IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Mills, of Heywood, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, Thomas Booth,of the same Place, Mechanic,.
and Thomas Clegg, of the same Place, Fore man, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 23rd February 1864, and dated the 7th September 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Mills, Thomas
Booth, and Thomas Clegg at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 7th September 1863.
We, FREDERICK MILLS, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, THOMAS BOOTH, of the same Place, Mechanic, and THOMAS CLEGG, of
the same Place, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
The first part of our Invention relates to carding engines, and consists in an
improved mode of constructing the links for communicating motion from the
eccentrics to the stripping combs. We make the eye at each end of the link
with a recess to contain a strip or lining of leather or other suitable material,
and with a slot across furnished with a screwpassing through projections from
the eye; by means of these screws each eye can be tightened up to compensate
for the wear.
The second part of our Invention is applicable to roving frames and other

page_text: machines used in preparing cotton and other fibrous substances.
When a
variation in the speed is required such variation has heretofore been effected
by moving a strap along a. pair of cones. Now our Invention consists in
producing the variations by means of a system of levers and wheels. A cam
with a diagonal groove is fixed to the driving shaft or other convenient shaft
of the machine; in this groove are two bowls connected totwo levers mounted
on a shaft furnished with two bevel pinious and turned round by the usual
shaft for moving the strap on the cones; these pinions gear into other pinions
fixed to screws mounted on prolongations of the before-mentioned levers; the
nuts of these screws slide on levers, to which catches are hinged, working into
ratchet wheels supporting a pinion working into a fixed: internal wheel, and
into another pinion fixed on the shaft, to which the requisite varying motion
is imparted.
The last part of our Invention relates to self-acting mules for spinning, and
consists in an improved copping motion. To the carriage of the mule is fixed
a box through which a shaft passes, on this shaft is a bush provided with a
worm and with a spur pinion gearing into a rack reacting from the front to
the back of the headstock. Within the box is a toothed wheel with a portion
of the teeth left out; this wheel gears into a pinion fixed on a screw placed
parallel to the shaft. In the face of the toothed wheel is a stud which regu-
lates the descent of a crank by which the bottom of the cop is formed, and
which is hinged to the nut of the screw. The crank works in a slot in the
shaft, to which is also fixed a stud for a wheel in which the worm above
referred to works; to this wheel is fixed a crank for building the nose of the
cop, the body of the cop is built by the descent of the nut on the screw above
described; the fallers are connected to the crank by which the nose of the cop
is built.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Mills, Thomas Booth, and Thomas Clegg in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
MILLS, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, THOMAS
BOOTH, of the same Place, Mechanic, and THOMAS CLEGG, of the same Place,
Foreman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Frederick Mills, Thomas Booth, and Thomas Clegg, Her special
license that we, the said Frederick Mills, Thomas Booth, and Thomas Clegg,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Frederick Mills, Thomas Booth, and Thomas Clegg, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 FOR
SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, "upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Frederick Mills, Thomas Booth, and Thomas Clegg,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or
their, or one of our or their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what mauner 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.
PREPARING AND
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Frederick Mills, Thomas Booth, and
Thomas Clegg, 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):-
The first part of our Invention relates to carding engines, and it consists in
an improved mode of constructing the links for communicating motion from
the eccentrics to the stripping combs.
The second part of our Invention is, applicable to roving frames and other
machines used in preparing cotton and other fibrous substances, and it consists
in an improved combination of machinery to be used in lieu of cones for
producing a variation in the speed.
The last part of our Invention relates to self-acting mules for spinning, and
it cousists in an improved copping motion.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood we will proceed
to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation of part of a carding engine to which our first im-
provement is applied; Figure 2 is an edge view of the improved link.
a represents part of the doffer; b, the doffing comb fixed to arms projecting
from the shaft c, to which a rapid vibrating motion is given, as usual, by the
eccentric & ou the pulley d', shown by a dotted circle; the lower end of the

