Improvements in Self-acting Spinning Mules.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 12th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 22nd Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Self-acting Spinning Mules.
We, HENRY HIBBERT, Cotton Mill Manager, RICHARD FAWCETT, Spinning
Master, and JOHN WORTHINGTON, Cotton Mill Mechanic, all of The Fylde
Road Mill, Preston, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows
This invention has reference to the copping-motions of self-acting spinning
mules and has for its object to apply a varying tension to the yarn during the
winding on of the cop in such manner that the tension may be greatest when
winding on the largest diameter of the cop and he gradually decreased until
the winding-on reaches the point or smallest diameter of the cop.
In carrying out our invention we dispense with most of the weights usually
employed for holding up the "stripping" or "counter-faller" wire and substitute
therefor a helical spring secured at its upper end to a bracket or finger projecting
outwardly from the counter-faller rod and at its lower end to the extremity of the
outwardly projecting arm of a bell-crank lever mounted on the end of a suitable
bracket or arm fastened to the front of the mule carriage the vertical arm of the
bell-crank lever hanging downwardly and carrying a friction bowl which meets
the back of the upper part of a centrally fulcrummed vertically arranged swing
lever whose lower end is acted upon as hereinafter described. Below the swing
lever and parallel with the mule headstock we arrange a long arm pivoted at
its inner end to a suitable bracket fastened on the floor and from the side
of the long arm there projects a stud which meets the inclined face of a vertical
plate carried on a horizontal arm projecting from the side of a screw nut working
on a screw threaded spindle running parallel with the long arm the screw threaded
spindle being carried in a suitable bracket also fastened to the floor. On the outer
end of the screw threaded spindle is a ratchet wheel having a click or pawl so
arranged that at each outward stretch of the mule carriage a bent arm upon the
underside of the carriage actuates the pawl and thereby partially rotates the
ratchet wheel so that ultimately the nut moves gradually so much
the ratchet wheel as to cause a finger projecting from the said nut to lift or
move the click or pawl clear of the ratchet wheel and allow the ratchet wheel to
remain stationary as hereinafter mentioned.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
nearer
At the commencement of a fresh set of cops on the bare spindles the ratchet
wheel is wound back until the stud on the long pivoted arm has worked down to
the bottom of the inclined plate carried by the screw-nut whereupon the long arm
will have assumed a horizontal position. The mule having been started the lower
end of the swing lever at the front of the carriage rests upon the upper face of
the long arm below and assumes a diagonal position relatively thereto and whilst
moving outwardly with the carriage is inoperative. When the carriage has reached
the end of its stretch the lower end of the swing lever will have passed beyond
the outer end of the long arm the swing lever thereupon assuming a more or less
vertical position the rear part of the upper end of the said lever resting against
the friction bowl on the lower arm of the bell crank lever. Meanwhile the
ratchet wheel will by the actuation of the carriage on its click or pawl have
been partially moved round thus drawing the screw nut nearer to the said
ratchet wheel and causing the inclined plate to press against the stud on the
side of the long arm and thus partially raise the outer end of the said arm.
each succeeding stretch of the carriage the operation as above described is repeated
until the cop bottom has been fully formed and its maximum diameter attained by
At

page_text: which time the finger on the screw nut will have moved the click or pawl clear of
the ratchet wheel which along with the screw-nut inclined plate and long pivoted
arm will remain stationary until the cop is completed the outer end of the long arm
having meanwhile been gradually raised until it now assumes an inclined position.
The upper face of the long pivotted arm at its outer or free end is sloped off and
the bottom of the lower arm of the swing lever is rounded to facilitate the sliding
up of the foot of the said lever on to the face of the long arm in its raised or
inclined position. As the carriage gradually recedes the foot of the swing lever
first. slides up to the highest point of the inclined long arm where it exerts its
greatest action upon the bell-cranked lever and draws the helical spring to its
greatest tension and by that time the "copping" faller wire has reached the
greatest diameter of the cop the tension on the spring and therefore the upward
pressure of the counter-faller wire on the yarn gradually decreasing as the swing
lever travels further and further down the inclined long arm until at length the
foot of the swing lever passes clear of the inner end of the long arm ready for the
next outward stretch of the mule carriage.
