CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FLETCHER, of Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Mechanist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifth day of March, in the first year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles
Fletcher, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Charles Fletcher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Charles Fletcher, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make,. use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that T, the said Charles Fletcher, shall cause a parti-
cular description of the nature of. my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the*
date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the samé,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear:
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso; I, the said.
Charles Fletcher; do hereby declare that 'the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements in the construction of looms for weaving consist, firstly,
in the peculiar arrangement or disposition of the working parts of such looms
as are to be driven by steam or other rotary power, and in the particular
adaptation of such arrangement of parts to the purposes of weaving woollen
cloths.
Secondly, in the introduction of certain new parts or pieces of mechanism
into looms in general, by means of which I obtain considerable advantages
as to speed and uniformity of work, especially as regards the weaving of
woollen cloths.
By these improvements I am enabled to weave better cloth by power than
has hitherto been accomplished by hand, the work being much finer and
stouter, and the mechanism affording the capability of making many more
"picks" per minute, and causing less breaking of the warp threads, thereby
producing a fabric of better quality, and in greater quantity in a given time.
In this improved construction of loom the yarn beam or roller upon which
the warp is placed is situated at the bottom of the framing of the machine,
and the work beam or roller upon which the woven cloth is wound up is placed
at the top, so that the warp threads proceed through the headles or healds
in vertical positions, while the harness for dividing or shedding the warp slidės
horizontally in suitable bearings attached to the framings of the loom. The
batten or slay for beating up the weft threads is made to rise and fall verti-
cally by the action of suitable cams and levers, and is impelled upwards by
the momentum of a falling weight or weights, which can be so regulated or
adjusted as to increase or diminish the blow, as may under circumstances be
found desirable. This part of the mechanism is also furnished with suitable
elastic regulating stops for the rising batten to strike against at the same
time that it is closing or beating up the cloth; and by the elasticity of these
regulating stops the sudden concussion of the batten, and consequent strain
the warp threads, is immediately relieved, whilst the blow being caused
by a descending weight (mounted upon the end of a graduated lever attached
to the cam shaft), any degree of impulse can be given to the batten without
causing an undue strain upon the warp threads, and with much greater
effect upon the work than can be obtained by the best hand weaving.
upon
In order to illustrate my improvements in the construction of looms, and
that they may be more definitely explained, I have attached to these Presents
Drawing, in which are represented such views of my improved loom as will
render its peculiar arrangement and novel features sufficiently evident.
a

page_text: Figure 1 is a side or end elevation of the loom; Figure 2, a plan or
horizontal view of the same as seen from above; Figure 8, a back view of the
loom; and Figure 4 is a vertical section taken transversely through about
the middle of the loom at the dotted lines A, B, in Figure 3, in which similar
letters of reference are marked upon corresponding parts of the machinery in
all these Figures. The side frames, in which the ordinary parts of the loom
are mounted, are represented at a, a, a, a, being connected by cross stretchers
b, b; c is the yarn beam or roller, upon which the warp d, d, is wound. The
warp threads proceed from the yaru beam through the harness or healds e, e,
which slide horizontally in bearings f. f. affixed to the frame a, a, on each
side. It will be seen that the cloth as it is produced by the weaving proceeds
over the breast beam g on to the work or cloth roller h at the top of the
loom. The shuttle boards or boxes are shewn at i, i, secured fast to the sides
of the frame a, a, and are quite free from and independent of the moving slay
or batten jj This particular arrangement of the parts of the loom will
admit of the batten or slay being projected upwards to beat against the weft,
and this peculiar motion is most desirable in manufacturing woollen cloths.
Upon the main driving shaft k the strap pulley 7 is thrown into gear with the
driving pinion m, by means of the setting on rod n, and the pinion m being
geered with the toothed wheel o, which is fast upon the cam shaft p, the
toothed wheels q, q, are actuated. The larger of these wheels q is keyed fast
upon the tappet shaft r, upon which the tappets or cams 8, 3, 3, 3, are also
mounted. Thus it will be seen that, as this tappet shaft r revolves, the tappets
8,3, will successively actuate the treadle levers t, t, t, t, and thus divide the
warp threads by shedding the healds at proper intervals for the passage of tho
shuttle u. The shuttle is projected across the loom by means of the picking
stick v, which is suddenly actuated by the spring w, causing the roller upon
the end of the short lever to escape the step or fall cut upon the scroll cam
y keyed fast upon the cam shaft p. It will be seen that there is one of these
scroll cams at each end of the cam shaft, having the step or fall cut-in oppo-.
site points of their peripheries, in order to effect the projection. of the shuttle.
from each side of the loom. alternately, which will be readily understood by
persons conversant with the ordinary evolutions of the loom. The extreme
end of the picking stick v bears against the sliding piece z, and exactly at: the
point opposite the centre line or point of the shuttle, so that the shuttle will
thus receive a blow in a direct line through the centre of the warps, instead of
being liable to that uncertain course sometimes produced when the slide piece
is attached to the picking stick by a cord. To the other end of the picking
stick is attached a link 1, connected to the lever 2, fast upon the upper end of

