MENTS IN WEAVING CERTAIN KINDS OF FABRICS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Samuel Laycock. of Portobello Place,
Sheffield, in the County of York, for the Invention of
MENTS IN WEAVING CERTAIN KINDS OF FABRICS."
"IMPROVE.
Sealed the 1st February 1870, and dated the 1st September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Samuel Laycock
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents. with his Petition, on
the 1st September 1869.
I, WILLIAM SAMUEL LAYCOCK, of Portobello Place, Sheffield, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING CERTAIN KINDS OF FABRICS," to be as
follows:-
The fabrics to which my Invention is applicable are those in which the
weft is horsehair or other material in short lengths.
My improvements consist in fixing on each end of a shuttle a pair of
nippers or other apparatus, which take hold of the end of a single hair
out of a bunch of hair on that side of the loom from which the shuttle
cominences to work. The shuttle is then driven through the shed by

page_text: shed, and when it reaches the
of the hair it has drawn into the
friction or otherwise from under the
opposite shuttle box it quits its hold
shed, and the nippers on the other side of the shuttle take hold of
another single hair out of a bunch from that side of the loom, so that in
traversing back it deposits that hair in the shed, and the opposite nippers
again seize another hair and proceed with it as before stated in the
formation of the fabric.
Another way of carrying my Invention into effect is by presenting a
single hair only to the nippers as the shuttle reaches first the box on one
side and then the box on the other, in place of allowing the nippers
on the shuttle to select a single hair from a bunch, as before described..
A further method of carrying my Invention into effect is by having a
pulley (instead of nippers) fixed at each end of the shuttle, in which
case a single selected hair is presented to one of the pullies every time
the shuttle enters the shed at each side of the loom, is then drawn into
the shed and deposited across the fabric. The opposite pulley then
draws another selected hair at the other side of the loom, lodges it in
like manner across the shed, and so proceeds with the formation of the
fabric.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Samuel Laycock in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I WILLIAM
SAMUEL LAYCOCK, of Portobello Place, Sheffield, in the County of York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS
Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the First day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine. in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did. for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Samuel Laycock, Her special licence that
I, the said William Samuel Laycock, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Samuel Laycock, my exe-
cutors, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WEAVING CERTAIN KINDS OF FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Samuel Laycock. my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 per-
formed, 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 William Samuel Laycock, 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 fabrics to which my Invention is applicable are those in which the
weft is horsehair or other material in short. lengths.
My improvements consist in fixing on each end of a shuttle a pair of
nippers or other apparatus. which take hold of the end of a single hair
out of a bunch of hair on that side of the loom from which the shuttle
commences to work. The shuttle is then driven through the shed by
friction or otherwise from under the shed, and when it reaches the
opposite shuttle box it quits its hold of the hair it has drawn into the
shed, and the nippers on the other side of the shuttle take hold of
another single hair out of a bunch from that side of the loom, so that in
traversing back it deposits that hair in the shed, and the opposite nippers
again seize, another hair and proceed with it as before stated in the
formation of the fabric.
Another way of carrying my Invention into effect is by presenting a
single hair only to the nippers as the shuttle reaches first the box on one
side and then the box on the other, in place of allowing the nippers
on the shuttle to select a single hair from a bunch, as before
described.
A further method of carrying my Invention into effect is by having
a pulley (instead of nippers) fixed at each end of the shuttle, in which
case a single selected hair is presented to one of the pulleys every time
the shuttle enters the shed at each side of the loom; the hair is then
drawn into the shed and deposited across the fabric. The opposite
pulley then draws another selected hair at the other side of the loom,
.

