IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING, REELING, AND WEAVING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Houghton Albinson, of Bolton, in the County
of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and James Collier, of the same Place,
Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
SPINNING, REELING, AND WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Houghton Albinson,
and James Collier at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 21st March 1864.
We, JOHN HOUGHTON ALBINSON, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Maker; and JAMES COLLIER; of the same place, Mechanic, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
SPINNING, REELING, AND WEAVING," to be as follows:-
Our improvements in machinery for spinning are applicable to self-acting
mules, and consist in an improved combination of parts for performing the
various changes required without the aid of the cam shaft. We employ two
parallel bars with slots in them for actuating the levers, by which the backing-
off cones,the drawing-upclutch box, the carriage gear, the drawing roller gear,
and the machinery for putting twist in the yain are moved when required.
These parallel bars act in succession for giving motion to the various levers
above referred to in the same manner as the cams now applied to the cam
shaft
T

page_text: Another part of our Invention consists in the application of an extra faller
wire to the two wires now employed for guiding the yarn on the spindles.
This third wire bears upon the yarn and comes into operation when the
carriage is near the drawing rollers to take up the slack, when the copping
faller is suddenly raised, thus preventing snarls.
Ourimprovements in machinery for reeling consist of a self-acting apparatus
for tying up each hank when on the reel. Each yarn is guided through a
fine slot attached to the bush of a spindle which bush is turned once round
when the hanks are complete by another pinion on a cross shaft extending
the whole length of the machine. The spindle is moved to and fro in the
bush by an incline and the yarn and the tying-up yarn are carried round the
spindle to form the loop and then drawn into the spindle by a hook to form
the knot. Previous to lapping the yarns round the spindle the tying-up yarn
is guided through the yarn of the hank and drawn out by 2 fingers. The
yarns are then cut off by a knife, against which they are drawn by the 2
fingers.
Our improvements in machinery for weaving consist in certain improved
self-acting temples for distending the fabric. One of our improved temples
consists of two pairs of rollers set diagonally at each side of the loom. One of
these rollers has a positive motion given to it by a shaft and pinions from the
emery roller or in any other convenient manner. The diagonal position of
the rollers has the effect of distending the fabric and relieves the reed from
the strain. Another of our improved temples consists of a pair of discs
between which the selvage passes. The lower disk has a series of holders
raised and lowered by inclines on the stand of the temple,and the upper disc
has corresponding studs for pressing the selvage between the holders. These
discs are either carried round by the fabric as it passes to the taking-up
roller or they are driven by positive motion as above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Houghton Albinson and James Collier in the Great 3
Seal Patent Office on the 21st September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HOUGHTON ALBINSON, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker,
and JAMES COLLIER, of the same Place, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Houghton Albinson and James Collier, Her special license.
that we, the said John Houghton Albinson and James Collier, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Houghton
Albinson 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING, REELING, AND WEAVING,". upon
the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Houghton Albinson and
James Collier, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals, should particularly:
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what man*
ner 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Houghton Albinson 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):-
Our improvements in machinery for spinning are applicable to self-acting
mules, and consist in an improved combination of parts for performing the
various changes required without the aid of the cam shaft.
Another part of our Invention, applicable to self-acting mules, consists
in the application of an extra faller wire to the two wires now employed
for guiding the yarn on the spindles.
Our improvements in machinery for reeling consists of a self-acting
apparatus for tying up each hank when on the reel.
Our improvements in machinery for weaving consist in certain improved
self-acting temples for distending the fabric.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thercon.
Figure 1 is a plan of part of the headstock of a self-acting mule constructed
according to our improvements; Figure 2 is a side elevation of part of the
'same..
a is the rim shaft; b the worm for the twist wheel fixed with the twist

