Improvements in Self-acting Mules.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Dec., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 12th Sept., 1895-Accepted, 13th Dec., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Self-acting Mules.
I, GUSTAV JOSEPHY, of Bielitz, Silesia, Austria, Manufacturing Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
It is well known that the movements of the rollers and of the carriage of self-
acting mules must have certain relations to each other; the delivery of the rollers
must bear a definite and adjustable relation to the travel of the carriage; and when
spinning fine counts, the speed of the carriage must be reduced after the stoppage
of the rollers, that is to say at the commencement of the jacking-process.
The attempts hitherto made for securing these relations have all depended on the
use of differential mechanism, by means of which, as is well known, it is possible to
produce sudden changes of velocity in driven machinery. But this mechanism,
when applied to self-acting mules, whilst securing the desired object, entails very
considerable drawbacks. Leaving out of consideration its complexity, which gives
rise to many interruptions in working, a great drawback attendant on the use of
mechanism of this kind arises from the fact that the roller-wheel that drives the
mechanism necessarily exerts a retarding-action after the rollers have stopped,
necessitating the employment of brakes in order to prevent any delivery of roving
from taking place; besides, considerable injury is caused, on account of the play
or hacklash of the many wheels employed, through the unavoidable shock produced
by the sudden change of speed of the carriage. The presence of these disadvantages
is the reason why differential mechanism, though frequently tried, has not come to
be permanently employed.
The object of the present invention is to obviate these drawbacks. This is
effected by means of a sufficiently unyielding arrangement of gear for driving the
drawing-out shaft and also by means of a securely and correctly acting guiding
device for the winding-faller.
The said driving-gear enables yarn to be produced that is uniform in thickness
and equally drawn, and essentially comprises, in the first place a friction-coupling
driven alternately from the rollers and directly from the main driving-shaft of the
headstock, and, in the second place, ratchet-gear by means of which the drawing-
out shaft can be rotated in the same direction from two parts (the rollers and the
main shaft).
This enables the drawing-out scrolls to be made as small in diameter as desired,
and the drawing-out shaft, which extends the entire length of the machine, to be
utilized in the well known manner for keeping the carriage parallel, and for
equalizing any irregularities that may occur in its movement, thus taking up and
diminishing any shocks that may be thereby produced.
cop
The device for guiding the winding-faller, by which the proper formation of the
is effected, consists of means for automatically and gradually shortening the
backing-off chain in such a manner as, after the spindles have completed their
backward rotation, to move the winding-faller to the apex or point for the time
being of the cop, the said apex rising, as is well known, after each succeeding layer
of yarn. This has hitherto had to be effected by the hand of the spinner, because
the winding of the yarn begins from the top during the running-in of the
carriage.
In the accompanying drawings,-
Figs. 1 and 3 are a side elevation and a plan respectively, illustrating the
headstock of a self-acting mule provided with the new arrangement for driving

page_text: Fig. 2 shows to a larger scale a section through the axes of the front roller-shaft
and the drawing-out shaft ;
Figs. 4 and 5 are views analogous to Figs. 1 and 3, illustrating a modification of
this driving-arrangement; and
Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate in side elevation two arrangements of the apparatus for
shortening the backing-off chain.
Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, H is the main driving-shaft of the mule, W the shaft
for drawing-out the carriage both before and during the jacking-operation, and
C is the shaft for driving the drawing-rollers C¹. All three shafts are mounted in
bearings in the head-stock of the mule.
On the extended sleeve b of the drawing-out clutch K, which is secured on the
shaft W, there is mounted the friction-clutch R R', which constitutes an essential
part of the driving-arrangement. One half R' of this clutch is adapted to slide on,.
and is connected by a feather with, the sleeve band is kept pressed against the
other balf R of the clutch, which is free to rotate about the sleeve b, by means of
a powerful india-rubber or helical spring F', the compression of which is adjustable
by means of a nut.
The roller-shaft C carries the ratchet-gear, which comprises a pawl-carrying
disck, its pawl k¹, a spring F, and a ratchet-wheel r. The result of this arrange-
ment is that during the delivery of roving, the disc is rotated by the roller-
shaft C, so that at the commencement of this delivery the pawl is caused by the
spring F, which tightly embraces the boss of the ratchet-wheel 2", to engage with
the said ratchet-wheel and thus to operate the half-clutch R', so that the latter
with the aid of small scrolls S draws out the carriage at a speed corresponding to
the rate of the delivery. The motion is transmitted from the ratchet-gear k Fr,
which is disengaged simultaneously with the stoppage of the rollers C¹, to the
half-clutch R by means of a toothed wheel 42 connected to the ratchet-wheel r,
and of two change-wheels 38 and 11 secured on a shaft s mounted in a bracket L.
