IMPROVE- MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Holdsworth, of the City of Durham,
Engineer to Messieurs Henderson and Company, of the same Place,
Carpet Manufacturers, and John Henderson, William Henderson, and
Thomas Bagley, all of the said City of Durham, and Members of the
said Firm of Henderson and Company, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Holdsworth, John
Henderson, William Henderson, and Thomas Bagley, at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 17th
May, 1860.
We, SAMUEL HOLDSWORTH, of the City of Durham, Engineer to Messieurs
Henderson and Company, of the same Place, Carpet Manufacturers, and
JOHN HENDERSON, WILLIAM HENDERSON, and THOMAS BAGLEY, all of the
said City of Durham, and Members of the said Firm of Henderson and
Company, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention of "IMPROVE
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
One part of our said Invention consists of a new mode of inserting and
withdrawing terry or pile wires, both operations being performed by means of
the same lever. This lever is mado to propel an instrument which wo call

page_text: a saddle, and which moves upon a bar alternately towards and away from the
selvage of the cloth in the loom. The saddle carries with it the terry or pile
wires, alternately inserting and withdrawing them; connected with it is a
catch for laying hold of the wires and withdrawing them out of the cloth. A
bar which we call a traverse bar is attached to the saddle, and is made to
traverse across it, carrying with it an instrument for taking the wire from off
the aforesaid catch, and transferring it forwards for insertion in the open shed
of the cloth. The requisite direction for transferring the wires is given to the
movements of the traverse bar by means of a switch bar turning upon a pivot
at the centre, and kept in position by a spring. The aforesaid lever draws
the saddle outwards from the cloth, carrying with it the wire withdrawn from
the fabric, and then propels the saddle inwards, carrying with it the wire for
insertion in the open shed of the cloth. The transfer motion of the wire, that
is, the transferring of it from the place where it has been drawn out of the
cloth to the place where it has to be inserted again, is effected, so far as
relates to the head of the wire, by means of the aforesaid traverse bar, and
the point of the wire is transferred by means of the pusher described in our
Patent, No. 1394, dated Eighth June, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-nine.
Another portion of our Invention consists of a new mode of oiling the
terry or pile wires by causing the oil to run down a channel into a sponge or
other retaining substance at ¡the side of the loom, over which sponge the
wires are drawn as they are pulled out of the cloth. The channel down which
the oil runs is formed upon a bar or lever which extends from and is attached
to a part of the frame of the loom behind the lay or batten. The oil is con-
ducted into this channel by a pipe from an ordinary lubricator, vase, or other
receptacle, by adjusting the delivery of oil from which the supply to the wires
is continuous, and can be regulated to any required quantity. This mode is
much superior to that generally in use in carpet looms, in which the oil is laid
apon a brush at intervals by hand. The bar which conducts the oil is placed
in an inclined or sloping position with the lower end lying upon the wires near
their heads; this bar at its upper end is fixed on a pivot, and on its lower end
has a notch or shoulder on the under side so placed as to press against the last
inserted terry wire, and hold the head of it firmly in its position, and thus
counteract its tendency to spring forward. It is thus made to serve the
double purpose of conducting the oil and holding the wire heads in proper
position.
Another part of our said Invention consists of an improved method of
giving motion to the picking staffs. For this purpose, we affix to a wheel on

page_text: the tappit shaft or elsewhere projecting bars which we call picking nipples.
These picking nipples, by the revolution of the said wheel, are made to strike
against levers connected to the picking staffs. One of these levers is a simple
crank lever; the other is constructed with one arm of the crank at one end of
a shaft, and the other arm at the other end of the same shaft. Both the
picking staffs are driven from one side of the loom by the same wheel, the
motion being carried to the picking staff on the further side by means of the
aforesaid shaft with a lever arm at each end. The aforesaid levers are struck
against on one arm by the picking nipples, and to the other arm have a strap
or band affixed, which is connected with the picking staff, and gives motion to
them. The strap to facilitate its action is made to pass round a segment of a
pulley placed between the lower arm of the lever and the picking staff.
Another part of our improvements consists in tho use of a wheel with
internal teeth affixed to the tappits and a pinion wheel working in gear with
it, the said pinion wheel being on the tappit shaft. By this mode of arrange-
ment and construction, we are enabled to place the tappits lower down in the
loom, and to make the running gear generally more compact than by a
wheel with external teeth, such as has hitherto been commonly used in the
same position, and considerable advantage is derived therefrom..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Holdsworth, John Henderson, William Henderson,
and Thomas Bagley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, SAMUEL
HOLDSWORTII, of the City of Durham, Engineer to Messieurs Henderson and
Company, of the same Place, Carpet Manufacturers, and. JOHN HENDERSON,
WILLIAM HENDERSON, and TноMAS BAGLEY,. all of the said City of Durham,
and Members of the said Firm of Henderson and Company, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Hor heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Samuel Holdsworth, John Henderson, William Henderson, and Thomas
Bagley, Her special licence that we, the said Samuel Holdsworth, John
Henderson, William Henderson, and Thomas Bagley, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, tho said Samuel Holdsworth,

