IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHI- NERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter McGregor, of the City of Manchester;
Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHI-
NERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING."
Sealed the 21st April 1854, and dated the 3rd November 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter McGregor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd November 1853.
I, PETER MCGREGOR, of the City of Manchester, Machine Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING" to be as follows:-
My improvements consist, first, in a new arrangement of parts for
working the radial arm of self-acting mules and other machines of the
same description. When this part of my improvements is applied to
mules worked by a mangle wheel I fix an excentric on the shaft of the
mangle wheel, which excentric acts on a lever, to the end of which is
jointed one end of a rod, the other end of which is jointed to a lever pro-
jecting from or fixed to the same fulcrum shaft as the radial arm which
is attached to the framing of the mule. The excentric may also be fixed
to any other convenient shaft of the mule. Secondly, in the application
of the cam shaft and backing off motion, common to Roberts' self-actors,
to mules working with a mangle wheel. Thirdly, in an improved mode

page_text: of disconnecting the motions for taking the carriage out and for bringing
it in, applied to mules working with mangle wheels. I prefer to mount
the wheels, by which the motions are transmitted, on the shaft of the
swing frame; these wheels are both loose on the shaft, and to each
wheel is fixed a clutch box. On the shaft is a double clutch box which
is brought into geer when required with the clutch boxes on the
wheels. By this means the speeds of the carriage in going out and
And, lastly, in
coming in can be varied independently of each other.
an improved mode of communicating the slow motion at the end of a
stretch for the after draught. The mechanism for effecting this consists
of a clutch box, on the wheel by which the carriage and rollers are
driven, and a sliding clutch box on its shaft. As soon as the necessary
amount of quick speed has been given, the clutch box on the shaft is
moved out of gear with the clutch on the wheel, and the slow motion
is given as before by the catches and a ratchet wheel usually employed
in mules. By this means the traversing of the carriage strap is dispensed
with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent;
filed by the said Peter McGregor in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
PETER MCGREGOR, of the City of Manchester, Machine .Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Peter McGregor, Her special license
that. I, the said Peter McGregor, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others, as I, the said Peter McGregor, 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 terní
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the

page_text: Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR SPINNING OR DOUBLING," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Peter McGregor, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter McGregor,, 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:
My Invention consists, firstly, in a new combination of machinery
for working the radial arm of self-acting mules or other machines of
the like nature for spinning and doubling. Secondly, in the application
of the cam shaft and the parts for backing off, which are common to
Roberts' self-acting mules; to those self-acting mules in which the car-
riage is worked by a mangle wheel. Thirdly, in an improved mode of
disconnecting the gearing by which the carriage is taken out from that
by which the carriage is brought in, applicable to those self-acting
mules in which the carriage is worked by a mangle wheel; whereby the
relative speeds in going out and coming in can be altered independently.
of each other. And, lastly, in an improved combination, of machinery
for communicating the slow motion, teclinically called the "after
draught," to the. carriage when near the end of its stretch.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood; and readily
carried into effect, I'will proceed to describe the accompanying Drawing,
reference. being had to the figures and letters. marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1, represents a side elevation of a self-acting mule to which
my improvements are applied; Figure 2, an end elevation of the same
taken from the back; and Figure 3, a plan. a, is the framing: b, the
shaft by which the motion is transmitted to the other parts of the mule.
This shaft is driven direct from the main shaft of the mill without the
aid of a countershaft, which is requisite in Roberts' self-actors. c, is