The wheel 11 gears into the teeth 75 of the half-clutch R¹. By means of these
change-wheels the speed at which the carriage is drawn out during the delivery
of roving can be accurately regulated.
During the time that the drawing-out shaft W is thus driven from the roller-
shaft C, the half-clutch R runs loose on the sleeve without producing any effect
on the drawing-out. At the instant the rollers are thrown out of action, the half-
clutch R, being driven directly from the main-shaft H in the well known manner,
enters into action with the half-clutch R without any loss of time. The peripheral
velocity of the latter is now less, and so also, consequently, is that of the drawing-
out shaft W; and the speed of the carriage is thus reduced so as to produce the
degree of jacking desired for yarn of the counts being spun, the speed of the
carriage during jacking being capable of regulation by means of the change-
wheels 14 and 64. After the stoppage of the rollers C, the half-clutch R' rotates
the wheels 42 and r about the shaft C, the teeth of the wheel passing under the
pawl without effecting rotation of the rollers C¹.
At the termination of the outward run of the carriage, the sleeve bis dis-
connected from the shaft W by means of the clutch K and runs idle until the
commencement of backing-off, whereupon and during the backward rotation of
the spindles the direction of rotation of the main driving-shaft is reversed in the
well known manner.
At the beginning of the backward rotation of the main-shaft H, which lasts
only a short time, the pawl is again thrown into gear by the tendency of the
wheel, in rotating in the direction of the hands of a clock when seen as shown
in Fig. 1, to carry round with it the spring F, the result being that the ratchet-
wheel carries round with it the pawl-disc k. The rollers are thus caused
to make a short backward rotation such as is desirable for certain spinning-
materials of short staple in order to draw back a portion of the twisted yarn for
the next stretch.
In the case of good materials in which this backward rotation of the rollers is

page_text: dispensed with, a pawl ², situate on the other side of the headstock may be caused
to engage with the teeth of a ratchet-wheel r and so to prevent the rollers from
rotating backwards; the rollers will then be kept stationary and cause the half-
clutches R and R¹ slightly to slip upon each other. When employed, the pawl k²
is taken out of gear only when the material to be spun requires a backward
rotation of the rollers.
During the next inward run of the carriage, the above described mechanism is
not under the operation of the driving-belt and is therefore at rest; and it comes
again into operation only at the commen ement of the next outward run of the
carriage.
This combined driving-gear may be variously modified as regards its constructional
arrangement.
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate one of these arrangements.
The drawing-out shaft W is driven in this case also by the combined action of
the roller-shaft C and of the main-shaft H and in the same direction and by means
of similar toothed gear to that illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3; but in the arrangement
now being described the ratchet-gear and the friction-clutch are arranged together
in a single barrel T.
Instead of the pawl-disc k (Fig. 3) there are employed two toothed wheels 75*
and 75, which come into operation one after the other, and serve by means of two
pawls to rotate two ratchet-wheels r and r¹ keyed on the sleeve b of the drawing-
out coupling K, and by this means to actuate the shaft W and consequently the
carriage in the same manner as herein before described..
During the delivery of roving, the wheel 75° rotates fast and at the speed
corresponding to the delivery, and its pawl k¹ is caused by the action of its spring F
(which has a tendency to remain behind during the rotation of the wheel 75°) to
engage with its respective ratchet-wheel and thus to rotate the latter, whilst the
pawl of the wheel 75 is kept out of engagement with its ratchet-wheel by the
other spring F (which is mounted on the boss of the last named ratchet-wheel)
because the ratchet-wheel r, which is mounted on the boss of the ratchet-wheel r
and therefore rotates therewith, has a tendency to carry round with it the spring F
which embraces its boss, with the result that its pawl is thrown outwards. In this
manner the drawing-out shaft is driven at the speed corresponding to that of the
rollers. As soon as the rollers C¹, and with them the wheel 75", come to rest, the
spring F on the boss of the ratchet-wheel r, presses into the said ratchet-wheel
the pawl that moves with the toothed wheel 75, which is kept rotating by the
main-shaft H; whilst the pawl of the ratchet-wheel, which is rotating therewith,
is thrown out of gear in consequence of the friction between its spring and the
wheel-boss. Thus from this moment the drawing-out shaft W is driven from the
main-shaft H at a lower speed by means of the ratchet-wheel r of the wheel 75b.
