IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOKS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Mark Knowles and David Barnes, trading as
**Mark Knowles & Co.," of the Walpole St. Iron Works, in.
Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Machinists and Iron-
founders, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOKS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 6th June 1873, and dated the 10th January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Mark Knowles and
David Barnes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 10th January 1873.
We, MARK KNOWLES and DAVID BARNES, trading as "Mark Knowles
& Co.," of the Walpole St. Iron Works in Blackburn, in the County
of Lancaster, Machinists and Ironfounders, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN Looms FOR. WEAVING," to.
be as follows:-
÷
The first part of our Invention consists in an arrangement for damping
the warp in the loom; it entirely dispenses with the injurious practice
of injecting jets of steam into the workroom, which is frequently done
[Price 8d.]

page_text: in order to render the yarn less brittle, and that it may be the more
easily woven. The apparatus consists of a trough containing water,
soap and water, or other aqueous solution, in which a roller slowly
revolves; this roller we place in such a position that the yarn, during its
passage from the yarn beam to the healds and reed, rests upon or
touches it in such a manner as to cause it to turn, and thus slowly
convey the moisture from the trough to the yarn. Or we place another
roller upon the one before named and cause the yarn to pass over the
top of the upper one, thereby imparting less moisture to the yarn than
in the first case.
Or we cover one or both of the rollers with cloth or
leather, thereby imparting more moisture to the yarn than in the first
case. Or we cause the yarn to pass between the two rollers by which it
is damped both on the top and underneath. The bearings of the bottom
roller we prefer to place on springs, in order that it may yield a little to
the yarn when strained, as at the treading of the healds. Or we rest
the trough upon springs for the same purpose. Or we furnish the
trough with journals at each end, and work it in the ordinary manner
as a vibrating backbearer.
The second part of our Invention consists in a taking-up motion,
that is, a motion for taking up the cloth as it is woven. The apparatus
consists of a toothless wheel, the periphery of which may be flat, semi-
circular, grooved, or a variety of other forms, but we prefer the flat
shape, and we have a lever carrying one or more pauls or catches; the
axis or fulcrum of the lever is concentric with that of the toothless
wheel, and we prefer to place it on the same shaft; one end of the
before-named pauls or catches are placed in notches in the boss of the
said lever, the other ends of the said pauls or catches fitting the shape
of the periphery of the wheel; each of the said pauls is furnished with
a spring, pulling it down into its notch and on to the periphery of the
wheel; each of the said notches are placed a little out of a centre line
drawn from the centre of the wheel or lever to a point where its catch
touches the periphery of the wheel; this produces the effect that when
the lever is moved one way the catch is lifted a little and moves easily
upon the periphery of the wheel, but when the lever is moved the other
way the catch bears hard upon the periphery of the wheel and so turns
it, precisely in the same manner that a catch turns a ratchet wheel, but
with this difference, that it can be set, adjusted, and varied to cause the
wheel to make a revolution with any desired number of throws, which

page_text: could not be done with a ratchet wheel. One part of the lever carrying
the pauls or catches we form with a slot, in which is a pin receiving
motion from the slay sword of the loom or from an eccentric or crank
on the crank shaft or in any other of the ways commonly employed in
taking-up motions, and which causes the lever to oscillate. By moving
the pin before-named nearer to or further from the axis of the lever a
greater or less amount of motion is imparted to the lever and the tooth-
less wheel is thus caused to make a revolution with a greater or less
number of throws or oscillations of the taking-up lever. We either
place the toothless wheel on the journal of the taking-up roller, or if
we find it more convenient for some kinds of cloth we place it on a stud
and connect a toothed wheel to it, which gives motion to others and so
to the taking-up roller. We place close to the toothless wheel and
taking-up lever a fixed boss carrying one or more pauls precisely similar
to those on the taking-up lever and carried in the same way; this paul
or pauls act as a holding catch or catches to the toothless wheel, and
serve to hold it in its place when those on the taking-up lever are
moving backward for the purpose of taking a new hold on the wheel.
We have also a small lever, one end of which we cause to press upon
the holding paul or pauls and so suspend their action when desired.
We either take up the cloth by wrapping it on a roller which rests or is
pressed against the taking-up roller; or we wrap it direct on the taking-
up roller and place a rod or roller across, resting upon or against the
cloth, and which rod or roller has a link or connection to the pin before-
named in the taking-up lever, so that as the roll of cloth on the beam
becomes larger it moves the rod or roller, which in turn moves the pin
to a greater distance from the centre of the taking-up lever, and so
causes it to take up so much less as will compensate for the larger
diameter of the roll of cloth, thus keeping the texture of the cloth
uniform.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Mark Knowles and David Barnes in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 7th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, MARK
KNOWLES and DAVID BARNES, trading as Mark Knowles & Co.," of
the Walpole Street Iron Works, in Blackburn, in the County of Lan-
caster, Machinists and Ironfounders, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Mark Knowles and David Barnes, Her special
licence that we, the said Mark Knowles and David Barnes, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Mark Knowles and David Barnes, 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 LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Mark Knowles and
David Barnes, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, 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 we, the said Mark Knowles and David
Barnes, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings:-
Since taking out our Provisional Specification we have made extensive
experiments in the first part of our Invention, and we find that in all
cases where we have passed the yarn directly over the roller that is
This
partly immersed in the fluid it has received too much moisture.

