2. The conversion of the flax into a band of parallel rectilinear
filaments, which forms the foundation of the future yarn.
3. The formation of a sliver from the riband, by drawing it out into a
narrower range of filaments.
4. The coarse spinning, by twisting the sliver into a coarse and loose
thread.
5. The fine spinning, by the simultaneous extension and twisting of that
coarse thread.
The spinning of tow requires a different treatment: we shall first treat
of the heckling of flax by machines; and secondly, of the mechanical
spinning of flax. The mechanical carding and spinning of tow are very
similar to those of cotton; which see. Though machine heckling be far
from perfect, yet the tow it throws off can be spun into very good yarn
by machines, while it would afford very indifferent yarn to the hand
spinner.
All heckle machines have this common property, that the flax is not
drawn through them, as in working by hand, but on the contrary, the
system of heckles is moved through the flax properly suspended or laid.
Differences exist in the shape, arrangement, and movements of the
heckles, as also in regard to the means by which the adhering tow is
removed from them. The simplest and most common construction is to place
the heckles upon the surface of a horizontal cylinder, while the flax is
held either by mechanical means or by the hand during its exposure to
the heckle points. Many machines have been made upon this principle. It
is proper in this case to set the heckle teeth obliquely in the
direction in which the cylinder turns, whereby they penetrate the fibres
in a more parallel line, effect their separation more easily, and cause
less waste in torn filaments. To conduct the flax upon the cylinders,
two horizontal fluted rollers of iron are employed, which can be so
modified in a moment by a lever as to present the flax more or less to
the heckling mechanism. The operator seizes a tress lock of flax with
her hand and introduces it between the fluted rollers, so that the tips
on which the operation must begin, reach the heckles first, and by
degrees the advancing flax gets heckled through two-thirds or
three-fourths of its length, after which the tress or strick is turned,
and its other end is subjected to the same process. By its somewhat
rapid revolution the heckle cylinder creates a current of air which not
only carries away the boomy particles, but also spreads out the flax
like a sheaf of corn upon the spikes, effecting the same object as is
done by the dexterous swing of the hand. The tow collects betwixt the
teeth of the heckle, and may, when its quantity has become considerable,
be removed in the form of a flock of parallel layers.
[Illustration: 438]
The essential parts of such a construction will be understood from
_fig._ 438., though the fluted rollers are absent. The flax _a_, _b_, is
held by the hand, or in a kind of clamp. The cylinder is partly covered
with a curvilinear plate of iron _c_, _d_, which serves to sustain the
flax, and to guide it in circular tresses round the periphery of the
heckle. At the beginning it is placed near _b_, when the tips of the
flax are only presented to the heckles; during the working the shield is
continually drawn back in the direction from _d_ to _c_, and thus lets
the operation be performed upon the remaining part of the flax.
[Illustration: 439]
[Illustration: 440]
[Illustration: 441]
_First operation; the conversion of flax into ribands or slivers._--This
is effected by subjecting the flax to a series of advancing gills or
heckle-teeth, and at the same time drawing out its fibres by means of
rollers. _Figs._ 439, 440, 441, show the outline of the construction of
a machine for this purpose. Here two rows of heckles are placed
alongside of each other, though only one of them be shown in the ground
plan, _fig._ 440., in order to allow the parts beneath the other to be
seen. The flax is placed in the sheet iron channels _a a_, by laying
down one handful after another, so that the points of the second strick
reach to only the middle of the first, and thus preserve a uniformity of
thickness in the feeding. This process is necessary, since, as every one
knows, the heckled stricks are always thick in the middle, and thin at
the ends. The flax being introduced between the rollers _b_ and _c_, is
drawn out by their agency, and at the same time subdivided by the
heckles _d_, between whose teeth the pins of the roller _e_ press it
down. At the rollers _f_³ it is loosened from the heckles by the
transverse bars which rise from the springs _g_, after which it is
seized by the rollers _h i_, and drawn again. A little beyond these
rollers, it runs through a funnel _l_, in order to gather the fibres
together; in front of these rollers the slivers from both rows of
heckles are united, and proceed in one riband through that polished
brass funnel; the rollers _m n_ extend this riband, pressing it gently
together, and then let it fall into a tin can. The union of the two
slivers contributes to the uniformity, since the irregular thicknesses
are thereby compensated. The diameter of the roller _c_, is equal to
that of each of the cylinders _f_, _f_¹, _f_², _f_³; and the whole five
move with equal velocity. The same correspondence exists between the
rollers _n_ and _i_. Thus the sliver of flax is not stretched either by
its passage from _e_, upon the heckles, nor between _i_ and _n_, but
solely in passing from the heckles to the rollers _i h_. The heckle
teeth of this machine do not stand perpendicularly, but are bent
somewhat backwards; so as to retain the flax more firmly. The revolving
cylindrical brush _o_, is placed over and a little in front of the
pressing roller _h_, in order to take off all the filaments of flax
adhering to their circumference, and to toss them onwards where they may
again unite with the slivers. For the sake of perspicuity, the rollers
_h_, and those brushes are left out in _fig._ 440., but the latter are
particularly shown in _fig._ 442., while a portion of their axis _q_, is
however shown in _fig._ 440. The pressure of the cylinder _h_, upon the
cylinder _i_, is produced by the weight _r_, _fig._ 439., which hangs
upon the lever _s_; the lever pulls down at _t_, a vertical rod, whose
upper hook-shaped end embraces the axis of _h_ in the middle of its
length.
