IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTOR
HIPPOLYTE LAURENT, of France, Engineer, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day' of 'June (One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine), in the twelfth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Victor
Hippolyte Laurent, my exors, admors; and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Victor Hippolyte Laurent,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Victor Hippolyte:
Laurent, my exors, adñiors, 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, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed; my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING;" in which said Letters Patént is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said Victor Hippolyte Laurent, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner'
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited'
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,' will'
more fully and at large appear:
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Victor Hippolyte Laurent, do declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The Invention consists of an arrangement of apparatus for regulating the
wearms of the cloth, whether it be coarse or fine. It is well known that cloth
is classed in commerce by the number of threads of weft contained in a given
length of the warp, and it is considered better for weaving when the number
adopted is kept up. The various methods now in use for keeping up this
irregularity present inconveniences and difficultic which act injuriously upon
the quality of cloth produced. My arrangement of apparatus rests upon a
differential movement, which allows the warp beam to unrol a constant
quantity, whatever may be the decrease of the diametre. This apparatus may
be adapted to every description of loom, and is placed at the end of the warp
beam; attached to it is an screw, the axis of which is put in motion by a
ratched wheel. The extent of movement being once regulated for all at the
commencement of the warp must be increase in an exact relation with the
decrease of the diameter of the beam, and that whatever may be the size of
the thread of the warp and the force with which it is unrolled.
To produce
this result I place upon the warp beam a lever at the same point where the
unrolling takes place. This lever falls down as the diameter of the warp
beam decreases, and it draws down with it a differential curved piece, which
regulates, in an exact manner, the proper amount of movement of the
ratched, and it is the employment of this curved piece'connected to the lever
resting upon the warp beam which constitutes the distinctive character of my
regulating apparatus. As in the differential movement applied tho the warp
beam you cannot determine at first the quantity which the beam will give off
at each revolution, because the warp is more or less long or thick, or close, or
becomes unrolled irregularly, therefore the action of the beam should be
regulated by an instrument connected with the variations of the diameter
whatever they may be. This instrument is a lever which rests upon the warp
beam, the intermediate agent between the rack or the wheelwork giving
motion to the warp roller, and this leyer should necessarily act according to
the decrease of the diameter of the beam at each revolution.. Thus my regu-
lator rests upon the followings principles. The friction to which the warp beam
has hitherto been subjected is entirely suppressed, and its place supplied by a
differential movement, which (by means of wheelwork, which may be adapted
to the warp beams of all descriptions of looms) causes a quantity of warp to be
unrolled from the beam at each blow of the batten. This movement is
obtained by means of a lever resting upon the warp beam. When the diameter

page_text: of the beam is decreased by the unrolment of the warp, this lever moves one of
four differential agents, which I schall more particularly explain, and the object
of which is to encrease, as may be required, the amount of movement to be
given to axis of the warp bean. These four agents are the following:-
First, a differential curve or a piece describing this curve. Second, a weight
which is capable of descending, and which in descending opens two branches
which are connected together similar to a pair of compasses. Third, in a
handle; and fourth, in a jointer lever. If it is required to change the character
of the cloth, the curve will have to be changed when the curve is used, and
a different diameter given to the branched piece when that is employed, and
the length of the handle when that is employed, or to change the length of
the parts which compose the jointed lever when that is employed. When the
loon is stopped the differential movement is "put out gear, in order that the
workman may lie up the threads without moving the beam. The application of
this regulator gives to the cloth a perfect regularity, whatever may be the length
of the piece and the diameter of the beam; this constant regularity from the
commencement to the completion of the piece gives to it altogether a different
appareance, and causes economy in the raw material, and diminishes the neces-
sity of watching the working of the loom. The working of my regulator is
also improved by the application of a small mechanism attached to the cloth
beam by which the tension of the warp is kept up, and it is arranged in the
following manner :-A lever rests upon the cloth.beam; when the diameter of
this roller encreases by the rolling on of the cloth, this lever moves and draws
with it the weight of the rack which acts upon this roller or beam, and
increases the arm of the lever a distance corresponding to the increase in the
diameter of the roller.
Having thus described the object of my Invention, I will now give a more
detailed description of the constituent parts of the regulating apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figures 1 and 2 show an elevation and plan of a portion of a loon,
showing my apparatus applied thereto; and in the Figures 3, 4, and
will be seen detached views of the apparatus. There is no change in the con-
struction of the ordinary loom, except that I suppress the friction to which the
warp beam has hitherto been subjected, and I place at the end of the warp
beam a toothed wheel a, a, screw C, which works into the wheel a, the
axis of which is placed in a neck piece to be embraced by a collar E fixed to
T This conatus in a cunt Fil firend to the formin

page_text: At the top of this screw C is a handle f; with arms by which the workman
turn the screw as required. g is a pulley fixed upon the shaft of the screw C.
h is one of the arms of a lever, which is connected 'at i with the lever, the
socket of which turns freely around the shaft of the screw C. The lever h
carries the projecting pieces, into which enter the edge of the pulley g, which
is shewn in the detailed views at Figures 6 and 7, and by means of which it
draws in a similar manner to a rack when this lever is pushed and pressed upon.
its end. is an horizontal bar or lever which turns freely upon the shaft of
the screw C, and carries a small projecting piece l', which comes in contact
with and presses upon the lever h, and draws it with it. mis a connecting
rod which receives motion from the crank. n, and which is connected to tlie
lever as the end of this describes an arc of a circle. This is a pin o placed
at the point of the connecting rod m; and it becomes connected 'with the
crank n by a hinge p so as to allow of a free movement to the connecting 'rod:
The crank n is placed upon the axis of the moveable pullies q, q'; of 'the loom
when in the rotation of the crankin; and by means of the connecting rod m the
lever comes in contact with the end of the jointed arm h, that acting as a
hinge at the point i, presses the pulley¹g, and draws it with it. In the forward
movement of the lever 1, the jointed arm h forced by the spring ŕ'to leave the
pulley g free, and one of the projecting pieces s of the jointed'arms h pressés
upon the branch j, and it will be drawn with the second branch j', constituting
with it one and the same cross bar rotating around the shaft of the screw' b
This action takes place until the head of the screw t rests upon the curved
piece u. It will be understood that the amount of the movement of the lever
7 is constant, but it is not so with te jointed lever h, j, j, the movement
of which depends upon the interval more or less when it is at rest, and the
projecting piece, when the connecting rod m is brought back from the end
of its course; this interval depends on one hand upon the distance 'that is
has passed the screw stop t, and on the other hand of the point more or less
elevated of the curve u upon which it comes to rest at all times. The extreme
limit of this course is to bet regulated by means of the screw k," which runs
through a projecting piece in the framing of the machine. This screw is
so arranged that that the lever should touch it when it is at the end of its
course, by which, whatever speed it may acquire in its progress, it cannot go
beyond. vis a lever which turns' upon the axis a of the spiral spring ", and
connected at the 'upper part to the arm of the jointed 'lever h by means of a
small chain; the spring 'racts constantly upon it. y'is a plate on the lever-y
which is capable of turning freely upon the axis of the support' z. This plate
presses upon the warp beam A-towards the nearest point' where the 'unrolling

page_text: takes place. At the other end of this lever is a branch y¹, which is connected
to a piece B by means of the connecting rod c. This piece B is capable of
turning freely upon the axis of a support attached to the framing of the
machine, and it is to the end of this piece B that the curved piece u is affixed,
the object of which curved piece u is to encrease, as required, the movement of
the wheel a of the beam, givem from the screw b, whatever: may be the decrease
of the diameter of the warp beam. The curved piece will be changed accord-
ing to the strength of the fabric to. be woven, which can be done by loosening
or, tightening the, screw. This movement of the curved piece is more rapid in
proportion as the cloth is finer, and the exact form suitable is acquired by
calculation directly, or by giving with a lime or an another instrument, and by
groping, the suitable form according the contexture. In order that the screw
stopt at each blow of the batten which would fall upon the curved piece u
cannot injure it, I place at the end thereof, a hinged piece set at a different
angle to the curved piece. The screw. t enters freely into a socket of the
branch, to which it is adjusted by nuts. D is a support placed under the
pulley g,, its object being to prevent the lever h from passing its proper position
which is given to it at each stroke of the batten of the loom. This piece D
is composed of a metal rod moving freely into two supports; at its upper part
there is a hole, into which is driven a pin or plug, which is directly in contact
whith the pulley, and there is a helical spring d', which is, suitably regulated
by means of two screws. If the loom should be worked some instants without
any weft being thrown in, the workman can bring back the warp into its former
position in turning aside the screw b, by which he can easily act with the
handle f, but to avoid the necessity of too great an attention I employ the cape
weft generally employed by weavers. In order to prevent the movement of
the batten from unrolling the warp when the loom is to be stopped, I employed
the following arrangement, which is more particularly shown in Figure 5. G
is a forked piece, which is connected by the rod H to the rod I. J is a lever
which moves on the axes K fixed to the jointed arm h. Upon the end of the
lever J. rests the end of the wooden rod I, and in the position shown in the
Drawing at Figure 6, the piece I, holding the arm of the lever J, raises the
arm J opposed to it, and keeps it suspendu, but if the loom is to be stopped
the rod I will occupy the position shown at Figure 3, then the arm J, which is
heavier that the arm J, will swing, and its extreme end, which before the
movement would pass above the arm J belonging to the jointed lever h, will
fall behind the edge of the arm j. From these two different positions there
will be the different or following results. In the first case, when the lever J}
is raised, the lever h, j, is, articulated, whilst in the second
case
the same
lever becomes fixed and rigid, and does not move, at the point i, consequently,

