IMPROVEMENTS IN HEALDS. OR HEDDLES AND OTHER PARTS OF LOOMS AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Whittaker, of Blackburn, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HEALDS. OR
HEDDLES AND OTHER PARTS OF LOOMS AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 14th August 1868, and dated the 15th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Whittaker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th February 1868.
I, DAVID WHITTAKER, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HEALDS OR HEDDLES AND OTHER PARTS OF LOOMS AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in improvements in healds or heddles
and in machinery or apparatus for manufacturing the same. I employ
two pieces of bent wire in connection with each. eye of the heald, the

page_text: eye being linked to each pair of wires, and so on for as many eyes as
the heald requires. To the outer ends of the wires I attach heald yarns
or threads and pass the yarns over the two staves of the heald, either
fastening the yarns or allowing them to be loose, as may be required,
and for preventing the eyes and wires from locking or buckling I
keep the staves at a fixed distance apart by wooden or metal rods.
To bend the wires with accuracy and despatch I employ a machine
constructed as follows:-To legs or framework I fix a table having
two ribs projecting upwards, the distance between the ribs corresponding
with the lengths of the wires before they are bent, and on the table
are fixed a number of guides for holding the wires side by side in
their places. At the side of the table there are guides, in which work
slides, carrying a cross wire or bender, the slides being worked by a
lever, and on the table there is a slot through which the bender can
pass, and at the lower part of the slot there are plates pressed by
india-rubber or metal springs. When the wires are placed between
the guides the bender is moved downwards and bends the wires, forcing
them through the slot and then between the pressing plates for re-
ceiving a second or extra squeeze. For enabling the wires to be
efficiently attached by the yarns to the heald stave I bend the two
ends of each bent wire to the form of hooks in the following manner :-
On the table of an ordinary press I fix a board or stop and at the
sides of the table thin plates of metal, and on the table there are
pieces of leather or cloth having guide pins and held at their ends.
The wires to be hooked are passed under the leathers and between
the guide pins and pushed up to the stop, after which the pressing
plate is pressed upon the leathers and wires and then the ends of the
wires are hooked over the thin metal plates, the wires being removed
from the plates and leathers when the pressing plate is raised.
The second part of my Invention relates to the back rèst or yarn
bearer of looms. To the side frames I fix studs carrying levers, to one
end of which I fix the rest or bearer which can vibrate up and down
with the levers. The ends of the levers which carry the rest are con-
nected to one end of spiral springs the other ends of which are fixed
to studs or brackets at the top of the side frames, and the other ends
of the levers are connected by spiral springs to the weighting ropes,
which arrangements are for the purpose of maintaining the yarn at a
proper tension and taking the strain off the healds. The aforesaid

page_text: levers can be adapted to rests or bearers of different lengths by
having long studs and placing loose collars on one or both sides of the
levers.
This Invention consists, thirdly, of an improved arrangement of stop
rod and reed holder for loosc reed looms. Instead of the heavy metal
rod with its metal attachments welded on I employ a wooden board
or light metal frame having studs or pivots working in sockets or
bearings connected to the slay or sword arms, and the top of the
board or frame acts as the reed holder at the time of beating up.
This arrangement enables the stop rod and reed holder to be much
lighter than those at present employed and can be used with great
efficiency in connection with metallic healds.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said David Whittaker in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
WHITTAKER, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said David Whittaker, Her special license
that I, the said David Whittaker, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said David Whittaker, my exccutors,
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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HEALDS OR HEDDLES AND OTHER PARTS OF LOOMS AND IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said David Whittaker, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the

page_text: 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 Whittaker, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Figures
on the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, and to the letters of
reference marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists, first, in improvements in metallic healds or
heddles and in machinery or apparatus for manufacturing the same:
I employ the ordinary two pieces of bent wire in connection with each
eye of the heald, the eye being linked to each pair of wires, and so on
for as many eyes as the heald requires. The outer ends of the wires
are formed as hooks, to which are attached yarns or threads which are
passed over the two heald staves of the heald, and either fastened or
allowed to be loose as may be required, and for preventing the eyes
and wires from locking or buckling, and also for protecting the hooks
and yarns on the staves I keep the staves of each heald at a fixed
distance apart by wooden or metal rods of improved shapes, a rod being
placed at each end of the staves and so formed as to prevent the
staves of the several healds from touching each other.
On the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1,
are end views drawn about full size of two metallic healds or heddles
provided with different forms of my improved stay rods; and Figs. 3
and 4 are front and end views of part of a heald drawn to a scale of
one and a half inches to the foot.
In the various Figures a represents the staves; b, the wires; c, the
eyes; d, the hooks of the wires; e, the yarns or threads for connecting
the wires to the staves; and f, g, the stay rods; and it will be seen
that these rods are shaped so that they can be placed at the sides of
the staves, and thereby prevent the hooks and threads on the staves
of the set of healds from coming in contact with each other.
To bend the wires with accuracy and despatch I employ a machine
constructed as follows, and represented in the side and end elevations,
Figs, 5 and 6, Sheet 1, and detached parts of the same are shewn in

