CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Peter Bennett, of the Gilnow Mills, near
Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Manager, and James
Collier, of the same Place, Mechanic, for the Invention of " CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Peter Bennett
and James Collier at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 10th October 1861.
We, THOMAS PETER BENNETT, of the Gilnow Mills, near Bolton-le-Moors,
in the County of Lancaster, Manager, and JAMES COLLIER, of the same Place,
Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING," to be
as follows:-
The object of our Invention is to regulate the rise of the faller when
released from the sector or other apparatus by which it is held during the
running in of the carriage.
In performing our Invention we attach a toothed or ratchet wheel to the
axle of the drum for driving the spindles, and on the same axle are mounted
loosely two discs, to one of which is binged a catch taking into the toothed or
ratchet wheel above referred to, and to the other is cast or fixed a grooved

page_text: pulley, to which is attached one end of a weighted band or chain. Connected
to this grooved pulley is a cam, having an increasing spiral groove, to which
the end of a chain is attached, the other end being connected to a lever fixed
to the copping faller shaft. The catch above referred to is provided with a
lever fitting into a notch in the disc connected to the grooved pulley. Under
the axle of the spindle drum is fixed a bracket, to which is jointed a weighted
lever, by which the catch is disengaged from the ratchet or toothed wheel
when the faller has risen above the points of the spindles. The above is a
convenient mode of performing our Invention, but the details may be varied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Peter Bennett and James Collier in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 10th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
PETER BENNETT, of the Gilnow Mills, near Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of
Lancaster, Manager, and JAMES COLLIER, of the same Place, Mechanic, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Thomas Peter Bennett and James Collier, Her special license that we, the
said Thomas Peter Bennett and James Collier, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Peter Bennett and James
Collier, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time 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 IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Peter Bennett and James Collier,
our exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their,
or one of our or their hands and seals, should particularly describe and as-.
certain 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 immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Peter Bennett and James -
Collier, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
The nature of our Invention consists in certain improved arrangements of
parts for regulating the rise of the faller when released from the sector or
other apparatus by which it is held during the running in of the carriage, the
object being to wind the slack yarn on the spindles when the carriage is near
the roller beam, and thus to prevent snarls. And in order that our Invention
may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed
to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the
figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the carriage of a self-acting
mule of the ordinary construction to which our improvements are applied;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.
a is the wood framework of the carriage; b, the axle of the tin drum for
driving the spindles c; d is the faller shaft, and e the counterfaller shaft;
these parts and all the others that are not particularly referred to hereafter
are made in any approved manner. To the axle b is fixed the toothed or
ratchet wheel f; the catch h takes into the teeth of the wheel f, and the stud
of this catch passes through the disc g loose on the axle b; to the cir-
cumference of this disc is applied the friction clip q, consisting of a pair of
bent levers connected by a spring q¹; to the stud of the catch h is fixed the
trigger i, which fits between the two projections and 2 of the discj; to this
disc is cast or fixed the cam k, having an increasing spiral groove; the disc j
and cam are loose on the axle b, and they are held laterally by the set
washer. To the faller shaft d is fixed the grooved segment m, to which is
connected one end of the chain n; this chain is taken under the guide pulley o
and around the cam k, to the boss of which the other end of the chain is
secured; to the grooved segment m is also fixed one end of the spiral spring p,
the other end of which is secured to the cord, chain, or band p', passing once
round and secured to the groove in the boss of the cam k; the object of this
spring and chain is to compensate for the extra length of the chain n take
up by the increasing spiral groove in the cam k. When the axle of the tin
drum is revolving in the direction of the dotted arrow, the projection of the
disc jacting on the trigger i holds the catch h in gear with the teeth of the
ratchet wheel f, but when the axle 6 begins to revolve in the contrary direction,.
as indicated by the full arrow, and the disc j has moved through the arc of a
circle equal to the distance between the projections 1 and 2, the projection j²

page_text: acting on the trigger i lifts the catch h out of gear with the teeth of the ratchet
wheelf, the catch is prevented from rising too high by a projection cast on
the disc g.
The Drawing represents the various parts in the positions they occupy when
the carriage is running in, and when the tin drum is revolving in the direction
of the full arrow, to drive the spindles in the proper direction for winding .the
yarn on the cop, the faller wire is now down to guide the yarn on to the
cop, and the counterfaller wire is near the summit of the spindles, as usual.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When the carriage is at the end of
its stretch, the faller is locked into the sector as usual, the segment m being
fastened to the faller, partially revolves with it, the chain n is thus given off,
and is wound round the cam k by means of the chain p!, one end of which is
coiled round the boss of the cam k, and the other fixed to the spring p con-
nected to the stud m' in the, segment m. When the carriage arrives at the
roller beam, the projection has come in contact with the trigger i, thus
pressing the catch h into gear with the teeth of the ratchet wheel f, which
prevents the faller rising until the tin drum begins to rotate in the proper
direction for twisting the yarn. The object of the increasing spiral groove of
the cam k is to compensate for the gradually decreasing diameter of the upper
part of the spindles. The object of the space between the projections and
is to allow the faller to perform its chase before coming in contact with the
trigger i; and the object of the break q is to hold the disc g in the position in
which it may have been left by the action of the projections j¹ and j².
Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly in section, of a mule carriage to which a
modification of our Invention is applied; Fig. 4 is a plan of the same.
The
parts marked a, b, c, d, and e, correspond to those shewn in Fig. 1. In the
present arrangement there is a pulley fixed to the axle 6 of the tin drum,
and this pulley b¹ by means of the strap r gives motion to the pulley r¹ fixed
to the shaft s, which revolves in the bracket t fixed to the carriage; on the
shaft s is mounted loose the disc g, through which passes the stud of the
catch h, which takes into the teeth of the ratchet wheel f; this ratchet wheel
is also fixed to the shafts, but the disc 9 and the cam with the increasing
spiral groove k are loose on the shaft s. To the faller shaft d is fixed the
grooved pulley m, to which one end of the chain or band n is fixed, the other
end being secured to the cam k; to the same pulley m is fixed one end of the
chain or band v, the other end after passing under the stud of the friction
clip q is attached to the catch h. The action of these parts is very similar to
that described in the preceding Figures 1 and 2. In the present arrange-
ment the mechanism is fixed or supported on a countershaft s revolving in

page_text: bearings in the carriage, and the catch h is put into gear with the wheel ƒ by
the chain v, which is tightened when the faller is rising.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described two con-
venient arrangements of parts for carrying the same into operation, we wish
it to be understood that we do not intend to limit ourselves to the details
given; but that what we do claim is,―
First, the general arrangement and combination of the mechanism for
regulating the rise of the faller, as shewn and described.
And, secondly, we claim the spiral grooved cam k, or any equivalent agent,
by means whereof the rise of the faller is varied to compensate for the
decreasing diameter of the spindles.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Peter Bennett and James
Collier, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventh day
of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two.
T. P. BENNETT.
(L.S.)
JAMES COLLIER. (L.S.)