AN IMPROVEMENT ON POWER AND OTHER LOOMS, AND IN THE WEAVING OF SILK, HEMPEN, COTTON, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER CLOTH
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMASA
STONE, of Johnston, in the County of Providence and State of Rhode Island,
in the United States of America, Machinist, now residing at Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, in and by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-third day of October, in the fifth year of the reign
of His Majesty, for Himself, His heirs and successors, did give and grant
unto me, the said Amasa Stone, my exors, admñňors, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Amasa Stone,
my exors, admors, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and themselves,
or by mine and their deputy or deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as
I, the said Amasa Stone, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, a certain Invention or improvement by me, the said Amasa
Stone, being "AN IMPROVEMENT ON POWER AND OTHER LOOMS, AND IN THE
WEAVING OF SILK, HEMPEN, COTTON, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER CLOTH," in such
manner as to nie, the said Amasa Stone, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or
any of them, should in mine or their discretions seem meet, and that I, the
said Amasa Stone, my exors, admors, and assigns, should and lawfully might
have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commodity, and advantage from time
to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising by reason of the said Invention,

page_text: for and during the term of years therein mentioned; in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Amasa Stone, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Amasa Stone, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by the Plan or
Drawing appended to the margin of these presents, and the following descrip-
tion thereof (that is to say):-
Such improvement on power looms and other looms, and the weaving silk,
hempen, cotton, woollen, and other cloths, consists in a new adaptation of
mechanism to be attached to such looms for the purpose of connecting the
operation of beating up the weft thread with that of giving out or delivering
the warp and taking up the cloth. By means of this adaptation of mechanism,
whenever from the accidental breaking or non-delivery of the weft or filling
the striking up of the reed meets with little or no resistance, the delivery of
the warp and also the taking up of the cloth is suspended, although the
general evolutions of the loom remain in action. In order to render the
construction and adaptation of my invention or improvement perfectly evident,
I have appended to this my Specification Drawings representing a power
loom or
portions of a power loom in several positions, with my invention or
improvement connected thereto.
Figure 1 is an end view of the loom, with the novel parts attached, and
in working order; Figure 2 is a partial representation of the same, shewing
particularly the novel parts shaded; Figure 3 is a vertical section, taken
through the loom at right angles to Figure 1, in the line A, B, looking toward
the cloth beam; Figure 4 is a vertical section, also at right angles to Figure 1,
in the line C, D, looking in the opposite direction, that is, toward the warp
beam; and Figure 5 is a horizontal view of a portion of the lathe of the loom,
taken at that end where the improved parts are connected, the respective
letters of reference pointing out the same parts in all the Figures. a is the
warp beam mounted upon an axle turning in bearings in the side standards
or frame of the loom. From this beam the warp threads pass over a whip
roller above, and thence through the headles or healds c, c, and reed d, in
the ordinary way. The reed is mounted in the lathe with a frame, which is

page_text: I
capable of vibrating in pivots or centers for the purpose of allowing the reed
to fall back when it strikes forcibly against the weft thread in beating up.
The cloth produced by the intervention of the warp and weft threads in front
of the reed passes over the breast beam e to the cloth or work beam f, and is
wound upon a loose roller g by the friction of their surfaces. The crank
shaft h, by which the working parts of the loom are driven (through the
agency of a rigger affixed at its end and a band leading from shafts and
geering turned by a steam engine or other rotary power) is connected by the
crank arms or connecting rods i, i, to the back part of the lathe, and hence
as the crank shaft rotates the lathe is made to vibrate in the usual way; and
by the ordinary connection of toothed wheels the tappet shaft k is also driven,
which works the headles or healds c, c, that open the sheds of the warp and
also the picker levers 1, that drive the shuttle to and fro.
In the represen-
tation of the back of the lathe, shewn at Figure 3, it will be perceived that
the reed d is fixed in a frame m, m, which frame is mounted in the lathe and
held by pivots or studs n, n, bolted to the upper parts of the swords of the
lathe; upon these studs or pivots n the reed with its fram is enabled to swing
backward, but it is confined in its situation by powerful springs o, o, affixed
to the back of the lathe, the ends of these springs pressing against the lower
rail of the reed frame. The tension of these springs o, o, may be tempered by
the adjustable staples and screws p, p, and their pressure upon the lower rail
of the reed and the force of the springs o, o, altogether taken off (if the cloth
or other fabric is to be woven of a very light texture) by the introduction
of a loose bolt passed horizontally through a hole near each end of the
lathe, as shewn at *, in Figures 5 and 1, the front ends of which bolts, as the
lathe comes forward, strike against the breast beam or the frame of the loom,
and their back ends against the inner parts of the springs o, o.
By this
means the weft is beat up by the weight or pressure of the vibrating reed
alone. These parts of the loom I have described without intending in any
way to claim them as of my Invention, but merely for the purpose of leading
to and more readily illustrating the design and operation of my Invention or
improvement.
A
I will now describe the particular features of Invention or improvement.
perpendicular lever 7 is attached to the side of one of the swords of the lathe
by means of a pin or stud projecting from a bracket bolted to the sword.
The upper end of this leaver bears against the bottom rail of the back of the
reed frame m, and is held there by a slight spring (see Figure 3).
part of this lever is attached by an axle joint to a horizontal rod S;
the rod s to which the lever is connected is bent downwards, as shewn in
Figure 2; for the purpose of enabling the rod to pass over the rocker or
The lower
that end of

