IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS.
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicholas Nomico, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, and George Heyes, of Bury, in the said County, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS.".
Sealed the 6th November 1857, by Order of the Lord Chancellor, and dated
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicholas Nomico and
George Heyes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 7th February 1857.
We, NICHOLAS NOMICO, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, and
GEORGE HEYES, of Bury, in the said County, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS," to be as follows:-
Firstly, our improvements relate to looms for the manufacture of lappets or
a combination of lappets with other fancy cloths or patterns, in which the pins
of the needle frame have motion given to them by means of upright rods or
plates and springs acted upon by the vibration of the slay. The pattern wheel
is made of one or more plates, and placed upon a ratchet wheel with a fixed
centre or bearing in any convenient position, the said pattern wheel being put
in motion by the ratchet wheel coming in contact with a projection or catch
acted upon by the slay sword, tappet shaft, treddles, or other moving parts of
the loom. Motion is given to the needles by a lever or levers connected to
the pattern wheel. We also place weights upon the treddles, which may be
released as desired for the purpose of shifting the lever or levers which act

page_text: upon the needle frame, thereby obtaining greater scope and variety of
pattern.
For combining the lappets with other fancy patterns we employ pins or
notches on the pattern wheel or plates, for the purpose of placing the lappet
pattern in any desired position, whether in checks or any other description of
woven fabrics, which pins or notches act upon a lever or levers corresponding
with the various drums, cards, or cams used for the purpose of working the
various patterns required.
Secondly, to an improved taking-up motion, which may be applied to all
descriptions of looms. To the slay sword is connected a rack, which works in
a pinion placed loosely upon the shaft of the ratchet wheel; the said pinion,
and a catch or catches connected to them for working the ratchet wheel, have
an alternate rotary motion as the slay sword moves backward and forward.
The rack has great range of motion, inasmuch as at starting it can be placed
at any desired position on the sword, thereby giving more or less notion to the
pinion and catch, and also by being made to descend as the cloth beam
increases in diameter, less motion is given to the rack pinion and catch;
thereby causing a uniform taking-up of the cloth.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Nicholas Nomico and
George Heyes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th November
1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ⚫NICHOLAS
NOMICO, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, and GEORGE
HEYES, of Bury, in the said County, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her, most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing, date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Nicholas Nomico and George Heyes; Her special licence that we, the
said Nicholas, Nomico and George Heyes, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or, such others as we, the said Nicholas Nomico and George Heyes,
our 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
tlierein expressed,, should, and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
•

page_text: Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Nicholas Nomico and George
Heyes, by an instrument in writing .under our hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and
the manner in which the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office on or before the First day of
December 1857.
NOW KNOW YE; that we, the said Nicholas Nomico and George Heyes,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed,. to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say):-
Our Invention relates to improvements in looms for weaving or manu-
facturing fancy fabrics technically called. "lappets," or a compound of lappets.
and other fancy patterns, whether in combination with checks, spots, or:
otherwise. We employ pins and needles connected to slides attached to the
slay, similar to those employed for many years in Scotland and elsewhere;.
but we give a vertical motion. to the said pins and needles, and a horizontal
motion to the needles only, in a far more simple manner than has hitherto
been adopted, thereby gaining a greater number of picks in a given time, and
lessening to an enormous extent the wear and tear of material. The pattern
wheel carrying the pattern plate or plates is placed upon the floor,. and works
upon a pin in a fixed bearing attached either to the frame of the loom or
floor, the said wheel being required to imove on its axis only instead of moving
to and fro at each stroke of the slay, by which means we prevent the motion
of a great weight of metal, and preserve the catch or catches uninjured for a.
great length of time. The teeth of the pattern. wheel are either ratchet or
spur, according to the work required; and the pattern may consist either of
one plate or any suitable number of sectional plates, so that multitudinous
patterns of work can be wrought by varied arrangements of the plate or plates,
whose line of pattern is either an extended rim or a regular or irregular
channel acting upon one end of a lever working on an adjustable fulcrum on.
one of the slay swords, the upper end of the said lever being attached to the-
needle frame. When two needle frames are required, another lever may be
connected to the aforesaid lever, the rod connecting them being capable of.
adjustment so as to vary the relative motion. of the needle frames. The
aforesaid lever or levers give to the needles a horizontal traverse motion with.
great simplicity, and also affords facility for arranging the pattern or figure.
Instead of levers. a sliding frame or frames may be employed, their lower ends.
governed by the pattern plate. The ratchet pattern wheel. has motion on, its

