CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Smith, of Heywood, in the County of
Lancaster, Manager, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Scaled the 8th September 1857, and dated the 25th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
April 1857.
I, MATTHEW SMITH, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Manager,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in an improved combination of machinery, applicable
to looms in which two or more shuttles are employed for bringing any of the
shuttles when required in a line with the shuttle race. The shuttles are held
between jointed levers or other stationary supporters, and the shuttle that is
required to be thrown across the shed is liberated by means of an endless chain
of lags and pegs, or other agents. When the shuttle is liberated it drops on
guide rails, and is brought forward into position for entering the shuttle box
of the lay by an endless belt with projecting studs. The shuttle box of the
lay is furnished with a moveable guide rail, which is lowered as the lay
advances towards the shuttle to be thrown across the shed, and at the same
time the shuttle that has been employed is raised out of the shuttle box, and
is deposited when the lay advances into the jointed levers or other suitable

page_text: fixings supporting the other shuttles. By this arrangement the shuttles are
held in stationary levers or other supporters, and the lay, with the exception
of the moveable guide rail, is constructed in the ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Smith in the Great Seal. Patent Office on the
24th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
SMITH, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, 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 Matthew Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Matthew Smith,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Matthew Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOONS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Matthew Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Matthew Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :-
The nature of my said Invention consists in an improved combination of
machinery, applicable to looms in which two or more shuttles are employed
for bringing any of the shuttles, when required, in a line with the shuttle
race.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily
arried into effect. I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,

page_text: reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon :-
Figure 1 is an end elevation of a loom to which my improvements are
applied; Figure 2 is a front view of part of the same loom; and Figure 3 a
section of part of my improved machinery.
In the accompanying Drawings and description, I have shewn and described
a loom in which seven shuttles are employed; but it will be evident that a
greater or less number of shuttles may be employed.
the
a, is the crank shaft of the loom; 6, the tappet shaft; c, the lay bottom;
d, the lay swords; e, the connecting links; f, the picking stick; and 9,
breast beam. The foregoing parts, and all the others not particularly referred
to hercin-after, but which are requisite to complete the loom, are made in the
usual manner. The shuttles are held between stationary levers h and i, seen
best in Fig. 2; these levers are jointed on studs secured to the framing, and
the lower part of each lever is made with a V-shaped groove fitting the end
of the shuttles; the levers han i are connected by links j, and cach lever h
has a prolongation for being acted upon when required by the pegs projecting
from the links of the endless chain k, and a spring h³ to push it back when
the peg of the chain has passed; this endless chain may be of any suitable
length, according to the pattern to be produced in the fabric, and it may
be taken from the drum over guide pulleys, as shown, or in any convenient
manner. The drum is shown with six sides, and it is turned round one-sixth
of a revolution after every two picks by means of the bevel pinions and ³,
diagonal shaft, and screw wheels , one of which is fixed on the axle of the
drum l, or by other suitable gearing. I wish to observe, that a drum with
pegs or other suitable agent may be used instead of the chain k. Below the
shuttles, scen best in Fig. 3, are the guide rails m, on to which the shuttles
drop when liberated from the levers h and i. The extra pair of levers h¹ and
i', seen in Figs. 1 and 3, are for the purpose of receiving the shuttle when
lifted above the shuttle race, as will be described hereafter. The shuttles,
when on the rails m, are moved into the shuttle box of the lay c by the
instrument n jointed to the lever o, whose fulcrum is the shaft o'; to this
shaft is fixed the lever o³, which is connected to the lever p, whose fulcrum p¹
coincides with the centre of the cross shaft of the lay. An endless belt with
projecting studs may be used, instead of the instrument n, for moving the
shuttles into the shuttle box. The lever p is connected by the link q to the
lever r, which is worked up and down by the tappet b', fixed to the tappet
shaft b; the link g is guided below in a bracket connected to the lay shaft,
and the stud, by which the lever p is worked, is prolonged to give an up and:

