CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Knowles, of Lower Broughton, near Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 22nd November 1859, and dated the 23rd May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Knowles at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd May 1859.
I, JOHN KNOWLES, of Lower Broughton, near Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The first improvement has reference to a mode of regulating the distribution
of the warp in the sheds when the order of weaving requires the composition
of the sheds to be varied from time to time. It consists in the construction
and application of an endless tappet chain compounded of several parallel series
of links or subordinate chains and mounted upon drums turned from one of
the principal shafts. The links are of two kinds, the one furnished with
elevators, the other with depressors in the manner of the ordinary section
tappet, commonly known as Woodcrofts', and those of each series are selected
and arranged according to the order adapted to raise or depress by means of a

page_text: treadle the corresponding lear or healds conformabry with the proposed pattern
or design.
The second improvement has reference to the changing of the shuttles from
time to time in looms, wherein more shuttles than one are employed, and
consists in the application to the tappet chain before mentioned of an extra set
or series of links forming an additional part of the chain, and adapted to the
purpose of raising or depressing a system of moveable boxes, by having its
links formed with elevators or depressors of various altitudes, according to the
number of shuttles to be employed.
The third improvement has reference to the taking up of the cloth, and
consists in applying to the tappet chain before mentioned an extra series or
set of links, of which some are adapted to give impulse to the lever of the
taking-up click, while others allow the same to lie dormant, and the taking-up
to be suspended. The taking-up may thus be alternately accelerated and
retarded according to the manner of compounding the links of the chain.
The fourth improvement has reference to the pick, and is intended to make
the pick at either side of the loom capable of being occasionally suspended or
omitted. It consists in applying to the before-mentioned tappet chain an addi-
tional part for each pick composed of a series of links, whereof a portion are
adapted to operate by a lever and other intermediate parts in sliding the
picking tappet or wiper out of its acting position, so as to prevent any particular
pick from being effected in its ordinary turn or course.
The fifth improvement has reference to changing the shuttles from time to
time in predetermined order and at regular intervals in looms, wherein more
shuttles than one are employed, and is applicable to certain known mechanism
for that purpose, wherein the movements of a lever which actuates the boxes
are produced by swells or prominences upon the periphery of a cam wheel
moveable in both directions, and having its position changed from time to
time by ratchet clicks or catches having continuous motion, but turning the
cam wheel in opposite directions only at intervals dependent upon the arrange-
ment of the links of a pattern chain or strap. It consists in making the
prominences or swells of the cam wheel perpendicular to the face thereof, or
having relatively the same position as the teeth of a crown wheel, the said
prominences or swells being segments of a cylinder, having the cam wheel for
its base, or otherwise in constructing the cam wheel in the form of a cylinder or
barrel circumferented by an undulating groove which receives a friction roller
with which the end of the lever which actuates the boxes is armed, and thereby
controls the movements of the lever. Also in the use for changing the

page_text: position of the cam wheel of a pair of opposite wheels or discs constantly
revolved on a sliding boss in one direction, and by means of pins or teeth made
to impart occasional motion each in the contrary direction from the other to
an intermittent wheel fast to and consequently accompanied in its movements
by the cam wheel. The engagement of either of the pin wheels or discs with
the intermittent wheel is brought about by the movement endwise of. their
sliding boss under the influence of a lever controlled by a pattern chain,
according to the arrangement of whose links the pin wheels or discs may be
alternately thrown into gear with the intermittent wheel for the purpose of
turning the cam wheel in either direction to effect a change of shuttles, or both
may be simultaneously withdrawn for the cam wheel to remain at rest
between the changes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Knowles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
KNOWLES, of Lower Broughton, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year.
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Knowles, Her special license that I, the said.
John Knowles, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Knowles, my executors, administrators, or 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 of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the.
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Knowles, 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 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Knowles, do hereby declare that
the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are particularly described and ascertained in and by this present
instrument in writing, with the aid of the Drawings hereto annexed. The
said Drawings are contained on two Sheets, and I shall refer to the Figures
or Diagrams comprised therein from time to time as occasion arises, indicating
the parts referred to by means of the alphabetical and numerical characters
marked thereon, which characters when repeated are to be understood always
to indicate the same or similar parts or things in different places or under
different aspects.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a side elevation of apparatus for carrying into effect
certain parts of my Invention, which is represented as applied in juxtaposition
with the side of a loom. Figure 2 on the same Sheet gives a partial view in
front elevation (extending only to half the loom) of some of the parts to be
explained, taken upon a plane intersecting the loom vertically and lengthwise.
At the dotted line 1, 2, in Figure 1, A, A, A, is the framing of the loom; B,
the sley; C, C, C, the train of taking-up wheels; D, D, moveable shuttle
boxes; E, E, one of the picking shafts; F, one of the picking tappets; G, the
picking bowl; H, H, H, H, heald staves; K, the crank shaft; and L, the
tappet shaft.
On Sheet 2, Figure 3 represents in side elevation a view of apparatus for
carrying into effect another part of my Invention, having for its object the
changing of the shuttles. This apparatus is also supposed to be placed in juxta-
position with the side of a loom, sufficient of which is shewn to make the manner
of application intelligible. Figure 4 is a plan view of the last-mentioned appa-
In these views, as before, A, A, A, is the frame of the loom, and L the
ratus.
tappet shaft.
My said Invention consists, firstly, in the construction and combination of
the parts of an endless or circulating tappet chain compounded of several
subordinate chains or parallel series of links, each link being furnished with
one of the projections known to weavers by the various denominations of
"jiggers," "risers aud sinkers," or "elevators and depressors," and in the
application of such chains to the purpose of regulating the distribution of the
warp in the sheds in fancy weaving by elevating and depressing the leaves of
healds in varied orders of succession dependent upon the manner in which
the links of the chain are selected and arranged in composing the chain.

