IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1852

page_text: HARDMAN'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HARDMAN, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of June, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Hardman, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Robert Hardman, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said Robert Hardman, my exors, adñiors, and 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, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Robert Hardman, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be enrolled in Her 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
Robert Hardman, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and.

page_text: ascertained in and by the two Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and the
following explanation thereof (that is to say):-
My improvements in looms for weaving consist, first, in an improved con-
struction of the jacquard engine for working the heddles of looms for regulating
the taking up of the cloth and the position of the drop boxes, and for governing
the picking motion.
Secondly, in an improved combination of machinery for regulating the
taking up of the cloth.
Thirdly, in an improved combination of machinery for regulating the
position of the drop boxes.
Fourthly, in an improved combination of machinery for governing the
picking motion in such wise that the shuttles may be thrown from one drop
box to the other, in regular or irregular succession.
Fifthly, in applying jacquard engines to regulate the taking up of the
cloth.
And, lastly, in improved combinations of machinery for stopping the loom
when the weft breaks, or otherwise ceases to be thrown across the shed.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference
being had to the letters and figures marked on the Drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 is an end view of a loom for weaving checks,
plaids, ginghams, or "tape plaid muslins with japan spots; " Figure 2 is
a front elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a plan of part of the loom;
Figure 4 is an elevation, and Figure 5 a plan, of part of the jacquard en-
gine drawn full size; Figure 6 is another detached elevation of part of
the loom.
On Sheet 2, Figure 7 is an elevation looking at the driving end of the
loom; Figure 8 is an elevation looking at the back, and Figure 9 is a
plan of part of the loom; Figures 10 and 11 represent part of my im-
proved weft stop motion. In most of the Drawings some of the well-known
parts are omitted, and others broken away, in order to facilitate the explanation
of those constituting my improvements.
a is the crank shaft; b, the connecting arms, and c, the lay swords; c¹ is the
lay bottom, at each end of which is a frame for the drop boxes d, d, the machinery
for working which will be explained hereafter; e is the warp beam, and the red
lines in Figure 1 represent the warp yarns, which, in this instance, pass through
the eight pair of heddles f,f; g is the taking-up roller, on to which the cloth is'

page_text: wound after it has passed partly round the rollers g' and g². The heddles f, ƒ, are
actuated by the top jacks h, h, and bottom jacks h¹, h', seen best in Figure 3.
These heddles are elevated and depressed in the following manner;-i (see
Figure 2), is a jacquard prism (commonly called the jacquard cylinder) of the
ordinary construction, and the brown lines ¹ indicate the jacquard cards; i² is a
swing frame, in which the jacquard prism is supported, and to which motion is
communicated by the excentric a' fixed on the crank shaft a; this excentric gives
motion to the lever k, from the outer end of which depends the link k¹, hinged
below to the cross bar ; to this cross bar are fixed the bars k³, guided above
and below in angle brackets, as shewn in Figure 1; to each of the bars ³ is
fixed a lever k*, see Figure 2, to which is hinged a short link, the upper
ends of which are jointed to the horizontal arms of the elbow levers, whose
vertical arms are connected to the swing frame by the links ", thereby
communicating the necessary motion from the excentric a¹ to the jacquard
prism i, which is made to revolve by a catch in the ordinary manner.
Near
the outer end of each of the bottom jacks h¹ is jointed an upright h², seen best
in Figures 1 and 6; these uprights, as well as those marked n', o', and t¹, are
worked up and down by the excentrics a¹ and a³, the latter of which moves
the lever 1, link, cross bar , and guide bars ; near the lower end of the
guide bars 3 is fixed another cross bar ; part of the uprights h² are depressed
by the cross bar k², and part of them are elevated by the cross bar /* at each
revolution of the crank shaft in order to form the requisite shed, but after
every shed has been made, the bottom jacks h¹ are all brought into a horizontal
position by the lever fixed to the guide bar ³, and by the lever 1° fixed to
the bar. In order to bring the proper jacks into operation, I cause all the
uprights h to pass through the feelers j, which are drawn full size in the
detached Figures 4 and 5. These feelers are supported between the plates m
and m', which are fixed to the frames m² attached to the loom side; the
right-hand end of the feelers is acted upon by the jacquard card, and
near the left-hand end is a spring bearing against the plate m'; the left-
hand end of the feeler j is furnished with a catch, which in Figure 4 is repre-
sented as bearing against the upper end of the vertical piece ; this piece is
supported below in the cross rail m³, in which are holes to receive the springs
, these springs push the pieces against the feelers j. The elbow levers j₁
are hinged on a shaft supported by the frames m³; the horizontal arms of
these elbow levers pass through slots in the pieces j*, and the vertical arms
are jointed to the counter feelers jo; by this means when the jacquard card
pushes against the end of the feeler j, it overcomes the resistance of the spring
2, and forces the catch at the left-hand end of the feeler beyond the projection