The barrel T is internally toothed, and is mounted loose on the sleeve of the
clutch K for drawing out the carriage; and it forms with the two ratchet-wheels r
and a double friction-clutch B.
The pawls are constructed as double pawls, each being provided with a part ko
which engages with the ring of internal teeth 2 or 3 of the drum T and aids in
securely guiding the carriage and prevents any premature drawing-out of the
same.
The arrangement herein before described thus fulfils in a perfect mauner one
object of the spinning-operation, viz.: the production of yarn that is uniform in
thickness and equally drawn.
The second object, i.e. the proper winding and formation of the cop, is effected
by means of the device illustrated in Fig. VI, which serves to guide the winding-
faller in a certain and proper manner.
This device is arranged in the middle-portion of the carriage. wo and ware the
shafts of the winding-faller and the counter-faller respectively. P is the copping-
rail, which rises and falls in the well known manner during the operation of the
mule. Ro is the backing-off chain, which is adjustably connected at k³ with the

page_text: hearing of the shafts w and w', and passes round a guide-pulley to the chain-
disc S. On the copping-rail P there is pivoted in an adjustable manner a weighted
lever G that carries a slotted lever h, which is capable of oscillation about the
point in the lever G and is hung at p on the shortening-chain R which
is also attached to the chain-disc S¹.
1
1
1
The lowering of the copping-rail during the growth of the cop causes the
gradual descent of the weighted lever G and consequently also that of the point
of suspension p of the shortening-chain Ro in the rocking-lever h, the result being
the automatic and gradual unwinding on the shortening-chain Ro from the chain-
disc S', and consequently also the shortening of the backing-off chain Ro. But
since this shortening is accompanied by the gradual rise of the winding-faller, this
faller will, after the spindles have rotated backwards, be automatically guided by
this means up to the apex of the cop, which rises after each layer of yarn, and
from which, as is well known, the winding of the yarn commences.
Thus, by properly adjusting the point of suspension p on the lever h, it is
possible during the formation of a set of cops gradually to shorten the backing-off
chain R, by the length of a cop.
When this arrangement has been once properly adjusted, it operates in a
reliable manner and equally well for all thicknesses of cops and numbers of yarn.
Fig. 7 illustrates another mode of constructing the device for effecting this
shortening of the backing-off chain. In this arrangement the lever on the
carriage is pressed down during every outward run of the carriage, in consequence
of the descent of the copping-rail P, by a stud & mounted on a weighted lever G²
and thereby the gradual unwinding or tightening of the regulating-chain Ro is
effected in a positive or constrained manner.
1
The advantages of these arrangements comprise the following: The drawing-
out shaft is driven in a sufficiently unyielding manner and always in the same
direction; the motion of the drawing-out shaft aud, consequently, that of the
carriage are dependant on the delivery of the roving; the carriage is guided
uniformly in the middle and at the ends by means of scrolls that are alike in size
and shape and may be as small as desired; there is inserted in the driving-gear an
elastic element, the friction-clutch, which takes up all the shocks that are produced
and will slip if any portion of the mechanism fail to act, thus preventing
breakages; and, finally, the completely automatic, correct, and uniform formation
of the cops is effected by means of the mechanism for shortening the backing-off
chain.
Dated this 13th day of Novembe 1004
ALK
I, GUSTAV JOSEPHY, of Bielitz, Silesia, Austria, Manufacturing Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
It is well known that the movements of the rollers and of the carriage of self-
acting mules must have certain relations to each other: the delivery of the rollers
must bear a definite and adjustable relation to the travel of the carriage, and when

page_text: spinning fine counts, the speed of the carriage must be reduced after the stoppage
of the rollers-that is to say, at the commencement of the jacking process.
The attempts hitherto made to secure these relations have all depended on the
use of differential mechanism, by means of which, as is well known, it is possible to
produce sadden changes of velocity in driven machinery. But this mechanism,
when applied to self-acting mules whilst securing the desired object, entails very
considerable drawbacks. Leaving out of consideration its complexity, which gives
rise to many interruptions in working, a great drawback attendant on the use of
mechanism of this kind arises from the fact that the roller-wheel that drives the
mechanism necessarily exerts a retarding action after the rollers have stopped,
necessitating the employment of brakes in order to prevent any delivery of roving
from then taking place; besides, considerable injury is caused on account of the
play or backlash of the many wheels employed, due to the unavoidable shock
produced by the sudden change of speed of the carriage. The presence of these
disadvantages is the reason why differential mechanism though frequently tried,
has not come to be permanently employed.