page_text: the back driving shaft driven by the strap c'; d, is the front drawing
roller; e, the mangle wheel; f, the swing frame; h, the radial arm;
andi, the carriage. All the above parts are common to self-acting mules.
Upon the shaft of the mangle wheel e is fixed an excentric e¹. This
excentric gives motion to the radial arm h in the following manner:
' is a lever supported on a fulcrum stud ²; the anti-friction roller
is acted upon by the excentric e¹, and as the lower end of the lever
is connected by the rod ' to the lever fixed to the same shaft as the
radial arm h, it is evident that the motion imparted to the lever by
the excentric e' is communicated to the radial arm, which is furnished
with a screw and nut and winding on chain attached to the winding on
barrel in the carriage square in the usual manner. When this
improved mode of working the radial arm is applied to a imule in which
the mangle wheel is not used the excentric e' must be fixed on some
other convenient shaft. By varying the shape of the excentric e¹ the
radial arm can be lowered at any varying velocity. To the driving
shaft is fixed a spur pinion ', which gears into the wheel 1, to which
is attached the friction pulley . This friction pulley is for giving motion
to the cam shaft m, by means of the friction pulley m¹, in the same
manner as is now customary in Roberts' self-acting mules. m² is a
catch which bears upon the end of the vertical lever t, and which is
liberated when the twist has been put in by the worm c on the back
driving shaft c. This worm gives motion to the wheel t", which is fixed
to the same shaft as the pinion to, gearing in the pinion t fixed to the
same shaft as the wiper ts. To the lower end of the lever t is jointed
the rod t¹ the other end of this rod is jointed to the elbow lever t
which is connected to the elbow lever by the link t'. When the
wiper comes against the projection of the elbow lever t, the
link this raised, and the lever t is drawn beyond the catch m². m³ is
the cam for moving the driving strap e¹ from the fast pulley to the
loose pulley *, or vice versa. This cam acts on the lever n, the lower
-end-of-which is -jointed--to-the--link-n, the other end-of-which-is-con-
nected to the lever ², fixed to the upright shaft n³, to which is also
fixed the strap guide . m is the cam by which the gearing for taking
the carriage out is disconnected from that by which the carriage is
brought in. This cam acts on the lever o, to the lower end of which is

page_text: jointed the rod r, the
fixed on the upright
¹, fitting in a groove
jointed the bar o'; the other end of this bar is flat, and in it is a slot
with three lifts. In this slot fits a stud o², projecting from the elbow
lever o, the fulcrum of which is at o'; the lower arm of the lever o³ fits
in a groove in the double clutch box o. One part of this clutch box
takes.into the clutches on the wheel p, by which the carriage is taken
out, and the other part takes into the clutches on the wheel q, by which
the carriage is brought in. Both these wheels are loose on the shaft f
of the swing frame f, and the parts by which they are driven will be
explained hereafter. m is the cam by which the friction box on the
back driving shaft is put in gear to effect the backing off. This cam
acts on the lever a, to the lower end of which is
other end of which is jointed to the lever
shaft, to which is also fixed the forked lever
made in the boss of the wheels. This wheel is loose on the shaft c, and
to it is cast or otherwise fixed the friction box s¹. This friction box is
conical inside, and fits on a friction blocks fixed to the fast pulley c³,
or to the shaft c. Upon the face of the friction pulley m' are fixed the
three projections 1, 2, and 3; these projections come in succession
against the projection of the lever u in a similar manner to that in
which these projections act in Roberts' self-actors. The end of the
lever is supported by the pin u, bearing on the catch v, which has
three shoulders on it, the object of which will be explained hereafter.
The elbow lever has a stud fitting in a slot in the lever u', and to
its lower arm is jointed the rod u', the other end of which is jointed to
the lever . The motion for taking out the carriage and for driving
the drawing rollers is transmitted from the pinion c', fixed on the shaft
c, by the wheel w, loose on the shaft w, but connected with it by the
clutch box w. This clutch box is thrown out of gear by the lever w
and the incline e on the mangle wheel e, when the after draught is to
be effected. The incline is attached to the mangle wheel by screws
passing through slots, by which means the position of the incline can be
regulated to suit the amount of after draught required; the pinion w
gears into the wheel w³, fixed to the same shaft as the pinion w*, gear-
ing into the pinion d' loose on the front drawing roller, but connected
to it by a clutch box d. The pinion d' gears into the wheel a, fixed
on the shaft ', to the outer end of which is fixed the wheel a², gearing

