IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Carter Ramsden, of Bradford, in the County
of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 10th June 1870, and dated the 18th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Carter Ramsden
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents witli his Petition,
on-the-18th December 1869.
I, JOHN GARTER RAMSDEN, of Bradford, in the County of York,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, first, to the method of inserting the weft in
that class of goods in which either four picks or more are woven into
one shed, or which have two sleds formed at once for the insertion of
different kinds of yarn either in colour or quality, or where the face of
the piece requires to be either a different character of weaving, colour,
or quality to the back, or in which two distinct pieces are woven in the
body of the cloth or fabric, but joined together at the selvages.
LPrice S
In

page_text: these
my improvements I dispense with the shuttles and feed in the
weft by means of needles or weft insertors, and by so doing I can obtain
a more continuous production of material and weave a class of goods
which cannot be conveniently woven with the shuttle. I would here
observe that I am aware weft has been previously inserted by means of
needles, and that I myself have described them in two previous Patents,
dated March 18, 1869, No. 823, and October 7, 1869, No. 2914, for the
purpose of weaving narrow fabrics, therefore I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I lay no claim to the needle or weft insertor separately,
but that this my Invention consists in the arrangement, adaptation,
shape, and combination of weft insertors along with suitable mechanism
for actuating them, to enable me to weave fabrics of different descriptions
as before described of sufficient width, or of a similar width to what are
now produced by shuttle weaving to enable the said goods to be used
for the ordinary purposes to which they are now applied. The method
by which I propose to accomplish this is somewhat as follows;-Across
the loom in front of the lathe I place a shaft which is free to work in
bearings, one or more helical grooves are cut into this shaft at each side
of the fabric intended to be woven the grooves must be cut right hand
on the one side and left hand on the other. Fitting on to this shaft, and
with pins, studs, or projections taking into the helical grooves are two
arms to each piece intended to be woven, one on each side of the piece,
these arms project towards the reed and are fixed in that position, yet
are free to slide backwards and forwards upon the shaft. At the end of
the arms and at right angles thereto the needles or weft insertors are
attached. On this shaft at some suitable place a bowl or small pulley
is fixed; round this bowl or pulley a cord, strap, or chain can be attached,
one end of which can be attached to a treadle and the other end to a
spring, weight, or to another treadle; in one case one tappet would be
sufficient, in the other two tappets would be required to work the said
shaft, or such shaft may receive a reciprocating rotary motion in any
other suitable manner. By reason of the grooves being cut right hand
and left hand, when the shaft is caused to turn one way round the needles
or weft insertors from each side will be caused to enter into the shed or
separate sheds, as the case may be, and there deposit their respective
threads of weft, which weft is prevented returning by other instruments
or pins which come into operation and lay hold of it and there retain it
until the weft insertors have moved out of the shed, as described in the
Specification of my Patent No. 823 before referred to. These weft

page_text: insertors are made broad at their ends, and the outside points, that is,
those nearest the reed, are caused to enter into the shed first; it therefore
follows as a matter of necessity that all the remaining portion of the
weft insertors must pass into the same space or opening, though the
inside points may be moving close to the last pick and yet not take any
stray threads from either the top or bottom of the warp. The cloth is
held perfectly still during the process of weaving, that is, it is prevented
moving up and down during the crossing of the warp by reason of its
being nipped or passed through two bars or rollers which are fixed for
that purpose close to the warp, but so that the reed can beat up without
touching them. The pins which are caused to lay hold of the weft to
retain it in position are made, according to my present Invention, so
that they will move towards the cloth when caused to do so by pressure,
and yet return to their proper position when the pressure is removed,
this is to allow the weft insertors to return without either being
damaged themselves or damaging the retaining pins. When it is
desired to weave more than one piece of cloth in one loom, it will be
found advisable to have two shafts across the loom with helical grooves
cut into them, this is for the purpose of economising space. For some
classes of goods it will be found desirable to have the ends of one or
both the weft insertors made with open jaws, or jaws to close when they
have laid hold of the weft; by this arrangement, and having different
colors of weft laid parallel with the warp and lifted into position by
jacquard or other pattern surface as required, it is possible to weave
brocaded cloth with silk face and cotton back, thereby stoutness and
cheapness of material are obtained with beauty of design. The number
of colours which can thus be brought into operation is infinite, and by
arranging the treading of the warps in a proper manner tapestry in all
its shades can be successfully copied as a sufficiency of any color can
be shown on the face and the rest buried in the ground warp.
My improvements relate secondly, to the method of stopping the
loom when the weft is finished or when it breaks in that class of looms
in which needles or instruments are used to insert the weft, and this
arrangement will be found of very great service in every loom of this
description, whether weaving broad or narrow fabrics. Across the loomi
at the back of the lathe I place a rod which is free to slide in bearings,
but which is kept in position by means of a spring or weight attached
to it at the opposite end to the "knocker off;" into this rod where

