IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING ELASTIC AND OTHER FABRICS."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Crook, of Winckworth Place, Hoxton, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING ELASTIC AND OTHER FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Crook at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19tli
February 1857..
I, JAMES CROOK, of Winckworth Place, Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declaro the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING ELASTIC AND OTHER FABRICS," to be as follows:-
I employ a loom which is capable of opening two sheds in the warp at the
same time. In weaving elastic fabrics, the elastic threads are placed in the
centre, while one portion of the inelastic threads is raised above them to form
the upper shed, and the other portion is depressed so as to form the lower shed
below the elastic threads. Two shuttles working one above the other are
simultaneously passed through the two sheds by means of a "pegged batten,"
or moveable slides or holders, by which the shuttle is passed in at one side of
the shed until it is received and carried out at the other side. The upper
inelastic threads then descend while the lower ones ascend, and another shuto
is made with the two shuttles, and so on. When patterns or figures are
required, several heddles are employed, or a jacquard apparatus is connected

page_text: to the loom in the ordinary manner. This construction of loom is also
applicable to the weaving of other fabrics, by substituting other threads for the
elastic threads. By employing different threads in the two shuttles, the work
may be woven with its two surfaces. of different colours, or of different
materials or qualities of material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Crook in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th August 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
CROOK, of Winckworth Place, Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
: 'WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Crook, Her special licence' that I, the said James
Crook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Crook, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING ELASTIC AND OTHER FABRICS,". upon the
condition (amongst others) that I," the said James. Crook, my executors, or
administrators, by an 'instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands 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 James Crook, do hereby declare tho
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed; to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
I employ a loom which is capable of opening two sheds in the warp at the
same time. In-weaving clastic fabrics, the elastic threads are placed in the

page_text: centre, while one portion of the inelastic threads is raised above them to form
the upper shed, and the other portion is depressed so as to form the lower
shed below the elastic threads. Two shuttles working one above the other
are simultaneously passed through the two sheds by means of a "pegged
batten," or moveable slides or holders, by which the shuttle is passed in at
one side of the shed until it is received and carried out at the other side. The
upper inelastic threads then descend while the lower ones ascend, and another
shute is made with the two shuttles, and so on. When patterns or figures are
required, several heddles are employed, or a jacquard apparatus is connected'
to the loom in the ordinary manner. This construction of loom is also
applicable to the weaving of other fabrics, by substituting other threads for the
elastic threads. By employing different threads in the two shuttles, the work
may be woven with its two surfaces of different colours, or of different
materials or qualities of material.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is an elevation or front view of the
batten and other portions of a loom constructed according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a plan of the same; Figure 3 is an end view; and Figure 4 is a
vertical section of the same. The same letters indicate similar parts in each
Figure. The loom may be constructed for weaving one piece of fabric or
several pieces. That shewn in the Drawing is adapted for weaving three
pieces simultaneously. A, A, A, aro three reeds fixed on the batten B, between
the posts or uprights C, C, which also carry the batten boards D, D², D².
These boards are fixed at a little distance apart, so as to leave grooves or
narrow spaces in which the shuttles E', E², E³, E', E', E, slide. Figure 5 is
an end view, and Figure 6 is a plan of one of the shuttles E. It is provided
with a groove, a into which the batten boards enter. The bobbin 6 is mounted
in the shuttle in the ordinary manner. The posts C, C, are notched to allow
of the passage of the back parts of the shuttles, as shewn in Figures 8 and 4.
The length of the shuttles is considerably greater than the width of the reeds,
so that they are guided into and enter the grooves on one side before leaving
those on the other side of the reed. The shuttles are moved in the following
manner: F and, G are two wooden bars carrying pegs or wires c, d, e, f,
c', d', e¹, ƒ'¹, c², d³, e, f, which enter holes in the shuttles, and push them
backwards and forwards, in the grooves. The bars F and, G run upon rollers
h, and have each two notches in their under edges, which allow them to drop
a little at one end of their courses. Each bar carries a hook H and I, which
comes in contact with and engages a pin J on another bar K, supported by
rollers L, M; N is a strap attached to one end of the bar K, and carried
round and fixed to a pulley O; P is another strap attached to the pulley Ò,

page_text: and passed round the pulley or roller L, and attached to the bar K. A
reciprocating rotary motion is imparted to the pulley O by means of straps p, p,
passing round another pulley o attached to it, and connected to treddles 9, 9,
actuated by cams. The whole batten is driven backwards and forwards by a
The
crank shaft Q, driven by a strap R, or in any other convenient manner.
elastic or caoutchouc threads of the warp S pass through the middle of the
recd, while the inelastic threads T, U, are raised and lowered by heddles, or
by a jacquard apparatus, as in other looms.
The action of the loom is as follows:-The bar K is moved towards the
right, and carries with it the bar F by means of the pin J, which is engaged
in the hook H. The shuttles are thus pushed forward by the wires c, d, c², d³,
c, d, through the two sheds which are opened in the warp, and their ends
enter the opposite grooves. When the notches in the bar F reach the rollers h,
the bar drops a little, and thus releases the pin J, and also withdraws tho pegs
or wires c, d, c, d, c, d, from the shuttles. At the same time the pin J
strikes against the hook I, and carries forward the bar G, which in starting,
rises on the rollers i and pushes the wires e, f, o', f¹, e, f, into the holes at the
front ends of the shuttles, and also raises the hook I so as to engage it with
the pin J. The shuttles are thus carried completely through the sheds of the
warp, leaving a weft thread in each. The shuttles now remain at rest, while
the whole batten is driven up to beat up the weft. As the batten returns, the
new sheds are opened, and the bar K returns, carrying with it the bar G
and the shuttles. When the bar G reaches the position shewn in the Drawing,
it drops a little, and disengages its hook I from the pin J, and its wires e, f,
e,f,e,f, from the shuttles. At the same time the pin J strikes the hook H,
and carries it forward with the bar F, which rises and thus engages the
hook with the pin J, and enters the wires c, d, c, d, c, d, into their holes
in the shuttles. The bar F proceeds, carrying back the shuttles until they
reach the position shewn in the Drawing. The batten advances, beating up
the weft threads, and as it retires again the sheds are again opened, and the
shuttles return again in the manner herein-before described.
The straps N, P, swing backwards and forwards with the motion of the
batten. Any other convenient mode of communicating the motion to the bars
F, G, may be employed. The warp threads may be raised and lowered by two
or more heddles, or by a jacquard apparatus, and thus the fabric may consist
of plain weaving, or a twill or a figure or pattern. The upper and lower weft
threads may consist of different materials, or different colours or qualities of
material, and inelastic threads may be substituted for the elastic threads if
desired. The number of reeds and sets of shuttles and wires may be varied,

page_text: and thus looms may be made for weaving one, two, three, four, or more pieces
of fabric simultaneously.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
separately the mode of giving motion to a shuttle by means of a pegged
batten, nor do I claim separately the application of two shuttles or sets of
shuttles passing through different sheds in the same warp; but what I claim
is constructing looms for weaving elastic and other fabrics, with two shuttles
for each warp placed one above the other, and working in grooves or guides,
and adapted to pass through two separate sheds in the same warp, and
actuated simultaneously by means of bars carrying pegs or wires, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Crook, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
THO TAYLOR,
7, Wellington Row, Bethnal Green.
JAMES CROOK. (L.B.)