page_text: axis only, imparted to it by means of a catch or ratchet acted upon by the
movement of the slay.sword; thus the catch is carried to and fro and acts
upon the wheel, instead of the wheel moving to and fro and coming in contact
with the catch.
.
As before stated, a spur wheel may be employed for carrying the pattern
plate or plates, which wheel is driven by means of one or more spur wheels or
pinions, connected by a shaft to a star wheel acted upon by an arm, arms, or
projections placed upon the tappet shaft and revolving with it. On the pattern
spur wheel we place pins or notches acting on an arm or trigger, which
communicates motion to the lever working the shuttle-box motion when two
or more shuttles are used. Should the loom be reversed, the spur wheels
would cause the various motions to retrograde instead of moving and putting
the pattern forward, as heretofore has been the case, thereby forming a certain
connection of pattern with lappets, checks, spots, and other combinations of
pattern. The pin and needle frames rise and fall as the slay moves to and
fro, by being connected to rods or plates vibrating on studs fixed to the
framing, or compound levers may be applied to give a dwell to the needles.
We also employ an extra pair of treddles at the end of the loom for giving
motion to a peculiar formed heald or healds for varying the pattern by net-
work. And, finally, when using two or more shuttles acted upon by swells
placed on the top, we employ an extra lever acting upon each swell alternately
as the boxes are changed, such lever being attached to the stop rod and swell
in the other box. We also employ an improved taking-up motion, which may
be applied to all descriptions of looms. Supported on suitable guides upon
the frame of the loom. is a rack or band, having alternate motion imparted to
it.by being connected to the slay sword or large wheel on the tappet shaft,
which rack or band acts upon a wheel or pulley furnished with a catch or
catches for working a ratchet wheel or wheels, on the shaft of which is a worm
or toothed wheel giving motion, by means of other wheels, to the taking-up
beam. The rack or band has great change of motion, inasmuch as the rod
which gives it motion can be placed at any desired position on the sword or
arm, and also on the lever connected to the wheel, thereby giving more or less
motion to the pinion and catches; and also by being made to descend, as the
cloth beam increases in diameter, less motion is given to the rack or band,
thereby causing a uniform taking-up of the cloth.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, with the figures and letters of reference thereon,
in which Fig. 1'is a front elevation of the framing and some of the principal
parts of a loom with some of our improvements attached; Figs. 2 and 3 are

page_text: 9
transverse elevations thereof; and Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are views of
various modifications and parts detached. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a are the end
frames of the loom; 6, the crank shaft; c, the driving pulleys; d, the tappet
shaft; e, the slay; f, the sword arms; g, the reed; h, the cross frames; and
i, the taking-up beam or roller. The pattern plate, whether in one piece or
in sections, is represented at k, placed upon the ratchet wheel I, also shewn in
Fig. 6, turning on a pin m in the fixed bearing n, attached by a bracket o
to one of the cross frames h. Upon the pin m is the arm or lever p, carrying
the catch or ratchet q and also the pin 7, which is fitted to an arm or frames,
attached to one of the sword arms f, which as it moves to and fro puts in
action the catch or ratchet q, thereby turning the ratchet wheel and pattern
plate, which as it revolves gives motion to the lever ù, working upon the
adjustable fulcrum v on the sword arm, thus a horizontal traverse motion,
according to the pattern, is given to the needles in a very simple manner,
without the loss of time and inconvenience which arises by causing the wheels
and plate to vibrate to and fro with the sword arm. The plates holding the
pins and needles are so arranged that though the needles only traverse
horizontally, both pins and needles move up and down by means of being
connected to one end of the rods or plates w, the other end of the said rods
or plates vibrating as the slay moves to and fro on the pins x, fixed to the
cross frames h; but when a dwell is required we employ the compound
levers already named, which levers may be applied to the upright arms or
plates w, such arms being connected to the cam or dwell lever a¹, Fig. 9,
having its fulcrum on the bracket y', and receiving its motion from the lever
fixed to the slay rail. In Figure 5 we shew the channel pattern plate or
plates a attached to the spur wheel b¹, also placed on the floor, and turning
upon a pin fixed to a bracket connected to the cross frame of the loom.
Motion is given to the said spur wheel b₁ by the spur pinion c¹ on the shaft d',
having at its upper end the star wheel e', to which motion' is imparted by
means of the arm or projection f¹ on the tappet shaft d. The pattern plates,
whether external or channel, can be applied at pleasure to either ratchet or
spur wheels. It is evident the spur teeth cause the wheels and motions to
move simultaneously both forwards and backwards, thus preserving the pattern
of the work when any reversal of the motion of the loom should be required.
We place on the pattern spur wheel 6', seen detached in Fig. 7, the pins g',
which act upon the trigger h³, for the purpose of releasing the catch (see
Fig. 4), and allowing it to act on the ratchet and cam wheel ', thereby giving
motion to the lever m', and sliding or changing the shuttle boxes n'. For
working two needle frames, we shew two levers o¹ (Fig. 5), coupled together

