IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHUTTLES AND PICKERS FOR LOOMS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Dawson, of Heywood, in the County
of Lancaster, Shuttle Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHUTTLES AND PICKERS FOR LOOMS.”
Sealed the 25th March 1875, and dated the 14th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Dawson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on
the 14th October 1874.
I, WILLIAM DAWSON, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster,
5 Shuttle Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHUTTLES AND PICKERS FOR LOOMS," to be
as follow

page_text: Secondly. In making the spring of the skewer with corrugations to
prevent the cop flying off the skewer, and in causing the end of the
spring to abut against a fixed stud in the shuttle to cause the spring to
open when the skewer is pressed down.
Thirdly. In combining the corrugated spring above referred to with
a skewer on which a skewer thread is cut, and in making the head
of the skewer with a projection below on which the ordinary shuttle
spring acts.
Fourthly. In making the wire on which the head of the skewer
rests when in the shuttle of a D form to obtain a broad bearing
surface.
Fifthly. In the application of regulating screws to the fulcrum of the
shuttle skewer, by which screws the point of the skewer can be raised
or lowered in the shuttle.
Sixthly. In making the shuttle tips with a hollow spindle fitting into
an annular groove in the body of the shuttle, by which means the
splitting of the shuttle is avoided.
My improvements in the construction of pickers consist in making
them with two pegs which fit in-recesses in the tips of the shuttle, thus
preventing the tips from injuring the picker.
My improved pickers can be made of buffalo hide, deather, wood, or
other suitable material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Dawson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DAWSON, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Shuttle Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our 3
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give.and.

page_text: And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a section of an ordinary shuttle to which
part of my improvements are applied. a is the body of the shuttle; b, the
skewer; and c the pirn, in the head of which an annular groove is
turned as usual.
In ordinary shuttles the pirn is prevented flying off by means of a
cross pin or other equivalent which is liable to get broken or bent;..
now my improvement consists in holding the pirn by means of the
semicircular clip d, which is shewn also in plan in Fig. 2, and end view
in Fig. 3; this semicircular clip holds the pirn firm, and is not liable.
to get broken. I prefer to make the semicircular clip d of one piece
with the frame e, through which the fulcrum pin of the skewer passes.
On the under side of the head of the skewer is the projection 6¹ against.
which the ordinary shuttle spring facts; this projection causes the
spring to press at all times in the proper position for holding the skewer
firm, whereas in the ordinary mode of construction when the end of the
head gets worn the spring is liable to act either close to or directly
under the fulcrum stud, and consequently the skewer is not securely
held. The under side of the head of the skewer bears upon the cross
rib e¹ cast with the frame e, to which is also cast a lip e² through which
passes the regulating screw g; by tightening or slackening this screw
the frame e is caused to swivel slightly on its fulcrum, thereby bringing
the cross rib e¹ against the skewer head, and raising or lowering the
point of the skewer; or the same object may be attained by varying the
level of the fulcrum of the shuttle skewer by set screws g acting on
the fulcrum of the skewer at each side of the shuttle, as shewn in
Figs. 3ª. and 3º. In this arrangement the frame e is fixed in the
shuttle by the pin y, and the fulcrum of the skewer is fixed in
the head of the skewer, and is free to move up and down in the
frame e.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 5 a plan of another shuttle
to which other parts of my Invention are applied. In this case the
shuttle skewer 6 is provided with a screw thread of the usual con-
struction to assist in holding the cop, and the spring 62 instead of being.
plain as now customary I make with corrugations to prevent the cop
flying off the skewer; but I wish to remark here that this corrugated
spring may be used with any ordinary shuttle skewer. The end of the

page_text: shuttle skewer spring is acted upon by the fixed stud h, and when the-
skewer is raised out of the shuttle to put on a fresh cop. the end of
the spring passes under the stud to allow the spring to collapse; but
when the skewer is pressed down into the shuttle the end of the spring
abuts against the stud / and is forced up to bind the cop on the skewer..
This mode of forcing up the spring may be applied to springs that are
not corrugated. The under side of the head of the skewer generally
rests upon a round wire which is liable to get worn, but. I now make
the wire D shaped, as shewn in Fig. 6, to obtain a broad bearing.
surface.
The shuttle tips j are usually made with a solid spindle, but I now
propose to make the spindles hollow, and to fit in annular grooves
in the body of the shuttle. By this improved mode of construction
the splitting of the wood is to a great extent avoided; but if, owing
to any defect in the wood it should split the hollow spindle holds the
parts together.
Fig. 6 represents part of an ordinary shuttle for a woollen loom
constructed according to my Invention. In these shuttles the weft is
usually wound on a wooden pirn, or on a pasteboard tube, as shewn,
and the shuttle skewer consists of the lower part marked b and the
upper part marked b³, at the end of which is a nib as usual to prevent
the pirn or tube flying off. The upper and lower parts of the skewer
are jointed together, and they are forced apart to hold the pirn or tube
on the skewer by the usual shuttle spring f. When the skewer is lifted
out of the shuttle for removing the empty pirn or tube and replacing-
a full one, the upper side of the head of the part 6³ comes against the
pin a to close the two parts of the skewer, thereby allowing the empty
pirn or tube to be removed and a full one put in its place. In ordinary
shuttles of this description the pirns or tubes are held on by a spring
fixed to the skewer, and the action of this spring has a tendency to
injure the interior of the pirn or tube by bringing the nib at the end of
the skewer against the inside thereof.
Fig. 7 represents a modification of this part of my Invention as
applied to a shuttle skewer constructed in the manner described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to William Henry Platt, on
the 10th day of December 1872, No. 3748. In this case both the
parts 6 and 6 of the skewer are made of sheet iron or steel, or the

page_text: lower part 6 is so made, and the part 63 may be solid or only partly
grooved out, as shewn in Fig. 6. In the part 6ª is rivetted a pin 64
which, when the skewer is in the shuttle, is pressed by the shuttle
spring, as shewn in Fig. 6, against the fixed pin m, thereby tightening
the pirn or cop on the shuttle skewer; or the lower part 6 of the skewer
may be solid or partly groovediout, as shewn in Fig. 6, and the upper-
part 6 made of sheet metal.
Figs. 8 and 9 are two views of a picker constructed according to my
Invention. The body of the picker k is made of buffalo hide, leather,
wood, or other suitable material; but I prefer wood with two boxwood
or other bushes which slide on the guide rod of the loom. On each
edge of the picker is a conical recess of the shape of the shuttle tip, and
in each recess are two pegs corresponding to the two recesses in the tip
shewn in Figs. 10 and 11. By this improved construction the shuttle
tip fits in the recess of the picker and on the pegs, and the constant:
enlarging of the hole in the picker is avoided, thereby increasing the
durability of the picker.
r
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not
intend to limit myself to the details given. I would also remark that my a
various improvements may be used either separately or collectively or

page_text: Seventhly. The improved modes of constructing the shuttle skewers
for the shuttles of woollen looms, as shewn and described.
And, Eighthly. The improved mode of constructing the pickers of
looms and connecting the pickers to the tips of the shuttles, as shewn
and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Dawson, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-five.