CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Knowles, of Bolton, in the County of
Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, and Robert Halliwell, of the same Place,
Foreman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 9th February 1864, and dated the 11th August 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Knowles and
Robert Halliwell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition on the 11th August 1863.
We, WILLIAM KNOWLES, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton
Spinner, and ROBERT HALLIWELL, of the same Place, Foreman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is applicable, first, to carding engines, and it consists in the
application thereto of a self-acting alarum for giving notice when the supply is
stopped or partially stopped. In performing our Invention the lap rollers aro
supported by and between two unlapping rollers placed at such a distance
apart that the empty lap roller may pass between them. Under the unlapping
rollers is placed a balance board connected to a bell or other alarum, which is
agitated by a cam on the shaft of the licker-in, or other convenient moving
part of the engine. When a lap roller drops on the balanco board the bell

page_text: or other alarum is brought within reach of the cam above referred to, and
continues ringing until the attendant has replaced the empty lap by a full one,
or else stopped the machine; or the cam above referred to can be made to act
on a lever for moving the driving strap from the fast to the loose pulley.
Our improvements in machinery for spinning and doubling relate to self-
acting mules, and consist of an improved arrangement of parts for governing
or regulating the winding of the yarn on the spindles according to its tension.
To the fuller shaft is fixed a lever to which is jointed a link connected below
by a slot and stud to a sliding plate on which is a wedge; this plate slides up
and down in a bracket fixed to the front of the carriage, to the same bracket
is also jointed a weighted elbow lever. The radial arm is provided as usual
with a screw and nut to which the winding-on chain is connected; the bevel
pinion for driving the screw is thrown in or out of gear by a forked lever and
a cord extending from the front to the back of the headstock, and passing
between the wedge and the weighted elbow lever above referred to. When
the yarn is too tight the cord is compressed against the wedge by the elbow
lever, thus throwing the pinions into gear for turning round the screw in the
radial arm for letting off some of the winding-on chain. As the cop increases
in diameter, the plate with the wedge is gradually raised, and when the bottom
of the cop is formed the wedge is so far raised that it ceases to act on the
.cord.
The above moveable wedge piece may be applied to other mechanism for
regulating the winding on. The wedge form is the most convenient, but the
form may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of the
Invention, which consists in moving the part out of reach of the cord by
the faller or shaper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Knowles and Robert Halliwell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 11th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
KNOWLES, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, and ROBERT
HALLIWELL, of the same Place, Foreman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the

page_text: said William Knowles and Robert Halliwell, Her special license that we, the
said William Knowles and Robert Halliwell, our executors, administrators,.
and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Knowles and Robert
Halliwell, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William
Knowles and Robert Halliwell, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 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 we, the said William Knowlos and Robert
Halliwell, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manuer the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
Our Invention is applicable, first, to carding engines, and it consists in the
application thereto of a self-acting alarum for giving notice or for moving the
driving strap from the fast to the loose pulley when the supply is stopped or
partially stopped.
Our improvements in machinery for spinning and doubling relate to self-
acting mules, and consist of an improved arrangement of parts for governing
or regulating the winding of the yarn on the spindles according to its tension.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood, we will procced
to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents
part of a finishing carding engine to which our improvements are applied.
a is part of the main cylinder; b, the licker-in; c, c, the feed rollers; and
d, d, the rollers for unlapping the rollers e, which are formed of slivers
produced by the breaker carding engines, and wound on the rollers e by the
lap machino known as the "Derby doubler;" there are generally three lap
rollers e in the width of the carding engine, and the unlapping rollers & are
placed at such a distance apart that the empty roller e may pass between
them. Under the rollers d is placed the balance board f, which vibrates upon
the fulcrum shaft g, to one end of which is fixed the lever h; to the outer end
of this lever is jointed the lever i, to the lower end of which is attached the

