IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Asa. Lees, of the Soho 'Iron Works, Greenacres
.. Moor, Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and William
Henry Rhodes, of Hollinwood, near' the City of Manchester, Machinist,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SPINNING AND
DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 21st January 1868, and dated the 17th August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Asa Lees and William
Henry Rhodes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 17th August 1867.
We, ASA LEES, of the Soho Iron Works, Greenacres Moor, Oldham, in the
County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and WILLIAM HENRY RHODES, of
Hollinwood, near the City of Manchester, Machinist, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SPINNING
AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
Our Invention is applicable to the machines for spinning and doubling called
self-acting mules, and it consists, first, in an improved change motion applicable
to, the cam shaft; this motion is composed of an internal ratchet wheel keyed

page_text: on the shaft passing through the hollow cam shaft. to which is hinged a catch
which is brought alternately into gear at opposite sides of the said ratchet
wheel by means of a pair of sliding rods acting when required on a swell
fixed to the catch above referred to; these sliding rods are actuated at the
end of the stretch, and when the carriage has run in by stops on the usual
slide rod.
The second part of our Invention consists in an improved motion for
regulating the winding on according to the tension of the yarn. The screw
of the radial arm is connected by wheels to a shaft on which is a friction pulley,
and this pulley when the tension of the yarn becomes too great is brought by
the counterfaller into contact with a pulley on the boss of the usual. tightening
pulley; the counterfaller when depressed liberates a weighted catch, which
compresses a rod against a stop piece on the carriage, and this rod is con-
nected by a lever to the axle of the friction pulley. By this means when
the yarn is too tight the screw is turned round and the nut is moved up the
screw of the radial arm to let off the winding-on chain to the required
extent.
The last part of our Invention is particularly adapted to mules for spinning
wool, and consists in an improved arrangement of the driving pulleys and
gearing. On the rim shaft of the head stock are four pulleys for producing
the requisite motions; these pulleys. are driven by two straps, the positions of
which are changed by cams on the cam shaft. The change motion for working
the cam shaft, and the twist motion for regulating the twist, are brought to the
front end of the head stock, the twist wheel being connected to the tin roller
shaft by a worm on the tin roller shaft gearing into a wheel on a grooved
shaft extending the length of the head stock. By this arrangement the
requisite changes in the twist can be conveniently made at the front of the
mule.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Asa Lees and William Henry Rhodes in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ASA LEES.
of the Soho Iron Works, Greenacres Moor, Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, and WILLIAM HENRY RHODES, of Hollinwood,
near the City of Manchester, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty, Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Asa Lees and William Henry Rhodes, Her special license that
we, the said Asa Lees and William Henry Rhodes, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Asa Lees and William
Henry Rhodes, our 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 Iuvention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Asa Lees
and William Henry Rhodes, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals, 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 we, the said Asa Lees and William Henry Rhodes,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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) :-
Our Invention is applicable to the machines for spinning and doubling
called self-acting mules, and it consists, first, in an improved change motion
applicable to the cam shaft. This motion is composed of an internal ratchet
wheel keyed on the shaft passing through the hollow cam shaft to which is
hinged a catch which is brought alternately into gear at opposite sides of the
said ratchet wheel by means of a pair of sliding rods acting when required on
a swell fixed to the catch above referred to; these sliding rods are actuated at
the end of the stretch, and when the carriage has run in, by stops on the usual
side rod.
This improved change motion is illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 of Sheet 1 of
the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings. Figure 1 is an elevation and
Figure 2 a plan of the principal parts of 'a-self-acting mule to which our
improved change motion is applied, and Figures 3, 4, and 5 are detached
views of the change motion. In Figure 1 and 2, a is the rim band pulley
shaft; b, the shaft by which the cam shaft c is driven; d is a part of the hollow
cam shaft; e is the radial arm and quadrant; f, the carriage; g, the faller
shaft; and the counterfaller shaft. All the parts above referred to. are

page_text: made in the usual manner. The cam shaft c and the hollow cams d are
supported in the ordinary manner by brackets fixed to the frame of the head
stock, and one of these brackets is shewn at i in Figure 3. The usual side
rodj passes through holes in this bracket, and its end is jointed to the double
. lever k, which vibrates on the stud fixed on the boss of the bracket i.
To the lever k are jointed the sliding rods l, ; these rods pass through holes
in the bracket i. To the hollow cams' d is hinged the catch m, the teeth of.
which are brought alternately into gear with the internal ratchet wheel n
keyed on the cam shaft c in the following manner :-To the catch m is cast
the curved swell m¹ provided with a stop piece against which the sliding
rods 1,, abut alternately after every half revolution of the hollow cams d, to
the end of which is cast a block d¹ serving as a guide for the open end of the
catch m; to one end of the block d' is secured a plate d³, against which one
end of the springs m³ abut; the other ends press against shoulders in the open.
end of the catch m; these springs press the inclined curve m¹ against the
sliding rod 1, and hold the teeth of the catch m just clear of the teeth of the.
inter, ratchet wheel.
The mode of operation is as follows:-As soon as the side rod j has been
moved by stops in the usual manner) in, the direction of the arrow in
Figure 3, the lever k draws the sliding rod 7 past the inclined curve m¹, and
the moment the catch m is liberated the springs m² press the teeth of the
catch m into gear with the ratchet wheel n, consequently when this wheel and
the cam shaft c have performed half a revolution in the direction of the arrow
in. Figure 5 the stop piece on the inclined curve m¹ comes against the
end of the sliding rod which has at this time assumed the position
indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3; the teeth of the catch m are by
this means drawn out of the teeth of the internal ratchet wheel n, and the
cams remain stationary until the next change is required, when the side rod j
pushes the lever k into its original position. By this means the cams are.
moved more accurately and the parts are more durable than heretofore.
The second part of our Invention consists in an improved motion for
regulating the winding on according to the tension of the yarn. The screw
of the radial arm is connected by wheels to a shaft on which is a friction
pulley, and this pulley when the tension of the yarn becomes too great is
brought by the counterfaller into contact with a pulley on the boss of the
usual tightening pulley. The counterfaller when depressed liberates a weighted
catch which compresses a rod against a stop piece on the carriage, and this rod
is connected by a lever to the axle of the friction pulley; by this means when
the yarn is too tight the screw is turned round and the nut is moved up the

