IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN MACHINERY USED FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB- STANCES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERTSON, of Gateside Mill, in the County of Renfrew, in that part of the
United Kingdom called Scotland, Machine Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria did, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth day of June, in the
thirteenth year of Her reign, give and grant unto me, my exors, adñiors, and
assigns, Her special license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Robertson, my exors, admors, and assigns, should and law-
fully might, during the term of fourteen years therein mentioned, make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN
MACHINERY USED FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that if I, the
said William Robertson, should not particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that
then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever
thereby granted, should utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and
by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Robertson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and description,
reference being had to the Drawings on one sheet hereunto annexed, and in
which description and Drawings the same letters and numbers of reference are
use to indicate the same or corresponding parts of the machine in all the
Figures in which they occur.
My Invention consists in Improvements in Machines for Spinning or
Doubling Cotton and other Fibrous Substances, of that class in which the
spindles approach to and recede from the drawing rollers, and which are
usually known by the names of the mule and twiner or doubler, and which I
will now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 represents an elevation of one side of a mule headstock and carriage
end.
Fig. 2 represents an elevation of a portion of the other side of the head-
stock at the driving end.
Fig. 3 represents a plan of the headstock carriage end, and some other parts
of the mule.
run.
Fig. 4 represents the epycyclie train.
The parts of the machinery represented in the Drawings are in the
position they are in when the carriage is about to commence its inward
A is the headstock frame; B, the carriage end. The driving power
is communicated from the first mover by the two belts C, D. The belt D
is shewn the loose pulley E, and the belt C on the pulley F. This pulley
has 2 bosses cast on it at equal distances from its centre, shewn in
dotted lines in Fig. 1, and whose centres form a straight line with its own
centre. These bosses are shewn in dotted lines, and marked b, d, in Fig. 1,
and through which two spindles pass, on which are fastened the two
pinions h, i, also shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which pinions geer into the
pinion J, as best seen in Fig. 4, and into the inverted teeth in the inside of
the rim of the pulley G.. The above arrangement is a common form of the
epycyclie train. The pulley G is keyed on the shaft K, which passes through
the boss of the pinion J, on which boss turns loose the pulley F and its loose
pulley H. This boss extends to the journal of the shaft K, and has the
bevil pinion Li fast on it. L geers with the bevil wheel M, keyed on the
shaft a in line with the front roller f. On this shaft are keyed at one end
the catch box p; for driving the rollers, and at the other the pinion 7, which
geers into the stud wheel I, on the boss of which wheel is fixed the pinion -N;

page_text: which geers into the wheel T.keyed on the shaft u. On this shaft is keyed
the pulley O, to which are attached the two ropes or bands W, W*, the other
ends of which are attached to the pulley Z; which pulley revolves loosely on
the stud c fastened to the carriage end, and shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 1..
The rope W passes over the carrying pulley Y, and the rope Wx over the
carrying pulley X. The pin e. is driven fast into the rim of the pulley Z, and
must be so placed that at the time when the carriage is about to commence
its inward run it will come in contact with the bracket P fastened on the
carriage end, and thereby prevent the pulley revolving when the rope W is
put in motion to take the carriage in. To the pulley Z is also fastened the
band 9. to which is attached the chain g', which chain is attached to the
pulley g² keyed on the arbore O of the carriage wheel Q, which geers into the
rack race R. On the horizontal main shaft K are fastened the twist pulley S
and break pulley U. From the twist pulley an endless band is led round
the carrying pullies k, j, and l; and round the double grooved pulley V in the
manner commonly adopted. Now the spindles of the pinions h and i being
loose in the bosses on the pulley F, the pinions will not communicate motion
either to the pulley G or the pinion J, into which they geer, without at the
same time having a resistance from the other equal in amount to that which
it is desired to communicate; for if G-be-taken away, and h and i are left in
geer with J, the revolution of the pulley F, and through it of the pinions h
and i, will give no motion to the pinion J, as they will merely revolve around
it; and on the other hand, if the pinion J be taken away, and the pinion h and
i be left in geer with the teeth of the pulley G, then no motion will be given
to it, as the pinions and i will simply revolve in the opposite direction to
that they did when in geer with the pinion J. But if the pinions h and i are
geered into both the teeth of the pulley G, and into those of the pinion J,
and the epicyclie train be thus complete, then the pinions h and i become what
may be termed revolving balances ready to communicate the greatest amount
of motion to the pulley G, or the pinion J, whichever offers the least resist-
ance. Hence the resistance of the spindles, exerted through the teeth of the
pulley G, will tend to move the carriage, and the resistance of the carriage,
exerted through the pinion J, will tend to move the spindles; and if so con-
structed as to be motions of the same kind or of equal resistance, the
movement described would be perfect for putting up the carriage and winding
on the yarn. But the carriage requires only an impulse to put up an entire
stretch of from fifty-five to sixty inches in length in three seconds, whilst the
winding on (when the cop bottom is perfectly formed) becomes heavier as the
carriage advances to the beam, so that when the effect of the carriage is less

