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Concept
Bobbin
Summary
A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in industrial textile machinery, as well as in sewing machines, fishing reels, tape measures, film rolls, cassette tapes, within electronic and electrical equipment, and for various other applications.
Bobbins are used in spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, and lacemaking. In these practices, bobbins were invented to "manage the piles of thread and yarn that would be mechanically woven into cloth," where the mechanical began using human power, but eventual became machine-driven. In these applications, bobbins provide storage, temporary and permanent, for yarn or thread. Historically, bobbins were made out of natural materials such as wood, or bone. While not in principle an invention of the Victorian era—bobbins in the production of textiles were in earlier use—the machinery introduced in that era "were some of [its] greatest inventions" in that they "helped to revolutionize textile manufacturing". In the machines used in such manufacturing,The automated weaving machines would have hundreds of spindles operating simultaneously, with each spindle holding a bobbin that either released or collected the thread. Most mills had wooden bobbins made specifically for their machinery, which accounts for the many varied shapes and sizes of these spools. In more modern times, natural bobbin materials such as wood are no longer used in textile manufacturing, instead having been replaced by metal and plastic. The traditional bobbins made, for instance, of hardwoods such as ash and birch are unsuitable for the machinery of modern manufacturing, given the higher speeds involved, and the synthetic materials that are used in weaving; as well, bobbins were relatively customised parts made for the specific machines of each mill (and so of varying designs, each uniquely shaped of wood, with metal parts in places of high wear), thus requiring "a great deal of handwork" such that the cost of continuing to make them was unfavorable to modern textile business.
Official source
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