Improved Shuttle Changing Motion for Looms.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Shuttle Changing Motion for Looms.
I, BERNARD CROSSLEY, of 67, Albion Street, Burnley, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
--
This invention relates to looms for weaving and consists in an improved motion
or an improved arrangement of mechanism for selfactingly removing the shuttle
in use from the shuttlebox of the loom, and replacing it by a fresh shuttle, when
the weft breaks or runs out, the object of the invention being to effect this change
self-actingly in a more certain manner and with simpler and cheaper mechanism
than has hitherto been done.
In carrying out my invention I form the bottom of the shuttlebox of two
angle irons having their corners filled in or of equivalent pieces, each of which
is fixed with its rectangular sides horizontal and vertical upon an arm at each
end. The two arms at each end are hinged upon a stud and form a pair of tongs
and are drawn together by suitably arranged springs, till the opposite edges of
said angle irons bear against suitable stops and are kept apart so as to form a
slot for the picker foot to work in, while the slot widens out below at an angle
of 45 degrees or thereabouts on each side. The studs on which the arms are
hinged are carried by suitable brackets attached to the slay.
Upon a shaft supported in brackets fixed to the loom side, I fix two levers
hereinafter called lifting levers and arrange a second shaft or stud parallel to
the former in the same horizontal plane on which two other levers are placed
opposite the first said levers. The four levers are of equal length and each
opposite pair is connected by a link, which when the levers move forward will
retain its horizontal position in consequence of this arrangement. The links
carry a crossplate on which are two narrow chairs upon which a fresh shuttle
with a full cop is placed in the manner hereinafter described. The levers and
chairs are so placed in the loom that when in their backward position, the shuttle
is below the tapering slot in the shuttlebox bottom when the slay is in its
backward position. Upon the shaft carrying the lifting levers I arrange prefer
ably a lever the boss of which can slide on the shaft while the outer end carries
a bowl. A finger fixed to the slay passes close to this bowl and misses it while
the weaving proceeds. When the weft breaks or runs out, and the weft fork tail
is seized by the hammer head in the usual manner, and the weft fork slide pulled
forward, a chain or its equivalent connected thereto shifts the said lever on the
shaft and brings the bowl into the path of the finger. In consequence as the
slay moves forward the lifting levers with the chair and shuttle are moved forward
as well, and the lifting levers being fulcrumed before the slay and shorter, the
chair is lifted up relatively to the shuttle box and the shuttle is forced through
the tapering slot, the angle irons moving apart. When arrived at the end of
the forward stroke of the slay, the shuttle is lifted just above the bottom of the
shuttle box and the angle irons are pulled together again by the spring acting on
the arms carrying them, suitable slots being cut into the angle irons for the chairs

page_text: to pass through. The shuttle previously used in the loom is pushed up by the
new shuttle, and in consequence of the momentum obtained during the beating up
of the slay is jerked forward and drops upon a suitably formed plate or its
equivalent, which causes it to slide sideways into a basket placed for the reception
of these shuttles. The new shuttle is taken back by the slay in the shuttle
box, and the levers and chair are returned to their original position.
The filled shuttles for replacing the emptied ones are placed into a hopper or
shoot above each other, the bottom shuttle resting upon the curved bottom of a
channel extending to the chairs when they are in their backward position; the
top of the channel being hinged at the front end and resting upon the bottom at
the back end, in order to allow the shuttle on the chairs to pass over it in its
forward movement. A long lever is fulcrumed on a stud or shaft at its bottom
end and carries at the top a spring pawl, which when the long lever is in its
backward position rests against the front of the shuttle on the chair and holds
it in position while the weaving proceeds. A pulley or lever on the lifting lever
shaft is connected to a similar pulley or lever on the long lever boss or shaft
by a strap or equivalent flexible connection, so that when the parallel levers are
pulled forward, the long lever is likewise pulled forward till it is in front of
the bottom shuttle in the shoot, the pawl bending down in passing it, and jump-
ing up again in front of the shuttle after having passed it. When the parallel
levers are returned to their original position, the long lever returns to its original
position under the action of a spring or its equivalent, the pawl acting through
a slot in the bottom of the curved channel and pushing the shuttle along. This
action is somewhat retarded by the shuttle having to lift the hinged top of the
channel, so that the chairs have returned to their back position before the new
shuttle is pushed on to them. The parts then remain in their positions till the
weft breaks again or runs out, when the play of the different parts will be
repeated and a fresh shuttle inserted into the shuttlebox, while the old one is
thrown out of the same.
Some of the details hereinbefore described may be varied, the principal feature
of the invention being the arrangement of a divided shuttle box bottom opened
out for a passage of a fresh shuttle by the pressure of the same from below and
of self acting mechanism for lifting the fresh shuttle through the shuttlebox
bottom and replacing the shuttle thus inserted into the shuttle box by another
filled shuttle underneath the box when the weft breaks or runs out.
