548,732. Thread-spooling machines. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO., Ltd. (United Shoe Machinery Corporation). March 15, 1941, No. 3573. [Class 120 (ii)] A machine for winding thread upon a number of bobbins or spools in succession comprises rotatable means for supporting simultaneously the bobbins to be wound, a device for controlling the amount of thread wound upon a bobbin, means for automatically transferring the winding operation in succession from one bobbin to another and means for imparting to the controlling device, after a bobbin has been wound, a movement outwardly and radially of the bobbin so that it may cause termination of the winding of a flanged bobbin before the latter is completely filled with thread and so that, thereafter, relative movement may take place between the wound bobbin and the device in a direction axially of the bobbin without the device fouling a flange of the bobbin ; the thread between two successively wound bobbins may be cut after the winding of the second bobbin has begun but before it has been completed or the thread of a bobbin may be cut should excessive tension arise during the winding thereof. As shown the flanged bobbins 4 are held on a winding spindle 2 by a mandrel 28 passing through the bobbins and into a bore 30 in the spindle where it is secured by a diagonally arranged cross pin 32 in the bore engaging one of a number of screw-thread grooves in the mandrel ; the grooves are cut so that one or a number of bobbins, depending on the size, may be applied to the mandrel and screwed thereon by a partial rotation of the mandrel which is flatted at one side to clear the pin 32 when inserting the mandrel in the bore 30 and the other headed end of the mandrel carries a spiral spring 36 which serves as a handle and to clamp the end of the thread prior to a winding operation. The spindle 2 has one end guided for longitudinal movement in a driving shaft 10 by which it is rotated and carries a collar 64 pivotally connected to a link 68 pivoted to a hollow bar 52 carrying a ratchet bar 60 which controls the step by step movement of the spindle 2 as a bobbin is wound and of a thread-control lever 38 freely mounted on a shaft 40 and carrying an adjustably-fixed lever 42 having a thread contacting member 50 which enters between the flanges of a bobbin in the winding position and controls the amount of the thread wound thereon ; the link 68 is connected to a weighted chain 74 and when the control member 50 is moved clear of the bobbin flanges and the ratchet bar is free, the weight and chain move the bobbins and spindle a step equal to the width of a bobbin preparatory to winding the next bobbin.The movement of the ratchet bar 60 is controlled by notches therein and, as shown, has two pairs of rows of notches so that bobbins of two different widths may be wound, the rows of each pair being cut into opposite sides of the bar and only one pair being in operative position at a time, a spring-controlled joint between the bar 60 and bar 52 allowing adjustment for this ; each pair consists of a row of holding notches 80 co-operating with a pawl 84 and a row of stop notches 82 co-operating with a detent 86, the pawl being rigidly secured to, and the detent being pivoted to, an arm 85 of the lever 38 and a spring holding the detent against the ratchet bar while a pin and slot arrangement limits its movement. The thread being wound is led from its supply, through a slotted tube 172, over a tension pulley 156, through a second tube 173, and into a wax pot 154 from which it passes upwards to the first bobbin to be wound, this bobbin having been aligned by the machine operator with the thread control lever 38 which is yieldingly pressed against the thread. As the bobbin fills the lever 38 is moved gradually outwards until the desired depth of thread has been wound the pawl 84 then having been forced partly out of its holding notch 80 and reaching the edge of a cam surface 98 at the rear of the notch when the pull of the chain 74 on the rachet bar causes the pawl to be carried up over the cam surface and the control lever 38 and its thread-contacting member 50 to be suddenly moved from between the flanges of the bobbin. When the pawl leaves its notch, the chain 74 moves the ratchet bar and bobbin spindle a distance equal to that between successive bobbins, the detent 86 then engaging a stop notch and arresting the bar and the pawl being then in alignment with the next holding notch leaving the lever 38 free to swing with the arm 85 until the pawl enters the aligned notch and the detent becomes disengaged from the bar ; since the spindle 2 is continuously rotated several turns of thread are wound on the succeeding bobbih before the member 50 moves to engage the thread thereon and the movement of the arm 85 causes a knife 150, adjustably held therein, to move between the adjacent flange of the wound bobbin and the one being wound and sever the thread crossing the flanges. The operative sides of the holding and stop notches are not exactly in alignment so that the ratchet bar moves slightly after the detent is disengaged and before the bar is stopped by the pawl and causing the detent to engage the top of the tooth of a stop notch and preventing it from entering that same notch again when the pawl releases the bar after the next bobbin has been wound. When the winding of the last bobbin has been completed a cutter 104 on a lever 106 freely mounted on the shaft 40 and controlled by a coiled spring 112 is released and severs the thread against an anvil rod 126 projecting from the machine frame ; the cutter is held in its inoperative position during the time the bobbins are being wound by a latch pin 116 on a retaining lever 118 which is actuated to release the cutter 104 by a spring-pressed pin 129 on the end of the ratchet bar. The spindle 2 is stopped when all the bobbins have been wound by an arm 131 on the lever 106 pulling down a rod 132 carrying a bar 138 actuating the switch of the driving motor 139. The thread-contacting plate 50 yieldingly pressed against the thread during winding by the spring 112 acting against the latch pin 116 through the lever 118 on the lever 38 and urging the pawl 86 against the ratchet bar, when the cutter 104 is released to sever the thread, the spring 112 no longer presses the plate 50 towards the thread and a spring 143 raises a pin 144 engaging an arcuate surface 145 in the lever 38 and presses the latter forwardly until it is free of the flanges of the bobbins which may then be removed. The flanges of the bobbins are supported by a sleeve 153 during winding, a pair of sleeves corresponding to the two bobbin sizes that can be wound in the machine, being mounted in a plate 155 manually rotatable on a stud 157 and held in either of its two operative positions by a spring-pressed plunger 159 ; guide fingers 161 for the thread are mounted on the plate 155. The knife 150 is duplicated and both are adjustably held in a block 163 adjustable on the lever 42 to bring the knife, corresponding to the size of bobbin being wound, into operative position. The tension pulley 156 is freely mounted on a pin secured in the lever 118 and if the tension in the thread becomes excessive the lever is pulled down and the cutter 104 actuated to sever the thread ; by securing the end of the supply to its carrying tube, the thread will also be cut on the supply becoming exhausted.