CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR CIRCULAR WEAVING, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR CIRCULAR WEAVING,
PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES."- A communication.
Sealed the 18th December 1857, and dated the 20th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th June 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR CIRCULAR WEAVING,
PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a mode of effecting the crossing of the warp
threads in circular looms, so as to form a shed, into which the weft thread is
carried with a circular motion. The Invention is applicable to the weaving
of a hollow web upon a cord, wire, tube, or other similar filling, as, for instance,
in the manufacture of blind cord, and also to the weaving of a hollow web
without any internal filling.
It also consists in constructing self-adjusting clamping guides, to be used
in the manufacture of blind cord, or other fabric of similar character composed
of a hollow web with an internal filling, the object of this improvement being
to prevent the fabric from turning, and to maintain it in a sufficiently firm
condition at the weaving point.

page_text: It further consists in the application of a spring drag to the bobbins, by
which the warp and weft threads are supplied for the purpose of producing
an uniform tension on the threads, and to take up any slackness that may
accidentally be produced in them, and to draw back the ends of any broken
warp threads, so as to prevent their becoming entangled and spoiling the
weaving. This part of the Invention is applicable also to the spools, of braiding
machines, and all spools carrying threads which require an uniform tension
and provision to be made for taking up the slack.
-
The principal features of novelty, whereby the objects of the Invention are
effected, are, 1st, the construction of a circle of guides or their equivalents,
in or upon which the warp bobbin carriages of a circular loom work, with a
circular pathway intersecting the said guides to admit of the passage of the
carriers or devices, which carry the weft threads.
2nd, operating the warp bobbin carriages, for the purpose of effecting the
crossing of the warps by means of cams revolving round the circle of guides
in which the said carriages work, projecting pieces or their equivalents being
placed on the backs of said carriages for the camis to operate upon.
3rd, the attachment of the weft carriers and bobbins to a circular frame
or its equivalent, to which are attached the cams by which the warp bobbin
carriages are operated, so that they pass through the circular pathway inter-
secting the guides of the warp bobbin carriages, and deliver the weft between
the threads of the warp as the latter change their relative positions by the
alternate elevations and depressions of their bobbin carriages.
4th, the construction of elastic guides, by which the finished fabrics and the
internal filling cord or its equivalent are held in place, and prevented from
turning during the weaving operation.
5th, the application to the warp or weft bobbins of circular looms; or to
other bobbins or spools, required to give off thread or yarn at a uniform tension,
of a coiled spring, connected with the bobbin or spool, and working within a
box attached to the carriage of the bobbin or spool.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR CIRCULAR WEAVING, PARTLY
APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto ánnexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:―
This Invention of certain improvements in looms for circular weaving
consists in a mode of effecting the crossing of the warp threads in circular
looms, so as to form a shed, into which the weft thread is carried with a
circular motion. The Invention is applicable to the weaving of a hollow web
upon a cord, wire, tube, or other similar filling, as, for instance, in the manu-
facture of blind cord, and also to the weaving of a hollow web without any
internal filling.
. It also consists in constructing self-adjusting clamping guides, to be used
in the manufacture of blind cord, or other fabric of similar character composed
of a hollow web with an internal filling, the object of this improvement being
to prevent the fabric from turning, and to maintain it in a sufficiently firm
condition at the weaving point.
It further consists in the application of a spring drag to the bobbins, by
which the warp and weft threads are supplied, for the purpose of producing
an-uniform tension on the threads, and of taking up any slackness that may

