Improvements in Lathes or Apparatus used in Making Spools or Bobbins.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 14th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 18th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lathes or Apparatus used in Making Spools or
Bobbins.
We WILLIAM MCCROSSAN of No. 11 Caledonia Street Mechanic and JOHN
PAUL of 16 Abercorn Street Foreman Turner and JOHN PINKERTON KERR of
Kerr & Co. Ld. Thread Manufacturers all of Paisley in the County of Renfrew
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our improvements has reference to making bobbins or spools out of the solid
wood, which are used principally for spooling sewing thread or similar purposes,
and consists in making and working two machines on one framing and making all
the movements self acting.
We use two beds on which to mount our machinery, they may be cast together
or fixed seperately on supports to carry them both, one bed we place behind the
other and on the back bed we put the heads for boring the holes in the blocks and
on the front bed, the heads for turning or shaping the bobbins. The heads on the
back bed, for boring and on the front bed for turning work right and left.
The blocks are brought to the machine in sizes roughly shaped to nearly the
diameter and length of the finished bobbin and are placed in a trough, behind the
boring heads and are fed as required on to a circular plate having recesses on its
periphery to fit the blocks, and are held fast in the spaces by a clamp or V with
spring arrangement. The circular plate is free to revolve on a stud fixed in the
bed plate or framing and is made to move as required by the action of a cam or
tappet on a shaft revolving, in the bed below.
The boring head has a spindle carrying a boring bit or auger at each end and is
worked too and fro by the action of a cam or tappet on a shaft as above described,
which motion bores the holes right and left in the seperate blocks on seperate
circular plates. The plate or plates now make part of a revolution by the action
of the cam and releases the block which drops down an incline on to a conductor
holder or lifter, which carries or lifts it, into the position of the revolving spindles
of the turning heads on the front bed, on to the arbor of which it is pushed by the
action of cams or tappits as above.
The turning tools are fixed on two slides working in cross slides on the lathe bed,
one in front of the block and the other at the back. They are worked by cams as
above and capable of adjustment. When the bobbin is turned it is pushed off the
spindle by the action of another cam or tappit and dropped into a box below, in
the mean time another is being brought forward and so on.
The machine is made for boring and turning two bobbins at same time, one to the
right, and the other to the left but they can be worked seperately if required.
CT
1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lathes or Apparatus used in Making Spools or
Bobbins.
We, WILLIAM MCCROSSAN, of 11 Caledonia Street, Mechanic, and JOHN
PAUL, of 16 Abercorn Street, Foreman Turner, and JOHN PINKERTON KERR, of
Kerr & Co. Limited, Thread Manufacturers, all of Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, 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, that is to say :-
This invention has for its object the making of spools or bobbins such as are used
for spooling sewing thread or for similar purposes, and it comprises improved
machinery, with two main separately operating parts on one framing, working in
connection with each other, and having selfacting appliances.
In carrying out our invention the framing is made with a back part which is
higher than they front part and which has on it mechanism for boring the wood
blanks out of which the spools are to be made. From the boring mechanism the
bored blanks are transferred to mechanism which is on the front part of the
framing, and which forms the blanks into completely shaped spools.
An example of our improved machinery is delineated on three accompanying
sheets of explanatory drawings which are hereinafter referred to in particularly
describing the invention.
Figures, 1, and, 2, on Sheet, 1, of the drawings are, respectively, a front and a
back elevation.
Figure, 3, on Sheet, 2, is an end elevation of the machine as viewed from the left
hand of Figure, 1; and Figure, 4, is a vertical section as at right angles to
Figure, 1.
Figures, 5, to 12, on Sheet, 3, are separate views of parts.
