CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON, FLAX, WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WHITWORTH, of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at:
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-five, in the fifth year of the reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and suc-
cessors, did give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Whitworth, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph
Whitworth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Whitworth, 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-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND
DOUBLING COTTON, FLAX, WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Joseph
Whitworth, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is, to be performed, to be inrolled in
His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patents, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, my Improvements in Machinery for Spinning Cotton,
Flax, Wool, and other Fibrous Substances, apply to those descriptions of
machinery called mules, billies, jennys, and stretching frames, upon the self-
acting principle, and to throstles and doubling frames.
In reference to the self-acting mules, &c., the machinery is designed,
1st, to traverse the carriage in and out by means of screws or worm shafts,
which are placed so as to keep the carriage parallel to the drawing rollers, and
prevent the necessity of squaring bands. 2nd, in an improved manner of
working the drums of a self-acting mule by gear. 3rd, in the means of
effecting the "backing off." 4th, the mechanism for working the faller wire
in building the cops; and, 5th, the apparatus for effecting the winding of the
yarns on to the spindles.
And as regards the throstles and doubling frames, the improvements apply,
1st, to the peculiar method of constructing and adapting the flyers and spindles,
and effecting the drag; and, 2nd, the arrangement of the other parts of the
spinning and doubling machinery..
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal representation of
the mule, shewing the plan of the gearing by which it is driven, constructed
upon what is called the "box organ" principle. Figure 2 is an end clevation,
exhibiting one of the parallel screws or worm shafts, in which the carriage is
shewn partly in section. Figure 3 is a vertical section, taken transversely
through the driving gear, near the middle of the mule. Figure 4 is a similar
transverse section, taken in the same direction as Figure 3, at a very little
distance beyond it. Figure 5 is a front elevation of the driving gear and front
rollers, the mule carriage being withdrawn. The respective letters of reference
point out the same parts of the machinery in the several Figures of the mule.
The creel on which the bobbins of roving are placed is shewn at A, A, A,
and the beam that support the drawing rollers. at B, B, B. The carriage of
the mule is marked C, C, C; and D, D, are the railways on which the
carriage runs. The machinery is driven by a strap from the first mover,
carried round the pulley F, fixed upon the main shaft G. (In order to drive
the rollers a wheel a, fixed on the main shaft G, takes into another wheel 6
on the shaft c; this shaft carries a bevel wheel d, taking into a similar bevel
wheel e fixed on a vertical shaft f (see Figure 4). At the upper end of
this shaft is another toothed wheel g, which drives the tumbling shaft h, and
this gives motion to the drawing rollers in the ordinary way. For running

page_text: out the mule carriage, the clutch box i is slidden so as to lock together the
shaft G and the bevil wheel k, which wheel & then drives the bevil wheels / 1
and 2 on the inner extremities of the longitudinal shafts m 1 and m 2. At
the reverse or outer ends of these shafts m 1 and m 2 there are bevil wheels n, n,
taking into the bevel pinions o, o, fixed to the end of the screws or worm
shafts E, E, by means of which the screws are made to turn. In the under
part of the mule carriage C, friction rollers p, p (see Figure 2), are mounted,
the peripheries of which run against the sides of the threads of the screws
E, E, and as the screws revolve give motion to the carriage.
