IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Meyer; of the City of Manchester,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING."
Sealed the 1st March 1854, and dated the 16th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Meyer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th September 1853.
I, HENRY MEYER, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in giving motion to the jacquard hooks
in such wise that while part of the warp is raised the other part is
lowered. In order to effect this I make the hook-board moveable in
the same way as the grife. When the grife rises the hook board
descends, and vice versa; this is accomplished by making the grife lift
all the hooks that are not pushed back by the card acting on the
needles, and allowing those hooks that are pushed back to descend
with the board on which they bear. The above-described arrange-

page_text: ment is applicable to jacquards containing any number of hooks.
Secondly, in a jacquard for working from 16 to 24 or more or less
heddles, in such wise that when part of them is raised the other part
descends. I also cause those heddles that are most remote from the
reed to pass through a greater space than those that are near to it, in
order to produce an even shed for the shuttle to pass through; this is
accomplished by two sets of levers..connected together...by wires, links,
or cords attached at different distances from the fulcra of the said
levers. The heddles are drawn down by weights. And lastly, in an
improved mode of working the heddles of looms in which satins or
certain other fabrics are woven. In the ordinary mode of working,
say with eight heddles, when one is raised the other seven would be
lowered. Now my improvement consists in making the tappets in such
wise that after the first heddle has been raised, the fourth (if that is the
one that is next required) shall be rising while the first is descending, the
other six remaining stationary. By this arrangement one heddle is
always descending while another is rising; consequently when a heddle
has been acted upon by the elevating tappet it remains, stationary
till all the other heddles have been put in motion. The heddles
must in this case be drawn-down.by weights, as before described.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
conditio
filed by the said Henry Meyer in the Great Séal Patent Office
on the 16th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HENRY MEYER, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Meyer, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Meyer, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Meyer, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, 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 I, the said
Henry Meyer, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Henry Meyer, 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):
My Invention consists, first, in an improved mode of constructing
jacquard looms, in which. the opening of the shed is effected by
elevating part of the hooks, and allowing the others to descend by the
weights attached to the mounting. Secondly, in an improved mode of
constructing jacquard looms, applicable to those working with heddles,
whereby part of the warps are raised, and the others allowed to descend,
and an even shed is produced. . And lastly, in an improved combination
of tappets and levers for working the heddles of looms, whereby an
even shed is produced, and motion is only given to those heddles that
are required for changing the shed, whereas in looms of the ordinary
construction the heddles are all put in motion at every change of the
shed.
Having described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, as a section of a jacquard engine, shewing the mode of
performing the first part of my Invention; Figure 2, is a plan view of
Figure 1; and Figure 3, is an elevation of the tappet and lever for
working the jacquard..

page_text: In Figures 1, and 2, I have shewn twelve rows of hooks, but a
greater or less number may be used if preferable. a, is the framing;
b, the guide rods; c, the jacquard prism; d, the griff'; e, the hooks;
and f, the needles, which parts are all made in the usual manner. g, is
the hook board, to which an up and down motion is given, as will be
explained hereafter. The requisite motions are communicated to the
griff d, to the hook board g, and to the other moveable parts, by the
tappet h, see Figure 3. This tappet actuates the lever h', to which
is jointed the lower end of the rod 2, the upper end of which is
jointed to the lever i, as shewn in Figures 1, and 2. The side pro-
longations of the lever i, are jointed to the the links, which are
hinged above to the frame g', of the hook board g; and the vertical
arm of the lever i, is connected by a link i, to the elbow lever k,
the horizontal arms of which give motion to the griff'd, by the links k';
by this means the hook board g, is made to ascend while the griff d
descends, and vice versa. The jacquard prism c, is moved to and fro
by the lever, links, and swing frame k', as clearly shewn in the
Drawing. The elbow lever 1, and spring , are to hold the jacquard
prism after it has been turned partly round by the usual catches,
which are not shewn, as they are common to jacquard engines. When
the jacquard prism advances towards the needles it pushes back those
hooks that are required to form the lower part of the shed, and leaves
the others stationary; consequently when the griff descends those
hooks that are required for the upper part of the shed are caught by
the griff, and are drawn up with it, whereas the others being drawn
down by the weights attached to the mounting descend with the hook
board, thereby forming the required shed. I wish to remark that the
tappet h, is so constructed that the shed is held full open during about
one sixth of the revolution of the crank shaft, but a greater or less
dwell can be made; by this means sufficient time is allowed for the
shuttle to cross the shed before it begins to close.
On Sheet 2, Figure 4, is a sectional elevation of a jacquard engine,
shewing the mode of performing the second part of my Invention.
Figure 5, is a plan of part of Figure 4. In these views m, is the
framing, the jacquard prism; o, the hooks; p, the needles; and q,

