IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Leach, of Over Darwen, in the County
of Lancaster, Overlooker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 22nd September 1853, and dated the 21st June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Leach at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st June 1853.
I, JOHN LEACH, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to looms for weaving carpets and other
terry fabrics, and consists in so arranging the apparatus which carries
the wires upon which the loops are to be made that it shall be caught
by the slay at suitable intervals, in order to carry the said wires from
that situation where the loops are formed to the opened part of the shed.
The precise mechanical arrangement by which this may be effected can
be varied. In order, however, to illustrate my meaning I will allude
to a certain construction of parts, and describe the general operation.
Suppose a wire to have been inserted and carried forward with the

page_text: reed, the inserting apparatus will at the same time have moved with
the slay to the beating up point, and there become detached by means
of a cam releasing a catch, so as to remain during the formation of the
necessary number of picks, after which the wire will be withdrawn,
and the carrier again become hooked on to the slay by means of the
cam, so as to be conveyed backward for another insertion at the wider
part of the shed.
Secondly, my Invention relates to an apparatus for detecting the
absence of the weft thread, and for stopping the loom upon such defi-
ciency taking place, and consists in the adaptation of an instrument
having a tendency to pass through the warp threads, but prevented
from so doing by the presence of the weft thread; should that, how-
ever, be absent, then the said instrument not being kept back will be
at liberty to project, and by altering the arrangement of certain parts
cause the loom to be stopped in any ordinary manner. The construction
of instrument I at present employ is as follows:-A series of prongs are
mounted upon a horizontal lever, one end thereof being forced upward
by a weight or spring, so as to cause the said prongs to bear against
the weft; the other end of the lever carries a projecting part clear of
the vibration of the loom when the weft is present, but when absent
the passage of the prongs through the warp will bring this projecting
part into a position for being struck by a piece attached to the slay, or
by a motion from the picking shaft, and the loom will be stopped in
the ordinary manner. I do not, however, confine myself to the
arrangement above described, the principle of applying an instrument
to act by passing through the warp threads never, to the best of my
knowledge, having been adopted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Leach in the Great Scal Patent Office,
on the 21st December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN LEACH, of Over Darwen, in the County of Lancaster, Overlooker,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Leach, Her especial license
that I, the said John Leach, my executors, administrators, and as-
signs, or such others as I, the said John Leach, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Leach, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 John Leach, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:
My Invention relates, firstly, to looms for weaving carpets and other
terry fabrics, and consists in so arranging the apparatus which carries
the wires upon which the loops are made that it shall be caught by
the slay at suitable intervals, in order to carry the said wires from that
situation where the loops are formed, and insert them at the opened
part of the shed.
Secondly, my Invention relates to an apparatus for detecting the
absence of the weft thread, and for stopping the loom upon such
a deficiency taking place, and consists in the adaptation of an instru-
ment having a tendency to pass through the warp threads, but
prevented from so doing by the presence of the weft thread; should
that, however, be absent, then the said instrument not being kept back

page_text: will be at liberty to project, and by altering the arrangement of certain
parts cause the loom to be stopped in any ordinary manner.
Ilaving thus stated the leading features of my Invention as set forth
in my Provisional Specification, I will proceed to describe the sanie
more particularly by aid of the accompanying Drawings. Fig. 1, is a
partial cross section of a loom shewing my first-mentioned Improvement;
Fig 2, is a partial front view thereof; and Figs. 3, and 4, detached
views upon an enlarged scale of the parts which operate immediately
upon the wires upon which the loops are to be formed; a, arc levers
capable of vibrating upon a fixed centre b, attached to the framing of
the loom; to the upper end of this lever are attached brackets, the out-
ward ends of which are turned round so as to form supports for a
cylindrical guide g, which supports a rod c, sliding therein, the end of
the rod c, is formed in two parts c', &, from A, to B, (see Fig 3, 4,)
the latter portion being detached and mounted upon a lever d, passing
through a slot formed in the guide g, and turning upon a centre
at e, the part c, therefore, is capable of being turned down upon the
centre d, but is caused to assume the position denoted by means of a
spring f, affixed to a carriage h, which extends downwards from the
rod c, through the slot of the guide g. The part c', is notched out so
as to leave a space from 3, to 4, and it is provided with a projecting
pin i, as seen in Figs 3, and 4. The form of wire I use is shewn
at Fig. 5, and is held at suitable times between the picces c', c, the
hook j, being situate around the pin i, so as to be capable of being
drawn forward when a sliding motion is imparted to the rod c, the said
rod, however, being free to move away independently of the wire,
when the lever d, and consequently part e, with its pin i, are turned
outward. The carriage h, is provided with wheels, running upon a
rail, which is carried by the vibrating levers a, before referred to, to
which it will be perceived the whole of the parts at present described
are connected, and will consequently move therewith. To the ordinary
slay l, is attached a bracket which carries a catch m, one end of which is
provided with a rod n, extending downward and connected to a lever o,
turning upon a centre p, aflixed to the sword 1; the lever o, at stated
intervals is operated upon by a cam q, mounted upon the tappet shaft r,

