
to adhere to the said wire, the wire may be caused to pass through a heating device
just before the cotton fibres are applied thereto; or the fibres may be simply wound
on the wire, or wound on and then the covered wire passed through a suitable
varnish or coating material; or the wires first coated with a suitable varnish and
the cotton fibres applied thereto before the varnish dries or sets, according to the
purpose for which the covered wire is to be used.
The great advantages of this method of covering wire for electrical purposes are,
first, that by it perfect insulation without great increase in the size of the wire is
obtained, thus allowing helices of electro-magnets to be constructed of given sizes
with much greater length of wire than has heretofore been practicable or a given
length of wire may be formed into smaller helices than hitherto; second, that it
permits helices to be better and more evenly formed on account of the soft nature
of the covering; and, third, that it effects a great reduction in the first cost of the
material, the difference in the cost of cotton in the sliver, and of the finest cotton
thread used for insulating purposes, being about as one is to six; whereas the
difference in its cost and that of silk is many times more; and the wire so covered
is a perfect substitute for silk covered wire for electrical and other purposes by
reason of the soft nature and glossy appearance of cotton fibres, and the facility
with which they receive any color.
The said machine employed for applying the sliver to the wire is composed of a
sliver-carrier provided with feed-rollers, so constructed and operated as to draw
the sliver off its bobbin as the carrier rotates in bearings on the frame of the
machine, and pass the sliver to a pair of rollers in line with the feed-rollers of the
sliver-carrier. The sliver is untwisted between these two pairs of rollers by the
rotation of the sliver-carrier. A spreading device acts on the sliver after it is
untwisted to form it into a flat ribbon composed of parallel cotton fibres, the said

page_text: device acting on the principle of pressing the collected fibres to cause them to
assume positions side by side by means of dull knife-edges passing rapidly by one
another with the collected untwisted fibres between them. This spreading device
may be dispensed with when certain kinds and sizes of slivers are used, and when
it is not required to lay a very thin covering on the wire, as the untwisting of the
sliver spreads the fibres sufficiently for most purposes. After the sliver is untwisted
it is taken by conveying belts or a system of rollers, which carry the spread fibres
to the last operating device of the machine, consisting of a pair of rollers or guides
set close to the wire to be covered. The wire is drawn, through a hollow fixed
spindle on which the whole of the operating parts of the machine revolve. These 1
rollers or guides are sufficiently close to the wire so that tension may be applied
to the spread fibres as they are wound around the said wire without disturbing the
continuity of the ribbon composed of the parallel and unconnected cotton fibres.
The various devices are connected by such an arrangement of gearing that a
positive and uniform motion is imparted to them to perfectly control the sliver 1
in its passage from the bobbin to the wire.
To balance the machine, and also to enable the covering of the wire to be
expeditiously performed, I prefer to duplicate the working parts of the machine
as described, and arrange the corresponding parts of each machine diametrically
opposite one another on the one machine frame. The rollers or guides which pass
the fibres to the wire of one machine are set higher than those of the other, so that
the two cotton-fibre ribbons are wound on the wire in alternate spirals.
In the accompanying Drawings,―
Figure 1 is an enlarged view of a piece of wire covered by one ribbon-of-parallel-
cotton slivers wound spirally around it.
Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a piece of wire covered by two ribbons of parallel
cotton slivers wound on in alternate spirals.
Figure 3 is a diagram shewing the general construction of my improved wire-
covering machine.
Figure 4 is an elevation with all the operative parts constituting a complete
wire-covering apparatus in front of the centre line removed to shew a front view
of the complete wire-covering apparatus beyond the said centre line.
Figure 5 is a side view of the duplex wire covering machine, one half being
shewn in section, and one half in elevation, with certain modifications in the fibre
conveyor.
Figure 6 is a plan or top view of the same, shewing one of the fibre-conveyors
removed.
Figure 7 is a central sectional elevation of the upper part of the machine shewn
in Figure 4 taken at right angles thereto.
