IMPROVED MULES OR MACHINERY TO BE USED IN SPINNING."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Brierly, of Chorley, in the County of Lan-
caster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MULES OR
MACHINERY TO BE USED IN SPINNING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Brierly at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th April
1857.
I, HENRY BRIERLY, of Chorley, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MULES OR MACHINERY TO BE USED IN SPINNING," to be as follows:--
This Invention has reference to that class of machines known by the name
of "mules." The first part of the Invention consists of a certain combination
and arrangement of mechanism for producing the slow movement of the
carriage during the operation of stretching the yarn in what is termed the
after-draught or second stretch. For this purpose I employ an arrangement
of wheels, by means of which motion is communicated to the drawing rollers
and carriage of the mule, and certain of which wheels are so arranged as to
travel round others, while also turning on their own centres. The motion is
in the first instance produced by the compound action of all the wheels
employed; but when the movement of the rollers ceases by the disengagement
of a clutch box or other suitable means, part of these wheels becomes stationary.
and the motion of the carriage is then continued and completed by the action
of that part of the arrangement which causes certain of the wheels to travel
round others while also revolving on their centres, and by means of which a
slow motion is produced in the carriage, the ratio of which motion may be

page_text: varied, by employing wheels of different dimensions. This part of the Inven-
tion is applicable both to hand and self-acting mules.
The second part of this Invention has reference to the self-acting mule, and
consists of an improved combination and arrangement of mechanism, for the
purpose of governing and controlling the operation termed winding-on, by the
application of which the machine is made to slacken or reduce the amount of
motion given to the spindle in winding up the yarn should the tension become
too great, or on the other hand to tighten or increase the motion should it
become too slack, and thus be in danger of leaving "snarls" in the yarn from
its being insufficiently wound up. To effect this object, I employ a ratchet or
other wheel which is so placed as to travel to and fro with the carriage. This
wheel comes into gear with a rack or a series of catches fixed to the floor or
framing near the back part of the machine, so that as the carriage performs
the latter part of the "running in" the wheel is made to revolve. Connected
with this wheel are clutch boxes operated upon by levers actuated by the
fallers, and which act upon gearing connected to. the regulating part of the
winding-on apparatus, in such manner that if the yarn is being wound up too
tight, the consequent depression of the counter faller gears one of the clutch
'boxes and causes the regulating screw or other adjusting part of the winding-
on apparatus to be turned forward, and thereby reduce the motion of spindles;
and on the contrary should the winding-on become too slack the opposite
catch or clutch box is brought into action by the counter faller rising too high,
and the gearing connected to the regulating screw is thereby turned the reverse
way and the winding-on tightened.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Brierly in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BRIERLY, of Chorley, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Brierly, Her especial license, that I, the said Henry Brierly,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry

page_text: Brierly, 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 "IMPROVED MULES OR
MACHINERY TO BE USED IN SPINNING," upon the condition, amongst others, that
T, the said Henry Brierly, 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 Henry Brierly, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement and accompanying Drawings that is to say:
The first part of this Invention consists of a certain combination and
arrangement of mechanism for producing that movement of hand and self-
acting mule carriages termed the second stretch or after draught. This part
of the Invention is illustrated at Fig. 1 in the annexed Sheet of Drawings,.
where 1 represents the framing of a mule headstock; 2, the driving or "rim"
shaft; 3, a spur wheel, on that shaft which gives motion by means of an
intermediate wheel 4 to the wheel 5, and the latter to wheel 6, these wheels
revolving in the directions indicated by the arrows upon them. Wheel 5 is
loose upon a short shaft, which by means of bevil wheels at 10" gives motion
to the rollers, and attached to wheel 5 is part of a clutch box 18, the other
part of which slides upon a disc or feather in the usual manner, so that thereby
the shaft may be made to revolve when required. Fast upon this short shaft
is a wheel 10, which geers into an intermediate wheel 11, and by that gives
motion to wheel 12, the latter revolving in the contrary direction to wheel 6.
Both these wheels are loose upon a short shaft 14, supported by suitable
bearings, and fast upon the shaft a small spur wheel 9. There is also a
second clutch box 15 on this shaft, one part of which has attached to its boss
a small bevil wheel 15ª, geering into a bevil 16, on the drawing-out shaft of
the mule, upon which are the usual drawing-out scrolls, which work the
carriage by bands in the customary manner. The other part of clutch box 15,
is capable of sliding in and out of gear, and acts upon a feather or disc on
the shaft, the part 15ª being loose thereon. Attached to wheel 12 is the
smaller spur 13, geering into another small wheel 7, this last being fixed
upon one end of a small shaft revolving in a boss cast in one of the arms of

