AN IMPROVEMENT OR CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS OF, IN, OR APPLICABLE TO THE MULE, BILLY, JENNY, STRETCHING FRAME, OR ANY OTHER MACHINE OR MACHINES, HOWEVER DESIGNATED 02 NAKED, USED IN SPINNING COTTON WOOL, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN WHICH EITHER THE SPINDLES RECEDE FROK AND APPROACH THE ROLLERS OR OTHER DELIVERERS OF THE SAID FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, OR IN WHICH SUCH ROLLERS OR DELIVERERS RECEDE FROX AND APPROACH THE SPINDLES
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
RICHARD ROBERTS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the sixth year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Roberts, special license, full power, and sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Richard Roberts, my exors, adiiors, and assigns, and every
of them, or such others as I, the said Richard Roberts, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of fourteen years, to be computed from
the date of the now reciting Letters Patent, should and lawfully might
use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the said United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, the Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS OF, IN, OR APPLICABLE TO THE MULE, BILLY, JENNY,
STRETCHING FRAME, OR ANY OTHER MACHINE OR MACHINES, HOWEVER DESIGNATED
02 NAKED, USED IN SPINNING COTTON, WOOL, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,
AND IN WHICH EITHER THE SPINDLES RECEDE FROK AND APPROACH THE ROLLERS
OR OTHER DELIVERERS OF THE SAID FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, OR IN WHICH SUCH
ROLLERS OR DELIVERERS RECEDE FROX AND APPROACH THE SPINDLES;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Richard
Roberts, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months

page_text: next immediately ensuing the date of the now reciting Letters Patent, to
cause a particular and exact description of my said Invention, and the manner
of making and using the same, in default whereof the said Letters Patent,
and all liberties and privileges thereby granted, were to cease, determine, and
become void.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Roberts, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which my improved machine is to be constructed, and the
modo in which it is to operate, is described and clearly shown in and by the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following description, that is to say:-
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, of the annexed Drawings, represents an elevation viewed
from one end of that part of my improved mule which I call the headstock,
and which corresponds in situation with the part so called in the old mule;
the roller beam and such parts of the framing as are not necessary to explain
my Invention, and which are not new, being removed or left out. Fig. 2
represents what I call a friction clip, consisting of two semicircular or nearly
semicircular pieces of metal, made to fit round a pulley or blank wheel of
suitable form, and connected together by screws, by which they may be
caused to press with greater or less force upon such pulley or blank wheel.
The use of which friction clip is to communicate motion to or receive motion
from such pulley or blank wheel, by the friction arising from the contact of
their respective surfaces.
Sheet 2 of the annexed Drawings. Fig. 1 represents an elevation of the
headstock, as seen from the back. Fig. 3 represents a bird's-eye view of
some parts of the headstock, exhibited below the dotted line in Fig. 1 of this
Sheet.
Sheet 3 of the annexed Drawings. Fig. 1 represents a bird's-eye view of
the headstock and part of the carriage, some parts represented in this Fig.
being shewn in section. Figs. 2 and 3 represent on an enlarged scale some
of the parts or movements by which in my improved mule the operation
of putting down the faller is performed. Figs. 4 and 5 show on an enlarge
scale some of the parts or movements by which in my improved mule the
operation usually calle: winding on is regulated.
Fig. 1, in Sheets 1, 2, and 3, are drawn to a scale of 3 inches to a foot or
thereabouts. Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, in Sheet 3, are drawn to a scale of six
inches to a foot or thereabouts. The same characters or letters of reference are
used to denote the same parts in all the different Figures.
In the accompanying Drawings the framing of my improved mule is
colored a brownish yellow, and I have, as far as practicable, designated by

page_text: separate colours the different movements, viz., the parts connected with the
faller are for the most part colored blue in each Sheet.