page_text: plate 6' on the shaft 62; c is the backing-off wheel; c' is the backing-off cone,
and c³ the backing-off fork; d, d, d, are the driving and loose pulleys; d' the
strap guide; is the drawing-up catch box, which is on the shaft under the
rim shaft, and it may be placed at the back or front of the headstock; e' is
the fork lever for moving the sliding part of the catch box e; fis the catch
box for the gearing by which the carriage is worked, and g is the catch box for
the gearing for driving the front drawing roller. All these parts and the
others not shewn which are requisite to complete the mule are made in the
usual manner; h and i are two parallel bars supported in brackets fixed to
the frame of the headstock, these bars are moved alternately in opposite
directions by the weighted elbow levers j and k. The slot h' in the bar h is
for actuating the lever e³ of the drawing-up catch box e; the slot h³ with
bevelled edges is for actuating the lever by which the clutch box f of the
carriage gear is put in and out of gear; the slot ³ also with bevelled edges is
for throwing the drawing roller catch box g in and out of gear; the projection
h acts upon the end of the lever c³, the shorter arms of which acting on the
backing-off fork c* throws the backing-off friction cone c'in or out of contact.
To the bar i are fixed the studs i¹, which act on the lever of the strap fork d
to move the driving strap from one pulley d to the other, and to the bar i is
also fixed the stud 12, which acts on the holding catch is of the lever b³, which
is acted upon by the eccentric 65, fixed as usual to the twist plate 6¹. The
lever b³ is connected to the backing-off fork c² by the spring 64, the object of
this spring is to draw the finger projecting from the lever 63 against the
eccentric 65. When the carriage arrives near the end of its outward stretch
the bars hands are drawn in the direction of the arrow by the weighted
elbow lever ;, the first change that now takes place is the throwing out of
gear of the clutch box g for stopping the drawing rollers, the clutch box fis
then disconnected to arrest the motion of the carriage. When the twist at
the head is being given, the eccentric 65 acting on the lever 63 distends the
spring 6*, the catch 3 then rises to hold the lever 63 back until the twist is
completed. The projection * now comes against the end of the lever c³, to
put the backing-off cone c¹ out of contact, and at the same time the stud i
depresses the catch is to liberate the lever 63, thus slackening the spring 6*.
The strap fork d' is now in the position shewn in the Drawing, to hold the
driving strap on the middle pulley d, to draw up the carriage as soon as the
clutch box e has been put into gear by the end of the slot h¹ acting on
the lever e. When the carriage arrives at the roller beam the weighted
lever / comes into action and draws the bar h in the contrary direction, and
during this movement of the bar ha catch projecting from its under side acts

page_text: on the stud to carry the bari with it, the left hand stud i then moves the
driving strap on the fast pulley, and at the same time the clutch boxes f
and g are thrown into gear, and the clutch box e is drawn out of gear.
Figure 3 represents part of the carriage of a self-acting mule; mare the
spindles; n and are the usual faller and counterfaller shafts furnished with
levers for the faller and counterfaller wires n² and o¹; and q is the shaft of
the cylinder by which the spindles are driven. These parts are made as
usual. To the faller shaft n is fixed the lever n³, to which is cast or fixed
the projection n³ which acts upon the lever p loose on the faller shaft ;
to this lever is connected by a jointed arm the additional faller wire p¹. To
the shaft q is fixed the pinion q¹, gearing when required into the rack q³,
which is hinged to one end of the slide q³; to the other end of this slide is
hinged the elbow lever no, which is connected to the lever n³ by the chain n*
passing around the guide pulley n³.
The mode of operation of these parts is as follows:-When the spindles
begin to back off the faller wire n¹ goes down, and at the same time the
extra faller wire p¹ rests upon the yarn at the back of the counter faller
wire o¹; the pinion q¹ is now out of gear with the rack q². When the
carriage in going in has arrived near the roller beam, the faller shaft n is
liberated in the ordinary manner, and the lever n2 in rising tightens the
chain n', thus drawing forward the pendant arm of the elbow lever nº, and
raising the rack q³ into gear with the pinion q¹; the rack q² and slide q³
are by this means moved in the direction of the arrow, and the chain n* is
slackened to allow the copping faller wire n' to rise. During the rising of
the wire n' the extra faller wire p¹ bears upon the yarn at the back of the
counter faller wire o' to take up the slack yarn, thus preventing snarls
being wound on the spindles. As soon as the chain n is slackened the
rack 2 drops again out of gear with the pinion q¹. When the carriage is
going out the extra faller wire p¹ is above the faller wire n'..
Figure 4 is an elevation of part of a reel for winding yarn in hanks, to
which our improvements are applied.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 represent our self-acting apparatus for tying up each
hank when on the reel. In Figure 4, is the reel on which the yarn is wound
when drawn off the cops 71, which are placed on diagonal skewers in the
ordinary manner. Between the guide wire and the reel are mounted the
two shafts s and t, to the former is fixed a series of levers s', to which are
hinged the fingers s² and so, and to the latter are fixed the pinions t¹ and
cams t2; the pinions t¹ gear into small pinions u', on the bushes u, each bush
being supported in a bracket u² fixed to the cross rail u³, which extends the

