IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bullough and William Rossetter, of Accrington,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bullough and
William Rossetter at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 1st-January 1836.
We, JOHN BULLOUGH and WILLIAM ROSSETTER, of Accrington, in the
County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is for changing self-actingly the shuttle in which the weft
has broken for another with the weft ready for weaving without stopping
the loom, and when the weft of this second shuttle becomes broken to
replace it by another shuttle with new weft, and so on, using as many shuttl.s
as may be found convenient or desirable, thus requiring the operator to
attend to the loom only after two or more shuttles have spent or broken their
weft instead of after a single shuttle has failed to give weft, as heretofore in
the generality of looms. To accomplish this object we have a horizontal
shuttle box at each side of the loom, which work in horizontal slides. We
have two weft motions also, one at each side of the loom, which work alter-
nately. The loom is driven by friction pulleys instead of by the common
DQd7

page_text: fast-and-loose pulleys heretofore in general use. There is also a sliding bar
at each side of the loom, which is worked from an eccentric on each end of the
tappet shaft. These bars have each a notch in them made to receive a
gravitating catch, which catch communicates with a stop which it removes
when the shuttle is to be changed, and it is so arranged that it will only
remove this stop when the loom has got reduced to as slow a speed as
may be deemed necessary to enable the operation of replacing shuttles to
be performed.
Having mentioned the leading features of our Invention and the principal
mechanical parts, we now proceed to explain more in detail their mode of
operation.
On the breakage of weft one of the weft motions is brought into play,
but instead of "pulling the loom off" the hammer a sector seizes the fork
in the usual way, and in pulling it back it causes a rod which is in con-
nection with it to turn part of a revolution. This rod is placed horizontally
along the under side of the breast beam for convenience, and so as to be
capable of being acted upon by either weft motion. At one end it has an
inclined quadrant or inclined plane fixed to it, which is in contact with the
setting-on spring of the loom. When, therefore, this rod is made to turn
part of a revolution by the action of the weft motion, the quadrant or incline
forces the spring handle outwards and disconnects the friction pulleys, so that
the strap is only driving by the surface of the narrow disc which is fast to
the shaft, the disconnected pulley being loose on the shaft; the loom then
begins to run slower and slower, and it will continue to run slow till the
weft is renewed, because the rod is kept in that position which keeps the
spring handle outwards by the alternate action of the weft motions, the one
which has turned the rod in that position dwelling by the form of the tappet
which works the sector lever till the other is brought up and acts the same
part, but on the presence of weft the weft fork hammers cease to catch the
weft forks (which are made by springs to return with the hammers to the
position 'for being acted on by the weft), thus leaving the rod with the quad-
rant to resume its former position, which position it is in fact forced into by the
pressure of the spring handle against the inclined part of the quadrant, and as
the spring handle is at the same time following up and resuming its original
position, the friction pulleys are re-connected, and the loom resumes its full
speed till another breakage occurs, when the same motions are repeated.
It follows from the above arrangements that if weft is felt before the loom
has got to the requisite slowness for changing the shuttle the loom will not
change at all, but will resume its original speed, consequently it is obvious

page_text: that the loom will not change its shuttle when the weft merely breaks and
catches again.
We will now proceed to describe the mode of changing shuttles. Our shuttle
boxes are held in horizontal slides, and are made to hold two, three, or more
shuttles as may be found advantageous. At the under side of the shuttle
box we have as many snugs as there are shuttles, and they are placed the
same distance apart as the centres of the shuttle spaces are from each other.
There is a stop placed for these snugs to come against, which stop is forced up
by a spring working in a socket. We have a long spiral spring, one end of
which is fastened to the loom frame at the back, the other to the shuttle box.
This spring pulls the shuttle box against the, above-mentioned stop, and the
moment this stop is depressed the box is caused to slide. This stop then
must be depressed by some means before the shuttle can be changed, in other
words, before the box can slide. The mode of depressing this stop is as
follows: We have alluded to a horizontal sliding box and gravitating catch
at each side of the loom. As the action of both these bars is alike, the
description of one will suffice. This bar is placed in direction from back to
front of the loom; it has a to-and-fro motion imparted to it by an eccentric
at the end of the tappet shaft; it has a notch filed on its upper side or edge
undershot to receive a catch, and the notch is about one-quarter of an inch
wide, and one-eighth of an inch deep, one side being a little higher than the
other. Above this sliding bar is a vertical lever swivelling on a stud fixed
to the side of the loom. On the bottom part of this lever is hinged a small
hook lever. The hook end of this lever is placed so as to be able to fall in
the notch of the sliding bar. Now, when the loom is working at full speed
the sliding bar moves at such a rate that the hook lever has not time to fill
from the higher to the lower side of the notch before the notch is passed;
but as the speed of the loom diminishes in the manner described above, the
bar slides slower, and the hook end of the lever falls in the notch and is
carried with it to the end of its stroke. The effect of this is to carry the
lower arm of the vertical lever with it, while the upper arm, which is bent
so as to rest on the before-mentioned stop, is depressed for an instant, thus
allowing the spiral spring to slide the shuttle box till the next snug is in con-
tact with the stop, which by this time has sprung up to prevent the box being
slided too far. We have spoken of a notch being filed in the bar, but of
course we may have instead two nibs fastened by set screws to the bar,
capable of being regulated both in distance from one the other, and in height
according to the speed it is sought to change the shuttle at.
In order to
prevent the shuttle box shaking, especially in turning centres, we form one

page_text: side of the shuttle box into a fine rack, into which a spring catch is forced
through one of the slides. This catch keeps the box from moving in the
direction of the breast beam, while the spiral spring which slides the box
pulls it in the other direction against the stop. By touching a pin this catch
is taken out of gear with the rack, and the box may then be slided towards
the front of the loom, the stop and snugs being bevilled so as to facilitate this
being done.
We would wish it to be understood that we have an arrangement which
prevents the gravitating hook levers from being in motion till they are wanted,
that is, till there is a breakage of weft, and that we prevent the lever ou the
opposite side of the loom to that which has been called into action from
changing the newly furnished shuttle. This is done by the position of the
spring handle when the loom is working with weft, keeping a rod under the
tail ends of the two gravitating levers, thus keeping them out of action, but
when this spring handle is forced outwards it pulls this rod till the tail ends of
the levers come over a recess in the rod, which thus allows them to gravitate,
and they are again taken out of action by the movement of the vertical lever
as it is in the act of depressing the stop to change the shuttle, hence it is
evident that no sooner is a shuttle replaced than the hook levers are taken
out of action, so that though the loom may be several picks before regaining
its speed the newly furnished shuttle cannot be changed. We have spoken
of a sliding box at each side of the loom, but our Invention may be worked
with a sliding box at one side only; and we contemplate using compound
sluttle boxes, that is, boxes containing too or more shuttles which stand in
tiers one above another, so that when the shuttles of the top tier are exhausted
the box may ascend to the next tier, and so on, and vice versa.
It may be as well to observe that we have made provision for guarding
against thin places being made during the time that the loom is working
without weft, by the action of a rod or shaft which is turned by the weft
motion and caused to raise the taking-up catches. We have also arranged a
communication from the shuttle box to the setting-on handle or strap fork,
whereby the loom may be made either to run slow or stop entirely after all
or part of the shuttles have been changed. And in order to facilitate the
operation of supplying the spaces of the shuttle boxes with fresh shuttles
without stopping the loom, we have mechanical arrangements to enable the
operative to put the loom on the slow speed when he desires to change the
shuttles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bullough and William Rossetter in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 30th June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
BULLOUGH and WILLIAM ROSSETTER, of Accrington, in the County of Lan-
caster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Bullough and William Rossetter, Her special license that we, the
said John Bullough and William Rossetter, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, orsuch others as we, the said John Bullough and William Rossetter,
our 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 IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John
Bullough and William Rossetter, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 we, the said John Bullough and William Rossetter,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say):-
Our Invention consists of improved apparatus and mechanism for changing
self-actingly the shuttle in which the weft has broken or is used up for
another shuttle with the weft ready for weaving without stopping the login,
and when the weft of this second shuttle becomes broken or absent to replace
it by another shuttle with new weft, and so on, using as many shuttles as may
be found convenient or desirable, thus requiring the operator to attend to the
loom only after two or three or more shuttles have spent or broken their
weft instead of after a single shuttle has failed to give weft, as heretofore
in the generality of looms.

page_text: The manner in which our Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by referring to the figures and letters on the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation, Figs. 2 and 3 end elevations,
and Fig. 4 a plan of part of a loom having our improvements attached;
and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detached views of some of the working parts drawn
to an enlarged scale.
In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, a represents the end frames of the loom; b, the,
b, the breast beam; c, the crank shaft; d, the tappet shaft; e, the sword arms;
At each end
f, the slay or batten; g, the connecting rods; and h, the reed.
of the slay or batten / we have a horizontal or slightly inclined shuttle box
placed in slides or guides k, and at each side of the warp we employ two weft
motions, which are worked alternately by two tappets / on the tappet shaft d,
and drive the loom by friction pulleys m, n, instead of by the common fast-
and-loose pulleys heretofore in general use. In bearings at each side of the
loom there are bars o, which slide to and fro alternately, each bar being
worked one way by a cam p on each end of the tappet shaft, and the other
way by means of a spiral spring q, Fig. 5. These bars have each a block r,
having in it a notch for receiving a gravitating catch s jointed to the bottom
of the bent lever t, the rop of which communicates with a spring bolt u
which it removes when the shuttle is to be changed, the mechanical parts
being so arranged that the spring bolt will only be removed when the loom
works at as slow a speed as may be deemed necessary to enable the operation
of changing and replacing shuttles to be performed with safety and efficiency,
On the breakage or absence of weft one of the weft motions is brought into
play, and its corresponding hammer or sector v seizes the fork w in the usual
way, and pulls back the weft lever on that side, which lever causes a rod y
which is in communication with it to turn part of a revolution. This rod is
placed horizontally along the under side of the breast beam b for convenience,
and to it are fixed arms or levers z, so as to be capable of being acted upon
by either weft motion. To one end of the rod is fixed an inclined quadrant
or inclined plane a', which is in contact with the setting-on spring of the
loom. When the rod y is made to turn part of a revolution by the action of
either of the weft motions the quadrant or incline a' forces the spring
handle outwards and by means of the clutch lever c¹ disconnects the
friction pulleys m and n, so that the strap is only driving by the surface of
the narrow friction pulley or disc n, which is fast to the crank shaft, the
disconnected friction pulley m being loose on the shaft. The loom then
begins to run slower and slower, and it will continue to run slow until the
weft is renewed, because the rod is kept in that position which keeps the

page_text: spring handle outwards by the alternate action of the weft motions, the one
which has turned the rod in that position dwelling by the form of the
tappet which works the hammer until the other tappet is brought up
and acts a similar part with the other weft motion. When weft is present
the weft fork hammers fail to catch the weft forks, which are caused to
return to the position for being acted on by the weft by means of springs fl
attached to the weft levers x, thus allowing the rod y to be forced into its
former position by the pressure of the spring handle against the inclined
part of the quadrant a', and as the spring handle is at the same time
following up and resuming its original position the friction pulleys are re-
connected, and the loom resumes its full speed till another breakage or
absence occurs, when similiar motions are repeated.
It follows from the above arrangements that if after a breakage on one
side weft is felt on the other side before the speed of the loom is reduced to
the requisite slowness for changing the shuttle that there will be no change
of shuttle, and that the loom will resume its original speed, and thus there
is no change of shuttle when the weft merely breaks and catches again.
