A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OR MANUFACTURE OF SILK, AND SILK IN COMBINATION WITH CERTAIN OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
GIBSON, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Throwster, and
JOHN GORDON CAMPBELL, of the same place, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS. His present most Excellent Majesty King William the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of November, in the
seventh year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said John Gibson and John Gordon Campbell,
His especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we,
the said John Gibson and John Gordon Campbell, our exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Gibson and John Gordon
Campbell, our exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our
Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OR MANUFACTURE OF SILK, AND SILK
IN COMBINATION WITH CERTAIN OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said John Gibson and John
Gordon Campbell, or one of us, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Gibson, on behalf of myself, and also of the said John Gordon Camp-
bell, do hereby declare that the nature of our Invention consists,―
First, in a part of our process by which we discharge the gum from that
peculiar kind of silk denominated silk waste, when the same is in the state
of the sliver or rove.
Second, in a part of our process by which we dye silk waste, when in the
state of sliver or rove.
Third, in a part of our process by which we spin yarn from dressed or
heckled silk waste of long fibres, either in the gum or discharged.
Fourth, in a part of our process by which yarn from silk waste with
long fibres may be spun in combination with flax of a similar length of
fibre.
Fifth, in a part of our process, by which yarn from silk waste with long fibre
is spun in combination with wool.
Sixth, in the application of our improved process to the throstle machine,
on the principle of the long ratch, for the new and useful purpose of spinning
silk waste.
Seventh, in certain improvements effected by us in the throstle machine, by
which its utility in spinning silk waste is greatly augmented.
Eighth, in the application of water to silk waste with long fibres in the
process of spinning with the long ratch.
Having thus explained the nature or leading characteristics of our Inven-
tion, it is desirable, before we enter into the practical details of them, to
give a brief outline of the methods heretofore adopted for spinning yarn
from silk waste. Silk wastes differ considerably with respect to quality and
cleanliness, and they are generally in a ravelled state. To free them from
naps and other refuse matters, and to clear the ravelings they are first
submitted to the action of a machine called a breaker, for the purpose of
breaking or clearing out the more stubborn or knotty ravelings. The waste
is next put under the operation of the dressing machines to be farther unravelled
and cleared from naps and other impurities, which process also straightens
the filaments, and causes them to lie evenly together, resembling in this
respect heckled flax, although the fibres of the latter usually possess more
uniformity as to length. This process of dressing is applicable to silk waste,
either in the gum or discharged; the former, however, is more easily dressed,

page_text: contains less refuse, and is generally of a better quality. The third process upon
the ordinary plan is to take the dressed silk to the cutting machine, where it is
cut into lengths of about two inches, a little more or less, according to circum-
stances. If the silk waste that has been thus cut be in the gum, it is next
discharged, and afterwards dried. The silk having become matted in the
discharging process, the fibres of it are next opened up by a scutching machine
or other similar apparatus before it undergoes the process of carding. When
carded, the roving is prepared by a similar engine to that used for cotton,
and it is spun on the mule jenny, which is on a similar principle to that of
the cotton jenny.
Having thus explained the old or ordinary process of converting silk
waste into yarn, I will proceed to describe our novel process by which we
produce our new or improved manufacture of yarn or thread. The silk waste
having been dressed in the usual way, or in any other manmer that may be
found more advantageous (such as heckling or otherwise), either discharged
or in the gum, we submit it to the drawing, roving, and spinning machinery,
thereby entirely obviating the supposed necessity of cutting or shortening the
filaments of silk waste, a destructive process which has heretoforo been con-
sidered as an indispensible sacrafice, in order to convert it into yarn or thread.
The kind of machinery we have found to answer best for the drawings and
rovings of dressed, heckled, or carded silk waste, of long fibres, is the same
as that used by flax spinners, and we adopt the same methods as are practised
by them with long or cut line flax. The silk is first submitted to the spreading
or first drawing machine, the slivers obtained from which are doubled and
applied to the second drawing, and in like manner to the third drawing
machine, and finally to the roving machine. The number of doublings and
drawings requisite will depend upon the kind of silk used, which every com-
petent manufacturer will know how to determine and arrange.
It may be proper to observe that there are several kinds of flax drawing
and roving machines, and as they are in common use for flax and tow, no
description of them is necessary, and it will therefore be sufficient to dis-
tinguish them by their names of circular, spiral, and sheet or chain. Cut
line flax and tow drawing and roving machines are made either on the circular
or spiral plans. The sheet or chain is also made for cut line flax, but not
for tow. The drawing and roving machines that we have found to answer
best are those which are made on the spiral plan, as the gills or heckles of
these come closer to the nip of the drawing rollar than in either of the other
plans, and thereby enables the short filaments of the silk to be drawn and
distributed more uniformly with the long fibres than if the said heckles or

