IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS OR MACHINES FOR WEAVING COTTON, LINEN, SILK, WOOLLEN AND OTHER FIBROUS CLOTHS AND SUBSTANCES
Year: 1833

page_text: SHALLCROSS' SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS SHALLCROSS, of Holt Town, within the Parish of Manchester, in the
County Palatine of Lancaster, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, by
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of January, in the third year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Thomas Shallcross, my exors, admors, and assigns, His special licence that I,
the said William Thomas Shallcross, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Thomas Shallcross, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS OR MACHINES
FOR WEAVING COTTON, LINEN, SILK, WOOLLEN AND OTHER FIBROUS CLOTHS AND
SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said William Thomas Shallcross, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention or improvements, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: stud P, screwed to the frame. To the upper end of this latter crank at Q, by
a crank pin, I attach the connecting rod R, which. at its other extremity by a
lever I fasten to the pecking peg lever as shewn in Drawing No. 2, and this
lever being attached to the usual pecking peg shaft gives motion backwards
and forwards to the pecking peg, which throws the shuttle from one box to
the other. The plan of applying my Invention just described is particularly
applicable to small looms, and it is a loom of this kind that is described by the
Figures 1 and 2, in the Drawings marked B, but I have other modes of
applying my Invention to looms of larger size and different construction, one
of which is as follows:-Instead of the double crank H, H, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, a straight lever H, as shewn in Figures No. 3 and 7, may
be used; this is fastened to the frame by the stud I, and is worked up and
down by the rod F, before mentioned, to which it is attached by a stud at G,
the lever being also attached to the connecting rod L before mentioned by
means of the stud K, thus gives motion to the said connecting rod L, as in the
plan first described. There is yet a third way of working this motion and
which is also particularly applicable to looms of large dimensions, and is shewn
in Figures 4, 5, and 6, in Drawing marked C, as follows:-A is the usual
pinion wheel, placed at the end of the crank shaft which works in the wheel
B; this latter wheel revolves on the shaft C, which goes through the loom to
work the headles, as hereafter mentioned; and my Invention consists in placing
a crank pin D on: the said wheel B, to which crank I fasten the connecting
rod E, which works the lever F, being fastened to it by a stud at G. The
stud H fastens the lever F to the frame; the connecting rod J works on the
stud I at the end of the lever. On the top of this latter connecting rod I
place the hooks K, K, which each time that this rod is moved upwards or
downwards strike. one of the studs L, L, fixed on the crank M, (as better seen'
by the separate Figure No. 9; this crank works on a stud N, which stud is
fixed to the stand O, and the connecting rod P, being fastened to the lever M
at one end and to the lever Q at the other, gives motion to the pecking peg.
My Invention and improvements thus become applicable and may be fixed. to
all kinds of looms now in use, and it is on this account that I consider them of
very great importance.
By the improvements and Inventions just described I consider that some of
the principal advantages to be obtained are as follows:-I render the loom or
machine used for weaving much less complicated than any hitherto made use-
of, and the saving in workmanship and materials in the construction is very.
considerable, the power required to drive the same sized loom or machine is
very much diminished, and a loom or machine on my costruction may be:

page_text: driven with the same power at a much greater speed than a loom or machine
on the ordinary construction.
My next improvement is one by which the healds used in weaving may
be worked with more facility and regularity, and is accomplished in the
following manner, as shewn in Drawing marked B, Figures 1 and 2, and is
more plainly shewn in the separate Figures 1a, 2a, 3 and 7, in the Drawing
marked A. a is a pinion wheel fixed at the end of the usual crank shaft which
turns the crank wheel b, this latter wheel revolves on the stud c screwed into
the frame; on the wheel b at e, as shewn in Drawings is fixed a stud to which
the connecting rod f is attached, and this rod at its lower extremity is fastened
by the stud g to the lever h, which lever has a slot for the purpose of regulating
the motion; the lever h is attached to the rocking shaft i, which rocking shaft
is supported by the two stands j, j, which are screwed to the frame by
bolts. On the rocking shaft I place the rollers k, k, to each of which I
screw the heald straps at 1, 1, and these straps are connected by means
of cords to the healds and move them up and down so as to form what is
usually called a shed in the warp to admit of the shuttle passing through. In
this description, and also in the Drawing No. 2, there are two rollers described
on the rocking shaft, and this is necessary for an under pick loom, but one
roller will be sufficient for an over pick loom by placing it in the centre of the
rocking shaft, as shewn in Figure No. 7.
My second plan of working the healds is as follows:-At the end of the
shaft c, as shewn in Figures 4 and 5, is placed a small crank a, to which, by a
crank pin b, is attached a connecting rod c, and at the bottom of this connecting
rod is a stud d screwed to the lever e, which has a slot in it for the purpose of
regulating the motion. f is the rocking shaft attached to the lever e; and g
is the roller for the healds before described. The machinery of the two former
plans of working the healds is placed the lengthway of the loom, but I can
apply another plan across the loom, as shewn at Figure 8, in the following
manner: a is the pinion wheel at the end of the crank shaft, which works.
the wheel 6 placed on the shaft c, which goes through the loom and revolves
on pedestals fixed to the frame. d is an excentric fixed in the middle of the
shaft c, and e is the excentric ring joint; f is an universal joint required from
this, being a cross motion; g is a stud screwed into a lever h with a regulating
slot. This lever is keyed on the rocking shaft i, which it works backwards
and forwards, and k is the roller for the healds. This last Invention is also
applicable to old looms as well as new ones, and the great advantages I gain
by it are a regularity of motion which cannot be obtained in the old plan, a
material lessening of the expense, both of making and keeping in repair looms

page_text: of my construction in comparison with the old plan, and a much greater
facility of altering the heald motion.
The third and last of my improvements consists in placing a catch on the
taking up lever below its centre, for the purpose of communicating a revolving
motion to the beam or rollers to effect the winding the cloth thereupon after it
is woven, and is accomplished in the following manner:-
On the end of the rocking shaft f, as shewn in Figures 5 and 6, in the
Drawing C, is fixed a lever h, with a regulating slot, to which, by the stud i, is
attached the connecting rod j, which rod is screwed to the lever / by a stud at
k. This lever is fastened to the frame by a stud at m, upon which it works; to
the top of this lever is attached, by means of a stud, the catch n; below the
centre of the lever, as indicated in the Drawing, I place another catch o; thus
every time that the lever 7 moves backwards or forwards these two catches
acting alternately upon the ratchet wheel, take one tooth at a time, or more,
as may be required, for the picks, and thus cause the cloth to be drawn and
wound upon the beam in a more regular manner than by any other plan
hitherto adopted. I do not, however, claim any part of this motion except
the catch o.
Now whereas, although I have described the nature and construction of
my Invention or Improvements in Looms or Machines for Weaving Cotton,
Linen, Silk, Woollen, and other Fibrous Cloths and Substances, as applied to
the machine called the power loom, I do not claim any of the well-known
movements or parts of that machine which have been drawn for the purpose
of shewing how my improvements are applied, but I do claim as my Invention
the peculiar construction and arrangement of the machinery for throwing the
shuttle and working the healds herein-before described, as also the additional
catch marked o for taking up the cloth; and such my Invention being to the
best of my knowledge and belief entirely new, and never before used within
that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, his said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same; and
that I do verily believe that this my said Specification doth comply in all
respects fully and without reserve or disguise with the proviso in the said
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained, wherefore I hereby
claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third
day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-three.
"
W. T. SHALLCROSS. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of July, in the year
of our Lord 1833, the aforesaid William Thomas Shallcross came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
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.
Inrolled the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-three.