The object of the present invention is to obviate these drawbacks. This is
effected by means of a sufficiently unyielding arrangement of gear for driving the
drawing out. shaft and also by means of a securely and correctly acting guiding
device for the winding-faller.
The said driving gear enables yarn to be produced that is uniform in thickness
and equally drawn, and comprises a friction-coupling driven alternately through the
roller-shaft and directly from the main driving-shaft of the headstock, and ratchet-
gear by means of which the drawing-out shaft can be rotated in the same direction
from two parts-viz., the roller-shalt and the main shaft.
This enables the drawing-out scrolls to be made as small in diameter as desired,
and the drawing-out shaft, which extends the entire length of the machine, to be
utilized in the well known manner for keeping the carriage parallel, and for
equalizing any irregularities that may occur in its movement, thus taking up and
diminishing any shocks that may be thereby produced.
The device for guiding the winding-faller, by which the proper formation of the
cop is effected, consists of means for automatically and gradually shortening the
backing-off chain in such a manner as, after the spindles have completed their
backward rotation, to move the winding-faller to the apex or point for the time
being of the cop, which apex rises, as is well known, after each succeeding layer of
yarn has been wound on. This has hitherto usually been effected by the hand
of the spinner, because the winding of the yarn begins from the top during the
running-in of the carriage.
Referring to the drawings filed with my Provisional Specification,
Figs. 1 and 3 are respectively a side elevation and a plan illustrating the
headstock of a self-acting mule provided with an arrangement for driving the
drawing-out shaft according to this invention;
Fig. 2 is a section through the axes of the frout-roller shaft and the drawing-out
shaft;
Figs. 4 & 5 are views analogous to Figs. 1 and 3, illustrating a modification of
the driving-arrangement; and
Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate in side elevation two arrangements of the apparatus for
shortening the backing-off chain.
Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, H is the main driving shaft of the mule, W the shaft
for drawing-out the carriage both before and during the jacking-operation, and C is
the shaft for driving the drawing-rollers C. All three shafts are mounted in
bearings in the headstock of the mule.
On the extended sleeve of the drawing-out clutch K, which is mounted on the
shaft W, there is mounted the friction-clutch R R which constitutes an essentia!
part of the driving arrangement. One half, viz. R', of this clutch is adapted to
slide on aud is connected by a feather with the sleeve band is kept pressed against
the other half R of the clutch, which is free to rotate about the sleeve b, by means

page_text: of a powerful india rubber spring or by means of a helical spring F1, the compression
of which is adjustable by means of a nut.
The roller-shaft C carries the ratchet-gear, which comprises a pawl-carrying
disc k, its pawl A', a spring F, and a ratchet-wheel r. The result of the arrangement
is that during the delivery of roving, the disc k is rotated by the roller-shaft C and
that at the commencement of this delivery the pawl k is caused by the spring F,
which tightly embraces the boss of the ratchet-wheel r, to engage with the said
ratchet-wheel and thus to operate the half clutch R', so that the latter with the aid
of small scrolls S draws out the carriage at a speed corresponding to the rate of
the delivery. The motion is transmitted from the ratchet geark Fr, which is
disengaged simultaneously with the stoppage of the rollers C', to the half clutch R¹
by means of a toothed wheel 42 connected to the ratchet-wheel r, and of two
-change-wheels 38 and 11 and secured on a shaft s mounted in a bracket L. The
wheel 11 gears into the teeth 75 of the half-clutch R. By means of these change-
wheels the speed at which the carriage is drawn out during the delivery of roving
can be accurately regulated.
During the time that the drawing-out shaft W is thus driven from the roller-
shaft C, the half-clutch R runs loose on the sleeve b without producing any effect
on the drawing-out. At the instant the rollers are thrown out of action, the
half-clutch R, being driven directly from the main-shaft H in the well known
manner, enters into action with the half-clutch R' without any loss of time. The
peripheral velocity of the half-clutch R' is now less, and so, consequently, is that
of the drawing-out shaft W also; and the speed of the carriage is thus reduced
so as to produce the degree of jacking desired for yarn of the counts being spun,
the speed of the carriage during jacking being capable of regulation by means of
the change-wheels 14 and 64.
