IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Collier, cf Halifax, in the County of York,
Manager, and Samuel Thornton, of Rochdale, in the County of Lan
caster, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING."
Scaled the 20th March 1855, and dated the 22nd September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Collier and Samuel
Thornton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 22nd September 1854.
We, GEORGE COLLIER, of Halifax, in the County of York, Manager, and
SAMUEL THORNTON, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
POR WEAVING" to be as follows:--
Our improvements relate, firstly, to a method of working the shafts of looms
for making the shed, and of retaining any number of them in an upward or
downward position until required to be shifted. This part of our Invention
consists in the employment of a series of cams or tappets capable of being
shifted around their centres at intervals so as to operate upon the shafts, such
shifting being accomplished at required intervals through the agency of an
endless chain of links, cards, or other such apparatus. A method we adopt is
to mount the cams loosely upon a shaft, each one being provided with a ratchet

page_text: wheel. The teeth of these wheels are placed within the range of vibrating
clicks, which will therefore cause them to revolve, and effect the required raising
or depressing of the shafts; but when it is desired that one or more shall
remain in the same position for a given number of picks, then the correspond-
ing driving clicks are operated upon by the endless chain, or other such
apparatus, so as to be removed from the position for actuating the ratchet
wheels.
Secondly, our Invention relates to the taking-up motion of looms. To effect
this we place a weighted rod in contact with the cloth between the breast beam
and work roller; this rod, being kept back by the tension of the woven fabric,
prevents by suitable connections the driving click from operating; but when a
certain amount of work has been produced, then the slackening thereof will
allow the rod to move backward, and the driving click connected thereto
will come within range of the taking-up ratchet wheel.
Thirdly, our Invention relates to an improvement upon a metliod of letting
off the warp of looms, for which Letters Patent were granted to John Mason
and George Collier, dated 26th March 1849. In the Specification of that
Patent the yarn was caused to operate by its tension upon a lever turning upon
centres, the extremity of which lever was situate above the centre of motion.
We have found that an improvement may be effected by so arranging the
apparatus that the part thereof furthest removed from the centre of motion
shall be below it.
The fourth point of novelty also refers to an improvement upon the
loom, specified under the aforesaid Patent of John Mason and George Collier,
and consists in a method of holding up the shafts to form a continued shed.
According to the former method, this was accomplished by causing them
to rest upon the "jacks." The present Inventien consists in the application
of catches applied for that purpose, and which receive them when required.
These catches may be caused to release the shafts by hand in order to bring
them level.
The fifth point of novelty in our improvement also relates to the Patent
aforesaid of John Mason and George Collier. According to the Specifi-
cation thereof the shafts were mounted up on rods which moved vertically
in fixed guides. We use the said rods, but place them in guides capable of
being moved in slots, so as to separate the shafts when desired. We also
mount the shafts in sockets capable of being adjusted upward or downward
upon the rods.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Collier and Samuel Thornton in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 22nd March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
COLLIER, of Halifax, in the County of York, Manager, and SAMUEL THORNTON,
of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said George Collier and Samuel Thornton, Her especial licenso that we,
the said George Collier and Samuel Thornton, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said George Collier and Samuel
Thornton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said George
Collier and Samuel Thornton, or one of us, by an instrument in writing
under our hand and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Thornton, 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
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
Our first improvement is shewn in the partial vertical section of a loom at
Fig. 1. Upon a fixed shaft a are mounted loosely a set of grooved cams, one of
which is shewn at b, corresponding in number to the shedding shafts employed,
and within them are situate a like number of rollers c, mounted upon levers d,
capable of turning upon a centre at e, and connected at their other ends by
rods to the treadles 9 upon the shaft a, and at either end is mounted loosely
a bell crank lever, one of which will be seen at h, h. They are connected
together by rods and upon these rods are mounted loosely, side by side, a

