IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Clark, of Chapel House, Paisley, in
the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Esquire, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN
THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." -A commu-
nication.
Sealed the 8th December 1852, and dated the 6th October 1852..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th October 1852.
I, JAMES CLARK, of Chapel House, Paisley, in the County of Ren-
frew, North Britain, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS,
AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates more especially to the weaving of plain and
twilled venetian carpeting, webbing, or girth cloth, or any other fabric
with a thick set warp, by power looms,
The first portion of the Invention comprehends an improved heddle

page_text: action, which is contrived on what may be termed a differential
principle.
In all fabrics having thick set warps, their closeness and density
involves serious difficulties in the loom action, for as the heddles come
into operation to open the sheds, the warps frequently catch and hang
on to one another, so that when the shuttle is thrown it is either
arrested in its passage across the fabric, or produces an imperfection
therein. To obviate this, four or more leaves, sections, or divisions of
heddles are used, and these are so connected to cam and lever move-
ments that the sheds are formed by successive intermittent actions, but
all being accomplished between each throw of the shuttle. By this
means the sheds are produced piecemeal or gradually, and the warps
are thus less liable to stick than when the shed is completed by one
single and direct movement as in ordinary weaving.
The second branch relates to a mode of throwing or actuating the
shuttle by means of a single adjustable tappet or cam.
This cam is set
loosely on the revolving cam shaft, and has a separate traversing move-
ment whereby it is traversed along the shaft at the proper intervals, in
order to cause its projections or acting surfaces to bear upon one or
other of the picking levers. The cam thus acts first on one lever and
then on the other, throwing the shuttle in both directions, and therefore
making one entire revolution for each pick, instead of having two
tappets on a shaft making only a single rotation for each two picks.
The third head comprehends a mode of regulating the working
momentum of the loom by placing on one of the shafts the quick
running tappet shaft, for example, a loose fly wheel, so that on any
stoppage of the loom the fly wheel continues to revolve, thus relieving
the loom of much of the jar and concussion consequent on the sudden
stoppage of a heavy revolving mass as with a fixed fly wheel.
The fourth head relates to a plan of throwing back the picker staff s
or lever wherein the back picking blow is rendered adjustable in its
intensity by the interposition of a spring between the lower end of the
picking lever and the lay or slay.
The fifth head relates to the letting off or unwinding of the warp from
its beam as the cloth is woven. The warps are passed over a roller 3

page_text: possessing an intermittent motion derived from a ratchet wheel actuated
by a pall or catch, the working rod of which is moved by an eccentric
on the crank shaft, the amount of motion being regulated by an adjust-
able guide over which the rod of the catch slides, to determine the
number of ratchet teeth to be taken at each revolution of the eccentric.
The sixth head relates to the taking up motion for the cloth beam.
This motion is worked by an eccentric on the crank shaft, the rod
from which eccentric passes over an adjustable guide or stud, so that
the shifting of this guide causes the opposite free working end of the
eccentric rod to turn a larger or smaller number of the teeth of a
ratchet wheel fast on the cloth beam shaft.
The seventh and last head relates to a mode of delivering the weft
from the shuttle by first passing it from the cop or pirn through the
usual side eye near the end of the shuttle, and then along a groove in-
the shuttle, and finally out through the side of the shuttle body at or
near the centre of the shuttle's length.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 6th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES CLARK, of Chapel House, Paisley, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Clark, Her special licence
that I, the said James Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Clark, my executors, administra-
tors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,. from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,

page_text: within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING
CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EM-
PLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Clark, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 James Clark, 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, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto attached, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The said Invention relates more especially to the weaving of plain
and twilled venetian carpetting, webbing, or girth cloth, or any other
fabric with a thick set warp, by power looms.
The first portion of the Invention comprehends an improved heddle
action, which is contrived on what may be termed a differential
principle. In all fabrics having thick set warps, their closeness and
density involves serious difficulties in the loom action; for as the heddles
come into operation to open the sheds, the warps frequently catch and
hang on to one another, so that when the shuttle is thrown it is either
arrested in its passage across the fabric, or produces an imperfection
therein. To obviate this, four or more leaves, sections, or divisions of
heddles are used, and these are so connected to cam and lever move-
ments that the sheds are formed by successive intermittent actions, but
all being accomplished between each throw of the shuttle. By this
means the sheds are produced piecemeal or gradually, and the warps
are thus less liable to stick than when the shed is completed by one
single and direct movenient as in ordinary weaving.
The second branch relates to a mode of throwing or actuating the
shuttle by means of a single adjustable tappet or cam. This cam is set
loosely on the revolving cam shaft, and has a separate traversing move-

