IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arsène Bourdon, Engineer, of 62; Boulevard du
Prince Engène, Paris, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 21st August 1868, and dated the 10th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arsène Bourdon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th March 1868.
I, ARSENE BOURDON, Engineer, of 62, Boulevard du Prince Eugène,
Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as
follows:-
These improvements relate,-
First. To a method by which only one heddle is used, or rather it
suppresses half of the heddles employed to form the shed, and can be
adapted to any ordinary hand or power loom. The half of the threads
of the warp pass as ordinarily in the meshes of the heddle, the other
half of the threads remain free. The second heddle is replaced in my
system by four bars of wood, iron, or other metal parallel to the batten

page_text: of the loom. The first of these which is nearest to the warp beam
is passed under the entire warp, and is for the purpose of regulating
the tension thereof.. The second is a stationary bar of larger diameter
capable of turning on its axis; one half of the warp threads pass under
this bar. The third bar passes under the other half of the threads of the
warp and is capable of lifting them. The fourth bar rests upon these
warp threads and lowers them. The respective motions of the heddle
and these two latter bars are arranged so that whilst the heddle is
lifting one half of the warp the bars are lowering the other half,
and vice versa.
Secondly. To an improved method of stopping the loom when the
shuttle fails in its action or stops in its course..
My apparatus is arranged so that the loom will work so long as
a detent attached to the batten is kept suspended, and is stopped when
this detent is allowed to fall. The detent is kept suspended by two
causes, 1st, by means of a roller attached to the batten working on
a guide rail; 2nd, by a spring which presses on the shuttle when in the
shuttle box. The stroke of the batten is arranged so that for its first
portion the roller works upon the guide rail, and when this roller
has run to the end of the guide rail the shuttle should be in the box
and uphold the detent as described, if the shuttle [is not there at this.
portion of the stroke the detent falls and stops the loom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Arsène Bourdon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th September 1868..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARSÈNE
BOURDON, of 62, Boulevard du Prince Eugène, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Arsène Bourdon, Her special licence
that I, the said Arsène Bourdon, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Arsène Bourdon, my executors,

page_text: 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 Arsène Bourdon, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Arsène Bourdon, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that
is to say)
:-
In order that my improvements be clearly understood I will describe
them conjointly with the four Figures of the accompanying Drawings,
of which Figure 1 is a lateral elevation of a part of a loom indicating
the shed open by the lifting action of the heald and the depression
of the parts replacing the second heald or heddle; Figure 2, a similar
elevation shewing the shed open by lowering the heddle and elevating
the said parts; Figure 3, a plan partially in section of one end of the
shuttle race, and Figure 4 an elevation of the same.
FIRST IMPROVEMENT.
According to this new method I command the opening of the warp
by only one heddle a, arranged and worked in the ordinary manner,
and by four transverse bars b, c, d, and e, of wood or metal, and placed
parallel to the sleigh board, and to better distinguish the action of the
warp I have represented the two parts in which it is divided by the
colours red and blue. The first of these four bars 6 that nearest to
the warp beam is placed underneath the entire warp, and is moved by
a reciprocating vertical movement to give the required tension to the
threads, for this purpose it is suspended by the cords 9 partly wound

page_text: on the cylinder h, which receives a rocking motion from one of the
pedals of the heddle, or from any appropriate mechanism, the second c
is stationary of a larger diameter and able to turn upon its axis, it is
placed in the warp separating it into two equal parts; these last two,
d and e, are suspended by the same cords i passing over the roller j,
and are moved by a reciprocating vertical action acting in a contrary
direction to that of the heddles, that is to say, when the heddle is raised,
as in Figure 1, these two bars are lowered for the forming of the shed,
whilst when the heddle is drawn down as in Figure 2, they are raised for
the formation of the other shed; the bar d, as shewn, is passed into
the warp so as to divide it in two equal parts like the roller c, whilst
that e is arranged above the entire warp.
There are several advantages in this new method of working. I will
cite as some of the most prominent,―
Firstly. Since half of the threads (those worked by the bars) are so
to speak frce, the threads thus well separated and free always work
elastically, for they undergo less strain than those worked by heddles,
which are necessarily always tight and weakened.
Secondly. Not only do hardly any threads ever break amongst those
threads commanded by the bars, but the breaking of the threads
commanded by the heddle is diminished in a notable manner.
And, thirdly. The cloth produced by my plan is superior for the
reason that the threads are not frayed, and the cloth is better covered,
in this respect I say that a warp of one thousand eight hundred threads
produces a cloth having the same appearance that a cloth with two
thousand would have made according to the usual method.
SECOND IMPROVEMENT.
To realize the effect before named I fix under the sleigh board or
lathe a rocking shaft l, and to one of its extremities a lever k, carrying
at one end a roller m and at the other a curved arm n, of which the a
position can be regulated and fixed by a screw o, and on the other
extremity of said shaft a short lever k with a curved arm n similar to
the one above mentioned, and on the side frame q a plate p, upon the
top of which the roller m ought to roll during the stroke of the sleigh
board; a spring r tends always to keep the roller on the plate. And, 3
lastly, I mount on the inside of the sleigh board, and at each of its
ends horizontal levers a jointed at 81 on the sleigh board. When the

page_text: shuttle has entered into the shuttle box and the sleigh board has
come nearly to the end of its stroke, the roller m has passed completely
over the plate p, and under these circumstances the lever k is not the
less stationary because its curved arm n bearing against the horizontal
lever cannot enter into the race, for this last bears upon the shuttle
which has arrived in its place at the proper moment, see Figure 2; but if
on the contrary at this moment from any cause the shuttle has not
arrived in its place, the parts n and s not meeting with any resistance
and entering into the race the roller m falls down instantly taking
with it the arm t attached to its lever, and by its contact with the
piece u immediately stops the loom.
This arrangement of the mechanism as can be seen is very simple,
and consequently not apt to get out of order, it presents the advantage
of instantly stopping the loom at the first irregularity of the stroke of
the shuttle, and thus prevents the breaking and fraying of the warp so
common and disastrous in ordinary looms.
Having thus explained the nature of my improvements and the best
means that I am acquainted with for carrying them into practice, I
claim as my Invention,---
Firstly. The means and arrangement set forth for working looms
with one heddle, and the application of similar methods for suppressing
one half of the heddles in looms where more than two are employed.
Secondly. The means and arrangement therein described for stopping
the loom when from any irregularity the shuttle has not completed
its course or arrived at the proper moment in the shuttle box.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arsène Bourdon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the First day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
0 Witness,
D. H. BRANDON,
13, Rue Gaillon, Paris.
ARSENE BOURDON. (L.S.)