CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Whitehead, of Patricroft, in the County of
Lancaster, Spinner, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-ACTING MULES."
Sealed the 20th April 1855, and dated the 8th November 1854.
A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Whitehead at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th November 1854..
I, JAMES WHITEHEAD, of Patricroft, in the County of Lancaster, Spinner,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SELF-ACTING MULES" to be as follows:-
My improvements are applicable to self-acting mules, and consist in an
improved combination of parts for regulating the winding-on motion. Accord-
ing to my improvements, the strap or chain usually employed for giving
motion to the screw of the radial arm is dispensed with, and a positive amount
of motion is given to the said screw at every vibration of the radial arm, this
motion being varied at every stretch until the cop bottom is complete, at
which time the screw nut, to which the winding-on chain is attached, is most
remote from the fulcrum of the radial arm. One mode of constructing my
improved machinery for effecting the above object consists of a bevel wheel or
segment concentric with the radial arm; into this wheel or segment gears a
pinion, which is loose-on- the prolongation of the screw of the radial arm, but
connected to it by a click and ratchet wheel. To the screw of the radial-arm
is fixed a bevil pinion, gearing into another pinion fixed on a shaft, which is

page_text: in the same centre as the fulcrum of the radial arm. To this shaft is fixed
another bevil pinion, gearing in a similar pinion fixed on a vertical screw,
which is furnished with a nut., This nut has a stud, which is acted upon by a
When
shaper plate, fixed to the bevel wheel or segment above referred to.
a set of cops is commenced, the stud projecting from the nut of the vertical
screw is near the fulcrum of the radial arm; and the radial arm in vibrating
imparts the greatest amount of motion to the screw of the radial arm. At the
succeeding stretch the nut on the vertical screw is lowered; consequently
the bevel wheel or segment vibrates through a larger portion of a circle, and
imparts less motion to the screw of the radial arm, and so on, until the bottoms
of the cops are built, the variation in the amount of motion in the screw of
the radial arm being produced by the shaper plate attached to the bevel
wheel or segment. The motion may also be communicated to the screw of
the radial arm by means of a rack and pinion. In this case the rack is made
to traverse thro' a portion of the length of the stretch of the carriage, and
the amount of traverse is gradually diminished by a screw and nut, put in
motion by the rack pinion, which is loose on its axis, but connected to it by a
ratchet wheel and click, thereby only receiving motion when the carriage
is going out, and remaining stationary when the carriage is going in, or
vice versa.
so,
-SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said James Whitehead in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WHITEHEAD, of Patricroft, in the. County of Lancaster, Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in-the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Whitehead, Her, special license that I, the said James Whitehead,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
time
Whitehead, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-
ACTING MULES," upon the, condition' (amongst others) that. I, the said James

page_text: Whitehead, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Whitehead, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
The nature of my Invention consists in certain improved combinations of
machinery applicable to those self-acting mules in which a radial arm forms
part of the winding-on motion, by means of which improvements the strap or
chain usually employed for giving motion to the screw of the radial arm is
dispensed with, and a positive motion (varying in amount according to the
shape of cop required) is given to the said screw at every vibration of the said
radial arm until the bottom of the cop is completed.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,
reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the framing of a self-acting mule to which my
improvements are applied; Figure 2 is a detached view of my improvements,
drawn to an enlarged scale; and Figure 3, another view of the same. a is the
framing of the mule headstock; b, the quadrant; c, the radial arm; d, the screw
of the radial arm; e, the screw nut, to which is attached one end of the
winding-on chain f, which is wound on the barrel g; d' is a mitre pinion fixed
on the screw d. The parts above enumerated; and all the other parts of the
machine not shewn in the Drawing, are made in the ordinary manner. The
standard h, which is fixed to the floor, supports a short shaft in a line with
the fulcrum of the radial arm c. Upon this short shaft are fixed the mitre
pinion i, gearing into the mitre pinion d', and the mitre pinion gearing into
a similar pinion which is fixed on the screw j, supported in the standard h.
The bevel-toothed segment k works loose on a hollow stud projecting from
the standard h, and gears into the pinion d², which is loose on the prolongation
of the screw d, but connected to it by an internal ratchet wheel d³, fixed to
the said prolongation of the screw-d, and by a click hinged to the..bevel
pinion d³, as shewn detached in Figure 4. The toothed segment k is provided
2¹

