IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING CARPETS, COACH LACE, VELVETS, AND OTHER PILED FABRICS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Porter, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING CARPETS, COACH LACE, VELVETS, AND OTHER PILED FABRICS."—A
communication.
Sealed the 29th August 1856, and dated the 13th March 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Porter at the
Office. of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th March 1856.
I, THOMAS PORTER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING CARPETS, COACH LACE. VELVETS, AND OTHER PILED FABRICS
to be as follows:-
These improvements in looms for weaving piled fabrics relate to the means
employed to successively withdraw the detached members of a series of pile
wires from the woven pile or loops, and to carry the same to and insert them
into the open shed.
The Invention consists in the employment of a vibrating belt, provided with
fingers or catches which will insert and withdraw the pile wires. As the lay is
vibrated back and forth with the several pile wires in the woven fabric, theone'
furthest from the lay is grasped by a catch, latch, or finger on a reciprocating
belt, and is thereby withdrawn from the loops that have been formed over the
said wire. The wires will also be carried towards the lay and inserted into the

page_text: open shed,and when in its place there it will be liberated from the latch, and the
latter returns and repeats the withdrawal and insertion of the remaining wires
continuously while the fabric is being woven. The reciprocating belt.passes
round a small pulley, and is fastened to and is variously moved forward and
backward by a large pulley. The small pulley is supported upon the end of a
vibrating arm, whose axis of motion is the same in position with that of the
large pulley, so that as the small pulley is moved toward and from the lay the
belt will always be tight, while the pile wires are successively withdrawn from
the loops, and inserted within the open shed in the proper direction. Less
power is required when the inner end ouly of the instrument for drawing
and supporting the wires is carried towards the lay to insert the wires,
and there is greater simplicity in the operation than in the mode now practised
of moving the old instrument forward. When any of the pile wires are
drawn out of the loops, the inner end thereof, or that end which last leaves the
selvage of the cloth, is caught by a moveable finger or crotch attached to the
vibrating arm which carries the belt, and is thereby supported and guided
while being carried to and inserted within the open shed, and as the catch
latch approaches, this finger or crotch is removed out of its way, and as the
latch recedes the finger or crotch resumes its place to receive the wire as it is
withdrawn. The latch consists of short hook projecting from the side of a
plate to catch into a hole through the heads of the pile wires, and a spring to
retain the pile wire on the hook, and the latch is so constructed in reference to
the heads of the pile wires that it will engage with these heads by merely
being pushed against them, and the wires are released from the latch by the
mere pressure of the advancing reed against the wires.. The mode in.which
the head of the outside pile wire is always brought into the proper place and
held in the right position to be caught by the catch latch may be thus described.
A groove is cut in and a stop plate raised from the cloth rest at this place,
into and against which the head of the pile wire is pressed, and held by means
of a V-shaped spring point pressing upon or between A-shaped top edges of
the heads, and which spring also keeps the other wire heads back from the
one to be drawn, so that only one, and that the right one, shall always be
grasped and drawn.
The mode of making the catch latch always grasp the head of the wire when
the head is in the proper position, is as follows:-Wings or projections are
formed on the latch, and these wings or projections enter the wide-mouthed slot
in the vibrating arm, and in the end of the cloth rest as the latch approaches.
the head of the wire.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Porter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE FRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
PORTER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her inost Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Porter, Her special license that I, the said Thomas Porter,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Porter, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING CARPETS, COACH LACE, VELVETS, AND
OTHER PILED FABICS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Porter, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what mauner 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 Thomas Porter, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say)
:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of mechanism for withdrawing
pile wires from the fabric into which they have been woven to form loopson
open shed.
the face thereof, and of inserting them again in the
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in plan view, and Fig. 2 in
side elevation, so much of a loom, with the improvements applied thereto, as
will serve to explain the nature of this Invention.
a, a, represents a series of
wires for forming the pile on the face of the fabric under process of manu-
facture, which wires lie in the work immediately above the cloth rest b. In
the head of each wire is an eye to receive the hooked end of a spring clip c
(shewn on an enlarged scale at Fig. 3), attached to an endless band, strap, or