page_text: wheel 6, and at the other end thereof is the wheel 8 geering into the wheel 9
before mentioned, the latter (being as aforesaid) fast on the shaft 14, while
wheels 12 (with the wheel 13) and 6 are loose. When the two clutch boxes
18 and 15 are both in geer, and the shaft 2 is in motion, the several
wheels revolve in the directions indicated. The ordinary rollers receive
direct motion by the shaft and wheels 10ª. The carriage receives its first
motion from the action of the whole of the parts above described, during
which wheels 12 and 6 are revolving in opposite directions. Wheels 7 and 8
are carried round with wheel 6, besides revolving upon their own centres, the
wheel 13 giving motion to wheel 7, and thereby to wheel 8, which again com-
municates motion to the shaft 14, and consequently to the carriage. When
the rollers have delivered the required length of material, and the second stretch
is to be produced, the clutch box 18 is disengaged and the movement of the
wheels and shaft 10, 10%, and rollers immediately ceases; but the wheel 10
ceasing to revolve, the wheel 12 with its attached pinion 13 stops also, and
the motion of the carriage is then continued and completed by the wheel 3
continuing to drive wheels 5 and 6, the wheel 7 being now made to revolve by
travelling round wheel 13 (which is now stationary), and thus driving the
wheels 8 and 9, and the shaft 14, until the carriage has receded the requisite
distance, when the clutch box 15 being disengaged, the movement of the
carriage ceases also. The first part of the movement of the carriage is
quicker than the last, because when the wheel 12 and its pinion 13 are
revolving in the direction indicated, the latter communicates a much greater
amount of motion to the wheel 7, and the parts driven thereby, than when
wheel 13 is standing still after the disengagement of the rollers, and the
wheel 7 is only turned by being carried round wheel 13. The difference
between the speeds of the first and second stretch may be regulated in different
ways, as by altering the size of the wheel 10, or by varying the sizes of the
wheels 7 and 13, or the wheels 8 and 9. A good proportion for general
purposes may be obtained, in the 4 wheels last mentioned, by making 8
and 9 of the same diameter, and 7 about one-eighth or one-tenth less than 13;
but the different counts of yarn require different arrangements of these speeds,
which must be regulated accordingly, the proportion given above being
sufficiently approximative to guide a practical man to the required result.
The sizes of the other wheels are capable of great variation. The two clutch
boxes 18 and 15 may be disengaged when required, and again put into gecr
simultaneously when the carriage runs in by any of the usual and well known
means employed for similar purposes, nothing different in this respect being
required beyond what is already known and in use. The action of the parts

