AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING MACHINERY, APPLICABLE TO MULES, JENNIES, SLUBBERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MECHANISM
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MONTGOMERY, of Johnstone, in the County of Renfrew and Kingdom of
Scotland, Gentleman, 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 Eleventh day of January, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert
Montgomery, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Robert Montgomery, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Robert Montgomery, my exors, adñiors, 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, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING MACHINERY,
APPLICABLE TO MULES, JENNIES, SLUBBERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MECHANISM;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Robert
Montgomery, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months'
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent.
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Montgomery, do hereby declare that my aforesaid Invention consists
in the construction and application of various combinations of machinery to
mules, jennies, slubbers, and other similar machines, for the purpose of
rendering such machines self-acting, that is to say, independent of the skill
and superintendance of the operative spinner; and I would observe, previous to
describing such combinations of machinery, that they are all so designed and
arranged as to be applicable to hand mules of the ordinary construction, my
improvements being simply additions to such mules to enable them to be
converted into self-acting mules.
The main feature of my self-acting mechanism consists in the employment
of a screw of a novel and peculiar construction, to produce, either directly or
by the aid of certain intermediate mechanism, the various movements required
after the running-out of the carriage, which is performed by the ordinary mule,
and may be considered as the first movement in mule spinning. The sub-
sequent movements, as I practise them by my improved machinery, are five in
number, namely,-
Second movement, called " backing off," which consists in the reversal
of the spindles to unwind the few spiral coils of yarn which collect in the
upper or bare part of the spindles.
Third movement, which is altogether peculiar to my machine, consists
in drawing back the carriage sufficiently to stretch out the yarn backed off.
Fourth movement, is putting down and regulating the faller wire for con-
ducting the spun thread or yarn properly on to the spindles during the
succeeding "going in" of the carriage.
.
(Note, the last-mentioned three movements (videlicit, second, third and
fourth) proceed simultaneously.)
Fifth movement, is the " going in" of the carriage, which takes place
simultaneously with the sixth movement, which consists in "winding on" to
the spindles the newly spun stretch of yarn at a uniform tension, and so as
to adapt itself to the varying circumferences of the cop.
The construction and operation of the mechanism by which I effect this I
shall now proceed to describe with reference to the annexed Drawings, wherein
the same letters and characters of reference that occur in the different Figures
are to be understood as denoting the same parts.
Figure A exhibits an elevation of that end of a mule called the headstock,
and a section of a portion of the carriage, the Figure being designed so as to
shew the manner in which I combine my improvements therewith. Figure B

page_text: is an end elevation of the headstock, and Figure C a section of the same, to
exhibit certain parts which could not be shewn in the preceding Figure, and
Figures D, E, F, G, are details of a portion of the mechanism by which the
cop is built up. In Figure A the carriage is represented as drawn out, or, as
5 it is termed, "at the end of the stretch; but as the drawing out is effected in
the ordinary manner, by an arrangement clearly shewn in the Drawing, but
constituting no part of my Invention, I shall not stop to describe the same,
but shall commence my description at that point at which my improvements
come into operation. The carriage being at the end of the stretch, the first
operation to be performed in the backing-off' or unwinding the turns which the
yarn has made round the upper and bare part of the spindles in the coming
out of the carriage, after which the carriage is put in, and during the putting
in, the process of building the cop is effected. These are operations to which
my improvements apply, and the means by which I perform the same may be
described as follows:-At 1, 1, is a screw, the threads of which for the space
of about nine inches at the outer end are regular or equidistant, after which
the threads gradually increase through the first half of the remaining portion
of the screw, and then gradually decreases through the other half, the spaces
between the threads remaining uniform. The ends of the screw revolve in
collars in the standards 2, 2, and the screw carries a box 3, which has inte-
riorly a projecting pin that enters into the thread of the screw. On the lower
side of the box is a guide piece that partially embraces the tie bar 4, lying
below the screw; the revolution of the screw, therefore, produces a rectilinear
movement of the box. On the outer end of the screw is fixed a bevilled
pinion 5, which works into the two wheels 6 and 7, placed loose on the shaft 8.