page_text: down motion to the rod s', by which the shuttle lifter s is moved up and down.
This shuttle lifter is best shewn in Fig. 3. The front of the shuttle box is.
furnished with a moveable guide rail t, which is lowered as tho lay advances
towards the breast beam by means of tho inclined pieces t¹ fixed to a shaft to.
To the lower side of the guide rail t is attached a rib t, and when the lay is
advancing this rib passes under the inclined pieces t', while the upper part of
the pieces t¹ act on the under part of the lay bottom; by this means the guido:
rail is drawn down to allow the shuttle to be pushed into the shuttle box
by the instrument n, and the guide rail t is raised again by springs.
The levers h, when acted upon by the pegs. of the chain k, give motion to the
elbow lever u, the object of which is to bring the upper end of the link q on
to the stud at the end of the lover r: A chain is attached.abovo to the.
elbow lever u, and below to the lever. q¹ projecting from the link q. The
elbow lever u is also connected to one of the inclined pieces t¹ by the link u³,
for the purpose of raising the said pieces, when a change is required in the.
shuttles.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawings in Figs. 1 and 2
represent the parts in the positions they occupy when the six shuttles are held
between the. levers h and i, and when the seventh is in the shuttle box; if
this shuttle. is required for several picks or shoots of weft, the links of the.
chain k. are without pegs until a change in the shuttles is required; the
horizontal arm of the elbow lever u remains down, and the link' q.is held
beyond the reach of the stud in the lover by the spring ; the inclined
picces t' are also depressed, so that the shuttlo box. may advance. and recede
without changing the position of the moveable guido rail t, and, the instru-
ment n.is.at rest. As soon as another shuttle is required, à peg. projecting
from the chain acts on one pair of the levers h and i, and moves them into.
the positions. shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 2; the shuttle, that had been held
between the said pair. of levers h and i, then drops on to the guide rails m, as
shewn in Figure 3, and at the same time the horizontal arm of the elbow
lever u is raised to. move the link 2 on to the stud projecting from the lever ";
consequently, when the lever r.is raised by the tappet b', the rod s is raised,
and with it the shuttle lifter s, so that, during the advancing of the lay, the
shuttle which had been in use is raised abovo the level of the shuttle race, or
into the position shewn in. Figure 3; the lever o and instrument n are also,
moved towards the lay, thereby pushing the shuttle, which has been dropped
on to the guide rails m, into the shuttle box of the lay; the same motion. of
the elbow lever also raises the inclined pieces t', for the purpose of bringing
these inclined pieces into position for lowering the moveable guide rail t to

page_text: admit the shuttle. As soon as the lay is in the position nearest the breast
beam, the shuttle that had been working is pushed by the moveable back
board or top guide rails between the extra pair of levers h' and ', and the
shuttle last selected is deposited in the shuttle box; the rails is brought down
by springs. The V-shaped recess in these extra levers h' and ' is bell-mouthed,
as shewn in Fig. 8, to assist the entering of the shuttle. During the backward
motion of the lay the rib & is drawn beyond the inclined pieces t, and the
moveable guide rail t is again raised by springs to form the side of the shuttle
box, and retain the shuttle in its place; the levers h and i, and the elbow
lever u, regain their original positions immediately after a shuttle has been
liberated, and consequently the link q is at the same time unhooked from the
stud in the lever r; therefore when a fresh shuttle is deposited in the shuttle
box, it remains there until another change is required, when another peg on
the chain k, acting on one of the levers h, again brings the various parts of
the machinery into operation, as described.
By means of this improved machinery, I am enabled to bring any shuttle
into operation when required, and to allow each shuttle to remain in operation
for as many picks or shoots as are required. It is evident that, by applying
my improved machinery at each side of a loom, pattern requiring a greater
number of shuttles may be produced.
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 limit myself
to the details given, as the same may be considerably modified without depart-
ing from the peculiar character thereof; but what I claim is, holding or
retaining the shuttles in stationary levers or other supporters, separate and
distinct from the lay, and making the lay as usual, with the exception of the
moveable guide rail t, the top guide rail s³, and apparatus for raising the
shuttle, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
MATTHEW SMITH. (L.S.)