IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 20th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 16th Aug., 1887.
[Partly communicated from abroad by ROBERT GUDGEON, of Verviers, Belgium,
Engineer, and is partly his own Invention.]
I, JOHN CLEGG, of the firm of Asa Lees and Coy. Limited, of Oldham in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES to be as follows:-
This invention is particularly applicable to self-acting mules for spinning irregular
and short fibres where the drawing out of the roving is produced by the carriage and
not by rollers, and where it is desirable to run the spindles at variable speeds at
different positions of the Carriage during the draw.
In most mules of this kind two different speeds are used, in some also a spindle
stop motion and occasionally, in place of the latter, a third speed, the three speeds
being generally produced by two or three belts from the counter shaft.
This invention consists in an arrangement for obtaining the three speeds without
using any additional belt beyond the ordinary driving belt. In this arrangement the
spindle stop motion can at any time be brought into motion in place of the third
or slowest speed.
In carrying out this invention I fix the ordinary tin roller pulley loose on its shaft
as is now customary in mules with a spindle stop motion; this pulley is driven
as usual by a friction clutch fitted on a feather-key in the shaft and controlled
by the spindle stop motion lever.
A convenient arrangement of mechanism is as follows:-
To the boss of the tin roller pulley I secure a pinion which geers into a wheel
keyed to a stud supported in a bearing on the frame; to the other end of this stud is
a pinion which gears into a wheel also loose on the roller shaft, but coupled to
it by means of a click or ratchet motion which is thrown out of gear by a sliding cone
actuated from the spindle stop motion lever.

page_text: When the inule begins its outward run the spindle stop motion lever holds the
friction clutch out of the tin roller pulley as well as the cone out of the slow motion
wheel, which wheel thus drives the roller shaft and spindles slowly by the train of
wheels described, until the spindle stop motion lever acted upon by an adjustable catch
on a rod or shaft secured to the frame, allows the friction clutch to move into gear
with the tin roller pulley, and releases the slow motion wheel thus changing the speed
from the slowest to the ordinary slow speed, the further change to the quickest
spindle speed being made in the usual manner.
To disconnect the slowest speed it is only necessary to remove the pinion which
gears into and drives the slow motion wheel and the tin roller shaft.
H. B. BARLOW,
Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Self Acting Mules.
I JOHN CLEGG of the firm of Asa Lees and Company Limited of Oldham in the
County of Lancaster Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF ACTING MULES, which Invention has been partly
communicated to me from abroad by Robert Gudgeon of Verviers Belgium
Engineer and is partly my own 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 is particularly applicable to self-acting mules for spinning irregular
and short fibres where the drawing out of the roving is produced by the carriage and
not by rollers and where it is desirable to run the spindles at variable speeds at
different positions of the carriage during the draw.
In most mules of this kind two different speeds are used in some also a spindle stop
motion and occasionally in place of the latter a third speed the three speeds being
generally produced by two or three belts from the countershaft.
This invention consists in an arrangement for obtaining the three speeds without
using any additional belt beyond the ordinary driving belt. In this arrangement
the spindle stop motion can at any time be brought into action in place of the third
or slowest speed.
In carrying out this Invention I fit the ordinary tin roller pulley loose on its shaft
as is now customary in mules with a spindle stop motion; this pulley is driven
as usual by a friction clutch fitted on a feather key in the shaft and controlled by the
spindle stop motion lever.
And in order that this Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into

page_text: effect I will describe the accompanying three Sheets of Drawings reference being had
to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation Fig. 2 a plan in section of part of a mule fitted with
a spindle stop motion to which my improvements are applied and Figs. 3 and 4 are
an end elevation and side elevation respectively of the latch lever and other mechanism
for operating the slowest motion.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.