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101
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1060
I, BERNARD CROSSLEY, of 67, Albion Street, Burnley, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
-
This invention relates to looms for weaving fabrics and consists in an improved
shuttle changing motion or arrangement and combination of mechanism for
selfactingly removing the shuttle in use from the shuttlebox of the loom and

page_text: replacing it by a fresh shuttle when the weft breaks or runs out, without stopping
the loom, the object of my invention being to effect this exchange in a more
certain manner and with simpler and cheaper mechanism than has hitherto been
done.
On the drawing appended hereunto-
Figure 1 shows a side view, Figure 2 a front view and Figure 3 a plan of my
improved motion applied to a loom, Figure 4 a section along line of Figure 1,
Figure 5 a sectional view of the shuttle changing carrier, Figure 6 a plan and
Figure 7 a section of the shuttle-box, on an enlarged scale.
In carrying my invention into practice, I make the shuttle box A with a
longitudinally divided bottom consisting of two parts a, a, normally lying
together with projecting stops at their ends so as to have a slot a between them.
The upper surface of the bottom formed by the parts a, a, is flat but the under-
side forms a groove with angular inclined sides a³ at, as illustrated in Figures 1
and 7.
These sides have also transverse slots a³, a, a, a, hereafter referred to, which
form clearance spaces for certain parts employed for replacing the shuttle. Each
of the parts a a' is mounted and fixed upon two arms a, a 10, a¹¹, xo¹². These arms
radiate from and are mounted in pairs so as to be capable of swivelling upon two
studs bb, carried by brackets attached to the slay B. One pair of arms is
provided with a spring a, which is fixed so as to keep the parts a, a, close
together or in contact at their ends, leaving the slot a between, and in which
the picker foot slides.
Upon a cranked shaft c carried by the parallel bearings c¹, c², fixed to the
side of the loom frame C are fixed two arms c³, 4, and upon the parallel shafts
or studs care fixed the two similar arms c, c7. These four armis hereinafter
termed lifting arms, are of equal length and at their free ends are provided with
studs which carry two bars forming a lifter each side having projections clo
for holding and lifting a shuttle from underneath. These arms are so fulcrummed
that when in their backward and normal position, as shewn in Figure 1, the
shuttle lifter they carry, lies below and slightly behind a spare full shuttle,
which is held in position below the shuttle box bottom a a¹, when the slay B
is in its backward position. To the arm is fixed a stud which carries a
bowl c. In connection with this bowl there is mounted upon the slay Bor
the slay sword S a catch in such a position with respect to the bowl, that
when the lifting arms are slightly moved forward in the way hereinafter described,
the bowl is brought into the path of the catch and when the slay moves forward
the lifting arms are moved forward on their fulcrums by means of the bowl
simultaneously with the slay and in consequence of their being shorter than and
fulcrumed horizontally in advance of the slay swords carry the lifter upward
and forward, bringing the latter beneath the spare shuttle which lies under the
divided bottom of the shuttle box, and forcing the said shuttle through the shuttle
box bottom and thereby displacing the previously working shuttle. The width
of the lifter is less than the length of the shuttle, and the shuttle box bottom
is formed with the clearance slots a, a, a, a, hereinbefore referred to for missing
the projections c¹0 of the lifter which retain the shuttle in position therein. The
lifting arms are kept in their normal position by the spring c
The spare shuttles are contained in a vertical hopper 1) and lie one above the
other. The lower one rests upon two parallel bars d, d', which are fixed in
a horizontal plane and run from beneath the hopper to beyond the underside of
the shuttle box when the slay is in its backward position. Beneath these parallel
bars d d are arranged two other parallel bars d d which form guide rods. Upon
these guide rods is placed the spare shuttle carrier E which consists of two
moveable parts e el forming jaws carried by a double sliding piece e². The part e
has a horizontal movement with respect to the sliding piece and is held closed by
a spring e. The part el is preferably duplicated and fixed or hinged upon a pin e¹
and has a spring which keeps it normally in the position shewn in Figure 5,

page_text: and enables it upon contact with the shuttle 2 to pass beneath the shuttle and
spring up upon the other side. The spare shuttle holder engages with the
slotted end e of the bell crank lever e' which lever is fulcrumed upon a stud
or shaft es, and is held in its normal position as shewn in Figure 1 by the
spring c. The motion given to the spare shuttle carrier through the lever c
is imparted to the latter from the shaft c of the lifting arms by means of the
arm elo fixed to the said shaft. The end of the arm elo is connected to the arm ell
of the bell crank lever e by means of the tensional connection e¹2 formed by
a chain or cord.