page_text: accidentally be produced in them, and to draw back the ends of any broken
warp threads, so as to prevent their becoming entangled, and spoiling the
weaving. This part of the Invention is applicable also to the spools of braiding
machines, and all spools carrying threads which require an uniform tension
and provision to be made for taking up the slack.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents an elevation of a circular
loom adapted for weaving blind cord; Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of
the same in a plane at right angles to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan of the same,
having the "take up" and the upper guide omitted, and part of the framing
broken away to expose the mechanism for effecting the crossing of the warp
threads; Fig. 5 is a vertical section, on a larger scale than the former Figures,
of one of the warp bobbin carriages, with the bobbin and the spring box
connected with the bobbin to produce the drag or tension on the thread; Fig.
6 is a horizontal section of the bobbin carriage and the spring box; Fig. 7
is a top view of the bobbin. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures...
A is a stationary horizontal table which, with its supporting standards B, B,
constitute the main framing of the loom. C is a metal frame in the form of an
upright cylinder containing vertical slots 6, 6, at equal distances apart, extending
from the top nearly to the bottom, and having an internal flange, a, a, Fig. 2,
at the bottom, through which it is bolted by bolts c, c, to the top of the table
A; D, is another metal frame, in the form of an upright cylinder, of a size
corresponding with C, and containing vertical slots b, b, extending from the
bottom nearly to the top, corresponding in number, width, and distance apart
with the slots b, b, in the lower frame C. This frame D has an external
flange d, d, Fig. 2, at the top with lugs e, e, through which it is bolted by
bolts ff, to the top of pillars E, E, erected upon the table A, being made to
occupy a position directly over and concentric with the frame C, and at a
short distance above the said frame C, so as to leave a narrow space g,
Figures 1 and 2, between them, and with its slots b, b, directly over those of
the frame C. With this arrangement of the two stationary frames C and D,
they may be considered as a single stationary frame C, D, containing a slot g
all round, and a number of equidistant slots b, b, crossing the said slot g, and
extending an equal distance above and below it; the slots b,. b, (always con-
sidering each slot babove the slot g, and its fellow below it, as combined and
constituting but a single slot), contain each a bobbin carriage F, carrying a
bobbin H, on which is wound one of the warp threads.. The slots constitute
guides in which the bobbin carriages have a vertical motion to effect the
crossing of the warp threads, which is done by bringing the warp carriages
'

page_text: F, F, alternately above and below the slot g; and the slot g constitutes. a path-
way, round which travel the weft carriers:G,.G, which pass the weft threads
through the warp, or between those warp threads whose carriages are above,.
and those whose carriages are below the said pathway.
.
The number of warp threads employed may be four, eight, twelve, or any
number divisible by four up to several hundreds, according to the nature or
size of the web to be woven, each thread being supplied from a separate
bobbin, and each bobbin having its own carriage. The machine represented
has thirty-two guide slots b, b, and the same number of warp bobbins, but only
sixteen bobbins and carriages are represented, every other guide slot having
its bobbin carriage omitted to avoid too great a confusion of parts in the
Drawing. Such omission, however, does not prevent the proper operation of
the machine, and does not change the principle of operation. Of the weft
carriers any even number may be used that will divide the number of warp
threads. The loom represented is constructed for four, and that number is
represented in operation; the warp threads are shewn in red color, and the weft
threads in blue, for the sake of distinction.
The warp bobbins are placed upon spindles h, attached to the carriages F, F,
as seen best in the enlarged detached view, Fig. 5, and are allowed to be
turned by the tension of the threads to unwind or let off the warp as fast as
may be required during the weaving operation; but they are prevented from
turning too freely and letting the warp too slack, by the spring drag, herein-
after to be described. The carriages F, F, are made with flanges i, i, on their
inner and outer sides (as shewn in Fig. 6), to. lap over the sides of the guide
grooves b, b, in the circular stationary frame C, D, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3,
for the purpose of keeping them in their places in the said grooves; and they
bave attached to them thread guides j, j.
The weft carriers G, G, consist of long arms of metal, with eyes at their
ends attached to the interior of the revolving circular frame I, which encircles
the stationary circular frame C, D, and extending in radial directions towards
the centre of the loom. The revolving frame I is provided at the bottom with
an internal flange k, k, see Fig. 2, which enters grooves in a circle of anti-
friction rollers 1, 1, that work on stationary vertical axles m, m, secured in the
table A; by which means the said revolving frame is.supported and kept in its
proper place. The weft bobbins K, K, are carried by spindles secured in
brackets n, n, secured to the exterior of the revolving frame I, and from the
bobbins the weft threads pass through holes p, p, in the revolving frame to
the carriers G, G, directly behind which the weft bobbins stand; and these
bobbins have the same kind of spring drag applied that is applied to the warp

