IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN KINDS OF MACHINES FOR SPINNING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1856

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Rudolph Bodmer, of 2, Thavies Inn, Holborn, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING
APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN KINDS OF MACHINES FOR SPINNING COTTON
AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."-A communication from Edward Stehelin,
of Bitschwiller, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 9th September 1856, and dated the 9th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Rudolph Bodmer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th July
1856.
'I, RUDOLPH BODMER, of 2, Thavies Inn, Holborn, in the City of London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-
ACTING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN KINDS OF MACHINES FOR SPINNING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," (a communication from Edward
Stehelin, of Bitschwiller, in the Empire of France,) to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to that kind of spinning machines generally
known by the name of "mules," and refer, firstly, to a peculiar and simple
mode of connecting the driving pulley with the front roller, having for its
object the disengaging of the front roller during the putting up of the carriage;
and, secondly, to certain mechanism for more easily and safely effecting the
processes generally called "backing off" and "putting up."
The improvements mentioned under the first head consist in a bevil wheel
turning loose on the junction piece of the front rollers, and provided with a
rim, to which are hinged seven or any other convenient number of clicks
or palls, surrounding a ratchet wheel, which, by means of a set screw or
otherwise, is fixed to the junction piece of the front rollers. Into that bevil

page_text: wheel gears a pinion, which is loose upon the driving shaft, but which by
means of a clutch box is put in connection with the driving shaft except during
the after-draft, and upon the bush of this bevil wheel a spur pinion is fixed,
which gears into a spur wheel keyed upon the shaft which carries the Mendoza
pulley. Now, whilst the strap is on the driving pulley, for the purpose of
effecting the drawing out of the carriage, the palls or clicks take into the
teeth of the ratchet wheel, thereby giving motion simultaneously to the front
roller and to the Mendoza pulley; but during the "putting up" of the carriage
by means of the scroll (when the rim to which the palls or clicks are attached
moves in the opposite direction), these palls or clicks are by their centrifugal
motion disengaged from the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and therefore leave the
front roller at rest.
ware
"The improvements mentioned under the second' head are as follows: After
the requisite amount of twist has been given to the yarn, the counter by
means of a rod lifts a catch, thereby releasing the strap guide, which, being
acted upon by a spring, passes the driving strap from the driving pulley on
to another pulley which is loose upon the driving shaft, and by means of
which the mechanism which effects the "backing off & the "putting up
set in motion. A horizontal shaft, placed under and parallel to the driving
shaft, and somewhat on one side of it, is furnished at one end with a pulley,
which by means of a strap is driven from a corresponding pulley, fixed. to or
cast of one piece with the loose pulley last mentioned. The other end of this
horizontal shaft holds a bevil wheel, which gears into a bevil pinion fixed at the
lower end, of, an upright shaft. The upper end of this upright shaft holds a
worm, gearing into a worm wheel which is loose on the driving shaft, and which
carries on its boss a friction, disc, the latter being longitudinally moveable.upon
the boss of the worm wheel by means of a groove and feather, and a horizontal
lever with a guide roller fitting between the boss of the friction disc and the
shoulder. of the worm, wheel. This lever, which is connected with a .spiral
spring attached to. a. convenient part of the frame, abuts against a bell-crank
-lever, to one-arm-of-which is fixed an adjustable-hinge, bow-shaped, in the
direction of the strap guide. Now, at the moment when the strap guide is
transferring the strap-from-the driving-pulley-to-the-backing-off and putting-up
pulley, a tumbler attached to; the strap guide, strikes against the bow-shaped
hinge on the bell-crank lever, thereby, causing the friction disc to be pressed for
an instant against the driving, pulley, which is yet turning round at a con-
siderable velocity, and thus checking its motion, and. thereby the impetus of
the drums & spindles; so that on the strap beginning to act upon the pulley,
which controls the..backing off motion (to effect which the spindles have to