[Illustration: 442]
_Second principal operation; the formation of rovings._--Mr.
Wordsworth’s improvements in machinery for preparing, drawing, and
roving flax, hemp, wool, and other fibrous substances, consists in a
novel contrivance or mechanism to be adapted to the machine commonly
called the gill, employed for preparing, drawing, and roving flax and
hemp, and for combing and spinning long wool; which improvements allow
the points of the travelling heckles to continue longer in operation
than in the ordinary construction of gill, and cause the heckle points
to be withdrawn from the fibres at the end of the stroke without the
possibility of their drawing the fibres down with them.
[Illustration: 443]
[Illustration: 444]
[Illustration: 445]
The manner of effecting this object will be seen by reference to the
several figures which exhibit a gill on this improved plan in different
views. _Fig._ 443. is a plan or horizontal view, exhibiting the upper
surface of the machine; and _fig._ 444. is a longitudinal section taken
through the middle of the machine: _fig._ 445. is a representation of
the front of the machine, but in which several parts have been removed
to show the action of the heckles more perfectly.
[Illustration: 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453]
The several heckles _a a a_ are formed by a series of needles or heckle
points set into a metal bar, as represented on an enlarged scale in
_figs._ 446. and 447. These bars are each of them suspended in a frame
or carriage _b b b_ (shown in two views at _figs._ 448. and 449.), by
means of double jointed levers _c c_, seen in two positions, at _figs._
450. and 451.; the heckle bar, its levers and carriage or frame, being
shown put together in _figs._ 452. and 453.
When the heckles are in operation, the points are raised, as in _fig._
452.; but when they are withdrawn from the fibres, then the points are
sunk down into the carrying frames, as _fig._ 453.
These two positions of the heckles are produced by the knobs or parts
_d_, that project from the jointed levers _c_, acting against the edges
of guide bars, which will be explained in describing the operations of
the machine.
The several heckles are adapted and made to work in the machine by
attaching the ends of the respective frames or carriages _b_, to
travelling endless chains _e e_, seen in _figs._ 443., 444., and 445.
These endless chains pass over fluted guide rollers _f f_, seen best in
_figs._ 444. and 445., and over horizontal bars _g g_, seen best in
_figs._ 443. and 444. The chains with the heckles are driven through the
machine by rotatory spur wheels _h h_; see _figs._ 443. and 444., the
teeth of which take into the spaces between the cylindrical parts of the
several heckle carriages _b b_, and consequently drive the heckles
forward; and these spur wheels are actuated by a train of toothed geer
from the first driving shaft _i_, which gives motion to all the
operative parts of the machine.
If flax, hemp, long wool, or other fibrous material, be passed into the
machine at the back part by a feeding cloth or creeper through a guide
_k_, best seen in _figs._ 443. and 444., and be conducted under and over
the feeding rollers _l_, _m_, and _n_, and over the heckles _a a a_ to
the drawing rollers _o_ and _p_, and thence to the flyer and bobbin, or
to a receiving can, the fibres will be opened in their progress, and
combed by the points of the heckles entering into and separating the
fibres, the material being drawn by a different speed to that with which
the heckles travel.
