CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARDS, ALSO FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND FOR PREPARING AND DRESSING YARN, AND WEAVING THE SAME
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and THOMAS
PALMER, of the same place, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the eleventh year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Platt and Thomas Palmer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that we, the said John Platt and Thomas Palmer, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, and such others as we, the said John Platt and
Thomas Palmer, our executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARDS, ALSO FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND FOR PREPARING AND DRESSING YARN, AND WEAVING
THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the
said John Platt and Thomas Palmer, or one of us, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six months next and immediately after the date of the

page_text: said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Palmer, do hereby declare that the nature of our said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof (that is to say):-
Our Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Making Cards, also for
Preparing and Spinning Cotton and other Fibrous Materials, and for
Preparing and Dressing Yarn and Weaving the same, consists,―
Firstly, as regards the machinery or apparatus for making cards for carding
engines, in the application and use of bands of "vulcanized india rubber" to
act as springs and weights ordinarily employed in such machines.
Secondly, in the carding engine, our improvements consist principally in a
certain novel description of compound bracket for supporting and adjusting
the rollers for carding, stripping, or grinding, commonly used in carding
engines.
Thirdly, our Invention consists in the application, employment, or use of
bands or strips of "vulcanized india rubber" to act as springs in place of
the metallic springs or weights usually employed for weighting the drawing or
other rollers, and for other purposes, in all or any of the machinery or appa-
ratus employed in the preparation and spinning of cotton and other fibrous
materials.
Fourthly, our improvements apply particularly to spinning cotton and other
fibrous substances, and consist in a certain novel adaptation of mechanism for
the purpose of forming or producing a "mule cop" in a machine constructed
upon the "throstle" principle, and thereby dispensing with the bobbins
ordinarily employed.
Fifthly, our improvements apply also particularly to spinning cotton and
other fibrous substances, and consist in the novel application or use of a suit-
able arrangement of mechanism for the purpose of doffing the finished cops, or
removing them all simultaneously from the spindles of "mules," instead of
taking them off by hand, as hitherto done.
Sixthly, as relates to machinery or apparatus for preparing and dressing
yarn, our improvements consist also in the application, employment, or use of
"vulcanized india rubber" to act as springs in place of weights or metallic
springs in such machinery.
Seventhly, our Invention, as regards looms for weaving, apply to power
looms, and consists in certain novel methods or arrangements of mechanism

page_text: for regulating the "letting off" or delivering of the warp from the yarn beani,
so that there shall be at all times a regular quantity given off, thereby insuring
the perfect equality of the cloth, and also in the employment or use of
"vulcanized india rubber" to act as springs in certain parts of looms for
weaving, hereafter described.
The application of the first, third, and fourth parts of our Invention will be
readily understood by the foregoing description thereof. And in order more
clearly to shew the practical application of the second and fifth parts of our
improvements, and to describe the same more in detail, we have attached to
these Presents four Sheets of Drawings representing the same, and marked
with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof:-
In Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is a side view of a carding engine, drawn to a scale of
about one inch and a half to a foot. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of one of our
improved compound brackets for supporting and adjusting the "clearers,"
drawn half the real size; and Fig. 3 is a side view of the same.
a, a, is the
main framing of the carding engine, and b is the main carding cylinder; c is
the licker-in roller;" d, d, are the " strippers," and e, e, the "clearers ;"
f. f. are the flats or top cards, and g is the doffing cylinder. Upon the
parts h, h, of the framing, which is usually called the "bend," are to be cast
or fixed bosses and studs i, i, i, one opposite to the end of each stripper and
clearer, and also one opposite to the roller used for grinding the doffing
cylinder. The boss and ring are made true with the side framing, and are
for the purpose of attaching the brackets for carrying the rollers. The
brackets (see Figs. 2 and 3) are composed of two parts; the chair or bottom
part k is fitted on to the stud i (having a hole bored out for that purpose), and
is capable of swivelling or moving laterally upon the said stud in order to set
the rollers to or from each other, but when adjusted is held firm by means
of the set screws 1, 1, acting against the projection m on the "bend" (see
Fig. 1). The upper part n of the bracket which carries the journal of the
roller is capable of sliding upon the part in the direction of the radius of
the main cylinder (so as to set the rollers nearer to or further from the surface
of the said cylinder), but has no lateral movement, and is moved by means of a
screw o, which is supported in the chair k, and works in a nut formed in the
lower end of the sliding piece n, the whole being fixed to the stud i upon the
"bend" by means of the bolt p, the piece n having a slot cut so as to allow of its
sliding. The brackets for supporting the clearers require no lateral adjustment,
and therefore in them the set screws 1, 1, may be dispensed with, and the chair k
prevented from swivelling upon the stud i by means of a key 9 (see Fig. 1).