page_text: bobbins, to prevent the thread being supplied too freely. The revolving frame
I also carries cams J, J; J, J', in number corresponding with the weft car-
riers, by which motion is given to the warp bobbin carriages to effect the
crossing of the threads of the warp, or in other words, the opening and closing
of the shed; these cams J, J¹, are in the form of arches, as shewn in Fig. 1,
but are curved horizontally to conform to circles described from the centre or
axis of the loom, each cam forming a quadrant of a circle described around
such centre or axis. These cams have flanges or rims r, r, on their inner
sides, to enter into forked projections q, q, or q', q', on the backs or outer sides
of the warp carriages F, as shewn in the detached views, Figures 5 and 6, for
the purpose of giving to the said carriages, by the revolution of the frame I,
with said cams attached, a rising and falling motion, to the warp. The weft
carriers G, G, are severally attached to the revolving frame I, exactly opposite
the higher parts of the cams J; J, J, J..
In order that, during the elevation and depression of one of the warp car-
riages F, the preceding and succeeding "ones (or in other words, one on each
side of it) may remain at rest at the bottom of their respective guide slots,
the two arms. J; J; situated. opposite each other in the circular revolving
frame I, are placed higher than the intermediate ones J', J', and the forked
projection q, on every other warp carriage F all the way round the loom, is
arranged a corresponding degree higher than q' on either side of it, and the
rims of the two higher cams J, J, are arranged nearer the centre of the loom
than those J, J', and the highest projections 9 are made a corresponding degree
shorter than the lower ones q', q'. The effect of this arrangement is, that the
cams J, J, will only act upon those warp carriages which have the higher and
shorter projections; while the cams J', J¹, will only act upon those warp car-
riages which have the lower and longer projections, as is illustrated in Figures
1 and 3; by reference to the latter of which Figures it will be understood that
the cams J J¹, are too far from the centre of the loom to touch the shorter.
projections q'under any circumstances; and by reference to the former Figure,
it will be seen that the extremities of the cams J, J, which are their lowest
parts are so high that they will pass entirely over and clear of the projec-
tions, when the carriages to which they belong are at the bottoms of their
respective guide slots b, b.
Fig. 5 also consists in explaining this: the carriage there represented being
one with one of the lower and longer projections q', but the relative form and
position of one of the projections 7 is represented in dotted outline. The
section of the rim of one of the cams J' is also represented in the same Figure
in a proper position, and the position of the rim of one of the cams J, relatively

page_text: to J', is indicated in dotted outline. It is hardly necessary to remark, that, if
only two cams are used in the loom, one would be constructed and arranged
relatively to the other, as J' is to J; and if more than four are used, they will
be constructed and arranged alternately like J and J₁ all the-way round..
In Fig. 2, M is a vertical tube fitted into a hole in the table A, and firmly
secured in place by jam nuts 8, s, and stands up exactly in the centre of the.
loom. This tube M is fitted at its upper end with several pairs of nippers-t,t;
closed by springs u, u, such nippers combining to form an elastic or self-
adjusting guide for the cord v, of which the central filling of the blind cord is.
composed, the said cord being supplied from a spool or other suitable device'
below the table A, and passing upwards through the tube M, and its elastic.
guide. N is a vertical tube occupying a position directly over and in line with
the tube M, in which position it is held firmly by being fitted into and secured!
by jam nuts w; w, in a bridge piece O, that strides across and is bolted to 'the
top of the stationary circular frame C, D. This tube-N is fitted with several.
pairs of nippers a, a, closed by springs y,y, such nippers combining to form,
an elastic or self-adjusting guide for the finished blind cord. The weaving.
point is between the two elastic or self-adjusting guides, which clamp the cord
tight enough to prevent its turning, and produce a sufficient drag upon it as it
is drawn upwards by the "take-up" of the loom, so as to keep a considerable,
tension upon it, and as the distance between the two elastic guides is very
short the cord is comparatively rigid at the weaving point..
The "take-up" motion may be variously constructed, but it is shown in the.
Drawing (Fig. 2) to resemble substantially that sometimes used in rope
making machines to take away the rope as fast as it is laid, and consists of a
grooved roller P, secured on a shaft R, mounted in bearings in brackets S, S',:
and having a rotary motion imparted to it by gearing; a number of pulleys.
P¹, corresponding with the number of grooves in the roller P, are also arranged.
to rotate on a stud, secured in the bracket S, such pulleys deriving motion
from P through the friction of the cord, as it passes round them from the
roller P. A guide roller T, attached to the bridge piece O, conducts the;
finished cord from a vertical to a horizontal direction on its way from the
upper elastic guide to the "take-up" motion.
8 (see Figures 5. and 6) is a coiled spring which constitutes the drag.
applied to one of the warp bobbins for the purpose of producing the requisite,
tension on the thread, and for taking up any slack or a broken end thereof.
This spring is applied within a circular box 9, that is firmly attached to the
bobbin carriage F, so as to surround, and be concentric with the bottom of the
spindle h; it is not attached to the box, but is simply caused to press outwards

