IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Whitehead, of Crosland Moor, near
Huddersfield, in the County of York, Designer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 21st March 1865, and dated the 28th September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Whitehead at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th September 1864.
I, WILLIAM WHITEHEAD, of Crosland Moor, near Huddersfield, in the
County of York, Designer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to means for regulating the number of picks of
weft weaving, by governing the action of the letting-off motion. For this
purpose the cloth roller is by toothed gear connected to a worm on one end of
a sliding shaft, upon which is affixed, but so as to admit of its sliding through
it, a ratchet wheel, the teeth of which are taken into by a click or driver
acted upon by a tappet to give rotary motion to the sliding shaft. To the
other end of this sliding shaft is affixed a grooved roller embraced by a forked
lever capable of being governed by the motion of the sliding shaft. This
forked lever is affixed to a shaft, which by levers and connecting rods is
connected to a rod with a wedge-formed end passing into a loop or connecting
rod connected to the tomahawk lever.

page_text: In place of the improvements being applied to the cloth roller they may be
applied to the yarn beam or roller.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Whitehead in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th March 1865.
-TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHITEHEAD, of Crosland Moor, near Huddersfield, in the County of York,
Designer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Whitehead, Her special licence that I; the said William White-
head, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Whitehead, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Whitehead, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Whitehead, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, that is to say:-
The improvements relate to means for regulating the number of picks of
weft in weaving, by governing the action of the letting-off motion. For this
purpose the cloth roller is by toothed gear connected to a worm on one end of
a sliding shaft, upon which is affixed, but so as to admit of its sliding through
it, a ratchet wheel, the teeth of which are taken into by a click or driver acted
upon by a tappet to give rotary motion to the sliding shaft. To the other end

page_text: of this sliding shaft is affixed a grooved roller.embraced by a forked lever
capable of being governed by the. motion of the sliding shaft. This forked
lever is affixed to a shaft, which, by levers and connecting rods is connected to
a rod with a wedge-formed end passing.into, a loop or connecting rod connected
to the tomahawk lever.
-
In place of the improvements being applied to the cloth roller they may be
applied to the yarn beam or roller..
But that the Invention may be better understood, I will by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings proceed to describe means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figures 1 and 2 show two end views, Figure 3.a front view, and Figure 4
a back view, of so much of. the parts of a loom as will serve to illustrate my
improvements as applied to the cloth roller..
A represents the cloth roller, or that over, which, the cloth passes to the
cloth beam; B is a pinion on the shaft or axis of the roller A; C is a carrier
or intermediate wheel gearing into the wheel B and also into the wheel D;
which has affixed or formed on it the worm wheel E, the teeth of which take
into the worm F affixed on the shaft. G, which is capable, of sliding in its
bearings H, whilst it carries, the ratchet wheel. I, by which motion is given to
the shaft G. J is a catch or driver to give motion to the wheel I, such catch
being carried by the lever.L', which turns upon the shaft G, and is connected
at its opposite end to one end of the connecting rod K, the, other end of
which is connected to one end of the lever L; this lever L turns upon a
centre of motion N₁ carried by the bracket N, whilst it is at its end L² acted
upon by the eccentric M affixed on the crank shaft.. Upon the shaft G is also
affixed the grooved pulley O, the groove of which receives pins from the
forked lever. P affixed to the upright shaft Q, which turns in the stationary
bearings T, and has affixed upon it the arm R, which by pin joint is connected
to one end of the rod S, whilst the other end of this rod S is connected to one
end of the bell-crank lever U, which turns upon a stud U₁, and at its other
end is.connected by.pin joint to the lower end of the upright rod V, which at
its upper end is formed wedge shaped, and passes through a loop in one end
of the connecting rod W, one end of which is supported with capability of
endway motion by means of the stud W' passing through the slot formed for
it, as shown, whilst the other end of it is connected to the lever W2, known
by the name of the tomahawk lever. The wedge-formed piece. V bears
against this stud W and against the end of its slot in the connecting rod W,
and by its position varies the amount of the take-up.

page_text: Figure 5 shows a back view, and Figure 6 án end view, of parts of a loom
showing the improvements applied to the warp beam or roller, and to the
delivery roller.
a is the delivery roller, over which the warp passes from the warp beam b;
the ends of the axis of this roller a are supported in swinging arms a¹ turning
upon studs a, and they are operated in the usual manner to obtain tension on
the warp by weighted leverage. Upon the axis of the roller a is affixed the
small toothed wheel a³, which takes into the thread of the screw-4 applied-on-
the spindle 5, which is supported with capability of sliding endwise in the
bearings 6, carried by one of the arms a¹, and upon the spindle 5 is also
affixed the ratchet wheel 7, the teeth of which are taken into by the ratchet 8
carried by the arm 9, one end of which turns on the spindle 6, whilst the
other end is by pin joint connected to one end of the rod 10, the other end of
which is by pin joint counected to an arm c projecting from the axis c, to
which are applied the arms c and d, and the arm c² is by the rod c³ connected
to one of the lathe swords e, so as to have motion given to it in the motion of
the batten. Upon the frame or moving arm a¹ is also carried an axis 11; to
which are applied the arms f and g. The arm f is forked at its lower end-to
take into a groove formed in a wheel 12 affixed on the axis. 5. The arm g
by pin joint supports the upper end of the rod h, the lower end, of which is
formed with an inclined surface h¹, which passes through a slotted .opening
formed for it in the rod which is also formed with another slotted opening,
through which passes the pin 13 from the frame a¹; and the other end of the
rod i is by pin joint connected to the. tomahawk lever k, which turns upon a
stud /, carried by the bracket 2, and at one end ³ is in position to be
operated by the tappet k', whilst its other end is by pin joint connected to one
end of the rod 1, the lower end of which is by pin joint connected to the
lever m, which turns upon the shaft or axis n, and carries'.a ratchet or
driver, which takes into the teeth of the ratchet wheel 'n' affixed on the
shaft n, and upon this shaft.n is also affixed the screw or worm n, which
takes into the teeth of the wheel. 6 affixed on the axis of the warp beam b.
In 'the ordinary working of the apparatus-the-inclined surface h¹ will be
leaning against the stud 13; but in the event of the warp becoming too
slack, that inclined surface h¹ will be raised, by which the end of the
tomahawk lever will be partially removed from the action of the tappet k
until the desired tension is obtained. On the contrary, when the warp
becomes too tight the wedge-formed piece h¹ will descend and allow of the end
of the tomahawk lever k being more freely acted upon by the tappet . Thus
will greater uniformity in the number of picks of weft in weaving be obtained

page_text: O is an arm turning upon the stud a², and which is constantly drawn by spring
pressure towards the lever d, and when the warp becomes too slack this also
comes in aid of the other parts, and is drawn under the lever arm d, by which
that arm is prevented from operating the ratchet wheel 7. It will readily be
understood that by altering the relative size of the wheels the number of picks
obtained will be varied.
Having thus described my Invention, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details shewn and described, as these may be
varied without departing from the peculiar character of the improvements;
but what I claim is the adaptation or combination of means and mode of
working for obtaining uniformity of picks of weft in looms for weaving,
substantially as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Whitehead, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM WHITEHEAD. (L.S.)