CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON POWER LOOMS AND THE SHUTTLES USED THEREIN
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARCHIBALD
DOUGLASS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth
did, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of April, in the third year of His reign,
give and grant unto me, the said Archibald Douglass, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, His especial licence, that I, the said Archibald
Douglass, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should and lawfully
might, during the term of fourteen years therein mentioned, make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON POWER LOOMS
AND THE SHUTTLES USED THEREIN;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that if I, the said Archibald Douglass, should not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months then next and immediately after the
date of the Letters Patent now in recital, that then the said Letters Patent,
and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, should utterly

page_text: cease, determine, and become. void, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Archibald Douglass, do hereby declare that my Invention consists of an
improved shuttle and appendages, the mechanism of which is so contrived and
arranged, that on the breaking or exhaustion of the material called the weft
or shoot, the working of the loom is stopped, in order that the necessary
adjustments may be made; an apparatus to be connected with the batten of
a loom, by means of which the action of springs attached to the swords of the
batten is regulated and adapted to the production of different figures, as a
solid stripe or cord across the work; and of an approved apparatus for
regulating the taking-up motions of a loom, and the number of picks in an
inch, which improvements may be used together in the same loom or sepa-
rately, as the nature of the work may be deemed to require; and I do hereby
declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, is described and ascertained in the following
explanation thereof, illustrated by the accompanying Drawings, wherein the
same parts in the different Figures are uniformly denoted by the same letters
of the alphabet.
a is
Figure 1 is a plan of one of my improved shuttles. Figure 2 is a longi-
tudinal section of the same. Figure 3 is a transverse section thereof.
the body of the shuttle. b, the cop or bobbin. c, c, are spring clams, between
which the weft is drawn previous to being passed through the loop or crank
in the bolt d. d is a bolt with a loop or crank, through which the weft is
passed after being drawn through the clams 'c, c. e is a socket inserted into the
front of the shuttle for the reception of the corresponding end of the bolt d.
ff, are wire guides limiting the circular motion of the bolt d. g is a metal
plate fastened to the side of the aperture in the body of the shuttle. h is a
spring, one end of it attached to the plate g, the other end passing through a
hole in the bolt d. i is a groove or cavity (peculiar to my shuttles), and
distinctly shewn in Figure 3. k is a strong metal staple or sheath, inserted
into the groove or cavity i.
Figures 4 and 5 represent a lock adapted to the left-hand side of the batten
of a loom, and Figures 6 and 7 represent a lock adapted to the right-hand
side of a batten, the respective parts in Figures 4 and 6 being exhibited in
positions for locking the shuttle and stopping the loom, on the breaking or
exhaustion of the weft, but in Figures 5 and 7, in the positions which they
retain, so long as the weft is supplied and unbroken. 7 represents a strong

page_text: catch. m, a spring for holding the catch in the positions shewn in Figure 5
or: 7. n, a stop for limiting the range or motion of the catch 1. o, a trigger
which urges the catch into the position shewn in Figures 4 or 6, when by
the breaking or exhaustion of the weft the trigger is subjected to the action of
the shuttle bolt d. p are bridles screwed to the plates, and between which
and the plates the catch and the trigger are made to act on their respective
centres of motion. q is a link to the catch of the right-hand lock, in order
that the action of the trigger may produce the same effect by the passing of
the shuttle from left to right, as on the opposite lock by passing from right to
left. r is a stud which, passed through the groove in the link q, and being
screwed into the plate s, retains the link q in its proper position. s is a
strong metal plate to which the pieces shewn thereon are attached, and which
together I denominate a lock. These locks require to be fixed to the batten
in such positions that when the bolt d is withdrawn by the tension of the weft.
the lower extremities of the triggers may hang freely in the shuttle groove or
cavity i, and also (in case of the weft breaking or becoming exhausted, so as
to insure the catch / locking into the staple or sheath k of the shuttle groove
or cavity.before the shuttle can reach the swell in the shuttle box.
In Figures 8 and 10, a right-hand lock and a left-hand lock are shewn in
their respective positions on the batten. It is necessary also to attach a guide
to the double box end of the batten, to prevent the shuttle being driven from
the lock; such.a guide is shewn and marked. G in Figures 8 and 9; but I do
not claim such guide as part of the Invention for which I have obtained His
Majesty's Letters Patent, or any exclusive right to the use of the same.
I proceed to explain the working or operation of my improved shuttles and
locks. On reference to the Drawing (Figures 1, 2, and 3), it will be seen that
the weft is passed in succession through the clams c, c, through the loop or crank
in the bolt d, and then through the eye in front of the shuttle; and, the essential
precaution and care being taken to cause the drag or friction upon the weft
in passing through the clams to be greater than the force necessary to draw
the spring.h, it will be evident that so long as the weft is entire and drawn.
tight; as in the operation of weaving; the bolt d will be drawn towards the
front of the shuttle, and that the cavity or groove i will be free from
obstruction by the bolt, the lower extremity of the trigger will be free from
obstruction in the cavity or groove, and the catch will, during the same
time, be held out of the cavity or groove by the spring m, as shewn in
Figures 5 and 7. In the event, however, of the weft breaking or becoming
exhausted, it will be equally evident that the spring h, being no longer
counteracted, will propel the bolt d across the cavity or groove; in consequence

page_text: whereof it will, on the shuttle being thrown, come in contact with the trigger s,
and cause the opposite end thereof to urge its respective catch into. the
position shewn in Figure 4 or 6; the catch will have fallen into the staple
or sheath k fixed in the groove or cavity i, and thereby have prevented the
further advance of the shuttle. The breaking or exhaustion of the weft having
thus occasioned the shuttle to be arrested in its progress before reaching. the
swell in the shuttle box, the swell gives way to the pressure of the finger on
the stop rod, and by the consequent fall of the stop-rod catch (in the usual
manner) the working of the loom is stopped, and a proper opportunity given
for the necessary adjustments to be made.
is sometimes attached to
Although I have described two spring clams for passing the weft through
previous to its going through the loop in the bolt, I do not confine my claim to
invention to that precise method, but sometimes I use a single clam, and at others
I pass the weft over a cushion instead of through clams; the essential precaution
required to accomplish my plan being to cause a greater drag or friction to
be applied to the weft in its, passage from the cop or bobbin to the shuttle bolt
than is requisite to draw the bolt to the front of the shuttle, in opposition to
the effect of the spring h. Instead of being made fast to the batten the reed
springs connected with the swords of the batten,
whereby the effect of elasticity is given which the batten would not otherwise
possess; but for the production of a different figure, such as a solid stripe or
cord across the work, the elasticity is required at intervals only, and I then
regulate the same by the following means:-Figure 8 represents the right-
hand end of a batten. Figure 9 represents part of the same seen in plan.
t is a bar extending
Figure 10 represents the left-hand end, of a batten.
along the cap of the batten, and partly over the double shuttle box at the right
hand. v is a staple attached to the bar t. tu is the spring connected with
the sword of the batten, and to which the reed is attached, and, as a similar
spring is attached to the other sword of the batten, a corresponding staple is
also attached to the bar t. It will be seen on inspection of the plan (Figure 9)
that the spring w will be confined when the bar t is in the position there
shewn, but that the spring w will be unconfined when, by the bar being
drawn to the left, the staple vis in the position indicated by dotted lines.
The general position of the bart (and in which it is held by a spring connected
therewith, and also with, the cap of the batten) is that which leaves the
spring w uncontroulled by the staple v. is a roller moveable on a pin or
stud, which is firmly attached to the bar t. y is a metal draw piece fixed to
the double shuttle box, one side of it being an inclined plane, which by the
raising of the shuttle box is made to act against the roller (and by drawing
x

page_text: the bar t to the right), confine the spring w by the by the staple v.
z is a roller moving on a stud attached to the batten, to prevent the bar t
being raised up by the action of the draw piece.y. I have described the
operation of the bar t as effected by the draw piece y fixed to the double shuttle
box, but as the motion of the double shuttle box is derived from a cam or
eccentric, any similar agency may be employed for changing the position of
the bar t independent of the shuttle box, and thus, without stopping the loom,
the elasticity of the batten is increased or diminished in the manner required
for the production of the particular figure in the work.
Figure 11 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 12 a plan, of an improved
lever, to be attached to the axis of motion of the batten usually called the
fiddlestick. A is a metal box. B, a piece of metal moveable within the
box A. C, a spiral spring attached to the extremity of the box and to the
piece B, for the purpose of drawing it in a direction from D. D, a pully or
a crank on an axis in the box, coinciding, or nearly so, with the axis of
motion of the batten or fiddlestick. E, a loop or hook fixed to the piece B, and
moving freely in a slit or opening in the box A. F, a plate screwed to the
box A, and limiting by its position the range of the pieces B and E in the
direction from the centre of the motion. The operation and effect of this
apparatus is as follows:-The moveable piece B is connected with the taking-
up motion of the loom by the loop E, and also with the cam or eccentric, by
a cord or chain directed by the pulley or crank D. The distance of the
loop E from the centre of the motion of the fiddlestick, and, consequently, the
working length of the lever, is governed and varied by the action of the cam,
according as it suffers the loop E to be drawn by the spiral spring C against
the stop piece F, or draws it to a required position nearer to the axis of the
fiddlestick, and the quantity taken up by the cloth roll and the number of
picks to the inch is regulated thereby.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 in the Drawings forming part of this Specification,
represent the shuttle and locks in the full side used by me. The other
Figures are drawn to a scale of six inches to a foot. It is not necessary,
however, that such dimensions should be strictly observed, as my improve-
ments are applicable to looms of varied dimensions.
I claim distinctly as of my Invention the improved shuttle and locks, the
apparatus for regulating and varying the effect of the batten without stopping
the loom, and the apparatus for regulating and varying the number of picks
to the inch, and the taking up of the cloth without stopping the loom, with
any modifications of my said Invention, by means of which the same useful
purposes may be effected; but I do not claim as of my Invention the other

page_text: parts of a loom shewn in the Drawings referred to or mentioned in this
Specification in order only that the nature of my Invention might be more
fully understood.
In witness whereof, I, the said Archibald Douglass, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of 5
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.