Improvements in the Backing-off and Friction Cone Mechanism of Self-acting Mules.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Backing-off and Friction Cone Mechanism of
Self-acting Mules.
We, JAMES PICKFORD, Overlooker, JOSEPHI TAYLOR, Mill Manager, and
LUKE BUTTERWORTH, Mill Manager, all of Royton, Lancashire and PLATT BROTHERS
& Co., LTD. of Oldham, in the same County, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of our said invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to Self-acting Mules, and chiefly to those Mules which
comprise the invention (wholly or in part) for which Letters Patent, No. 17,822 were
granted on the 6th day of October 1892, and our invention has for its object, first,
to provide more effective frictional mechanism for effecting, or helping to effect,
the operation of "backing-off," with less wear and tear on the several parts than
heretofore, which same frictional' nechanism may be variously applied, and be
used for other similar purposes in the Mule. Secondly, to ensure of the backing-off
friction' on the tin-roller shaft being drawn out of gear immediately the backing-off
is completed, and before the mule carriage commences its inward run, and thus
avoid all unnecessary strain on the quadrant chain which has hitherto been placed
upon it by such friction' being disengaged after the carriage has commenced its
inward run.
In accordance with the first part of our invention, we mount upon the usual rim
shaft a sleeve or long bush, one end of which extends through the headstock bearing,
and revolves therein, and the other end extends to a point in close proximity to the
usual driving pulley. This last mentioned end of the bush is formed with a
large flange and the aforesaid end is formed with a small boss or collar which lies
beyond the front bearing of the headstock.
Upon the said bush we mount the ordinary backing-off friction cone, with the
internal cone capable of sliding endwise in the ordinary way, and imparting
revolving motion to the said bush by the abutment of two or more projections on its
inner side against the arms or spokes of a collar or disc keyed to the bush. The
external friction cone is mounted loosely on the bush, and is capable of a slight
lateral movement, and upon its far side carries a toothed spur wheel, and beyond
that a large flange, which latter is faced with leather or other frictional material, and
comes opposite to, and is of corresponding size to the large flange on the bush end.
These flanges may be of conical formation.
The operation of this combination of parts in effecting the "backing-off" is as
follows:-
The internal friction cone being impelled forward by the usual backing-off spring
comes into contact with the external friction cone, but this said external friction cone

page_text: being loose upon the sleeve and capable of sliding laterally as aforesaid, retires before
the advancing internal friction cone until the leather covered flange on its far side
comes into contact with the corresponding flange on the bush, which latter being
anchored by the boss or collar beyond the headstock bearing, limits the further
traverse of the cones, and causes said gollar to receive the further thrust of the
spring.
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There is hereby produced a double frictional grip' between the internal cone and
the bush flange, which has the effect of greatly increasing the effectiveness of the
driving power in arresting and reversing the tin-roller shaft in backing-off.
The movement of the backing-off friction cones is transmitted to the
tin roller shaft through a separate side shaft, and backing-off band, or equivalent
means.
The same, or a similar, double frictional grip (which is the characteristic feature of
the first part of our improvements) may be effected on the tin roller shaft, by
means of a disc or conical brake which is loosely nounted on the said shaft, but
by reason of a pawl or catch on the shaft pedestal or square' of the mule carriage,
which engages with a set of ratchet teeth or notches on the said brake, can only
turn, or be turned, in one direction. Alongside, and lying clear of this brake whilst
spinning is going on is a corresponding disc or friction cone, which is fast on
tin-roller shaft and revolves in either direction therewith.
the
When the backing-off friction cones on the tin roller shaft described in the said
former Patent, go into gear for backing-off, the lateral or endwise force thereby
exerted causes the aforesaid disc, which is fast on the tin roller shaft, to come in
contact with the said loosely mounted disc, which being held stationary by the pawl
and abutting against a fixed boss on the shaft, or the pedestal, or other fixed part
of the mule carriage, acts as a brake on the said revolving disc and helps to retard
the further movements of the tin roller, and so expedites or facilitates the operation
of backing-off. If desired the brake disc may be arranged to move against, and
away from, the revolving disc, & for nicety of grip' between the friction surfaces,
one or other (or both) of the stationary frictions may abut against a spring.