After the stoppage of the rollers C 1, the half-clutch R' rotates the wheels 42
and about the shaft C, the teeth of the wheel 7 passing under the pawl k without
effecting rotation of the rollers C¹.
At the termination of the outward run of the carriage, the sleeve bis
disconnected from the shaft W by means of the clutch K and runs idle until the
commencement of backing-off, whereupon and during the backward rotation of the
spindles the direction of rotation of the main driving-shaft is reversed in the well
known manner.
7'
At the beginning of the backward rotation of the main shaft H, which lasts
only a short time, the pawl is again thrown into gear by the tendency of the
wheel r, in rotating in the direction of the hands of a clock when seen as shown
in Fig. 1, to carry round with it the spring F, the result being that the ratchet-
wheel carries round with it the pawl-disc k. The rollers C' are thus caused to
make a short backward rotation, as is desirable for certain spinning-materials of
short staple in order to draw back a portion of the twisted yarn for the next stretch.
In the case of good materials in which this backward rotation of the rollers is
dispensed with, a pawl 2 (Fig. 3), situate on the other side of the headstock, may
be caused to engage with the teeth of a ratchet-wheel and so prevent the rollers
from rotating backwards; the rollers will then be kept stationary and cause the
half-clutches R and R' to slip slightly upon each other. When employed, the
pawl 2 is taken out of gear only when the material to be spun requires a back-
ward rotation of the rollers.
During the next inward run of the carriage, the above described mechanism is
not under the operation of the driving-belt and is therefore at rest; and it comes
again into operation only at the commencement of the next outward run of the
carriage.
This combined driving-gear may be variously modified as regards its constructional
arrangement. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate one of these modified arrangements.
The drawing-out shaft W is driven in this case also by the combined action of
the roller-shaft C and the main-shaft H in the same direction and by means of
similar toothed gear to that illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3; but in the arrangement

page_text: now being described the ratchet-gear and the friction clutch are arranged together
in a common barrel T.
Instead of the pawl-dise k (Fig. 3) there are employed two toothed wheels 75°
and 75, which come into operation one after the other, and serve by means of two
pawls to rotate two ratchet-wheels r and, and the barrel T carried by the
sleeve bof the drawing-out coupling K; and by this means to actuate the shaft W
and consequently the carriage in the same manner as herein before described.
T
The barrel T has a feather and groove connection with the sleeve 6, the
wheels and being loose thereon; and the former has a doubly conical boss.
against which correspondingly conical portions of the wheels and are pressed
as shown by the action of a spring F.
During the delivery of roving, the wheel 75* rotates fast and at the speed
corresponding to the delivery, and its pawl k is caused by the action of its
spring F (which has a tendency to remain behind during the rotation of the
wheel 75°) to engage with its respective ratchet-wheel and thus to rotate the
latter and consequently the barrel T and sleeve b. At this time the pawl of
the wheel 75 is kept out of engagement with its ratchet-wheel r by the other
spring F (which is mounted on the boss of the last named ratchet-wheel) because
the ratchet-wheel r, which, owing to its frictional connection with the barrel T,
rotates therewith, has a tendency to carry round with it the spring F which
embraces its boss, with the result that its pawl is thrown outwards. In this
manner the drawing-out shaft is driven at the speed corresponding to that of the
rollers C¹. As soon as these rollers, and with them the wheel 75, come to rest,.
the spring F on the boss of the ratchet-wheel r, presses into the said ratchet-
wheel the pawl k' that moves with the toothed-wheel 75b, which is kept rotating
by the main-shaft H; whilst the pawl of the ratchet-wheel, which is rotating
therewith, is thrown out of gear in consequence of the friction between its spring
and the wheel-boss. Thus from this moment the drawing-out shaft W is driven
from the main-shaft H at a slower speed by means of the ratchet-wheel from the
wheel 75%. Thus it will be seen that the barrel T which is internally toothed,
forms with the two ratchet-wheels r and 4, a double friction-clutch B.
The pawls are constructed as double pawls, each being provided with a part o
which engages with the ring of internal teeth 72 or 3 of the barrel T and aids
in securely guiding the carriage and prevents any premature drawing-out of the
same.
The arrangement herein before described thus fulfils in a perfect manner one
object of the spinning-operation viz. the production of yarn that is uniform in
thickness and equally drawn.
The second object i.e. the proper winding and formation of the cop-is effected by
means of the device illustrated in Fig. 6, which serves to guide the winding faller
in a certain and proper manner.
This device is arranged in the middle-portion of the carriage.
w and ware
the shafts of the winding faller and the counter faller respectively. P is the
copping-rail, which rises and falls in the well known manner during the operation.
of the mule. R. is the backing-off chain, which is adjustably connected at k³ with
the bearing of the shaft w and passes round a guide-pulley to the chain-drum St.
On the copping-rail P rests, by means of a roller G*, a weighted lever G which
is pivoted to the carriage at G2 so as to be capable of partial rotation and of
adjustment. The lever G is connected by an adjustable pin and slot connection s¹
(shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6) to a slotted lever h, which is pivoted at h*
to the carriage and is hung by an adjustable block at p to the shortening chain Ro
which is also attached to the chain drum S¹.
1
The lowering of the copping rail during the growth of the cop causes the gradual
descent of the weighted lever G and consequently also that of the point of attach--
ment p of the shortening chain Ro to the rocking lever h, the result being the
1

page_text: automatic and gradual unwinding of the shortening chain R₁ from the chain
drum S¹ and consequently also the shortening of the backing-off chain Ro. But
since this shortening is accompanied by the gradual rise of the winding-faller, this
faller will, after the spindles have rotated backwards, be automatically guided by
this means to the apex of the cop, which rises after each layer of yarn, and from
which, as well known, the winding of the yarn commences.
.
Thus, by properly adjusting the point of suspension p on the lever h, it is
possible during the formation of a set of cops to gradually shorten the backing-off
chain R, by the length of a cop.
When this arrangement has been once properly adjusted, it operates in a reliable
manner and equally well for all thicknesses of cops and numbers of yarn.
1
In some cases the shortening chain Ro may be attached to the weighted lever G
itself, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 6 the slotted lever being theu dispense.l
with.
Fig. 7 illustrates another mode of constructing the device for effecting this
shortening of the backing-off chain. In this arrangement the lever on the
carriage is pressed down during every outward run of the carriage in consequence
of the descent of the copping-rail P, by a stud b¹ mounted on the weighted lever G¹
and thereby the gradual unwinding or tightening of the regulating chain Ro is
effected in a positive or constrained manner.
1
The advantages of the arrangements herein before described, comprise the
following: The drawing-out shaft is driven in a sufficiently unyielding manner
always in the same direction; the motion of the drawing-out shaft and, conse-
quently, that of the carriage, are dependent on the delivery of the roving; the
carriage is guided uniformly in the middle and at the ends by means of scrolls that
are alike in size and shape and may be as small as desired; there is inserted in the
driving-gear an elastic element, the friction-clutch, which takes up all the shocks
that are produced and will slip if any portion of the mechanism fails to act, thus
preventing breakages; and, finally, the completely automatic correct and uniform
formation of the cops is effected by means of the mechanism for shortening the
backing-off chain.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A self-acting mule, wherein the drawing-out shaft W is directly and positively
driven through a friction-clutch R R mounted on the said shaft and arranged to
be actuated alternately from the roller-shaft C (during the delivery of roving),
and from the headstock main shaft H (during jacking) at a varying speed, the
transmission of motion from the roller-shaft being effected by means of ratchet-
gear k, k, F, r, substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3
inclusive of the drawings herein referred to.
2. A self-acting mule, wherein the drawing-out shaft W is directly and
positively driven through a friction-clutch B mounted on the said shaft and
arranged to be actuated alternately from the roller-shaft C (during the delivery of
roving), and from the headstock main shaft H (during jacking) at a varying
speed, the transmission of motion being effected from the shafts H and C by means
respectively of wheels 75ª and 75 carrying pawls which engage in ratchet-
wheels and are caused by the action of springs F, in consequence of the
different speeds, to throw each other out of gear, substantially as herein described.
3. The improved drawing-out shaft driving-mechanism constructed arranged
and operating substantially as herein before described with reference respectively
to and shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings herein
referred to.

page_text: 4. In a self-acting mule an apparatus for automatically shortening the backing-
off chain Ro, comprising a regulating-chain Ro which is attached to a lever h or h¹,
acts upon the chain-drum S¹ of the backing-off chain R., and is arranged to be
automatically shortened by a weighted lever G or G' operated by the copping-
rail P so as to produce a gradual shortening of the backing-off chain, substantially
as herein described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings herein referred
to for the purpose specified.
Di. 19th dow of Santember 1895
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.