page_text: ment, whereby it is traversed along the shaft at the proper intervals, in
order to cause its projections or acting surfaces to bear upon one or
other of the picking levers. The cams thus acts first on one lever and
then on the other, throwing the shuttle in both directions, and therefore
making one entire revolution for each pick, instead of having two
tappets on a shaft making only a single rotation for each two picks.
The third head comprehends a mode of regulating the working
momentum of the loom by placing on one of the shafts the quick
running tappet shaft, for example, a loose fly. wheel, so that on any
stoppage of the loom the fly wheel continues to revolve, thus relieving
the loom of much of the jar and concussion consequent on the sudden
stoppage of a heavy revolving mass as with a fixed fly wheel.
The fourth head relates to a plan of throwing back the picker staff
or lever wherein the back picking blow is rendered adjustable in its
intensity by the interposition of a spring between the lower end of the
picking lever and the lay or slay.
The fifth head relates to the letting off or unwinding of the warp from
its beam as the cloth is woven. The warps are passed over a roller
possessing an intermittent motion derived from a ratchet wheel actuated
by a pall or catch, the working rod of which is moved by an eccentric
on the crank shaft, the amount of motion being regulated by an adjust-
able guide over which the rod of the catch slides, to determine the
number of ratchet teeth to be taken at each revolution of the eccentric.
The sixth head relates to the taking up motion for the cloth beam.
This motion is worked by an eccentric on the crank shaft, the rod from
which eccentric passes over an adjustable guide or stud, so that the
shifting of this guide causes the opposite free working end of the
eccentric rod to turn a larger or smaller number of the teeth of a
ratchet wheel fast on the cloth beam shaft.
The seventh and last head relates to a mode of delivering the weft
from the shuttle by first passing it from the chop or pirn through the
usual side eye near the end of the shuttle, and then along a groove in
the shuttle, and finally out through the side of the shuttle body at or
near the centre of the shuttle's length.
And in order that the said Invention may be properly understood. I

page_text: shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheets of Draw-
ings hereunto attached. Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the Drawing, represents
a complete front elevation of an ordinary power loom as fitted up ac-
cording to this Invention; Figure 2, is a plan corresponding. Figure 1,
Sheet 2, is a right hand elevation, and Figure 2, is a corresponding trans-
verse vertical section of the loom. Figure 3, is a front elevation of the
shuttle or picking motion detached; and Figure 4, is a plan of the same.
Figure 5, is an enlarged section detail of the arrangement for throwing
back the picking stick. Figure 6, is a plan of the shuttle. Figure 7, is
a side elevation; and Figure 8, is a view of the bottom of the shuttle.
Instead of the arrangement of heddles usually employed for shifting
the warp threads in making the sheds all at once between each
throw of the shuttle, four or more leaves or sections of heddles are
used according to this improved system. In the Drawings, six heddles
A, are represented as the number most generally advantageous in
practice, as this number will divide the opening of the shed into
three successive operations between each throw of the shuttle. The
heddles A, are provided on their upper edges with connecting cords
B, which are passed over guide pulleys C, on the fixed cross bar of the
framing. The other ends of these cords are attached to the free ends
of a set of six horizontal levers D, which are carried upon the fixed
stud centre E; similarly the lower edges of the heddles have cords F,
attached to them and passed round pulleys G, and thence conveyed to
a second and corresponding set of horizontal levers H, working on the
lower fixed stud centre I. In this way the heddles are suspended as it
were between the pulleys C, and G. These two sets of levers are actu-
ated by two sets of cams J,.one set at each end of a vertical shaft K,
which receives its motion from the picker tappet shaft I, by means of the
bevil wheel and pinion M, their projection being such as that the cam
shaft shall make one rotation for each throw of the shuttle; each set of
cams correspond in number with the number of levers, there being one
for each lever. Their form is concentric for about one third of a circle,
and rounded in towards the axis at each end to force out the levers and
permit them to return. They are arranged in pairs (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,)
those of each pair being on opposite sides of the shaft, that one lever