page_text: series of drivers j, j, k, k, which are therefore at liberty to turn upon
their centres, so as at certain periods to take into notches ',, P, 1, 1º, l^,
formed upon the peripheries of the cams b. Upon the crank shaft m is a
pinion driving a wheel, upon which is a crank pin n, to which a rod o is
jointed, the other end thereof being connected to a bracket p, extending from
one of the bell crank levers h, h; as therefore this crank n revolves, the said
levers will be caused to vibrate upon their centres, and carry with them the
drivers. Upon the crank shaft m is a toothed wheel, which, through the train,
shewn by red lines, communicates rotatory motion to a wheel q, tho axis of
which is mounted upon a radial arm r, the centre of motion thereof being the
axis of a pinion by which the wheel is driven; during, therefore, the trans-
mission of rotatory motion, the latter will be at liberty to move upward around
the periphery of the former. Upon the axis of the wheel 2 is mounted a
notched roller s, the revolution of which carries onward an endless chain t,
provided with projecting pins, which may be adapted to any required links.
The rollers has a flange, upon which a series of pins u are fixed, and as they
revolve they arrive in contact with an inclined plane t, by which means the
roller is lifted at intervals, so as to bring a peg of the chain into contact with
one of the drivers j, j, k, k, thereby causing it to turn upon its centre, and
prevent it from dropping into one of the notches P, &c. The peripheries of
the cams bare formed with projecting parts w, which, when they have been
propelled forward, arrive in contact with a fixed brake a, so as to check the
impetus imparted by the drivers. The operation of the machine is as
follows:-According to the position shewn, the ends j, k, of the drivers are
in the notches, , having turned upon their crentres by the weight of the
other ends, k. Upon rotatory motion being communicated to the crank
shaft, the endless chain t will be caused to travel onward, the pin u* at the
same time mounting the inclined plane v, and causing the rollers and its
chain to rise, by turning upon the centre ; the effect of these combined
operations will be to bring the peg 1 of the chain in contact with the end of
the driver, so as to cause it to turn upon its centre, and lift the other end out
of the notch ; immediately upon this, the revolution of the crank shaft will,
through the rod o, cause the bell crank lever h, h, to turn upon its centre,
thereby carrying forward the drivers in the direction of the arrow; but as the
peg 1 will have removed that shewn at j from the notch l, no motion will be
imparted to the cam b; the lever d will remain stationary, together with its
treadle 9, and the warps governed thereby will remain raised. These move-
ments will have brought the driver k into the notch P, and therefore at the
return vibration of the bell crank lever the cam 6 would necessarily be pro-

page_text: pelled in the backward direction; but the advance of the chain and the pegs
thereon may, if desired, be so arranged as to act against the part k at a
suitable time for preventing this, by removing the other part k from the
notch ', and thus the operation will go on as long as it may be desired to keep
those warps elevated which are governed by the cam b. If, however, a change
be necessary for the intended pattern, then a blank space, instead of a peg
upon the chain t, will rise towards the driver j* or *, which, not being com-
pelled therefore to turn upon its centre, will remain in the notch '; or 1, and the
vibration of the bell crank lever will cause the cam to perform a portion of a
revolution, and permit the lever d and treadle g to fall. The above operations
have been described in reference to one cam only, but as the series of drivers
governed by separate rows of pegs all vibrate together, they will in like
manner act upon the several cams, corresponding to the number of shafts
employed. From the above description it will be observed that the crank
pin n revolves at half the speed of the ordinary crank shaft m; the drivers j, k,
therefore, if operating alternately, will cause the cams b to form the shed at
the proper intervals. We therefore arrange the pegs t so as to divide the
pattern between the two drivers. They do not, however, of necessity act
alternately, for the change in the shed may be effected several times following
by the one or the other, as desired. This machine may be employed with
advantage for weaving a piece of cloth with various patterns for obtaining
designs, or for other purposes; for if after a certain length has been woven, tho
pattern chain be shifted for one or more links, the order of shedding the
warp will be permanently changed.
.
Our next improvement is shewn in Fig. 1, above referred to, and also in the
partial front view, Fig. 2. This part of our Invention is an improvement upon
a method of letting off the warp, for which Letters Patent were granted to
John Mason and George Collier, bearing date Twenty-sixth March, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine. In the Specification of that Patent
the yarn was caused to operate by its tension upon a back rail or lever turning
upon centres, the extremity of which rail or lever was situate above the centre
of motion; we have found that an improvement may be effected by so arranging
the apparatus that the part thereof furthest removed from the centre of motion
shall be below it. This lever or rail is shewn in Fig. 1 at 2, extending across
the machine and turning in suitable bearings; the yarn previously to passing
over the lever is bent from its direct course by means of a beam 3. Upon the
axis of the lever 2 is an arm 4, weighted, so as to impart a tendency to turn
upon its centre; and it has also another arm 5, connected to a rod 6, moving
at its lower end in a guide 7, beyond which it is turned upward, so as to

page_text: constitute an inclined plane 8, beneath a lever 9, mounted loosely upon the
axis of a ratchet wheel 10. The lever 9 carries a driver 11 at one end,
taking into the ratchet wheel 10, and is connected at the other by a rod
and lever 12 to the centre of the lathe sword 13; as, therefore, that part
of the machine vibrates, it may cause the driver to take certain of the teeth of
the ratchet, and thereby impart rotary motion to the shaft 14, by which means
a worm 15 thereon will be turned, and the warp will be let off. The action
of the apparatus is as follows:-Suppose a certain quantity of warp to have
been let off, as above described, the weighted lever 4 will cause the lever 2 to
move outward and maintain the tension of the threads, which movement of the
lever 2 will have caused the lever 5 to turn upon its centre, and bring the
inclined plane 8 beneath the arm 9, so as to prevent it from falling sufficiently
far to take a tooth or teeth of the ratchet wheel. As the cloth is woven the
lever 2 is gradually drawn inward, which motion being communicated to the
lever 5, will cause the descending inclined plane 8 to be gradually advanced
beneath the arm 9, and by these means it will be allowed progressively to fall
until in a position for taking another tooth, and so on, the lever 2 moving
inward and outward, and acting as a governing power for maintaining an
uniform tension of the warp.
The next part of our Invention is also an improvement upon the aforesaid
Patent of John Mason and George Collier, and consists in a method of holding
up the shafts. This improvement is represented in detached view at Fig. 3.
One of the needles which govern the motion of the treadles is shewn at a,
formed with two projecting nibs b, c, which are acted upon as required by the
knives d, e, caused to move upwards and downwards by the ordinary method.
Upon axes f, g, turning in fixed bearings are catches h, i, which axes are also
provided with levers j, k, connected by a link 1, from which a cord m proceeds
to any situation within reach of the attendant.
The needles a are mounted in sliding wires n, to which are adapted springs o,
fixed to a stationary part at their upper ends; behind these springs is the
pattern chain p, with its projecting pins as usual. According to the position
shewn in the Drawing, the endless chain has brought a peg to bear against
the spring o, by which means the wire and needle a have been forced
forward, so as to bring the nib b of the latter in a vertical plane with the
knife d, which by then ascending has carried the needle upward. This action
has raised the corresponding treadle q, and the wedge, described in the Specifi-
cation of Mason and Collier aforesaid, has then advanced, so as to elevate it
further, by which means the nib b has been carried upward against the catch h,
on to which it is forced by the spring o, for the purpose of maintaining the

page_text: shed for the passage of the shuttle, during which operation the pattern chain p
will be shifted, so as to select a fresh set of needles for the next shed. If that
shewn at a be required to drop, a peg upon the chain will not arrive in contact
with its spring o, which will therefore remain on the periphery of the barrel,
and the wedge before referred to will arrive in contact with the treadle, so as
to move it up a short distance, and permit the spring o to withdraw the nib b
from the catch h, and the descending knife c, operating upon the nib c, will
propel the needle downward; but if it be required to remain in the position
shewn, a peg of the pattern chain will have arrived in contact with the spring
o, the elasticity of which will allow it to advance, while the needle is held up
for keeping the shed, and upon the action of the wedge taking place, the slight
lifting of the needle will not free it from the catch h, inasmuch as the spring o*
is forced forward by the acting peg upon the chain p. We have above described
the operation of the catch h only, but that of the lower one i is precisely the
same; for upon a needle having been brought down by the knife e, the wedge
above alluded to will continue its motion so as to carry it beneath the catch,.
by which means it will be prevented from rising through the tension of the
warp until the wedge again enters and allows the spring o to operate. We
have alluded to one needle only, but there are of course a number situate side
by side, according to the pattern required to be woven. The catches, it has
been observed, are connected together by the link 1, by drawing the cord m;
therefore they may be caused to turn upon their centres simultaneously, so as
to liberate the whole series of needles, and thus permit the warp to become level
when required in that position by the weaver.
The next part of our improvements also relates to the Patent of John Mason
and George Collier aforesaid, and the several points of novelty are shown in
Figs. 1 and 2, and also in the detached views, Figs. 4 and 5.
The rods which carry the shafts are shewn at 14, their upper ends passing
through a box 15, in which are placed a number of blocks of wood or other
material 16, filling up the spaces between the rods, and held together by a
band of india-rubber or other spring 17. The bottom of the box has a slot
formed lengthwise, corresponding to the width of the rods 14, and the cover
is formed after the same manner. By these means the rods are provided with
proper guides for their vertical motion, but may be separated against the
elasticity of the band 17, when it is desired by the weaver to gain access
to the healds. The shafts 18 are provided at their ends with sockets 19,
which are adapted to the rods 14. The lower part of these sockets are
formed with teeth 20, taking into notches formed upon the rods, and they are
retained there by means of springs 21; instead of which, however, set screws

page_text: or other equivalent apparatus may be employed. By this arrangement the
shafts may be brought nearer to or farther from each other, as desired.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be
understood that we claim, as secured to us under the above in part recited
Letters Patent,—
Firstly, the employment of cams or tappets for shedding the warp, such
cams or tappets being governed in their action by an endless chain of pegs,
jacquard cards, or equivalent apparatus.
Secondly, as applied to the letting off of the warp, the application of
the lever 2, the extremity thereof being below the centre of motion.
Thirdly, the use of catches acting direct upon the needles for maintaining
the shed, and also for affording the means of gaining a level warp.
Fourthly, mounting the rods which carry the shafts in apparatus which
will admit of their being separated from each other by hand, also mounting
the shafts upon sockets, capable of being adjusted upward or downward
upon rods.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Thornton, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, the Twentieth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
SAXHIRT THORNTVAN
SAMULIGT THOUNTAN
(L.C.)