IMPROVEMENTS IN OR CONNECTED WITH LOомS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Brownlie at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th January 1881.
JOHN BROWNLIE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OR CONNECTED WITH LOомS FOR WEAVING."
This Invention relates to certain improvements in or connected with looms for
weaving, in which two or more shuttles and changing shuttle boxes are used at
both sides; and it has for its object to provide simple and efficient means and
appliances for depressing or clearing the weft threads of the idle shuttles out of
the way of the weft fork or forks, to allow only the weft thread of the shuttle
last thrown to act on the weft fork, and stop the loom if the thread is broken,
and to release again the weft threads when a shuttle is thrown.
The Invention consists essentially in fitting a shaped wire to the upper end
of a rising and falling rod, and bent over the weft fork trough in such a manner
that when the lathe swings back the weft thread, except the one last thrown,
slip below the wire which depresses them, leaving the last thrown thread or
shot to act on the weft fork.
the race.
Under one modification of the improvements the weft depressing wire is fitted
in the upper end of a rod or lever operated by a cam and lever from the first or
second motion shaft of the loom, as will hereinafter be described, and the rod
carrying the wire passes in front of the lathe and terminates an inch or so above
The wire is set to lie horizontally in the recess or trough of the weft
fork when the wire is in its lowest position. This recess or trough is cut wide
enough in front to admit the bent wire, and the wire entering the recess is bent
up vertically at its inner end, at a point that will allow the shuttle to pass freely
between it and the weft fork, heck, or grate, and then forming a loop which is
doubled back in the same form with a sufficient space between the double wire to
admit the weft fork and holder. In looms in which the throwing of the shuttles is
irregular, or more than one shot is thrown from one side in succession, the wires
would rise and fall for every shot, but when the shuttles are thrown from either
side alternately, it will suffice to raise and depress the wires once for every second
shot. The wires are actuated so that they begin to rise when the lathe begins to
move back. The rising of the wires allows the weft thread of the shuttle which is

page_text: then thrown to escape, and the oscillating motion of the lathe brings the weft
threads under the wires. When the lathe has reached the back position the
wires drop, depressing all the weft threads below the race and clear of the weft
fork, except the one from the shuttle just thrown, which from the difference of its
position is not caught by the wire, and is left free to act on the weft fork.
A downwardly projecting loop or a-pin on the wire is provided to prevent the
threads being drawn out from below the wire as the lathe comes forward to its
front position.
The vertical motion of the rod carrying the depressing wire may be obtained in
various ways to suit the different circumstances.
By one simple arrangement the upright rod is jointed to a long horizontal bar
jointed at its back end, and having an arm fixed or formed on it with a sweep at
its upper end which is struck by an eccentric pin, cam, or wyper, fitted on the
intermediate or second motion shaft of the loom. Each action of the pin or cam
strikes back the sweep arm and raises the front end of the horizontal lever, and
with it the upright rod and wire. But the wire may be raised by a rod jointed
to it and actuated by a cam on the first motion shaft, or from any other convenient
shaft of the loom.