IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIATS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Higgins, of Salford, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, of the
same Place, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIATS"
Sealed the 13th November 1860, and dated the 15th May 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Higgins and
Thomas Schofield Whitworth at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 15th May 1860.
We, JAMES HIGGINS, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, and TнOMAS SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH, of the same Place, Manager,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The first part of our Invention relates to the doffer comb of the carding
engine. The part which acts upon the carded material we form of a thin
strip tightened in the direction of its length between arms extending from
a, vibrating shaft, on the other side of which shaft are also arms, between
which another strip is distended, so that the tendency of the comb to twist
the shaft is counteracted, and the apparatus is balanced.
The next part of our Invention relates to the slubbing or roving frame,
and consists in applying bushes to the pinion shafts, which bushes are of
cast iron or other suitable material so adapted as to be renewed at pleasure,

page_text: and constituting journals for running in the bearings. The bosses of the
pinions may constitute these bushes.
The next part of our Invention also refers to the slubbing or roving
frame, and congists in the application of a stationary tube or bolster for
supporting the spindle, around which the bobbin braid is placed, and which
may or may not constitute a bearing for the said braid. The lower end of
the bobbin is carried after the usual method; its upper end extends above
the tube, and has a bearing upon the spindle. The braid being caused to
rise and fall by the copping motion traverses the fixed tube, and curries
the bobbin with it,
The next part of our Invention relates to the mule of that construction
known as Sharp and Roberts', and has for its object the prevention of
snarls in the yarn.. This we accomplish by three motions. Firstly, the
shaft of the tin drum is furnished with a ratchet wheel and clicks, which
so regulate the motion of the fallers as to cause them to act in proportion
to the rotation of the spindles, and which arrangement taken by itself was
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to us, bearing date
September 24th, 1849, No. 12,785, and is not therefore now claimed when
used alone; secondly, we cause the detaining pin of the faller sector to be
withdrawn from its notch by the action of the self-acting or cam shaft;
and, thirdly, we cause the withdrawal of such pin to bring a part connected
therewith into contact with the lever which shifts the driving strap. It will
therefore be seen that the two last-mentioned motions are dependent upon
each other, which is a distinguishing feature of our Invention, and we do
not therefore limit ourselves to the precise mechanical means described,
as other methods may be adopted for gaining that concerted action.
Another part of our Invention consists in furnishing that end of the
shaper rail which is in use when the carriages run in, with a jointed inclined
part, which is caused to alter its angle (as the cop is built) by connexion
with an incline upon the shape, or by other similar means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
HIGGINS, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and
THOMAS SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH, of the same Place, Manager, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant ur to us, the said
James Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, Her special licence that
we, the said Jaines Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said James Higgins
and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, our 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition, amongst others,
that we, the said James Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, by an
instrument in writing under our 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 James Higgins and Thomas Scho-
field Whitworth, 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 and accompanying
Drawings (that is to say):
--
The first part of our Invention is shewn at Figs. 1 and 2. Upon a shaft a
are mounted arms 6, which carry the deffer comb c, fixed to jaws d, which are
drawn so as to distend the comb by nuts c. At the other side of the shaft is
a strip of metal f, which, being also distended by means of nuts, counteracts
the tendency to a twisting of a shaft. At g is a lever, through which the
necessary vibrating action is produced by means of a crank or other ordinary
arrangement.
The next part of our Invention is shewn at Figs. 3 and 4, in which a repre-
sents a portion of a shaft of a slubbing or roving frame used to drive the
bobbins or spindles; upon this is fixed, by means of a screw or otherwise,
a bush b of cast iron or other suitable material running in the bearing c,
and upon its having become worn it may be renewed at pleasure.
Or, in
place of the bush, as above described, the same place may be occupied by
the ordinary wheel, the boss of which may run in the bearing c.

page_text: The next part of our Invention is shewn at 5, 6, 7, 8. The lower portion
of the framework of a slubbing or roving frame, consisting of two parts. is
shewn at a, to which is fixed a bracket b, provided at bottom with the footstep
in which the spindle c runs, and at top with a tube a, through which the said
spindle passes. Upon this tube, and resting upon the lifting rail d*, is the
-bobbin braid e, the lower end of which is of reduced diameter, and runs within
the said rail, see Fig. 8; or the bobbin braid may simply rest on the rail d,
as in Fig. 8. The bobbin is connected to the braid in the usual manner at its
lower end, the hole therein being of sufficient diameter to pass over the tube,
and its upper end runs in contact with the spindle c. The braid e, being
caused to rise and fall by the ordinary copping motion, traverses the fixed
tube d, and carries the bobbin with it. The braid e may be so bored as to
have its lateral bearing upon the tube d, or it may run free of the said tube,
and have its bearing in the lifting rail, as shewn in the Drawing at Fig. 8.
The pinion for driving the spindle is shewn at situate between the lower
and the upper ends of the bracket b,and the driving power is therefore thrown
upon those two points, which are sufficiently wide apart to gain a steadiness
in the spindle.
The next part of our Invention refers to the mule of that construction known
as Sharp and Roberts', and has for its object the prevention of snarls. The
arrangement is shewn at Fig. 9. The usual cam or self-acting shaft is at a,
upon which is the cam b, for shifting the driving strap through the medium of
the lever c. This lever is fixed upon a shaft d, upon which there is another
lever c*, provided with a pin fat its outward end. The pin fsustains a bell-
crank lever g in two positions, one of them being as shewn in the Drawing,
and the other with the pin raised opposite the notch h. Upon the shaft a is
a cam i, acting against a bell-crank lever k, to which is connected a rod l.
The lower end of this rod is jointed to a lever m, turning upon a fixed centre
The shaft of the tin drum is shewn at o, upon which is mounted fast
a disc p, carrying a series of clicks q. Upon this shaft is also mounted, but
loosely, a ratchet wheel to an arm, exteuding from the boss of which is
attached a chain s, which, after passing over a guide pulley t, is fastened to a
lever u, fixed upon a shaft v, which carries a pinion w.
This pinion is in gear
with the toothed faller sector x, which is thus caused to turn upon its centre y.
When the tin drum is revolving in the direction of the arrow, the clicks q are
thrown from the ratchet wheel R by centrifugal force, or if they arrive in
contact therewith they merely run over the teeth, but when the motion of the
shaft o is reversed, as in the ordinary operation of the mule for backing off,
then the said clicks fall into the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and cause it to
at n.