When the tin roller reverses in backing-off the pawl permits of the fixed disc to
revolve freely in such reverse direction without any obstruction. from the brake.
When backing-off ceases, and simultaneously with the backing-off frictions coming
out of gear, the disc and brake also disengage.
In accordance with the second part of our invention for causing the backing-off
friction cone on the tin roller shaft to come out of gear before the carriage
commences its inward run, and which friction cone is held in gear by a bowl' acting
upon an 'incline,' or vice-versa, we arrange for such incline to fall away from the
bowl' immediately the backing-off is completed, and simultaneously with, and by
means of the movement of the usual holding-out catch-rod, or other device for
disengaging the holding out catch, and for that purpose we so hinge or otherwise
mount the said 'incline' as to cause it to be able to turn or move in a vertical plane,
and beneath the 'incline' we arrange a lever, which is mounted on a horizontal
fulcrum, and when backing-off is taking place, or is about to take place, occupying a
vertical position and acting as a prop' for supporting the incline in a horizontal
position for the bowl' to act against it in putting and holding the backing-off
friction into gear.
The lower end of said lever is connected by a chain on one side, and spring on the
other side to the aforesaid holding-out catch-rod or other device. The
holding-out catch-rod or other device when moving or operating for the purpose of
disengaging the holding-out catch, will, by means of the chain, move the lever
which supports the 'incline' and in such way remove the support of the 'incline,
which latter immediately falls down clear of the bowl,' and therefore permits the
backing-off friction cone on the tin-roller shaft to immediately come out of gear and
before the mule carriage commences its inward run.
By the usual reverse movement of the holding-out catch-rod, or other device, the
lever aforesaid is caused to resume a vertical position, and therefore raise the incline'

page_text: to the position which enables it to engage with the bowl' for putting the
backing-off friction into gear again for backing-off.
Although the arrangements herein described are found effective it will be obvious
that variations in details may be effected, or equivalent means may be devised for
utilising the movements of the holding-out catch-rod or other device without
departing from our invention.
10
Improvements in the Backing-off and Friction Cone Mechanism of
Self-acting Mules.
We, JAMES PICKFORD, Overlooker JOSEPH TAYLOR, Mill Manager and LUKE
BUTTERWORTH Mill Manager, all of Royton, Lancashire and PLATT BROTHERS AND
COMPANY, LTD. of Oldham in the same County, Engineers; do hereby declare the
nature of this 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 relates to Self-acting Mules; and chiefly to those Mules which
comprise the invention (wholly or in part) for which Letters Patent No. 17,822 were
granted on the 6th day of October 1892; and our invention has for its object, first to
provide more effective frictional' nechanism for effecting, or helping to effect, the
operation of 'backing-off,' with less wear and tear on the several parts than heretofore,
which same frictional mechanism may be variously applied, and be used for other
similar purposes in the mule: Secondly, to ensure the backing-off' friction on the
tin-roller shaft being drawn out of gear immediately the backing-off is completed,
and before the mule carriage commences its inward run, and thus avoid all unnecessary
strain on the quadrant chain which has hitherto been placed upon it by such 'friction'
being disengaged after the carriage has commenced its inward run.
And in order that our said invention may be more clearly understood and more
readily carried into effect, we have herewith annexed two sheets of drawings and will
now proceed to describe the same with the aid of the figures and letters of reference
shown thereon. Similar letters refer to similar parts in all the views.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of so much of a mule headstock and carriage as is
necessary to show the application of our invention to a mule. Fig. 2 is a side
sectional view of the rim shaft portion of the headstock with our improvements
applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a front view of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the
carriage square.' Fig. 5 an end view of Fig: 4, and Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10' details.
of the application of the second part of our invention.