Dated this 10th day of November 1891.
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Self-acting Spinning Mules.
HENRY HIBBERT, Cotton Mill Manager, RICHARD FAWCETT, Spinning
Master, and JOHN WORTHINGTON, Cotton Mill Mechanic, all of The Fylde
Road Mill, Preston, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to the copping-motions of self-acting spinning
mules and has for its object to apply a varying tension to the yarn during the
winding-on of the cop in such manner that the tension may be greatest when
winding on the largest diameter of the cop and be gradually decreased until
the winding-on reaches the point or smallest diameter of the cop.
6
"
In carrying out our invention we dispense with most of the weights usually
employed for holding up the "stripping" or counter-faller wire and substitute
therefor a helical spring secured at its upper end to a bracket or finger projecting
outwardly from the counter-faller rod and at its lower end to the extremity of the
outwardly projecting arm of a bell-crank lever mounted on the end of a suitable
bracket or arm fastened to the front of the mule carriage the vertical arm of the
bell-crank lever hanging downwardly and carrying a friction bowl which meets the
back of the upper part of a centrally fulcrummed vertically arranged swing lever
whose lower end is acted upon as hereinafter described. Below the swing lever
and parallel with the mule headstock we arrange a long arm pivotted at its inner
end to a suitable bracket fastened on the floor and from the side of the long arm
there projects a stud which meets the inclined face of a vertical plate carried on a
horizontal arm projecting from the side of a screw nut working on a screw-threaded
spindle running parallel with the long arm the screw-threaded spindle being
carried in a suitable bracket also fastened to the floor. On the outer end of the
screw-threaded spindle is a ratchet wheel having a click or pawl so arranged that
at each outward stretch of the mule carriage a bent arm upon the underside of
the carriage actuates the pawl and thereby partially rotates the ratchet wheel so
that ultimately the nut moves gradually so much nearer to (or further from-
according to the arrangement of the incline on the vertical plate herein before
mentioned) the ratchet wheel as to cause a finger projecting from the said nut

page_text: to lift or move the click or pawl clear of the ratchet wheel and allow the ratchet
wheel to remain stationary as hereinbefore mentioned.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 illustrates the arrangement of the improved apparatus as above described
in side view;
Fig. 2 shews part of the same in plan view; and
Fig. 3 part of the same in end view.
1 represents a cop (partially formed) with the yarn 2 being wound on at its
smallest diameter. 3 is the stripping or counter-faller arm or "sickle"; 4 the
counter-faller rod; 5 the copping faller arm or "sickle"; 6 a projecting bracket
or finger fastened to the counter-faller rod 4; 7 a helical spring (in lieu of the
usual weights) fastened at its upper end to the finger 6 and at its lower end to the
outwardly projecting arm of the bell-crank lever 8 mounted on the arm 9 of
the bracket 10 fastened to the front of the mule carriage 11. 12 is a bowl mounted
on a stud on the hanging down arm of the bell crank lever 8 and 13 the vertically
arranged swing lever fulcrummed at 14 to the arm 15 of the bracket 10. The
lower end of the swing lever 13 may be conveniently arranged with an adjustable
sliding shoe such as 16 for facility of adjustment. 17 is the long arm pivotted at
its inner end to the bracket 18 fastened to the floor 19. 20 is a stud fastened to
the side of the long arm 17 the said stud resting on the inclined face of the vertical
plate 21 carried on the horizontal arm 22 projecting from the side of the screw
nut 23 on the screw-threaded spindle 24 the latter being carried in the stand or
pillar 25 of the bracket 26 the said bracket being also fastened to the floor 19.
27 is the ratchet wheel on the outer end of the spindle 24 having the click or
pawl 28 hanging from one end of the pivotted lever 29 mounted on the stand 25
the other or free end of the said lever meeting the underside of the bent arm or
diagonal finger 30 at each outward stretch of the mule carriage and thus lifting
or operating the click or pawl 28. 31 is the bent finger which moves the click
or pawl clear of the ratchet wheel 27 when the nut 23 has moved the required
distance upon the spindle 24 so as to have raised the long pivotted arm 17 the
required height. The screw-threaded spindle may be rotated by hand in either
direction through the medium of a handle on the squared end 32 of the said
spindle 24.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
At the commencement of a fresh set of cops on the bare spindles the ratchet
wheel 27 is wound back until the stud 20 on the long pivotted arm 17 has worked
down to the bottom of the inclined plate 21 carried by the screw nut whereupon
the long arm will have assumed a horizontal position (see broken lines at Fig. 1).
The mule having been started the lower end 16 of the swing lever 13 at the front
of the carriage rests upon the upper face of the long arm 17 below and assumes a
diagonal position relatively thereto and whilst moving outwardly with the carriage
is inoperative. When the carriage has reached the end of its stretch the lower
end 16 of the swing lever 13 will have passed beyond the outer end of the long
arm 17 the swing lever 13 thereupon assuming a more or less vertical position the
rear part of the upper end of the said lever resting against the friction bowl 12 on
the lower part of the bell-crank lever 8 (see views to the right of Fig. 1 in solid
and broken lines of the varying positions and action of the swing lever 13 the
bell-crank lever 8 and the spring 7 when the long arm 17 is in its highest and
lowest positions respectively). Meanwhile the ratchet wheel 27 will by the
actuation of the carriage and the bent arm 30 on the lever 29 and click or
pawl 28 have been partially moved round thus moving the screw nut 23 further
from the said ratchet wheel and causing the inclined plate 21 to press against the
underside of the stud 20 and thus partially raise the outer end 33 of the long
arm 17.
At each succeeding stretch of the carriage the operation as above
described is repeated until the cop bottom has been fully formed and its maximum
diameter attained by which time the bent finger 31 (see also Fig. 3) connected to
the screw nut 23 will have moved the click or pawl 28 clear of the ratchet wheel 27

page_text: which along with the screw nut 23 inclined plate 21 and long pivotted arm 17
will remain stationary until.the cop is completed the outer end 33 of the long
arm 17 having meanwhile been gradually raised until it now assumes an inclined
or sloping position. The upper face of the long pivotted arm at its outer or free
end 33 is sloped off and the bottom of the lower arm of the swing. lever 13 is
rounded to facilitate the sliding up of the foot 16 of the said lever on to the face
of the long arm in its raised or inclined position. As the mule carriage gradually
recedes the foot 16 of the swing lever 13 first slides up to the highest point of the
inclined long arm 17 where it exerts its greatest action upon the bell-crank lever 8
and draws the helical spring 7 to its greatest tension and by that time the copping-
faller wire 3 has reached the greatest diameter of the cop the tension on the
spring 7 and therefore the upward pressure of the counter-faller wire 34 on the
yarn gradually decreasing as the swing lever 13 travels further and further down
the inclined face of the long arm 17 until at length the foot 16 of the swing lever
passes clear of the inner end 36 of the long arm 17 ready for the next outward
stretch of the mule carriage.
"
The apparatus consisting of the ratchet wheel 27 and attendant mechanism for
gradually raising the outer end of the long arm 17 during the formation of the cop
bottom as above described need not necessarily be employed although its use
especially when spinning fine numbers is desirable. When the said apparatus is
not employed the inner end of the arm 17 need not be pivotted and the outer end
of the said arm is set or fixed permanently at the required height in the first
instance the said long arm therefore remaining stationary at one uniform slope or
angle of inclination throughout the entire building of the cop.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In self-acting mules the employment of apparatus in which the action of a
lever such as 13 in conjunction with a sloping or inclined long arm such as 17
causes the upward pressure of the counter-faller wire on the yarn to be greatest
when winding-on the largest diameter of the cop and to be gradually decreased
until the winding-on reaches the point or smallest diameter of the cop in manner
substantially as hereinbefore described and shown in the accompanying drawings.
2. In combination with a long pivotted arm such as 17 for the purpose set forth
the use or employment of apparatus for gradually raising the free end of the said
long arm during the formation of the cop bottom constructed and operating sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described and shown in the drawings.
Dated this 12th day of September 1892.
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicants.