IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Milnes, of Sutton Mill, in the Parish of
Kildwick, in the County of York, Overlooker, and William Thompson,
of Sutton Mill aforesaid, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Milnes and William
Thompson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 11th September 1856.
We, JOHN MILNES, of Sutton Mill, in the Parish of Kildwick, in the
County of York, Overlooker, and WILLIAM THOMPSON, of Sutton Mill afore-
said, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in looms for weaving. For
these purposes the leaves of heddles are connected with levers, each of which
has a rod with a hook or catch thereon, which is acted on by a spring in such
manner as to have a tendency to be in a determined position, and the rising
or falling of the leaf of heddles, to which any one of the levers is attached,
depends on whether its rod (with a hook or catch) is or is not acted on by a
pin barrel or pattern surface. The lifting and lowering of the leaves of
heddles is by means of two levers or rising and falling bars, on to one of which
the whole of the hooked rods would by reason of the tendency given to them

page_text: rest, if none of them were selected or moved by the pin barrel or pattern
surface; the other lifting bar or lever, therefore, is arranged to receive those
of the hooked rods which are acted on or selected by the pin barrel or pattern
surface. The lifting rods or levers are actuated by means of connecting rods
attached to arms or crank pins on the face of an excentric cog wheel, which
moves on a fixed stud or axis, and the arms or cranks are slotted or so arranged,
that the distance at which the connecting rods are attached from the centre of
the stud or axis may be varied, thus admitting of one of the lifting bars or
levers being moved (when desired) a greater distance than the other by the
rotation of the excentric cog wheel. The excentric cog wheel is driven by
means of another excentric cog wheel, in such manner that when the smaller
radius of the driving cog wheel is actuating the other excentric cog wheel at
its higher radius, the motion to the lifting bars will be slow, and thus allow
time for throwing the shuttle, and the speed of the lifting bars will then be
accelerated when changing the positions of the leaves of heddles. On the axis
of the pin barrel or pattern surface is fixed a disc or wheel with notches or
recesses at equal distances apart, which disc or wheel is actuated by a wheel
which has moveable studs or pins, and according as one or more of these studs
or pins are fixed in this wheel, so will the stud barrel be actuated, in order to
vary the pattern of weaving. Provision is made to admit of the loom being
put back when required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Milnes and William Thompson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 11th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
MILNES, of Sutton Mill, in the Parish of Kildwick, in the County of York,
Overlooker, and WILLIAM THOMPSON, of Sutton Mill aforesaid, Mechanic, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Milnes and William Thompson, Her special licence that we, the said
John Milnes and William Thompson, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Milnes and William Thompson,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,

page_text: 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 we, the said John Milnes
and William Thompson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us or them, 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 we, the said John Milnes and William Thompson,
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:―
This Invention has for its object improvements in looms for weaving. For
these purposes the leaves of heddles are connected with levers, each of which.
has a rod with a hook or catch thereon, which is acted on by a spring in such.
manner as to to have a tendency to be in a determined position, and the rising
or falling of the leaf of heddles, to which any one of the levers is attached,
depends on whether its rod (with a hook or catch) is or is not acted on by a
pin barrel or pattern surface. The lifting and lowering of the leaves of
heddles is by means of two levers or rising and falling bars, on to one of which
the whole of the hooked rods would by reason of the tendency given to them
rest, if none of them were selected or moved by the pin barrel or pattern
surface; the other lifting bar or lever, therefore, is arranged to receive those
of the hooked rods which are acted on or selected by the pin barrel or pattern
surface. The lifting rods or levers are actuated by means of connecting rods
attached to arms or crank pins on the face of an excentric cog wheel, which
moves on a fixed stud or axis, and the arms or cranks are slotted or so arranged
that the distance at which the connecting rods are attached from the centre of
the stud or axis may be varied, thus admitting of one of the lifting bars or levers
being moved (when desired) a greater distance than the other by the rotation
of the eccentric cog wheel. The excentric cog wheel is driven by means of
another excentric cog wheel, in such manner that when the smaller radius of
the driving cog wheel is actuating the other excentric cog wheel at its larger
radius, the motion to the lifting bars will be slow, and thus allow time for
throwing the shuttle, and the speed of the lifting bars will then be accelerated
when changing the positions of the leaves of heddles.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows an end view, and Figure 2 part of a longitudinal section, of
a loom for weaving, having our improvements applied thereto; Figure 3 shows
a section, Figure 4 an end view, (having some of the parts removed), and
Figure 5 a plan, partly in section, of some of the parts drawn full size.