page_text: link e fits on the eccentric d, and the upper end fits on the stud f projecting
from a lever fixed to the shaft c. We make the eye at each end of the link c
with a recess to contain a strip or lining of leather or other suitable material,
and with a slot across furnished with a screw passing through projections from
the eye; by means of these screws each eye can be tightened up to compensate
for the wear.
Figure 3 is an elevation of part of a roving frame to which our second
improvements are applied; Figure 4 is a plan of the same. is the main
driving shaft; g, the centre wheel forming part of the differential motion;
h, the vertical shaft, to the upper end of which is fixed the bevel pinion h
gearing into the wheel g', and below is fixed the pinion h² gearing alternately
into the wheels and on the reversing shaft i; these parts of the machine
and all the others that are not particularly referred to hereafter are made as
⚫usual.
In roving frames and other machines of the same nature it has heretofore
been customary to produce the requisite variations in the speed of the bobbins
to compensate for their increasing diameter by moving a strap along a pairof
cones. Now, our Invention consists in producing the variations by means of
a system of levers and wheels. The cam j, with a diagonal groove in. its
circumference, is driven by the pinion g³, carrier wheel g,and pinion j³ fixed
on the boss of the cam j, which is loose on the shafty; this shaft is driven
by a pair of bevel pinions, not shewn in the Drawing, one of which is fixed on
the usual upright shaft for moving the cone strap, or it may be driven in any
other convenient manner. In the groove of the cam jare two bowls fitting
on studs fixed to two guide rods k, connected to two links k', jointed at one
end to the nuts of the screws 7, which are supported in a swivel frame ¹
mounted on the boss of the ratchet wheels, which is loose on the upright
shaft ; this ratchet wheel is moved by the catches jointed to the swing
trame . To the shaft is fixed the bevel pinion 73, which gears into and
drives the bevel pinion + loose on the shaft h; this pinion drives the pinions /³
on the screws l. Under the ratchet wheel is the internal toothed wheel m,
which is fixed to the cross stay n or other convenient part of the framing by
the bracket m¹, see Figure 4. The pinion m³, which is loose on a stud fixed in
the face of the ratchet wheel gears into the interual wheel m and into the
pinion fixed to the shaft h. Every revolution of the cam j causes the swing
frame to vibrate upon its centre, the amount of the vibration depending
upon the distance of the nuts on the screws from the fulcrum of the swing
frame. On commencing a set of bobbins the nuts are nearest to the shaft h,
consequently when the cam j revolves, the catches gives the greatest motion

page_text: to the ratchet wheel 3, and through the pinion m², internal wheel m, and
pinion 5, the greatest notion is given to the upright shaft h. As the set of
bobbins increases in diameter the pinion 3, acting on the pinions h³ and P³,
gives motion to the screws 7, thus bringing the nuts gradually further from the
shaft h,and reducing the action of the catches on the ratchet wheel ³, thereby
reducing the speed of the shaft in proportion to the increasing diameter of
the bobbins.
Figure 5 is a plan, and Figure 6 an elevation of part of a self-acting mule,
to which the last part of our Invention is applied. 0, 0, are the fluted
rollers; p, the carriage; y, the spindles; r, the faller shaft; ¹, the counter-
fall shaft; 2, the sector; and, the vertical rack forming part of the
copping motion; these and all the other parts of the mulc, excepting those
particularly referred to hereafter, are made in the usual manner. To the
carriage square p¹, or to any other part of the carriage is fixed the brackets,
to which are fixed the bearings of the upright shafts t and u. On the shaft t
a screw t¹ is cut, taking into a nut t³, on which is a worm t³, taking into the
segment t,supported by a stud passing through the swivel 5,which is hinged
to the upper end of the nut t*. On the shaft t is formed a small ratchet
wheel to, shewn by dots in Figure 5. The catch t7 of this ratchet wheel is
jointed to a stud projecting from the disk to fixed to the nut t2, on which disk
is a flange supporting the larger ratchet wheel ". The catch 7 has a tail
taking into a recess in the ratchet wheel to, and this ratchet wheel is acted
upon by the spring to, one end of which is connected to a stud projecting from
the ratchet wheel, and the other to a stud in the disk ts; by this means the
catch t is held in gear with the small ratchet wheel 1. To the upper end of
the shaft t is fixed the ratchet wheel t", which is acted upon by a catch t
hinged to the lever t¹³, which vibrates upon the shaft t ; at every outward run
of the carriage this lever comes against a stud fixed in the front of the head-
stock, and moves the ratchet wheel t" round for one or more teeth, as in the
ordinary copping motions. To the segment is cast a plate to which is bolted
the eccentricu, fitting on the boss of the segmentt'; to the eccentricvis jointed
the elbow leverv³, the horizontal arm of which is connected by the linksv²andus
to the rack,gearing into the segment 2² fixed to the faller shaft r,and form-
ing part of the usual faller lock motion. To the eccentric vand segment t' is
also fixed the catchy of the ratchet wheelt; the distance between the centre of
the eccentricu and the fulcrum of the segmentt* can be varied by a regulating
set screw passing through the end of the plate cast with the segment t* into
the plate of the eccentric v. The vertical arm of the elbow lever v¹ is acted
upon by the bowl w projecting from the face of the wheel w', which vibrates