In these drawings the same reference letters and numerals are used to mark the
same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
The framing consists of end frames, A. 1, A 2, an intermediate standard, A 3,
and two pairs of horizontal longitudinal rails or frame pieces, A4, A5, one
pair, A 4, forming a bench or bed at the front of the machine, and the other pair a
bench or bed at the back of the machine, the latter being at a higher level than the
front bench. At the middle of the higher or back bench there is fixed a casing, B,
made with two headstocks, B1, B2, carrying in suitable bearings, a boring
spindle, B3, having fixed in clutches at its ends oppositely directed drills or
borers, B4, B5. The boring spindle, B 3, is made to rotate continuously by means
of a belt acting on a pulley, B6, fixed on the spindle; and it is moved on end
alternately in opposite directions, by means of a bracket ring, B 7, engaging in a
groove in or between collars on the boss of the pulley, the bracket ring, B7, being
fixed on a rod, B 8, movable longitudinally in guide eyes in the headstocks, B1, B2,
and actuated as hereinafter described. Beyond the ends of the boring mechanism
just described there are two headstock brackets, C1, C2, fixed to the back
bench, A 5, and carrying parts concerned in the feeding of the spool blanks, in the
holding of them whilst being bored, and in the transferring of them to the shaping
mechanism on the front bench, A 4. One, C2, of these brackets is shown enlarged in
Figures, 5, to 8, on Sheet, 3, of the drawings, Figure, 5, being a back view,
Figure, 6, an inner face view, Figure, 7, an outer face view, and Figure, 8, a front
view. On a stud, C3, there is mounted a star wheel, D 3, that is a disk having
angular notches formed in its circumference and this wheel is made in one piece
with or has fixed to it a ratchet wheel, D 1, which is acted upon by a pawl, D 2,
jointed on a lever, D 3, centered on a small block, D 4, fixed to the bench. The
pawl, D2, is in the form of a bell crank and can be turned out of gear as
shown in Figure, 6, when not wanted to act on and turn the ratchet wheel, D 1,
being then kept out of gear by a weighted lever, D 5, centered on the lever, D 3.

page_text: The spool blanks which consist of cylindrical pieces of wood are put into an
inclined shoot or channel guide, E, and when the star wheel, D, is turned a step a
blank which has from the guide, E, entered a notch in the wheel, is carried round
into a position directly above the centre of the wheel, in which position the axis of
the blank coincides with the axis of the boring spindle, B 3. The blank is guided
and held in position by a curved guide, E 1, which is jointed to a lever, E 2,
centered on an arm formed on the bracket, C 2, and drawn downwards by a
spring, E 3, whilst an adjusting screw, E 4, tapped through a piece fixed on the
lever is added to act on the guide. The stud, C 3, carrying the star wheel, D 1,
is adjustable vertically by a screw, D6, and the lever, E 2, is prevented from
depressing the curved guide, E 1, too far by an inverted screw, E 5, the head of
which bears on the head of the screw, D 6. The star wheel, D 1, is held steady
in position whilst a blank is being bored, by means of a roller, D 7, on a lever, D8,
acted on by a spring, D 9, which spring causes the roller to be pressed up into
the notch of the star wheel which is lowest at the time. When the star wheel, D 1,
turns to bring a fresh blank into position, it carries the previously bored one
onwards and eventually allows it to escape from under the curved guide, E 1,
whereupon it descends down a shoot or guide channel, E6, to the shaping
mechanism on the front bench, A 4. The movements of the boring mechanism
are effected by means of cams or eccentrics as hereinafter explained..