The shuttle boxes i are made to hold two, three, or more shuttles, as may be
found advantageous, and to the under side of each shuttle box we fix as many
snugs g', Fig. 5, as there are shuttles, the said snugs being the same distances
apart as the centres of the shuttle spaces are from each other, and held as
required by the spring bolts w, which are forced up by springs working in
sockets h¹. For shifting the shuttle boxes when the spring bolts u are
depressed we employ strong springs, each having one end fixed to the
rocking shaft, and the other end connected to its corresponding shuttle box.
Each spring pulls the snugs gl against the spring bolt w, and the moment the
bolt is depressed the box is caused to slide until it arrives at the next snug or
to the end of its course. Thus the spring bolts must by some means be
depressed before the shuttle can be changed, or, in other words, before the box
can slide, and one mode of depressing these bolts is as follows: -The bent
levers t have two arms, the lower arms carrying the gravitating catches s,
and the upper arms bent so that their ends rest on projections at the bottom
of the spring bolts u. The said levers work on studs fixed to the loom sides,
and the gravitating catches s at the bottom of the levers are so placed as
to be able under certain conditions to fall in the notches in the blocks r on
the sliding bars o, and as the actions of both: sliding bars o, bent levers t,and
catches s are alike, a description of one series of movements will suffice for
both. When the loom is working at full speed each sliding bar o moves at
such a rate that neither gravitating catch s has time to in re into its corre-

page_text: 24,
sponding notch before the notch is passed, but as the speed of the loom
diminishes as before described the bars slide slower, and one of the gravitating
catches falls in the notch of the sliding bar which is coming forwards, and is
carried with it to the end of its stroke, the effect of which is to bring forwards
the lower arm of the bent levert on that side, and bring down the upper
arm so as to depress the spring bolt u for an instant, and thus allow the strong
spring to shift the shuttle box until the next snug is in contact with the
spring bolt
which by this time has sprung up to prevent the box being
moved too far. In order to prevent the gravitating catches from descending
to the notches on the sliding bars until they are wanted, that is until there is
a breakage or absence of weft, and also to prevent the bent lever opposite
to that which has been called into action from changing the newly furnished
shuttle, we fix bent wires or tails m' on the two gravitating catches s, and
place under the tails a rod n', which extends across the front of the loom, and
is fitted in guides so that it can slide to and fro. The said rod is fixed near
its right-hand end to the arm o³, Figs. 1 and 6, which is held to the spring
handle b¹ by a pin passing through a slot p' in the top of the arm o³, and in
the rod there are two recesses g'. When the loom is working with weſt the
rod n' is in contact with the tails of the two gravitating catches s, and keeps
the catches out of action, but when there is a breakage or absence of weft
and the spring handle is forced outwards by the inclined quadranta', the rod
is pulled out until the recesses q' are directly under the tails m', thereby
allowing the catches s to fall sufficiently low for one or the other to be caught
by one of the notches in one of the blocks r on one of the sliding bars 0, and
cause a change of shuttle. The spring bolts u must be pulled down and
released in an instant in order to prevent the shuttle boxes from being shifted
too far, and therefore the gravitating catches must be raised immediately
after they have fallen to release the bent levers t, and allow them to return
to their original positions by means of the springs 71, Figs. 1 and 6, and thus
release the spring bolts u; for this purpose we fix curves or inclines s at.
