Improvements in Means for Checking Shuttles and Saving the Wear of Pickers and Picking Mechanism in Power Looms.
Year: 1897

page_text: · Date of Application, 28th Aug., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 28th May, 1898-Accepted, 23rd July, 1898
DIEVITICATION.
Improvements in Means for Checking Shuttles and Saving the Wear
of Pickers and Picking Mechanism in Power Looms.
A communication by JOHN BANNISTER, of Callejon de Sta. Clara, No. 9, Esquina
del 5 de Mayo, Mexico, in the Republic of Mexico, Machinery Merchant.
I, THOMAS ALLEN LEIGH, of 19, James Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
+
This invention has for its object to save the wear of pickers, picking straps,
and other working parts of power looms. In order however that the invention
may be understood, I will first briefly recapitulate the character of my foreign
correspondent's (Mr. John Bannister) previous invention for shuttle swells. In
this the convex faced shuttle swell projected inwards from the back of the shuttle
box. At one end the swell was secured to a back by a projecting piece, which
was screwed by a nut to said back. At the other end, the swell was pressed
inwards by a spring, of which the other end enters, and is secured by a projecting
piece. It is hardly necessary to repeat the drawbacks of this form of swell, but it
may be mentioned that as the spring needs to be very strong a very strong blow
of the picker is necessary to overcome the resistance opposed by the swell, and
to expel the shuttle from the box again to the other end of the lay. With a view
to overcoming that difficulty Mr Bannister provided an improved form of shuttle
swell set forth in Patent No. 13,343 of 1894 moving freely as a lever on bearings
or fulcrum attached to the back of the shuttle box. A projecting piece was
provided to limit the outward movement of the further or outer end of swell, and
a light spring controlled the inner end of lever, and keeping said end normally
on a level with the interior surface of the back of the shuttle box. The outer end
of lever shaped taperingly so as to adjust itself to the side of the shuttle projected
slightly within the shuttle box, so that when the shuttle entered the box, it passed
without friction the inner end of lever, but necessarily struck the inwardly pro-
jecting end or outer member of the lever. The point of the shuttle was thus
prevented from hitting the picker, while at the same time the impact of the
shuttle against the outer member of the lever caused said lever to operate on its..
fulcrum or bearings, the outer member of the lever being forced backwards a
little and the inner member thereby caused to press inwards against the side of the
shuttle and so prevent its premature rebound. On the other hand when the shuttle
was struck again by the picker so as to be driven to the other end of the lay, the
swell moving freely on the fulcrum offered no resistance so that the service re-
quired of the picker was necessarily less. The above I think is all that is
necessary to be said in connection with Mr. Bannister's former invention.
The essential parts of his present invention are a double spring, one of which
is a spring of what may be called the prong or fork form, its ends curving inward
and then slightly outwards again. This spring is the protector proper. It may
be made of steel, iron, brass or any other suitable material. Behind this spring
and attached to it is a spiral spring or rubber, screwed at its other end to the
end piece of the shuttle-box.

page_text: The manner in which these two springs are placed in a shuttle box provided
with the new or lever form of swell is as follows:-
When these two springs are used, said lever moving as in Mr. Bannister's
former invention on fulcrum or bearings is placed quite towards the end of the
shuttle box. Now when the shuttle enters the box, its end is caught by the
projecting prongs of the spring, which lightly hold the shuttle and prevent its
point from striking the picker, which being of less width than the opening of
spring enters said spring without resistance. At the same time the prongs of
said spring do their part in preventing the rebound of the shuttle, but in this they
are aided by the swell or lever, for when the shuttle engages between the prongs it
of course pushes prong or fork spring backwards, compressing at the same time
the spiral spring or rubber and the corner of or an abutment on the prong spring
strikes against an inwardly projecting piece of the lever, thus causing said lever
or rather the inner part of said lever to press against the side of the shuttle.
