CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
TRAVIS,, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the eleventh year
of Her reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand. eight hundred
and forty-seven, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Edwin Travis, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Edwin Travis, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Edwin Travis,
my executors, administrators, 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 and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Edwin Travis,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed; to be enrolled 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
Edwin Travis, do hereby declare the nature of my said: Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and the Drawings hereto
annexed (that is to say) :-
My Improvements in Looms for Weaving apply principally to such looms as
are driven or actuated by steam or other motive power (and are now generally
denominated " power looms"), part or parts being also applicable to hand
looms, and consist,―
Firstly, in a certain novel method of "letting off" or delivering the yarn
from the yarn beam at any requisite uniform speed, whatever may be the
diameter of the said "yarn beam," which I accomplish by causing the yarn to
pass between the two rollers placed between the "yarn beam" and the healds,
the lower one of these rollers being caused to revolve (by being connected to
the crank shaft by worms and wheels, or in any other convenient manner) will
drive the other (which bears upon it) by friction of contact, and by their
being pressed together by the tension of the yarn, and thus give out or "let
off" the yarn at any requisite uniform speed. The tension or strain upon the
yarn caused by weaving is made available as a mechanical agent for pressing
the rollers together, whereby the yarn is firmly held by the rollers at the points
in contact, so that it can only be delivered as the rollers revolve. Thus, one
revolution of the driving rollers will deliver yarn equal in length (neither
more or less) to the circumference of the said roller. Hence it will be evident
that the evenness of the cloth is not dependent upon the weighting of the yarn
beam, as is the case. in the ordinary loom.
Secondly, my Invention consists in a certain novel and improved method
of "taking up" the cloth, or winding it on to the cloth beam as it is woven,
which is accomplished by passing the cloth between two rollers placed between
the breast beam and the cloth beam. The lower roller being driven (by
worms and wheels from the crank shaft or otherwise) will cause the upper
one to revolve by friction of contact, and will also drive the cloth beam.(which
is kept constantly bearing against it by means of springs in the usual
manner).
The third part of my improvements consists, in a certain novel arrange-
ment of apparatus for applying a break to the fly. wheel of a loom by
connecting it to the "spring handle" in such a manner that, as soon as the
driving strap is thrown on to loose pulley, the break is applied to the periphery
of the fly wheel.
.
The fourth part of my improvements consists in an improved arrangement
of mechanism for the purpose of stopping the working of the loom whenever
the shuttle is caught in the shed of the warps, or from any other cause does
not complete its race.
:

page_text: The last part of my improvements consists in the novel application to
power looms of a certain arrangement of self-acting apparatus for stopping
the loom immediately upon the completion of any given number of yards of
cloth having been woven.
The practical application of these improvements will be better understood
by referring to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 is an end view
of an ordinary power loom for weaving plain cloth, with my improvements
applied thereto, being drawn to a scale of about two inches to a foot, the
ordinary parts of the loom being represented in outline only, and the parts to
which my improvements relate being shaded with color for the sake of
distinction.
Figure 2 is a view of the reverse end of the loom, and Figure 3 is a vertical
section taken through about the middle of the same. A, A, is the main framing
of the loom; B, B, the crank shaft; C, C, the fly wheel, and D, D, the driving
pulley; F is the crank arm, G the slay, and H the slay sword; I is the yarn
beam, K the back beam, the breast beam, and M the cloth beam. α, a,
(see Figures 3) are a pair of rollers, between which the yarn (represented by
the red line) is caused to pass, and by means of which it is taken off the yarn
beam. These rollers, and also the rollers 6, 6 (hereafter mentioned, may be
made of other wood or metal, and may be either plain or covered with linen or
woollen cloth, leather, gutta percha, "vulcanized" or other india rubber, or
any other suitable material. Upon one end of the lower roller a is keyed a
worm wheel c (see Figure 1) gearing with a worm d fixed upon the shaft e, at .
or near the centre of which is keyed a worm f, which is actuated by a worm g
fixed upon the crank shaft; thus the lower roller a being caused to revolve, and
being pressed against the upper one by the tension of the yarn, will drive the
same by friction of contact, and let off or deliver the yarn at any requisite
uniform speed, the quantity given out being altered at any time by changing
the relative proportions of the worms and worm wheels, or driving gear.