For the better illustration of this part of the machine, I have shewn in
the detached horizontal view, Figure 6, a portion of one of the screws E,
with the friction rollers mounted on studds extending from the carriage and
acting against the sides of the threads of the screws, by the lateral force of
which thread against the friction rollers, as the screws turn, the carriage is
forced along upon the railways D, D. For the purpose of driving the drums
which actuate the spindles, the wheel H, which turns loosely upon the main
shaft G, is locked to that shaft by the sliding clutch q. This wheel takes into
the wheel I, fixed on the grooved shaft M, which shaft carries a sliding bevel
wheel N, working in the bevel wheel O, at the lower end of an upright shaft r
in the middle of the carriage (see Figures 1 and 3). Upon this upright shaft
is also fixed a bevel wheel P, taking into the bevel wheels at the inner
extremities of the longitudinal shafts Q, Q, which are mounted in bearings
in the carriage under the drums. These shafts give rotary motion to the
drums by means of bevel gear (see Figure 4), and from the drums bands extend,
which drive the spindles in the ordinary way. One of the transverse bearing
bars, in which the longitudinal shafts Q, Q, are supported, is shewn upon
a larger scale, detached, at Figure 7 in elevation, and at Figure 8 in a plan or
horizontal view. The top of the cap or cover, which confines the journal
of the shaft, receives the step for the end of the axle of the drum to turn in;
as, however, the position of the axle of the drum may require to be placed
more or less inclined from the perpendicular, the cap or cover is attached to
the side of the bearing by screws passed through slots in the ears of the cap,
which are brought down sufficiently long for that purpose, and thereby admit
the position of the step in the top of the cap to be shifted to the required
adjustment. A small shaft R, R, is mounted in suitable bearings in the framing
of the driving gear, which shaft makes one revolution for every traverse
of the mule carriage, and has a series of cams for performing the several
changes of the movements. This cam shaft R has a toothed wheel fixed upon
it, and is driven by an endless screw S on the transverse shaft c. In order to

page_text: stop the rollers when the proper lengths of yarn.have been delivered, the
cam w on the shaft R, in revolving, depresses the longer arm of the lever
(see Figure 4). The reverse end of this lever is connected to the lower end
of a rod y, the upper end of which rod is attached to the tumbling shaft¸h;
therefore by depressing the levers a the tumbling shaft will be lifted and its
pinion raised out of the teeth of the wheel g, by which it was driven, and the
rotation of the rollers will consequently cease. When the mule carriage has
run out to that part of its course at which the rollers have ceased to deliver,
the carriage must be made to move slower, for the purpose of stretching the
yarns, which is requisite in fine spinning. To effect this, the cam j, on the
shaft R, as it revolves, acts upon a lever connected with the clutch i, and at
this time throws that clutch back into the position shewn in the horizontal
view, Figure 1, for the purpose of disengaging the bevel wheel k from the
main driving shaft G, at the same time a similar cam s, also on the shaft R.,.
acts upon a lever connected to a worm wheel V, which wheel slides longitu-
dinally on the shaft m 2, but is made to revolve with the shaft by a
projecting key. By these means the teeth of the wheel V are brought
into gear with a worm or endless screw on the transverse shaft W, and a
wheel t, fixed on the shaft W, being actuated through an intermediate wheel
from the wheel a, on the main driving shaft G, causes the worm and shaft W
to give rotary motion to the wheel V, and consequently to the longitudinal
shaft m 2, to which it is keyed. At the inner extremity of the shaft m 2 is
fixed the bevel wheel 12, before described, taking into the wheel k, which
wheel know acts as an intermediate or carrier for driving the wheel 1 on the
shaft m 1. Thus it will be perceived that, instead of driving the wheels 71
and 12, the shafts m 1 and m 2, and the screws E, E, by which the carriage
was run out immediately through the wheel k, when locked by the clutch to
the main shaft G, I now drive them from the wheel a, on the main shaft,"
through the wheel t, the shaft and worm W and wheel V keyed to the
shaft m 2, which train actuates the screws E, E, with a diminished speed, and
causes the carriage C, C, C, to move very slowly while effecting the extra
stretch of the yarns. When the wheel V is thrown into gear with tho
shaft m 2, for moving the carriage by the slower speed, the clutch q is made
to lock the wheel L to the main driving shaft G, which wheel L-being of
larger diameter than the wheel H, and taking into the wheel K, fixed.on the
shaft M, gives an increased rotary movement to the shaft M, and consequently.
causes tho spindles to revolve with a greater speed to effect the extra twist.
In spinning yarns of lower.numbers, when only about one inch of stretch may
be required, the slow movement of the carriage toward the end of its run.

page_text: may be effected simply by forming the last coils of the threads of the
screws E, E, of a finer rake, that is, more acute than on the other parts of.
the screw, which variation in the rake of the threads also produce a temporary
pause in the traversing of the carriage, and thereby affords the necessary time:
for backing off. After the carriage has run out, the retrograde rotation of the
spindles for backing off the yarn is performed in the following manner:-A
ratchet wheel T, fixed on the grooved shaft M, is, with its shaft, turned by a
vibrating lever click u, acted upon by a rotary cam or wiper v, on the shaft R.