On the other hand neither the pressure of said lever nor the retentive force of
the prongs of spring are sufficient to oppose a serious obstacle to the release of
shuttle on receiving its next blow from the picker. It may be added that the
rebound of the spiral spring also aids the picker in expelling shuttle.
It will be seen that the object of this invention is to save the wear of pickers,
picking straps and other working parts of a power loom. It can be applied to
any kind of loom for cotton, silk, linen, or woollen weaving. The prongs of the
spring receive the shuttle instead of the latter striking against the picker and
being of a springy nature, it stops the shuttle gently without injury to either
shuttle or picker.
The springs as applied to a shuttle box provided with the old form of shuttle
swell are in action and in effect the same as in the case last described, save that the
form of the shuttle swell being different, there is no device for actuating the swell
by means of the impact of the corner of spring against the outer member of the
lever swell. But the action of the spring is the same in this case,
the prongs
receiving the end of the shuttle and preventing it from striking the picker.
Dated this 27th day of August 1897.
W. P. THOMPSON Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Means for Checking Shuttles and Saving the Wear
of Pickers and Picking Mechanism in Power Looms.
A communication by JOHN BANNISTER, of Callejon de Sta. Clara, No. 9, Esquina
del 5 de Mayo, Mexico, in the Republic of Mexico, Machinery Merchant.
I, THOMAS ALLEN LEIGH, of 19, James Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Merchant, 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 has for its object to save the wear of pickers, picking straps,
and other working parts of power looms. In order however that the invention
may be understood, I will first briefly recapitulate the character of my foreign
correspondent's (Mr. John Bannister) previous invention for shuttle swells. In
this the convex faced shuttle swell projected inwards from the back of the shuttle
box. At one end the swell was secured to a back by a projecting piece, which
was screwed by a nut to said back. At the other end, the swell was pressed in-
wards by a spring, of which the other end entered, and was secured by a projecting

page_text: piece. It is hardly necessary to repeat the drawbacks of this form of swell, but it
may be mentioned that as the spring needs to be very strong a very strong blow
of the picker is necessary to overcome the resistance opposed by the swell, and
to expel the shuttle from the box again to the other end of the lay. With a view
to overcoming that difficulty Mr. Bannister provided an improved form of shuttle
swell set forth in Patent No. 13343 of 189 moving freely as a lever on bearings
or fulcrum attached to the back of the shuttle box. A projecting piece was
provided to limit the outward movement of the further or outer end of swell, and
a light spring controlled the inner end of lever, and keeping said end normally.
on a level with the interior surface of the back of the shuttle box. The outer end
of lever shaped taperingly so as to adjust itself to the side of the shuttle projected
slightly within the shuttle box, so that when the shuttle entered the box, it passed
without friction the inner end of lever, but necessarily struck the inwardly pro-
jecting end or outer member of the lever. The point of the shuttle was thus
prevented from hitting the picker, while at the same time the impact of the
shuttle against the outer member of the lever caused said lever to operate on its
fulcrum or bearings, the outer member of the lever being forced backwards a
little and the inner member thereby caused to press inwards against the side of the
shuttle and so prevent its premature rebound. On the other hand when the shuttle
was struck again by the picker so as to be driven to the other end of the lay, the
swell moving freely on the fulcrum offered no resistance so that the service re-
quired of the picker was necessarily less. The above I think is all that is
necessary to be said in connection with Mr. Bannister's former invention.
The essential parts of his present invention are set forth in the following des
cription, reference being. had to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of ordinary shuttle box picker bar and swell
with protector.
Figure 2 similar view showing the application of the present invention when
aforesaid patent binder is used.
Figure 3 view of the protector by itself.
In these
B is a spring of what may be called the prong or fork form, its ends curving
inward and then slightly outwards again. This spring B is the protector proper.
It may be made of steel, iron, brass or any other suitable material. Behind this
spring B and attached to it is a spiral spring A or rubber screwed at its other end
to the end piece of the shuttle box. This spiral spring A takes the longitudinal
impact of the shuttle.
