IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Gibb, of Eccles, in the County of Lancaster,
Spinner and Manufacturer, and James Holland, of the same Place,
Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 18th March 1864, and dated the 23rd September 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Gibb and James
Holland at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition
on the 23rd September 1863.
We, WALTER GIBB, of Eccles, in the County of Lancaster, Spinner and
Manufacturer, and JAMES HOLLAND, of the same Place, Manager, do hereby
leclare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," to be as follows: -
This Invention consists in an improved treading motion for giving move-
ment to the healds for forming the shed according to the desired pattern of
the fabric. At the centre or end of the loom there are two lifters or knives
working in guides or frames, and made to move up and down alternately by
levers or rockers connected by a rod to a crank or lever on the crank shaft of
the loom. To the knife frame are fixed grids which guide a number of bars

page_text: or slides, each of which is connected at the bottom by a cord to the top of its
corresponding heald, and at the top by another cord and jack to the bottom of
the same heald. At the upper part of the bar or slide there are two projec-
tions or hooks which can be caught by the tops of the lifters and also two
other projections which can be caught by the bottoms of the lifters. The
cords connected to the tops of the bars or slides are guided over pulleys so
placed that they pull all the bars on one side so that they can be acted upon
by the lifters on that side, and in order that the bars may be acted upon by
the other lifters they are moved by fingers or levers acted upon by a pattern
chain. Two of the projections on the bar or slide enable the healds to form
the shed, and the other projections are for the purpose of bringing the healds
to a level.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Walter Gibb and James Holland in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WALTER
GIBB, of Eccles, in the County of Lancaster, Spinner and Manufacturer,
and JAMES HOLLAND, of the same Place, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred. and sixty-three in the twenty-seventh
year of her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Walter Gibb and James Holland, Her special license that
we, the said Walter Gibb and James Holland, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Walter Gibb and James Holland,
our 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 we, the said Walter
Gibb and James Holland, our executors or adminstrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-

page_text: .
tion, 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 we, the said Walter Gibb and James Holland, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
.
These improvements consist in an improved positive treading motion or
shedding apparatus for giving movement to the healds for forming the shed
according to the desired pattern of the fabric.
The manner in which our Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by referring to the Figures and letters on the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2 are end and front elevations of part of a
loom having our improved treading motion or shedding apparatus; Fig. 3 a
front section of part of the same, and Figs. 4 and 5 are full sized views of two
of the parts.
At the centre of the loom there are two knives or lifters a, b working in
guides in the frame c. The ends of the knife a are connected by rods & to
the rocking frame e, which works on studs f fixed to the frame c, and has an
arm f connected by the rod g to the crank h fixed to the crank shaft i of the
loom. The ends of the knife b are connected by rods j to one end of the
levers k, which work on studs 1 fixed to each side of the frame c, and have their
other ends jointed to the arms of the rocking frame as at m, so that when the
crank shaft revolves the rocking frame e and levers vibrate in different
directions and move the knives up and down alternately. To the knife frame c
is fixed a grid n for guiding a number of bars o, one of which is shewn full
size in Fig. 4, and each bar is provided with two projections or hooks p, q,
which can be caught by the tops of the kuives, and also two other projections
or hooks r, s, which can be caught by the bottoms of the knives. The hooked
bars o are placed directly over the healds and there is one bar for one heald
and as many bars and healds are in operation as the pattern requires. To the
bottom ends of the bars are attached cords which are connected to the tops
of the healds, and to the tops of the bars are attached cords v which pass over
the guide rollers w, a, and are attached to one end of the jacks y, the other
ends of which are connected by cords to the bottom of the healds. The
guide rollers w are so placed that they pull all the bars
they can be acted upon by the knife on that side, and in
on one side so that
order that the bars,

page_text: may be acted upon by the other knife they are moved by fingers or levers a¹
working in the stationary rod or shaft U', which fingers are acted upon by the
pattern chain c', there being one finger for each bar, and one of the fingers
is shewn full size in Fig. 5. The projections p, r, on the bars enable the
healds to form the shed, and the other projections q, s, are for the purpose of
bringing the healds to a level. Thus when a bar is not pressed by its corres-
ponding finger it is pulled out of the perpendicular by the tension of the cord v
and places the projection p over the knife a, which as it ascends raises the bar
and heald and opens that half of the shed, and when a bar is pressed by a
finger it places the projection 7 under the knife b which as it descends brings
down the bar and acts upon the cord and jack so as to depress the heald and
open the other half of the shed, and when the two knives are returning to their
half stroke they catch the larger projections q, s, and close or shut the shed.
We have shewn the employment of the jacks on account of their convenience,
but they can be dispensed with by placing other guide rollers at the side of the
frame and below the bottoms of the healds and passing the cords, over the
rollers and attaching them to the bottom of the healds. The grid n has at
the top a number of projections d', Figs. 1 and 3, forming an open grid in the
spaces of which the ends of the fingers a' work for the purpose of keeping
them in line with the bars o and preventing any uncertainty. Although we
have shewn the knives and bars in the centre of the loom they can be placed
at one end outside the framework, and have alternate motion imparted to
them in any desired manner. In this case the guide rollers which pull the
bars on one side off one knife on to the other may be either above or below
the bars, it being only necessary to connect the tops and bottom of the healds
by cords or wires passing over rollers or by cords or wires in connection with
jacks, and these arrangements, or that shewn in the Drawing, have the effect of
obtaining a positive treading motion or shedding apparatus without the use of
springs or weights.
Having now described the nature and particulars of our said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be under-
stood that we claim in looms for weaving, the employment and construction of
the bars o, each having four projections or hooks, two for opening and two for
closing the shed, and the method of pulling the bars on one side by causing
the cords forming the part or whole of the connections between the top and
bottom of the healds to have a side pull, and also the mode of shifting the bars
according to the required pattern by the fingers or levers a¹ acted upon by a

page_text: pattern chain as such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Gibb, for and on behalf of myself
and the said James Holland, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Walter Gibb in the
presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
WALTER GIBB. (L.S.)
Patent Agent,
Manchester.