In accordance with the first part of our invention we mount upon the usual rim
shaft (A) a long bush or sleeve (B) hereinafter called a bush one end of which extends
through the headstock (C), and revolves therein, and the other end extends to a point
in close proximity to the usual driving pulley. This last mentioned end of the bush
is formed with a large flange (D) and the aforesaid end is formed with a small boss or
collar (E) which lies beyond the front bearing of the headstock.
Upon the said bush (B) we mount the ordinary backing-off friction cone (F) with
the internid cone (F") capable of sliding end-wise in the ordinary way, and imparting

page_text: revolving motion to the said bush (B) (and therefore to the large flange (D)) by the
abutment of two or more projections (F) on its inner side against the arms or spokes
of a collar or disc (F) keyed to the bush (B). The external friction cone (F) is
mounted loosely on the bush (B), and is capable of a slight lateral movement, and
upon its far side carries a toothed spur wheel (F5) and beyond that a large flange (F°)
which latter is faced with leather or other frictional material, and comes opposite to
and is of corresponding size to the large flange (D) on the bush end.
The operation of this combination of arts in effecting the backing-off is as
follows:
The internal friction cone (F) being impelled forward by the usual backing-off
spring through the rod (F7) and the lever (FS) comes into contact with the external
friction cone (F) but this said external friction cone being loose upon the bush (B)
and capable of sliding laterally as aforesaid, retires before the advancing internal
friction cone (F) until the leather covered flange (F) on its far side comes into
contact with the corresponding flange (D) on the bush (B), which latter being
"anchored by the boss or collar (E) beyond the headstock bearing (C), limits the
further traverse of the cones and causes said collar (E) to receive the further thrust
of the spring.
The backing-off friction cones (F) transmit motion to the tin-roller shaft friction
through the separate side shaft (G) and rim (G¹) and to the backing-off band (H) as
shewn by Fig. 3, or equivalent menns may be used for the purpose.
The double frictional grip produced by the combination of the internal cone (F)
and the bush flange (D) has the advantage of greatly reducing the wear and tear and
increasing the effectiveness of the friction in :nore expeditiously arresting and reversing
the tan roller shaft in backing-off.
The same, or a similar double frictional grip (which is the characteristic feature of
the first part of our improvements) may be effected on the tin-roller shaft X, by
means of a disc brake (J) see Figs. 4 and 5 which is loosely mounted on the said
shaft but by reason of a pawl or catch (J) on the shaft pedestal (J) mounted on the
square (J) of the mule carriage which engages with a set of ratchet teeth or
notches (J) in the said brake, can only turn or be turned in one direction. Along-
side and lying clear of this brake whilst spinning is going on is a corresponding dise
or friction (J) which is fast on the tin-roller shaft X and revolves in either
direction therewith.
When the backing-off friction cones (J) on the tin-roller shaft (which are similar
to those described in the said former Patent) go into gear for backing-off, the lateral
or endwise force thereby exerted and the consequent slight end-wise movement of the
tin-roller shaft causes the aforesaid disc (J) which is fast on the tin-roller shaft to
come in contact with the said loosely mounted dise (J) which being held stationary
by the pawl (J) and abutting against the pedestal (J2) or other fixed part of the mule
carriage, acts as a brake on the said revolving dise and helps to retard the further
movements of the tin-roller X, and so expedites the operation of backing-off by
lessening the time of arresting the motion of the spindles.
When the tin-roller reverses in backing-off the pawl (J) permits of the disc (J) to
revolve freely in such reverse direction without any obstruction from the brake.
When backing-off ceases, and simultaneously with the hacking-off frictions (J) coming
out of gear the dise and brake also disengage.
