THE EMPLOYMENT OP A CERTAIN SORTING PROCESS FOR SILK AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND AN APPARATUS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PERFORMING THE SAME.
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "THE EMPLOYMENT OP A
CERTAIN SORTING PROCESS FOR SILK AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND
AN APPARATUS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PERFORMING THE SAME.".
A com-
munication from abroad by Pierre Raimond Huguet, of 33, Boulevard
St. Martin, Paris.
-
Sealed the 1st March 1861, and dated the 14th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
September 1860.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "THE EMPLOY-
MENT OF A CERTAIN SORTING PROCESS FOR SILK AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,
AND AN APPARATUS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PERFORMING THE SAME," communicated to
me from abroad by Pierre Raimond Huguet, of 33, Boulevard St. Martin,
Paris, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object certain means of enabling the manufacturer
to employ with advantage threads, yarns, or filaments of silk or other fibrous
materials of irregular thicknesses, and this is effected by sorting or classifying
the same by weight in suitable lengths, so as to obtain them in parcels of
sufficient uniformity. It is proposed to effect this by mechanical means, by
winding the irregular materials for any desirable length on to a number of
reels, discs, or appliances, which I call receiving appliances, but putting the
same length on each, and then weighing them, and so sorting them according

page_text: to difference of weight. In the apparatus preferred, a number of reels, collars,
or rimmed discs or rings, all of precisely the same weight, and intended as the
receiving appliances, are placed in a row on a revolving cylinder or shaft with
smooth periphery, carrying gearing for working a tell-tale or indicator, and
also actuating by an excentric, or otherwise, guides for leading the fibrous
material on to the receiving appliances as delivered off from other reels
supplied therewith, suitably placed in the apparatus. The receiving appliances
may be held in place on the cylinder by a flange at one end, and an adjustable
collar at the other, for which I prefer a clamp formed of two pieces fitting
together. When a sufficient length has been wound, as denoted by the
indicator, the apparatus is stopped, the receiving appliances with their contents
or supply of materials are weighed, the difference of weight denotes the
difference of thicknesses, and those of the same weight are classed together,
when the material will be sufficiently assorted for manufacturing purposes. In
operating on irregular silks after the first reeling and cleansing, the douppions
and defective cocoons should first be put aside for separate treatment.
SPECIFICATION. in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed:
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Michael Henry, Her special licence that I, the said Michael
Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Michael Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times,
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "THE
EMPLOYMENT OF A CERTAIN SORTING PROCESS FOR SILK AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS, AND AN APPARATUS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PERFORMING THE SAME,"
communicated to me from abroad by Pierre Raimond Huguet, of 33, Boulevard

page_text: St. Martin, Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Michael Henry, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing.
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the-
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately.
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michael Henry, do hereby declare.
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, as communicated to me, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
This Invention has for its object certain means of enabling the manufacturer
to employ with advantage threads, yarns, or filaments of silk, or other fibrous
materials of irregular thicknesses, by sorting or classifying the same by weight
in suitable lengths, and thereby obtaining them in parcels of sufficient
uniformity. It is proposed to effect this by mechanical means, by winding
the irregular materials for any desirable length on a number of reels, discs, or
appliances, which I call receiving appliances, that is to say, winding the same
length of thread or fibrous material on each of such receiving appliances, and
then weighing them (that is, each receiving appliance with its supply,) and
sorting them according to the difference of weight. In the arrangement of
apparatus preferred, a number of reels, collars, or rimmed discs or rings, all
of precisely the same weight, intended as and called herein the receiving
appliances, are placed in a row on a revolving cylinder or shaft with smooth
periphery, carrying gearing for working a tell-tale or indicator, and also
actuating by an excentric, or otherwise, guides for leading the fibrous material
on to the receiving appliances as delivered off from other reels supplied there-
with, and conveniently placed in the apparatus. The receiving appliances may
be held in place on the cylinder by a flange at one end, and an adjustible
collar at the other, for which I prefer to use a clamp formed of two pieces
fitting together. When a sufficient length has been wound on, as denoted by
the indicator, the apparatus is stopped, the receiving appliances with their
contents or supply of materials are weighed, when the difference between their
respective weights will denote the difference of thicknesses, and those of the
same weight are classed together, when the material will be found sufficiently
assorted for manufacturing purposes. In operating on irregular silks (in
course of carrying the Invention into effect) the douppions and defective