The "taking up" of the cloth is effected as follows:-Upon the other end of
the shafte is keyed a worm h, actuating a worm wheel i, fixed upon the lower
"taking up" roller b. This roller 6 drives the upper roller by friction of
contact, and also the cloth roller M. When it is desired to throw the appa-
ratus out of gear, it may readily be done by withdrawing the support-j, which
will allow the shaft e to fall in a slot in the guide k, and thus bring the worm
wheelf out of gear with the worm g upon the crank shaft. The novel appli-
cation of the break is best seen at Figure 2. The break may be composed
of slender hoop iron or other suitable material, and the inside covered with
leather, "gutta percha," or other suitable substance, and is supported at one

page_text: end by a fixed bearing at m, the other being attached to the end of a lever n.
This lever n has its fulcrum at o, and is supported at its other end upon a pin
p, projecting from and attached to the ordinary setting-on rod or spring handle
N of the loom. When the spring handle is thrown off, the pin p will be
withdrawn from under the lever n, thus allowing the spring 9 to exert its
force and bring the break into contact with the periphery of the fly wheel c,
and thus stop the loom. The break may be kept out of gear by lifting the
lever n on to a notch at the back of the spring catch r.
Figure 4 shews the method of applying my Invention to an ordinary power
loom for weaving fustian, which is drawn to the same scale as the preceding
Figures, and the same letters and description will refer to the ordinary parts of
this loom. The "letting-off" rollers a, a, are driven in the following manner :-
Upon the crank shaft B is keyed a worm b, driving a worm wheel c, fixed
upon a stud, the other end of which carries a bevil pinion d, gearing into a
bevil wheel e, keyed upon the shaft f. Upon this shaft is also fixed a worm g,
actuating a worm wheel h upon the end of the lower "letting-off" roller a.
The apparatus may be thrown out of gear by withdrawing the support i (sce
also Figure 5, which is a front view of part of the apparatus). The break k
is fixed at one end, and the other end being attached to the lever 1, which bas
its fulcrum at n, and is supported at its other end by the catch o, fixed to the
spring handle N. When the strap is thrown off, the spring handle will with-
draw the catch o, and allow the spring p (see Figure 4) to depress the lever 7,
and thus bring the break k into action. The break may be kept out of
by lifting the lever Z on to the notch upon the spring catch q.
gear
Figures 6 and 7 shew two other arrangements of the "letting-off" apparatus
to be adopted in looms. for weaving various strong kinds of cloth. a, a, are
the two delivering rollers, between which is placed the rail b, the ends of
the said rail and the journals of the rollers being placed loosely in slots, so
that the tension of the yarn will bind the three firmly together, and thus
hold the yarn. c, c, are two guide rollers to be employed in the place of the
back beam.
My improved apparatus for preventing the loom from beating up in the
event of the shuttle being "trapped" or caught in the shed, or otherwise not
completing its race, is shewn in Figure 3. S is the ordinary stop rod; t, the
finger affixed to the stop rod acted upon by the swell. When the shuttle passes
into the box u, the tongue of the stop rod, which, when not raised, in conse-
quence of the shuttle not passing into the box at its proper time, comes into
contact with the "frog," whereby the lathe is prevented from beating up the
cloth, leaving sufficient room for the shuttle to remain in the shed without

page_text: damage to the warp threads. V represents the frog working upon the stud w,
lightly borne up at the reverse end by the spring a. Пence it will be seen
that when the finger y is depressed by the shuttle being in the box, it acts
upon the projecting part of the frog v, and thereby presses the frog down so
as to allow the tongue u to escape over the point z of the frog previous to
beating up the cloth. 1 is a block firmly attached to the loom side, at the end
of the frog, as a support to the frog. Hence it will be perceived that when tho
tongue u comes in contact with the frog below the point z, the force of the
shock is received by the block 1. By this arrangement the liability to "trap,"
which the common loom is subject to, is here altogether removed; the swell
springs also are dispensed with, the frog spring a being available for the action
of the swells. Hence it will be seen that at the instant when the shuttle is
being thrown from either shuttle box there is but a very slight pressure upon
the swells, thereby making the pick easier.
.
The last part of my improvements is exhibited at the detached view,
Figure 8, and is drawn about one third the real size. A represents a wheel or
pulley, which revolves once for every yard of cloth, it being driven by the
roller or rollers used for delivering the yarn or taking up the cloth. In this
pulley is a stud B for raising the catches C and D, which are acted upon
alternately. Thus when one catch is in the bottom of the tooth of the rack
the other is midway, except at the time when lifted. E, E, is a rack sliding
upon the bed F, F, F, through which is a slot running nearly its whole length,
in which the pins or studs G, G, fastened to the rack E, move. H is a con-
tinuation of the stud G, to which is attached a band K, K, passing over a
pulley I, to which is fixed a weight so as to draw the rack forward, and. that
when the rack has run out, so that there are no teeth to act upon the
catches C, D, it shall be impelled a short distance forward, so as to cause it to
strike against the setting-on rod, or spring handle, or some connection there-
with, obliging the handle to leave its place, and thereby throw off the driving
strap and stop the loom. L, M, represent two stop pieces, the one L being
fixed to the bed F of the rack, and the other M adjustable on the rack. One
or both of these may be moved, so that at the beginning of a piece of cloth its
length may be determined by so setting or arranging these stops that when the
weaver pushes the rack back as far as L and M will admit of, the number of
teeth from the point of the catch D to the end of the rack at the point O will
determine the number of yards of the cloth woven.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, Improvements in
Looms for Weaving, and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect,
I would remark, in conclusion, that although I have merely shewn and

page_text: described the method of applying my Invention to looms for weaving plain
goods and fustians for the sake of illustration, I do not intend to confine the appli-
cation of my improvements to such looms exclusively, as it will be evident to any
practical person conversant with such machinery that my Invention is equally
applicable to all kinds and descriptions of looms for weaving, whether. such
looms are adapted to weaving plain or fancy goods. And further, I wish it
be particularly understood that I do not claim as of my Invention the use of
rollers for regulating the giving off the warp or the taking up the woven
fabric in whatever manner such rollers may be employed and arranged for that
purpose. But I do claim,―
First, the method of "letting off" or delivering the yarn to be woven at
any requisite uniform speed, by causing the same to pass between two rollers
placed between the yarn beam and the healds, the rollers being so arranged
that the tension or strain upon the yarn shall bind them together and thus
cause them to hold the yarn; one or more of the said rollers being caused to
révolve by means of worm gearing connected to the crank shaft of the loom,
or actuated in any other convenient manner.
Secondly, I claim the method of "taking up" the cloth, or winding it on
to the cloth beam or roller, by passing it between two rollers placed between
the breast beam and the cloth roller, one or more of which rollers is driven by
worm gearing from the crank shaft or otherwise, whether such gearing bo
connected to or disconnected from the "letting-off" motion
Thirdly, I claim the arrangements shewn and described for applying the
break to the fly wheel (or to a break wheel, keyed or otherwise fastened upon
the crank shaft) of a loom by connecting it to the spring handle of the loom,
so that the break shall be brought into action as soon as the driving strap
is thrown on to the loose loose pulley.
Fourthly, I claim the improved arrangement of apparatus shewn in Figure 3,
for the purpose of stopping the loom whenever the shuttle does not complete
it's race. And,
Lastly, I claim the novel application to power looms of the self-acting
apparatus shewn at Figure 8, for the purpose of stopping the working of the
loom when any determinate number of yards has been woven.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Travis, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-eight.
EDWIN (L.S.) TRAVIS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-fourth day of
May, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Edwin Travis came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
5 And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.