The second part of our invention has for its object an arrangement of mechanism
for causing the backing-off friction cone (J) on the tin-roller shaft (X) to come out
of gear with more promptness and certainty before the carriage commences its inward
run. For this purpose the friction (J) is held in gear by a bowl' (H) acting upon
the incline (H) (hinged and mounted as shown) and we arrange for such
'incline' (H) to fall away from the bowl' (H) immediately the backing-off is
completed and simultaneously with, and by means of the movement of the usual
holding-out catch-rod (H) or other device for disengaging the holding-out catch, and
for this purpose we so hinge the said 'incline' to the bracket (H3) as to cause it to
be able to turn or move in a vertical plane, and beneath the incline' (H) we arrange

page_text: a Lever (H) which is mounted on a horizontal fulcrum (H) and when backing-off is
taking place or is about to take place, occupies a vertical position as shown in
Figs. 6, 7 and 8, and acts as a prop for supporting the incline' (H) in a horizontal
position for the bowl' (H) to act against in putting and holding the backing-off
friction into gear.
The lower end of said lever (H) is connected by a chain (H) on one side, and
spring (H) on the other side to the aforesaid holding-out catch-rod (H2) (or other
device when moving or operating for the purpose of disengaging the holding-out
catch of the mule) by means of the chain (H) noves the lever (H) which supports
the 'incline' and in such way removes the support of the incline' (H') which latter
immediately falls down clear of the bowl' (H) as seen in Figs. 9 and 10 and permits.
the backing-off friction (J) on the tin-roller shaft to immediately come out of gear
and before the mule carriage commences its inward run. A spring (H) may with
advantage be applied between the lever (H) and the carriage square (J) to further
ensure the disengaging of the friction (J). The backing-off friction is in thin manner.
synchronized with the action of the holding-out catch of the mule and ensures the
backing-off friction on the tin-roller shaft being drawn out of gear immediately the
backing-off is completed and before the mule carriage commences its inward run, and
thus avoids all unnecessary strain on the quadrant chain which has hitherto been the
case owing to such friction having been disengaged slightly after the carriage has
commenced its inward run.
By the usual reverse movement of the holding-out catch rod or other device the
lever (H) aforesaid is caused to resume a vertical position and therefore raise the
'incline' (H) to the position which enables it to engage with the bowl' for putting
the backing-off friction into gear again for backing-off as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8.
Although the arrangements herein described are found effective it will be obvious
that variations in details may be effected or equivalent means be devised for utilising
the movements of the holding-out catch-rod or other device without departing from
our invention. It will also be obvious that instead of the double frictional grip"
being produced by the combination of a conical and a flat friction we may use a more
or less conical friction in lieu of the flat friction with a like effect.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we wish it to be understood
that although we have only described our invention as applied to a "Platts" mule
and the modifications described are in connection with the invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to us on the 6th day of October 1892 No. 17,822 it will
be seen that the improvements are also applicable to other makes of mules, and that
the combination of parts herein before described might be modified or other parts
substituted without departing from the essential features, and what we therefore
claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-
1. The combination and arrangement of partsforming the "double frictional grip
mechanism as and for the purposes described.
2. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the "double frictional grip "
backing-off mechanism described in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and consisting
essentially of the boss or sleeve (B) with large flange (D) carrying the backing-off
friction cones (F) when mounted and operating substantially as and for the purposes
described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
3. The combination and arrangement of parts shown and described in connection
with Figs. 4 and 5 for arresting and driving the tin-roller when backing-off.
4. In self-acting mules the use of the holding-out catch-rod or its equivalent for
the purpose of liberating the backing-off friction on the tin-roller shaft before the
carriage commences its inward run substantially as described.
6. In self-acting mules the use and employment as herein directed of the following
parts:-
Hinged incline (H) lever (H) in connection with the holding-out catch-rod (H)

page_text: when arranged and operating as and for the purposes. herein before described and
illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the accompanying. drawings.
Dated this 7th day of July 1897.
JAMES PICKFORD,
JOSEPH TAYLOR;
LUKE BUTTERWORTH,
PLATT BROTHERS & Co., LTD.,
By John G. Wilson & Co.,
55 Market Street, Manchester, Agents.