page_text: may be permitted to move in as the other is forced out; the two levers
worked by cach pair of cams being connected to the two heddles which
constitute a pair, so that one may rise as the other falls. The three
pairs of cams are so arranged as to succeed each other in the rotation,
that one third of the warp may be operated first, and then another third,
and finally the last third, to complete the opening of the shed for the
throw of the shuttle. The lower set of cams is made and arranged in a
similar manner, except that they are reversed as they operate the levers
which are connected with the bottom of the heddles. The picking
sticks N, N, which are jointed to the projecting ends 0, 0, of the
journals of the lay P, are connected by straps Q, Q, to the upper arm
of the levers R, R, which turn on stud pins S, S, on the lay; and the
lower arms of these levers are in turn connected by straps with the
picker tredilles T, T, of the usual construction. These treddles are
worked alternately by the tappet U, on the picker tappet shaft L. The
tappet is an arm projecting to the required length from a disc V, which
slides freely on the shaft, and is made to turn therewith by a feather, in
the usual way of making such connections, and from this arm projects
two stud pins W, W, one on each side, to receive two rollers X, X,
which by the rotation of the shaft act on the treddles to depress them;
but the distance between the treddles is so much greater than between
the rollers X, X, that the two rollers shall not act on the two treddles
at the same time, but that when one is on action the other shall pass
clear of the treddle; and to work the rollers alternately the tappet is
made to slide on the shaft by means of an eccentric Y, on the harness
cam shaft K, and a connecting rod Z, which embraces the eccentric,
and a groove of the disc of the tappet. As the harness cam shaft K,
makes but one revolution for two throws of the shuttles, the eccentric
thereon will move the tappet first to one treddle for one throw of the
shuttle, and then back to the other treddle for the second throw of the
shuttle for every rotation; and therefore the shuttle tappet shaft can
make one entire rotation for each throw of the shuttle, instead of half a
revolution as heretofore, by which an increase of power is obtained for
the throw of the shuttle. On the shuttle tappet shaft which has greater
velocity than any other shaft in the loom, there is a fly wheel a, which

page_text: turns freely thereon between collars b, b. The boss of this wheel is pro-
vided with adjusting screws c, to regulate the amount of friction on the
shaft, that it may be made to turn thereon with any desired degree of
freedom. If desired, friction plates may be interposed between the
points of the screws and the shaft, to prevent the wear of the shaft by
the points of the screws. By this arrangement, so long as the shaft
rotates, the fly wheel regulates the momentum of the moving parts of
the whole mechanism; but when the loom is stopped for any purpose
whatever the fly wheel continues to turn on the shaft, and thus takes
up the momentum, and does away with the injurious effects which
would take place if the fly wheel were fixed to the shaft. The picking
sticks are thrown back after throwing the shuttle by means of helical
springs d, d, each surrounding a rod e, one end of which is jointed at f,
to the picking sticks, and the other slides freely through a hole in the
plate g, attached to the lay, the helical spring being interposed between
this plate g, and a regulating nut 7, tapped on to the rod, so that by
turning this nut the tension of the spring can be regulated at pleasure
and with facility, to determine the force with which the stick shall be
thrown back in weaving. The warps pass from the warp beam i, over
a calender roller j, and are borne down thereon to prevent slipping by
the weight of two other rollers , . The shaft of the calender roller
has on each end a friction wheel 1, surrounded by a metal friction strap
m, regulated by screws n, in the usual manner of making friction straps,
by means of which the friction can be increased or decreased at plea-
sure; and on the shaft of the said roller j, there is a spur wheel a', the
teeth of which engage a pinion b', connected to and moving with a
ratchet wheel c', which is operated at stated times by a hand or pall d',
the rod of which embraces an eccentric e', on the lay or crank shaft r,
so that each rotation of the crank shaft communicates a given delivery
motion to the roller over which the warps pass; and as the motion of
the hand or pall is always the same, and the amount to be let off
depends upon the quality of the fabric woven, an adjustment is obvi-
ously necessary; for this purpose the rod of the pall or hand passes over
an adjustable pin or roller f', which can be elevated or depressed at
pleasure by the securing screw g', and elongated hole; this will deter-