page_text: the lever h cannot act upon the pulley 9 and give movement to it, but when
is again set to work the rod I will assume its original position as at Figure 6,
and the end of the branch J¹ will rise above the branche j, to release the
lever h, j, j, which again bicomes articulated. A band L, fixed upon the
There is a
arm of the lever J, limits the lateral course of the rod I, as a hook M, fixed
to the lever h limits the distance that the lever J can descend.
metal plate upon the rod I at the point which comes in contact with the
lever J to prevent its wearing away. The Figures 8 and 9 show the curved
piece u in detail with the arrangement of it with the plate y, and the dotted
lines show the action of the piece B, the connecting rod c, the curve u, and
the plate y, for the successive contact with this plate and with the diameter of
the warp beam.
In the Drawing, Figures 1 and 2, I have shown a portion of a loom with my
regulator applied thereto; but as there is no peculiarity in the loom itself, I have
not thought it necessary to give any description thereof. The regulating instru-
ment being thus arranged as described, it will suffice to give to the warp beam
motion, which will produce a regular fabric throughout the whole of the piece,
and to regulate the apparatus in the following manner :-To give at the begin-
ning of the piece the number of threads desired, and regulating accordingly
the length of the crank n by changing its relative position to the connecting
rod m; this regulation of the length of the crank regulates the amount of
the movement of the bar or lever ; second, to fix in a suitable manner the
relative position of the differential curve u with the plate y, and the screw
stop t.
This screw is regulated with nuts in such manner as to obtain the
number of threads that it is desired to give to the fabric. These points being
attended to the loom will work in the ordinary manner without more than the
usual attention of the weaver.
Figure 10 shows another arrangement of regulator by which the construc-
tion is somewhat simplified. All the parts before described are preserved, but
with this difference, that the curved piece u does not occupy the same position,
and that the part of the framing which supported it in the before-described
part is occupied by the screw 6. Upon the support f is fixed a branch i,
which carries the axis of the palette y, which rests by its own weight upon the
warp beam. The curved piece u is affixed to this plate or palette y; the piece
u is changed according to the strength of the fabric being made, but it differs
from the one previously described, inasmuch as the former one was a surface
and this is only a line. The pace of the one and the other are the same. The
differential movement is obtained by varying the position of the lever h¹,j,
when it is at rest moving the plate. To do this in the new position that I
have given to the piece_u, I employ an intermediate piece-n, n, which carries

page_text: a socket, in which the screw turns freely. This piece branches out, and one
of its branches rests upon the curve u, whilst the other causes an eye, into
which is a stop screw o, against which the lever of the wheel rests; the end
of this lever is supplied with a steel bolt, the head of which protects the end
of the branch, and prevent it from damage when it touches the screw stop.
It will thus be seen that as the diameter of the warp beam decreases, that the
curved piece will descend and the stop o will fall back, and the course of the
ratchet increases, following the curve. By this it will be seen that the increase
of speed will be greater as the palette draws nearer to the axis of the roller.
But I will now describe other instruments by which this same effect may be
produced, as well as by using the curved piece u.
The Figures 11 and 12 show another arrangement of mechanism, in which
the part of the palette y that rests upon the warp beam has at its end a curved
piece, the object of which is to prevent the angular speed of the palette froin
decreasing as it approaches the diameter of the warp roller. It is terminated
by a portion of the arc of a circle described from the centre of rotation. Upon
this arc is fixed the end of an cord x, to which is suspended a ball p', which
enters between two branches similarly constructed to a compass, one of which
is marked in the Drawing by the letters q', s', u', and which is fixed upon the
projection of the framing of the regulator. The branch s', u³, enters freely
into a rectangular groove on the weight p¹, and which serves as a guide
to it, preventing it from deviating in its proper movement. And as the
diameter of the beam encreases the weight descends, and at the same time
opens the angle ¹, s', u'; it causes the branch s, t, to advance, against
which the lever of the ratchet wheel j¹ rests. Or the following mechanism
may be substituted for the curved piece u, which is shewn in Figure. 13. At
the end of the cord x is a lever y, hinged or jointed at the point 9 of a support
fixed to the framing of the machine. At the point p is attached a connecting
rod, which is capable of moving the piston rod r. Then when the pallets
descends, the lever y follows its movement by the effect of its one weight; and
the crank p, q, will described an arc of a circle, and advance the piston r,
against which the lever of the ratchet wheel j¹ rests. It will be sufficient to
determine the suitable length of the levers y, p, and p, q, in order that the point
p, in describing the arc of the circle, should regulate the movement of the
ratchet wheel in such manner as to produce a regularity in the unrolling of
the warp beam.
Figure 14 shows another arrangement, whereby the lowering of the palette,
by means of a crank, but also by means of an articulated lever a, a. When
this palette is lowered, the lever will advance the piston r. This mechanism

