CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE SPINNING OR TWISTING OF COTTON, FLAX, SILK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JoпN
POTTER, and JAMES POTTER, of Smedley, near Manchester, Spinners and
Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of March, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-one, in the first year of His reign, did give and grant unto us,
the said John Potter and James Potter, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, His
especial licence, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said John Potter
and James Potter, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, by ourselves or themselves,
or by our servants, deputies, or agents, or such others as we or they should
from time to time agree with (and no others), should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Ber-
wick-upon-Tweed, during the term of fourteen years from and after the date
of the said Letters Patent, our Invention of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE SPINNING OR TWISTING OF COTTON,
FLAX, SILK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging us, the said John Potter and
James Potter, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said
Invention, and in.what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing, under the hand and seal of one of us, and to cause the same

page_text: to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calende
months after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same
(reference being thereunto had), may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Potter, for myself and for the said James Potter, do hereby declare that
our said Invention is described and ascertained in manner following, that is
to say:-
Our said improvements relate to such kind of machinery or apparatus as is
commonly called--by spinners-throstle frames; and which spin or twist fibrous
materials or threads by means of revolving spindles, having flyers screwed fast
on the top ends of them, and bobbins fitted loosely on the spindles within the
legs of the flyers, and which machinery or apparatus is commonly applied to the
spinning or twisting of cotton, flax, silk, wool, and other fibrous materials; and
our said improvements consist in substituting for the flyers which are usually
screwed on the upper ends of the said spindles, certain hollow revolving tubes,
which we call trumpets, because the lower end of each of those tubes is enlarged
to a conical form in the manner of the mouth of a trumpet, and the upper part
above the said trampet mouth is a straight hollow tube, which is mounted in
an upright position over the top of the spindle, in two sockets suitably formed
for retaining the tube, together, with the trumpet, at the lower end thereof
securely in a vertical position with the open trumpet mouth downwards, over
the top of the bobbin, which is fixed on the top end of the spindle. The
said sockets permit the hollow tube and trumpet to be turned rapidly round
about the vertical centre, line of the hollow tube and trumpet (which is also
the centre.line, of the spindle and bobbins), as an axis of motion, by means of
the usual long horizontal roller or revolving cylinder called a throstle cylinder,
which gives motion in the usual manner of throstle frames, to an endless
band encompassing a whirl or small pulley formed on the middle part of the
hollow revolving tube, below the highest of the two sockets aforesaid, by which
the said tube is retained in its vertical position, and above the lowermost
of those sockets. The yarn, or yarns, or thread or threads, or the fibres
which are intended to be twisted into a yarn or thread, are conducted down-
wards from the usual front rollers of the throstle frame, and are twisted in
passing down through the interior of the hollow revolving tube. The yarn or
thread passes through a hole which is cut in the side of the trumpet mouth, or
conical enlargement at the lower end of the tube, whereby the yarn or thread,
or the fibres passes from the inside to the outside of the trumpet, and then it
passes beneath the circular base at the lower edge of the trumpet, in a notch
which is cut therein, and to wrap round the wood bobbin, which is stuck fast

page_text: on the top end of the spindle, and which bobbin stands up within the centre
of the trumpet, but without tonching the inside thereof. The wood bobbin is
made without a top flange, being shaped like the bobbins or pirns for weft,
which are to be put into weaving shuttles, and the spindle is made like those of
a mule, but without the whirl. . The hollow within the revolving tube is large
enough at the lower part thereof to admit the upper end of the barrel part of
the wood bobbin or pirn to go up into the said hollow without touching, and it
can go so far up therein that the lowest part of the barrel of the bobbin whercon
the thread is to be gathered will rise as high as the circular base of the
trumpet. In order to distribute the yarn or thread up and down on the length
(or height) of the bobbin, the spindle (together with the bobbin which is stuck
on the top end of it), are caused to rise up and down with a slow alternate
motion of rising and falling vertically, such as is commonly called a tra-
versing or copping motion, except that the extent of traversing motion is
shorter than usual, and is compounded with another longer motion, as will be
more fully explained. The spindle is not turned round by any endless band, as
