IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING, AND: IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT: to John Lawson, Pattern Designer, and John Lawson,
junior, Machinist, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING, AND: IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lawson and John
Lawson, junior, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 22nd March 1864.
i'
We, JOHN LAWSON, Patent Designer, and JOIN LAWSON, junior, Machiuist,
both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements in weaving, and in apparatus
therefor, suitable for various kinds of fabrics, and iu. particular for narrow
fabrics or for thick fabrics.
In carrying out one modification no shuttle is used, but there are two wefts
which are drawn off bobbins, one at cach side, and which are held in eyes,
hooks, or notches in needles or carriers. The warps are shed in any common
way, and into each shed both weft carriers are passed from opposite sides and
then withdrawn; loops of the wefts are thereby laid in the shed in opposite
ונס.

page_text: 7
directions, the ends of these loops being caught by pins made to enter them
either at, beyond, or within the selvage on the opposite sides respectively from
those from which theloops are introduced. By these means firm selvages are
formed at both sides, a result believed to have been hitherto unattained in this
kind of weaving.
In other modifications more than two wefts are used, being introduced into
different sheds, which sheds may be either successive, or, as in the case of
thick fabrics, simultaneous, but it is in most cases preferred to insert in each
shed at least two loops from opposite sides. In the case of thick fabrics, such
as carpets and the like, and where, for example, the object is to give thickness
to the backing one or more wefts introduced by a weft carrier may be employed
in combination with one or more wefts introduced by a shuttle or shuttles, firm
selvages being secured by such shuttle or shuttles.
In weaving two-ply carpetting or similar fabrics, a single weft loop may be
laid in the shed for the upper ply by a carrier entering from one side, and a
carrier entering from the other side also lays a single weft loop in the shed
for the lower ply. The selvage warp threads may be shed as for a single ply
fabric, whereby firm selvages will be obtained on both sides.
.
In weaving cloth to be cut up into chenille or fur wefts or warps, firm
selvages are not necessary, and the wefts may be introduced from one side
only or from both sides.
A considerable number of different wefts are used, but by this Invention
there is only one weft carrier or weft inserter on one or on each side. The
different wefts are drawn off bobbins, and are acted upon by jacquard appa-
ratus, and harness, or other equivalent pattern mechanisın, so that at each
shed the particular weft thread required by the pattern is placed across or in
the hook or notch of the weft carrier or inserter, and is by it laid in the shed.
Ornamental fabrics not intended for chenille or fur may be woven in this
way, whether single weft loops or double and opposite weft loops are inserted
in each shed or not.
In the various arrangements, herein-before described, or in some of them,
instead of the weft carriers or inserters entering the sheds from the same
sides as the wefts they insert they may be made to enter from the opposite
sides, and by hooks or notches to catch the wefts and draw them into the
sheds.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Lawson and John Lawson, junior, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 22nd September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
LAWSON, Pattern Designer, and JOHN LAWSON, junior, Machinist, both of
Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the Twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Lawson and John Lawson, junior, Her special licence that
we, the said John Lawson and John Lawson, junior, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Lawson and John
Lawson, junior, 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
WEAVING, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said John Lawson and John Lawson, junior, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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.
i
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Lawson and John Lawson,
junior, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
".
Our said Invention relates to improvements in weaving, and in apparatus
therefor, suitable for various kinds of fabrics, and in particular for narrow
fabrics or for thick fabrics.
And in order that our said Invention, and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood, we have hereunto appended two Sheets of

page_text: explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing some
of the modifications of which our improved arrangements are susceptible.
.
In carrying out one modification no shuttle is used; but there are two wefts
for each width of the fabric, such wefts being drawn off bobbins or pirns, and
being held in eyes, hooks, or notches in needles or carriers. The warps are
shed in any common way, and into each shed both weft carriers are passed,
one from each side of each width of the fabric, and are then withdrawn ;
loops of the two wefts are thereby laid in the shed in opposite directions; the
ends of these loops being caught by pins made to enter them eitherat, beyond,
or within theselvage on the opposite sides respectively from those from which
the loops are introduced. By these means firm selvages are formed at both
sides, a result which we believe to have been hitherto unattained in this kind
of weaving.
..
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of the Drawings is a sectional side elevation, and
Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation, showing the essential details of a
modification of the improved weaving apparatus, herein-before described, as
arranged for weaving a number of narrow fabrics side by side; the parts for
only two widths, however, are shown in Figure 2, but it is to be understood
that they are to be repeated or extended for as many widths as it is found
convenient to weave simultaneously in one loom. The warps 1 running
horizontally forward in the usual way are shed at 2 by any common arrange-
ment of heddles or harness, and pass on through the reed 3, and over the
breast beam 4 to the take-up roller 5. The lathe is made with swords 6 at
each side (and with one or more intermediate swords if the loom is very
wide,) and the swords are connected with upper and lower rails or bars 7, 8.
The reed 3 is in short pieces for each width of fabric, with open intervals
between, and each piece is carried in the upper rail 7 and in a bracket 9
projecting from the lower rail S. The lathe is worked by connecting rods 10,
jointed to the 'swords 6, and actuated by grooved cam's 11 on the first-motion
shaft 12, the cams being shaped to give more time to the back positions of
the lathe, without making the travel of the lathe more than that necessary
for the action of the weft carriers, and which is comparatively less than in
ordinary looms. The weft carriers or needles 13, 14, are fixed in: little
brackets 15, 16, which are themselves formed or fixed on horizontal bars
17; 18, the bur 17 carrying all those inserting the wefts from the left. The
weft bars 17, 18, work in guide slots in the side frames, and are actuated by
levers 19, 20, one at one side of the loom and the other at the other side, and
these levers 19, 20, are moved by grooves on cylindrical cams 21 on-the
shaft 12: The pins 22 for holding the weft loops; when laid in the sheds by

