Year: 1897

page_text: A communication from PAUL WALTER STEVENS, of 901, Thirteenth Street, North
West Washington, D.C., United States of America, Clerk.
1, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows;
This invention relates to the weft supply of looms adapted to weave multi-
coloured patterned fabrics and mechanism therefor.
Heretofore in looms of this class, a shuttle holder has been employed which
contained two or more shuttles, each of the shuttles being supplied with thread
of a different colour or character, and this shuttle holder is actuated by suitable
shifting mechanism under the control of a pattern surface to bring the different
shuttles into position to be thrown across the lay to supply threads of different
colours as they are called for by the pattern being woven. In these looms, how-
ever, whenever the thread of any one of the shuttles becomes broken or exhausted
the operation of the loom is automatically arrested until a fresh shuttle is supplied
by the operator to take the place of the shuttle whose thread has become broken
or exhausted.
The present invention has for its object to render this stopping of the loom
unnecessary, thereby saving considerable time and labour and increasing the
output of the loom. With this object in view, the improved loom is provided
with a shuttle holder containing two or more shuttles, each supplied with thread
of a different colour or character and mechanism connected with the shuttle
holder for shifting said holder to bring the different shuttles thereof into position
to be thrown across the lay. This shifting mechanism of the shuttle holder
is controlled by suitable pattern devices which determine the order and the num-
ber of times the shuttles of the holder are to be thrown across the lay. Co-
operating with the shuttle holder is suitable mechanism by means of which when
the thread of any one of the shuttles of the shuttle holder becomes broken or
exhausted, a new shuttle containing thread of the same colour or character is
automatically shifted into position to be thrown across the lay and the exhausted
shuttle is simultaneously shifted out of operative position.
The invention is capable of many different embodiments, but I will describe
generally one construction and arrangement of parts by which it may be carried
out.
Combined with a loom of any ordinary construction having the usual. recipro-

page_text: cating lay is a shuttle holder supported upon the loom frame at one end but
independently of the lay. This shuttle holder contains two or more pairs of
shuttles, the shuttles of each pair being supplied with thread of the same colour
or character and the several pairs of shuttles with thread of a different colour or
character.
Suitable mechanism is employed by means of which the shuttle holder may
be shifted to bring any one shuttle of the different pairs into position to be
thrown across the lay when the lay is in its rearward position and the operation
of this shifting mechanism is controlled by a moving pattern surface which
determines the colour of the thread to be thrown across the lay. Co-operating
with the shuttle holder is mechanism actuated upon the breaking or exhaustion
of the thread of a shuttle of any one of the different pairs to automatically
shift the shuttle holder and bring the second shuttle of the pair into position
to be thrown across the lay.
It will thus be seen that the invention comprehends in combination with a
loom of ordinary construction, the use of two or more shuttles each containing
thread of a different colour or character with pattern controlled means for bring-
ing the different shuttles into position to be thrown across the lay of the loom
according to the design to be woven and, co-operating with these devices, auto-
matic mechanism which operates upon the breaking or exhaustion of the thread
of any one of the shuttles to shift the shuttle with the broken thread out of
operative position and bring a new shuttle containing thread of the same colour
as that discharged into position to be thrown across the lay. All of these parts
operate while the loom is running and it is therefore unnecessary to arrest the
operation of the loom whenever a shuttle thread breaks as is the case with fancy
fabric looms now in use.
Dated this 1st day of Sontombor 1807
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
Supply of Looms.
A communication from PAUL WALTER STEVENS, of 901, Thirteenth Street, North
West Washington, D.C., United States of America, Clerk.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in weft sup-
plying mechanism for looms adapted to weave multi-colored or patterned fabrics,
and the invention has for its object to render the operation of such looms prae-
tically continuous. With this object in view, the invention consists in means
whereby the above and other results may be attained, and resides in the novel
features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set
forth.
In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in
which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Fig. 1 is a vertical

page_text: longitudinal sectional view of the invention, parts being broken away; Fig. 2
is a similar view on an enlarged scale; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the invention,
parts being broken away; Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the mechanism for
shifting the shuttle holder; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the same on the
line Z-Z of Fig. 4; Figs. 6 and 7 are also plan views of the shuttle holder
shifting mechanism showing the parts in different positions.
According to this invention a loom is provided with a shuttle holder adapted
to contain two or more shuttles, each of which shuttles contains thread of a
different color or character; means under the control of suitable pattern devices
are also provided for shifting the shuttle holder to bring any one of the shuttles
contained therein into position to be thrown across the lay; suitably supported
relative to the lay are additional supplies of threads of the same colors or
characters as those contained in the shuttles of the shuttle holder and co-operating
with the above enumerated mechanisms are devices which are so constructed and
arranged that a new supply of thread corresponding to that contained in the
active shuttle is brought into action at a predetermined time, the action of these
latter devices depending upon the condition of the thread of the active shuttle,
that is to say, they may be arranged to operate when a shuttle thread is broken
or when it is exhausted. The one embodiment of the invention illustrated in
the drawings and which will be presently described embraces a shuttle holder
containing two or more pairs of shuttles, the shuttles of each pair containing
thread of the same color or character, and the shuttles of different pairs containing
thread of a different color or character, and means whereby when the thread of
the active one of any pair of shuttles becomes broken or exhausted the other
shuttle of said pair is shifted into position to be thrown across the lay, and the
invention also provides automatically actuating mechanism for shifting the
shuttle-holder in order that a shuttle of any of the pairs may be thrown across
the lay.
This is the first time it has ever been proposed to construct a patterned fabric
loom which shall be practically continuous in its operation, that is to say, to
provide a loom with a shuttle holder containing two or more shuttles each
supplied with thread of a different color or character, the holder being under
the control of pattern mechanism which causes the different shuttles to be
brought at the proper times into position to be thrown across the lay and
arranging automatic means which are intended to co-operate with the thread of
an active shuttle to cause a fresh supply of such thread to be brought into
position, the actuation of such means being dependent upon the condition of
the thread of the active shuttle.
It is to be understood therefore that the invention being a generic one, it is
not to be limited to the apparatus which will be now described for carrying it
out as the principle may he carried out by variously constructed mechanisms.
Referring more particularly to the drawings, A represents a loom which may
be of any ordinary construction embracing the usual day, reed, pickers and
picker-staffs, weft-end holders and other complemental mechanisms. The
operation and construction of these parts is well understood by those skilled
in the art and need not be described in detail herein, nor is it deemed necessary
to fully show such mechanism in the drawings.
Arranged at one end of the lay and preferably, though not necessarily, upon
the loom frame, is a shuttle holder B adapted to contain two series
of shuttles 1, 2, (Fig. 1), respectively, the shuttles of the two series forming
pairs, the shuttles of each pair containing thread of the same color or character
and the different pairs of shuttles containing thread of a different color or
character.
These series of shuttles are preferably arranged parallel, but they may be
differently arranged if desired. As shown, although it need not be necessarily
the case, the shuttle holder B comprises two parallel connected series of shuttle
boxes or supports 1, 2, which hold the shuttles out of contact with each other.

page_text: This holder is carried. upon a reciprocating support C which in the present in-
stance is a slide reciprocating in a guide box or frame D). This slide is provided
with vertical guide rods 3, embracing which are collars 4 of the shuttle holder
to guide the same in its vertical movement. Projecting from the slide through a
contracted opening 5 in the guide box, is an arm or extension 6 and this arm is
provided intermediate its length with a transverse opening 5b extending through
it from side to side and in which is fitted to move freely, a sliding pin or bar 7.
The length of this pin is greater than the width of the arm 6 and in consequence
always projects from one side or the other of said arm.
In the inner faces of the sides 5" of the guide-box surrounding the opening 5
are formed recesses 8, 9, respectively, the surface at one end of each recess being
beveled, or inclined as at 10, and this inclined surface extends to the arm G
where it terminates in a flat bearing surface 12 against which the said arm is in
contact. The recesses 8, 9, while they are duplicates of each other are partially
out of transverse alignment and the inclined surfaces 10 and the flat bearing
surfaces 12 are formed at one end of one recess and at the opposite end of the
other recess; the deepest portions of each recess are, however, in transverse
alignment with each other and in transverse alignment with the inclined surface
and flat bearing of the opposite recess.
Formed in and extending through the sides 5" of the guide-box D to inter-
sect the recesses 8, 9, are slots 13 and through these slots extend spring actuated
catches 14, 15, respectively, normally held by their springs into contact with bear-
ings 16 of reciprocating rods 17, 18, by which they are carried. These
catches 14, 15 extend through the slots 13, practically into contact with the
sides of the arm 6, and are adapted to engage the sliding pin 7 to move the
arm 6. This arm is adapted to be reciprocated in the opening 5 to shift the
shuttle holder in the guide-box D to bring either one or the other of the series
of shuttles into position opposite the end of the lay; and this reciprocating move-
ment of the slide is effected through the spring actuated catches 14, 15, coming
into engagement with the sliding pin 7. In shifting the arm 6 from one end
of the opening 5 to the other the sliding pin 7 is brought into contact with one
or the other of the inclined surfaces 10 which gradually shifts it through the
opening in the arm to project into the recess at the opposite side of the said
arm into position to be engaged by the spring catch which is reciprocated in
said recess. Assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Figure 4, with
the series of shuttle boxes 1 opposite the end of the lay and with the sliding
pin 7 projected to one side of the arm 6 into engagement with the catch 14 and
the series of shuttles 2 out of position opposite the end of the lay; when a thread
of one of the shuttles breaks or becomes exhausted, the catch 14 will be moved
in the direction of the inclined surface 10 of the recess in which it moves and
the catch 15 will be simultaneously moved in its recess in the opposite direction
or towards the inclined surface at one of its ends.
The catch 14 being in the rear of the sliding pin 7 will cause it and the arm 6
to be moved with it and as the projecting end of said pin 7 comes into contact
with the inclined surface 10, it is gradually shifted in its opening to project into
the deepest part of the recess at the opposite side of the arm, near the end of
said recess.
This movement of the arm 6 will cause the shuttle holder to be
shifted in its guide box D to bring the series 2 of shuttle boxes into position
opposite the end of the lay. The rods 17, 18, and their spring catches are now
reciprocated in the opposite direction, and the catch being out of contact with
the sliding pin 7, the arm 6 will not be affected by such movement.
catch 15, however, as it nears the end of its recess will be brought into contact
with one face of the said bearing 7, which will cause the catch to yield against
the action of its spring sufficiently to enable it to slip past the end of the pin
and spring into the recess upon the opposite face of the pin in position to make
contact therewith and when said catch is next reciprocated it will move the said
bearing and the arm 6 to cause the series 1 of the shuttle boxes to be again
The

page_text: shifted into position opposite the end of the lay and the other series to be dis-
placed. From the above, it will be seen that the two series of shuttle boxes
are alternately shifted into operative position and in order to effect this shifting
automatically I. provide suitable devices which operate to reciprocate the
rods 17, 18, whenever a shuttle thread becomes broken, nearly exhausted, or
upon the failure of the shuttle to lay a thread across the lay.
Various devices may be employed for this purpose; those shown are simple
in construction and operation however and are preferred for this reason. These
devices comprise a slide 20 provided with a bifurcated head and with a recess 21
and within the bifurcated head is pivoted a hook 22 from which project separated
weft fingers 23 adapted to co-operate with a grid 24 carried upon the lay at one
end. These weft fingers and grid are so arranged that whenever a thread is
laid across the lay in front of the grid and the lay is reciprocated to beat up
the thread just laid, the said thread will prevent the weft fingers from passing
through the grid causing the end of the hook 22 to be lifted. Simultaneously
with each alternate beat of the lay or rather after it reaches its extreme forward
movement an arm 25, the end of which extends into line with the hook 22 when
it is in its lowered position is caused to reciprocate and if the hook 22 be
lowered the said arm will make contact with the hook and shift the slide 20.
If, however, the hook is lifted when such reciprocation of the arm takes place
the arm will pass beneath the hook without effecting the movement of the slide.
Different means may be employed for reciprocating the arm 25, those illus-
trated consisting of a lever arm 26 projecting from a rock-shaft 27, which also
carries the arm 25, and to the end of this lever arm 26 is connected a pivoted
lever 28 to which a rocking motion is imparted at each alternate beat of the
lay by means of a cam 29 carried upon a shaft 30.
Projecting into the recess 21 of this slide 20 is one end of a lever 31 fixedly
mounted upon a rock-shaft 32 and. connected to the opposite end of said lever
is a rod 33 which is in turn connected to an arm 34 upon a rock-shaft 35.
Fixedly mounted upon the shaft 35 to project upon opposite sides thereof are
cams 36 which engage the edges of pivoted levers 37, 38, held in contact with
the cams by a spring 38" and to the ends of these levers are connected the
rods 17, 18. It will thus be seen that upon each reciprocation of the slide 20
the lever 31 and its shaft 32 will be rocked causing the rod 33, arm 34 and the
rock-shaft 35, with its cams to be moved likewise and the cams being in engage-
ment with the edges of the levers 37, 38 will throw said levers and the rods 17, 18,
to which they are connected in opposite directions. This operation, it will be
understood, takes place whenever the lay beats up and a shuttle thread is broken
or exhausted and when the lay returns to its rearward position the parts are
returned to their normal positions by means of a spring 39 encircling the rod 33.
Any suitable mechanism may be employed for shifting the shuttle holder to
bring any one shuttle of a series into position opposite the end of the lay and
I do not wish to be confined to any particular means for accomplishing this,
as such means may be variously constructed and arranged, and are so well
understood by those skilled in the art that it is deemed unnecessary to describe
it herein. The shuttle box actuating mechanism shown is of the well known
anchor type" and the box lifting rod B¹ of this mechanism is pivotally con-
nected to the end of the lever b, and passes through slots 40, 41, in the bottom
of the guide box D) and the slide C respectively and said rod is pivotally con-
nected to the shuttle boxes 1, 2, in order to reciprocate the same upon the guide
rods 3, whenever the lever b is actuated. The relative movement of the lever b
is determined or controlled by suitable pattern devices F which actuate the
shifting means through levers a³ a² and a³. The pattern device shown comprises
a continuous belt 42 provided with a series of lugs 43, passing around a drum 44
mounted upon a shaft 45. Connected to this drum 44 is a ratchet wheel 46
with which engages a pawl 47 carried upon an arm 48 fixedly mounted by
means of a set screw 48" upon the rock-shaft 27 and said pawl is actuated to
"

page_text: rotate its ratchet wheel and the drum 44 whenever the shaft 27 is rocked, thereby
shifting the pattern-belt 42, and in consequence causing the series of shuttle-
boxes in alignment with the lay to be shifted and another series thereof brought
into position opposite the end of the lay.
In operation, assuming the lay to be beating forward and the thread of the
active shuttle exhausted, or broken, the shifting mechanism of the shuttle-holder
is actuated to shift another series of shuttles into position opposite the end of
the lay, the shuttles of such series containing thread of the same color or character
as that which has just been active being in position to be thrown across the lay.
The lay then beats back, and the new shuttle containing thread of the same
color or character as that just discharged or shifted is thrown across the lay.
The warp is then changed, and the shuttle returned to its box, when the lay
again beats up. This operation is repeated whenever the thread of the active
shuttle becomes exhausted or broken. Assuming, however, that when the lay
beats forward the thread of the active shuttle is not broken, or exhausted, but
that the pattern devices call for a thread of a different color or character from
that just previously laid, the series of shuttle-boxes which is then in alignment
with the end of the lay will be shifted by its actuating mechanism to bring a
shuttle containing a thread of the color or character desired into position to be
thrown across the lay, and such shuttle will accordingly be thrown across the
lay, when the lay again reaches the limit of its backward movement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this in-
vention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is;-
1. A weft supplying mechanism for patterned fabric looms in which shuttle
threads of different colours or characters are brought into action and when a
shuttle thread breaks or becomes exhausted a new supply of thread of the same
colour or character is automatically brought into action substantially as
described.
2. In weft supplying mechanism for looms, the combination of a
shuttle holder containing two or more shuttles, each containing thread of a
different color or character, pattern controlled means for shifting the shuttle
holder to bring any one of its contained shuttles into position to be thrown
across the lay, additional supplies of thread of the same colors or characters as
those contained in the shuttles of the holders, and means dependent on the con-
dition of the thread of the active shuttle constructed and arranged to cause a
new supply of such thread to be brought into action at a predetermined time,
substantially as described.
3. The combination in weft supplying mechanism for looms, of a shuttle-holder
containing two series of shuttles, each shuttle of a series containing a thread of
a different color or character and each series of shuttles being a duplicate of the
other, automatic mechanism for bringing any one of the shuttles of one series
into position to be thrown across the lay, and automatically actuated devices for
bringing the different shuttles containing threads of the same color or character
successively into position to be thrown across the lay, substantially as described.
4. In a weft supplying mechanism for looms, the combination of a shuttle-
holder supported upon the frame independently of the lay, said holder containing
two series of shuttles, automatic pattern controlled means for shifting the shuttle-
holder to bring any one shuttle of a series opposite the end of the lay, and
automatically operated devices for shifting the shuttle-holder to bring any one
of the series of shuttles opposite the end of the lay, substantially as described.
5. In weft supplying mechanism for looms, the combination of a shuttle-holder
containing two or more pairs of shuttles, means for shifting the same to bring
a shuttle of any one of the pairs into position to be thrown across the lay, pattern
devices controlling the said shifting means of the shuttle-holder, and auto-
matically operated devices for shifting the shuttle-holder upon the breaking or

page_text: exhaustion of the thread of the active shuttle to bring the second shuttle of a
pair into position to be thrown across the lay, substantially as described.
6. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the improved weft
supplying mechanism substantially as and for the purpose described and illus-
trated in Figures 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.