page_text: by the link p', one of the levers having its fulcrum in the middle and the other
at the end. By connecting both at about one-fourth of the length, a regular
meeting of the figure takes place. If required irregular, the pattern or figure
can be varied by clianging the position of the link. In channel patterns the
weights q' on the treddles (see Fig. 5) press alternately the cords s' attached.
to one of the levers o', which by the reaction of the space of the channel (see
Fig. 7) gives greater or less scope to the figure or pattern on the cloth. In
Figs. 1 and 3 we shew an extra heald u', having two top shafts and one bottom
shaft, employed for varying the figure by network; the said heald is connected
to the treddles v by the cords w¹ passing over the guide pulleys a; the two
cords are connected by another cord y', which passes over a tension pulley >',
thereby preventing the healds from lashing or placing too much stress on the
yarn in crossing. In Fig. 8 is the extra lever a² for acting on the swells b³,
.which lever is connected by the arm and rod d² to any well-known stop rod
motion, thus adapting the aforesaid swells to shifting shuttle boxes.. Fig. 9' is
an end view of the extra heald, the eye of which is shewn at e.
At Fig. 3 wo shew our improved "taking-up motion. In the guides e² we
place a rack f; to which one end of a connecting rod g is attached; the other
end of the said rod slides in a slot or groove in the sword arm, its position
being regulated by the usual saddle lever.h pressing against the cloth. The
rack has therefore a to-and-fro motion, uniformly decreasing in its traverse
as the connecting rod descends, and giving a corresponding motion to the
pinion, placed loose on the shaft , to the upper part of which shaft is
fastened the worm 1, and at the lower part the ratchet wheel m², which
is acted upon by means of the catch n² on the pinion 2, thereby turning the:
shaft and worm, which works in the change wheel 0%, driving the pinion.
p and wheel 2 on the taking-up beam, thereby taking up the cloth at a.
uniform speed. Or, instead of the worm, spur gearing only may be employed..
In Fig. 2 we shew how motion is given to the rack f³ by its connection.
with the slotted lever, in the slot of which is placed one end of the con-
necting rods, which slides downwards by the action of the saddle lever
pressing against the cloth beam as the latter increases in diameter. The
slotted lever has motion imparted to it by means of the connecting rod t,.
attached either to an arm of the wheel u² or to a crank v², placed upon the
tappet shaft; in either example great latitude is obtained, thereby adapting it
to fine and coarse cloth.
Having thus fully described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner.
in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be understood that we
do not confine ourselves to the precise details herein described and shown. in

page_text: the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, as such may be varied or modified
without departing from the principle thereof; but we claim,―
Firstly, the placing of the pattern plate, whether in one piece or in sections,
upon either a ratchet or spur wheel working upon a fixed pin or pivot at or
near the vibrating centre of the slay sword, the ratchet wheel being actuated
by a catch moved by the slay sword, and the spur wheel from an arm or arms
or cam on the tappet shaft, the pattern plate operating on one or more levers
attached to the frames of the needles.
Secondly, a peculiarly formed heald or healds for varying the pattern by net-
work.
Thirdly, an extra lever for acting upon the swells in shuttle boxes when
more than one shuttle is used, the same being applicable to form a certain
connection of pattern with lappets, checks, spots, and other combinations of
pattern.
And, fourthly, an improved "taking-up motion," which may be applied to
all descriptions of looms, as all such improvements are herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Nicholas Nomico and George Heyes,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
NTATTOT LO NOMICO
GEORGE HEYES.
(L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Nicholas Nomico and George
Heyes, in the presence of
HENRY FLETCHER, Patent Agent,
of 123, Chancery Lane,
London.