IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING LOOPED OR PILE FABRICS, SOME PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER KINDS OF LOOMS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Fearnley, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING LOOPED OR PILE FABRICS, SOME PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE
APPLICABLE TO OTHER KINDS OF LOOMS."
Sealed the 13th July 1860, and dated the 17th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Fearnley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th January 1860.
I, SAMUEL FEARNLEY, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declaro the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING LOOPED OR PILE FABRICS, SOME PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER KINDS OF Looms," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate, firstly, to an instrument or apparatus for holding the
heads or pieces of metal to which the pile wires are affixed in such a position.
that when weaving with flat pile wires their edges will be held in an erect
position, by which the fabric will have a more even and uniform surface, and
which consists of two thin bars or pieces of steel or other suitable metal, one
or both of them being bent or cranked at or near one of their ends, so that
when they are put together they are in the form of a fork; the said instrument
is fixed to a bracket, or to the framework of the loom at or near the selvedge
of the fabric, in such a position that when the pile wires are inserted in the

page_text: shed and under the pile warp, the heads of the pile wires will fall on the forked
parts of the said instrument, and be held in the desired position.
Secondly, in making the heads or pieces of metal to which the pile wires are
fixed of a peculiar shape or form, with four slits or slots in them for the
purpose hereafter described. One of the said slots is for fixing the pile wire
into, which may be brazed or otherwise fastened together. On each side of the
said slot in which the pile wires are fixed to the head, I make a slot to take
on to the aforesaid forked instrument when the pile wire has been fully
inserted under the pile warp by which the pile wire is held in a proper
position. In the back part of the wire head, (that is to say), that part which
is farthest from the selvedge of the fabric, I make the fourth slot, which is for
the purpose of inserting and withdrawing the pile wires, and at the under edge
of the wire head I make a recess or notch for the purpose hereafter described.
Thirdly, to machinery or apparatus for inserting and guiding the pile wires
into the open shed and under the pile or service warp, also for withdrawing
the pile wires and placing them in a proper position for reinserting them under
the pile warp. But in order that it may be more fully understood, I will suppose
that a number of pile wires have been inserted under the pile warps by hand,
and that they have been each properly bound in the fabric by threads of weft,
thereby forming rows of loops, which constitute the pile. The number of
wires employed may be varied, as well as the number of picks to each wire,
according to the kind of fabric to be produced. To accomplish this part of
my Invention, supposing the machinery or apparatus employed for inserting
and withdrawing the pile wires to be in the position for withdrawing a pile
wire out of the loops of the fabric, I employ a carriage or slide mounted
on a fixed bed or guide bar, supported by the framework of the loom, so
that it can be slid to and from the selvedge of the fabric upon the bed or
guide bar, the said carriage having a projecting piece or plate, which goes
under all the wire heads when the carriage is in a position to withdraw a pile
wire. To the said projecting piece is fixed two plates, one of them being made
flexible for the purpose of going over all the wire heads when the carriage is
in the last named position, thus having a tendency to press the wire heads
upon the projecting pieces which go under them; the other plate goes into
the slot made in the back part of the wire beads already described. Under this
plate I place an apparatus or piece of metal, which goes into a recess or
notch made in the under edges of the wire heads. When the carriage begins
to move back from the selvedge of the fabric, the head of the wire first
inserted, and the one furthest from the reed, forms a kind of wedge between
the apparatus which goes into the recess or notch made in the under edge of

