Year: 1888

page_text: I SAMUEL BURTON of Stevens Place Curzon Road Hurst, near Ashton-under-Lynde
in the County of Lancaster self-acting minder, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to that part of a self-acting mule which arrests the movement
of the spindles by moving the driving strap from the fast on to the loose pulley--on the
rim shaft shaft before the "backing-off" motion comes into action.
For this purpose I key upon the back shaft of the mule a face cam with a volute or
snail shaped groove. Into this groove fits a bowl working on a pin projecting from a
lever which is pivotted to a bracket bolted to the headstock framing.
In a
"Platts" mule the back shaft makes about three revolutions and three quarters
during the going out of the carriage, and the volute groove on the cam for such a mule
must be of such a form as will give a gradual rise of about half an inch per revolution,
for about three revolutions which will raise the lever aforesaid gradually and just bring a
projection thereon against the strap guide. At this point a sudden rise is made in the
groove of the cam which causes it to move the strap guide quickly so as to throw the strap
from the fast on to the loose pulley and thus stop the revolution of the spindles just at the
required interval before the spindles are driven in the reverse direction to "back-off."
The form of the cam will have to be varied to suit different constructions of mules,
but, in all cases the principle of action will remain the same, that is to say, a grooved
cam keyed on the back shaft acts upon a bowl carried by a lever pivotted on a fixed
bracket and causes lever at the proper moment to move the strap guide so as to shift
the strap from the fast to the loose pulley.
Dated this 14th das of Febr 1888
GEORGE DAVIES,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: I SAMUEL BURTON of Stevens Place Curzon Road Hurst near Ashton-under-Lyne
in the County of Lancaster self-acting minder do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to that part of a self-acting mule which arrests the movement
of the spindles by moving the driving strap from the fast on to the loose pulley on the
rim shaft before the "backing off" motion comes into action.
The nature of my said invention and the manner in which the same is to be per-
formed will be readily understood on reference to the annexed sheet of drawings and
the following explanation thereof.
Fig. 1. on the drawings is an elevation (partly in section) of so much of the head-
stock of a self-acting mule as is requisite to show the application of my invention
thereto, and Figs. 2 and 3. are detached views of part of the same hereinafter more
particularly referred to.
a is part of the framing of the headstock. is the crank shaft, and c is the strap
cam secured to the cam shaft b which when the cam shaft makes a change, acts upon
the bowl d which is fixed upon a part of the strap lever e.
The strap levere is mounted upon the stud or shaft f carried by the framing a-
At g is shown another part of the strap lever, which is hinged on the stud g¹ which
is carried by the strap levere; the two parts forming a well known form of strap lever.
At e is shown the part of the strap lever e through which passes the adjusting end
of the spring e, the other end of the spring being secured to the end g³, of the
strap guide g.
The object of this connection of the two levers is to enable them at times to act as
one lever and at other times to enable the part g which carries the strap eye g³ to be
moved whilst the strap lever e remains stationary.
Fig. 1. on the drawing shows the parts in the positions they occupy when the
carriage has almost arrived at the end of its outward run, and just before, the cam
shaft makes it change to disengage the drawing out and front roller catch boxes,
preparatory to the backing-off operation.
The highest part of the cam c is seen to be in contact with the anti-friction
bowl d.
The strap guide 9 having been forced from the position it occupied during the
coming out of the carriage (shown in dotted lines at gx) which shows the position
occupied by the guide when the strap is on the fast pulley h.
The strap guide g (full lines) shows the position occupied by the strap which is
considerably more on the loose pulley i than on the fast pulley h. Atj is a cam having
spiral groove on its face. This cam is secured to the back shaft k. At is a lever
having its fulcrum on the stud carried by the bracket 1². At the other end of the
lever is a stud 13, so placed that it can pass into the spiral groove. The back shaft

