IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lyall, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lyall at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th November 1872.
I, JAMES LYALL, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
This Invention is a modification of and improvement upon the looms
shown in the Specifications of my English Patents, No. 1042, of 1868,
and 1578, of 1870, and relates :-
First. To a means for accelerating and retarding the movement of the
shuttle. I employ a driver or carrier to move the shuttle and drive it
by a belt, as in said Patent Specifications; the ends of the belt pass in
opposite directions around a roller that is at the end of a lever. At onc

page_text: side of the pulley is a pinion gearing into a stationary toothed segment,
so that as the roller is carried from side to side by the lever it is
also revolved upon its axis and winds the belt up at one side and
unwinds it at the other side, thus obtaining a large movement of the
shuttle and belt by compact mechanism. The said lever is moved by a
crank and link to stop and start it gradually, and in cases where the
lever is slotted and a link intervenes between the connecting rod and
lever the movement is very rapid in the middle of the shuttle's stroke,
and accelerated and retarded towards the beginning and ending of each
movement.
Second. To a raceway for the shuttle propeller, upon the upper surface
of which the lower shuttle rollers run. This raceway has a longitudinal
slot through which the rollers of the shuttle propeller project.
Third. To a shuttle containing a removable bobbin holder and a slack
thread take-up that acts to keep any slack thread within the shuttle.
Fourth. To a take-up mechanism that is especially adapted to weaving
corsets or other articles with gores or irregular fabrics. This consists in
a belt that is moved sufficiently to draw the fabric as rapidly as woven,
but it slips upon the part of the fabric that is beeng woven more slowly,
said fabric beeng between the belt and a convex surface. A row of pins 1
at the edge of this plate or convex surface serves to hold the fabric as
woven when the lay recedes.
Fifth. In a let-off mechanism that consists of a friction lever acting
against the warp reel to hold the same from turning, the warp passes
through an eye in this lever to a weighted pulley. As the warp is
drawn off the weight is raised, and acting against the lever lessens the
friction and allows the reel to turn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Lyall in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LYALL, of the City and State of New York, United States of America,
send greeting.
23

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Lyall, Her special
licence that I, the said James Lyall, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Lyall, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS in
LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Lyall, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 James Lyall, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 made to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to
say):
:-
This Invention is a modification of and improvement upon the looms
shown in my English Patents, No. 1042, of 1868, and No. 1578, of 1870,
and relates:-
First. To a means for accelerating and retarding the movement of the
shuttle. I employ a driver or carrier to move the shuttle and drive it
by a belt, as in said Patents; the ends of the belt pass in opposite
directions around a roller that is at the end of a lever. At one side of
the pulley is a pinion gearing into a stationary toothed segment, so that
as the roller is carried from side to side by the lever it is also revolved
upon its axis and winds the belt up at one side and unwinds it at the
other side, thus obtaining a large movement of the belt and shuttle by

page_text: compact mechanism.
The said lever is moved by a crank and link to
stop and start it gradually, and in cases where the lever is slotted and a
link intervenes between the connecting rod and lever the movement is
very rapid in the middle of the shuttle's stroke, and accelerated and
retarded towards the beginning and ending of each movement.
Second. To a raceway for the shuttle propeller, upon the upper surface
of which the lower shuttle rollers run.
This raceway has a longitudinal
slot through which the rollers of the shuttle propeller project.
Third. To a shuttle containing a removable bobbin holder and a slack
thread take-up that acts to keep any slack thread within the shuttle.
Fourth. To a take-up mechanism that is especially adapted to weaving
corsets or other articles with gores, or irregular fabrics. This consists in
a belt that is moved sufficiently to draw the fabric as rapidly as woven,
but it slips upon the part of the fabric that is being woven more slowly,
said fabric being between the belt and a convex surface. A row of pins
at the edge of this plate or convex surface serves to hold the fabric as
woven when the lay recedes.
Fifth. In a let-off mechanism that consists of a friction lever acting
against the warp reel to hold the same from turning, the warp passes
through an eye in this lever to a weighted pulley. As the warp is drawn
off the weight is raised, and acting against the lever lessens the friction
and allows the reel to turn.
In the Drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation partially in section; Fig. 2 is a
plan; Fig. 3 is a section transversly of the lay; Fig. 4 is a section in
larger size of the raceway for the shuttle and its propeller; Fig. 5 is a
section of the take-up mechanism; Fig. 6 is an elevation, about half
size, of the shuttle and its propeller; and Fig. 7 is a plan of the bobbin
holder and weft regulator separately.
The frame of the loom is made with the ends a, a, connected by the
front and back bars b, c, of suitable size, and the cords of the jacquard
(where that is employed) pass through the frame or harness board at c¹
in any usual manner. The main shaft d is revolved by competent
power, and has cranks e for the connecting rods ƒ that are jointed to
the lay swords 9, and these are pivoted at 2. The lay carries a reed h
and also the rail k, somewhat similar to those in my former Patents, I

