IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Lane, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 18th September 1868, and dated the 25th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Lane at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th March 1868.
I, THOMAS LANE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the improved arrangement herein-after
described of the mechanism of looms for weaving, in which the shuttle
is propelled by a blast of air produced by the single stroke or passage of
a piston within a hollow cylinder, as described in the Specification of
Letters Patent granted to Henry Lea, dated the 17th day of February
1866, No. 509.

page_text: Firstly. I place a shuttle box upon the lathe in the usual position,
the said shuttle box being formed of one or more parts and slightly
At the back of the
larger internally than the outside of the shuttle.
lathe and projecting therefrom I fix a pipe and connect it with an
air-tight passage leading freely into the shuttle box at or about the back
end thereof. I use a cylinder and piston to generate the necessary
blast for propelling the shuttle, and I make such cylinder and piston
capable of moving to and fro upon a lever working independently of
the lathe, and by means of a cam on the bottom shaft of the loom or
bottom wheel where the bottom shaft is dispensed with, I cause the
cylinder and piston to move forward and meet the backward beat of
the lathe, and at the proper time for the piston to receive its stroke
from the projecting pipe fixed at the back of the lathe, and thus send
the necessary blast of air through the pipe into the shuttle box for
driving out the shuttle. I draw the piston back ready for the next
stroke by means of a strap or other connection attached to the lathe.
A duplicate is fixed at the other side of the loom.
Secondly. I use a swell in the shuttle box placed at the far side
thereof in a similar position to the swells used in the ordinary picker
loom, and I relieve the same from pressing upon the shuttle at the
moment of picking by connecting it with the crank arm of the lathe.
Thirdly. In order to bring the shuttle gradually to rest and prevent
it rebounding and knocking the cops off, I employ an arrangement
nearly resembling the check strap used in the ordinary picker looms, and
to this end I cause a small buffer to move to and fro at the back end of
each shuttle box and connected together with a cord of catgut or other
flexible material, and I make the cord of such a length that when the
shuttle has entered one box and pushed the buffer home the cord will
draw the other buffer forward an equal distance in the opposite box
ready to receive the shuttle at the next pick.
In order to prevent leakage I connect a pipe with each shuttle box,
the outer ends of the said pipes almost meeting near the middle of the
lathe. Through these pipes the cords described pass. The ends of the
cords are connected by means of a strap to allow of adjustment, and
I cause a spring or weight if necessary to press upon this connection
to put sufficient drag upon it to bring the shuttle properly to rest.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Lanc in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
LANE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Lane, Her special licence that
I, the said Thomas Lane, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Lane, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from timo
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 I, the said Thomas Lane,
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 Thomas Lane, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improved arrangement herein-after
described of the mechanism of looms for weaving, in which the shuttle
is propelled by a blast of air produced by a single stroke or passage of a
piston within a hollow cylinder as described in the Specification of
Letters Patent, granted to Henry Lea, dated the 17th day of February
1866, No. 509.

page_text: Firstly. I place a shuttle box upon the lathe in the usual position, the
said shuttle box being formed of one or more parts and slightly larger
internally that the outside of the shuttle. At the back of the lathe and
projecting therefrom I fix a pipe and connect it with an air-tight
passage leading freely into the shuttle box at or about the back end
thereof. I use a cylinder and piston to generate the necessary blast for
propelling the shuttle, and I make such cylinder and piston capable of
moving to and fro upon a lever working independently of the lathe, and
by means of a cam on the bottom shaft of the loom (or bottom wheel
where the bottom shaft is dispensed with), I cause the cylinder and
piston to move forward and meet the backward beat of the lathe at the
proper time for the piston to receive its stroke from the projecting pipe
fixed at the back of the lathe, and thus send the necessary blast of air
through the pipe into the shuttle box for driving out the shuttle. I
draw the piston back ready for the next stroke by means of a strap or
other connection attached to the lathe. A duplicate is fixed at the
other side of the loom.
Secondly. I use a swell in the shuttle box placed at the far side
thereof in a similar position to the swells used in the ordinary picker
loom, and I relieve the same from pressing upon the shuttle at the
moment of picking by connecting it with the crank arm of the lathe.
Thirdly. In order to bring the shuttle gradually to rest and prevent it
rebounding and knocking the cops off, I employ an arrangement nearly
resembling the check strap used in the ordinary looms, and to this end
I cause a small buffer to move to and fro at the back end of each shuttle
box and connected together with a cord of catgut or other flexible
material, and I make the cord of such a length that when the shuttle
has entered one box and pushed the buffer home, the cord will draw the
other buffer forward an equal distance in the opposite box ready to
receive the shuttle at the next pick.
In order to prevent leakage I connect a pipe with each shuttle
box, the outer ends of the said pipes almost meeting near the middle
of the lathe. Through these pipes the cords described pass. The ends
of the cords are connected by means of a strap to allow of adjust-
ment, and I cause a spring or weight if necessary to press upon this
connection to put sufficient drag upon it to bring the shuttle properly
to rest.