This operation of preparing, drawing, and roving flax and hemp, and the
general construction of a machine of this kind being well understood, it
is not necessary to explain its details, excepting as respects those
parts which constitute the present improvements.
It will be perceived, by reference to _figs._ 443. and 444., that the
knobs _d_, which project from the jointed levers _c_, as they travel
along the machine, bear against the outer edges of the two fixed guide
bars _q q_ that extend along the top of the machine above the heckles,
which keep the heckle points raised, as in _fig._ 451. This will also be
very evidently seen in the front view of the machine, _fig._ 445., where
the upper heckle bar _a_ is raised in its carriage _b_, by the knobs _d
d_ bearing against the outer edges of these guide bars _q q_. But when
the endless chains _e e_, which support and conduct the frames or
carriages of the heckles, have advanced the heckle points to within a
very little distance of the drawing rollers (see _fig._ 444.) then the
knob _d_ of the jointed levers at each end of the heckle bar passes the
ends of the guide bars _q q_, and they immediately come in contact with
two inclined planes _r r_, seen in _figs._ 443. and 444., which
instantly depress the levers _c_, and consequently cause the heckle bar
_a_, with its points to descend in the frame or carriage _b_,
withdrawing the points from the fibres of the material almost in a
perpendicular direction.
The heckles that have become thus depressed pass with their carriages by
the traversing of the endless chains along the under part of the
machine, and when they arrive at the back, and begin to rise, the guide
bars _q q_, being at their commencement slightly bent, conduct the knobs
_b_ of the levers _c_ until they are forced back into the positions
first described, whereby the heckle points are raised, as they come to
the upper part of the machine, into effective operation. The fibres of
material operated upon, after passing through the drawing process
between the rollers, may be roved, twisted, or spun, by the employment
of a bobbin and flyer, as shown in _fig._ 444., or may be delivered into
a can, to be roved, twisted, or spun, by other machinery, by
substituting a pair of conducting rollers instead of the bobbin and
flyer, which shall conduct the sliver of material into a tin can below.
The descent of the heckles _a_, into their frames _b_, by the falling of
the levers _c_, _c_, precludes the possibility of the fibres of the
material operated upon being carried down under the machine by the
points, as frequently happens in gill machines of the ordinary
construction; and this mode of mounting the heckles and traversing them
with the assistance of the guide bars _q_, _q_, and inclined planes _r_,
_r_, allows the heckle points to be brought much nearer to the drawing
rollers _o_, _p_, by means of the metal bars in which the heckle points
or needles are set, falling below the centre of the endless chain _e_,
_e_, as shown in _figs._ 443. and 444., and thereby affords the means of
preparing, drawing, and roving various qualities of flax, hemp, wool and
other fibrous materials, particularly such as have a much shorter staple
than any fibrous materials hitherto operated upon in gill machinery.
Another most ingenious and effective improvement made of late years in
the flax spinning machinery, is that patented by Messrs. Westley and
Lawson, in August 1833, and since then introduced into practice with
great advantage. It applies to the _gill_ or mechanism employed for
opening, straightening, and separating the fibres of flax, hemp, and
long wool in the operation of slivering. The peculiar feature here is a
method of driving the heckle bars through the gill machine by means of
perpetual screws or worm shafts, instead of by chains and spur wheels,
as in the former constructions.
The heckle bars which lie across the machine, are, by the present
patentees, supported at their ends by fixed horizontal guide rails, on
which they slide, while the extremities of the heckle bars are inserted
in the helical grooves of the worm shafts, which are placed in
horizontal positions at the sides of the machine; and hence the rotatory
motions given to these screw shafts, cause the heckle bars to be driven
along the guide rails with an uniform simultaneous movement.
The heckle bars having performed their usual office, that is, having
combed and separated the fibres of the material as they move onward, are
at the front part of the machine depressed and put out of operation by
means of rotatory cams; and by the assistance of guide levers, each
heckle bar, when it arrives at the end of the upper horizontal guide
rail, is conducted down to the lower horizontal guide rails, where the
extremities of the comb-bars falling into the helical grooves of a lower
pair of worm shafts, revolving in an opposite direction to the former,
thereby give the heckle bars a retrograde movement. When they arrive at
the back end of their horizontal guide rails, they are, by similar
rotatory cams, raised again to the upper horizontal guide rails, which
coming into geer with the upper worm shafts, are moved onwards as at
first.