page_text: and being thus turned upon its centre raises the hook m, so as to cause
it when carried forward by the ordinary movement of the slay to catch
a piece s, attached to the lever a, so that upon the return motion of the
slay the levers a, will be caused to travel with it, and carry forward the
wire; upon the cam y, however, having passed the lever o, the catch
will be free to fall, and permit the levers a, to return to the position
shewn in the Drawing by its own gravity. Upon the tappit shaft r, is
mounted a cam t, operating upon a lever u, turning upon a centre
attached to the levers a, and carrying a rod v, the upper part of which
carries a pin bearing against the tail end of the lever d, before referred
to, so as to turn it upon its centre against the force of the spring f,
and thereby open the clamp formed by the pieces c¹, c², so as to
liberate the wire. The pin at the upper part of the rod v, passes
through the hook of a lever w, turning upon a centre at a, and con-
nected at its other end to an arm y, turning upon a centre at; this
arm has projecting parts 5, 5*, at its ends, and a cavity 6, at one end
thereof; as it is therefore caused to vibrate by the action of the cam t,
rod v, and lever ut, the two projections 5, 5*, may be caused to arrive
in contact with the breast beam 7, when the levers a, fall backward, or
the position of the arm y, may be such as to cause the cavity 6, to be
opposite to the breast beam, while at the same time the stop 5*, is
below it, thereby affording two stops for regulating the position of the
parts which hold the wire. One of these stops (the more backward
one) is intended to govern the position of the parts for the removal of
the wire, and the other the position which they are to assume, so as to
deposit the wire at the beating up point. Upon the shaft r, is mounted
a grooved cam 7, operating upon a lever S, turning upon a centre at 9,
and connected at its other end to a link 10, jointed to a bell crank
lever 11; this lever carries an arm 12, connected by a joint to the
carriage; as the cam 7, therefore revolves the said carriage and with
it the rod c, are caused to travel backward or forward, the latter con-
veying with it the wire to be inserted or drawn from the warp threads.
The wires to be employed may be of any suitable number according
to the fabric to be manufactured, and the protection required for the
loop against the beating up. Supposing a number (say four) to have

page_text: been deposited in the threads, the operation of the machine will be as
follows: According to the positions shewn in the Drawings a shed has
been opened, and the shuttle is about to be thrown; the cam, by
operating upon the lever u, and rod v, has opened the jaws c', c², so as
to free them from holding the wire last deposited; the same cam and
rod have also acted against the lever w, so as to move the army, and
bring the cavity 6, opposite to the edge of the breast beam, at the
same time carrying the stop 5, downward, by which disposition of the
parts the lever a, and its apparatus will have been free to fall back, so
as to bring the jaws c, c, into the proper position for withdrawing the
first wire of the series; the slay now advancing, and the revolution of
the cam 7, taking place, the catch m, will be lifted when carried
forward, so as to lay hold of the projecting part s, by which time the
jaws c, c, will have embraced a wire, and will have closed thereon by
the action of the spring f, the cam t, having passed away from the
lever u before the return motion of the slay the cam 7, also by its
action upon the lever S, and other parts, as described, will draw back
the carriage h, and rod c, thereby withdrawing the wire from the loop;
the return of the slay will now carry with it the lever a, and its
apparatus, bringing the jaws e', c, and the wire they have extracted, to
an open part of the warp, another shed having by this time been
formed. The cam 7, will now by its revolution thrust the rod c, out-
ward in its tube g, and thereby insert the wire, after which another
shed will be opened, the shuttle will be thrown, and the beating up will
take place, the motion for which by the slay will move forward the
catch m, so as to allow it to drop from the projecting part s, and permit
the levers a, to fall back by their own gravity, the jaws c, c, carrying
with them the inserted wire. When this shall have taken place, the
cam, not being in action, the arm y, will have been turned upon its
centre by a spring 13, so as to bring the stops 5, 5%, into a suitable
position for arriving in contact with the breast beam, so that the wire
is deposited at the end of the shed, after which the cam t, will open the
jaws c', c, and act upon the lever w, so as to shift the arm y, as before
mentioned, and the lever a, will then fall back in order to occupy a
suitable position for extracting another wire, as already described. It

page_text: will be perceived that, according to the arrangement shewn, there will
be two picks of weft for every insertion of a wire, because the various
cams are adapted to the tappet shaft, which revolves as in ordinary
looms at half the speed of the crank shaft; it will, however, be evident
that any greater number of picks to a loop may be thrown by employ-
ing an additional shaft revolving at a slower rate, and suiting the form
of the cams accordingly. In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn
a particular construction of wire, that instrument being formed with a
loop 15, at its outward end; the end of this loop is not united, and
will, therefore, close when beaten up within the warp, and it is made
of such proportions as to assume then the same thickness as the other
part of the wire; my object for this form is to prevent the wire from
passing through the warp threads as now frequently happens. The
reed in the loom I have shewn is represented as extending beyond the
wire-inserting apparatus, but, of course, a width of fabric equal only to
the length of wire can be woven.
My second improvement is shewn in two views at Figs. 6, and 7, the
former being an elevation and the latter a plan view of a portion of
a loom with the improved weft motion attached. To the temple or
any convenient part is attached a centre pin a, upon which is mounted
a lever b, one end thereof moving in a guide c, and the other being
connected to a lever d, turning upon a centre at e, and passing through
another lever f, mounted upon a centre g, affixed to the framing of the
loom. The lever b, is provided with a number of prongs h, projecting
upwards, and bearing against the woven cloth by means of a weight i,
giving the various parts a tendency to turn upon their centres, as will
be readily understood by inspection of the Drawing. The lever y,
carries at its end a spring piece k, provided with a projecting part 1,
which, during the proper working of the loom, is approached, but not
struck, by a pin m, projecting from the lathe n. In these relative
positions the whole of the parts will continue as long as the weft thread
is present, but should it become broken or otherwise absent then the
prongs h, being no longer kept down thereby will rise through the
warp threads by the action of the weight i, and by causing the various
levers to turn upon their centres will bring the piece 7, into a plane

page_text: coincident with the pin m, and the next advance of the lathe will
cause the two to meet, so as to drive the former backward, and bring
the spring piece k, into contact with a part projecting from the ordinary
spring lever o, and by removing it from its notch effect a stopping of
the loom in the ordinary manner.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it
to be understood that although I have described certain arrangements
of machinery for carrying my Invention into operation, I do not confine
myself thereto, as the same may be much modified without departing
from the essential features thereof; that which I claim as secured to
me under the above in part recited Letters Patent being,--
Firstly, the application of apparatus for causing the slay at suitable
intervals to carry with it the apparatus which has withdrawn the wire
to an open part of the shed, in order that the said wire may be again
inserted at that situation.
Secondly, the use of an instrument bearing against the cloth as it is
woven, and passing through the warp threads upon the absence of the
weft having taken place, so as to bring suitable parts into a position
for causing the loom to be stopped.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Leach, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOHN LEACH. (L.S.)