Spindle (machine)

“ When the table feeds to the work the spindles may be held rigidly, because of their not requiring to pass so far out or down from the bearing supporting them; but when the spindle feeds, it must either pass through its bearings, or the bearing, or one of them, must either be capable of travel with the spindle or adjustable with relation to the machine framing. ”

“ The constants in a machine of this kind are therefore the rate of revolution of the spindles and front rollers; and, generally speaking, the amount of twist increases as the roving becomes finer. This can be attained by an increase of spindle speed or a decrease of that of the rollers, as will be readily understood, but considerations of a mechanical nature generally lead to the latter course being pursued. The spindle speeds in a slubbing intermediate, and roving frame, dealing with the same class of roving, would be approximately 700, 800, and 1,100 revolutions per minute. ”

“ The general description and history of the machine just given will convey a fairly accurate idea of its development, and the details of the machine can now be dealt with. The drawing rollers being common to all spinning machines no further description than that given need be furnished; but a reference to Fig. 188 will show that the roller stands, the thread board mechanism, and the relation of the spindle and ring are the chief points requiring explanation. ”

“ This machine is driven by a belt connecting pulley G with an overhead shaft. When the machine is in operation, this pulley is engaged with the main driving shaft by a friction clutch F controlled by lever L. This main shaft drives through gearing a vertical shaft I, which by means of other gears in the spindle-head imparts a rotary movement to the spindle. As a machine of this type is used for boring holes of various diameters and for a variety of other work, it is necessary to have a number of speed changes for the spindle. ”

“ In the ordinary mode of constructing such machines, the spindles are turned by cords or bands passing from a rotatory drum round their respective pulleys or whirls f, and the loose bobbins e, turn with them by the friction of their slight contact to the spindle, as before said; in the improved machine, however, the movements of the spindles and the bobbins are independent and distinct from each other, being actuated from different sources. ”

“ THE RING SPINNING MACHINE. (366) The term Ring Spinning is applied to that process by which yarn is spun by means of a machine in which a spindle, revolving in the centre of an annular ring, is used. The ring is formed with a flange or bead over which a C shaped clip or “traveller” is sprung, being drawn round the ring by the yarn during the revolution of the spindle. It is from the use of such a “ring” that the system has been named. The difference between mule and ring spinning is mainly that between continuous and intermittent work. ”

“ Note the rectangular projection to engage a mating socket in the spindle, to prevent spindle rotation. (Smithsonian photo 46525.)
Figure 6.—Work spindle and its nut removed from the machine to illustrate how easily another spindle and nut of different pitch could be substituted. (Smithsonian photo 46525C.)
That machines of this general type having the lead screw on the axis of the work were competitive with other methods and other types of machines over a long period of time may be seen from figures 9 and 10. ”

“ The work being driven from its centre enables it to rotate upon two dead centres, possessing the advantage that both being locked fast there is no liberty for the work to move, as is the case when an ordinary lathe having one live or running spindle is used, because in that case the live spindle must be held less firmly and rigidly than a dead centre, so as to avoid undue wear in the live spindle bearings ”

“ Another factor to consider when comparing these two machines is that one was used on metal, the other probably only on wood. Therefore, it is not surprising to find on the later machine an outboard or “tailstock” support for the work. The spindle of this support has to travel in unison with the work-driving spindle so that it is not an unexpected discovery to find that it is spring-loaded. Figure 5 shows how this spring may be adjusted to accommodate various lengths of work by moving the attachment screw to various holes in both the spring and in the frame. ”

“ The belt and main driving pulley run at a constant high velocity regardless of the spindle speed, which is entirely dependent upon the ratio of gearing that may be in mesh. The power at the spindle is therefore constant, regardless of its speed. The mechanism of constant speed drive vertical spindle machines is essentially like that outlined above, except that a pair of bevel gears and vertical shaft are introduced to transmit power to the spindle head, from whence it is communicated to the spindle itself by spur gearing. ”

“ The head of the lathe is provided with a hollow spindle so that the work is automatically fed to the tools through this spindle, and as soon as one piece is finished, it is automatically cut off and the jaws of the clutch which holds the work, or stock as it is called, open automatically so that a new length may slide forward and be operated upon by the tools. The machine requires no attention once the tools have been set up to the proper angle, except that it must be kept supplied with bars of stock as they are consumed, and with a copious flow of lubricant on the tools. ”

“ Samuel Brooks. Fig. 185 is a front, Fig. 186 an end view, and Fig. 187 a transverse section of the machine. A detached and enlarged view of one spindle and its necessary roller stand and lifting mechanism is given in Fig. 188. The roving bobbins B are placed in a two-height creel, and are conducted to the three lines of rollers carried by the stand A. From the front roller the roving passes through the wire eye E, fixed in a wooden board known as the “thread board,” to the ring F, which is held by a suitable clip on a rail extending the length of the frame, and known as the “ring rail.” ”

