1838 Mason's Patent Model of a Speeder for Roving Cotton
date: label: model constructed
content: before 1838-05-04
label: patent date
content: 1838-05-04
name: label: inventor
content: Mason, William
notes: label: Description
content: Speeder for Roving Cotton Patent Model
label: Description
content: Patent No. 724, issued May 4, 1838
label: Description
content: William Mason of Taunton, Massachusetts
label: Description
content: In 1837, William Mason, who was employed by Crocker and Richmond, developed a speeder (a machine used in cotton yarn spinning) to replace the one that had been invented by George Danforth in 1824.
label: Description
content: Mason’s patent consisted of two parts: the method of removing the full spindle and the centrifugal levers. In 1839, the editor of the Journal of the Franklin Institute stated of the first that it was “ingenious, and manifestly good.” Of the second part, he explained that “by their weight at their outer ends, these levers expanded by the centrifugal force, with a power proportioned to their velocity, causing their inner ends to press upon the spools, and laying the yarn hard and compact upon them; and consequently, admitting of a very high degree of speed.” Although Mason was granted Patent No. 724 for his improvements, it proved difficult to thread and to remove the bobbins.
label: Description
content: Earlier in his career, Mason had devised a loom for weaving diaper cloth and another loom for weaving damask tablecloths. In 1833, he succeeded in perfecting John Thorp’s ring frame to the point where it was later used extensively in the textile industry. He also invented a self-acting cotton spinning machine (Patent No. 1,801, issued October 8, 1840), which for that period was a successful alternative to the contemporary ring spinning machine.
label: Description
content: Mason, with the financial backing of Boston merchant James Kellog Mills, established a machine shop in 1842 called William Mason and Company. Business prospered and in 1845 new buildings were constructed. At that time, Mason’s Taunton shop was considered the largest machine shop in the United States. The shop was particularly successful in manufacturing cotton machinery, as well as machine tools, cupola furnaces, blowers, rifles, Campbell printing presses, gears, and shafts.
label: Description
content: Mason found new fame in 1852 when he began building locomotives, the first of which was finished in 1853. His locomotives found wide acceptance for the beauty of design and technical excellence. Mason was a pioneer inventor and manufacturer whose ideas, manufacturing methods, and products had a profound influence on American technology.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: classified
content: Patent Models
label: classified
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Patent Models, Textile Machinery
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content: Textiles
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content: Patent Models
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Janssen, Barbara Suit. Patent Models Index
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T11421.043
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: catalog number
content: T11421.043
label: patent number
content: 000724
objectType: label: Object Name
content: speeder for roving cotton patent model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)