CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND IN WEAVING MACHINES
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
MEEUS, of Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-second day of May, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Meeus, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Joseph Meeus, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Meeus, my exors, adññors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND IN WEAVING MACHINES,"
communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Joseph Meeus, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said

page_text: Joseph Meeus, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
My improvements are applicable to the production of all kinds of fabrics,
in all kinds of textile materials, and consist, 1st, in ranging the warp
threads in a vertical plane, the threads either standing vertically or lying hori-
zontally one above the other, the healds being placed at right angles to the
threads of the warp, and moving horizontally; (2dly), in a system of circular
or cylindrical weaving, by which the shuttle is worked by a continuous instead
of a reciprocating movement; (3dly), in certain new methods of giving motion
to the shuttle; (4thly), in dispensing in certain cases with the employment of
the comb, by a novel construction and arrangement of the shuttle or of the
healds; (5thly), in the application of the foregoing improvements to the
jacquard machine; (6thly), in immersing the warp beams in a liquid contain-
ing either coloring, or pulpy, or fibrous, or glutinous materials, according to the
nature of the intended fabric, so as to cause the fabric to be died or prepared
for dying or to be sized, or to be rendered impermeable either to air or to
water in the process of weaving; (7thly), in certain means of forming artificial
selvages to fabrics produced by some of the aforesaid means.
Having thus described the nature of my improvements, I proceed to describe
the means by which I carry them into effect by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figures 1 & 2 represent my improved machine, arranged to be worked by
hand, for weaving, with the threads of the warp arranged vertically in a vertical
plane, or, in other words, with the warp beam & the web beam placed hori-
zontally, the one above the other. Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine,
and Figure 2 a side elevation of the same. A is the frame of the machine;
B, the driving bar by which the machine is worked; B', the comb working
upwards in guides, the motion being given by a crank on the shaft; B", the
shuttle, the motion of which is given by means of a cord and lever; B¹¹¹, the
healds, which derive their motion from the roller B, which is set in motion
by a cam and pedals; C, a pinion, which drives the wheel C¹, which works the
pedals that give motion to the healds and shuttle; D, the warp beam; D¹, the
web beam; D", counterbalance to stretch the warp. The above described
arrangement may be adapted to the weaving of ribbons and similar articles,
by placing several sets of warp side by side (and sometimes ranging a number
of such sets in parallel lines one before the other), with the edges of the warp
standing before the workman, the healds will then work horizontally to and

page_text: fro, from right to left, & from left to right of the workman, & the shuttles
(equal in number with the ribbons) will move to & fro towards & from the
workman, and either above or below the comb, according to the relative posi-
tions of the warp beams and web beams.
Another improved construction of machines for weaving, with the threads of
the warp standing vertically in a vertical plane, consists in mounting the loom
upon horizontal axes standing at right angles to the plane of the warp, and
obtaining the required movements of the different parts from an oscillating
movement communicated by any convenient means to the loom itself. At
each oscillation the shuttle descends between the threads of the warp from the
higher side to the lower by the force of gravity, with a velocity proportionate
to its weight and to the angle of oscillation; the movement of the healds and
other parts may be obtained in various ways from the oscillation of the loom,
as will readily be understood by any competent mechanic. For weaving with
the warp threads lying horizontally one over the other in a vertical plane, I
employ the following modification of the machine last described:-I place the
warp and web beams vertically at the opposite ends of a frame turning upon
horizontal axes lying parallel to the plane of the warp, and I cause the frame
to vibrate through an arc of 180 degrees, or nearly so; the healds (which are
worked by the vibration of the loom) when they open the warp will present a
perpendicular passage to the shuttle, which will descend through it by the force
of gravity. Instead of giving a vibratory movement to the frame, as described
in the last paragraph, I sometimes construct it to be stationary, and let fall a
separate shuttle from above to carry each thread of the warp through the
perpendicular passage opened for them by the healds, each thread being a
little longer than the breadth of the warp; the shuttles in this arrangement
may be formed as small spherical metallic bobbins with tails, round which the
weft is wound. The shuttles are placed in boxes with movable bottoms,
which are placed in the circumference of an horizontal wheel situated a little
above the upper edge of the warp; this wheel is moved by the healds, and as
each box arrives in succession above the opening of the warp formed by the
healds, the bottom of the box opens and allows the shuttle to fall through such
orening, carrying with it a thread of weft; the boxes must be kept constantly
charged with shuttles by an attendant. By this manner of weaving the
greatest variaty of colors and materials may be employed in the weft, and
fabrics may be made of any desired. width; and as a further advantage, the
weaving may proceed at each end of the warp. For circular weaving, I place
a number of warp beams horizontally in the upper part of a frame, so as to
form an equilateral polygon, and I employ healds of a circular form, which aro

