CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE APPA- RATUS APPLICABLE TO THE PREPARATION AND SPINNING OF COTTON, WOOL, SILK, FLAX, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1845

page_text: MAC LARDIS SP
ATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MAC LARDY, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her, present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of December, in the ninth year of
Her reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
forty-five, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Mac Lardy, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Mac Lardy, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Mac Lardy,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, 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 and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE APPA-
RATUS APPLICABLE TO THE PREPARATION AND SPINNING OF COTTON, WOOL, SILK,
FLAX, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said William Mac Lardy, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Mac Lardy, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereto annexed, and the
following explanation thereof (that is to say):-
My Improvement in Machinery or Apparatus applicable to the Preparation
and Spinning of Cotton, &c., consists,-
Firstly, in the application of a novel and peculiar arrangement of mechanism
to the well-known preparation machines called "the slubbing and roving
or jack frames," the object of which improved apparatus is for the purpose of
producing the variable speed required for winding on the slubbings or rovings,
according to the increasing diameter of the bobbin or bobbins used in such
machines whilst the said bobbins are being filled. This requisite variable
speed I am enabled to effect by the application, employment, or use of a
spirally grooved cone,.with a drum or cylinder upon a shaft, and coiling or
uncoiling a chain, band, or strap, or any other suitable material, or this improved
variable speed may be obtained by coiling or uncoiling the chain, band, or strap,
or other suitable material, from either a spirally grooved or plain cone, or from
one cone upon another, or by the application of spur teeth cut or formed
spirally around the cone from one end to the other.
Secondly, my improvements consist in the application, employment, or use of
two of the "differential boxes or "equational mechanism," (commonly called
"Houldsworth," "Jack in the box,") instead of one, as usually employed in such
machines, either in connection with the apparatus above described or with the
mechanism usually employed for producing such variable speed with a single
differential box; the object of introducing such additional differential box
being for the purpose of producing such variable speed in a much more steady
and certain manner.
Thirdly, my improvements apply solely to those machines used in spinning
cotton, &c., called or known by the name of "mules," and especially to that
part of such machines called the "shaper" or shaping plate, as described in
the Specification of a Patent granted to Mr. James Smith, and commonly
known to spinners as "Smith's self-acting mule," the top part of which shaper
is to be worked by a cam or excentric for the purpose of crossing the yarn on
the cop, and thereby binding it more compactly together, and consequently
making it less liable to injury in carriage, &c. But in order that my several
improvements may be distinctly understood, and for the sake of illustrating
their practical application, I have attached to these Presents a Sheet of
Drawings representing their respective modes of adaptation and use, and have

page_text: shown those parts to which my improvements more particularly apply, as
shaded with color, the remaining parts of the apparatus merely being drawn
in outline to indicate their several situations in the machines wherein they are
to be employed. The Figures are drawn upon a scale of about one inch and a
half to the foot, with the exception of Figure 4, which is half size, and similar
letters of reference are marked upon corresponding parts in all the Figures..
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a back view of part of an ordinary roving or slubbing frame with
my improvements shewn as attached thereto, and Figure 2 is a transverse section
of the same. a, a, is the framework of the apparatus; b, b, is the main driving
pulley; c, c, the driving shaft; d, d, is the creel carrying the bobbins; e, e, e, e,
and ffff, are the drawing rollers; 9, 9, is a conical pulley having a spiral
groove on its surface and h, h, is a long cylindrical drum placed loosely upon the
horizontal shaft i, i, and caused to revolve on the shaft i, i, but at a diminished
speed, by means of a worm and wheel k, k, the bevil wheels 1, 2, and the spur
geering m, m; n, n, is a chain (a band, cord, or other material may be used, but a
chain is preferable,) one end of which is fastened to the grooved cone pulley g, g;
this chain is then coiled in the spiral groove the whole length of the conical
pulley, and its other end fixed to the cylindrical drum h, h; thus it will be
evident that as the cylindrical drum h, h, revolves it will by uncoiling the chain
n, n, from off the conical pulley g,g, cause that pulley to revolve at a speed dimi-
nishing in a corresponding ratio with its increasing diameter, and thus, by the
spur wheel gx (which is fast on the shaft with the conical pulley) working
into the spur wheel o, which drives the pinion p on the one end of the shaft q,
communicates motion to the bevil wheel q* on the other end of the
shaft q, which, by means of a small upright shaft and other apparatus usually
employed for raising and lowering the copping rail, gives the requisite gradual
diminution of speed to the copping rail. If only one differential box is
employed the variable motion is communicated to the bobbins in the following
manner-Supposing the chain n to be uncoiling from the smallest diameter of
the conical pulley g and the bevil wheel r, which is fast upon the driving shaft
c, to be making three hundred revolutions per minute, and the centre wheel s
of the differential box twenty revolutions in the same direction by the wheel v
on the shaft w, connected by gearing to the spur wheel g* on the shaft of the
conical pulley, then the loose bevil wheel t (connected to the spur wheels u, u,
which communicate motion to the bobbin shaft) would make two hundred
and sixty revolutions per minute, but by the time that the chain n in uncoiling
has reached the largest diameter of the conical pulley, the speed of the
centre wheel s will.have been gradually reduced to five revolutions per minute,