The wheel 7 is attached to the loose pulley 9, by the side of which is placed
another loose pulley 10. These pullies are driven by a band 11, which passes
over a drum wheel 10 attached to a loose pulley 12" on the main shaft 13
of the mule, which band can be transferred to either of the two pullies 9 or 10
at pleasure. When the carriage arrives at the end of the stretch, the band 11.
is shifted on to the pulley 9, whereby the action of the screw 1, 1, becomes
reversed, and the box 3 is carried along the screw towards the roller beam.
The notion of the box along that portion of the screw in which the threads are
uniform puts into simultaneous action the three distinct movements denomi-
nated above the second, third, and fourth, namely, the backing-off the yarn,
the stretching out the yarn backed off, and the regulation of the faller, which
I will now separately describe.
Backing off. As soon as the in-going motion of the screw box commences,
hanging pall 14, suspended from a pin in the side of the screw box, presses

page_text: against a spring lever 15, connected to a brake 16, which nips the fly wheel 17
ou the shaft 13, and thereby arrests the motion of the said wheel, also of the
pulley 18, which is put in motion by the said wheel, and which gives
motion to the spindles; but when the screw box, by its continued progress
onwards, has quitted the brake apparatus, the pulley 18 is set at liberty, and
ready to be acted upon by the reversing motion. The pall 14 having passed
the spring lever 15, a pin on the opposite side of the box comes in contact
with and imparts an angular motion to the hanging lever 19 fastened on to
the shaft 20, which shaft has likewise keyed to it the curved lever 21; the
latter therefore forces back the upper end of sword 22, which turns upon a
pivot in its lower end. The upper end of the sword 22 is connected by the
rod 24 to the arm 25 of the four-armed levers 25, 26, 27, 28; the arm 25
is therefore depressed, and the arm 26 elevated, by the action of the
curved lever 21 upon the sword 22, and the elevation of the arm 26,
draws round the pulley 18 by means of the chain 29, which passes round a
pulley 30, connected by a ratchet to the axis 8, and thus the motion of the
spindles is reversed.
The drawing back of the carriage to stretch out the yarn backed-off is
eflected in the following manner:-The depression of the arm 25 by the con-
necting rod 24 causes the arm 28 likewise to descend, which being connected
by the chain 31 to a wheel 32 that is attached to the shaft 33, the latter is
drawn round, and the pulley 34 being attached to it, draws back the carriage
by means of the endless rope 35, and thereby stretches out the yarn.
The last of the three simultaneous movements which relates to the depression
and regulation of the faller wire is thus produced-The arm 27 is connected
by the rod 36 to the one arm of a bell-crank lever 37, the other arm of which
carries a pin that works in a slot in a sliding bar 38. The depression of the
lever 37 forces down the sliding bar 38, on the lower end of which is fixed a
cross piece, which coming in contact with one end of the lever 39 turning upon
a fulcrum on the carriage, depresses this end and raises the other end, and the
latter being connected by the rod 40 to the faller 41, it raises the outer end
thereof and depresses the inner end, which guides the thread towards the base
of the cop. To the inner end of the faller is attached a sword 42, having at
its lower end a friction pulley, which, when the lever 39 is pressed down by the
slide 38, passes under the copping rail 43, and is carried forward under-
neath it during the in-going of the carriage.
Figures D, E, F, and G, illustrate the building of the cop, which is regulated
in the following manner:-The copping rail is supported by two pins in the
guide race 44, which pass through slots in the copping rail. The guide race

page_text: is attached to two toothed vertical racks 45, 45, which move up and down
the guids 46, and geer into two toothed sectors 47, 47, attached to the ends
of the horizontal shaft 48. On this shaft is fixed a bevilled wheel 49, which
is driven by a similar wheel 50, to the back of which is attached a crank 51.
