IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."-A communication from abroad by George
Crompton, of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th July 1867.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," a communication, to be as follows:-
The said improvements relate to a novel mode of controlling or governing the
operations of the picker staffs which are connected or disconnected from their
operative devices by the action of the shuttle upon the shuttle box binders,

page_text: the latter being forced outward by the shuttle when the same is in the box. I
prefer to arrange the governing mechanism in such a manner that the picking
on each side of the loom is stopped by the presence of the shuttle in the shuttle
box on the opposite side of the loom. When this arrangement is adopted
the accidental meeting of two shuttles on the race is prevented as the picking
on both sides of the loom is stopped by the presence of a shuttle in each
shuttle box.
The said improvements are applicable to looms with drop boxes as well as
to those having rotary, sliding, or other boxes which may be operated at each
side of the loom in any known, convenient, and suitable manner to bring them
properly in line with the race. A protector rod extends horizontally from
each shuttle box nearly across the front of the loom. Each of these rods is
provided with a finger or stud which is arranged to lie in contact with the
shuttle box binder. Each rod also carries an arm or lever which passes under
the lathe, and is connected by a rod or link to a catch or pawl; the latter
is pivotted upon the short arm of a lever, which is fitted to turn loosely upon
a shaft, one of which is supported in suitable bearings at each side of the
loom, each of the said levers having also a long arm whose end is connected
to the picker staff on the corresponding side of the loom; each of these shafts
also carries a notched plate and a shoe or projection, both being made fast
upon the said shafts; each shoe is arranged in the proper position to be
operated by an arm or lever, one of which is fixed on each end of the main
shaft of the loom. When the shuttle is present in the box on one side of the
loom the binder of the said box is pressed outward, and acting on the finger
carried by the horizontal protector rod raises the arm or lever on the said
rod, which arm is connected to the double armed lever on the opposite side
of the loom. The said arm by means of the connecting rod or link lifts the
catch or pawl on the said lever out of the notch in the plate. When the
time for picking arrives the lever on the corresponding end of the main shaft
strikes the shoe and causes the shaft carrying the same to rock or vibrate.
The catch or pawl on the loose lever being raised from the notch in the plate
the said lever remains stationary, and the picking on the corresponding side
of the loom is suspended. The shaft carrying the shoe and lever at the other.
side of the loom has been at the same time operated in a similar manner,
but the shuttle being absent from the box from which the operations of the
picker staff in connection with the last-mentioned shaft is controlled the
pawl or catch remains in contact with the notched plate on the said shaft ;
when therefore the said plate rocks or vibrates the double armed lever