By this means a succession of heckles is continually advancing upon the
upper guide rails, having their points in constant operation between the
fibres of the textile materials, while their vertical position is
secured during their whole course.
[Illustration: 454]
[Illustration: 455]
[Illustration: 456]
_Fig._ 454. is a horizontal representation of a gill machine, shewing
the present improvements; but some of the upper portions of the machine
are removed, to let the working parts be seen more clearly. _Fig._ 455.
is a side view of the gill; and _fig._ 456. a vertical section taken
longitudinally. The driving rigger or pulley _a_, is fixed upon the
front roller _b_, commonly called the drawing roller, because when
pressed upon by the upper wooden roller _c_, it draws out the fibres
between them. The rollers _d_, _e_, _f_, are the ordinary back or
holding rollers, for retaining the fibres, while they suffer powerful
traction by the rollers _b_, _c_, over the needles or points of the
heckle bars. The upper guide rail above mentioned, upon which the heckle
bars slide, is shown at _g_, in _fig._ 456., and the lower guide rail at
_h_; the series of heckle bars with their needles are represented at
_i_, _i_, _i_, _i_, _i_, _i_; the upper worm shafts _k_, _k_, are
mounted in brackets made fast to the sides of the frame; a similar pair
of worm shafts _l_, being mounted in like manner below. These worm
shafts _k_ and _l_, on each side are connected together by toothed
wheels _m_, and upon the axles of the lower worm shafts, bevelled
pinions _n_ are fixed, which take into corresponding bevel pinions on
the transverse shaft or axle _o_. This shaft _o_, being connected by a
train of toothed wheel work with the axle of the drawing roller _b_, as
shown in _figs._ 454. and 455., the rotation of the roller _b_, causes
the shaft _o_ to turn also, and the bevel geer _n_ and _o_, produce the
rotatory motion of the worm shafts _k_ and _l_, which turn in contrary
directions.
It will be seen, from _fig._ 454., that the ends of the heckle bars _i_,
have nibs or projections which fall into the grooves of the screw or
worm shaft, and that being supported below, upon their guide rails, as
the worm-shafts _k k_ revolve, the upper range of heckle bars will be
progressively advanced towards the front part of the machine. By
referring to _fig._ 456. it will be perceived, that as each heckle bar
arrives at the front end of the guide rail _g_, a finger _p_, called a
tappet or cam, on the shaft _k_, strikes it down to the lower guide
rails _h_; and, in order that its descent may be truly vertical,
weighted levers _q q_, in front, are made to press against the face of
the heckle bar as it descends. This bar having now arrived at the lower
guide rails _h_, lets fall its nibs into the grooves of the lower worm
shafts _l_, by whose rotation the heckle bar is made to retrograde, or
return towards the back of the machine. When the heckle bar has reached
the hinder end of the guide rail _h_, a finger or tappet, _r_, on the
lower worm shaft, comes under it and raises the heckle bar, guided by
the back-weighted levers _s_, as shown in _fig._ 456., till it is
elevated to the level of the upper guide rail _g_; when the threads of
the upper worm-shafts take hold of its nibs as before, and conduct it
forward upon the guide rail in the way already described. Thus the
continued rotation of the worm shafts _k k_, and _l l_, causes the whole
series of heckle bars to travel along the guide rails, and the tappets
_p_ and _r_, by alternately depressing and raising them at the ends of
the said rails, cause them to move in a regular circuit, yet so as to
preserve their verticality.
The claim made under this patent is, for every mode in which screw or
worm shafts may be adapted to conduct the bars carrying the needles or
heckle-teeth through a machine for preparing, drawing, or roving textile
fibres.
In December 1835, Messrs. Hope and Dewhurst obtained a patent for
improvements in the manufacture of flax, which deserve notice. These are
of both a chemical and mechanical nature. The first consists in steeping
the flax in dilute sulphuric acid, of a certain strength, and for a
certain time, proportioned to the quality of the fibres, the coarser
requiring the stronger application. By this means the gummy matter and
the outer shell will be loosened and easily detached. It is then to be
passed between squeezing rollers, afterwards well washed, boiled in a
solution of soap and water for a few hours, and finally passed again
through the rollers. These processes may be repeated till the flax
acquires the desired glossiness and separation of fibres. It is next to
be beaten, and passed once or twice over an ordinary heckle or stiff
brush.
