THE APPLICATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS IN, THE MANUFACTURE OF HEALDS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Potter, of the City of Manchester, Gentle-.
man, for the Invention of "THE APPLICATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS IN,
THE MANUFACTURE OF HEALDS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 10th July 1857, and dated the 13th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Potter at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th January 1857.
I, MICHAEL POTTER, of the City of Manchester, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "THE APPLICATION OF CERTAIN
MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HEALDS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
It consists in the application and adaptation of the horny and other
gelatinous parts of animals to the manufacture of bealds for weaving, after
such parts or substances have been softened by and subjected to the action of
glycerine or other similar or suitable chemical agents, and amalgamated by
pressure or otherwise, and when heated rendered malleable or mouldable, or
when cold capable of being cut or manufactured into the required form.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Potter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
POTTER, of the City of Manchester, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, 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 Michael Potter, Her special license that I, the said Michael Potter,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others that I, the said
Michael Potter, 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 "THE APPLICATION OF
upon the
CERTAIN MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HEALDS FOR WEAVING,"
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Michael Potter, 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 Michael Potter, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 and the Drawing hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
It consists in the application and adaptation of the horny and other
gelatinous parts of animals to the formation of those parts of healds for
weaving, through which the threads of the warp pass, and by the immediate
action of which the shed is opened for the passage of the shuttle. The horns
or other parts of animals of a similar nature are first cleansed and softened
and afterwards submitted to the action of glycerine or other similar or suitable
chemical agent. These operations are performed by the usual and known
processes, and which, as they do not form a part of my present Invention, need
not be described here.

page_text: The material being thus provided, I next proceed to reduce it to the
form of plates, or sheets, or strips of a suitable length, breadth, and
thickness, which are then cut, stamped, or moulded into the required form.
In case the material is used in the form of plates or sheets, a space or
margin at the upper and lower edges is reserved for the purpose of attach-
ment to the heald shafts, and the intermediate space is cut through at proper
intervals, so as to form slots, through which pass those threads or ends of
the warp which are not to be operated upon by the heddle in question; the
material left thus forming a series of slips or strips attached to each other
above and below. The length of the plates, sheets, or strips is generally such
as will reach from the upper shaft of the heddles to the lower, to which shafts
when in use they are attached; or in case of figure looms, in which no heald
shafts are used, they are made so long as that when the shed is open they will
extend through the warp above and below. I do not, however, confine
myself to forming the material into plates, sheets, or strips, as above described,
as I sometimes make it into strips or slips of a greater length, as occasion may
require, as also shorter, in the form of loops or mails, which are applied in the
same manner as the mails of metal are at present used. About the middle of
the strips or slips a hole is moulded, cut, or drilled, as may be found most
suitable. This hole forms the loop or eye through which the thread or end
of the warp passes when under the operation of weaving in the loom.
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 represents two slips or strips a, a, of the
material, as above described; the loops or eyes b, b, which are to receive the
warp threads passing through the flat sides. They are shewn as attached by
means of heald yarn to the two heald shafts, which are here shewn in section.
Figure 2 represents a portion of a heddle of the same construction as
Figure 1, as seen in front.
Figure 3 represents another modification of the same, the loop or eye in
this case passing edgewise through the slip.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represents single mails or slips, as applicable more
particularly to figure weaving, the mode of doing which will be sufficiently
obvious to persons acquainted with that branch of manufacture.
It must be understood that I do not confine myself to the mode or modes
of attaching the strips or slips to the heald shafts as here shewn or above
described, as these may be varied to suit the particular circumstances of the
case; neither do I confine myself to the peculiar shapes or configurations of
the material as shewn or described, as these must also be varied to suit the
peculiar circumstances of the case. By the application of the materials above

page_text: described, and the peculiar adaptation of the same, I am enabled to manu-
facture healds for weaving which combine, the advantage of durability with
less destructive effect on the threads of the
warp..
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed; I hereby declare that what I claim as
new and of my Invention is, the application and adaptation of the horny and
other gelatinous parts of animals to the manufacture of healds for weaving, as
herein set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Potter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven..
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the
presence of WILLIAM ADDY,
Attorney's Clerk, Manchester:
MICHAEL POTTER. (L.S.)