CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Mark Mellor, of Hyde, in the County of Chester,
Spinning Manager, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-ACTING MULES."
Sealed the 18th January 1856, and dated the 14th August 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Mark Mellor at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
August 1855.
I, MARK MELLOR, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Spinning Manager,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES" to be as follows:-¦
It relates, in the first place, to a new arrangement of the "winding-on drum,"
that dispenses with intermediate geer hitherto employed. The spindles of
mules are driven generally by one of two methods by horizontal or vertical
drums. The vertical drums have motion imparted to them either by an
horizontal shaft & bevil wheels, or by an horizontal shaft which gives motion
by bevil wheels to a vertical shaft corresponding to one of the vertical drums,
motion being conveyed from this shaft to the vertical drums by an endless
band. Now, my new arrangement of the "winding-on drum" consists in
placing it so that its axis corresponds with that of the axis of the horizontal
drums or horizontal shafts, referred to as imparting motion to the vertical
drums, as the case may be, and in keying on the horizontal axis of the drum or

page_text: shafts the ratchet wheel, upon which the click or pawl of the winding-on drum
acts, by which means it communicates its motion directly to the axis of the
horizontal drum or shafts, imparting motion to the vertical drums (as the case
may be) without intermediate geer.
My Invention, in the second place, relates to self-acting mules of the principle
known as "Sharp's and Roberts'," and refers to the mechanism effecting the
changes of the driving belt upon the pulleys, its object being to facilitate
such changes, and prevent the strain upon the geering caused by the present
arrangement of the mechanism. It consists in a modification of the shape of
the cam, which causes the main driving belt to change with greater rapidity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Mark Mellor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARK
MELLOR, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Spinning Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her inost Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Mark Mellor, Her especial license that I, the said Mark Mellor, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Mark
Mellor, my 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN SELF-ACTING MULES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Mark Mellor, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said Mark Mellor, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-

page_text: My Invention refers principally to such self-acting mules' as are constructed
on the principle of those known as "Sharp, Roberts, & Co.'s." The first
part of it relates to. a new arrangement of the "winding-on drum," that
dispenses with intermediate gear hitherto employed. The spindles of mules
are driven generally by one of two methods, by horizontal or by vertical drums.
The vertical drums have motion imparted to them either by an horizontal shaft
and bevil wheels, or by an horizontal shaft which gives motion by bevil
wheels to a vertical shaft corresponding to the axis of the. vertical drums,
motion being conveyed, from a pulley on this shaft to the vertical drums by
an endless band. Now,, my new arrangement of the winding-on drum
consists in placing it so that its axis corresponds with that of the horizontal
drums, or the horizontal shaft before referred to as imparting motion to the
vertical drums (as the case may be), and in keying on this axis of the drum
or shaft the ratchet. wheel, upon which the-click or pawl of the winding-on
drum acts, by which means it communicates its motion directly to the axis
of the horizontal drum driving the spindles, or to the shaft imparting motion.
to the vertical drunis (as the case may be) without intermediate.gear.
This, explanation of the first part of my. Invention will be clearly, under-
stood by reference to the Drawing annexed hereunto by Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
The first is a plan view of the parts on the carriage "square;" the second, a
detached sectional view of the "winding-on drum," its bearings and shaft.
"The winding-on drunt" when arranged according to my Invention acts pre-
cisely in the same manner as hitherto; therefore, after describing its arrange-
ment as shewn in the Drawings, I need only name the other well-known parts
to render the Drawings intelligible... a, the winding-on drum, which may be
loose on the shaft b, or apart from the shaft b, and supported (as shewn) on
bearings c, which are fixed to the "square" (d) of the carriage; e, the ratchet
wheel, fast on the shaft b, which is acted upon by the click or pawl a¹, carried
on the arm a², fast on the axis of the winding-on drum. a, chain attached to
the winding-on drum and to the radial arm; a', rope for winding the chain
on the drum a. f is the ratchet wheel, fast on the shaft 6, that gives motion
through a click or pawl to a disc f1 (loose on the shaft b), to the boss of which
the chain f is secure that communicates with the "fallers" to bring them
down during the backing-off. a, fs, are the "brake" springs in connection
with the clicks or pawls, before mentioned, to bring them in and out of the
teeth of the ratchet wheels-e and f; g, the pulley by which motion. is: given
to the shaft 6 by the "twist band." The shaft b'is the one that forms the axis
of the horizontal drums driving the spindles, or the shaft driving the vertical
drums by bevil gear, or driving a vertical shaft by bevil gear, which has a
"