page_text: we find has also been the case with Inventions for which Letters Patent
were granted in one instance to Edward Lord, of Todmorden, in the
County of York, Machine Maker, and dated the Second day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight,
and in which the yarn in its passage from the yarn beam to the healds
and reed is immersed in a trough of water, and then passes over a shaft,
which is also partly immersed. In another instance in which Letters
Patent were granted to William Henry Hacking and Thomas Hacking,
Machine Makers, and James Chambers, Mechanic, all of Bury, in the
County of Lancaster, and dated the Fourteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, and in
which it appears a roller was employed carrying an endless band of
flannel, which dipped into the moisture and gave it directly to the yarn.
Both of the before-named Inventions, as well as some of the arrange-
ments set forth in our Provisional Specification, have the fault of not
being so adjustable as to give the small and exact amount of moisture
required. We therefore confine ourselves solely to that portion of the
first part of our Invention in which a second roller is employed to take
part of the moisture from the first roller, or from its equivalent in the
shape of a cloth or flannel dipping in the fluid and resting against the
roller in contact with the warp.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a cross section of a loom through the line 8, T; Fig. 2 is
an enlarged view of the bearings of the rollers; Fig. 3 is an elevation
of the back part of a loom; A, A, are the loom sides; B, the yarn beam;
C, the healds; and D, the reed; E is a trough containing water, soap and
water, or other aqueous compound; F is a roller partly immersed in the
fluid; G is a roller in contact with the roller F; H is the yarn which
during the process of weaving gradually passes from the yarn beam to
the healds and reed, and as it rests upon or touches the roller G it causes
the said roller to revolve slowly; this roller communicates its motion to
the roller F; which being wet with the fluid in the trough delivers part
of its moisture to the roller G which in turn delivers part of it to the
yarn. It will be seen that the yarn does not in this case get as much
moisture as it would do if it received it directly from the roller running
in the fluid, which roller would give too much moisture, and the excess
of moisture received by the yarn would form a paste with the size upon
it and would fill up the eyes of the healds; if on the other hand the

