A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Threlfall, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, Gentleman, and William Knowles, of the same Place,
Overlooker, for the Invention of "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 28th December 1855, and dated the 2nd October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Threlfall and
William Knowles at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 2nd October 1855.
We, RICHARD THRELFALL, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster,
Gentleman, and WILLIAM KNOWLES, of the same Place, Overlooker, do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention for "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING " to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the "taking-up motion" of looms for weaving, and
is applied to the taking-up wheel or ratchet, which is employed for the purpose
of taking up the cloth as it is woven. The Invention consists in a new
description of catch to be applied to the said ratchet wheel in addition to the
ordinary taking up and holding catches, for the purpose of regulating the
recoiling motion, and preventing the cloth from recoiling more than a certain
distance in the event of the weft breaking (which is now ordinarily done by
the weaver), and thus, by preventing the occurrence of thick and thin places,

page_text: to produce a more even and uniform cloth than hitherto. The said catch is
constructed and arranged as follows:-A quadrant or other segment of a circle
concentric with the ratchet wheel is attached to the framing of the loom by
means of a suitable bracket. Upon this segment is placed a piece of metal,
so formed as to slide freely thereon, and the catch is mounted upon a pin in this
slide. The catch is constructed with a tail piece, which allows the nose of the
catch to give way when the loom is weaving, and acts as a counterbalance to
keep the nose of the catch in gear with the teeth of the ratchet wheel when
the wheel recoils or "lets back." When the holding and taking-up catches
are lifted, and the ratchet wheel recoils, the wheel carries with it the recoil
catch until the slide comes against a stop formed or fixed at the end of
the segment; the catch then holds the ratchet wheel, and prevents it from
recoiling further. The length of the segment thus regulates the amount
of recoil allowed. If the segment is placed below the ratchet wheel it will be
necessary to have a small weight or spring attached thereto, for the purpose
of returning the catch to its original position as soon as the loom is again
set in motion. If the segment is placed in a vertical position at the side of
the wheel, no spring or weight will be required, as the catch sliding freely
upon the segment will then follow the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and return
to its original position by its own gravity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Threlfall and William Knowles in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 1st April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
THRELFALL, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, and WILLIAM
KNOWLES, of the same Place, Overlooker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Richard Threlfall and William Knowles, Her special license that we,
the said Richard Threlfall and William Knowles, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Richard Threlfall and
William Knowles, our executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENT IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Richard Threlfall and William Knowles, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 we, the said Richard Threlfall and William
Knowles, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :--
Our said Invention relates to the "taking-up motion "of looms for weaving,
and is applied to the "taking-up" wheel or ratchet wheel, which is employed
for the purpose of taking up the cloth as it is woven.
The Invention consists in a new description of catch to be applied to the
said ratchet wheel, in addition to the ordinary taking-up and holding catches,
for the purpose of regulating the recoiling motion, and preventing the cloth
from recoiling more than a certain distance in the event of the weft breaking
(which is now ordinarily done by the weaver), and thus, by preventing the
occurrence of thick and thin places, to produce a more even and uniform cloth
than hitherto. The said catch is constructed and arranged as follows:-A
quadrant or other segment of a circle concentric with the ratchet wheel is
attached to the framing of the loom by means of a suitable bracket. Upon
this segment is placed a piece of metal, so formed as to slide freely thereon,
and the catch is mounted upon a pin in this slide. The catch is constructed
with a tail piece, which allows the nose of the catch to give way when the loom
is weaving, and acts as a counterbalance to keep the nose of the catch in gear
with the teeth of the ratchet wheel when the wheel recoils or "lets back."
When the holding and taking-up catches are lifted, and the ratchet wheel
recoils, the wheel carries with it the recoil catch until the slide comes against
a stop formed or fixed at the end of the segment; the catch then holds the
ratchet wheel, and prevents it from recoiling further. The length of the
segment thus regulates the amount of recoil allowed. If the segment is placed
below the ratchet wheel it will be necessary to have a small weight or spring

page_text: attached thereto, for the purpose of returning the catch to its original position
as soon as the loom is again set in motion. If the segment is placed in a
vertical position at the side of the wheel, no spring or weight will be required,
as the catch sliding freely upon the segment will then follow the teeth of the
ratchet wheel, and return to its original position by its own gravity.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we shall now
proceed particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose we shall refer
to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings represent, in side elevation, three modi-
fications of our "take-up" motion. According to the arrangement represented
at Figure 1, the tail catch A works freely on the slide B, which slides along
the segmental bar C, connected by the set screw D to the bracket E, which is
bolted to the loom framing. As the teeth of the ratchet or "take-up "wheel F
move in a downward direction, they tip up and pass freely over the catch A.
When the weft fork stops the loom, it raises the holding catch or detent G clear
of the ratchet wheel, and by means of the lifter H, which is attached to the
detent, and passes under the pall I, elevates the pall, whereupon the ratchet
wheel is free or released, and by the strain on the warp beam is turned round
in the direction of the arrow, one of the ratchet teeth striking against the
catch A, and pushing it with the slide B along the curved bar C, until it
encounters the stop J at the end of the bar. This amount of traverse of the
slide corresponds to the amount of recoil of the cloth beam, and by adjusting
the position of the curved bar in its bracket longitudinally by means of the set
screw, the traverse of the slide may be increased or diminished at pleasure.
In the modification, shewn at Figure 2, the catch is composed of two parts,
namely, a vibrating arm A working freely round the axis of the ratchet wheel,
and a catch A' jointed at its lower end B to the end of the arm A, which works
between the two curved guide bars C, whilst the upper end of the catch A¹
rests upon the teeth of the ratchet wheel. The amount of traverse of the
arm A, and consequent recoil of the beam, is regulated by the bolt and nut D.
The rest of the parts correspond to those in Figure 1.
In the modification shewn at Figure 3, the catch A has a slot B made
in it, and is suspended or hung on the stud C. The length of the slot B
regulates the amount of recoil of the beam, and it may be adjusted to any
desired extent by means of the thumb-screw D and traversing slide E. The
catch is formed with a weighted tail at F, for the purpose of keeping its
upper extremity in contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Whilst the
loom is weaving, the catch A works upon its centre or stud C, but when the
ratchet wheel is released it turns over in the direction of the arrow, and draws

page_text: the catch up the stud C, until the sliding stop piece E, coming in contact
with the stud C, prevents any further recoil.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that we do not confine or restrict
ourselves to the precise details or arrangements which we have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of our said Invention; but what
we consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the
peculiar constructions and arrangements of catches for regulating the recoil
of the cloth, as herein-before described, and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Threlfall and William Knowles
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-ninth day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
KICH IHKELFALL. (L.S.)
WILLIAM KNOWLES. (L.s.)