page_text: mine the number of teeth which the hand or pall will act upon, and
thus determine the amount of delivery. The woven fabric from the
breast beam passes over a roughened roller o, which governs the take
up, and thence is wound up on another roller p, below, which is worked
by any known or desirable take up motion. But the actual take up
motion which determines the measure of the cloth as it is woven, is
given to the roller o, by means of an eccentric 9, on the lay or crank
shaft r, the said eccentric being embraced by one end of a connecting
rod s, the other end of which is so formed as to act by a pall on the
ratchet wheel t, the arbor of which is provided with a pinion u, in gear
with a cog wheel v, on the shaft of the roller o, so that the cloth is taken
up by a regular positive motion, whilst the warps are given out by a
like motion. The connecting rods s, pass over an adjustable pin or
roller in the same manner, and for the same purpose as the connecting
rod of the let off motion. Instead of delivering the thread from the
shuttle through the usual eye near one end, as at w, it passes down.from
this eye through an oblique hole as dotted at a, to and along a groove.
y, in the bottom, thence up and out through an eye z, at the side and in
the middle of the length of the shuttle. By this means more friction
is presented to the passage of the thread, and as it is delivered at thei
middle an equal quantity of thread is given out at each throw of the
shuttle, thus tending to produce an equal selvage on each side. As
shuttles have heretofore been made it is necessary to use a pressure.
lever to produce friction on the thread, an arrangement which is liable
to derangement, and which does not effect the contemplated purpose,
for the reason that the pull of the thread by the throw of the shuttle is
liable to throw up the pressure lever and free the threads. I may
remark, that the first part of this Invention is independent of the
arrangement of levers and cams for working the heddles, as other
arrangements will effect the contemplated end, which is the working of
the heddles by sections between each throw of the shuttle, to prevent
the catching and hanging of the warp threads in opening the shed.
This part of the Invention is also unrestricted as to the number of these
divisions, whether there be two, three, or more; but the arrangement
of cams and levers, and the division herein specified, are preferred.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I may observe in conclusion, that I do not confine or
restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had
occasion to describe or refer to; as many variations may be made there-
from without deviating from the principles or main features of the
Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the dividing, the heddles into two or more divisions to be
worked in succession, substantially as herein-before described, that the
entire opening of the shed may be effected in succession, and thus avoid
the evil effects consequent on the opening of the shed at one operation,
as heretofore..
Second, the system or mode of working the two picker levers or
treddles by means of a shifting tappet, that the shaft which carries the
tappet or tappets may make one entire rotation for cach throw of the
shuttle, substantially as herein-before described, and thus actuate the
shuttle by a tappet rotating with greater velocity than by any means
heretofore known.
Third, the employment of a fly wheel on any shaft of the loom, and
turning thereon, substantially as herein-before described, that whilst the
loom is in operation the momentum thereof may be regulated, and when
stopped the said fly wheel may continue to turn, and thus relieve the
loom from jar.
Fourth, the combination of the adjustable helical springs and jointed
rods with the lay and picking stick, substantially as herein-before
described, whereby the force with which the picking sticks are carried
back may be easily regulated.
Fifth, the system or mode of letting off the warps as the cloth is
woven and taken up, by passing the same over the roller worked by a
ratchet, the hand or pall of which is actuated by an eccentric in combi-
nation with the mode of regulating the amount of motion, substantially
as herein-before described.
Sixth, the system or mode of working the ratchet wheel of the take

page_text: up motion in combination with an eccentric motion, together with the
method of regulating the same, substantially as herein-before de-
scribed.
Seventh, the system or mode of ararnging the shuttle, wherein the
weft thread is carried through the eye of the shuttle near one end,
and thence along a groove, and out through an eye at or near the
middle of the length thereof, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fourth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JAMES CLARK. (L.S.)