Improvements in or Connected with the Back Beams or Rollers of Looms for Weaving.
Year: 1886

page_text: Improvements in or Connected with the Back Beams or Rollers of
Looms for Weaving.
We DANIEL DURKIN, loom tackler and ARTHUR W. BEARDSELL, Stenographer,
both of Hopedale in the County of Worcester in the State of Massachusets 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:-
Our invention relates to the back beams or rollers of looms for weaving and consists
in improved arrangements for supporting said beams or rollers.
In looms for weaving cotton cloth, to which our invention is more particularly
applicable, the take-up motion usually continues to operate for several picks until the
loom is stopped, after the weft fork motion is brought into action by the breaking of
the weft or its running out in the shuttle. Under such circumstances in order to
avoid the formation of thin stripes or cracks in the fabric, it is customary to turn the
take-up roller or mechanism backward by hand for about the number of lost picks, or
to arrest the take-up motion by the finger lever for this number of lost picks. But if
the mechanism so operated by hand be turned back or arrested for a less distance
than required to compensate for the lost picks, then a thin stripe will appear in the
cloth, and if it be turned back for a greater distance than necessary, a thick stripe will
be formed in the cloth when weaving is again commenced.
.
The object of our invention is to prevent these evils, apparent in most plain cotton
cloth, and also to prevent the breakage of the warp threads or a smash in the warps if
from any cause the shuttle should be caught in the shed while the slay or lathe is
being moved forward or beating up.
On the drawing appended hereunto figure 1 shows a portion of the back part of the
loom in isometrical projection, figure 2 a longitudinal section and figure 3 a front
view of one of the arms carrying the back beam with its box and spring; figure 4 one
of the boxes removed from the arm. A is part of the loom frame and B the yarn or
warp beam, which may be of any usual shape and construction. Upon the frame A

page_text: two uprights or brackets a are mounted, which receive a shaft 6 having attached to it
by set screws or keys two arms or levers c, which as shewn on the drawing are slotted
to receive within their slots the boxes d which carry the journals of the back beam or
bearing roll f. The boxes d rest upon helical springs e, each box having a projecting
pin da formed on it which enters one on the helical springs e and thus supports
the box or bearing d. The lower end of said spring enters a socket, see figure 2, in the
arm c near the shaft b, the said pin and socket preventing lateral movement of the
spring e out of the slot. The boxes d are formed with a flanged edge, as at d³ figure 4,
on the inside of the arms d to prevent their lateral outward movement out of the slots,
and are guided by the slots in the arms when moving towards or from the centre of
the shaft b.
The shaft b may be held in the uprights or brackets a by set screws or equivalent
means, but has preferably a lever g fixed upon one end. This lever may be secured in
its position by a bolt passing through its outer end and the frame side, which in that
case is formed with a curved slot, so that the lever can be secured in different positions
and the arms c with the back roller f adjusted thereby. Or instead thereof the lever may
be connected at its end to a link or rod h extended through a guide n, the rod having
a spring upon it which normally acts to keep the roller felevated as shown on
figure 1, a stop being provided to limit the action of the spring. The rod may be
connected to any known suitable let-off mechanism so as to actuate it when moving
forward.
The remainder of the loom may be of any ordinary or known construction and is
not shewn, forming no part of our invention.
The warp threads, not shewn, are all led from the yarn beam B up over the back
roller or beam thence into and through the eyes of the harness and the dents of the
reed, over the breast beam and to the take-up roller or cloth beam in the usual
manner. When the shed is being formed for weaving, the warp threads are subjected
to their maximum ordinary tension and at such time if the pull on the back beam f
exceeds the resistance of the springs e the beam or roller f can move forward towards
the harness and fell of the cloth, while the bearings or boxes d slide in the slots of the
arms the beam thus delivering or giving up as it were, a portion of the warp
threads. The closing of the shed however relieves the strain of the warp threads on
the yielding back roller and permit it to be moved back by the springs away from
the harness and fell of the cloth, thus taking up the extra slack in the warp.
If from any cause the shuttle should be caught in the shed as the slay or lathe is
moved forward, the extra strain exerted upon those warp threads that are immediately
above and below the shuttle will be sufficient to cause the movement of the back
roller towards the harness and fell of the cloth and thereby prevent these warp
threads being broken, the springs supporting the boxes for the roller journals being of
such length and stiffness as to permit in that case a sufficient movement towards the
fell of the cloth to prevent a smash in the warp. As soon as the shuttle is removed,
the springs take the roller back and take up the slack in the warp threads.
As the slay or lathe beats the weft up into the fell of the cloth, the yielding back
roller fis naturally pulled forward somewhat against the springs supporting it, such
operation being repeated at every pick. If the weft should break or run out and the
loom run several picks before it is stopped, this forward movement does not occur but
the springs have strength enough to hold the fell against the read, so that when the
loom is again started, there will be no perceptible thin place or crack in the cloth.
When the shaft 6 is held by means of an arm g and rod h with a spring as shewn on
figure 1 and hereinbefore described and the strain on the back beam exceeds the
resistance of said spring, the said shaft, arms and lever will vibrate and the forward
movement of the rod h may be used to actuate a let-off mechanism such as, for
instance, is described in United States Patent No. 289,420.
We are aware that prior to our invention a back roller over which the warp threads
are passed has been supported upon a spring adapted to yield substantially in a
vertical direction, and are also aware that a bar, not a roller, has had its ends
supported upon springs, but the said bar did not rotate nor had it journals to enter

page_text: into sliding boxes, as in the case of our invention, and we are also aware that back
beams of looms have been arranged to vibrate, but said beams were not supported in
boxes by springs.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we hereby declare that what we
claim is :-
In looms for weaving the arrangement of a back beam revolvable in sliding boxes
combined with springs in such a manner that the beam can be moved bodily towards
and from the fell of the cloth substantially as herein before described and for the
purposes set forth.
EMMOTT, & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.