is usual in throstle frames, but the turning motion, whereby twist is to
be given to the fibres, or the yarn or thread (and whereby the twisted
yarn or thread is to be wrapped or coiled around the bobbin), is entirely
produced by the revolving motion, given as aforesaid, by an endless band
and throstle cylinder to the tube and trumpet; for the yarn or thread is
by that motion carried round the bobbin, and the bobbin, together with
the spindle, being left at liberty to turn round, they are dragged round
by the pull of that part of the yarn or thread which passes from the
notch at the circular base of the trumpet to go to the bobbin. That pull
of the yarn or thread is the only connection between the revolving trumpet
and the bobbin; and a slight friction being applied to the spindle (in. the
manner herein-after described) to retard the free motion of the spindle and
bobbin, that friction will produce what is called the drag of the bobbin,
whereby the yarn or thread will be gathered up and wound around the bobbin
in a solid cop or mass as fast as the yarn or thread is delivered out by the
front rollers and twisted by the revolving motion of the hollow tube and
trumpet. The copping motion (that is, the alternate rising and falling motion
of the spindle and bobbin in a vertical direction), and the consequent distribu-
tion of the yarn or thread on the bobbin, is different from the common copping
motion of throstle frames, for the extent of the alternate rise and fall, instead
of being (as usual) equal to the whole height or length of the barrel of the
bobbin (in order to wind or lay the yarn or thread on the bobbin in a cylin-
drical layer), is only so much extent or motion as will distribute the yarn or

page_text: thread up and down on a portion of the whole height of the bobbin in the form
of a cone; and the successive layers of thread which are lapped on one over
the others (instead of being cylindrical layers), they form a series of hollow
cones one above the other, like a number of conical extinguishers stuck one
upon another; and the bases of all the said conical layers, being of the same
size, and one above the other, they form cylindrical sides to the cop or mass of
yarn or thread which is gathered upon the bobbin merely in the same manner
as that whereby the cops of mules are formed, or in the manner of winding
yarn for weft on the pirns for weaving shuttles. In order to distribute the
yarn or thread in such a manuer on the cop or bobbin, the base of the barrel
of the bobbin is of a conical shape to wind the first layer upon, and the cop-
ping motion must be compounded of two motions, one quicker than the other,
and moving alternately up and down only so much as the height of the cone
which is to be built at each succeeding layer, and that short traversing motion
is adapted for laying the yarn or thread on a conical form. The other motion
is a slowly progressive descending motion, which affects the former alternate
up and down motion, in order to cause the same to lay cach succeeding
conical layer higher up on the bobbin than the preceding conical layer was laid
thereon; that is to say, the slow descending motion causes the spindle and
bobbin to be let down a little lower every time when it gets to its lowest
position (and begins to rise again) than the place to which it descended at the
preceding time, and also causes the spindle and bobbin to be raised to a
little less height at every time that it reaches its highest position than the
height to which it was raised at the preceding time. Copping motions, capable
of producing the above compounded motions, are used in some machinery for
winding yarn or pirns for weaving shuttles, and also in certain spinning
machinery, in order to build the yarn on pirns or bobbins after the fashion of
mulo cops, namely, by laying successive conical layers one above the other
instead of laying successive cylindrical layers one around the other as is usual in
throstle spinning. In spinning machinery which is constructed according to
our improvements, the yarn or thread which is accumulated around the bobbin
always terminates at the top in a conical form, and the aforesaid short tra-
versing or alternate up and down motion of the spindle and bobbin is equal in
extent to the vertical height of the said conical part of the cop, and the size
and form of the trumpet mouth is adapted to receive and contain the whol:
of that conical part withinside of it without touching even. When the
spindle and bobbin is raised by the said short traversing motion to the highest
position thereof, and is beginning to descend again, and the hollow of the
tubular part of the trumpet is (as before stated) large enough to receive so

page_text: much of the barrel part of the wood bobbin as rises up above the vertex of the
conical cop of yarn or thread, without the wood bobbin touching the inside of
the hollow tube, even when the cop is first begun to be formed, and conse-
quently, when the slow progressive descending motion (which affects the short
traversing motion as before-mentioned) is at its highest position, the said
short traversing motion being likewise at its highest position, in which positions
of both motions the lowest part where the yarn or thread is to be laid on, the
barrel of the bobbin will coincide with the base of the trumpet, as before
stated. And note, the aforesaid circumstance of the hollow within the tubular