page_text: the grift. The lower ends of the hooks o, are connected to the levers,
which vibrate on the shaft 2, and these levers are connected to the
elbow levers 8, by the wires t. In the accompanying Drawing I have
shewn the requisite number of levers and hooks for working sixteen
heddles, one of which is shewn at u, in Figure 4; but a greater or less
number may be used, if preferred. The elbow levers s, vibrate on the
shaft s'. The heddles , which are drawn down by weights or springs
are connected to the levers 8, by the cords s". The requisite motion is
communicated to the various parts by the rod h³, which may be
actuated by a cam similar to h, in Figure 3, or by a crank, as is now
customary, and by the lever v, the bent arm of which gives motion to
the grift q, by the link v¹, and lever q'. To the griff frame is also
fixed the lever q, shewn in dots in Figures 4, which gives motion to the
jacquard prism n, by the link n'. The lever v, also gives motion to the
levers, by the link . These levers, are connected by a rail, which
passes under all the levers 1.
The Drawing represents the various parts in their relative positions
when the shed is closed. As soon as the rod is drawn down, the
jacquard prism n advances against the needles p, and pushes those off
the hooks o that are not required beyond the reach of the griff' q, which
is then descending. Those hooks that have not been thus acted upon
catch on the griff, and rise with it as soon as the lever v, imparts the
requisite motion. The hooks o, being each connected to one of the
levers r; and these levers being connected to those marked 8, and to
the heddles, it is evident that each hook elevates one of the heddles;
and as cach pair of the levers and 8, is connected together by the
wire t, at different distances from their respective fulcrum shafts, as
shewn best in Figure 5, it is also evident that every heddle is raised
more or less according to its position in the loom. The heddle in con-
nection with the levers united by the wire marked t', receives the least
amount of motion, and is supposed to be near the cloth roller, whereas
those levers connected by the wire t, are elevated the most, being in
connection with the heddle most remote from the cloth, the distances
through which the intermediate. heddles move varying in proportion;
by this means the shed is formed by opening the warp from the centre,

page_text: and a uniform or even shed is produced. The rail r³, is for bringing
back all the hooks o, into their original positions after a shed has been
formed, so that all the parts may be. in readiness when the jacquard
prism again advances to select the requisite hooks for forming the next
.shed.
1. I will now proceed. to describe the mode of performing the last part
of my Invention. Figure 6, is the side. view of a loom to be worked
with twelve heddles, but their number can be varied according to the
fabric required to be woven. Figure 7, is a front view of part of the
same. This loom is particularly applicable for weaving satins and certain
other fabrics. In these views w is the crank shaft; w', an interme-
diate shaft; a, the tappet shaft, which in this. instance must perform
one revolution for twelve of the crank shaft; x', are the tappets, one of
which is drawn on an enlarged scale in Figure 8. a, are the treadles
connected by the cords a³ to the levers y each cord a³, being connected
to a lever y, at a different distance from the fulcrum shaft of the said
levers. y', are cords for supporting the heddles z. These cords are
attached to the levers y, and are guided over the rollers y², y³, and y'.
The heddles, are drawn down by weights or springs, or by bottom
jacks.
The mode of operation is as follows:-Each of the tappets a³, is
made with one elevator; consequently, whenever a treadle is acted upon
by a tappet it raises one of the heddles; and as the heddle nearest the
breast beam is connected to the treadle most remote from the frame
side in Figure 7, it is evident that that heddle moves through the least
space; and as the heddle nearest the yarn beam is connected with the
treadle nearest the frame side in Figure 7, that heddle will rise through
the greatest space, and the intermediate heddles move through the
different spaces, the amount of motion varying in proportion as they
are nearer to or further from the front heddle.. By this means an even
shed is obtained, and the tappets are so shaped that when one of the
heddles has been raised to form a shed the same begins to descend
during the ascent of the next that is required, all the other heddles
remaining stationary until they are required to form the shed. Thus
in Figure 6, the second heddle, which, when the shed was open, had occu-

page_text: pied the position indicated by dots, is now descending, while the seventh
is rising, so that when the second is down the seventh will be up or in
the position also indicated by dots.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the details herein set forth, as the same may be varied; but
what I do claim is, first, the improvements in jacquard looms herein-
before described, and shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, whereby the shed
is produced by elevating part of the warp and lowering the remainder;
secondly, the improvements in jacquard looms shewn in Figures 4,-
and 5, whereby an even shed produced by elevating part of the hed-
dles, and allowing the remainder to descend; and, lastly, the improve-
ments in looms shewn in Figures 6, 7, and 8, for producing an even
shed, and for raising one or more of the heddles during the descent of
those that had previously been raised, while the others remain sta-
tionary.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Meyer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
HENDY MEVED
HENRY MEYER. (..)