The extent of rotary movement given to this ratchet wheel T and its shafts
will depend upon the extent of depression given to the lever click u, which is
to be reduced as the cop fills, according to the quantity of backing-off move-
ment required by shortening the extent of the wiper v. The wiper vis formed:
by a bolt sliding through a box or collar on the cam shaft, and this bolt is
acted upon by a screw behind it, the head of which screw has its edge cut
with ratchet teeth. As the cam shaft goes round, carrying this wiper, one
of the teeth of the edge of the screw head is brought against an oblique tooth
or small click fixed on the frame, which turns the screw by slow degrees,
and by that means the length of the wiper will become gradually shortened,
and consequently the extent of depression given to the lever by the wiper
as it goes round will be in the same proportion, diminished at this time,
that is, during the backing off. The clutch 9 being withdrawn from the
wheel H, the shaft M is enabled to turn freely such portion of a rotation as
may be given to it by the depression of the lever click acting upon the
ratchet T, which movement is communicated through the bevel wheels N, O, P,;
to the longitudinal shafts Q, Q, and hence to the drums, and by these means
is produced the retrogade rotation of the spindles to the extent required.
In order to work the faller wire, by which the yarns are guided, in
winding them on to the spindles, I employ a perpendicular rod, con-
nected with the arms of the faller wire, which rod is progressively raised
by a roller at its lower end running against an inclined plane as tho
mule carriage goes in. The arrangements of this part of the apparatus will
be best seen in the sectional elevation of the carriage, Figure 4; but it is also.
shewn in the plan view, Figure 1. The faller wire is as usual extended along.
the front of the carriage, supported by bent arms or levers fixed to the hori-
zontal shaft a, a. Upon this shaft is also fixed a disc b, which, with the
mechanism for regulating the action of the faller wire (that is, varying the left
and building the cop), is shewn more clearly, and upon an enlarged scale, in
the detached Figures 9 and 10. On the faller shaft is mounted as a lever,
hanging loosely, the frame c, c, c, which is held up by a counter weight d. A

page_text: rim of spur teeth round the bowl-shaped pinion e, upon the perpendicular
shaft acting within this frame c, takes into a rack formed in the interior of
the frame between two ledges, which ledges are pressed against by the curved
surfaces of the bowl-shaped pinion; and as the shaft frises and falls, the
frame c rises and falls with it. At the lower end of the perpendicular rod f
(see Figure 4) the roller g is mounted, which runs against the under surfaco
of the inclined plane h, h, fixed on the ground under the carriage. The
carriage having been run out to its extent, the roller g is brought to the lower
edge of the enclined plain h, by the operation of a bell-crank lever i, the
upper arm of which, by pressing upon the the axis of the roller g, depresses it.
This action of the bell-crank lever i is produced by a cam k, upon the shaft R,
mounted in the framing of the driving gear, which, as it revolves, forces back
the rod l, connected to the bell-crank lever i, and thereby gives the movement
to the lever required. The roller g having been thus brought to the lower side
of the inclined plain h, as shewn at Figure 4, the carriage is then made to run
in by the following means:-The rotation of the cam j, on the shaft R, before
described, now causes the lever which it acts upon to throw the sliding clutch i
into the clutch of the pulley X, when, by means of a band leading to the
pulley Y, fixed on the shaft which carries the bevel wheel Z, that pulley shaft
and wheel are made to revole, and to drive the shaft m 2 in the opposite
direction of that formerly described, and consequently to turn the screws or
worm shafts E, E, the reverse way, which will traverse the carriage inward.