page_text: chain d, which works at tension over two pulleys and, and imparts a
reciprocating motion to the clip e. The axle 3 of the pulley d' is supported
in a bracket bearing attached to the main framing of the loom, and mounted
loosely on this axle d³ is a vibrating arm e, which carries at its extremity a
stud or pin on which the pulley d² is loosely mounted. In order to give a
reciprocating rotary motion to the pullies for the purpose of advancing and
drawing back the spring clip, a bevil pinion is keyed to the lower end of
the axle d³, and caused to gear into a segment rack g, carried by a shaft g',
from which projects an arm g2. Connected to this arm by a rod g³ is a lever
g4, which has for its fulcrum a fixed stud carried by the main framing. This
lever y carries a bowle, which works in a cam groove formed in the face of a
cam on the cam shaft. By the rotation, therefore, of this cam the lever g
is rocked, and thus a reciprocating axial motion is communicated to the
segment rack g, and through that rack and the pinion f to the pulley d³.
When by this means a forward motion is given to the strap d, the spring clip
will be advanced and caused to take hold of the head of the last of the series
of wires. On the motion of the strap being reversed the clip will draw out
the wire from the cloth, as shewn in the partial front elevation, Fig. 4. In
order to support the end of the wire both on its withdrawal and at its subse-
quent advance into the open shed, a guide i is provided, which presents a
forked termination to the wire when it requires support, but turns out of the
way. as the spring clip advances to lay hold of or carry in a wire. The
vibratory motion given to the arm e is for thepurpose of presenting the several
wires after they have been withdrawn from the work successively to the open
shed, that they may again be present in the work to assist in forming a loop
pile upon the surface. This motion I obtain by means of a rock levere', which
is jointed at one end to the arm e, and at the other to a rod e², which connects
it with a vibrating levere. This lever works on a fixed stud (as its fulcrum),
carried by the main framing, and it is provided with a bowle, which takes into
a groove in the face of a cam 2 on the cam shaft h. The rotation, therefore,
of the cam shaft will cause the vibration of the lever, as well as the advance
and return of the spring clip, to and from the work. To enable the clip to
select with certainty the last of the series of wires for the purpose of drawing
it out of the work, I provide the clip with two fins or projections (one on its
upper and the other on its lower edge), which take respectively on the advance
of the clip into slots cut in the cloth rest b, and in an arm d', carried by the
studaxle of the pulley d. These slots serve to guide the clip, and thus ensure
its being brought up into contact with the head of the last wire of the series.
A projection or shoulder b' is made on the cloth rest 6 close to the edge of the

page_text: slot, as shewn best at Fig. 5. This shoulder acts as a stop to the wires when
beaten up by the batten, and the slot receives the head of the last wire. The
top edges of the heads of the wires are bevilled off to receive in turn the
A-shaped termination of a presser/affixed to the framing of the loom. There
are also other pressers 1, 1, for keeping the wires in position. The presser k
bears upon the head of the last of the series of wires, and by reason of the
shape of its end it separates the head of that wire from the others, and thereby
enables the spring clip c to seizeit with facility. When the band has advanced
the clip sufficiently to enable it to take hold of the wire, the continued rotation
of the cam will reverse the motion of the band, and cause the clip to draw
out the wire, as shewn at Figures 1 and 4. When it has arrived at the
position shewn in the Figures, the forked guide i (which by the action of the
coiled spring surrounding it had until now been retained in the dotted position
of Fig. 4) will move up to support the wire. This movement of the guide is
effected by a cam i¹ on the axle d acting upon the bowle of a bell crank
lever, carried by the vibrating arm e, and connected to an arm on the stem
of the forked guide i by a rod 23. As this cam i¹ is presented to the crank
lever it rocks that lever, and thereby, through the rod and arm on the guide
stem, raises the fork into the acting position. This position it retains while
the cam h² is causing (as above explained) the vibration of the lever e, together
with the band and the clip c, with the wire in its grip. By this vibration of
the levere the wire is presented to the opeu shed, and the reverse action of the
cam now taking place, the spring clip moves forward and inserts the wire in
the shed. When it has been advanced to the required extent tho reed moves
forward to beat up, and striking against the wire disengages it from the grip
of the spring clip; the lever e then moves back to its former position to
allow the clip on its next advance to seize in like manner the last of the series
of wires and return it to the shed.
Having now set forth the nature and object of this Invention of "Improve-
ments in Looms for Weaving Carpets, Coach Lace, Velvets, and other Piled
Fabrics," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim:-
First, the means herein described for operating the spring clip and causing
it to seize upon and draw out from the woven fabric that wire of the series
which is farthest from the reed and carrying it into the open shed.
Secondly, giving a lateral motion to the wire (for the purpose of bringing
it opposite the open shed) by means of a vibrating lever, or its equivalent, as
explained.

page_text: And, thirdly, the guide for supporting the end of the wire when held by the
spring, clip.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Porter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
THOMAS PORTER. (L:s.)
Witness;
WALTER LATHAM,
23, Upper Byrom Street, St. John's, "
Manchester