IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF- ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Seth Metcalf, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, Spinner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-
ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Seth Metcalf at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th December 1872.
I, SETH METCALF, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Spinner, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-ACTING MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements upon the winding on
or nosing motion of self-acting mules, and for which Letters Patent were
granted on the 24th day of March, 1869, to Charles Braham Parkinson,
of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner; Aaron Metcalf,
of the same Place, Overlooker; John Metcalf, of the same Place, Over-
looker; and William Hesketh Heald, of the same Place, Overlooker, for
the Invention of "Improvements in Mules for Spinning," No. 899.
The machinery described in the Specification of the Patent above

page_text: referred to had to be regulated by the operative spinner or minder, and
was consequently liable toj be irregular. Now my present Invention
consists in rendering the machinery self-acting, whereby a tighter and
better wound cop is obtained.
In performing my Invention I attach to the copping faller a bracket
from which I suspend a rod with rack teeth passing through a slotted
bracket with a tooth in it fixed to the carriage; this rod by the motion
of the carriage is brought in contact with a lever connected to a rod,
the other end of which is attached to a sliding block moving in a slotted
bracket fixed. to the headstock of the mule. This bracket has teeth
attached to it, and to the sliding block I attach a catch working in the
teeth of the bracket. As the carriage moves to and fro, and the cop
increases in size the sliding block draws the winding chain off the
winding drum in the manner described in the Patent above-referred to.
In some cases instead of the machinery above described or conjointly
with it, I apply to the quadrant of the mule a frame with a screw and
sliding block and cap nut; on the screw is a ratchet wheel with a
catch; this wheel and catch give the proper speed to the screw to lower
the sliding block and nut by the catch coming in contact with a fixed
bracket, or by a tumbler catch, or other convenient means. The
lowering of the sliding block and nut draws the winding chain off the
drum, as above-described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Seth Metcalf in the Great Seal Patent Office on 25
the 24th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SETH
METCALF, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Spinner, send.
grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 30
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Seth Metcalf, Her, special licence, that I,

page_text: the said Seth Metcalf, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or.
such others as I, the said Seth Metcalf, 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 MULES.
for Spinning and DOUBLING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Seth Metcalf, my executors or administrators, by an instrument.
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and [scals, 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 Seth Metcalf, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :-
•
This Invention consists in certain improvements upon the winding on
or nosing motion of self-acting mules, for which Letters Patent were'
granted on the Twenty-fourth day of March, 1869, to Charles Braham
Parkinson, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner; .
Aaron Metcalf, of the same Place, Overlooker; John Metcalf, of the
same Place, Overlooker; and William Hesketh Heald, of the same Place,
Overlooker, for the Invention of "Improvements in Mules for Spinning,"
No. 899. The machinery described in the Specification of the Patent
above referred to had to be regulated by the operative spinner or minder,
and was consequently liable to be irregular. Now my present Invention
consists in rendering the machinery self-acting, whereby a tighter and
better wound cop is obtained.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being bad to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of part of the headstock of a self-acting mule to
which my improvements are applied; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, and
Figs. 3 and 4 are end views of part of the improved apparatus. a is the.

page_text: radial arm; a¹, the screw in the radial arm, and a³ the nut; b, the
quadrant driven by the pinion ; c, the winding on drum, which is
supported in the carriage square, and d is the winding on chain; these
parts are made as usual. e is a chain, one end of which is secured to
the winding on chain d, and the other end is fast to the eccentric f,
which is cast or fixed to the pulley g, and to this. pulley is fixed one end
of the chain / which passes under the pulley i and over the pulley j,
the parts marked e, f, g, h, i, and j, are similar to those described in the
Specification of the Letters Patent above referred to, No. 899, of 1869.
My improved self-acting machinery for winding the yarn on the
spindles to form the nose of the cop consists of the plate k, which is
secured to the arms of the quadrant by clamps and bolts, or in any other
convenient manner. On this plate are cast or fixed bearings for the
screw Z, on which is the sliding block and cap nut 1, and to the end of
the screw is fixed the ratchet wheel ; this ratchet wheel is turned
round by the catch m, which is jointed to the swivel plate n, which
pivots on the screw 1, and which is actuated by a stud projecting from
the end of the tumbler catch o, hinged at o' to a bracket fixed to the
plate k. The end of the chain h after passing over the pulley j and
stud is secured to the sliding block i¹. The amount of motion
imparted to the ratchet wheel is governed by a regulating set screw
passing through the bearing of the screw 1, as shewn in Fig. 4, and by a
projection from the swivel plate n, which projection comes against the
end of the regulating set screw when the tumbler catch o acts on the
swivel plate n.
When a set of cops is complete the sliding block and cap nut l' is
near the outer end of the screw 1, but before starting a fresh set the
operative spinner or minder by turning the screw round moves, the
sliding block and cap nut to the other end of the screw. The mode of
operation is as follows:-When the radial arm a has been raised by the
pinion b¹ gearing as usual in the quadrant 6 until it assumes a vertical
position, the tumbler catch o falls by its own gravity, and in so doing
the swivel plate n, acting on the catch m, causes this catch to take into
the ratchet wheel 1, and moves it one or more teeth forward, thereby
moving the screw partly round, and causing the sliding block
approach the ratchet wheel 12; the chain is thus tightened, and the
chain e, acting on the winding on chain d, draws a portion of it off the
winding on drum. When the radial arm is again lowered during the
to

page_text: running in of the carriage the tumbler catch o falls into its original
position and takes the catch m out of gear with the ratchet wheel 7ª
ready for the next operation. By this means at every stretch the screw /
is turned partly round and the winding on chain is drawn to a corros-
ponding extent off the winding on drum, thereby producing by self-
acting mechanism a tighter and better wound cop than heretofore.
As it is sometimes desirable to increase the amount of chain drawn off
the winding on drum when the set of cops is nearly complete I have
applied to the plate k an adjustable stud k², see Fig. 1; this stud can be
set so as to deflect the chain / when the sliding block is near the outer
end of the screw 2, and this deflection of the chain produces the increased
action required.
My improvements may be modified by attaching to the copping fallor
a bracket from which I suspend a rod with rack teeth passing through a
slotted bracket, with a tooth in it fixed to the carriage; this rod by the
motion of the carriage is brought in contact with a lever connected to a
rod, the other end of which is attached to a sliding block moving in a
slotted bracket fixed to the headstock of the mule; this bracket has
teeth attached to it, and to the sliding block I attach a catch working
in the teeth of the bracket; in this arrangement the pulley i to which the
lower end of the chain is fixed, would be connected to the catch
working in the teeth of the bracket, and the tightening of the chain h
would effect the drawing off of the winding on chain in the manner
above described.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described the
manner of performing the same, I declare that I claim the improved
self-acting machinery for drawing the chain off the winding on drum,
and particularly the parts marked k, k³, 1, 1, 1, 1, m, n, and o, when
combined and used in the manner and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Seth Metcalf, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-three