IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Crichton, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Machinist, and James Cathcart, of the same Place,
Mechanician, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Crichton and
James Cathcart at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 17th September 1856.
We, DAVID CRICHTON, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, and JAMES CATHCART, of the same Place, Mechanician,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The principle of our Invention consists of the arrangement of machinery
or apparatus to produce intermittent rotary motions of different velocities
from a series of advancing and receding intermittent motions, working alter-
nate motions intermittently. By the application of the said intermittent
motion we obtain a much greater number of changes of velocities, and a
more perfect application of them to the loom, than the continuous motion of
different velocities patented by the said David Crichton, the Twenty-third day
of October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, No. 495.
The nature of our said Invention will be understood by reference to the

page_text: accompanying Sheet of Drawings, which shews its application to the cloth
roller of a loom. a is a ratchet wheel propeller on the vibrating arm of the
lathe, which works the ratchet wheel b and the cam c. The bowl d revolves
on a stud in the lever e, which is placed in the groove of the cam c. g is a
stop detent for holding the ratchet wheel b. is a stud on the lever e, which
carries one end of the connecting rod k, the other end being joined to the
vibrating lever by the pin s; this lever is connected to the lever m by the
links 0, 0.
the ratchet wheel p and the levers and m are on the same
centre. 9, 9, are propellers on the levers land m. r is the vertical bar, which
connects the links o, o. t is the angle end of a lever, which is fixed at the
front of the loom for the cloth roller to operate on; there is a curved slot for
the pin s to move freely in it. Or, instead of the said arrangement of ratchet
wheel P and links o, o, we use two bevil wheels on the same centre, with
ratchet wheels on their axes, worked in opposite directions by a bevil pinion
placed in gear between them, and a vibrating lever on the same centre between
the said bevils and ratchet wheels, to work them alternate intermittently.
The application of our Invention will be readily understood, our improve-
ments being colored for that purpose. When the loom is put in motion the
forward action of the propeller a will give motion to the ratchet wheel b and
the cam c; the effects of this motion on the bowl d and lever e will give the
lever k an advancing and receding intermittent motion, which, acting on the
alternate motion levers 7 and m, will communicate intermittent rotary motion
to the ratchet wheel p, and then to the cloth roller, through the medium of
the train of wheels, as seen in the Drawing.
At the commencement of weaving a piece of cloth, the pin s in the lever k
is at the highest point in the slot of the lever l, and will then communicate
the greatest amount of vibrative motion to the levers 7 and m, which is trans-
mitted to the ratchet wheel p by the propellers q, q, to the cloth roller, through
the train of wheels. As the cloth roller increases in diameter by the process
of weaving, the lever I will descend, lowering with it the pin s in the slot of
the lever, and thus the alternate motion distance of the levers and m will be
continually decreasing, thereby producing proportionate decreasing speed in the
ratchet wheel p, which is communicated to the cloth roller of the loom, in
proportion to its increased diameter. And although we have only shewn on
the Drawing one arrangement of alternate motion, we use also the method of
obtaining the same by bevil wheels and ratchets, as already mentioned.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Crichton and James Cathcart in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DAVID
CRICHTON, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist,
and JAMES CATHCART, of the same Place, Mechanician, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
David Crichton and James Cathcart, Her special licence that we, the said
David Crichton and James Cathcart, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said David Crichton and James Cathcart,
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 David
Crichton and James Cathcart, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, or 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Crichton, for and on behalf of
myself and the said James Cathcart, 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 principle of our Invention consists of the arrangement of machinery
or apparatus to produce intermittent rotary motions of different velocities from
a series of advancing and a series of receding intermittent motions, working
alternate motions (backwards and forwards) intermittently. By the appli-
cation of the said alternate intermittent motions we obtain a greater number
of changes of velocities, and a more perfect application of them to the loom,
than the continuous motion of different velocities patented by the said David
Crichton, the Twenty-third day of October 1852, No. 495.

page_text: The manner in which our said Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, with the
letters of reference thereon, which shews its application to the cloth roller of
a loom.
Fig. 1 is a transverse elevation of a loom with our improvements attached;
and Fig. 2 is a front view of some of the same parts. a represents a ratchet
wheel propeller on the vibrating arm of the lathe, which works the ratchet
wheel b and the cam c. The bowl d revolves on a stud in the lever e, which
is placed in the groove of the cam c. g is a stop detent for holding the ratchet
wheel b. i, a stud on the lever e, which carries one end of the connecting
rod k, the other end being joined to the vibrating lever by the pin s. p, p,
are ratchet wheels, with bevil wheels x, x, attached to them. o, a pinion
between the bevils. q, q, are propellers on the cross head of the lever l; t, the
angle end of a lever, which is fixed to the front of the loon for the cloth roller
to operate on; there is a curved slot for the pin s to move freely in.
the cam c.
The application of our Invention will be readily understood, our improve-
ments being coloured for that purpose. When the loom is put in motion the
forward action of the propeller a will give motion to the ratchet wheel 6 and
The effects of this motion on the bowl d and lever e will give the
lever k an advancing and receding intermittent motion, which, acting on the
alternate motion lever l, will communicate intermittent rotary motion to the
ratchet wheels p, p, and then to the cloth roller, through the medium of the
train of wheels, as seen in the Drawing. At the commencement of weaving
a piece of cloth the pin s in the lever k is at the highest point in the slot of
the lever 1, and will then communicate the greatest amount of vibrative motion
to the lever l, which is transmitted to the ratchet wheels p, p, by the pro-
pellers q, q, to the cloth roller, through the train of wheels. As the cloth
roller increases in diameter by the process of weaving, the lever t will descend,
lowering with it the pins in the slot of the lever 1, and thus the alternate
motion distance of the lever will be constantly decreasing, thereby producing
proportionate decreasing speed in the ratchet wheels p, p, which is commu-
nicated to the cloth roller of the loom in proportion to its increased diameter.
It will be seen that the same mechanical movement is equally applicable for
letting off the yarn from the yarn roller to be woven, the only difference being
that as the roller is full of yarn at the commencement the velocity requires
increasing continually to deliver a constant quantity in the same space of
time.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we would have it understood that we do not

page_text: claim the separate parts as of our Invention, they being already well known,
neither do we confine ourselves to the details herein given, but reserve to
ourselves the right of varying the same, so long as the peculiar character of
our Invention is retained; but what we claim are, the combinations and
arrangements of machinery or apparatus for producing intermittent rotary
motions of different velocities from a series of advancing and a series of
receding intermittent motions, working alternate motions (backwards and
forwards) intermittently in its application to the taking-up and delivering
rollers of the loom; and believing this principle to machinery for effecting
the objects herein-before described to be new, we declare this as of our
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Crichton, for and on behalf of
myself and the said James Cathcart, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named David Crichton, in the presence of
DAVID CRICHTON. (L.S.)
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.