This connection is somewhat slack when the parts are in their position of rest
as shewn to allow the shuttle lifter to move upward and lift the shuttle out of
the jaws of the shuttle carrier before any positive forward motion is imparted
to the carrier, which immediately afterwards moves forwards rapidly to seize
another spare shuttle from the hopper.
The shuttle changing motion is brought into action during the process of
weaving by the breakage or running out of the weft. This causes the weft fork
slide for its equivalent which is placed at the opposite end of the loom to that
in which the change motion is arranged to be carried forward in the usual way,
which forward movement is made use of to lift the lifting arms aforesaid and bring
the bowl into the path of the catch b³, when the slay makes its next forward
movement the shuttle in the loom having been picked from the weft fork end to
the motion end during the backward beat of the slay. To this end a chain fl
or its equivalent is connected at one end to the slide f, passes over the grooved
pulleys ff, and is connected at its other end to the lifting arm c.
When the bowl c¹ is thus brought into the path of the catch, the forward
movement of the slay carries the lifting arms forward and causes the lifter c³ to
lift the spare shuttle out of the jaws e e¹, and push it against the two inclined
surfaces of the parts a a¹ forming the shuttle box bottom and press them apart
until the shuttle has passed between them and is above them, when the spring a
pulls the parts a a¹ together again. The previously used shuttle is lifted by the
newly inserted shuttle and ejected when the slay beats up. As the slay moves
back again, the lifter is returned to its normal position by the spring c¹ and at
the next beat the catch passes over the bowl and the lifter remains at rest
till another failure of the weft brings the parts into play again. When the
spare shuttle has been lifted out of the jaws e e¹ the chain e¹ pulls the bell crank
lever e and shuttle carrier connected to it forward rapidly till the jaw e has
passed the bottom shuttle in the hopper and jumped up again. During the back-
ward motion of the slay the spring e pulls the lever e and jaws ele back and
brings the spare shuttle over the lifter ready for the next change. The spring e
is of such strength that this return is effected a little slower than the return stroke
of the slay.
In order to dispose of the shuttle ejected by the insertion of the new shuttle,
a receiver G is provided. The previously used shuttle after being displaced by
the new one is in consequence of the momentum obtained during the beating
up of the slay jerked forward and is received by a box g having a hood g¹ and
transverse rollers g³, the former of which is set higher than the latter so as to
give the shuttle sufficient inclination to ensure its sliding out sideways to the
foom and falling into any receptacle provided.
The details of the mechanism hereinbefore described may be modified, the
essential features of the invention being the arrangement of a divided shuttlebox
bottom capable of being opened out for the passage of the shuttle by the pressure
of the shuttle against the bottom and of self-acting mechanism for lifting the
fresh shuttle through the shuttlebox bottom and replacing the shuttle, thus
inserted into the shuttlebox, by another shuttle underneath the box when the
weft breaks or runs out.
I am aware that shuttle change motions in which the shuttle is inserted through
the shuttlebox bottom have been proposed before, but in these the bottom has been

page_text: opened by special mechanism for that purpose actuated by cams or the like
independently of the lifting of the shuttle.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a shuttle changing motion for looms in which the spare shuttle is
inserted into the shuttlebox through its bottom, the arrangement of the two
parts of the shuttlebox bottom in such a manner that they can be forced apart
by the shuttle itself when it is lifted against them on the failure of the weft,
und are closed by springs after the shuttle has passed into the box, substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the drawings.
2. In a shuttle changing motion for looms the arrangement of a divided shuttle-
box bottom, the parts of which are held together by springs and are formed with
opposite inclined surfaces, and of mechanism for lifting a spare shuttle from a
stationary carrier underneath the shuttlebox when in its backward position against
said inclined surfaces and forcing it through between them into the shuttlebox
while carrying it forward with the slay, substantially as herein before described.
3. In a shuttle changing motion for looms in which the spare shuttle is forced
through the divided bottom of the shuttlebox, the arrangement of parallel links
shorter than and fulcrummed in horizontal advance of the slay swords and con-
nected by shuttle lifters at their upper ends, whilst links are carried forward with
the slay when the weft fails and thereby lift the shuttle off a stationary carrier
and force it into the shuttlebox, substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated by the drawings.
4. In a shuttlebox changing motion for looms the arrangement of a shuttle
carrier for transferring a spare shuttle from a hopper on the breast beam to a
position underneath the shuttlebox when in its backward position, constructed
and operated substantially as hereinhefore described and illustrated by the
drawings.
5. The general arrangement of a shuttle changing motion for looms, or the
construction and combination of the parts thereof, substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by the drawings.
Dated thi 19th Jane
1 1000
R. J. URQUHART, C.E.,
Chartered Patent Agent, Manchester & Liverpool,