IMPROVE- MENTS IN ROVING AND SPINNING FLAX AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS' SHALL COME, I, SOLOMON
LEATHAM, of Leeds, in the County of York, Overlooker in a Mill, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present inost Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of
February, One thousand eighthundred and forty-seven, in the tenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Solomon Leatham, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her 'especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Soloinon Leatham, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Solomon Leatham,
my '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, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROVING AND SPINNING FLAX AND OTHER FIBRES;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Solomon Leatham, shall cause
a particular description of the bature of my' said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
-hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Solomon Leatham, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists of improvements in the arrangement of the spindles
and the mechanical parts which produce twist to the fibres, and wind the same
on to bobbins, when roving or spinning flax and other fibres. And in order that
my
Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into effect, I
will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed, in the various Figures
of which the same letters are used to indicate the same parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a vertical section, full size, taken through the rails and parts
of one of the spindles used in spinning flax, which will enable me to describe
my Invention. When the Invention is applied for roving flax, the parts are
all to be larger, and a workman will vary the sizes of the spindles and parts
used when for roving and spinning of other fibres, as has heretofore been the
case when intending to make machinery to rove or to spin different fibrous
materials with the same class of spinning machinery. Figure 2 shows a plan,
in section, of a spindle, and the parts working therewith. Figure 3 shows
the plan of a weight placed on the upper end of the spindle for pressing on the
bobbin, which prevents the yarn, as it is spun, chating against the top of the
bobbin. Figure 4 shows a section of the spindle at the enlarged part where
the bobbin rests, and there is a pin to retain the bobbin from turning on the
spindle. Figure 5 shows a plan of part of the upper moving rail c of the
spindle. a is the spindle, which is capable of turning when dragged round by
the fibrous material b, which for the time being is having twist put on; cand
d are two rails, which are combined together, so as to form a rectangular frame
to carry the spindles, and the same is moved up and down in a suitable manner,
to govern the winding on of the rove or spun fibres on to the bobbin e, which
bobbin is retained from turning, except with its spindle, by means of the
pin, which enters the lower end of the bobbin; g, h, are upper and lower
bearings of the spindle, carried by the rails c, d. In order to put on the twist,
motion is given to the warve or pulley i by a band, such warve turning
on a cylindrical bearing j, fixed to the rail k, which rail is fixed to and
forms part of the framing of the machine. The warve or pulley i carries an
eye or crooked wire l, through which the fibrous material passes to the bobbin
с

page_text: e, and receives twist by the rotation of the warve or pulley. The warve or
pulley 'and its cylindrical bearing are made of sufficient diameter to allow of
the bobbin e rising and falling within them, by the rising and falling of the
frame c,d; hence long bobbins may be readily and conveniently employed, and
removed and replaced with facility. The "drag "given will depend on the
resistance offered by the spindle moving round, as will readily be understood on
examining the Drawing.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the best means Iam
acquainted with for performing the same, I would state that I do not make
any claim to the parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the precise details
shewn and described, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention be
retained; but what I claim is, the mode herein described of arranging or
combining spindles a and the mechanical parts c, d, g, h, with the parts 2,
whereby the spindles and bobbin produce the drag, and are caused to rise and
descend through the pullies or warves i.
In witness whereof, I, the said Solomon Leatham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
SOLOMON (L.s.) LEATHAM.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of July, in the year
of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Solomon Leatham came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her 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
Enrolled the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.