IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Sealed the 23rd February 1855, and dated the 27th December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th December 1854.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING " to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement or construction of parts,
whereby fabrics may be woven with different colored weft threads with greater
facility than heretofore.
The first improvement consists in an arrangement for raising and lowering
the shuttle boxes, which must be divided into several sections, placed one
above the other, and provided with shuttles supplied with weft of different colors,
according to the intended pattern. These moveable shuttle boxes are con-
nected by means of a lifting rod with the pin pattern wheel, so that the shuttle
boxes should be lifted or lowered precisely at the proper moment, and by this
arrangement the shuttles may be brought into use in any particular order; for

page_text: instance, the last or lowermost may be operated immediately after the first
without requiring any of the intermediate boxes to be brought into play.
The second improvement relates to the picker and picking stick, and
consists in attaching the picker permanently to the picking stick or staff in
such a manner that the picker may project laterally from the staff, and enter
the shuttle boxes on the side. By this arrangement, the guides usually
required to support the detached picks are dispensed with, and the complication
and friction of the loom are much diminished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administra-
tors, 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 LOOMS FOR WEAVING," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, 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 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 William Edward 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

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The improvements which constitute the present Invention relate,―
First, to a mode of lifting and lowering the shuttle boxes by an improved
arrangement for connecting the lifting rod of the shuttle box with the pin
pattern wheel.
And, secondly, to a mode of attaching the picker to the staff.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the
loom with the present improvements adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is a side view of
the same; Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of the same loom, taken in the line
X, Y, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side view of part of the shuttle box movement;
Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section of the same; Fig. 6 is a detached view
of the parallel motion.
A, B, in the accompanying Drawing represent the staff. S (Fig. 1) is a
metallic shoe, which supports the lower extremity of the staff. p is the picker,
projecting laterally, so as to enter the sides of the shuttle boxes at c, c, c, c.
H, H, H, H, represent the moveable shuttle boxes, supported on the
vertical lifting rod D, E. The lifting rod D, E, passes through the lay at C
in the ordinary manner. A small block f is attached to the lifting rod D, E.
This block f rests upon the extremity of the lever G, H, and thus the
lifting rod D is sustained. The lever G, HIV, turns upon a pivot or fulcrum
at g, and is weighted at H, so as to counterbalance the weight of the
shuttle boxes on the rod D, E. To the lever G, H, is attached the step
plate P, P', (shewn also in Figs. 4 and 5.) A fork-shaped metallic piece
I, K, L, is suspended at the point I, so that the prongs K. and L may
have a vibrating or pendulous motion upon the journal i, ¹, and also a
lateral sliding motion upon or along this journal i, 2, (see Figs. 1 and 2.)
A lever 1, 2, 3, has its fulcrum at 2, and at 3 rests against the pins in the
upper part of the face of the pattern wheel m, n. As the latter revolves,
the extremity 1 of the lever catches upon the top of the piece I, K, L, and
such is the action of these parts, that when a long pin comes under the end of
the lever at 3, the forked piece I, K, L, is forced to slide laterally upon i, i,
towards the loom, and vice versa. Attached to the fork-shaped piece I, K, L,
is a wedge-shaped tooth T, which projects into the step plate P, P. Between
the prongs K. and L of the piece I, K, L, there is an excentric or cam M,
which by its rotation causes the fork-shaped piece J, K, L, to vibrate back-
wards and forwards, and thus to force the tooth T to enter one or the other of
the series of slots or steps in the step plate P, P¹, according to the position of
I, K, L, relatively to the action of the lever 1, 2, 3. If T enters the upper-

page_text: most slot, then the lever HIV, G, is forced down at HIV, and the extremity G
rises and elevates the shuttle boxes, thus placing the lowermost shuttle box on
a line with the picker p of the picker staff. The picker p then drives the
shuttle of that lowermost box across the loom. If T enters the uppermost
slot in the plate P, P', then the lever H, G, is forced up at HIV and down at
G, and hence the uppermost shuttle box is brought on a line with the picker,
and in like manner for any number of intermediate shuttle boxes and their
corresponding slots in the step plate. By this last arrangement, the pin pattern
wheel m, n, having pins of variable lengths, is made to control the lifting rod
which supports the shuttle boxes, and thus to bring one or the other of the
shuttles in front of the picker. The advantages of this arrangement for lifting
and dropping the shuttle boxes over those previously used is, that the shuttle
boxes can be brought before the picker p in any desired order of sequence,
and the uppermost and lowermost box can be brought into play in immediate
succession, if desired, without requiring the intermediate boxes to be brought
into play. The jar of the parts is also less, and the loom can, therefore, be
moved with increased rapidity.
The second part of the Invention relates to an arrangement for connecting
the picker permanently to the staff. Heretofore, in looms furnished with a
series of shuttle boxes, the staffs which have been employed to drive the
shuttles across the loom or through the warp have been made to operate upon
a detached picker, sliding upon horizontal guides. This detached picker par-
tially entered the shuttle boxes on the sides, and communicated the thrust of
the staff to the shuttle. The picker was then slidden back by a spring after
each blow, so as to clear the shuttle boxes, and allow the shuttle boxes to rise
or fall, as required. This arrangement required two horizontal guides for the
picker to slide upon, and thus increased the friction of the apparatus and
required frequent oiling; moreover, the pickers that received the blow of the
staff were frequently broken. This second improvement in the present Inven-
tion, therefore, consists in attaching the picker p permanently to the top of the
staff in such a manner that the picker may project laterally from the staff, and
enter the shuttle boxes at the sides. By this arrangement, the guides required.
to support the detached picker are dispensed with, and the complication and
friction incidental to this part of the loom are much diminished.
In constructing this part of the loom, the picker staff A, B, is made in the
ordinary manner, and supported from below in a metallic shoe or socket S, in
which it can freely slide up and down like a telescope. The metallic shoc
rests on a pivot o, o¹, on which it vibrates backward and forward, and carries
the staff A, B. The picker treadle 6' and strap a throw the shoe S and the

page_text: staff A, B, forward against the shuttle, and the spring d, d, restores it after the
picker has struck the shuttle. The staff A, B, passes up on the inner side of
the shuttle boxes through the slit R, R', in the frame. On the top or head
of the staff a metallic picker p is placed, and is permanently fitted upon the
staff, and projects to one side of it, so as to enter the sides of the shuttle boxes
at c, c, c, c, and strike the shuttles. After the picker has struck the shuttle it
is drawn back by the spring d, d, below, so as to clear the shuttle boxes and
permit them to rise or fall. In order that the picker p may traverse the
horizontal apertures c, c, in the side of the shuttle boxes, it is requisite that
the picker staff should be so constructed that the top of it may move hori-
zontally. This is effected by mounting the staff A, B, in the shoe S below,
so that it can freely rise and fall in conjunction with any of the well-known
arrangements for securing a parallel motion to the top of the staff, such as the
radius bar or the excentric cam K, as shewn at Figs. 1, 3, and 6.
Having thus described the Invention of Improvements in Looms for
Weaving, which has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
as aforesaid, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent,-
First, the arrangement or combination of parts herein shewn and described,
or any mere modification thereof, for actuating the moveable shuttle boxes,
so that the shuttles may be operated in any desired order of succession, as
above described.
Second, the application of the picker p to the staff A, B; also the mode of
mounting and working the latter, and the arrangement for obtaining a parallel
motion in the series of moveable shuttle boxes, arranged and operating in the
manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)