IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Plätt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, and Edmund Hartley, of the same Place,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING."
i
Sealed the 25th November 1864, and dated the 31st May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt and Edmund
Hartley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 31st May 1864.
We, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer; and EDMUND HARTLEY, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:
Our Invention relates, firstly, to a method of driving looms whereby we are
enabled to reverse the motion thereof. For this purpose we employ a fast
and loose pulley as usual, but' in addition to these we adapt a friction surface
or clutch box, which when slidden forward locks the two pullies together, and
the motion of one is thus communicated to the other. The loose pulley
thus for the time being becomes fast, and by a train of toothed wheels causes
the driving shaft to revolve backward.
Secondly, our Invention relates to the apparatus for effecting the letting off*
the yarn or the 'taking up of the cloth. For this purpose we use a 'cam for
giving motion to the driving clicks as usual, but the said cam is driven

page_text: through the medium of a click taking into a notch, but over which notch the
said click slips when the loom is turned backward and the letting off of the
yarn or the taking up of the cloth is therefore suspended.
In another arrangement we employ for these purposes a cam upon the
crank shaft acting against a lever mounted upon a centre carried by another
lever which gives motion to the letting off or driving click. During the
working of the loom the first-mentioned lever acts simply as a rod for com-
municating a vibratory motion to the click lever, but when the loom is turned
backward, then the said first-mentioned lever is caused to turn upon its centre
instead of communicating a vibratory movement to the click, and the
operations of letting off or taking up are suspended.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt and Edmund Hartley in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, and
EDMUND HARTLEY, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said John Platt and Edmund Hartley, Her special licence that
we, the said John Platt and Edmund Hartley, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Platt and Edmund Hartley,
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 LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said John Platt
and Edmund Hartley, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals (or under the hand and seal of one of us) 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Platt, do hereby declare the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
stateinent and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
:-
Our Invention relates, firstly, to a method of driving looms, whereby we
are enabled to reverse the motion thereof, and consists in the employment
of fast and loose pullies in conjunction with a friction surface or clutch box,
by which the said pullies may be locked together, and the motion of one com-
municated to the other.
In the accompanying Drawings this improvement is shewn in plan view at
Fig. 1, and in end elevation at Fig. 2. The ordinary crank shaft is at a, upon
which is mounted the fast pulley b, and when the driving strap is thereon the
loom is driven forward as usual. At c is the loose pulley, that is to say, it is
mounted loosely upon the crank shaft; in this instance, however, it is pro-
vided with a pinion d, taking into an intermediate e, which drives a pinion f,
carried by a short shaft g. At the other end of this shaft g is a pinion h,
taking into a wheel i, which runs loosely upon the crank shaft a. This wheel
i is provided on its face with a friction cone l, capable of being moved
into contact with a hollow friction cone m formed within the fast driving
pulley b. For the sake of convenience we adapt a third loose pulley n,
which serves as a starting place for the driving strap when the loom is at rest.
At o is the guide fork for the driving strap formed upon a lever p, which is
capable of being turned upon a fixed centre at q. The other end of this lever
is jointed to a rod r, which is connected to the usual spring lever 8. This
lever is capable of being placed into ordinary notches t, u, the former
answering to the position of parts necessary for placing the driving strap on
to the fast pulley b, and the latter to the position of parts required for driving.
the loose pulley c.
There is also a notch between those above mentioned,
in which the lever s is placed when the loom is at rest, and the driving strap
is to be held on the pulley n. Connected to the lever p is a link w, the other
end of which is provided with a slot embracing a pin x, which projects from
a lever y mounted upon a fixed centre at z, on the other side of which centre
it bears against the boss of the wheel i, and consequently the friction cone l.
Upon the crank shaft a is a spring 1 abutting at one end against the boss of
the pulley 6, and at the other against the friction cone l, and its tendency is
always therefore to keep the two friction cones out of gear, and the boss of
the wheel in contact with the lever y. The operation is as follows:-
According to the position of the parts shewn in the Drawing the loom is at.
rest, the driving strap being on the central loose pulley n, and we will