a, a, are levers, each of which is connected to a leaf of heddles a¹, a', by
links as and levers a*, ax, as shown, and to each lever a, a rod a is
connected by a pin joint at a³. The upper ends of the rods a² are formed with
hooks or catches, which are at all times forced by the springs a', a', towards
the lever or bar b, so as to be in a position to be lifted by the rising of the
lever or bar b, and the rising or falling of the leaf of heddles to which any one
of the levers a, a, is connected, depends on whether its rod a² is or is not
acted upon by a pin on the pin barrel or by other pattern surface. The lifting
or lowering of the leaves of heddles is accomplished by means of the two levers
or rising and falling bars 6 and c, and the whole of the hooked rods a² would
rest on and be lifted by the lever or bar b, by the tendency given to them by
the springs as, were none of the rods a² selected or moved by the pin barrel or
pattern surface. The lifting bars or levers b, c, are supported and move on a
fixed stud on the bracket b* fixed to the framing, and they are actuated by
means of the connecting rods b', c', the upper ends of which are connected to
the crank pins 63, c³, carried by the excentric cog wheel d, which turns on the
stud or axis d¹ fixed to the end framing of the loom, and the arms which carry
the crank pins 6, c, are slotted so that the distance at which either of the
connecting rods is attached from, the centre of the stud or axis d¹ may be varied,
thus admitting of one of the lifting bars or levers being moved (when desired)
a greater distance than the other by the rotation of the excentric cog wheel.
The eccentric cog wheel d is driven by the corresponding excentric cog wheel e
fixed on the crank axis e¹, so that when the smaller radius of the driving cog
wheel e is actuating the larger radius of the excentric cog wheel d, the motion

page_text: to the lifting bars will be shown, and thus allow time for throwing the shuttle,
the speed of the lifting bars or levers b and c being accelerated when changing
the positions of the leaves of heddles, and the capability of varying the relative
distances of the crank pins 63, c³, from the axis of the excentric cog wheel d
gives the power of varying the extent of motion of the different leaves of heddles
and of their warp threads when desired. f is a disc or wheel having notches
or recesses formed on its periphery at equal distances apart. The disc or
wheel is fixed on the axis f³, which turns in bearings f, f, carried by the
brackets ffixed to the framing. f³ is a bevilled toothed wheel fixed on the
axis f, which takes into and drives the bevilled toothed wheel fa fixed on
the axis of the pin barrel or pattern surface g; or in place of employing the
bevil toothed wheels, the notched disc f may be placed on the axis of the pin
barrel or pattern surface, but we prefer to employ the arrangement shown.
The wheel or disc f, and the pin barrel or pattern surface g, receives an
intermittent rotatory motion to select the instruments h, which act on the
rods a in the following manner:-i is a disc or wheel fixed on the axis i",
which is supported and turns in bearings 2, 22, carried by the bracket 2³, fixed
to the end framing; and j is another disc or wheel fixed on the boss j¹, which
slides on a feather on the axis 2, and thus rotates therewith, motion being
communicated to the axis ¹ by a toothed wheel & fixed on the main shaft or
axis k¹, which takes into and drives the toothed wheel or pinion fixed on the
axis. The disc or wheel i carries a fixed stud or pin i*, which in the revolu-
tion of the disc i enters one of the notches f¹ on the periphery of the disc or
wheelf, and gives a motion thereto equal to the distance of one of the notched
divisions, so as to bring into action successive rows of pins on the pin barrel or
pattern surface; and j³, j³, are studs or pins of different lengths fixed on the
disc or wheel j, which slide through openings in the disc or wheel i, so as to
project beyond and be in a position to take into the notches f¹ of the disc f, and
according as one or both of the studs or pins 73, 13, are brought into action, so
will be the order in which the rows of pins or pattern surfaces will be brought
into action to select and produce the desired change on the heddles. The
order in which the studs or pins 7, 33, act on the disc or wheel fis controlled
(as hereafter described) either by the will of the workman, as the pattern of
weaving requires, or by a pin barrel or suitable pattern surface, which we will
now proceed to describe. is a forked lever (placed over the axis i when
worked by hand), which moves on a stud carried by the bracket fixed to the
end framing; the forked end of the lever / embraces the grooved collar of the
sliding boss 7, and is connected by a pin joint to the link &, which is connected
with a hand lever at the right-hand end of the loom, when the changing of

page_text: the action of the studs or pins 3,, on the disc f, is under the control of the
workman; but when a constant or determined number of changes are to take
place, then the link is connected below the axis i to the bell-crank lever l*,
shown at Figures 6 and 7, at the right-hand end of the loom, the lever l* being
actuated by a barrel or pattern surface m, which receives motion by toothed
wheels from the shaft or axis k' by a disc or pin wheel k*, which drives the
notched disc m* on the axis of the barrel or pattern surface m, and according
to the distance which the crank lever n is allowed to descend by the pattern
surface on the barrel m, so will be the change produced in the position and
action of the studs 3. o is a lever actuated the cam o¹ fixed on the
axis ; the lever o is connected by a slotted link or arm o to the lever n, the
end of which passes through a slot in the link or arm n*, which is connected
to the cranked lever l. On the under side of the lever n there is a pin n', which
is either allowed to rest upon or pass through openings presented by the barrel
or pattern surface m, and according to the depth to which the lever n is
allowed to descend, so will be the amount of motion given to the cranked
lever to withdraw one or both of the studs 1, 3, out of action, this motion
being produced by the weight of the lever n. The pins on the pin barrel or
pattern surface g in their revolution act on the selecting instruments h, which
are suspended by and move on the axis h¹ fixed to uprights h³, the instru-
ments being drawn by springs h* towards the pattern surface, as shown.
The instruments h which are selected by the pattern surface are acted on to
select the rods a² in the following manner:-h³ is a bar connected to the lever
arms h, h, fixed on the axis ho, which is supported and moves in bearings
ho, ho, as shown. h is a lever arm fixed on the axis 5, which is connected by
a link to the lever he moving on a pin joint h¹º, carried by the link h",
which is suspended on a stud h¹, fixed to the framing. A rising and falling
motion is given to the lever h° by a cam i* fixed on the axis i, and thus to
actuate the bar h2. The lower end of the link h" is formed with a slot, into
which a stud h¹³ fixed to the framing enters to control the movement of the
link h, and when the loom is turned backwards the link h₁ moves back, and
the opposite end of the slot rests against the stud h¹³, by which the position of
the truck will be changed, and the time of action of the cam i* which is
is fixed on the axis ¹ to give motion to the bar h2 will be varied, to allow the
selectors and rod a² to make the correct change during the backward move-
ment of the loom. The bar h in its upward movement acts on the inclines
h**, formed on the lower ends of the selecting instruments h, by which they
will be forced against the rods a², to place them in a position to be acted upon
by the bar c.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we make no claim to
any of the mechanical parts separately, nor do we confine ourselves to the
details herein described; but what we claim is, the combined apparatus for
giving motion to leaves of heddles, selected by pin barrel or pattern surface,
whereby the speed of the leaves of heddles is lessened when the shuttle is being
thrown, and whereby the extent of motion of the different leaves of heddles
may be varied when desired; and we also claim the combined apparatus for
facilitating the changing of the action of the pin barrel or pattern surface when
the loom is at work.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Milnes and William Thompson,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventh day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
SAMUEL TETLEY,
Sutton Mill.
JOHN MILNES.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM THOMPSON. (L.S.)