page_text: the upright rod 3, which lever 2 is placed in an opposite direction to the lever
, fast. at the lower end of this.rod. By these means the picking. stick.is
suitably actuated by the rotation of the scroll cam y. The sudden rise of the
batten or slay j, and the necessary sharp blow which is desirable to beat up
the cloth as each weft thread is put in, is effected by the cams 4, 4, which are!
fast upon the cam shaft, and consequently revolve with it, actuating the lever
5, fast upon the cross shaft 6, and allowing this lever to escape or fall past the
straight side of the cam, as will be clearly seen in Figure 1, where the lever 5
is shewn as just upon the point of escaping the cam b,. and is drawn in red
Jines in the same Figure as. having escaped this point. By the momentum of
the falling weights 7, 7, at the ends of the levers 8, 8, (fast upon the cross
shaft 6,) the levers 9, 9, (also made fast upon the shaft,) are made to rise;
and as the frames 10, 10, carrying the batten j,.are attached to the extreme
ends of these levers q, q, .the batten will immediately ascend with a sharp quick
stroke, and thus perform the beating up of the cloth. It will be seen that
these frames 10, 10, (as there is one to carry each end of the batten or slaý,)
are provided with adjustable stop pieces or set screws 11; so that the stroke of
the batten or degree of impetus may be varied according as the quality of the
cloth to be produced may require. As the batten ascends, all strain upon the
warp threads is obviated by means of the indian-rubber or other. elastic bed
12, with which each side of the loom is provided for the purpose of giving a
slight rebound to the batten as the stops 11 strike against the bed 12, and
thus preventing any possibility of breaking. the warps in consequence of the
sharpness of the blow given by the batten. It will also be perceived that the.
degree of impetus given to the batten may likewise be adjusted by sliding the
weights 7 upon the lever 8, as occasion may require. As the blow of the
batten against the weft thread is quite sufficient to cause the yarn beam to
give out the quantity of yarn required, I am enabled to dispense with the
usual delivering and taking-up motions which are commonly attached to
power looms, merely keeping the whole in proper tension by means of the.
friction band or weighted cord 18 conducted over suitable tension pullies 14,.
and round the drums at the ends of the warp and work rollers. In case the
shuttle should not enter the shuttle box at every stroke of the picking stick,
the notched lever 15 will catch upon the tooth or neb 16 upon the batten as it
rises, and thereby raise the lever 17, and by the agency of the rod 18 lift the
hand lever 19 off the pin fixed in the side of the setting-on rod n, which will,
cause the spring 20 to throw the driving pulley 7 out of gear with the pinion.
เ
m, and to stop the loom. It will be evident that the descending weights,
which raise the batten or slay to its work, may be exactly regulated to give:

page_text: any degree of impetus to the stroke of the reed by being loosely mounted
upon levers attached to the cam shaft, which levers may be so graduated as
to insure any degree of momentum that it may be desirable to give to beat
up any quality of work; and also it will be seen that by these means the:
two ends of the reed may at once be brought to bear upon the work equally.
Another great advantage in my improved construction of loom consists in
having the shuttle boxes detached from the slay or batten, and fixed or made
stationary upon the framing of the loom, so that when the warps are divided
the blow of the picker can instantaneously be given to the shuttle, which is at
rest; and as such blow may thus be given in a direct line with the points or
centre of the shuttle, the shuttle will be impelled through the warps in a
straight undeviating line, instead of being liable to that zig-zag course so
frequent in common power looms, caused by the indirect impetus given to
one side of the shuttle, and while it is in a state of constant motion with the
vibration of the batten, thus frequently throwing the shuttle out of its direct
course, causing it to break through the warps and fly out of the loom.
Having now described my improvements in looms for weaving, I confess
that I am aware of having described some well-known parts of mechanism
commonly employed for weaving; but this I have done for the sake of illus-
trating the manner in which I adapt my improvements in looms to those con-
trivances already known; and, therefore, I make no claim to any such of the
old or known parts of looms independently of my peculiar arrangement and
combination. But I claim as my Invention the novel arrangement, construc-
tion, and adaptation of the parts of such apparatus or mechanism in the
way I have represented in the Drawing annexed, particularly as regards
looms for weaving woollen cloths, and, especially the adaptation of adjustable
and elastic stops for the purpose of determining the blow or extent of stroke
of the batten or slay in beating up the work in looms in general; and also
the stationary shuttle boxes when fixed to the framework or constructed inde-
pendently of the batten or slay, for the purpose, as aforesaid, that a direct
and steady impetus may be given to the shuttle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Fletcher, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of September, in
the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Charles
Fletcher came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fifth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight.