CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
ECCLES, of Blackburn, Power Loom Manufacturer, WILLIAM CROOK, of Livesey,
Hand Loom Weaver, and WILLIAM LANCASTER, Power Loom Weaver, of
Blackburn, all in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of September, in the ninth year of Her
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
William Eccles, William Crook, and William Lancaster, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said William Eccles,
William Crook, and William Lancaster, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as we, the said William Eccles, William Crook, and
William Lancaster, our executors, administrators, and 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, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said William
Eccles, William Crook, and William Lancaster, or one of us, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of our Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of

page_text: the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Eccles, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof, that is to say :-
These improvements in looms for weaving apply both to the ordinary power
looms employed for weaving plain goods or fabrics, and also to those used
for weaving checks, and other fancy goods or fabrics wherein two or more
shuttles are required. These improvements in looms for weaving plain goods
consist,-
Firstly, in a new and improved arrangement of mechanism for per-
forming the operation of "treading" or dividing the shed, whereby the
common tappet shaft and its driving gear are entirely dispensed with, the
alternate raising and depressing of the healds or harness, and consequent
dividing of the shed, being effected by means of a small cam or tappet, placed
upon the crank shaft of the loom, the motion of the "picking levers" deter-
mining which heald is to be depressed.
"
Secondly, in a new and improved arrangement of mechanism for performing
the picking motion, or driving the shuttle across the loom, wherein the
picking levers are actuated by rollers or bowls placed upon the sides or arms
of the fly or balance wheels of the loom, each picking lever being alternately
thrown out of the way of its respective bowl by the action of the treadles.
Thirdly, in the use of an improved "check strap' for preventing the
rebound of the shuttle. Instead of the straps being each separately fixed, we
employ a single strap, extending across the loom, from one "picker" to the
other, and of such a length that when one "picker" is at the end of its box
the opposite "picker" is drawn by the strap to about midway in its box,
so that as the shuttle is driven across the loom it meets the "picker" about
midway in the box, which gives way, and gradually checks the shuttle (without
the aid of a "swell" or any other lateral friction) at the same time the
"check" strap draws the opposite "picker" to about midway in its box, the
check being given by a lever (attached to about the centre of the strap)
vibrating between two stops.
Fourthly, in certain novel methods of reducing the weight and friction upon
the warp beam, as its diameter decreases by the "unwinding" of the warp,
which may be accomplished by several modifications of the same Invention,
namely, causing the decrease of the diameter of the yarn beam to diminish

page_text: the weight and friction upon the said beam by means of a roller bearing
against its surface. And,
Fifthly, in a contrivance for the purpose of keeping the upper surface of
the yarn beam always upon a level with the cloth, by means of a spiral or
other spring, or a weighted lever, the yarn beam being prevented from rising
above that level by a roller (bearing upon its upper surface) attached by a
bracket to the "back rail" or any other convenient part of the loom.
The first improvement in looms for weaving checked or other fancy goods,
wherein two or more shuttles are employed, consists in an improved arrange-
ment of mechanism, for the purpose of raising or lowering any particular
shuttle box to the level of the "shuttle race" as the pattern may require, by
means of a tappet wheel or drum, worked by a worm and wheel, or any
other suitable gearing from the crank shaft. The tappets upon this drum
or wheel act upon certain levers and catches, which, upon the vibration of the
slay," cause any particular shuttle box to be raised or lowered to the level
of the shuttle race.
66
The second improvement consists in a certain arrangement of levers and
catches, acted upon by the same tappet wheel or drum, for the purpose of
stopping the motion of the taking-up wheel, whilst two or more "picks" are
being put in, so as to allow the slay to beat up with greater force, and
form the transverse stripe; another tappet upon the drum then lifts a catch
or ratchet, which, upon the vibration of the slay, takes up the same number
of teeth upon the said wheel which it had stopped before, so as to allow
the slay to beat up the ordinary picks with the same force as usual.
Such being the nature and object of our said improvements in looms for
weaving, I will now proceed to describe in detail the manner of carrying the
same into practical effect, which will be better understood by reference to
the two Sheets of Drawings attached to these Presents, and in which I have
represented the new or improved parts as shaded with colour, the ordinary
parts of the loom being drawn in outline only, in order to shew their appli-
cation more clearly; the Drawings being made to a scale of about two
inches to the foot, and having similar letters of reference placed upon corre-
sponding parts of the mechanism in all the Figures.
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 represents a front view of an ordinary power loom,
with the first, second, and third parts of our improvements in looms for weaving
plain goods shewn as attached thereto. Figure 2 is an end view of the same,
and Figure 3 is a transverse section, taken through about the centre of the
loom. The main parts of the loom are distinguished by the same letters in
all the Figures in both Sheets of the Drawings, A, A, being the framing