page_text: vibrates with it, and through its connection with the picker staff operates the
same and discharges the shuttle. The picker staff and double armed lever
are returned to their original positions by a spring, and another spring is
provided to force back the notched plate. The devices for connecting and
disconnecting the picker staffs from the rocking shafts, and the arrangement
of the other parts of the mechanism may be varied to adapt these improvements
to various kinds of picking motions and looms of modified construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. & Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence that I, the said William
Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Robert Lake, my 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 I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
bands and seals, 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 Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: the shuttle box A¹; these rods are provided with fingers or studs n, n', one
of which is arranged to lie in contact with each of the shuttle box binders o, o¹,
or 02, 03. The rod m also carries an arm or lever q, which passes under the
lathe a, and is connected by a rod or link to a catch or pawl s. The rod m¹
carries a similar arm q', which is connected by the rod to the pawl s¹.
The fingers n', n', and arms q, q', are keyed or otherwise firmly fixed upon
their respective rods. The pawls s, s', are pivoted upon the short arm 1 of the
levers t, t, which are fitted to vibrate loosely upon the shafts u, u¹, each of
which shafts is supported in suitable bearings at opposite sides of the loom,
the said levers having also a long arm 2. The long arm of the lever t is
connected by the rod v or other convenient means to the picker staff w on the
corresponding side of the loom, while the lever t¹ is similarly connected by
the rod 1 to the picker staff w¹; these shafts u, u¹, also carry notched
plates x, x, and shoes or projections.y, y', both the plates and shoes being
firmly keyed or otherwise made fast upon the said shafts, each of these
shoes y, y', is arranged in the proper position to be operated by one of the
arms or levers, 21, on each end of the main shaft i of the loom. When the
shuttle B is present in the box on one side of the loom the binder o of the
said box is pressed outward, and acting on the finger n carried by the horizontal
protector rod in raises the arm or lever q on the said rod, which arm, as
shown in Figure 2, is arranged above the double armed lever t on ti. "posite
side of the loom. The arm 9 by means of the connecting rod or link r lifts
the catch or pawls on the lever tout of the notch or recess in the plate x.
When the time for picking arrives the lever z on the corresponding end of
the main shaft i strikes the shoe y and causes the shaft u carrying the same
to rock or vibrate in the direction of the arrow 3. The catch or pawls on
the loose levert being raised from the notch in
the plate x the said
lever is disconnected from the rocking shaft u, and does not vibrate with
the same; the picker staff w thus remains stationary, and the picking on
this side of the loom is suspended. The shaft u¹ and shoe y¹ carried thereon
at the other side of the loom have been at the same time caused by the
action of the lever ¹ to vibrate in the manner already described, but the shuttle
being at this time absent from the box from which the operation of the
picker staff wis controlled the binder o¹ does not act upon the finger n¹, and
the pawl or catch s¹ remains in the notch or recess of the plate a³ on the
shaft u; when therefore the said plate rocks or vibrates in the direction of
the arrow 4 the double armed lever t¹ vibrates with it, and through the
connection operates the picker staff w³, and the shuttle is discharged from

page_text: the box . The next movement of the tappet shaft brings the boxes P, P, in
line with the race, the box containing a shuttle B', and the box being
empty the binder o³ will then act upon the finger n', which through the rod m¹,
arm q, and link raises the pawl s¹, and thus disconnects the shaft u¹ from
the lever t¹, preventing the action of the latter when the shaft u¹ is caused to
vibrate by the arm ¹, and leaving the picker staff w¹ inactive. The box
being empty the pawls has not been raised from its notch in the plate .r.
The picker staff w being therefore not disconnected from its operating
mechanism the shuttle is duly thrown from the box 1. The picker staffs and
double armed levers are returned to their original position after picking by
springs or other suitable means; springs x are also provided to force back
the notched plates x, x³, after each operation of the same.
The devices for operating the picker staffs and the arrangement of the other
parts of the mechanism may be varied to adapt these improvements to looms
for various purposes and of modified construction.
My improved governing mechanism may be so arranged that each picker
staff is thrown into and out of connection with its rocking shaft or other
operative means by the action of the shuttle upon the binder of the box on
the same side of the loom, but it is obvious that in this case the meeting of
two shuttles on the race might sometimes happen, whereas with the arrange-
ment of mechanism berein illustrated if two shuttle boxes in line with the
race should each contain a shuttle both picker staffs would remain inactive
until the shuttle is removed from one of the boxes, and the possibility of the
collision of two shuttles on the race is entirely prevented; other devices may
be employed instead of the pawls s, s¹, and notched plates x, x¹, for forming
the connection between the picker staffs and the means for operating the
same, such devices being varied to adapt my improvements to the different
picking motions or shuttle boxes which may be used, but all modifications or
variations of the said devices must be such that the operation of each picker
staff will depend upon the shuttle being present in or absent from one of the
shuttle boxes.
Having thus fully described the said improvements as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be conveniently
and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First, the method of controlling or governing the operation of the picker
staffs in a loom substantially as herein set forth.
Second, the devices for forming and suspending the connection between
the picker staffs w, w', and rocking shafts u, u', combined with mechanism

page_text: operated by the shuttle box binders, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THOS. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings. W.C.