“ The thread boards are hinged, and can be simultaneously thrown up by the levers I and their connecting rods, which are worked from the end of the frame. The spindle C is, as shown, self-contained, and is fastened into the “spindle rail” G by a nut. The top rollers are weighted by a stirrup, lever H, and weight M, ordinarily but not invariably. The spindles are driven by bands from the tin rollers in the centre of the machine, and the cop or spool is built by the reciprocal traverse vertically of the ring rail. The ring is approximately of the section shown in Fig. ”

“ To insure that the die shall stand axially true with the revolving spindle, bolt holes are drilled in the lower part of the cylinder, and a pin passes through the carriage carrying the head, and projects into these holes, which are so situated that when the pin end projects into a hole and locks the head a collet is in line with the spindle. ”

“ The flyer which is to be seen on the old Saxony wheel, and which was perpetuated in the celebrated machine of Arkwright, is entirely dispensed with, and all its functions efficiently performed by apparatus, simple in itself; it is yet capable of high speed and heavy production.
First of all, there is a vastly improved and cleverly constructed form of spindle, by which, in the latest and best makes, any speed can be attained which is likely to be required for spinning purposes. ”

“ It is obvious that the bearings should form a guide, compelling the live spindle to revolve in a true circle and in a fixed plane, the axis of revolution being in line with the centre line of the tail spindle and that means should be provided to maintain this alignment while preserving the fit, or in other words taking up the wear. ”

“ It is bolted to a large flange in one piece with the spindle, and fitted with four steel expanding gripping jaws worked with screws and toothed blocks. These are for doing chuck work, or for gripping work to be driven, as the collars of propeller or crank shafts, or work of a similar character. By the system of gearing adopted, when desired, the face plate can be revolved almost free, which facilitates balancing for turning crank shafts, as well as other operations. The thrust against the live spindle is taken by an adjustable steel tail piece. ”

“ SHEARING MACHINE. This is a machine for cutting off the nap that is too long, making it smooth and even. ⁠ Courtesy of National Museum Courtesy of National Museum SPINNING WHEEL. This is the old spinning wheel, once in use in nearly every farmhouse, where they raised their own wool, spun their own yarn and made their own cloth with a hand loom. With the pin shown lying on the frame, the spinner whirls the wheel with her right hand and with her left feeds onto the spindle the loose rolls of wool, as they come from the cards. ”

“ The patented device embraces a rotatable spindle having threads cut upon it, in reverse, on opposite sides of its central portion, with a nut mounted upon each of its two threaded parts and moved by its revolutions so that when the spindle is turned in the one direction or the other the nuts are moved by the reversely threaded screws toward or away from each other. Carried on the nuts so as to move with them are yarn carrier stops which are so adapted and located as to serve as controls to limit the travel of carrier rods which have mounted on them the yarn guides. ”

“ At b is a gland or stuffing box to keep the spindle or rod steam-tight. At a is the slot for receiving the arm from the speeder and from the stop motion.
p is obviously the driving pulley, imparting motion to the bevel wheels g, which drive the outer spindle s, the inner spindle s′ being connected to a. The balls are upon ribbon springs d, which are secured at their lower ends to a link fast to the spindle s. ”

“ The steel spindles are balanced, and have a special self-acting, variable, rack-feed motion, as well as a quick vertical motion by hand for rapidly adjusting the drill through the jig. Each spindle can be operated independently. ”

“ So perfect is the construction of these spindles that they can be run without appreciable vibration at speeds far beyond the ability of operatives to attend them; although a speed of 11,000 revolutions per minute is a practicable one. After passing the drawing rollers (G) , the roving (H) is twisted, hooked into the traveller (B) , and made fast to a spool (I) placed upon the spindle. As spinning proceeds the traveller is pulled round the ring by the thread; it thus puts a drag upon, and holds the thread at the winding point. ”

“ The spindle was a stick ten or twelve inches long, having at the top a slit or catch in which to fix the thread, so that the weight of the spindle might continually carry down the thread as it was formed. Its lower extremity was inserted into a small wheel of wood, stone, or metal, the use of which was to keep the spindle more steady, and to promote its rotation: for the spinner, who was commonly a female, every now and then twirled round the spindle with her right hand, so as to twist the thread still more completely ”

“ The actual spinning process is merely a twisting together of the fibres of any material by the rapid revolution of a flyer or spindle while the fibre is being delivered at a definite rate. In this case the twist is put in by the rotation of the traveller, which, as shown, is actuated from the spindle. As it has never yet been accomplished to take off the yarn from the spindle at the same rate as it is being wound on, it is necessary that the twisted fibre should be collected on the spindle or on a bobbin super-imposed on it. ”