Scientific American Supplement, No. 362, December 9, 1882

V >> Various >> Scientific American Supplement, No. 362, December 9, 1882

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The model frame shown at the fair did its work admirably well, spinning
yarns as high as No. 400, a fineness hitherto unattainable on ring
frames. It is claimed that this invention can do whatever can be done
with the mule, and without the skilled labor which mule spinning
demands.

This invention is exhibited by E. & A. W. Harris, Providence, R.I.

NEW ELECTRIC STOP MOTION.

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 illustrate some of the applications of the electric
stop motion in connection with cotton machinery. The merit of this
invention lies in simplifying the means by which machinery may be
stopped automatically the instant, its work, from accident or otherwise,
begins to be improperly done. The use of electricity for this purpose
is made possible by the fact that comparatively dry cotton is a
nonconductor of electricity. In the process of carding, drawing or
spinning, the cotton is made to pass between rollers or other pieces
forming parts of an electric circuit. So long as the machine is properly
fed and in proper working condition, the stopping apparatus rests;
the moment the continuity of the cotton is broken or any irregularity
occurs, electric contact results, completing the circuit and causing an
electro magnet to act upon a lever or other device, and the machine is
stopped. The current is supplied by a small magneto-electric machine
driven by a band from the main driving shaft, and is always available
while the engine is running.

Fig. 3 shows the general arrangement of the apparatus as applied to a
drawing frame. In the process of drawing down the roll of cotton--the
sliver--four things may happen making it necessary to stop the machine.
A sliver may break on the way from the can to the drawing rollers,
or the supply of cotton may become exhausted; the cotton may lap or
accumulate on the drawing rollers; the sliver may break between the
drawing rollers and the calender rollers; or the front can may overflow.
In each and all of these cases the electric circuit is instantly
completed; the parts between which the cotton flows either come
together, as when breakage occurs, or, if there is lapping, they are
separated so as to make contact above. In any case, the current causes
the electro-magnet, S, against the side of the machine to move its
armature and set the stop motion in play.

Figs. 4 and 5 represent in detail the manner in which electric
connection is made in two cases requiring the intervention of the stop
motion. In Fig. 4 the upper part of a receiving can is shown. When
the can is full the cotton lifts the tube wheel, J, until it makes an
electrical connection, and the stop motion is brought into instant
action. In Fig. 5, the traction upon the yarn holds the hook borne by
the spring, F, away from G, and the electric circuit is interrupted. A
breakage of the yarn allows this spring to act; contact is made, and the
stop motion operates as before.

This simple and efficient device is exhibited by Howard & Bullough &
Riley, of Boston.

NEW POSITIVE MOTION LOOM.

Fig. 6 shows the essential features of a positive motion loom, intended
for weaving narrow fabrics, exhibited by Knowles, of Worcester, Mass.
The engraving shows so clearly how, by a right and left movement of the
rack, the shuttle is thrown by the action of the intermediate cogwheels,
that further description is unnecessary.

* * * * *

SPINNING WITHOUT A MULE.

At the recent semi-annual meeting of the New England Cotton
Manufacturers' Association, held at the Institute of Technology, Boston,
the following paper on the Harris system of revolving ring spinning was
read by Col. Webber for the author:

It is well known that one of the most serious difficulties in ring
spinning is the variable pull upon the traveler, caused by the
difference in diameter of the full and empty bobbins, and this is
especially noticeable in spinning weft, or filling, when the diameter of
the quill at the tip is not over 3-16 of an inch, while that of the base
of the cone, or full bobbin, is from an inch to an inch and one-eighth.
This variation in diameter causes the line of draught upon the traveler,
which, with the full bobbin, forms nearly a tangent to the interior
circle of the ring, to be nearly radial to it with an empty one, and
this increased drag upon the traveler not only causes frequent breakage
in spinning, but also stretches the yarn, so that it is perceptibly
finer when it is spun on the nose of the bobbin than when it is spun on
the bottom of the cone.

