CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOONS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
SMITH, of Clitheroe, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of January, in the thirteenth year
of Her reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Richard Smith, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Richard Smith, my exors, admors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Richard Sinith, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and' vend, within England and
Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOONS FOR WEAVING;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I; the said Richard Smith, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner thie
same is to be performed, to be enrolled. in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same;
reference being thereunto had, will' more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Smith, do hereby declare, that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention of improvements in looms for weaving consists,―
Firstly, in the application of certain arrangements of parts for the purpose of
stopping the looms through the agency of what are called friction brakes. The
peculiar features of this part of my Invention consist, firstly, in the employment
of a wedge-formed surface, capable of being forced upon the peripheries of two
drums or pullies between their centres of rotation, one of such drums or
pullies being mounted upon the main driving shaft, and the other upon the
tappet shaft; and secondly, in constructing such wedge-formed surface in two
portions, turning upon a centre pin, and capable of being forced into contact
with pullies or drums, one of such being mounted upon the driving shaft, and
the other upon the tappet shaft of the loom.
Secondly, in the employment of peculiar apparatus for preventing the
shuttle from rebounding, but allowing it to enter and depart from the race
free from the pressure incident to the use of the ordinary swell; this I
accomplish by causing a lever which acts in place of the swell to remain 's
without the race, until the shuttle shall have advanced therein, at which
moment the said lever is forced forward by a stationary spring, in like manner
receding at the time the picking motion is about to take place.
Thirdly, in a method of connecting the stop piece for shifting the
driving strap on to the loose pulley, so as to cause it to remain up free
from the frog, excepting at such time that the shuttle shall miss boxing.
I will now proceed to describe how my improvements may be carried
into practical effect, and in so doing shall refer to the various Figures
of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end
elevation of a loom with my impements applied. Figure 2 is a front
elevation of the same. Figure 8 represents a view of the end opposite
to Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a detached plan or horizontal view of certain of
the parts. For the sake of illustration, I have shewn the first part of my
improvements as applied to the patent weft detector of Messieurs Kenworthy
and Bullough, but as that appparatus is well known in the trade, no particular
description thereof will be necessary. Upon the main driving shaft of the
loom a pulley a, a, is mounted, and upon the tappet shaft a similar one b, b;
between the peripheries of these pulleys is placed a wedge-formed piece c, c,
covered with leather or other suitable material, an arm extending from thence

page_text: is connected by means of a centre pin to a lever d, d, which lever is capable
of turning upon a stude attached to the framework of the loom; the upper
end of the lever d, d, carries a projecting piece f, which is arranged so as to
turn upon a centre pin g affixed to the lever d, d, in the direction of the: arrow,
5 Figure 2; the ordinary lever (connected with the patent weft detector A) for
shifting the driving strap is shewn at h, affixed to which there is an arm i
extending downwards, so as to project a short distance before the piece f.
One end of a spring ; is attached to the wedge-form break c, c, the other end
of the said spring being connected to the framework of the loom, so that
excepting at such time as the break is held towards the friction pulleys a, b,
by the action hereafter to be described, it is withdrawn therefrom by the force
of the said spring. The operation of this part of my Invention is as follows:-
Upon the patent weft detector coming into action, by the absence of the weft
thread the lever h will be caused to turn outward upon its centre, in doing this
the arm i will be brought into contact with the piece f, by which means the
lever d, d, will be caused to turn upon its centre pin e in the direction of the
arrow, Figure 1, and by so doing force the wedge-shaped piece c, c, into con-
tact with the peripheries of the drums or pulleys a and b, at the same time
the driving strap being shifted on to the loose pulley by the spring lever l, l, in
the usual manner, the break having been thus put on the lever l, l, will arrive
in contact with a pin z affixed to the piece f, which will thereby be caused to
turn upon its centre in the direction of the arrow, Figure 2, thus liberating
the lever d, d, which being then free to turn upon its centre e, the force of the
spring; will withdraw the break from contact with the pulleys a and b, thus
obviating the necessity of withdrawing it by hand, as is usually the case.