page_text: the wire head, and the plate which goes into the slot made in the back part of
the wire head, and by means of the aforesaid flexible plate the wire head is
held in a proper position; the carriage is then slid backwards by means of
levers and connecting links, which has motion imparted to them by a cam or
tappet, and thereby withdrawing a wire out of the loops of the fabric. When
the carriage has finished or nearly finished its backward motion, the head of
the wire that has just been drawn out of the loops of the fabric is moved or
slid to another part of the apparatus that has withdrawn it out of the loops of
the fabric to be in a position for re-insertion under the pile or service warp,
which I propose to do by means of a lever, which may have its fulcrum on the
said carriage, and be so arranged that when the carriage has nearly finished
its backward motion, the lever will come in contact with a stud or pin fixed at
or near the end of the bed or guide bar which the carriage moves upon, and
thereby cause the wire head to be moved into the position required. Or the
said lever may have its fulcrum at or near the end of the said bed or guido
bar, and be moved by means of a cam, so that it will cause the wire head to
bo moved so as to be in a position for re-inserting into the open shed. It will
be here seen that before the pilo wire can be re-inserted in. the open shed the
point or end of the wire which is nearest the selvedge of the fabric must.be
moved or carried to the open shed to be in a position for re-insertion, which
I accomplish by means of a worm or screw, which has one of its ends fixed to
a shaft, and carried in suitable bearings fixed to the frame of the loom, in such
a position that the worm or screw will be at or near the edge of the fabric..
1 put the worm or screw in motion when required by a chain passing round or
partly round a pulley keyed on the last named shaft, one end of the said
chain I attach to a spring, which has one of its ends fixed to the frame of the
loom, the other end of the chain being attached to a lever actuated by a
suitable shaped cam or tappet imparting the requisite motion to the worm or
screw for moving or carrying the end of the pile wires to the open shed.
When tho pile or service warp has been raised to form a shed for the pile
wire, and the lay. or lathe has been moved back from the woven fabric about
three inches, the carriage that inserts and withdraws the pile wires-is caused to
move forwards towards the fabric by means of the aforesaid levers, connecting
rods, and cam, thereby inserting the pile wire; at the same time the worm or
screw which had carried the point of the pile wire to the open shed is put in
motion, so that by the time the carriage has fully inserted the wire into the
open shed, the worm or screw has freed itself from the wire, and is. in a position
to receive the end or point of the next wire as it is withdrawn from the fabric;
the lay or lathe then advances and beats up the wire. The picks. of weft are

page_text: then thrown into the sheds to bind the pile or surface warp over the wires, at
the same time the carriage moves back, taking the wire that is furthest from
the reed, and repeating the movements already described.
Fourthly, to a means of guiding the heddles in looms by making the beddle
guides in such a form that the threads or warp which pass through the eyes of
the healds,' will not have to pass and repass through the eyes as the heddles are
1.oved up and down to form the shed, because the eyes move in a circle
through and by means of the heddle guide which act on the heddles. Hitherto,
when guide bars or grates have been used for guiding the heddles in looms
they have been made in a straight form, so as to guide the beddles in a straight
line, but by experience, I find that a certain amount of the warp is always
Jassing and repassing through the eyes of the heddles, having a tendency to
break the warp threads and wear the eyes.
Fifthly, to a guide bar or rest for the warp, which consists in placing a bar
between the lay and the heddles in such position that when the heddles are
depressed to make or form a shed, the warp will press or rest upon the said
bar, and thereby present a more even and uniform shed, as well as lessening
the friction that would be exerted on the warp by means of the shuttle race
coming in contact with the warp; when any of the heddles are depressed too
low, the said bar or rest may be fixed to the frame of the loom.
Sixthly, to an improved means of tightening and holding the warps firm at
the time when the lay or lathe beats up the weft, thereby making a firm fabric.
This part of my improvements relates to looms where vibrating levers or tension
rollers are employed for the purpose of giving or yielding to any extra strain
that may be exerted on the warp. In the said vibrating levers or tension
rollers the requisite tension is kept on the warps by means of weights or springs
attached to 'the levers or rollers over which the warp is passed. In weaving
strong or heavy fabrics, the said levers or rollers yield too much to the beat up
or blow of the reed, to remedy which, I key or firmly fix a pulley on one or both
ends of the fulcrum of the vibrating levers or tension rollers, the said pulley
being at or near the frame of the loom which supports them. I pass a chain
or metal band round or partly round the said pulley, the said chain or band
having both its ends attached at or near the end of a lever, one end being a
little apart from the other; to the other end of the lever I connect a rod or
link, which I connect to the lay or lathe sword, or to a lever, which may be
actuated by a cam or tappet. If the rod or link be connected to the lay sword,
when the lay moves forwards to beat up the weft, it will draw the end of the
lever forward by means of the said rod, and thus cause the chain or band to
lock itself to the pulley, and cause it and the vibrating lovers or tension rollers

