IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1857

page_text: application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Dennison and Henry Hirst
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the
17th January 1857.
We, JOHN DENNISON, of Halifax, in the County of York, Woollen Manu-
facturer, and HENRY HIRST, of the same Place, Overlooker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING,"
to be as follows:-
Our Invention applies principally to looms for weaving broad fabrics, and
where it is desirable that the shuttles employed should have antifriction wheels
or pulleys, and relates to mechanism for detecting the absence of the weft and
stopping the loom when this occurs. The mechanism employed for this
purpose is the common "weft fork" and connected parts arranged in the
ordinary manner, with the exceptions herein-after named. In the common
arrangement of the "weft fork" a gap is cut out of the "shuttle race," so that
it will be clear of the ends of the fork when the slay beats up; this gap permits
the ends of the fork to descend below the surface of the shuttle race so that the
weft will be certain not to pass under the ends of the fork when the slay
beats up.
The gap in the "shuttle race" is the breadth of the weft fork,
with a space for clearance, and is in some cases left open, in others a grid is
used, leaving spaces in the shuttle race only for the prongs of the " weft fork."

page_text: Now this gap or grid in the "shuttle race" is objectionable when shuttles with
antifriction pulleys are employed, and it is the object of this Invention to
dispense with it, or make arrangements which will close the gap, and make
the shuttle race continuous at the time the shuttle passes through the shed.
Our Invention consists in arranging the fork so that it will pass clear of the
surface of the shuttle race, and in employing arrangements to lift the weft
(when present) that it may be caught between the fork and its grid when the
slay beats up; or it consists in employing the ordinary arrangement of the
"weft fork" with a gap in the "shuttle race," and making arrangements which
will close this gap at the time of "picking," and leave it open immediately
after the shuttle has passed. Various arrangements may be employed for
accomplishing either purpose. A piece may be fitted in the slay so as to be
even with the surface of the shuttle race; this piece may be actuated so as to
rise up and lift the weft when present. Or, a piece may be fitted in the gap
formed in the shuttle race for the weft fork when the ordinary arrangement is
employed, actuated so as to fill the gap, and be flush with the surface of the
shuttle race when the pick takes place, and descend so as to leave the gap
open when the shuttle has passed. Movements may be given to these pieces
or parts by tappets or cams, or they may be actuated by motions derived from
the movement of the slay; or an instrument may be fixed to the framing of
the loom, which will fill and fit in a gap formed in the shuttle race, the upper
surface of one portion of this instrument being made flush with the surface
of the shuttle race, and thus to form a portion of it when the slay is in
the position where the pick takes place; the other portion of this instrument
being inclined towards the weft fork, so as to rise above the surface of the
shuttle race, by which arrangement the weft (when present) will be driven up
the incline as the slay beats up, and will thus be brought between the weft
fork and the grid or grate.