IMPROVEMENTS IN RIBBON Looмs
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in tho County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RIBBON
Looмs." A communication from abroad by J. J. Schwartz, of the
Firm of J. J. Schwartz, Sons, and Co., of Gross Ammensleben and
Blaiahe near Magdebure in the Kingdom of Prussia.
ealed the 1st June 1875, and dated the 3rd December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd December 1874.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RIBBON LOOMS," to be as follows:-

page_text: And, 2ndly. To render the speed of the throw of the shuttles inde-
pendent of the speed of the loom. To attain these objects a novel con-
struction of shuttle is employed, and also a novel mode of driving the
same. The shuttle may be described as consisting of a rectangular frame
having at its front end a narrow oval shaped plate, which is fitted with
an eye, through which the weft thread passes, and at its back end a
broader plate, which plates may be termed warp supporters. The side
bars of the framing are notched to receive the spindle of the bobbin. In
front of this bobbin the frame is provided on its under side with a rebated
groove-rounded at its ends and extending across the whole width of the
This rebated groove is intended to receive the flanged head of
race "which supports the shuttles in position in the loom, and
which is itself made fast to the batten, an elastic presser attached to
the back plate of the shuttle bears against the bobbin to keep the weft
thread at proper tension.
frame.
the "
For driving the shuttles a driving bar is used which fits into a rebate
in the batten and receives an endway motion through its connection
with a strap that is led over tension pulleys mounted on the batten.
This strap is connected at its opposite ends to springs which hold it at
tension and alternately draw it down in opposite directions. The driving
bar carries pairs of drivers which strike the shuttles, sending them to
and fro through the open shed. The driving bar is notched to receive
the head of a spring catch or catches (attached to the batten), whereby
it is locked in position as respects its relation to the batten. This spring
catch is connected by a chain to an adjustable hook at the front of the
loom, and as the batten retires after beating up it carries with it the
driving bar, thereby causing it to free itself from the spring catch. The
bar is thus enabled to move endwise under the impulse which it receives
from one or other of the springs of the driving strap. These springs are
alternately depressed by means of rotating tappets, and while in this
depressed position they will, immediately the driver bar is released from
the catch, impel it to the right or left, as the case may be, and thereby
drive the shuttles through the open shed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
Her special licence that I, the said Afred Vincent Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alfred Vincent 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RIBBON LOOMS," being a com-
munication to me from abroad by J. J. Schwartz, of the Firm of J. J.
Schwartz, Sons, & Co., of Gross Ammensleben and Bleiche, near
Magdeburg, in the Kingdom of Prussia, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or ad-
ministrators, 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 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 Alfred Vincent 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 Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
The present Invention refers to improvements in ribbon or small ware

page_text: looms, whereby the weaving operation is greatly accelerated and the
accurate action of the parts is ensured.
The Invention consists of two main parts, viz.
1. An improved shuttle, which by means of its peculiar construction
is enabled to carry five times the quantity of weft thread, or nearly so,
as compared with the shuttles hitherto in use.
2. The mode of and means for working the shuttle.
With ribbon and small ware looms operated by the weaver it was not
so much desired to increase the quantity of weft throad on the shuttle
bobbin as is the case at present when hand labour is replaced by motive
power, for the necessity of frequently changing the bobbin consequent
upon its being supplied with only a small quantity of weft thread offered
the occasional desired rest to the weaver in the midst of his monotonous
and hard labour.
The number of improvements in shuttles which have been made since
ribbon or small ware power looms operated by water or steam have come
into use nearly all manifest the endeavour to increase the quantity of
weft thread on the shuttle bobbins as much as possible, as the more
seldom changing of the latter considerably enhances the productive
power of the loom.
On the construction of shuttle hitherto in use the quantity of weſt
thread on the shuttle bobbin was invariably limited for this reason, that
the bobbin in the shuttle was always turned to that part of the opening
of the warp forming the weaving point or acute angle of this opening; in.
other words, the greatest space in the triangle which is formed by the
opening of the warp and the reed as its base was occupied by the grooved
or toothed guide part of the shuttle, so that only the acute angle of the
triangle remained for the bobbin, thus rendering its capability for
carrying weft thread but very small.
By the peculiar construction of the improved shuttle, and the means
adopted for sustaining it in its course, the parts by which the shuttle is
sustained are enabled to be brought to the front, that is, near to the
weaving point or removed from the reed, while the bobbin is placed rear-
wards, that is, in the enlarged opening of the warp, and consequently
near the reed. Thus it is evident that there is room for a considerably
larger diameter of bobbin than heretofore. In fact bobbins capable of

