Improvements in and relating to Means for Changing Shuttles of Looms when the Weft is Exhausted
Year: 1899

page_text: Reprinted as amended in accordance with the decision of the Comptroller-General,
dated the 30th day of July, 1902.
Date of Application, 30th Aug., 1899-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1899
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
'Improvements in and relating to Means for Changing Shuttles of
Looms when the Weft is Exhausted."
We, WILLIAM HENRY BAKER, of Central Falls, in the County of Providence and
State of Rhode Island, United States of America, Electrician, and FREDERIC ELLS-
WORTH KIP, of Montclair, in the County of Essex and State of New Jersey, United
States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to that class of looms wherein weft is supplied automatically
as it is taken up in the weaving; and the weft-supplying mechanism belongs to the
class in which filled shuttles are supplied as needed, electricity being employed to
announce the exhaustion of the supply in the shuttle and to control the operation of
the supplying mechanism.
In this loom the filled shuttles are superposed in a magazine which is mounted on
and vibrates with the batten or lay, and a two-celled or compound shuttle-box, also
carried by the lay, under said magazine, is adapted to be elevated to take a shuttle
from the magazine. While thus elevated, the lay moves back to the picking point,
and the exhausted shuttle is shot from the opposite side of the loom into the lower
cell of the compound box, which latter then falls, opening the lower cell and dis-
charging the exhausted shuttle therefrom and bringing the compound box down until
the full shuttle in the upper or working cell thereof is aligned with the picker.
One important feature of the invention is the means employed for taking the
shuttle from the magazine on the lay into the upper or working cell of the shifting
shuttle-box; another is the means employed for elevating and supporting the shuttle-
box, and another is the construction of the lower cell and the means employed for
discharging the exhausted shuttle.
In the accompanying drawings which serve to illustrate an embodiment of the
invention―
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a part of a loom, showing the lay or batten and the
weft-supply mechanism in end-elevation; Fig. 2 is a side-elevation of the same
mechanism seen from the right in Fig. 1, the breast-beam being broken away; and
Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the magnet and toggle-mechanism taken at in Fig. 1.
These views are on the same relatively small scale.
Figs. 3 and 3 are similar end-views of the magazine and shifting shuttle-box; the
former showing the box in its elevated position, receiving a shuttle from the magazine;
and the latter showing the box in its normal depressed position.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the shifting shuttle-box.
Figs. 5 and 5 are vertical, transverse sectional views of the shifting shuttle-box,
taken at in Fig. 4, the former showing the box elevated and the latter showing it
depressed or in its normal position.

page_text: seen in Fig. 6. Any suitably arranged spring may be employed for this purpose.
The bolt or stud 10x now holds the box B elevated until the exhausted shuttle enters,
when the latter, by impinging upon the upper arm 9, of the tripping lever, drives
out the bolt and allows the box to fall.
While the shuttles are, in general, superposed in the magazine M, and rest on one
another, the lowermost or bottom shuttle is separated from those above it by a
mechanism in the nature of an escapement, which will now be described in connection
with the operation of taking a fresh shuttle from the magazine into the upper, working
cell b, of the box B.
On the respective sides of the magazine M, are mounted rock-shafts, 12 and 12*.
To the respective ends of the shaft 12 are fixed two like, pendant hooks, 13, which,
under normal conditions take under the bottom shuttle in the magazine, as seen in
Fig. 3, at the tapered ends of the shuttle, and support the latter.
To the respective
ends of the shaft 12 are fixed two hooks, 13%, similar to the hooks 13, but shorter,
and adapted to take under the respective ends of the next shuttle above the bottom
one in the magazine. The pairs of hooks 13 and 13* are connected by rigid links, 14,
so that when the pair 13 is held in under the bottom shuttle by a spring or
springs 15 as seen in Fig. 3, the other pair, 13, will be pressed back out of play or
engagement.
Normally all the shuttles in the magazine rest on the bottom shuttle and it rests
on the hooks 13; but when the shuttle-box B is elevated, two lateral projections 16
on the box take under rigid arms 13ª on the hooks 13 and as the box rises, press
back or outward the said hooks so as to free the bottom shuttle as the working
cell rises to embrace and take it in. At the same time the pair of hooks 13*,
advance and take under the shuttle next above, the parts then assuming the positions
seen in Fig. 3. When the box B is elevated, the hooks 13 and 13 are held in the
position seen in Fig. 3 by a detent device, so that when the box descends again they
may not be shifted too quickly by the springs 15. Any suitable device may be
employed, but that shown will now be described.
On the side of the magazine is fulcrumed a spring detent-lever, 17, the upper end
of which takes behind a stud, 13, on the hook 13 when the box B is elevated, and
prevents the hook from returning; but when the box descends and nears its lowest
point, the projection 16 wipes over an inclined projection on the lower arm of the
detent-lever 17 and by rocking said lever presses back its upper arm out of engage-
ment with the book 13, thus freeing the litter. Preferably there will be two or three
detents one at each hook, 13, and two are shown in Fig. 6.
While the box B is elevated the lay recedes to the picking point, and the exhausted
shuttle is shot across and enters the lower cell 63, of the box. As it enters this cell
its end impinges on the tripping lever 9, thus releasing the box and allowing it to
fall, as before explained. When the box descends the hinged bottom, 18, of the
lower cell b, falls and allows the exhausted shuttle to fall out as indicated in Figs. 3ª
and 5. This bottom 18 has a flange, 18%, at its free edge which forms a part of the
side of the cell 62 (Fig. 5) when the box B is elevated, and in order to prevent the
falling shuttle from catching or lodging on this flange, fixed guards or shields 19 are
provided on the shuttle-box as skids to carry the shuttle over said flange. The means
for automatically operating this hinged bottom 18 is best seen in Figs. 3 and 3*.
Extending from the hinged edge of the bottom is a crank arm 20, which carries a
stud, 21, that engages a horizontally extending keeper-slot, 22, in a lug, 23, on the
bracket 2. The operation is clearly illustrated in the drawings. As the slotted
lug 23 is stationary, when the shuttle-box is depressed, the engagement of the stud
therewith causes the bottom 18 to turn about its hinged edge and open, as will be
readily understood. When the box is elevated the bottom will be again closed.
order to still better enclose the cell 62, at the side next the picker-stick when the
box B is elevated, there may be another hinged plate 24, adapted to be closed and
opened conjointly with the bottom 18 by means of a connecting link, 25, seen clearly
in Fig. 3. In the construction shown, the hinged bottom 18 and plate 24, have
journals at their ends, and the crank-arm 20, as well as the short arms to which the
In