page_text: gills were more remote from the drawing roller. For the longest fibres of
dressed or heckled silk waste, we employ what is designated by flax spinners
long line preparation; for the medium length of fibres of dressed, heckled,
or carding silk, cut line, and for the shorter lengths tow preparation.
We have already noticed that the roving from silk waste may be made
either when in the gum or discharged, and that the said rovings may
be spun to suit the particular kind of goods to which yarn or thread is
to be applied, but as there is a much greater demand for silk yarn
discharged than in the gum, we usually discharge the gum from the sliver
obtained by the first drawing or spreading machine. For this purpose the
sliver is put into hanks of about half a pound each, then each of these
hanks is put into a little bag made of an open fabric, such as thin canvass;
a quantity of these are collected (according to the dimensions of the
boiler), put into the vessel, and discharged or "boiled off" in the usual
manner. After this, the hanks still contained in the bags are to be well
washed to free them from the deposition of the glutinous matter, er the
presence of soap, alkali, or other impurities. The silk is now to be taken out
of the bags with care, and after being thoroughly dried the hanks are to be
put upon swifts, and after finding the end of the slver it is to be coiled into
cans, or it may be wound on bobbins, or otherwise disposed of, as may be
convenient. The next operation upon these slivers consists in submitting them
to the drawing machines, whereby the required number of drawing and
doublings are to be given; and finally, the roving is formed as already
mentioned. The process of boiling or discharging gum silk we sometimes
apply after it has been formed into roving. In this case the roving is to be
reeled from the bobbins into hanks of about half a pound weight each; these
be put into bags, and the discharging conducted by the same process as that
described with respect to the sliver. The discharged roving is next to be
wound on bobbins preparatory to spinning, but we give the preference to the
roving made from silk which has been discharged in the sliver.
Another improvement in our process or manufacture consists in dying the
silk before it is spun into yarn or thread, and we find that this operation is
best performed after it has been discharged and washed, and in the form of
the sliver, as already described. After dyeing, the silk undergoes repeated
doublings and drawings, and is finally made into roving in the same manner
and by the same mechanism as are employed with the undyed silk. The
process of dying is also applied by us to silk which has been discharged
previous to its being dressed or heckled, and we usually dye it in the hauks
obtained from the sliver of the first drawing. The process of dyeing may also

