IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS.” PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT, to Thomas Stead,,Cotton Spinner, and William Higham,
Overlooker, both of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County of Lancaster, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING
COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Stead and
William Higham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 4th December 1861.
We, THOMAS STEAD, Cotton, Spinner, and WILLIAM HIGHAM, Overlooker,
both of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR SPINNING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
To prevent hard threads. being, mixed with, the waste during the, process
of spinning, we place at the front of the mule an additional roller, under, and
at a little distance from the under- clearer roller, so that when a thread breaks,
sinstead of the waste end falling, on and being taken up by the under clearer
roller, it will fall on the additional roller, which will retain the hard threads
and allow the process of spinning to proceed without; the hard threads being
mixed with the, cotton waste. We make the said additional roller-revolve in
the opposite direction to the clearer roller, by, which it effectually draws.the
hard threads away, and retains them to be taken, off by hand at any convenient

page_text: time. We drive the said additional roller from the back shaft, if there is one
attached to the mule, and if there is not one, by any suitable means, so as to
cause a continuous revolution, both whilst the carriage is drawing out and
taking in.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Stead and William Higham, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 4th June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
STEAD, Cotton Spinner, and WILLIAM HIGHAM, Overlooker, both of Ashton-
under-Lyne, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting. .
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Thomas Stead and William Higham, Her special licence, that we,
the said Thomas Stead and William Higham, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Stead and William
Higham, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SPINNING COTTON. OF OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Stead and
-William-Higham, our-executors-or-administrators,-by-an-instrument-in-writing,
under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals; should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the 'Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.....
::
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Stead and William Higham,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what. manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, that is to say

page_text: This Invention relates to the hand and self-acting mule, and consists in
placing an additional roller covered with cloth or flannel a short distance below
the under clearer roller, and causing it to revolve in an opposite direction to
the clearer roller for the purpose of preventing hard threads from being mixed
with the waste during the process of spinning. When a thread breaks, instead
of the hard waste end falling on and being taken up by the under clearer.
roller, as at present, it will fall on the additional roller, which will retain the hard!
threads, and prevent them from being mixed up with the soft waste. We cause
the additional roller to revolve by means of straps or gearing from any revolving.
part of the machine, so that it may either turn continuously during the drawing
out or taking in of the mule carriage, or only during the 'revolution of the
drawing rollers. **
This Invention will be clearly understood by referring to the figures and.
letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a
transverse elevation and section of some of the parts of a spinning mule to
which our additional roller is applied, and also one of the modes of giving the
roller intermittent motion, by gearing it with the front shaft of the drawing.
rollers.
Fig. 2 is a transverse elevation and section, and Fig. 3, a front elevation, of
a method of giving' continuous 'motion to the additional' roller by gearing it
with the loose pulley on the rim shaft; and Fig. 4, a transverse elevation and
section of some of the parts of another description of a self-acting mule having.
our additional roller worked from the side taking-in shaft.
In all the Figures, à represents part of the headstock of the mule; b, the
drawing rollers; c, the clearer roller; and d, our additional roller, which extends
the entire length of 'the drawing rollers on each side of the headstock.
In Fig. 1, the shaft of the additional roller dhás fixed to it a toothed wheel e,
which gears by means of the intermediate toothed wheel f; with the toothed:
wheel 'g fixed to the front roller shaft, so that when the said front roller shaft
revolves the additional roller may revolve in a contrary direction to the clearer
roller c, exactly in proportion to the diameters of the wheels" which are
changed as required.
ej.g,
In Figs. 2 and, 3, the shaft of the additional roller d at each end of thei
headstock has fixed to it the spur wheel h gearing into the intermediate wheel i,
which gears into the spur wheel l-attached to the shaft mi, fixed to which is the
bevil wheel'n, gearing into the: bevil wheel o, fixed to the spur wheel p, or to its
shaft: The wheel p gears into the wheel q.. on the shaft of which there is a toothed
-wheel gearing by means of the intermediate wheels with the toothed wheel-t
fixed to the loose pulley, which as it revolves.continuously during the working
**

page_text: of the mule, the additional roller will revolve also at a speed; proportionate with
the diameters of the toothed wheels, which, as in the former example, may be.
varied as required.
In Fig. 4 we shew a mode of driving the additional roller from the taking-
in shaft, which is lengthened or brought forward for the purpose. On the shaft
of the additional roller there is a toothed' wheel u, gearing by means of the two
intermediate wheels v, w, into the toothed wheel x on the shaft y, to which is;
fixed the bevil wheel z gearing into the bevil wheel a' fixed to the extended,
portion 6 of the taking-in shaft c¹, which, as it revolves; gives revolving motion
to the additional roller in proportion to the diameters of the change wheels.
The additional roller is covered with cloth or flannel similar to the clearer,
roller, but it turns in a contrary direction, and at a greater .speed; and is.
found, by experience, efficiently to collect and retain the broken threads, and
thereby prevent them from mixing with the soft waste.
:
i
Thus we have now described. our additional roller, and a few of the modes of: 1
giving it a revolving motion in a contrary direction to the ordinary clearer
roller; but it is evident that it can be driven by straps or gearing. from any
revolving part of the machine, it being only necessary to give it the required;
speed in relation to the clearer roller.
-
We are aware that an uncovered roller revolving at a slow speed has been: 2
employed in spinning mules at or about the same position in which we place
our additional roller, but it was used before the clearer rollers were invented,
for the purpose of acting as a collector of hard and soft waste mixed together..
It is well known that the clearer rollers collect the waste by winding it around
them; but hitherto they have also at the same time collected the hard threads, 2
which mixed with the soft waste materially lessens its value. Our object is
to keep the soft waste on the clearer rollers free from hard threads, and
thereby render it equivalent in value to the cotton employed. For this purpose
we cover our additional roller with cloth or flannel; which has not been before.
done, and instead of giving it a slow speed we give it a much greater speed 8
than the clearer roller, by which means-it-effectually-collects-the-hard-threads,
and prevents their mixture with the soft waste, and thereby greatly enhances,
its value.
:
Having now described the nature and particulars of our said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be under- 3
stood that we claim in self-acting and hand-mules, the employment of an
additional roller covered with cloth or flannel revolving a short distance below.
the ordinary clearer róller, for the purpose of collecting and retaining the
broken threads, and thereby preventing them froni mixing with the soft waste,.

page_text: s such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Stead and William Higham,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Third day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Thomas Stead and
William Higham in the presence
of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
THOMAS STEAD.. (L.S.)
WILLIAM HIGHAM. (L.S.)