This crank is actuated by a snail 52, which at each outcoming of the carriage
is moved through a small space upon its axis by the intevention of the train
of wheels, as shewn in Figures D and F, and thus gradually elevates the
guide race and a copping rail in proportion as the building of the cop advances,
which allows the guide faller to range higher at each successive stretch made
by the outgoing of the carriage. At the back of the copping rail is a pin
which works in an oblique slot in the standard 53, whereby an oblique motion
is imparted to the copping rail during its ascent. When the copping rail is
brought down to the lowest point of its range, for the purpose of beginning the
formation of a cop, the sword 22, which is supported upon a pivot in the
guide race, is also at its lowest point; but in proportion as the guide raco
ascends the anti-friction pulley at the upper end of the sword (against which
the curved lever 21 presses) approaches nearer the fulcrum of the lever, and
the effective leverage being thus shortened, the range of the arms of the four-
armed lever is proportionably shortened, and consequently the extent of the
movements which they are intended to produce.
The fifth movement to be described is the "putting in of the carriage,"
which commences when the box (having traversed the regular position of the
screw, and thereby effected the three simultaneous movements just described,
arrives at that portion of the screw where the variation in the obliquity of the
thread commences. At this point the box comes in contact with a horn or
projection from the carriage, and in traversing the irregular portion of the
screw pushes the carriage up to the roller beam with the required variations
in its velocity.
The sixth and last movement to be described (but which takes place simul-
taneously with the fifth movement) relates to the winding-on of the yarn
which has been spun during the going out of the carriage. In doing this it is
requisite to keep the yarn always at an equal tension. At the commencement,
therefore, of forming the cop, and when the spindles are bare of yarn, they
must necessarily be made to revolve more rapidly than when the bottom of the
cop is fully formed.
The method by which the varied velocity of the spindles is regulated by my
Invention is as follows:-To the end of the carriage is bolted a plate of
iron 54, to which is attached a vertical rack 55 by means of a pin which
works in a slot in the rack. The teeth of this rack work into a toothed

page_text: sector 56 that turns upon a stud which projects from the plate 54; a crank
57 is cast in one with the boss of the sector, and carries an antifriction roller
at its extremity. A pulley 58, with a pinion 59 attached to it, turns upon
the same stud which supports the sector, and the pinion works into a rack on
the upper edge of a horizontal bar 60, which slides in guides attached to the
plate 54. From the lower side of this bar projects a tail piece 61, to the back
of which is attached a sweep or curved 62 (by means of screws moving in
slots for the purpose of adjustment), the curve of which is of such form as to
give to the yarn the required degree of tension by the pressure of the roller in
the end of the crank 57 against the edge of the sweep during the winding the
yarn on to the cop. To the shaft 8 is connected by a ratchet the pulley 63,
which is of such dimensions that a cord passing round it and attached to the
pulley 58 would, by the pushing in of the carriage up to the beam, cause the
pulley 18, which is fixed to the same shaft 8, to make the necessary number
of revolutions for putting the yarn upon the bare spindles. This pulley is
connected with the pulley 58 by an endless cord 64, which makes one or more
turns round the pulley 63, and one or more turns round the pulley 58, and
passes over
the pulley 58 and the binding pulley 66, which latter is
supported by a weighted lever 67, whereby the requisite tension is given
to the cord. The vertical rack 55 has at its lower end an antifriction roller,
which, during the motions of the carriage, traverses the winding-up race 68
which turns upon a pivot 69 near the inner end, the outer end being sup-
ported by the crank 70, which is connected to a train of wheels 71 that
receive motion from the carriage at each stretch during the forming of
the bottom of the cop, and thereby gradually elevate the crank 66. The
operation of this mechanism may be described thus:-At the going-in of
the carriage, after completing the first stretch, the winding-up race is hori-
zontal; the vertical rack 55, therefore, neither rises nor falls in passing along it,
and consequently the sector and the crank 57 are held fast and prevented from
turning, and the crank acting upon the sweep in the tail piece 61 of the bar
60, prevents the bar from sliding, so that the pulley 58 is likewise held fast
and prevented from turning. In this case, therefore, it will be evident that the
pulley 63 must give off a length of cord equal to the length of the space passed
over by the carriage, and in so doing must perform a certain number of
