22,760. Bodemer, J. G. Aug. 24, [date applied for under Patents Act, 1901]. Mules, backing-off mechanism for. The pressure with which the backing-off clutch is engaged is uniformly or varyingly increased throughout the building of the cops, so as to compensate for the increasing load due to the material wound on the spindles and thus to avoid loss of time in backing- off. The invention is applicable to various types of mules and is carried out by adjusting, either by hand or automatically and continuously or intermittently, the strain on the usual backing - off spring, or by employing an additional controlled spring acting in conjunction with the usual spring or directly on the clutch lever, or by controlling a weight or an electro-magnet for operating the clutch lever in place of a spring, or by means of the expansive power of gases. The automatic adjustment may be controlled from various moving parts of the mule, such as the shaper rail or its inclines, the slide working thereon, the winding faller shaft, or the mechanism operating the backing-off rod. In one arrangement, the compression of the backing-off spring f Fig. 5<a>, is varied by means of a nut m bearing against the spring and engaging a screw s adjustably secured to the backing-off rod 16, the nut being turned either by hand or by means of wheels z, z<1> and chain-wheels R', R<2> from the screw B of one of the shaper inclines. When the spring f<4> acts under tension, a thumb-nut is mounted in a lug on the rod 16 and engages a screwed rod to which the spring is connected ; or the spring is gradually extended by a face cam driven from the shaper incline screw and carried by the backing-off rod. The adjustable screw s may be replaced by a bracket, to which is pivoted an arm embracing the rod 16 so as to bear against the spring and adjustable by a thumb-screw at its free end. In another arrangement, the spring f<4>, Fig. 6<a>, is gradually compressed by a cam E carried by a bracket L on the rod 16 and driven by worm and sprocket gear from the shaper incline screw B, or by a chain or rack from a pivoted lever actuated by the movement of the shaper incline. The cam may be replaced by a ratchet bar frame freely mounted on the rod 16 and advanced to compress the spring by the camshaped end of a lever pivoted to a bracket on the rod and operated from the shaper incline, a pawl on the bracket engaging in succession the teeth of the ratchet bar as the cops are built. In another arrangement a nut m, such as shown in Fig. 5<a>, is capable of sliding only on the rod 16, and the screw s bearing against an adjustable bracket on the rod carries a worm-wheel engaging a worm driven by ratchet-gear from a cam on the winding faller shaft ; this cam, owing to the decreasing turning movement of the shaft, acts on the ratchet gear to a gradually decreasing extent. In another arrangement, the compression of the spring f is gradually increased by the usual descent of the slide, which may be loaded, working on the shaper rail, acting on the lower end of a pivoted lever carried from the backing-off rod and bearing at its upper end against the spring ; or the slide u, Fig. 12<a>, may carry a belt-crank lever H<6>, one arm of which is weighted and the other arm formed with a wedge-shaped end K<1>, entering between the horizontal arms of the usual bell-crank 17, which is connected to the rod 16 and operated by the fork on the carriage for releasing the rod prior to backing-off, and the bell-crank 18 pivoted on the same stud i'. As the slide descends during the building of the cops, the wedge is advanced to separate the levers 17, 18 and so compress the spring f<4>; or the lever 18 may be actuated by a cam mounted on its horizontal arm, driven from the shaper incline and acting against a third arm on the lever 17. A single-armed pivoted lever 18 bearing against the spring may be employed, the wedge acting between this and the vertical part of the lever 17 and being connected to the shaper rail so as to be drawn down by it to separate the levers. In another arrangement, the bell-crank 18, Fig. 16, is pivoted at the end of the horizontal arm of the lever 17 and is controlled by a pivoted lever H<7>, which may have a cam-shaped head, operated by the shaper incline P ; or the lower arm of the lever may bear directly on the incline. In another arrangement, an additional spring f <5>, Fig. 18, acting in conjunction with the ordinary spring f<4>, is employed, the spring f<5> being compressed to a much greater extent than the spring f<4> by a loose collar r<1> and a pivoted lever H<8> controlled by a plate C on the shaper rail f, the gradual descent of which permits the spring f to increase the compression of the spring f<4>. The loose collar r<1> may be controlled by a cam. In another arrangement, the additional spring f<5>, Fig. 21<a>, may be arranged on a separate rod 16<2> parallel to the rod 16 and act directly on the backing-off clutch lever J, its compression being controlled by a pivoted quadrant cam linked to the shaper rail, or by a bell-crank lever acted upon by a spring f<6>, the end of which is traversed at each release of the rod 16, along the lever arm 18<1> by the forked end n of a pivoted lever M engaging between fingers r<2> fixed on the rod 16 ; the position of the spring f<6> on the arm may be gradually altered by pivoting the arm M to a pivoted lever H<9> controlled by an adjustable stop C<1> which may be gradually traversed. In another arrangement in which the pressure on the brake lever is produced by a weight, a pivoted bellcrank lever H'‹, Fig. 22<b>, carrying a weight g2 acts through a rod s<3> on the brake lever J, and the weight is gradually moved along the lever to increase the pressure by a cam E or a screw actuated from the shaper mechanism. A solenoid may be employed to produce the gradually increasing pressure on the brake lever J, Fig. 23, by its attraction of a core E<k> connected to an arm H<11> pivoted to the brake lever, a suitably rotated cam E. being arranged between the levers J, H<11> so as to permit the core to be drawn gradually further into the solenoid, whereby its attraction is increased. Additional windings brought gradually into action by means of a switch may be employed to produce the increased pressure.