CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Caspar Horner, of Avenue Road, Hammer-
smith, near the City of London, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."-A communication
from abroad by Frederick May, of the Firm of Escher Wyss and
Company, of Zürich, in the Republic of Switzerland.
Sealed the 7th February 1862, and dated the 13th August 1861..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Caspar Horner
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1861.
I, JOHN CASPAR HORNER, of Avenue Road, Hammersmith, near the City
of London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," a commu-
nication to me from abroad by Frederick May, of the Firm of Escher Wyss
and Company, of Zürich, in the Republic of Switzerland, to be as follows:-
The first part of our Invention consists in applying a partially rotary motion
to a double or compound shuttle box, the position of the shuttle box being
governed by a pattern wheel furnished with two or more rows of holes or pegs.
The pattern wheel is put in motion by a ratchet wheel or other equivalent,
actuated by any convenient moving part of the loom.
The second part of this Invention is applicable to looms in which a. drop.
shuttle box with six or other convenient number of compartments is employed ;
the position of this shuttle box is governed by means of a pattern drum, which

page_text: is moved round or to and fro by ratchet wheels and catches or other equivalents.
The fingers, acting in combination with the pattern drum, traverse from one
side of the loom to the other on a slide. To the drop box is connected a rack
in which a pinion gears; this pinion is worked by ratchet wheels, the catches
of which are put in motion when required by pegs on the pattern drum.
This improved arrangement and combination of parts is particularly applicable
in producing patterns of very great extent.
The third part of this Invention is very similar to the second, and is chiefly
adapted to looms in which a drop shuttle box with four compartments is
employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Caspar Horner in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th February 1862:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CASPAR HORNER, of Avenue, Road, Hammersmith, near the City of London,
Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Caspar Horner, Her special licence that I, the said John
Caspar Horner, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Caspar Horner, my 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," a communication to me.
from abroad by Messieurs Escher Wyss and Company, of Zurich, in the
Republic of Switzerland, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Caspar Horner, my executors or administrators, by an instrument.
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should.par-
ticularly 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said John Caspar Horner, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The first part of this Invention consists in applying a partially rotary motion
to a double or compound shuttle box, the position of the shuttle box being
governed by a pattern wheel furnished with two or more rows of holes or pegs,
The pattern wheel is put in motion by a ratchet wheel or other equivalent,
actuated by any convenient moving part of the loom.
The second part of this Invention is applicable to looms in which a drop
shuttle box with six or other convenient number of compartments is employed;
the position of this shuttle box is governed by means of a pattern drum, which
is moved round or to and fro by ratchet wheels and catches or other equivalents.
The fingers, acting in combination with the pattern drum, traverse from one
side of the loom to the other on a slide. To the drop box is connected a rack,
in which a pinion gears; this pinion is worked by ratchet wheels, the catches
of which are put in motion when required by pegs on the pattern drum.
This improved arrangement and combination of parts is particularly applicablo
in producing patterns of very great extent.
The third part of this Invention is very similar to the second, and is chiefly
adapted to looms in which a drop shuttle box with four compartments is
employed.
And in order that the Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the six accompanying Sheets of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1, represents an end view of a loom on which fabrics with
wefts of two different colors or qualities can be woven with one hundred and
twenty picks and upwards; Fig. 2 is a front view of part of the same.
The motion of the shuttle box a is partly rotary. The pattern wheel b is
provided with two or more rows of holes, sixty in each row, and forms thus a
pattern of one hundred and twenty picks and upwards. In order to produce
the pattern, these holes are provided with small round pegs, which are inserted
in any required order in the holes of the pattern wheel. The pattern appa-
ratus & is set in motion by the ratchet wheel c, which is acted upon by the
catch c jointed to the lever c³; this lever is moved up and down by a cam on
the tappet shaft f; d, d, are two fingers mounted on the shaft e, which at every
touch from one of the pegs in the pattern wheel & move the shuttle box a
backwards or forwards, thereby bringing the required shuttle in a line with
the shuttle.race. The shaft e in vibrating communicates motion to the shuttle