Figure 2 shows the manner in which these two springs are placed in a shuttle
box provided with the new or lever form of swell E. When these two springs
are used, said lever E (moving as described in aforesaid Patent Specification of
1894 on fulcrum F, in bearing blocks or lugs L, attached to back I of the shuttle
box) is placed quite towards the end of the shuttle box. Now when the shuttle J
enters the box, its end is caught by the projecting prongs of the spring B, which
lightly hold the shuttle and prevent its point from striking the picker K, which,
being of less width-than the opening of spring B, enters said spring without
resistance. At the same time the prongs of said spring B do their part in
preventing the rebound of the shuttle, but in this they are aided by the swell E
or lever, for when the shuttle engages between the prongs it of course pushes
prong or fork springs B backwards, compressing at the same time the spiral
spring A, and the part N of spring B strikes against the inwardly projecting
piece M of the lever E, thus causing said lever or rather the inner part of said lever
to press against the side of the shuttle J.
.
On the other hand neither the pressure of said lever nor the retentive force of
the prongs of spring B are sufficient to oppose a serious obstacle to the release of
shuttle Jon receiving its next blow from the picker. It may be added that the
rebound of the spiral spring A also aids the picker in expelling shuttle J. The
inner end of the lever (the end toward the centre of the loom) is preferably pro-

page_text: vided with a strip of leather or other suitable material as at m. H is a stop lug
employed to limit the outward movement of the outer end of lever E and G is
a light spring to keep the inner end of the lever normally in position with its
inner face about flush with the interior surface of the shuttle box.
It will be seen that the object of this invention is to save the wear of pickers,
picking straps and other working parts of a power loom. It can be applied to
any kind of loom for cotton, silk, linen, or woollen weaving. The prongs of the
spring B receive the shuttle instead of the latter striking against the picker, and
being of a springy nature, it stops the shuttle gently without injury to either
shuttle or picker.
Figure 1 shows the springs A and B as applied to a shuttle box provided with
the old. form of shuttle swell. Its action here, and the effect of that action are
the same as in the case last described, save that the form of the shuttle swell
being different, there is no device for actuating the swell by means of the impact
of the corner of spring B against the outer member of the lever swell as in Figure 2.
But the action of the prongs or the spring B is the same in this case, the prongs
receiving the end of the shuttle and preventing it from striking the picker K.
The other reference letters in Figure 1 indicate the following parts-
O the rod on which the picker K slides, the back of the shuttle box being
indicated at I and having a block or lug D secured thereto by a pin and nut a,
said lug forming the fulcrum for the swell or binder e which is pressed inwards
by the bow-spring C. With the improvements the spring C will in practice be
lighter than heretofore, in order to give to the swelle only sufficient pressure
against the shuttle when in the box, to prevent said shuttle from leaving the box
under the influence of any re-bound which it might have.
In thus describing this invention it will be seen that this protector consists of
a spring device having two actions, 1st, a lateral displacement spring pressing
equally and laterally on opposite sides of the advancing shuttle near the end of
its stroke and a terminal buffer and it is obvious that the exact shape and
material can be varied. Thus the lateral displacement spring could be an elastic
ring and could be formed in one with the buffer which could be an elastic block or
tubular continuation of the ring.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. A picker protector or shuttle buffering device for power looms, which con-
sists in one or more springs displaced laterally by the shuttle near the end of its
stroke, but not displaced by the picker, and a buffering spring receiving directly
or indirectly the longitudinal impact of the shuttle, substantially as described.
2. A picker protector or shuttle buffering device comprising in its construction,
the fork B having spring prongs adapted to permit of the passage of the picker
between them, and a spiral spring or buffer located between the back of the fork
and the end of the shuttle box substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with the shuttle box of a loom, of a lever, the inner end of
which is adapted to engage the side of the shuttle to prevent its rebound, and
the other end having an inclined portion, of a fork shaped slide having its prongs
adapted to be engaged by the shuttle and movable along said box and adapted to
engage the inclined portion of the lever, and a spring buffer for said fork shaped
slide substantially as set forth.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.