IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING AND APPARATUS CON- NECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Rowan, of the firm of John Rowan
and Sons, of Belfast, County Antrim, Engineers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING AND APPARATUS CON-
NECTED THEREWITH:"
Sealed the 3rd November 1853, and dated the 9th August 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rowan
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th August 1858.
Sp
I. WILLIAM ROWAN, of the firm of John Rowan and Sons, of Belfast, Pr
County Antrim, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING AND APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, of a self-acting arrangement for equaliz-
ing the taking up and giving off' motions for the web and warp, whereby
the texture of the cloth is rendered more uniform than with present
modes. A piece of wood or any other material capable of receiving
a clean smooth surface is attached to a lever, the wood preesing upon
the surface of the cloth on the cloth beam, or of the warp on the
yarn beam. This end of the lever is attached to the weight or spring of

page_text: the taking up or giving off motions at present in use, or of the new
system next to be described. In weaving with the preceding arrange-
ment as the cloth is wound on to the cloth bean the diameter becomes
increased, and as the piece of wood just spoken of presses on the cloth
beam it is acted upon by the increase of the diameter, and pushes the
weight of the taking up motion farther from the centre. A similar
apparatus is applied to the yarn beam, or its tension weight may be
connected directly with the apparatus of the cloth beam, the tension in
either case being made to diminish as the acting diameter of the yarı
beam becomes smaller; thus the tension of the cloth remains unchanged
by the alteration of the acting diameter of the cloth, and yarn beams,
and the piece of cloth is woven of uniform fineness from end to end.
Second, of a new system of taking up and giving off motions for
the cloth and yarn. On the end of the cloth beam is fixed a screw
wheel, and on the same axis a lever is placed so as to be capable of
turning on the axis; this lever carries a screw which gears into the
screw wheel, and also has a weight or spring at the outer end. On
the axis of the screw is a toothed wheel, which when the lever falls
below a horizontal position is acted upon by a vibrating finger or pall
kept in motion in the proper place for this purpose by being attached
to any convenient reciprocating part of the loom. The screw through
the means of the wheel being thus turned round in the right direction
winds up the lever to a horizontal position whenever it becomes neces-
sary, and the weight on the lever reacts on the cloth beam to turn it,
keeping the cloth in tension. On the yarn beam is a similar arrange-
ment, except that the screw is acted upon only when the weighted
lever gets above a horizontal position, and then its action is to lower
the lever till it acquires the horizontal position. The weight or spring
on the lever thus holds the yarn in tension against the taking up
motion. These weights or springs may be either adjusted by hand as
occasion requires, as in present looms, or they may be connected with
the self-equalizing apparatus described in the last article.
Third, in a substitute for the temples now used to keep the clothi
distended in width while weaving. This consists of four compound
levers, two on each side of the web of cloth, which being acted upon

page_text: by eccentrics or cams alternately take hold of the edges of the cloth,
and stretch it laterally, one pair of the levers holding on while the other
pair advances to take fresh hold.
And fourth, in an improvement in the method of applying the dress-
ing to the warp. The dressing in this improvement is applied to the
yarn in the loom itself while the process of weaving is proceeding,
instead of employing, as at present, an independent process and a
separate machine for this purpose. In a box containing the paste for
the dressing a metallic roller is made to revolve, the top surface of the
roller standing above the surface of the paste; a scraper is place in
contact with the roller so as to remove any superfluous quantity of the
paste, or a second roller is made to revolve in contact with the first
one, the object in either case being to obtain a thin uniform film of
paste from the roller.
Sp
On another axis parallel to the roller or rollers are secured a series
of brushes so placed that as they revolve they remove a portion of the
film of paste from the roller, and transfer it to the threads of the warp,
at the same time brushing them, and laying the fibres in an opposite
direction to that in which the warp moves in travelling towards the
heddles of the loom, the paste thus laid on the warp being simulta-.
neously dried by the current of air produced by the rotation of the
brushes. The brushes are also made to have a longitudinal motion or
traverse on their axis while revolving to ensure the uniformity of the
dressing, and for the same end I sometimes employ a second series of
brushes on the top surface of the warp, which brush the yarn in the
same direction as the first step.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Rowan in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Spe
WILLIAM ROWAN, of the firm of John Rowan and Sons, of Belfast,
County Antrim, Engineers, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her

