IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING FANCY FABRICS AND IN THE LOOMS AND MECHANISM EMPLOYED THEREFORE
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Hamilton at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 11th October 1879.
JAMES HAMILTON, of Strathaven, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Designer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING FANCY FABRICS AND IN THE LOOMS AND
MECHANISM EMPLOYED THEREFORE."
This said Invention has reference to the weaving of a novel fancy or figured
fabric, in which the pattern is formed by close beat up short cross loops of white or
coloured yarn or weft, between the wide set splits of single or it might be double
body warp, which would preferably be formed of the same or corresponding colours
as the strips of pattern weft, woven, or worked in between these body warps; the
figured pattern being further defined or formed by open squares or rectangular
spaces of two or more shots or loops of the pattern woft between the said body
warps left unworked
The fabric is like large open lace or knitted work used and suitable for "tidies,"
macassers," curtains, and such like furniture fabrics of the class heretofore knitted
and sewn by hand, and which by these improvements may be worked on special
hand or power looms.
The new and special arrangements of mechanism connected therewith form the
essential feature of this Invention, and which will produce or manufacture this
fabric in a great variety of patterns in cotton, wool, or silk, out of plain or various
colored pattern yarns, and in a much more expeditious and cheap manner than has
been possible heretofore. The nature and novelty of this Invention consists as
follows: First. In forming the fabric with three special yarns, threads, or warps,
namely, the body, the pattern, and the binding yarn, one thread or end of these to
each split placed or stretched longitudinally or warp-ways back from the breast
rail or fell of the web in front of this. The body warp threads or cords are placed
or stretched at the distances or width of split desired apart, as say from ³/, of an
inch to 1 inch each division, across the web and in a line or plane back to the warp
beam, on which this body warp is beamed or wound and given off at the same rate
that the web is woven in front and taken up on to the cloth beam:
And the pattern or figure warp is stretched from the fell back in like manner
along side or close to the other a certain distance to the stationary dividing rail
and eyes or other equivalent reed or split divider, from which each thread or end
passes back to its own paced pattern warp or weft bobbin, all ranged on an angled

page_text: table or bank (below the straight stretched body warp), so that each bobbin will
give off the yarn at the ratio required to suit the pattern determined by the
arrangement of pattern cards and jacquard or other shedding mechanism used for
this, as will herein after be described. While the binding yarn or thread of each split is
only carried back to a small supply spool or bobbin, on or within a small shuttle
passed up and down between each split of the said body and pattern warps or yarn
in front of the said crossing or shedding part of the pattern yarn, which there
pass through separate dividing eyes or equivalent harness male eyes, rather below
or a little in front of and under the eyes dividing the body warp; so that each
thread so passes through its corresponding harness drawing thread, which is passed
through an eye two divisions or so to one side of the said division or split eye, and
thus draws each pattern thread when the pattern and card demand it quite
across the adjacent body thread or cord next it, so as to be caught and beat up, all
as will herein after be described. Each pattern thread for the return cross shed or
loop is brought back to its split line and eye by the weight of a small lead hung,
or it might be a light spring attached to the lower end of each drawing harness
cord or thread so as to be caught and beat up in liko manner; the ends of the loops
of pattern weft so shed and beat up, being bound to the body warp of each split by
the shuttle binding thread passed up and down on each side of and round the body
warp and end of loops of pattern weft. The second part or improvement of this
Invention consists in special arrangements or combinations of mechanism connected
with the shuttles, and needle or toothed loop catching and beating up oscillatory
lathes or sleys, and otter necessary fittings for weaving the said fabric as stated.
One modification or combination of the weaving mechanism consists of a transverse
vertical board or plate for carrying the set of small shuttles with the binding warp
or threads, and having a straight slot in the centre through it of an inch or so in
height, and a little more in length than the width of the broadest web desired to
be woven in the loom, for the whole of the body warp and pattern weft or warp
to be passed longitudinally forward through this, without touching it, to the fell
or breast beam from their respective supply and giving off back beam and bank of
bobbins, all as before stated. This plate or frame is mounted on rollers or other
equivalent on fixed guides and standards or frame secured to the floor or to the
framing of the loom, so as to move freely to and fro laterally to the extent of one
split or division of the warp and weft which pass through their dividing eyes or
other equivalent, as also the lower ends of the harness threads or cords inserted in
the upper edge of stationary cross bars secured close behind the slot of the shuttle
frame, and below the fixed "holey" board of the harness. Each thread of the
harness is brought down to their normal position by leads on their lower ends
below the "holey" board, which also bring back the pattern weft after each shed
laterally by the harness to its normal position in line with the body warp of its
own split for the second shot of each loop woven for each card or movement of the
jacquard or other shedding mechanism, which, though these work the harness
vertically as usual, they draw and shed the weft laterally from the manner of
threading them through the lower eyes. The said slotted shuttle frame is mounted
on side standards or other carrying frame at a suitable distance back from the fell
of the cloth (as say a foot or so) to give sufficient distance for the lateral crossing or
shedding of the pattern yarn or weft, and catching and beating it up in loops by
the two reciprocating sleys with their cross rows of inverted beating and holding
up needles in number and divided to correspond to the splits of warp in the width
of the fabric and carried on raising and lowering hinged levers, the one below and
the other above the weaving front part of the stretched warp and weft in front of
the shuttle frame. The small shuttles are carried in short vertical and equally
divided under cut or grooved and feathered slotted guides formed or secured on the
front of and above and below the long slot on the front face of their laterally
reciprocating frame; the shuttles remain in their normal position in the centre
across the slit between each split.
Each shuttle carries the binding thread or warp on a small paced spool vertically