page_text: on a stud fixed in the bracket s; the distance of this bowl from the fulcrum of
the wheel is adjustable, in order to be able to vary the action on the elbow
lever v' according to the length of the nose of the cop; the wheel w¹ is driven
by the worm u' connected to the shaft u by a key and groove, and the shaft u
is turned round alternately in opposite directions by the pinion w³,gearing into
the rack a fixed to the floor of the room or to the framing of the headstock ;
at the bottom of the worm u¹ is a groove, in which takes a swivel key
fitting in the horizontal arm of the elbow lever y; the pendant arm of this
elbow lever when the carriage is nearly out comes against the incline y¹ fixed
to the floor.
The mode of operation of this improved combination of machinery is
as follows, and the Drawing represents the parts in the positions they
occupy when the carriage is near the roller beam, and a set of cops has
been commenced. When the carriage is going out, the pinion. u² geering
into the fixed rack, causes the shaft u to revolve, and in so doing the
worm gearing into the wheel w imparts to it about one-fourth of a
revolution in the direction of the arrow in Figure 6, the bowl w then
acting on the elbow lever v¹ causes its horizontal arm to rise, and the
links 2 and 3, then raise the rack ³, which gears into the sector 12 and
depresses the faller wire, but when the carriage has arrived to within
about twelve inches from the end of its outward run, the elbow levery comes
against the incline y¹, and this incline causes the horizontal arm of the
lever y to raise the worm up the shaft u; the worm u³ then acts like a
rack on the wheel w³, and imparts to it another fourth revolution or there-
abouts in the direction of the arrow, thus bringing the bowl w below the
centre of the stud of the wheel w¹; the elbow lever links v³, v³, and
rack then regain the positions shewn in the Drawing, and during the
inward run of the carriage the incline y' and rack a acting as before on
the elbow levery and pinion u² impart the requisite motion to the faller wire
for guiding the yarn on the cops. When the carriage is nearly out the lever
t¹s acting on the stud above referred to, gives a slight motion to the ratchet
wheel fixed on the shaft t, the catch t being at this time locked in the
teeth of the small ratchet wheel t causes the disk t³ to revolve with the
ratchet wheel t¹¹, and as the disk t8 is fixed to the nut ta and worm the
segment is turned partly round in the direction of the arrow in Figure 6,
thus bringing the catch 5 towards the ratchet wheel 1º..
When the car-
riage has performed the requisite number of stretches for forming the
bottom of the cop, the catch v5 has been raised until it locks into the
teeth of the ratchet wheel to, the catch t7 is then disengaged from the

page_text: small ratchet wheel to, and at each subsequent outward run of the carriage
the lever +13 acting on the ratchet wheel causes the shaft t to revolve,
and the screw then acting on the nut 2 lowers this nut with the parts
connected to it on the shaft t to the extent required for building the
body of the
cop. By varying the relative position of the eccentric » to the
centre of the segment & the shape and length of the bottom of the cop can be
varied.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we declare that we claim,―
First, lining the interior of the links, by which motion is communicated
from the eccentrics to the doffer combs of carding engines, with leather or
other suitable material, and the regulating screws for tightening such links as
shewn and described in reference to Figures 1 and 2.
Secondly, the improved combination of machinery shewn and described in
reference to Figures 3 and 4 for producing a variation in the speed of the
bobbin of roving frames and other machines of the like nature.
And, lastly, the improved copping motion for self-acting mules as shewn and
described in reference to Figures 5 and 6, and particularly the wheel w¹ and
the eccentric with the parts acting in combination therewith.
In witness whereof, we, the said Frederick Mills, Thomas Booth and
Thomas Clegg, have hereto set our hands and seals, this Third day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.