page_text: be applied to the rove, which is to be reeled from the bobbins into hanks of a
size and weight the most convenient to the dyer. After dyeing it is to be
wound upon bobbins previous to being spun, but we prefer the roving which
has been made from the silk dyed in the sliver. Care must be taken that
the silk, whether dyed or undyed, be properly dried prior to its being submitted
to any of the processes of drawing, roving, and spinning. The advantages
obtained in this part of our Invention, of dyeing the silk previous to its being
spun into yarn or thread, consists in the certainty that the coloring matter
will reach every fibre, and consequently produce a more uniform and perfect
dyeing. We also find that a superior lustre is obtained by our mode
over that wherein the silk is dyed subsequent to being spun, which effect we
consider to be caused by the violent action upon the silk by the dyer's process,
by which many of the fibres are broken and started from their parallel
positions with respect to each other, thereby destroying the wiry and lustrous
appearance of the yarn or thread.
For making rove from silk waste of long fibres and flax combined, and
from silk waste of long fibres and wool combined, we employ the same
machinery throughout as we do for making rove from silk waste alone. The
proportions of silk waste to that of flax, and of silk waste to that of wool, are
varied according to the particular manufacture to which the yarns are to be
applied. The method we have adopted is to obtain slivers of flax or wool
from the spreading or first drawing machine. The number of slivers of flax
or of wool to that of silk obtained from the first drawings are regulated in the
second drawings in proportions suitable for the peculiar descriptions of yarn
required.
Having now explained the nature of the drawings and roving machinery
which we have found to answer best, and the several processes of drawing and
roving silk waste alone, and of silk waste in combination with wool and with
flax, I will proceed to describe the spinning machine by which the rove is
drawn or elongated into strands to be spun into yarn or thread. The annexed
Drawings for the most part represent the well-known spinning frame, called a
throstle, on the principle of the long ratch, as employed in the spinning of flax,
which machine, combined with the improvements we have applied to it,
we apply to the new and useful purpose of spinning silk waste of long fibres
into yarn or thread from rove, either in the gum or discharged, or dyed as
before mentioned, and also from rove made from silk waste of long fibres in
combination with flax or with wool.
Figure 1 in the Drawings exhibits a front elevation of a portion of the

page_text: throstle frame, the parts not introduced being only a repetition or extension of
the same kind of mechanism, which is well understood by spinners.
Figure 2 is an elevation at right angles to that represented in Fig. 1, and
shows only about half the machine, the other half corresponding in its arrange-
ments therewith.
Figure 3 exhibits a plan of the retaining rollers, of which the elevation is
given in Figure 1.
Figure 4 represents the pressing roller separately viewed, and of double
the linear measurement it occupies in Fig. 1, in order to show it the more
distinctly.
Figures 5 and 6 are front and side views of the guides by which the rove
is conducted to the nip of the brass bosses of the drawing roller, also drawn to
double the scale of Figure 1.
In all these Figures, where the same letters of reference occur, they indicate
the same parts though differently viewed.
A, A', in Figures and 2, represent a fast and loose pulley; the latter
receives the power from the prime mover, and through the medium of its
axis actuates another pulley C, which, by means of an endless strap X, X, puts
in motion the pulleys D and B. From the latter motion is imparted to the
twist pinion E, which actuates the wheel F, and conveys the differential motion
(not introduced into the Drawing) to the drawing roller G, and the retaining
rollers H, H, H, also the intermediate or carrying rollers K and L, and to the
traverse motion M. At N is a copper trough containing water, the application
of which in this process is an important feature in our Invention. 0, 0, 0,
are pressing rollers which are made of wood, and are partly immersed in the
water wherein they rotate, and by their continious action convey the fluid to
the nip of the brass bosses P, P, P, of the drawing roller G, thereby saturating
the filaments of silk with the fluid while they are in the act of being drawn
down and elongated into strands from the roving, to be spun into yarn or
thread by means of the spindles and flyers Q, Q, Q, which for our new
process we place (as will be observed in the Drawing) much nearer to the
drawing roller G than has beretofore been practised. R, R, are copper
guides; the construction of these is best seen in the separate views of them
given in Figures 5 and 6, on a greater scale. S, S, S, are mahogany top
rollers. The other parts of the machine not adverted to being quite familiar
to persons employed in this branch of manufacture, it will be unnecessary to
explain.
Our application of the brass bosses P, P, to the drawing reller G, together

page_text: with the application of water, we have found to be an important improvement
in the spinning of silk waste, whether dyed or undyed, as the brass preserves
the silk from stains which occur when iron is used. It will be observed that
neither the brass bosses P nor the pressing rollers O are fluted, which fluting
we have found to be unnecessary in spinning silk waste of long fibres with the
ratch corresponding in length thereto. Great advantages also result from
employing the throstle frame instead of the mule jenny for spinning silk waste.
In the first place, a great saving is made in the cost of production by obviating
the necessity of operatives at high wages. In the second place, by using
a long ratch corresponding to the length of the fibres to be spun, yarn or
thread is obtained not only of very superior strength, but it can be spun of
very fine numbers, even as high as No. 200 or upwards, on the cotton scale,
a result quite unprecedented in spinuing by the throstle. The application of
water to the silk, communicated by means of the pressing roller, not only
toughens the fibres, but gives them a greater tenacity or adhesiveness to each
other, enabling them to sustain the action of being spun, besides communicating
a greater degree of flexibility, which facilitates or induces the ends of the fibres
to adhere or incorporate more readily with the yarn. Likewise, owing to the
short distance between the top of the spindle and the nip of the bosses of the
drawing or delivering roller, the yarn is subjected to less vibration and can be
spun to finer numbers than with the spindles at a greater distance. The silk
yarn thus produced has a smooth wiry appearance, and when spun with but
little twist the natural lustre of the silk fibres is preserved, and it approximates
in appearance to tram or organzine silk. The spinning frame just described is
also applicable to the spinning of silk and flax combined, as well as to the
spinning of a combination of silk and wool, in each case varying the sliding
ratch to suit the lengths of the fibres to be spun.
Having now given the necessary details of the manner in which our
Invention is to be performed, we desire it to be understood that we disclaim
those parts of the process or mechanism which were or may have been
previous to the granting of our Patent well known or in use for the same
purposes; but we restrict our claims to the eight several heads of Invention
mentioned in the carly part of this Specification, all of which we believe to be
new and of great public utility.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gibson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
JOHN (L.s.) GIBSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventeenth day of May,
in the year of our Lord 1887, the aforesaid John Gibson came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.

page_text: facturing of our improved manufacture of silk, or silk combined with the
other fibrous materials mentioned; and we have added the words underlined with
red in order to make sense of the Specification; and we alter the title of the
Patent by striking out the words "a new or" and introducing the word "an,"
by which the title will more correctly express the Invention.
"
In witness whereof, we, the said John Gibson and John Gordon Camp-
bell, have hereunto set our bands and seals, this Thirteenth day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
forty-three.
JOHN G. CAMPBELL. (L.S.)
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
GIBSON, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Throwster, and
JOHN GORDON CAMPBELL, of the same place, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of November, in the seventh year of
His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Gibson and John Gordon Campbell, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said John Gibson and John
Gordon Campbell, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said John Gibson and John Gordon Campbell, our exors, adñiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "A-New or AN IMPROVED
PROCESS OR MANUFACTURE CP SILK, AND SILK IN COMBINATION WITH CERTAIN OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that
we, the said John Gibson and John Gordon Campbell, or one of us, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Gibson, on behalf of myself, and also of the said John Gordon Camp-
bell, do hereby declare that the nature of our said Invention consists,--

page_text: First, in a part of our process by which we discharge the gum from that
peculiar kind of silk denominated silk wasto when the same is in the state
of the sliver or rove.
Second, in a part of our process by which we dye silk waste when in the
state of sliver or rove.
Third, in a part of our process by which we spin yarn from dressed or
heckled silk waste of long fibres, either in the gum or discharged.
Fourth, in a part of our process by which yarn from silk waste with long
fibres may
be spun
in combination with flax of a similar length of fibre.
And, fifth, in a part of our process by which yarn from silk waste with
long fibre is spun in combination with wool.
Sixth, in the application of our improved process to the threstle machine, on-the
principle of the long ratch, for the new and useful purpose of spinning sill
waste.
Seven:h, in certain improvements effected by us in the threstle machine, by
which its utility in spinning silk waste is greatly augmented.
Eighth, in the application of water to silk-waste with long fibres-in-the-process
of spinning with the long ratch.
Having thus explained the nature or leading characteristics of our Invention,
it is desirable, before we enter into the practical details of them, to give a brief
outline of the methods heretofore adopted for spinning yarn from silk waste.
Silk wastes differ considerably with respect to quality and cleanliness, and
they are generally in a ravelled state. To free them from naps and other refuse
matters, and to clear the ravellings, they are first submitted to the action of a
machine called a breaker, for the purpose of breaking or clearing out the
more stubborn or knotty ravellings. The waste is next put under the operation
of the dressing machines, to be farther unravelled and cleared from naps and
other impurities, which process also straightens the filaments, and causes them
to lie evenly together, resembling in this respect heckled flax, although the
fibres of the latter usually possess more uniformity as to length. This process
of dressing is applicable to silk waste either in the gum or discharged. The
former, however, is more easily dressed, contains less refuse, and is generally
of a better quality.
The third process, upon the ordinary plan, is to take the dressed silk to
the cutting machine, where it is cut into lengths of about two inches, a
little more or less, according to circumstances. If the silk waste that has
been thus cut be in the gum, it is next discharged, and afterwards dried.
The silk having become matted in the discharging process, the fibres of it aro
next opened up by a scutching machine or other similar apparatus before it

page_text: undergoes the process of carding. When carded the roving is prepared by
a similar engine to that used for cotton, and it is spun on the mule jenny,
which is on a similar principle to that of the cotton jenny.
Having thus explained the old or ordinary process of converting silk waste
into yarn,
I will proceed to describe our novel process by which we produce
our new or improved manufacture of yarn or thread. The silk waste having
been dressed in the usual way, or in any other manner that may be found more
advantageous (such as heckling or otherwise), either discharged or in the
gum, we submit it to the drawing, roving, and spinning machinery, thereby
entirely obviating the supposed necessity of cutting or shortening the filaments
of silk waste, a destructive process, which has heretofore been considered as an
indispensable sacrifice in order to convert it into yarn or thread. The kind of
machinery we have found to answer best for the drawings and rovings of
dressed, heckled, or carded silk waste of long fibres is the same as that used
by flax spinners, and we adopt the same methods as are practised by them
with long or cut line flax. The silk is first submitted to the spreading or first
drawing machine, the slivers obtained from which are doubled and applied to
the second drawing, and in like manner to the third drawing machine, and
finally to the roving machine. The number of doublings and drawings
requisite will depend upon the kind of silk used, which every competent
manufacturer will know how to determine and arrange. It may be proper
to observe, that there are several kinds of flax drawing and roving machines,.
and as they are in common use for flax and tow, no description of them is
necessary, and it will therefore be sufficient to distinguish them by their
names of circular, spiral, and sheet or chain. Cut line flax and tow drawing
and roving machines are made either in the circular or spiral plans. The
sheet or chain is also made for cut line flax, but not for tow.
The drawing
and roving machines that we have found to answer best are those which are
made on the spiral plan, as the gills or heckles of these come closer to the nip
of the drawing roller than in either of the other plans, and thereby enables the
short filaments of the silk to be drawn and distributed more uniformly with
the long fibres than if the said heckles or gills were more remote from the
drawing roller. For the longest fibres of dressed or heckled silk waste we
employ what is designated by flax spinners long line preparation; for the
medium lengths of fibres of dressed, heckled, or carded silk, cut line; and for
the short lengths tow preparations.
We-have-already-noticed that The roving from silk waste may be made
either when in the gum or discharged, and that the said rovings may
be spun to suit the particular kind of goods to which yarn or thread is

page_text: to be applied; but as there is a much greater demand for silk yarn ‹lis-
charged than in the gum, we usually discharge the gum from the sliver
obtained by the first drawing or spreading machine. For this purpose the
sliver is put into hanks of about half a pound each, then each of these
hanks is put into a little bag made of an open fabric, such as thin canvass.
A quantity of these are collected (according to the dimensions of the boiler),
put into the vessel, and discharged or "boiled off" in the usual manner.
After this the hanks still contained in the bags are to be well washed to free
them from the deposition of the glutinous matter, or the presence of soap,
alkali, or other impurities. The silk is now to be taken out of the bags with
care; and after being thoroughly dried, the hanks are to be put upon swifts,
and after finding the end of the sliver it is to be coiled into cans, or it may be
wound on bobbins, or otherwise disposed of as may be convenient. The next ope-
ration upon these slivers consists in submitting them to the drawing machines,
whereby the required number of drawings and doublings are to be given, and,
finally, the roving is formed as already mentioned. The process of boiling or
discharging gum silk we sometimes apply after it has been formed into roving.
In this case the roving is to be reeled from the bobbins into hanks of about
half a pound weight each; these are to be put into bags, and the discharging
conducted by the same process as that described with respect to the sliver.
The discharged roving is next to be wound on bobbins preparatory to spinning;
but we give preference to the roving made from silk, which has been dis-
charged in the sliver.
Another improvement in our process or manufacture consists in dyeing the
silk before it is spun into yarn or thread; and we find that this operation is
best performed after it has been discharged and washed, and in the form of
the sliver, as already described. After dyeing the silk undergoes repeated
doublings and drawings, and is finally made into roving in the same manner
and by the same mechanism as are employed with the undyed silk. The
process of dyeing is also applied by us to silk which has been discharged
previous to its being dressed or heckled, and we usually dye it in the hanks
obtained from the sliver of the first drawing. The process of dyeing may also
be applied to the rove which is to be reeled from the bobbins into hanks of a
size and weight the most convenient to the dyer. After dyeing it is to be
wound upon the bobbins previous to being spun; but we prefer the roving
which has been made from silk dyed in the sliver. Care must be taken that
the silk, whether dyed or undyed, be properly dried prior to its being submitted
to any of the processes of drawing, roving, and spinning. The advantages

page_text: obtained in this part of our Invention of dyeing the silk previous to its being
spun in yarn or thread consist in the certainty that the coloring matter will
reach every fibre, and consequently produce a more uniform and perfect dyeing.
We also find that a superior lustre is obtained by our mode over that wherein
the silk is dyed subsequent to being spun, which effect we consider to be caused
by the violent action upon the silk by the dyer's process, by which many of the
fibres are broken and started from their paralleled positions with respect to
each other, thereby destroying the wiry and lustrous appearance of the yarn or
thread. For making rove from silk waste of long fibres and flax combined,
and from silk waste of long fibres and wool combined, we employ the same
machinery throughout as we do for making rove from silk waste alone. The
proportions of silk waste to that of flax, and of silk waste to that of wool, are
varied according to the particular manufacture to which the yarns are to be
applied. The method we have adopted is to obtain slivers of flax or of wool
from the spreading or first drawing machine. The number of slivers of flax or
of wool to that of silk slivers obtained from the first drawings are regulated in
the second drawings in proportions suitable for the peculiar description of yarn
required.
Having now explained the nature of the drawing and roving machinery
which we have found to answer best, and the several processes of drawing and
roving silk waste alone, and of silk waste in combination with wool and with
flax, I will proceed to describe the spinning machine by which the rove is
drawn or elongated into strands, to be spun into yarn or thread.
The annexed Drawings for the most part represent the well-known spinning
frame called a throstle, on the principle of the long ratch, as employed in the
spinning of flax, which machine combined with the improvements we have-
applied to it we apply to the new and useful purpose of spinning silk waste of
long fibres into yarn or thread from rove, either in the gum, or discharged, or
dyed, as before mentioned, and also from rove made from silk waste of long
fibres in combination with flax or with wool.
Figure 1 in the Drawings exhibits a front elevation of a portion of the
throstle frame, the parts not introduced being only a repetition or extension
of the same kind of mechanism which is well understood by spinners.
Figure 2 is an elevation at right angles to that represented in Figure 1, and
shews only about half the machine, the other half corresponding in its arrange-
ment therewith.
Figure 3 exhibits a plan of the retaining rollers, of which the elevation
is given in Figure 1.

page_text: Figure 4 represents the pressing roller separately viewed, and of double
the linear measurement it occupies in Figure 1, in order to shew it the
more distinctly.
Figures 5 and 6 are front and side views of the guides by which the rove
is conducted to the nip of the brass bosses of the drawing roller, also drawn to
double the scale of Figure 1.
In all these Figures, where the same letters of reference occur, they indicate
the same parts, though differently viewed.
A, A, in Figures 1 and 2, represent a fast and a loose pulley; the latter receives
the power from the prime mover, and through the medium of its axis actuates
another pulley C, which, by means of an endless strap X, X, puts in motion
the pulleys D and B. From the latter motion is imparted to the twist pinion
E, which actuates the wheel F and conveys the differential motion (not
introduced into the Drawing) to the drawing roller G, and the retaining
rollers H, H, H, also the intermediate or carrying rollers K and L, and to the
traverse motion M. At N is a copper trough containing water, the application
of which in this process is an important feature in our Invention. 0, 0, 0, are
pressing rollers, which are made of wood, and partly immersed in the water,
wherein they rotate, and by their continuous action convey the fluid to the nip
of the brass bosses P, P, P, of the drawing roller G, thereby saturating the
filaments of silk with the fluid while they are in the act of being drawn down
and elongated into strands from the roving to be spun into yarn or thread, by
means of the spindles and flyers Q, Q, Q, which for our new process we place
(as will be observed in the Drawing) much nearer to the drawing roller G
than is usually has heretofore been practised. R, R, are copper guides, the
construction of which is best seen in the separate views of them given in
Figures 5 and 6 on a greater scale. S, S, S, are mahogany top rollers.
The other parts of the machine not adverted to being quite familiar to persons
employed in this branch of manufacture, it will be unnecessary to explain.
Our-application of The brass bosses P, P, to the drawing roller G, together
with the application of water, we have found to be an important improvement
in the spinning of silk waste, whether dyed or undyed, as the brass preserves
the silk from stains, which occur when iron is used. It will be observed that
neither the brass bosses P nor the pressing rollers O are fluted, which fluting
we have found to be unnecessary in spinning silk waste of long fibres, with the
ratch corresponding in lengths thereto. Great advantages also result from
employing the throstle frame instead of the mule jenny for spinning silk waste.
In the first place a great saving is made in the cost of production by obviating
the necessity of operatives at high wages; in the second place by using a long

page_text: ratch, corresponding to the length of fibres to be spun, yarn or thread is
obtained not only of very superior strength, but it can b spun to very fine
numbers, even as high as No. 200 or upwards on the cotton scale, a result
quite unprecedented in spinning by the throstle. The application of water to
the silk, communicated by means of the pressing roller, not only toughens the
fibres, but gives them a greater tenacity or adhesiveness to each other, enabling
them to sustain the action of being spun, besides communicating a greater
degree of flexibility, which facilitates or induces the ends of the fibres to
adhere or incorporate more readily with the yarn. Likewise, owing to the
short distance between the top of the spindle and the nip of the bosses of the
drawing or delivering roller, the yarn is subjected to less vibration, and can be
spun to finer numbers than with the spindles at a greater distance. The silk
yarn thus produced has a smooth wiry appearance, and when spun with but
little twist the natural lustre of the silk fibres is preserved, and it approximates
in appearance to tram or organzine silk. The spinning frame just described
is also applicable to the spinning of silk and flax combined, as well as to the
spinning of a combination of silk and wool, in each case varying the sliding
ratch to suit the lengths of the fibres to be spun.
Having now given the necessary details of the manner in which our
Invention is to be performed, we desire it to be understood that we disclaim
those part of the process or mechanism which were or may have been, previous
to the granting of our Patent, well known or in use for the same purposes;
but we restrict our claims to the eight five several heads of Invention mentioned
in the early part of this Specification, all of which we believe to be new and of
great public utility.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gibson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify that the above-named John Gibson, of the City of
Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Throwster, & John Gordon Campbell,
of the same place, Merchant, have applied to me for leave to enter with you
the above-written Disclaimer & Memorandum of Alteration of part of the
Title & Specification of a certain Invention, for which Letters Patent were
granted to them under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at Westminster,
the 19th day of November, A.D. 1833, and to which a Specification was duly
enrolled; and on considering the said application, I directed them to advertized
their said Disclaimer & Memorandum of Alteration, and the same having

page_text: been advertized accordingly, namely, in the Times & Morning Chronicle
Newspapers, on the 23rd day of November, 1842, and in the London Gazette
of the 25th day of November, in the same year, and no valid objection having
been made to the said application, I have therefore granted leave to the said
John Gibson & John Gordon Campbell to file their said Disclaimer &
Memorandum of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed in the fifth & sixth
years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled
"An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."