CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANU- PACTURING WEAVERS' HEALDS OR HARNESS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
HYDE GREG, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, and
DAVID BOWLAS, of Reddish, near Stockport, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Seventh day of August, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Robert
Hyde Greg and David Bowlas, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that we, the said Robert Hyde Greg and David Bowlas, our
exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said Robert Hydo
Greg and David Bowlas, our exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANU-
PACTURING WEAVERS' HEALDS OR HARNESS," which Invention has been com-
municated to us by a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said Robert Hyde Greg and David
Bowlas, or one of us, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chaucery within six calendar months

page_text: next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
David Bowlas, 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 Drawings hereto annexed, and the following explana-
tion thereof, that is, to .say:-
These improvements are..designed for, the purpose of manufacturing the
healds or harness employed in looms for guiding the warp threads) by means
of self-acting machinery or apparatus, which consists principally of a frame for
carrying the heald shafts; four traversing shuttle boxes, and two shuttles
containing the twine or cord of which the heald or harness is to be formed;
an arrangement of bobbins for carrying the pitched band or binding thread;
and a gauge rod and fingers for guaging the size of the loops, and raising and
holding the threads; all of which several parts are actuated by a suitable
arrangement of mechanism in such a manner as to secure and hold the threads
firmly on the heald shafts, and at the same time,. by the peculiar action of the
shuttles and fingers, to tie the knots and form the loops through which the
warp threads in the loom are intended to pass. The method of carrying these
improvements into practical effect is fully illustrated in and by the three-sheets
of Drawings hereto annexed, and the following description thereof. The
Drawings are made to a scale of about three inches to .a. foot, and have
similar letters of reference placed upon corresponding parts of the mechanism
in all the Figures.
In Sheet 1 of the Drawings, Fig. 1. represents a front elevation of the
machine, and Fig. 2 an end elevation of the same. In Sheet. 2 of the
Drawings, Fig. 1. is a plan or horizontal view of the apparatus as seen from
above, and Fig. 2 is an horizontal section of the same, taken at about the line
A, B, in Fig. 1; and in Sheet 3 of the Drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical section
taken through about the line C, D, in Fig. 1, Sheet 1.. a, a, is the main
framing of the machine, and b, b, is the main driving pulley, which is loose
upon the shaft, but connected thereto by means of a coupling shaft.
At the other end of the said shaft a spur pinion c, c, is keyed, driving
a spur wheeld, d, which is engaged with a similar wheel e, e.. These
wheels d and e are keyed upon and drive the cam shaft f' and f.
these shafts and få are seven cams, g', g², g', g', 9, 9, 9'.
of g', g, and g are shewn detached in Fig. 3, Sheet 2. g
seen in Fig. 1 in the same Sheet, and 9' and 9 are seen in Fig. 2, Sheet 1.
Upon
Side views
and g are

page_text: These cams act against seven picking levers, h', h², h, h², ho, ho, h'. These
picking levers are kept against the cains by means of the spiral springs i, i, i, i,
by which means they are also actuated so as to drive the shuttles across the
machine whenever the notches in the cams arrive opposite to the tooth upon
the picking levers. k; k, is a sliding frame carrying four shuttle boxes, 11, 12, 13, 14,
containing the two shuttles m' and m². This frame k (when the machine is in
operation) assumes'three different positions alternately, being actuated by means
of a cam n (which is driven by means of bevil geering from the back cam shaft
f), and sliding upon the rails 0, 0, 0, 0. p, p, are the heald'shafts, which are
attached to and supported by the carriage 2, 2, and are guided by the pullies
,, r, r. The carriage q also supports the gauge rods, s, which determines the
size of the loop or eye of the heald: The carriage q, with the heald shafts and
gauge rod, is capable of sliding in a vertical direction upon the rails t, t, being
actuated by means of the cords u, u, passing round the shaft v, v, and over and
under carrier pullies above and below. The shaft-v receives its motion from
the diagonal shaft w being driven from the back cam-shaft f2 by means of a
worm and wheel x, . The shaft vis also capable of being turned by hand
when necessary by means of the hand wheel y. z', 2, and 3, are three fingers
for the purpose of raising, and holding the twine of which the heald is com-
posed. These fingers have each a vertical motion imparted to them when
necessary, by means of cams 1, 2, and 3 (upon the shafts f¹ and f2), and
their corresponding levers. The fingers- and have also an horizontal
motion communicated to them by the sliding bars 4 and 5, to which they
are attached. These sliding bars 4 and 5 are moved in one direction by
means of the curved levers 7, 7, and drawn back by means of the spiral
springs 8, 8, one end of the said springs being fixed to the main framing.
The levers 7, 7, are actuated by means of cams 9, 9, a side view of one
.of which is shewn dotted at Fig. 2, Sheet 1. 10, 10, are two fingers
for tightening the yarn after the knot is formed, which are mounted upon
the sliding arms 11, 11. The sliding bars 11, 11, are actuated in like manner
by the curved levers 12, 12, springs '13, 13, and 'cams 14, 14. The cams 14
.are similar to the cams 9, 9, excepting that they have no dwell upon the
smallest diaineter, having merely a notch each, similar to the picking canis.
15 is a guide for keeping the yarn in its place upon the guage 'rod' when
5 raised by the fingers. 16, 16; 16, are bobbins containing pitched band or cord
for binding the healds. They are mounted and revolve upon pins projecting
radially from the boss of a spur wheel 17, which is provided with three guides
18, 18, 18, through the eyes of which the pitched band or cords pass. The
spur wheels 17, 17, are driven by means of similar wheels 19, 19, which are

page_text: actuated by means of bevil gearing 20, 20, in connection with the front cam
shaft f¹. 21, 21, 21, 21, are four "stop rods" which (whenever they are not
raised by the presence of the shuttle in one of the shuttle boxes) are pressed
down by means of the spiral springs 2, 2, 2, 2. These "stop rods" are con-
nected to the "starting" or setting on lever 23 in such a manner that if ever a
shuttle is absent from both of its respective boxes at once the consequent
depressing of the "stop rod" shall disconnect the main driving pulley from
the driving shaft, and thus stop the evolutions of the machine. The method
of connecting the stop rods with the "starting" lever is omitted in the
Drawing, in order to avoid complexity, but will readily suggest itself to any
'competent mechanic. 24, 24, are catches which prevent the rebound of the
shuttles, and which are released by the picking levers before they strike the
.shuttles.
and
shuttle m² is
Having thus enumerated the several working parts of the machine and their
uses I will proceed to describe the mode of operation, which will be readily
understood upon referring to the diagrams Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in Sheet 3.
Fig. 2 shews the first portion of the machine. The ends of the two yarns are
tied or otherwise secured to their respective shafts, the same with the pitched
bands. The thread a, which forms the loop, is carried round the finger
guage rod p, and its shuttle m¹ deposited in the shuttle box . The shuttle m³
is placed in the shuttle box 1. The apparatus is then ready for the first
movement (see Fig. 3). The shuttle boxes move to the left, the finger 2³
raises its thread, and the shuttles are both driven across the machine, the
thread from the shuttle m² passing through the loop formed by the above
thread. The shuttle m' has then done its duty. In the next movement
(see Fig. 4) the shuttle boxes travel to the right and the
returned to the front, its thread passing round, the finger 22.
then moves to the right and the shuttle is
passing over both threads. The finger
shuttle m returns to the front, passing
thus forming the knot. The fingers z' and then fall clear of the thread,
and the finger 10 runs up and tightens the yarns (see Fig. 1, Sheet 2),
thus pulling the knot tight to the guage rod. The finger 10 then falls,
the shuttle boxes move still further to the right, and the shuttle m² is driven
to the back, passing outside the heald shaft, and between the three pitched
bands, while the shuttle m' is thrown to the front, passing round the guage
rod. The operation then proceeds as before, with the exception, that as the
shuttle m² makes an uneven number of movements to form each heald the
knot is commenced from the front and the back of the machine alternately,
The finger z¹
again driven across (see Fig. 5),
then rises (see Fig. 6) and the
through the eye of the thread,

page_text: so that its motions are exactly reversed. We would here observe, that
.whilst these movements are proceeding, the heald shafts are moving slowly
downwards, and the revolution of the bobbins 16, 16, is twisting the pitched
bands into a rope or cord, and that each time the yarn passes round the
outside of the heald shafts it passes through or between the strands, and is
thus firmly interwoven therewith. The healds, as they are formed, are thus
laid even and regular, and are held firm and prevented from slipping. When
a sufficient length of healds has thus been formed, the ends of the yarn and
the pitched bands are secured to the heald shafts, and the "harness" is then
complete and ready to be removed from the machine for use.
Having thus described the nature and objects of this said Invention,
together with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, we would
remark in conclusion, that we claim the peculiar arrangement and construction
of machinery or apparatus for manufacturing weavers' healds or harness, as
shewn in the Drawings attached and above particularly described, or any
slight modification or variation of the same which may be made to accomplish
such or similar purposes, in contradistinction to performing the same operations
by hand, and more especially the use or employment of shuttles and fingers
for tying the knots of the said healds by mechanical means, whether the said
shuttles and fingers are actuated exactly in the manner above particularly
described and exhibited or by any other mechanical equivalent.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Hyde Greg and David Bowlas,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid David Bowlas came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.