page_text: Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in end elevation (the shuttle box and cylinder
being in transverse section), a loom containing my improvements;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the lathe and shuttle box drawn to
a larger scale, and Figure 3 is a plan of one end of the loom. The same
letters of reference are employed to indicate the same parts in each
Figure of the Drawing.
a is the lathe; b is the shuttle box air-tight from c to d; e is an
entrance pipe for the air, the said pipe being bolted to the lathe a; fis
a hollow cylinder containing a piston g, which piston is packed air-tight
by the cupped leather h; the said cylinder f is attached to the lever /
turning on the centre 12. A similar arrangement of parts described is
provided at the other end of the loom; at the time of picking the movement
of the lathe a in the direction indicated by the arrow (Figure 1) causes
the pipe e to strike the piston g in the cylinder f; the dished leather
packing on the piston forms an air-tight joint between the pipe e,
and the said piston as represented. At the same moment the cylinder ✓
is caused to meet the pipe e by means of the cam j, which cam acts.
upon the roller k attached to the lever which carries the cylinder f.
The air is expelled from the cylinder f into the shuttle box 6 with a
rapidity due to the combined movements in opposite directions of the
piston g and the cylinder f; when the piston 9 reaches the end ƒ of
the cylinder the point n of the cam j passes the the roller k and allows
the cylinder f to retire from the pipe e during the rest of the lathe's
stroke. The return stroke of lathe towards the front of the loom, that
is in a direction contrary to that indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, causes
the piston g to be drawn out of its cylinder to the proper extent for its
next stroke by means of the adjustable leather straps o, o, which straps
are attached at one end to the lathe a, and at the other end to the
piston g (see Figure 3). As the cam j and the corresponding cam at
the other end of the loom are set opposite to each other and revolve
once only for two revolutions of the crank shaft p, one cylinder with its
piston remains at rest out of reach of the pipe e while the other is
effecting the pick, thus producing the alternate motion of the shuttle
from box to box. The portion marked 2 of the cam j which is con-.

page_text: centric with its shaft, and opposite to the point n is that against which
the roller bears during the time that the cylinder f is at rest. The
pressure of the swell against the shuttle is relieved during the pick
in the following manner:-Each swell is attached to the nearest crank
arm by means of the cord s. While the the pick takes place the crank
arm descends to its lowest position and tightens the cords so as to
relieve the pressure of the swell, but the rise of the crank arm allows
the swell to regain its normal position in time to press upon the shuttle
when the latter enters the opposite box. An equivalent for the ordinary
check strap is provided by means of a buffer u (see Figure 2) in each
shuttle box. The two buffers are connected together by an adjustable
cordo, which in passing through the small tube w forms a sufficiently
air-tight joint. The length of the cord is such that when one buffer
is driven to the end of its box by the impact of the shuttle the other
buffer is withdrawn a corresponding distance from the end of the
opposite box ready to receive the shuttle upon its return thither. The
amount of resistance opposed to the shuttle by the buffer is regulated by
the spring
which can be set to produce any desired amount of friction
upon the cord v.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention of improvements
in looms of the kind described,―
Firstly. The construction and arrangement of parts, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for
giving motion to the piston and cylinder in opposite directions, for the
purpose of expelling rapidly the air from the said cylinder into the
shuttle box, and thereby propelling the shuttle.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of parts, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, for
relieving the pressure of the swell against the shuttle during the pick of
the shuttle.
Thirdly. The arrangement or combination of parts, substantially as

page_text: bringing the shuttle gradually to rest in its shuttle box and for preventing
its rebound.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Lane, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
THOMAS LANE. (L.S.)