CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS "
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hartcliffe, of Salford, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, and Joseph Waterhouse, of the City of Man-
chester, Manager, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hartcliffe and
Joseph Waterhouse at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 23rd February 1855.
We, WILLIAM HARTCLIFFE, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, and JOSEPH WATERHOUSE, of the City of Manchester, Manager, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING" to be as follows:-
The nature of our Invention consists in improved combinations of machinery
applicable to looms for producing positive and uniform letting-off' and taking-
up motions. The machinery for letting off consists of a double lever, one end
of which is held in contact with the warp on the warp beam, and the other
end fits in a groove in the boss of a friction pulley. This friction pulley is put
in motion by a disk revolving at a uniform speed; and to the shaft of the
friction pulley is fixed a worm gearing into a wheel, to which is fixed another
worm gearing into pins projecting from the flange of the warp beam; by this
means the warp beam is turned round, and by varying the number of teeth in
the wheel driven by the worm, the amount of yarn let off can be regulated
according to the number of picks required in an inch of cloth. In the taking-
up motion the double lever above mentioned bears on the cloth of the cloth
beam; the other parts are similar to those in the letting-off motion.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hartcliffe and Joseph Waterhouse in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 20th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HARTCLIFFE, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, and JOSEPH
WATERHOUSE, of the City of Manchester, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Hartcliffe and Joseph Waterhouse, Her special license that we,
the said William Hartcliffe and Joseph Waterhouse, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Hartcliffe and
Joseph Waterhouse, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said William Hartcliffe and Joseph Waterhouse, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and scal of either of us,
sbould 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 William Hartcliffe and Joseph Water-
house, 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 (that is to say) :-
The nature of our said Invention cousists in improved combinations of
machinery applicable to looms for letting the yarn off the warp beam, and for
winding the cloth on the cloth beam. And in order that our Invention may
be fully understood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe
the means pursued by us, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon..
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is an end view of a loom side, showing our improved combinations

page_text: tion, taken from the back of the loom. a is the crank shaft; b, the tappet
shaft; and c, the warp beam. These and all the other parts not shewn in the
Drawing requisite to form a complete loom are made in the usual manner.
To the tappet shaft b is fixed a spur wheel 6', gearing into and giving motion
to the pinion d' fixed on the shaft d; on this shaft is also fixed the disc d',
which gives motion to the friction pulley e' connected to the upright shaft e by
a key working in a groove. The position of the friction pulley e¹ is governed
according to the diameter of the warp beam by the double lever f, one end of
which has a slot fitting on a stud projecting from the upright bar g, which
supports the feeling roller f', and the other end is forked and fits in a circular
groove in the boss of the said friction pulley. At the upper end of the
vertical shaft e is a worm e² gearing into the worm wheel h¹, which is fixed to
the shaft h, and to the same shaft is connected the worm h³, gearing into the
worm wheel c' fixed to the warp beam.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When the warp beam is full, the
friction pulley e is near the centre of the disc d'; consequently the least amount
of motion is given to the friction pulley and to the warp beam which is driven by
it; but as the warp beam decreases in diameter, the feeling roller f, being held
in contact with the yarn on the warp beam by the preponderating weight of
the friction pulley e', allows the said pulley to descend and increase its distance
from the centre of the disc d²; by this means the speed of the friction pulley e'
is gradually increased until the warp beam is empty, at which time the double
lever takes the position shewn by the dotted line in Figure 2, and the friction
pulley e¹ being then at the outer circumference of the disc d³, revolves at its
greatest velocity. It is evident to any practical weaver, that the number of
teeth in the worm wheels h' and c¹ must be varied to suit the number of picks
given in an inch. When fine cloth is being woven, the number of teeth must
be increased, and the contrary in weaving coarse cloth. The worm wheel h¹ is
capable of being taken off and replaced with one having more or less teeth in,
and the vertical shaft c works below in a footstep, furnished with a spring to
press the friction pulley c¹ against the disc d, and above in a bearing which can
be moved in the radial slot in the bracket to suit the diameter of the worm
wheel h¹.
с
When only a slight variation is required in the number of picks in an inch
of cloth, the position of the friction pulley ' on the disc d' may be varied by
the set screw facting on the fulcrum stud of the lever f, or by varying the
position of the stud in the upright g. The worm h² is connected to the shaft h
by a key and groove, to enable the weaver, by pushing the shaft in the direc-
tion of the arrow in Figure 1, to throw the worm wheel h¹ out of gear with

page_text: the worm c³, by which arrangement the shaft h can be turned round so as to
move the warp beam, when it is requisite to tighten or slacken the warp,
independently of the other parts of the loom.
Another modification of our Invention consists in making ratchet teeth on
.the circumference of the disc d², and in jointing a catch to one of the lay
swords to give a slow rotary motion to the said ratchet wheel and disc. In
this arrangement the worm c³ and worm wheel h¹ may be dispensed with, and a
pair of bevil pinions substituted in their stead; the worm h³ may either gear
into the worm wheel c', shewn in the Drawing, or into pins projecting from the
flange of the warp beam. The feeling roller, double lever, and friction pulley
remain as before.
When our improvements are applied for taking up the cloth, the feeling
roller is made to act on the cloth wound on the cloth beam, and the friction
roller e¹ is gradually brought closer to (instead of further from) the centre of
the disc da, by which means the increasing diameter of the cloth beam is made
to diminish the speed of the .said friction roller e'. The other parts of the
machinery may be made in the manner above described.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we wish it to be understood that we do not claim
any of the elements of the machinery which we have described as forming any
part of our Invention separately or apart from the combination and application
thereof for the purposes above described, and that what we do claim is, the
combination of the feeling roller f¹, friction roller e¹, and disc d³, with the pieces
in connection therewith, when used for the letting off or taking up motions of
looms for weaving.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Hartcliffe and Joseph Water-
house, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Eighteenth day
of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
W. HARTCLIFFE.
J. WATERHOUSE.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)