page_text: the power necessary for winding on is greater.
To correct this difference,
which in practice is comparatively small, the following apparatus is designed :-
The pinion m, loose on the stud n, geers into the rack race R, and the
pinion t, which pinion is loose on the stud », and geers with the pinion y. In
an eye at the top of the bracket 1, bolted to the carriage foot, the shaft s
revolves, on which shaft are keyed the pinion y and the disc plate w. The
disc plate w communicates with the spindles through the brush wheel v, fitted
to slide easily on a feather on the shaft a, on the top of which is the pulley V,
round which the drum band passes to the drums through the carriage to drive
the spindles in the usual manner. The shaft is at its upper part hung in
the bracket z, and rests in a step in the lever 2, which is set to vibrate on the
stud 3 bolted on the carriage end. The inclined plane 4, on the rod 5, having
been depressed so as to come in contact with one end of the lever 2, presses
against it and maintains an amount of pressure on the brush wheel v against
the the disc plate w. In the brush wheel v is the groove v¹, into which passes
the forked end of the lever 6 vibrating on the stud 7 fast on the carriage end.
The other end of the lever 6 is connected by the rod 8 to the nut 9 on the
screw 10 fitted in the shears 11 cast on the quadrant wheel A', which geers
with a pinion keyed on the carriage arbor O, but not shewn in the Drawings.
The quadrant wheel vibrates on the stud B¹, bolted on the carriage end.
When the carriage has completed its outward run the quadrant is at the
position shewn in the Drawing, Fig. 1, when if the cop bottom is formed the
brush wheel will by the lever 6 be lowered to very near the centre of the
disc plate w, at which position by its friction contact it counteracts the first
impulse of the carriage on the spindles, by which they would be driven too
rapidly. As the carriage proceeds inwards the pinion on the carriage arbor
turns the quadrant, and causes the shears 11 to descend, whereby the rod 8
also descends, which acting on the end of the lever 6 to which it is attached,
causes the forked end of that lever during the inward run of the carriage
progressively to raise the brush wheel v up the disc plate w, until at the
completion of the inward run it is very near the outer edge. This movement
of the brush wheel up the disc plate aids the movement of the spindles, as the
resistance of the carriage through its acquired velocity becomes less, thus
regulating the motion of the spindles and carriage when the carriage is going
up, and economically distributing the power employed. At the commence-
ment of the formation of a set of cops on the bare spindles, the motion of the
spindles is uniform throughout the stretch, and they require a greater number
of revolutions than when the cop bottom is formed, to aid in producing
which each time that a set of cops is taken off the mule, and before com-

page_text: mencing the formation of another, the operative must lower the nut ġ to the
centre of the quadrant wheel A', which will cause the brush wheel v to be
raised to near the outer edge of the disc plate w, where it will remain during
the whole stretch, and thereby aid in giving a greater number of revolutions
and uniformity at the time when the same is required. The bevil a¹ is fast
on the spindle a², which passes through a hole bored in the stud B', and
is driven by the endless band 12 and pulley 13 on the carriage abor, and
as the cop bottom is formed the bevil wheel a¹ is brought into geer with the
bevil as on the screw 10 by the action of the counter faller, now so commonly
used as to need no description here, whereby the screw 10 is turned and the
nut 9 is raised, which will cause the brush wheel v to be brought nearer to the
centre of the disc plate w for the succeeding stretch, which movement of the
screw 10 will occasionally be repeated until the cop bottom is formed, after
which little or no movement will be given to the screw 10. Just before the
completion of the inward run of the carriage, the following changes take place,
viz., the rod 5 comes in contact with the inclined plane 14 fast on the floor,
by which the rod is elevated, and thus the pressure of the brush wheel v is
relieved; also the lever 15, on a stud in the rod 16, having a bevilled pro-
jection, strikes on the stud 17 in the inclined plane C, and draws out the
sliding bar 18, resting on the inclined plane by means of the angle on its
point, and allows the faller to rise in the usual way. The chain will also
have been firmly wound round the pulley g; and the bracket 19, bolted on'
the carriage end, will come in contact with the belt key 20, and traverse the
belt D on to the fast pulley G, and gives motion to it, by which change the
epicyclie train ceases to act as a differential motion, the pulley G receiving a
determined and uniform motion from the belt D instead of a varying one, as
before; and the pinion J also, through the pinions and i, receives an uniform
motion, produced by the difference of speed given to the pullies G and F, as
hereafter described. The size and speed of the pulley G must be such as to
give the requisite speed to the spindles, having which, the speed of the
pulley F will be determined as follows, viz., the length of the stretch being
fixed, the revolutions of the front roller will easily be ascertained, and this
number multiplied by the teeth in the bevil M, and divided by the teeth in
the bevil L, will give the number of revolutions the pinion J.must make in
each stretch. The twists per inch being also fixed upon and multiplied by the
number of inches in each stretch, the product must, if the warves on the
spindles are one inch in diameter, be divided by the number of inches the
twist pulley is in diameter; which will give the number of revolutions the
pulley G must make in each stretch. Then multiply the number of revo-

