IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES POR SPINNING AND DOUBLING
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Oldfield, of the Firm of Messieurs Oddy
and Oldfield, of the Adelphi Iron Works, Salford, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Makers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-ACTING MULES POR SPINNING AND DOUBLING;"
.
Sealed the 8th April 1862, and dated the 21st October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Oldfield at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his 'Petition, on the 21st
October 1861.
I, EDWARD OLDFIELD, of the Firm of Messieurs Oddy and Oldfield, of the
Adelphi Iron. Works, Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELPLACTING MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING," to be as follows:-
The nature of the first part of this Invention consists in an improved com-
bination of parts for effecting the first and second changes in the position of
the long lever which is connected to the cam shaft. The outer end of the
long lever is supported by a vertical lever, which is acted upon when the
carriage is nearly out by a stud on the carriage connected to the faller lock;
this stud coming against the vertical lever effects the first change. The

page_text: second change is effected when the faller is locked by the said vertical lever,
which is acted upon by a spring following the stud above referred to, and
allowing the long lever to drop on to the lower notch of the said long lever.
By this means the long lever can never slip through two changes, except at the
times required.
The second part of this Invention consists in an improved arrangement
of parts for tightening the backing-off chain; this is effected by a vertical
lever with an inclined slot connected to the copping motion and faller lock;
the stud fitting in the inclined slot is fixed in another lever in which is a stud
for a pulley, around which the backing-off chain passes; as the lever connected
to the faller motion lowers, the stud fitting in the inclined slot is drawn back,
*thereby moving the pulley in the required direction for tightening the backing-
⚫off chain.
The third part of this Invention consists in an improved combination of
parts for preventing the rise of the faller until the spindles are turned round
to coil the yarn up the spindles, thereby preventing snarls. To the drum or
tin roller shaft is attached a pinion gearing in a wheel loose on a stud in the
carriage:; on the boss of the bracket carrying this stud is a friction clip,
similar to those employed for backing off or winding on in the mules known
as Roberts' self-actors; this friction clip acts on a catch projecting from a lever
connected by a link to the faller shaft. When the faller is unlocked, the rise
of the faller acting on the link throws the catch into gear with the wheel
driven by the pinion, thereby preventing the faller rising excepting at the
proper speed for coiling the yarn on the spindles.
The fourth part of this Invention consists in the application of an improved
friction apparatus to the bevel wheel on the scroll shaft to prevent injury to
the drawing-in band.
Hitherto the friction apparatus bas been made to drive the scroll by which
the carriage is drawn in; now, my improvements consist in retaining the clutch
box; by which the carriage is drawn in, and in connecting the bevel wheel to
the scroll shaft by a friction box, so that in case of an accident or mischange,
the friction box slips and allows the wheel to turn loose on the shaft, thus
preventing the breaking of the drawing-in bands.
.
The above details may be varied or modified, according to the peculiar con-
struction of the mules to which they are applied.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Oldfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
OLDFIELD, of the Firm of Messieurs Oddy and Oldfield, of the Adelphi Iron
Works, Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty. Queen. Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Oldfield, Her special license that I, the said Edward Oldfield,.my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Oldfield, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING
MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said. Edward Oldfield, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Edward Oldfield, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be perforined,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following. state-
ment (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in an improved combination
of parts for effecting the first and second changes in the position of the long
lever, which is connected to the cam shaft, as in the mules known as Roberts'
self-actors. The outer end of the long lever is supported by a vertical lever,
which is acted upon when the carriage is nearly out by a stud on the carriage
connected to the faller lock, this stud coming against the vertical lever effects
the first change. The second change is effected when the faller is locked, by
the said vertical lever, which is acted upon by a spring, following the stud
above referred to, and allowing the long lever to drop on to the lower notch of

page_text: the said long lever. By this means the long lever can never slip through two
changes, except at the times required.
The second part of my Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
parts for tightening the backing-off chain; this is effected by a vertical lever
with an inclined slot connected to the copping motion and faller lock. The
stud fitting in the inclined slot is fixed in another lever, in which is a stud for
a pulley, around which the backing-off chain passes'; as the lever connected to
the faller motion lowers, the stud fitting in the inclined slot is drawn back,
thereby moving the pulley in the required direction for tightening the backing-
off chain..
The third part of this Invention consists in an improved combination of
parts for preventing the rise of the faller until the spindles are turned round
to coil the yarn up the spindles, thereby preventing snarls. To the drum or
tin roller shaft is attached a pinion gearing in a wheel loose on a stud in the
carriage; on the boss of the bracket carrying this stud is a friction clip, similar
to those employed for backing off or winding on in the mules known as
Roberts' self-actors; this friction clip acts on a catch projecting from a lever
connected by a link to the faller shaft. When the faller is unlocked, the rise
of the faller acting on the link throws the catch into gear with the wheel
driven by the pinion, thereby preventing the faller rising excepting at the proper
speed for coiling the yarn on the spindles.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood, 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 of part of a mule headstock of the usual construction,
to, which my improvements are applied; Fig. 2 is a plan, and Fig. 3 an end
view, of part of the same.. a, a, are the frames of the headstock, and the
long lever which is hinged to the stud 6', bolted to one of the frame sides a ;
one end of the long lever is provided with a projection 6%, and a notch or
recess b; the other end of the long lever is connected in the usual manner to
the cam shaft, which is not shewn in the Drawing, as it is well understood.
The catch b² is supported while the, carriage is going out by the vertical lever c,
furnished with a shoulder c', and a. side projection c², seen in Fig. 3. The
vertical lever c is jointed to the stud c³, and to it is cast an arm c, to which
one end of the spring c is fixed, the other end being attached to the 3
bracket fixed to the framing; d is the retaining catch jointed to the
framing and held up against a stop by the spring d', as usual; e is the car-
riage square; e¹, a cross. rail connecting the two carriages; f is the faller shaft,