page_text: set in motion by means of excentrics fixed to a vertical shaft which revolves
within the polygon formed by the warp beams.
Figure 3 represents one of my improved circular weaving machines, being
an elevation of the machine. A, A, is the frame of the machine; B, B, a
vertical shaft revolving in steps or collars at B1, B¹; C, C, horizontal cylinders
forming the warp beams, ranged polygonally, as above mentioned, and wholly
unconnected with the shaft B; D, D, counterbalances to maintain the tension
of the warp; E, the threads of the warp descending from the warp beams, and
ranged in a circle round the shaft B; F, F, hoops or rings dividing the
threads of the warp; G, the healds lying horizontally and radiating towards
the center of the shaft; II, H, H, flat hoops or rings, to which the outer and
inner threads of the healds are fastened; I, I, excentrics imparting motion
to the healds in such manner that the healds maintain their parallelisin,
whilst they at the same time describe a circle whose radius is equal to
the radius of the excentric; K, K, the shuttles, carried round by the
pressure of the rollers L, L, which turn freely on their axes, which are
supported by arms L, L', attached to the shaft B; M, the comb or reed,
divided into as many sections as there are warp beams. The sections
turn upon hinge joints at M', and are raised in succession by an inclined
plane M³, carried round by the shaft, and fall again to their original posi-
tion, as shewn by the dotted lines, when the plane has passed them. N,
guides to the external eccentrics; O, a small wheel or roller for regulating the
pressure of the comb, and carried round by the shaft; P, circular breast beam,
serving as a substitute for the temple; Q, a kind of open cylinder, composed
of vertical ribs, placed in a circle, and serving to receive the web as it is
formed; it is not connected to the shaft, but suspended from the upper part of
the frame of the machine by rods passing through open spaces in the flat hoops,
which form the internal frames of the healds. S, counterbalance, in form
of a ring; T, rollers, sustaining the revolving arms, which support the
revolving parts of the machine; V, the combination of wheels by which
the shaft is set in motion; R, the point at which the web is attached to
the cylinder. The shaft B gives motion to the parts II, I, K, L, M, O, & T,
but the parts C, D, E, F, G, P, Q, R, & S, are not acted upon by it. It
should have been stated before, that the excentrics on the shaft stand in
opposite directions to each other, so that by the rotation of the shaft the
lealds are caused to open the warp at two opposite points of the circle
simultaneously, thereby allowing two shuttles to advance in an opening con-
stantly forming before them & closing behind them. I would observe, that
the external excentrics may be replaced by counterbalances, or by connecting