page_text: prevent the former from being pushed upward. Thus the hooks, 13* serve a double
purpose.
Figs. 11 and 12 are views tiken, one from the side and the other from the rear, of
a slight modification of the lifter for the shuttle-box B. In this construction an arm, 7,
hinged at its upper end to the tubular stem 4, rests in a hook-like guide, 32, on the
frame F, and has a keeper spring 33 to keep it from getting out of guide. When the
armature a of the magnet m is attracted, it throws the arm, 34, of the hinged armature
lever out into the path of the end of the arm 7, and this latter impinges on the arm 34,
in beating up, and thus lifts the box B. The lifting device may, obviously, be varied
and modified to a considerable extent without departing from our invention.
In Figs. 1 and 2 a chute is illustrated for leading off the exhausted shuttles. This
chute comprises two curved guides, 35 and 35*, one on the picker-stick p, and the
other on the sword L³, of the lay. The shuttle falling sidewise from the box B falls
onto these guides or skids and is led into a stationary chute, 36, on the frame of the
loom. When the shuttle is discharged the picker and lay will be in substantially the
position seen in Figs. 1 and 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. A weft-supplying mechanism for looms, having a shuttle-magazine mounted on
the lay, a shiftable, celled or compound shuttle-box also carried by the lay, mechanism
for shifting said box to take in a fresh shuttle from the magazine, and controlling
means at the opposite side of the loom from the magazine for effecting the supply of
a full shuttle to the shifting box from the magazine, and for discarding the exhausted
shuttle, substantially as set forth.
2. A weft-supplying mechanism for looms, having a shuttle-magazine mounted on
the lay, a celled shuttle-box also mounted on the lay and adapted to move up and
down under said magazine for receiving a shuttle therefrom, means for segregating
the bottom shuttle in the magazine at the moment of taking the latter, mechanism
for elevating and supporting said shifting box, and controlling means at the opposite
side of the loom from the magazine for effecting the shifting of said box when the
shuttle in play is nearly or quite exhausted, substantially as set forth.
3. A weft onpplying mechanism-for-looms, having a shuttle-magazine-mounted
on-the-lay, a shiftable,-celled, er compound--shuttle-box-also-earried by the lay,
mechanism for shifting said box at proper times to take in a fresh-shuttle-from-
the--magazine--and--an-open-electric cirenit, including--an electromagnet, and
controlling--said-supply-mechanism; said-eircuit-having-in it a break controlled-by-
the-weft in the shuttle, substantially-as-set-forth.
3 4. In a weft-supplying mechanism for looms, the combination with a magazine
carried by the lay, and means for segregating the bottle shuttle in the magazine at
the proper moment, of the compound or celled shuttle-box adapted to move up under
said magazine and receive therefrom the segregated shuttle, mechanism for elevating
said box, and electrical means for controlling the lifting mechanism of the box, said
electrical means being operated from the shuttle-box at the opposite side of the loom
from the magazine, substantially as set forth.
4. In a weft-supplying mechanism for looms, the combination with the magazine
carried by the lay, of the shifting compound shuttle-box, means for lifting said box
up to the magazine to receive a shuttle in its working cell, means for holding said
box in its elevated position and supporting it, and means actuated by the incoming
shuttle from the opposite side, for removing said supporting device whereby the box
is allowed to descend, substantially as set forth.
56. The combination with the magazine and the compound shuttle-box below
and adapted to be moved up under the magazine for receiving the bottom shuttle
therefrom, of mechanism for elevating said box, and a segregating mechanism
on the magazine, said mechanism comprising the connected pairs of swinging

page_text: 14 17. In a loom, the chute for the discharged shuttle, comprising the plate 35,
mounted on the picker-stick, and the plate 35*, mounted on the lay-sword, and sub-
stantially aligned with the plate 35 substantially as set forth.
15 18. The combination with the spindle of the shuttle, having a hollow recess
therein, and a spring-circuit terminals in said hollow-recess which projects outwardly
through a slot in said spindle of the cop, having a tube of thin material provided
with a slot adapted to register with that in the spindle when in place on the latter,
substantially as set forth.
10-The-cop-tabe-30, having in-it-a-slot-30*;-onbstantially-as-set-forth.
20. The cop tube 30, of thin material having a slot-30-and-a-registering-mark-30°,
substantially-as-set-forth.
STEPHEN WATKINS & GROVES
Wolverhampton, Agents for the Applicants.