On the front bench, A 4, there are two sets of identical mechanism to deal with
the two streams of bored blanks received from the back bench, A 5. Each set
comprises two castings, G, H, each made with two headstock bearings, G 1, G2,
H1, H2, and carrying one a turning spindle, G 3, having on it a driving pulley G 4,
and handwheel, or flywheel, G5, and the other a follower spindle, H 3, which is
square and is movable longitudinally in its bearings. Fixed to the outer end of the
follower, spindle, H 3,. by a yoke, H 4, there is a lower spindle, H 5, working in
guides in the headstocks, H1, H2, and having fixed at its inner end a small ring
bracket, H 6, which encircles the reduced inner end of the turning spindle, G 3;
and at a short distance from the bracket, H 6, there is fixed on the spindle, H 5, a
small bracket, H 7, which supports each bored blank when it descends by the
shoot, E 6, into position for being shaped. The blank which passes under a spring
guide, E7, at the lower part of its descent, rests on the support, H 7, which then
faces it, and then the small end of the follower spindle, H 3, moving (towards
the left hand as viewed in Figure, 1) enters one end of the bore of the blank,
and moves the blank towards the end of the turning spindle, G 3. The extreme
reduced end of the boring spindle, G 3, is made in a usual manner with angular
corners which entering the other end of the bore of the blank make the blank
turn with the spindle. After the turning tools, hereinafter described, have
operated on the bored blank, the follower spindle, H 3, and lower spindle, H 5,
return towards the right hand, and the ring bracket, H 6, pushes the shaped spool
off the turning spindle, G3, and the spool drops down into any convenient
receptacle which may be placed to receive it.
The turning tools and their holders and slides, which are to some extent similar
to existing apparatus for the same purpose, are shown, enlarged, on Figures, 9, 10,
and 11, on Sheet, 3, of the drawings, Figure, 9, being a plan, Figure, 10, a cross-
sectional elevation corresponding to Figure, 9, and Figure, 11, a front elevation of
some higher parts shown in Figure, 10, but not in Figure, 9. It may here be
mentioned that in Figure, 1, the front only of one tool slide, J 1, is shown, without
the tools and other parts shown in Figures, 9, 10, and 11.
Brackets, J, K, bolted to the bench frames, A 4, are formed with angular guide
edges which are inclined downwards towards the middle of the bench (or they
might be horizontal) and have fitted on them slides, J 1, K1, formed with
T-grooves for the heads of screw bolts, J 2, K 2, by which are fixed on the slides
tool holders, J 3, K 3, with cutters or tools, L1, L2, L 3, M 1, M2. The inner
slide, K 1, is also formed with an upwardly extending arm, K 4, to which is bolted
a slotted plate, K 5, having fixed to it tool holders, K 6, K 7, with cutters or

page_text: tools, M3, M4, M 5. The slides, J 1, K1, have fixed to them and passing through
slots in the slides and in the guide brackets, J, K, arms, J4, K 8, with anti-
friction rollers at their bottom ends by means of which the slides are moved on
their guides. The arms, J 4, K 8, are acted on by curved levers, N 1, N 2,
centered on brackets, N 3, N 4, bolted to the bench frames, A. 4, and provided-with
antifriction rollers at their inner ends which are acted on each by a rotating
cam, N 5. The slides, J 1, K 1, are connected by springs, P, or each slide may be
connected by separate springs to the opposite bracket, J, K, the extent of the
inward movements being limited by adjustable stop screws, P1, P2, which, fitted
to lugs formed on the slides, encounter the ends of the guide brackets, J, K. The
parts to which the springs, P, are connected are also adjustable by means of
screws, P3, P 4. In Figures, 9, 10, 11, a spool, S, is shown as completely shaped.
When a bored blank is in position for being turned, the front slide, J 1, moves
inwards and the cutters L1, L2, L3, carried by that slide shape the barrel and
coned parts of the spool, and give a first cut to the end faces. The inner
slide, K1, then moves inwards and the cutters, M 1, M2, give a finishing cut to
the end faces; and the upper cutters, M 3, M 4, shape the edges of the end disks
whilst the cutter, M 5, finishes the shaping of the boss on one of the end faces.
Having herein before described the construction and operation of the parts
immediately acting on the spool blanks, the arrangement and operation of the
driving gearing and remaining parts will be the more readily understood. Extending
longitudinally under the front bench, A 4, there is a first-motion shaft, R, having
at one end fast and loose pulleys, R 1, for a driving belt. On this shaft, R, are
cams, N 5, already referred to as for moving the shaping-tool slides, J, K; and
there are also on the shaft, R, cylindrical grooved cams, R2, which act on
levers, R 3, centered on the castings, H, and which are connected to and move
the follower spindles, H3, the connections being abjustable to suit different sizes
of spool. These cams, R2, and, N 5, are fixed on tubular shafts, R4, which are
loose on the shaft, R, being engaged therewith by means of clutches, R 5, moved
by forked levers on shafts, R 6, having hand levers, R 7, on them both at the front
and at the back of the machine for conveniently putting the parts out of or into gear.
