CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Prior Sharp, of Manchester, in the
county of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 17th May 1853, and dated the 24th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Prior
Sharp at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 24th March 1858.
I, WILLIAM PRIOR SHARP, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES" to be as follows:-
My improvements are applicable to the machines called mules, and
consist, first, in a new combination of parts for governing the position
of the fallers. I dispense with the seetor shaft and toothed segment
and pinion (fixed on the faller shaft) into which the toothed segment
works; and in the place of these I employ a smooth segment, fixed on
the faller shaft, having a notch in it to receive the catch fixed in the

page_text: usual manner on a bent lever, jointed to another lever, from which
projects a stud, sliding on the copping rail; by this means the position
of the fallers can be adjusted with greater accuracy than in the usual
mode of construction.
My second improvements have reference to those parts of the mule
by which the upright tin drums of the carriage are put in motion. In
mules of the ordinary construction the drums are driven by a grooved
pulley on an upright shaft in the carriage square; my improvements
consist in dispensing with the upright shaft and the bevil wheels by
which it is driven, and in fixing the grooved pulley for driving the
drums at the end of the horizontal shaft. The band from the driving
pulley is conveyed to and from the grooved pulleys on the tin drums
over guide pulleys. By this arrangement the construction is simplified,
the various parts attached to the carriage square are easy of access, the
band for driving the drums has more hold on the grooved pulley, and
consequently a greater number of spindles can be driven than in the
usual mode of driving.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Prior Sharp, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 24th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
WILLIAM PRIOR SHARP, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Prior Sharp, Her special
licence that I, the said William Prior Sharp, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Prior
Sharp, 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,

page_text: 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 MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Prior Sharp, 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 William Prior Sharp, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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) :
My Invention consists in a new combination of parts applicable to
self-acting mules and other machines of the like nature for governing
the position of the fallers, whereby the same can be regulated with
greater precision than in the usual mode of construction; and, secondly,
in an improved mode of communicating motion to the tin drums, by
which the spindles of mules and other machines of the like nature are
driven; and in order that my Invention may be fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued
by me, reference being had to the annexed sheet of drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1, represents in outline a self-acting mule, of the ordinary
construction, to which my improvements are applied; Figure 2, is a
plan, and Figure 3, an elevation of the same; a, is the faller shaft, to
which are fixed the fallers a'; and b, is the counter faller shaft, to which
the counter fallers b', are fixed in the ordinary manner. Upon the
faller shaft a, is fixed, by a set screw or otherwise, a smooth segment c;
this segment answers the same purpose as the toothed segment mounted
on the sector shaft, and driven by a pinion on the faller shaft in mules of
the ordinary construction; the segment c. is furnished with a notch c¹,

page_text: which is made to receive the catch &', projecting from the elbow lever d,
the boss of which is made with an oblong hole, fitting easily on the
faller shaft a; the longer arm of the elbow lever d, is jointed to the
curved arm e, which is also fitted loose on the faller shaft a; the roller c',
revolving on a stud projecting from the curved arm e, bears upon the
copping rail f, which is connected to the shaper plates g, g', in the
ordinary manner. When the carriage is running out the catch ', is
on the periphery of the segment c, as shewn in the drawing; but before
the carriage begins to go in the catch ', will have dropped into the
notch c'; consequently during the going in of the carriage the fallers
will be gradually depressed according to the shape of the copping rail f
and shaper plates y, and g'. When the carriage is home the catch ',
is lifted out of the notch c', and the fallers made to rise in the ordinary
manner. The advantages of this mode of governing the position of the
fallers are, that the connection between the copping rail and the fallers
is more direct; it is also less complicated than the modes now known
and in use, and the position of the fallers can be adjusted with greater
precision than heretofore, owing to the stud on which the roller e',
revolves being fitted in an adjusting slot, whereas, according to the
former arrangement, the bearings of the sector shaft had to be lowered
or raised when the position of the fallers required adjustment.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of my Invention. 1, is
a frame of metal, commonly called the carriage square, which, in double
mules, forms the connection between the two halves of the carriage.
Within the carriage square is the horizontal shaft h, to which is
fixed the double-band twist pulley i, and the other pieces for working
the backing-off and winding-on motions, which are not shown in the
drawing, as they are not required to illustrate my improvements. Near
one end of the shaft h, is fixed a groove pulley j, which gives motion to
the tin drums k, by the band 7, which is guided over the pulleys m,
and m. These guide pulleys can be set at any angle to suit the
direction in which the band passes, each pulley being mounted on a
stud, the lower end of which is hinged to a swivel piece m², fixed by
means of an adjusting screw to the stud m³, supported by a bracket m',
and cross rail m, in the carriage. The pulley '. fixed to the other

page_text: end of the horizontal shaft h, is for driving, in a similar manner, the
tin drums, in the other half of the carriage. By this means the
vertical shaft, on which the pulley is fixed for driving the tin drums in
the ordinary manner, and the bevil wheels for giving motion to it, are
dispensed with; consequently, the carriage works steadier than here-
tofore; and the driving band 1, by passing over a greater portion of the
circumference of the driving pulley j, has more power communicated
to it, and, therefore, is better suited for driving a large number of
spindles.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which it is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improved
combination of parts for giving motion to the fallers of mules and
other machines of the like nature, whereby the toothed segment and
pinion are dispensed with; and, secondly, the improved mode of driving
the tin drums of mules and other machines of the like nature, as herein-
before shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Prior Sharp, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
WP. SHART. (L. S.)