IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Denton, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Denton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1857.
I, JOSEPH DENTON, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention which is an extension of the principle or further improve-
ment on the Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me, and
dated the Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord 1853, which said
Invention relates particularly to the motion connected with what is technically
called the "riser," that is, the apparatus used to raise and fall the shuttle
boxes so as to have the proper shuttle working or throwing in the requisite
number of picks according to the pattern, in which I employ a star wheel,
having tappet rollers or bowls upon it for acting upon levers for shifting the
boxes, the said bowls being drawn to and from the centre of the star wheel in
order to acquire the various heights of the boxes, the necessary motion being
given to the star wheel by a stud connected to a pinion, which slides in aud
out so to act upon the star wheel when required, the sliding motion of the
pinion being caused by pegs in the lags.
In my present improvements, instead of shifting the bowls on the star wheel
to and from the centre, I place them all in the same circle, but so arranged
that they may move in and out sideways, so as to be in a proper position for

page_text: acting as they revolve upon the lever which raises the boxes, the said lever
having steps or indents so that its length of motion may be greater or less,
thereby raising the boxes to the heights required; the bowls or rollers being
moved to and fro by means of a lever acted upon by different lengths of pegs
in the lags or pattern chair in conjunction with a spring connected with each
bowl or roller, or by a lever alone, so that a right bowl may be placed over the
right step in the lever, thereby giving the necessary motion for placing the
desired shuttle box in its proper place; or, instead of having the steps or
indents on the lever, I may employ it plain, and place the steps or indents on
the bowls, tho shifting motion of which to and fro is caused either by a lover
only, or by a lover moving the bowls one way and a spring the other, by these
arrangements I am not confined to any pattern, but am able to shift the boxes
..to any required extent.
It is evident that these improved bowls and levers may be advantageously
applied to all kinds of looms where levers and bowls are employed for acting
upon the shuttle boxes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Denton in the Great Seal Patent Oflice on the 18th
May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
DENTON, of Pendleton, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of, our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year, of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, gives and. grant unto me,
the said Joseph Denton, Her-special licence that I, the said Joseph Denton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or. such others as I, the said
Joseph Dentou, my exccutors, 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, uso,
'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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Denton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: 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 Joseph Denton do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
1
This Invention is an extension of the principle or further improvements on
the Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me, and dated the
Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three, which said Invention relates particularly to the motion
technically called the "riser," that is, the apparatus used to raise and fall the
shuttle boxes so as to have the proper shuttle working or throwing in the
requisite number of picks according to the pattern, in which I employ a star
wheel having tappet rollers or bowls upon it to act upon a lever for shifting the:
boxes, the said bowls being drawn to and from the centre of the star wheel
in order to acquire the various beights of the boxes. The necessary motion is
given to the star wheel by a stud connected to a pinion which slides in and
out so as to act upon the star wheel when required, the forward sliding motion
of the pinion being caused by pegs in the lags, and the backward or return by
means of a spring.
In my present improvements, instead of shifting the bowls on the star
wheel to and from the centre, I place them all in the same circle, but so
arranged that they may move in and out sideways, so as to be in a proper
position for acting as they revolve upon the lever which raises the boxes, the
said lever having steps or indents so that its length of motion may be greater
or less, thereby raising the boxes to the heights required, the bowls or rollers
being moved to and fro by means of a lever acted upon by different lengths of
pegs, studs, or projections in the lags or pattern chain, so that the right bowl.
may be placed over the right step in the shuttle box lever, thereby giving the
latter, as the star wheel and bowls move onwards, the necessary motion for
placing the desired shuttle box in its proper place; or a lever acted upon by
pegs may move the bowls one way, and spiral or flat springs move them the
other; or instead of forming steps or indents on the shuttle box lever, I
may
employ it plain, and make the steps or indents on the bowls, the to-and-fro.
motion of which is caused, as in the former example, by means of a lever, or
by a lever moving each bowl one way, and a spring for moving it the other.
By these arrangements I am not confined to any pattern, but am able to
shift the shuttle boxes with ease and rapidity to any requred extent, there
+

page_text: being any suitable number of steps or indents on the bowls or lever corro-
sponding with the number of shuttles required to be used.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings and the letters of reference thereon, similar letters
referring to similar parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1 is a transverse elevation of the framing of a loom, shewing the
application of a shuttle-box lever furnished with steps or indents; Fig. 2 is a
front elevation of the same; and Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13
are views in detail of parts of my improvements.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a represents the framing of the loom; b, the cranked
shaft; c, the slay swords; d, the slay; e, the shuttles; and f, the star wheel
which is occasionally held and moved forwards in the manner described in the
Specification and Drawings of my Patent, dated the Eighth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, No. 2305, already alluded to, that is,
motion is given to the star wheel f, also shewn in Figs. 3 and 4, by the pin or
bowl on the crank g, the latter being attached to or forming part of a long
boss or tube h, having upon it the toothed wheel or pinion i, the boss being
recessed or cut away, as shewn at Fig. 5, so as to pass when required the rim
of the star wheel, the crank, toothed wheel, and boss work on a stud k, fixed
to the framework of the loon, the toothed wheel i being geared into another
toothed wheel on the cranked shaft, and consequently giving a revolving
motion to the crank g, which, with the boss and wheel, is pushed in contact
with the star wheel, thereby giving it motion by means of the lever m, acted
on as required by the line of pegs n on the chain or lags o, the return or back-
ward movement of the lever m being caused by the spring p. The star wheel
end of the boss
is held stationary when the picks are given by the circular
fitting and working in the hollows 7 of the star wheel. As before said, the
foregoing parts are old, and are described simply to shew their connection with
my present improvements.
In my former Patent the bowls on the star wheel were placed at different
distances from the centre, I now employ them in a circle, as seen at r, and fix
them on pins s, fitting corresponding holes in the star wheel, the said pins
being of such a length that the acting bowls may be at a greater or less
distance from the surface of the star wheel, so as to be above certain steps or
indents in the shuttle-box lever u, and give the latter more or less motion,
thereby shifting the shuttles to the position required, or the bowl is pushed out
of the way of the lever so as to have no action upon it, in order to allow the
shuttle boxes to bo at their lowest position.
In Fig. 1 the bowl is shewn on the highest part of the shuttle-box lever u,

page_text: thereby raising the shuttle boxes to their highest position, and in Figs, 6 and 7
the bowl is on the step or indent t, so as to place the boxes at their inter-
mediate or middle position, the dotted lines shewing the position of the lever
for placing the shuttles in their highest position, and if the bowl be pushed
entirely out of the way of the lever, the latter has no resistance or power
acting upon it, and therefore the shuttle boxes fall to their lowest position.
The above arrangements are for a loom with three shuttles, but it is evident
that by increasing the number of steps or indents on the shuttle-box lever, and
causing the bowl to move to and fro in proportion, the aforesaid system or
principle can be applied to any convenient number of shuttles.
In Figs. 8 and 9, I shew the application of steps or indents on the bowls
acting upon a plain lever, the arrangements being the reverse to those before
described, but producing the same effect.
The proper bowl is pressed out so as to have the right step or indent over
the lever, or made to clear entirely, according to the pattern required.
Whether plain or indented, the bowls, when they arrive one after the other
at the position y, are pushed out the required distance by the lever z, Figs. 1,
2, 10, and 11, having a link a', in order to lessen friction.
The said lever, which may be also without a link, works on the fulcrum b',
and has motion imparted to it by its upper end coming in contact with the
line of pegs d', placed at any required intervals, the said pegs being also of
different lengths so as to give more or less motion to the lever z, which acting
on the pin of the bowl places the latter in its proper position, and as motion is
given at the same time to the star wheel, the bowl operates upon the shuttle-
box lever u, and regulates the position of the shuttles. Each bowl, whether
plain or indented as it passes clear of the lever u, is drawn back to the surfaco
of the star wheel by the springs e¹, so as to be ready for operation when its
turn arrives.
In the lags or chain there are two lengths of pegs adapted for a three-
shuttle loom, the longer peg being employed for pushing the bowl entirely out
of the way of the shuttle box lever u, and the shorter for placing the bowl on
the indent; it being understood that when there is no peg the bowl is close
to the star wheel, and acts upon the top of the lever, thus regulating the
three positions of the shuttles.
Movement may be given to the lag or chain cylinder f¹ in any convenient
manner, but in Fig. 12 I shew it as put in motion by means of a ratchet
wheel g' on the cylinder shaft, acted upon by the catch or ratchet h' on the
lever, connected by the rod (see Fig. 1) to one arm of the bell crank m²
the other arm of which is connected to one of the slay swords c, thereby

page_text: giving an advancing motion to the chain and pegs when the loom is at work;
the lag. or chain cylinder is held steady until the next movement is given by
the spring o', Fig. 13, acting on a disc p', fixed to the cylinder shaft.
The ratchet wheel may either have the same number of teeth as there are
divisions on the lag cylinder so as to give a pick to each lag, or there may be
twice the number of teeth so as to give two picks to each lag, thereby em-
ploying half the number of lags for the same pattern as is required when the
smaller number of teeth on the ratchet wheel is used.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, neither do
I now claim those parts already patented by me, nor the ordinary parts of the
loom, although they are shown in the Drawings; but I claim as my Invention,
and which to the best of my knowledge and belief has not been hitherto used
within the realm,-
Firstly, the employment of a shuttle-box lover having any required number
of steps or indents, so as to give the proper positions to the shuttle boxes by
means of revolving bowls pushed out by a lever regulated by pegs on a pattern
chain, and returned back again by a spring, or performing a similar operation
by the lever and pegs without the intervention of a spring.
Secondly, the employment of revolving bowls having steps or indents acting
upon a plain shuttle-box lever, the said bowls being also governed by pegs on
a pattern chain with or without springs.
And, thirdly, the general arrangement of the machinery or apparatus as appli-
cable to the above improvements, as such are herein described and illustrated
in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Joseph Denton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Joseph Denton, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
JOSEPH DENTON. (L.S.)
Manchester.