page_text: The links consist of plates of cast metal having perforated bosses at their
lower corners, through which bosses pins are passed to unite the links together.
Each link has a jigger projecting from its face in the form of a bead. Two
of these links are represented in front view at Figure 5, Sheet 2, and the edge
view of one is given at Figure 6. a, a, are the links; a¹, a', a', the bosses;
a², a³, the jiggers; a², being an elevator, and a³, a depressor. A continuous
chain or series of these links is used for each leaf of healds, the number of
links in each series being of course the same as the number of picks in the
round of the pattern, and each place in the series being occupied by a link
selected according to the movement, which the leaf of healds appertaining to
it is required to make at the corresponding opening of the shed. There will
consequently be required as many series of links as there are leaves of healds
employed. Those links of each series which coincide in position and co-operate
in the opening of the same shed are conjoined to form one link of the com-
pound chain by a pin or bolt passed through all the bosses, at each joint the
bosses projecting in a semi-cylindrical form under the chain, as will be under-
stood by an inspection of the Drawing. The links of all the series are thus
united at each joint into one aggregated chain, in which each transverse row or
set of links governs the disposition of the healds in the corresponding shed
according to the character and arrangement of the links which compose it.
It will be understood that the pattern of the fabric to be woven can thus
be easily altered, extended, or curtailed by dissecting the chain, and re-com-
pounding it, transposing, adding, or subtracting links according to the design;
and it will also be seen that all the variations in pattern can be effected by
the use of only two varieties or forms of link.
Figures 1 and 2 explain the manner in which I communicate motion to
the chain by suspending it upon a cylinder or barrel b, the surface of which is
grooved longitudinally at intervals equal to the distances between the joints of
the chain. The projecting bosses of the latter take into the grooves b¹, b¹, of
the barrel, which are adapted to receive them, and the chain is thus caused
to circulate as the barrel revolves. The rotation of the barrel b is effected
by a toothed wheel c fixed upon the axis or neck of the same at the end
nearest to the loom, which wheel is driven by a pinion c¹ keyed on the crank
or other principal shaft, the numbers of teeth in the wheel and pinion being so
proportioned that the barrel shall advance the chain through the space of one
link at each revolution of the crank shaft.
The manner in which the chain is made to impart the necessary motions to
the bealds is by treadles d, d, d, d, (see Figures 1 and 2) acted upon by the

