IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Rowland Gibson Hazard at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
February 1865.
I, ROWLAND GIBSON HAZARD, of South Kingston, Rhode Island, United
States, but now of No. 12, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists, firstly, in giving the required move-
ments to the shuttle by the force of air set in motion by the action of the
working parts of the loom.
Secondly, in determining the precise time at which the movements of the
shuttle shall commence.
Thirdly, in the peculiar construction and arrangement of mechanical parts
for effecting these objects.
On the loom lathe, similar to those heretofore employed, omitting the picker
rods, and partially covering the shuttle boxes at their outer ends, I place a
box or air chamber of rigid or flexible materials, or a combination of both.
This box or chamber may have two sides, formed of wood, metal, or other
rigid substance, the remaining sides being formed of any suitable flexible
material. An aperture in the box or chamber communicates with the end of
the shuttle box, but otherwise said box should be quite or nearly air-tight.
The same result however may be obtained by forming all the sides rigid, one
being moveable and made to act as a plunger on the enclosed air. This

page_text: plunger may be made to move in parallel planes, or may be hinged at one end
or side of the box, the movement of the other end or side producing the
desired effect upon the enclosed air. The plunger in any case may be kept
asunder from the opposite side of the chamber by means of springs, weights,
or other suitable device.
The inward movement of the plunger, decreasing the enclosed space, causes
the air to move rapidly through the aperture into the shuttle box behind the
square portion or body of the shuttle, giving the required motion to said
shuttle.
Upon the outer portion of the plunger is fixed a friction wheel, or a pro-
jection is formed, which as the lathe is moved back is acted upon by an
inclined plane or bevel made stationary at the required point, or moveable
only within certain limits. By this means the plunger is forced rapidly
inward, displacing the air, which passes through the aperture in the air
chamber into the shuttle box. If found desirable, however, the inclined plane
may be formed on the plunger, and the friction wheel or projection, against
which it is forced by the motion of the lathe, be made stationary or moveable.
within certain limits. The requisite motion may also be given to the plunger
by means of an arm moving on a pivot freely to a given point, where it strikes
against a stationary pin, causing the end of the arm attached to the plunger
to force the latter rapidly inward, or this motion may be given to the plunger
by the latter being brought directly against a resisting surface by the back-
wood movement of the lathe; or the plunger may itself be fixed at the proper
distance back of the lathe, so that by the backward motion of the lathe it will
enter the air chamber, and force the air through the shuttle box. In the two
last-mentioned cases the air chamber should be placed at the back part of the
lathe. Motion may also be given to the plunger by any other suitable means,
the object being to suddenly contract the air chamber in order to create a
current of air sufficiently strong to throw the shuttle.
There are various mechanical means by which the fixed plunger or the
surface which resist the plunger when attached to the air chamber may be
moved so as to act alternately first at one end of the lathe and then at the
other, when this is desired.
To determine with precision the time at which the shuttle shall begin to
move, or if necessary to increase the initial velocity of the shuttle, a pin
moving freely up and down with or without a spring may be inserted in the
covering of the shuttle box, the lower end of the pin reaching a little below
the top of the shuttle. The shuttle as it enters the box raises the pin on the
bevel part of the shuttle, and it drops just within the cop chamber of the

page_text: shuttle, holding it till, by the backward motion of the lathe, a joint or lever is
struck by the plunger, thereby raising the pin at the proper time for the
shuttle to recommence its motion. For this same object a slide or valve may
be employed to cover the aperture in the air chamber, said slide being
operated by means of a pin inserted therein coming in contact with a wedge
or bevel either stationary or attached to the plunger, opening the aperture at
the proper time to permit the air to act upon the shuttle to give the desired
motion to said shuttle.