page_text: revolve, so as to draw the chains, and give motion to the pinion w and faller
sector x. We have thus alluded to the operation of the clicks and ratchet
wheel 2, R, but will here remark that we now lay no claim thereto as used by
itself, the said arrangement being secured to us by a Patent, bearing date
September Twenty-fourth, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine,
No. 12,785, and to the Specification of which Patent we now refer. To
the shaft of the faller sector is attached an arm y*, the outward end of which
is provided with a roller which runs upon the shaper rail z. To this arm y*
is connected by means of a centre pin a tumbler 1, a slot 2 in which embraces
the shaft y. This tumbler is provided with a stud 3, which rests upon the
faller sector, according to the position shewn, but is capable also of falling
into a notch 4 therein. Upou the tumbler I is a projecting part 5 for a
purpose hereafter to be mentioned.
The operation of the several parts is as follows:-According to the positions
shown in the Drawing, the carriage is running out during the operation of
spinning. This having been completed, the shaft o will by the usual means
be caused to revolve in the contrary direction, by which means the clicks y
will fall into the teeth of the ratchet wheel R, which being then driven, will
draw the chain s, and cause the sector to turn upon its centre, as before
mentioned, and this motion will be continued until the stud 5 shall have fallen
into the notch 4. This reversal of the motion of the shaft o will have been
effected by the cam 6 having shifted the driving strap from the pulley 6 to the
other 7, by turning the lever c upon its centre d, and this will havo brought
the pin finto the notch h, so as to allow the lever g, g*, to turn downward,
and bring the end g* into a lower position. The carriage being now caused
to run in, will bring the part 8 of the tumbler 1 over the lever m, and the
part 5 thereof under the lever ge, by which time the winding on will have
been effected, and the change for another stretch will be required. The cam i
will then be caused to act against the bell-crank lever k, so as to turn it upon
its centre in the direction of the arrow, by which means the lever m will be
brought against the part S, so as to force it upward, and lift the stud 3 from
the notch in the sector a. Simultaneously with this operation the lever m,
by acting against 8, will cause the part 5 to lift the end g* of the lever g, g*,
thus causing it to turn upon its centre, and allow the pin fto fall out of the
notch h, so that the lever c, c, may be brought by the spring 10 into the
position shewn in the Drawing, and thus the strap will be again shifted on
to the pulley 6.
Another part of our Invention relates to such mules as aforesaid, and is
shewn at Fig. 9, before roferred to, and also at the detached views, Fig. 10

page_text: and 11. The shaper rail is at 11; to that end thereof which is in use when
the carriage is run in, we adapt a jointed inclined part 12. The shaper plate
is shewn at 13, to which is adapted a bracket 15, carrying a projecting pin 14,
which, by altering the angle of the jointed part in relation to the horizontal
line, regulates the distance that the faller shall rise before disengagement
from the sector.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be
understood that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited
Letters Patent,-
Firstly, the use of the doffer comb, stretched or drawn lengthwise by
screws or other means, also the strip or rod f, for counteracting the tension
of the doffer comb.
Secondly, as applied to the spindle and bobbin shafts of slubbing or roving
frames, the application of bushes of cast iron or other suitable material for
the purposes aforesaid.
Thirdly, and as applied to slubbing or roving frames, the use of a stationary
tube and parts connected therewith, adapted as shewn and described.
In reference to mules as aforesaid, we claim, firstly, removing the detaining
stud or pin from the faller sector by action of the self-acting or cam shaft;
secondly, the use of mechanism by which the removal of the said pin from
the faller sector and the shifting of the driving strap are dependant upon
each other; thirdly, the combination of the motion for backing off with
the said mutually dependent mechanism.
rail
Fifthly, the application of a jointed inclined part to that end of the shaper
upon which the shaper bowl or stud rests when the carriage is run in.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Higgins and Thomas Schofield
Whitworth, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth
day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
TAMES HIGGINS
THOMAS SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH. (L.S.)
THOMAS SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH. (L.S.)