page_text: jiggers, the said treadles being formed furnished with bowls d¹, and applied after
the manner followed in using the section tappet known as "Woodcroft's," and
in the same manner they are also connected to and elevate or depress the
levers e, e, e, e, e, e, e, e, which move the healds, which arrangements being
old and in common use will be understood without further explanation.
The chain may be worked by two cylinders or barrels instead of one,
according to the arrangement suggested by Figure 7 (Sheet 1.) The links
in this case should be made with small projections, a', a', a', a', on each of
their sides bevilled in contrary directions, as shewn in Figures 5 and 6.
These projections mutually overlap or interlock with each other when the
links are in contact, thereby increasing the stability of the chain through the
support which each link receives from the adjacent ones on each side of it.
My said Invention consists, secondly, in the addition to and combination
with the before-mentioned tappet chain of an extra or additional chain or
series of single links of similar structure with the subordinate or single chains
before described, except as to the configuration and proportions of the jiggers.
This chain is embodied with and partakes of the motion of the principal chain,
and is suspended with it on the same cylinder or barrel. It is adapted to the
purpose of raising or depressing, by means of its treadle, a set of moveable
shuttle boxes, the jiggers being formed of different altitudes according to the
number of boxes to be worked. Three links of a series adapted for working
three boxes are represented in Figure 8 by way of example, it being under-
stood that if a greater or less number of boxes is to be worked, the jiggers
must be modified in number and altitude accordingly. a is the jigger which
works the lowest box, a the middle, and a' the highest. When the box in
operation is to remain stationary, the jigger is to be carried completely across
the link, as shewn by dotted lines in a³ and a°. In Figures 1 and 2, f repre-
sents the treadle applied in conjunction with the extra chain for this purpose;
f is the rod which connects the treadle with the lifting lever f², the fulcrum
of which is behind the framing at the point f; f is the rod through which
the lifting lever få raises or lets down the moveable boxes D, D.
My said Invention consists, thirdly, in the adaptation and application in
combination with, the firstly before described chain of a chain or single series
of links similar to those before described, except as to the 'figure, size, and
position of the jiggers to the purpose of actuating the ratchet wheel and click
of the taking-up motion, it being understood that motion is to be imparted to
the chain, as in the previous cases. The jiggers in this instance are formed
and located as in Figure 9, at a³, a, a, being intended to act not simul-

page_text: taneously with the jiggers in the shedding chain, but about the time of the
closing or crossing of the shed. When the taking up is to be suspended or
interrupted, blank links, or links without jiggers, are to be inserted, so that
the treadle may lie dormant. The mode of transmitting the impulses of the
treadle to the taking-up click is shewn in Figures 1 and 2, where 9 is the
treadle connected by a rod g' to the lever g whose fulcrum is at g³. Upon
the lever gis pivoted the taking-up click g, which takes a tooth of the
ratchet wheel g' every time the treadle g is lifted by the jiggers on the
chain. It will be percieved that the arrangement of the links of the chain
may be so ordered, that the click 9' may be made to act upon the ratchet
wheel at every pick, or at regular or irregular intervals of any number of
picks, so that the rate of taking up may be regulated or varied at discretion
by the manner of compounding the chain.
My said Invention consists, fourthly, in the adaptation and application in
combination with the firstly before described tappet chain of a chain or series
of links constructed in the same manner as those before described, except as to
the figure, form, size, and position of the jiggers, to the purpose of sliding the
wipers of the picking tappets out of or into their respective working positions,
so that in looms provided with two sets of moveable shuttle boxes, the pick
may be repeated from either side of the loom and omitted on the other, or the
order in which alternate picks are made may be reversed. The chain is to be
suspended and worked after the manner previously described in combination
with the firstly described tappet chain. As the shifting of the wipers to alter
the course of the picks and of the moveable boxes to change the shuttles ought
to occur simultaneously, the jiggers of the chain are to be made in the same
form as those in a chain for shifting two boxes, care being taken that the
difference in the altitudes of the jiggers shall bear such a proportion to the
traverse of the wipers as will compensate for the differences in the virtual
lengths of the arms of the several levers through which the motion is trans-
mitted. The arrangement for transmitting this motion and the construction
of the tappets are explained by Figures 1, 2, 10, and 11, (Sheet 1.) The
picking tappets (each of which is necessarily furnished with two wipers) are
made in two parts, represented in side view at Figure 10, and in section at
Figure 11. The tappet which is keyed on the tappet shaft consists of a
flanched disc h, in which are two diametrically opposite recesses, the sides of
which are formed by continuations of the flanch h², h. The wipers h², h³,
spring from bases h³, h³, which fit and slide within the recesses, and are united
by being cast in one piece with a cross plate h', h, furnished with a boss h³,

page_text: which slides loose on the tappet shaft, and has an annular groove sunk in it.
The wipers are placed in or withdrawn from their working positions by being
traversed within the recesses towards or from the disc h, the extent of traverse
not being so great as to withdraw their bases h³, h³, entirely from the recesses.
The manner in which the slide or traverse motion is communicated is as
follows: The treadle k, which is operated upon by the jiggers of the chain, is
connected by a rod k with the horizontal arm of a lever, whose fulcrum is
the pin e', which carries the shedding levers e. The opposite arm of the
same lever is vertical, and terminates in a fork which embraces the groove in
the sliding boss of the wipers. It will be apparent that the raising of the
treadle by the jiggers of the chain will cause the lever arm ³ to retire from
the tappet and withdraw the wipers from their working position, and the
reverse movement will be effected when the treadle descends by the prepon-
derance of the lever arm, assisted, if need be, by a weight or spring. The
groove in the sliding boss of the tappet at the opposite side of the loom is
embraced by a forked stem or arm similar to the lever arm, and pivoted on
a stud in a position corresponding to that of the pin e¹. This stem is connected
with the lever arm ³, by a rod l and lock nutts, so that the two pairs of wipers
always move in unison, the one pair coming into play as the other retires
from action. The loom can thus be made to pick from either side at any shed
by selecting a link for the corresponding place in the chain, the jigger of which
link is calculated to raise the treadle or to leave it depressed, according to the
side from which the loom is required to pick. It is to be observed that my
Invention consists in the application of the described chain to the purpose
mentioned, and not in the formation or construction of the tappet, for which one
of another form may be substituted if preferred.
My said Invention consists, fifthly, in improvements upon a certain part of
a former Invention of "Certain Improvements in Looms for Weaving," for
which Letters Patent were granted to myself and William Clarke, of
Manchester, bearing date the Fourteenth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-six (No. 1901). The part of the said former
Invention to which the present improvements have reference consists in an
improved arrangement and combination of self-acting mechanism for governing
the position of moveable shuttle boxes, so as to change the shuttles from time
to time according to a determinate order and at prescribed intervals.
According to the aforesaid previous Invention, the lifting lever, or that used
for raising and lowering the boxes, is actuated by swells or prominences of
different altitudes, based upon the periphery of a cam wheel, and rising or

page_text: extending therefrom in the plane of its disc. The cam wheel is moveable in
both directions, and is turned from time to time to make the various swells
act in their proper order upon the lifting lever, by means of catches operating
at intervals upon pins projecting from the cam wheel, the said catches
receiving continuous motion from an eccentric on the tappet shaft, but
being permitted to act only at the intervals and in the order determined by
the arrangement of an endless or circulating pattern chain or strap, all which
is explained fully and at large in the Specification filed under the provisions of
the Letters Patent lastly before mentioned; to which I refer for further and
more particular information.
My present improvements are illustrated by Figures 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15,
and 16, on Sheet 2. The first of them consists in a new construction or con-
figuration of the cam wheel which actuates the lifting lever. Instead of
making the swells or prominences in the plane of the disc of the wheel, I
make them to spring from the periphery of the said disc at right angles to the
plane thereof, having relatively thereto the same position which the teeth of a
crown wheel have to its disc. The figure of the said swells is that of an
irregular segment, or segments of a right cylinder, of which the disc is the
base. If, for example, the scroll represented at Figure 12 be supposed to be
wound upon a right cylinder, the lower bounding line coinciding with the base
thereof, the upper or waved outline will represent the acting edges of swells
for working three boxes. It is to be observed, that the vertices of swells of
this conformation always act at the same distance from the axis of the cam
wheel. Instead of the wheel, a cylinder circumferented by an undulating
groove, as represented in the Diagram, Figure 13, may be substituted, a
friction roller projecting from the lifting lever being confined in and caused to
traverse the groove, so that upon the cylinder being made to revolve, the
roller is constrained to follow the inclinations of the groove, and thereby raises
or depresses the lever and boxes.
The second of these improvements has reference to the method of turning
the cam wheel, in order to apply the various swells in due succession to the
lifting lever when one shuttle is to be changed for another. It consists in the
use for the purpose mentioned of a pair of opposite and parallel wheels or
discs continuously revolved on a sliding boss or barrel, and by means of pins
or teeth imparting occasional motion to an intermittent wheel fast to and
consequently accompanied in its movements by the cam wheel. The pin
wheels moving in one and the same direction revolve the intermittent wheel
and cam wheel in either direction, because applied to opposite sides of it. The

page_text: engagement of either of the pin wheels or discs with the intermittent wheel is
brought about by the movement endwise of their sliding boss, under the
influence of a lever controlled by a pattern chain, according to the arrange-
ment of whose links the pin wheels or discs may be alternately thrown into
gear with the intermittent wheel for the purpose of turning the cam wheel in
either direction to effect a change of shuttles, or both may be simultaneously
withdrawn for the cam wheel to remain at rest between the changes.
The arrangement of the foregoing parts, together with the subsidiary
mechanism required for producing their combined action, is explained by
Figures 3 and 4, the side of the frame which carries the apparatus being
removed in Figure 3 to expose the interior.
m is the lever for raising or
depressing the moveable boxes, to which it is connected by the rod m². Its
fulcrum is a stud at m¹, and its extremity is armed with a friction roller m³ to
receive the pressure of the cam wheel. n is the cam wheel with swells or
prominences to actuate the lever m. Its construction has been before described.
Its boss n² revolves on a stud n³, and has attached to its upper end the inter-
mittent or star wheel n³ made with cylindrical or crown teeth pointing
upwards. 0, 0, are a pair of parallel pin wheels fixed on the ends of the
sliding boss o² and on opposite sides of the intermittent wheel n³. They
slide and revolve on a fixed shaft or spindle o, their rotation being effected by
the tappet shaft L, through the toothed wheels t and t³, to the latter of which
they are connected by the pins o*, o, which enter holes in the wheel and leave
the boss free to slide endwise without breaking the connection. Projecting
from the face of each of the pin wheels o, o, is a pin o¹, which takes into the
notches of the intermittent wheel n³, so that when in gear each revolution of
the pin wheels turns the wheel n³ and the cam n through the space of one
tooth or notch, the direction of the motion depending upon which pin wheel is
in gear. When in the intermediate position represented in Figure 4, both
pin wheels being disengaged, the cam wheel remains stationary, and no change
is made in the position of the boxes. The endwise movement of the sliding boss
or barrel o² is effected by the vibrations of the lever p pivoted on a stud at p¹,
and embracing with its forked end the groove o³. The vibrations of the lever
are effected and the intervals between them determined by the action of a
chain upon the end 23 of the lever p, a friction roller carried by which enters
grooves formed on the links of the chain. The construction of the chain is
explained by the plan view Figure 14, and side view Figure 15.
are connected by pins passing through bosses q, q, which project
chain and embed themselves in grooves upon the chain barrel.
The links
under the
On the upper

page_text: surfaces of the links are raised parallel beads q', q', which form the groove in
which the end of the lever p traverses. The grooves are parallel to the
length of the chain in the links which are intended to keep the lifting cam
stationary, but oblique in those which are intended to move it by throwing one
of the pin wheels o into gear with the intermittent wheel n³. The chain
circulates upon a barrel having side flanches to prevent lateral deviation in
the chain. The sectional figure of the barrel is given at Figure 16, in
which,,, are the longitudinal grooves which receive the bosses of the
chain. The barrel r is keyed on a shaft 71, upon which is also keyed the
intermittent wheels; the latter receives motion from the tappet shaft L
through the wheel or disc t', which, by means of its pin t², takes a tooth or
notch of the intermittent wheel at every revolution of the tappet shaft.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I conclude by declaring that what I claim as new, and of my
Invention in the apparatus or mechanism herein-before described, is,―
Firstly, the construction and combination of parts of an endless tappet
chain compounded of any number of parallel series of links furnished with
"jiggers," adapted to raise and depress the healds in fancy weaving in con-
formity with a defined pattern or design, and the mode of applying and working
the said tappet chain as herein-before particularly set forth and described.
Secondly, the combination with the tappet chain before mentioned of an
extra series of links furnished with "jiggers," adapted to the purpose of
raising or lowering a system of moveable shuttle boxes as herein-before set
forth and described.
Thirdly, the combination with the tappet chain firstly before mentioned of
an extra series of links adapted to give impulse to the taking-up click, or to
allow the action of the same to be suspended according to the manner herein-
before set forth and described.
Fourthly, the combination with the firstly before-mentioned tappet chain of
an extra series of links adapted to slide the picking tappets or wipers into or
out of their working positions, so as to alter the order of the picks in manner
herein-before explained.
Fifthly, making the prominences or swells of the cam wheel employed for
raising and lowering moveable shuttle boxes according to the Invention of
John Knowles and William Clarke, herein-before referred to, perpendicular
to the disc of the said cam wheel, instead of being in the plane thereof, or
employing in the place of the said cam wheel a cylinder with undulating
grooves, as herein-before explained.

page_text: And, sixthly, the use and application, in combination with the before-
mentioned improved cam wheel, of a pair of parallel dises fixed on and
revolving with a sliding boss, and by means of pins or teeth imparting
occasional motion to the said cam wheel, together with the mechanism and
pattern chain for transmitting motion to and regulating the action of the
same, as berein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Knowles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed and sealed by the said John
Knowles, in the presence of,
JNO. TAYLER, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JOHN KNOWLES. (L.S.)