page_text: box by means of the rods e¹ and e², which latter is jointed to the lever a fixed
to the fulcrum shaft of the shuttle box.
The other parts of the loom are clearly shewn in the Drawing, and do not
require to be particularly referred to, as they are made in the usual manner.
On Sheet 2, Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a loom, on which fabrics of six
different colors or six different sorts of yarn, either of the same or of different
colors, may be woven from any pattern and of any size from four to thirteen
thousand two hundred picks and upwards, either with or without border; on
Sheet 3, Fig. 4 is another end elevation; and on Sheet 4, Fig. 5 is a front
elevation of the same loom.
The motion of the shuttle box a is a vertical up and down, according to the
pattern and the corresponding pegs on the pattern drum b. This pattern
drum or cylinder bis provided with one thousand two hundred and eighty
holes, each of which represents two picks; it travels backwards and forwards.
To the axle of the cylinder bare fixed two ratchet wheels c, c, which
are moved backwards or forwards through the space of one tooth for every
two picks by the tappet shaft d, to which is fixed an eccentric d!, see
Fig. 3, acting on the rod d, which is jointed to the lever 3; this lever
has two catches k, k, jointed to its upper extremity taking into the ratchet
wheels c, c. By means of the large spur wheel e fixed to the axle of the
pattern cylinder b working into the pinion f, the screw 7 is turned round;
and the support i is carried either from right to left or vice versa, by
the nut h, according to the direction in which the screw is turned. To the
three bars l, m, n, are connected the four fingers p, q, r, s, travelling to and
fro; the two fingers p and q act upon one of the ratchet wheels u, u, see
Fig. 4, through one of the clicks t, t, whenever these come in contact with a
peg on the pattern drum b, and according as the peg happens to be a round
one or a flat one, the ratchet wheels are pushed forward or backward through
the space of one or more teeth, and the shuttle box a is lowered or raised
through the space of one or more shuttles by means of the rack v. The two
clicks t, t, are thrown in or out of gear by separate pegs (which can be inserted
for this purpose at any convenient place in the pattern drum b) when these
come in-contact with the two fingers and s on the bar n.
On Sheet 5, Figs. 6 and 7 are two end views; and on Sheet 6, Fig. 8 is a
front view of a loom on which fabrics can be woven with four different colors,
or with four different sorts of yarn, either of the same or different colors, and
on which any desired pattern consisting of from four to five hundred picks and
upwards can be woven.
The motion of the shuttle box a is vertical, up and down, and it is governed

page_text: according to the arrangement of the pegs in the pattern drum 6, as before
described. This pattern drum b is provided with two hundred and fifty holes,
each of which represents two picks; it rotates only in a forward direction, and
serves for such patterns as are always commencing afresh. On the pattern
drum b is the ratchet wheel c, which is pushed forward through the space of
one tooth at every second pick by the tappet shaft d, and thereby gives motion
to the worm g, by means of the spur wheel e gearing into f, and causes the
support i to slide along the bars l, m, from right to left. In this support i are
three fingers p, q, r, which at every touch of a peg on the drum b drop one of
the clicks t, t, into one of the ratchet wheels u, u, as shewn in Fig. 4, thus
pushing them either forwards or backwards through the space of one or more
teeth, according as the peg which comes into operation is round or flat. By
this means the shuttle box a may be raised or lowered through one or more
compartments. The third finger r serves to throw the support i out of gear
with the worm g. This support can be thrown out of gear at any convenient
place by means of a particular peg on the barrel 6 for that purpose, so that it
can suddenly return from left to right by means of the spring n, and then be
thrown into gear afresh with the worm g.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention and described the manner
of performing the same, as communicated to me, I wish it to be understood
that I make no claim to any of the parts taken separately, nor do I limit
myself to the details given; but what I do claim is,-
First, the improved partially rotating shuttle box a and the pattern wheel b
when arranged and combined, as shewn and described in reference to
Figs. 1 and 2.
Secondly, the improved combination and arrangement of parts for raising
and lowering the shuttle box a, and for actuating the pattern drum b connected
to the shuttle box, as shewn and described in reference to Figs. 3, 4, and 5.
And, lastly, the improved combinations and arrangements of parts for
actuating the shuttle box and the pattern drum, as shewn and described in
reference to Figs. 6, 7, and 8.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Caspar Horner, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN C. HORNER. (L.S.)