page_text: may, be suitably regulated so as to give to the cloth being made a suitable
strength, by increasing or diminishing the length of the jointed lever. I
would remark that the deferential curves should be calculated in such manner
as to allow for the decrease of the warp.beam, although the palette does not
always run in equal arcs for the regular decrease of the diameter of the roller.
These two effects may be separated on receiving the palette, as is indicated in
Figure 11; but if it not required. to employ this arrangement, the different
parts may produce a regular unrolling if they are attached to the straight
palette. In the last arrangement the length and position of the lever yin
such a manner as to compensate for the difference of the speed of the palette,
it will be easily seen that if the distance of the palette at the point where it is
a tangent to the warp beam increases, in consequence of the decrease of that
beam, the lever y, p, diminishes, because, in describing an arc of a circle, the
point of attachement of the cord a approaches more and more from the the
vertical, which will pass through the centre q. This compensating lever will
become .useless, if, instead of the straight palette, a plate is employed, which
presses against the warp beam, and working constantly in the direction and in
the same rays, and attach to. it a differential instrument. The place of this
plate or palette may be supplied by a simple cord resting upon a part of the
circumference of the warp beam, one of which will be hed to a point, whilst
the other will act upon, in its movement, a differential agent or instrument,
when the diameter of the warp beam decreases. I can also employ, as a
differential instrument, some cones reversed, one of which would receive
motion from the loom, and transmit it to the warp beam by means of the
other cone, and by means of a strap or band, which would be displaced by
the action of the palette, but I prefer in order to obtain a more regular unroll-
ment of the warp, that the differential curve be employed in using the palette, or
the lever in place of the band, or by employing as a generator one of the cones.
I will now describe the means employed by me for causing cloth to be rolled
on to the cloth beam with a regular tension. Figure 15 shows a part of a
loom having this apparatus applied thereto, and in which the cloth is wound
on the beam in proportion as it is woven ; but, as in some of the parts, it
differs from those in use, I will now proceed to describe it. In ordinary
looms the weight p, which acts upon the ratchet wheel, is affixed by a screw
to the lever to which it is adapted. When the diameter of the beam has
increased a certain amount, the nearer changes the position of the wheigt
in such manner, as to increase its power of action upon the wheel. The
object of this part of my Invention is to obviate the necessity of the weaver
making this change, by the following arrangement, whereby a regular and con-

page_text: stant allowance for this change is provided for independent of the weaver.. The
weight p slides freely and is held by a connecting rod 9 connected by a pin
joint at to the lever s. This lever is placed at the end of the shaft which
passes under the breast beam of the loom. This shaft moves in bearings at'x
fixed below the beam, and crosses the framing of the loom to receive the
piece s. Upon this same shaft and in in the interior of the loom is affixed a
piece t, t, having two branches, one of which is supplied with a roller u, which
rests upon the cloth beam by the effect of the other branch t, which has a
weight attached to it; if, therefore, the diameter of the cloth beam increases
from the rolling in of the cloth, the branch t¹ vill describe the arc of a circle,
and the shaft v turns and draws with it the piece s, which pushies forward the
weigt by means of the connecting rod q. These pieces s and q may be
suitably regulated by their length and position by increasing the length of the
arm of the lever upon which the weight acts, in order that it may correspond
with the increased diameter of the cloth beam.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it undersood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein given, so long as the peculiar character of either
part of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is the arrangement of
apparatus for regulating the given off of the warp from the warp beam,
so as to obtain a more uniform and regular cloth, as herein described.
And,
Secondly, I claim the arrangement of apparatus for regulating the winding
of the cloth on the cloth beam, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Hippolyte Laurent, have hereunto
set my band and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
year
VICTOR HIPPOLYTE (L.S.) LAURENT.
Taken and acknowledged by Victor
Hippolyte Laurent (party hereto), at
Paris, in the Republic of France, this
26th day of November, 1849, before

page_text: William Henry Ritchie, of Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, maketh oath and saith, that he is acquainted with
the manner and character of the handwriting of Thomas Pickford, Her
Britannic Majesty's Consul at Paris, in the Republic of France; and this
deponent further saith, that the signature "Thomas Pickford," set, subscribed,
or written in the margin of the Specification hereunto annexed marked A, and
dated the Twenty-sixth day of November now last past, and purported to be.
executed by Victor Hippolyte Laurent, of France, Engineer, whereby it is
stated that the said Specification was acknowledged by him, the said Victor
Hippolyte Laurent, before the said Thomas Pickford, on the said Twenty-sixth
day of November, at Paris aforesaid, is of the proper handwriting of the said
Thomas Pickford
Enrolled the Fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.