page_text: whole length of the machine. At the end of the bush u is a loose jaw u¹,
which with the jaw fixed to the bush form a pair of nippers; each yarn in
passing from the cop to the reel passes through this pair of nippers. Within
the bush u is a slotted tube 5 containing the hook u and the slide u³ ;
these are moved longitudinally in the tube by the cams t2 acting on a
projection of the lever ³, and the bushes u are moved longitudinally by the
cam on the face of the pinion t' acting on the fork lever t¹.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The yarn is usually wound on the
reel in lees, seven of which form a hank when so wound, or in any other
convenient manner; the tying up, which has heretofore been done by hand, is
performed in the following manner:-The tying up yarn is passed through
the bank which is crossed on the stave of the reel by the fingers y, fixed on
the cross rail y¹, extending the whole length of the machine, the shaft s is
then turned partly round to bring the fingers over the lower tying yarn, and
the finger over the upper tying yarn; the shaft s is then turned back to
bring both the tying yarns into the nipper ut, which is closed by a spring; the
tying yarns with the end of the yarn that has been reeled are then cut off;
the three ends are then wound round the slotted tubes by the pinions ti
gearing into the pinions u³, the cams t2 then acting on the levers t³ cause
the hooks us to bind the ends of the yarn against the end of the tube uº,
which are then drawn into the tubes u, to push off the yarns which are thus
tied into a knot.
Figures 8 and 9 represent a pair of self-acting temples constructed
according to our improvements; v, v, are the boxes containing the roller
temples v', which are constructed with spikes in the usual manner; or they
may be plain, but instead of being parallel to the reed they are set diagonally.
The boxes v are fixed to adjustable brackets bolted to the breast beam or to
other convenient fixtures; and these boxes support also the cross shaft w,
which is turned partly round at every stroke of the lay or batten by the bent
levers w¹, to one of which is jointed the catch w³, taking into the ratchet
wheel w³, fixed to the said shaft w, the motion of this shaft is imparted to the
temple rollers by the bevel pinions shewn in Figure 8. To the boxes u are
also fixed fulcrum studs for the pointers a, which are raised and lowered at
every stroke of the reed by the levers 70¹. The full lines in Figure 9
represent the position of the levers and pointers when the batten is going
back and returning towards the breast beam, at this time the pointers & are
down as shewn in Figure 8; the object of them is to guide the weft, shewn by
a dotted line, a little beyond the boxes v, so as to ensure a sufficient length
being drawn off the cop in the shuttle to prevent the contraction of the

page_text: selvages. As soon as the lay approaches the temple boxes, the pointers *
are raised, as shewn by dotted lines, to allow the reed to beat up. By
thus giving a positive motion to the rollers of the temples, and placing
them in a diagonal position, the fabric is drawn forward uniformly and
distended, while the strain on the reed is avoided.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we declare that we claim,-
First, the combination and arrangement of the bars h and i for producing
the various changes required in self-acting mules, as shewn and described
in reference to Figures 1 and 2.
Secondly, the application of an additional faller wire to self-acting mules
in the manner and for the purposes described in reference to Figure 3.
Thirdly, the application of self-acting machinery for tying up the hanks
on reels, as shewn and described in reference to Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7, or
any modification of machinery for performing the same object.
Fourthly, the improved self-acting temples shewn and described in
reference to Figures 8 and 9.
And lastly, placing the rollers of temples in a diagonal position as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Houghton Albinson, have hereto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
J. H. ALBINSON. (L.s.)