page_text: the-carriers 13, 14, are fixed in little brackets 23 formed or fixed on a hori
zontal bar 24, which moves with the lathe, being fixed on vertical rods 25
working in guides 26, 27, on the lathe swords 6. The bottoms of the rods 25
are jointed to levers 28 worked by cams 29 on the low shaft 30, by which
the heddles are.worked, these cams causing the pins 22 to rise and fall at the
proper periods. The pins rise closely in front of the weft needles 13, 14,
immediately on these completing their movements inwards, and before they
return; the lathe then moves forward for the beat up, the pins 22 moving
with it, but yielding backwards a little with the rods 25 bearing against light
springs 31 as the reed reaches the fell of the cloth. On the return backwards
of the lathe the pins 22 descend, whilst the weft needles 13, 14, make their
next movements inwards, and then reascend and secure the. new shots, as
before. The bobbins 32 for supplying woft to the needles 13, 14, may be
placed in any convenient positions, the weft being passed through suitable
guides, and being subjected to a proper tension in any convenient way.
In other modifications more than two wefts are used, being introduced into
different sheds, which sheds may be either successive, or, as in the case of
thick fabrics, simultaneous, but in most cases we prefer to insert in each shed'
at least two loops from opposite sides. In the case of thick fabrics, such as
carpets and the like, and where, for example, the object is to give thickness
to the backing, one or more wefts introduced by a weft. carrier may be
employed in combination with one or more wefts introduced, by a shuttle or
shuttles, firm selvages being secured by such shuttle or shuttles... :
In weaving two-ply carpetting or similar fabrics, according to one plan, a
single weft loop is laid in the shed for the upper ply by a carrier entering
from one side, and a carrier entering from the other side also lays a single
weft loop in the shed for the other ply. The selvage warp threads: at each
side are shed as for a single ply fabric, whereby firm selvages will be obtained
on both sides. The warps are actuated by jacquard harness, whilst the wefts
are selected and inserted on one or both sides in a manner and by means the
same or similar to what is herein-after described.
...
In weaving cloth to be cut up into chenille or fur wefts or warps, firm
selvages are not necessary, and the wefts may be introduced from one side
only or from both sides.
. A considerable number of different wefts are used, but by this Invention
there is only one weft.carrier or.weft inserter. on one or on each side.. The
different wefts are drawn off bobbins or pirns, and are acted upon by jacquard
apparatus and harness, or other equivalent pattern mechanism, so that at each
shed the particular weft thread required by the pattern.is placed across or in

