CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHI- NERY OF APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON, SILK, FLAK, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
SLEDDON, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Machinė Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Second day of June, in the first year of Her reign, did, for Her-
self, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Francis
Sleddon, Her special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that [,
the said Francis Sleddon, my executors, administrators, and' assigns, and such
others as I, the said Francis Sleddon, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time and at
all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-up-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHI-
NERY OF APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON, SILK, FLAK, WOOL, AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a pro-
viso that I, the said Francis Sleddon, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be perfórmed,
to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar

page_text: months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Francis Sleddon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and to the following
explanation thereof, that is to say :-
My Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Spinning and Doubling
Cotton, Silk, Flax, and other Fibrous Substances, consist,-.
Firstly, in the mechanism or apparatus usually employed in spinning, and
known or called by the name of "hand mules," and is more particularly appli-
cable to the "steam head" or driving headstock of such machines, in order to
perform the necessary evolutions of the drawing rollers, the running out of the
carriage, and the spinning and winding on of the thread or yarn, with con-
siderable economy of the mechanism employed, and also in order to effect
many important advantages in the yarn or thread produced.
Secondly, my improvements apply more particularly to the driving of the
vertical spindle drums in the hand mules, self-acting mules, or any other
spinning machinery wherein such vertical drums may or shall be used for
driving the spindles in which the yarn is wound or spun, which said improve-
ment is to be effected by the application of toothed wheels, having their teeth
bevilled, and set askew, or not, bearing radially towards their centre, and com-
monly called "askew gear." It will be seen that by means of the application
of askew gear to this purpose I am enabled to have an horizontal driving shaft!
extending through the whole length of the machine, and driving each drum
by gear, with the advantage of crossing their driving centres, and getting a
good bearing for the shaft of the spindle drum. I propose a further improve-
ment also in the drums for driving the spindles, that is, to make them with
open ends, their periphery being mounted upon arms, instead of having their.
ends closed, to form the bearings of the central shaft. This improvement
upon the construction of spindle drums will dispense in a great measure with
the noise usually caused by such parts of spinning machinery.
And, thirdly, my improvements in spinning apply particularly to the running
or spindle carriage usually employed in mules in general. These carriages I
make much lighter, and at the same time increase their strength and accuracy
by connecting together the end frames and other supporters by means of light
wrought-iron rods, extending the length of the carriage and passing through
the whole of the supporters and carriage frame ends (of whatever length the
1

page_text: carriage may be required) in one piece, without the necessity of any further
framing or connexion.
In order that these my several improvements in spinning machinery may be
more definitely explained and particularly understood, I have attached to these
Presents a Sheet of Drawings containing representations of a hand mule con-
structed upon the principle of my improvements, having similar letters of refer-
ence marked upon corresponding parts of the mechanism in all the respective
Figures.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the mule; Figure 2 a plan or horizontal view
of the same; and Figure 3 is a vertical section taken transversely through the ma-
chine. A, A, are the main standards or framings of the stationary or roller end
of the mule. These frames or standards support the creel B, B, which carries
the rovings, and also support the roller beam C, C, which carry the drawing
rollers D, D, in the ordinary manner. E, E, E*, E*, is the spindle carriage,
which is constructed entirely of iron, and is formed by the frame ends or sup-
porters E, E, being bolted and secured together by means of the round
wrought-iron rods or bars E*, E*. These bars pass through the whole length
of the carriage frames, and, thus connecting them, forms a spindle carriage of
great truth, and much lighter than those in common use.
This carriage
E, E*, carries the spindles F, F, upon which the yarn is to be wound or spun,
and is supported upon the wheels G, G, which have smooth plain peripheries
running upon the planed railways H, H, as the carriages perform their going
in and out. It will be seen in these Figures that the spindle carriage is shewn
run out, the stretch of the yarn completed, the whole machinery being at rest,
and the spindles ready to wind on the yarn upon the putting up or going in of
the carriage, with the driving strap I being upon the idle or loose pulley K,
and those parts which are worked by power thus entirely out of action. Now,
in order to wind the yarn on to the spindles, during the going in of the car-
riage E, E, the spinner or operator turns any of the handles a, a, which are
set in the circular plate 6 (see Figure 3), thus causing the diagonal shaft c, c,
to revolve, and by means of the bevilled pinion d at its lower end geering
in with the bevil wheel e, keyed fast upon the drum or driving shaft f, f..
This drum shaft f is mounted in the carriage ends E, and extends throughout
the whole length of the carriages, and the askew bevilled wheels g, upon the
shaft, gearing into the askew pinions h, h, upon the lower ends of each vertical
drum shaft i, i. This causes the drums j, j, to revolve, and by the usual
method of banding to drive the spindles F, F, and consequently to wind on
the yarn. The running in or putting up of the carriage is also effected by the
spinner pressing against the faller shaft k, k, which, together with the working
of the fallers, is performed in the usual manner of hand mule spinning. Now,