Endeavors have been made to compensate for this difficulty by making
a less draught at that period of the operation; but we believe the
principle of curing one error by adding another to be wrong, and aim by
our improvement to avoid the cause of the trouble, which we do by giving
a revolving motion to the ring itself in the same direction as that of
the traveler, at a variable speed, so as to aid its slip, and reduce its
friction on the ring. This we accomplish by means of a shaft with whorls
on it, located directly over the drum for driving the spindle, from
which bands drive each ring separately; and attached by cross-girts to
the ring-rail, and moving up and down with it.

This shaft is driven by a pair of conical drums from the main cylinder
shaft, and is so arranged with a loose pulley on the large end of the
receiving cone as to remain stationary while the wind is on or near the
base of the bobbin, or nearly parallel to the path of the traveler.

When the cone of the bobbin begins to diminish to such a point as to
materially increase the radial pull on the traveler, these conical drums
are put in operation by a belt shipper attached to the lift motion,
which moves the belt on to the cones, and gives a continually
accelerated motion to the rings, so that when the wind reaches the top
of the bobbin the rings will have their maximum speed of about 300
revolutions per minute, or about one-twentieth the number of revolutions
of the spindle at this point, if the latter make 6000 revolutions per
minute, and this we find in actual practice to produce results which are
highly satisfactory.

As the lift falls again, the belt is moved back on the cones, giving a
retarding motion to the rings, until it reaches the point at which it
began to operate, and is then either moved on to the loose pulley, and
the rings remain stationary, or for very fine yarn are kept in motion at
a slow speed. We are often asked if this does not affect the twist, but
answer that it does not in the least, as the relative speeds of the
rolls and spindles remain the same, and the only thing that can be
affected is the hardness of the wind upon the bobbin, and this is
adjustable by the use of a heavier or lighter traveler, according to the
compactness of cop required.

We claim by means of this improvement the ability to use a much smaller
quill or bobbin, and consequently holding as much yarn in a less outside
diameter, enabling us to use a smaller ring, thus saving power both in
the weight of bobbin to be carried and in the distance to be moved by
the traveler; and we believe the power to be saved in this manner and by
the diminution of the dead pull on the traveler, when the wind is at
the tip of the bobbin, to be more than sufficient to give the necessary
motion to the revolving rings. We are as yet unable to answer this
question of power fully, as we have not yet tested a full size frame,
but we propose to do this in season to answer all questions at the next
meeting of your association.

The same invention is also applicable to warp spinning, by giving the
ring a continuous accelerating and retarding motion, in which the
maximum speed is given to the ring at the first start of the frame when
the bobbin is empty, sufficient to diminish the strain on the yarn,
and gradually reducing the motion at each traverse of the rail, as the
bobbin is filled; but we claim the great advantage of our invention to
be the capability of spinning any grade of yarn on the ring frame that
can be spun on the hand or self-operating mule, and in proof of this we
call your attention to the model frame now in operation at the fair of
the New England Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Institute, where we are
spinning on a quill only 5-32 inches diameter at top, and where we can
show you samples of yarn from No. 80 to No. 400 spun on this frame from
combed roving from the Conant Thread Company and Willimantic Linen
Company, which we believe has never before been accomplished on any ring
frame.

We invite you to examine this invention at the fair, and also call your
attention to the adjustable roller beam, by means of which the rolls can
be adjusted at any desirable angle or pitch, so as to throw the twist
more or less directly spinning, and an improvement in the quality of the
yarn from the same cause, which will increase the production from the
loom, and finally eradicate other objectionable features of the labor
question, which so often disturb the peaceful harmony between labor and
capital.

Mr, Goulding asked if it had been demonstrated whether more or less
power was required for the same numbers than effect of running the
machine a little out of true, and the reply was that the advantage of
the new method over the old would be more apparent in such a case than
with a perfect frame. In regard to speed, the inventor proposed as
a maximum rate, when the wind was at the tip of the bobbin, 300
revolutions per minute, but from this point the speed would diminish.

Conant Thread Company and Willimantic Linen Company, which we believe
has never before been accomplished on any ring frame.

We invite you to examine this invention at the fair, and also call your
attention to the adjustable roller beam, by means of which the rolls can
be adjusted at any desirable angle or pitch, so as to throw the twist
more or less directly into the bite of the rolls, according to the
character of the yarn desired, or the quality of the stock used.