page_text: suppose it intended to drive the loom forward as in ordinary work. To do
this the attendant moves the spring lever's into the notch t, by which means
the lever p and fork o will be turned upon their centre 'q, so as to shift the
driving strap on to the fast pulley b, and the crank shaft a will then be driven
direct and in the usual manner; at the same time the link w will be drawn
forward, but the slot on the end thereof will pass along the pin x. Previously
to the movement above described' the friction cones l, m, were out of gear,
and as no sliding motion has been imparted to the wheel i they still continue
in that position, so that the said wheel i and gearing connected therewith
remain at rést: If instead of the forward motion of the loom a backward
motion be desired, then the attendant places the spring lever sin the notch u,
so that the lever p is turned in the opposite direction to that above mentioned,
whereby the driving strap is shifted on to the loose pulley c; at the same'
time the link w being pushed forward; causes the lever y to turn upon its
centre and press forward the loose wheel i, whereby the friction cone thereon.
will be forced into contact with the hollow friction cone m. The effect of
this will be that the loose pulley c will communicate rotary motion to the fast
pulley 6 through the medium of the gearing d, e, f, h, i, and friction.cones
1, m, and as the several wheels revolve in the direction of the arrows, the
crank shaft will be driven in a direction contrary to that in which. it was
caused to revolve by the strap when placed upon the fast pulley b. In con-
cluding the description of this part of our Invention; we desire it to be
understood that although we have shewn a central loose pulley we do not
bind ourselves to the use thereof, as the same may be omitted and one loose
pulley only employed; but we consider its use convenient, as it enables us to
keep the reversing wheels from running, when the loom is at rest. We would:
also remark, that we do not limit ourselves to the friction cones above
described, as other friction. surfaces or clutch apparatus may be employed.
י.
The next part of our Invention relates to the apparatus for letting off the
yarn or taking up the cloth, and consists in two arrangements for that
purpose. One of these is shewn at Fig. 3, in which a is the crank shaft, upon
which is mounted a cam 6 acting against the end of an arm c. This arm is.
mounted upon a centre pin d. carried. by an arm e projecting from a lever f
which turns upon a fixed centre at g; one end of the arm c'is drawn towards
the lever by a spring 9, but this tendency to turn upon its centre is:
arrested by the part 'e* which overhangs the said arm c. The end of the lever f
carries a link h which is jointed to a short lever i projecting from a boss.
which turns loosely upon the shaft k, and at the junction of the link: h and
lever i is a stud which carries the driver m-for giving motion to the letting

page_text: off ratchets n. At o is the worm for giving motion to the warp beam, and
at p is the brake holding the shaft k and consequently worm p and warp
beam. During the ordinary working of the loom the crank shaft will cause
the cam to revolve in the direction of the arrow, and the said cam acting
against the end of the armi c. will carry forward the arm e, and cause the lever
f to turn upon its centre g, thereby giving motion to the driver me; which by
operating upon one of the ratchets n will effect a turning of the shaft k and
consequently warp beam. But suppose the motion of the loom to be
reversed, then the cam 6. will revolve in the opposite direction to that indi-
cated by the arrow, and as its centre of motion is placed above the point of
contact with the arm c the said arm will be driven downward and turn upon
its centre d, there being no stop to interfere with its motion in that direction.
The consequence, will be that the arm cno longer acts as a means of
communicating motion to the lever f, but continually gives way to the action
of the cam and no motion will therefore be imparted to the letting off
click m.
Another arrangement, having a similar object to that above described, is
shewn at Figs. 4 and 5. The crank shaft is at a, upon which is a boss b
carrying loosely the cam c. The boss is formed with a notch 9, within
which is placed a driver d mounted upon a stud carried by the cam 6, and on
which stud the said driver is capable of turning, but it is forced into the notch
by means of a spring carried by the cam. Suppose the crank shaft to
revolve in the direction of the arrow, the notch g in the boss thereon will act
by its radial end against the click d, which will thus become a medium or
causing the cam to revolve, and this cam acting against the lever c of Fig. 8,
or against any similar part, will effect the letting off of the yarn. But
suppose the motion of the loom to be reversed and the crank shaft therefore to
revolve in a direction contrary to the arrow, then the notch in the boss 6 will
present its inclined side to the click d which will slip over it and fail to com-
municate motion to the cam c, consequently the letting off motion will not be
effected. We have in describing this part of our Invention particularly
alluded to the letting off of the yarn, but it will be evident to all competent
persons that the arrangements specified are equally applicable to taking up
the work.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that we claim, as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters'
Patent, and for the purposes above set forth,-

page_text: Firstly, the use of the fast and loose pulleys acting in conjunction with the
friction cones or other clutch apparatus.
Secondly, and in reference to Fig. 3, the employment of the part illustrated
at c.
Thirdly, the notched boss b, g, and driving click d, Figs. 4 and 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Platt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.