page_text: the external with the internal hoops of the healds, by means of thin vertical
plates of metal. To compensate the varying lengths of the threads of the
warp at different points of the circumference, resulting from the peculiar motion
of the healds, I attach to the upper part of the shaft an oval wheel or a second
pair of excentrics, placed at right angles to the eccentrics before described, so
as to press upon the warp threads and stretch them all in nearly an equal
degree. Instead of the healds above described, which are all attached to one
frame and moved simultaneously, I sometimes form the healds of thin plates
of metal, pierced with holes to receive the threads, and all independant of each
other, and instead of excentrics before mentioned as giving motion to the
healds, I attach to the shaft two hoops, one within and one outside the warp;
these hoops carry a series of cams standing opposite each other, which act
upon the metallic healds, and thus open & close the warp. By this means, or
other equivalent arrangements, I can employ as many shuttles as there are pairs
of cams. I propose, in a certain cases, to dispense with the warp beams in my
vertical weaving machines, and in their stead to employ a separate bobbin to
carry each thread, the bobbins being placed in rows, one row above the other.
In addition to the methods already described of giving motion to the shuttle,.
I propose to employ the pressure of the warp threads upon the tail of the
shuttle; I also propose to employ for this purpose the power of a magnet acting
upon an iron shuttle. In order to dispense with the comb, I sometimes employ
healds cut out of steel plates, and formed as shewn in Figure 4, which are
moved in succession, and which, in their passage between the threads of the
warp, press upon the tail of the shuttle & urge it forward, and at the same
time their lower side presses the weft into the angle of the warp. In addition,
I sometimes attach to the under side of the shuttle two small rollers for the
purpose of laying the weft into the angle of the warp, as shewn in Figure 4.
On account of the space necessarily occupied by the needles of the jacquard
machine, its application in the ordinary nodes of weaving is greatly limited;
but in my circular vertical weaving machine, by forming the circumference as
a polygon instead of a cylinder, and fixing opposite each side of the polygon a
jacquard machine, a varied pattern may be produced throughout the width of.
the web. I sometimes place the warp beam of my vertical weaving machines
at the bottom of the machine in suitable vessels, filled with liquid containing
dying, colouring, fibrous, glutinous, or pulpy materials, whereby the fabrics
may (during the weaving process) be dyed or prepared for dying, or rendered
impermeable to air or water, or covered with a kind of felting; or a fabric may
be produced combining the properties of cloth and paper. When it may be
requisite, I propose to form an artificial selvage by either of the following

page_text: methods: I form the edges of the warp of wollen threads, and when the
fabric is removed from the loom, I felt the edges, and thereby produce a firm
selvage or border, which I cut through the middle, to remove the ends of the
weft and to produce an even edge, or I form the edges of the warp of threads
steeped in caoutchouc varnish.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner in which the same may be
carried into effect, I proceed to state my claims in respect thereof. I claim,-
Firstly, the several methods of vertical weaving, herein-before described.
2dly, the method of circular or cylindrical weaving with a continuous motion
of the healds & of the shuttles, of which latter there may be several.
3dly, the giving motion to the shuttle, either by the force of gravity, by the
pressure of the warp threads, by the pressure of the healds properly constructed
for the purpose, by the pressure of rollers outside the warp threads, and by the
power of a magnet.
4thly, the employment of stiff or solid healds formed with vertical blades,
to serve as a substitute for the comb.
5thly, the combination of my improvements, herein-before described, with the
jacquard machine.
6thly, the immersion of the warp beam during the weaving process in liquids
containing dying, coloring, fibrous, glutinous, or pulpy materials.
7thly, the method of forming artificial selvages herein-before described.
I should observe, in conclusion, that I do not bind myself to the precise form
and disposition of the various parts of the machines herein-before described, as
they may be variously modified without departing from the principles of my
Invention, neither do I bind myself to the employment of any particular
kind of motive power, nor to the manufacture of fabrics from any particular
material; but I claim the application of my improvements to the weaving of
fabrics from all kinds of materials which can be woven.
This a true Specification of my Invention, as witness my hand and seal,
this Eighteenth day of November 1844.
JOSEPH (L.s.) MEEUS.
Taken and acknowledged by Joseph Meeus,
party hereto, at Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, this Eighteenth day of November

page_text: This is the Specification referred to in the affidavit of James Murdoch,
sworn before me, this 21 day of November 1844.
W. BROUGHAM.
James Murdoch, of Staple Inn, Holborn, Patent Agent, maketh oath and
saith, That he was present on the Eighteenth day of the instant month of
November, at Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, and did see Joseph
Meeus, of Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, Gentleman, sign his name to
the Specification hereunto annexed and marked with the letter A, and acknow-
ledged the same to be his act and deed; and was also present and did see
T. W. Waller, Her Britannic Majesty's Charge d'Affairs, at Brussels afore-
said, set and subscribe his name in the margin of the said Specification in
testimony thereof. And this Deponent further maketh oath and saith, that
the signatures "Joseph Meeus" and "T. W. Waller" are of the respective
proper handswriting of the said Joseph Meeus and T. W. Waller.
JAMES MURDOCH.
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