part of the trumpet being capable of receiving the wood bobbin within it,
combined with the substitution of the conical part of the trumpet instead of a
flyer with two legs, constitutes one of the principal features of novelty in our
improvements in throstle spinning machinery, and of characteristic differenco
between the same and certain machines which have been made to spin in
throstle machinery, with hollow tubular spindles mounted in suitable bearings
to retain them in a vertical position over bobbins, which are stuck on the top
ends of upright spindles and flyers (very similar to the flyers in common use for
throstles), being fastened to the lower ends of the hollow tubular spindles
(instead of being screwed on the tops of the lower spindles which carry the
bobbins). The two legs of each of those flyers stride over the bobbin and
revolve around it in order to give twist, and to wrap the yarn or thread round
the bobbin, in the same manner as in common throstle spinning. And another
novelty in our improvements is the means whereby we apply friction to the
spindle in order to retard the revolving motion of the bobbin which is stuck on
the top end of that spindle, and thus produce what is called the drag of the
bobbin; for that drag requires to be increased and diminished during the
progress of laying each conical layer of yarn or thread on the bobbin
or cop, because each layer is laid on a conical form; and when the yarn
or thread is wrapping around the base or larger part of that conical form, it
has most power to drag the bobbin and spindle round after the trumpet, and
consequently the friction on the spindle should then be increased beyond what
is necessary to retard the spindle when the yarn or thread wraps around the
vertex, or smaller part of the conical form. It is desirable that the actual
tension of that part of the yarn or thread which extends from the notch at the
base of the trumpet to the cop of yarn or thread, and which pulls the bobbin and
spindle round after the trumpet, should be at all times the same. That tension
on the yarn or thread is produced by its being the only connection to transmit
a revolving motion from the trumpet to the bobbin; and if the friction on the
spindle were constantly the same, the tension on the yarn or thread would be

page_text: greater when it has to pull the bobbin and spindle round after the trumpet, by
applying to the vertex or small part of tho couical cop (in which case the yarn
or thread acts with short leverago at a small distance from the centre line of
the bobbin and spindle), than the said tension would be when the yarn or thread,
by applying to the base of the cone, acts with longer leverage at a greater
distance from the centre line of the bobbin and spindle, to pull the same round
after the trumpet. The consequence of such alterations in the tension of the
yarn or thread would be, that the vertex of each conical layer, forming the
central body of the cop, would be wound on too tight, or else the base of each
conical layer, forming the outside of the cop, would be wound ou too loosely, and
form a spongy exterior to the cop. To avoid this inconvenience, we cause the
friction on the spindle to become greater and greater, in proportion as the yarn
or thread applies on larger and larger parts of the conical cop, and pulls the
same round by acting at an increasing distance from the central line of the
spindle; or, vice versa, we cause the said friction to become less and less in
proportion as the yrrn or thread applies to smaller and smaller parts of the
conical cop, and pulls the same round by acting nearer and nearer to the
centre line of the spindle. This increasing and diminishing friction is applied
to a long row of the spindles with one action by means of two small bands
of worsted braiding, which are extended horizontally along the row of spindles,
and are interwoven in opposite directions amongst the spindles; that is to say,
each braid passes in front of one spindle and behind the next, then in front of
the next spindle, and so on, behind and before cach spindle alternately. The
two braids are interwoven so as to run reversed to each other, that is, wherever
one passes behind any one spindle, the other braid passes before the same
spindle, so that the two braids run in double zig-zag courses amongst the
spindles, crossing each other in each of the intervals between every two ad-
joining spindles, and every spindle is included between the two braids. The
said braidings are flat plated bands, and they apply their fint sides to the baro
spindles at the parts where the whirls are usually fixed thereon, but these
spindles have no whirls. One end of the double braiding is attached to the
end of a spring, which will be extended or bent when the other end of tho
double braiding is pulled, and the reaction of the spring then occasions a
tension of the two braids, and by their tendency to assume straight lines, they
apply closely to all the spindles with which they are interwoven, so as to
cause friction thereon, and make that resistance to the revolving motion of
all those spindles, which is requisito to give what is called the drag of the
bobbin. Now, if the double braiding is pulled farther and farther, it will
extend the aforesaid spring more and more, and the roaction thereof will

page_text: become greater and greater, whereby the tension of the braidings, and conse-
quently the friction they cause on the spindles, will increase and increase.