page_text: pulley upon it, that gives motion by an endless band to the vertical drums
driving the spindles.
The second part of my Invention relates to the mechanism of the "cam
shaft" employed in "Sharp, Roberts, & Co.'s" mules for effecting the changes
in the working of the mule, that is, for moving the driving belt upon the
pulleys connecting and disconnecting the "backing off," the "taking in," and
"taking out" of the carriage and the "drawing rollers;" the object of this
part of my Invention being to facilitate these changes, and prevent the strain
upon the gearing caused by the present arrangement of the mechanism.
It consists in a modification of the shape and arrangement of the cams,
which will produce the changes referred to at more favorable times and with
greater rapidity.
To explain this part of my Invention I refer to the Figures 3 and 4. Fig. 3
is a Diagram, shewing the shape and relative arrangement of the paths or
grooves acting on the friction bowls of the levers that connect and disconnect
or change the motions before referred to, the cams employed being supposed all
of that class known as "drum cams," or cams which produce movements in a
direction parallel to their axes, the Diagram exhibiting the paths or grooves as
they would appear on a plane. Fig. 4 is a view of the cam shaft (h), shewing
the diameter of the cams, and the position of the bowls h', on which they act.
The cam shaft, as is well known, makes one revolution for each "stretch,"
and this one revolution is made in four separate movements when spinning
"twist," and in three movements when spinning "weft." When making four
movements, it turns one-fourth of a revolution for each movement, and each
movement produces one or more changes in the gearing. Hitherto the "cams"
have been shaped so that their action upon the "friction bowls" (h') would
commence and end with each movement of the "cam shaft." This shape and
arrangement of the "cams" would be unobjectionable if their actions were
more extensive, and if the friction pulleys giving motion to the cam shaft
always acted with the same force; but it is not convenient to make the action
of the cams more extensive, and in practice the friction pulleys giving motion
to the cam shaft are variable in their action, and consequently one series of
geer
is connected, or partly connected, before the other antagonistic geer is
disconnected.
"
This evil is most apparent in the movements of the driving belt and
the "backing-off motion." The backing-off cones are in contact before the
driving belt can be got off "the fast pulley," and thus act one against the
other, throwing great strain on the gearing. Besides this disadvantage,
the backing-off cones act as a "brake" to stop the "rim shaft" and spindles,

page_text: and their stoppage is delayed when the driving belt is not clear of the fast
pulley at the time the "backing-off cones" are brought in contact.
The motions for "taking in" and "taking out "the carriage are antago-
nistic when both are in gear at once, as is well known; but as these motions
are brought in and out of gear by "clutch box "arrangements, a large movement
is not required, and the disadvantage of both motions being partly in geer at
the same time is not so apparent, but it will exist in a slight degree when play
exists in the actuating parts arising from wear, except the cams give a large
amount of movement to the clutch boxes, which is unnecessary with my im-
proved shape and arrangement of the cams, that insures the disconnection of
one series of gear before another is connected, and this is accomplished by
shaping the cams so that their action when required will commence with the
movement of the cam shaft and end before it, or commence after a portion of
the movement of the cam shaft has taken place and end with its movement,
instead, as hitherto, in all cases shaping the cams so that their movement com-
mences and ends with the movement of the cam shaft. By shaping the cams
in this manner they can be arranged so that the disconnection of one series of
geer is complete and finished before the connection of another series is com-
menced, and by which arrangement it is not necessary to give more movement
to the clutch boxes, backing-off cones, or "driving belt" than is just sufficient
to get them out of gear or contact. The Diagram, Fig. 5, shews the shape of
the grooves or paths of the friction bowls in full lines when made in the
ordinary manner. The dotted lines shew their improved shape and arrangement
according to my Invention. The dotted lines marked 1 point out the relative
position of the friction bowls (h') in the paths or grooves of the cams when the
mule is spinning; the dotted line 2, their position when the carriage is out, in
which position the after twist is put in for "twist." The dotted line 3 is their
position during the time the backing-off is in operation. The dotted line 4 is
their position during the winding on or going in of the carriage. The next
move of the cam shaft completes its revolution, and brings it to the position
first mentioned. On inspecting the Diagram, it will be seen that during the first
part of the second move of the cam shaft, the driving belt cam (as shewn in
dotted lines) will move the friction bowl, so as to bring the driving belt from
the fast wholly on to the loose pulley, and that the latter part of the move will
bring the backing-off cones into contact. It will also been seen that the first
part of the fourth move of the cam shaft (as shewn by the dotted line) will
disconnect or place out of gear the taking-in scroll, and the latter part of it
will connect or bring in gear the "taking-out drum." It will also be clear
from the Diagram that one of these changes is completed before the other

page_text: commences. As the motion of the rollers is not antagonistic to any other it is
not of much importance as to the exact time of putting them in or out of gear;
but I have shown in the Diagram that the rollers may be disconnected an
instant before the "taking-out drum," if required, by the first movement of the
It has been before mentioned that for weft the cam shaft only
makes three movements to the "stretch," no " after twist" being required. The
space on the cams, marked in the Diagram the first and second move, is made
in one movement, but this does not affect the shape of the cams. In the
Diagram (Fig. 3) I have supposed the friction bowls carried by the levers
actuating the different motions to be all placed in the same plane.or line, and
it will not be necessary for me to explain how to adjust them to the position of
their friction-bowls when not in the same-line, as this is well understood: --I
have also supposed the cams employed to be all of the drum kind, as herein-
before mentioned; but I need not explain how the other class of cams are. to
be shaped to produce the same action or movements shewn in the Diagram, as
the straight parts of the path or groove of a drum cam are known to be those
which correspond to the concentric portions of the path or groove of the radial
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
mode of carrying it into effect.
In' witness whereof, I, the said Mark Mellor, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
MADIZ MELLOD
MADIZ MELLOR
K MI
LOR. (..)