page_text: with a lever ¹, and counterweight k³, and to it is attached the shaper
plate 1, the object of which will be explained hereafter. On the circumference
of the 'toothed segment is the catch, and to the standard h is jointed
the weighted lever n, the short end of which serves as a stop for the catch
The screw passes through the nut m, a stud from which projects through the
standard h, and is furnished with an anti-friction bowl. The shaper plate
comes in contact with this bowl, and the amount of motion communicated to
the screw d is regulated according to the shape and position of the plate l.in
the following manner:-The Drawings represent the parts in the relative
positions when the carriage is going out, and when the bottom of the
cops
is
partly made. When a fresh set of cops is commenced, the nuts e and m
are near the fulcrum of the radial arm, and they both gradually increase their
distance therefrom as the bottom of the cop is being built. At the first stretch,
when the carriage is going out, the shaper plate l, coming in contact with the
bowl on the stud of the nut m, holds the bevel segment le stationary during
the whole stretch; consequently as the radial arm c vibrates through the arc of
a circle, it brings the pinion d against the stationery segment, thereby causing
the said pinion to rotate, and this rotary motion is transmitted to the screw d
by the click and ratchet wheel d³, above described, and to the screw j by the
pinions d, i, , and j', thereby causing the nuts e and m to increase-their
distance from the fulcrum of the radial arm. During the running in of the
carriage no motion is communicated to the screws d and j, because the
pinion dis loose on the prolongation of the screw d, and the click hinged to
the said pinion slides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel d. The next time
the carriage goes out, the bevel segment is at liberty to radiate through a
portion of a circle before the shaper plate comes in contact with the bowl.on
the projection of the nut m; consequently no rotary motion is communicated
to the pinion d² during that portion of the radiating of the said bevel segment;
but as soon as the.bevel.segment.is.stopped, by the-shaper-plate-coming-against
the bowl of the nut m, the pinion d², continuing its motion with the screw d,
then begins to rotate, and gives the requisite rotary motion to the screws
d and j. The amount of this rotary motion is less at the second stretch than
it was at the first, and at the third stretch it will be less than at the second,
the motion being gradually diminished at every stretch until the bottom of the
cop is built. By this means the winding-on chain f is let off the winding-on
barrel g in the required proportions for winding the yarn on the spindles. At
the end of every stretch the catch k on the bevel segment & comes against the
weighted click n, thereby limiting the range of the bevel segment, and ensuring
a uniform starting point for the action of the bevel pinion d². When a set of

page_text: cops has been completed, and it is requisite to turn the screws d and j round
by hand, in order to bring the nuts e and m near the fulcrum of the radial
arm, the attendant, by lifting the weighted end of the catch n, depresses the
click, so as to allow the catch ' of the segment k to pass beyond the teeth of
the segment. On referring to Figure 2, it will be seen that the shaper plate l
is provided with a slot, through which the screw connecting it to the bevel
segment passes. The object of this slot is to enable the position of the shaper
plate to be varied with facility, thereby allowing variations to be made in the
amount of traverse given to the nut e.
.
I wish to remark here, that instead of the click and internal ratchet wheel,
shewn in Figure 4, I also propose to connect the bevel pinion to the
prolongation of the screw d by a clutch box; when such is the case the
weighted click n is dispensed with, as the clutch box can be lifted out of gear
when it is requisite to turn back the screw d. The gradually diminishing
rotary motion may also be communicated to the screw of the radial arm by
means of a rack and pinion; in this case the rack is made to traverse through
a portion of the length of the stretch of the carriage, and the amount of
traverse is gradually diminished by a screw and nut, put in motion by the rack
pinion, which is loose on its axis, but connected to it by a ratchet wheel and
click, thereby only receiving motion when the carriage is going out, and
remaining stationary when the carriage is going 'in, or vice versa.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim any of
the parts of the machinery which I have described as forming any part of my
Invention, separately or apart from the combination and application thereof
for the purposes above described; and that what I do claim is, the improved
combinations of machinery shewn and described for imparting a varying rotary
motion to the screw of the radial arm of self-acting mules, by means whereof
the amount of winding-on chain let off the winding-on barrel is diminished
at every stretch till the bottom of the cop is complete.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Whitehead, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JAMES WHITEHEAD. (L.S.)