IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Hudson, of Burnley, in the County of Lan-
caster, Machine Maker, and Christopher Catlow, of the same Place,
Overlooker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 22nd November 1864, and dated the 27th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Hudson and
Christopher Catlow at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 27th May 1864.
We, JAMES HUDSON, of Burnley, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, and CHRISTOPHER CATLOW, of the same Place, Overlooker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates, firstly, to a method of letting off the warp from the
warp beam, for which purpose we use the motive power, and cause the said
warp beam to revolve by a positive motion.
We propose in carrying out our Invention to use an excentric upon the
crank shaft, which excentric causes a lever to turn upon a centre of motion,
on the other side of which is a link to which the usual weighted rope is con-
nected. When, therefore, the aforesaid lever is acted upon by the excentric,
the said rope is pulled upward and the warp beam is turned positively to let

page_text: off the yarn, and when the lever turns back again, the rope being slack will
allow the beam to turn in the other direction. The link above mentioned is
mounted so as to be capable of sliding on the lever, but is prevented from doing
so by a rod resting upon the warp beam, but as the said warp beam decreases
in diameter, then the moving inward of the rod allows the said sliding to take
place, and the link is acted upon by a greater radius of the lever, and the
warp beam is turned through a greater space.
Another part of our Invention relates to a method of acting upon the
"jacks" or "heddles," or other such apparatus for the purpose of making the
shed. To this end we employ a cam with a projecting flange situate between
two rollers mounted upon the said "jacks" or "heddles."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Hndson and Christopher Catlow in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 26th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
HUDSON, of Burnley, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and
CHRISTOPHER CATLOW, of the same Place, Overlooker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said James Hudson and Christopher Catlow, Her special license, that we, the
said James Hudson and Christopher Catlow, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said James Hudson and Christopher Catlow,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, 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 James Hudson and
Christopher Catlow, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals
(or under the hand and seal of one of us) 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,

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Christopher Catlow, do hereby declare
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (and accompanying Drawings), that is to say :-
Figs. 1 and 2 represent our first improvement in end and side elevation.
The usual crank shaft is at a, upon which there is an excentric 6 situate
within a fork formed upon an end of a lever c, c*, which lever is mounted fast
upon a shaft d, capable of turning in bearings carried by the framework. The
end cof the above-mentioned lever is formed with a curved incline, and
resting upon it is a link e formed with a slot by which it passes on to the said
lever. To the lower end of the link e is attached the rope f, which passes
round the pulley 9 of the warp beam h, and is attached at its lower end to a
lever i, capable of turning upon a fixed centre at k and weighted a l. In
contact with the warp beam is a rod m, which is turned upward at each side
of the loom as at n, and is there mounted loosely upon the shaft d. At that
side of the loom shewn at Fig. 2 the rod n carries a short lever o to the upper
end of which is jointed a hook p projecting over the link e.
By the arrangement of parts above described it is obvious that the link e,
when acted upon the vibration of the lever c, c*, would tend to slide forward
thereon, the part c being formed, as before mentioned, as an incline. The
hook P, however, by projecting over the end of the said link prevents this
sliding forward, although its tendency to that motion is retained. At the side
of the loom not shewn in the Drawing the warp beam is prevented from
turning by the usual friction rope or other such apparatus.
The operation is as follows:-When the crank shaft revolves, the excentric b
causes the lever c, c, to turn upon its centre, thus causing its end c** to elevate
the link e and draw upward the rope f. This rope being bound by the
weight upon the pulley 9, will act as a driver, and will turn the said pulley
and with it the warp beam h, whereby the proper quantity of yarn will be let
off through the agency of the motive power. When the continued revolution
of the excentric causes the end c* of the lever c, c, to pass downward, then
the link e by descending slackeus the rope f, so as to allow it to be drawn
over the surface of the pulley g by the weigh 1, ready for again acting as a
driver for letting off the yarn. When this slackening of the rope f takes place
and the weight acts thereon, the warp beam would of course turn backward;
but, as before mentioned, it is held at the other side of the loom by the usual
friction rope or other such apparatus. During the above-described operations
the link e will remain in contact with the hook p, which being mounted loosely
on the shaft d will be at liberty to turn upward with an independent motion,

page_text: and supposing no alteration in the parts to take place, every upward vibration
of the lever would effect the same amount of turning of the warp beam,
because the tendency of the link e is to slide off the incline c, prevented,
however, by the hook p, which therefore acts as a stop for determining the
position of the link e in reference to the centre of motion d. But as the warp
beam decreases in diameter, the rod m falls inward and causes the short
lever o to turn upon its centre, it being loose thereon as before mentioned.
This turning of the lever o will carry forward the hook p, and thus the link e
will be allowed to slide forward gradually further from the centre of motion d,
and a longer radius of the lever acting thereon will effect a proportionably
increased turning of the warp beam h.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent a modification of that portion of our Invention
above described, the object of this modification being to allow a slight turning
back of the warp beam after the yarn has been turned off, such a provision
being required, as is well known, when "twills are woven. In this instance
a lever a carries a spring, which is fastened thereto at b, and the other end c
of the said spring passes into a slot formed in a link d, through which the
lever a passes; the said lever, however, does not act thereon, but merely passes
through it to afford a guide. The rope e passes as before around the pulley f
of the warp beam and is then attached to the weighted lever g. The lever a
being caused to vibrate, drags downward the link d, and consequently the
rope e, through the medium of the spring b, c, and thus the turning off of
the yarn is effected. Upon the return motion of the lever a, the spring b, c,
which retains a certain amount of elastic force upon the rope e, and thus
effects thereon a limited amount of tension enables the weighted lever g to
effect a slight and elastic turning backward of the warp beam. In Figs. 3
and 4 just described, the vibratory motion of the lever a is effected by a rod h
jointed to the ordinary connecting rod i of the loom, but an excentric, as in
Figs. 1 and 2, or other such ordinary mechanism may be adopted. In like
manner the rod h may be used in conjunction with the usual connecting rod in
the arrangement shewn at Figs. 1 and 2.
. The next part of our Invention is shewn at Figs. 5 and 6, in which a
represents the usual tappet shaft. Upon this shaft is mounted a flanged cam b,
the flange c of which is situate between two rollers d, e, carried by the "jack"
or "treddle" f. The outside of the said flauge acts therefore upon one of the
rollers in order to turn the "jack" or "treddle" in one direction, and the
inside of the said flange acts upon the other roller for effecting the opposite
motion.
In the Drawing we have shewn this part of our Invention in combination

page_text: with that arrangement of "jacks" or "treddles" (one being jointed to another)
for which Letters Patent were granted to William Hudson and Christopher
Catlow, dated the 12th of August, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
three, Number 1994; but our improvement may be adopted to any usual
form of jacks or treddles.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, we desire it to be understood
that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,-
Firstly, turning the warp beam for letting off the warp by connecting it
with a moving part of the loom, so that a positive motion from the motive
power is effected as distinguished from a releasing of the said beam.
Secondly, the arrangement consisting of the lever c, c*, link e, and catch p.
Thirdly, the flanged eam described in reference to Figs. 5 and 6.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Catlow, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
CHRISTOPHER CATLOW. (LS.)