Also contrary effects will take place when the braidings are slackened again,
and the spring allowed to relax; or, in lieu of a spring, the end of the double
braiding may be wrapped round and made fast to the circumference of a small
circular pulley, which has a spiral pulley fixed on the same horizontal axis
with it, so that both must turn round together, and on that spiral pulley a
small cord is wrapped, and the end fastened with a balance weight suspended
from the other end of the cord, in order to react against the aforesaid pulling
of the double braiding in such manner, that when the braiding is pulled further
and further, it will turn the two pulleys round on their common axis, and tho
balance weight will act (by its cord hanging from the circumference of the
spiral pulley, at an increasing distance from the centre of motion, whereby it
will react against the pull of the braiding with more and more force, in order
to produce an increasing friction on the spindles by the braidings, in the same
manner as above described with a reacting spring. And in order to give the
requisite pulling action as aforesaid to the double braidings, a small strap is
fastened to the end thereof, opposite to that end where the aforesaid reacting
spring (or spiral pulley and balance weight) is applied, and that small strap,
after being carried round the circumference of a small circular pulley, has a
sufficient weight appended to it to make the strap apply so closely to the cir-
cumference of the pulley, that it will hold thereon against the reaction which is
caused as aforesaid by a spring or by a spiral pulley and balance weight. At
the other end of the double braidings a smaller pulley is fixed to the former,
and both turn side by side on a stud pin, which is fixed in the spindle box or
frame wherein all the spindles are mounted, and which frame rises and
falls vertically by the copping motion, whereby, as aforesaid, the spindles
and bobbins are alternately raised up and let down altogether, in order to
build the yarn or thread on the cops. A band, which is fastened immove-
ably at the upper end to the fixed frame of the machine, hangs down
vertically, and is carried round the groove of the latter pulley, but is not
fastened thereto, after which it continues down in continuation of the same
vertical line, and the lower end is tied fast to the floor with a sufficient tension
of the band to make it hold tight in the groove of the pulley, or else a weight
is suspended to the lower end of the said vertical band to cause that tension.
The above-mentioned small strap, two pulleys, and stationary vertical band
operate as follows: When the spindles are ascending by their copping motion,
and consequently the yarn or thread is applying lower and lower down the
conical cops towards their bases, the said pulley (the centre pin of which

page_text: ascends along with the spindles) is caused to turn round by the stationary
vertical band (which makes a turn round the said pulley), detaining one side
of the circumference thereof whilst the centre pin is ascending. The other
larger pulley is turned at the same time and in that direction which will
cause its strap to pull the double braidings along in opposition to the aforesaid
reacting spring or spiral pulley and balance weight at the other end of
those braidings, and by the increasing force of reaction which the spring or
the spiral pulley and balance weight exert in proportion as the braidings are
pulled farther and farther, their tension, and consequently the friction that
they produce on the spindles, is increased more and more, and suitably to the
increasing drag of the bobbin, which becomes requisite as the yarns or threads
apply more and more towards the bases or larger part of the cops. And on
the contrary, when the spindles are descending by their copping motion, the
centre pin of the pulley descends with them; but the stationary vertical band
which passes round the pulley, detaining one side thereof, causes both pulleys
to turn round in an opposite direction to that in which they were turned
during the ascent of the spindles, and that turning of the pulleys allows the
reaction of the spring (or of the spiral pulley and its balance weight) to draw
back the double braidings, and as they return, the reaction diminishing in
force, relaxes the tension of the braidings, and consequently lessens the friction
that they cause on the spindles, and lessens that friction by degrees suitably
to the diminishing drag of the bobbin, which is required when (by the descent
of the spindles) the yarns or threads are caused to apply to the cops higher up,
and nearer and nearer to the vertexes and smaller parts thereof. Note,
suitable stops must be applied to the double pullies to limit the extent of
motion that they shall be allowed to have during each ascent and descent
of the spindles as aforesaid; and those stops will keep the braidings always in
their proper places, notwithstanding the slow progressive descenting of the
copping motion before mentioned, which causes the spindle box containing all
the spindles to descend a little lower at every succeeding time of alternate
ascent and descent than it descended at the preceding time. But as the said
stops will not allow the double braidings to be drawn endways farther than
they ought to be drawn, the stationary vertical band is obliged to slip a very
little round on its pulley every time that the pulley descends with the spindle
box to its lowest position, and begins to ascend again. Note, respecting
the notches before mentioned at the circular base of each of the trumpets, for