page_text: against the sides thereof by its tendency to open or straighten itself. The
bobbin H, which, when in its place on the carriage F, is close to the top of the
box 9, has a pin 10 placed in its lower end at some distance from the centre
thereof, which pin engages with a hook at the inner extremity of the spring 8
(see Fig. 6). The spring is coiled in such a direction that the revolution of
the bobbin, produced by drawing off the thread therefrom, will cause the pin
10, by engagement with the above-mentioned hook at the inner end of the
spring, to coil up the inner end of the spring; by which means the pressure of
the external portion of the spring outwardly against the box, that is produced
by its tendency to open or extend itself, is reduced till the spring revolves with
the bobbin; but as the spring thus revolves it produces a sufficient degree of
friction on the interior of the box to produce a drag upon the bobbin, and thus
keep a tension on the thread which will be always uniform. In case of any
slackness being by any accident produced in the thread, the pull of the thread
on the bobbin of course ceases, and the tendency of the spring 8 to uncoil
itself, being then no longer controlled except by the box, the inner portion of
the spring uncoils itself, and by that means (the outer coil of the spring being
prevented from turning by its friction on the interior of the box) turns the
bobbin in the direction the reverse of that in which it is turned by the drawing
off the thread, and causes it to wind up the slack of the thread. The same
effect is produced on the bobbin by the breakage of the thread, the bobbin
winding up the broken end attached to it so far as to be out of the way of pro-
ducing any great injury to the web till the loom can be stopped and the
thread joined. By using a long spring 8, the bobbin may be made to perform
two complete backward revolutions when the thread breaks. The sanie con-
trivance is applied to the weft bobbins in the same manner, and may be
applied to bobbins for many other purposes not necessary to be here
enumerated.
Motion is imparted to the different parts of the loom froin a horizontal shaft
V, which carries at one end a bevel wheel W, and at the other an endless
screw 12; the bevel wheel W gears with a bevel toothed ring X, on the
bottom of the circular frame I, and thus drives the frame I, so as to produce
the movements of the warp and weft. The endless screw 12 gears with
a worm wheel 13, at the bottom of the shaft R of the take-up roller P, and
thus gives motion to the "take-up," which winds up the finished cord at a
speed in proportion to the rapidity of the weaving operation.
:
The weaving operation is commenced and proceeded with in the following
manner: The cord v, (Fig. 2,) to be covered is passed up through the tubes
M and N, and the elastic guides which they contain, and from thence over

page_text: the pulley T to the take-up roller P and pulleys P', upon which it is wound
a sufficient number of times to give them a proper hold upon it; the ends of
the warp threads from the bobbins H, H, are then attached to the cord v,
between the tubes M and N by tying, or in any other suitable manner; and
the ends of the weft threads from the bobbins K, K, after being led through
the carriers G, G, are attached to the cord at the same place. The loom
being then set in motion, the weft carriers travel round the groove g, and the
warp carriages with the long projections q', 2¹, and those with the short
projections 7, 9, are raised alternately in their grooves b, b, to open the shed,
and just as every warp carriage is brought to its highest position by the top of
one of the canis J, J, J, J', passing it, the weft carrier G, which is situated
directly under the highest part of such cam, passes under it; but as the warp
carriages on. either side of that which is elevated are depressed, the weft
carrier passes over them, thus carrying the weft under one and over the next
warp, in the same manner as in any plain weaving, all the way round the
loom, and producing a circular web of plain weaving. It is obvious that
the opening of the shed is not effected all round the loom at the same time,
as each cam raises its respective warp carriages one after the other in regular
succession all round the loom, so that the shed is only wide open where the
weft carriers are in the act of passing through. The weft threads, it is
obvious, take a spiral form in the web, the spirals being more open or close as
the take-up motion is faster or slower, relatively to the rotation of the circular
frame I. The drag upon the warp and weft will ensure the web being tightly
woven upon the filling cord v.
In adapting this Invention to the weaving of a hollow web without an
internal filling like the cord r, as, for instance, in the manufacture of woven
hose, pipe, or in a web for bags or any other hollow or tubular fabric, the
tubes M and N with their nippers or elastic guides, are altogether dispensed
with, and in place of the tube M there is employed a stationary cylindrical
"former" Y (shewn in vertical section in Fig. 8), secured in the position of
the tube M in the table A, and standing up above the weaving point, so as to
constitute a form upon which to weave the web, in the same manner as it has
been described as woven on the cord v, except that as the web is taken up it
moves off the "former." This "former" regulates the size of the interior of
the web. To prevent the web from turning in the loom, wheels 20, (Fig. 8,)
with sharp pointed teeth are fitted to vertical slots 21 in the "former "Y, in
such a manner that their teeth will protrude sufficiently beyond the exterior
surface of the former" to enter into the web just at or above the weaving
point. These wheels are caused to rotate by the web as the latter is taken

page_text: up. The other parts of the loom may be the same for weaving an open
hollow web as for weaving the web upon a filling, except that, when con-
venient, a different kind of "take-up motion may be used, of similar
character to that employed in the common loom.
"
Instead of a cylindrical framing C, D, containing upright slots b, b, for the
warp carriages to travel in, there may be used a series of upright pillar-like
guides, of square or other form in their transverse section, that will admit of
the carriages being fitted thereto, so as to slide up and down without turning
thereon, arranged in a circle at equal distances apart. The lower half of each
of these pillars must be attached to the table A or other foundation piece, and
the upper half of each to a ring above, corresponding in character, with the
flange d, so as to enable a pathway like g to be made all round the loom,
intersecting the warp carriage guides, so that the weft carriages can pass
between the elevated warp carriages and those at the bottom of the guides.
Or, instead of these pillar guides, slotted guides like b, b, may be made in
separate stands arranged in a circle, instead of consisting of slots in a circular
frame. The bobbin carriage guides may be placed in inclined instead of in
vertical positions.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the improvements in
looms for circular weaving which have been communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not mean
or intend to confine myself to the precise details herein described, as such
may be varied or modified without departing from the principle of action
thereof; the principal features of novelty, whereby the objects of the Invention
are effected, and which I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, are,―
First, the construction of a circle of slots or guides, or their equivalents, in
or upon which the warp bobbin carriages of a circular loom work, a circular
pathway being made to intersect the said guides, so as to admit of the passage
of the carriers or contrivances, which carry the weft threads, as herein
described.
Second, I claim operating the warp bobbin carriages (for the purpose of
effecting the crossing of the warps) by means of cams or other equivalent
contrivances revolving round the circle of guides in which the said carriages
work, as herein specified.
Third, I claim the attachment of the weft carriers and bobbins to a circular
frame, or its equivalent, to which are attached the cams by which the warp
bobbin carriages are operated, so that they pass through the circular pathway
intersecting the guides of the warp bobbin carriages, and deliver the weft

page_text: between the threads of the warp, as the latter change their relative positions
by the alternate elevations and depressions of their bobbin carriages, as herein
described.
Fourth, the construction and application of elastic guides, by which the
finished fabric and the internal filling cord, or its equivalent, are held in place
and prevented turning during the weaving operation.
Fifth, the application to the warp or weft bobbins of circular looms, or to
other bobbins or spools required to give off thread or yarn at a uniform
tension, of a coiled spring connected with the bobbin or spool, and working
within a box attached to the carriage of the bobbin or spool, as and for the
purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
5
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)