page_text: swing bar or axle at bottom of the swords that the lathe vibrates upon. The
joint by which the ends of the lever q and rods are connected must be brought
as nearly in coincidence with the axle of the lathe as may be found practicable.
At the back part of the loom there is a perpendicular shaft t supported in
brackets, bolted to the side frame or standard, and held steady by a friction
strap. Upon the upper part of this shaft is fixed an endless screw or worm
working into the teeth of a wheel on the warp beam, by the rotation of which
worm the beam is turned and made to deliver the warp. A ratchet wheel u
is made fast by a bolt or otherwise to the perpendicular shaft t near its lower
end, and below this a cylindrical piece or collar v is loosely fitted upon the
shaft and held up by a pin. From the side of this collar va small arm
extends, carrying an upright stud, which passes through an eye at the back
end of the horizontal rod s for the purpose of forming a jointed support to
that end of the rod. At a short distance from this joint a standard is fixed
into the horizontal rod s, carrying a click or tooth w, the point of which drops
into the teeth of the ratchet wheel u. This tooth is the driver that gives
rotary movement to the ratchet wheel and shaft u and t. A bent arm x is
affixed by bolts to the horizontal rod s, the elevated end of which arm being
inclined towards the sword, is struck by it when the lathe falls back, gives a
sliding movement to the rod s, and thereby causes the click w to drive the
ratchet wheel u. Below the endless screw or worm, on the perpendicular
shaft t, another ratchet wheel y is fixed, corresponding in the number of its
teeth with the ratchet wheel u. This ratchet wheel y acts upon a tooth at
the end of a shorter arm of a bent lever z, suspended on a pivot or stud in a
bracket attached to the side frame. At the reverse end, that is, near the
extremity of the longer arm of this bent lever a tappet pin is fixed for the
purpose of raising the arm of the ordinary taking-up lever, which works the
click or driver of the ratchet connected with the ordinary train of toothed
geer for taking up or winding the cloth round the work beam in front and
upon the loose roller.
Having now described the construction and adaptation of my improved
machinery, I proceed to shew the manner in which it operates. After every
flight of the shuttle through the open shed of warp, the lathe advances towards
the breast beam for the purpose of causing the reed to beat up the weft
thread; but as the reed d is mounted in a vibrating frame m, the force with
which it strikes against the cloth or filling causes the lower rail of the reed
frame m to recede or swing back from the lathe a short distance, as shewn in
the section, Figure 2. As the upper end of the perpendicular lever q bears
against the lower rail of the reed frame whenever the reed frame recedes, as
above described, that end of the perpendicular lever is necessarily forced back,

page_text: and the lower end of the said lever is consequently moved forward, bringing
with it the horizontal rod s. This forward movement of the horizontal rod s
causes the end of the bent arm a to be brought close against the sword of the
lathe, and also draws the click w over one tooth in the ratchet wheel u. On
the return of the lathe into the inclined position (shewn by dots in Figure 2),
the sword will strike against the end of the bent arm a, and slide the hori-
zontal rod s back again, which will cause the click w to drive the ratchet
wheel u one tooth, and thereby turn the shaft t and its endless screw, by
means of which the warp beam is driven round and the warp given out; but
in the event of the weft thread having broken, there will be no delivery from
the shuttle, and consequently a want of filling to the cloth; the reed, therefore,
in beating up will not meet with that resistance which it did when the filling
of the weft thread was perfect on the beating up of the lath, therefore the reed
frame will not now be driven back as before, nor the lever 7 be sufficiently
2
acted upon to cause it to slide the horizontal rods through the same distance,
consequently the click w will not be drawn over another tooth of the ratchet
wheel u, and the shaft t being thus allowed to remain in a quiescent state,
the warp will no longer be given out from its beam. The rotary movement
given to the perpendicular shaft t, in the way described, carries round the
ratchet wheel y, and the teeth of this ratchet wheel acting upon the tooth at
the end of the shorter arm of the bent lever causes that end of the bent
lever to be depressed every time that a tooth of the wheel y passes over the
tooth of the lever, as shewn by dots in Figure 2. By these means the reverse
end or longer arm of the said lever is raised, which causes the tappet pin
fixed near its extremity, to lift the take-up lever, which operates upon the
ordinary geering for winding or taking up the cloth round the cloth or work
beam and upon the loose roller as usual. Therefore when the contrary move-
ment of the perpendicular shaft t is suspended, owing to the breaking of the
weft thread in the way described, the taking up of the cloth ceases, as well as
the delivery of the warp, although the general evolutions of the loom continue
in action.
And whereas it is evident that everything which gives certainty, precision,
and uniformity to the various operations required to form any fabric, whether of
silk, hemp, cotton, woollen, or other material, must tend greatly to improve the
fabric itself and render the occurrence of casualties in the process of weaving
less frequent, and having described my improvement in looms and weaving, and
shewn by the accompanying Drawing and foregoing description the best mode
of constructing and adapting the same that I am acquainted with, I desire it to
be understood that I do not intend to confine myself to that particular form

page_text: and arrangement of the parts shewn in the Drawings by which I effect my
improvement in looms and in weaving, as different forms and arrangements of
mechanism may be found capable of effecting the same objects, and indeed
the various constructions of looms in common use to which the principle of
my said improvement may be adapted will necessarily require different modi-
fications of mechanism for the purpose of bringing it into operation. But that
which I claim as my Invention or improvement is connecting and commu-
nicating the receding movement or action of a vibrating reed (sometimes
called a fly or flighter reed) with the mechanism by which the warp is given
out and the cloth or fabric taken up, in such manner that the operations of
delivering the yarn from the warp beam and drawing forward or winding up
the cloth or fabric by the work beam, may be dependant upon, resulting from,
and regulated by the action of the vibrating reed, and which operation shall
continue as long as the weft thread or filling is supplied, but cease immediately
on that supply being suspended.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amasa Stone, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
Inrolled the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.