page_text: turns in the direction of the arrow 1. when the carriage comes out and in the
opposite direction when the carriage goes in. At the commencement of the stretch
the stud 13, occupies the position in the spiral groove shown on Fig. 2.
As the shaft turns round in the direction of the arrow 1. to draw out the carriage,
the spiral groove acting on the stud 13, gradually brings the lever in the direction.
shown by the arrow 3, until it comes in contact with the stud g, which is secured to
the strap guide g.
The cam part of the spiral groove, which is marked *, will then
be acting upon the stud 3, and the lever will be in contact with the ping, and the
further rotation of the shaft will push the lever in the direction of, the arrow 3,
and will thus cause the stud 9, fastened to the strap guide g with the strap eye g³ to
be moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 4. which will then be in the position
shewn in full lines on Fig. 1. thus causing the belt to be traversed from the fast
pulley until it is almost entirely on the loose pulley i.
The cam shaft then makes the change for stopping the carriage and the rollers, as
is well understood, and the highest part of the cam c will be moved from the stud d
of the strap lever e.
The spring m is secured at e, to the lower part of the strap lever e.
The other end of this spring is secured to the headstock framing.
The spring m pulls the end of the lever in the direction of the arrow 2
thus causing the upper end of the strap-lever e to move in the direction of the
arrow 5 which (when the cam shaft changes) will bring the bowl d into the hollow
part of the strap cam shown at c¹.
by the
By this movement the strap will be entirely removed from the fast pulley
strap levere which comes into contact with the strap guide y just before the anti-
friction bowl d is stopped by the hollow of the cam c¹ which governs the extent of the
motion of the lever e.
The action is as follows :-
At the commencement of the outward run of the carriage the strap cam c occupies
the position shown in Fig. 1. The strap guide g occupies the position which is shown
by the dotted lines at g*The strap lever e occupies the position shown in Fig. 1.
The action of the spring e² is to cause the strap lever e and the strap guide g to be
kept together, that is to say, the part of the strap guide is kept in contact with
the part which forms a stop on the top part of the strap lever e; the strap lever e
and the strap guide g thus constituting one strap guide, the two parts being elastically
held together by means of the spring ².
The spiral cam lever 1. strap lever e and strap guide occupy the positions
as shown in Fig. 2 at the commencement of the outward run of the carriage.
In self-acting mules it is found desirable to remove the driving belt partly from
the fast pulley before the cam-shaft makes the change which disengages the drawing
out motion of the carriage, at the end of its outward run.
Thus it is necessary to make provision, for moving the strap by other means than
the cam shaft.
The back shaft of a self-acting mule makes about three revolutions and three.
quarters to bring out the carriage.
By these means of the spiral on the cam the part is prevented from acting
on the stud³ and the strap guide y until it has made a sufficient number of
revolutions to bring the lever into the position in which the cam part j* can act
upon the stud 13.
This action by means of the lever and stud g* is communicated to the strap
guide g.
In Fig. 1 (full lines) the cam j is shown as having pushed the strap guide g in the
direction of the arrow 4, until the strap is almost entirely on the loose pulley i. This
is the position of the parts when the carriage has arrived near the end of its outward
run, as shown in Fig. 1.
The strap has been traversed partly from the fast pulley on to the loose pulley i
h
and the cam shaft is now ready to make its change to disengage the drawing out and
roller catch boxes, and to permit the strap guide g by means of the cam c and stud d

page_text: to be traversed entirely from the fast pulley on to the loose pulley i, by means of
the spring m.
When the carriage goes in the cam will be revolved in the direction contrary to
that indicated by the arrow 1, and the stud will gradually return to the position
shown in Fig. 2 which will remove the part of the lever from contact with the
stud so that when the cam changes at the termination of the inward run of the
carriage the strap guide g may be forced by means of the cam c into the position
shown by the dotted lines g without obstruction from the lever . The lever 1
instead of being mounted on the stud may be mounted on the stud g¹ as shown
in Fig. 3.
The principal novel feature of my invention is a cam which is secured to the back
shaft so as to rotate with it, or is so arranged that when the cam is required to
act upon the strap lever it shall rotate with the back shaft which in fact, is made
the prime mover of the action.
Another important feature is a spiral or screw fixed on and deriving its motion
from the back shaft, and which is for the purpose of keeping the parts out of
contact whilst the back shaft is making its first revolutions, and only permitting
the parts to come into position so that the cam or surface constituting a cam,
may act upon the strap lever only during the last part of the revolution of the
back shaft.
•
Instead of making the spiral or screw on the face of the cam as shown on the
drawing it may be made in a lateral form like an ordinary screw, and the cam
part may be caused to move endwise on the back shaft until at the last revolution
of the back shaft it is. brought into the same vertical plane as the strap guide. g
and thus be enabled to act directly on it, and push the strap off the fast pulley..
Another modification of the apparatus may be made, in which the spiral is also
placed in the form of a screw on the back shaft and the cam part secured separately
on the backshaft or formed on part of the spiral.
In this arrangement the strap guide is provided with a sliding piece which is
capable of being moved laterally by the screw.
One end of the said sliding piece is formed so as to enter into the spiral groove
or thread of the screw.
The other end is enlarged so that when it is brought into the same vertical plane
as the cam fastened on the back shaft, the cam will act on the sliding piece, and
push the strap guide so as to bring the strap from the fast to the loose pulley.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
:-
A volute cam or equivalent device which is secured to the back shaft so as to rotate
with it, or is so arranged and connected therewith that when required to act upon the
strap lever it shall rotate with the back shaft, and is so connected with the strap
guide lever that it shall cause the latter to move the strap from the fast on to the
loose pulley on the rim shaft just before the "backing-off" motion comes into action,
substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the drawings annexed.
Dated this 14th day of November 1888.
GEORGE DAVIES,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester,
Agent for the Applicant.