page_text: in producing the second stretch is found to have some tendency to turn the
drawing rollers backwards, and in order to prevent this a ratchet wheel may
be placed upon the front roller as shewn at 10 b, with a catch taking therein,
by which means any backward movement of the rollers is prevented.
<<
I
The second part of this Invention has reference to the operation termed
governing" the winding-on motion of self-acting mules. For this purpose
use a wheel 35 (see Figures 1 and 2 and 3), placed loose upon a short shaft
54, which works in suitable bearings underneath the carriage, and which geers
into a rack fixed to the floor or framing, so that as the carriage moves back-
wards and forwards, the wheel revolves on its centre. Attached to this wheel
are clutch boxes 36, and 37 (see Fig. 2, which is a front elevation, and Fig. 3
which is a plan view), the corresponding parts of which clutches are 38 and 39;
38 slides upon a key on the shaft, and to 39 is attached the small spur wheel 42.
There is a spindle 43 passing from back to front of the carriage, and supported
by bearings attached thereto, and upon this are two arms 45 and 46, which
bear up the horizontal parts of the weighted levers 40 and 41. These levers
are placed upon pivots in the carriage, and have projections downwards, as
shewn, which take into the sliding parts of the catch boxes. The tendency of
these levers is evidently to geer the clutch boxes, and they are restrained
from doing so except at proper intervals by the arms 45, 46 aforesaid, on the
spindle 43, on the front end of which is also the lever 44 (Fig. 2), also
weighted and furnished with a small pulley round which the chain 47 passes,
the two ends of which are severally attached to two short arms, upon the faller
rods 48 and 49, in the manner already known and in use. The wheel 42 is
made wider than usual, for the purpose of allowing it to
distance to and fro on the shaft along with the part of the clutch box, to
which it is attached, without coming out of geer with the larger wheel 50
upon which it operates. This wheel 50 is fixed upon a second short shaft
also supported by bearings attached to the carriage, and upon it is also fixed a
wheel 51, geering into an intermediate wheel 52, which latter again gives
motion when required to the wheel 53, fixed upon the shaft 54. There is a pair
of bevil wheels 55, one of which is keyed on shaft 54, and the other upon a
small shaft supported by the arm or link 29, one end of which arm or link
works upon the extended boss of one of the bearings of shaft 54 (see Figures
2 and 3) as a fulcrum, and the other end takes upon a stud in the lower end
of the radial arm or lever 28, the fulcrum of which is 28%, and which is
furnished with a regulating screw in the usual manner from a nut, upon
which proceeds the winding-on chain 31 round pullies 32 and 33, to the
winding-on drum 34 in the carriage. The alternate motion of the carriage
traverse a short

page_text: here causes the arm or link 29 to work the lower end of the radial arm through
an arc of a circle, as indicated by the dotted line. When the formation
of a cop is commencing, the nut upon the regulating screw is at or near the
fulcrum of the arm 28°, and the parts herein-before described are in positions
similar to those indicated in the Figures during the operation of spinning. But
when the carriage is running in, if the operation of winding-on should be too
tight, the lever 44 is let down by the extra depression of the counter faller;
and allows the box 38, 36, to pass into geer, and the revolving of wheel 35
then turns. shaft 54, and by means of the wheels 55, and those at the foot of
the radial arm, turns the regulating screw and slackens the motion of the
spindles. If on the other hand the winding-on should be too slack, the
counter faller rising above the proper height pulls up the end of the lever 44,
and thereby allows the arm 46 to permit the lever 41 to geer the opposite
clutch box 37, 39, when the revolving of wheel 35 will turn wheel 42, and this
by means of wheels 50, 51, 52, and 53, will communicate a reverse motion to
the shaft 54 to that given by the action of the clutch 38, 36, and the regulating
screw of the radial arm will consequently be turned backwards, and the winding-
on tightened.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
it is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not here claim as
my Invention all the several parts herein-before described and shewn, taken in
and by themselves; and therefore to define and point out what is here claimed,.
I hereby declare that I confine my claims to the following particulars, viz.:-
I claim as my Invention the mechanical combination and arrangement, herein-
before described and shewn, for the purpose of producing that motion of the
mule carriage termed the second stretch or after-draught, or any combination
or arrangement substantially the same, and more especially the employment
for this purpose of the four spur wheels 7, 8, 9, and 13, shewn and described
by reference to Figure 1.
I also claim as of my Invention, the mechanical combination and arrange-
ment, herein-before described and shewn, for the purpose of regulating the
operation of winding-on.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Brierly, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
HENRY BRIERLY. (L.S.)