IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC REGULATION OF THE SPEED OF THE CARRIAGE OF THE SELF ACTING MULE
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Alfred Barlow, of G, St. Paul's Churchyard,
London, Patent Agent and Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC REGULATION OF THE SPEED OF THE
CARRIAGE OF THE SELF ACTING MULE." A communication from abroad by
Charles Pfeiffer and Henri Offroy, both of Paris, France,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Alfred Barlow at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th July 1880.
WALTER ALFRED BARLOW, of 6, St. Paul's Churchyard, London, Patent Agent
and Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC REGULATION
OF THE SPEED OF THE CARRIAGE OF THE SELF ACTING MULE." A communi-
cation from abroad by Charles Pfeiffer and Henri Offroy, both of Paris, Franco.
Two causes influence tho speed of the carriago action:―
1st. The expansion or contraction of the cord of the opposite scroll or card of
contraction under the influence of the motion or the state of the atmosphere.
2nd. The variations of speed of the machine. The slackness of the cord or an
excessive speed of the engine have the effect of increasing the speed of the carriage,
the block of which strikes violently against the stops at the end of the guide,
shaking the fixed part of the mule frame, at the same time that it produces an
indentation or cut on all the threads.
An excessive tension of the cord or a slackening of the speed of the motor would
diminish the speed of the block of the carriage, which has difficulty to return. In
this case the thread is whirled and cut, the return cannot take place, and this
causes a stoppage. Actually it is the spinner who to remedy these defects should
attend to the tension of the return cord.
The apparatus the subject of this Invention is to do without the intervention of
the workman, and to give each stretch a tension suitable to that of the return
cord.
This apparatus has the following advantages:-
1st. Suppression of cuts caused by too rapid return.
2nd. Suppression of whirls caused by too slow return.
3rd. Suppression of violent shocks to the frame.
4th. And new cords are not required so frequently.
The principle of the apparatus rests upon the following observation :-
1
When the running in of the carriage takes place under normal conditions, the
carriage arrives at a certain intermediate point, but should the return' be too quick,

page_text: the carriage passes such intermediate point, and if too slow it does not arrive so far
as that point, the difference between these two outer points being about 11 of an
inch; and this difference of the points attained may be utilized for tightening or
loosening the cord to prevent the inconvenience being reproduced upon the
succeeding stretch.
The description of the apparatus is as follows:-
-
The end of the return cord instead of being fixed to a stationary part of the
carriage is attached to a frame capable of sliding in a grooved support fixed on the
carriage. The end of this cord is fixed to a bar, which carries a rack in gear with
a pawl, following the usual method of attachment, which permits the workman to
work the cord as usually. This condition is necessary for fixing new cords.
The cord is tightened or loosened by the forward and backward movement of
the frame, and to obtain this movement a screw is attached to the frame, which
screw engages with a nut. The movement is communicated to the nut in one
sense or the other by intermediate bevil wheels driven by spur and pinion. This
pinion can turn in one direction or in the other, according-to-the-action-to-be-
produced upon two levers. A spring maintains these last named levers in their
proper position against a fixed stop. The pawl is held in a bracket. If one of
the levers is turned, the pawl, which is supported by the arin of a piece with the
said lever, becomes free, and by its own weight engages with the pinion, causing it
to turn from right to left. If the other lever is moved another pawl engages with
and turns the pinion in the opposite direction. The movement of the upper lever
from above to below corresponds with the pinions for the tightening of the cord,
and that of the lower lever with the loosening of the cord.
All the parts above described aro carried by the carriage.
Tightening of the Carriage. When the carriage runs in, the roller, fixed at the
end of the upper lever, comes in contact with a piece which turns freely from right
to left, and if the carriage returns in the normal condition the-said-roller-follows-
the line of the left hand side of the swing piece without leaving the lower
extremity. If it runs in at too great a speed it leaves the said lower extremity
of the swing piece, which turns, and the roller becomes in contact with the
opposite side, thereof when the carriage is withdrawn. The swing piece, stopped
by a catch, compels the roller to follow the edge of the swing piece, and the lever
to turn so as to tighten the cord.
Loosening of the Cord.-The mechanism is divided into two parts connected by
a bar.
When the carriage runs in, a roller, fixed at the end of the lower lever, swings a
lever piece, and operates a second lever, which stops a catch, and the mechanism
remains in this position during the running in of the carriage.

page_text: from right to left. If the other lever F is moved in the direction shown by the
arrow, the other pawl engages with and turns the pinion D in the opposite
direction. The movement of the upper lever E from above to below corresponds
with the pinions for the tightening of the cord. All the parts above described are
carried by the carriage.
Tightening of the Cord.-When the carriage runs in, the roller, fixed at the end
of the upper lever E, comes in contact with the picce P, which turns freely from
right to left, and if the carriage returns in the normal condition the said roller
follows the line a, b, without leaving the extremity b. If it runs in at too great a
speed it leaves the said extremity b of the piece P, which turns, and the roller
becomes in contact with the side b, c, when the carriage is withdrawn. The swing
piece P, stopped by the catch Q, compels-the-roller to follow the edge b, c, and
the lever E to turn in the direction shown by the arrow, so as to tighten the cord.
Loosening of the Cord.-The mechanism is divided into two parts connected by
a bar.
1st. A piece Z fixed to the side of the fastening mechanism.
2nd. A piece (Fig. 3) fixed on the floor at the extremity of the frame of the
headstall.
Whilst the carriage is out the piece M occupies the position shown in Fig. 3.
When the carriage runs in, the roller T, fixed at the end of the lever F, swings
the lever piece M, and brings it into the position shown in Fig. 4. The extremity
of the piece U is stopped by the catchi X, and the mechanism remains in this
-position during the running in of the carriage. If the running in is effected in
normal condition the frame of the carriage will-come-in-contact with the screw
and will turn the piece U by means of the bar t; the piece M, then free, turns and
falls into the position shown in Fig. 3. In the next running out the lever F does
not meet with any obstacle.
If, on the contrary, the running in is badly effected, the frame of the carriage
will not reach the scrow q, and the piece M will remain in the position shown in
Fig. 4. In the following running out the lever F will come into contact with the
roller fixed at the end of the picce M, and then will move from right to left, so as
to loosen the cord.
It is to be noticed that the tightening and loosening of the cord are effected
during the running out of the carriage, that is to say, at the time when the return
cord is slack and does not act, then the exertion necessary is very slight, and the
apparatus, which may be regulated by means of screws and sliding pieces, is of
great sensibility.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the said Invention, I
claim,―
The improvements in automatic apparatus applied to any "mule," of which the
carriage is acted by means of scrolls or cords.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Alfred Barlow, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
In the presence of
ALFRED E. WELSII,
6, St. Paul's Churchyard,
London, E.C.
WALTER A. BARLOW. (L.S.)