IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hesketh Hughes, of Cottage Place, City
Road, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, and William
Thomas Denham, of the same place, Manufacturer, for the Inven-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hesketh Hughes
and William Thomas Denham at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 7th May 18583.
We, HESKETH HUGHES, of Cottage Place, City Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Manufacturer, and WILLIAM THOMAS DENHAM, of the
same place, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING" to be as
follows:-
Our Invention consists in weaving by means of circular machinery.
We arrange the reeds in sections round a circle, and provide a kind of
guide or tramway on the top of the reeds. In this tramway the bobbin
carrier runs, and is caused to advance by the inner end of the reed
being raised by means of a cam, or other suitable apparatus. The

page_text: outer ends of the reeds are held by a wire or pin which passes through
a hole provided for the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Hesketh Hughes and William Thomas Denham
in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 7th November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
HESKETH HUGHES, of Cottage Place, City Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Manufacturer, and WILLIAM THOMAS DENHAM, of the
same place, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Hesketh Hughes and William Thomas Den-
ham, Her special licence that we, the said Hesketh Hughes and William
Thomas Denham, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Hesketh Hughes and William Thomas Denham,
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 MACHINERY FOR WEAVING," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Hesketh Hughes and William
Thomas Denham, or one of us, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Hesketh Hughes and William
Thomas Denhamn, 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 thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
Our Invention consists in weaving fabrics by means of circular
machinery, in which we arrange the reeds in sections round a circle,
the upper surfaces of which are formed into a circular guide or tram-
way, on which the bobbin traverses for carrying the weft thread or
threads when more than one bobbin or shuttle is or are used. The
bobbins are caused to revolve by the rising of the reeds, through the
intervention of suitable cams or friction rollers attached to the centre
shaft of the machine. The outer ends of the reeds are centred upon a
wire or pin attached to the general framework of the machine. The
warp threads are caused to cross and recross one another, so as to open
the sheds for the passage of the shuttle or shuttles, by being passed
through heddles pierced through levers, which levers are acted upon by
suitable cams or friction rollers attached to the main shaft.
Figure 1, of the Drawings hereunto annexed represents a sectional
elevation of so much of a circular loom as is necessary to explain our
Invention. A, is the central shaft, the lower end of which turns in the
step B. upon the base plate C. D, is a bent lever, one end of which
is centred in the ring E, which surrounds the main shaft. The upper
ends of these levers are connected by the pin a, to a second series of
bent levers F, which are held by a wire or pin passed through the
slot b, and supported by the ring G. H, is the heddle eye, pierced
through the lever F, there being one leddle eye for each lever in the
circle; and 1, the warp threads, which are wound round the warp
bobbins K, and after passing between the tension rollers L, are passed
through the heddle eyes and carried up to the disc M, round which the
work is formed.
N, is a friction roller, centred upon the spindle c, attached to the
main shaft, and revolving with it. O, are the reeds centred upon the
pin or wire d, attached to the general framework of the machine.
These reeds have cut in them the groove or notch e, which forms a
tramway for the passage of the shuttle carrier and shuttle. This

page_text: shuttle carrier is composed of a small plate f, having friction wheels y,
in each end, which traverse in the notches in the reeds O. 1, is the
shuttle upon which the weft threads are wound. This shuttle is sup-
ported and turns in brackets upon the plate f. P, is a friction roller
revolving upon the spindle i, attached to the main shaft A, which, as it
rotates, lifts the reeds so as to form an inclined plane, and thereby the
shuttle is made to advance and lay the weft thread between the warp
sheds. The action of this machine is as follows:-Upon motion being
given to the central shaft, by means of the bevil wheel Q, geared into
by the pinion R, on the shaft S, driven by the crank handle T, the
friction wheels are caused to revolve, and by means of the wheel N,
acting upon the levers D, and through them upon the levers F,
they are alternately thrust outwards, carrying with them the warp
threads. Upon the levers D, being released from the roller N, a
helical spring U, which is attached at one end to a projecting pin upon
the end of levers F, and at the other end to the general framework,
causes the levers F, to be drawn back towards the centre of the
machine, and so to cross the warp threads and admit of the shuttle
passing between and laying the weft to form the fabric. The levers D,
may, if desired, be arranged in sections, so that upon the passage of
the friction roller N, they are alternately thrust forward and drawn
towards the centre, whereby the warp heads are caused to cross and
recross each other for the passage of the shuttle.
Figure 2, represents a similar section of a modification of a circular
loom, in which the reeds O, are dispensed with, and the inclination of
the levers F, is reversed, the shuttle being supported in notches or
grooves cut in the ends of the levers F, and caused to revolve by the
crossing and recrossing of the levers behind the shuttle. W, W, arc
the cams attached to the main central shaft, and revolving with it for
causing the levers to cross and recross each other for opening the warp
slieds for the passage of the shuttle for laying the weft thread. I, I,
are warp threads, which are wound round the warp bobbins K, and
after passing through the tension rollers are passed through heddle
eyes a, a, in the levers F, by which the threads are carried up to the
disc M, where the work is produced.
The shuttle N, has at top a small friction roller 1, cut with a groove

page_text: around its periphery, which serves to lay the weft thread, and at the
same time to act as the ordinary reed in pressing the work. The lower
end of the shuttle has also a friction roller, which runs in a groove formed
in the levers F, so as to form an abutment for the friction roller n.
The disc M, is caused to rise as the work is produced by any of the
ordinary methods employed in the circular knitting frames.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim
the general arrangements of machinery or apparatus for weaving warp
and weft fabrics, as herein-before described and represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
We also claim the causing the shuttle or shuttles carrying the weft
thread or threads to revolve by the action of the reeds O, in Figure 1,
or by the crossing and recrossing of the levers D, in Figure 2, as
hercin-before described and represented in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, we, the said Hesketh Hughes and William
Thomas Denham, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Seventh day of November, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three.
HESKETH HUGHES. (L.S.)
W. T. DENHAM.
(L.S.)
HESKETH HUGHES. (L.S.)
W. T. DENHAM.
(L.S.)