the yarn or thread to pass through after passing from the inside of the
trumpet to the outside, through a hole in the metal thereof, as before men-
tioned, there are four or more notches in the circular base of each trumpet,

page_text: and two or more holes in the sides of the trumpet for the yarn or thread to
pass through. The yarn or thread may be conducted from one of the said
holes to one or other of the notches which is not beneath that hole, so that
the yarn or thread, in passing down at the outside of the conical part of the
trumpet, may take an oblique or spiral direction thereon, in order to cause a
friction to the yarn or thread, for the same purpose as is commonly effected in
throstle spinning by the resistance that the yarn or thread meets with in con-
sequence of being carried round one of the legs of the flyer with two, three,
or more spiral turns about the said leg; that is to say, the friction thus
occasioned relieves the upper part of the yarn or thread, which is withinside
of the hollow tube of the trumpet, from as much of the drag of the bobbin
as is necessary to avoid breaking down the yarn or thread before the full
quantity of twist is put into it; and by conducting the yarn or thread through
one or other of the different notches at the base of the trumpet, it may be
caused to pass more or less obliquely and spiralwise over the outside of the
base of the trumpet, in order to apply on a longer or shorter course, so as to
occasion more or less friction. And note, when a yarn or thread breaks, the
trumpet must be lifted upwards in the sockets which retain the hollow tube in
its vertical position, in order to expose the cop, for the purpose of finding the
broken end of the yarn or thread; and after drawing off and removing as much
thereof as is unsound, a wire with a hook at the lower end of it is passed down
through the hollow of the tube of the trumpet from the upper end thereof, and
through the hole in the side of the trumpet, to catch and draw up the end of the
yarn or thread which is unwound from off the cop in order to bring it up through
the hollow tube, and join it to the end which is coming through the front rollers.
And for the more full explanation of our Invention, I have hereunto
annexed four Sheets of Drawings, which represent a throstle-spinning frame
for cotton, fitted with our trumpets in lieu of the common spindles and
flyers, and with our mode of giving varying drag of the bobbins, which frame
we have used in our manufactory and found to answer for spinning warp
and weft for power looms. Sheet I. contains figures of the trumpets and
spindles and bobbins, drawn of their real size. After the description herein-
before contained, and with the aid of the names of the parts which are
written on the Drawings, it is unnecessary to repeat the description of all the
parts. The trumpet is made of cast iron, bored out of the solid, and turned
true to the size and form represented. To avoid unnecessary friction, the
upper part of the revolving tube, which is received in the upper socket a,
is made smaller in diameter than the lower part 2, which is received in the
lower socket b, and which part must be large enough to admit the wood

page_text: .
bobbin D within it. The mouth 3 of the trumpet is of a conical form, with
a small rim or flange 4, 4, projecting from the lower edge of it. The four or
more notches through which the yarn or thread is to pass, are, cut in the edge
of the flange 4, 4, and each notch leads the yarn or thread into a small hole
which is drilled through the said flange in an upright direction. 5 is one of
holes in the side of the trumpet for the thread to pass from the inside to the
outside thereof, and there is another such hole on the opposite side; 6 is the
whirl formed on the middle part 2 of the tube, to receive the endless band.
Note, the whole trumpet must be capable of lifting upwards endways in its
sockets about three fourths of an inch, in order to uncover and expose the cop
of yarn or thread upon the bobbin when a broken end is to be found; but
when the trumpet is in operation its weight is borne by a shoulder under the
whirl 6, resting on the top of the lowermost socket b, or else in lieu thereof a
small knob (not represented in the Figures) may be left on the upper end 1
of the tube to form a shoulder to rest on the top of the upper socket a. A
small brass brush is driven into the top end 1 of the tube, in order to contract
the aperture thereof to a suitable size for the yarn or thread to pass, but the
aperture in the bush is large enough to admit the hooked wire B to be put
down, and there must be room for that wire to pass between the inside of the
tube of the trumpet and the outside of the wood bobbin D. The curvature of
the wire renders it easy to pass the hooked end thereof through the hole 5
to the outside of trumpet in order to loop the end of the broken thread or yarn
into the hook for the purpose of drawing the same up through the tube in
preparation for joining it in the usual manner to the fibres or the yarns or
threads which are coming through between the front rollers. Note, a small
projecting rim or bead 7, 7, is left around the place where the hollow tube 2
meets the top of the cone 3, in order to detain any small drop of oil which may
run down from the socket 6 from getting upon the outside of the cone 3,
where it might soil the yarn or thread. Our trumpets being truly balanced about
their vertical centre lines, and having no projecting parts to catch the air, they
revolve very easily and steadily when turned with great rapidity. They may
be made of any suitable quality of cast metal, or of steel, or of wrought iron.
