IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COVERING WIRE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, OR ANY OTHER FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, WITH WIRE, PLATE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, OR ANY OTHER FLEXIBLE MATERIAL
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Simpson, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COVERING WIRE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, OR ANY OTHER FLEXIBLE
MATERIAL, WITH WIRE, PLATE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, OR ANY
OTHER FLEXIBLE MATERIAL."
Sealed the 8th September 1853, and dated the 16th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Simpson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th April 1853.
I, ISAAC SIMPSON, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR COVERING WIRE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, OR ANY OTHER
FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, WITH WIRE, PLATE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, OR
ANY OTHER FLEXIBLE MATERIAL," to be as follows:-
•

page_text: My machinery is arranged for covering, simultaneously, any re-
quired number of threads. Each of the threads to be covered passes
from the bobbin on which it is wound through a revolving tube, sup-
ported in suitable bearings, and set in motion by a strap from a pulley
or drum running the whole length of the machine. Each tube has a
fast and loose pulley on it, by which it can be driven or stopped at
pleasure, and carries, besides, a bobbin, on which is wound the cover-
ing material, and a disc, from which projects an arm, provided, at its
extremity, with a small pulley, over which the covering material passes
to the thread or material to be covered. Both sets of the bobbins
mentioned are furnished with arrangements for producing a drag on
them, so as to prevent the threads being drawn off more loosely or
slackly than is required. The tension on each of the threads or mate-
rial to be covered, by which it is drawn off from the holding bobbins
and through the revolving tubes, is produced by passing it three or four
times round a small pulley on the axis of a roller driven by frictional
contact with a shaft running the length of the machine. From a
smaller shaft, also running the length of the machine, and driven by
wheel gearing from the main shaft, are a series of straps to drive the
spindles which carry the receiving bobbins, or those on which the
covered threads are wound. The receiving bobbins rest on flanges
on their spindles, and are driven by frictional contact with them, so
that they do not exert any drawing action on the covered threads.
These threads, in passing from the place where they are covered (by
the revolution around them of the material carried from off the bobbin
on the tube round the pulley on the arm attached to the disc of the
revolving tube) to the receiving bobbins, run over pulleys mounted on
a stretched wire running the length of the machine, which has a
traversing, up and down motion given to it, so as to effect the regular
building or laying on of the covered threads on to the receiving
bobbins. Each covering arrangement is, actuated independently of the
others, and can be stopped at any required time in the event of a
thread breaking, or being used up, by shifting its driving strap from
the fast to the loose pulley, by means of a stop motion, which also acts
to prevent the further drawing off of the thread to be covered, by lift-

page_text: ing its drawing roller off its contact with the shaft from which it is
driven, and at the same time stops the delivery of the covering
material, by means of a spring acting against the bobbin on which that
material is wound.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Isaac Simpson, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 15th October. 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ISAAC SIMPSON, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto. me, the said Isaac Simpson, Her special licence
that I, the said Isaac Simpson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Isaac Simpson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR COVERING WIRE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, OR ANY
OTHER FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, WITH WIRE, PLATE, SILK, COTTON, LINEN,
WOOL, OR ANY OTHER. FLEXIBLE MATERIAL," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Isaac Simpson, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Isaac Simpson, do hereby de-
clare the nature of -my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
:
My Invention consists in certain improved arrangements of machinery
for covering or plating wire or threads, strings, or cords of any flexible
material with wire plate, or other suitable material, whereby this
operation is materially facilitated.
Figure 1, of the drawings annexed is a sectional elevation, and
Figure 2, a plan of my improved machinery. In these Figures the
parts are represented as being arranged for covering only two threads
at the same time, but the machinery may be arranged for covering any
required number of threads simultaneously. A, A, is the general frame
work of the machine, on which is fitted the table A', which carries
different portions of the machinery. The upright portions of the frame
form the back, and the inclined portions the front of the machine, at which
the workman or person in attendance stands. B, B2, are the fast and
loose pulleys, which are mounted on the workman's left hand, outside
the frame, on the first motion shaft B. This shaft carries also a tin drum
B, twelve inches diameter, which extends the whole length of the
machine, within the frame-work, and is further furnished at the right
hand extremity (which projects beyond the end frame) with a driving
pulley C, from which motion is communicated by a strap to the pulley D,
which is mounted on the shaft E, running the whole length of the
frame. The shaft E, is supported by brackets F, F, at the ends of the
frame, und by a similar bracket at the middle of its length. On the top
of the back rail of the frame are placed a number of brackets G, G, in
which are formed bearings to receive the axes of the top rollers H, H;
these rollers rest upon the shaft E, over the centre of which they are
retained by the brackets G, G. The right hand axis of each of the
rollers H, projects beyond the bracket G, and carries a pulley I, the size
of which is regulated according to the closeness of the covering which
the material under operation may require; this pulley is made fast by a
nut J, which is screwed up against it.. K, is a toothed wheel, shewn in
'dotted lines in Figure 1, which is keyed fast upon the shaft B, just
within the framing, and clear of the left hand end of the tin drum.

