IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR THE MECHANISM OF LOOKS FOR WEAVING A CERTAIN CLASS OF PLAIDS, CHECKS, AND FANCY WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Carter Ramsden, of Bradford, in the County of
York, Stuff Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS OR THE MECHANISM OF LOOKS FOR WEAVING A CERTAIN CLASS OF
PLAIDS, CHECKS, AND FANCY WOVEN FABRICS."
Sealed the 14th April 1857, and dated the 1st December 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Carter Ramsden
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
1st December 1856.
I, JOHN CARTER RAMSDEN, of Bradford, in the County of York, Stuff
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS OR THE MECHANISM OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING A CERTAIN CLASS
OP PLAIDS, CHECKS, AND FANCY WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, first, to mechanism to be used in weaving those
fabrics in which several shuttles are employed, and in which circular shuttle
boxes are used fixed on the end of the lathe, and consists in the mode of
actuating the shuttle boxes so as to produce the required changes of weft.
This is effected by mechanism fixed on the framing of the loom, which
mechanism causes the shuttle box to revolve one way or the other as required.
when actuated through connecting rods and levers by an endless tappet chain,
the tappets on this chain being inserted according to the changes required in.
the weft.
The mechanism alluded to in the framing of the loom for effecting the

page_text: changes of the weft may be toothed racks, friction rods, or other similar
mechanism, attached in such a manner as to be capable of being raised or
lowered by the mechanism referred to, and arranged so that a toothed wheel,
friction pulley, or other wheels on the axis of tho shuttle box, or in com-
munication therewith, will play between or clear of them when changes are
not required; but when a change is required the position of the toothed racks
or friction rods are changed, so that they will come in contact with and operate
upon the toothed wheel, friction bowl, or other wheels on the axis of the
shuttle box or connected therewith, which by the vibrations of the lathe is
turned one way or the other, according as its upper or lower side is operated
upon by the racks or friction rods. The tappets which are inserted into the
endless chain are of different sizes, so that it will be obvious that as the
different sizes come into operation upon the toothed racks, friction rods, or
other mechanism, the shuttle box will be more or less turned round, according
to the size of the tappet in operation. The smallest sized tappet I make to
turn the box from the first to the second shuttle, and the next sized tappet will
turn the box from the first to the third shuttle, the next sized tappet will turn
the box from the first to the fourth shuttle, and so on, which will be a great
advantage over the plan in common use, and which constitutes an important
feature in my Invention. The tappet chain is actuated by a star wheel fixed
on the end of the loom, and is actuated in the following manner:-A small
toothed wheel keyed on the end of the crank shaft gives motion to a larger
wheel working on a short shaft of its own fixed in the loom end, and a stud or
studs inserted into the front side of the larger wheel gives motion to the star
wheel at every second pick.
The second portion of this Invention relates to an arrangement by which
I substitute an endless tappet chain for the pattern wheel, described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to me for "improvements in looms for
weaving" on or about the Thirtieth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three. This tappet chain being for the purpose of effecting
changes in the working of the healds, in this chain I insert tappets (accord-
ing to the number of picks required in the pattern), which chain tappets
operate upon connecting rods and levers, and serve to draw the plain treadding
tappets or wipers out of contact with or on one side of the bowls of the
treaddles. In cases where the changes in the working of the healds are
required in connection with changes of the weft, the same endless tappet chain
will effect both objects by inserting side by side the different tappets according
to the pattern required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Carter Ramsden in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CARTER RAMEDEN, of Bradford, in the County of York, Stuff Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Carter Ramsden, Her special license that I, the said
John Carter Ramsden, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Carter Ramsden, my exccutors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR THE MECHANISM OF LOOMS FOR
WEAVING A CERTAIN CLASS OF PLAIDS, CHECKS, AND FANCY WOVEN FABRICS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Carter Ramsden,
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 John Carter Ramsden, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Draw-
ings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say -
My said Invention relates to that class of mechanism or looms employed in
the weaving of those fabrics wherein several shuttles are required, and in
which circular or rotatory shuttle boxes are employed, and consists of a
peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of mechanism for actuating
the shuttle boxes so as to produce the changes of weft required by the pattern
to be woven. It also consists of a mode and arrangement by which any.
required changes of the weft can be combined with changes in the working of
the healds, or of a mode or method by which part of the present improvements

page_text: for effecting changes in the weft in weaving may be substituted for the pattern
wheel, described in the Specification of an Invention of "improvements in
looms for weaving," for which British Letters Patent were granted to me on
or about the Thirtieth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three. These improvements are effected by certain mechanism fixed on the
framing of the loom, which mechanism causes the shuttle box to revolve one
way or the other as required when actuated through connecting rods and
levers by an endless tappet chain. The tappets or wipers in this chain are
inserted in a certain order, according to the changes required in the weft.
The mechanism above alluded to on the framing of the loom for effecting the
changes of the weft may consist of toothed racks, friction rods, or other similar
contrivance, attached in such a manner as to be capable of being operated
upon by the tappets or wipers in the endless chain, and so arranged that a
toothed wheel, friction pulley, or other wheels on the axis of the shuttle box,
or in communication therewith by means of an endless strap, chain, or cord,
shall be turned one way or the other, according as the toothed rack, friction-
rod, or other similar mechanism is raised or lowered. The tappets or wipers
which are inserted in the endless chain are of different heights or elevations,
and as the different heights or elevations come into operation upon the toothed
rack, friction rod, or other similar mechanism the shuttle box will be more or
less turned round, according to the size of the tappet in operation. The
smallest sized tappet serves to keep No. 1 box level with the shuttle race, the
next sized tappet turns the box from the first to the second shuttle, and the
next larger one will turn the box from the first to the third shuttle, and so on.
The tappets can be arranged so that any particular box can be kept in its
proper position during any given number of picks or shoots of the weft required
to form the patterns simply by introducing tappets or links of different heights
or elevations, and by arranging one, two, or more tappets of the same height
in contact with or successively following each other in the round or pattern of
the chain When a tappet or wiper of a greater height or elevation follows a
smaller one, the toothed racks, friction rods, or other similar mechanism are
raised, and thereby the box is made to revolve a certain distance in one
direction; but when a tappet or wiper of a smaller height or elevation follows
a larger one, the toothed racks, friction rod, or other similar mechanism is
pulled down by means of an india-rubber or other spring, and thereby the box
is made to revolve in the contrary direction. The tappet chain may be
actuated in a similar manner to that described by me for actuating the pattern
wheel, in the Specification of my Invention of "improvements in the apparatus
or the mechanism of looms for weaving a certain class of plaids, checks, and

page_text: fancy woven fabrics," for which British Letters Patent were granted to. me
on or about the Twenty-eighth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three, but I prefer actuating it by a star wheel fixed
on the end of the loom, and which star wheel has attached to it a small
drum, round which drum the tappet chain takes, and is actuated in the
following manner :-A small spur pinion keyed on to one end of the crank
shaft gears into and gives motion to a wheel four times its diameter working
on a short shaft of its own fixed in the framing of the loom; on the face of
this wheel is a narrow rim, which has two equal parts cut out and two studs
or pins inserted; these studs or pins alternately take into one of the recesses
of the star wheel every second pick, and move it one-eight part of a revolu-
tion, and thereby move the tappet chain forward one link.
The second part of my Invention relates to an arrangement by which
I substitute an endless tappet chain for the pattern wheel, described in the
Specification of my Patent herein-before referred to, dated on or about the
Thirtieth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three. This
tappet chain being for the purpose of effecting changes in the working
of the healds, I insert tappets or wipers according to the number of picks
required in the pattern. The tappets in this chain are all of one size, and
as the chain only moves a link every second pick, I insert half. the number
of tappets or wipers in contact with or successively following each other
to the number of picks I require weaving twill or sateen; that is to say,
if I require twenty picks weaving twill I insert ten tappets, which operate
upon connecting rods and levers, and serve to draw the plain treadding tappets
out of contact with or on one side of the bowls of the treaddles and keep them
out of contact until such time as the tappets have worked clear of the lever
upon which they operate; and when that is accomplished the plain treadding
tappets are forced back into their proper position again by a spring, so that
they will come in contact with the bowls of the treaddles at the proper time.
In cases where the changes in the working of the healds are required in con-
nexion with changes of the weft, the same endless tappet chain may be made
to effect both objects by inserting side by side the different tappets required
according to the pattern.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of my Drawings represents a portion of one end of a

page_text: loom; and Figure 2, a part of a front view of the same, corresponding to
Figure 1, and arranged with the improvements contained in this part of my
Invention; the rest of the Figures are details which I shall herein-after fully
describe. A is the main framing of the loom; B, the crank shaft; C, the
batten or lathe; D, one of the swords or supporting arms of the lathe; E, the
rotatory or revolving shuttle box, carried at one end of the lathe in the frame
F; this shuttle box is made exactly similar to those of this class in common
use, and is steadied in a similar manner. G is the swing rail or fulcrum of the
lathe swords; H, the cloth beam or roller for taking up the cloth as fast as it
is woven; I, a supporting arm, one end of which is bolted to the frame F
and the other end to the lathe sword. One mode of working the rotatory shuttle
box consists of a small spur pinion a', keyed on to one end of the crank
shaft B, and gearing into a spur wheel b twice its diameter, working on a fixed
stud centre C. In the framing of the loom on the face of the spur wheel b, and
fast to it, is a smaller spur wheel 6, which gears into and gives motion to a
spur wheel four times its diameter; this spur wheel d works on a stud
centre in the framing of the loom, and has on its face a projecting rim e, four
equal parts of which are cut away and 4 pins or studs e¹ are inserted at
such parts. f is a star wheel working on a fixed centre c in the framing of
the loom; this star wheel has eight recesses or slots e² formed in its circum-
ference, into which slots one. of the studs or pins e enters at every second
pick, and thereby moves it one-eighth part of a revolution, the rim e on the
spur wheel d serving to keep the star wheel f steady when the pins or studs e'
are not actuating it.
I may here observe, that I am aware that star wheels and rims have
been previously used in conjunction with rotatory shuttle boxes, and there-
fore I wish it to be distinctly understood that I lay no claim to such
arrangement except when used in combination with racks and friction rods
for turning the shuttle box. The arrangement of gearing which I prefer for
driving the star wheel is shewn in blue lines in Figure 1, by which means I
am enabled to dispense with the wheels b & b. In this second arrangement
the pinion a' gears direct into the wheel d, which should be four times the
diameter of the wheel or pinion a', and in place of having four places cut out
of the rim c and using 4 pins e, I cut out two places only and use 2 pins e',
thus considerably simplifying the mechanism. Attached to the star wheel f
is a drum or pulley g, formed with flanges, and having eight recesses or
slots h cut therein, and into which slots enter the pins 9 that connect the
tappets together, and as this drum serves as a carrying drum for the endless
tappet chain, it follows that a certain amount of motion will be imparted to

page_text: such chain. h¹ is a lever working on a fixed centre in the framing of the
loom; the other end of this lever is attached to another lever h" by the con-
necting rod h; the lever h" has a slot or notch at one end, which takes on to
and works on a centre c', fixed in the framing of the loom; on the other end
of this lever is a toothed rack, forming the segment of a circle, taken from the
centre of the stud c', on which it works. k is a short shaft working in bearings
attached to the framing of the loom; on one end of this shaft is a small spur
wheel j, which gears into and is worked by the toothed rack in the end of the
lever ; on the other end of this shaft is a small bowl or pulley 7, a similar
bowl or pulley is fixed on the axis of the shuttle box E; round these two
bowls or pulleys and may be passed an endless strap, chain, or cord m
(to which I lay no claim); this cord if used is wound twice round the circum-
ference of each bowl or pulley, and is attached to each bowl or pulley so as to
provent it slipping. i, i, are the tappets or wipers of different heights or eleva-
tions; these tappets are connected together by inserting the pins g', and it will
be obvious that as the different heights or elevations works under the bowl i
in the lever h¹ that lever will be more or less raised, and such motion through
the connecting rod is communicated to the lever h". Figure 3 is a front
view of a tappet chain with the pins 9' inserted; Figure 4 are the different
tappets, shewn detached, and numbered respectively 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 at
Figure 4. It will be observed that there are two of numbers 4, 5, and 6.
The 1st, No. 4, (and the same with the others,) is the leading-on tappet, and if
I want to continue for 20 picks, say, with No. 4 box, I follow on with the
requisite number of No. 4, and so on with the rest.
It depends on the mode or order in which these tappets are formed into a
chain whether the shuttle box E shifts one, two, three, or moro shuttles, and
whether it turns forward or backward. If a larger tappet be placed to follow a
smaller one the levers and h" are raised; consequently, by reason of the
toothed rack on the end of the lever h" being in gear with the spur pinion j,
the shuttle box is made to revolve more or less by means of the endless cord m,
according to the height of the tappet or wiper then passing under the bowl i¹
in the lever h'. For example, if No. 5 tappet be put to follow No. 2 tappet the
shuttle box E will be moved from number two box to No. 5 box; and if it
be required to weave 20 picks from No. 5 box, ten tappets or wipers of the
same height or elevation will have to follow each other successively; then if a
sinaller tappet, say, number three, be inserted, the levers h¹ and " are pulled
down by means of an india-rubber or other spring n (Figure 1) until the
bowl in the lever rests upon that tappet; therefore it will be seen from
this explanation that when a larger tappet follows a smaller one the shuttle

page_text: box is made to revolve one way round, and that when a smaller tappet follows
a larger one the shuttle box is made to revolve the contrary way round; it
will likewise be seen that the shuttle box can be made to remain in any one
position for any given number of picks according as the tappets are put to
follow each other.
It sometimes happens in weaving that the shuttle does not properly land
into the box, in which case if the levers h' and h" were being raised, by reason
of a larger tappet following a smaller one, some part of the mechanism would
be broken; but to avoid that I have arranged the lever " as follows:-The
slotted end of this lever takes on to and works on a fixed centre c* in the
framing of the loom, and is kept down on that centre by means of the weight o,
and under ordinary circumstances it acts as the fulcrum of that lever; but if
the shuttle does not properly land in the box, but stops half way in and half
way out, the slotted end of the lever is raised instead of the rack end, and
thereby it prevents any parts of the machinery being broken.
Figure 5 represents another mode (which I prefer using) of transmitting
the motion from the segmental rack on the end of the lever h¹¹ to the shuttle
box, which consists in substituting a toothed rack for the endless cord m, and
spur wheels for the bowls or pullies and l', as shewn in Figures 1 and 2. p is
a small spur pinion, which is keyed on to one end of the shaft ; a similar spur
wheel p¹ is fixed on the axis of the shuttle box E. q is a rod, baving a
toothed rack at each end; this rod has a slot q¹ made up the centre, and into
this slot project two studs or pins r, which serve to keep the rod in its proper
position; these studs or pins rare fixed in a small casting 7, bolted to the
arm i; the rack at the lower end of the rod q gears into the small pinion p.
and the rack at the upper end gears into the spur wheel p¹ on the axis of the
shuttle box E; therefore it will be obvious, that according as the levers and
are raised or lowered, the shuttle box will be made to revolve in one
direction or the other, the amount of rotation imparted to the box depending
upon the height or elevation of the tappet or wiper in operation.
I have not thought it necessary to illustrate the second part of my Invention,
as it consists simply in the substitution of a chain of tappets or wipers for the
pattern wheel, which I have fully described in a former Specification herein-
before referred to, therefore it will be readily understood by the practical
weaver from the explanation already given.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or

page_text: refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my said 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 arrangement and combination of mechanism for actuating
rotatory shuttle boxes by means of friction rods or racks, or for changing the
weft in weaving, as herein-before described by me, and illustrated by my
Drawings.
Second, the application and use of a tappet chain composed of a single set
of tappets or wipers of different heights or elevations, such tappets serving to
select the times, the direction, and extent of change the rotatory or revolving
shuttle box is required to make to produce the desired pattern, as herein.before
described, and illustrated by my Drawings.
Third, the application and use to and in rotatory or revolving shuttle boxes
of toothed racks or friction rods, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the application and use of an endless tappet chain to effect changes
in the working of the healds, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Carter Ramsden, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, the Twenty-ninth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.
JOHN CARTER RAMSDEN. (L.S.)