Improvements in Looms for Weaving.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application. 23rd June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 18th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 14th May. 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Looms for Weaving.
A communication by WILLIAM FRANKLIN DRAPER, of Hopedale, County
of Worcester, in the State of Massachusetts, one of the United States
of America, Manufacturer of Machinery.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of 55 & 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its object the production of apparatus to be incorporated
with or added to a loom, whereby, when the filling being unwound from a bobbin,
spindle, or other filling-carrier breaks or becomes exhausted from the shuttle,
another bobbin, spindle, or filling-carrier will be automatically supplied thereto
without any interinission or stopping of the loom, the construction of the parts being
such that the introduction of the filling may be effected even while the loom is
running at high speed.
In the best form in which I have practically embodied my invention, a bobbin or
spindle carrying filling is automatically inserted into a shuttle then in the shuttle-
box of the loom, the shuttle being the one from which filling has just been exhausted,
or which has been rendered inoperative by the filling breaking.
As herein provided for, the bobbin or spindle, which may be of any construction,
is taken from a hopper or guide suitably shaped to receive and guide or support one
or more bobbins or spindles, the said bobbins or spindles being pushed one by one
directly from the said hopper into the shuttle in the shuttle-box.
The shuttle is open at two sides, preferably its upper and under sides, and is
provided, preferably at one end of its chamber, with a suitable holder or holding
devices adapted to receive the head of the bobbin or spindle containing the filling
and to hold the said bobbin or spindle in substantially horizontal position in
the shuttle while the filling is being drawn or woven off, but when the filling is
broken or exhausted the said bobbin or spindle is ejected from that open side of
the shuttle opposite that through which it entered the shuttle, and is made to pass
on and be discharged from the loom through a slot in the shuttle-box of the lay.
The shuttle referred to is so constructed and its delivery and other eyes are so
slotted or left open that the thread or yarn upon the bobbin or spindle after the
latter has been inserted in the shuttle will be automatically threaded into the said
delivery eye or device of the shuttle during the movement of the shuttle.
When a bobbin or spindle is to be automatically inserted into a shuttle in a
shuttle-box, the shuttle must occupy approximately a predetermined position in
the box, so that the pusher may push or introduce the bobbin or spindle into one
open side of the shuttle and into the holder therein; and to effect this with certainty
I have in this embodiment of my invention, combined with the pusher which acts to
push the bobbin or spindle into the shuttle, a shuttle-positioning device which acts
on the inner end of the shuttle and puts the same into the proper position in the
shuttle-box to receive a bobbin or spindle, the said positioning device effectually
preventing any improper position of the shuttle due to rebounding in the shuttle-
box after striking the picker.
The shuttle-positioning device herein employed is under the control of the filling-
feeler, so that it is actuated to strike against the shuttle tip only when the shuttle
s about to be supplied with filling, and with the said positioning device I have
combined a finger which holds it locked in place against the tip of the shuttle
luring that part of the beat of the lay in which the filling is supplied to the
huttle.

page_text: I have so constructed and timed the operative parts that the bobbin or spindle is
supplied to the shuttle during the forward movement of the lay toward the breast
beam and at a time when the lay is travelling at about its slowest speed, it being
understood that the lay in its forward movement starts quickly and travels more
slowly to the end of its forward stroke, and that the lay upon its backward stroke
starts slowly and gradually moves more rapidly toward its back stroke.
The head of the bobbin or spindle being cylindrical or nearly so in form, it
becomes possible to easily transfer it from a stationary hopper into a shuttle carried
by the swinging lay, for such a bobbin or spindle under pressure will roll into place
in the shuttle.
The head of the bobbin or spindle might be many-sided instead of cylindrical
and yet act in the same way, although a circular shape lessens the possibilities of
the bobbin or spindle catching or being impeded in its movements.
I therefore deem as equivalent to a cylindrical head any many-sided form of head
which will roll into the shuttle.
For the best results, the hopper from which the bobbins or spindles are taken
will have at one side a slotted channel or guide way adapted to receive within it
and embrace the heads of the bobbins or spindles.
The outer ends of the bobbins or spindles will preferably rest on a narrow lip or
flange, which latter aids in supporting the bobbins or spindles in proper position.
As herein provided for, both the shuttle-positioning device and the pusher are
operated by fingers mounted upon or connected with a rock-shaft supported at or
near the breast beam of the loom, the said rock-shaft being moved by the weft fork
or filling-feeler slide, and a suitable intermediate arm or finger, whenever the filling
thread breaks or runs out, said movement taking place during a movement of the
said slide consequent upon the breaking or running out of the filling.
I shall describe my invention as applied to a loom of one well-known
construction but it will be understood that my invention may be applied to other
forms of loom with equal effect, and in adapting my invention to looms of other
forms the shape of some of the parts will have to be varied to conform to that
particular loom, and to the particular part of the said loom from which it is desired
to take motion for actuating the parts of my invention, so this invention is not to
be limited to the particular means indicated for actuating the different parts of my
invention at the proper time, as such means may vary considerably in different
looms, and a loom in which my invention is used may contain any form of shed-
forming or harness mechanism, any form of picking mechanism with arnis or sticks
either above or below; and the shuttle be struck by any sort of a picker, and the
loom may have any form of take-up or let-off and any form of filling or weft-
feeler, and any sort of reed and of mechanism for moving the lay.
In the form in which my invention is herein embodied, I have timed the move-
ent of the pusher from the weft-fork or filling-feeler, employing for such purpose one
form of connecting device, but this invention is not to be limited to the particular
shape or number of parts comprising said devices.
The endmost bobbin or spindle in the hopper or guide is supported by a movable
stop which yields as the pusher acting on the bobbin or spindle, takes it from the
hopper or guide.
I prefer to insert the bobbin or spindle into the shuttle while the lay is on its
forward stroke and while its movement is the slowest.
The bobbin or spindle used will have its head provided preferably with one or
more annular projections or spaces to co-operate with corresponding surfaces of
the holder in the shuttle.
It is not intended to limit this invention to the particular shape of the projections or
spaces of either the bobbin heads or the jaws of the holder, the holder so engaging the
bobbin or spindle as to prevent longitudinal motion thereof in the shuttle, yet
permitting the bobbin or spindle to be put in place between the holders at one side
of the shuttle, and to be discharged from between the said holders at another or
opposite side of the shuttle.

page_text: The ends of the thread or yarn on the bobbin or spindle in the hopper or guide are
attached to a stud or holder suitably placed, so that when the bobbin or spindle is
pushed from the hopper into the shuttle in motion with the lay, the said thread will
be held outside the shuttle while the bobbin or spindle goes into the shuttle and
while the shuttle is being shot into the shed.
One very important feature of the invention herein contained is the employment
in the shuttle-box of the loom of what is known as a self-threading shuttle, so that
when the bobbin, spindle or other filling-carrier is inserted automatically into the
shuttle from the hopper, the weft or filling thread will be automatically drawn or
laid into the delivery eye of the shuttle, ready to be correctly delivered from the
said bobbin through the delivery eye of the shuttle into the shed, as in ordinary
weaving.
1 may use any other suitable form of self-threading shuttle-eye.
According to one part of my invention I employ a shuttle open at two sides, for
the entrance of a bobbin or spindle into it at one side and its discharge from the
other side, provided with a holder for the reception and retention of a bobbin or
spindle; and such or other shuttle is automatically threaded in a shuttle-box.
One part of my invention therefore relates to a loom having a shuttle; a bobbin-
holding hopper and a device actuated upon the failure of the weft thread to
deliver a bobbin from the hopper into position in the shuttle.
Also a loom having a hopper to receive and guide a bobbin or spindle; a lay
having a shuttle box; a shuttle therein having holding devices to receive and hold
a bobbin; and a pusher to push a bobbin or spindle from the hopper into position
in the shuttle.
Also a hopper to contain and guide a bobbin or spindle having a substantially
circular head; a lay having a shuttle box carrying a shuttle; and a pusher to push
a bobbin or spindle from the said hopper into the said shuttle.
;
Also a lay its shuttle-box; and a self-threading shuttle, combined with a pusher
to push a bobbin into the said shuttle.
Also a loom having a lay a shuttle-box; a bobbin or device carrying filling:
a stud or holder for the end of the filling contained upon the said bobbin or device;
and a shuttle having a self threading or slotted eye, whereby the said eye may be
automatically threaded as the shuttle is being thrown.
Also a loon having a shuttle; a bobbin holding hopper; a device actuated upon
the failure of the weft thread, to deliver a bobbin from the hopper into position in
the shuttle; and a device for positioning the shuttle with reference to the hopper
to ensure the correct reception of the bobbin into the shuttle.
Also a loom having a lay having a shuttle-box; a shuttle in the said shuttle-
box a hopper or guide containing filling a pusher to push the filling from the
hopper into the shuttle; a trip connected to the pusher; a bunter on the lay to hit
the trip; a weft-feeler; and devices actuated thereby to move the said trip into
position for co-action with the bunter when the pusher is to be actuated.
Also a loom shuttle having a holder adapted to receive a bobbin, spindle, or
weft-carrier coming into the shuttle from one side, and to hold the said bobbin,
spindle, or weft carrier in position therein, and to thereafter permit the said bobbin,
spindle, or weft-carrier to be discharged from the said holder through the other
open side of the shuttle.
Also a spindle for use in loom, shuttles, the same consisting of a metal blade and
a head provided with an annular projection or groove adapted to be engaged by a
holder carried by the shuttle.
Also a loom a lay having a shuttle-box; a self-threading shuttle therein having
a holding device to receive and hold a bobbin or filling-carrier from which
the filling is unwound during the movement of the shuttle; and a pusher to push
the said bobbin or filling-carrier supported outside the shuttle into position in the
said shuttle.
Also a shuttle so constructed and slotted that it may be threaded automatically
while in motion in weaving in a loom,