page_text: bell, and the upper is acted upon by the cam k, fixed to the axle of the
licker-in b. When all the slivers have been unwound off one of the lap
rollers e, it drops between the rollers d on to the board f, which then assumes
the position indicated by dotted lines, thus bringing the upper end of the
lever i within reach of the cam k, which agitates the bell until the attendant
has removed the empty lap roller e, and replaced it by a full one, or else
stopped the machine; by these means unequal feeding is prevented. Or the
cam can be made to act on a lever for moving the driving strap from the
fast to the loose pulley. Fig. 2 is an elevation of part of an ordinary self-
acting mule to which our improvement in the winding-on motion is applied;
Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 a front elevation of the same. 1 represents the
framing of the headstock; m, the drawing rollers; n, the carriage; o, the
spindles; p, the quadrant; 7, the radial arm with the screw and nut to which
the winding-on chain r is connected; s, the winding-on barrel; t, the faller
shaft; and u, the counterfaller shaft. These parts and all the others not
To the front
particularly referred to hereafter are made in the usual manner.
of the carriage n is fixed the bracket n', to which is bolted another bracket n²,
furnished above with a stud for the weighted lever and below with a hole
for the sliding bar y'; there is also a slot in the lower part of the bracket n²
for the rope or strap w to pass through; one end of this rope or strap is
secured to the fixed bracket w³, and the other to the elbow lever w, one arm
of which is acted upon by the spring w³ to draw the clutch box & out of gear
when required. The lever is fixed to an upright shaft, to which is also
fixed the forked lever w', taking in a groove in the sliding clutch box x,
which gears when required into the clutch box cast with the pinion a,
gearing into the pinion on the screw of the radial arm q.
lever is connected the swivel pulley, under which tho
connecting the faller and counterfaller rods as usual.
the carriago is also fixed the bracket y, in which is a
the other end of the sliding bar y'; this stud also supports the inclined
lever, to which is jointed the lower end of the rod, the upper end of
which passes through a swivel bush in the lever t', fixed to the faller shaft t.
To the lever is also fixed a pin, by which the catches y are lifted out of
gear with the ratchet rack on the upper edge of tho sliding bar y'; near the
right-hand end of this bar is fixed an adjustablo stud y', and near the other
end is fixed or cast the upright y'; the bar is drawn towards the bracket n
by the spring y".
To the weighted
chain passes for
To the front of
stud supporting
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawing represents the parts in
the positions they occupy when the carriage is nearly up to the drawing

page_text: At every inward run of the
acting on the rod presses
rollers m, and when the cops are partly built.
carriage the faller is depressed, and the lever
down the lever ; the incline at the end of this lever then acts like a wedge
against the stud y³, and moves the sliding bar y' in the direction of the arrow,
thus bringing the upright y' nearer to the cord or rope w, and the catches y³
hold the bar y' in that position during the inward run of the carriage. When
the tension of the yarn is too great the counterfaller is brought down, thus
allowing the lever to drop, and bringing the clip v against the cord or
strap w, which is thus held fast between the said upright y' and the clip v';
the rope being thus held fast as the carriage is going in acts on the lovers w
and w, and throws the clutch box a in gear with the clutches on the back
of the pinion, which then drives the screw in the radial arm q, and causes
the nut on the said scrow to increase its distance from the fulcrum of the radial
arm. It is evident that at the commencement of building a set of cops, the
faller, and consequently the lever, are depressed to the greatest extent; the
incline at the end of the lever then gives the greatest lateral motion to
the sliding bar y', and the cord w being held between the upright y' and the
clip v' for a considerable portion of the inward run of the carriage imparts
the greatest amount of motion to the screw of the radial arm, so as to let off
more of the winding-on chain; but as the bottom of the cop increases in size
the descent of the faller diminishes, and the incline on the lever = imparts less
lateral motion to the bar y', thus reducing the action on the screw of the
radial arm in proportion to the gradually increasing size of the bottom of
the cop, and when the cop bottom is formed the clip ceases to act on the
cord or strap w. This part of our Invention may be modified by making a
slot in the lower end of the rod 1; this slot fits on a stud in a plate, on which
is a wedge; this plate slides up and down in a bracket fixed to the front of
the carriage, to the same bracket is also jointed a weighted elbow lever similar
to v. When the yarn is too tight the cord is compressed against the wedge
by the elbow lever, thus throwing the pinions into gear for turning round
the screw in the radial arm. As the cop increases in diameter, the plate with
the wedge is gradually raised, and when the bottom of the cop is formed the
wedge is so far raised that it ceases to act on the cord; or the lever =, or the
wedge above described may be acted upon by the shaper forming part of
the copping motion.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we declare that we claim,-
-
First, the self-acting alarum described for giving notice when a feed roller
is empty, or for stopping the carding engine to which it is affixed.

page_text: And secondly, the improved combination of machinery for governing or
regulating the winding-on motion of self-acting mules according to the tension
of the yarn, and particularly the moveable stop y', and the lever with an
incline marked z, or a wedge, the position of which is varied by the faller or
shaper.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Knowles and Robert Halliwell,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM KNOWLES. (L.S.)
ROBERT HALLIWELL. (L.S.)