IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Foster, of Black Dike Mills, Bradford, in
the County of York, Spinner and Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Foster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th March 1856.
J, WILLIAM FOSTER, of Black Dike Mills, Bradford, in the County of
York, Spinner and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of working rotatory
or revolving shuttle boxes, which may be easily attached to the end or side
of any ordinary power loom, whereby a more simple and economic mode of
working the shuttles for producing checked goods is obtained than can
be effected by the ordinary existing arrangements.
According to this Invention, a small spur pinion is keyed on to the end of
the tappet shaft, giving motion to a large spur wheel working on a short shaft
of its own, supported in suitable bearings in standards or supports at the end
of the loom. On the back part or side of this wheel are four segmental clicks,
the intervening spaces of which may be filled up by a moveable segnient when
required. This wheel gives motion to a star wheel by means of suitable studs

page_text: or pins, whilst the clicks correspond to the edge of the star wheel, and keep
it from turning until required. Round a drum on the axis of the star wheel
is passed an endless hinged chain, which is supported at its upper sido by a
second drum, the axis of which may be adjusted in a slot in the framing to suit
any length of chain or pattern. Each link of the chain has a stud hole in it,
but on opposite sides, that is, to the right and left alternately. These holes are
fitted with studs arranged according to the pattern to be produced. Immediately
beneath the chain, and corresponding to the right and left hand sets of studs,
are two levers, the ends of which are depressed by the studs passing over them.
The opposite ends of these levers are connected by rods to two moveable
catches or pushers, working on centres in the loom framing. These pushers
work opposite to corresponding ratchet wheels on the spindle of the revolving
shuttle box, which is carried by the lathe. One pusher acts upon the upper
teeth of one wheel, whilst the other pusher acts upon the lower teeth of the
second wheel, which are made in a reversed or contrary direction to those of
the first wheel. When no change of shuttle is required, the pushers are both
held clear from the teeth of their respective ratchet wheels, but when the
depression of one or other of the levers is effected by the studs on the pattern
chain, the upper or lower pusher will be brought into action. The shuttle box,
on being brought forward by the advance of the lathe, will be rotated in one
direction or the other, according as the upper or lower pusher strikes one
or other of the ratchet wheels on the spindle, and the shuttle box will thereby
bring a fresh shuttle into action.
This motion can also be easily adapted, with a little alteration, so as to cause
the revolving box to move two shuttles at one stroke, which gives greater
facilities for working different patterns.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Foster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FOSTER, of Black Dike Mills, Bradford, in the County of York, Spinner and
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Foster, Her special license that I, the said William
Foster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Foster, 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 LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Foster, 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 Foster, 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 thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention relates to an improved system or mode of working
rotatory or revolving shuttle boxes, which may be easily attached to the end
or side of any ordinary power loom, whereby a more simple and economic
mode of working the shuttles for producing checked goods is obtained than
can be effected the ordinary existing arrangements.
According to this Invention, a small spur pinion is keyed on to the end of
the tappet shaft, giving motion to a large spur wheel working on a short shaft
of its own, supported in suitable bearings in standards or supports at the end
of the loom. On the back part or side of this wheel are four segmental
projecting rims or clicks, the intervening spaces of which may be filled up by
moveable segments when required. This wheel gives motion to a star wheel
by means of suitable studs or pins, whilst the clicks correspond to the edge of
the star wheel, and keep it from turning until required. Round a drum on
the axis of the star wheel is passed an endless chain of hinged plates, which
is supported at its upper side by a second drum, the axis of which may be
adjusted in a slot in the framing to suit any length of chain or pattern. Each
link of the chain has a stud hole in it, but on opposite sides, that is, to the right
and left alternately. These holes are fitted with studs arranged according to
the pattern to be produced. Immediately beneath the chain, and corre-
sponding to the right and left hand sets of studs, are two levers, the ends of

page_text: which are depressed by the studs passing over them. The opposite ends of
these levers are connected by rods to two moveable catches or pushers working
on centres in the loom framing. These pushers work opposite to corresponding
ratchet wheels on the spindle of the revolving shuttle box, which is carried by the
lathe. One pusher acts upon the upper teeth of one wheel, whilst the other
pusher acts upon the lower teeth of the second wheel, which are made in a
reversed or contrary direction to those of the first wheel. When no change of
shuttle is required the pushers are both held clear from the teeth of their
respective ratchet wheels, but when the depression of one or other of the levers
is effected by the studs on the pattern chain, the upper or lower pusher will
be brought into action. The shuttle box, on being brought forward by the
advance of the lathe, will be rotated in one direction or the other, according
as the upper or lower pusher strikes one or other of the ratchet wheels on the
spindle, and the shuttle box will thereby bring a fresh shuttle into action.
The action of the pusher can also be easily modified, so as to cause the
revolving box to niake a greater or less portion of a revolution at one stroke,
and this gives greater facilities for working different patterns.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the-same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents an end elevation of a portion of a
power loom fitted with my improved apparatus for working a rotating or
revolving shuttle box. The rest of the Figures are details, which I shall
herein-after fully describe.
A is the main framing of the loom, which is fitted with a cross rail A',
carrying the studs for supporting the principal part of the mechanism consti-
tuting my Invention. A small spur pinion E is keyed on to one end of the tappet
shaft, and gears into the large spur wheel F (shewn in detail at Figure 2),
working on the fixed centre G in the rail A. On the back force, or inner
side of this spur wheel, are fitted four segmental projecting rims II, II, shewn
more clearly in the detail Figure 2. The intervening spaces between these rims
may be filled up so as to continue the circle by means of the moveable segments
I, I, turning on studs J in the spur wheel, by which means the segments may
be interposed or removed at pleasure for weaving two, four, or eight picks
during the passage of one link of the endless hinged tappet chain K (shewn
in full-sized detail, side and front elevation, at Figure 3) over the antifriction
rollers L, L, in the ends of the two levers M, M. N is a star wheel (shewn
also at Figure 2) working on the stud O in the rail A. This star wheel has

page_text: eight recesses or slots P, P., formed in its circumference, and its curved edges
Q, Q, admit of the segmental rims I, H, of the spur wheel F gliding over
them without moving the star wheel, whilst at the same, time the star wheel is
prevented from moving round its axis. But when one of the outer studs or pins
R, R, (which may be removed at pleasure) in the back face of the spur wheel
which comes in contact with one of the recesses P in the star wheel, the latter
is caused to turn to the extent of one-eighth part of a revolution. This partial
revolution is imparted to the grooved drum S connected with the star wheel,
and as this drum serves as a carrying drum for the endless tappet chain K, it
follows, that a certain amount of motion will be imparted to such chain. A
second drum T serves to carry the upper part of the chain, and keep it in a
state of tension. This latter drum is fitted into the slot U of the framing, so
that it may be slid up or down to suit the desired length of the chain, K.
This chain is fitted with a number of small projecting pins or studs V, V,
arranged in two rows along the length of the chain, as shewn in the detail
Figure 3. These studs are moveable, so that they may be arranged in the
chain to suit the pattern of the goods required. These studs during their
passage over the antifriction rollers on the ends of the levers M, M, depress
either one or other of these levers, according as a right or left hand stud comes
into operation. The levers M work on the fixed centre W, and are jointed
at their front ends to the pusher rods X, X', which are respectively connected
at their upper ends with the pushers Y, Y', working on fixed centres at Z, Z.
The upper pusher Y acts upon the upper teeth of a ratchet wheel on the axis a
of the rotatory shuttle box b, and the lower pusher Y' acts upon the under
teeth of a second ratchet wheel on the axis of the shuttle box. The teeth of
this second ratchet wheel are made in the reverse direction to those of the first-
mentioned wheel. The axis or spindle of the shuttle box is carried by the slay
c, so that at the forward stroke of the slay, if a change of shuttle is required, the
end of one or other of the two pushers which has been previously raised or
lowered, as the case may be, is brought into contact with the teeth of one or
other of the ratchet wheels, thereby causing the shuttle box to be turned round
a certain requisite distance in one direction or the other (according as the upper
or lower pusher has been brought into action), thereby effecting the desired
change of shuttle, the shuttles being contained in the grooves or recesses d, d,
in the circumference of the shuttle box. It will be obvious from the above
description that one set of studs in the chain K serves to actuate the upper
pusher, whilst the other set actuates the lower pusher.
By constructing the pushers in such a manner as to enable them to be
either shortened or elongated at pleasure by means of sliding pieces, it would

page_text: be obvious that the shuttle box may be caused to turn on its axis a greater or
less distance, so as to bring up the first, second, or third shuttle contained in
the recesses before mentioned in the shuttle box, in order to vary the color
in the pattern, as may be required.
I may here observe, however, that I wish it to be distinctly understood that
I lay no claim to the use of rotatory shuttle boxes and pushers, but confine
myself to the particular mode herein-before described of working the pushers
for actuating a rotatory shuttle box.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the application and use of the star wheel N in combination with the
segmental rims II and pins R for the purpose of giving motion to the tappet
chain K, as hercin-before described, and illustrated by my Drawings.
Second, the application and use of a tappet chain fitted with two rows of
pius or tappets for working the levers which actuate the pushers, as herein-
before described, and illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Foster, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Twenty-third day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
JOHN ANDERTON,
Queenshead, n' Bradford.
WILLIAM FOSTER. (L.S.)