page_text: lutions the pulley G has to make each stretch by the number of teeth in it, and
also the number of revolutions the pinion J has to make by the number of
teeth in it, and the difference of these products, divided by the sum of the
teeth in the pulley G and pinion J, will be the revolutions the pulley: F must
make each stretch. This difference in the speed of the pullies G and F will
cause motion to be given to the pinion J in the opposite direction to that it
had. when the carriage was going in, and thus the motion of the carriage will
be reversed, and the drawing rollers will receive motion by the detents in the
catch box p taking into its teeth. During the outward run of the carriage,
motion is given to the pulley 9 in an opposite direction to that it had when
the carriage was going in, by which means the chain g¹ is unwound from off
. it, which slackens the rope g; and thereby allows the pulley Z to revolve on its
stud, which it does by the rope W+ drawing it round, and thereby causing the
ropes W and W to traverse farther than the length of the stretch, by the
length of the chain g¹ unwound from off the pulley 9². The pinion e¹ on the
shaft u, which geers with the wheel 21, communicates motion to it. The
wheel 21 revolves on a stud in the frame of the headstock, and has on one'
side the pin v¹, which, just before the completion of the outward run of the
carriage, comes in contact with the projection 22 on the lever 23, and allows
the spring D¹ to traverse the belt lever 20 and belt D. By the traversing of
the belt D from off the pulley G, the motion to the pinion J will be reversed,
and consequently the shaft u, which will cause the cam 24 to come against
and press on the end of the loose tail 25 on the end of the lever 26, and press
the break 27, turning on the stud 28 in the headstock frame, into the groove
in the break pulley V, and stop the spindles. The reversal of the shaft u also
causes the rope W to draw the pulley Z, and cause it to revolve till the pin e
again comes in contact with the bracket P; during which time the pinion 29,
fast on the boss of the pulley Z, and geering into the pinion 30, has, by means
of the pin n acting on the lever 31 on the builder frame 32, depressed the
faller. The pin in boss of the pulley Z will also have acted on the pin s¹ in
the rod 5, and pressed it down, thereby restoring the pressure on the brush
wheel v; and the operation of winding on, herein-before described, is repeated.
The builder frame 32 turns on a stud 33 in the carriage end. The lever 31
is loose in one direction, and allows the pin n¹ in the pinion 30 to
pass when
the carriage comes out, but is held fast against the feather in the builder frame
on the pin returning, so that the builder frame is made partially to revolve on
its stud, and, being nearly a right angle, the portion of it at the screw 34,
which turns in two eyes in the frame, is lifted up, when the sliding bar 18
coming above the inclined plane C, rests upon it while the carriage is going

page_text: in. The lever marked 35 is loose on the boss of the builder frame, and its
curved part at the point rests on the nut of the screw 36. It has also a
jointed lever attached to its end, marked 16, which, acting on the lever 37 on
the faller shaft, works the faller for building the cop. The stripping move-
ment is that invented by John Robertson, and as it is in general use; need not
be here described. The ratchet wheel 38 is moved a tooth or more at every.
stretch, by being lifted against the dent 39, by which the nut 36 is moved
forward, and the lever 35 is allowed to drop as the cop is being built.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as of my Inven-
tion,―
First, the use and application of the epicyclic train or system of wheels,
herein described and shewn in Figure 4, or any other train or system of wheels
on the same principle (as, for instance, with bevil wheels instead of spur
pinions, as shewn), for the purpose (in connection with, or through the inter-
vention of, suitable.mechanism or mechanical parts,) of taking the carriage in,
and of winding the yarn on, to the spindles; the train, when used for this pur--
pose, receiving motion only from one single driver, and which I effect by means
of the belt C, but without confining myself thereto, and the peculiar property
which such train so driven possesses of communicating a varying motion, being
thereby at liberty to act, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the use and application of such an epicyclic train, and the peculiar
adaptation and arrangement of parts in connection therewith, and herein
described, for the purpose of taking the carriage out, and of giving motion to
the drawing rollers conjointly; the train, in this case, receiving motion from
two drivers (which I effect by means of the two belts C and D, but without
confining myself to such belts); and in which case the train so driven gives
off for each operation a determined amount of uniform motion not now
possessing the property of imparting variable motion which it possessed when
driven by one belt only. I would here observe, that although I have described
my Invention as applicable to a mule of the class termed self-acting, yet the
epicyclic train or system of wheels may be applied, for the above-described
purposes, to hand mules, the requisite adaptations of the machinery for which
application will readily suggest themselves to any mechanic conversant with
such machinery.
Thirdly, I claim the use of the friction disc w, and brush wheel v, and con-
necting geer to the tempering screw, as a regulating apparatus for winding on
of the yarn.
Fourthly, I claim the movement of the pulley Z, chain g¹, and rope g, and

page_text: connected apparatus, by which the reversing movement, whether derived from
the epicyclic train or from any other similar mechanical arrangement, works
the fallers before it begins to draw in the carriage.
Fifthly, I claim the construction of the builder frame 32, and dropping
lever 35, in the copping motion, as herein-before described, the same being
both jointed on one centre.
In witness whereof, I have hereto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day
of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred