IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Dobson, of the Firm of Messieurs Dobson
and Barlow, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers,
and James Cocker, of Chadderton, near Oldham, in the same County,
Overlooker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR
SPINNING AND DOUBLING."
Sealed the 31st December 1867, and dated the 31st July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Dobson and
James Cocker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 31st July 1867.
We, BENJAMIN DOBSON, of the Firm of Messieurs Dobson and Barlow, of
Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and JAMES COCKER, of
Chadderton, near Oldham, in the same County, Overlooker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR
SPINNING AND DOUBLING," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the governing motion of self-acting mules, and
consists in regulating the tension of the yarn in the following manner :-To
the carriage are fixed bearings for supporting a shaft, one end of which has a
thread upon it passing through a nut fixed to the carriage, and the other has
a groove for a key in a grooved pulley, around which passes the usual band
from the pulley at the bottom of the radial arm. On the same shaft is keyed
a ratchet wheel, which is arrested at times by an adjustable curved inclined
plate fixed to a lever vibrating on a stud fixed to the carriage; a swivel

page_text: pulley is connected to this lever, around which passes a chain, one end of
which is connected to the copping faller and the other end to the under faller.
When the yarn is winding too tight on the spindles the under faller is
depressed, which lowers the lever above referred to, and brings the incline
fixed to it in contact with the ratchet wheel, thereby arresting the band pulley
on the shaft, and causing the band, to turn the screw of the radial arm so as
to raise the nut. At each successive outward run of the carriage the screw
with the ratchet wheel upon it is screwed further into the nut fixed to the
carriage, and it is unscrewed again to a certain extent at the inward run of
the carriage (when not arrested by the incline) so long as the cop bottom is
being formed. To the grooved pulley on the screw is attached one-half of a
catch box, the other half of which is connected to the shaft by a key; this
catch box is latched in gear during the formation of the cop bottom, and
when the cop bottom is finished the latch is released by the copping faller or
this
other equivalent, and a spring separates the halves of the catch box
pulley during the remainder of the time of building the cop runs loose on the
grooved end of the shaft.
Another improvement consists in driving the screw shaft by a wheel and
pinion, the latter being connected to the grooved pulley round which the band
from the radial arm passes, thus giving a slower motion to the screw on the
shaft with the ratchet wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Dobson and James Cocker in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 30th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
DOBSON, of the Firm of Messieurs Dobson and Barlow, of Bolton, in the
County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and JAMES COCKER, of Chadderton,
near Oldham, in the same County, Overlooker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight bundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Benjamin Dobson and James Cocker, Her special licence that we, the said
Benjamin Dobson and James Cocker, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Benjamin Dobson and James Cocker,
our executois, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and

page_text: 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 MACHINES FOR
SPINNING AND DOUBLING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Benjamin Dobson and James Cocker, our executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Benjamin Dobson and James Cocker,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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):-
:-
The nature of our Invention consists in certain improved combinations
of machinery applicable to machines for spinning and doubling for governing
the motion of the spindles according to the tension of the yarn.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation we will proceed to describe the two accompanying
Sheets of Drawings.
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 is an elevation of part of a self-acting mule to which
one mode of performing our Invention is applied; Figure 2 is a front view of
the same; Figure 3 is a detached view of part of the ordinary winding-on
chain; and Figure 4 is a detached view of a ratchet wheel forming part of
our improved machinery.
In Figures 1 and 2, a is the woodwork of the carriage; b, the winding-on
drum; b, the winding-on chain; c, the spindles; d, the copping faller; e, the
under faller; f, the radial arm and quadrant; and 9, the stud on which they
vibrate; h, is the screw in the radial arm, and i, the pinion by which it is
driven.
The parts above enumerated and all the others requisite to complete
the mule which are not referred to hereafter are made in the usual
manner.
To the front of the carriage a are fixed bearings for supporting the shaft k,
one end of which has a thread upon it passing through the nut / fixed to the
carriage, and the other has a groove for a key in the toothed wheel m in
which the chain n gears; this chain takes into the wheel & fixed to the pinion
at the bottom of the radial arm f. The ordinary grooved pulleys and band