page_text: Also a filling bobbin having external rings adapted to be grasped by a holder
in a loom shuttle.
Also a loom shuttle provided with bobbin-holding jaws, and open for the
entrance of a bobbin or spindle at one side and its exit from the opposite side.
Loom has the loom frame, the crank-shaft, the lay connecting-rods, the lay, the
fast pulley on the crank-shaft, the loose pulley at the side of it, the brake wheel, a
toothed gear on the crank-shaft, and a toothed gear on the lower or picker-shaft.
The shaft carries picking cams which act upon rollers mounted upon arms
of the picking-shaft, the latter having usual arms connected in usual manner by
straps to the usual picker sticks mounted preferably in suitable rockers.
The shaft has a cam which acts upon a lever having at its upper end the usual
hammer which acts upon the down-turned end of the weft-fork or filling-feeler
pivoted upon the weft fork or filling feeler slide mounted in a suitable stand
screwed to the top of the breast beam.
The outward movement of the picker carried by the picker staff may be checked
by a strap attached in usual manner.
Each shuttle box has a pivoted binder which is acted upon by binder fingers
secured to rearwardly extended fingers of a stop-motion or binder-shaft having
suitable bearings in the swords of the lay just below the lay beam, the said shaft
having an outwardly extended finger or dagger, which, when a shuttle fails to be
properly boxed, drops, and through usual devices, effects the release of the shipper-
handle, causing the said shipper-handle to actuate a shipper-lever connected with a
hub mounted to slide upon a pin or stud and shift the belt through a belt-controlling
fork.
These detached parts of the loom may be such as are common to other well-
known looms for weaving plain or common cloth, and in practice a loom
containing the invention may have any usual or suitable take-up or let-off
mechanism and any usual harness or shed-forming mechanism; the picking
mechanism, of whatever form used will act on the shuttle to throw it across
the race-way from one to the other shuttle-box and through the shed, as usual
in weaving.
I will now describe my improvements as having been added to one well-known
form of loom, but which are equally applicable to other forms of looms.
The breast beam, near one side of the loom, say the left hand side, has erected
upon it a hopper or guide prolonged at its lower end with a stand connected to the
loom, say the breast beam."
The acting part of this hopper or guide forms a race-way for the reception of
and to guide and direct the heads of the bobbins or spindles containing the
filling, which bobbins or spindles are to be automatically pushed into a shuttle,
the said bobbins or spindles, impelled by gravity, rolling or sliding down to
the lower end of the hopper or guide, the endmost bobbin or spindle being
stopped in position below a pusher, acting from time to time, upon failure of the
weft or filling, to push the endmost bobbin or spindle directly into the shuttle
in the shuttle-box then below it discharging the spent bobbin or spindle from the
shuttle.
The hopper or guide, has two plates applied to it by suitable screws and the
lower end of the plate is shaped so as to support the head ends of the series of
bobbins therein.
The guide or hopper, has two rods extended laterally therefrom, to the ends of
which is fastened a guide-plate said plate having suitable lips or projections to
support the tip of the blade of the bobbin or spindle.
The stand referred to has a stud upon which is mounted loosely a bobbin-stop
or rest composed of a sleeve having at its rear side a projection, the said rear side
being shaped to receive against it the side of the endmost bobbin in the hopper or
guide while the tip of the bobbin or spindle may rest on a projection, the stop or
est being normally retained by means of, a suitable spring the extent of movement
of the said stop under the action of the said spring being limited by a projection

page_text: forming part of the stop, which meets an ear connected to or forming preferably a
part of the stand.
The stop is mounted upon a stud extended from the stand the spring referred to
is interposed between the said stud and the hollow sleeve of the stop.
The stand also contains a stud upon which is mounted to oscillate the hub
of the pusher which is normally held by a suitable spring one end of the spring say
of spiral form, being connected with a lug of the pusher, the outer end being
connected to a suitable stud or staple forming part of the stand.
A depending arm of the pusher has pivoted upon it a tripping device as an elbow
shaped lever notched at its upper end and adapted to be engaged, when the tripping
derice is in certain positions, by a lip or projection attached to or carried by the
lay and projecting from the front side thereof.
The tripping device is not engaged by the lip or projection except during that
forward beat of the lay when the shuttle is to be supplied with filling.
Normally the trip is acted upon by one end of a spiral spring which surrounds the
pivot. Or a weight may supersede a spring.
During the operation of weaving and of inserting filling into the shuttle the
said supporting plate, it in practice covering the top of the shuttle-box when the
lay is in its forward position, prevents the filling, in the rapid motions of the loom,
from being caught by the picker, or from becoming entangled with any moving
part of the loom.
That end of the lay containing the shuttle-box in which the shuttle is confined
when the filling is changed, is slotted not only for the picker to move therein, but
the slot is enlarged at one end so as to make a shuttle-box with an open bottom, the
slot being large enough to enable a bobbin or spindle pushed out through the
under side of the shuttle, to pass out through the shuttle-box at that end of
the lay into a suitable receptacle.
The lay, at its front side near the shuttle-box, may be cut away or shaped so as
to leave an inclined or cam projection, the lay near the outer end of the cut-away
part being provided with a finger and with a metal or other strap extended along
the lay for a distance substantially equal to the length of the slot in which the
picker stick works, the said strap practically forming one side of the guide-way in
which the picker works, and being sufficiently separated from that part of the lay
constituting the other side of the slot in which the picker stick works to correctly
guide the picker stick and prevent it from wabbling.
The incline is so located as to be struck, by the head of the bobbin or spindle as
the latter is ejected through the bottom of the shuttle-box, while the finger is: so
located as to be struck by the point or blade end of the bobbin as it falls, and
owing to the greater weight of the head of the bobbin or spindle, the said head, as
the point of the bobbin is somewhat arrested by the finger, is made to go
foremost into the receptacle, the incline also diverting the head of the bobbin
laterally as it falls, so that the bobbin will not be struck by the picker stick.
Should the shuttle when thrown home into the shuttle-box strike the picker
so as to rebound, so that the shuttle should vary considerably as to its position
longitudinally with relation to the hopper and the pusher when the shuttle is
to receive filling, then the bobbin or spindle might not be properly entered into the
shuttle.
To overcome this difficulty I have devised a shuttle-positioning mechanism
acting to place the shuttle in approximately the saine position longitudinally with
relation to the pusher, whenever the shuttle is to be supplied with filling; but in
many instances the positioning device is unnecessary.
To the front side of the lay near the mouth of the receiving shuttle-box, or the
shuttle-box containing the shuttle when to be supplied with filling, I have attached
a stand having suitable bearings for the reception of the shank of the shuttle-
positioning device and this is acted upon by a suitable spiral or other spring, which
normally keeps the said positioning device in position.