page_text: of the loom; B, B, the driving pulley; C, C, the crank shaft; D, D, the
balance wheels; E, E, the yarn beam; F, F, the breast beam, and G, G, the
cloth beam.
"
In Sheet 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, it will be seen that the fly wheels D, D,
are each furnished with a small bowl a and a', which strike against the
picking levels b, 6', at each alternate revolution of the crank shaft. These
levers b, b', are connected by links c, c', to the ordinary straps d, d', attached
"picking
to the cams on the "picking shafts" to the upper end of which the "
sticks e, e, are attached. It will be seen by reference to Figure 1 that the
"picking lever" 6 is connected by a strap f to the treadle g, which is attached
to the front heald h, while the picking lever 6' is connected by a strap f¹ to
the treadle g', to which the back heald h¹ is attached, so that if the front
heald be depressed the "picking lever" b will be drawn by the strap f into
the position shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 1, out of the way of the
bowl a.
The plate i, in which the upper end of the picking lever b works,
being furnished with a slot for this purpose, and consequently the picking
motion on that side of the loom will be at rest, but as soon as the front heald
'h rises, and the back heald h¹ is depressed, the spring k will force the picking
lever bout of the notch in the plate i, and cause it to resume its original
position. On the depression of the back heald h¹ the same remarks will apply
to the opposite side of the loom, the picking levers being alternately brought
into action and put into a state of quiescence by the motion of the treadles
g and g. The treading or dividing of the shed is performed in the following
manner-When the bowl a' comes in contact with the picking lever b', this
lever will strike against a small cranked lever l' (see Figure 1) to which the
strap m¹ is attached, which will draw the weighted lever n into the position
shown in the Drawing, the lower end of which will press the end of the
lever o against the catch p', which is fixed to the treadle g¹. The other end
of the lever o is connected by a link g to the bowl r, which bears against
the tappets upon the crank shaft C, C, then it will be evident that as the
crank shaft C, C, revolves the tappet s will raise one end of the lever o, the
other end of which lever will consequently, by drawing down the catch p¹,
depress the treadle g, and with it the back heald h. The depression of the
treadle g¹ will then draw the picking lever b¹ out of the reach of its bowl a¹;
and the rising of the treadle g again putting the picking lever b in motion,
that lever will strike against the small cranked lever l, and press the end of
the lever o against the catch p, and thus depress the treadle g and front
heald h, and so on alternately. The "check strap" is shewn a t, in Figure 1,
connecting the pickers u and u². v is a small lever, vibrating between the

page_text: two stops y and y, and thus preventing the strap from moving too far in
either direction.
In Sheet 1, Figure 4 is a back view of a loom, shewing one arrangement
of mechanism for reducing the weight and friction upon the yarn beam, as
its diameter decreases. a, a, is a small roller, mounted in bearings at the
upper end of a carrier b, b, which slides in the brackets c, c, attached to the
back rail of the loom. d, d, is a weighted lever, one end of which bears
against a pin e, upon the carrier b, b. To the other end of this lever d, the
cord is attached, which, after passing thrice around the end of the yarn
beam E, E, is made fast at its other extremity to the pulley at the back
of the cam or snail g; to this cam or snail the strap h, carrying the weight i,
is fastened. As the diameter of the yarn beam decreases the pulley a will
rise and allow the weighted end of the lever d to fall, and draw the snail
or cam ground in the direction of the arrow; the strap will thus hang nearer
to the centre of the cam or snail g, and consequently the weight and friction
upon the yarn beam E, E, will be diminished in a corresponding ratio with
the decrease of its diameter. Figures 3 and 4 in Sheet 2 represent two
other arrangements of machinery or apparatus intended to produce the same
effect. In Figure 3 the yarn beam E, instead of being mounted in fixed
bearings, is mounted in slides a, a, the weight of the beam resting on the
roller b, b, supported by the brackets c, c. As the yarn beam E, E, diminishes
in diameter it falls, and allows the weight d, d, to draw the cam or snail e, e,
in the direction of the arrow, and thus diminish the weight and friction upon
the yarn beam ; the weight f, at the other end of the cord g, being prevented
from taking up the cord by resting upon the stop piece h, or upon the floor.
In Figure 4 the small roller a, a, is mounted at one end of a bell-crank
lever b, b. This lever has its fulcrum at c, and its other end is connected to
the lever d, d, by the link e. The upper end of the lever d bears against the
end of a conical pulley f, sliding on a feather upon a shaft g, thus, as the
diameter of the yarn beam decreases, the pulley a will rise, and by means
of the bell-crank lever b, b, and link e, will withdraw the end of the lever d
from the conical pully f, and allow the spiral spring to push the pully f
in the direction of the arrow, and thus present a gradually diminishing diameter
to the cord i, to which the weight k is affixed (the cord being prevented
from descending the inclined surface of the pully by the stop 1); thus the
weight of the yarn beam E, E, will be gradually diminished as its diameter
decreases.
In Sheet 2, Figure 5 represents an arrangement of mechanism for keeping
the vorn hoam always upon a lovel with the cloth
is roller connanted

page_text: +
in brackets b, b (one at each end), fixed to the back rail of the loom. This
roller a is for the purpose of preventing the yarn beam from rising above the
level of the cloth, which is represented by the dotted line. The yarn beam is
mounted in slides, and raised by a spring, as at c, or by a weighted lever.
The improvements in looms for weaving checks, or other fancy goods,
wherein two or more shuttles are required, are shewn in a plan or top view,
at Figure 1, Sheet 2, and a side elevation at Figure 2. a, a, is a wheel or
drum (which may be driven, as shewn in the Drawings, by a worm from the
crank shaft, or from the slay sword) furnished with tappets b, one of which, as
the drum revolves, lifts the catch c, which, as the slay beats up, comes in
contact with the upper end of the crank lever d, the other end of which,
coming against one of the notches upon the lifting bar e (to which the shuttle
boxes are fixed) raises the shuttle box f to the level of the shuttle race, the
spring pressing the catch h into the notch, and retaining the shuttle box
in this position as long as the pattern may require. When it is required to
lower a box, another tappet, say 6', lifts the catch c', which, when the slay
beats up, comes in contact with the crank lever d', which forces the catch h
out of the notch in the lifting bar e, at the same time throwing the crank
lever d out of the way of the lifting bar e on the other side, by means of the
small lever i, thus allowing the boxes to descend by their own gravity, until
the descent of the lever d' allows the catch h to fall into one of the notches on
the lifting bar e, seen detached in front view. When it is desired to stop the
taking up" wheel, while two or more picks are being put in, for the purpose
of forming the stripe, another tappet, say 6, upon the wheel or drum a, lifts
the lever k, the end of which lifts the ratchet off the "taking up" wheel m,
and holds it in this position as long as required, when another tappet, say 611,
lifts the ratchet n, which, upon the vibration of the slay, pulls round the
"taking up wheel m as many teeth as required, and then allows it to
proceed with its regular motion.
"
Having now described the nature and object of our said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would
remark in conclusion that we claim as our Invention,-
Firstly, with respect to the loom for weaving plain goods, "treading" or
dividing the shed by means of a tappet, or other similar contrivance, placed
upon the crank shaft of the loom.
Secondly, the arrangement for "picking" by means of bowls placed upon
the side or arms of the fly or balance wheels of the loom, or any similar
contrivance for "picking" from the crank shaft of the loom.
Thirdly, the continuous "check strap," extending from one picker to the other.

page_text: Fourthly, the method of reducing the weight upon the yarn beam as its
diameter decreases by the application or use of a roller acting against its
surface, used in combination with the mechanism above described. And,
Fifthly, the arrangement, as shewn at Figure 5, in Sheet 2, and above
described, for the purpose of keeping the yarn beam always upon a level
with the cloth.
With respect to the loom for weaving checked, or other fancy goods,
wherein two or more shuttles are required, we claim,―
Firstly, the arrangement of machinery or apparatus shewn in Sheet 2,
Figures 1 and 2, for raising or lowering any particular shuttle box to the
level of the shuttle race, as the pattern may require.
And, lastly, the arrangement of mechanism shewn in these Figures for
stopping the motion of the "taking up" wheel, whilst two or more picks aro
put in to form the transverse stripe, and afterwards causing the said wheel to
take up the cloth for as many teeth as the thickness of weft may require, and
then to proceed with its regular motion.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Eccles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.