IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING AND PRINTING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Luke Smith, of Littleborough, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanic, and Matthew Smith, of Heywood, in the
same County, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WEAVING AND PRINTING."
Sealed the 8th September 1853, and dated the 29th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Luke Smith and
Matthew Smith, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 29th March 1853.
LUKE SMITH, of Littleborough, in the County of Lancaster, Me-
chanic, and MATTHEW SMITH, in the same County, Mechanic, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WEAVING AND PRINTING" to be as follows:-
First, in winding the warp for binding the weft face on to the back
cloth, and the warp for the back cloth of fustians and other similar
fabrics on separate warp beams, instead of on the same warp beam, as
heretofore.
Secondly, in applying the swell at the bottom of the shuttle box,
whereby one or more shuttles may be acted upon by the same swell.

page_text: Thirdly, in an improved weft stopper for two or more shuttles, con-
sisting of threads corresponding to the number of sheds. The two
threads for one shed are connected to a swivel piece, the centre of
which is fitted to the end of an elbow lover; the other end of this lover
is connected by a thread or wire to a trigger, jointed to another elbow
lever, one end of which is acted upon by a cam on the tappet shaft, or
other suitable part of the loom. When the weft is in, the trigger is
raised, and the loom continues its work; but if the weft fails, the trigger
remains down, and the end of it is pushed by the cam on the tappet
shaft against a bar acting on the knocking-off lever.
Fourthly, in an improved mode of making terry or looped fabrics.
without the aid of wires. This mode consists in crossing the binding
warps on to the weft threads, thereby holding the terry warp, and in
letting off, by means of a friction cylinder and ratchet wheel, a portion
of the terry warp, equal in longth to the loop required, at the proper
time, before the lay is struck home, so that the beating up of the lay
carries the portion of terry warp held by the binding warps forward, and
thereby forms a loop or terry; in this case, when two or more shuttles
are used, the dead warp and terry warp are not acted upon by the
healds; the loops or terrics thus made can be cut by any ordinary
mechanism to form cut piled fabric.
Fifthly, in an improved mode of weaving terry or looped fabric, with
two or more shuttles. This mode cousists in using a series of flat wires
of the depth of the terries required. These flat wires pass through the
dents of the reed, and are secured to a back bar. In weaving according
to this mode, we prefer to use three shuttles, the weft from two of which
form the back of the fabric, and the third weft is thrown across the top
of the flat wires to maintain the terry warp at the level of the flat wires.
When the terries are cut to make cut piled fabric, the last-mentioned
weft is drawn out; or it may be made to guide the knife for cutting
the terry.
"
Sixthly, in the application of a spring or springs acting on the
picking stick to prevent the rebounding of the shuttle when thrown
into the shuttle box.

page_text: My improvements in printing are applicable to printing warps by
block machinery. It has beretofore been customary to cut the pattern
in solid blocks, but I propose to make the blocks with grooves, into
which adjustable pieces for transmitting the various colors are fitted.
By this means the colors can be be produced of any length, according to
the pattern required, without changing the blocks. We also propose
to fit the bottom block or table with adjustable pieces, corresponding to
the adjustable pieces in the top block; by this means, the colors pre-
viously printed on the warps are not sullied by the bottom block or
table.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Luke Smith and Matthew Smith, in the Great
Seal Patent Office, on the 29th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
LUKE SMITH, of Littleborough, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic,
and MATTHEW SMITH, of Heywood, in the same County, Mechanic,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Luke Smith and Matthew Smith, Her
special licence, that we, the said Luke Smith and Matthew Smith, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Luke Smith and Matthew Smith, 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 MACHINERY FOR WEAVING
AND PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Luke Smith and Matthew Smith, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: 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 we, the said Luke Smith and Matthew
Smith, 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):
Our Invention consists, first, in winding the binding warp and the
warp for the back cloth of fustians and other fabrics of the like nature
on separate beams, instead of on the same beam, as heretofore, whereby
the warps are easier maintained at a uniform tenison, and are more
accessible in case of repairs being necessary. Secondly, in an improved
mode of applying the swell to the shuttles, whereby the same swell
may be made to act on one or more shuttles in the same shuttle box.
Thirdly, in an improved combination of parts forming a weft stopper.
applicable to looms for weaving, with one, two, or more shuttles.
Fourthly, in the application of a spring or springs to the under side of
the lay bottom, or in other convenient place, to act on the picking stick,
and prevent the rebounding of the shuttle. Fifthly, in an improved com-
bination of machinery for weaving terry or looped fabrics, without the
aid of wires; by which improved combination of machinery a portion
of the terry warp is caught hold of by the crossing of the binding warp
and the weft, and formed into a loop or terry by the beating up of the
reed. Sixthly, in another improved combination of machinery for wear-
ing terry or looped fabrics, in which the depth of the loops or terries is
determined by a series of flat wires passing between the dents of the
reed. Seventhly, in the application of three shuttles traversing the
sheds at the same time, for weaving certain fabrics. And, lastly, in an
improved mode of constructing the blocks used in printing warps and
other articles, whereby the pattern on the block can be changed with
great facility. And, in order that our Invention may be fully under-
stood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the
means pursued by us, reference being had to the two sheets of drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon.

page_text: manner.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a front view, partly in section;
and Fig. 3, a plan of part of a loom, to which some of our improve-
ments are applied. In Fig. 1, a, is the crank shaft; b, the batten;
', the shuttle boxes; and c, the lay swords, to which motion is given
by connecting links, in the usual manner. This loom is intended for
weaving fustians or other fabrics, in which two or three shuttles arc
employed. e, is the beam for the binding warp; and f, is the beam for
the back warp. The warps from these beams are carried over the
guide rollers e', and f, and thence to the heddles, which are not shown
in the drawing, as they are constructed and worked in the ordinary
The guide rollers c', and f, are mounted in levers fixed to
the shaft, to which is also fixed the lever g', which bears upon an
excentric a', keyed on the crank shaft a. The object of this excentric
is to give motion to the guide rollers e', and f', so that the warps may
be slack when the shed is formed, and tight when the reed beats up
the weft. This tightening and slackening of the warps is well under-
stood by persons conversant with weaving, and is only shewn here to
illustrate the application of the same to fustian or other looms where
two warp beams are used. Our improved mode of applying the swell
is also shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. In these views h, h, are the two
shuttles, the upper one containing the weft for the face, and the lower
one the weft for the back of a piece of fustian or other fabric. The
shuttles are supposed to be home in the right-hand shuttle box b', see
Fig. 2; consequently the swell, which is formed of a piece of wood i, is
down or level with the shuttle race. The swells i, i, are hinged to the
Jay bottom at i, . k, k, are two double levers, mounted on studs in
the brackets ', k', which are fixed to the under side of the lay bottom.
One end of these levers passes through a loop fixed on the stop-rod
fingers 1, 1; the other end of the levers k, is bent and flattened, as seen
in Fig. 3. An upright pink, which passes through a bracket 1, rests
upon the flattened end of the lever k, and above it is furnished with
a head, which is at all times held in contact with the under side of the
swells i, by a spring , acting on the stop-rod fingers 1. m. is the
picking stick, which is put in motion by any of the well-known

page_text: picking motions. As soon as the shuttles have left the shuttle box
the swell i, is raised by the springs . thereby depressing the stop-rod
fingers 7, in which position it remains until both the shuttles enter the
left-hand shuttle box, when the left-hand swell is lowered, and the stop-
rod finger, is again raised clear of the frog l. If only one of the
shuttles reaches the shuttle box, and the other becomes "trapped," or
flies out, the loom will instantly be stopped; for, unless both shuttles
enter the shuttle box, the swell remains up and the stop-rod finger down;
consequently, when the batten approaches the breast beam the stop-rod
finger strikes the frog, and throws the driving strap from the fast to the
loose pulley, in the ordinary manner. By the above-described machinery
it is evident that the same swell may be made to act on one, two, or
more shuttles, and to stop the loom in the event of one or more of
them failing to enter the shuttle box. Our improved weft stopper is
partly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and on an enlarged scale in Figs. 4,
5, and 6. n, is the breast beam, to which is fixed a bracket n'; this
bracket supports two forks, ², and, both of which are free to move
to and fro in the bracket. ', in the direction of the warps, the forks
are bent near their outer ends, and the strings or wires o, and o',
connect the forks to the levers p, and p'. The lever p, is made of bent
wire, the horizontal part of which is supported in the bracket p², bolted
to the side frame; and the lever p, is formed of the same piece of wire,
bent at right angles to the lever p; the lever p', is supported in the
same manner, and is made in the same piece as the lever . From
the levers p, and p', depend strings, or wires, which connect the said
lovers with the feelers, and p, which are hinged to a sliding
piece p', the end of which comes against the knocking-off finger, p',
as seen best in Figs. 3, and 5. By this means, when the forks »,
and are moved towards the breast beam, the feelers are raised
into the position shewn by dots, in Fig. 4. Upon the crank shaft a,
s fixed a pinion a², which gives motion to the wheel 7, the number of
eeth in which is double that of the pinion a; consequently the
wheel, performs one revolution for two revolutions of the crank
shaft. On the same shaft as the wheel q, is a short crank y', seen best
in Fig. 3; to this crank is jointed the piece, the left hand end of

page_text: which is flat, and rests upon the stay 7. The flat end of the piece q³,
is shewn in the drawings beyond the feelers p, and p; but when the
crank ', has performed half a revolution, the end of the piece q, is
pushed towards the feelers; consequently, if the feelers are down, as
shewn in Figs. 1, and 4, the sliding piece p', is pushed towards the
breast beam ; and as the other end of the sliding piece p', is in
contact with the knocking-off' finger p, it is evident that, when either
of the feelers is in a horizontal position at the time, the piece p³,
advances, the driving strap is moved from the fast to the loose pulley,
and the loom thereby stopped. The feelers are raised at the required
time by the weft, in the following manner: At one end of the reed
two or three dents, are placed wider apart than the others, as seen at
the right-hand side of the reed in Fig. 2. When the reed advances to
strike home the welt, the dents », enter between the prongs of the
forks, and ; consequently, when both the weft threads cross the
sheds, the dents, acting on the weft, push both the forks, and ³,
towards the breast beam, thereby raising the levers and feelers p²
and p into the positions shewn by dots in Fig. 4; consequently the
end of the piece 2, can pass under the ends of the feelers, and the loom
continues to work; but, if either of the weft threads fails to cross the
shed, one of the feelers remains in a horizontal position when the
piece q, advances; therefore the sliding piece p, is moved towards the
breast beam, and the knocking-off finger p, is acted upon as before
described. We wish to remark that, although we have shewn our
improved weft stopper applied to a loom in which two shuttles are
used, the same combination of parts may be used for stopping a loom
having three or more shuttles; and, if only one shuttle is required, it
is evident that only one fork n², one pair of levers p', and p, and one
feeler p, are necessary.
In weaving certain descriptions of fabrics, it is requisite to have a
similar weft stopper at each end of the reed. In Fig. 7, we have
shewn, on an enlarged scale, our improved springs for checking the
picking stick, and thereby preventing the rebounding of the shuttle;
these springs are markeds, and they are fixe to the brackets k', at
each extremity of the lay bottom, as seen in Fig. 2. The detached

page_text: Figure 7, represents the picking stick m, in section, and the springs
forced asunder by the momentum of the shuttles on entering the shuttle
box and the dotted lines in Figure 7, represent the position of the
springs, when the picking stick has been put into motion, to throw the
shuttles across the shed. On Sheet 2, Fig. 8, represents the outline
of a loom, to which some of our improvements in weaving looped or
terry fabrics without the aid of wires are applied. In this view t, is the
figure or terry warp; u, is the back warp and e, is the binding warp;
these warps are respectively wound on the warp beams t', ', and '.
The warp beam ', is furnished with a friction break by which the
requisite tension is given to the figure warp; the lever , to which the
break . is fixed, is continued beyond the break, and it is furnished
with a link . the lower end of which is jointed to the lever t³, fitting
on the fulcrum stud . To the end of the lever, is hung the
weight 17.
This loom is supposed to be working with two shuttles, one of which
carries the weft to form the back of the fabric, and the other the weft
which, in crossing between the figure warp and the binding warp,
catches hold of the figure warp at the moment the crossing of the
warps takes place; the object of this is, that when the reed advances
towards the cloth, the figure warp being lighter weighted than the
other warps, that portion of the figure warp between the reed and the
fabric is struck up into a loop or terry.by the advancing of the reed.
The heddles by which the warps are elevated and depressed, and the
tappets for working them, are not shewn in the drawing, as they are
similar to those in general use; it is only necessary, in setting them, to
take care that the binding warps shall cross each other over the weft,
the moment the reed is in the position shewn in dots.
In Figure 8, the full lines shew the batten thrown back, and the
sheds open to allow the shuttles to cross the sheds; and the dotted lines
represent the reed at a distance of about three quarters of an inch from
the cloth, or at that point where the binding warps should cross on the
weft, in order to form a terry of about three eighths of an inch in
height; but these dimensions may be increased or diminished by
altering the position of the tappets by which the heddles are worked.

page_text: When only one shuttle is used to produce a similar fabric, it is
evident that one pick will be required to form the back of the fabric,
and the second pick to traverse the weft, which, being crossed by
the binding warps, catches hold of the figure warp as before described.
In weaving towels or other fabrics requiring loops at each side, the
terry warp must be carried through the binding and back warps in the
following manner: After a loop has been formed on the upper surface
of the fabric as above described, a binding pick must be put in to secure
the top loop; the shed must then be opened with a terry warp down-
wards; and after the weft has been put in, the terry and binding warps
are crossed over the said weft at the proper time for forming
on the under surface of the fabric, at the succeeding stroke of the
batten.
loop
We will now proceed to describe our other improvements in
machinery, for weaving terry or looped fabrics. These improvements are
represented in Fig. 9, on referring to which it will be seen that our
principal feature of novelty consists in the application of a series of
flat wires forming a comb A, the back of which is at B; this comb
passes between the dents of the reed, and the height of the loops or
terries is determined by the depth of the flat wires. In connection with
the comb A, we prefer to use three shuttles, C, D, and E, which are
all picked across the sheds at one stroke of the picking stick, in a
similar manner to the two shuttles shewn in Figure 2, of Sheet 1.
F, G, and H, are the warps; of which F, and H, pass through heddles,
which are worked in the usual manner. The lower shuttles D, and E,
contain the wefts for forming the body of the fabric; and the top
shuttle C, which passes above the comb A, through the shed formed
by the terry warp F, carries weft which rests on the top of the comb
when the batten beats up; during the receding of the batten from the
fabric, that portion of the terry warp which is held up by the weft on
the comb, is brought below the comb, and the binding warp is brought
up to it; another shoot of weft is then thrown acrosss, which is struck
home by the reed, thereby fixing the terry warp into the fabric; the
shedding of the warps is then repeated, as shewn in the drawing, and
a fabric is thereby produced similar to the diagram, Figure 10, which is

page_text: drawn on a very enlarged scale, in order to render the crossing of the
warps more distinct. The weft C', from the shuttle C, is only put in
to bear up the figure or terry warp F; consequently when the fabric
is woven, the said weft can be drawn out if preferred, or it may be left
in to give body to the fabric.
When the looped fabric thus produced is made into cut pile fabric,
the weft C, may be used as a guide for the cutting knife; other
descriptions of fabrics may be made with three shuttles crossing the
sheds at the same time, without employing the comb marked A, in
Fig. 9.
Our improvements in machinery for printing are shewn in Figs. 11,
and 12, and are particularly applicable to a machine for block printing,
for which Letters Patent were granted to Luke Smith, Mark Smith,
and Matthew Smith. in May, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
one. The object of our present improvements is to facilitate the
changing of the pattern without cancelling the entire block. For this
purpose we make grooves over the whole surface of the block, as shewn
at 1, 1, in Fig. 11. (only part of those grooves are shown in the
drawing, to save useless repetition). The pieces J, J, fit into the
grooves I, I, which are slightly dovetailed, to prevent them falling out.
In Figure 12, the cross-lined parts represent the pieces J. J, which are
raised above the surface of the block, and take the colour to be in-
pressed upon the yarns or other material to be printed. It is evident
that when the pattern requires changing, it is only necessary to slide the
pieces J, J, into different positions in the grooves I, 1.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which it is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we
do not limit ourselves to the details berein set forth, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention.
What we claim as our Invention, and desire to secure by these Let-
ters Patent, is,-
First, the use of separate warp beams for the binding warp and the
warp for the back cloth, in the manner and for the
before shewn and described:
purposes herein-
Secondly, the improvements in constructing and applying the swolls

page_text: of looms, by which one or more shuttles are acted upon by the same
swell:
Thirdly, the improved machinery for stopping looms, in the absence
of the weft, as shewn and described:
Fourthly, the improved mode of preventing the rebounding of the
shuttle or shuttles by the springs s, shewn in Figures 2, and 7, or any
modification of the same:
Fifthly, the improvements in weaving terry or looped fabrics, without
transverse wires, as shewn in Fig. 8, and as described:
Sixthly, the longitudinal wires forming the comb A, in Fig. 9, when
used for weaving terry or looped fabrics, as herein-before described:
Seventhly, the application and use of three shuttles, traversing the
sheds at the same time, for weaving terry or other fabrics: And,
Lastly, the improvements in constructing blocks for block printing,
as shewn and described in reference to Figs. 11, and 12.
In witness whereof, we, the said Luke Smith and Matthew Smith,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-eighth day
of September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
LUKE SMITH. (L.S.)
MATTHEW SMITH. (L.S.)