IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Jonathan Sellers at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 28th April 1876.
JONATHAN SELLERS, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Shuttle Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN."
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of shuttles employed in weaving
textile fabrics in a cheaper, more expeditious, and efficient manner than heretofore,
and consists in forging and shaping the tips and tongues of such shuttles by means
of swages in a "dead beat" or other mechanical power hammer driven by a strap
and friction cone, the said cone being made adjustable by the foot of the operator so
as to enable him to regulate the power of the blows by the action of his foot whilst
leaving his hands free to manipulate the tip or tongue. Or the friction cone
may be dispensed with and the tension of the driving strap of the hammer be
varied, so as to vary the speed and power of the blows by a foot lever worked
by the attendant, so that when the strap is slack the blows will be light, and vice
versa.
In these hammers I employ a peculiar adjustable bottom swage which I mount in
a cross groove in a loose block, the said loose block being adjustable in another cross
groove at right angles to the former in a fixed bed or support, thereby permitting of
universal adjustment of the swage horizontally by the workman during the operation
of forging.
I sometimes accomplish the forging of the tips and tongues in what is known as
a Ryder's forge, to which I apply a rising and falling bottom swage worked by the
foot of the operator so as to vary the power of the blow whilst leaving the hands of
the operator free..
The shuttle tongues are drilled by a self-acting drilling machine consisting
according to one arrangement of a traversing head stock carrying a horizontal drill
spindle and drill driven by a strap and pulley, the head stock being made to feed
the drill up to its work by the action of a weighted hand lever and pinion gearing
into a rack on the under side of the head stock, which may be mounted on an
ordinary lathe bed. An adjustable spring stop serves to regulate the degree of
motion of the traversing hand lever. The butt end of the shuttle tongue to be
drilled is accurately fitted in the desired position for drilling in a steel bed or holder,
and held therein by a pressing spring. The said bed or holder is mounted so
as to be capable of lateral adjustment on a stationary bracket, which is adjustable
vertically as well as horizontally nearer to or further from the drill.
[Price 2d.]

page_text: According to another modification of tongue drilling machine, the drill spindles
(of which one, two, or more are mounted in the same fixed head stock) are fed up
to their work by the action of snail cams mounted on concentric rocking shafts
provided with weighted levers which serve to press the cams against the ends of
their respective drill spindles, and cause them to slide longitudinally within their
bearings. Helical or other springs serve to withdraw the drills when the weighted
levers are lifted. An adjustable stop pin is employed for controlling the movements
of the cam actuating levers. The beds or holders for the butts of the shuttle tongues
are mounted in fixed brackets and made adjustable laterally, whilst the proper vertical
position of each butt within its holder is obtained by a vertical adjusting screw
which bears against the lower end of the butt itself, a spring being employer as
before mentioned for maintaining the butt within its holder. According to the form
and disposition of these holders the butt may be drilled either at a true right angle
or obliquely as may be required, each tongue being drilled with mathematical
accuracy.
With a view to the more expeditious and economical dressing or planing of the
shuttle blocks I employ a dressing or planing machine consisting of a vertical rotary
spindle carrying cutters which work over a circular table capable of being rotated
horizontally under the said spindle, the blocks to be dressed or planed being fixed
in brackets or holders mounted on the revolving table. These holders are made
adjustable, each working or being hinged on adjustable centre points and capable
of adjustment to any desired angle in a vertical direction by adjusting screws which
bear against an inclined lug on the under side of each holder, and are carried in a
metal ring let into the under side of the table. This ring is also capable of adjustment
in a circular direction by a screw and worm wheel or otherwise, so that on turning
the ring more or less all the holders will be adjusted to the angle desired according
to the required level in the shuttle blocks.