page_text: I, is another toothed wheel, keyed upon the shaft M,which runs the whole
length of the frame, and is supported by pedestals N, which are screwed to
the inside of the back legs. O, is a bar, fastened to the outer side of the
back legs, and having inserted in it, at proper intervals, glazed pot
steps O, O', which serve as foot steps for the back spindles P, P, which
are supported in the steps O', O', and by iron brackets Q, Q. Each
spindle P; has mounted on it a pulley P, round which passes a strap
from the shaft M, and also carries a flange R, screwed fast to it, which
serves to support a bobbin S, called a receiving bobbin, which is dropped
loosely on the top of the spindle. T, T, are cast metal frames, sup-
ported on the table A'. Each of these frames has two uprights u, ui,
rising from it, and two other uprights v, v, at the outer end; between
the uprights u, u, is a revolving steel tube W, having a small aperture
through the centre, from end to end. This tube is supported in
hardened steel bushes in the uprights u, u, and has mounted on it a
fast and loose pulley w', w². The backmost end of the revolving tube
projects beyond the steel bush, and carries a circular brass disc X,
called a fly, which is driven tight upon it, close up to the upright u; at
the outer edge of this fly is screwed an arm Y, which carries at its end
a small steel pulley Z, turning freely on a pin or a small fixed hook.
The projecting end of the revolving tube W, also carries a bobbin a, on
which is wound the material intended to be employed as a covering;
the bobbin a, is prevented from delivering its contents irregularly by
means of a check string, which passes round the arm Y, clipping the
bobbin on both sides at the groove a', and is then attached to a screw b,
by turning which the check string may be tightened or slackened, and
the drag on the material on the bobbin a, increased or diminished at
pleasure. c, c, are bobbins mounted on spindles d, d, between the
uprights v, v, and containing the material to be covered. At one end
of each of the spindles d, is a grooved pulley 2, and at the other end
is a screw and nut, for the purpose of making the bobbin c, fast on the
spindle d.
e, is a thin spring, having attached to it a check string,
which passes round the grooved pulley on the spindle d, and serves to
regulate the drag on the material coming from the bobbin c, when
tightened or loosened by the screw f, acting on the spring e. g, g', is a

page_text: forked lever which forms a part of the stop motion; when the sloped
end of this lever is depressed, the opposite forked end rises, and the
branches g', g', lift the pins g, g², shewn in dotted lines, the heads of
which act against the under side of the pivots of the top roller H, and
lift it out of contact with the iron shaft E. h, is an iron rod, which is
supported in two brass steps, and has a brass knob at one end, and
also a boss j, from which projects a thin spring k; the rod, h, also
carries a stout pin l, for the purpose of throwing the strap m, on to or
off the fast and loose pulleys on the revolving tube W, as may be
required, is a small bracket screwed to the front rail of the frame A,
and having a small moveable guide pulley o, attached to it for the
purpose of tightening the belt which drives the revolving tube W; at
the right hand extremity of the shaft B, and just within the frame, is
fixed a worm B³, turning a wheel B', mounted on the vertical spindle B'.
the lower extremity of which has another worm B, working into the
worm wheel B', for the purpose of turning a small. shaft B, running
the whole length of the frame, and imparting an up and down tra-
versing motion to the upright rods 2, by means of the lifting hearts p',
which are made fast upon the small shaft B; and act on the lever q, to
which the lower ends of the rods r, r, are jointed; the tops of the
rods,, carry a stretched wire or thin piece of wood, which extends
the whole length of the frame, and has small pulleys on it, for the
covered threads to run over. S, is a counter weight on the lever q.
The action of the stop motion is as follows:-When the machine is
at work, and the material from the bobbins a, a, breaks, or is used up,
the brass knob on the rod h, is pushed forward, and the end of the rod
presses against the tail g, of the forked lever g, g', thereby causing the
ends g', to be raised, the top roller H, to be lifted off the shaft E, by
means of the pins g², g², and consequently to be prevented from revolving.
At the same moment the pin 1, pushes the strap m, on to the loose pulley
on the revolving tube W, and the spring k, presses against the back of
the fly to prevent the friction of the loose pulley from carrying the
fly round. By this means the instantaneous stoppage of the bobbin c,
and a, the pulley I, and the receiving bobbin S, is effected; for the
receiving bobbin slips on the flange R, and will only continue to revolve

page_text: so long as the pulley I, delivers to it-material to take up. Thus, any
separate single thread that may require to be stopped from any cause,
can be effectually stopped without stopping the whole machine, or
interfering with any other thread that is working correctly.
The mode of preparing this machine for working is as follows:-In
the first place, each bobbin c, must have wound upon it the material'
that is intended to be covered, say silk; and each bobbin a, must have
upon it the material that is intended to be used for covering with, say
gold plate. The end of the silk is drawn from off the bobbin c, through
the hole in the centre of the revolving tube W, then brought forward
and wrapped three or four times round the pulley I, and then similarly
wrapped three or four times round the receiving bobbin S. After this,
the end of the gold plate is drawn from off the bobbin a, and carried
round the steel pulley, or the small fixed book, as shewn in Figure 1 ;
when this has been done the machine is set in motion, by shifting the
driving strap on to the fast pulley B'. The tin drum is thus caused to
revolve, and by means of the strap m, to give motion to the fly X,
which carries the gold plate round the silk. The pulley C, on the
shaft B, turns the pulley D, by means of its strap, and thereby gives
motion to the shaft E, which shaft carries round the top rollers H, by
the friction of their weight upon it. The silk being wrapped round the
pulley I, is drawn from off the bobbin c, and the receiving bobbin S,
which rests on the flange R, turns round with the flange R, by frictional
contact, and receives the material delivered by the pulley I, and so on
continuously with every thread, whilst there is material to cover or to
be covered.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,
The machinery for covering or plating wire and threads of flexible
material, represented in the drawings annexed, and herein-before
described; that is to say, in so far as regards the mode of drawing
forward the material to be covered, by frictional contact, of the roller
on which it is wound with a revolving shaft; the employment of a
revolving tube for the material to be covered to pass through before

page_text: coming within the range of the covering arrangement; the application
of the instantaneous stop movement; the mode of producing a drag
on the delivering bobbin which supplies the material to be covered, so
as to regulate the delivery at a uniformi rate; and the driving of the
receiving bobbin by frictional contact with a flange on its spindle, all as
before described.
In witness, I, the said Isaac Simpson; have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
ISAAC SIMPSON. (L.S.)