Finally, we claim, by the use of this invention, to be able to spin any
fibrous material which can be drawn by draught-rolls, of any required
degree of softness of twist, such as can be spun by any mule whatever,
and to do this with the attention only of children of from twelve to
fourteen years of age.

We also claim an increased production, owing to less breakage of ends,
from the yarn not being overstrained in spinning, and an improvement in
the quality of the yarn from the same cause, which will increase the
production from the loom, and finally eradicate other objectionable
features of the labor question, which so often disturb the peaceful
harmony between labor and capital.

Mr. Goulding asked if it had been demonstrated whether more or less
power was required for the same numbers than by other methods, and Col.
Webber replied that no more power was required to move the rings than
was saved by friction on the ring and the saving of weight of the
bobbins. He thought it required no more power than the old way.

_The method of lubricating the ring_.--The inventor, who was present,
stated, in response to a query, that he claimed an advantage for his
ring in spinning all numbers from the very coarsest up, both in quality
and quantity, and especially the former.

Mr. Garsed inquired of Col Webber what would be the effect of running
the machine a little out of true, and the reply was that the advantage
of the new method over the old would be more apparent in such a case
than with a perfect frame. In regard to speed, the inventor proposed
as a maximum rate, when the wind was at the tip of the bobbin, 300
revolutions per minute, but from this point the speed would diminish.

It was suggested by a member that the only advantage of a revolving ring
was to relieve the strain on the traveler just to the extent of the
ring's revolutions. If the ring were making 300 revolutions per minute,
and the traveler 6,000, the strain on the latter would be equal to 5,700
revolutions on a stationary ring. Col. Webber, however, thought that the
motion of the ring gave the traveler a lift that prevented its stopping
at any particular point, and cited the fact that all numbers up to 400
could be spun with this ring as proof of its superiority over the old
method.

* * * * *

NEW GAS BURNER.

Speaking at the last meeting of the Gaslight and Coke Company, Mr.
George Livesey said many things with a view to inspire confidence of the
future in the minds of timid gas proprietors. Among others he mentioned
the advances now being made by invention in regard to improved
appliances for developing the illuminating power of coal gas, with
especial reference to a new burner just patented by Mr. Grimston. Mr.
Livesey passed a very high encomium upon the burner, and this expression
of opinion by such an authority is sufficient to arouse deep interest in
the apparatus in question. It is therefore with much pleasure that we
present our readers with the following early account of Mr. Grimston's
burner, for which we are indebted to the inventor and Mr. George Bower,
of St. Neots, in whose manufactory the burners are now being made in all
sizes. It should be premised, to save disappointment, that the invention
is yet so fresh that its ultimate capabilities are unknown. The
accompanying illustration, therefore, represents the bare skeleton of
one of the first models; and the actual performance of only the very
earliest burner, made in great part by Mr. Grimston himself, has been
fully tested. Before proceeding to describe the invention, a brief
history may be interesting of how it happened that Mr. Grimston, an
electric lighting engineer, became a gas burner maker. The story will
undoubtedly help to explain the reasons for many of the characteristics
of the new burner.

[Illustration: IMPROVED GAS BURNER. FIG. 1.--Sectional Elevation.]

It appears, then, that Mr. Grimston, who was connected with the
electrical engineering establishment of Siemens Bros. & Co., Limited,
was some months ago shown the construction and working of the Siemens
regenerative gas burner, which is now sufficiently well known to render
a description unnecessary here. In common with most spectators of this
very ingeniously and philosophically designed appliance, Mr. Grimston
was struck with its bulk and the superficial clumsiness of the
arrangement whereby the air and gas supply are heated in it by the
products of combustion. These lamps have, of course, materially improved
of late; but when Mr. Grimston first saw them, perhaps 18 months ago,
they certainly could not be called neat and compact in design. He
at once grasped the idea embodied in these lamps, and set about
constructing an arrangement which should be based on a similar
principle, but at the same time avoid the inconveniences complained of.
It is not too much to say that he has succeeded in both these aims, and
the burner which now bears his name strikes the observer at once by
the brilliant light which it produces by the simplest and most
obvious means. We may now describe, by reference to the accompanying
illustrations, how Mr. Grimston produces the regenerative effect which
is likewise the central idea of the Siemens burner.

[Illustration: IMPROVED GAS BURNER. FIG. 2.--Section through A B.]

The light is simply that produced by an arrangement of a kind of Argand
burner turned upside down. The central gas-pipe, _a_ (Figs. 1 and 3), is
connected to a distributing chamber, whence the annular cluster of brass
tubes, _a', a_, (Figs. 1 and 2), are prolonged downward, forming the
burner. The burner is inclosed in an iron or brass annular casing, b, b,
which forms the main framework of the apparatus. The annular space which
it affords is the outlet chimney or flue for the products of combustion
of the burner beneath, and is crossed by a number of thin brass tubes,
c, c, which lead from the outer air into the inner space containing
the burner tubes, a', a', already described. The upper openings of the
annular body, b, are shown at e, e (Fig. 3), which communicate direct
with the chimney proper, e', e'. The burner is lighted by opening the
hinged glass cover, d, which fits practically air-tight on the bottom
of the body, so that the air needed to support combustion must all pass
through the tubes, c, c, the outer ends of which are protected by the
casing, k, k.

[Illustration: IMPROVED GAS BURNER. FIG. 3.--Section through C D.]

When the gas is lighted at the burner, and the glass closed, the burner
begins to act at once, although some minutes are necessarily required
to elapse before its full brilliancy is gained. The cold air passes in
through the tubes provided for it, and when these are heated to the
fullest extent on their outside, by the hot fumes from the burner, they
so readily part with their heat to the air that a temperature of 1,000 deg.
to 1,200 deg. Fahr. is easily obtained in the air when it arrives inside,
and commences in turn to heat the burner-tubes. The air-tubes are placed
so as to intercept the hot gases as completely as possible; and also, of
course, obtain heat by conduction from the sides of the annular body.
It is evident that the number and dimensions of these tubes might be
increased so as to abstract almost all the heat from the escaping fumes,
but for the limitations imposed, first, by a consideration of the actual
quantity of air required to support combustion, and, secondly, by the
obligation to let sufficient ascensional power remain in the gases which
are left to pass out through the upper chimney. If the gases are cooled
too much, they will either fall back into the lamp and extinguish the
flame, or will be removable only by the draught of a long chimney. It
will probably be the aim of the inventor to balance these requirements,
and so to produce burners with very short or longer chimneys, according
as appearance is to be consulted or the highest possible effect
produced. The burner is a ring of brass tubes of considerable diameter,
in proportion to the quantity of gas consumed, and thus provides for
the delivery of gas expanded by heat. In connection with this device
an explanation may be found of the failure of the British Association
Committee on Gas Burners to find any advantage from previously heating
the air and gas consumed. The Committee did not make the necessary
provision for the increased bulk of the combustible and its air supply,
caused by their heightened temperature; and the same quantity of gas
measured cold (at the meter) could only be driven through the ordinary
small burner holes at a velocity destructive of good results. Herr
Frederick Siemens perceived this in his early experiments, and not only
increased the orifices of his burners, but provided for the closer
contact of the more rarefied gas and air by the use of notched
deflectors, which are now an essential part of his apparatus. Mr.
Grimston also uses separate tubes of large area for his hot gas, but
dispenses with deflectors, save in so far as the same duty may be
performed by the plain lower edge of the inner cylinder of the lamp
body, and the indentation of the glass beneath, which, as will be
noticed, is made to follow the shape of the flame. It only remains now
to speak of the flame and its qualities. It is, in the first place, a
flame of hot gas, burning at an extremly small velocity of flow, and
wholly exposed to view from the exact point which it is required to
light. In this latter respect it differs materially, and with advantage,
from the Siemens burner, which, while presenting an extremely brilliant
and beautiful ball of flame outside its central tube of porcelain, may
yet be tailing smokily downward inside this opaque screen, and thereby
causing unperceived waste. The flame of the Grimston burner, on the
other hand, is quite exposed, and all its light, from the ends of the
burner-tubes to the point where visible combustion ceases, is made
available for use. As a perfect Argand flame in the usual position has
been likened in form to a tulip flower, so the flame of this burner
presents the appearance of an inverted convolvulus. So far as he has
already gone, Mr. Grimston prefers to keep the tubes of the burner at
such a distance from each other that the several jets part at the point
where they turn upward, so that the convolvulus figure is not maintained
to the edge of the flame. From its peculiar position the light is, of
course, completely shadowless as regards the lamp which affords it; and
this, of itself, is no small recommendation for a pendant. It shows well
for the simplicity and effectiveness of the perfected burners that Mr.
Grimston's experimental example, although necessarily imperfect In many
ways, burns with a remarkably steady light, of great brilliancy, which
is assured by the fact that the products of combustion are robbed of all
their heat to magnify the useful effect, so that the hand may be borne
with ease over the outlet of the chimney. With respect to the endurance
of the apparatus, it will be sufficient to remark that there is nothing
in the gas or air heating arrangements to get out of order, and they are
all easily accessible while the burner is in action. The glass is not
liable to breakage, although it is in close proximity to the flame, as
may be gathered from the testimony of the inventor, who has never broken
one, notwithstanding the severity of some of his experimental studies
upon his first lamp. The consumption of gas in the first working-model
burner made by Mr. Grimston was 10 cubic feet per hour, and its
illuminating power averaged 60 candles. The diameter of this burner was
11/4 inches across the tubes. It is scarcely necessary to state that if
this high duty, which was obtained with the ordinary 16-candle gas of
the Gaslight and Coke Company, can be maintained, to say nothing of
being exceeded, in the commercial article, the Grimston burner, with its
other advantages over all existing methods of obtaining equal results,
has a great future before it. For example, it does not require a
separate air supply under high pressure, or any extra material to render
incandescent, and it may be turned on full immediately upon lighting. It
throws a shadowless light, and lends itself to ventilating arrangements;
and it is not by any means cumbersome, delicate in construction, or
costly in manufacture. One of the greatest advantages to which it lays
claim is, however, the power of yielding almost as good results in a
small burner as in a large one. This is a consideration of great moment,
when it is remembered that the tendency of most of the high power
burners hitherto introduced is to benefit the lighting of streets,
large interiors, and, generally speaking, points of great consumption.
Meanwhile, the private user of burners, consuming from 3 to 5 cubic feet
of gas per hour, has been left to attain as best he might, by the use of
burners excellent of their kind, to the maximum effect of the standard
Argand. Now, however, Mr. Grimston seeks to make the small consumer
partake of the advantages erstwhile reserved for the wholesale user of
large and costly Siemens and other lamps, and he even looks to this
class of patrons with particular care. The example which we now
illustrate, in Fig. 1, is a sectional presentment precisely half the
actual size of a 5-foot burner, which it is intended to prepare for
the market before all others. Another simple form of the burner, with
vertical tubes, will, we understand, be introduced as soon as possible.
It will be readily understood that the principle is capable of being
embodied in many shapes; and it is satisfactory to learn that the
inventor is quite alive to the necessity of producing a cheap as well as
a good burner.

Gas companies, as Mr. Livesey has expressed it, will be well content
with a slower relative growth of consumption, if their consumers are at
the same time making their gas go as far again as formerly, by the use
of burners which turn nominal 16-candle gas into gas of 30-candle actual
illuminating power. How far Mr. Grimston's invention may succeed in this
work it is not for us to say. It is sufficient for the present that
he has done excellently well in showing how Herr Frederick Siemens'
scientific principles of regenerative gas burner construction may
be carried out yet in another way. There is nothing more common in
industrial annals than for one man to begin a work which another is
destined to bring to greater perfection. Whether this natural process is
to be repeated in the present instance must be left for the future to
decide. In any case, Mr. Grimston's success, if success is to be his
reward, though it will be well merited by his ingenuity and perseverance
in solving a difficult problem, will never cause us to forget the
prior claims of Herr Frederick Siemens, of Dresden, to the palm of the
discoverer. Mr. Grimston may or may not be the happy inventor of the
best gas-burner of the day; but there is the consolation of knowing that
in the same field in which he will find his recompense there is room for
any number and variety of useful improvements of a like character and
object.--_Journal of Gas Lighting_.

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