[Illustration: 457 458 459 460 461]
The second part, or the mechanical, is represented by the figures 457.,
458., 459., 460., and 461. _Fig._ 457. is a sectional elevation in part
of the construction of the spindle, bobbin and flyer proposed for
spinning all kinds of flax or hemp. _Fig._ 458. answers for spinning
coarser yarns; _fig._ 459. shows how yarns are to be spun for weft, and
wound upon what is called a “pin cop bobbin.”
_a a a_ is the stationary or fixed spindle of the ordinary throstle
frame, which is surrounded by the tube _b b_, and connected to the
wharve or pulley _c_, by which the flyer _d_ is driven. The flyer is
furnished with guides or conductors _e e_, which lead the yarn
immediately to the bobbin; this flyer is also provided with a small
central shaft which supports it, and runs in the small cup or recess at
the top of the stationary spindle _a_, and is fixed with the flyer to
the tube _b b_, which is altogether carried round or driven by the
wharve _c_.
It will be seen by _fig._ 460., that the wharve _c_, and tube _b_, are
connected at bottom by a half-lap coupling joint or clutch; this is for
the purpose of allowing the tube _b_ to be slidden up the spindle, and
more readily removing the bobbin when it is full of yarn, without
stopping the frame, or removing the band from the wharve _c_, the tube
of which runs in the step or cup _h_, fixed upon the bolster rail near
the bottom of the throstle frame. The traversing of the bobbin or the
copping motion is effected exactly in the same manner as in ordinary
throstles, that is, by the lifting and lowering of the copping rail _i_,
which in this instance supports the bobbin. In _fig._ 458. the flyer is
constructed of twice the length of the bobbin, to allow this to rise and
fall freely within it, and is connected at top by a slight cross piece,
for the purpose of preventing the arms of the flyer from expanding by
the centrifugal force, when turning with great velocity. The flyer for
spinning coarse numbers requires to have an inner tube _k_, to support
the spindle. The bobbins are supported upon a washer _l_, _l_. The
spindle is allowed to revolve in a slight degree by the friction of the
drag-weight _m_, _m_. This weight has a hole formed in it with a flat
side, as shown in _fig._ 461.
Flax has been for a long period spun wet in the mills; a method no doubt
copied from the practice of housewives moistening their yarn with their
saliva at the domestic wheel. Within a few years the important
improvement has been introduced, of substituting hot for cold water, in
the troughs through which the fibres in the act of spinning pass. By
this means a much finer, smoother, and more uniform thread can be spun
than in the old way. The flax formerly spun to twelve pounds a bundle,
is, with hot water, spun to six. The inconvenience of the spray thrown
from the yarn on the flyers remains; aggravated by increased heat and
dampness of the room, where this hot process goes on. Being a new
expedient, it receives daily changes and ameliorations. When first
employed, the troughs of hot water were quite open; they are now
usually covered in, so as almost entirely to obviate the objections to
which they were previously liable. With the covers has been also
introduced a new method of piecening or joining on any end, which may
have been run down, namely, by splicing it to the adjoining roving,
whereby it is carried through the water without imposing a necessity on
the spinner to put her hand into the water at all. In some places she
uses a wire, for the purpose of drawing through the end of the roving to
mend a broken yarn.
This may be considered the inherent evil of flax-spinning,--the spray
thrown off by the wet yarn, as it whirls about with the flyer of the
spindles. A working dress, indeed, is generally worn by the spinners;
but, unless it be made of stuff impermeable to water, like Macintosh’s
cloth, it will soon become uncomfortable, and cause injury to health by
keeping the body continually in a hot bath. In some mills, water-proof
cloth and leather aprons have actually been introduced, which are the
only practicable remedy; for the free space which must be left round the
spindles for the spinner to see them play, is incompatible with any kind
of fixed guard or _parapluie_.
