Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/527

C T T IS" 495 the last hsad of the drawing frame is drawn out by means Of threa pairs of rollers, and this is twisted as it emerges from the front line of rollers by the action of vertical spindles and flyers, which at the same time wind the ends upon bob- b as in successive layers. As the bobbins fill and increase in diameter their rate is gradually made slower at each layer by a very ingenious piece of mechanism known as " the sun and planet motion," consisting of a large wheel within which two other wheels are made to work, the interior one having a regular motion, and the sun wheel being driven from a pair of cone drums with a rate of speed constantly decreas ing. Thus the slubbing frame answers three purposes, it draws out the cotton, twists it, and winds it upon a bobbin ; the first is done by the rollers, the second by the spindles, and the third by the flyers and pressers. Following this is The INTERMEDIATE FRAME, of similar construction, but having a larger number of spindles and sometimes smaller- sized bobbins. Instead of having cans put at the back it has what are termed creels, in which the slubbing bobbins are put so as to be drawn off through the rollers of the frame and doubled two into one. It is called intermediate because it comes between the slubbing and roving frames. Spinners of low numbers or counts sometimes omit this frame, and set the slubbing frame bobbins into the " creels " of the roving frame. The ROVING FRAME (fig. 10). This, which is the last required before the operations of spinning, strictly so called, commence, resembles in principle the slubbing and inter mediate frames. It has a greater number of spindles than either, seldom less than 100, and often 164; and these spindles are set closer together, and the bobbins are shorter and smaller than in the intermediate frame. For medium counts, from GO s to 100 s, the cans are taken to a lap machine or doubler, where from 80 to 1 20 ends or slivers are formed into a lap, which is placed at the back of the finisher card : this machine has the main FIG. 11. Throstle with Spindles and Flyers. cylinder surmounted with flats (see fig. 5) instead of rollers and clearers. From this finisher card the cans are taken to the drawing frame in the way already described. For the higher numbers this card, the finisher card, is used as a breaker or first card ; and from it the cans are taken to the lap machine, where from 15 to 30 ends are formed into a small lap for the combing machine (fig. 7), and the cans from the comber are taken to the drawing frame. The degree of elongation completed by the roving frame is technically described by the number of hanks roving per pound, each hank consisting of 840 yards ; for instance, the hank roving usual for the lower counts up to 30 s would be 2| to 4 hanks in the pound. For the medium counts four framea aro generally used to reduce the roving to the necessary degree of fineness, say 12 to 14 hanks roving, for the mule, viz., slubbing, intermediate, roving, and fine jack frames. For the higher counts sometimes a fifth frame is used, called a second roving frame, reducing the finished roving to from 30 to 35 hanks. The first preparation goes to the throstle or to the self-acting mule, the second to the self-acting mule chiefly, and the third or higher numbers to the hand mule. The THROSTLE. The spinning frame, or throstle (see figs. 11 and 12), is made with two sets of drawing rollers, one on each side. Between these the roving bobbins are placed, and the rove is drawn through them to the requisite fineness, and formed into thread by the action of the spindles and flyers, which are placed in front of each set of rollers, at such distances apart from one another as may be required for the different -sized bobbins and counts of yarn to be spun ; the latter vary from 6 s up to GO s. The number of spindles commonly put into the throstle is from 100 to 150 on each side, being a total of between 200 and 300 in a frame. The twist is put into the yarn by the revolutions of the spindles and flyer, and the yarn is wound on to the bobbin by the friction of apiece of woollen cloth extending along the rail upon which the bobbins rest ; the amount of friction required for the varying counts of yarn is regulated by the differing weights and the shape of the bottom of the bobbins, and also by the fineness or coarseness of the cloth placed underneath. An improvement on the throstle, which was thought to be very promising, was made by Mr Danforth, an American

spinner of Scotch birth. His object was to obviate