IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Dodd, of Oldham, in the County of Lan-
caster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS."
Scaled the 4th February 1873, and dated the 21st August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Dodd at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st August 1872.
I, JOHN DODD, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to a method of governing the counter-
faller during the depression of the front faller at the end of the stretch
preparatory to backing off, for which purpose I connect the former of
those instruments to a finger, the position of which is regulated by a
stop governed by the motion of the front faller or by a part connected
therewith. The arrangement of apparatus for effecting this may be

page_text: illustrated as follows:-To the axis of the faller arm I attach a short lever,
having a stud or bowl on its end, and to the counterfaller axis a similar
short lover, and these parts therefore move with the carriage during
its ordinary travelling motion. When the carriage is near to the end of
its outward run the aforesaid bowl or stud on the lever of the faller axis
runs under an incline formed on the upper part of a fork turning upon
a stationary centre, and slightly raises it, and simultaneously the lever
on the counterfaller axis runs over the lower part of the said fork,
without, however, bearing upon it. When the depression of the faller
commences, according to the usual operation, it still keeps the fork in its
clevated position, or substantially so, but upon a further motion thereof
taking place it allows the said fork to fall, and permits the lever on the
counterfaller shaft to turn so as to permit the wire thereof to pass
upward for the performance of its usual office, and by these means
therefore the motion of the counterfaller is regulated by that of the
front faller. The normal position of the aforesaid fork is regulated by
an adjustable set screw.
Secondly. My Invention consists in an arrangement for taking up the
slack of the backing-off chain, and also, if desired, for depressing the
front faller, to accomplish which I use an incline, which is caused to
move with the rod which connects the two "shapers," and in a manner
which may be thus illustrated:-To the boss of the backing-off snail I
fasten one end of a chain, the other end thereof being connected to a
bell crank lever turning upon a centre attached to the carriage, and the
other end of this lever extends downward towards shaper rod. When
this rod is traversed by the ordinary operations of the mule it brings the
incline thercon beneath a bowl carried by the aforesaid lever, and by
causing it to turn upon its centre draw down the additional chain above-
mentioned, and consequently tighten the ordinary chain upon the
backing-off snail; or if the said lever be still further acted upon by the
incline, sufficient chain may be wound to pull down the faller arm to
any desired point. The above-mentioned incline is capable of adjustment
to regulate the time of its action, and the rate of its action may be
governed by its form.
Thirdly. My Invention consists in an arrangement for governing the
rise of the winding faller, so as to coil the yarn on the bare spindle
preparatory to the commencement of another stretch. For this purpose
I employ two volute toothed wheels communicating between the faller

page_text: shaft and the tin roller by means of ordinary toothed gearing or pullies
and straps.
The arrangement I propose is as follows:-Upon the faller shaft I
place a volute wheel taking into another, which is carried by a shaft
mounted on the carriage, and this (by means of an intermediate) gears
with a pinion which is loose upon the tin roller shaft, but fast with the
ordinary click plate. When the cop is beginning to be built, the faller
being just ready to be unlocked, the small part of the volute wheel on
the faller shaft will be in gear with the large part of the other volute.
When the faller is unlocked, a spring has a tendency to force round the
volute, and this motion is communicated to the click and plate, the
former of which is then geared into the tin roller ratchet wheel, and
then the faller can only be raised at a rate which is governed by the
tin roller velocity, and the intervention of the volute wheels will allow
the faller to rise rapidly at first and slower afterwards. In the aforesaid
train of gearing I make one of them a change wheel for the purpose of
accomodating the speed to the diameter of the spindles for facility of
adjustment.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Dodd in the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 21st February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DODD, 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 Twenty-first day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year. of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Dodd, Her special license that I,
the said John Dodd, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or suchi
others as I, the said John Dodd, 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, exercisc, and vend, within the United

