IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Scaled the 6th May 1859, and dated the 6th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th November
1858.
I, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to slubbing or roving machines. The pinion
which carries the bobbin I form upon a tube which turns in a bearing
attached to the framework; through this tube the spindle passes and thus
obtains its bearing, the two surfaces revolving in the same direction, but at the
necessary difference of speed for winding on.
Secondly, my Invention relates to the mule or similar machines, and consists
in a method of putting up the carriage, or putting up the spindles when the
arrangement renders the carriage stationary. For this purpose I employ a
band or chain pulley, to which is connected a stud constituting a similar
apparatus to a crank. This stud is operated upon by a surfaco acting at

page_text: different distances from the centre of motion, so that the band or chain pulley
is caused to move through unequal spaces in equal times, and thus a variable
speed is obtained for the carriage. As illustrative of this, I will describe an
arrangement I employ. To the band or chain pulley is attached a pin
carrying an antifriction roller; this roller is situated within a slot formed in a
disc, to which suitable rotatory motion is communicated, the said disc being
mounted upon a centre excentric to that of the pulley. As the slot therefore
is carried round, it acts upon the roller at different parts along its radius, and
in such manner that the roller is in a similar position when the motion is
completed to that which it occupied at starting, so that the carriage com-
mences running in slowly, then becomes accelerated, and completes its motion
by returning to the slower speed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Ter heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Platt, Her special license that I, the said John Platt, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Platt, 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
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, SPINNING, AND DOUBLING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the
said John Platt, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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,

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Platt, 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 state-
ment and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention, according to my Provisional Specification,
related to slubbing or roving machines. The pinion which carries the bobbin
I proposed to form upon a tube turning in a bearing attached to the frame-
work, the spindle passing through this tube obtained its bearing, the two
surfaces revolving in the same direction, but at the necessary difference of
speed for winding on. Since the filing of the said Provisional Specification, I
have discovered that this part of the improvements was not new, and conse-
quently lay no claim thereto. My Invention relates to the mule or similar
machine, and consists in a method of putting up the carriage, or putting up
the spindles, when the arrangement renders the carriage stationary.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents the apparatus and certain
ordinary parts of a mule in plan view. Fig. 2 is a transverse section, and
Fig. 3 a view of a mule carriage and other parts shewing the connexion of the
improved mechanical motion. The ordinary shaft for putting up the carriage
is shewn at a, upon which is one part b, of the usual clutch, and caused to
revolve therewith by means of a feather; the other part c, is formed upon or
fixed to a pinion d, which is in gear with a spur wheel c. This pinion d is
mounted loosely upon the shaft a, and rests upon a spring f, so as to form an
elastic resistance to the action of the clutch. Within the disc of the wheel e
is formed a slot g, in which is situate a roller h projecting from a pulley i.
The axis of this pully is a tube k, turning upon a boss l, fixed to the floor or
framework by means of a plate m. The axis n of the spur wheel c is placed
excentric to that of the pulley i, and has its bearing in the boss l. Supposing
rotatory motion to be communicated to the pinion d, and from thence to the
wheel e, the slot g will be caused to act against the roller h, through the
intervention of which the pulley i will be turned upon its axis; but owing to
the excentric disposition of the axes, the roller h will be gradually carried
farther from the centre of motion of the wheel e, and an increasing radius of
the slot will therefore be the acting surface; the spaces therefore through
which the roller h passes for equal portions of a revolution will be gradually
greater, and an accelerated rotation will be imparted to the pully i; the
operation will thus continue until one-half of a revolution shall have been per-
formed, the maximum speed being then attained. After this the roller h will
retreat along the slot g, and be acted upon by decreasing radii thereof, just in
the same proportion for portions of a revolution as the increasing above
I

page_text: described, and thus the original position shewn in the Drawing will be
regained. The situation of the mule carriage is shewn at o, in Fig. 3, and
the band by which it is put up at p; this band passes around the pulley i, and
over a guide pulley 2; when, therefore, the two parts of the clutch b, c, are
brought together by the usual means, the band p will be caused to put the
carriage up, but at a variable speed, commencing slowly, increasing in speed,
and then decreasing according to the variable motion imparted to the pulley i
by tho means above described.
I have in the foregoing description referred to a particular arrangement by
which my Invention is carried into effect; but I do not confine myself rigidly
thereto, as modifications may be made without departing from the principle
thercof. For instance, it will be evident that the slot may be in the pulley,
and the roller h upon the spur wheel, in which case the latter will act upon
the former instead of the former upon the latter, as shewn in the Drawing.
The slot also may be curved if desired, so as to modify the variable motion of
the carriage or spindles in putting up; and I desire it to be understood that I
claim, as secured to mo under the above in part recited Letters Patent, the
use of the slot and roller mounted upon centres excentric to each other for the
purpose above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Platt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JNO. PLATT. (L.S.)