The spindles and the wood bobbins D, with the cops upon them, are sufficiently
explained by the Drawing; the bobbins and cops there shewn are pirns for
weft to go into the shuttles of power looms, but the same trumpets will admit
of larger sized cops being formed within them for spinning warp. The
manner of applying our trumpets in a throstle spinning frame is explained by
the Drawings, Sheets II. and III. The sockets and b, in which the tubes
revolve, are formed in long rails which extend horizontally all the length of

page_text: the frame in front of the roller beam, and a little below the same.
The frame
we have in use in our manufactory contains eighty of our trumpets at each
side, but only half the number are shewn in the front view. The spindles are
mounted in their bearings in the usual manner, of mule spindles, and are
borne in spindle boxes or frames F, F, which are formed like ladders, sec
Sheet II., and which are moveable up and down in vertical planes, being guided
by, sockets ff, at the back of them, sliding on fixed upright rods G, G. The
weight of the frames F, F, with the spindies, bobbins, and cops, is borne by
chains or straps 9, 9, which wrap around pullies h, h, fixed on long horizontal
axes H, H, which extend from end to end of the frame, and which are turned
round alternately backwards and forwards to produce the copping motion, by
means of a chain i wrapping round a pulley I on one of the axis H, and the
lower end of the chain i is attached by a hook to an arch at one end of a treadle
lever K, which extends crosswise beneath the frame, and the other end of the
lever is moveable on a fixed centre pin. The middle part of the treadle K
carries a small roller to bear upwards against the curved circumference of a
heart L, which is mounted on a horizontal axis M, and is turned slowly round
by wheelwork. The deviation of the circumference of the heart L from a
circular figure (as is shewn full size in Sheet IV.) alternately presses down the
roller and treadle K, and then allows the same to rise again, and that
motion is transmitted by the chain i, the axes H, 11, the pullies h, h, and the
straps or chains g, g, to the frames F, F, with all the spindles
up when the treadle K is pressed down by the heart L.
extends across the frame from a pulley e, fixed on one of the axes H, to a
corresponding pulley m, fixed on the other axis H, in order to transmit
motion from one axis H to a corresponding pulley m, fixed on the other axis H,
in order to transmit motion from one axis to the other, and cause the spindles
on the two sides of the frame to move up and down together with equal and
simultaneous motions. The heart L is not fixed on the horizontal axis M,
but it is fixed on one end of a tubular axis, which is fitted loose on the axis M,
and on the end of the same tube is a bevel wheel N, of one hundred and
forty-four teeth, which goes round with the heart L, and which is turned by a
change bevel pinion n, of fourteen teeth (or more or less according to the
number of the yarn which is to be spun), at the lower end of an upright
spindle g, which has a bevel wheel of sixty teeth fixed on it at the top
(as is shewn by dotted lines p), and that wheel is turned by a short bevel pinion
of twelve teeth fixed on the extreme end of the horizontal axis of a spur
wheel o, of one hundred and twenty teeth, which serves as an intermediate
wheel to transmit motion to the front rollers, namely from. another similar
which are raised
Note, a chain E

page_text: intermediate wheel P, which is turned by a change pinion Q of from twenty-
four to forty teeth, according to the number of the yarn which is to be spun.
