IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Bradford, in the
County of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Scaled the 7th June 1870, and dated the 9th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th April 1870.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
My improvements apply to looms similar in construction to that
patented by J. C. Ramsden, No. 823, in the year 1869, where weft
carriers are used instead of shuttles. The great objection to this system
of weaving is the difficulty of making a fast selvage on both sides. The
side on which the needle or weft carrier enters the shed is sufficiently fast,
but not so the opposite side. In order to obviate this I cause a vertical
shuttle or thread carrier to pass upwards or downwards, as the case may

page_text: be, close to the selvage at the point and time when the horizontal carrier
has carried the weft across and beyond the selvage of the fabric, so that
as the horizontal weft carrier returns back into position the loop formed
by the weft shall encircle the vertical thread which holds and fastens
the selvage.
The vertical shuttle or thread carrier is made as follows:-The barrel
of the bobbin upon which the thread is wound is made hollow, and into
cach of the hollow ends a portion of india-rubber is placed with a small
hole in the centre. This bobbin is placed in a small metal case com-
posed of two ends held together by vertical connections, through one
of which the thread is led out through an eye or hole. The top or bottom
of the case may be removed to place the bobbin into the case. The
shuttle is slid to and fro on two fixed pegs or points placed vertically in
a line with one another and about a quarter of an inch apart, one peg
being above the ribbon or other fabric and the other below. These pegs
are made so as to fit tight into the holes in the india-rubber. Supposing
the shuttle to be upon the upper peg the bottom of the bobbin will then
be sufficiently above the ribbon or fabric to be woven to allow room for
the horizontal weft carrier to pass, and when it is required to pass the
shuttle through the loop formed by the horizontal weft carrier a tubular
pusher surrounding the fixed peg is moved forward by a cam or other
means and pushes the shuttle from the upper to the lower peg, and at
the proper time when the horizontal weft carrier has again come into
position a similar pusher surrounding the bottom peg forces the shuttle
from the lower peg through the loop and on to the upper peg, and in
this manner continuous working is obtained and a fast selvage.
Instead of using india-rubber to fix the shuttle firmly on to the peg
the barrel of the bobbin may be made of metal with a hole through the
centre; the hole should be rather wider at each end, in that case the
pegs may each be made of two pieces of steel, which when pressed
together act as a spring. The hole in the shuttle may be larger at the
entrance to admit the points of such spring pegs, so that when the
shuttle is forced on to them they may be compressed together, and thus
caused to hold the shuttle quite fast. It is important to have proper
tension on the thread or it would be apt to go into the selvage either
too tight or too slack. This I attain by putting a slight friction upon
the bobbin by a spring or other means, or I have a small weight which
presses upon the thread and prevents it from making a slack selvage,

page_text: or I pass the thread through a series of holes in the shuttle, so that
the friction or tension can be increased or diminished according to the
number of holes.
Another improvement consists in weaving velvet ribbons or pile
fabrics face to face, and using the weft carrier instead of the shuttle
to insert the weft. The fabrics may be cut asunder by a knife. in the
usual manner..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the Sth October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manufacturer,.
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, Her special
licence that I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, my exccutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Cunliffe
Lister, 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 "IM-.
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 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
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in looms for weaving.
My improvements apply to looms similar in construction to that
patented by J. C. Ramsden, No. 823, in the year 1869, where weft carriers
are used instead of shuttles. The great objection to this system of
weaving is the difficulty of making a fast selvage on both sides. The
side on which the needle or weft carrier enters the shed is sufficiently
fast, but not so the opposite side. In order to obviate this I cause a
vertical shuttle or thread carrier to pass upwards or downwards, as the
case may be, close to the selvage at the point and time when the hori-
zontal carrier has carried the weft across and beyond the selvage of the
fabric, so that as the horizontal weft carrier returns back into position
the loop formed by the weft shall encircle the vertical thread which
holds and fastens the selvage.
The vertical shuttle or thread carrier is made as follows:-The barrel
of the bobbin upon which the thread is wound is made hollow, and into
cach of the hollow ends a portion of india-rubber is placed, with a small
hole in the centre. This bobbin is placed in a small metal case com-
posed of two ends held together by vertical connections, through one of
which the thread is led out through an eye or hole. The top or bottom
The
of the case may be removed to place the bobbin in the case.
shuttle is slid to and fro on two fixed pegs or points placed vertically in
a line with one another, and about a quarter of an inch apart, one peg
These pegs
being above the ribbon or other fabric and the other below.
are made so as to fit tight into the holes in the india-rubber. Supposing
the shuttle to be upon the upper peg the bottom of the bobbin will then
be sufficiently above the ribbon or fabric to be woven to allow room for
the horizontal weft carrier to pass, and when it is required to pass the
shuttle through the loop formed by the horizontal weft carrier a tubular
pusher surrounding the fixed peg is moved forward by a cam or other
means, and pushes the shuttle from the upper to the lower peg, and at
the proper time when the horizontal weft carrier has again come into
position a similar pusher surrounding the bottom peg forces the shuttle
from the lower peg through the loop and on to the upper peg, and in
this manner continuous working is obtained and a fast selvage.
Instead of using india-rubber to fix the shuttle firmly on to the peg
the barrel of the bobbin may be made of metal with a hole through

page_text: the centre; the hole should be rather wider at each end, in that case
the pegs may each be made of two pieces of steel, which when pressed
together act as a spring. The hole in the shuttle may be larger at the
entrance to admit the points of such spring pegs, so that when the
shuttle is forced on to them they may be compressed together, and thus
caused to hold the shuttle quite fast. It is important to have proper
tension on the thread, or it would be apt to go into the selvage either too
tight or too slack. This I attain by putting a slight friction upon the
bobbin by a spring or other means, or I have a small weight which
presses upon the thread and prevents it from making a slack selvage, or
I pass the thread through a series of holes in the shuttle, so that the
friction or tension can be increased or diminished according to the
number of holes.
Another improvement consists in weaving velvet ribbons or pile
fabrics face to face, and using the weft carrier instead of the shuttle to
insert the weft. The fabrics may be cut asunder by a knife in the usual
manner.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown a combined
arrangement of apparatus such as above described for passing a shuttle
vertically to and fro through a loop of weft which has been carried across
a "shed."
Figure 1 is a vertical section of the apparatus, and Figure 2 is a plan
view of the same.
A is the shuttle, which is moved vertically to and fro by the tubular
pushers B, B; C, C, are the fixed vertical pegs upon which the shuttle
is alternately slid to and fro by the pushers B; D is the weft carrier;
and E, E, are the warps in which the shed is formed. The formation of
the fast selvage is shown at G, G. When the shuttle carries at its end
discs of india-rubber, as above described, to put friction upon the pins C
the pins may be made solid, as shown at Figure 1; or in place of this
the pins may, as before stated, each be of steel and divided longitudinally,
as shown at Figure 3.
I would state that I am aware that it has before been proposed to pass
a shuttle or thread carrier upwards and downwards through a loop of
weft which has been carried across the shed by a weft carrier, I do not
therefore generally claim the same; but what I claim is, the general
combination or arrangement of apparatus, substantially as herein

page_text: described, for passing a shuttle or thread carrier vertically to and fro,
through a loop of weft carried across the shed by a weft carrier.
I also claim the constructing looms for weaving double-pile fabrics
(such as velvet ribbons) face to face in such manner that the weft is
inserted by a weft carrier such as herein described, in place of by a
shuttle as heretofore usual.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have hereunto.
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.