IMPROVEMENTS IN. SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christopher Catlow, of Clitheroe, in the County of
Lancaster, Overlooker, and Thomas Comstive, of Burnley, in the afore-
said County, Shuttle Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
SHUTTLES FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 14th November 1854, and dated the 17th May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher Catlow and
Thomas Comstive at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 17th May 1854.
We, the said CHRISTOPHER CATLOW and THOMAS COMSTIVE, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR
WEAVING" to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in causing the shuttle "peg," upon which the cop of
weft is placed, to contract in diameter when raised, for the removal of a cop
and the adaptation of another, and to expand when turned down.
A method we adopt for effecting this is as follows:-The upper part of the
peg
"is affixed as usual at the outward end, but at the inward it is free to
move up and down. Beneath this we place a spring, mounted upon a centre
in the shuttle, which spring is provided at its end with a projection, which rests
when the "peg"-is turned down upon the lower part thereof, so as to cause the
upper part-to be bent upward, and the whole is then in its expanded state...

page_text: When the shuttle "peg" is turned up, a recess in the lower part thereof will
arrive opposite to the projection on the central spring, which by passing therein
will allow the top part of the "peg" to turn towards the other, and the whole
will then be in its contracted form...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Christopher Catlow and Thomas Comstive in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHRISTOPHER
CATLOW, of Clitheroe, in the County of Lancaster, Overlooker, and THOMAS
COMSTIVE, of Burnley, in the aforesaid County, Shuttle Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did; för Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us; the said
Christopher Catlow and Thomas Comstive, Her especial license that we, the
said Christopher Catlow and Thomas Comstive, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Christopher Catlow and Thomas
Comstive, our 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 SHUTTLES FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Christopher
Catlow and Thomas Comstive, by an instrument in writing under our hands
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 we, the said Christopher Catlow and Thomas
Comstive, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is
to say)-
Our Invention has for its object the contraction of the shuttle peg, upon
which the cop of weft is placed when raised for the removal of a cop, and the

page_text: expansion thereof when turned down into a position suitable for weaving.. This
object we effect without binding the two ends of the spring, so that one of
them when the expansion takes place may move laterally, and thereby modify
the pressure to the resistance offered by the cop. In order that our Invention
may be fully understood, we have appended two Sheets of Drawings, illustrative
of two methods by which our improvement may be effected. Fig. 1 is a seċ-
tional view of a shuttle with the peg turned down into the position it occupies
when a cop.has been adapted; and Fig. 2 is a view thereof with the peg turned
up ready to receive a cop. The peg a, b, is mounted upon a centre pin c, so as
to be capable of turning thereon; the upper part bis joined to the outward end
of the lower part, but is disconnected therefrom. at the inward end, at which
situation it passes freely through an opening at d. Between the two portions
a; b, of the peg is situate a sliding piece e, one end: of which.is provided with a
nib.f, which, when in the position represented at Fig. 1, rests upon the surface
of an incline on the part. a; the other end of the piece e is cranked, so. as to.
occupy a position on either side of a fixed pin g, attached to the shuttle, in
which situation it is retained by a spring.h. When the shuttle peg is raised,
by being turned upon the centre c, one side of the cranked part of the piece e
will be forced against the stationary pin g, whereby the piece e will be caused
to slide forward until the nib f shall have passed into the inclined recess k,
formed in the part a, at which time.the upper portion 6 will be at liberty to
move towards the other, as shewn in Fig. 2; at l, is the ordinary spring for
retaining the peg in its proper positions; and at m, the stop for determining its
downward motion. It will be perceived by the above description that the
spring part of the peg is not confined at its inward end, but is free to move, as
in shuttles of the ordinary construction, which, however, have no provision for
causing the peg to contract on being turned up. To explain this important
feature of our Invention: suppose that upon the peg being turned, the amount
of expansion would be more than the cop should be subjected to, the passage
of the nib f along the inclined part k will then be attended by a resistance,
which will cause the spring h to give way, so as to allow the cranked end of
the piece e to move upward instead of being carried forward by the pin g.
Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of another arrangement by which the same
end is accomplished. The peg a, b, is mounted upon a centre c, as before, and
is in like manner formed in two parts, the upper one b, being an arched spring
extending through a loop d; a pin e passes through the shuttle, and is situate
beneath the upper portion b; upon the whole therefore being turned upward
upon the centre c, the said part b will arrive in contact with the pin e, and a
tendency will thereby be imparted to separate the two portions of the peg; but

page_text: b
as this is prevented by the part b arriving in contact with the top of the loop d,
a bending of the arched spring will be effected, so as to bring the parts into
the position shewn at Fig. 4. The cop having been removed and another
adapted, the peg, on being turned down, will carry the part 6 past the pin e,
and the expansion, shewn at Fig. 3, will be the effect. In this instance it will
be perceived, that as in the former case, the part 6 is free to give way to a
certain amount of resistance offered by the cop, precisely in fact after the same
manner as shuttle pegs of the ordinary construction, which are not provided
with means for contraction.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be understood
that we claim as secured to us, under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
causing the shuttle peg to contract and expand by the turning upward and
downward of the same, such expansion not being positive in amount, but
capable of being modified by the resistance of the cop.
In witness whereof, we, the said Christopher Catlow and Thomas
Comstive, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four.
CHRISTOPHER CATLOW. (L.S.)
THOMAS COMSTIVE.
'(L.S.)
CHRISTOPHER CATLOW. (L.S.)
THOMAS COMSTIVE.
'(L.S.)