IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKERS FOR LOOMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Pomeroy Dodge, of No. 79, Upper Thames
Street, in the City of London, Manufacturer of India-rubber Goods, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKERS FOR LOOMS."
Sealed the 24th October 1865, and dated the 29th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Pomeroy Dodge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on
the 29th April 1865.
I, GEORGE POMEROY DODGE, of No. 79, Upper Thames Street, in the City
of London, Manufacturer of India-rubber Goods, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKERS FOR Looms," to be as
follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in constructing pickers of india-rubber,.
vulcanite, ebonite, or a mixture of india-rubber and such other ingredient or
ingredients as will give to the composition the required toughness and
density. The india-rubber or mixture is more or less vulcanized by sulpher
or other suitable means. The pickers are made of the proper form to
conveniently and economically propel the shuttles, and those manufactured of
this composition or material are equally applicable to hand and power looms
for weaving fabrics.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Pomeroy Dodge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
POMEROY DODGE, of No. 79, Upper Thames Street, in the City of London,
Manufacturer of India-rubber Goods, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Pomeroy Dodge, Her special licence that I, the said
George Pomeroy Dodge, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Pomeroy Dodge, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKERS FOR LOOMS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Pomeroy Dodge, 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 within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Pomeroy Dodge, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 nature of my Invention consists in constructing pickers for looms of
india-rubber or material of which india-rubber or material of which india-
rubber is a constituent part, the india-rubber being so treated, compounded,
or combined with other ingredient or ingredients as to give the composition
the requisite toughness and density.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings making a part of this Specification,
Figure 1 represents a front view of an ordinary shaped picker for looms, and
Figure 2 a section of the same. These pickers, however, have been heretofore
constructed in various shapes or forms, and the illustration is made merely for

page_text: the purpose of showing an advantageous manner of inserting, in the india-
rubber or the composition used, layers a, a, of cotton, cloth, or other suitable
material to increase the strength and durability of the pickers. Instead of
these distinct layers of fabrics or other material adapted to the purpose afore-
said, fibres of cotton, flax, leather, or other material may be mixed with the
caoutchouc or rubber in the process of manufacture: I do not confine myself
to any particular substances or manner of distributing or inserting them in the
india-rubber or composition, the object desired being to strengthen and thereby
increase the efficiency and durability of the manufactured article. These
layers of fabric or the intermingling of fibres may be chiefly or entirely
confined to those parts of the picker.subject to the greatest strain and wear,
or parts which from the shape of the picker may be the weakest, or the fibres
may be indiscriminately mixed with the india-rubber or composition employed.
In some of the numerous shapes now adopted for pickers this strengthening.
of the parts may be unnecessary, the toughness, hardness, and durability
required being obtained by the nature and treatment of the rubber material
employed for the purpose. In manufacturing pickers for looms of the
material indicated, care should be taken to obtain a sufficient degree of
rigidity to properly propel the shuttle without hardening the material enough
to render the pickers liable to fracture from the effect of the repeated blows.
The exact degree of hardness or density cannot be easily indicated, nor in fact
is the same degree necessary in pickers of different shapes. The best general
rule that can be laid down is to form the pickers of india-rubber or composition
of a degree of density or hardness and toughness as nearly as possible the
same as leather or bull's hides, which materials are now generally adopted,
and which have been found in practice better adapted for the purpose than
any others heretofore employed. The density and toughness of the material
may be regulated by the quality of the caoutchouc, the quantity of sulphur, and
the degree of heat employed in the preparation of the material for forming the
pickers. The caoutchouc or india-rubber may be mixed with mineral or
vegetable substances in various proportions to cheapen or improve the
composition, though not necessary to the successful working of the pickers;
caoutchouc treated with heat and sulphur having been found to answer for
the purpose. Pickers manufactured of the material and in the manner
aforesaid are equally applicable for use in looms designed for weaving various
fabrics, whether worked by hand or power.
Having thus fully described my improvements, and shown how the same
may be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I wish it
understood that I do not limit myself to pickers of the shape shown in the

page_text: Drawings or to any particular form of construction, or to the use of india-
rubber treated, compounded, or combined in the exact manner described, but
I claim the Invention substantially as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the, said George Pomeroy Dodge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE POMEROY DODGE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THOMAS HANNIS,
International Patent Office,
8, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
London.