Figure 8 shews at the left hand of the centre line a plan or top view of the same,
and at the right hand a sectional plan on the line x, x, Figure 5, with the sliver
bobbin removed.
Referring to Figure 3 the frame a which carries all the operative parts of the
machine in duplicate is caused to rotate on a fixed spindle 6 by means of a belt a
passing around a grooved roller a² on the lower end of the said frame a, and around
a driving pulley. The wire b¹ is drawn through a longitudinal hole in the spindle b,
and passes over the guide-pulley b² to its feeding device, which is adjusted to move
the wire at such a rate of speed as to cause it to be perfectly covered by two
ribbons of cotton fibres as the machine revolves around the wire. The wire-feeding
device and the driving pulley for the belt a¹ are not shewn in the Drawings, as
their construction and arrangement will be fully understood by those conversant
with the art of wire covering, since any of the ordinary feeding devices and driving
mechanism of this class of machines now in use are adapted to be used with my
improvements.
I will now proceed to describe the construction and operation of my improved
devices, which constitute a complete wire-covering machine; the corresponding
S

page_text: parts of the duplicate machine are denoted by the same letters of reference, and
where modifications and extra attachments are shown it will be understood that
such when used will be applied to both the machines.
The hollow spindle b, through which the wire b' passes, is secured to the base
plate 6s, which is fastened to the frame of an ordinary wire-covering machine. The
vertical parts of the frame a are cast in one piece with the pulley a³ and the lower
bearings of the sliver-carriers, and at their upper ends they are connected by the
bearing a³, which fits over the upper of the spindle b. The plate c is secured to
the top of the vertical parts of the frame a, and is provided with bearings for the
upper ends of the sliver-carriers directly in line with the bearings in the lower part
of the said frame a.
The sliver-carrier is composed of the light frame d secured at one end to the
gear-wheel d', the hub of which forms the journal for the upper bearing of the
sliver-carrier; the lower journal d' works in the bearing at the lower part of the
frame a.
Inside the frame d at its lower end and in line with its axis of rotation
is fixed the short post d³, on which the bobbin e¹ of the sliver e is placed. On the
top of the said bobbin e¹ is secured the disc e² made of glass or other suitable
material capable of receiving a fine polish on its rounded edge to allow the sliver
to be drawn over it with as little friction as possible..
The hub of the gear-wheel d¹ above the plate cis enlarged and forms a
rectangular box, in which are fitted the rollers and f¹. The roller fis pressed
against the roller f¹ by means of small springs secured to the sides of the
rectangular box. Motion is imparted to these rollers when the wheel d¹ and
sliver-carrier are rotated by means of the bevel screw or worm wheel fi secured to
the shaft of the roller f1 and gearing into the teeth of the internal screw or
worm fs, which is secured to the plate e concentric with the journal of the wheel d¹.
A bell-shaped hole is formed centrally through the said wheel d' and its hub,
through which the sliver passes to the rollers and f¹. One or both of these
rollers may be covered with india-rubber, and they are connected by the
pinions f
On the spindle b, between the bearings a³ and plate c, is secured by a key the
pinion g, into which and the wheel d¹ gears the adjustable intermediate pinion h,
so that as the frame a and sliver-carrier revolve around the fixed spindle 6 in one
direction the sliver-carrier and the feed-rollers fand flare caused to rotate in the
frame a in an opposite direction and so untwist the sliver as it leaves the rollers f
and f. By loosening the collar bª, and raising the frame a until the end of the
spindle 6 is below the pinion g, the latter may be taken out and replaced by
another to regulate the amount of sliver fed according to the size of the
wire b'.
