IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Brierly, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MULES FOR SPINNING."
Scaled the 19th November 1858, and dated the 20th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Brierly at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th May 1858.
I, the said IIENRY BRIERLY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING," to be as follows:-
My Invention refers, firstly, to hand mules, and the object is to assist the
operative in "backing off," "returning or running in" the carriage, and
"winding on." For the first of these use similar apparatus to those
described in Specifications of Patents granted to me November 2nd, 1853, and
,March 22nd, 1856, but in such manner as to merely impart a tendency to
back off instead of being self-acting, the full operation being under the control
and being completed by the operative. The disengagement of these parts
when the backing off is completed is also under the control of the
operative. For assisting the operative in running in the carriage, I use the
ordinary drawing-up scroll or similar apparatus, but to bring it into action I

page_text: employ friction plates pressed together by weights or springs, so as merely to
impart a tendency to draw up the carriage, the complete operation being
effected by the spinner.
For winding on I employ a second pair of friction plates used in a similar
manner to those above described.
My Invention refers, secondly, to the winding-on apparatus of self-acting
mules, and consists, firstly, in a method of applying the winding-on chain.
This chain I connect at one end to the "radial arni" or lever, from thence it
passes round a pulley attached to the floor or framing, and is connected at the
other end to the winding-on apparatus in the carriage. In the self-acting
mule I also propose so arranging the inclined bar which regulates the motion
of the radial arm that it shall occupy a position above the line of the faller
rods.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters-Patent, filed
by the said Henry Brierly in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BRIERLY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of, May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Brierly, Her especial licence that I, the said Henry
Brierly, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Brierly, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING," upon the condition, amongst others,
that I, the said Henry Brierly, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Brierly, 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 Drawing (that is to say):-
This Invention has reference to the class of machines called mules, and the
first part thereof consists of certain mechanical combinations and arrangements
which I apply to the description of mules known as "band mules." This
description of mule being now constructed of much larger size than was
formerly the case, is known to require on that account certain mechanical
adaptations for the purpose of assisting the operative or hand spinner in
performing the several operations of backing off, running in the carriage, and
winding the yarn upon the spindles, and these mechanical combinations and
arrangements, constituting the first part of this Invention, are for the purpose
of being applied to aid the operative in the performance of those movements
in a more convenient and effectual manner than has hitherto been accomplished.
For the purpose of assisting the spinner in "backing off," I employ a com-
bination of mechanisın similar in its general features to that shewn and
described in the Specifications of my Patents of the Second of November, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and the Twenty-second of March, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, for the purpose of producing the backing-
off movement in the self-acting mule, but as in the-hand mule such movement
is not required to be positively performed by the machine itself, but only to
such an extent as to aid the operative at such time and to such an extent as
he finds necessary, I employ such mechanism, combined with other mechanical
arrangements, in the following manuer:
In the accompanying Drawing, A represents a mule head stock, and D, a
section of the carriage; I is the driving shaft of the mule, supported in the
usual manner, and 3, 4, and 5 are the driving, putting up, and loose pulleys
thereon. Connected to the pulley 5 is the spur wheel 6, which drives the
shaft 9, shewn in dotted lines, being inside the framing, by means of the
wheel 8, and on this shaft is the wheel 10, which geers into the larger
wheel 11, attached to which is the pinion 12, the latter either being connected
with a cone motion, as shown in Fig. 1 in the Drawing attached to my
Specification of One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six aforesaid, or with a
sun and planet motion and break, as shewn in the Specification of my Patent
of One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three aforesaid. There is a sliding
rod 20, with the weighted lever 21, at one end, and the bent lever 37, carrying
the bowl 38, at the other; this rod being restrained from acting by the
latch 52, except when required, and being actuated and bringing the backing-

page_text: off apparatus into operation at the proper time by the saine means as shown
in my Specification of One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six aforesaid.
There is an upright piece 39 attached to the carriage, having its fulerum at 39",
upon which the bowl 38 rests when the backing-off apparatus is in action, as
also shewn in the said Specification; but in this case, as before mentioned,
the backing-off motion is not required to be positive and complete in itself,
but only to aid the spinner in turning the spindles backwards. To this end
therefore the bowl 17, which by means of the lever 14, 15, presses the cones
or break into action, is so adjusted as not to communicate sufficient pressure
thercon to cause them to turn the spindles backwards, but only to tend by
their friction to do so, and therefore to reduce the exertion the operative
would otherwise have to make in performing that movement. The upright
piece 39 is connected to a spring 40, which has a constant tendency to pull
the upper part of that piece inwards, but is restrained from doing so by the
latch piece 41, which is connected to the "kneeboard" 42, against which the
operative presses to assist in running in the carriage; but when the spinner
has reversed the spindles sufficiently, by pressing against that board (or some
other part equivalent to it), he raises the latch 41 (which, with the "knee
board," is placed upon a short shaft or spindle in part of the carriage), and
then the spring drawing inwards the piece 39 leaves the bowl 38 unsupported,
and the weighted rod 20 then makes its second drop, and removes the
bowl 17 from contact with the lever 14, 15, thus causing the tendency to
back off to cease. Loose on the shaft 9 is a small bevil wheel, to which is
attached the friction plate 45, and sliding upon a key in the shaft is a corre-
sponding plate 43". There is a spiral spring 45, which is placed so as to
tend constantly to press the plates together, but they are kept asunder by the
finger 45° and lever 45d until the second drop of the rod 20 at the termination
of the backing off, when the finger is so arranged as to leave the spring at
liberty to press the plates together, and the part 45° will now tend by its
friction to turn round the plate 45 and small bevil wheel, which latter gears
into a larger wheel, to which is connected a putting-up scroll, similar to those
in use in self-acting mules. The tendancy thus given to the scroll to draw up
the carriage will render a slight exertion sufficient on the part of the spinner
to effect that movement. A spur wheel 46, fast on the shaft 9, also drives a
spur 46, loose upon the driving shaft 1, and attached to the latter is a friction
plate 47, the corresponding plate to which 47 is brought into contact there-
with in the same way and at the same time as the pair of plates 45, 45%, and
thus a tendency will be created to turn round the spindles and assist the
operative in winding on. As the carriage is run in, the bowl 23, attached

page_text: thereto, restores the lever 21 and rod 20 to their original position, as in the
self-acting mule, and the two fingers 45° and 47 will then remove the friction
plates from contact with each other, and so retain them until they are again
required to act. A projection 50 is also placed so as to push back the piece 39
and allow the latch 41 again to take hold of the pin therein and retain it in
the proper position for again supporting the bowl 39 when required.
In the foregoing description it is to be understood that such parts of the
machine and their action as are not particularly mentioned are supposed to be
the same as described in my former Specifications already alluded to, or of any
ordinary construction. The friction plates may be round disks of metal, one
or both covered with leather, and of such size as may scem convenient.
The second part of this Invention refers to the self-acting mule, and
consists of an improved mode of effecting the winding-on motion. For this
purpose I use a radial arm or lever 1°, the fulcrum of which is attached to the
carriage, and having near the end thereof a projection 2, to which is attached
a bowl, which travels upon the inclined curve 3ª in such a manner that as
the carriage runs out the end of the arm is raised so as to bring it into a
position almost or quite perpendicular, as shewn in the Figure, and descending
again as the carriage runs into the position shewn at 1, 2b; there is a screw
attached to this arm having a nut thereon, which may thereby be traversed
along the arm in the usual manner; and this nut has also a projection 5", to
which the winding-on chain is connected at one end; and this chain passes
round a pulley 6, attached to the floor or framing, and thence to the winding-
on apparatus in the carriage to which the other end is connected. When the
formation of the cop is commencing the nut 5° is at or near the fulcrum of the
radial arm. The carriage being then run out, the chain will be in the position
denoted by the dotted line, proceeding from 5b round the pulley 6ª to the
winding-on drum 7%, and as the carriage runs in, the length of chain uncoiled
from the drum will be denoted by 5%, 6, 7, or about double the distanco
traversed by the carriage. Thus, supposing the carriage to traverse five feet,
the length of the chain uncoiled from the drum will be about ten feet; this
will give such an amount of motion to the drum that about one-half of the
usual multiplication of speed from the drum shaft to the tin roller, or drums
for turning the spindles, will give the required amount of motion to the
latter, and this will greatly reduce the strain upon the parts and render the
working of the machine both casier, and, from the absence of the excessive
strain thrown upon those parts by the ordinary mode of working, the action
will be more regular and uniform. As the cop increases in size the nut is
traversed from the fulcrum towards the end of the arm by any of the well-

page_text: known means employed for that purpose; and the movement of the spindles
will be reduced accordingly, as when the nut is near the end of the arm the
length of chain uncoiled from the drum.will only equal the difference between
5, 6, 7, and 5ª, 6, 7b..
The construction of the parts; as shewn in the Figure, will give an average
ratio of motion to the spindle for general purposes, but the proportion may be
varied to suit particular circumstances. The projection 2% on the arm, and
the extension of the nut 5ª are important, as affording means for more 'con-
veniently obtaining the ratio of movement required, and a variation in these
will considerably modify the action of the winding on. This combination also
enables the inclined curve 3ª to be constructed of such size and form as to be
placed above the line of motion of the carriage and faller rods, the construction
of which it thereby does not interfero with. The winding-on chain is kept
tight by the use of a cord and balance weight in the usual manner.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim, as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,―
Firstly, the mechanism above described for backing-off' in hand mules, such
mechanism not being self-acting as in my previous Patents above referred to,
but so arranged and combined with other mechanism as to assist the hand
spinner in his ordinary manipulation.
Secondly, the mechanical adaptations herein-before described, for the purpose
of aiding the hand spinner in winding on and putting up the carriage.
Thirdly, the mechanical arrangements above described for effecting the
winding on in self-acting mules.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ifenry Brierly, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
HENRY BRIERLY. (L.S.)