IMPROVED APPLIANCES IN CONNECTIONTION. WITH ROTATING SHUTTLE BOXES OF.Looms
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Andrew Muir and James McIlwham,
both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Machinists, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPLIANCES IN CONNECTION
Sealed the 24th December 1872, and dated the 11th July 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Andrew
Muir and James McIlwham at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 11th July 1872.
We, MATTHEW ANDREW MUIR and JAMES MILWHAM, both of
Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Machinists, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPLIANCES
IN CONNECTION. WITH ROTATING SHUTTLE BOXES OF.Looms," to be as follows :—
.
This Invention has for its object to secure more satisfactory working
and less liability to derangement than heretofore with rotating shuttle
boxes, more particularly when such boxes are made for a comparatively
large number of shuttles, or when one or more shuttles are to be skipped
in shifting from one shuttle to another.

page_text: It is also an object of the Invention to arrange the parts so as to
admit of an increased speed.
The practical difficulties are much augmented when the objects referred
to are aimed at and the shuttle box when shifting acquires a momentum
which necessitates the application of special appliances directly to the
box in order to secure its stopping at once and without vibration in its
proper position.
By the present Invention the difficulties referred to are overcome by
applying a frictional brake to the shuttle box, such brake having an
intermittent or alternate and otherwise peculiar action. The brake is a
curved lever arranged to embrace more or less of a cylindrical rim fixed
round the inner end of the shuttle box, leather or other suitable frictional
material being attached to the acting part of the lever. This brake
lever is jointed to the piece which forms the bearing for the inner end of
the shuttle box, and a spring is applied to lift the brake lever off the box
rim, an adjustable stop being provided to limit the action of the spring
so that the lever may not have more movement than is absolutely
necessary for rendering the box quite free. A link or rod connects
the movable end of the brake lever to a small lever centred on the lower
part of the lathe sword and having its other end connected by a spring
link to a long lever centred at the front of the loom and extending back
over the low shaft. The end of the small lever and the point of con-
nection on the long lever are so placed relatively to each other as that
the connection may be practically unaffected by the vibrating movement
of the lathe, for which purpose the connecting link is made about as
long as the distance of the end of the small lever from the axis of motion
of the lathe, and the small lever is set on the lathe sword so as to be
directly over the axis of the lathe when the lathe is, forward, whilst in
the most backward position it is directly under the point of connection
on the long lever, The long lever carries an antifriction roller to be acted
by a wiper or cam on the low shaft, and the acting part of this wiper is
shaped angularly so as when putting on the brake to do it gradually.
and with an increasing intensity up to a certain point, on passing
which it as gradually relieves it. The wiper is carefully adjusted on its
shaft so as to time the brake action in a peculiar manner, that is to say,
so that the brake acts most strongly on the box not at the moment when
any shift should terminate, but a little earlier, which leaves the box
sufficiently free at the end of the movement to allow of its final accurate,
1917

page_text: adjustment by the box shifting mechanism. The extent of the action of
the wiper or cám on the long lever is adjustable, being dependent
oh an adjustable stop on a guide bracket, on which stop the long
lever rests when not lifted by the wiper. With this arrangement the
shuttle box can always be shifted with the least possible amount of
force, there being no continuous brake, nor spring pressed T piece, nor
locking appliance to be overcome; whilst the improved intermittent
brake comes into action at the proper moment for absorbing the
momentum necessarily generated by the quick shifting movement, but
exerts no more retarding action than what is just sufficient for that
purpose.
fu
The present improvements are anplicable to rotating shuttle boxes.
SPECIFICATION. in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Matthew Andrew Muir and James McIlwham
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th January 1878.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wė, MATTHEW
ANDREW MUIR and JAMES MILWHAM, both of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Het most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Matthew Andrew Muir and James
McIlwham, Her special licence that we, the said Matthew Andrew
Muir and James McIlwham, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Matthew Andrew Muir and James
MIlwham, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exertise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
**IMPROVED APPLIANCES IN CONNECTION WITH ROTATING SUTILE BÖes or
Looms," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Matthew
Andrew Muir and James M'Ilwham, our executors or administrators,

page_text: 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 Matthew Andrew Muir and
James McIlwham, 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 in writing,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
:
Our said Invention has for its object to secure more satisfactory.
working and less liability to derangement than heretofore with rotating
shuttle boxes, more particularly when such boxes are made for a com-
paratively large number of shuttles, or when one or more shuttles are
to be skipped in shifting from one shuttle to another. It is also an
object of our Invention to arrange the parts so as to admit of an
increased speed.
The practical difficulties are much augmented when the objects
referred to are aimed at, and the shuttle boxe when shifting acquires :
a momentum.which necessitates the application of special appliances
directly to the box in order to secure its stopping at once and without
jar or vibration in its proper position.
By our present Invention the difficulties referred to are overcome by
applying a frictional brake to the shuttle box, such brake having an a
intermittent or alternate and otherwise peculiar action. The brake
without interfering with the free shifting of the shuttle box comes into
action at the proper moment to absorb the momentum of the box,
and an accessory adjuster, the action of which also is intermittent,
determines the position of the box at the end of the shift in a most a
accurate manner.
And in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, we hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing
our improved appliances as fitted in connection with a rotating shuttle
box for eight shuttles.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings is a sectional side elevation showing as
much of loom as
seems necessary for the explanation of our
improvements.
The brake is a curved lever 1, arranged to embrace more or less of a
cylindrical rim 2, fixed round the inner end of the shuttle box 3, leather
or other suitable frictional material 4 being attached to the acting
part of the lever. This brake lever 1 is jointed to the piece 5, which
forms the bearing for the inner end of the shuttle box 3, and a spring 6
held by a bracket 7 fixed on the lathe sword 8 is applied to lift the
brake lever 1 off the box rim 2, an adjustable stop 9 being provided to
limit the action of the spring 6, so that the brake lever 1 may not
have more movement than is absolutely necessary for rendering the
shuttle box 3 quite free. A link or rod 10 connects the movable-end-
of the brake lever 1 to a small lever 11 centred on the lower part of
the lathe sword 8. This small lever 11 is shown in plan in Figure 2,
and has its other end 12 connected by a spring link 18 to a long lever 14,
centred on a bracket 15 at the front of the loom, and extending back
over the low shaft 16. The end 12 of the small lever, and the point-17
of connection to the long lever 14, are so placed relatively to each other
as that the connection may be practically unaffected by the vibrating
movement of the lathe, for which purpose the connecting link 18 is
made about as long as the distance of the end 12 of the small lever
from the axis 18 of motion of the lathe, and the small lever 11 is set
on the lathe sword 8 so that the end 12 is directly over the axis 18 of
the lathe when the lathe is forward, as shown in Figure 1, whilst in the
most backward position it is directly under the point 17 of connection
to the long lever 14. The long lever 14 is formed with a projection 19
(or it might carry an antifriction roller) to be acted on by a wiper 20
fast on the low shaft 16, and this wiper 20 is shaped angularly so as
when putting on the brake to do it gradually and with an increasing
intensity up to a certain point, on passing which it as gradually relieves
it. An adjustable stop 21 is applied by means of a bracket to limit
the downward return movement of the lever 14 after the wiper has
passed it, and by its position determines the amount of movement
that the wiper imparts to the lever, The wiper 20 is carefully adjusted
on its shaft 16, so as to time the brake action in a peculiar manner,
that is to say, so that the brake I acts most strongly on the shuttle
box 3, not at the moment when any shift should terminate, but a little-

page_text: carlier, which leaves the shuttle box sufficiently free at the end of the
movement to allow of its final accurate adjustment by an accessory
adjuster or lever 22. This lever 22 is centred in the same axial line
18 as the lathe swords, and extending below its centre has a spring 23
connected to its lower end. A stop 24, indicated by dotted lines, by
limiting the backward movement of its lower end prevents the upper
end of the lever 22 from moving forward more than a short distance when
the lathe moves forward. The upper end of the lever 22 is made with an
angular nose 25 fitting any one of a number of angular notches in a
disc or wheel 26 fast on the shuttle box 3. There is notch in the
wheel 26 for each shuttle cell, and when the lathe moves backwards
the wheel 26 and lever 22 go into gear in the manner shown in Figure 3.
If a shift of the shuttle box happens to have taken place and a notch
of the wheel 26 is not quite in position for the nose 25 of the lever 22
to enter it when the latter is encountered, the spring 23 allows the
lever 22 to yield, and makes it gradually adjust the shuttle box into its
exact position by the action on each other of the angular sides of the
nose and notch. With these arrangements the shuttle box can always
be shifted with the least possible amount of force, there being no
continuous brake nor continually acting spring pressed T piece, nor
any locking appliance to be overcome by its motion, whilst our im-
proved intermittent or alternate brake comes into action for absorbing
the momentum necessarily generated by the quick shifting movement,.
but exerts no more retarding action than what is just sufficient for
that purpose.
"Our present improvements are applicable to rotating shuttle boxes
with various kinds of box shifting pattern mechanism; we prefer,
however, to use with them mechanism of the kind described and referred
to in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to us and dated 9 July
1869 (No. 2068). The action of that mechanism may be transmitted
to the rotating shuttle box by a rack (corresponding to the shuttle box
spear (1) of the said earlier Specification) gearing with a pinion on
the shuttle box spindle.
i
Having thus. particularly described our said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, we have to state that we do not
restrict ourselves to the precise details herein described or delineated;
but that what we believe to be novel and original, and claim as the
Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part. recited Letters

page_text: Patent is, the applying of an intermittent or alternate brake and parts
in connection therewith to rotating shuttle boxes of looms, substantially
in the manner herein-before described. .
In witness whereof, we, the said Matthew Andrew Muir and
the said James McIlwham, have hereunto set our hands and
seals, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
10 Witness,.
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
MATTHEW A. MUIR. (L.8.)
JAMES M'ILWHAM.
(L.S.)