page_text: required I fix upright pins, on these pins I place beads or buttons,
which are free to slide up and down. Through holes in these beads or
buttons I pass the separate threads of weft which keep them suspended,
say, about half way up the pins, but when any weft thread is exhausted
or broken it lets its respective bead or button drop to the bottom of the
pin; it then comes into contact wih a moveable bar which causes the
loom to stop.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Carter Ramsden in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CARTER RAMSDEN, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Hey
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Carter Ramsden, Her special licence
that I, the said John Carter Ramsden, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Carter Ramsden, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Carter Ramsden, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion 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 John Carter Ramsden, do hereby,
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention relates, firstly, to the method of inserting the weft in
that class of goods in which either four picks or more are woven into
one shed, or which have two sheds formed at the same time for the
insertion of different kinds of yarn either in colour or quality, or where
the face of the piece is required to be either a different character of
weaving colour, or quality, to the back, or in which two distinct pieces
are woven in the body of the cloth or fabric, but joined together at the
selvages. In these my improvements I dispense with shuttles and feed
in the weft by means of needles or weft insertors, and by so doing I can
obtain a more continuous production of material, and weave a class of
goods which cannot be so conveniently woven with the shuttle. I would
here observe that I am aware that weft has been previously inserted by
means of needles, and that I myself have described them in two previous
Patents dated March 18, 1869, No. 823, and October 7, 1869, No. 2914,
for the purpose of weaving narrow fabrics, therefore I wish it to be
distinctly understood that I lay no claim to the needle or weft insertor
separately, but that this my Invention consists in the arrangement,
adaptation, shape, and combination of weft insertors or needles with
suitable mechanism for actuating them to enable me to weave fabrics of
different descriptions as before described of sufficient width or of a
similar width to what are now produced by shuttle weaving, to enable
the said goods to be used for the ordinary purposes to which they are
now applied. The method by which I propose to accomplish this object
is somewhat as follows, and as represented at Figures 1 and 2 of the
accompanying Drawings, which represent respectively a sectional end
view and a plan of so much of a loom as will enable me to describe
this part of my Invention:-Across the loom in front of the lathe I
place a shaft a which is free to work in bearings, as shewn, one or more
helical grooves a are cut into this shaft at each side of the fabric
intended to be woven. These grooves a¹ are cut right handed on the
ene side and left handed on the other; fitting on to this grooved or
Screwed shaft a are two arms 6 to each piece of fabric intended to be
These arms have by preference plates b' screwed thereto,
which plates are provided with pins, studs, or projections 6 to take
nto the helical grooves a¹. The arms b project towards the reed c and
re fixed in that position, whilst they are yet free to slide backwards
woven.

page_text: and forwards upon the shaft a, the ends being guided by V. or other
suitable guides d, as will be readily understood. At the ends of the
arms b nearest to the reed and at right angles thereto the needles or weft
insertors e are attached by any suitable means. The shaft a may be
driven as described in my Provisional Specification, by means of a small
bowl or pulley fixed thereon, and around which
strap or chain
operated by a treadle or treadles is attached, or such shaft a may as
shewn in the Drawings, have fixed thereon a toothed pinion a², which
receives motion by means of suitable toothed gearing set in motion at
the required times by means of cams or tappets as will be readily
understood or other suitable means may be employed for giving motion
to such shaft a.
By reason of the grooves being cut right hand and
left hand when the shaft is caused to turn one way round the needles
or weft insertors e from each side will be caused to enter into the shed
or into separate sheds as the case may be, and there deposit the respective
threads of weft, which threads of weft are prevented returning by other
instruments or pins f, which come into operation and lay hold of them
and there retain them until the weft insertors e have moved out of the
shed, as described in the Specification of my Patent, No. 823 before
referred to. The weft insertors e are made broad at their ends, as de-
scribed in the Specification of my Patent No. 2914 before referred to,
and the outside points e', that is, those nearest the reed are caused to
enter the shed first as therein described; it therefore follows as a matter
of necessity that all the remaining portion of the weft insertors must
pass into the same space or opening though the inside points may be
moving close to the last pick, and yet not take any stray threads from
either the top or bottom of the warp. The cloth is held perfectly still
during the process of weaving, that is, it is prevented moving up and
down during the crossing of the warp by reason of its being nipped or
passed between two bars or rollers g, g, which are fixed for that purpose
close to the warps, but so that the reed can beat up without touching
them. The rollers g, g, I prefer to roughen, so as to enable them to
get a firm hold of the cloth. This part of my Invention is equally
applicable to weaving either broad or narrow goods when using similar
needles or instruments to those herein-described instead of shuttles for
inserting the weft. The instruments or pins f which are caused to lay
hold of the weft to retain it in position are made, according to my present
Invention so that they will move a short distance towards the cloth
when caused to do so by pressure, and yet return to their proper position