page_text: Figs. 7, 8, and 9, Figs. 5, 6, and 7 being drawn to a scale of three
inches to the foot, and Figs. 8 and 9 about full size :-To framework or
legs h I fix a table i having two ribs / projecting upwards, the distance
between the ribs corresponding with the lengths of the wires before
they are bent; and on the table are fixed a number of guides for
holding the wires m side by side in their places, one of such wires
being shewn full size in Fig. 10. At the sides of the table i there
are slots or guides in which work slides n carrying a cross plate
or bender o, the slides being worked by the lever p, and in the table
there is a slot q, Fig. 7, through which the bender can pass. Below
the slot there are plates r, Fig. 7, attached to wooden blocks & fixed
to the platest supported by the bars u fixed to the underside of the
table, and behind the wooden blocks s there are metal springs or india-
rubber blocks compressed to act as springs. When the spaces
between the guides are filled with the straight wires m the operative
by means of the lover p moves the slides n and bender o downwards
and bends the wires forcing them through the slot q and between the
pressing plates pressed by the india-rubber springs v, the slot giving
the wires the first squeeze and the pressing plates a second or extra
squeeze and forming them as shewn in Fig. 11. For enabling the
bent wires to be efficiently attached by the yarns or threads to the
heald stays I bend the two ends of each bent wire to the form of
hooks in the following manner :-On the table of an ordinary copying
press I fix a board or stop a, Figs. 12, 13, and 14, Sheet 2, and at
each side of the board thin plates of metal 6 having their edges
projecting over the sides of the table, and on these plates there are
pieces of cloth or leather c having guide pins and held at their ends,
and to the sides of the pressing plate d are fixed pieces of wood or
metal e. The bent wires to be hooked are passed under the leathers
between the guide pins and pushed up to the stop, after which the
pressing plate d by means of the lever f and screw g is pressed upon
the leathers to hold the wires firm, and then the ends of the wires are
bent over the edges of the metal plates in the form of hooks, as shewn
in Fig. 15; and when the pressing plate .d is raised the finished wires
are removed and fresh wires placed under the leathers.
The second part of my Invention relates to the back rest or yarn
bearer of looms. To each side frame i, Figs. 16 and 17, Sheet. 2, .of an
ordinary loom I fix a stud k carrying a two-armed lever l, m, and fix

page_text: to the arms the rest or bearer n, which can vibrate up and down with
the levers. The arms which carry the rest are connected to one end
of spiral springs o the other ends of which are attached to standards p
fixed to the tops of the side frames a, and the other arms m are connected
by spiral springs a to the weighting ropes », the said ropes being first
fastened to the ordinary flat springs attached to the back rail t, then
passed round the ends of the beam, as at u, and then passed under
the pulleys and connected to the springs q, and these arrangements
are for the purpose of maintaining the yarn at a proper tension and
taking the strain off the healds. The levers l, m, can be adapted to.1
rests or bearers of different lengths by having long studs and placing
loose collars on one or both sides of the levers.
This Invention consists, thirdly, of an improved arrangement of
stop rod and reed holder for loose reed looms. Instead of the heavy
metal rod with its metal attachments welded on I employ a wooden
board or light metal frame having studs or shafts working in sockets
or bearings connected to the slay or sword arms, and the top of the
board acts as the reed holder at the time of beating up.
This improvement is represented in Figs. 18 and 19, Sheet 2, in
which a represents the slay of an ordinary loose reed loom, the
sword arms, and c the reed. My improved reed holder and stop rod
is shewn at d, there being fixed to it shafts e working in bearings f
fixed to the sword arms b, and to it are also fixed the ordinary duck
bills for keeping the reed fast at the time of beating up. This
arrangement enables the stop rod and reed holder to be much lighter:
than those at present employed and can be used with great efficiency
in connection with metallic and other healds.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim,-
.
First. The combination of my improved stay rods with the metallic
healds, shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
Secondly. The improved arrangements of machinery or apparatus for
bending the wires and forming the hooks.
Thirdly. The two-armed levers working on studs in connection with
the weighting motion.

page_text: And, fourthly. The improved light frame to be used as stop rod and
reed holder for loose rced looms as all such improvements are herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Whittaker have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the within-named David
Whittaker in the presence
of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
DAVID WHITTAKER. (L.S.)