page_text: lodges it in like manner across the shed, and so proceeds with the
formation of the fabric.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure is an end elevation, and Figure 2 a front view of a loom to
which my improvements are applied. The picking motion or the apparatus
for moving the shuttle to and fro across the shed and the mechanism
for working the lay or hatten are supposed in this instance to be
constructed in the manner described in the Specification of Letters
Patent granted to James Lyall on the Twenty-sixth day of March. Onc
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, Number 1042.
I wish, however. to observe that I do not intend to limit my Invention
to the combination of my improvements with the "Lyall loom." as it
may be applied to the loom patented by William Edward Newton on
the Twenty-third day of March, One thousand eight hundred and sixty,
Number 758, and others.
a is the driving shaft: b, the second motion shaft; c. the warp beam;
d, the back rest; e. the healds, which are raised by the jacquard f. and
drawn down by weights. The jacquard is worked by the tappet a' acting
on the lever, to which a cord a³ is connected, which is attached
above to the lever for actuating the jacquard. The tappet is made
with a long dwell to hold the shed open during the traverse of the
shuttle is the lay bottom: h, the breast beam; and i, the taking-up
beam, which is driven by the emery roller i¹ and a positive taking-up
motion of the ordinary description. The shuttle k. shewn detached in
Figures 3, 4, and 5, rests upon and is carried to and fro across the shed
by the shuttle driver 1, see Figure 2. which travels in the lay bottom, and
to each end of which a cord is attached; these cords after passing over
suitable guide pulleys are carried round the pulley m, as described in
Lyall's Patent above referred to. The shuttle is made with a pair of
nippers at each end, each nipper consisting of a part of the shuttle and
the movable jaws marked . '. respectively. At each end of the lay
bottom is fixed a trough or receptacle . ', containing the horse hair or
other material in short lengths, forming the weft of the fabric. The
ends of the horse hair project slightly beyond the inner end of the
trough, and they are held together by a spring in the usual manner. At
each side of the loom is an apparatus for selecting a single hair out of the

page_text: end of which is jointed to the
The lever and bowl b' at the
contrary direction so as to
bunch, and bringing it into position for being taken hold of by the
nippers at the ends of the shuttle. This apparatus is shewn detached in
Figures 6. 7, and 8, and it consists of a flat har p. pl. which passes through
a hole in the bottom of the lay. and fits in the box q. q'. secured to the
lay. To the upper end of each bar p is jointed a lever r. the upper end
of which is pressed against the point of the needles by the spring r². The
upper end of the lever r and the point of the needle s constitute the
selector, which is moved up and down with the bar p by the lever
and bowl b' at the end of the shaft acting on the lever b. which
vibrates on a stud fixed to the loom side. To the outer end of the lever be
is jointed one end of the link b³, the upper
lower end of the bar p. as shewn in Figure 1.
opposite side of the loom are placed in the
act alternately on the bars p. p: by this arrangement every revolution
of the second motion shaft b causes each of the bars p. pl. to move up
and down in the guide boxes q. q'. When the bar p rises the selector
remains closed until the horizontal arm of the lever comes in contact
with the short arm of the tumbler lever . which is hinged to a bracket
projecting upwards from the guide box g: the horizontal arm of the
lever r being depressed by the short arm of the lever lifts the point of
the lever r off the needle s, and as soon as the horizontal arm of the
lever passes beyond the lever the spring closes the selector to
catch hold of a hair or other weft; the bar p then begins to descend,
carrying with it the single length of weft selected.
the arm of the lever r depresses the short arm
which then regains its original position by its own gravity. To the
upper end of the bar p is also fixed the inclined plate u. which as the
bar rises actuates the weft stop lever u', which is jointed to the same
bracket as the lever : this lever is hooked at one end, as shewn in
Figure 8, to act when the hair is absent on the weft stop motion, consisting
In this bracket is
of the bracket u, see Figure 1, fixed to the loom side.
supported a sliding rod, provided with a spring to draw the rod
back when it has been pulled forward by the lever '; to the rod is
fixed one end of the cord . which after passing around guide pulleys is
connected to the driving catch of the jacquard cylinder : a similar
cord is likewise connected to the weft stop motion at the opposite side
of the loom; the cord " is also connected to the catch f, and after
passing over suitable guide pulleys it is secured to the driving catch of
the taking-up ratchet wheel. By this arrangement when the hair or
As the bar p descends
of the tumbler lever 1,

page_text: other weft is drawn down by the selector the hook at the end of the
lever is held by the hair clear of the pin in the rod u³ during the beat
up of the lay, but if the hair or other weft be absent the lever ' not
being held by the weft is drawn by the spring until it assumes the
diagonal position shewn in dots in Figure 8, consequently as the lay
advances the hook of the lever a³ carries with it the rod . and the
cord then lifts the catch off the jacquard barrel, and stops the
shedding tension: the cord being also drawn tight lifts the catch of
the taking-up ratchet wheel and stops the taking up; thus whenever
the selector fails to draw down a hair or other weft at either side of the
loom both the shedding and taking-up motions are stopped. To the lay
bottom are fixed the brackets . : these brackets are adjustable, and
must be fixed at a certain distance from each selvage of the fabric:
their office is to open the nippers on the shuttle alternately to release
the hair that has been drawn across the shed. To the lay boitom are
also jointed the tumbler catches y. '. the office of which is to open the
nippers when the shuttle is near the end of its traverse.
The mode of operation is as follows, and the Drawing represents the
parts in the positions they occupy when the shuttle is in the shed and is
travelling from right to left, as shewn by the arrow in Figure 2. The
movable jawn is now supposed to have hold of a hair and is carrying it.
into the shed. When the shuttle has passed out of the shed the movable
jaw n passes clear over the bracket, but the pin projecting down-
wards from the jaw n comes in contact with and is pressed towards the
body of the shuttle by the bracket, thus opening the nipper and
releasing the hair. As soon as the shuttle has carried the pin π beyond
the bracket the spring n³, see Figure 4. again closes the jaw n'; the
shuttle then continues its course until the movable jaw n comes in
contact with and is opened by the tumbler catch y, and at the moment
that the shuttle completes its course from right to left the tail end of
the jawn has passed beyond the catch y, the spring then instantly
closes the jaw n, which takes hold of the hair that has been drawn from
the left-hand bunch of hairs by the selector, as above described. At the
return traverse of the shuttle the tumbler catch allows the jaw n to
pass without opening it, and the jaw n holds the hair until the shuttle
has passed a little beyond the right-hand selvage of the fabric. The
jaw n' (which projects less from the shuttle than the jaw n, as shewn in
Figure 4) passes the bracket z' without touching it, but the jaw n coming

page_text: in contact with the said bracket is opened by it to liberate the hair
which is thus left in the shed. When the shuttle approaches the right-
hand selector the jaw is opened by the tumbler catch g'. and the
selected hair from the right-hand bunch is taken hold of in the manner
above described. These operations are repeated so long as the selectors
draw down the hairs, and between each traverse of the shuttle the warp
is crossed and the lay beats up in the usual manner; but if either
selector fails to bring down a hair the shedding and the taking-up
motions are arrested in the manner above described; but the other
motions of the loom continue until the missing weft is supplied. I wish
to observe that in some cases the selectors may be connected to the
shuttle and form part of the nippers; when such is the case the selecting
nippers will take hold of the end of a single hair out of a bunch of hair
on that side of the loom from which the shuttle commences to work.
The shuttle is then driven through the shed by friction or
from under the shed, as shewn in the Drawing, or by other equivalent
means; and when it reaches the opposite shuttle box it quits its hold of
the hair it has drawn into the shed. and the nippers on the other side of
the shuttle take hold of another single hair out of a bunch from that side
of the loom, so that in traversing back it deposits that hair in the shed
and the opposite nippers again seize another hair and proceed with it as
before stated in the formation of the fabric.
otherwise
A further method of carrying my Invention into effect is by having a
pulley (instead of nippers) fixed at each end of the shuttle, as described
in reference to Fig. 1 in the Patent granted to me on the Eighth day
of February, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, Number 382,
in which case a single selected hair is presented to one of the pulleys
every time the shuttle enters the shed at each side of the loom; the
hair is then drawn into the shed and deposited across the fabric.
The opposite pulley then draws another selected hair at the other side
of the loom, lodges it in like manner across the shed, and so proceeds
with the formation of the fabric.
The improved shuttles above described having a nipper or pulley or
other equivalent at each end may be applied to an ordinary hand or
power loom, and the lengths of hair or other material may be supplied
to the shuttle by an attendant at each side of the loom.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, claim as my improvements in weaving
the fabrics described,―

page_text: First. Weaving the said fabrics in a loom having a shuttle that is
carried across the shed by means of a shuttle carrier or other equivalent
working under the lower part of the shed.
Secondly. The application of nippers, selecting instruments. or pulleys
to both ends of the shuttle, whether the same be supplied with weft by
self-acting mechanism, as shewn and described, or by hand.
Thirdly. The improved selector and parts for actuating the same, as
shewn best in Figures 6, 7, and 8.
Fourthly. The improved weft stop motion described and the com-
bination of the same with the shedding and the taking-up motions.
Fifthly. The application of a weft stop motion at each side of the
loom.
or other
And, lastly. The application of the shuttles actuated in the manner
above described to an ordinary loom for weaving horsehair
similar fabrics, and supplying the usual hook and pulley at each end of
the shuttle with weft by an attendant at each side of the loom.
In
witness whereof, I, the said William Samuel Laycock, have
hereunto set my
set my hand
hand and
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of
February One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
W. S. LAYCOCK. (...)