page_text: when the pressure is removed, this is to allow the weft needles or
insertors e to return past such pins or instruments f, without being
damaged themselves or damaging the retaining pins f. I have found
that a convenient way of obtaining this result is to flatten the stems of
the pins or instruments f, so as to cause them to act as springs in one
direction, whilst they are comparatively rigid in the other, but other
suitable means may be employed for this purpose.
When it is desired
to weave more than one piece of cloth in one loom it will be found
advisable to employ two or more shafts a partly across the loom with
helical grooves a cut into them so as to economise space by enabling
the pieces of cloth to be woven closer together than would otherwise be
possible. The weft is supplied to the needles or instruments e from
bobbins or cops placed at the ends or other suitable part of the loom,
being passed through suitable guides, as will be well understood, and
having tension applied thereto as described in the Specification of my
Patent No. 2914 before referred to, or in other suitable manner. For
some classes of goods it will be found desirable to have the ends of one
or both the weft insertors made with open jaws, or with jaws to close
when they have laid hold of the weft. A front elevation of this
arrangement of weft insertor is shewn at Figure 3, where e is the part
which is fixed to the arm b and carries the jaw e whilst the rod e³
carrying the jaw e" is pin-jointed at e to the bar or rod e³, and when at
rest is kept by its own weight in the position shewn in the Drawing,
whilst when weft is being inserted into the shed it is raised by coming
into contact with a projection so as to close the jaws upon the weft
thread. By this arrangement and by having the weft laid parallel with
the warp and lifted into position by jacquard or other pattern surface
as required to be taken by the jaws of the weft insertor I am enabled
to weave brocaded cloth with silk face and cotton back, whereby
stoutness and cheapness of material are obtained with beauty of design.
The number of colours which can thus be brought into operation is
infinite, and by arranging the treading of the warps in a proper manner,
as is well understood, tapestry in all its shades can be successfully
copied and various other fabrics produced as a sufficiency of any colour
can be shewn on the face and the rest buried in the ground warp.
My improvements relate, secondly, to a method of stopping the loom
when the weft is finished or when it breaks, in that class of looms in
which needles or instruments are used instead of shuttles to insert the

page_text: weft, and this arrangement will be found of very great service in every
loom of this description whether weaving broad, or narrow fabrics,
Figure 4 is a sectional end view, and Figure 5 is a plan of parts of a
loom for weaving narrow fabrics with this part of my Invention applied
thereto. Across the loom at the back of the lathe and carried thereby,
I place a rod or bar which is free to slide in bearings, but which is
kept in position by a spring or weight attached to the opposite end to the
"knocker off. Into this rod 2 on each side of each breadth of fabric being
woven I fix upright pins ', . On these pins I place beads, Buttons, or
weights m, m, which are free to slide up and down. Through holes or
eyes m', carried by these beads, buttons, or weights, I pass the separate
threads of weft n which keep them suspended a suitable distance above
the sliding bar, but when any weft thread is exhausted or broken it
lets its respective bead, button, or weight drop to the bottom of the
pin l, in position to be caught by a projection o' carried by a bar o,
which has a constant to-and-fro motion imparted thereto by cams or
tappets or other suitable means as will be well understood."
A pro-
jection o on the bar o in its motion towards the left-hand of the loom
comes against the head, button, or weight m, and thereby communicates
motion to the bar 1, which by being connected to the "knocker off" P
by a rod or bar causes it to turn on its axis p¹, and thereby places its
front end p in position on the coming forward of the lathe to strike
against the stop rod q to release it and thereby stop the motions of the
loom.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which I propose to carry the same into effect, I would have it
understood that what I do claim is,―
Firstly. The mode herein shewn and described of weaving broad
fabrics by the employment of needles or instruments in lieu of shuttles
for inserting the welt into the shed.
Secondly. I claim the mode substantially as herein shewn and de-
scribed of communicating motion to the needles or instruments employed
in lieu of shuttles for inserting the weft.
Thirdly. I claim in the class of loom herein-described the employment
of bars or rollers between which the fabric passes as close as possible to
the line of work in order to prevent the fabric rising and falling in the
crossing of the warps in manner and for the purpose substantially as
herein shewn and described.

page_text: Fourthly. I claim making the retaining pins f elastic or capable of
moving a small distance towards the cloth in manner and for the purpose
substantially as herein shewn and described.
Fifthly. I claim the employment of needles or instruments in lieu of
shuttles for inserting the weft constructed and operated substantially as
shewn and described at Figure 3, whereby I am enabled readily to
insert weft of different colors and material.
Sixthly. I claim in the class of looms herein described the mode of
stopping the loom when the weft breaks or is exhausted, substantially as
herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Carter Ramsden, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
J. C. RAMSDEN. (L.S.)