CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Crowley, of the City of Manchester,
Ironfounder, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING."-A communication from abroad by William Grninder,
of Reutlingen, in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg.
Sealed the 11th June 1872, and dated the 27th December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Crowley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th December 1871.
I, HENRY CROWLEY, of the City of Manchester, Ironfounder, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," a communication to me from abroad by
William Grminder, of Reutlingen, in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, to
be as follows :-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of parts for form-
ing the shed. The healds are suspended to two sets of top jacks which

page_text: are provided with toothed segments gearing into each other as usual, and
they are drawn down by springs. The healds to be raised to form the
shed are selected by a pattern chain consisting of discs mounted on the
joint pins of the chain. These discs are separated by washers, and they
are set laterally to act in any required succession on the jacks, one set of
which have grooved heads against which the discs act.
une 24th June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CROWLEY, of the City of Manchester, Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Crowley, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Crowley, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Crowley, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," a communication to me from abroad by William Grninder,
of Reutlingen, in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Crowley, 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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Crowley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say) :-
;-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of parts for form-
ing the shed. The healds are suspended to two sets of top jacks which
are provided with toothed segments gearing into each other as usual, and
they are drawn down by springs. The healds to be raised to form the
shed are selected by a pattern chain consisting of discs mounted on the
joint pins of the chain. These discs are separated by washers, and they
are set laterally to act in any required succession on the top jacks, one
set of which has grooved heads against which the discs act.
-
And in order that this Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying two
Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters
marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1, is an end view, and Fig. 2, a front elevation of a
loom of of the ordinary construction to which the improvements are
applied; a is the crank shaft; b, the tappet shaft; and c, the upright
shaft by which the improved shedding motion is driven. To the upper end
of the shaft c is fixed a bevel pinion c³ gearing into the wheel d¹ on the
shaft d which revolves in brackets fixed to the top rail of the loom. To
the shaft d are fixed two toothed plates d³, which in revolving com-
municate motion to the pattern chain consisting of the joint pins e, see
Figs. 3 and 4, side links e¹, the discs e³, and the intermediate washers e³.
The washers e³ are made of various lengths to fill up the spaces between
the discs e, and the ends of the joints pins e take into the toothed
plates d². The pattern chain is carried above over the top shaft f
which is also provided with toothed plates to guide the ends of the joint
pins. The top jacks 9, see Fig. 5, to which the healds are suspended,
are connected by toothed segments as is sometimes customary, and to
each jack of one set is cast a projection against which the discs e act as
the pattern chain is carried round. The top jacks that have been raised
to form the top part of the shed are drawn down again by the springs i
acting on the bottom jacks, see Fig. 6. These bottom jacks are mounted
on the studs j, and they are provided with grooved segments, to the

page_text: lower end of which the cords k are attached, and these cords after
passing through the rack-shaped guide k¹ are secured to the bottom
shafts of the healds. When the shed is closed all the top jacks g are
drawn by the springs i against the studs g¹, see Fig. 2, and the bottom
jacks are down, as shewn by the full lines in Fig. 6, but when the
discs e² of the pattern chain act on the top jacks g the corresponding
bottom jacks assume the position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 6.
The detached view Fig. 7 represents another mode of constructing
the bottom jacks . The Drawing represents the improved shedding
motion as driven by a pair of skew mitre wheels, one of which is fixed
on the tappet shaft b, and the other on the upright shaft c, and the
shaft d is driven at a quarter the speed of the shaft c by the pinion c¹
and wheel d. The discs d³ have four recesses for the ends of the joint
pins of the pattern chain, consequently at every four revolutions of the
tappet shaft a fresh link of the pattern chain is brought forward to act
on the top jacks, and the number of top jacks selected depends upon the
number of discs e³ on the joint pin passing the lower centre of the
toothed plates d²; it is however evident that the gearing for driving the
pattern chain, the length of the pattern chain, and the number of
discs e² on each joint pin must be varied according to the pattern to be
woven.
On Sheet 2, Fig. 8 represents a modification of the mode of applying
the springs for drawing down the healds, each spring being connected
to a bridle supporting a bowl running on the upper edge of the
bottom jacks ¹. When the shed is closed the ends of the bottom
jacks rest upon the cross rail 7, and at this time the springs i exert
their greatest force on the jacks because the bridles have run down
the inclined surface of the jacks, and when the healds are raised to
form the top part of the shed the corresponding bottom jacks are
lifted into the positions shewn in Fig. 8, and then the bridles run
towards the fulcrum of the jacks, thereby reducing the force exerted
by the springs i. By these arrangements of springs the jacks are
brought rapidly to their central position, and the loom to which they
are applied can be worked with economy at a high velocity. The
shedding motion herein described is particularly adapted for weaving
serge, twilled satteen, and other similar fabrics.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention as communicated to

page_text: me by the within-named William Grninder, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim,--
First. The improved pattern chain for the shedding motion, as shewn
and described; and secondly, the improved modes of applying springs
to the bottom jacks for closing the shed, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Crowley, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.