CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
DICKINSON, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and
ROBERT WILLAN, of the same place, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of July, in the fifteenth year of Her
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Dickinson and Robert Willan, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her
especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
William Dickinson and Robert Willan, our exors, adiñors, and assigns, and
such others as we, the said William Dickinson and Robert Willan, our exors,
adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times hereafter during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part
of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
MANUFACTURING TEXTILE FABRICS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that we, the said William Dickinson and Robert Willan, or one of us,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under the hand and seal of one or both of us, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's

page_text: High Court of Chancery, within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
William Dickinson and Robert Willan, do hereby declare that the nature
and particulars of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same are
to be performed and carried into practical effect, are particularly set forth,
described, and ascertained in and by these Presents, and the Drawings here-
unto annexed, in which the same letters of reference are used to denote the same
part or parts where different views or diagrams are shewn, that is to say:
Our improvements, which relate to the machinery or apparatus for manu-
facturing woven fabrics, commonly called looms, consist,-
Firstly, of an improved arrangement or construction of the stop motion, by
which the ordinary stop rod and frog are dispensed with, and the severe
concussion which is caused by them coming into contact at the stoppage of the
loom is entirely prevented, thus decreasing to a very great extent the wear and
tear of the machinery.
Secondly, an improvement in the arrangement of the reed, by which it is
both fast and loose, that is to say, quite firm whilst the slay is regularly beating
up, but perfectly loose if the shuttle happens to be caught in the shed, thus
combining both a fast and loose reed in the same apparatus, by which the
breakage of the warp threads and injury to the fabric are entirely avoided,
the loom made capable of weaving any strength of fabric, and of being driven
at much greater speed than the ordinary ones now in use. And,
Thirdly, an improved mode of easing or relieving the pressure of the shuttle
against the swell in the shuttle box during the operation of weaving, by which
is economised the motive power necessary for driving the machinery;
There have been many plans adopted and even many inventions patented to
gain these desirable advantages, but all have more or less failed in accomplish-
ing the objects intended. The severe concussion caused by the stop rod
coming in contact with a notch or projection on the frame of the loom, called
the frog, at the stoppage of the loom, has invariably caused great injury to the
working parts of the machinery. This evil has been attempted to be remedied
by levers, friction breaks, and other means of adding pressure to the fly wheel,
many of which plans have decreased the shock to some extent, but none have
entirely prevented it. This very desirable object is, however, perfectly attained
by our improvements. The loose reed has also been invented to prevent the
mischief caused by the slay beating up the weft when the shuttle is caught in
the shed, and thereby breaking the warp threads and injuring the fabric, but

page_text: although this plan is efficient to some extent, it is not applicable to all speeds,
nor to all kinds of goods, indeed heavy goods cannot be woven unless the reed
is perfectly firm during the process of beating up; therefore to accomplish these
necessary advantages we have invented a method of making the reed both fast
and loose, that is, perfectly fast as long as the operation of weaving proceeds
regularly without accidental stoppage, but if the shuttle should be caught in
the shed, or, in other words, be absent from the shuttle box, the reed, by a self-
acting motion, immediately becomes loose, falls back upon the warp, and thus
liberates the shuttles without breaking the warp threads or damaging the
fabric. This important self-acting motion is obtained as follows:-If the
shuttle is caught in the shed whilst the slay or lathe is beating up the weft, its
absence from the shuttle box allows a spring which presses against the swell
to fall a little inwards to the shuttle box, when the other end of the spring
being attached to a lever draws it slightly outwards and causes another lever
or finger, which is fixed on the same rod, to fall a little, by which motion it
passes under an angular bar or stud, which is fast to the loom frame, instead of
the ordinary frog. On another lever, which is fixed on the same. rod as the
preceding ones, rests a vertical bar or rod, sliding in two sockets or brackets
cast on the slay sword, to the top of which the slay cap is attached, so that
when the said spring by drawing one lever a little forward causes the other to
pass under an angular bar or stud, and by lifting the third lever raises the
said vertical bar, and consequently the slay cap, thus liberating the top of the
reed and allowing it to fall back on the warp, by which the shuttle is libe-
rated and breakage of the warp threads and injury to the fabric are entirely
prevented. Or we obtain the same results by another method, that is, by
allowing the reed to be lowered by the action of the said levers bringing down
the said vertical bar on which the reed rests, and thus liberating the top of the
reed from the slay cap, allowing it to fall back on the warp, as before stated,
whilst the slay cap is stationary.
There have also been many plans invented to relieve the pressure of the
shuttle against the swell when in the shuttle box, and thus decrease the motive
power requisite for working the loom, all of which have been found inadequate
to the purpose, but which our improvements accomplish, as will be more fully
understood by the following illustration and description of the Drawings, in
which description we have not explained the working of the ordinary parts
of the loom, as such will be readily understood by all persons conversant with
the art of weaving..
Figs. 1 and 3 are end views of a loom; Fig. 2, a front view of the same;
Fig. 4, a plan thereof; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7, views of parts of the loom,

page_text: showing our improvements more in detail, and on a larger scale, a is the
slay cap. b, a lever, acting against the angle bar or stud c. d, a lever which
lifts the vertical bar or rod e, sliding in the brackets or sockets f, which being
attached to the slay cap a raises it, and liberates the top of the reed and allows
it to fall back upon the warp, as shewn by the dotted lines. g is the slay or
lathe. h, an elastic spring, one end pressing against the back of the swell m
in the shuttle box, the other end being attached to the lever i, and by the top
end pressing a little inwards to the shuttle box when the shuttle is absent
draws the lever i at the other end slightly outwards, and causes the lever b to
fall and pass under the angle bar or stud e; the said lever i, lever d, and finger
or lever b, being all fixed on the rod k, more simultaneously, when the spring h,
not being opposed by the pressure of the shuttle against the swell, acts upon
the levers as described. When the lever bis lowered, the lever d which is
fast to the rod k is raised, lifting with it the vertical slide or rode and the slay
cap a, thus liberating the reed, as already explained. When the lever b is in
its lowest position, and nearly arrived at its extreme movement forwards, it
touches the adjusting piece n, and pressing still further pushes the handle out
of its place, thereby shifting the strap from the fast to the loose pulley, as usual,
and stopping the motion of the loom. .
In Fig. 7 is shewn the method of liberating the reed whilst the slay cap is
stationary. The actions of the springs h, the rod. k, and levers i and b, are the
same as in the other Figures, but the reed is set at liberty by the vertical rod e,.
on which its rests, being brought down when the lever b is lowered, thereby
bringing the top of the rod from its position in the slay cap a, and allowing it
to fall back on the warp, as already described, the action upon the handle being
the same as before described.
Having now described the nature and particulars of our said improvements,.
we wish it to be distinctly understood that we do not confine ourselves to the
exact details herein described, as such may be varied without departing from
our said principles. But what we claim is,―
Firstly, the new arrangement of the stop motion.
Secondly, the fast and loose reed. And,
Thirdly, the method of relieving the pressure against the swell in the
shuttle box, as herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Dickinson and Robert Willan,
or one of us, have hereunto set our hands and seals, or hand and seal,
this Thirteenth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
two..

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid William Dickinson came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.