In order to render more intelligible the description of those parts or
movements which I have invented, and which I claim as of my Invention, and
in order to shew the mode in which they operate, I shall describe them in
conjunction with the mule now in use for spinning cotton or such parts thereof
as may be necessary for that purpose, though they are equally applicable to
the other machines herein-before enumerated, and I shall hereafter point out
the particular parts or movements which I have invented, and which I claim
as of my sole Invention. I shall assume that in the building in which my
improved mule is to be worked there is a main horizontal shaft running
parrallel with the side walls of such building, and driven by any adequate
power. For the purpose of connecting my improved mule with the main shaft
I suspend from the ceiling, parrallel with such main shaft, a countershaft (A, A),
Fig. (2), Sheet (2). On shaft (A, A,) is a fast pulley (B,B,) and a loose
pulley (C, C). When the mule is to be set in motion a strap from a drum on
the main shaft is thrown from the loose pulley (C, C,) to the fast pulley (B, B),
and vice versa when the mule is to be put at rest. From pulley D, D, a
crossed strap passes over a loose pulley shewn at B, in Fig. 1 and 3, in
Shect I, which I call the backing-off pulley, and keeps it constantly re-
volving on the shaft (A), Fig. 1, Sheet 1 and 8, commonly called the rim
shaft; in the direction of the arrow, from pulley (E,E), Fig. 2, Sheet 2, an
open strap passes round, and alternately gives motion in the direction of the
arrow to the loose pulley (F, Fig. 1, Sheet 1 and 8), which I call the winding-
on pulley, and to the fast pulley (G) which I call the twist pulley from the
pulley (F, F, Fig. 2, Sheet 2. An open strap passes round and gives motion
in the direction of the arrow to the pulley P, seen in Fig. 1, Sheet 2 and 3,
which I call the geering pulley on the shaft R, best seen in Fig. 1, Sheet 3,
which I call the cam shaft; there are four cams for the purpose of connecting
and unconnecting the different parts of my improved mule with the main
shaft. The catch box (C, Fig. 1, and Sheet 1 and 3), is put in and out of geer
by the cam (60) and spring (61) acting against the lever (62). The strap is
moved from the pulley (F) to the pulley (G) by the cam (63) acting against
the strap lever (64), and is brought back on to the pulley (F) by the spring
(65), or weights may be used as substitutes for the said springs. The cam
(66), by alternately lifting and letting down the lever (67), the rod (68),
the forked lever (69), and the vertical shaft (M), seen in Fig. 1, .Sheets
1 and 2, alternately geers the wheel (8) with the wheel (9), and the wheel
(14) with the wheel (70). Attached to one side of the geering pulley (P)

page_text: is a wheel (71). This wheel is in contact with the wheel (72), which has
four different portions of its periphery cut away, in order to prevent such
contact, except at particular times. (The wheel (72) and the shaft R are
carried by such contact round in the direction of the arrow, until they are
stopped by the lever (78) on the face plate (74). The cam shaft R is made
to move on its axis in order to put the different parts of the mule in and
out of geer in the following manuer:-On one side of the cam (75) aro
four pins successively acted upon by the spring (76), best seen in Fig. 1.
Sheet 2, which is placed in such a position with regard to those pins as to
turn the contact wheel (72) a little in the direction of the arrow whenever
the projection at the end of the lever (73) is removed from being in contact
with any one of the three projections on the contact wheel (72), which pro-
jections are at different distances from the centre of the wheel); or when the
finger (77) on the end of the cam shaft (R), (shewn in Fig: 6, Sheet 3),
escapes by the face plate (74), and when by the action of the spring the
contact wheel (72) is so turned a little, the contact wheel (71) presses against
it and turns it round, until one of the four indents formed in the periphery of
the wheel, as particularly shewn at 72, in Fig. 1, Sheet 2), arrives opposite
the wheel (71), where it is again held, either by the finger at the end of the
cam shaft coming in contact with the face plate (74), or by one of the pro-
jections in the wheel (72) coming against the projection on the lever (73).