page_text: on the piece; the spring, then elevates the piece into the position shewn
in Figure 2, and by so doing the elbow lever pushes the end of the counter
feeler js as much beyond the plate m as is requisite for enabling the jacquard
card to act against it when a change in the shed is required. It is evident
from the above that the cards must be so cut that when the upper part acts on
the feeler the lower part must have a hole corresponding to the counter
feeler j³, and vice versa; by this means when the lower part of the card acts
on the counter feeler, the elbow lever j depresses the piece 7, and the spring
then moves the feeler j into its original position. It has already been
mentioned that all the uprights h pass through slots in the feelers j, consequently
those feelers that are moved by the action of the cards towards the loom
side act on the upper ends of the uprights, and bring them under the cross bar
, (as seen in Figure 6,) which in descending pushes down the outer ends of
those jacks to which the uprights are attached, thereby causing the warp yarns
to rise in the same manner; those uprights that are not acted upon by the bar
are in the position for being elevated by the bar l', by which means the
yarns are made to drop. The foregoing description has reference to the
mode of actuating the eight jacks h¹, by means of which the heddles are
worked.
I will now proceed to describe how the jacquard engine is caused to regulate
the taking up of the cloth. On the same axis as the bottom jacks h¹ is
mounted the double lever n, see Figures 2 and 3, furnished at its outer end.
with an upright n', the upper portion of which passes through a feeler j, acted
upon by the jacquard card in the same manner as the feelers before referred to.
The inner end of the double lever n is connected by means of a link n' to a
lever no fixed on the same shaft as the lever n", which is united by the cord
to the double lever n³ working on a fulcrum attached to the under side of
the lay bottom. The longer arm of the lever is connected to the slide n',
from which projects a stud taking into the slot of the lever n³, see Figure 7, on
Sheet 2. The lever n³ is on the same shaft as the short lever ne, to which is
jointed the open catch n' taking into the teeth of the ratchet wheel x³.
I have before mentioned that the fabric is taken partly round the rollers
g and before it is wound on to the cloth roller g.
I wish to remark here that the cloth roller is caused to rotate in the
nsual manner by a train of wheels and pinions put in motion from the
lay sword or in any other convenient manner, but the roller g' is made to
take the cloth forward at any required speed in the following manner :-
Near one end of the roller g' is a spur pinion, in which gears a worm g', put in
motion by the bevil pinion and wheel g³, seen best in Figure 2. In

