CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."-A com-
munication from abroad by Silas C. Salisbury, of New York, U.S.A.
Sealed the 12th September 1860, and dated the 23rd March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd March 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention of certain improvements in looms for weaving relates to a
novel construction or arrangement of parts whereby the ordinary picking
motion for throwing the shuttle through the shed, and also the reciprocating
motion of the slay or batten to beat up the weft thread, are dispensed with.
In the improved loom which forms the subject of the present Invention the
weft thread is passed through the shed by means of a shuttle of peculiar con-
struction, and which is supported in the shed by a band or strap extending from
side to side across the machine. Beneath this band there is a reciprocating
carriage, which runs on horizontal guides, and is provided with two uprights,

page_text: having rollers at their upper ends, on which the shuttle and its band rests.
The reciprocating carriage is attached to an endless band or strap that extends
across the machine and passes round two pullies or drums at each side. Motion
is given to the band and carriage by communicating rotary motion to one
of these pullies or drums or by means of levers and cams actuated by suitable
gearing connected with the driving shaft or other convenient and working part of
the loom. The warp threads that form the shed pass from the warp beam
over or between feed rollers, and from thence through a stationary reed or
comb, whereby the threads are kept at proper distances apart. The headles
to form the shed are of the ordinary construction, and are worked up and
down by cams and levers as is usual in this kind of machinery, or sometimes
the harness may be divided into sections and raised or depressed (as the
shuttle passes in) by means of a reciprocating bar with cam shaped heads,
which as it advances acts against bowles adapted to the sections of harness, and
raises or lowers them as may be required to form the shed. When the cam
bar after having acted on the sections of harness has passed beyond them,
they will resume their normal position, in which they will be assisted by
weighted levers, springs, or other analogous contrivances. The shuttle is
formed of a wedge shape, and is provided with two rotating discs or wheels,
which are mounted on an arm extended from the side of the shuttle. These
discs are set at an angle to each other, and are so arranged that the thin
edges of these discs are brought to the same plane, thereby forming, as seen
from behind, the thin end of a wedge, of which the back part of the shuttle
forms the thick or wide end. The spool or bobbin of yarn to form the weft
is mounted on a spindle and is inserted in a recess or hollow in the body of
the shuttle; the end of the yarn passes through the eye of a flyer or arm, and
passes to the eye of another arm which extends horizontally from the shuttle
and between the rotating discs. This arm is arranged to lay the weft thread at
or near the extreme point of the angle of the shed. The weft is pushed home
by the rotating discs, and is secured by the crossing of the warp threads in the
formation of the next shed. The shuttle is provided with rollers to facilitate
its passage through the shed, through which it is passed either by the con-
trivance or mechanical arrangement above mentioned, or by the intervention
of air tubes, electricity, magnetism, or other suitable means. The shuttle is
supported from below by the reciprocating carriage, and is further kept in a
proper position by causing it to bear against the front of the stationary reed
through which the warp threads pass.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," being a
communication from Silas C. Salisbury, of New York, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to certain means of simplifying the construction and thereby increasing the
efficiency of power looms, and consists mainly in constructing power looms in
such manner that the ordinary "beat up," also the "picking motion" of the
shuttle are dispensed with, and a fixed in place of a moveable reed is
employed in combination with a peculiar construction of shuttle, which is
moved by a peculiar arrangement of apparatus, as hereafter described.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a front view of a power loom
constructed according to the Invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; and Fig. 3
is a cross section, taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1. I would remark that these
Figures shew also a peculiar arrangement of apparatus for delivering the warp
from the warp beam, and for taking up the cloth as it is woven; but other
arrangements may be substituted therefor, if thought desirable. I have, how-
ever, shewn by preference this mode of regulating the delivery of the warp
and the take-up of the cloth, though they form no part of the present Inven-
tion, but constitute the subject of Provisional Protection, dated Seventeenth
day of May, One thousand eight hundred and sixty (No. 1219), and obtained
by my correspondent for whom the present Letters Patent were taken.