There was before the late Factory Bill passed, a class of very young
children employed in the flax mills, under the name of little doffers,
forming generally a troop of from four to ten in each spinning-room,
who, the moment they perceived the bobbins of any frame or side of a
frame exhausted of roving, ran together, and furnished it with full ones
as quickly as possible. They were not numerous in all, but they had an
occupation requiring a great activity and attention. It was practised
also in the fine spinning-rooms, which are perfectly free from dust;
and, as it involved a kneeling and stooping position, seemed peculiarly
appropriate to children, and is still done by them at a somewhat more
advanced age.
[Illustration: 462]
The adjoining _fig._ 462. will serve to explain the mechanism by which
the fine spinning of flax is performed. The front pair of drawing
rollers represented at F, was at one time moistened by letting water
trickle upon it, from a vessel B, furnished with a stopcock placed a
little above, or by immersing one half of the under-roller in the
water-trough as at A. The roller pair C, which receives the fine rovings
from bobbins placed on skewers or upright pins in the creel behind, is
so mounted as to be fixed at any desired distance from the front rollers
F. This distance should be always a little more than the average length
of the filaments of the line; for if it were equal to it, they would be
seized at both ends by the two pairs of rollers, which move with
different velocities, and would be torn asunder, instead of being drawn
out alongside of each other. The front rollers indeed move in many such
machines four times faster than the back pair. The rest of this
flax-spinning apparatus resembles in every respect the throstle frame of
the cotton-spinner. The thread, as it escapes from the front rollers,
gets twisted by the spindle and flyer, and wound up in constant
progression on the bobbin, the motion of the latter being retarded
either by a washer of leather beneath its lower end, or sometimes, as
shown in the figure, by a weighted lever H, suspended from a cord, which
embraces the pulley-groove turned on the lower end of the bobbin. This
friction of this cord on the pulley, which may be varied by changing the
length of leverage at which the weight acts, gives the bobbin the
requisite retardation for winding up the yarn.
The bobbin G, at the same time that it has this retarded movement of
revolution on its axis, has another motion up and down on the spindle I,
to present itself at different points to the thread, and to cause the
equal distribution of this over the surface of the bobbin-barrel. This
latter motion is given by a double eccentric L, which by turning slowly
on its axis, makes the balance-lever M oscillate, and thereby raises or
depresses the bobbin-rail with its row of spindles. N is a section of
the long tin drum, which extends the whole breadth of the frame, and
communicates its rotatory motion, derived from the steam-pulley, to the
spindles, by the intervention of the endless cotton cords O, as also to
the fluted rollers C, F, and to the axis of the heart-shaped or
eccentric wheel L, working in an endless screw.
The ratio of the velocity of the rollers of supply C, with the front or
delivering rollers F, and with the spindles, is proportional to the
fineness of the yarn. For low numbers, the draught is usually fourfold.
The speed of the spindles also varies with the quality of the yarn,
according as it is intended for warp or weft; the former requiring more
twist than the latter; but never so much as to cause it to snarl into a
knot, when left free to turn on itself.
One of the most important improvements hitherto made in the spinning of
flax is that for which James Kay, of Preston, obtained a patent in July,
1825. Its peculiar feature is the maceration in warm water of the
slivers or rovings, previously to spinning them, by conducting them into
tin cans, with open bottoms, fitted into circular boxes having holes
like a cullender, and immersed into a trough of warm water. The slivers
as they pass from the rollers are let fall through the cans into these
boxes, when they are to be repeatedly pressed and beaten down by a
plunger, or the action of rollers, as may be most convenient. The
material must be thoroughly freed from air, and macerated. After five or
six hours it is to be removed from the water, and placed in its
compressed state at the back part of a drawing and spinning machine. The
cake being now turned over, the end of the roving first deposited in the
can is drawn out with care, then raised up, and passed over a tension
roller to the drawing apparatus. The first pair of rollers for the
drawing process merely retains the filaments; while at a distance of two
inches and a half the drawing rollers are placed. Both are fluted for
the purpose of taking firm hold of the material; and the drawing pair is
made to move eight times quicker than the retaining. As the flax fibres
have in this state little or no elasticity, and as they adhere loosely
in their macerated condition, the drawing rollers must be placed thus
close to the retaining rollers, and being made to move at a proper
speed, produce an extremely attenuated thread.
The adjoining table represents, in three compartments, the most
important rooms in a flax-mill, viz.:--