IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN'
SIDEBOTTOM, of Broadbottom, in the County of Chester, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and 'successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Sidebottom, my exors, adñññors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Sidebottom,
my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Side-
bottom, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said John Sidebottom, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Sidebottom, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists,―
First, in a new combination of parts of a loom for driving the shuttle from
one box of the lathe to the other opposite one without the use of straps for
that purpose, which wear so as to become useless. And,
Secondly, in a new combination of discs, forming a temple for keeping the
selvages of the cloth at a proper distance apart during the operation of
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 represents an end elevation of a loom, to which my
improvements in the picking apparatus are attached. Figure 2 is a front
elevation of the same.
On Shect 2, Figure 3 is a detached plan view of the picking shaft;
Figure 4 is an elevation of the taking-up motion; and Figure 5 a plan view
of the same. Figure 6 is an elevation, and Figure 7 a plan view of part of
a loom, shewing the position of my improved "temples" when at work.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation, and Figure 9 a plan view of my improved
temple drawn full size. Figures 10 and 11 represent another modification of
my improved temple.
In Figures 1 and 2, a is the crank shaft, b, b, the connecting rods, and c, c,
the lathe swords, which, instead of being fixed upon a cross shaft or fiddlestick,
as in looms of the ordinary construction, are provided with studs c', fixed into
the lathe swords, and work freely in bearings c2 bolted to the loom side. d is
the tappet shaft, set in notion as usual by the pinion a' on the crank shaft,
gearing into the wheel d' on the tappet shaft. Beyond the wheel d' is fixed an
arm d², and near the other extremity of the tappet shaft is fixed another arm &³.
These arms are set in a line with each other at opposite sides of the shaft, and
are furnished with cams or tappets marked d and d³, which can be set nearer
to or farther from the centre of the tappet shaft by means of slots in the said
arms. e and are the picking shafts, which are supported in bearings
attached to the loom sides; the studs are bolted into slots made in pro-
jections from the shaft e and e', and each stud is provided with a conical
friction roller e³, which are acted upon by the tappets d' and ds at every revolu-

page_text: tion of the tappet shaft. The studs for the friction rollers are brought back
into a horizontal position after they have been acted upon by the tappets d'
and d by the springs 67, shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 2; one end of
these springs is made fast to the picking shafts, and the other end to the loom
side; are the picking sticks bolted to the cast-iron pieces e, which hinge
on the studs e passing through slots in the picking shafts. The picking sticks
are guided above by slots in the lathe bottom f, and when the shuttle has left
the box they are held at the distance of about an inch from the end of the
said slot, as seen on the left-hand side of Figure 2, by means of spiral springs
in the boxes g, g; each spring presses above against the end of one of the said
boxes, and below upon the head of a stud, which bears upon an arm e³ cast to
each of the shafts e and e' seen best in Figure 3. The object of thus bringing
the picking stick back from the end of the slot in the lathe bottom is to obviate
the rigid blow of the shuttle against the picker. By the above described
arrangement, when the shuttle comes against the picker, it overcomes the
spring in the box 9, and keeps the picking stick completely back, as shewn on
the right-hand side of Figure 2, where the shuttle is represented by dotted
lines. The benefit derived from this combination of parts for effecting the
throwing of the shuttle from one side of the loom to the other is, that the
motion is communicated without the intervention of straps, which it is well
known require frequent adjustment, and the strength of the pick can be regu-
lated to the greatest accuracy by varying the position of the stud which carries
the friction roller e, and the distance of the cam or tappet dor d³ from the
centre of the tappet shaft.
The taking up of the cloth is accomplished in the following manner :-
Upon the tappet shaft & is fixed a double lever d", shewn by dotted lines in
Figure 1, and in Figures 4 and 5, which is made with slots for the studs d'.
The distance of the studs from the centre of the shaft can be regulated
according to the quality of the cloth that is being woven. The studs d'act
upon
the long arm of the elbow lever h, the fulcrum of which is a stud fixed
to a bracket projecting from the loom side. To the shorter arm of the elbow
lever his jointed the driving catch h', seen best in Figures 4 and 5, which
acts on the ratchet wheel h², and causes it to move through a portion of a
revolution for every half revolution of the tappet shaft. h³ is the retaining
catch for the above-mentioned ratchet wheel; this catch is hinged above the
driving catch h¹, a projection from which is made to disengage the retaining
catch whenever the driving catch is taken out of gear with the ratchet wheel
h. The red lines in Figure 4 shew the position of the catches when the
driving catch is lifted out of gear. The rachet wheel he is fixed on a short

page_text: shaft, to the other end of which is fixed a pinion h', gearing into the wheel! hº;
to the boss of which is cast a pinion h, taking into the wheel i, fixed on the
shaft of the roller i, the surface of which is covered with emery, or other
suitable material for giving the requisite friction to the cloth as it is drawn
forward, and for winding it on the cloth beam j. The cloth beam is held in
contact with the emery roller i by the spiral springs j', which are held in
boxes (one of the said boxes being shewn broken in Figure 2, so that the
interior contents may be seen) attached at each side to the inside of the loom.
are studs, having heads which bear against the shaft of the cloth beam, and
which pass below through holes in the boxes ; these boxes are open above,
and are furnished with slots to admit the shaft of the cloth roller. The height
of the top of the boxes is such that an empty roller can be put into its proper
place under the emery roller without deranging the boxes.
"
In Figures 1 and 2, I have shewn various other parts of the loom which do
not require to be particularly described, as they are well understood by persons
conversant with machinery for weaving..
My improvements in temples consist in mounting two or more discs of
different diameters, and furnished with pins on their circumferences on the
same axis, and in placing these discs under and near each selvage of the
fabric, as seen in Figures 6 and 7, the pins on the largest disc enter into the
fabric as near as possible to the selvage; and the pins in the next disc enter
the fabric rather further from the selvage, and so on until all the discs have
caught hold of the fabric, which, by being gradually drawn forward by the
taking-up motion of the loom, gives a revolving motion of uniform velocity to
the circumferences of the several discs.
In Figures 8 and 9, n, n, represent three discs mounted loosely on the stud o,
with pins on their circumferences. This stud is screwed into one of the spring
brackets p, as seen best in Figures 6 and 7; the heads of the studs o are large
enough to support the fabric that is being distended by the discs n, n.
In Figures 10 and 11, 9, 9, represent four discs fitted loosely on the boss of
the box r, which is also loose on the stud s, rivetted into a spring bracket p;
similar to the one above described. is a portion of the box r, forming a lid;
which. is hinged to it, as shewn in the plan, Figure 11. t is a spring acting
on a projection from the lid ; there is a certain space left open between the
box and lid, to allow of the passage of the fabric, and the lid is thrown
back, as shewn by the red lines in Figure 10, when the attendant wishes to
place the selvage on to the discs n.
Various other modifications of my improved temples might be introduccil,
but the foregoing will be sufficient to illustrate this part of my Invention.