US1592432A - Packaging yarn, thread, and the like - Google Patents

Description

July 3 1926.

J. L. BARRY PACKAGING YARN, THREAD, AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 1, 192.4

U .ml Q I v contains about eight or ten yards.

PATENT oFFics.

JOHN L. BARRY, O1" SCITUATE, MASSACHUSETTS.

PACKAGING- YARNZ, THREAD, AND THE LIKE.

I Applicattbn filed October 1, 1924. Serial No. 740,866.

My invention relates to the packaging of yarn. thread, and the like, which are commonly retailed in units of comparatively small quantity. The invention is particularly well suited to the packaging of embroidery yarns of silk, cotton or similar materials, and this application of the invention will be here taken for the purpose of illustration though it .will beunderstood that the precise embodiments here shown and described are to be regarded as but illustrative of my invention and not by way of limiting the scope thereof. I have used the word yarn in this specification to include thread and other like materials.

At the present time embroidery yarn is commonly put up in skeins or hanks having, in one piece, eight or ten turns or loops, in which each turn or loop of the yarn is ordinarily a yard long or thereabouts, the hank being folded or doubled and encircled around-its middle portion by a paper band so that the ordinary package for retail sales purposes is approximately six inches lon and a fraction of an inch in diameter an The preparation of such a package involves many hand operations, and though it answers fairly well the requirements of the retailer, it is to the consumer, extremely wasteful and troublesome to handle, use, and stow. To use the package it is first necessary to remove the paper band which holds the hank folded or doubled. Thus, at the outset fthe label with its identifying name, trade-marks. and symbols is separated from the package and perhaps lost or discarded, making it more difiicult for the consumer to buy or duplicate the precise brand, variety and shade wanted. If the consumer, in an effort to minimize snarling, cutsgthrough the hank and severs the loops of the hank so that they may be held end for end in'a bunch as long as the length of the loop, and threads a needle as is commonly done with one full length equal to one loop (about a yard),

any unused balance of the threading is 1nconvenient to save and hence frequently thrown away. Other methods have been devised for avoiding the whole or a part of the difiiculties above described, but they do not have the advantages of the 'invention' hereinafter described.

The objects of the resent invention are to rovide a package t at is both economical and convenient to make and use, and whichadvertising and identifying value 0 permits the withdrawal of any desired length of the yarn without materially affecti'ng the utility, shape or attractive appearance of the package until ractically all of the yarn has been with rawn. Thus wastage of yarn is eliminated, for only such yarn as is necessary need be severed from the package and the remainder is maintained in one unsnarled, wrapped package ready for immediate use. A further object of the invention is to provide a package which may be wrapped in a paper band or label and remain so wrapped while the package is being used, thus retainin tge t e wrapper or band. In some cases no band or wrapper isdesired, and it is one of the objects of 'this invention to provide such a package at no sacrifice of utility.

In the drawings illustrating the package and methods of making the same:

Fig. 1 isv an elevation illustrating the step of winding the yarn upon a suitable spindle;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the step of elongating the wound yarn in order to reduce the internal diameter of the coil:

Fig. 3 is an elevation illustrating a complete package made in accordance-with this invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged end elevation of the same; and Fig. 5 is an elevation of the ackage shown in Fig. 3 with the addition of a suitable encircling band.

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 shows the first step in making a packagei, and illustrates the yarn upon a spindle of a winding machine which has completed the windin This is done, preferably, by means of st winding the yarn or the like on a spindle by what is commonly konwn in the-trade asthe universal wind in which the yarn, thread, or cord'is, as well known in the art and described by the manufacturer of the machines, wound on a spindle in regular close helical coils which reverse with a sharp bend, each coil crossing over the next preceding coil, binding it in place at each crossing. Cops so wound are knownto manufacturers as close coils or close wound if each turn is in contact with the receding turn, or evenly spaced open win if the turns are somewhat separated. I prefer the close coils but the evenly spaced open wind may be used if desired though teeaess ordinarily less satisfactory. In this specification I have used the term close wound or close coils, and evenly spaced open wind to mean packages so wound respectively and I have used the term universal wind to include both types. 2 designates the spindle of the windin machine which is rotated as indicated by t e arrowat asuitable speed; 4 'the innerxor starting end of the yarn initially held fixed with reference to the spindle 2 by means of the spring clip 6 or other suitable means from which it can readily be released; 8 the coils of yarn upon the spindle; 10 the bends at the ends of the coils; and 12 the outer end of the yarn which has been regularly led back and forth (by means not shown) traversing a given length of the spindle during its rotation so as to produce a suitable wind, andpreferably carry out the method described in United States Patent, No. 480,158, of Simon W. Wardwell, granted August 2, 1892, though I do not confine myself to such wlnd. In the preferred wind here shown the thread guide in its first traverse from above the inner to the outer end of the spindle forms three complete turns of the threadaround the spindle and on the reverse traverse of the thread ide three more complete turns are ma e around the spindle, each crossing the thread laid at the outward traverse at almost a right angle and so on throughout the winding operation, each thread being ordinarily laid close to the thread laid by the first reciprocation by reason of the gainage given to the thread guide. .It will be observed that the effect of this is that when the cop is removed from the spindle the threads are in effect woven together and eachthread is held in place against collapse and tangling by a wall of interior thread with the exception of the few inches constituting the yarn wound at the first traverse of the thread guide to the end of the spindle and that length is held separate from the other threads by crossing them almost at right angles. The cop when withdrawn from the winding spindle is approximately a hollow cylinder. My next step is to remove pernlilanently this hollow portion by elongating t e cop.