page_text: John Henderson, William Henderson, and Thomas Bagley, our exccutors,
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," during
the term of fourteen years thence ensuing, upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Samuel Holdsworth, John Henderson, William Henderson, and
Thomas Bagley, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or the hand and seal of one of us, should par-
ticularly 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 Samuel Holdsworth, John Henderson,
William Henderson, and Thomas Bagley, 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,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
numerals of reference marked thereon, which letters and numerals when
repeated are to be understood always to indicate the same or similar parts,
that is to say :-
Our said Invention consists of improvements in the construction of some
of the parts of looms for weaving. One part of our said Invention consists of
a new mode of inserting and withdrawing the terry or pile wires of a terry
loom, both operations being performed by means of the same lever and the
apparatus connected with it hereinafter described. This lever is made to
propel an instrument which we call a saddle, and which moves upon a bar
alternately towards and away from the selvage of the cloth in the loom.
The saddle carries with it the terry or pile wires alternately inserting and
withdrawing them. Connected with the saddle is a catch for laying hold of
the wires and withdrawing them out of the cloth. A bar which we call a
traverse bar is attached to the saddle, and is made to traverse across it,
carrying with it (the bar) an instrument for taking the wire from off the
aforesaid catch, and transferring the wire forwards for insertion in the open
shed of the cloth.
Motion in the requisite direction for transferring the wires is given to the
traverse by means of a switch bar turning upon a pivot at the centre, and
kept in position by a spring. The aforesaid lever draws. the saddle outwards

page_text: from the cloth, carrying with it the wire withdrawn from the fabric, and then
propels the saddle inwards, carrying with it the wire for insertion in the open
shed of the cloth. The transfer motion of the wire, that is, the transferring
of it from the place where it has been drawn out of the cloth to the place
where it has to be inserted again, is effected, so far as relates to the head of
the wire, by means of the aforesaid traverse bar, and the point of the wire is
transferred by means of the pusher described in the Specification of our
Patent No. 1894, dated Eighth June, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
nine. In the said Drawings we have shewn how this and the other portions
of our said Invention may be performed.
In these Drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of a carpet loom;
Figure 2 is a front elevation of a portion of the same loom; Figure 8 is a side
elevation of a portion of the same loom; Figure 4 is a side elevation, shewing
other parts of the same loom; Figure 5 is an enlarged plan of a portion of the
wire motion of the same loom; Figure 6 is an enlarged front view of the
spring knobs for holding and carrying the wires; Figure 7 is an enlarged sec-
tional view, the section being taken through the batten, and the Figure shewing
a doffing plate I, and also (in dotted lines) a lubricating bar, herein-after
described; Figure 8 is a front or side elevation of the internal wheel, herein-
after described, and Figure 9 is a side view (full size) of the head of a pile or
terry wire. In these Figures, A is a lever for inserting and withdrawing the
terry wires. This lever is made to propel an instrument B, which we call a
saddle, and motion is given to the lever A from the slotted lever A 1, by means
of a connecting link. Motion is communicated to the latter lever by the
crank A 2, which is fixed to the shaft A 14; the said shaft being supported in
bearings fixed to the framing of the loom by the brackets A 7 and 8, and upon
this shaft is fastened the bevelled tooth wheel A 5. The slotted lever works on
a stud A 9, and the connexion between the lever A and the slotted lever A 1
is made by the connecting link A 3, attached at one end to the tie plate A 13
by the stud A 10, and at the other end by a pin at A 11. The pin A 12 of
the crank A 2 works in the slot of the slotted lever A 1. The lower end of
the lever A works on a stud A 4, and the upper end has one end of a link
attached to it, and the other end of the link is attached to the saddle before
mentioned, as shewn at A 16. This saddle (of which an enlarged plan is
shewn in Figure 5) slides on the bars P and P 1, which are secured to the
plate Q. These bars have longitudinal V-shaped recesses on their outer faces,
in and along which slide two V-shaped projections fixed to the bottom of the
saddle. A traversing bar 6 1 works across the saddle, and guided by the pins
62, 62, and has fastened to it at one end a pair of springs b5, (which we call

page_text: inserting springs,) having at the extremity of each a knob for taking the terry
or pile wires from the catch 68. This catch works on a pivot 66 against a
spring b 9. The catch 63, pivot 6 6, and spring 69, are affixed to a plate 6 8,.
which is fastened to the saddle. At the other end of the traversing bar is
fastened a stud or pin b7, for the purpose of running in the spaces or grooves
d 5 and d 6. These spaces are formed by an instrument which we call a
switch bar D, and a guide bar d 7, and the bar P 1. This switch bar lies upon
the plate (which is secured to the frame of the loom), and works on a centre
pin d 1 affixed to it. The said switch bar is kept in position by means of a
spring 4 pressing against a pin d 2, which passes through the plate Q, and
is fastened to the switch bar. In Figure 7 we have shewn a doffing plate I,
which we prefer to use in a loom constructed with improvements according to
this part of our Invention, the use of this doffing plate being to push or
disengage the wires from the spring knobs before mentioned. The mode in
which this apparatus acts is herein-after described.
Another portion of our Invention consists of a new mode of oiling the terry or
pile wires in a terry loom by causing the oil to run down a channel into a sponge
or other retaining substance at the side of the loom, over which sponge the
wires are drawn as they are pulled out of the cloth. The channel down
which the oil runs is formed upon a bar or lever, which extends from and is
attached to a part of the frame of the loom behind the lay or batten. The oil
is conducted into this channel by a pipe from an ordinary lubricator, vase, or
other receptacle, and by adjusting the delivery of the oil from this vase, the
supply of it to the wires can be made continuous, and the quantity regulated
as required.
This mode is much superior to that generally in use in carpet looms, in
which the oil is laid upon a brush at intervals by hand. The bar which
conducts the oil is placed in an inclined or sloping position, with the lower
end of it lying upon the wires near their heads. This bar at its upper end is
fixed on a pivot, and on its lower end has a notch or shoulder on the under
side, so placed as to press against the last inserted terry wire, and hold the
head of it firmly in its position, and thus counteract its tendency to spring
forward. It is thus made to serve the double purpose of conducting the oil
and holding the wire heads in proper position.
We have in the said Drawings accompanying this Specification shewn how
apparatus may be constructed according to this part of our Invention. G is
a bar or lever (which may be called a lubricating bar) with a groove along its
upper surface, down which oil flows to a sponge G 1, which absorbs the oil
and supplies a portion of it to the terry wires as they are withdrawn from the

page_text: fabric. The channel along the said bar receives its supply of oil from a
pipe G 3 leading from an ordinary lubricator, in which the quantity of oil
escaping from the vase or reservoir of oil is regulated in the ordinary manner.
Another part of our said Invention consists of an improved method of giving
motion to the picking staffs of a loom. For this purpose we affix to a wheel
on the tappet or other shaft projecting bars, which we call picking nipples.
These picking nipples, by the revolution of the said wheel, are made to strike
against cranked levers connected with the picking staffs. One of these levers
is a simple crank lever, mounted and turning upon a shaft, which may be
called a picking shaft, and which extends across the loom, and is mounted in
suitable bearings in the framing. The other of the cranked levers has one of
its arms fixed upon one end of the picking shaft at one side of the loom, and
the other of its arms fixed upon the same shaft at the opposite side of the
loom, so that when motion is given to one of the arms the motion may be
communicated by the shaft to the other arm. Both of the picking staffs are
driven or actuated by means of picking nipples upon the same wheel at one
side of the loom, the motion being conveyed by the picking shaft and the two
crank arms fixed upon it, as above mentioned, from the wheel, and one of its
picking nipples at one side of the loom to the picking staff at the other side.
One arm of the crank lever, which works loose upon the picking shaft, is
struck by the picking nipple at one side of the above-mentioned wheel, and
the other arm of the same lever is connected by means of a strap or band with
the picking staff at the same side of the loom. One arm of the crank lever,
which is fixed upon the end of the picking shaft next to the above-mentioned
wheel, is struck by the picking nipple on the opposite side of the wheel to that
which strikes an arm of the loose crank lever, and the other arm fixed upon
the picking shaft at the opposite side of the loom is connected by means of a
strap or band with the picking staff at that side of the loom. The straps or
bands communicating with the picking staffs, as above mentioned, are made to
pass round or over segments of pulleys, so as to give motion to the picking
staffs in the ordinary way.
In the said accompanying Drawings we have shewn how apparatus may be
constructed according to this part of our Invention.
On the sides of the cog wheel C 6 are fixed projecting bars or projections,
which we call picking nipples C 4 and C 5. Each of these nipples is made to
project beyond the periphery of said cog wheel, for the purpose of striking
against one of the arms of one of the two cranked levers, which we call picking
levers. The arm of each of these picking levers, at the point where it comes
in contact with a nipple, is furnished with a friction roller, as shewn at C 11