The change pinion Q turns on a stud, and has a wheel R of eighty teeth fixed
to it, which latter wheel is turned by a pinion S of fifty-two teeth, fixed on
the axis s of the long throstle cylinder T, and on tho extremity of the axis s is
the fast and loose pulley for giving motion to the whole frame. The inter-
mediate spur wheels O and P turn spur wheels t, t, of ninety teeth, on the
end of the front rollers at each side of the frame, and those front rollers
are one inch diameter. The back rollers and middle rollers are turned by the
usual wheelwork of throstle frames. The size of the whirls on the trumpets
is, such that each of the trumpets makes eight and half or eight and a
quarter turns for each turn of the throstle cylinder T. The heart L, and the
copping motion (above described) which it gives to the spindles, is merely that
short alternate up and down traversing motion, whereby the yarn or thread is
laid on the cop in a conical layer from the top to the bottom of the cone, the
extent of the traversing motion being about one inch. As to that slow progres-
sive descending motion of the spindles whereby the successive conical layers of
yarn or thread are laid one above the other on the cops (as herein-before
mentioned), the same is produced by a revolving spiral curvo V, which is fixed
fast on the same horizontal axis M, whereon the tubular axis of the heart L,
and of its bevel wheel N, are mounted loosely, as before mentioned, and the
axis M, together with the spiral V, is turned very slowly round by means of
a worm wheel W, of one hundred and twenty teeth, which is fixed fast on the
axis M, and is turned by a worm to with one spiral thread, fixed on the lower
end of an upright axis v, which at its upper end has another change worm-
wheel (see Sheet 111.), of a different number of teeth, from twenty to fifty,
according to the number of the yarn which is to be spun, and to the diameter
of cop which is required to be wound on the bobbins. The change worm-
wheel is turned by a worm v, of one spiral thread on the axis of the front
roller. The circumferenco of the spiral curve V (the true form of which is
shewn full size in Sheet IV.) acts upon a small roller c, which is carried by
a treadle lever X, of a similar form to the treadle lever K which stands by the
side thereof, both being mounted on the same centre of motion; and from the
arch at the end of the treadle lever X an upright chain d rises up and wraps
round a pulley u, which is fitted loosely on the horizontal axis H, and the
pulley has a mitre bevel wheel a fustened to it, to work in the teeth of a
corresponding intermediate mitre bevel wheel y, which is fitted loose on a stud
pin projecting out from the axis Hat right angles thereto, in a direction
pointing to the centre thereof, and which stud pin turns round with the axis

page_text: H, so as to cause the intermediate mitre wheel y to travel round in a cir-
cular orbit about the centre line of the axis H at the same time that the wheel
y turns round about its own centre pin or stud. The teeth of the interme-
diate mitre wheel y also works in those of a corresponding mitre wheel =,
which is fixed fast to the chain pulley I, before mentioned, but which pulley I
and mitre wheel are fitted loose on the axis H, as are also the mitre wheel x
and its chain pulley u, but the stud pin of the intermediate mitre wheel y is
fixed fast to the axis H, and so are the pullies h, h, and the chain pulley e,
which move the spindles up and down. The operation of the common copping
motion is produced by the combined action of the heart L and of the spiral
curve V, which latter is turned round with a much slower motion than that
wherewith the heart L is turned, and they turn contrary ways round. The
two motions which they give by their curved circumferences to their treadle
levers K and X respectively, are combined into one compound motion by aid
of the intermediate circulating mitre wheel y, because as that wheel is worked
by both the mitre wheels and z of the chain pullies u and I, the said inter-
mediate mitre wheel y can be turned round in its circular orbit by motion
given to it from one side of its circumference, although motion is at the same
time deducted from it on the other side of its circumfereuce; and, according
as it is carried round in its circular orbit, so it must carry the axis H, to which
it is attached, round with it, and thereby raise or lower the spindles; that is to
say, the pulley u and mitre wheel a are allowed to turn round very slowly and
gradually in that direction which, if the same turning motion were given to
the axis H, would let the spindles down, and that slow and progressive letting
down of the spindles continues to go on at the same time that they are
alternately raised up and let down by the action of the heart L; for every time
they descend they go a little lower than they descended at the preceeding time,
and every time that they rise they fall a little short of the height to which they
were raised at the preceding time, thereby producing the effects herein-before
mentioned to be the requisites for the compound copping motion which must be
used in spinning frames which are fitted with our trumpets. The said copping
motion may be produced by other mechanism, well known to competent
mechanics, but as such mechanism for the copping is not a part to which we
claim an exclusive patent right, it is not necessary to describe it. Our mode
of giving a varying drag of the bobbins, as herein-before explained, is repre-
sented in Sheet I. and Sheet II., whereon 10 and 11 are the double braidings,
which are interwoven in and out between the spindles in contrary directions,
crossing each other between every two spindles, and applying one braid in

page_text: front and the other behind each spindle. There are two lengths of braidings
on each side of the spinning frame, each length serving forty spindles. 12, 12,
is the reacting spring applied at one end of each length of the double
braidings, and tending always to draw that length of braiding endways towards
the middle of the frame where the two springs for the two lengths of braiding
are situated. 18 is the small strap at the other end of each double braiding
(namely, at the ends of the spinning frame), each of which straps passes
over the pully 14, and has a weight 15 appended to the end of the strap to
'cause it to hold on the pulley 14. Note, the springs 12, 12, (at the middle
of the spinning frame) and the centre pins or studs for the pullies 14 (at cach
end of the spinning frame) are all fastened to the frame or ladder F, F, which
supports the spindles so as to go up and down therewith. 16 is the smaller
pulley fixed fast to the strap pulley 14, and turning round with it. The stationary
vertical cord 17, which is fastened at the top to the fixed rail b, makes a turn
round the groove of the pulley 16, and hangs down therefrom, and has a weight
18 suspended at the lower end to draw the cord tight round the pulley 16.
The stops to limit the endway motion of the braidways, both backwards and for-
'wards, are two pins 19, .19, projecting out from the face of the pulley 16, and
one or other of which pins is intercepted by a short fixed arm or radial pin
projecting out from the centre of the fixed stud or centre pin, on which the
two pulleys 14 and 16 are fitted. Whenever the braidings are pulled towards
the ends of the frame (in opposition to their reacting springs 12) are allowed
to return towards the middle of the frame (by the said reaction), as far as
they are intended to go each way. Every time that the spindles are raised up by
the copping motion of the heart L, the stationary vertical cord 17 causes the
pullies 16 and 14 to turn round about their centre pin in that direction, which
will pull the strap 18 and draw the double braidings endways in opposition to
their reacting springs 12, which springs, by increasing in stiffness as they are
more strained, increase the tension of the braidings, and the cosequent
friction on the spindles, in proportion as the yarn or thread is wound on larger
parts of the cops, in the manner herein-before explained. And when the spin-
dles are let down again by the heart motion L, contrary effects take place, for
the springs 12 are then allowed to relax, and thereby becoming weaker, they
cause less tension and friction by the braidings on the spindles as they get
lower down, and lay the yarn or thread on the smaller parts of the cops. To
adjust the strength and flexibility of the reacting springs 12, a sliding ring 24
is applied over the two springs which stand together, and by sliding that ring
24 upwards or downwards, the yielding of the springs can be increased or

page_text: diminished until they are found to suit the required purpose. The spiral pulley
and reacting balance weight which, as before mentioned, may be used in lieu
of a reacting spring to the braidings, is shewn in Sheet I. at 20; and 21 is the
cord and balance weight suspended from it; 22 is the circular pulley fixed on
the same axis, so as to turn round with the spiral pulley, and that axis is
mounted in a tube or socket fixed to the frame F in place of the reacting
springs 12. 23 is the small strap which is wrapped on the circumference of
the circular pulley 22, and which is connected with the ends of the double
braiding where the reacting spring 12 would otherwise be connected. Note,
when our trumpets are used for spinning flax or other materials which are
found to cut the curls of the flyers in common throstle spinning (and which,
therefore, require the flyers to have false curls soldered or screwed on), then
the notches at the bases of our trumpets must be made in small pieces of suit-
able metal, which are fitted with dovetailed notches in the flange or rim 4, 4,
and fastened therein with solder or by other means, and which pieces can be
renewed by fresh ones when the holes in them become too much cut or worn
by the continual cutting of the wet flax yarn.
Having now described our said improvements, I, the said John Potter, for
myself and for said James Potter, do hereby declare that what we claim as
new invention in the machinery herein-before described is,-
First, our trumpets represented in Sheet I., and marked with the numeral
characters from 1 to 7, for reference in the above description, the hollow
tube of which trumpets are capable of admitting the empty bobbins within them
without touching, and the conical mouths at the lower ends of the trumpets,
which perform the offices of flyers, being also capable of admitting the upper
conical parts of the cops of yarn or thread within them without touching,
as herein-before stated; and,
Secondly, our mode of giving an alternate increasing and diminishing drag
of the bobbin by the combination of parts represented in Sheet I., and marked
with the numeral characters from 10 to 24, for reference in the foregoing
description. And these two improvements constitute the Improvements in
Machinery or Apparatus applicable to the Spinning or Twisting of Cotton,
Flax, Silk, Wool, and other Fibrous Materials, whereof the exclusive use is
granted to us by the aforesaid Letters Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Potter, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred.
and thirty-one.
JOHN (L.s.) POTTER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventeenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1831, the aforesaid John Potter came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to tho tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.