page_text: and the counterfaller shaft; g, the tin roller shaft, to which the backing-off
eccentric gis connected, as usual; g is the backing-off chain, and h the
copping motion lever. The remainder of the copping motion and the other
parts of the carriage are made in the usual manner. The backing-off chain
is connected; as in mules of the ordinary.construction, to the eccentric g¹, and
after passing around the pulley g³, it is secured to the segment f, fixed to the
faller shaft.f; the stud of the pulley g is fixed in the lever i, which is sup-
ported on a stud fixed to a bracket attached to the carriage square e; in the
lever i is fixed a stud i, taking into an inclined slot in the vertical lever j, the
lower part of which is jointed to the copping motion lever h; to the lever j is
fixed the adjustable stud j', which when the carriage is nearly. out comes
against the lever c; the angle piece 53, for unlocking the fallers in the usual
manner, is also secured to the lever j. To the faller shaft f is fixed the
curved lever, to which is suspended the faller lock 1, the lower part of:
which has a projection fitting in a vertical slot in the bracket e fixed to the
carriage, square e.
The Drawing represents the various parts above enumerated in the positions
they occupy when the carriage is going out, and when the faller wire is raised:
to the top of the spindles. The mode of operation is as follows:-When the
carriage arrives very near the end of its stretch, the study comes in contact.
with the vertical lever c, and pushes it into the position shewn by dotted lines,
or so far that the shoulder c¹ slips from under the projection 6 of the long
lever b, which then drops until the end of the long lever 6 rests upon the side
projection c³, thus effecting the first change. The retaining catch d at this
time holds the carriage while the twist is put in the yarn. As soon as the
faller is depressed, the curved lever f³ raises the faller lock 7, until the shoulder.
of the lever j, (which is at all times held against the faller lock by the tension
of the backing-off chain g³,) slips under the faller lock 1; the stud¹ is thus
moved in the contrary direction to that in which it was before moving, and
the spring c, acting on the end of the lever c, compels it to follow the motion
of the stud; the side projection c³ then slips from under the end of the long
lever b, which again drops until the bottom of the recess & bears upon the. side
projection, thus effecting the second change. I wish to remark that various
modifications may be made in the construction of the parts for effecting this
object, as the lever c may be dispensed with, and a slide or other equivalent
substituted instead. The various parts remain in the positions described,
until the carriage returns towards the beam, when the usual changes take place
as in mules of the present construction. By means of these improvements the
long lever can never slip through two changes except at the times required,

page_text: When a set of cops is com-
thereby preventing the breaking of the yarn.
menced, the stud is near the bottom of the slot in the lever j, and the chain g²
is then slack, but as the building of the cops proceeds, the lever j gradually
lowers, and in so doing the inclined slot acting on the stud gradually
tightens the backing-off chain; by this arrangement the tightening pulley g³
is brought back to its original position when the full cops have been doffed.
My improved combination of machinery for preventing the rise of the faller
until the spindles are turned round to coil the yarn up the spindles, consists
of the following parts:-To the shaft g of the drum' or.tin roller, by which the
spindles are driven, is fixed the pinion n' gearing into a wheel o; which is loose
on the stud o¹, fixed to a bracket bolted to the carriage square e; on the
boss of this bracket is the friction clip 02, which is similar to those em-
ployed for backing off or winding on in the mules known as Roberts' self-
actors. This clip acts on a catch o³ jointed to the lever o', which is loose
on the boss of the bracket; to the faller shaft f is fixed the lever f, and this
lever is connected by the link p to the lever of. When the carriage is up at
the roller beam, and the faller is unlocked, the rising of the faller, acting on
the link p, throws the catch o³ into gear with the wheel o, which being driven
by the pinion n' on the tin drum shaft g, regulates the rise of the faller
at the proper speed for coiling the yarn on to the spindles, and thereby
prevents snarls..
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim,-
First, the improved combination of parts shewn and described for effecting
the first and second changes in the position of the long lever which is connected
to the cam shaft.
Secondly, the improved combination of parts for tightening the backing-
off chain, as shewn and described.
And, thirdly, the improved combination of parts for preventing the rise of
the faller until the spindles are turned round to coil the yarn up them.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Oldfield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
EDWARD OLDFIELD. (L.S.)