The tooth wheels (2 and 3), Fig. 1, Sheet 2, on the bent lever (J), are driven
by the pinion (1) on the rim shaft, and when the cam (75) lifts the lever J,
the wheel 3 geers with the carrier wheel (4), which works in the change
wheel (5, on one end of the shaft (L); on the other end of the shaft L. a bevil
wheel (6) geers into the weel (7) on the first roller in the usual manner.
the shaft L is a bevil wheel (8) that geers into the wheel (9) on the vertical
shaft M, sometimes called in the common mule the mendoza shaft. On
this shaft, near its lower extremity, is a spur wheel (10), about twice as
broad on the tooth as the wheel (11) into which it geers. The wheel (11) is
firmly connected with the pulley (N); round this pulley (N), and the pulley
(O) (shewn on the left side of Sheet 1), the bands used for driving out the
carriage pass, and are connected with the carriage in the usual way. The
letter (T) designates in each Sheet of the Drawings that part of my improved
mule which regulates the form of the cop, and which I call the shaper; it is
in each shewn about the time of commencing the making of a cop.
On
Fig. 1, Sheet 2, is a cross section of the shaper, taken at its centre, which
shews that its radius varies in length at every point of its circumference, but
the form of the shaper may be varied to suit the size and form of the cop

page_text: required. The use of the shaper is to effect, by an action on the faller here-
after to be described, those progressive changes in the winding on the yarn by
which the form of the cop is produced. On one end of the shaper is a worm
wheel (23), Fig. 1, Sheet 1, driven by a worm (24) on the shaft (h, h); fitted
loose on the upper end of this shaft is a pall or clik (i), which takes into
the ratchet wheel (25), and by means, with which every mechanic is
familiar, is made to turn the ratchet wheel one or more teeth every time the
carriage comes out. The ratchet wheel and the worm (24) being fast on the
same shaft, the worm acts upon the worm wheel (23), which is fixed on the
end of the shaper, and the shaper is made to turn a little on its axis every
time the carriage comes out, and thus to present a different part of its circum-
ference to the friction roller (51), on the end of the lever (46), which, by
means hereafter to be described, regulates the motion of the faller. The
ratchet wheel (25) should have one tooth for every hank, or every two hanks,
in a pound weight of the yarn to be spun. The number of stretches, which
is governed by the length of the stretch and size of the cop, must determine
the number of the teeth in the worm wheel 23, but the number should be
such as, in conjunction with the ratchet wheel before described, will cause the
shaper to make about nine tenths of a revolution whilst spinning one doffing
or set of cops. I, a cam.or snail (Figs 2 and 3, Sheet 8), fitted loose one
the shaft (A), on a pin (e). Projecting from the snail (I) is a pall (ƒ)
which is lifted out of the teeth of the ratchett wheel (44), attached to one
side of the rim (H), when the rim is turning forward or giving twist to the
yarn, but is made to take hold of the teeth when the motion of the rim is
reversed for the purpose of backing off. This is effected by means of a very
slender friction clip (9) on the nave of the rim (H), taking hold of a pin (h) in
the tail of the pall (p), which friction clip has a tendency to turn in whatever
direction the rim is moving. That part of a mule which is usually called the
faller is composed in my improved mule as in the common mule of a shaft
the length of the carriage, one end only of which is seen in Sheet 1, and
numbered (50), and in Sheet 3 (Fig. 5) is represented as broken. On one side
of this shaft are fixed at equal distances a number of arms (58) which
support and keep in a state of tension a wire about one tenth of an inch in
diameter, extending. across the ends of all the arms. Whilst the carriage is
running out the faller is kept up (in the position shewn by the dotted lines at
54, in Fig. 1, Sheet 1) by the spiral spring (30), which is attached at one end
to the arm (31) on the faller shaft, and at the other to a stud (32) on the
carriage; but when the carriage in running out has arrived within about
three inches of the extent of the stretch, the anti-friction roller 33, on one end

page_text: of the lever (35), presses against a part of the frame (34), better seen in
Fig. 4, Sheet 3; the under side of which forms two inclined planes at different
angles of inclination. By passing under the first of these inclined planes the
roller (33) is depressed, and the lever 35 acts upon the faller (by means of the
connecting rod 86 and the arm (a), and brings it down nearly to the point of
the spindle (55), as exhibited in tho Fig. 1, Sheet 1. In this position it
remains until the operation called backing off commences, when the carriage
again moves out a little, by which the roller (33) is carried under the second
inclined plane at (34), and the faller wire presses down the yarn. At the
same time the sector (48), which is attached to the lever (35), is moved back
on its axis until the notch (in the sector) is brought under a projecting
part (w) of the latch (45), which drops into it, and thus connects the
lever (35) and the arm (46) firmly together; the faller is consequently made
to follow the motions of the roller (51), which, as the carriage runs in, passes
over the surface of the shaper that determines the form of the cop. The
lever (35) and sector (48) are keyed on the shaft (47). (seen in Figs. 4 and 5,
Sheet 3), which shaft passes through the arm (46), and moves very freely in it.
Parallel with the faller shaft (50) is a very light shaft (49), supported by
bearings in the brackets which support the faller. This shaft has very light
arms, calculated to support at their extremities a small wire similar to that
called the counter faller in the common mule, and used by me for purposes
nearly similar. The wire passes under the yarn at a short distance from the
faller and nearer to the rollers, and being overbalanced by a weighted arin on
the other side of the shaft, has a tendency to raise the yarn whilst the faller
is deprossing it. From an arm on the shaft (49), Fig. 1, Sheet 1, is sus-
pended a link (26), and from an arm on the shaft (50) is suspended another
link (27); these are connected by a cross bar (28), from which is suspended
a rod (29), made in two parts to admit of being extended by drawing the one
out of the other like the tubes of a telescope. Round this rod is wound a spiral
spring, which has a tendency to return the immer piece to the bottom of the
socket in the outer pieco, after it has been partially withdrawn. The rod (29)
is connected at the bottom with a lever 56 (seen in Fig. 5, Sheet 3), on the
shaft (57); on this shaft is a projection (58), which, when pressed against the
pin (59), increases the friction of the pulley (39) over which the rim band
passes, by pressing it against the ring (y), and this takes place whenever the
friction clip on the clutch E, (Fig. 1. Sheet 1, is by its tightness inclined to
cause the yarn to wind on too fast for them by the counter faller being
brought so low as to be nearly on a level with the faller. The link 26 is raised,
and with it the rod (29) and lever (56), which, by pressing the pulley (39)

page_text: against the ring (y), as before stated, retards the motion of the spindles and
corrects the tendency to wind on too fast. If, on the contrary, the winding
on should be too slow, the counter faller will rise so much above the faller, or,
what amounts to the same thing, the faller will descend so much below the
counter faller, and a contrary action will take place, the pressure on the
pulley (39) will be diminished, and the winding on will be expedited and
corrected. Now when the winding on is done, and the carriage is again about
to come out, the faller is raised to the position of the dotted lines (54), whilst
the counter faller has a stop to cause it to remain a little below the yarn. In
this state of things, if there was nothing to correct the effect which the rising
of the faller above the counter faller has upon the pulley (39), the motion of
the spindles would be arrested. To prevent this, when the faller has been
raised to the point of the spindles, a pin (88) comes in contact with and lifts
one end of the lever (89), the other end of which, by depressing the
lever (56), elongates the rod (29), and thus sets at liberty the pulley (39). On
the nave of the loose pulley (F), (Fig. 1, Sheet 1), is fastened a tooth
wheel (13), which geers into another wheel (12) loose on the stud (84), on
which stud is a strap pulley (S), to one side of which is attached a friction
pulley (82) intended to receive a friction clip, which, as it resembles those
already described, is not exhibited in the Drawings. This friction clip, and
consequently the friction pulley to which it is attached, and the pulley (S),
are set in motion by a pin in the rim of the wheel (12), which lays hold of
the clip. When the wheel revolves from pulley (S) a strap communicates
the motion (as regulated by the friction clip on pulley 82 to pulley (W) on
shaft (X), and when required thro' the medium of the beril wheels (14) and
(70) to the upright shaft (M), the spur wheels (10) and (11), and by a
band from the pulley (N) to the carriage which is thereby put up.