Fig. 2 illustrates the step (here but par tially completed) of elongating after the winding has been performed, the coiled product of the winding machine being seized at its opposite ends and stretched longitudinally. This is here shown as being done by. hand after the removal of the coiled product from the spindle which may be" and preferably is slightly tapered to facilitate the removal, that is, the spindle may heof smaller It is then elongated or stretchedlongitudinally until a substantial amount, and preferably substantially all, of the space formerly occupied by the spindle is absorbed by the reduction of the internal diameter or central void, the external diameter being correspondingly reduced. I have discovered that this attenuation imparts a stability and compactness to the-package which enables it to withstand the subsequent withdrawal of the thread by its inner end 4 without adverse results The reduction of the internal central void results in an increase in length, as for example, if about nine yards of embroidery yarn is wound upon a at spindle so that there are three complete turns fect of this extension is to produce a package such as would be forme if it were pos- 'sible, which it is not, to wind the cop upon a spindle of infinitesimal diameter and yet obtaina cop having a length corresponding' to the traverse of the thread guide and otherwise regularly laid as designed. It is, of course, contemplated that this step may be performed by machine as well as by hand.

Figs. 3 and 5 represent illustrative embodiments of this invention. The packages here shown are ready for packing, ship ment or use, and either may be used by simply withdrawing any desired length of the yarn from the inner end of the pack age. Ordinarily an encircling paper band 14 hearing the name and trade-mark, together with identifying and descriptive matter, will be preferred by both dealer and user, but in case it is dispensed with, it is simply necessary to tuck the-outer or free end 12 of the yarn under one of the outer coils or turns (as indicated atflw in Fig. 3) so that the outer end of the yarn package does not unwind during handling. The outer end 12 should preferably be beneath the wrapper, if a wrapper is used (as in Fig. 5) in.order that it may hold the outer end of the yarn from unwinding. The inner end 4,the end from which the yarn is withdrawn, takes care of itself.

Fig. 4 is an end' view of the package shown in Fig; 3 and illustrating the end of the package from which the yarn is withdrawn by its inner end 4. The use of the foregolng method results in a. new and useful package.

wind means the yarn wound at each complete revolution of the and a package is spoken of, for'example, as 3 wind if the coils-making up the package are 3 wind coils, that is, if in winding it, the

- spindle has made approximately three rotations or complete turns or revolutions in winding a coil, that is, for each one way traverse of the guide which leads theyarn being wound back and forth from end to end of the package, or as 3% wind, it the spindle has made approximately 3 rotations per traverse of the. guide from one end of the package to the other.

Having described my invention, What I wish to claim and secure by Letters Patent intermediate the ends-of said body and binding said coil in place at each crossing, the

inner end-of the yarn strand being-available and withdrawable from said body, and means for confining the outer end of said yarn strand.

2. A yarn package adaptedfor domestic use comprising in combination, an elongated flexible approximately cylindrical body having no appreciable central void and not being materially extensible longitudinally, formed of yarn wound in helical coils which reverse with abru t bends at the-ends of said body, each coi having between one and six winds and crossing the nextreceding coil intermediate the ends of said ody and binding said coil in place at each crossing,

the inner end of the yarn strand being available and withdrawable from said body; and 'a suitable band-surrounding said body intermediate the ends thereof.

3. A yarn package adapted for domestic usecomprisingin combination,- aflexible approximately cylindrical body having a length of at least 4 times its diameter, with no appreciable central void and not being materially extensible'longitudinally, formed of yarn wound in'helical coils which reverse with abrupt bends at the ends of said body, each coil having approximately three winds and crossing the next preceding coil intermediate theends of said body approximately five times and binding said coil in place at each crossing, the inner end of the yarn strand being available and withdrawable' from said body; and a band of suitable material surrounding said body intermediate the ends thereof andconfining the outer end of the yarn strand.

4. The method of producing an elongated approximately cylindrical yarn package adapted for domestic use which consists in winding on a spindle a yarn body consisting of helical coils of more than one wind and which reverse with abrupt bends at the ends of said body, each coil crossing the next pgeceding coil intermediate the ends of said dy and binding said'coil in place at each crossing; then removing said body from the spindle; then stretching said body longitudinally to close the central void left by the withdrawal from said spindle; then confining the outer end of the yarn strand; and at some stage of the process rendering and thereafter maintaining the inner end of the yarn strand withdrawable from said body.

5. The method of producing an elongated approximately cylindrical yarn package adapted for domestic use which consists in winding on a spindle a yarn body consisting of helical coils of more than one wind and which reverse with abrupt bends at the ends preceding coil intermediate the ends of said body and binding said coil in place at each crossing; then removing said body from the spindle; then stretching said. body longitudinally to close the central void left by the.

withdrawal from said spindle; then banding said body in such a manner as to confine the outer end of yarn strand; and at some stage of the process rendering available and thereafter maintaining the inner end of the yarn strand withdrawable from said body.

JOHN L. BARRY.

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