CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Marsden, of Blackburn, in the
County of Lancaster, Cotton Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Scaled the 24th January 1853, and dated the 16th November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Marsden
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th November 1852.
I, WILLIAM MARSDEN, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster,
Cotton Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO LOOMS FOR
WEAVING" to be as follows:-
In an improvement upon the Invention patented by James
Bullough, of Blackburn, Overlooker, and bearing date at West-
minster the 3rd day of November, A.D. 1842, for "Certain Im-
provements in the Construction of Looms for Weaving, &c. &c.,'
being partly a communication, which improvement consists in

page_text: arranging the mechanism of the "slay" or "lathe" of the loom in
such manner that a much heavier or lighter cloth can be woven
than has hitherto been done by the said James Bullough's Invention.
This is accomplished, as before stated, by an arrangement in the
mechanism of the "slay" or "lathe," that by means of a "frog"
or "catch" attached to the side of the loom, and connected with a
quadrant, the "reed" is released, instead of that being done by the
"shuttle," as in the Invention of the said James Bullough.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said William Marsden in the Great Seal 1
Patent Office on the 16th May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM MARSDEN, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster,
Cotton Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 1
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Marsden, Her especial licence that I, the
said William Marsden, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Marsden, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Marsden,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should parti-
cularly 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

page_text: months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Marsden, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, the same letters and figures being used to represent corre-
sponding parts in each figure (that is to say):
The nature of my Invention relates to improvements upon the
Invention of James Bullough, of Blackburn, in the County of Lan-
caster, Overlooker, for which Letters Patent were granted unto
him, bearing date on or about the Third day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two, the
object of which Invention was to prevent damage to the warp by
the reed driving up when the shuttle remained in the "shed"
before the loom could stop, which was accomplished by fixing the
reed on pivots or hinges so that it remained loose or moveable on
its hinges or pivots during the greater part of the stroke or beat of
the lathe, being only fast a short space before the beating up of the
weft, the mechanism being so arranged that in case the reed should
not be in its proper place at the required point in the beating up of
the "lathe," it could not be locked or made fast; it will, therefore,
be understood that if the shuttle should happen to remain in the
"shed," the reed (being loose at that point of the beat of the lathe)
it would give way, and being out of its proper position would
remain unlocked or unfastened at the time when it would have been
locked or fastened if in its proper position. The improvements
which I have introduced accomplishes the same object, but the con
dition of the reed is reversed, that is, the reed remains fast at all
times so long as the shuttle properly "boxes;" but if the shuttle
fails to "box," that is, to enter the shuttle box, the reed is released
so that, presuming the shuttle to be in the "shed" (not having
boxed), the reed will give way to it on the "lathe" beating up, and
thus prevent any damage to the warp. Fig. 1, of the Drawings

page_text: represents part of a side elevation of a loom; Fig. 2, part of the
front elevation; Fig. 3, part of a plan view, all shewing parts of my
improvements; and Fig. 4, plan of the cranked bar.
Having stated the mode in which the reed operates, I may pro-
ceed at once to explain that the stop rod finger a, which is lowered
when-the-shuttle does not box, and strikes the notch or frog b, and
throws the driving strap on the loose pulley, and in some looins puts
on the break, at the same time is also made to actuate mechanism
which shall release the reed. The reed c, is fixed on hinges or
pivots c', to the upper part of the slay.d; a cranked bar e, is fixed
to each side of the slay sword f, by its axis e¹, so that a slight motion
downwards will bring it clear of the reed.c,-or-upwards will render
the reed fast upon the axis of this cranked bar è. A lever .I is fixed
for the purpose of applying the force of a spring, which shall keep
the cranked bar e, up; this lever is connected by a rod h, to a
bent or other spring ; screwed to the slay sword f; another lever i,
is also secured to the axis of the cranked bar e, which is acted upon
as will be hereafter stated. To a convenient part of the framing A,
of the loom is attached (moveable on an axis or stud k,) a quadrant
or sickle-shaped lever ¹; to an arm of this lever-13, a-connecting
'bar 7, is jointed, the other end being jointed to the notch or frog b;
to the same arm of the quadrant 2, is attached a spring m, which
shall bring back the quadrant &, and notch or frog b, when the
stop rod finger a, retires. When the shuttle misses boxing, the
stop rod finger a, will fall, and as the slay moves forward strike
_against the notch-or-frog-b, which-acting through the connecting
bar l, and arm, will throw forward the quadrant k³, so that the
lever i, will strike against it, and thus be elevated, forcing down-
wards the cranked bar e, and releasing the reed c. When the lathe
moves back from the cloth the springs h, and m, will bring the parts
to which they are attached to their normal positions. When the
loom is working, and the shuttle properly boxes, the lever i, and
quadrant &, do not operate upon each other, and are in the positions
shewn in Fig. 1, in black lines; the positions of the mechanism.
when the reed is released and forced back by the shuttle being

page_text: shewn in red lines. I have colored those parts in the Drawings
which I claim as my Invention to distinguish them from those parts
which are not of my Invention; and although I have not shewn the
Drawings of a complete loom in all its parts, I have shewn sufficient
to enable my improvements to be readily applied.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Marsden, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM MARSDEN. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered,
0 being first duly stamped, by
the within-named William
Marsden, in the presence of
WILLIAM HARRISON,
Machinist, &c.,
of Blackburn.