I will go with the 'righty tighty lefty loosey' rule, making a few assumptions about the machine. I assume the machine spaces two stiles and uses a screw gear to adjust the space.
There is a term in English, used as a mnemonic for which direction a cap, light bulb or bolt must be rotated for a desired effect. Righty tighty means to rotate the top of an object to the right, or clockwise, to tighten something with screw threads. Lefty loosey is the compliment to righty tighty.