page_text: (i. e. if the diameter of the full bobbin is four times that of the empty one,)
and the loose bevil wheel t will make two hundred and ninety revolutions,
and consequently communicate a corresponding increase of speed to the
bobbins, but if the diameter of the full bobbin is more or less than four times
that of the empty one, the speed of the centre wheel s will have to be reduced
in a corresponding proportion. When the additional differential box is used
the spur wheel v upon the shaft w (which in the above case drives the centre
wheels of the first differential box) is removed, and the motion communicated
as shewn in red lines. A worm x on the shaft i communicates motion by
means of a small upright shaft y to the bevil wheel z fixed on the boss of the
bevil wheel 1 of the second differential box, and thus to the spur wheel 2
fixed to the boss of the bevil wheel 3 (the whole of the differential box being
loose upon the shaft c); the spur wheel 2 drives the wheel 4 which is fixed to
one end of a tube 5, through which the shaft i passes; at the other end of the
tube 5, the spur pinion 6 is fixed, which drives the centre wheels of the first
differential box. Now, supposing the diameters of the wheels to be so
regulated that the centre wheel's of the first differential box shall make five
revolutions per minute in the same direction as the bevil wheel r, providing
that the centre wheel 8 of the second differential box were stationary), and
then supposing the centre wheel to be driven by means of the spur wheel 9
fixed on the shaft tv, seven and a half revolutions in the contrary direction to
the bevil wheel 1, then the centre wheels of the first differential box will
make twenty, revolutions, thus the chain n and conical pulley g will only have
to drive the centre wheel 8 of the second differential box seven and a half
revolutions per minute at the starting of the machine, instead of driving the
wheels twenty revolutions (as is the case when only one differential box is
employed), and the work the conc and chain have to perform is gradually
reduced as the chain n approaches the largest diameter of the conical pulley g.
Another modification of the same Invention may be made by reversing the
positions of the conical pulley 9 and the cylindrical drum 7, the chain n being
in this instance coiled around the drum and taken up by the conical pulley.
The speed of the drum will then increase instead of decreasing, as in the
preceding case, and consequently the speed of the shaft w will increase also.
The diameters of the gearing must be so arranged that the centre wheels shall
make twenty revolutions per minute at starting, and the centre wheel 8 of the
second differential box shall just commence moving in the same direction as
the bevil wheel'1, and thus as the chainn coils on to the larger diameter of
conical pulley g, the speed of the centre wheel 8 will increase, and the speed of
the centre wheels will decrease in a corresponding ratio, until its speed is reduced
to five revolutions per minute, as above described, in which case the shaft

page_text: will have to be driven from the centre wheels. Of course it will be evident that
the above-mentioned speeds are given for the sake of illustration merely, as
by altering the diameters of the gearing the relative speeds of the wheels 8
and s may be varied, although the ultimate result will be the same. I would
also observe that in the above-mentioned cases the spindles are supposed to
revolve quicker than the bobbin, but in those cases where the bobbin is made
to revolve quicker than the spindle the motion of the centre wheels must be
reversed.
Fig. 3 shews a side view of a cone, having a spiral coil of teeth extending
from end to end of the same, in which a pinion may be caused to work
instead of having a grooved pulley and chain, or, as I said before, other similar
contrivances may be used without departing from the spirit of my Invention.
Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the "shaper" as used in "Smith's self-acting
mule," shewing my improvements as attached thereto. The " shaper" a,
instead of having its fulcrum at b, (as is usually the case,) is jointed to the lever
c by the pin d; e is a ratchet wheel upon a small tube turning loosely upon the
stud f, on which the excentric g is fixed. This ratchet wheel e is caused to
take up one tooth every "stretch" or traverse of the carriage, and thus after
every certain number of "stretches" (according to the number of the teeth in
the ratchet wheel e) the eccentric g will raise the "shaper" into the position
shewn in red lines, which will have the effect of crossing the yarn over the
cone of the cop, thus binding the cop more firmly together, and consequently
rendering it less liable to injury in carriage, &c.
In witness whereof, I, the said William M.Lardy, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
5
WILLIAM (L.s.) MAC LARDY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twentieth day of Junc,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Mac Lardy came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained; in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of June, in the year above written.