page_text: may be employed instead of the wheels m and ¹ and chain n, but we prefer
the latter, as its action is more certain. On the shaft k is keyed the ratchet
wheel o, which is arrested at times by an adjustable curved inclined plate p
fixed to the lever q vibrating on a stud fixed to the carriage; a swivel pulley r
is connected to this lever, around which passes the chain s, one end of which
is connected to the lever d¹ fixed to the copping faller d, and the other end is
.connected to the lever e¹ fixed to the under faller e. When the yarn is
winding too tight on the spindles c the under faller e is depressed, which
lowers the lever g above referred to, and brings the inclined plate p fixed to it
in contact with the ratchet wheel o, thereby arresting the wheel m on the
shaft k, and causing the chain n to turn the screw h of the radial arm f, so as
to raise the nut to which the winding-on chain b¹ is connected. At each
successive outward run of the carriage the screw k with the ratchet wheel o
upon it is screwed further into the nut / fixed to the carriage, and it is
unscrewed again to a certain extent at the inward run of the carriage (when
not arrested by the incline p) so long as the cop bottom is being formed.
It
will thus be seen that as the cop bottom is being formed the ratchet wheel o
is brought nearer to the narrowest end of the curved plate p, and at the same
time that end of the chains which is connected to the lever d' on the copping
faller is gradually lifted up, so that the lever q ultimately ceases to descend
low enough to allow the plate p to come into contact with the ratchet wheel o,
and by this means the governing motion ceases to act upon the winding-on
screw during the time that the remaining portion of the cop is being formed
or built. To the wheel m on the screw k may be attached one-half of a catch
box, the other half of which is connected to the shaft by a key; this catch box
is latched in gear during the formation of the cop bottom, and when the
cop bottom is finished the latch is released by the copping faller or other
equivalent, and a spring separates the halves of the catch box; the wheel or
pulley m during the remainder of the time of building the cop runs loose on
the grooved-end of the shaft k.
Another part of our Invention consists in driving the screw shaft k by a
wheel and pinion, the latter being connected to the wheel or grooved pulley n
round which the chain or band from the radial arm passes, thus giving a
slower motion to the screw and shaft k with the ratchet wheel o. This
modification of our improved governing motion is shown in Figures 5 and 6,
of Sheet 2, and as many of the parts in these views are similar to those in
Figures 1 and 2, they are marked with corresponding letters of reference; in
this arrangement the wheel m instead of being on the screw and shaft k is
mounted on a stud fixed in the carriage square, and to the boss of the

page_text: wheel m is fixed the pinion m' gearing into and driving the wheel m², which
is connected by a key to the grooved end of the shaft k, by this means a
coarser pitched screw may be used. At the commencement of a set of cops
the operator by turning the screw h brings the nut of the quadrant screw near
to the fulcrum stud g of the radial arm f, and the chain n gives motion to the
screw h to screw it out of the nut 7 until the ratchet wheel o comes under the
level part of the inclined plate p. When in this position as soon as the
tension of the yarn is a little in excess the lever q is lowered, and the plate p
catches one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel o, and prevents its revolving until
the excess of tension or winding of the yarn on the spindles is relieved. In
proportion as the bottom of the cop is formed the ratchet wheel o is gradually
moved towards the nut l, and the lever q has to be lowered more before the
plate pacts on the ratchet wheel, thereby reducing the action on the screw h
in accordance with the increasing size of the bottom of the cop. The shape
of the inclined plate p can be altered and its position varied by the slot and
set screw shewn in Figure 1 and 6.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described two con-
venient arrangements of parts for carrying the same into operation, we wish
to remark that we do not intend to limit ourselves to the details given; but
what we do claim is,,-
The general combination and arrangement of the parts shewn in Figures 1,
2, 5, and 6 for governing the motion of the spindles, as shewn and described.
And, secondly, the combination of the inclined plate p and ratchet wheel o
with the parts in connection therewith for arresting the motion of the
chain n, or, the band by which the nut of the screw in the radial arm is
raised.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Dobson, have hereto set my
Ai Trento sighth dox of Tanuary One thousand eight