Spinning Mule

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The model of a mule in the historic center of Wuppertal

The spinning mule 's (English) is a spinning machine for spinning of cotton and was the end of the 18th century by the Weber Samuel Crompton invented. The name "Mule" ( English for mule ) refers to the fact that this machine takes over features of its two predecessor types, just as the mule as a cross between donkey and horse has features of both types.

The machine combines elements of the waterframe and the spinning jenny : the waterframe contributes the weight-loaded forging rollers for the spinning material, while the spinning jenny supplied the separate production process . The mule was also powered by an external energy source such as the steam engine via transmissions and could carry up to 1000 spindles . Mainly wool and cotton with short fibers were spun on the machine . The production of the yarn , however, was extremely complicated due to the separate production process: The left half of the body of the “Mulespinner” had to move all of the spindles mounted on a rail car weighing up to 800 kg from the forging rollers and at the same time spin out the raw material . The spinner's right hand, on the other hand, operated a handwheel with which the direction of rotation of the spindles was reversed when the carriage retracted and the newly created thread was wound up at the same time . This process was repeated about 5000 times during a twelve-hour working day .

From the process described, it becomes clear that the mulespinner at times represented the aristocracy of textile workers , because if the machine was operated incorrectly , hundreds of threads would tear. On the other hand, there were work-related diseases such as the spinner leg due to the one-sided stress on the left half of the body.

The technical advancement of the Mule was the self-actuator spinning machine, which, despite the complicated movement processes, worked as an automatic machine without human labor .

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