page_text: Figure 7 the slide n is near the bottom of the slot in the lever n³, conse-
quently the to-and-fro motion of the lay imparts the least amount of motion to
the lever ns, and from it to the ratchet wheel ns and roller 9'; when more
motion is required for making thicker cloth, or for laying the weft at a greater
distance apart, the jacquard card is made to act on the counter feeler j³; by
pushing this towards the plate m, the feeler j brings the lower end of the
upright n' into the position for being acted upon by the bar ", when it moves
upwards; this action depresses the inner end of the double lever n, and elevates
the long arm of the lever n³, thereby raising the slide n' in the slot of the
lever n, and as this lever is thus made to increase the length of its vibrations
it is evident that the roller g¹ will also be made to revolve at a greater velocity
than before. The lever n will remain in this last mentioned position during
as many picks as are required, but as soon as the jacquard card is made so as
to act on the feeler j, the lever n and other parts connected therewith, will
return to the positions in which they are shewn in the Drawings.
The improved machinery for regulating the position of the drop boxes by the
jacquard engine is seen best in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 8. In the two last mentioned
Figures o is a double lever mounted on the same shaft as the bottom jacks
h', by which the lowest compartment of the right-hand drop box d, in Figure 2,
is brought to the level of the shuttle race; o' is the double lever by which
the centre compartment of the right-hand drop box is brought to the same
level as the shuttle race, or in the position shewn in Figure 2; o³ is the
double lever for bringing the centre compartment of the right-hand drop box
into the same level as the shuttle race, and o³ is the double lever for bringing
the lowest compartment of the right-hand drop box to the level of the shuttle
race. The outer ends of the levers o, o¹, 0%, and 3, are furnished with
uprights o, which are actuated by the jacquard cards, and by the bars and
, as before described; o' is a bridle jointed to the inner end of the double
lever o, as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 8; this bridle is connected below to
a bent lever o, fixed on the shaft o7, on which is also fixed the lever o³, seen in
Figures 2, 3, and 8; to this lever one end of the link p¹ is jointed, the other
end of which is jointed to the tumbler p, the double lever o¹ is connected in
the same manner with the tumbler p. Both the above-mentioned tumblers are
loose on a short shaft p³, and above them is an antifriction roller q, revolving
on a stud projecting from the long lever q', the outer extremity of which
is furnished with a stud for the link q³, seen in Figures 1 and 2; the lower
end of the link q fits on a stud projecting from the upright rod d', the upper
end of which is fixed to the drop box d; this rod is clearly shewn in Figure 1,,

page_text: but it is broken away in Figure 2 in order to shew the parts behind it. When
the drop box is placed so as to bring the centre compartment in a line with
the shuttle race, or in the position represented at the right hand of Figure 2,
the outer end of the lever q' is supported by the lever 93, which is connected to
the tumbler p² by the link q', but when the top compartment of the shuttle
box is required in a line with the shuttle race, the tumbler p² is made to assume
the same position as the tumbler p, and the lever q is thereby pulled into the
position indicated by the red line; the lever q' is then at liberty to drop until
the antifriction roller q is supported on the smallest radius of the tumblers p
and p², as also indicated by the red lines at the right-hand side of Figure 2.
The catch 9 hooks on a projection from the lever q¹, and serves to retain the
lever in its proper position as long as the centre compartment of the drop box
is required in a line with the shuttle race; when the lowest compartment of the
drop box is required to be in a line with the shuttle race, as seen to the left of
Figure 2, the projection from the tumbler p, shewn by dotted lines, acts on a
projection from the catch 7', and moves it beyond the projection on the
lever g'. The mode of communicating the motion from the double levers o
and o³ to the drop box on the left-hand side of the loom is similar to that
above described, and is clearly shewn in the Drawings. In order to facilitate
the changes in the position of the drop boxes, I have applied a weights, see
Figure 1, to counterbalance each of the drop boxes; these weights are con-
nected to each of the levers q', by the chains & passing over pulleys s. To
the stud projecting from the upright rod d' is fitted a guide pieces sliding in
projections from the bracket s*, the lower portion of which serves as a bearing
for the cross shaft of the lay swords; these guide pieces serve to keep the
centre of the lower end of the upright rods d¹ in the same vertical line as the
centre of the cross shaft of the lay swords, by this means the vibrations of the
Jay produce little or no variation in the position of the drop boxes. As it is
often desirable to be able to throw two or even three of the shuttles in succes-
sion from the same side of the loon, I have contrived the following mechanism,
which is also put into operation by the jacquard engine:-The double lever t,
scen best in Figure 3 and 8, is mounted on the same shaft as the
bottom jacks h¹³, and is furnished with an upright passing through a
feeler j, as before described; the inner end of the lever t is provided
with an antifriction roller which takes into an inclined groove in the
lever t²; near the upper end of this lever is jointed a link t³, connected at
the other end to the lever fixed to a shaft supported in bearings;
attached to the loom side to the shaft t is also fixed the lever to,