page_text: screw of the radial arm to let off the winding-on chain to the required extent.
Our improved winding-on motion is represented in Figures 1, 6, and 7. The
radial arm e is supported as usual on the stud e¹, and the screw of the radial
arm is connected with the tightening pulley p' by the pinion e gearing into
the pinion o fixed to the shaft o; to this shaft is also keyed the friction
pulley o. Above the pulley o is the pulley p, which is fixed to the tightening,
pulley p¹ driven by the ordinary twist band; both the pulleys p' and p² are
mounted on a stud fixed-in-the segment-plate-q, the position-of-which can be
varied to tighten up the band. The friction pulley o is brought into contact
with the pulley p², so that the twist band may cause the nut to move up the
screw of the radial arm when the yarn is winding on too tight in the following.
manner: To the carriage f is fixed a bracket f¹, in which is a fulcrum stud
for the weighted. catch r, the inner end of which is V-shaped, corresponding
to a similar stop piece on the bracket f'. When the catch r is held up, as
shewn in Figure 7, by the lever h', chain t, lever t', and chain t, the V-shaped
end of the catcher passes clear of the rod s, one end of which is supported by
the framing, and the other end is jointed to the lever s¹ fixed to the shaft s²;
to this shaft is fixed the bush with projecting pin s³, which acts on the inclined
lever u supported on the fulcrum stud u¹. One end of the shaft o revolves in
the horizontal arm of the lever u. By this means when the yarn is too tight.
the lever on the counterfaller h is lowered, the lever t' and the weighted
catch are also lowered, thereby bringing the V-shaped projection on it in
contact with the rod s, and binding the said rod fast against the stop piece on
the bracket f, consequently as the carriage continues its inward run the
tension on the rod s draws the lever s¹ in the direction of the arrows in
Figures 1 and 6, and moves the shaft spartly round, or until the projecting
pin from the bush 3 has raised the end of the lever u and brought the friction
pulley o in contact with the pulley på by which it is driven, thereby causing
the motion of the tightening pulley p¹ to be transmitted to the screw of the
radial arm e.
As soon as the nut has been wound up the screw of the radial
arm the requisite distance for giving off the amount of winding-on chain
required the yarn is slackened and the weighted catch r is raised to liberate
the rod s.
By this arrangement an accurate and self-acting winding-on
motion is obtained, and the speed of the screw in the radial arm is gradually
reduced in proportion to the increasing size of the cop.
The last part of our Invention is particularly adapted to mules for spinning
wool, and consists in an improved arrangement of the driving pulleys and
gearing, as shewn in Figures 8, 9, and 10 of Sheet 2: On the rim shaft a of
the headstock are four pulleys for producing the requisite motions; these

page_text: pulleys are driven by two straps the positions of which are changed by cams
on the cam shaft c, as usual. The change motion for working the cam shaft c,
and the twist motion for regulating the twist, are brought to the front end of
the headstock, the twist wheel v being connected to the tin roller shaft w by
a worm gearing into the wheel w¹ connected by a key to the grooved shaft w
extending the length of the headstock. On the shaft w³ is keyed a bevel
pinion w gearing into a pinion on the diagonal shaft a, to the upper end of
w³
which is fixed a pinion gearing into the wheel v² fixed to the same shaft as
the twist wheel v. By this arrangement' the requisite changes in the twist
can be conveniently made at the front of the mule, and the mechanism for
driving the cam shaft is also brought to the front of the mule where it can be
conveniently adjusted.
.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner of
performing the same, we declare that we claim,
First. The improved change motion applicable to the cam shaft of self-acting
mules, as shewn and described.
Secondly. Connecting the screw of the radial arm to the twist 'band
tightening pulley for regulating the winding of the yarn on the spindles, as
shewn and described, or any modification of machinery for effecting the
same.
And lastly, the general combination and arrangement of the parts of the
headstock of self-acting mules particularly adapted for spinning wool, as' shewn
and described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Asa Lees and William Henry Rhodes,
have hereunto set our bands and seals, this Fourteenth day of
February One thousand eight hundred and, sixty-eight.