Having so far described the different parts of my improved mule seperately,
I shall now proceed to describe in what manner it works. I shall assume that
the carriage has just been put up, and the roller (Y, Y), (Fig, 1, Sheet 1),
connected with the carriage to have depressed the end (G, G,) of the lever
(K), and by that means to have raised the other end of the lever (K) until
the catch P drops under the projection o. I shall also assume that the pro-
jection (a, a,) on the contact wheel (72), (Fig. 1, Sheet 2,) is in contact with
the projection on the end of the little escapement lever (78). In this situation
of the cam shaft the catch box (C) will be out of both the clutches D and E;
the strap will be on the fast pulley G; the vertical shaft (M) will have been
raised by the cam (66) lifting the lever (67), the rod (68), and the forked
lever (69), until the bevil wheel (9) geers into the wheel (8), and the cam

page_text: (75), by lifting the bent lever (J), will have put in geer the wheel (3) with
the wheel (4), Fig. 1, Sheet 2. The strap from the main shaft is now to be
thrown on the fast pulley (B, B), Fig. 2, Sheet 2, on the small shaft (A, A),
when the rim shaft (A), being set in motion in the direction of the arrow on
the pulley (G), will communicate motion to the rollers by the wheels
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, to the spindles by the rim (H) in the usual way, and
to the carriage by the wheels 8, 9, 10, and 11, and an endless band from the
pulley (N) round the pulley (0), and to the carriage in the usual method.
The carriage will then run out, and the operation of delivering the roving from
the roller and of twisting by the spindles will be performed as in the mule in
common use. When the carriage arrives at the end of the stretch the faller
is brought down nearly to the points of the spindles by means already described.
Whilst the carriage is going out, the projection (z), Sheet 1, Fig. 1, on the
piece (») passes under the projection on the lever (m), and when the carriage
has arrived at the end of the stretch the projection (9), coming in contact
with the catch (p), removes it from under the projection (o), and suffers the
end (II, II,) of the long lever (K) to descend, which that end, being heavier
than the end (G, (+), has a tendency to do, until its motion is arrested by the
projecting piece (r) coming in contact with the catch (s); by the descent of
end (H, H,) of the lever (K) the opposite end (G, G.) is caused to ascend,
and the little lever (78), being acted upon by the rod 81, sets the cam shaft at
liberty, and the spring (76), pressing on one of the pins in cam (75), advances
the contact wheel (72) until it presses against the contact wheel (71), which is
turning with considerable velocity in the direction of the arrow.
The cam
shaft will thus be made to turn one fourth of a revolution, when it will be
held by the finger (77) on the shaft (R) coming against the plate (74), and
the cam (75), by lowering the hent lever (J), will disengage the wheels (3 and
4). when, of course, the rollers will cease to turn, and the carriage, having
stopped, will be held out at the end of the stretch by the projection on the
lever (m) dropping behind the projection (z) on the piece (n). The rollers
and carriage are now at rest, but the rim (H) is kept turning to put the
desired quantity of twist in the yarn. This operation is continued, and the
twist wheel (15). and with it the face plate (74). revolve, until the finger (77)
on the cam shaft (R is permitted to pass the face plate (74), when the cam
shaft is acted upon as before by the spring 76, and again makes one fourth
of a revolution, and is then stopped by the projection (b, b.) on the contact
wheel (72) coming against the projection on the lever (78). During these
operations the cam (63) will have suffered the spring (65), by acting on the
strap lever (64), to remove the strap from the fast pulley (G) to the loose

page_text: pulley (F), and the cam (60) will also have suffered the spring (61) to connect
the catch box (C) by means of the lever (62), with the clutch (D), and thereby
the shaft (A) with the backing off pulley (B). The rim, and of course the
twisting, is now gradually stopped by the pulley (B) turning in a direction
contrary to the pulley (G), and acting upon the shaft (A) through the medium
of the friction clip and clutch (D); by this action the rim is first stopped and
then set in motion in a contrary direction, viz', the direction of the pulley (B),
and effects what is called backing off. By the rim (H) turning back, the friction
clip (9), best seen in Fig. 3, Sheet 8), is made to put down the pall (f) into
one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel (44). The snail (I), being now connected
with the rim (H), turns in the same direction, and lifts the lever (Q), and by
the rod (78) the bent lever (79) and the rod (80) pulls the lower end of the
lever (m), whilst the projection on the upper end of lever (m), by taking
hold of the projection on the piece (n), pushes the carriage a little further
out, and keeps the yarn, as it is unwound from the point of the spindle in
backing off, in a state of moderate tension; the roller 33 is at the same time
pressed against the second part of the inclined plane (84), and elevates the
upper end of the lever (35), which, through the medium of the rod (36; and
arm (a), puts down the faller, which is secured in its position by the dropping
of the latch (45) into the notch in the sector (48), as already described.
Prior to the falling of the latch into the notch of the sector (48), the end
(H, H,) of the lever (K) is prevented from descending further by the pro-
jection (7) resting upon the catch (s), and the catch (s) is held in its place by
the arm (u) (which is connected with it by being fastened on the same
shaft) resting on the pin (v) on the latch, but when the latch falls into
the notch in the sector (48), the pin (v) descends with it, by which the
arm (u) is allowed to fall. The inclined face of the projection (»)
acting with the weight of the lever (K) pushes aside the catch (s),
and the lever descends till it is stopped by the projection (52) ou the
framing. The lever (K) in descending carries with it the vertical lever
(m), and that liberates the carriage by allowing the projection (2) on the
piece (n) to pass over the projection on the upper end of the vertical lever (m)
at the same time the descent of the end (H, H,) of the lever (K) raises the
opposite end of the lever, which, by means of the rod (81) and the lever (73),
again liberates the contact wheel (72), which, as before, makes a quarter of a
revolution, and is then stopped by the projection (c, c,) coming in contact with
the projection on the lever (78). Whilst the contact wheel is thus revolving,
the cam (60), by means of the lever (62), moves the catch box (C) out of the
clutch (D) into the clutch (E), and the cam (66), by means of the lever (67),

page_text: the rod (68), and forked lever (69), lets down the vertical shaft (M), and
brings the wheel (70) into geer with the wheel (14), which is driven by the
strap on the loose pulley (S), by means of the wheels 13 and 12 and the friction
clip upon (82), as already described. The vertical shaft now revolves in a
direction contrary to that by which the carriage was driven out, and the
carriage is consequently put up or made to approach the rollers, and whilst the
carriage is running in or approaching the rollers the pulley (F) is, prior to the
carriage commencing to come in, connected with the shaft (A), by means of
the catch box (C) and clutch (E), round which a friction clip, already
described, is so tempered as to incline the spindles to turn forward with a
velocity somewhat greater than is necessary for winding on. This tendency to
wind on faster than the carriage in running in warrants is regulated by
the faller and counter faller causing the pulley (39) to be pressed against the
ring (y), as before described. When the carriage has arrived to within about
two inches of the point from which it set out, the pin (v), in latch (45), begins
to ascend the inclined plane on the arm (V), and by the time the carriage is
quite home will have lifted the latch (45) out of the notch in the sector (48),
and the faller, now liberated from the arm (46), is carried a little higher by
he spring (30) than it was by the arm (46) in descending the declivity on
the end of the shaper (T), thus the latch (45) is prevented from returning
into the notch in the sector (48). By the time the running in of the carriage
and winding on of the yarn is effected, the roller (Y, Y), by again depressing
the end (G, G,) of the lever (K), will, by means of the rod (81) and the
lever (73), liberate the cam shaft (R), which, by performing one fourth of a
revolution, will set the different parts in their proper situations for recom-
mencing their respective operations, as before described.