page_text: however make this rail adjustable by means of screws 3 passing through
arms 4 that project above the lay so as to regulate accurately the space
provided for the shuttle between said rail k and the raceway l. This
raceway is adapted to receive the shuttle propeller m that is made with
rollers 6 and 7, substantially the same as in my aforesaid Patents, but
instead of the device becoming a shuttle carrier it is simply a shuttle
propeller, because the shuttle runs upon the ledges 8 at the top of the
raceway, the lower rollers 9 of the shuttle m¹ being made longer so as to
rest upon such ledges, and the rollers 6 of the propeller project up
between these ledges sufficiently to act upon the rollers 9 in propelling
the same in a manner similar to that in aforesaid Patents. By this
construction the shuttle is held and steadied in place the rollers 9 taking
a broad bearing, and there is not any risk of injury to the warps.
The upper rollers of the shuttle are similar to those in aforesaid
patents, and the receiver that carries the bobbin or cop is removable
from the shuttle. At the ends of the raceway in the lay are the
gates 10 that are made to be drawn up vertically in slides 11 in the lay
so as to allow the shuttle to be removed from the widest side of the
raceway.
The faces of these gates are in line with the surface of the
reeds so as to support the back of the shuttle.
The bands or belts n that are employed to actuate the shuttle propeller
pass at the ends of the lay over the rollers 12, and are wound in opposite
directions upon the double drum o, and their ends attached thereto.
The axis of this roller o is in a fork at the end of the swinging lever p,
that has its fulcrum 13 upon the cross bar a¹ of the lay, and between the
swords g of the lay is the segmental rack bar q, the teeth of which take
the teeth of a pinion h on the axis of the roller o. The lever P is
vibrated by a crank pin 15 on the swinging link or crank o' that is
pivoted to the bar 16 and receives motion from the connecting rod r, and
the crank 17 of the auxiliary shaft ¹, which shaft receives its motion
from the counter shafts that is rotated at half the speed of the main
shaft d by the gearing s¹.
It will now be evident that the lever p is vibrated with rapidity, but
stopped gradually at each end of the movement because the crank 17
gives an accelerated movement at the middle of the stroke from the con-
necting rod and gradually stops the motion, and this would be the case
if the connecting rod was attached directly to the lever p which in some

page_text: instances might be the case, but the acceleration is still further increased
in the central portions of the stroke, and lessened towards the ends in
consequence of the crank pin 15 of the link o' moving in the slot 33,
and being nearest to the fulcrum 13 in the middle portion of the move-
ment, and farthest from the fulcrum at the commencement and ending
of each reciprocation, and swinging almost in the line of the slot when
the lever is in its diagonal positions at the ends of the movement. By
changing the position of the pivot 25 of the link o¹', the motion given to
the shuttle can be varied without any other change, because the move-
ment will be greater by bringing the pin 15 further down in the slot
towards the fulcrum 13 of the lever P and the reverse.
The size of the band wheel o or of the pinion 1ª also allow for varying
the movement of the shuttle. The segmental rack bar q revolves the
roller o, and the upper part of said roller is turning in the same direction
in which the roller o is carried bodily, thereby the bands or belts that
are wound upon the roller o moves the shuttle propeller the extent due
to the winding up, in addition to that resulting from the change in the
position of the roller, thereby a large extent of motion is given to the
shuttle in proportion to the change of positon of the roller o.
Shuttles have been made with spring arms carrying eyes for the
thread to pass through; I have improved the shuttle by applying an
india-rubber cord 18 passing around pulleys or grooved rollers 19, and
attached to the arms t, so that a long spring can be introduced in a
small space, thereby ensuring greater uniformity of tension on the weft
thread, lessening cost of manufacture, and introducing the parts into a
small compass.
The rubber spring may extend from one arm to the other, as shown,
or two pieces may be used passing around the respective pulleys, and the
ends attached to eyes on the shuttle.
If desired, the weft thread may pass from the eye 75 to an eye on one
of the arms t, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7, in which case the
arms as they swing open to take up the weft thread will not tend to
draw the thread off the bobbin, but on the contrary to produce a slack-
ness of thread where it passes through said eye 75.
In weaving corsets or fabrics with gores or irregular surfaces, it is
necessary that the material woven should be taken up as woven, in

page_text: order to present a straight edge for the next weft thread. In hand looms
this has been accomplished by drawing the goods by weights and hooks,
and a range of holding pins and sectional rollers operated by the
jacquard, and brushes have also been employed.
In all cases it is important that the point of tension from the take-up
device should be as near to the reeds at the extreme movement as
possible, and where rollers or brushes of a large size are used, the
grasping points being immediately below the centers of the rollers,
cannot be close to the point of beating up.
This part of my Invention consists in a belt or series of belts passing
over an actuating roller and a small roller, said belt acting against the
surface of a curved plate, and thereby obtaining a sufficiently firm hold
upon the fabric to draw the material along when pressed towards the
belt by the lay in beating up the weft thread, and when the fabric does
not require to be taken up, the belt slips on the same, thereby the point
at which the fabric is grasped will be very close to the point of weaving,
and the rails of the lay in my loom can pass above and below the take-
up apparatus.
and
The roller is rotated progressively each blow of the lay by the
ratchet and pawl 22 that is moved by the cam v, lever v¹, link 23,
arm 24, and this roller is supported in bearings w at the ends, and may
be continuous across the entire width of the fabric, or made to receive
the pressure levers 36 at suitable distances apart.
The belt or belts x pass over this roller u and also around the small
distending roller or stretcher 35 that is contiguous to the plate y, and
the fabric is drawn by the belts as much as the lay presses the same up
in beating in the filling. The surface of the plate y being curved
upwardly causes the belt to take a firm bearing thereon, and according
to the position of the stretcher or roller 35 as adjusted by the levers 36
and screws 37, so the belt will be drawn more or less lightly over this
convex plate y. The range of teeth at 38 serves to hold the fabric as
the lay recedes. These teeth should be inclined towards the rollers 35,
and they are made upon the edge of a plate of steel y¹, so that they
can be positioned much nearer to the point of weaving than the needles
heretofore used, because they occupy less room.
A second range of endless belts might take the place of the plate y,
the fabric being drawn in between the belts.

page_text: I employ automatic temples for holding the weft threads at or near
the selvage, and securing uniformity in the width of the fabric. As the
lay comes up to beat in the weft thread a hook is lifted to allow the weft
thread to be beat up unobstructedly. As the lay recedes this hook
drops and pass through the cloth at or near the selvage, so as to retain
the same of the proper width, or else the hook passes down behind the
last weft thread, and the weft thread draws around the same as the
shuttle moves back across the fabric. This temple is shown in elevation
in Fig. 8 and by a plan view in Fig. 9.
The temples are made with the parts "handed" or reversed, so as to
be adapted to the right and left sides of the fabric that is being woven;
the one shown is for the right side of the loom. Upon the breast beam
or other convenient part of the loom a bar b' is bolted. This bar b* sus-
tains the stock c¹ that can be moved lengthwise of the bar b¹ to adjust
the position of the temple hook, and the same may be raised or lowered
if the bar b* rests upon the curved surface shown in Fig. 8.
It is pro-
The bar slides in supports 82, 83, upon the stock c¹.
jected towards the lay by a spring g³, and its motion is determined by a
stop 84 that takes against the support 82. At the end of this bar f* is
the hook stock h* from which the hook ³ projects. This is preferably
made removable so as to be replaced in case of injury. A bent lever l
upon a fulcrum is connected with the end of the stock h*. The rod n
and spring n act against this bent lever to throw the point of the hook
down through the fabric to hold the same in its stretched condition, or to
allow the warp thread to draw around this hook as the shuttle returns;
but as the lay comes up to beat the filling into place, some portion of
the lay, or a projection thereon, or the front edge of the shuttle raceway
presses upon the lower end of the bent lever and moves that, lifting
the hook h³ above the fabric or weft thread, as seen in Fig. 8. The
further movement of the lay beats up the filling, carries the bar f' and
other moving parts of the temple back bodily sufficiently to prevent the
lay being arrested in its movement, or any injury resulting to the
parts.