page_text: cocoons should first, i.e., after the first reeling and cleaning operation, be put
aside for separate treatment.
I now proceed to describe more particularly the mode of carrying this
Invention into effect with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
When silk is the material to be operated on, the douppions and those very
defective cocoons (called in French costes and capitons) that are defective
throughout their length, are first put aside, in order to subject them to any
separate corrective process desired. The reels on which the silk to be sorted
is wound are placed at the lower part of the apparatus, shewn in the Drawings,
and of which Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2, side elevation; and
Figure 3, a plan.
a is a cylinder fixed on a shaft b, turning in bearings c. This cylinder a
may be hollow or solid, but must be perfectly smooth, true, and round on its
external surface. The cylinder and shaft are shewn in section on an enlarged
scale in Figure 4. d is a flange or collar formed or fixed on one end of the
cylinder a. The shaft 6 carries a fast pulley F, and a loose pulley G, and also
a toothed wheel, which actuates a toothed pinion on a shaft carrying a crank
arm or lever, having at one end a rod or arm, which, by a bell crank, or
otherwise, operates a bar carrying a guide, to which it imparts a to-and-fro
motion for guiding the threads while being wound on to the receiving
appliances p. The cylinder a is not flanged at both ends, but at the end
opposite to d; it is embraced by a removeable collar or annular clamp h,
formed in two pieces, which fit one into another by feather and groove, or
similar arrangement, and so encircle the cylinder; this moveable collar can be
brought nearer to or farther from the end of the cylinder means of a female
screw i, working on a male screw tapped on the shaft b. J is a toothed wheel
on the shaft b, outside the bearing c at that side; p, p,
appliances," one of which is shewn in plan, Figure 5. Each appliance p
consists of a metal disc having two rims or flanges raised on its edge, and a
central opening of a diameter just sufficient to allow of the disc being placed
on the cylinder, the discs being placed or strung on the cylinder in a row. Any
desirable number of these appliances p may be used according to their size and
the length of the cylinder. All these discs or receiving appliances are of the
same circumference, and they must be of exactly equal weight one with the other.
This is very important. The collar h is removed before placing the appliances p
on the cylinder, and when they are all on, the collar is fitted on the shaft and
secured by the nut i. T, T, are the reels at the lower part of the apparatus, from
which the silk is delivered off in order to be wound on the receiving appliances p.
When the machine is to be set to work, motion is communicated thereto by a
are the "receiving

page_text: driving strap passing over the fast pulley F, and the threads of silk from T will
distribute themselves on the receiving appliances p. The wheel J operates
a tell-tale, which indicates the precise number of yards wound on. As soon as
the required number of yards is wound on the appliances p, the driving strap
is thrown on to the loose pulley G to stop the cylinder, the tightening nut i is
unscrewed, the collar h removed, and the appliances p taken off one after the
other, for which purpose the arrangements must allow of the cylinder being
readily separated from and connected with the gear wheel J, which may be
effected by a clutch box, or otherwise. The receiving appliances p with the
silk wound on them, as described, are next weighed, each disc (with its supply
of silk) being weighed separately, when their difference of weight will be
exactly the difference resulting from the different thicknesses or tenuities of the
silk, so that by putting together those which shew the same weight, the silk
will be properly sorted, and can be used for producing threads and other wares
of sufficient regularity.
Although I have mentioned silk as the material operated on, this process
may also be applied to other fibrous materials requiring to be sorted or
regulated in like manner. Braids, twists, laces, sewing silk, and sewing
thread, and various other manufactures, may be produced from irregular yarns
or threads of silk or other fibrous materials by subjecting them to the fore-
going sorting process before proceeding to any usual mode of twisting or
operating on them. I do not restrict myself to the precise details or accessory
appendages of the particular machine herein-before explained.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment of the sorting process, herein-before described.
Second, in respect of the apparatus herein-before described, I claim the
general arrangement and combination of parts of which the same consists.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March, in the year One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
S. E. A. NEWSOME,
Patent Office, 84, Fleet Street,
London.
M. HENRY. (L.S.)