page_text: yan receives 10O The moisture e un avantage of
not obtained.
It is well known to weavers that a damp atmosphere such as is
experienced in rainy weather is most conducive to good weaving, and it
has been our aim in this Invention to give to the yarn in dry weather
as much moisture, and no more, than it naturally receives in damp
weather. In such weather when the yarn is sufficiently moist of itself
from atmospheric influence, we lift the top roller G into the groove N,
Fig. 2, and so bring it out of contact with the bottom roller F. In
damping the yarn we find that the nearer we bring the top roller. G to
the point E where the bottom roller F leaves the fluid, the more
moisture we get upon the top roller and give to the yarn; we take
advantage of this to get the exact amount of moisture required, and for
this purpose we make the bearings of the top roller adjustable by a set
screw L; Q is a cover for the trough E and is made to rest at one side
on the roller F; its use is not only to keep dirt and fluke out of the
trough but also to prevent the roller F from taking up too much
moisture; R is a spring placed at each end of the cover to keep it down
on both the trough and the roller. From practice we find we obtain
the best results by making the rollers of wood with iron shafts through,
the top roller being slightly covered with cloth. K is the ordinary back
rest of the loom, which is retained in order to receive the strain of the
warp, we find also that by raising or depressing this said back rest in
the slot M and fixing it by the set screw P it increases or decreases
the amount of surface in contact between the warp and the top
roller, and this has also an effect of giving more or less moisture to
the yarn.
The second part of our Invention consists in
"
[
taking-up motion, that
is to say, a motion for taking up the cloth as it is woven; Fig. 4
represents it as applied to a one beam taking-up motion"; Fig. 5 is a
plan of the same; Fig. 6 represents it as applied to an
emery beam
taking up motion"; Figs. 7, 8, and 9 shew detached parts. The
apparatus consists of a toothless wheel S the periphery of which may be
flat, semicircular, grooved, or a variety of other forms, but we prefer the
flat shape, and we have a lever T carrying one or more pauls or
catches U. The axis or fulcrum of the lever is concentric with that of
the toothless wheel and we prefer to place it on the same shaft; one end
of the before-named pauls or catches are placed in notches V in the boss

page_text: of the said lever, the other ends of the said pauls or catches fitting
the shape of the periphery of the wheel. Each of the said pauls is
furnished with a spring W pulling it down into its notch and on to the
periphery of the wheel; each of the said notches are placed a little out
of a centre line X, X, drawn from the centre of the wheel or lever to a
point where its catch touches the periphery of the wheel; "this produces
the effect that when the lever is moved one way the catch is lifted a
little and moves easily upon the periphery of the wheel, but when the
lever is moved the other way the catch bears hard upon the periphery of
the wheel and turns it precisely in the same manner that a catch turns
a ratchet wheel, but with this difference, that it can be set, adjusted,
and varied, to cause the wheel to make a revolution with any desired
number of throws, which could not be done with a ratchet wheel. One
part of the lever carrying the pauls or catches is formed with a slot Y in
which is a pin Z, receiving motion from the slay sword O of the loom, or
from an eccentric or crank on the crank shaft, or in any other of the
ways commonly employed in taking-up motions, and which is made to
cause the lever to oscillate. By moving the pin before-named nearer to
or further from the axis of the lever a greater or less amount of motion
is imparted to the lever, and the toothless wheel is thus caused to make
a revolution with a greater or less number of throws or oscillations of
the taking-up lever. We either place the toothless wheel on the journal
R' of the taking-up roller, or if we find it more convenient for some
kinds of cloth, we place it on a stud N' and connect a toothed wheel P¹
to it, which gives motion to others and so to the taking up roller.
We place close to the toothless wheel and taking up lever a fixed boss
A carrying a paul B₁, precisely similar to those on the taking-up lever
and carried in the same way; this paul acts as a holding catch to the
toothless wheel and serves to hold it in its place when those on the
taking up lever are moving backward for the purpose of taking a new
hold on the wheel. We have also a small lever C₁, one end of which we
can cause to actuate the holding paul and so suspend its action when
desired; S is the ordinary cross rod, which we cause to actuate the
lever C¹. We either take up the cloth by wrapping it on a roller D'
which rests or is pressed against the emery beam, or we wrap it directly
on the taking-up roller, Figs. 4 and 5, and place a rod E' across, resting
upon the cloth; this rod is connected to and actuates the pin Z by the
levers F, H', L', and the link K¹, and as the roll of cloth on the beam
becomes larger and moves the rod E¹, the pin Z is moved to a greater

page_text: distance from the centre of the taking-up lever, this causes it to take up
so much less as will compensate for the larger diameter of the roll on
the beam, thus keeping the texture of the cloth uniform in order that
the roll of cloth may be firm and solid, so as to be capable of moving
the rod or roller accurately; we have a presser M' acting upon the roll
of cloth so as to make it hard and firm.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and the
manner in which it is to be performed we wish it to be understood
that the improvements we claim are, the second or top roller G or its
covering delivering moisture to the yarn without the said roller or its
covering being immersed or partly so in the fluid. The toothless wheels
and its pauls employed in à taking up motion for looms.
In witness whereof, we, the said Mark Knowles and David Barnes,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Tenth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three..
MARK KNOWLES. (L.S.)
DAVID BARNES. (L.S.)