IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SHUTTLE OPERATING MECHA- NISM OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SHUTTLE OPERATING MECHA-
NISM OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING."-A communication from abroad by
Enoch Provolt Terrell, Mechanic, David Bradley Allen, Physician,
and John Enoch, Farmer, all of West Liberty, Ohio, United States
of America
Sealed the 7th May 1872, and dated the 1st February 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 1st February 1872, pursuant to the 9th Section.
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE. SHUTTLE OPERATING MECHANISM OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING," and have

page_text: .
fitted into these links and are maintained in connection therewith by-
pins p¹. It will be understood now that as the lever is recipro-
cated from side to side through the grooved cylinder h the lower ends of
the picker staffs are alternately drawn inwardly through the links o,
thereby alternately moving their upper ends to the outer end of the
shuttle boxes g. The picker staffs are pivotted in the forked, ends of
ȧrms extending outwardly from and moving with the uprights d of the,
slay board e. These uprights are pivotted near their lower ends to the:
side or cross pièces of the loom frame and have downward extensions d¹;;
from which extend rods that pass through suitable openings in the
lower portion of the picker staffs and are surrounded by spiral springs sl.
which bear inwardly against the extensions d' of the uprights d, and
outwardly against the picker staffs, and tend constantly to press the
lower ends of the picker staffs outwards. The upper ends of the picker
staffs are thus moved to the outer ends of the shuttle boxes by means of
links o, and receive their sudden inward motion to throw the shuttle from.
the springs s¹ which force their lower ends outwardly. But as the
tendency of the spring s¹ is to keep the lower ends of the picker staffs in
constant contact with the outer ends of links o, there would be no
sudden operation of the picker staffs through the springs s¹, unless the
picker staffs could be held while the springs are compressed until the.
respective link has moved outwardly again to allow the lower end of the
respective picker staffs when it is released to fly out and its upper end to
fly in with a sudden movement, and thus to produce the shuttle throwing.
blow. I accomplish this retaining and releasing of the picker staffs
automatically by means of two levers pivotted at 1 and 2 on the,
under side of the slay board e, their inner ends being connected by a:
pivot or a ball and socket joint, and their outer ends being kept a suitable:
distance over the openings in the bottom of the shuttle boxes by means,
of a spring a secured to the under side of the slay board and bearing:
against one or both of the levers t. The outer ends of these levers are:
made narrower than their body by having a portion cut out; they are
provided with a projection u''so arranged that the upper ends of the
picker staffs in moving outwardly will readily pass the projection u', but!
are held by it and kept from moving back inwardly unless the respective:
lever is pressed back to release it; as the picker staffs move outwardly:
they are held and released alternately, and as the movement of one lever t
is instantly transmitted and a corresponding movement given to the
other lever, it will be seen by reference to Figure 3 (in which the left;
.

page_text: picker staff is represented as held by the projection u¹ of its lever t), that
when the right picker staff in its outward movement comes in contact
with the curved inner edge of projection u¹ it will press the end of
levert in a direction at right angles to its own motion; this induces a
corresponding movement of the outer end of the lever t, which thereby
is made to release its picker staff and allows it to throw the shuttle; the
other picker staff has at the same moment passed the projection u¹ of
its lever and is retained by it, thus rendering a striking of the shuttle
against the picker staff before the latter has reached the end of its outward
movement during a very rapid operation of the loom utterly impossible.
Thus the picker staffs themselves in their outward movement release
each other alternately for throwing the shuttle. To ensure the certain
retention of the picker staffs, that portion of them in and below the
shuttle boxes which comes into contact with the ends of levers t
bevelled, and over the said bevelled portion a piece of metal may be
secured, the contiguous surface being thereby rendered smooth and the
parts stronger.
may
be
The operation of this improved shuttle operating mechanism is as
follows-Motion is imparted through any suitable means to the shaft a,
and transmitted through the gear wheels g to the shaft f. The cylinder
h revolving with this shaft operates the lever 1, thereby drawing the
lower end of one picker staff inwardly through the link o, compressing
its spring &', and forcing the upper end of said picker staff outwardly.
The outer end of the other picker staff is already held by the projection u¹
of its lower end, and is thereby held inwardly against the compressed
spring s. The movement of the lever carries the link o of this picker
staff outwardly away from its lower end, thereby removing all possible.
obstruction or the only thing which could prevent the free outward
movement of the lower end of this picker staff when its upper end is
released. This release does now take place by reason of the upper end of
the opposite picker staff. pressing against the curved rear of projection u¹
of its levert which forces the ends of both these levers t outwardly.
The first picker staff being thus released from its projection u¹ its
spring is free to exert all its power against its lower end, thereby
forcing the upper end with the necessary sudden shock inwardly, and
thus throwing the shuttle across the slay board. At this movement the
lower end of this picker staff is again bearing against the outer end of
the link o, whilst the upper end of the opposite picker staff has passed

page_text: and is retained outwardly by the projection u' of its lever t. Thus the
operation continues on alternate sides of the loom. It has been tried
to operate each picker staff from a separate lever and cam, and each
lever after forcing outward the upper end of its picker staff returns to its
normal position with a jerk, which not only necessitated a very heavy
construction of the parts to enable them to withstand the shock, but
rendered the operation a very jarring and noisy one. By my present
construction the single lever operated from a single grooved cylinder
moves evenly without any sudden motion, thereby avoiding any jarring
or noise. The springs & operating by their expansion the picker staffs
throw the shuttle alternately from side to side, and as the lower ends of
the picker staffs at the moment of this operation are entirely free, each
picker staff is quite independent of the other, and their operation will be
accomplished by the same amount of expansive force of the springs &¹, no
matter whether the loom is run at the rate of 20 or 200 picks a minute,
the shuttle operation being thus rendered entirely independent of the
motive power of the loom. And as the picker staffs themselves effect
their alternate release from the catch levers t under the 'slay board,
and one picker staff is released to throw the shuttle only at the moment
when the other picker staff has reached its furthest outward movement,
no speed of the loom can cause the shuttle to strike the opposite picker
staff on its outward movement and before such movement is accom-
plished. But very slight alterations, if any, need be made in applying
this Invention to any common loom, and as all the additional parts are
exceedingly simple its cost will be but trifling.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The construction of the single central obliquely grooved
cylinder h with the single lever / and links o for the alternate outward
operation only of the picker staffs essentially as described.
Second. In combination with the springs &¹ arranged to operate the
picker staffs by expansion, the links o so operated from the lever / as
to alternately draw inwardly the lower ends of the picker staffs, and
release them previous to their throwing the shuttle, essentially as
described
1

page_text: Third. The jointed spring levers t in combination with the picker
staff so arranged under the slay board that the picker staffs themselves
which are retained in an outward position by said levers, automatically
release each other alternately at the proper moment essentially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
EDWARD C. JACKSON.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)