In the above-mentioned Figures the main framing of the loom is shewn at
A, A; turning in bearings in the side framing (Fig. 2) is a short shaft B,
which is fitted with a driving pulley a at its outer end, and at its inner end
carries a flanged pulley b. On a stud pin at the opposite side of the machine,
and in a line with the pulley b, is mounted a second pulley b¹ of similar pro-
portions. Over these pullies runs a belt c, which is furnished with a pin c¹ for
driving the shuttle carriage. This carriage consists of a plate D, fitted at the
back to slide upon a V guide bar e, fixed to the main framing. A vertical slot
is made through the middle of the plate D, for the driving pin of the belt c to
work in, and at its upper part the plate carries a roller d.
The breast of the
shuttle E. This
loom is shewn at C, immediately above which works the
shuttle is made wedge-shaped in cross section, as shown at Fig. 3, and it is
furnished on its under side with a pair of bowles or rollers, which come on
either side of and bear upon the bowle or roller d of the shuttle carriage, the
under side of the shed intervening between these surfaces, as will be presently
understood. F is the warp beam, from which the
warp threads pass between
a pair of guide and delivering rollers F1, F2, at the upper end of the loom,
and thence forward through the harness and reed as usual; G is the harness
of the loom; H is the fixed reed; and I is the cloth beam. The harness is
worked to open and change the shed by means of a rock shaft G¹, which
receives motion in the following manner :-At the opposite sides of the loom
a pair of cranked rock levers f. f¹, is mounted on short shafts carried by
brackets. The shaft of the rock lever f¹ (Fig. 2) carries a segment rack f²,
which gears into a face wheel g on the rock shaft G¹. Projecting from the
back of the carriage D is a pair of antifriction bowles, which in turn strike
the rock levers as the carriage D arrives near the end of its traverse, and thus

page_text: through the segment rack f' and face wheel g cause the shaft G' to change
the shed immediately the shuttle has left the warps. The shuttle carriage
being driven by the pin on the rotating band c, which pin takes into a slot in
the carriage D, the shuttle will have no tendency to rebound, neither will the
shuttle have any tendency to leave the carriage. To provide against the dis-
placement of the shuttle it is caused to traverse under an overhanging bar E¹,
bolted to the main framing. For the purpose of protecting the warp threads
from the friction of the roller d, a band or tape d' is stretched across the
loon under the warp to receive the friction.
From the above explanation it will be understood that on motion being
given from any prime mover to the axle B, the belt c will be caused to rotate
quickly, and impart a rapid reciprocating motion to the shuttle carriage D,
which by acting on one or other of the levers f, f³, will first open the shed,
and then in its return motion carry the shuttle through the open shed, it will
then close the shed and open a new one for the shuttle to pass through. Simul-
taneously with the changing of the shed the delivery of yarn from the yarn beam
and the take-up of cloth by the cloth beam will take place, the same being
effected by any suitable mechanism, but by preference by the arrangements
shewn. To give motion to the warp delivery rollers a cam on the rock shaft
G' is caused to act upon the arm g¹ of a second rock shaft G, which arm is
caused to bear against the shaft G¹ by means of a weight or a spring. To a
short arm from the rock shaft G2 a connecting bar gå is jointed, and to the
upper end of this bar is jointed a slotted arms, mounted loosely on the axle
of the warp delivery roller F¹. This arm 93 carries a click, which takes into
the teeth of a ratchet wheel g', keyed to the axle of the roller F¹. For every
change therefore of the shed caused by the rocking of the shaft G¹, the click
will drive round the ratchet wheel, and with it the roller F, a portion of a
rotation, and thus the requisite amount of warp will be given off. In order to
take up the woven cloth with the like precision a pair of nipping rollers 1', Iº,
is provided above the cloth roller. On the axle of the roller I¹ is hung loosely
a slotted arm i, to which the lower end of a bar.g' is jointed, which bar connects
the arm with the rock shaft G. This arm i also carries a click, which takes
into a ratchet wheel keyed on the axle of the roller 1. The motion therefore
of the rock shaft G, besides causing the warp nipping. rollers to deliver warp
into the loom, will simultaneously cause the nipping rollers I, I, to take up
the woven cloth and pass it to the cloth beam I. This beam is driven by
means of friction wheels on the opposite side of the loom, which wheels
receive motion in the following manner :-On the end of the axle G2 (see
Figures 1 and 3), is a crank arm , to which is jointed a rod . The oppo-

page_text: site end of this rod is jointed to an arm 3, pendent from a stud axle i on
the end framing. This arm carries a click, which takes into the teeth of a
ratchet wheel, mounted together with a friction wheel on the stud axle
. This friction wheel bears upon a friction wheel on the axle of the cloth
beam. As therefore the rock shaft G₁ actuates the rollers I, 12, and causes
them to draw down the woven cloth, as explained, the cloth beam will be
caused to rotate simultaneously and at the same surface speed, and thus lap
the cloth on to the beam. I have said that the shuttle employed is wedge-
shaped in cross section, this is for the purpose of enabling it to lay the weft
thread in the exact position which it is intended to retain in the woven cloth.