page_text: The warp roller 40 is of a size to contain the required number of
warps. In weaving corsets and irregular fabrics these warp rollers
require to be numerous, so as to supply the warps as required for each
portion of the corset in weaving the gores.
A lever 41 upon a fulcrum 42 is provided with a friction pad 43 acting
against any desired portion of the warp roller, preferably against the
heads 44. There is also an eye 45 upon the end of the lever through
which the warps pass, and go down below a pulley 46 that is provided
with a weight 47. The warps pass up through the eye 45, and over
another pulley 48, and are led off to the loom in whatever direction is
the most convenient, according to the position of the warp roller and let-
off mechanism in relation to the other parts of the loom.
It will be understood that the tension upon the warps is dependent
entirely upon the amount of weight hung upon the pulley 46 and that
this weight rises as the weaving progresses and lifts the lever 41,
relieving the friction sufficiently to allow the warp roller to turn and
the warp to unwind, the effect of which is to allow the weight to
descend sufficiently to increase the friction and again hold the warp
roller. In this manner the tension will be uniform and the rise-and-fall
movement of the weight 47 will be but little.
The friction pad is by preference made of a rubber band around a
concave shoe upon the lever, so that the friction will result from the
india-rubber band in contact with the warp roller at the unsupported
portion where the band will yield to inequalities. By extending the
width of the lay and raceway, more than one fabric may be woven at
one time, but there must be a shuttle and its propeller for each fabric,
and all the shuttles are attached upon one belt n at the proper distances
apart; the motion given by the lever p, roller o, and segment q, to the
belt n, is only the distance required for passing the shuttle of each
fabric from one side to the other thereof.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,―
First. The roller o rotated by the stationary rack-bar segment q and
moved by the lever p, in combination with the shuttle and its propeller

page_text: Second. The crank pin 15, link o³, connecting rod r, and crank 17,
in combination with the lever p, roller o, and connections to the shuttle
driver or propeller m, substantially as set forth.
Third. The rollers 9 of the shuttle m¹ bearing upon the ledges 8
of the raceway, in combination with the shuttle driver or propeller
and its rollers 6 that project up between the ledges 8 and act upon the
rollers 9, as and for the purposes set forth.
Fourth. In a loom for weaving irregular fabrics, a spring or yielding
take-up for the weft thread to apply a uniform tension to the same, and
take up the slack in weaving gores, substantially as set forth.
Fifth. A belt or series of belts extending from an actuating roller to
a second roller or stretcher, in combination with a surface against which
the belt is pressed to form a take-up, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The adjustable levers 36 in combination with the roller u,
stretcher 35, feeding belt x, and surface y, substantially as set
forth.
Seventh. The accelerated and retarded movement of a lever, derived
from a pin in a slot, which pin is moved by a connecting rod and
swinging crank arm, arranged substantially as set forth.
Eighth. The gates 10 applied in vertical slides at the end portions of 2
the lay and in line with the face of the reed, for allowing of the removal
of the shuttle, substantially as set forth.
Ninth. The metallic plate y¹ having teeth upon its edge, in com-
bination with the plate y, and take-up mechanism, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
Tenth. The lay made with the top rail above the shuttle at an
inclination, in combination with the arms 4 that rise above the lay and
the adjusting screws 3, as and for the purposes set forth.
2
Eleventh. The hook h³ actuated by the bent lever l' as the lay presses
up the filling, in combination with the sliding bar f*, and stock c', 3
substantially as set forth.
Twelfth. The lever 41, weighted pulley 46, and friction 43, applied to
and combined with the warp roller 40, substantially as set forth.

page_text: Thirteenth. A row of teeth for holding the fabric, in combination
with automatic take-up mechanism, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lyall, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, A.D. 1873.
JAMES LYALL. (L.S.)
Witnesses,
CHAS. H. SMITH, 121, Nassau St., New York.
GEO. E. PINCKNEY,
"
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