page_text: The shank has connected to it at its lower end the hub of a finger having
suitable ears between or on which is mounted a roller.
The stand has a depending bracket having a stud on which is mounted a
roller.
My invention admits of the loom frame having attached to its inner side under
the breast beam, suitable bearings for a short trip-shaft provided with a finger
attached thereto in suitable manner, the finger being so located with relation to the
weft-fork or filling-feeler, its slide, and the lever, that when the latter is moved by
the said filling-feeler slide, in its travel toward the front of the loom, the lower
end of the said lever, or a projection thereof, will act upon the said finger and
partially turn the said trip-shaft.
This trip-shaft, near the opposite or left hand side of the loom, has attached to
it by a suitable set-screw, an arm, and the said shaft near its end outside the loom
frame has attached to it a trip-finger.
The arm has a weight sufficiently heavy to turn and keep the shaft in its normal
or inoperative position, the said weight, at such time resting against an adjustable
stop connected by a suitable set-screw to a part of the upright which receives the
journals of the usual take-up or sand roll.
Owing to the rapid movement of the lay and the brief space of time that the
shuttle rests in the box after being thrown by the picker stick, the difficulty
of inserting filling into the shuttle becomes so great that every aid in such direction
is of high importance.
I have utilized three important conditions, first, the heads of the bobbins or
spindles are made cylindrical, or substantially so, in order that they may roll into
place; second, by inserting the bobbin or spindle into the shuttle while the lay is
moving forward, such forward movement materially aids in rotating the bobbin in
a proper direction to enter the shuttle; and third, by inserting the bobbin or
spindle while the lay is at the slowest period of its movement.
The bobbins have their heads provided with one, or more, it may be, annular
rings or projections with adjacent spaces.
A modified form of filling or weft-carrier instead of being made of wood, is a
spindle having a metal blade inserted into a cylindrical head, the said head having
one or more projections.
3:
By the term "blade as herein employed, I mean that part of the hobbin or
spindle by which the weft or filling is carried; and by the term "bobbin or
spindle," I mean any ordinary or usual form of bobbin or spindle, which may be
handled as described.
The hopper or guide may contain any desired number of bobbins or spindles.
The shuttle has a holder composed of jaws the inner faces of which are notched
or corrugated to receive between them and hold securely the head of a bobbin or
spindle, a projection of the said head entering or engaging notches in the jaws, or
vice-cersu, said jaws yielding to a limited extent when the head of the bobbin is
pressed between them.
These jaws, secured in one end of the shuttle chamber, hold the head of the
bobbin or spindle placed between them by the pusher, in substantially central
position in the shuttle, and when the spent bobbin or spindle in the shuttle is to be
ejected therefrom, it is discharged from the holder or jaws through the lower side
thereof and through the shuttle at the side thereon opposite that at which the
bobbin entered both the holder and the shuttle.
The shapes of the projections or spaces of either the bobbin heads or the jaws of
the holder may be varied without departing from a prominent feature of this
invention which is that the holder shall so engage the bobbin or spindle as to
prevent longitudinal motion thereof in the shuttle, yet permit the bobbin or spindle
to be put in place between the holders at one side of the shuttle, and to be
discharged from between the said holders at another or opposite side of the
shuttle.

page_text: The shuttle referred to, is slotted from a point just beyond the end of the bobbin
to the usual delivery eye in the side wall of the shuttle, to thus leave a slot which
may be denominated a self-threading slot, into which the filling thread from the
bobbin may be laid laterally, thus avoiding inserting the end of the filling through
an eye, or sucking the filling through a hole, as in ordinary shuttles.
One very important feature of the invention herein contained is the employment
in the shuttle box of the loom of what is known as a self-threading shuttle, so that
when the bobbin, spindle, or other filling-carrier is inserted automatically into the
shuttle from the hopper, the weft or filling thread will, by the motion of the loom,
be drawn or laid into the delivery eye of the shuttle, ready to be correctly
delivered from the said bobbin through the delivery eye of the shuttle into the
shed, as in ordinary weaving.
The self-threading shuttle has a longitudinal slot located substantially in line
with the delivery end of the cop, bobbin or spindle and with the tip of the shuttle,
and the wood or body of the shuttle is cut away at one side said slot and the
shuttle has fixed to it a plate forming a horn, the said plate being secured to the
shuttle wood by suitable rivets or screws.
This plate or horn has a point which intersects or forms one side of the slot or is
so shaped as to present a point under which the filling thread will pass when the
said thread is laid in the slot.
This plate has secured to it a spirally-turned finger to form an open slotted eye
to constitute the delivery eye of the shuttle, the object being to leave said eye
open in suitable manner to perinit the lateral introduction of the weft thread into
it; but, as stated, it is not intended to limit this invention to that particular
construction of the self-threading shuttle, as instead of the particular form of
slot and eye I may use any other suitable form of self-threading slot and eye.
In practice the end of the filling from each bobbin or spindle in the hopper
will be led therefrom and secured to a stud or holder and such end will be held
by the said stud when the bobbin or spindle is pushed into the shuttle, and
during the first crossing of the shuttle the said filling will be drawn automatically
into the slot and will get under the point of the plate or horn, and at the second
crossing of the shuttle the filling will pass below the horn down toward its base
and will enter the open delivery eye and thereafter the filling will be delivered
from the said eye and be laid into the shed as long as the particular cop, bobbin,
or spindle continues to supply weft.
In operation, let it be assumed that the hopper has been filled with a series
of bobbins or spindles containing weft, and that the lowermost bobbin or spiñdle
of the series is supported as already described.
Now, so long as the loom works properly and the filling is being correctly laid
in the shed, the pusher remains in the said position and so does the tripping
device, and the trip-shaft and its attached parts, and the shuttle-positioning device
stand.
Should the filling however fail, for any reason, either because the same is
exhausted from the bobbin or spindle, or becomes accidentally broken, the filling-
feeler, which in practice is tipped by the presence of the filling in the shed, is not
tipped, and as the hammer moves it engages the lip at the end of the shank of the
filling-feeler and pushes the slide toward the front of the loom, turning the lever
and causing it to act upon the finger and turn the trip-shaft so that the bunter if
used is lifted and put in such position that, as the lay continues to move forward,
the roller carried by the collar at the lower end of the shaft will strike against it.
As the shaft is turned, the finger is also lifted or turned up in the direction of
the arrow near it so that it acts upon the tripping device and puts it into position
so that both bunter and finger are lifted.
Now as the lay continues its forward movement after the trip-shaft has been
turned to lift the bunter and finger, the roll by acting against the bunter causes the
shaft to be oscillated, and the shuttle-positioning device to sweep across the race-
way of the lay thus causing the said positioning device to act upon the inner end

page_text: of the shuttle and push it back into the shuttle-box in case the shuttle should have
rebounded or should be out of position longitudinally in the shuttle-box with
relation to the pusher.
During the time that the lay is being moved forward, after a fault in the filling,
and as soon as the shuttle-positioning device has acted, the projection carried by
the lay, engages the upper end of the tripping device, preferably by entering the
notch therein, and causes the pivot connecting the tripping device with the short
arm of the pusher to travel backwardly such movement of the pusher causing its
acting end lying above a bobbin to travel the pusher during such movement acting
upon the bobbin or spindle and pushing it from the delivery end of the hopper
directly into the open under side of the shuttle and into whatever holder with
which the shuttle is provided for the retention of the bobbin until spent or
exhausted.
As the pusher depresses a bobbin or spindle under it, the rest turns about its
pivotal point or stud by the pressure of the bobbin upon it, the rest however
assuming its normal. position quickly through the spring as soon as the bobbin
passes below it on its way into the shuttle.
While the pusher acts to place the eudmost bobbin or spindle in the hopper,
into the shuttle in the shuttle-box, it also acts as a stop, for the bobbin next back
of the one then being removed from the hopper.
The bobbin pushed from the hopper strikes against the bobbin then in the shuttle
in the shuttle-box and held by the holder within the shuttle, and pushes the spent
bobbin or spindle out from the holder and through the under side of the shuttle
and through a discharge passage in the shuttle-box of the lay, and into a suitable
receptacle.
On its way through the slot in the bottom of the shuttle-box, the head of the
bobbin or spindle strikes the incline while the blade of the bobbin strikes the finger,
the said incline and finger assisting in the quick discharge of the spent bobbin or
spindle.
After a bobbin or spindle has been pushed from the hopper into the shuttle, and
the spent bobbin previously in the shuttle has been pushed out through the open
lower side of the shuttle by the incoming bobbin, the lay commences to move
backwardly, and in going back the spring, by its action upon the pusher, keeps the
notched or upper end of the tripping device in engagement with the projection
carried by the lay, until the pusher arrives into substantially its normal position by
which time the said projection leaves the tripping device so that it may be turned
by the spring into its normal position.
As soon as the projection carried by the lay strikes the tripping device to actuate
the pusher; as described, the lower end of the tripping device is moved away from
the finger and the finger thereafter remains in its elevated position, until, in the
backward movement of the lay, the bunter has been drawn away from and retires
from the roll at the lower end of the shuttle-positioning device, at which time the
weighted part attached to the shaft acts to turn the said shaft and let the said
bunter and the finger drop into their normal positions, where they will remain
until the said rock-shaft is again moved or turned in the opposite direction by or
through the weft-fork or the filling stop motion device used.
When using the term bobbin, I mean to include all kinds of bobbins, spindles,
tubes, and other device or carrier upon which filling yarn may be spun or held,
and off from which the filling is unwound during the movement of the shuttle in
weaving.
The bobbin is provided with two annular projections or rings adapted to enter
grooves or notches made in the inner or acting faces of the holder located within
the shuttle at one end of the bobbin-receiving space, the said holder represented as
arms or jaws having suitable grooves to engage the said projections, the projections
and grooves enabling the bobbin to be held horizontally in the space in the shuttle,
the inner faces of the holder being preferably concaved to fit the convexed head of
the bobbin and hold the same centrally in the shuttle.

page_text: The upper and lower sides of the shuttle are open so that the bobbin may come
into the shuttle from one side and may be pushed from the shuttle through the other
side, the bobbin ejected from the shuttle passing through the opening, of proper
size to receive it in the shuttle-box.
The bobbin referred to constitutes a filling carrier, and has a spindle having a
metal blade or body having an enlarged head provided with projections engaged by
the holder referred to.
The metal blade or spindle is adapted to receive upon it a paper or other cop-
tubo provided with filling
Dated 1504 ,
1001
The metal blade or spindle is adapted to receive upon it a paper or other cop-
tube provided with fillim
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Looms for Weaving.
A communication by WILLIAM FRANKLIN DRAPER, of Hopedale, County of
Worcester, in the State of Massachusetts, one of the United States of
America, Manufacturer of Machinery.
I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of 55 & 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex, Chartered Patent Agent do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object the production of apparatus to be incorporated
with or added to a loom, whereby, when the filling being unwound from a bobbin,
spindle, or other filling-carrier breaks or becomes exhausted from the shuttle,
another bobbin, spindle, or filling-carrier will be automatically supplied thereto
without any intermission or stopping of the loom, the construction of the parts
being such that the introduction of the filling may be effected even while the loom
is running at high speed.
In the best form in which I have practically embodied my invention, a bobbin or
spindle carrying filling is automatically inserted into a shuttle then in the shuttle-
box of the loom, the shuttle being the one from which filling has just been exhausted,
or which has been rendered inoperative by the filling breaking.
As herein provided for, the bobbin or spindle, which may be of any construction,
is taken from a hopper or guide suitably shaped to receive and guide or support
one, or more bobbins or spindles, the said bobbins or spindles being pushed one
by one directly from the said hopper into the shuttle in the shuttle box.
The shuttle is open at two sides, preferably its upper and under sides, and is
provided, preferably at one end of its chamber, with a suitable holder or holding
devices adapted to receive the head of the bobbin or spindle containing the filling
and to hold the said bobbin or spindle in substantially horizontal position in the
shuttle while the filling is being drawn or woven off, but when the filling is broken
or exhausted the said bobbin or spindle is ejected from that open side of the shuttle
opposite that through which it entered the shuttle, and is made to pass on and be
discharged from the loom through a slot in the shuttle-box of the lay.
The shuttle referred to is so constructed and its delivery and other eyes are so
slotted or left open that the thread of yarn upon the bobbin or spindle after the
latter has been inserted in the shuttle will be automatically threaded into the said
delivery eye or device of the shuttle during the movement of the shuttle.
When a bobbin or spindle is to be automatically inserted into a shuttle in a
shuttle-box, the shuttle must occupy approximately a predetermined position in the
box, so that the pusher may push or introduce the bobbin or spindle into one open
side of the shuttle and into the holder therein; and to effect this with certainty I
have, in this embodiment of my invention, combined with the pusher which acts to
push the bobbin or spindle into. the shuttle, a shuttle positioning device which acts
B

page_text: on the inner end of the shuttle and puts the same into the proper position in the
shuttle-box to receive a bobbin or spindle, the said positioning device effectually
preventing any improper position of the shuttle due to rebounding in the shuttle-
box after striking the picker.
The shuttle-positioning device herein employed is under the control of the
filling-feeler, so that it is actuated to strike against the shuttle tip only when the
shuttle is about to be supplied with filling, and with the said positioning device I
have combined a finger which holds it locked in place against the tip of the shuttle
during that part of the beat of the lay in which the filling is supplied to the shuttle.
I have so constructed and timed the operative parts that the bobbin or spindle is
supplied to the shuttle during the forward movement of the lay toward the breast.
beam and at a time when the lay is travelling at about its slowest speed, it being
understood that the lay in its forward movement starts quickly and travels more
slowly to the end of its forward stroke, and that the lay upon its backward stroke:
starts slowly and gradually moves more rapidly toward its back stroke.
The head of the bobbin or spindle being cylindrical or nearly so in form, it
becomes possible to easily transfer it from a stationary hopper into a shuttle carried
by the swinging lay, for such a bobbin under pressure will roll into place in the
shuttle.
The head of the bobbin or spindle might be many-sided instead of cylindrical and
yet act in the same way, although a circular shape lessens the possibilities of the
bobbin or spindle catching or being impeded in its movements.
I therefore deem as equivalent to a cylindrical head any many-sided form of
head which will roll into the shuttle.
For the best results, the hopper from which the bobbins or spindles are taken will
have at one side a slotted channel or guide way adapted to receive within it and
embrace the heads of the bobbins or spindles.
The outer ends of the bobbins or spindles will preferably rest on a narrow lip
or flange, which latter aids in supporting the bobbins or spindles in proper position.
As herein provided for, both the shuttle-positioning device and the pusher are
operated by fingers mounted upon or connected with a rock-shaft supported at or
near the breast beam of the loom, the said rock-shaft being moved by the weft fork
or filling-feeler slide, and a suitable intermediate arm or finger, whenever the filling
thread breaks or runs out, said movement taking place during a movement of the
said slide consequent upon the breaking or running out of the filling.
I shall show my invention as applied to a loon of one well-known construction,
but it will be understood that my invention may be applied to any other form of
loom with equal effect, and in adapting my invention to looms of other forms the
shape of some of the parts will have to be varied to conform to that particular loom,
and to the particular part of the said loom from which it is desired to take motion
for actuating the parts of my invention, so this invention is not to be limited to the
particular means shown for actuating the different parts of my invention at the
proper time, as such means may vary very considerably in different looms, and a
loom in which my invention is used may contain any form of shed-forming or harness
mechanism, any form of picking mechanism with arms or sticks either above or
below, and the shuttle be struck by any sort of a picker, and the loom may have
any form of take-up or let-off and any form of filling or weft-feeler, and any sort of
reed and of mechanism for moving the lay.
In the form in which my invention is herein embodied, I have timed the movement
of the pusher from the weft-fork or filling-feeler, employing for such purpose one
form of connecting device, but this invention is not to be limited to the particular
shape or number of parts comprising said devices.
The endmost bobbin or spindle in the hopper or guide is supported by a movable
stop which yields as the pusher acting on the bobbin or spindle, takes it from the
hopper or guide.
I prefer to insert the bobbin or spindle into the shuttle while the lay is on its
forward stroke and while its movement is the slowest.

page_text: The bobbin or spindle used will have. its head provided preferably with one or
niore annular projections or spaces to co-operate with corresponding surfaces of the
holder in the shuttle.
It is not intended to limit this invention to the particular shape of the projections
or spaces of either the bobbin heads or the jaws of the holder, the gist of this
invention being that the holder shall so engage the bobbin or spindle as to prevent
longitudinal motion thereof in the shuttle, yet permitting the bobbin or spindle to
be put in place between the holders at one side of the shuttle, and to be discharged
from between the said holders at another or opposite side of the shuttle.
The ends of the thread or yarn on the bobbin or spindle in the hopper or guide
are attached to a stud or holder suitably placed, so that when the bobbin or spindle
is pushed from the hopper into the shuttle in motion with the lay, the said thread
will be held outside the shuttle while the bobbin or spindle goes into the shuttle and
while the shuttle is being shot into the shed.
One very important feature of the invention herein contained is the employment
in the shuttle-box of the loom of what is known as a self-threading shuttle, so that
when the bobbin, spindle, or other filling carrier is inserted automatically into the
shuttle from the hopper, the weft or filling thread will be automatically drawn or
laid into the delivery eye of the shuttle, ready to be correctly delivered from the said
bobbin through the delivery eye of the shuttle into the shed, as in ordinary weaving.
Prior to my invention I am not aware that any one has ever in any way supplied
filling automatically to a shuttle in a shuttle-box of a loom and threaded the shuttle
automatically; and therefore the invention herein contained is intended to be broad
and generic as to the means called into play to accomplish the purpose set forth.
It is not intended to limit this invention to the particular construction of the
self-threading shuttle herein represented, and I may use any other suitable form of
self-threading shuttle-eye.
Prior to my invention I am not aware that a shuttle open at two sides, for the
entrance of a bobbin or spindle into it at one side and its discharge from the other
side, has ever been provided with a holder for the reception and retention of a
bobbin or spindle; nor has such a shuttle, or in fact any shuttle, ever been auto-
matically threaded in a shuttle-box.
One part of my invention therefore consists in a loom containing the following
instrumentalities, iz: a shuttle: a bobbin-holding hopper; and a device actuated
upon the failure of the weft thread to deliver a bobbin from the hopper into position
in the shuttle substantially as will be described.
Also in a loom containing the following instrumentalities, riz.: a hopper to
receive and guide a bobbin or spindle; a lay having a shuttle-box; a shuttle
therein having holding devices to receive and hold a bobbin; and a pusher to push
a bobbin or spindle from the hopper into position in the shuttle, substantially as
will be described.
Also in a hopper to contain and guide a bobbin or spindle having a substantially
circular head; a lay having a shuttle-box carrying a shuttle; and a pusher to push
a bobbin or spindle from the said hopper into the said shuttle, substantially as will
be described.
Also in a lay its shuttle box; and a self-threading shuttle, combined with a
pusher to push a bobbin into the said shuttle, substantially as will be described.
Also in a loom containing the following instrumentalities, cis.: a lay a shuttle-
box a bobbin or device carrying filling a stud or holder for the end of the filling
contained upon the said bobbin or device; and a shuttle having a self-threading or
slotted eye, whereby the said eye may be automatically threaded as the shuttle is
being thrown, substantially as will be described.
:
Also in a loom containing the following instrumentalities, viz.: a shuttle; a
bobbin holding hopper: a device actuated upon the failure of the weft thread, to
deliver a bobbin from the hopper into position in the shuttle; and a device for
positioning the shuttle with reference to the hopper to ensure the correct reception
of the bobbin into the shuttle substantially as will be described.

page_text: Also in a loom containing the following instrumentalities, viz.: a lay having a
shuttle box; a shuttle in the said shuttle-box; a hopper or guide containing
filling a pusher to push the filling from the hopper into the shuttle; a trip
connected to the pusher; a bunter on the lay to hit the trip; a weft-feeler; and
devices actuated thereby to move the said trip into position for co-action with the
bunter when the pusher is to be actuated, substantially as will be described.
Also in a loom shuttle having a holder adapted to receive a bobbin, spindle, or
weft-carrier coming, into the shuttle from one side and to hold the said bobbin,
spindle, or weft-carrier in position therein, and to thereafter permit the said bobbin,
spindle, or weft-carrier to be discharged from the said holder through the other
open side of the shuttle, substantially as will be described.
Also in a spindle for use in looni shuttles, the same consisting of a metal blade
and a head provided with an annular projection or groove adapted to be engaged by
a holder carried by the shuttle, substantially as will be described.
a
Also in a loom containing the following instrumentalities, ciz: a lay having
shuttle-box; a self-threading shuttle therein having a holding device to receive
and hold a bobbin or filling carrier from which the filling is unwound during the
movement of the shuttle; and a pusher to push the said bobbin or filling
carrier supported outside the shuttle into position in the said shuttle, substantially
as will be described.
Also in a shuttle so constructed and slotted that it may be threaded auto-
matically while in motion in weaving in a loom substantially as will be described.
Also in a filling bobbin having external rings adapted to be grasped by a holder
in a loom shuttle, substantially as will be described.
Also in a loom shuttle provided with bobbin-holding jaws and open for the
entrance of a bobbin or spindle at one side and its exit from the opposite side,
substantially as will be described.
Fig. 1 is a partial front elevation of a loom containing my improvements, the
devices for inserting the bobbin spindle, or filling carrier, into the shuttle in the
shuttle-box, being represented as located at the left hand end of the loom,
the loom frame and other parts being broken away in places to save space upon the
drawing.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of the loom shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a sectional detail in the line, Fig. 2, looking to the left, the shuttle-
positioning device being represented in elevation.
Fig. 4 represents two details of the shuttle-positioning device in different
. positions.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line, Fig. 4.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 represent sectional details of the shuttle-positioning.device, the
sections being taken in lines a², ³, and ', Fig. 5.
Fig. 9 is a right hand end elevation of the loom shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 9, a detail showing the weft-fork or filling feeler and its slide in
longitudinal section.
Fig. 10, a left hand end elevation of the loom.
Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail of the pusher and hopper or guide together with a
part of the breast beam, the pusher being shown in its normal elevated position,
the lay being substantially in its backward position.
Fig. 12 is a top or plan view of the devices shown in Fig. 11.
Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 11, but with the tripping device put into position
by the filling stop-motion preparatory to the advance of the lay, during which
advance the pusher is to be moved to push filling into the shuttle.
Fig. 14 is a top or plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 13.
Fig. 15 is yet another view of the parts shown in Fig. 11, but in a different
position, the pusher having acted to push filling into the shuttle.
Fig. 16, a top or plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 15.
Fig. 17 is a detail sliowing the inner side of the plate which supports the outer
end of the bobbin or spindle used.

page_text: Fig. 19 an end view thereof.
Figs. 20 and 21 show a modified form of bobbin.
Fig. 21 shows a different form of filling-carrier, it being made as a spindle to
contain a cop of yarn.
Fig. 22 is a top view of one form of self-threading shuttle containing a bobbin.
Fig. 23, a partial front side elevation of the said shuttle, enlarged to show part
of the self threading delivery eye.
Fig. 24, a section of the line, Fig. 22, to show part of the slotted self threading
eye.
Fig. 25 is a detail showing the front of that end of the lay having the shuttle box
in which the shuttle is contained when the filling is being changed therein.
Fig. 26 is a left hand end view of the lay and shuttle-box shown in Fig. 25.
Fig. 27, a sectional detail in the line a, Fig. 25.
Fig. 28, a sectional detail in the line, Fig. 25.
Fig. 29 is a plan view of the shuttle-box shown in Fig. 25.
Figs. 30 and 31, enlarged, show the main part of the hopper or guide in face
view and longitudinal section.
Fig. 32 is a cross section of the hopper in the line, Fig. 30,
Fig. 33 is a detail of the stop at the lower end of the hopper or guide, the hollow
sleeve-like part of the stop being broken out to show its actuating spring and the
stud supporting it.
Fig. 34 is a top or plan view of the stop referred to.
Fig. 35, a view of the same looking from the right in Fig. 34.
Fig. 36 is a detail showing the lower end of the shuttle-box, together with the
plate B, the plate B18, and the holder 13" and two bobbins having their threads
tied to the holder, and
Figs. 37 to 40 inclusive represent enlarged details of the shuttle and its self-
threading eyes, Fig. 39 being a section of Fig. 37 in the dotted line, Fig. 38
showing the plate or horn removed, and Fig. 40 showing the thread-eye 6
detached.
Referring to drawings, A. represents the loom frame, A' the crank shaft, A' the
lay connecting-rods, A³ the lay, A the fast pulley on the crank-shaft, A³ the loose
pulley at the side of it, A the brake wheel, A' a toothed gear on the crank shaft,
and A a toothed gear on the lower or picker-shaft A'.
The shaft A has picking cams A which act upon rollers mounted upon arms of
the picking-shaft A, the latter having usual arms connected in usual manner by
straps A to the usual picker sticks A mounted preferably in suitable rockers
as A 18
The shaft A has a cam A" which acts upon a lever A18 having at its upper end
the usual haminer A which acts upon the down turned end A", see Fig. 94 of the
weft-fork or filling feeler A, represented as pivoted at A2 upon the weft-fork or
filling-feeler slide A3 mounted in a suitable stand A" screwed to the top of the
breast beam.
The rear end of the slide A carrying the weft-fork or filling-fecler is shaped to
receive the down-turned upper end of a lever A.
The outward movement of the picker carried by the picker staff may be checked
by a strap N attached in usual manner to the rear side of the lay, carried around
the end of the slot in the lay in which the picker stick works, the free end of the
straps at opposite ends of the lay being united in usual manner by a cross strap N',
but partially shown.
Each shuttle-box has a pivoted binder e³ (Figs. 25 and 26) which is acted upon
by binder fingers e² secured to rearwardly extended fingers el of a stop-motion or
binder-shafte having suitable bearings in the swords of the lay just below the
lay beam, the said shaft e having an outwardly extended finger or dagger e³,
which when a shuttle fails to be properly boxed, drops, and, through usual devices
effects the release of the shipper-handle H from its usual holding notch in the plate

