IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING MULES
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON of the Vulcan Works Pollard Street Manchester
in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING MULES" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the regulating apparatus which controls the winding on
in mules and particularly to the description of apparatus in which the regulation is
effected by holding a band as the carriage runs in the said band when held, giving
motion to a pulley which actuates the screw driving gearing in the quadrant. The
said band is mounted upon a pulley which runs loose upon the drum shaft or upon
a shaft and is formed or provided with ratchet teeth or projections. A lever arm
is sustained by the faller in such a manner as that when the winding is not being
effected too rapidly the outer end of the said arm shall be sustained clear of the
said teeth but on the depression of the counter faller by the tension arising from
over-winding the said outer end will be brought into the path of revolution of the
teeth so as to arrest the movement of the pulley and as a consequence of the band.
According to my Invention I make the part which comes into contact with the
ratchet teeth as a finger which is hinged or jointed to the lever arm and is
sustained by means of a spring or balance weight so as to have a tendency to move
out of contact with the ratchet teeth. Pins or stops limit the range of inde-
pendent movement of the finger. The finger curves or inclines towards the said
teeth so that when the finger end comes into contact with a tooth the tendency is
for it to move deeper into gear so as to obtain a proper retaining hold upon the
pulley. Upon the revolving shaft is fixed a cam or wiper which strikes off the
finger once or oftener in each revolution in order to prevent the pulley from being
held longer than is required for the correct regulation of the winding and also to
relieve the faller from the strain required to effect the disengagement and thereby
to render the regulation more delicate.

page_text: :
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON of the Vulcan Works, Pollard St Manchester in
the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPINNING MULES" and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
The
My Invention relates to the regulating apparatus which controls the winding on
in mules and particularly to the description of apparatus in which the regulation is
effected by. holding a band as the carriage runs in, the said band when held, giving
motion to a pulley which actuates. the screw driving gear of the quadrant. T
said band is mounted upon a pulley which runs loose upon the drum shaft or upon
a shaft and is formed or provided with ratchet teeth or projections. A lever arm
is sustained by the faller in such a manner as that when the winding is not being
effected too rapidly. the outer end of the said arm shall be sustained clear of the
said teeth but on the depression of the counter faller by the tension arising from
tight-winding the said outer end will be brought into the path of revolution of the
teeth so as to arrest the movement of the pulley and thereby give motion to the
band. According to my Invention I make the part which comes into contact with
the ratchet teeth as a finger which is hinged or jointed to the lever arm and is
sustained by means of a spring or balance weight so as to have a tendency to movė
out of contact with the ratchet teeth. Upon the revolving shaft is fixed a cam
or wiper which strikes off the finger once or oftener in each revolution.
The nature of my Invention will be fully understood when described with
reference to the accompanying drawings of which Fig 1 represents a vertical cross
section of a mule carriage drawn to scale Fig: 2 being a plan of the parts more
particularly connected with my Invention. In the said drawings a represents the
aforesaid finger which is carried by the lever arm b. which is connected by means
of the chain c. with the faller and is thereby sustained as is usual. The finger a. is
mounted upon a joint pin at d. and is formed with a loaded arm a¹ which tends to
raise the outer end of the finger. A stud in the said loaded end enters a curved
slot in the lever arm b. this slot limiting the movement of the finger upon the
joint pin. The outer end a² of the finger when lowered engages with the ratchet
teeth which are formed upon the band pulley. e. around which the band f. is
passed as is usual. Upon the drum shaft is fixed a double wiper g. which twice in
each revolution of the said shaft lifts a leyer h. which is fixed upon a shaft i. which
is mounted to rock in bearings. Upon the other end of this shaft is fixed an arm k.
and the outer end of this arm extends below a part of the finger a. which projects
beyond the part on which the ratchet teeth are formed. At the times-when the
end a of the finger a-is lowered until it comes in contact with one of the ratchet
teeth the finger yields slightly and turns upon the joint pin whereby the end a²
enters deeper into gear with the tooth so as to obtain a proper retaining hold upon.
the pulley e. the downward curving form of the finger end facilitating the deeper
entering of the point. This action of the finger end lessens the tendency of the
finger to slip out of gear and also decreases the wear and the risk of breakage of
the parts. Twice in each revolution of the winding drum shaft the wiper g. raises

page_text: the lever . whereby the arm k. is brought into contact with the projecting part of
the finger and the end a³ is lifted out of gear with the ratchet wheel. This action
of the wiper prevents the finger from being held in gear with the ratchet tooth by
frictional contact in opposition to the usual effort of the faller to lift the finger out
of gear whereby a strain would be thrown upon the faller which would be held
down to some extent and at the same time the pulley e. would be held longer than
was necessary to effect the required regulation of the tension. If the finger has at
any time been lifted out of gear too soon it is free to fall into gear again after the
wiper has released it and this falling into gear and being lifted out may be repeated
if necessary until the rising of the faller caused by the relaxation of the tension
of the yarns keeps the finger end clear from contact with the teeth e¹. It will bo
seen that the faller is entirely relieved from the strain which would otherwise be
required to disengage the finger or the ordinary lever arm from the teeth e'
whereby a very delicate regulation of the tension is obtained. The band f. is led
around a pulley which gives motion to the screw in the quadrant as is usual. The
arrangements for limiting the free movement of the finger al may be varied, and a
spring might take the place of the load a¹. The form of the wiper may also be
varied as found or considered to be most advantageous in practice. If preferred
the apparatus might be simplified by dispensing with the intermediate parts h. i.
and k. and by causing the wiper or cam to act directly upon the finger a. or upon a
projection therefrom or by employing other means to transmit the action of the
wiper to the finger.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The finger a jointed to the lever arm a and free to turn upon its joint pin
within restricted limits substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The wiper or any modified form of the same for lifting out of gear the finger
or part which at times arrests the rotatory movement of the band pulley e. sub-
stantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated.
3. The combination of the lever arm a. provided with a hinged or jointe 1
finger a¹ the arm k. the lever h. and the wiper g. formed and acting substantially as
and for the purpose set forth and indicated.
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