page_text: as soon as the carriage has been put up, and the winding on of the yarn has
been completed, a stop or catch upon the horizontal setting-on rod m, m, (see
Figure 2) striking against the carriage vibrates the bell-crank lever n, n, and
slides the strap guide o, o, sideways, thus passing the driving strap I from the
loose pulley K on to the pullies p, q, in order to drive the drawing rollers and
deliver the yarn, and at the same time to drive the spindles, whilst, the going
out of the carriage or the stretch of the yarn is being performed. During
these operations the strap is kept from shifting upon the pullies p and q, by
means of the weight r and rods s. It will be seen that these pullies are all
mounted upon the shaft t, t, which is supported in its bearings in the steam
head or driving headstock L, L, the idle pulley K being loose upon the
shaft t, and the pulley being fast upon the shaft t, while the pulley ġ
is loose upon the shaft t, but fast upon the boss of the bevil wheel ü, and
is thus supported upon the shaft t. The driving strap I having now been
passed around the pullies p and q, the pulley p will, by means of the band
pullies w, w, at each end of the shaft t, and the bands x, x, passing around
them, and the pullies y, y, mounted upon a shaft in the standards A, A',
and also around the pullies 2, %, mounted upon the drum or driving shaft
ff, thus cause that shaft to revolve, and, by means of the askew bevilled
gearing, drive the spindles as before explained. The going out of the spindle
carriage E, E, has also been performed simultaneously, by means of the driving
strap I being also passed around the pulley q, for as this pulley runs loosely
upon the shaft t, and is keyed fast upon the boss of the bevil wheel v, and
this wheel v, being in gear with the pinion 1 at the lower end of the vertical
shaft 2, which having another bevil pinion 3 at its upper end, in gear with
the bevil wheel 4, upon one end of the horizontal shaft 5, causes this shaft
to revolve, and by means of the gearing 6, 6, at its other end causes the draw-
ing rollers to deliver to the rovings to the spindles, and at the same time, by
actuating the mitre wheels 7, 7, give a rotary motion to the bevil wheels 8, 8.
It will be seen, that the larger of these wheels 8 is fixed upon the upper end
of the vertical shaft 9, 9, and that upon the lower end of this shaft there is a
spur pinion 10 in gear with the rack 11. This rack is attached to the
spindle carriage E, E, and travels upon rollers 12, 12, running upon plates
18, 18, screwed to the floor. At the same time that the driving strap is passed
around the pullies p and q, a small spring and catch piece upon the frame
(which cannot readily be shewn in the Figures) strikes against the foot of the
vertical shaft 9, and thus causes it to swing the pinion 10 into gear with the
carriage rack 11, and thus draw the carriage out to perform the stretch of the
yarn; and as the carriage is putting up, the catch and spring 14 at the other

page_text: end of the rack carriage strike against-the pinion 10 as the carriage runs in,
and throws that pinion out of gear with the rack at the same time that: the
driving strap is passed around the idle pulley I, in order that the spinning and
winding on.may again be performed by hand. .In winding the yarn on to the
spindles the operator or spinner is prevented from "backlashing" the, threads
by a peculiar arrangement of mechanism,.forming the copping motion of the
mule. This motion is shewn at the left-hand end of the machine, in Figures..I
and 2. There is a small adjustable stop or screw 15 set in the frame A, and
a vibrating pallet 16 and pallet wheel 17 mounted, upon the spindle carriage,
so that at each put up of the carriage this pallet 16, being struck against
the stop 15, the pallet wheel is made to escape one tooth. This pallet wheel
is keyed fast upon the vertical rod 18 (see Figure 1), which has a screw thread
cut upon its upper end, and working in the stationary nut or socket -19, fixed
to the spindle carriage. Now, as the spinner turns the faller shaft k, k, in
order to lower the bows 20, 20, and the faller wire 21, 21, the tail piece 22,
at the end of the faller shaft, working in the mortice at the top of the socket
19, strikes against the end of the vertical rod 18, which, being raised by the
pallet wheel and screw the thickness in breadth of a thread every time the
carriage runs in, thus causes the action of the faller to be diminished, and
consequently shape the top until the whole of the lift is performed and the cop
completed. There is a band pulley 23, 23, at each end of the spindle car-
riage, around which a band 24 is passed, being fast at each end to the studs
25, 25, for the purpose of causing the carriage to run trim and smooth, and
preventing any little vibration which may occur in very long carriages.
Having now described my improvements in spinning machinery, I wish it
to be particularly understood, that I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, the peculiar arrangement and construction of the mechanism com-
posing the mule for hand spinning, as represented in the Drawings attached,
as far as the same is novel in its application and effect, in the manner and for
the
purposes above particularly described;
Secondly, the peculiar application of the askew bevilled gear, for the pur-
pose of driving the spindle drums in all spinning machinery; and,
Lastly, the particular construction of the spindle carriage with its copping
motion, as also above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Sleddon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
FRANCIS (L.s.) SLEDDON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of November,
in the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
Francis Sleddon came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified; in form above written. And also the Instrument 5
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twenty-eighth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-eight.