In Sheet III. the improved shuttle is shewn in several views, Fig. 4 being
a plan view, Fig. 5 a front view, and Fig. 6 an edge view of the same.
The shuttle shewn is made of metal in the form of an open frame, and fitted
on its under face with a pair of antifriction bowles or rollers 1, 1, which come
on either side of and bear upon the bowle d of the shuttle carriage D. At
the back of the shuttle is a second pair of rollers 2, 2, which run against the
face of the fixed reed, and at the upper surface of the shuttle is a third pair
of rollers 3, 3, which bear against the overhanging bar E', that serves to
retain the shuttle in position on its carriage. The bobbin 4, carrying the weft
thread, is fixed on a pin 5, which stands out from a V-edged piece that drops
into a vertical groove in the shuttle frame. This arrangement facilitates the
release of the pin when an empty bobbin is required to be replaced by a full
one. Mounted loosely in the centre of the fixed bobbin is a rotating flyer or
arm 6, through an eye in the end of which the thread is passed, and thence to
a fixed arm 7; 8, 8, is a pair of bevel edged disc wheels for laying the
thread in the open shed. These wheels are set at an angle to each other to
suit the angle of the open shed, and between them is the fixed arm 7, which
receives the thread from the flyer or arm 6. As the traverse of the shuttle
causes the thread to be delivered into the shed, the edges of the disc wheels
will press the thread laid in the previous shed into the proper position for
ensuring the production of good even weaving without a beat up. I would
state, that the application of a flyer to a bobbin, or an instrument containing
the weft, is itself an important part of the Invention, and is capable of being
used in ordinary shuttles.
When weaving wide fabrics it may be found desirable to divide the harness
into sections, and to work these sections directly from the shuttle carriage
instead of through the intervention of a rock shaft. An arrangement of this
kind is shewn in Sheet III., Fig. 7, which is a front elevation, and Figure 8,
a cross section, shewing the manner of working the divided harness, which is

page_text: here represented as consisting of twelve sections. p, p, p, are the divided
headles, supported by cords, which pass around pulleys q, q, q, and 9', 9', 9',
carried by cross bars at the upper and lower part of the main framing of the
loom. The lower headles of the front part of the harness are connected to the
supporting cords through rods r, r, 7, on which are mounted bowles r¹. By
means of pairs of india-rubber or other springs s, s, which connect these rods ?*
with the fixed race on which the shuttle carriage runs, a tendency is given to
the harness to retain an intermediate position, and to keep the shed closed.
Attached to the back of the shuttle carriage is a horizontal pressing piece t, t,
which is made wedge-shaped at its opposite ends, and is intended to act upon
the bowles (as the carriage moves backwards and forwards), depressing and
raising them alternately, and thereby opening the shed for the entrance of the
shuttle. As the pressing piece leaves the bowles the springs will come into
action and draw the several sections up or down, as the case may be, to the
intermediate position. By thus dividing the work of changing the shed the
strain put on the mechanism, which would otherwise be severe in wide looms
on the driving strap c, will be divided, and thus the tendency of the driving
strap to slip, and the action of the loom to be unnecessarily arrested, will be
avoided.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I make no claim to any of the mechanical parts
separately, nor do I claim the means herein explained for delivering the warp
and for taking up the cloth, either combined with or separate from the
Invention herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)