page_text: into the wheel p, loose on the shaft f' of the swing frame-f, but, con-
'nected to it by the double clutch box o above mentioned. The
mangle wheel e is driven in the usual manner by. the wheels f² and e
and mangle wheel pinion. The carriage is brought in by the pinion c
which is loose on the shaft c, but fast to the loose pulley c². The
pinion gears into the wheel ý, fixed to the shaft g', to the outer end
of which is fixed the pinion g³ gearing into the intermediate wheel g³,
which takes into the wheel g, loose on the shaft f¹ of the swing
frame f, but connected to it during the running in of the carriage by
the double clutch box o".
The copping motion is made in the same manner and placed in the
same position on the headstock as in Roberts' self-actors.. The Draw-
ing represents the various parts of the headstock in the positions
they occupy when the carriage is going out. As soon as the carriage
arrives nearly out the incline on the mangle wheel e acts on the
tail of the lever w³, and throws the clutch box w² out of gear. The
slow motion for giving the after draught is then communicated to
the carriage by the pinions fixed to the shaft c. This pinion gears
into the wheel w, which is loose on the shaft w, but connected to it
during the after draught by the catches ws (one of which is shewn in
dotted lines in Figure 1). These catches are hinged to the plate. wº,
which is fixed to the shaft w', and the catches by taking into the ratchet
wheel w, fast to the wheel w, carry the shaft round with it in the
same manner as is now customary in mangle wheel. mules. At the
same time that the clutch box w is thrown out of gear the faller shaft
2, by acting on the pendant catch 2, draws the clutch box d² out of
gear by means of the rod, lever, and fork ", and stops the drawing
rollers. This clutch box is held out of gear during the running in of
the carriage by the catch y' on the lever y, which is supported on the
fulcrum study. When the after draught is completed the faller shaft
comes against the catch v, thereby liberating the stud u², and allowing
-the-long-lever-u-to-drop-sufficiently-to-liberate the projection-3. -A-spring-
then acts on the studs projecting from the back of the cam m³ in the
same manner as in Roberts' cam shaft, and the friction pulley m' is
taken round a fourth of a revolution in the usual manner by the fric-
tion pulley The catch m² then comes against the upper end of the

page_text: J:
lever t, which holds it till the twisting is completed. During the per-
formance of this fourth of a revolution of the cam shaft m, the cam in
pushes the rod o' sufficiently to clévate the stud 0, thereby moving the
double clutch box o into its central position, or out of gear with the
wheel p, thereby stopping the mangle wheel pinion and the carriage:
When the twisting is effected the wiper acts on the elbow 'lever t³;
thereby drawing the rod t' in the direction of the arrow, and liberating
the
cam m. The friction pulley m² is then at liberty to be turned round
another fourth of a revolution, and in so doing the cam m³ moves the
strap c' from the fast pulley to the loose pulley, and at the same
time the cam m brings the friction box s' in contact with the friction
pulley s, fixed to the fast pulley ", or to the shaft c. The backing off
then takes place, the shaft c being made to revolve in the reverse di-
rection by the pinion c, wheel g. pinion g³, wheel z, and pinion z', which
gears into the wheel's, which is of one piece with the friction box s'.
During the backing off the copping faller is put down in the manner
well understood by persons conversant with Roberts' self-acting mules.
When the catch drops into the notch of the sector forming part of
Roberts' faller motion the curved arm in which the said catch is fixed
acts on the catch in the usual manner to liberate the lever u'; which
then drops the second tinic and liberates the projection I, thereby
allowing the cam shaft m to turn round another fourth of revolution;
the projection then comes against the projection u. During this
fourth of a revolution the cam. m' has drawn, the double-clutch box o
into gear with the taking in wheel q, and at, the same moment the cam
m disconnects the backing off friction pulleys s' and s. The carriage
then runs in, and when nearly in the faller shaft comes in contact
with the lever us, thereby raising the long lever u, and liberating, the
projection 2. The cam shaft m then performs the last fourth of a revo-
lution, during which time the cam m³ throws the, strap from the
loose pulley to the fast pulley, and at the same time the can m
moves the double clutch box o into gear with the wheel p, by which
the carriage is taken out. The drawing rollers are thrown into gear by
the swing frame f. elevating the end of the lever y, and liberating the
lever At the same time that the mangle pinion arrives in the posi-
tion for moving the carriage out, the spring d round the front roller

page_text: forces the clutch box into gear as soon as the short end of the lever
y is depressed. The other parts of the mule that are not shewn in the
Drawing or not described are similar, to those in mules in general use,
and therefore do not require to be more particularly referred to. I
would also observe here that, although I have shewn all my improve-
ments as applied to the same mulc, it is evident that they may be used
independently of each other, if preferred.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the details herein set forth, as the same may be varied without
departing from the peculiar character of my Invention; but what I do
claim is, Firstly, working the radial arm of self-acting mules or other
machines of the like nature by means of the excentric e', and parts in
combination therewith. Secondly, I claim the application of the cam
shaft, and the backing off motion of Roberts' self-acting mules, to those
self-acting mules in which the carriage is worked by a mangle wheel.
Thirdly, the improved combination of machinery applicable to those
mules in which the carriage is worked by a mangle wheel for discon-
necting the gearing by which the carriage is taken out from that by
which the carriage is brought in. And, lastly, the improved combi-
nation of machinery for effecting the after draught, as herein-before
shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter McGregor, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four.
PETER MCGREGOR. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Peter McGregor in
the presence of
H. B. BARLOW,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.