page_text: and C 12, in Figure 1. The picking lever C8 works loose on a shaft C 9
(which we call a picking shaft, and) which is mounted in bearings fixed to the
frame of the loom. Oue arm C7 of the other picking lever is fixed upon the
picking shaft, for the purpose of turning that shaft when that arm is struck by
one of the nipples, and thereby giving motion to the other arm C 10, also fixed
upon the picking shaft. One arm of the said picking levers C8 is connected
with the picking staff C, by means of a leather strap passing round the face
of the segmental pulley C 14 (Figure 1). so as to communicate motion to the
picking staff C, when the other arm of the picking lever is struck by a picking
nipple on the cog wheel C 6. The arm C 10 of the other cranked lever (fixed
upon the picking shaft) is connected with the picking staff C 1, by means of a
leather strap passing round the face of the segmental pulley C 18 (Figure 1),
so as to communicate motion to the picking staff C1, when the other
arm C7 of the same cranked lever is struck by a picking nipple on the cog
wheel C 6.
Another part of our improvements consists in the use of a wheel with
internal teeth for giving motion to the tappets for working the heddles of a
loom by means of a pinion upon the shafts usually called or used as the tappet
shaft. The tappets are fixed to the wheel with internal teeth upon a shaft,
which is mounted in bearings fixed to one side of the framing of the loom in
such a position that the teeth of a pinion upon the other shaft before mentioned
may work in gear with the internal teeth of the wheel, and so give motion to
that wheel, and the tappets fixed to it.
By this mode of arrangement and construction we are enabled to place the
said tappets lower down in the loom, and to make the running gear more
compact and convenient than in a loom which has this portion of it constructed
in the ordinary manner.
We have in the said Drawings shewn how apparatus may be constructed
according to this part of our Invention.
These Drawings shew a wheel M with internal teeth, which we call an
internal wheel, to which motion is given by a pinion wheel L, working in gear
with it. The pinion L is fixed upon one end of the shaft K, which is the shaft
usually called and used as the tappet shaft. The said internal wheel and the
tappets N, N, are bolted together (as will be best seen in section in Figure 2)
on a short shaft J, which is mounted in bearings supported at one end by the
bracket O, and at the other end by an ordinary bracket bolted to the outside
frame of the loom.
Having now described the several parts of our Invention, their construction,
and general connection with the loom, we will proceed to explain their mode

page_text: of operation when forming part of a loom constructed in other respects in the
ordinary manner.
The action of the apparatus for inserting the terry or pile wires in a terry
loom, constituting the first part of our Invention, is as follows:-If motion be
given to the loom in the ordinary manner, the lever A (as shewn by its posi-
tion in the front elevation, Figure 2) will propel the saddle B forward towards
the selvage of the cloth, carrying with it the traverse bar 61, which holds a
wire for insertion in the open shed of the cloth. In travelling forward the
traverse bar is regulated in its movements by the pin 67, acting against the
switch bar D in the space or groove d 5. When the saddle has travelled
forward about one-third of the distance towards the edge of the cloth, the
traverse bar is, by the peculiar form of the switch, forced into such a position
as to bring the head of the wire H (see Figures 1, 2, and 9) directly opposite
the open shed of the cloth, the point having been previously pushed forward
by the pusher F (Figs. 1, 2, and 3), and guided by an instrument, as shewn at
E (Figures 1, 2, and 3), and described along with the pusher F in the
Specification of our Patent, No. 1894, dated 8th June, 1859. The wire is
carried forward by the saddle until it is fully inserted, the pin or stud 67,
attached to the traverse bar, passing along to the end of the space d 5, next to
the selvage of the cloth. As it approaches that end of the space d 5, the
said pin 67 comes in contact with the side of the switch bar, and forces it
outwards into the position shewn by dotted lines d 3, Figure 1, and then
passes the end of the switch bar. This operation having been completed, the
head of the wire is released or pushed off the spring knobs by the doffing
plate I (Figures 1, 2, and 7), and the wire is then beaten up by the lay or
batten to the fell of the cloth.
The drawing out of the wire is performed as follows:-The saddle, as shewn
at Figure 5, carries with it the catch 6 8, and when the saddle is brought up
to the selvage of the cloth, the catch 63 is carried forward past the head of
the outermost wire, and as soon as the catch bas passed the head of that wire
it is forced inwards by the spring 69, into such a position as to take hold of
the wire next to be drawn out, and hold it whilst it is drawn out of the
cloth. The wire head is received upon the plate 6 8 (Figure 5), that part
of the wire head marked H 2 (Figure 9) resting upon the said plate 6 8.
When the saddle is moved away from the selvage of the cloth by the action
of the lever A, the stud on the traverse bar is brought against the outer side
of the switch bar; and enters the space d 6, the switch bar having been
previously brought to its original position by the spring d 4, as shewn in full
lines in Figure 1. As the saddle is travelling away from the selvage of the

page_text: cloth to the opposite end of the switch bar, the traverse bar is carried
towards the front of the loom by the stud 67 coming into contact with the
outer face of the said switch bar, until the spring knob 64 (Figure 5) is
brought opposite the opening in the wire head H 1, and forced through it;
when this is done, the saddle is again moved by the lever A towards the selvage
of the cloth, as before described.
The action of the apparatus for oiling or lubricating the terry or pile wires,
'constituting the second part of our Invention, is as follows:-The channel in
'the lubricating bar G is fed with the oil from the lubricating vase when the
loom is in motion, by means of an ordinary lubricator, shewn at G 2, Figure 3,
and the supply is regulated by a revolving spindle, which is driven by a band
working on a rotating shaft, as shewn in the Figures. The oil as it comes
from the vase passes down the pipe G 3 into the channel on the upper side
of the lubricating bar, and along that channel to the sponge G 1, by which it
is absorbed; the terry wires, as they are drawn out of the cloth, pass over
and in contact with the sponge, and in this way the wires receive a portion of
the oil contained in the
sponge.
The action of the apparatus for effecting the picking motion, constituting
the third part of our Invention, is as follows:-The wheel c 6 (Figures 1, 2,
and 3), during the working of the loom, is put in motion in the direction
indicated by the arrow on Figure 3, carrying with it the picking nipples,
which strike alternately against the friction rollers of the picking lovers. The
picking nipple C 4 comes in contact with the roller of the arm of the
picking lever C 7 (which is keyed to the shaft C 9), and thereby commu-
nicates motion to the arm C 10 of the same lever, which acting upon the
picking staff C 1, by means of the strap C 2, fastened to it, and working
'round the segmental pulley C 13, throws the shuttle across the loom. The
'picking nipple C 5 comes in contact with the friction roller of the picking
lever C 8 (which works loose upon the shaft C 9), and acts upon the picking
staff C, by means of the strap C 3 working round the segmental pulley C 14,
and throws the shuttle across the loom in the opposite direction.
The action of the apparatus for giving motion to the heddle tappets, consti-
tuting the fourth part of our Invention, is as follows:-The pinion wheel L,
* fixed upon the shaft K, when the loom is working, gives motion to the wheel
with internal teeth M, and that wheel carries round with it the tappets N, N,
which are thus brought into action for actuating the heddles.
Having now described the nature of the several portions of our said Inven-
tion, we declare that we do not claim as of our said Invention, any of the
mechanical parts or elements of the machinery or apparatus herein-before

page_text: described, separately or apart from the application and combination thereof, as
herein-before described, and that we do claim as of our said Invention,―
Firstly, the combination of parts constituting the apparatus for inserting and
withdrawing the terry or pile wire in a terry loom, as herein described.
Secondly, the combination of parts constituting the apparatus for oiling
or lubricating the terry or pile wires of a terry loom, as herein described.
Thirdly, the combination of parts constituting the apparatus for effecting
the picking motion, or throwing of the shuttle, as herein described.
Fourthly, the combination of parts constituting the apparatus for giving
motion to the heddle tappets, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Holdsworth, on behalf of myself
and of the said John Henderson, William Henderson, and Thomas
Bagley, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day
of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty.