Fig. 1 represents the general plan and pulley connections of the Harris
Revolving-Ring Spinning Frame. The purpose of the improvements which
it embodies is to avoid the uneven draught of the yarn in spinning and
winding incident to the use of a fixed ring. With the non-revolving ring
the strain upon the yarn varies greatly, owing to the difference
in diameter of the full and empty bobbin. At the base of the cone,
especially in spinning weft, or filling, the diameter of the cop is five
or six times that of the quill at the tip. As the yarn is wound upon the
cone, the line of draught upon the traveler varies continually, the pull
being almost direct where the bobbin is full, and nearly at right angles
where it is empty. With the increasing angle the drag upon the traveler
increases, not only causing frequent breakages of the yarn, but also an
unequal stretching of the yarn, so that the yarn perceptibly varies in
fineness. The unequal strain further causes the yarn to be more tightly
wound upon the outside than upon the inside of the bobbin, giving rise
to snarls and wastage.

[Illustration: RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN TEXTILE MACHINERY.--1,
2.--SPINNING WITHOUT A MULE--THE HARRIS REVOLVING RING SPINNING FRAME.
3, 4, 5.--NEW ELECTRIC STOP MOTION FOR DRAWING FRAMES. 6.--NEW POSITIVE
MOTION LOOM.]

These difficulties have hitherto prevented the application of ring
spinning to the finer grades of yarn. They are overcome in the new
spinning frame by an ingenious device by which a revolving motion is
given to the ring in the same direction as the motion of the traveler,
thereby reducing its friction upon the ring, the speed of the ring being
variable, and so controlled as to secure a uniform tension upon the yarn
at all stages of the winding.