CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Walker Pitfield, of Bolton, in the County of
Lancaster, Foreman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Scaled the 10th December 1861, and dated the 15th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Walker Pitfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th June 1861.
I, ROBERT WALKER PITFIELD, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, first, to that part of the self-acting mule known as
the "fallers," and is designed to prevent the loose winding of the yarn at the,
upper end of the "cop," caused by the too sudden rising of the "fallers."
The Invention consists in the novel application of a wheel or disc to the
copping faller shaft, over which passes a rope, band, or clip, attached at one
end to a spring, the other being connected to a lever having an inclined plane
at its opposite end. This is so arranged, that when the fallers are about to
rise, the movement of the carriage and the inclined plane lever coming into.
contact with a stud or bowl causes the strap to tighten, and break the rotation
of the disc or pulley, allowing the fallers to rise at any certain speed required.
The second part of the Invention consists in the novel use and application

page_text: of the well-known differential motion, called the "jack-in-the-box," to the
throwing in and out of gear the scroll governing the running in of the spindle
carriage, by means of a sliding rod acting upon the break of the said
differential motion, instead of effecting the same by means of catch boxes, as
hitherto employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Walker Pitfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WALKER PITFIELD, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Foreman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Walker Pitfield, Her special licence that I, the said
Robert Walker Pitfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Robert Walker Pitfield, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition, amongst others,
that I, the said Robert Walker Pitfield, 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 Robert Walker Pitfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
.
My Invention relates, first, to that part of the self-acting mule known as
the "fallers," and is designed to prevent the loose winding of the yarn at the

page_text: upper end of the "cop," and the formation of "snarls" caused by too sudden
rising of the "fallers." The Invention consists in the novel application of a
wheel or disc to the copping faller shaft, over which passes a strap, chain,
band, or clip, attached at one end to a spring, the other being connected to.
a lever having an inclined plane at its opposite end. This is so arranged, that.
when the fallers are about to rise, the movement of the carriage and the
inclined plane lever coming into contact with a stud or bowl causes the strap
to tighten, and break the rotation of the disc or pulley, allowing the fallers to
rise at any certain speed required.
The second part of the Invention consists in the novel use and application
of the well-known. differential motion, called the "jack-in-the-box," to the
throwing in and out of gear the scroll governing the running in of the spindle.
carriage, by means of a sliding rod acting upon the break of the said: diffe-.
rential motion, instead of effecting the same by means of catch boxes, as
heretofore employed.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I havo hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about two inches and a half to a foot, and having similar letters of reference
marked upon the corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1 is a side view of that part of the mule to which the Invention is
applied, shewing the spindle carriage in section, and exhibiting the two
"fallers," break wheel, and other connected apparatus; Fig. 2 exhibits a
modification of the same, wherein a connecting rod is used between the "faller
rod" and break wheel; Fig. 3 is a simple modification for tightening the
break strap by means of a lever and adjustable weight; Fig. 4 representing
another method of governing the "fallers" by the use of toothed and ratchet
wheels; Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a front and side view of a method for
tightening the spring connected to the "break strap or band" by means of
a cam.
In Fig. 1, a, a, is the spindle carriage; b, the copping shaft and "faller;"
and d, the counter or second "faller;" e is the "break wheel" upon the faller
shaft, around which the strap or band passes, and is connected to the lever g
at one end, and to the spring hat the other; the bowl i acts upon the lever to
tighten the said strap upon the break. wheel, and thereby to govern the rising
of the fallers. Fig. 2 is of a similar construction, but having a rod k con-
necting the link upon the "faller shaft" to the lever m on the break wheel.
These methods are similar in action, that is, when the "fallers are about to
rise (the carriage being run in), the incline upon the lever g comes into contact
with the bowl i, and so draws the strap tightly upon the break wheel, and so
"

page_text: permits of the fallers rising at a certain required speed, and that with a
regular and even motion, instead of with a sudden jerk, as hitherto. In Fig. 3
one end of the strap or band f is secured to a lever n, upon which there is an
adjusting weight to increase the friction of the strap upon the "break wheel"
as the "winding on" of the cop proceeds. In Fig. 4 the weights o are
employed instead of the spring or lever and weight n, and are raised by the
lever p, and maintained in position by the catch or trigger q during the
"winding on," at the termination of which the stud r strikes the lever g,
liberating the lever P,
and the friction of the strap is exerted upon the pulley
to regulate the rising of the fallers. The pinion « upon the faller shaft gives
motion to the spur wheel v, which drives the break wheel through the ratchet
wheel, and when winding on the pawls slip and the "break wheel" is not
acted upon; but when the fallers are rising, the pawls take into the ratchet
wheel and the break wheel revolves, creating the necessary friction against
the strap or band. In Fig. 5 a similar method is employed to that seen in
Fig. 1, but a cam s is used on the "faller" shaft to increase the tension and
force of the spring as the winding on proceeds, acting by depressing the sliding
rod t attached thereto.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
best method with which I am acquainted for carrying the same into practical
effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim,-
First, governing or regulating the rising of the fallers by means of a
"break wheel" upon the faller shaft, actuated by the various means shewn or
other mechanical equivalents, for the purpose of preventing the too sudden
rising of the fallers, and the loose winding and formation of snarls consequent
thereupon:
And, secondly, I claim the application and use of the well-known differential
motion, called the "jack-in-the-box," to the throwing in and out of gear the
scroll governing the running in of the spindle carriage, instead of effecting the
same by catch boxes, as herein-before described and set forth in the Drawings
attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Walker Pitfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
ROBERT WALKER PITFIELD. (L.S.)