page_text: Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MULES FOR SPINNING AND DOUBLING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition, amongst others,
that I, the said John Dodd, 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 John Dodd, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention relates, firstly, to a method of governing the counter-
faller during the depression of the front faller when it is desired to do so
previously to the backing off, for which purpose I connect the former
of those instruments to a finger, the position of which is regulated by a
stop governed by the motion of the front faller or by a part connected
therewith. The arrangement by which I carry out this part of my
Invention is shewn at the detached views of a portion of a mule at
Figs. 1 and 2, the former being an elevation and the latter a plan view.
The faller shaft is at 1, a faller arm at 2, and the faller wire at 3, the
spindle being at 4, and the thread, which is represented as now being
spun, at 5; at 6 is the counterfaller shaft, at 7 an arm thereof, and at
8 the counterfaller wire. Upon the faller shaft 1 is fixed a lever 9,
carrying at its extremity a bowl 10, and upon the counterfaller shaft 6
is a lever 11 projecting downward; at 12 is a shaft, stationary as regards
bodily movement, and carried by any convenient part of the mule. In
the Drawing it is supposed to be the quadrant shaft, but this is merely
a matter of convenience. Upon this shaft is mounted loosely a lever 13,
provided at its end with a fork 14, 14*, the outward end of the part 14
thereof being curved upward, leading backward to a slight incline 14**;
the lever 13 is provided with an adjusting screw 15, a nut 16 carried
thereby, resting (according to the position shewn) upon a stationary
part 17; but this nut may be altered in position at pleasure, so as to
regulate the level of the lever 13 and consequently fork 14, 14*.
According to the positions of the parts shewn the carriage is performing
its outward movement and the spinning is going on as usual, and when

page_text: tho run is nearly accomplished, the bowl 10 will arrive in contact with the
curved part 18, and running along with it and the incline 14**, will elevate
the lever 13, immediately following which the lever 11 will run over the
part 14* of the fork and will eventually just touch it or nearly so (this
position of the parts is shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1). When the
faller is depressed it still for a time keeps the fork elevated through the
medium of the lever 9 and bowl 10, the latter of which is in contact with
the part 14**, and it therefore follows that during that period no motion
(or substantially so) can take place in the counterfaller, for the lever 11
cannot turn downward, it being in contact with the part 14*, which is
held up by the bowl 10, but upon a further motion of the faller taking
place and consequently of the lover 9, the fork 14, 14* is allowed to
fall, thus permitting the lever 11 to turn downward, so as to allow the
counterfaller to rise. It will thus be seen that the action of the counter-
faller is regulated by the motion of the faller, so that they attain their
proper relative positions. The set screw 16, by being used to adjust the
normal position of the fork 14, 14*, makes the apparatus suitable for
mules of different positions of fallers.
The second part of my Invention consists in an arrangement for
taking up the slack of the backing-off chain, and also, if desired, for
depressing the faller. To accomplish this I uso an incline, which is
caused to move with the rod which connects the shapers.
The arrangement I employ is shewn at Figs. 3 and 4, the former being
an elevation of certain parts of the mule, and the latter a plan view; at
20 is the backing-off chain, connected to the lever 21 as usual, and
passing under the carrier pulley 22, after which it is connected to the
backing-off snail, and from thence to the tin roller shaft 23 by the
ratchet wheel 24 and click 25 in the ordinary manner. To the boss 26
of the backing-off snail is fastened one end of a chain 27, the other end
being attached to a bell crank lever 28, 28*, the arm 28* of which carries
a bowl 29, the said lever being capable of turning upon a centre 30
carried by a bracket extending from the mule carriage; at 31 is the
connecting rod of the shapers, made fast to a bracket 32, extending from
a sliding piece 33 mounted in guides 34 fixed to the floor, and upon this
sliding piece there is a bracket 35, which carries an incline 36. Ac-
cording to the positions of the parts shewn in the Drawing, the carriage
is running out, and the backing-off chain being in a slack; condition
when the stretch has been nearly accomplished, the bowl 29 arrives in