page_text: carrying about five times the quantity of yarn wound on to the ordinary
shuttle bobbins may be used without rendering a larger opening of the
warp or a more considerable motion of the batten necessary. Whilst no
greater durability is exacted from the warp than heretofore the weaver
requires only about the fifth part of his time for replacing empty bobbins
by replete ones. This saving of time is considerable, as every change of
bobbins requires a stoppage of the loom, and besides this the weaver
is enabled to serve a greater number of shuttles.
The manner of giving motion to the shuttles of hand looms for
weaving ribbons or small ware hitherto almost universally adopted (by
jerking them to and fro) is accompanied by the inconvenience that these
jerks when the. loom is working at a fair speed increase, whereas they
are less intense when the speed of the loom is slackened, thus giving a
variety of speeds to the shuttle, the result of which not unfrequently is
that the shuttle when quickly worked will recoil, and when its speed is
diminished will fail to reach the next shuttle carrier and remain in the
shed, thereby causing considerable mischief. With this improved arrange-
ment for working the shuttle presently to be described, the driving lath
by which all the shuttles of a batten receive their motion, the dis-
advantages mentioned above will not take place, as the power which pro-
duces the motion of the driving lath is independent of the speed of
tho loom, this power being constant and capable of regulation by
arrangements which will be described hereafter. Provision is now made
that motion to the driving lath shall only be given when the opening of
the shed is at its greatest, or nearly so, the moment of impulsion being
dependent on the adjustment of certain parts yet to be described.
Having now indicated the essential parts of the Invention, and the
objects designed to be attained, I will proceed to describe more fully the
details of the Invention, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing.
Fig. 1 shews in sectional side view so much of a ribbon or small
ware loom as will -serve to illustrate the application of the Invention
thereto.
Fig. 2 shows in front view on an enlarged scale parts of a batten of
the loom, the driving lath, the shuttle carrier, the shuttle driver, the
shuttle, and the reed; Fig. 3 is a cross section at the line A, B, of
Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a ground plan; and Fig. 5, a cross section of the

page_text: shuttle; and Fig. 6 is an elevation of the shuttle looking at it from the
rear.
In Fig. 1, a is the main shaft of a ribbon loom, the pulley of which
receives motion from any convenient gear at hand. This shaft a gives
motion to the batten, the parts conveying the motion being omitted, as
they are well known. It may however be remarked that the working of
the batten is effected through a swinging frame d, having its fulcrum at
the foot of the loom.
The batten may be applied when desired to swinging frames having
their fulcrum situated in the upper part of the frame of the loom. The
rotation of the shaft a is communicated to the shaft by means of spur
wheels a' and a², from which shaft the heddles receive motion in the
usual manner.
Keyed to the shaft 6 is a double tappet cam c, which in its rotation
strikes the bowle e of a shoe f having its fulcrum at e¹. Affixed to the
slioe f is a blade spring g, the free end of which is perforated to receive
a regulating bar & pendent from a strap ', which is intended to impart
a reciprocating motion to the shuttle drivers. It should be remarked
that the parts c, e, f, e¹, and g are employed in duplicate, that is to say,
to each side of the loom. In order to accomplish the to-and-fro motion a
of the driving lath with their aid the said parts must be in action on.
one side of the loom, while they are at rest on the other side. The
double tappet cam c must therefore be in reciprocal relation with the
first-mentioned one. be is the warp; c², the woven fabric. The opening
of warp or shed is formed by the change of the heddles d', d¹, and c¹, c¹.
Fixed on the swinging frame d are the parts of the batten 9 and r,
between which the reed t is situated.
The shuttle see (Fig. 3) consists of the small vertical warp supporter u
and the larger vertical warp supporter w, which are combined by means
of the shuttle frame v.
The small warp supporter is in its upper part supplied with an eye
of steel, porcelain, glass, or other material (see Fig. 5), through which
the weft thread coming from the bobbin passes.
3
The shuttle frame v is provided immediately in rear of the small warp
supporter with a rebated T shaped slot corresponding with the shape in 3
cross section of the shuttle carriers s, which are designed to carry the