page_text: the hook or notch of the weft carrier or inserter, and is by it laid in the shed.
Ornamental fabrics not intended for chenille or fur may be woven in this way,
whether single weft loops or double, and opposite weft loops are inserted in
each shed or not.
Figures 3 and 4, on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, are side and front elevations,
the latter partly in section, of a loom for weaving cloth for chenille or fur, as con-
structed with a modification ofthe arrangements lastlyberein-before described;
Figure 5 is a vertical section at right angles to the front, and as taken just
within the right-hand side frame 33; Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional side
view of the pin barrel and details acted on by it, these parts constituting the
pattern mechanism in this example; Figure 7 is a full-sized side view of the
point of the weft inserter 34. The lathe 6 is worked by connecting rods 10
and a cam 11 on the first motion shaft 12, arranged to give a longer time to
the back position, as in the loom represented on Sheet 1, and herein-before
described. The heddles are not shown, but may be worked in the ordinary
way by means of the low shaft 30 driven at half the speed of the shaft 12.
The weft inserter is a rod 34 fixed in a slide block 35, working on a guide
rod 36, which has its outer end fixed in a standard 37, and its inner end in a
bracket 88 fixed or formed on the side frame 33. The inserter slide block 35
is connected by a rod 39 to a lever 40), actuated by a rod 41 from .a pin in
the rim of a fly wheel 42 on a shaft 43, driven by bevil gearing from the low
shaft 30, but at the same speed as the upper shaft 12. The notch of the
inserter 34 (as best seen in Figure 37) is fitted with a closing claw 44, which
tends to keep open by its weight, but which when a weft thread has entered
it is closed by the drag of the thread on the inner part of the claw. The
various wefts 45 are drawn off pirns 46 placed in a frame 47 at the back of
the loom, and are led through and over suitable guides to the front ends of a
series of pattern levers 48, centred on a transverse horizontal spindle 49, and
having their back ends over a pattern barrel 50, in which pins 51 are inserted
to act on the various levers according to the pattern. The pattern levers 48
have their front ends guided in a kind of reed 52, and one is represented as
having depressed its weft 45¹ into the position for being taken into the shed
by the inserter 34. In order that the thread may not miss being caught by
the inserter its position is accurately determined, in the first place, by its
being depressed over a rail projecting inwards from the bracket 38, aud in the
second place by its being drawn tightly round a vertical pin on the same
bracket by a pin 53 on the upper end of a crank lever 54, this pin moving
outwards behind the stationary pin immediately after the thread is depressed.
The crank lever 54 moves outwards by its own weight, but is move dinwards

page_text: by a lever 55, acted on by a cam 56, indicated by dotted lines in Figures 5
and 6, and fast on the first-motion shaft 12. When a weft loop is inserted,
it is caught at the other side of the lathe by a pin 22 fixed in the front end of
a lever 28, actuated by a cam 29 on the first-motion shaft 12, and recovered
by a spring. The lever 28 has an elongated eye to permit of its sliding on its
currying stud 57, and it moves forward with the lathe 6, being made to do so
by a projecting piece on the lathe rail 7, this piece engaging between two
pins on the lever 28, and having so much play between them as to leave the
catch pin 22 the proper distance in front of the reed when the lathe moves
back. To make sure of the catch pin 22 entering the weft loop, this loop is
carried sufficiently past it towards the left, but the slack thus produced is
recovered, and the weft tightened by a movement to the right of the lever 54
and pin 53 at the other side, the cam 56 being shaped so as to produce
this movement at the proper period. As any particular weft may have to be
inserted twice or oftener, it is arranged that each pattern weft lever 48 that is
put down remains down until another lever is acted on by the pin barrel 50,
the putting down of one lever releasing the one previously down; when
released the levers 48 return up by the action of springs 58, and each is held
down when in action by a catch plate 59 which swings from a stud pin 60.
Each lever 48 is formed with a catch 61 projecting downwards, and the nose
of the catch is inclined so as to push the catch plate 59 aside when descend-
ing. To make sure of the catch plate 59 being pushed far enough aside to
release the previously depressed lever there is jointed on the catch pro-
jectiou 61 a piece 62 formed with an incline projecting a little further than
the rigid part of the catch, and in descending this jointed piece bearing
against a stop on the part 62, acts rigidly, and pushes the catch plate 59
sufficiently aside, whilst in ascending the piece 62 can turn so as to clear
itself if it catches against the catch plate 59.-The-pattern barrel 50 is moved
gradually round to bring fresh pins into action by a common ratchet move-
ment. An endless chain of lags, with pins, may be substituted for the barrel,
and if a large barrel or a chain is used, an attendant at the back may insert
pins as the work goes on, but well in advance of the pins in action, and these
pins may fit loosely and drop ot as tuley come towards the lower side after
being in action, the length of the pattern being thus rendered unlimited.
The mechanism for inserting the various wefts may obviously be repeated
at both sides of the loom, and is so repeated when arranged for weaving two-
ply carpetting, as herein-before referred to; as, however, the inserting of
weft from the opposite sides takes place in that case at different times, the two
inserters may be worked by one picking motion being put into gear there.

page_text: with and out of gear therefrom alternately. The connecting rods (39) are
formed with gab notches to engage with a pin on the actuating lever (40,)
and when not in gear each is lifted up by and rests on a stilt suitably actuated.
The lever (40) will have to make a single extra stroke every time it passe's
from one weft inserter to the other, which will give a convenient time for
the double beat required by such fabrics as are to be woven by this arrange-
ment.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we have to state that we do not restrict our-
selves to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what we
believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention secured to us
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patentis, the weaving of various.
fabrics in any of the improved modes, herein-before described, or in modes
substantially the same, and the arranging or combining together of apparatus
therefor, substantially in the improved modes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Lawson and John Lawson, junior
have hereunto set our hand and seals, this Twentieth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-four.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
(L s.)
JOHN LAWSON,
JOHN LAWSON. JUN". (L.s.)