IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Civil
Engineer. for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING, AND
IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN.-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th April 1853.
I, WILLIAM JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING,
AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of producing
woven fabrics, whereby the cloth is woven in a continuous bag, being
produced from a circular loom. By this arrangement goods of a far

page_text: greater width may be obtained than can be conveniently produced in an
ordinary loom, and one continuous length may be woven of various kinds
of fabric without commencing again for each separate class of goods;
thus calico, linen, merino, silk, &c., may all be woven consecutively,
each piece being joined on to the other. By this arrangement of
loom, the tedious process of warping, and consequently all warping
machinery, will be dispensed with, since the warp is obtained direct from
a series of cops ranged round the loom for that purpose. The loom
consists of number of fixed and. revolving circular horizontal plates,
one of which is fitted with blades which slide outwards and form the
annular shed for the passage of a suitable apparatus, which supplies
the weft. Each thread of the warp passes through a hole in the hori-
zontal radiating blades, and therefore, as each alternate blade moves
outwards by means of traversing inclined slides, the corresponding
threads of the warp will be separated from the rest, and so form the
shed required. The weft threads are drawn down, when deposited, by
vertical descending blades having catches at their upper ends to lay
hold of the weft thread, and carry it down with them, thereby perform-
ing the operation known as the "beat up" of the ordinary loom.
Two or more weft carriers may be employed in one loom; they traverse
either continuously round the annular shed in one direction, or may
have a reciprocating movement given to them. In the first case the
fabric will be in the form of a bag or tube, without any selvidge, and in
the other it will have two selvidges, as produced by the ordinary loom.
The weft carrier contains a cop for the thread, and is fitted with wheel-
work, which is driven by a larger rotating wheel with which it gears.
This wheelwork gears also into fixed circular racks or wheels, and by
that means is caused to traverse round the loom. A series of radiating
needle points serves as the support or race of the weft carriers, which
run on antifriction pulleys, and are slightly curved to suit the circum-
ference of the loom. Fancy weaving may be produced by employing
a pattern wheel in conjunction with the sliding inclines, for actuating
the horizontal warp covers.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Johnson, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 5th October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Jolinson, Her special license
that I, the said William Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Johnson, my execu-
tors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WEAVING, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," being a com-
munication to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Johnson, 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 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 Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
The said Invention relates to an arrangement of an annular or cir-
.

page_text: "
cular loom for the manufacture of woven goods in the bag form; that
is to say, the material is woven all round the loom without any selvage.
This loom has the advantage of being easily worked or attended to by
the weaver, and affords facilities for the production of a larger amount
of work in a given space of time by the addition of a greater or
less number of "weft suppliers" (which replace the ordinary shuttle)
according to the circumference of the loom; such "weft feeders or
suppliers working simultaneously. The loom, which I shall here-
after describe, also effects a saving in the manufacture of textile fabrics,
in so far as it dispenses with the warping machine, since the warp in
this loom may be made at once from the reels. By this loom, cotton,
silk, woollen, or linen may be woven, as well as all other materials
capable of being spun and woven; and by this means calicos, linens,
or merinos, and other fabrics, may be woven either plain or figured.
These various fabrics may be made in one piece, one being joined on
to the end of the other, so that the loss which otherwise occurs to a
certain extent in the warp threads at the beginning and end of each
separate piece, and the great amount of time expended in connecting
one set of warp threads with the ends left in the loom, will be obviated;
and this long length of various materials may be produced to any ex-
tent without inconvenience.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the drawings, represent a side elevation of
one arrangement of the improved loon. Figure 2, is a corresponding
plan of the same. Figure 1, on Sheet 2, is a vertical section of the
loom through the central support.
The whole of the mechanism is carried upon a fixed vertical shaft A,
this shaft being connected by a screw to any suitable support overhead,
not shown in the drawings.
The shaft A, carries at its upper extremity above the mechanism a
circular or annular support B. This support is attached to and carried
by three arms which connect it with a collar fixed to the main vertical
shaft A, by set screws. The support B, carries the cast-iron annular
piece or ring C, by means of the four arms D, D, into which are
screwed the pillars or columns E, E; and to this cast-iron ring is
attached another ring F, of copper, this ring being grooved or slotted

page_text: horizontally all round to contain the horizontal sliding blades G, and H,
Figures 2 and 3, Sheet 2, which will be herein-after described. On
the under side of the circle C, is fitted another circle of wrought iron or
copper I, formed with two lips or flanges round its entire internal cir-.
cumference, and into which flanges are fitted a series of pins, thereby
forming a species of internal toothed wheel, the pins serving as the.
teeth. The supporting ring B, carries also a bearing J, answering as
the central support of the shaft K, the ends of which are carried by the
bearings L, M; the latter M, is formed in the collar of the ring B, the
shaft being actuated by the winch handle N, fixed on to its outer ex-
tremity. On the shaft K, is keyed the bevil wheel O, which turns in
the direction of the arrow. This wheel gears with another wheel P,
keyed on to the collar of the circular plate Q. This plate is supported
by a screw boss or collar R, and turns loosely on the fixed vertical
shaft A, and it carries at its outer edge the angular pieces S, T, which
serve to open the warp threads to allow of the passage of the weft sup-
pliers and weft. This plate carries also at its under side the toothed
wheel U, which, of course, turns with it. To the shaft A, and beneath
the moveable plate Q, is fixed, by pinching screws, a second circular
plate V. This plate carriès at its outer edge a copper or brass ring W,
fitted exactly opposite the circle F; herein-before mentioned, and cut in
the same way and with the same number of slots, so that each of the
blades G, and H, slides between two guides in each of the circles, and
moves in a radiating direction to or from the centre of the loom. The
fixed plate V, is fitted with a collar X, which surrounds the stud
pin Y, on each end of which are fitted the pinions Z, a. The
pinion Z, gears with the spur wheel U, and the lower pinion a, with a
spur wheel b, fixed by a pinching screw to the collar of the moveable
plate c. This plate, which is made partly conical, has fitted to its
outer circumference a toothed wheel d, similar to the one herein-
before described and lettered I, with this difference, that its teeth are
placed externally instead of internally, as in the wheel I. The plate c,
carries also on its under side a toothed wheel c. Below this plate is
fitted a third fixed plate f, the outer circumference of which is made cylin-
drical. This cylindrical periphery carries, at its upper edge, a wheel y,

page_text: exactly similar to the wheel d. Lower down, on a projection of the
periphery of the plate f, is fixed a circle h, which carries a series of
radiating needles i, i, arranged round its circumference, and corre-
sponding in numbers to the grooves or spaces in the circles F, and W.
These needles are secured to the circle h, by the pieces j, j, which are
screwed on to them.
The plate f, carries also two annular guides k, k, having made in
them a number of slots corresponding to the number of needles herein-
before mentioned. In these grooves or slots are arranged to slide
vertically the plates 1,1, whose action is to bind or draw tight the
weft threads as fast as they are deposited, and render the work even
and regular, thus answering the purpose of the reed in ordinary looms.
The plate f, is fitted with a collar m, similar to the collar X, which
passes through it, and carries a stud or short shaft n, which has keyed
on to its upper extremity a pinion o, gearing into the wheel e; and at the
lower extremity of this short stud or shaft is fitted a pinion p, which
gears with a wheel I, fixed to a third moveable plate r, supported by
the screw collar s.
The outer circumference of this last-mentioned plate projects into
the slots or notches t, in the lower portions of the vertical blades 1, 1,
shewn in detail at Figure 2, on Sheet 2, of the drawings, and carries
the two inclined planes u, u', one of which is shewn more clearly at
Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the drawings, which, passing along the series
of notches in the blades 1, 1, as they turn round, cause them to be suc-
cessively raised and lowered.
It will thus be seen that this machine is principally composed of six
circular plates, three of which are fixed and three moveable, fitted
alternately on to the vertical support A; and that, if a rotatory move-
ment is given to the winch handle R, the three plates Q, c, r, by the
aid of certain gearing, will all simultaneously revolve in the same
direction. It will also be seen, on referring to the drawings, that each
of these moveable plates turns on a conical portion of the vertical
shaft A, so that they may be more or less tightened by raising or
lowering the supporting screw collars beneath.
The blades G, H, which slide in the slots in the circles F, and W,

page_text: and which I shall term "warp conductors," operate in the following.
manner: These blades are arranged alternately, a blade G, and a blade
H, each directed in a radiating line from the centre of the circles in
which they slide; they are fitted at their inner ends with a projection v,
and v', as clearly shewn in the details, Figures 3, and 4, on Sheet 2, of
the drawings. The projection ¹, of the blades H, is formed a short
distance from their extremities, whilst show v, of the blades G, are
formed exactly at their extremities, and are double the height of the pro-
jections on the blades H. The whole of these "conductors" are pierced
at w, through which hole passes a thread of the warp, and therefore
the number of “conductors" must correspond with the number of
threads in the warp. The warp threads, a few of which only are
shewn in the drawings by red lines, are supplied by cops arranged
round the machine in any convenient manner, and are passed between
rollers a, shewn in Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the drawings, which may
be more or less pressed together, so as to tighten or slacken the warp
threads, and produce a fabric more or less close, as the case may be.
These threads pass through a series of holes in the circle y, which is
screwed to the under side of the outer rim of the supporting plate B,
whence they pass through the holes in the "conductors "G, and H;
then through the spaces between the needles i; and finally arrive at
the working edge of the fabric. The double inclines, S, and T, herein-
before referred to, are fixed to the moveable plate Q, and are formed
at their under surfaces with a double inclined groove or channel,
shewn in Figure 1, Sheet 2, of the drawings. The groove of the
double incline S, as it revolves, actuates the sliding blades G, by
means of their projections v, which enter the groove, causing them to
slide outwards, and return again to their original positions. It will be
obvious that the height of the projections v, of the blades G, will
permit of their being acted upon by the double incline S, without
interfering with the projections v', on the "conductors" or blades II,
which are lower, and placed further out, so as to be missed by the
incline S, as it passes. By traversing outwards the conductors G,
the incline S, will have evidently removed or separated one half of the
warp threads from the other half, causing them to be moved out of the

page_text: range of the needle points i; the threads will thus form a species of
annular shed, through which travel the "weft suppliers." The in-
cline T, will act in a similar manner by means of its groove 22, on-
the shorter projections v, of the conductors H, and will cause
re-crossing of the warp threads to take place, forming thereby the
second shed, through which passes a second "weft supplier."
a
It will be obvious that there is nothing to prevent the employment of
a large number of double inclined grooved pieces S, T, each of these
pieces having its own "weft supplier." The "weft supplier," which
is shewn in longitudinal section, full size, at Figure 5, and in corre-
sponding plan at Figure 6, and transverse section at Figure 7,
consists of a species of box of sheet metal z, of an angular or wedge
section, the narrower face of which will be downwards, and curved to
suit the radius of the annular shed. In the inside of this box arc
fitted two plates 1, 1, in which work the spindles of the driving or
running mechanism. This mechanism consists of a wheel 2, fitted with
points or pins, which project beyond the box sides across the interior
threads of the warp, and gear into the teeth of the large wheel d. The
wheel 2, by means of the toothed wheel 3, actuates two other spiked
wheels 4, and 5,. working in opposite directions; the wheel 4, gearing
with the large fixed internal toothed wheel I, and the wheel 5, with
the large fixed wheel g. The wheel d, in its revolution causes the spike
wheel 2, of the "weft supplier" to turn in an opposite direction.
This rotation will evidently turn the wheels 4, and 5; but as the
wheels I, and g, into which these latter gear, are fixed, each of their
teeth will become a fulcrum or "point d'appui," with which the spikes
or pins of the wheels 4, and 5, will gear. Thus the weft supplier
will necessarily advance in the same direction with the plates and
large wheel d. The under portion of the "weft supplier" is fitted
with two arms 6, and 7, above and below the cop 8, which supplies the
weft. This cop is carried by a projecting pin in the end of the box.
The weft thread, which is coloured blue in the drawings, passes through
holes in the arm 6, which serve as guides, and give the required
amount of drag to the thread. From these holes it passes through
other holes in the curved end of the arm 7, which deposit it in the shed

page_text: underneath the catches 9, of the vertical blades 7, which are at that
time elevated by the passage of one of the inclines u, u', which brings
them down again to their original position, thereby effecting the "beat
up," as it were, of the weft.
The "weft supplier" fits pretty accurately into the angular form of
the shed, and passes beneath the warp "conductors." It runs on the
needles i, by the small pulleys 10, and against the under side, of the
horizontal blades G, and H, by the pulleys 11, fitted to its upper
surface. In order that the traverse of the "weft supplier" may be
circular, the axes of its pulleys must be at a slight angle with each
other, or in a direction radiating from the centre of the loom.
The fabric produced in the manner just last described will be con-
tinuous and circular; but, in order to produce a piece of goods with a
selvage, it will be merely requisite that the "weft supplier," in place of
traversing always in one direction, should be made to return at cach
revolution or partial revolution; a shed, of course, having been formed
for each shoot. This alternate movement may be obtained by means
of two half bevil wheels A, and B, as in Figure 8, on Sheet 2, of the
drawings, of greater or less diameter, according to the width of cloth
or traverse of shuttle required. These pinions or wheels are keyed on
to the shaft C, which traverses the vertical supporting shaft D, of the
machine, an opening being formed through it, as shewn by the dotted
lines. They have only one half of their circumference toothed; and
are set with their toothed portions diametrically opposite each other on
the shaft C, so that when one gears with the bevil wheel E, the other
will present its smooth side to the wheel, and so on. Thus, by giving
a constant rotatory movement to the shaft C, the pinion will gear
alternately with the wheel E, and cause it to turn first in one direction,
and then in the opposite one; thereby producing the reciprocating
Inovement required for the "weft supplier." I may observe, that it is
not necessary that there should be any warp or horizontal radiating
blades on the side of the loom, where the "weft supplier" does not
traverse.
Figure 9, represents a partial plan, and Figure 10, a section of an
arrangement for producing checks or fancy goods. Here a disc A,

page_text: Figure 1, is employed, the circumference of which is more or less
cut away or notched, according to the design to be produced. As the
diameter of this disc will vary according to the size of the pattern, it
is carried by a stud B, the upper part of which C, is formed with flat
sides to slide in a slot D, in the moveable plate E, which corresponds
to the plate Q, in Figure 1, on the same sheet; it is thereby enabled to
be brought nearer to or further from the horizontal blades F, shewn in
detail at Figure 11, according to the diameter of the wheel. The
blades F, differ slightly, both in their shape and arrangement of pro-
jection, from those before described; but in every other respect they
are the same. In the revolution of the plate E, which carries the disc
A, this disc will turn on its own axis; the notches gearing into the inner
ends of the horizontal blades F. As it presents in its revolution a series
of indentations, of greater or less depth, to the inner ends of the blades,
it will leave some untouched, and will push others so far forward, that
the inclined plane G, may act upon them, and cause the separation of
the corresponding warp threads. By employing a wheel regularly cut
with a deep and shallow notch alternately, in conjunction with this
system of blades F, a plain fabric may be produced, as well as by the
system herein-before described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not con-
fine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I
have had occasion to described or refer to, as many variations may
be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main
features of the Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the general arrangements and construction of machinery,
apparatus, or means for the manufacture of woven fabrics.
Second, the application and use of "weft suppliers" in weaving
mechanism, as herein-before described, instead of shuttles.
Third, the system or mode of weaving circular fabrics direct from
the reels, without the intermediate process of warping.

page_text: Fourth, the system or mode of weaving piece goods in indefinite
lengths, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM JOHNSON. (L.S.)