page_text: on a spindle within a light protecting bow in front of the shuttle, and through an
eye, in the centre of which the end of the thread passes forward to the fell, pre-
ferably through a loose male or eye outside the bow attached to a spring, so as to
take up the slack after each binding movement and beating up of the pattern weft.
Each shuttle has a small forward projecting pin in the lower and upper point,
by which they are all raised or lowered simultaneously above or below the slot in
their frame and body warps by gripping or brander spring bars, which take on to
the pins at the proper time that these spring bars are raised or lowered by
vertically reciprocating frames working and guided in end slides above these, and
held together in their normal central position by spiral or other springs at their
ends.
These duplex moveable frames, with their spring gripping and moving shuttle
bars put out and in by small rollers and inclined planes on the face of the slotted
frame, are tied or coupled up by their moving cords to "marches" or levers and
rollers connected to two treadle levers, the first of which when depressed moves the
jacquard or shedding mechanism, and draws up the said gripping spring frame
and shuttles by ono cord, and by another pulls down the lower needle sley, which
is then pushed back to near the shuttle frame, and allowed to rise by letting go
the treadle by the power of weights or springs, so that the needles enter behind
the crossed or angled pattern weft and binding threads as crossed or shed by the
jacquard and shuttles.
The sley is then pulled forward so as to draw and beat up the first thread of all
the pattern yarn shed, and as tho sley comes forward hard up the fell it is caught
by a spring catch carried on the breast beam at each side or edge of the fabric to
hold that shed until the next is completed. In like manner the depressing of the
second treadle draws down the shuttles by their lower drawing spring frame after
shifting them and their frame one split to the right or left, so that the shuttles
come down on the different side of the body yarns, the same movement of the
second treadle raising the upper needle sley, which is then pushed back to near the
shuttle frame and lowered by raising or relieving this treadle, so that this upper
frame of needles enters behind the recrossed pattern weft and shuttle binding
threads, when this upper sley is pulled forward to catch and beat up the second
thread of the loop or complete shed, when this upper sley may be held in this beat
up position against the fell by catches or springs, and which allows this upper
needle sley to be shifted laterally in being pushed back to catch the second return
shed, which has less crossing or sheding angle given to it, and yet have all its
teeth brought hard up to the body and binding warp of the splits not caught by
the under needle's sley. This sley may then be lowered and a fresh shed made by
the harness machine treadle, all substantially and sequentially as described, to weave
this new or improved fabric continuously by the said new or improved arrange-
ment or combination of weaving mechanism. Just in front of the inclined bank
of pattern warp or weft reels or bobbins a double cross rail frame is mounted, or it
might be round metal rods, over which the threads pass forwards beat down in U
or half loop from between the bars, cach thread passed through an eye in a small
lead weight at the bottom of the loop, so as to allow of and compensate for the free
taking up and slacking back of each thread as required during the sheding and
beating up or weaving action.
Although it is an arrangement of hand loom mechanism that has herein been
described for the weaving of this fabric, it will be quite understood by power
loom weavers and mechanics that all these movements may also be effected
automatically, in the sequential manner described in a power loom, by arrange-
ments of levers and connecting rods actuated by cams from one prime motive shaft
of the loom, either direct or through intermediate gearing and shafts, or cams only
might be used, as usual for actuating the treadle or sheding levers, while hooked
on slotted connecting rods or levers worked by cranks could be used for actuating
the needle sleys in the forward or beating up direction, while they were taken
back towards the shuttles by the power of springs or weights, and they might be

page_text: raised or lowered by a positive cam motion, and vice versa lowered and raised by
springs or weights through the medium of levers.
The character of this improved fabric is such, with its wide splits and consequent
small number of these in the width, simplicity and shortness of the repeat of the
patterns generally compared with lace fabrics and patterns generally, that a very
simple arrangement of pattern sheding mechanism may be used in this loom instead
of the jacquard machine, such as that of any of the ordinary forms of Dobby's
used for figure work in power looms with 50 to 60 pushers, and short endless
pattern chain of a simple construction, easily made up to suit different lengths and
character of pattern.