page_text: In Sheet 2, Fig. 1 represents a detached view (drawn half the real size) of
an ordinary "mule" spindle, which may be so adapted to the principle of
the common "throstle" frame for spinning as to allow of a "pin cop" being
built up or formed upon the bare spindle, as in ordinary "mule" spinning,
and thereby dispense with the use of bobbins. We accomplish this purpose
by providing the throstle frame with sets of common mule spindles a, a, and
adapting thereto a peculiar arrangement or construction of flyer, now well
known as the "ring and traveller flyer," which is fully described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted by His late Majesty King William the
Fourth to Thomas Sharp and Richard Roberts, bearing date at Westminster,
the Eighth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, which
Specification was duly inrolled in the office of the Rolls Chapel) and is
represented in its relative situation around the spindle at b. Now we have
'discovered that by such adaptation of the spindle and flyer, combined
with any suitable arrangements of mechanism capable of so regulating the
rise and fall of the copping rail c as to build or form the required shape
of cop, that we are enabled to spin mule cops upon the bare spindle in
the throstle frame. In order to allow of the thread clearing the upper
front of the spindle, longitudinal guide wires d must be provided between the
"front rollers" and the points of the spindles. Fig. 2 is a section of a "mule"
carriage," with our improvements shewn as applied thereto; and Fig. 3 is a
front view of the same. a, a, is part of the carriage, and b, b, b, b, are the
spindles; c, c, is a rail (see also plan view, Fig. 4) extending along the front
of the carriage, and resting upon the brackets d, d, placed at suitable dis-
tances along the front of the carriage, and which are supported upon the
studs e, e.
The lower part of the brackets d, d, is furnished with racks of
teeth ff, which are acted upon by segmental wheels g, g. When it is
desired to "doff" the cops, the handle h is turned upwards, which will cause
the cranks i, i, to force the rail c, c, under the bottoms of all the cops (the
rail being notched to admit the spindles). The handle k is then turned down,
which will cause the segmental wheels g, g, to raise the rail c, c, and with it
all the cops.
It will be evident that this arrangement for doffing is equally
applicable to the throstle frame when adapted, as above described, to spinning
or forming cops upon the bare spindle.
65
In Sheet 1, Fig. 4 is a side view, and Fig. 5 a back view, of part of an
ordinary power loon, shewing one method of regulating the letting "off" of
the warp from the yarn beam, and drawn to a scale of about three inches to
a foot. a, a, is part of the side framing of a power loom, and 6 is the driving
pulley placed, as usual, upon the end of the crank shaft. c, d, is the yarn beam,

page_text: the axes or journals of which are supported, and are capable of sliding in
the brackets e, e, one at each side of the loom. The yarn beam has no posi-
tive motion communicated to it, but rests upon a roller f, which is caused to
revolve at an uniform speed in the following manner :-Upon the crank
shaft c is keyed a spur pinion g, driving a spur wheel h, to the back of which
is cast, or otherwise attached, a cam or tappet i, which acts against the under
side of the lever k, causing the said lever to rise and fall twice in each
revolution of the said wheel h. The lever k vibrates upon a centre at 1,
and carries at its other end a rod m, near the lower end of which
are attached two brackets n, n, which alternately raise and depress the
catch lever o, thus causing the catch p to turn the ratchet wheel q. On
the same stud which carries the said wheel q, but at the other end, is
keyed a spur wheel r, gearing into a similar wheel s upon the shaft t,
the other end of which carries a worm u, which drives the worm wheel v,
fixed upon the end of the roller f, upon which the yarn beam rests.
yarn (represented by the red line in the Drawing) is wound upon the
yarn beam d and is taken off by the roller f, passing between the yarn
beam d and the roller f, which, as it has an uniform motion imparted to it,
and its diameter the same, will take off an equal and regular quantity
of yarn, whatever may be the diameter of the yarn beam.
The
It will also
be observed, that as the said beam decreases in diameter, the centres or
journals slide down in the brackets e, e, so as to keep the circumference of
the yarn beam always in contact with the taking-off roller f. I would also
remark, that if preferred, the roller f may be driven by worms and wheels
from the crank shaft, instead of the ratchet wheel and catch.
In Sheet 3, Fig. 1 is an end view; Fig. 2, a back view, and Fig. 3, a plan
view, of part of a power loom, shewing another arrangement of mechanism for
regulating the letting-off of the yarn. a, a, is part of the framing of the loom;
b is the driving pulley, and c is the crank shaft; d is the yarn beam, which has
a motion imparted to it (increasing in speed as it decreases in diameter) in the
following manner:-Upon the crank shaft c is keyed a small pulley e, driving
by means of a strap a pulley f, fixed upon a shaft g, at the other end of which
is keyed a mitre wheel h, driving a similar wheel, cast or otherwise attached
to the friction plate i. This plate i drives, by friction of contact, the pulley k,
which is capable of sliding on a feather upon the shaft 7, at the extremity of
which is keyed a bevil pinion m, driving a bevil wheel n, fixed upon a stud,
which also carries a worm o. The worm o actuates a worm wheel P, fixed
upon the shaft q, the other end of which carries a worm 7, which drives the

page_text: worm wheels attached to the end of the yarn beam d. t is a friction roller
supported in a sliding bracket u, bearing against the yarn beam, being kept in
contact with it by the weight and cord v, passing over the pulley w. a is a
lever which vibrates upon a centre at y, one end being attached to the sliding
bracket u, and the other end to a sliding shaft z, which is furnished with a
clip 1 for moving the friction pulley k. As the yarn beam 6 decreases in
diameter, the friction roller t, being kept in contact therewith by the weight v,
will cause the lever x to slide the friction pulley R upon the surface of the
friction plate i, further from the centre of the said plate i, and thus a
differential motion is communicated to the yarn beam, increasing in speed in
proportion as the said beam decreases in diameter.
In Sheet 3, Fig. 4 is a back view of part of a loom, shewing a modification
of the above arrangement, and differing from it as follows:-In place of the
friction plate and pulley k, we employ two conical pullies i and k, the upper
one of which is drawn from the crank shaft by the gearing e, e, and, drives the
pulley k by the strap f, which is traversed upon the said pullies by means
of strap, fork, or guides 9, 9, attached to one end of the lever x. The other
parts of the mechanism are similar to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and are marked with
the same letters of reference.
In Sheet 4, Fig. 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a back view, of part of a power
loom, shewing another arrangement of mechanism for "letting off" the yarn.
a is part of the framing; b, the crank shaft ; and c, the yarn beam, which is
driven in the following manner. Upon the crank shaft b, is keyed a spur pinion d,
driving a similar wheel e, to the boss of which is attached a cam or tappet f
which actuates the lever g. This lever g is connected to the rod h by the
link i, the rod h has the brackets attached to it for raising and depressing
the catch lever k (to which the catch is attached), and causing the said
catch to turn the ratchet wheel m fixed upon a stud, at the other end of
which is a spur wheel n, driving a similar wheel o upon the shaft p, the other
end of which shaft carries the worm q which actuates the worm wheel r fixed
upon the end of the yarn beam c. s is a friction roller mounted upon a sliding
bracket t, and bearing against the yarn, being kept always in contact with
it by the balance weight u; v is a lever (similar to the lever x in Sheet 2)
which vibrates upon a fixed centre, being attached at one end to the sliding
brackets t, and at the other end by a connecting link w to the link i, a pin at
the upper end of which works in a slot in the lever g. Thus it will be seen
that as the yarn beam c decreases in diameter, the friction roller s, approach-
ing to the centre of the said beam, will cause the lever v to move the link i in

page_text: the slot nearer to the end of the lever 9, which will thus raise and depress
it, further causing the catch 1 to take up more teeth upon the ratchet m and
thus increase the speed of the yarn beam as its diameter decreases.
With respect to the substitution of "vulcanized india rubber" to act as
springs in lieu of the ordinary springs in power looms, our improvement consists
more particularly in the employment or use of such material for pulling back
"the pickers" after they have given the impelling stroke to the shuttle, and
also for keeping up the "stop rods" to the "swells" of the shuttle box, and for
applying the same to the bottom ends of the "picking" rods, and in this case
it may be used for striking the shuttle instead of employing the common
buffalo-hide" picker."
Having now described the nature and object of our said improvements.
together with the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark in conclusion that we claim as our Invention,―
Firstly, the improvements in carding engines above described, namely, the
studs and bosses i, i, upon the "bend," and the arrangement of compound
brackets for adjusting or setting the rollers nearer to or further from each
other, or nearer to or further from the main carding cylinder.
Secondly, we claim the novel and peculiar adaptation of the common
"mule" spindles when used or combined with the "ring and traveller" flyer,
as above mentioned, and so employed in "throstles" as to spin, form, or
produce "pin" or "mule" cops upon the bare spindle.
Thirdly, we claim the novel application, employment, or use of the apparatus
above described for doffing or removing the finished cops from the mule
spindles simultaneously, instead of removing them by hand, as hitherto done.
Fourthly, we claim the peculiar combinations and arrangements of me-
chanism as exhibited in the Drawings, and herein-before particularly described,
for regulating the "letting off" of the warp from the yarn beam.
And, lastly, we claim the application, employment, or use of "vulcanized
india rubber," to act as springs (in place of the metallic springs and weights
now commonly employed) in any or all of the machinery or apparatus for
making cards; also for preparing and spinning cotton or other fibrous
materials, and for preparing and dressing yarn, and for weaving the same.
In witness whereof I, the said Thomas Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of January One thousand
eight hundred and forty-eight.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-second day of
January, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Thomas Palmer came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Iwenty-fourth day of January, in the year above written.