revolutions; but as the formation of the bottom of the cop proceeds the
winding-up race becomes inclined by the gradual elevation of the crank; the
vertical rack 55, therefore, in traversing the race during the in-going of the
carriage descends through a space proportionate to the inclination of the race,
and thereby allows the pulley 58 to turn and give off a certain portion of cord;

page_text: and as the pulley 63 will in consequence have to give off so much less, it and
the pulley 18, which is upon the same shaft, will perform fewer revolutions,
and the speed of the spindles will be diminished. The elevation of the race is
continually proceeding until the full bottom of the cop is completed, after
which the race is maintained at the same elevation until the whole of the
upper part of the cop is completed. In order to make a fresh stretch, and to
bring the screw box back to the position shewn in the Drawing, belt 72 is
traversed from the loose pulley 12" to the pulley 12, which is fast to the shaft
13; at the same time the belt 11 is traversed from pulley 9 to pulley 10, and
the clutch 73 is slidden along the shaft 8 so as to bring the wheel 6 into gear
with the wheel 5. By these means the wheel 121 is brought to rest and the fly-
wheel 17 set in motion, and this brings out the carriage, and at the same time
sets in motion the shaft 8 by means of the pulley 18, which is fixed thereon,
and the wheel 6 being attached to the shaft 8 by the clutch 73, drives the
pinion 5, and thereby reverses the motion of the screw, and thus returns the
box to its previous position. Note, the weight 74 is for the purpose of
returning the four-armed lever to its position after the pin in the side of the
box has quitted the lever 19.
Having now explained the construction and operation of the several
mechanical movements I have invented for rendering self acting mules, billies,
slubbers, and other similar mechanism, I desire it to be distinctly understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise arrangement or construction of the
parts which constitute the said several movements, as they are susceptible of
various modifications, from which the same or similar results may be obtained;
but what I do claim as original and of my Invention, under my aforesaid
Letters Patent, are as follows (videlicit):-
First, I claim the construction and adaptation of an irregular screw, such as
I have delineated, or such as possesses those various obliquities of thread or
worm that will have the effect of imparting to the mule carriage those various
speeds which are essential in putting up the carriage.
Second, I claim the construction and adaptation of a screw as a primary
movement in effecting the following three subordinate movements (whether
the said movements be of my Invention or not), namely:-First, the backing-
off or reversal of the spindles for removing the spiral coil of threads from the
vertices of the cops second, the drawing back of the carriage to stretch out
the yarn or thread backed off (which is altogether a new mode of taking up
the slack or backed-off yarn); third, for putting down the faller, and regulating
its motions for guiding the yarn on to the spindles.

page_text: Third, distinct and apart from the above-mentioned primary movement of
the screw, I claim the modes delineated and set forth of producing the first,
second, and third subordinate movements just mentioned, whatever may be the
primary movement to set them into action.
Fourth, I claim the combination of mechanism for winding the yarn upon
to the spindles at the desired tension, which combination of mechanism is put
into action by the in-going of the carriage.
In witness that this is a true Specification of my aforesaid Invention, I
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June,.
in the year One thousand eight hundred and forty.
(L.S.) ROBT MONTGOMERY.
Signed before me, at Paisley, this
25th day of June 1840,
WM BROWN, J.P.,
Renfrewshire.
Before me,
W. BROUGHAM.
James Brown, of Friday Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, maketh oath and saith, that he is acquainted with the manner and
character of the respective landswriting of Robert Montgomery, of Johnstone,
in the County of Renfrew, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called Scotland, Gentleman, and William Brown, Esquire,
a Justice of Peace, residing at Paisley, within Scotland aforesaid; and this
Deponent further saith, that the naines or signatures "Rob Montgomery," and
W Brown," with the addition "J.P.," respectively set, subscribed, and
written upon or indorsed on the Specification marked A, hereunto annexed,
and dated the Twenty-fifth day of June now last past, purporting to be
executed by the said Robert Montgomery before the said William Brown, on
the said Twenty-fifth day of June, at Paisley aforesaid, is of the respective
handswriting of the said Robert Montgomery and William Brown, and
that the said William Brown, at the time of setting and subscribing his name
on the said Specification, in manner above stated, was and now is, to the best of;
the knowledge and belief of this Deponent, one of the Justices of the Peace