a is part of the mule frame and 6 the carriage c the tin roller on the shaft c¹
on which is mounted loosely the ordinary band-pulley d ; d' is a friction clutch fitted
and free to slide on a feather key in the shaft c¹ as usual; a latch lever e is pivoted
at e to the ordinary spindle stop motion lever of pivoted at f₁ to a bracket f³ bolted
to the carriage the lever f is slotted and carries two bowls which lie in a groove in
the boss of the clutch d¹ to move it along the shaft c¹. To the boss of the band
pulley d is keyed a spur pinion d2 gearing into a wheel secured to a short shaft gl
which carries a pinion gearing into a wheel for giving the slowest speed to the
spindles. The wheel i has clutch teeth ¹ on one face it is loose on the shaft c¹ and
has a long boss supported in a bearing b¹ on the carriage; keyed to the shaft c¹ is a
disc or wheel with one or more recesses on its periphery a sliding clutch k with
teeth and projections 2 which are always in the recesses in the wheel; is operated
by a lever to bring it into or out of gear with the wheel i. The free end of the latch
lever e is locked upon a stud 2 bolted to the carriage b to hold the spindle stop
motion lever back and the pulley d and clutch d' out of gear when the carriage
begins its outward run; a stationary shaft supported in bearings m m¹ bolted to
the frame a carries an adjustable stop piece n with inclined surfaces; when the
carriage has run out a certain distance the latch lever e is raised by the piece n so as
to unlatch its end from the catch 62 and thus release the lever which allows the
clutch d' aided by a spiral spring e³ to move into gear with the pulley d as shown in
Figs. 1 and 2 and by means of a connecting rod o and lever slides the clutch
P.
away from and out of gear with the teeth on the wheel i by this action the train of
wheels d2 g h and i revolve independently of the shaft e¹ which is driven direct from
the pulley d at the second or ordinary slow speed.
The carriage runs in as usual with the gearing as shown on arriving at the beam
or headstock the upper part of the spindle stop motion lever f comes against a
projection m² on the bracket m¹ this forces the lever f back and allows the lever e to
drop and latch on to the stud 62; this movement of the upper end of the lever f
disengages the clutch d'from the wheel d and slides by the rods o and p the sliding
clutch into gear with the teeth on the wheel i the revolving motion of the loose
wheel d is thus carried by the train of wheels ď² g h and i through the disc j to the
tin roller c and gives it the slowest speed.
The change from the slowest speed to the second or ordinary slow speed can
be readily adjusted by simply moving and fixing the stop piece n in the required
position on the shaft /."
I have described my Invention as applied to a mule for driving the spindles at three
speeds if desirable to dispense with the slowest speed I remove either of the carrier
wheels g or when the spindle stop motion is governed and the ordinary slow
speed is driven as usual by the band pulley d.
In Figs. 3 and 4 the clutch d¹ is shown out of gear with the band pulley d and the
latch lever e is locked on to the catch 2 which is the position these parts occupy when
the carriage begins its outward run, the change from the slowest to the ordinary
slow speed being effected by the lever e coming against and rising on the adjustable
stop piece n which unlatches its end from the catch 62 thus releasing the spindle stop
motion lever fand bringing the clutch d¹ into gear with the wheel d at the same time
sliding the clutch k out of gear with the wheel i.
The three speeds can be applied to a mule with a single belt and two speed driving
arrangements as described in the. Specification to Letters Patent granted to me
on the 16th day of March 1885 No. 3363 my improvements being particularly
applicable for spinning wool and other irregular and short fibres.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is―
1. The combination with a train of wheels such as the gears d2 g h and i driven
preferably from the band pulley on the tin roller shaft of a clutch or catch box and
suitable connections for transmitting an additional slow speed from the wheel i
or its equivalent to the tin roller and spindles substantially as and for the purposes
herein described.
2. Transmitting an additional slow or third speed to the tin roller and spindles of
a mule provided with a spindle stop motion by means of the mechanism herein
described and shown or any mere mechanical equivalent thereof.
3. The combination with a clutch or catch box for gearing with the band pulley
on the tin roller shaft of operating mechanism and a clutch or catch box for
transmitting an additional or third speed to the tin roller and spindles.
4. The use and application of a latch lever such as e in combination with a
catch and an adjustable stop or riser n substantially as and for the purposes herein
set forth.
5. The construction combination and arrangement of parts constituting the
improved mechanism as applied to self acting mules substantially as and for the
purposes herein set forth.