As the carriage runs in the roller g, acting against the under side of the
inclined plain h, h, allows the perpendicular rod f to rise gradually, and with it
the faller apparatus, by which means the faller wire is made to guide the yarns
in a spiral curve as they wind on the spindle. In laying the yarns upon the
spindle so as to form the cop bottom, it is necessary, as the operation proceeds,
gradually to increase the lift, that is, the altitude of the coils upon the spindles,
and also to reduce the extent of the arc in which the faller wire shall move, for
the purpose of laying the successive coils higher up the spindles. This is done
by the following means, namely, by raising the bowl pinion e higher up its
rod f, and by shifting it in the frame c nearer towards the shaft a. To the
upper part of the bowl pinion c a wheel m is affixed, which wheel has ratchet
teeth; and to one of the supports of the faller shaft a, and immediately
over the edge of the wheel m, there is attached a horizontal arm n, which has
oblique teeth every time that the rod f is lifted, which is done by the
counter weight d. When the carriage has run in, the teeth of this wheel m
come in contact with the oblique teeth of the arm n, which consequently gives
to the wheel m, and to the bowl pinion e affixed to it, a small portion of a

page_text: rotary movement; and by a succession of these movements the bowl pinion is
progressively raised up the rod by means of the left-handed screw thread
near its top, and also moved forward in the rack of the frame,citowards the
shaft a. This movement of the bowl pinione goes con until it has passed
through all the teeth of the rack in the frame:c, and has arrived in the position
shewn by the dots in Figures 9 and 110, at which time the cop; bottom will
have been completely formed: It will now be seen that on the carriage
having run out, the descent of the rod f, as described; will_depress the
frame c, and the edge of this frame bearing against a stud or pin fixed in
the side of the disc 6 will cause the faller shaftua and with it the faller
wire to be brought down into the position: shewn in. Figure: 10, so as to
guide the yarns on the spindles at the lower part of the cop bottom. The
cop bottoms having been formed; the frame :c must. be still raised in order
to regulate the descent of the faller wire in building up the cop; and this
is done by causing the bowl pinion e, and wheel mi, to continue: moving up
the rod by the means before described: For the purpose of enabling the
pinion e tó áct in a rack of the frame cat whatever elevation the frame
may stand, each tooth of the rack is attached to the frame by a center
pin, by which they are enabled to turn into any position into: which the action
of the pinion may have a tendency to force them. In order to wind the yarn
on to the spindles as the carriage runs in, a worm on the longitudinal shaft m 2
(see Figure 1), acting in the teeth of a pinion on the short transverse shaft O,
causes that shaft to revolve, and with it the toothed: snail and its wheel p,
which are connected together and locked to. the shaft by a spring click j,
shewn in the elevation of the driving gear at: Figure 5. This. winding-on
apparatus will be best seen in the detached horizontal Figure:11, and elevation
Figure 12, which are drawn upon a larger scale; the teeth of the snail p,
taking into an intermediate wheel q, which drives the pinion connected on the
small transverse shaft s; by a ratchet click. Upon this shaft, a wheel t
turns loosely, which wheel has a cylindrical box attached to it; the wheel t
and box u being made to revole with the shafts by means of an apparatus.
which holds the box and the shaft together merely by friction:: This friction
apparatus is represented within the box us at: Figure113, and, in the side
elevation at Figure 14, where the box and the wheel are:shewn in section.
Two arms' V, V, are, by means of a collar or boss, made fast to: the shaft s,
and through these Farms the T-formed: spring. pieces W, W, .slide.
extremities of these springs there are friction rollers which are pressed by the
springs against the internal periphery of the box u with any desired force by
means of adjustable curved wedges or cams X, X, mounted loosely on
At the
the

page_text: shaft S. These curved wedges are affixed to the space of a ratchet wheel Y;
and when the wheel with the curved wedges is adjusted so as to give the
desired-tension-to-the springs, it is held fast in its position by a spring click
attached to the interior of the box u, the point of which takes into the teeth
of the ratchet. It will now be seen that, rotary motion being given by the
longitudinal shaft m 2, to the train of wheels and pinions last described,
the wheel t, by taking into the now unclutched wheel H, on the main shaft G,
will drive the wheel I on the shaft M, and thereby give the rotary move-
ments to the pinions and shafts N, O, P, and Q, by which the spindles are
diriven to wind on the yarns. During such running in of the carriage the
snail p makes about half a revolution in the direction of the arrow in Figure 12,
and at the commencement of forming the cop bottom the teeth of the snail
begin to act at the point marked 1 upon the carrier or connecting wheel q.
As, however, the forming of the cop bottom proceeds, the speed of the spindle
at the commencement of winding on the lower coils of the yarn requires to
be gradually diminished, owing to the increasing diameter of the cops, which
is affected by the following means:-A cam near the end of the shaft R
(see Figure 5), as that shaft revolves, acts upon the tail of a lever =, which
lever has two arms extending upwards. The upper arm of this lever, rising, lifts
the spring click out of the teeth of the wheel p, and so releases it, while the
lower arm of the lever acting in the teeth below, in rising drives the wheel
and its snail one tooth backward. In this way, by the successive actions of
the lever, the snail will be made to retrogade, and the point of the snail at
which the driving of the wheel q is to commence will at every successive
traverse of the carriage be removed along the convolute curve of the snail
nearer to the center, until the cop bottom is formed. The axle of the carrier.
or connecting wheel q, being supported in curved slots in its standard,
descends by its gravity as the periphery of the snail receding from it, and
thus continues in gear with the teeth of the snail in whatever position
the teeth on the periphery of the wheel p beyond the required point are
removed, in order that the lever, in rising, may no longer act upon it.
Hence, as the shaft with the spring click j performs its semi-rotation, the snail
will be made to act from its center upon the wheel g, and to give to the
spindles the same increasing speed, until the cop is built; and as the snail has
a greater speed than is necessary for winding on the first and last coils the
of the cop, bottom, the friction apparatus which connects the wheel t to the
shafts will relieve the gear, and give way when drawn with any extraordinary
tension...
My improvements in the throstle consists, in the first place, in the peculiar.

page_text: construction of flyer shewn in the Drawings at Figure 15, in which the arms a, a,
are inserted into a T-formed piece b, b, b, of cast iron or brass, through the
middle of which a perpendicular aperture is made for the spindle c, c, to work
in, as shewn at Figure 16. The lower end of the spindle is supported in a
step-piece d, shewn detached in plan and elevation at Figures 17 and 18.
A warve or whirl e is cast with or fixed upon the stem of the flyer, by which
it is intended to be driven when mounted in the throstle frame. The bobbin f
runs loosely upon the upper part of the spindle bearing upon the disc. As
the flyer turns when twisting the yarns, the dray for winding on to the bobbin
is produced by the friction of the bobbin upon the spindle and its dise; but
as this drag would be too great when spinning yarns of fine numbers if the
spindle remained stationary, the friction of the flyer itself, as it revolves,
carries the spindle round with it, and so relieves the drag. In order to temper
the drag, to suit yarns of various numbers, I employ a moveable step-piece d,
with several conical holes of different depths, into one of which holes I
introduce the lower end of the spindle. This step-piece is attached to the
copping rail by a pin, passes through a slot, and it is held by a small
spiral spring underneath, which allows the step-piece to be slidden so as
to bring any one of the holes under the end of the spindle. Thus, by
the employment of these conical holes of different depths, I obtain with the
utmost readiness a greater or less amount of friction on the foot of the
spindle, and so regulate its velocity, compared to that of the flyer, as to
enable me to spin yarns of different numbers, and also correct the irregu-
larities of indifferent bobbins without the trouble of altering the washers.
Lastly, my improvements in the arrangement of the parts of a throstle for
spinning and doubling are exhibited in the Drawings; Figure 19 being a front-
elevation of a throstle frame, Figure 20 a plan or horizontal view of the same,
and Figure 21 is an end elevation. a, a, a, a, are the bobbins from whence the
rovings proceed to the drawing rollers b, b, which are so arranged that the yarns
may pass perpendicularly from the front rollers down to the spindles, the
bearings for the front rollers having right-angled bushes of brass inserted into the
stands. The flyers are mounted in bearings in the horizontal rails c, c, and are
driven by bands from the cylinder d, d. The spindles, as before described, pass
through the stems of the flyers, and through the slip or bar p, p, which keep
them steady, and they are supported in the adjustable steps i, i, in the copping
rail e, e, in the way already described. The movements of the copping rails
are effected in the following manner :-The rails are suspended by chains f,f,f.
passed over pullies, and the ends of the chains are attached to the lever g
beneath. On the screw shaft k there is mounted an eccentric conical cani l,

page_text: which, as it revolves, acts against a roller mn, mounted in the lever g; hence,
by the rotation of the cam, which is driven by bevel gear on the upright
shaft n, n, n, communicating with a worm O, on one of the spur wheels in the
driving train at the side of the throstle frame, the copping rails are made to
vibrate. As the cops change their forms, the action of the copping rails
require to be varied. This is done by sliding the cam along its shaft for this
purpose. The screw on the shaft K works in a half nut p, in the top of the
standard q, and by these means as it, the shaft K, revolves, the cam and its
shaft K are progressively carried along, so as to bring the larger circum-
ference of the cone into operation on the copping lever g. In order to carry
the cam back, so as to bring its smaller end to act upon the copping lever, as
in the commencement of filling the bobbins, the half nut p may be raised by
a lever handle, which, by withdrawing the half nut from the thread of the
shaft, allows the shaft to be slidden back in its bearings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Whitworth, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.