the bottom of the bent levers t, and form or fix inclines t' on the rod n¹, and
the moment after a gravitating catch has been caught by its corresponding
notch and the bent lever pulled, a curve or incline s on the lever is forced
against an incline on the rod, and pushes back the rod and raises the
tails m¹ and catches s, the slot p' in the top of the arm o' allowing the rod n¹
to be moved the distance required, the rod being held in its backward
position by the rack and catch u¹, vl, as long as the loom is working slow or
when it is stopped, and thus the instant a shuttle has been changed the
gravitating catches are raised out of action, so that though the loom may be

page_text: several picks before regaining its speed the newly furnished shuttle cannot be
changed. After a change of shuttle the loom quickly recovers its full speed
in consequence of the springs on the weft levers a forcing back the forks
and weft levers a as the hammers go back, thereby releasing the inclined
quadrant from the spring handle and allowing it to move inwards and shift
the clutch lever c' and strap fork w¹ so as to tighten the friction pulleys and
place the strap on the entire surface of the combined pulleys, and at the same
time a pin a on the spring handle shifts the catch u from the rack v' so that
the spring y' inay pull the rod n' and return it to its original position in
contact with the tails m' for keeping up the gravitating catches s until another
change of shuttle has to be made, and after the shuttle boxes have been
shifted their entire course the gravitating catches are raised out of the way
of the notches in the blocks on the sliding bars by elastic bands a², Figs. 2
and 5, for the purpose of preventing unnecessary action on the spring bolts u.
For preventing thin places being made in the cloth during the time the loom
is working without weft, that is when a change of shuttle takes place, we
raise the retaining catch b² of the taking up wheel by causing a projection c²
on the spring handle to act on a lever d fixed to the shaft or rod e²,
to which the catch is fixed. For stopping the loom by self-acting means
when with the last shuttle there is breakage or absence of weft we employ the
following mechanism:-On a pin f, Figs. 1 and 6, fixed to the spring
handle ', there is a disc wheel g" having a number of slots or grooves h³, and
to the disc wheel is fixed the ratchet wheel k, which is worked by a ratchet /²
on, the arm o, and held by the retaining catch m². At the front end n² of
the lever which works the strap fork w' there is a snug o", which sometimes
rests on the periphery of the disc wheel g², and at other times enters one of
the slots . When the snug rests on the periphery the front end n² of the
lever can only be acted on by the inner end of the slot p' in the spring handle
and shift the strap for the slow speed, but when the snug is in a slot or
groove the end of the lever is acted upon by the part 2 of the spring
handle and gives the lever a greater traverse, and entirely shifts the strap to
the loose friction pulley and stops the loom. The shuttle boxes shewn in the
Drawing are adapted for three shuttles, and when the three shuttles are
supplied and the loom set on, the snug o² rests
wheel and midway between two of the slots.
shifted the ratchet & turns the ratchet wheel
the last change is made the disc wheel is turned sufficiently to allow the snug
enable the loom to be stopped with the last breakage
Instead of placing a notched block r on each sliding
to enter a slot h², and
or absence of weft.
on the periphery of the disc
Each time the shuttle boxes are
part of a revolution, and when

page_text: bar o, a notch may be filed in the bar itself. or we may have instead two
nibs fastened by set screws to the bar capable of being regulated both in
distance one from the other, and in height according to the speed it is
sought to change the shuttle In order to prevent the shuttle boxes from
shaking, especially when turning the centres, we form, when desired, a fine
rack in the outer side of each shuttle box, into which a spring catch is forced
through one of the slides; this catch keeps the box from moving in the
direction of the breast beam, whilst the strong spring which slides the
box pulls it in the other direction against the spring bolt u. By moving a
pin this catch is taken out of gear with the rack, and the box may then be
slided towards the frontof the loom, the spring bolts and snugs of both boxes
being bevilled to facilitate this operation; and though we have described
a sliding shuttle box at each side of the loom, our Invention may be
worked with a sliding box at one side only.
Having now described the nature and particulars of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire is to be
understood that we claim in looms for weaving the improved apparatus and
mechanism for changing shuttles in which the weft is broken or absent for
other shuttles with fresh weft without stopping the loom, as all such im-
provements are herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Bullough and William Rossetter,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-ninth day of
June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-six.
JOHN BULLOUGH.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM ROSSETTER. (L.8.)