page_text: to turn on their fulcrums, at the same time tightening the warp and holding
it firm whilst the beat up takes place; the lathe theu moves back, and the
vibrating lever or tension roller is free or unlocked, so as to yield to the
shedding of the loom in order that the chain or band may be always in the
same position when the lever begins to act upon it... I fix a stud or pin.in the
chain or band to which I attach a spring, the spring being for the purpose of
drawing the shed or pin which is fixed in the chain or band against a bracket
or stop piece.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Fearnley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
FEARNLEY. of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Fearnley, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Fearnley,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Fearnley, my executors. administrators, 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,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING LOOPED OR PILE FABRICS, SOME PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE
APPLICABLE TO OTHER KINDS OF LOOMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,.
the said Samuel Fearnley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their bands and seals, should particularly
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 months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Fearnley, 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 (that is to say):-

page_text: My improvements consist, firstly, in the construction and employment of an
instrument or apparatus for holding the heads or pieces of metal to which the
pile wires are affixed, in such a position that when weaving with flat pile wires
their edges will be held erect, by which means the fabric will have a more
even and uniform surface.
Secondly, in making the heads or pieces of metal to which the pile wires
are fixed of a peculiar shape or form, each having in them four slits or slots,
and also a notch or recess on the under edge.
Thirdly, in certain machinery or apparatus for inserting and guiding the
pile wires into the open shed and under the pile or surface warp, and also'for
withdrawing the pile wires and placing them in a proper position for re-
inserting them under the pile warp, the number of wires employed as well as
the number of picks to each wire being varied according to the kind of fabric
to be produced.
Fourthly, in an improved mode of guiding the heddles or healds of looms so
that they may accommodate themselves to the warp at different positions of
the shed, and thereby prevent the warps from chafing in consequence of
their repassing through the eyes, as is the case when fixed guide bars or grids
are employed.
Fifthly, in an improved mode of tightening and holding the warps firm
when the lay or lathe beats up the weft for the purpose of weaving. a firm
fabric.
These improvements will be clearly understood by referring to the figures
and letters on the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, in which Figs. 1, 2,
and 3 represent front and end elevations of the framework and principal parts
of a loom having, my improvements attached; Fig. 4, a plan, and Fig. 5,.a
back view of part of the same; Figs. 6 and 7 views of the forked instrument
for holding the wires erect; Figs. 8 and 9 views of my improved heads of the
pile wires; and Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 are. various full-
sized views of the apparatus for inserting and withdrawing the pile wires.
a represents the framework of the loom; b, the crank shaft; c, the fast
and loose pulleys; d, the tappet shaft; e, the lay or lathe; f, the lay
swords; g, the warp or yarn beam; h, the taking up beam; and i, the pile
beams..
I
The first part of my improvements relate to the apparatus which holds the
heads of the wires when they are in the fabric, and consists of two thin bars or
pieces of steel or other suitable metal, one or both of them being bent or
crooked at or near one of their ends, so that when they are put together they
are in the form of a fork (shewn detached at Figs. 6 and 7), which is fixed.

page_text: to a bracket or to the framework of the loom at or near the selvedges of the
fabric in such a position that when the pile wires m (shewn about full size in
Figs. 8 and 9) are inserted in the shed and under the pile warp, the heads n
of the said pile wires m will fall on the forked parts of the instrument 7, and
be held in the desired position.
The second part of my improvements consists in making the heads n or
pieces of metal to which the pile wires m are. fixed, of a peculiar shape or
form with four slits or slots in them for the purposes hereafter described. One
of the said slots, as at o, is for fixing the pile wire into, which may be brazed
or otherwise fastened together. On each side of the said slot in which the pile
wires are fixed to the head, I make a slot p to take on to the aforesaid forked
instrument when the pile wire has been fully inserted under the pile warp,
by which the pile wire is held in a proper position. In the back part of the
wire head n (that is to say, that part which is farthest from the selvedge of the
fabric) I make the fourth slot q, and at the under edge of the wire head I
make a recess or notch r, the purposes of which will be hereafter described.
The third part of my improvements, relate to machinery or apparatus for
inserting and guiding the pile wires into the open shed and under the pile or
surface warp, also for withdrawing the pile wires and placing them in a proper
position for re-inserting them under the pile warp; but in order that it may
be more fully understood, I will suppose that a number of pile wires have
been inserted under the pile warps by hand, and that they have been each
properly bound in the fabric by threads of weft, thereby forming rows of loops
which constitute the pile. The number of wires employed may be varied as
well as the number of picks to each wire, according to the kind of fabric to be
produced. To accomplish this part of my Invention, supposing the machinery
or apparatus employed for inserting and withdrawing the pile wires to be in:
the position for withdrawing a pile wire out of the loops of the fabric, I
employ a carriage or slide s, shewn at about full size in Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13;
and 14, mounted on a fixed bed. or guide bar t, supported by the framework
of the loom, so that it can be slid to and from the selvedge of the fabric upon
the bed or guide bar, the said carriage-s having a projecting piece or plate u
which goes under all the wire heads when the carriage is in a position to
withdraw a pile wire; to the said projecting piece u are fixed two plates v and
w, the one v being made flexible for the purpose of going over all the wire
heads n when the carriage is in the last-named position, thus having a
tendency to press the wire heads upon the projecting piece u, which
the heads of the wires n, the other plate w goes
back part of the wire heads n-already described.
goes under
into the slot q made in the
Under the plate w I place a

page_text: slide or bolt x, having at one end a wedge y which enters the recess or notch ",
by means of the catch, Fig. 4, at the under edge of the wire head n, as
shewn in Fig. 18. When the carriages begins to move back from the
selvedge of the fabric the head of the wire first inserted and the one furthest
from the reed, forms a kind of wedge between the wedge y, which goes into the
recess or notch r made in the under edge of the wire head n, and the plate w
which goes into the slot q made in the back part of the wire head, and by
means of the aforesaid flexible plate v the wire head is held in a proper
position, the carriage s is then slid backwards by means of levers a',.b', and c',
Figs. 1, 3, and 4, and connecting links d' and el, which have motion imparted
to them by a cam or tappet, shewn by the dotted lines f¹, and thereby with-
drawing a wire out of the loops of the fabric. When the carriage s has
finished or nearly finished its backward motion, the head n to which the wire
is affixed that has just been drawn out of the loops of the fabric, is moved or
slid to another part of the carriage's that has withdrawn it out of the loops of
the fabric, to be in a position for re-insertion under the pile or surface warp;
which I propose to do by means of a lever g', Figs. 10, 11, 12, 18, and 14,
which may have its fulcrum on the said carriage s, and be so arranged that
when the carriage has nearly finished its backward motion; the lever will come
in contact with a stud or pin h¹; Fig: 4, fixed at or near the end of the bed or
guide bar t, which the carriages moves upon, and thereby causes the wire
head n to be moved into the position required. When the carriage s moves
forward to insert the pile wire the lever g' is brought into its original position
by means of a spring g³, fixed on the carriage's; or the said lever g' may have
its fulcrum at or near the end of the said bed or guide bar t, and be moved by
means of a cam, so that it will cause the wire head to be moved so as to be in
a position for re-inserting into the open shed. It will be here seen that before
the pile wire can be re-inserted in the open shed the point or end of the wire
which is nearest the selvedge of the fabric must be moved or carried to the
open shed to be in a position for re-insertion, which I accomplish by means
of a worm or screw k¹, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, which has one of its ends fixed to a
shaft, and carried in suitable bearings fixed to the frame of the loom in such
a position that the worm or screw will be at or near the edge of the fabric.
I put the worm or screw in motion when required by passing over and
fixing to the shaft the strap m', attached to the chain n', passing over the
tightening pulley o'. The chain is attached to the lever p¹ working on the
fulcrum on the bracket fixed to the framework of the loom. On the
lever ', is the bowl s'; kept in contact with the cam t' on the tappet shaft d,
by the spring w', thus as the cam t' revolves the lever p¹ moves up and down

page_text: and transmits the required motion to the shaft and screw or worm k¹; or to
one end of the chain n' I attach a spring which has one of its ends fixed to
the frame of the loom.
When the pile or surface warp has been raised to form a shed for the pile
wire and the lay or lathe has been moved back from the woven fabric about
three inches, the carriage s that inserts and withdraws the pile wires is caused
to move forwards towards the fabric by means of the aforesaid levers a', b', and
c', connecting rods d' and e', and cam f, thereby inserting the pile wire; at
the same time the worm or screw k¹, which had carried the point of the pile
wire to the open shed, is put in motion, so that by the time the carriage has
fully inserted the wire into the open shed the worm or screw k¹ has freed itself
from the wire and is ready to be brought into the position to receive the end
or point of the next wire as it is withdrawn from the fabric; the lay or lathe
then advances and beats up the wire, picks of weft are then thrown into the
sheds to bind the pile or surface warp over the wires, at the same time the
carriage moves back taking the wire that is furthest from the reed, and
repeating the movements already described.
The fourth part of my improvements consists in an improved mode of
guiding the heddles in looms by making the heddle guides in such a manner
that the threads or warp which pass through the eyes of the heddles will not
have to pass and repass through the eyes as tho heddles are moved up and
down to form the shed, because the eyes move in a circle through and by
means of the heddle guides which act on the heddles, which are guided so as
to accommodate themselves to the warp at the different positions of the shed
without chafing the warps by having to repass through the eyes by connecting
the heddles at each side to as many rods or bars w³ as there are heddles, which
rods or bars are connected at each end to the levers a¹ and y'; the levers a¹
are fixed to the shafts, having at their ends the levers a attached to the
upper ends of the rods 62, connected at their lower ends to levers c*, having
bowls fitting the grooves of internal cams d, which as they revolve give the
up-and-down motion to the heddles, and as tho vibration of the levers and
y is equal to the vibration of the warp during the formation of: the shed,
there is no friction caused by the re-passing of the threads.
Fifthly, to an improved means of tightening, and holding, the warps firm at
the time when the lay beats up the weft, thereby making a firm fabric. This
part of my improvements relates to looms where vibrating levers or tension
rollers are employed for the purpose of giving or yielding to any extra strain
that
may be exerted on the warp. In the said vibrating levers or tension

page_text: rollers the requisite tension is kept on the warps by means of weights or springs
attached to the levers or rollers over which the warp is passed. In weaving
strong or heavy fabrics the said levers or rollers yield too much to the beat up
or blow of the reed, to remedy which I key or firmly fix a pulley *, Figs. 2
and 5, on one or both sides of the vibrating shaft f, carrying the rollers g², the
said pulleys being at or near the frame of the loom which supports them. I
pass a chain or metal band h³ round or partly round the said pulley, the said
chain or band having both its ends attached at or near, the end of a lever ³,
one end being a little apart from the other; to the other end of the lever
I connect a rod or link ³, which I connect to the lay or lathe sword f, or to a
lever which may be actuated by a cam or tappet. If the rod or link l² bo
connected to the lay sword when the lay moves forward to beat up the weft, it
will draw the end of the lever forward by means of the said rod 1, and thus
cause the chain or band h² to lock itself to the pulley e, and cause it and the
vibrating shaft partly to turn, thus causing the tension rollers g³ to tighten
the warp and hold it firm whilst the beat up takes place, the lathe then moves
back and the vibrating shaft or tension roller is free or unlocked so as to yield
to the shedding of the loom. In order that the chain or band may be always
in the same position when the lever begins to act upon it, I fix a stud or pin m³
in the chain or band h³, to which I attach a spring n³, the spring being for the
purpose of drawing the stud or pin which is fixed in the chain or band against
a bracket or stop piece o³.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not claim as new all the parts herein-before described, but what
I do claim is,"
Firstly, the improved apparatus for holding the heads or pieces of metal to
which the pile wires are fixed when the same is made in the form of a fork, as
herein-before described and shewn in Figs. 1, 4, 6, and 7.
Secondly, making the said heads or pieces of metal, with two additional
slits or slots for the purpose of taking on to the said forked apparatus, in order
that they may be held in a proper position, as herein-before described and
shewn in Figs. 1, 8, and 9.
Thirdly, the improved carriage for inserting and withdrawing the pile wires
as: herein-before. described and shewn in Figs. 1, 3, -10, 11, 12; 13; and 14;
also the screw. or worm as shewn in Figs. 1, 3, 4, for the purpose of carrying
or guiding the point of the pile wires to the open shed, and guiding them while
they are inserted into the shed, as herein-before described.

page_text: Fourthly, an improved mode of guiding the heddles or healds so that they
may accommodate themselves to the warp at different positions of the
shed.
And, fifthly, an improved mode of tightening and holding the warps firm
when the lay or lathe beats up the weft, thereby making a firm fabric as
herein-before described and shewn in Figs. 2 and 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Fearnley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Samuel Fearnley, in the pre-
sence of
SAMUEL FEARNLEY. (L.S.)
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.