page_text: at the end of the lay, causing the said shipper-handle to actuate a shipper-lever H
connected with a hub H2 mounted to slide upon a pin or stud H and through a
belt-controlling fork H³, to move the usual driving belt, not shown, from the fast to
the loose pulley in usual manner.
The devices so far referred to by letter are common to other well-known looms
for weaving plain or common cloth, and in practice a loom containing the invention
to be herein described will and may have any usual or suitable take-up or let-off
mechanism any usual harness or shed-forming mechanism; but as such devices are
old and common I have not deemed it necessary to herein illustrate the same or
broadly describe them more than to say that they may be of any usual form or
character and that the picking mechanism of whatever form used, will act on the
shuttle to throw it across the race-way from one to the other shuttle-box and
through the shed, all as usual in weaving.
I will now describe my improvements which have been added to one well known
form of loom, but which are equally applicable to other forms of looms.
The breast beam, near one side of the loom, herein shown as the left hand side,
has erected upon it a hopper or guide B Fig. 10 the shape of which is best shown
in Figs. 1 and 10, and 30 to 32.
The hopper or guide proper is represented as prolonged at its lower end, with a
stand B Figs. 11 and 12 which will be connected to some part of the loom, as for
instance say the breast beam by a suitable bolt B¹.
The acting part of this hopper or guide is shaped, as best shown in Fig. 32, to
form a race-way for the reception of and to guide and direct the heads of the
bobbins or spindles containing the filling, which bobbins or spindles are to be
automatically pushed into a shuttle, the said bobbins or spindles, impelled by
gravity, rolling or sliding down to the lower end of the hopper or guide, as in
Figs. 11 and 13, the endmost bobbin or spindle being stopped in position below a
pusher, B to be described, the pusher acting from time to time, upon failure of
the weft or filling, to push the endmost bobbin or spindle directly into the shuttle
in the shuttle-box then below it, discharging the spent bobbin or spindle from the
shuttle, as will be described.
The hopper or guide, as represented, has two plates B2 B3 applied to it by suitable
screws B and the lower end of the plate is shaped so as to support the head-ends
of the series of bobbins therein.
The guide or hopper, as best shown in Fig. 2, has two rods B³ extended laterally
therefrom, to the ends of which is fastened a guide-plate B6, shown separately in
Fig. 17, said plate having suitable lips or projections to support the tip of the blade
of the bobbin or spindle of whatever form employed to carry the filling.
The stand B referred to has a stud. B', see Figs. 11 and 34 upon which is
mounted loosely a bobbin-stop or rest 130 composed, as represented, of a sleeve
having at its rear side a projection 133, the said rear side being shaped to receive
against it the side of the endmost bobbin in the hopper or guide, while the tip of
the bobbin or spindle may rest on a projection B12, the stop or rest being normally
retained in the position shown in Fig. 11 by means of a suitable spring ², repre-
sented as a spiral spring, see Fig. 33, the extent of movement of the said stop
under the action of the said spring being limited by a projection 6 forming part
of the stop, which meets an car 6* connected to or forming preferably a part of the
stand B*.
The stop B is mounted upon a stud B extended from the stand B*, the spring
referred to being shown in Fig. 33 as interposed between the said stud, and the
hollow sleeve of the stop.
The stand B also contains a stud B', upon which is mounted to oscillate the hub
of the pusher B, the shape of which is best shown in Figs. 11, 13 and 15, the
pusher being normally held in the position Fig. 11 by a suitable spring B, the
said spring being shown in Figs. 2, 19, and 11, one end of the spring, shown as of
spiral form, being connected with a lug of the pusher, the other end being
connected to a suitable stud or staple forming part of the stand B*.

page_text: A depending arm of the pusher has pivoted upon it at C a tripping device C¹,
herein shown as an elbow-shaped lever notched at its upper end and adapted to be
engaged, when the tripping device is in certain positions, by a lip or projection C²
attached to or carried by the lay and projecting from the front side thereof.
The tripping device is not engaged by the lip or projection except during that
forward beat of the lay when the shuttle is to be supplied with filling.
Normally the trip C₁ is acted upon by one end of a spiral spring C which
surrounds the pivot C, the other end of a spiral spring being connected to a suitable
stud on an arm of the pusher, so that the spring normally keeps the tripping device
in the position shown in Fig. 11.
Instead however of this spring, I may employ a weight as shown by dotted
lines in Figs. 10 and 11 attached to or forming part of the trip.
The plate B has attached to it in suitable manner a plate 1318 seen in end view
in Fig. 36 which serves to support the filling or weft thread between the bobbins
or spindles b, in the hopper or guide, and a holder or stud B to which the outer
ends of the weft threads are attached.
During the operation of weaving and of inserting filling into the shuttle the
said supporting plate, it in practice covering the top of the shuttle-box when the
lay is in its forward position,prevents the filling, in the rapid motions of the loom,
from being caught by the picker, or from becoming entangled with any moving
part of the loom.
That end of the lay containing the shuttle-box in which the shuttle is confined
when the filling is changed, is slotted as at t, Fig. 29, not only for the picker to
move therein, but the slot is enlarged at one end so as to make a shuttle box with
an open bottom, the slot being large enough to enable a bobbin or spindle pushed
out through the under side of the shuttle, to pass out through the shuttle-box
at that end of the lay into a suitable receptacle D placed in proper position to
receive it.
In this instance of my invention the lay, at its front side near the shuttle box, is
cut away or shaped as best shown in Fig. 1 and in plan in Fig. 29 and in elevation
in Fig. 25 and in section in Figs. 27 and 28 so as to leave an inclined or cam
projection D', the lay near the outer end of the cut-away part being provided with
a finger D and with a metal or other strap D³ extended along the lay for a distance
substantially equal to the length of the slot in which the picker stick works, the
said strap practically forming one side of the guide-way in which the picker works,
and being sufficiently separated from that part of the lay constituting the other side
of the slot in which the picker stick works to correctly guide the picker stick and
prevent it from wabbling.
The incline D' is so located as to be struck by the head of the bobbin or spindle
as the latter is ejected through the bottom of the shuttle-box, while the finger D2
is so located as to be struck by the point or blade end of the bobbin as it falls, and,
owing to the greater weight of the head of the bobbin or spindle, the said head, as
the point of the bobbin is somewhat arrested by the finger, is made to go foremost
into the receptacle, the incline D' also diverting the head of the bobbin laterally as
it falls, so that the bobbin will not be struck by the picker stick.
Should the shuttle when thrown home into the shuttle box strike the picker
so as to rebound, so that the shuttle should vary considerably as to its position
longitudinally with relation to the hopper and the pusher when the shuttle is
to receive filling then the bobbin or spindle might not be properly entered into the
shuttle.
To overcome this difficulty I have devised a shuttle positioning mechanism
which I will now describe, it acting to place the shuttle in approximately the
same position longitudinally with relation to the pusher, whenever the shuttle
is to be supplied with filling but in many instances the positioning device is
unnecessary.
To the front side of the lay near the mouth of the receiving shuttle-box, or the
shuttle-box containing the shuttle which is to be supplied with filling, I have

page_text: attached a stand E having suitable bearings for the reception of the shank E' of
the shuttle-positioning device E, the shape of which is best shown in Figs. 2 and 4,
Figs. 5, 6, and 8, showing the same enlarged.
The shank of the shuttle-positionin device is acted upon by a suitable spiral or
other spring, as ³, which normally keeps the said positioning device in the position
shown in Figs. 11 and 3, and at the right in Fig. 4.
The free end of the shuttle positioning device is provided, see Figs. 5, 6,
and 8, with a recess to receive the tip of the shuttle and prevent bruising it.
The shank E has connected to it at its lower end the hub of a finger E', shown
in section in Fig. 5 and in plan view in Fig. 7, the said finger having suitable ears-
between or on which is mounted, as represented, a roller E³.
The stand E has a depending bracket w, see Fig. 25 having a stud on which is
mounted a roller w¹.
In the form in which my invention is herein shown the loom frame has attached
to its inner side under the breast beam, suitable bearings d for a short trip-shaft d
provided with a finger attached thereto in suitable manner, as by a set screw,
see Fig. 9, the finger being so located with relation to the weft-fork or filling-
feeler A, its slide, and the lever A, that when the latter is moved by the said
filling-feeler slide in its travel toward the front of the loom, the lower end of the
said lever, or a projection thereof, will act upon the said finger d² and partially
turn the said trip-shaft.
This trip-shaft, near the opposite or left hand side of the loom, has attached
to it by a suitable set-screw do see Fig. 12, an arm d', see Figs. 2, 3, 13, and 14,
and the said shaft near its end outside the loom frame has attached to it a trip-
finger . The arm has a weight
shaft in its normal or inoperative
Fig. 3, at such time resting against an
set screw to a part of the upright
take-up or sand roll; not herein shown.
When, however, the weft fails to be properly laid as will be described, and the
rock-shaft d' is turned through the filling fork far enough to cause the finger d'
to act on the trip Cand put it into position to be struck by the bunter C, the
arm d³ also connected to the shaft will be lifted and will be struck or acted
upon by the roller E thus causing the shaft E¹ to be rocked and throw the
positioning device E2 across the lay and so as to strike the shuttle tip, the said
arm continuing to act on the roll E and locking the positioning device in place
for that instant of time in which the bobbin, if the latter is to be changed in
the loom, occupies in its passage from the hopper into the shuttle then in the
shuttle box.
sufficiently heavy to turn and keep the
position, the said weight, see dotted lines
adjustable stop 12 connected by a suitable
which receives the journals of the usual
Owing to the rapid movement of the lay and the brief space of time that the
shuttle rests in the box after being thrown by the picker stick, the difficulty of
inserting filling into the shuttle becomes so great that every aid in such direction
is of high importance.
I have utilized three important conditions: first, the heads of the bobbins or
spindles are made cylindrical, or substantially so, in order that they may roll into
place second, by inserting the bobbin or spindle into the shuttle while the lay is
moving forward, such forward movement materially aids in rotating the bobbin in
a proper direction to enter the shuttle; and third, by inserting the bobbin or spindle
while the lay is at the slowest period of its movement.
The bobbins shown in Figs. 18 and 20, have their heads provided with one, or
more, it may be, annular rings or projections with adjacent spaces.
The modified form of filling or weft-carrier shown in Fig. 21ª, instead of being
made of wood, is shown as a spindle having a metal blade inserted into a
cylindrical head 60, the said head having one or more projections &', as described
and shown with relation to the wooden bobbins in Figs. 18 and 20.
By the term "blade" as herein employed, I mean that part of the bobbin or
spindle by which the weft. or filling is carried; and by the term bobbin or

page_text: 66
spindle," I mean to include as within the scope of my invention any ordinary
or usual form of bobbin or spindle, which may be handled as described.
It will be noticed that the hopper or guide B may contain any desired number
of bobbins or spindles, but herein to save space upon the drawings I have represented
but three bobbins in the hopper.
The shuttle shown in Fig. 22 has a holder shown as composed of jaws marked j, k,
the inner faces of which are notched or corrugated to receive between them and
hold securely the head of a bobbin or spindle, a projection of the said head entering
or engaging notches in the jaws, or rice-cersa, said jaws yielding to a limited extent
when the head of the bobbin is pressed between them.
These jaws, secured in one end of the shuttle chamber, hold the, head of the
bobbin or spindle placed between them by the pusher, in substantially central
position in the shuttle, and when the spent bobbin or spindle in the shuttle is to be
ejected therefrom, it is discharged from the holder or jaws through the lower side
thereof and through the shuttle at the side thereon opposite that at which the
bobbin entered both the holder and the shuttle.
It is not intended to limit this invention to the particular shape of the projections
or spaces of either the bobbin heads or the jaws of the holder, the gist of this
invention being that the holder shall so engage the bobbin or spindle as to prevent
longitudinal motion thereof in the shuttle, yet permit the bobbin or spindle to be
put in place between the holders at one side of the shuttle, and to be discharged
from between the said holders at another or opposite side of the shuttle.
The shuttle referred to, shown best in Figs. 22 to 24, is slotted from a point
just beyond the end of the bobbin to the usual delivery eye in the side wall of the
shuttle, to thus leave a slot which may be denominated a self threading slot into
which the filling thread from the bobbin may be laid laterally, thus avoiding
inserting the end of the filling through an eye, or sucking the filling through a hole,
as in ordinary shuttles.
One very important feature of the invention herein contained is the employment
in the shuttle-box of the loom of what is known as a self-threading shuttle, so that
when the bobbin, or spindle, or other filling-carrier is inserted automatically into
the shuttle from the hopper, the weft or filling thread will, by the motion of the
loom, be drawn or laid into the delivery eye of the shuttle, ready to be correctly
delivered from the said bobbin through the delivery eye of the shuttle into the
shed, as in ordinary weaving.
The self-threading shuttle S has a longitudinal slot 3 located substantially in
line with the delivery end of the cop, bobbin or spindle and with the tip of the
shuttle, see Fig. 22, and the wood or body of the shuttle is shown as cut away ac
one side said slot, as at 4, and the shuttle has fixed to it a plate S' forming a
horn, the said plate being secured to the shuttle wood, as shown, by suitable rivets
or screws 10
As represented this plate or horn S¹ has a point 7 which intersects or forms one
side of the slot 3, or is so shaped as to present a point 7, under which the filling
thread will pass when the said thread is laid in the slot 3.
This plate is also represented as having secured to it a spirally-turned finger to
form an open slotted eye to constitute the delivery eye of the shuttle, the object
being to leave said eye open in suitable manner to permit the lateral introduction
of the weft thread ³ into it; but, as stated, it is not intended to limit this inven-
tion to the particular construction of the self-threading shuttle herein represented,
as instead of the particular form of slot and eye shown I may use any other suitable
form of self-tlireading slot and eye.
Referring to Figs. 37 and 38, in Fig. 37 the plate or horn 'S' is represented as
enlarged with its curled eye 6, while in Fig. 39 is shown the eye 6* which lies in
the shuttle directly below the slot 3, it lying in line with the longitudinal center of
the spindle, cop or bobbin used in the shuttle and supplying the weft.
In practice the end of the filling ³ from each bobbin or spindle in the hopper
༩་

page_text: will be led therefrom and secured to a stud or holder B, as in Fig. 36 and such
end will be held by the said stud when the bobbin or spindle is pushed into the
shuttle, and during the first crossing of the shuttle the said filling will be drawn
automatically into the slot 3 and will get under the point 7 of the plate or horn,
and at the second crossing of the shuttle the filling will pass below the horn down,
toward its base and will enter the open delivery eye 6 and thereafter the filling
will be delivered from the said eye and be laid into the shed as long as the
particular cop, bobbin or spindle continues to supply weft.
In operation, let it be assumed that the hopper has been filled with a series of
bobbins or spindles containing weft, and that the lowermost bobbin or spindle of
the series is supported as represented in Fig. 11.
Now, so long as the loom works properly and the filling is being correctly laid
in the shed, the pusher B remains in the position shown in the said fig., and so
does the tripping device C and the trip-shaft and its attached parts, and the
shuttle-positioning device E' stand as in Fig. 12.
Should the filling however fail, for any reason, either because the same is
exhausted from the bobbin or spindle, or becomes accidentally broken, the filling-
feeler, which in practice is tipped by the presence of the filling in the shed, is not
tipped, and as the hammer A moves it engages the lip at the end of the shank of
the filling-feeler and pushes the slide A toward the front of the loom, turning the
lever A and causing it to act upon the finger d² and turn the trip shaft d' so that
the arm if used, is lifted and put in such position see full lines Figs. 2 and 3
that, as the lay continues to move forward, the roller E carried by the collar E*
at the lower end of the shaft E will strike against the said arm.
As the shaft dis turned, the finger is also lifted or turned up in the direction
of the arrow near it in Fig. 11, so that it acts upon the tripping device C¹ and puts
it into the position in Fig. 13, said fig. showing both the arm and the finger d
so lifted.
Now as the lay continues its forward movement after the trip shaft has been
turned to lift the arm and finger as described, the roll E by acting against the
arm d³, causes the shaft E' to be oscillated, and the shuttle-positioning device E
to sweep across the race-way of the lay from the position Fig. 12 into the position
Figs. 1 and 16, thus causing the said positioning device to act upon the inner end
of the shuttle and push it back into the shuttle-box as shewn in Fig. 1 in case the
shuttle should have rebounded or should be out of position longitudinally in the
shuttle-box with relation to the pusher.
During the time that the lay is being moved forward as described, after a fault
in the filling and as soon as the shuttle-positioning device has acted, the bunter or
projection C carried by the lay, see Fig. 13, engages the upper end of the tripping
device, preferably by entering the notch therein, and causes the pivot C connecting
the tripping device with the short arm of the pusher to travel backwardly into the
position Figs. 10 and 15, such movement of the pusher causing its acting end lying
above a bobbin to travel from the position Figs. 11 and 13, into the position
Figs. 10 and 15, the pusher during such movement acting upon the bobbin or
spindle and pushing it from the delivery end of the hopper directly into the open
side of the shuttle and into whatever holder with which the shuttle is provided for
the retention of the bobbin until spent or exhausted.
As the pusher depresses a bobbin or spindle under it, the rest B Fig. 34 turns
about its pivotal point or stud 137 by the pressure of the bobbin upon it, the rest
however assuming its normal position quickly through the spring as soon as the
bobbin passes below it on its way into the shuttle.
While the pusher acts to place the endmost bobbin or spindle in the hopper, into
.. the shuttle in the shuttle-box, it also acts as a stop, see Fig. 16, for the bobbin
next back of the one then being removed from the hopper.
The bobbin pushed from the hopper strikes against the bobbin then in the
shuttle in the shuttle-box.and held by the holder within the shuttle, and pushes
:

page_text: the spent bobbin or spindle out from the holder and through the under side of the
shuttle and through a discharge passage in the shuttle-box of the lay, and into a
suitable receptacle.
On its way through the slot in the bottom of the shuttle-box, the head of the
bobbin or spindle strikes the incline D', while the blade of the bobbin strikes the
finger D, the said incline and finger assisting in the quick discharge of the spent
bobbin or spindle.
After a bobbin or spindle has been pushed from the hopper into the shuttle, and
the spent bobbin previously in the shuttle has been pushed out through the open
lower side of the shuttle by the incoming bobbin, the lay commences to move
backwardly, and in going back the spring B, by its action upon the pusher, keeps
the notched or upper end of the tripping device in engagement with the projec-
tion carried by the lay until the pusher arrives into substantially its normal
position by which time the said projection leaves the tripping device so that it may
be turned by the spring C³ into its normal position.
As soon as the bunter or projection C2 carried by the lay strikes the tripping
device to actuate the pusher, as described, the lower end of the tripping device is
moved away from the finger d' and the finger thereafter remains in its elevated
position until, in the backward movement of the lay, the arm a³ has been drawn
away from and retires from the roll E at the lower end of the shuttle-positioning
device, at which time the weighted part 1 attached to the shaft d' acts to turn
the said shaft and let the said arm d³ and the finger drop into their normal
positions, where they will remain until the said rock-shaft d' is again moved or
turned in the opposite direction by or through the weft-fork or the filling stop
motion device used.
It will be understood that in my claims when using the term bobbin, I mean to
include all kinds of bobbins, spindles, tubes, and other device or carrier upon
which filling yarn may be spun or held, and off from which the filling is unwound
during the movement of the shuttle, in weaving.
I have described the loom herein shown as having a co-operating shuttle-
positioning device, but it will be understood that a loom containing either of the
devices herein claimed and not having a shuttle-positioning device would be within
the scope of my invention.
The bobbin shown in Figs. 18 and 20 is supposed to be of wood or other usual
material.
It is represented as provided with two annular projections or rings adapted to
enter grooves or notches made in the inner or acting faces of the holder located
within the shuttle at one end of the bobbin-receiving space, the said holder
represented as arms or jaws having suitable grooves to engage the said projections,
the projections and grooves enabling the bobbin to be held horizontally in the space
in the shuttle, the inner faces of the holder being preferably concaved to fit the
convex head of the bobbin and hold the same centrally in the shuttle.
Viewing Fig. 24, it will be noticed that the upper and lower sides of the shuttle
shown in section in that fig. are open so that the bobbin may come into the shuttle
from one side and may be pushed from the shuttle through the other side, the
bobbin ejected from the shuttle passing through the opening, of proper size to
receive it in the shuttle-box.
The bobbin referred to constitutes a filling carrier.
Referring to Fig. 21, the filling-carrier therein represented is shown as a spindle
having a metal blade or body having an enlarged lead provided with projec-
tions engaged by the holder referred to.
The metal blade or spindle is adapted to receive upon it a paper or other cop-
tube provided with filling.
It is not intended to limit this invention to the employment of two projections,
as one will answer the purpose very well; but two projections are, however, more
desirable, as the bobbin or spindle from which the filling is unwound in the
movement of the shuttle is held more steadily than with one projection.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1 The method of automatically removing the bobbin in the shuttle and
substituting another bobbin in its place substantially as described.
2 The method of operating a pusher by means of the forward motion of the
lay substantially as illustrated in Figures 11 to 16.
3-The method of positioning the shuttle substantially as illustrated in
Figures 11 to 16.
4: In a loom, in which bobbins are automatically substituted means for auto-
matically drawing or laying the weft or filling thread into the delivery eye of the
shuttle.
In a loom, the following instrumentalities, vis. a shuttle; a bobbin-holding
hopper and a device actuated upon the failure of the weft thread, to deliver a
bobbin from the hopper into position in the shuttle, substantially as described.
6 A. loom containing the following instrumentalitics, viz. -a hopper to receive
and guide a bobbin or spindle; a lay having a shuttle-box; a shuttle therein
having holding devices to receive and hold a bobbin; and a pusher to push a
bobbin or spindle from the hopper into position in the shuttle, substantially as
described.
7: A hopper to contain and guide a bobbin or spindle having a substantially
circular head; a lay having a shuttle-box carrying a shuttle; and a pusher to push
a bobbin or spindle from the said hopper into the said shuttle, substantially as
described.
8 A loom containing a lay; a shuttle-box; a self-threading shuttle; and a
pusher to push a bobbin into the said shuttle, substantially as described.
9: A loom containing the following instrumentalities, viz. :-a lay; a shuttle-
box; a bobbin or device carrying filling; a stud or holder for the end of the filling
contained upon the said bobbin or device and a shuttle having a self-threading or
slotted eye, whereby the said eye may be automatically threaded as the shuttle is
being thrown, substantially as described.
10 In a loom, the following instrumentalitics, viz. -a shuttle; a bobbin-
holding hopper a device actuated upon the failure of the weft thread, to deliver
a bobbin from the-hopper into position in the shuttle and a device for positioning
the shuttle with reference to the hopper to ensure the correct reception of the
bobbin into the shuttle, substantially as described.
11-A loom containing the following instrumentalities, viz. a lay having a
shuttle-box; a shuttle in the said shuttle-box; a hopper or guide containing
filling a pusher to push the filling from the hopper into the shuttle; a trip con-
nected to the pusher; a bunter on the lay to hit the trip; a weft-feeler; and
devices actuated thereby to move the said trip into position for co-action with the
bunter when the pusher is to be actuated, substantially as described.
12A loom shuttle having a holder adapted to receive a bobbin, spindle, or
weft-carrier coming into the shuttle from one side and to hold the said bobbin,
spindle, or weft-carrier in position therein; and to thereafter permit the said bobbin,
spindle, or weft-carrier to be discharged from the said holder through the other
open side of the shuttle, substantially as described.
13 A spindle for use in loom shuttles, the same consisting of a metal blade
and a head provided with an annular projection or groove adapted to be engaged
by a holder carried by the shuttle, substantially as described.
14: A loom containing the following instrumentalities, viz. :-a lay having a
shuttle-box a self-threading shuttle therein having a holding device to receive and
hold a bobbin or filling-carrier from which the filling is unwound during the
movement of the shuttle; and a pusher to push the said bobbin or filling-carrier
supported outside the shuttle into position in the said shuttle, substantially as
described

page_text: 15-A shuttle so constructed and slotted that it may be threaded automatically
while the loom is in motion substantially as described.
16 A filling bobbin having external rings adapted to be grasped by a holder
in a loom shuttle, substantially as described.
17 A loom shuttle provided with bobbin-holding jaws, and open for the
entrance of a bobbin or spindle at one side and its exit from the opposite side,
substantially as described.
Dated the 18th day of March 1892.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.