Figure 5 represents my peculiar mode of constructing a wedge-formed
break intended to act simultaneously upon the peripheries of two revolving
arms or drums; the two portions of the break are shewn at m, m, capable of
turning upon a pin n attached to the framework of the loom; to the outward
ends of the portions m, m, are connected links o, o, the other end of the said
links o, o, being jointed to a bar p, p; this bar moves in a fixed guide-piece q,
and is connected at its other end to any suitable apparatus, to be operated upon
by the stop-rod motion, for instance, the lever d of my improvements as before
described; the bar p, p, being thrust forward by the turning of the lever d, or
by other suitable means, will partially straighten the links o, o, thus causing the
two portions m, m, to turn upon their centre n and.arrive in contact with the
two peripheries a, b. If used with my improvements before described, a
spring may be employed to withdraw the break, as before mentioned.
I will now proceed to describe the second and third part of my Invention.

page_text: Upon each end of the stop rod t is affixed a lever r, which lever is bent at
its upper.end, so as to project a short distance into the shuttle box, within
which, and at the end thereof, a spring 8, 8, is placed, having a tendency
to force the levers. r outwards. A lever at one end of the loom.extends
below the stop rod t, as at tx, the lower end thereof arriving as the batten!
vibrates in contact with.a spring u, affixed to the framework of the loom.
To the stop rod t the stop piece v is attached after the usual manner, the
operation is as follows:-Suppose the picking motion just about to take place,
the advance of the batten will bring the bottom end of the lever (* into
contact with the spring u, by which means the said lever will be turned slightly
on its centre, the upper lever r carrying forward the springs, so as to press
upon the shuttle and prevent it from rebounding; the further advance of the
batten will have carried the lever t* beyond the action of the spring u, when
the lever will, by means of the spring s, be forced back, and the shuttle
released from pressure; on the backward motion of the batten, the lever t*
will pass along the spring u without pressing the lever r into the shuttle box
at the time the picking motion takes place. Should the shuttle miss boxing
at either end of the loom, then the lever r, being free to advance further into
the shuttle box by the action of the spring u, the stop rod will be caused to
turn upon its centre, and in so doing bring the stop piece v down, so as to
arrive in contact with any ordinary arrangement of parts for shifting the
driving strap. In the Drawings I have shewn this motion connected with
my improvements previously described, according to which arrangement the
stop piece, being depressed, will arrive in contact with the top part of the
lever d, d, as shewn in the Drawings, thus causing it to turn upon its centre,
and bring the break into contact with the drums or pullies a and b; at the
same time a pin w, affixed to the upper part of the lever d, d, will be forced
against the ordinary spring lever 1, and thus throw the driving strap on to
the loose pulley. In order to prevent the lever r from being forced too far
back there is a stop piece a applied, a like stop y being placed below to keep
it from turning too far in the other direction.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I will proceed to point out that
which I claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent. I claim,-
Firstly, the use of a wedge-formed break acting against the peripheries of
two drums or pulleys, the one being mounted upon, the axle, of the main
driving shaft, and the other upon the axis of the tappet shaft, such drums or
pulleys being added to the loom for the purpose of working in conjunction
with the said wedge-formed break.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the use of a wedge-formed break acting against the
peripheries of two drums or pulleys, placed upon the driving side of the loom,
and upon that side of the centres of such drums or pulleys represented in the
Drawing above referred to.
Thirdly, I claim the use of a wedge-formed break, acting against the
peripheries of two drums or pulleys (mounted upon the axles aforesaid)
constructed as described with reference to Figure 5, that is to say, formed in
two portions, which are capable of turning upon a fixed centre, and of being
brought into contact with the peripheries of the said drums or pulleys by
means of levers or other suitable arrangement of parts.
Fourthly, I claim the application of the piece f turning upon its centre g,
whereby the break is liberated and capable of being withdrawn by the action
of a spring or otherwise.
Fifthly, I claim the application of the levers r and t*, or other similar
contrivance, applied to the stop rod and so acted upon as to prevent the
shuttle from rebounding in its box, but allowing it to enter without the
opposition of springs or other mechanical agents, and freeing it from pressure
at the time when the picking motion takes place.
Lastly, I claim the application of the levers r and t*, and springs u and
for the purpose of working the stop-piece as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
Enrolled the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.