IMPROVEMENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR LOOMS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Rattray Barnett, of Springfield Mill,
in the County of Fife, North Britain, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR LOOMS."
Sealed the 5th December 1871, and dated the 7th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Rattray Barnett
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th September 1871.
I, DAVID RATTRAY BARNETT, of Springfield Mill, in the County of
Fife, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR Looms," to be as follows, that is
of
to say:
This Invention, which relates to improvements in shuttles, has for its
object to keep the cops when placed therein steadier, and render them
Oless liable to break or become tangled or unravelled than obtains in
existing arrangements of shuttles.

page_text: This object is effected by forming the shuttles with a grooved interior,
the grooves being at right angles or nearly so to the longitudinal axis
of the shuttle, and the interior part of the hollow of the shuttle is
purposely made of greater width than the part through which the
cop is entered thereinto, this causes the cop to be slightly compressed
as it is being placed in the shuttle, thus increasing the holding effect of
the
grooves upon it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said David Rattray Barnett in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
RATTRAY BARNETT, of Springfield Mill, in the County of Fife, North
Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
36th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said David Rattray Barnett, Her special
lisense that I, the said David Rattray Barnett, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said David Rattray Barnett,
my executors, 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 Shuttles for Looмs," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said David Rattray Barnett, 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 Scal Patent Office within

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Rattray Barnett, 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 had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thercon, that is to.
say :-
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in shuttles, has
for its object to keep the cops when placed therein steadier and render
them less liable to break or become tangled or ravelled than obtains in
existing arrangements of shuttles.
This object is effected by forming the shuttles with a grooved
interior, the grooves being at right angles or nearly so to the longitudinal
axis of the shuttle, and the interior part of the hollow of the shuttle is
in some cases purposely made of greater width than the part through
which the cop is entered thereinto, this causes the cop to be slightly
compressed as it is being placed in the shuttle, thus increasing the
holding effect of the grooves upon it.
}
By means of the grooves herein described the shuttle covers at.
present used for retaining the cop within the shuttle may or may not
be dispensed with.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, that is to say :-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a
longitudinal section of one arrangement of shuttle, constructed in
accordance with my said Invention, Figure 2 is a plan thereof, and
Figure 3 a transverse section of the same on the line x, x, Figure 2..
The shuttle illustrated by these three Figures is formed with a series
of grooves a at that portion of the interior wherein the cop, when
the shuttle is in action, is situated. The grooves a are formed at
right angles or nearly so to the longitudinal axis of the shuttle,
as shewn at Figures 1 and 2, and by means of this arrangement the *
cop when placed in the hollow b is kept steadier and rendered less

page_text: .
liable to break or to become tangled or ravelled than in shuttles
as hitherto constructed. The lower portion of the hollow b is by
preference made of greater width than the upper part, that is, the
part through which the cop is introduced into the hollow, as shown at
the transverse section, Figure 3, and this arrangement of the hollow b
causes the cop as it is placed therein to be slightly compressed, and
thus increases the holding effect of the grooves a upon it. The shuttle
illustrated at Figures 1, 2, and 3, is shewn provided with the usual
cover c, employed in ordinary arrangements of shuttles to retain
the cop in the hollow, but a narrow steel cover or an elastic strap
may also be used, or the cover c may be altogether dispensed with
as in this arrangement of shuttle when the cop is in position in
the said hollow b it is retained therein by the upper part of the
curvilinear sides of the hollow projecting over it in a direction parallel
to the width of its wider part, as shewn by the dotted lines in plan
at Figure 4.
:
-
In lieu of forming the grooves a in the manner shewn at Figures
1, 2, and 4 of the Drawings, that is, with a plain ridge and hollow
alternately running parallel with each other from side to side of the
shuttle, the grooves may be constructed under numerous other forms,
as for example, they may be shaped as illustrated on the plan of a
shuttle at Figure 5 of the Drawings, and by the part longitudinal
section of the same on the line y, y, Figure 5, at Figure 6. Under
this arrangement the grooves which commence at a, on either side of
the shuttle converge to points and terminate at 6 on the ridge between
two grooves at a distance from the opposite side of the shuttle, as
shewn at Figures 5 and 6.
Figure 7 is a part plan and Figure 8 a part longitudinal section of a
shuttle illustrating another form of groove adapted thereto. Under
this modification the shuttle is constructed with three separate series
of grooves a, b, and c, respectively, as shewn on the Drawings. The
hollow of the shuttle may also be constructed with grooved sides merely,
and with a plain bottom as shewn by the part plan at Figure 9, and
part longitudinal section Figure 10, of the Drawings.
Grooves of the forms illustrated at Figures 11 and 12 may also be
employed, under which arrangement the grooves on each side of the
shuttle terminate at the centre of the bottom of the hollow for

page_text: containing the cop, and the ridge between two grooves on one
side is in a line with the centre of the groove a on the opposite
side of the shuttle, as shown.
The hollow of the shuttle may also be serrated with grooves, similar.
in contour to those illustrated by the diagrams at Figures 13, 14, 15,
and 16 on the appended Sheet of Drawings, or any other suitable form
of groove may be employed to hold the cop steady whilst the shuttle is
in action, and also to render the said cop less liable to become ravelled
than obtains under existing arrangements of shuttles, it being here
understood that I do not confine myself to the particular arrangements
of grooves illustrated on the accompanying Drawings, as it is obvious
that they are capable of being, modified in a great variety of forms.
Whilst shuttles constructed according to this Invention can be operated
without the customary cover and in the usual position, that is, with
the opening through which the cop is introduced into the grooved
hollow turned upwards, as at Figure 1; it is also intended so to arrange
the shuttle that it may be operated with the opening turned downwards,
as shewn in longitudinal section at Figure 17, and in plan at Figure 18,
of the Drawings, or the opening through which the cop is passed into
the hollow may be formed in the side of the shuttle.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be
used or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion
that what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the arrangement and construction of shuttles with the
interior portion grooved according to any of the methods herein-before
described and shewn on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, or any mere
modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Rattray Barnett, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
DAVID RATTRAY BARNETT. (L.S.)