In Figure 7 one form of conveying device is shewn. The frame i is secured to
the plate c and the top plate is pivoted to it. In this frame i are fitted the
rollers and i, around which is placed the apron is, and in lugs on the top plate ¿¹
are fitted the rollers i³ and is carrying the counter-apron . The surfaces of the
aprons and are caused to lie close together by means of the curved plate 18 or
by another roller placed so as to cause the apron to travel in a curved line between
the rollers and . The top plate 2, with the rollers and is, is turned back
away from the apron i to allow of the sliver being placed between the aprons i
and after it is drawn up through the rollers fand f¹ and so secured to the
wire b¹ in starting the machine. The plate is held down by the catch-bar iº.
The rollers and I propose in some cases to set at an angle other than a right
angle to the wire 61. Motion is imparted to the aprons and through the
medium of the pinion ; secured to the vertical shaft and gearing into the wheel d';
a worm on the upper end of the said shaft j' actuating the worm-wheel ³ on the
shaft of the roller is.
All the gear-wheels, pinions, and the like, are so proportioned that the rollers f, ƒ¹,
and the aprons and move at the same rate of speed and about equal to the

page_text: spiral circumference of the wire being covered for every revolution of the machine
on the spindle b.
A slight twist is left in the sliver when it is above the mean size on the bobbin,
and a slight twist in the opposite direction when it is below the mean size, but
such variation is so slight that the proper laying of the fibres on the wire is not
materially affected. In some cases I impart to the sliver-bobbin a rotation on its
axis equal to the speed at which the sliver is drawn off the bobbin independent of
the motion of the sliver-carrier, so that the sliver will always approach the
rollers ff, in the same direction.
•
At the right hand side of Figure 7 is shewn a device for spreading the sliver
after it is untwisted. The principle upon which this device operates consists in
pressing the sliver between smooth dull knife-edges, which are caused to pass each
other rapidly, thereby causing the fibres to slip off one another where the sliver is
more than one fibre in thickness and to lie side by side. The extent to which the
fibres are spread or divided is governed by the speed and the amount of movement
imparted to the said knife-edges.
In the application of this principle the knife-edge is caused to press the fibres
over the edges and into the depressions or grooves on the roller m, which takes the
place of the roller, the said roller being located in this case just behind the
grooved-roller m and the roller above it. Motion is imparted to the grooved
roller m, which is geared to the roller 2³, by means similar to those described as
operating the roller i².
On the shaft of the grooved roller m are secured two cams m³, m³, each provided
with as many rises or projections as there are grooves in the roller m. These
cams act against pins projecting from the sides of the slide which carry the knife-
edge 7, the said slide being pressed forward by means of a spring to cause the
said knife-edge to enter a groove in the roller m each time the pins fall into a
depression on the cams m², m²; the movement of the knife-edge is regulated by a
nut on the rod . The aprons and i carry the fibres to the wire b¹ from the
grooved roller m, their speed, relatively to that of the said roller m being increased
to straighten out the corrugations in the sliver caused by the knife Z pressing it
into the grooves of the roller m. This spreading device is only required to be used
with the larger sizes of slivers, the small slivers spreading sufficiently on being
untwisted; and to assist the spreading of the fibres I prefer to make the rollers ³,
or the rollers n hereinafter referred to, barrel-shaped, and also to form the roller i
and the last one of the rollers n' in the same manner. The sliver when untwisted
may also be reduced in thickness by causing the conveyer or the last pair of rollers
to travel faster than the feed-rollers which pull the sliver off the bobbin, and so
draw down the sliver to any desired extent.
In place of the conveying aprons 6, 7, a series of rollers n and n¹ may be used
connected by the gear-wheels n³, as shown at the upper part of Figure 5. This
machine is also well adapted to be used for covering wire with the finest sizes of
yarns or threads, the said operation on the ordinary wire-covering machines is, by
reason of the frequent breaking of the fine yarns or threads, a slow and tedious
operation. My said machine may also be used to impart more twist to the sliver
and draw it out into a fine yarn by causing the conveying device to travel faster
than the feed-rollers which pull the sliver of the bobbin, thus applying the covering
to the wire in a twisted condition, and so converting the machine into a thread-
spinner at the same time as it is used as a wire-coverer, and saving the expense of
previously twisting the sliver into a twisted thread or yarn.
It is obvious that the machine may be made single to apply only one set of fibres
to the wire, but I prefer to duplicate it, as shewn, as thereby twice the amount of
wire may be covered in a given time; or instead of the two sets of fibres being placed
as alternate spirals on the wire, one may be caused to lie over the other when
an extra thickness of insulating covering is required; or two machines may be
arranged one above the other, and constructed to revolve in opposite directions, so as

page_text: to apply two layers of fibres on the wire in opposite directions. It is also obvious
that the position of the various devices may be altered, and any suitable connecting
and driving mechanism other than that described may be used without departing:
from the principles upon which the machine operates.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise construction and arrangement
of the devices shown in the Drawings, as the same may be modified without
departing from the principle of my Invention; and I claim,―
First. The improved method of insulating or covering wire consisting in winding
spirally thereon the fibres of cotton in their natural but straightened condition, as
above set forth and for the purpose specified.
Second. The improved method of insulating or covering wire by first coating it
with a suitable varnish, allowing it to dry, then passing the coated wire through a
heater to melt or soften the varnish, and then winding spirally thereon, before the
varnish again sets, the fibres of cotton in their natural but straightened condition,
substantially as above set forth.
Third. The improved method of insulating or covering wire consisting in winding
spirally thereon the fibres of cotton in their natural but straightened condition, and
then passing the same through a suitable insulating varnish, substantially as above
set forth and for the purpose specified.
Fourth. A wire covered with the fibres of cotton in their natural but straightened
condition wound spirally thereon, as above set forth.
Fifth. In a wire-covering machine, a bobbin-carrier adapted to be rotated, and
provided with feed-rollers f, f', constructed and operated to draw the sliver or
other covering material off the bobbin and through the centre of one of the carrier-
bearings, substantially as above set forth and for the purpose specified.
Sixth. In a wire covering machine, the combination of a rotating sliver-bobbin-
carrier provided with feed-rollers f, f¹, constructed and operated to untwist the
sliver as it leaves the said feed-rollers, and a conveying device for carrying
the untwisted sliver to the wire to be covered, the said wire passing through
the centre of the supporting spindle of the machine, substantially in the manner
above set forth.
Seventh. A device for spreading cotton-fibres or similar material consisting of
dull and smooth knife-edges constructed and operated to move past one another
and press the fibres between them, substantially as above set forth and for the
purpose specified.
Eighth. In a machine for covering wire with cotton fibres in their natural but
straightened condition, a pair of rollers i, 5, and aprons i, , or rollers n, n¹, or
equivalent feeding devices, located in close proximity to the wire to be covered
and constructed and operated to revolve and feed the fibres to the said wire,
substantially as above set forth and for the purpose specified.
.
Ninth. In a wire covering machine, the combination of a rotating sliver-bobbin-
carrier, provided with a pair of feed-rollers f, f¹, and operated to untwist the
sliver as it leaves the said feed-rollers, a conveying device composed of a series of
rollers with or without aprons, and adapted to carry the untwisted sliver towards
the wire being covered, and a pair of feed-rollers or guides i, is, or n, n³, located in
close proximity to the said wire, and with suitable connecting gearing to cause the
various devices to move with a positive and uniform motion as the said machine
revolves around the wire, substantially as above set forth and for the purpose
specified.
Tenth. In a wire-covering machine, the combination of a rotating sliver-bobbin-
carrier provided with a pair of feed-rollers f, f¹, a spreading device composed of a
grooved roller and a reciprocating knife-edge for spreading the untwisted sliver,
and aprons for conveying the spread sliver to the centre of the machine, and with

page_text: their actuating gearing constructed and operated substantially in the manner and
for the purpose above set forth.
Eleventh. The combination of the sliver-bobbin and feed-rollers f, f¹, with
the rounded smooth-edged disc, substantially as above set forth and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
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