page_text: seen best in Figure 8; this lever is connected to the sliding rail t, by the
link t; at each end of the rail t' is a piece to, which enters into the circular
groove in the bosses of the picking levers' u; each of the levers u fits
loosely on one of the studs u², consequently when the rail t is moved endways,
the picking levers are moved with it. The picking sticks u which are shewn
in Figures 7 and 8, are fixed on the shafts u³, and are actuated by the bowls
a3 projecting from the fly-wheels a' acting on the levers u, from which descend
the links connected below to the levers us on the shafts u³; or they may be
moved in any other convenient manner, as this arrangement of moving the
picking sticks forms no part of my Invention. On referring to the plan
Figure 9, it will be seen that the left-hand lever u is just below the bowl a³,
and therefore in the position for being acted upon by the bowl; when the
fly wheel revolves, the right-hand lever u is shewn beyond the reach of the
bowl a', which is therefore at liberty to revolve without touching it. When
the jacquard card acts on the feeler j, so as to bring the lower end of the
upright in a line with the bottom bar t, it is evident that the upward
motion of tliis bar will depress the inner end of the lever t; the antifriction
roller at its end, by sliding down the inclined groove in the lever t³, moves the
link t in the direction of the arrow, thereby reversing the position of the
levers u, and bringing the right-hand one under the bowl as, at the same time
moving the left-hand lever beyond the reach of the bowl above it. From the
foregoing, it is apparent that by varying the position of the holes in the
jacquard cards, the shuttles can be thrown from either of the drop boxes in
any required order; this is of great advantage in weaving patterns requiring
frequent changes in the weft, as by this means fewer changes are required in
the position of the drop boxes. I wish to observe here, that when only one
shuttle is required, the above described loom may easily be made to work
fourteen or other convenient number of heddles.
My improved weft stop motion is represented in Figures 2, 7, and 9, and
on an enlarged scale in Figures 10 and 11. On referring to these views it
will be seen that I place an instrument somewhat similar to the ordinary weft
fork at each end of the reed; this instrument is like a coarse comb, and is
marked v. It consists of 6 or other convenient number of teeth fixed into a
piece of metal; the plates of metal v', scen best in Figure 9, are let into the
lay bottom, and each of them has as many slots through them as there are
teeth in the combs v. is a slender shaft supported in bearings fixed to the
lay bottom, to which the combs v are keyed; on the shaft is also fixed a
lever v, from which descends a link ', the lower end of which is connected

page_text: to the lever, as shewn in Figures 2 & 11. The fulcrum of the lever vis
a stud fixed in one of the lay swords c, and to the other end of this lever is
fitted an antifriction roller v, seen best in Figures 7 and 10, which bears
upon the inclined plane w, fixed to the loom side. The lever is connected
to the hammer x by the link ¹; the hammer x is also hinged to the
Jay sword c. w is a piece projecting from the ordinary frog. The
operation of these pieces is as follows:-At every stroke of the lay, and
when the lay is nearly at its furthest position from the taking up roller,
the antifriction roller comes in contact with and slides up the inclined
plane w; by so doing, the long end of the lever is depressed, and the
combs are lifted into the positions shewn in Figures 2 and 10; they remain
in this position until the shuttle has crossed from one shuttle box to the other,
and until the roller is again clear of the inclined plane w; the spring v
then elevates the lever, and depresses the hammer x, as shewn in red in
Figures 10 and 11, by which means the combs are lowered to the level of
the shuttle race; if the weft covers the slots in the plates the combs are
prevented, by the weft, passing through the slots, but if the weft is absent, the
combs pass through the plates v¹, and by so doing the lever v, link vs, and
lever cause the hammer x to descend until it comes in a direct line with the
piece w¹, against which it strikes before the reed touches the cloth, and as I
have already mentioned that the piece w¹ is fixed to the frog which acts
on the starting lever in the ordinary manner, it is evident that the absence of
the weft will be detected and the loom will be stopped, whether the weft be
absent on the right or left hand side of the loom.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my Invention, I wish
it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details or arrange-
ments herein set forth, as the same may be varied without departing from the
peculiar character of my Invention. And I claim,-
First, the improved construction of jacquard engines herein-before shewn
and described.
Secondly, the improved combination of machinery for regulating the taking
up of the cloth.
Thirdly, the improved combination of machinery for regulating the
position of the drop boxes.
Fourthly, the improved combination of machinery for governing the picking
motion in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
Fifthly, the application of jacquard engines to regulate the taking up of the
cloth.