Having described my various improvements, and the manner in which they
are employed when in conjunction with the mule now in common use, to the
several parts of which mule now in usc I make no claim, except only as the
same are altered, modified, and newly combined and arranged, so as to render
them applicable to my said Invention, I shall now proceed to enumerate what
I consider to be the leading parts of my said Invention.
In the first place, I claim, as of my sole invention, such part of my improved
mnule as puts down the faller by the agency of the rim (II) when turning back
for the purpose of backing off, and which is effected by communicating to the
rim Ha motion the reverse of that which it possesses when giving twist to the
yarn. This I have described above as done by a ratchet wheel, pall, friction
clip, and snail. I do not claim the parts as of my invention; but iny Inven-
tion consists in putting down the faller by communicating to the rim a motion

page_text: the reverse of that which it possesses when giving twist to the
mentioned.
yarn, as above
And I also claim, as of my sole invention, my mode of putting down
the faller by causing a lever (either with or without an anti-friction roller,
and connected either directly or indirectly with the faller) to press against
or be pressed by one or more inclined plane or planes, or other surfaces of
suitable form, in the same or any substantially similar manner to that herein-
before described.
And I also claim, as of my sole invention, the mode of regulating the
motion of the faller, and the mode of forming the cop, by causing an
arm or lever, connected directly or indirectly with the faller, to pass longitu-
dinally over, under, or along, and in contact with the surface of any piece
of wood, metal, or other material, of the form of that part of my improved
mule which I call the shaper, or of any other suitable form, turning upon its
axis, or otherwise moving so as to present different portions of its surface in
succession to the contact of such arm or lever while moving longitudinally.
And I also claim, as of my sole invention, the mode or modes of changing
and reversing, by means of the cains, springs (or weights), and contact wheels
berein-before described, the motions of the wheels, pullies, and shafts used in
and for twisting and backing off, and for driving the carriage in and out.
And I also claim, as of my sole invention, my mode of regulating the winding
on of the yarn by means of the difference in height between the faller and
counter faller, by which the spindles are made to revolve more slowly as the
wires of the faller and counter faller approach each other in height, and more
quickly as they recede from each other, and which difference in height may be
made to act in various ways upon the spindles. The one which I prefer I
have described in this my Specification; and I claim the exclusive right of
effecting the same by any mode which causes the difference in the heights of
the falier and counter faller, more or less to retard the rototary motion of the
spindles. Having before shewn in what manner, at any stage of the cop, the
motions which put down the faller and unwind the yarn from the point of the
spindle are (by the latch 45 entering a notch in the sector 48) permitted to go
out of action, and the motions for winding on and putting up brought into
action, I do hereby further declare that I do not claim, as of my invention, the
application of a latch to secure the faller to an arm or lever, which may run
over or be guided by the shaper. But I do claim, as of my invention, the
application of such latch, used as an escapement, for liberating one end of the
lever (K), or any piece of mechanism used for a similar purpose or similar
purposes, and thereby causing a change of motions, whereby the carriage is run

page_text: in and the winding on of the yarn is effected. Those parts of my improved
mule which I claim as of my invention, and which I have before described, may
be also applied (by any mechanic conversant with the construction of those
machines) to the billy, the jenny, the stretching frame, or any other machine
or machines, however designated or named, used in spinning cotton, wool, or
other fibrous substances, and in which either the spindles recede from and
approach the rollers or other deliverers of the said fibrous substances, or
in which such rollers or deliverers recede from and approach the spindles,
regard being had to the different modes in which such machines are made to
operate; the principal difference which exists between the mule and the several
other machines before enumerated consisting in the situations of the move-
ments, and not in the movements themselves. And I declare that the form
and proportions of the different parts of my improved mule, as well as the
materials of which the same may be composed, may be varied according to the
discretion of the workmen employed in constructing the same, without
departing from the object and principal of my improvements.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Roberts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five