CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bernoulli Barlow, of Manchester,, in the
County of Lancaster, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."-A. communication from
abroad by John Shinn, of Philadelphia, in the United States of
America.
Scaled the 3rd September 1872, and dated the 22nd March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bernoulli
Barlow at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 22nd March 1872.
I, HENRY BERNOULLI BARLOW, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," being a
communication to me from abroad by John Shinn, of Philadelphia, in
the United States of America, to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to looms for cross weaving with wires running
through the reed and parallel to the warp threads, the pile being made
by passing the needles carrying the pile warp alternately over wires, and
bringing the pile yarn in by the filling or weft; and it consists in a
needle for carrying the pile yarn over the wires. This needle is con-
structed with two shafts, the eye and point being between the two shafts

page_text: of the needle; also in the peculiar arrangement of a false reed, which
with the form of the needle makes a perfect guide for the needles, thus
preventing them from crossing the threads of the body warps; also in a
guide fastened on and to the pile wire, which in connection with the
false reed insures the needles passing alternately on each side of the pile
wires; also in the connection of a roller to the needle bar, and operated
by it for the purpose of keeping the pile yarn always of the same
tension, the same being a positive motion; it will produce a pile of
equal height, and at the same time insure a positive let-off motion for
the pile yarn.
Another part of this Invention relates to the arrangement and the
use of metallic wire cords for the purpose of conveying motion to the
heddles or heddle frames from the operating parts of the loom; also
to the arrangement for fastening the heddles or frames to the wire
cords.
The object of this Invention is to remove all leather straps, buckles,
hooks, and fibrous cords which are now mostly used in setting the
heddles in power looms. By the use of the metallic wire cords the
tye-up is not affected by the changes of the weather.
The ends of the heddle frame are connected by hook bolts or other
equivalents to the metallic wire cords, which are carried over suitable
guide pulleys, and the requisite up-and-down motion is communicated
to the heddle frames by vertical levers or jacks, to which the ends of the
metallic wire cords are attached, or around which they pass.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th September 1872.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BERNOULLI BARLOW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, Her special

page_text: licence that I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow,
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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," a communication to me from abroad by
John Shinn, of Philadelphia, in the United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their 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 withins ix calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, do
hereby declare the nature of the 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) :—
The Invention relates, first, to looms for weaving with stationary wires
running through the reed and parallel to the warp threads, the pile
being made by passing the needles carrying the pile yarn alternately
over the wires, and binding the pile yarn in by the filling or weft yarn;
the loops forming the pile are drawn off the ends of the pile wires by
the take-up and the action of the reed, all of which will be described
hereafter.
This part of the Invention consists, first, in a needle for carrying
the pile yarn over the wires; this needle is constructed with two shafts,
the eye and point being. between the two shafts forming the needle;
secondly, in the peculiar arrangement of a false reed, which with the
form of the needles makes a guide for the yarn that forms the binding
warp, and prevents the needles from crossing and breaking them, and at
the same time they form no obstacle in putting the yarn through the
heddles that may get broken in the process of weaving; thirdly, in a
wedge-shaped piece soldered on and to the pile wire at the point where
it passes through the false reed, and where the needle passes over the
pile wire to insure the passing of the needle alternately on each side of

page_text: the pile wire; fourthly, in the combination and arrangement of a roller
with the cross heads, to which is fastened the needle bar, and operated
by the cross heads, and having a movement in unison with the needles
for the purpose of keeping the pile yarn always the same tension in
forming each loop of pile to insure the pile all of the same height, it 5
being a positive motion could be used for a let-off for the pile yarn.
.
The second part of this Invention relates to the arrangement and use
of metallic wire cords for the purpose of conveying motion to the
heddles or heddle frames from the operating parts of the looms; also to
the arrangement for fastening the heddles or frames to the wire cords.
The object of this Invention is to remove all leather straps, buckles,
hoops, and fibrous cords which are now mostly used in setting the
heddles in power looms. By the use of the metallic wire cords the tie-up
is not affected by the changes of the weather.
The ends of the heddle frames are connected by hook bolts or other 1
equivalents to the metallic wire cords, which are carried over suitable
guide pulleys, and the requisite up-and-down motion is communicated
to the heddle frames by vertical levers or jacks, to which the ends of
the metallic wire cords are attached, or around which they pass.
In describing the construction and operation of these improvements 2
reference will be had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings forming
part of this Specification. Fig. 1 is an end view of part of a loom to
which the improvements are applied; Fig. 2 is a plan, and Fig. 3, an
edge view of the needle guide d; Fig. 4 is a detached view of the
grooved cam; Fig. 5 is a front view of the loom with the improvements. 2
A represents the loom frame; in Fig. 1 three yarn beams are shewn
marked 1, 2, and 3, which are required for weaving a tapestry carpet.
1 is the pile or worsted yarn; 2, the body yarn; 3, the binding yarn.
Three heddles are used, two for the binding yarn, and one for the body
yarn; v, v, are two vertical guides, one on each side of the loom; on:
these guides move up and down the cross heads e, e, see Fig. 6, to which
are fastened the needle bars r, see Fig. 7; to these needle bars are
fastened the needles n, see Fig. 8; one of the shafts of the needles is a
little longer than the other, so that one of the caps b, see Figs. 9, 10,
and 11, holding the needles in the bars r, will project above the other,
and thereby enable the screws holding the cap b to the bar to be
removed and replaced readily. The longest arm of the needle has a
1

page_text: small notch in it; this notch is made to fit the feather s². a is the
pile wire, see Figs. 11 and 12; one end rests on the cloth, and the
other end in a rack fastened to the sides of the loom above the yarns
forming the body and winding warps; c is a small piece of sheet brass
soldered to the pile wires, which is in the form of a small wedge with
the point up; the wide end of the pile wire has a notch 82 which fits
into a feather in the rack, which is made the same as the needle bars.
The needles and pile wires should be made of thin sheet steel with a
spring temper, and perfectly smooth. g, see Fig. 13, is one of the dents
of the false reed, at each end of which is punched a small slot; these
dents are strung on two small bars connected to the guides o; the false
reed is made with two splits between every needle a; d is a guide which
is formed in two parts, as shewn in Figs. 2 and 3; at each end are slots
fitting on the guides v, v. The guide & rests on pins in the guides v, v;
at one end of the guide d is a hole through which passes the upper end
of the lever p, in the lower end of which is a small swivel working into
a two-groove scroll s; w is a roller resting on the pile warp; the axle of
this roller revolves in the arms u, which are fitted to a stud in the
centre, the stud being fastened to stands, one on each side of the loom ;
the opposite ends of the arms from the roller is a slot fitting on a pin
fastened in the cross head e. The ends of the arms u would be better
if they were slotted also at the roller end, so that the roller may be
adjusted at a greater or less distance from the centre, in order that the
movements of the roller may draw the yarn y tight when the needles
are up or down; but while they are moving the yarn will be slack,
which will allow knots to more freely pass through the eyes of the
needles. The cross heads e, e, are fastened to the cord y by one of the
needle bars when it is fastened to the cross head, and grasps the cord
in the form of a clamp; the cord is connected to the vertical lever 2,
and from which motion is communicated to the needle bar.
The operation is as follows:-The pile yarn y is passed through the
eye of each needle n; the needles receive a vertical movement from the
levers a; the guide d receives a horizontal or cross movement from the
scroll through the lever p. Suppose the guide d to move to the left
the needles will all be pressed against the dents in the false reed that
will be on the left of the pile wire a; the small wedge c on the pile wire
will prevent the pile wire from pressing against the dent g, but will
present an opening between the dent and the pile wire, and the needle

page_text: will pass down on the left of the wire, carrying the pile yarn with it,
when a shot of weft will bind it to the body of the cloth. As the
needles rise the roller w will fall, and it being on the pile yarn y will
draw the slack yarn down between the top roller and a small roller on
the rack, into which the ends of the pile wires are fastened; when the
needles are drawn to their full height the guide d will be shifted to the
right, when all the needles will be drawn against the dents g on the
right of the pile wire, and the wedge c on the pile wire will ensure their
passing to the right, when the needles will carry the pile yarn y on that
side of the pile wire, and a shot of weft will bind it into the body of the
cloth forming one more loop; the needles at the next rise will be shifted
to the left, as before described.
The false reed is made with two splits or dents for each needle, or two
between each needle; the yarn that forms the binding warp passes
between the two dents that are between the needles and the body pile
yarn, and the needles all pass through the same and next split from the
one having the binding yarn in it. The body yarn rises and falls with
the needles, the binding yarn, being between the dents separate from the
needles, acts as a guide, and prevent the points of the needles from
crossing and breaking them.
The dents of the false reed are made long that they may be pressed
apart in putting in ends that may become broken in the warps.
When ends are broken and it is necessary to pass them through the
heddles, needles, and false reed the guide d may be raised up to the
needle bar by removing the pins that held it down, and the needles and
splits of the false reed may be pressed aside to get at the heddle eye
through which the end is to be drawn, after which the guide dis
lowered to its proper position and connected to the lever p, when it is in
working position and ready for shifting the needles alternately from each
side of the pile wire.
The loops that form the pile are made on the ends of the pile wires,
and they are drawn off by the take-up roller, which should be spiked
with sharp pins as usual.
To make plush or cut pile fabrics a revolving knife may be used
working at the ends of the pile wires to cut the loops as they pass off
the ends of the wires.

page_text: Fig. 14 is a plan of the improved mode of working the heddles by
wire cords when they are operated by vertical levers on the side of the
loom.
Fig. 15 is a plan of the improvements when the operating motion is .
given by jacks.
Fig. 16 is a plan of the improvement when the operating motion is
given by horizontal levers or treadles placed on the side of the loom.
Fig. 17 is a full-size view of the metallic cord and heddle frame; and
Fig. 18 is a plan of the ring bolt. A represents the metallic cord, which
I prefer to have made of six strands, each strand composed of annealed
charcoal wire, the whole twisted around a hemp or cotton core.
This
wire passes over the grooved pulleys, as is shewn in the different plans,
and passing around the ends of the notched levers in the form of a loop
the ends are joined together by a splice or by a swivel and screw
between the pulleys at the top. In Fig. 16 the cords are looped together
at B, and in this loop the end of the horizontal lever, or treadle may be
fastened. With this plan it requires six pulleys for each heddle; with
vertical levers or jacks only four pulleys are required, except in case of
wide heddles, as is shewn in Fig. 14.
In arranging the pulleys they are placed at such a distance apart that
the cords will just take between them the heddle frames, the ends of
which are grooved to the depth of one-half the diameter of the cord, as
shewn in Fig. 17.
The heddle frames are furnished with ring bolts C, shewn in Fig. 18.
The cords are made to pass freely through them that they may be
adjusted to the proper height, where they are held firmly by screwing
the nuts on the ring bolts. When it is desirous to remove the heddle
frames they are readily removed by taking off the nuts and drawing out
the ring bolts. In case cotton, linen, or worsted heddles are used İ
tenon the ends of the shafts, and insert the tenon into mortices in pieces
of the same size as is used for the end of wire heddle frames, as in
Fig. 16. When the heddles are required to be taken out the ring bolts
need not be removed, but the ends of the heddle shafts will be drawn
out of the mortices, leaving the end pieces attached to the wire cords
where they can be inserted again when desired. The wire cords may
be fastened to the frames by a clamp or clip, but I prefer a ring bolt, as
above shewn. When wide heddles are used, as is shewn in Fig. 14, one

page_text: end of the centre cords is fastened to hooks in the centre of the shafts,
and the other end is spliced to the cord running towards the lever or
jack, as is shewn in the Drawing. Arrangements should be made to
take up the slack by raising the top pulleys or lowering the bottom ones,
all of which will be readily understood by a skilled weaver.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention, as communicated
to me by the within-named John Shinn, and described the manner of
performing the same, I declare that I claim,—
First. Forming the needle with two parallel shafts with the eye and
point between, as described for the above purpose.
Secondly. The false reed in combination with the needle, having
the point between the two shafts, as described and for the above
purpose.
Thirdly. The wedge c in combination with the pile wire a, as
described for the above purpose.
Fourthly. The roller W in combination with the cross heads e, e, and '
needle bar, as described for the above purpose.
Fifthly. The combination of the metallic cord with the heddle frames
for the purpose of conveying motion to the heddles, as described.
And, lastly. The combination of the ring bolts with the metallic
cords for the purpose of fastening and adjusting the heddles, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two
H. B. BARLOW. (L.s.)