When the clutches, R 5, are disengaged the tubular shafts, R 4, or either of them
can be turned into any required position by means of hand wheels, T, on transverse
shafts, T1, having on them wheels, T2, with inclined teeth which gear
similarly toothed wheels, T3, formed on or fixed to the cylindrical cams, R 2.
With these arrangements either of the two sets of parts on the front bench, A 4,
may be worked alone or both sets may be worked at the same time.
with
The first-motion shaft, R, by a bevil wheel, R 8, gearing with a bevil wheel, U,
drives a transverse shaft, Ui, which has on it beneath the back bench, A 5, a
grooved face cam, U2; and this cam acts through an antifriction roller at, U 3, on
a lever, U 4, centered at, U 5. The upper end of the lever, U 4, is connected by a
link, U 6, to an arm, U 7, fixed on the rod, B 8, herein before described as moving the
boring spindle, B3, on end. The lever, U 4, has fixed to its upper and lower ends
a bar, U8, having the cam, U 2, between it and the lever; and the lower end of
the lever, U 4, is made with curved arms, V 1, V 2, which act alternately, each on.
a lever, V 3, V 4. Each lever, V 3, V 4, is connected by a rod, V 5, V 6, (made with
a right-and-left screw coupling for adjustment as to length) to each lever, D3,
hereinbefore described as for acting on the ratchet wheel, D 1, so as to turn the
star wheel, D, of the boring mechanism. The boring spindle, B 3, reciprocates
longitudinally, and whilst one end is boring a blank, the star wheel is being turned
at the other end to bring a fresh blank into position for being bored.
If when operating on only one series of spool blanks it is considered desirable to
put out of gear the mechanism for turning the inoperative star wheel, D, provision
may be made for doing so by modifying the lever, U 4, and parts acted on by it, in
the manner indicated in Figure, 12, on Sheet, 3, of the drawings. The arm, V 15
instead of acting on a pin fixed in the lever, 3, acts on a pin on a link, V 7, which
is jointed to that lever, and which has its upper end connected by an adjustable

page_text: link, V 8, to a lever on the transverse shaft, R6, herein before referred to as for
putting the shaping mechanism on the front bench out of or into gear. The end of
the lever arm, V 1, is made with a downward projection to prevent the pin on the
link, V 7, from getting under the arm when the link is moved to place the pin
beyond the end of the arm in putting the parts out of gear.
A machine may be made with one half of the parts which act immediately on the
spool blanks for dealing with one stream only of blanks; or a machine may be
made with repetitions of the parts so as to deal with three or more streams of
blanks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination of parts constituting as a whole the improved machinery for
making spools or bobbins, substantially as hereinbefore described and shown in the
accompanying drawings.
2. The arrangement of the blank boring mechanism in connection with the
turning or shaping mechanism with self-acting appliances for moving the blanks
into and for holding them in position for being bored and for transferring them to
the turning or shaping mechanism, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. The self-acting appliances of the turning or shaping mechanism for receiving
the bored blanks, placing them in position, and afterwards doffing them, combined
with the actuating mechanism of the cutters or shaping tools substantially as
herein before described.
4. The combination of the shaft (R) placed longitudinally to serve for actuating
two or more sets of mechanism with the tubes (R2) cylindrical cams (R4) and
clutches (R5) arranged to allow of each set of imechanism being separately
engaged or disengaged substantially as hereinbefore described.
5. The improved combination comprising the turning-tool slides with their
actuating parts and springs substantially as hereinbefore described.
6. The combination of appliances for receiving, holding, and doffing the bored
blanks and shaped spools in connection with the turning mechanism substantially as
hereinbefore described.
Dated this Thirteenth day of October 1893.