page_text: turn in the opposite direction), the chances of breakage are nearly, if not
completely, removed. By this time one arm of a bell-crank lever, whose
fulcrum is on the frame at the opposite end of the headstock, will have been
depressed by a crank connected with the faller shaft, and will have thrust a
butting piece in contact with an excentric cast on the pulley which controls
the.backing-off motion, this butting piece being connected with the other arm
of the bell crank, above mentioned, by means of an adjustable link or rod. The
excentric on acting against the butting piece will push the latter against the
bell-crank lever, which, acting upon the friction disc, as before described, will
press the latter against the driving pulley, and set it, and thereby the spindles,
in motion for backing off. This motion will continue until the palls or clicks
of a ratchet box fixed to the drum shaft take hold of the teeth of a ratchet-
wheel attached to and turning loose upon the drum shaft, with a spiral com-
municating.rotary motion to the latter, and thereby to a segment fixed on the
faller shaft, the spiral & segment being connected with each other by a
chain. This being accomplished, the bell-crank lever to which the butting
pièce is attached is released, the horizontal arm thereof depressed by means of
a spiral spring, and the butting piece withdrawn from the excentric,-whereby
the pressure is removed from the friction disc, and therefore the motion of the
driving pulley and consequently that of the spindles arrested. This butting
piece forms at the same time the upright arm of a bell-crank lever, from the
horizontal arm of which depends a link, whose lower end is provided with a slot
taking hold of a catch which secures the starting lever of a friction cone, by
whose means the putting-up motion is brought into gear. So soon, therefore, as
the butting piece is withdrawn from the excentric, as already described, and
the spindles stopped, the catch releases the starting lever, which, being acted
upon by a spiral spring, thrusts the friction cone into contact with the corre-
sponding internal surface of the pulley on the horizontal shaft, which actuates
the backing-off mechanism. The friction cone turns loose on the horizontal
shaft, and is connected by means of a plate cast on its bush, and by means of
two studs fixed in the said plate, with a bevil pinion, which is provided with
a corresponding plate, of which. the studs take hold; this pinion gearing
into a bevil.wheel, on the shaft of which the scroll is.keyed. The putting-up
motion is thus put in gear, and upon its being completed, a tappet fixed to the
carriage strikes against a lever, which, acting upon the starting lever of the
friction cone, throws the latter out of gear, and simultaneously throws the strap
once more upon the driving pulley for a new stretch.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Rudolph Bodmer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th January 1857..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RUDOLPH
BODMER, of 2, Thavies Inn, Holborn, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Rudolph Bodmer, Her special licence that I, the said Rudolph Bodmer, my
'executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Rudolph
Bodmer, my 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 SELF-ACTING
APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN KINDS OF MACHINES FOR SPINNING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," (a communication from Edward Stehelin, of
Bitschwiller, in the Empire of France,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Rudolph Bodmer, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Rudolph Bodmer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
These improvements relate to that kind of spinning machines generally
known by the name of "mules," and refer, firstly, to a peculiar and simple.
mode of connecting the driving pulley with the front roller, having for its
object the disengaging of the front roller during the putting up of the carriage;
and, secondly, to certain mechanism for more easily and safely effecting the
processes generally called "backing off" and "putting up."
In order that the said improvements may be better understood, and more
easily carried into effect, I will now proceed to describe the same, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheets of Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon.

page_text: Sheet 1, Fig. 1, is an elevation, and Sheet 2, Fig. 2, a ground plan, of one
of those spinning machines generally known by the name of "mules," to which
the improvements which have been communicated to me are applied. In
Sheets 3 & 4 some of the parts are shewn in detail.
My improved method of connecting the driving pulley with the front roller
consists of a bevil wheel 1, (see Sheet 4, Fig. 4,) which is cast of one piece-
with the bush 1 and pinion 1', and turns loose on the shaft 2, which connects
the front fluted rollers 3. The bevil wheel 1 is further provided with a flange
1°, into which are fixed the pins a, which carry the clicks or palls 4,. the latter
surrounding the ratchet wheel 5, which is fixed upon the shaft 2. The bevil
wheel 1 is (except during the after-draft,) in connection with the driving shaft
6, by means of the train of wheels 7, 8, & 9, the intermediate-shaft 10, the
clutch box 11, & the pinion 12, which latter gears into the bevil wheel 1,
and is loose upon the shaft 10, but carried round by the latter when the clutch
box 11 is in gear. On the other hand, the pinion 1b gears into the spur
wheel 13 upon the shaft 14, which carries the Mendoza pulley 15. Now,
whilst the driving strap is upon the driving pulley 16, for the purpose of
effecting the drawing out of the carriage, the palls 4 take into the teeth of the
ratchet wheel 5, (see Sheet 4, Fig. 4,) and thereby simultaneously give motion
to the front rollers and to the Mendoza pulley; but during the putting up of the
carriage, when the bevil wheel 1 moves in the opposite direction, owing to the
combinations hereafter to be explained, the clicks 4 are, by their centrifugal
motion, disengaged from.the teeth of the ratchet wheel 5, and therefore leave
the front roller at rest. It is scarcely necessary to explain, that as soon as the
shaft 2 ceases to move, the clicks will by their own weight, or assisted by
springs, if necessary, drop, or be pressed down upon the ratchet wheel, and
thus be again ready for action. The operations of "backing off" and
"putting up," which form the subject of the other improvements herein-before
mentioned, are effected in the following manner :-A crank 17 (see Sheet 2,
Fig. 2,) is mounted upon the shafts 17ª, which rests in bearings attached to
the carriage, and is connected with the faller shaft by means of levers or other
mechanism. When the backing-off motion is to be put into gear, the crank
17 is, through the motion of the faller shaft, caused to depress the elbow
lever 18, (see also Sheet 3, Figs. 1, 2, & 3,) whose arm 18 is connected with
an adjustable rod 19, whilst the arm 18b is acted upon by a spring 18°. The
opposite end of the rod 19 is attached to a lever arm 20, which, in Sheet 1,
Fig. 1, is shewn as having just been placed in a position, to be acted upon by
the excentric 21, which is cast of one piece with or fixed to the pulley 22; the
latter being loose on the driving shaft 6, and connected with the pulley 23 by

page_text: means of a strap. As soon as, after the drawing out of the carriage, the requisite
amount of twist: has been given to the yarn, the counter will,. by raising the
catch '24, disengage the strap guide 25, which, being acted upon by the spring
26, will transfer the driving shaft from the pulley 16 to the pulley 27, which
is cast' of fone piece with the excentric 21 and pulley 22. During its passage
from the pulley 16 to the pulley 27, the strap guidé 25, by means of a cam
25 (see Sheet 2; Fig. 2; and Sheet 3;:Figs? 1,2, & 3;) presses against the
adjustable tappet 28; which is fixed to the elbow'lever 29, and thus causes the
arm 29 of the latter to move the lever 30 in the direction of the driving pulley.
The lever 30 terminates. in a fork, which grasps the boss 31 of the friction
disc 31 by means of guide rollers; consequently, when it is acted upon by the
elbow lever 29", as described, it will thrust the friction disc 31, which is loose
upon the driving shaft (see Sheet 3, Fig. 5;) against the friction zone x:x of
the driving pulley.16, which at the moment is still revolving at great speed,
and therefore has a considerable momentum: The friction acting instan-
taneously, the momentum of the driving pulley is thus put in requisition for
the purpose of counteracting the momentum of the spindles and drums;
whilst the driving: strap moves from the driving pulley 16 to the loose-pulley
32 in its passage to the pulley 27, whereby every possibility. of breakage of
those parts of the mechanism which effect the "backing-off" is avoided, so
that the latter operatión can be performed in a very short time. The driving
strap having been brought upon the pulley 27, the pulley 23; which is fixed
upon the shaft 33, will begin to rotate; and: will, by means of the bevil
wheels 34 & 35, the upright shaft 36, the worm 37,' and the worm->wheel.38,
set in motion the friction disc 31% upon whose boss the: worm wheel 38 is
fixed. And as the excentric 121 will at the same time have pressed the
lever arm 20 against-the elbow'lever 29, and brought the friction disc 31
into close contact with the friction zone. ×× of the driving. pulley 16 and
the groove pulley. 16, which actuates the drums and spindles, the pulleys
16 & 16 will now move slowly in the opposite direction to that. in which
they moved whilst the strap was on-the-driving-pulley, and thereby set the
spindles in motion, until the "backing off" being accomplished, the clicks in
the box 39 act upon a ratchet wheel,-in-connection-with the cam or spiral
40, (in a similar manner to the ratchet mechanism which actuates the front
rollers,) communicate to the latter a motion of rotation, which is transmitted to
the segment 41 on the faller shaft by means of the chain 42.. By this motion
of the faller shaft the crank 17 is raised from the elbow lever 18, which is
therefore immediately depressed by the spring 18°, and consequently with
draws the lever arm 20-from the excentric 21. The lever arm 20 hinges on

page_text: a
pin, which forms part of the arm 20, whose, fulcrum, is at b,, (see Sheet 3,
Figs..1, 2, & 3;) consequently, on its being drawny,back,, as described, it will
simultaneously raise. the .arm 20%, the link: 20%; and therefore the catch. 48,
which is attached. to the link 20%; the; friction disc: 31 will thereby be, with-
drawn from contact with the friction: zone X Xof the driving pulley, (the
elbow. levers 29:&:29 being: released, and. it and the lever. 30 replaced in their.
original positions,) and at the same time the lever,44, released from the catch
43; the lever 44 will by means of the spring: 44 (see Sheet 3, Fig..5,). force
the friction cone 23 into the corresponding recess in the pulley, 23, and the
latter will therefore set in motion the scroll 45, (see Sheet 2, Fig. 2,). by
means.of. the bevil wheel 46 and pinion 47, whereby the putting up off the
carriage is effected. The bush 23% of the friction cone 23, terminates, in-a
flange or plate 23, in which studs or pins :23 are fixed, the latter taking
hold (by means of slots). of..a. corresponding plate 47, cast, on or fixed, to the
pinion 47. The lever 44 takes hold of the bush 23b in the usual manner, and
the latter is: longitudinally moveable on the shaft 33. by means of agroove
and feather. On the carriage, terminating, its course,it pushes the lever.
48, and thereby simultaneously throws the strap back upon the driving pulley,
and effects the disengagement, of the friction 'cone 23, by, drawing the lever
44 back into its original position. In order to prevent the catch 25 on the
strap guide from acting upon the lever 29, 29, whilst the strap, is thrown
back from the pulley 27 upon the driving pulley 16, the catch 25 is provided
with a hinge, which permits it to yield to the pressure when moving in that
direction, after which, a small spring replaces it in its original position..
...In. Sheet 4, Fig. 1 represents a side elevation, Fig. 2. a ground, plan, and
Fig. 3 a front elevation, of a modification of the apparatus represented.in
Fig. 4. In this case the Mendoza, pulley 1 is, by means of the shaft 2, and
the wheel 3, and pinion 4,, connected with the clutch box 5. The pinion 4,
with the part 5 of the clutch box, is, fixed on the shaft 6, whilst the clutch box
5 is fixed upon, the bush 7 of the bevil wheel 7, which in its turn is loose
upon the shaft 6, which connects the front rollers. The bevil wheel 7, which
is driven by the pinion 8,.is- connected by pins. 7" with the disc 9, which
latter is fast upon the shaft 6. During the going-out of the carriage the
bevil wheel 7 is in gear with the pinion 8, and gives motion to the front
rollers, owing to its connection with the disc 9 and to the Mendoza pulley 1,
through the clutch box 5. As the carriage arrives at the termination of its
course it will have drawn the rod 10 the distance required to cause the lever
11 to throw the wheel 7 out of gear with the pinion 8, and to disengage the
clutch box 5 from its corresponding portion 5. In order to maintain the

page_text: wheel and clutch box in this position during the putting up of the carriage,
the lever 12, to which the rod 10 is attached, in moving about its axis 13
disengages the hook 14" at one end of the lever 14, which, being raised by
its counterpoise 14 at the opposite end, takes hold of the tappet 12" on the
lever 12, and holds the latter in its position during the putting up of the
carriage, and until the latter, on arriving at the termination of its course,
raises the counterpoise 14b, thereby releasing the tappet 12", which, being no
longer restrained by the hook 14°, returns to the position which it occupied
during the drawing out of the carriage, being acted upon by a spring 12" fixed
to the framing.
Having now described the nature of the improvements which have been
communicated to me, I wish it to be understood that I claim as the Invention
intended to be secured to me by the before-mentioned Letters Patent,-
Firstly, the mechanism or combination of mechanism for disengaging the
front rollers during the putting up of the carriage, as described with reference
to Sheet 1, Fig. 1, & Sheet 2, Fig. 2, of Drawings, and shewn in detail in
Sheet 4, Fig. 4, of the Drawings; also the modification of the said mechanism
described with reference to Sheet 4, Figs. 1, 2, & 3, of the Drawings.
Secondly, the combination of mechanism for checking the motion of the
drums and spindles whilst the strap passes from the driving pulley 16 to the
pulley 23, as described with reference to Sheet 1, Fig. 1, Sheet 2, Fig. 2, of
Drawings, and shown partly in detail in Sheet 3, Figs. 1, 2, 3, & 5, of
Drawings.
And thirdly, the combination of mechanism for "backing off" and "putting
up," as described with reference to Sheet 1, Fig. 1, Sheet 2, Fig. 2, and
Sheet 3, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rudolph Bodmer, hath hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
מחוממת חת דnזזם.
RUDOLPH BODMER. (..)