page_text: contact with the incline 36, and as it runs thereon the bell crank
lever 28, 28*, is caused to turn upon its centre 30 and pull downward
the chain 27, which being fast to the backing-off snail 26 will wind up
the slack of the backing-off chain 20, the click 25 slipping over the
teeth of the ratchet wheel 24, after which the ordinary operations of the
mule take place. The incline 36 is formed with a curve suited to give
a proper variable motion to the lever 28, 28*, and is caused to slide in
its guides 34, so as to alter its time for coming into action, so as
gradually to take up the slack as the building of the cop progresses, by
being attached to the rod 31, and its motion is thus governed by that of
the shaper plates.
The shape of the incline may of course be varied according to the cop
to be built, and its time of coming into action for the spinning of certain
cops may be be regulated by adjusting it forward or backward in the
bracket.
It will be seen by the above description that the slack of the chain 20
is gradually taken up, but taken up only; but it will be evident that by
continuing the action of the incline a further quantity of chain may be
taken up, so as to pull down the faller, in which case the apparatus,
shown at Figs. 1 and 2, or something of the same character will be
necessary; at 29* is stop for preventing the lever 28* from falling
beyond a certain point.
Thirdly. My Invention consists in an arrangement for governing the
rise of the winding faller so as to coil the yarn on the bare spindle
preparatory to the commencement of another stretch. For this purpose
I employ two volute toothed wheels, communicating between the faller
shaft and the tin roller by means of toothed gearing. This arrangement
is shewn at Figs. 5 and 6. The faller shaft is shewn at 40, upon which
there is a toothed volute wheel 41, the pitch line of which is shown by the
red colour, and this is in gear with another volute wheel 42 mounted on a ;
stud or shaft 43. Upon this stud or shaft is a toothed wheel 44 in gear
with an intermediate 45, the teeth of which take into a pinion 46 loose
on the axis 47 of the tin roller 48. On the boss of the pinion 46 is a
plate 49, which carries a click 50 turning on a centre 51, and having an
arm provided with pins, between which a friction spring passes the said
click, taking into the teeth of a ratchet wheel 52 fast upon the tin roller
shaft 47, the arrangement being the same as that now in use in mules.

page_text: 3
According to the positions of the parts shewn in the Drawing, the
thread is in the spinning position, but when the cop is beginning to be
built, the faller being. just ready to be unlocked, the smaller part of the
volute 41 is in gear with the larger part of the other volute 42. The
faller shaft having been unlocked by the usual means, the spring 53 has
a tendency to force round the volute 41, and by means of the wheels 44,
45, 46, will place the catch 50 into gear with the ratchet wheel 52
through the medium of the friction spring 53, as is well understood, and
the tin roller and volutes 41, 42, thus become locked together. The
ordinary motion of the mule now taking place for winding the yarn upon
the spindle, the faller being connected by the aforesaid gearing to the
tin drum can only rise at a rate which is governed by the velocity
thereof, and its rate of speed in rising is modified by the intervention of
the volute wheels 41, 42, so as to allow the faller to rise rapidly at first
and slower afterwards, for, as I have already stated, the smaller diameter
of the volute 41 is in gear with the larger diameter of the volute 42
when the yarn begins to wind upon the spindle. A provision is desirable
for preventing the catch 50 from passing into the ratchet wheel 52 when.
the tin drum has to be reversed for backing-off. This may be accom-.
plished in the following manner :-Upon the shaft 47 is an inclined
disc 54, provided on its boss with a groove, within which is a forked
lever 55 capable of turning upon a centre 56 and drawn in one direction
by a spring 57, provided also with a tail picco 58; extending downward
and above the inclined disc 54 is a pin 59 extending from the catch 50;
just before the backing-off commences, the tail piece 58 arrives in
contact with a fixed inclined part 70, and by being thus caused to turn
upon its centre 56, slides the incline 54 under the pin 59, and prevents
the catch 50 from passing into the ratchet wheel 52 if it has a tendency
to do so.
Figs. 7 and 8 show an arrangement I employ for regulating, when
necessary, the relative positions of the faller and the volute 41. At 40
is the faller shaft, upon which is fixed a bracket 60, carrying a worm 61
in gear with a sector 62 extending from the boss of the volute 41. By
turning the worm 61, the sector 62 is caused to rotate and thus alter the
position of the volutes 41 and 42 in reference to that of the faller. The
wheel 44 may be used as a change wheel.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed. I desiro