page_text: same in its course.
The ends of this T shaped slot- are rounded, as
shewn in the plan view, Fig. 4, so that a safe guiding of the shuttle from
one carrier to the other is secured.
The shuttle frame is moreover supplied on its two inner sides with a
slot open in the rear part, into which the pin on which the bobbin is
loosely placed is easily inserted.
The bobbin is retained in its situation by the pressure of the
break y. The large warp supporter w has in its lower part a notched
projection x, into which the spring z is inserted, and from whence it can
easily be withdrawn for additional tightening. This spring presses the
spoon-shaped break y against the weft yarn on the bobbin, thereby
creating the necessary tension during the running off of the weft thread.
The break y is easily pressed back to remove the empty bobbin and to
insert one replete with yarn.
The shuttle, it will be understood, is free to slide over the carriers 8,
and from one shuttle carrier to the next. These shuttle carriers aro
screwed at proper distances from each other to angle iron forming part
of the batten 2 of the loom.
In order to impart the requisite reciprocating motion to the shuttle
the following means are employed :-The front part of the batten q is
rebated to receive the driving lath k. To the opposite ends of the
lath k a strap h¹ is secured. These straps are led over pulleys i mounted
in bearings attached to the batten and pass down below to the already
mentioned regulating bars h with which they are severally connected.
Hence the strap ¹ and the driving lath % are forced to obey the
occasional tightening of the springs situated on either side of the
loom.
Mounted on the driving lath are drivers p in appropriate positions
with regard to the shuttles, which drivers strike the shuttles on the
driving lath being moved, propelling the same from one shuttle carrier
through the open shed to the other shuttle carrier. Now in order to be
enabled to determine the precise moment when the driving lath k
following the tightening of the spring g is to move the shuttles by the
driver p the following arrangement is adopted :-m is a spring fastened
to the point n connected at option with the underneath part of the
batten 2, thus participating in the motion of the batten frame. The
spring is prolonged upwards, and it carries a wedge-shaped head 2, which

page_text: -
takes into a notch in the driving lath, an opening being made for that
purpose through the angle iron of the batten 7. Two such notches are
made for the one head in the driving lath in order to arrest the latter,
first at one close of its motion and next at the other close of its
motion.
The head is supplied with a hook on the rear side (see Fig. 1), from
which a chain o passes to another hook forming the end of a screw
bolt o¹ situated in the front beam p¹. The distance of the head / from
the front beam p¹ may be increased or diminished by tightening or
loosening the nut q', and thereby the moment for the head to unlock
and set free the lath may be determined. The spring m with its head
thus serves for holding on, and the chain o, together with the backward
motion of the batten, serves to discharge the weft shute.
.
The working of the apparatus is as follows:-When the batten
advances to beat up the last shute of weft thread both springs 9 are
relaxed, the chain o is slackened and the spring head is pressed into
one of the notches of the driving lath. When the batten returns a new
opening of the warp takes place and one of the springs g is gradually
strained, the chain o is likewise gradually tightened. On the completion
of about three parts of the retrograde motion of the batten the spring g
will have arrived at its utmost stretch, and must remain in this state for
some time. The spring head still in the locking position prevents the
spring from setting the driving lath in motion.
9
It is only when the retrograde motion of the batten is nearly
completed, when the chain o is perfectly tight, and the spring head is
by means of the tightly stretched chain withdrawn from the driving
lath that the transmission of the power of the spring to the driving
lath, and consequently the throw of the shuttles, can take place. When
the driving lath has completed its course and the batten again advances
to beat up, the head will enter the second notch in the driving lath and
lock the lath. The distance of the two notches from each other precisely
determines the length of the course which is performed by the driving
lath.
"
In some cases two stop springs with heads 2 may be used to act as
described above and determine the moment of release of the driving lath,
but in that case four notches must be provided in the lath for the two
heads.

page_text: As a further modification the spring m (shewn vertical in the Drawing)
may be arranged in a horizontal position, and in this case the fixed
point of the spring m will be on the batten q.
It now remains to describe the action of the springs 9 with regard to
the working of the shuttles. The springs 9 arranged on either side of
the loom are at certain times alternately strained by the cams c by the
latter pressing against the bowle e. While one spring is strained
the spring on the other side remains in repose. The consequence of
the strain of the spring is that the traction resulting therefrom and
acting on the regulating bar h, strap h', and driving lath % is effected
towards that side where the strained spring is situated. Now as soon
as the driving lath on the retrograde motion of the batten is liberated
from the spring head Ɩ, then the driving lath moves endwise in the
direction mentioned, and the drivers on the driving lath drive tho
shuttles from the one carrier s through the opening of the warp on to
the next carriers, thereby laying a weft thread in the shed. The then
following strain of the spring situated on the other side of the loom
will as above jerk the driving lath & in the opposite direction as soon as
the spring head will permit the motion.
The regulation of the chain o by means of the screw q' must of course
be such as to ensure that the throw of the shuttles shall only procced
when the opening of the warp has nearly come to completion.
By means of the nut on the screw of the regulating bar ½ (under the
blade spring ) the traction exerted on the driving lath produced by
means of the strain of the spring may be regulated, this regulation being
necessary by reason of the weight of the shuttles, the slacking of the
strap, and the greater or lesser force or strain of the spring g.
From the above it will be understood that the action of the driving
lath, and hence the speed of the shuttlo's throw, will be entirely
independent of the speed of the loom.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in Ribbon Looms," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to
be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
I claim,-
Firstly. The improved construction of shuttle as described with
reference to Figures 3 4 5 and 6 of the Drawings.

page_text: Secondly. The construction of batten above described and the means
employed in connection therewith for driving the shuttles as described
with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings.
-
-
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Third day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.