CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Orrell, junior, of Mill Hill, Bolton-le-
Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, for the Invention
of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING."
Sealed the 29th November 1859, and dated the 17th June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Orrell at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the.
17th June 1859.
I, THOMAS ORRELL, junior, of Mill Hill, Bolton-le-Moors, in the County
of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING," to be as.
follows:-
".
The nature of my Invention consists in imparting a slow rotary motion to
the drawing rollers of mules while the yarn is being stretched and twisted..
When the mule.carriage is out, and the yarn is being stretched and twisted,
the twisting has a tendency to shorten the yarn, and in hand mules it has
been customary in some cases to move the carriage towards to the drawing.
rollers, in order to prevent the yarn being broken by the twist; but in self-
acting mules it has been found impossible to give this motion to the carriage,
consequently the amount of twist given to the yarn is limited, but by moving
the drawing rollers slowly round during the twisting, any requisite amount of
twist can be given without breaking the yarns. In performing my Invention

page_text: after the rollers have been turned round in the usual manner during the going
out of the carriage, the wheels by which they are driven cease to act, and the
requisite slow motion for allowing a certain amount of sliver to be delivered
while the twist is put in, is imparted by a worm on the driving shaft acting
on a train of wheels, one of which is furnished with a catch box, or any
other suitable combination of parts may be applied for effecting the same
object. By changing one of the wheels, the amount of sliver delivered by
the rollers during the twisting can be varied according to the amount of twist
required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Orrell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME; I, THOMAS
ORRELL, junior, of Mill Hill, Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Cotton Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Orrell, junior, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Orrell, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Orrell, junior, 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 MULES FOR SPINNING,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Orrell, junior,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Thomas Orrell, junior, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists in imparting a slow rotary motion to
the drawing rollers of hand or self-acting mules while the yarn is being.
stretched and twisted. When the mule carriage is out, and the yarn is
being stretched and twisted, the twisting has a tendency to shorten the yarn,"
and in hand mules it has been customary in some cases to move the carriage.
slightly towards the drawing rollers during the operation of twisting, in order
to prevent the yarn being broken by the twist, but in self-acting mules this
motion has not been applied to the carriage, consequently the amount of
twist given to the yarn is limited, but by moving the drawing rollers slowly.
round during the operations of stretching and twisting, as now proposed .by:
me, any requisite amount of twist can be given without breaking the yarns.:
In performing my Invention, after the rollers have been turned round in the;
usual manner during the going out of the carriage, the wheels by which they.
are driven cease to act, and the requisite slow motion for allowing a certain
amount of sliver or roving to be delivered while the twist is put in, is
imparted by a worm on the driving shaft acting on a train of wheels, one of
which is furnished with a catch box; or any other suitable combination of.
parts may be applied for effecting the same object. By changing one of the
wheels, the amount of sliver delivered by the.rollers during the twisting can:
be varied according to the amount of twist required.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily:
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a plán, of part of the head stock of a
self-acting mule, shewing a mode of applying my improvements to one of
Roberts' self-actors. It is, however, evident that my improvements are also
applicable to other descriptions of mules. a is the driving shaft, which com-
municates motion in the usual manuer to the shaft of the front drawing
roller, by the mitre wheels a' and b', the latter of which is loose on the
shaft b, but connected to it, when required, by the sliding clutch box b², as is
now customary. To the shaft a is keyed the worm c, gearing into the worm
wheel d, which is fixed to a short shaft e, revolving in a bearing connected to
the framing of the mule, but not shewn in the Drawing. To the other end
of the shaft e is fixed the change pinion f, gearing into the carrier pinion g,
which drives the wheel h loose to the shaft b; by this means a slow rotary
motion is given to the wheel h, as long as the shaft a is rotating. The ratchet
wheel i, shewn by dots in Fig. 1, is fixed to or cast with the wheel h, and this
:

page_text: ratchet wheel acts on the catches j, which are mounted on studs fixed in the
disc k, keyed on the shaft b. The mode of operation is as follows:-While
the carriage of the mule is going out, the drawing rollers, shewn at l, m, and
n, in Fig. 2, revolve to deliver the slivers, and as the shaft brotates faster
than the wheel h, it is evident that the catches are drawn over the teeth of
the ratchet wheel i, but as soon as the carriage has completed its outward
run, the drawing rollers are stopped by moving the clutch box 62 out of gear.
with the clutches on the wheel 6'; the shaft a, however, continues to revolve,
to put the twist into the yarn after the carriage has stopped, and during this
time the worm c gives a slow rotary motion to the drawing rollers by the teeth
of the ratchet wheel i coming against the catches j, hinged to the disc ;
and this motion can be varied according to the amount of twist that is.
required to be given to the yarn, by changing the pinion f for one of a.
greater or less number of teeth. As soon as the operations of stretching
and twisting are effected, the shaft a is stopped, and the machinery for running
the carriage, in is put into gear in the usual manner.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit or
restrict myself to the details given, as the machinery for effecting the same
object may be considerably varied or modified; but what I consider new;
and therefore claim is, the imparting a slow rotary motion to the drawing
rollers of hand and self-acting mules, while the operations of stretching and
twisting the yarn at the head of the draw are being performed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Orrell, junior, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
ARRELL Tavon
THOS. ORRELL, JUNIOR. (L.S.)