page_text: · Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seventeenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Rowan, Her special licence that I,
the said William Rowan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Rowan, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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
AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Rowan, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Rowan, do hereby
.declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say: "
Firstly, my Invention consists of a self-acting arrangement for
equalizing the taking up and giving off motions for the web and warp.
Figure 1, is a longitudinal section, and. Figure 2, a partial ground
plan of a loom constructed with this improvement. A, A, is the side
frame; B, is the cloth beam, shewn with a quantity of the woven
cloth upon it; C, is the yarn beam with the warp upon it; D, is a
frame capable of swinging on its gudgeons a, a, in a pair of brackets
attached to the frame of the loom, and to one end of this frame D. is
connected the lever b. c, c, is a piece of wood fastened to this swinging
frame, its length being equal to the width of the cloth.
weight which gives the tension to the cloth for taking up;
similarly acting weight for giving the tension to the yarn.
E, is the
and F, the
A connecting

page_text: rod d, joins the weight E, to the lever b, and another one e, connects
the two weights E, and F, together. The weight of the swinging frame
D, if suspended as shewn in the Drawings, keeps the wooden piece c, c,
in contact with the cloth; but if from using a different point of sus-
pension or any other reason the weight of the frame is not sufficient for
this purpose I sometimes assist it to maintain contact by a balance
weight or spring. The cloth, as it continues to be wound on the cloth
beam, increases the effective diameter, and pushes the piece of wood c, c..
and the lever to which it is attached, farther from the centre of its
inotion. Thus, as the acting diameter of the cloth beam increases and
tends to diminish the tension on the cloth, the effective leverage through
which the weight E, acts is increased and tends to increase the tension
on the cloth; and if the leverage of the lever b, is correctly propor-
tioned the tension on the cloth will remain invariable, whether there is
much or little cloth on the cloth beam. Again, as the yarn becomes
unwound from the yarn bean C, and the acting diameter of the latter
becomes diminished, the weight F, is pushed by the connecting rod e,
nearer to its centre of motion, and thus equalizes the tension on the
yarn. The Drawings shew this arrangement in connection with the
particular taking up and giving off motions next to be described, but it
can also be casily applied to those in common use. The same effect.
may also be produced by employing similar apparatus in connection
with the yarn beam instead of the cloth beam; or the taking up motion
may be equalized by the variation of the diameter of the cloth beam.
and the giving off motion by the variation of the yarn beam, the two
being made independent of each other; but I prefer the method first
described.
Secondly, the Invention consists of a new taking up and giving off
motion for the cloth and yarn. G, G, Figures 1, and 2, is a spindle.
capable of turning freely in the socket f, attached to the side frame of
the loom. g, and h, two toothed wheels keyed fast on to the spindle G,
so that all must turn together. H, is a lever turning freely on the
spindle G, and having a balance weight i, at the end prolonged beyond
the spindle. I, is an endless screw working on proper bearings formed
in the lever H, and gearing into the toothed wheel 9. j, is a 'ratchet

page_text: wheel fast on the axis of the endless screw I. J, is a triple-ended
lever (shewn only in Figure 2), moving on a centre m, attached to part
of the frame of the loom, and having a reciprocating motion of one or
two inches in extent communicated to it by means of a pin fixed to the
lath or vibrating bar of the sleigh 7, and connecting rod k, or by any
other means most convenient in any particular case. n, is a bar jointed
to the end of the lever J, (shewn detached in Figure 3.) and guided at
the free end by moving in a hole in the plate p, affixed to the frame of
the loom. o, is a spring catch or pawl fastened to the bar n, and actu-
ating the ratchet wheel j. E, is the weight for producing tension on
the cloth, and is capable of sliding on the lever H. The toothed wheel
, gears either directly or through an intermediate wheel with the
wheel 4.
fixed on the cloth beam B. The action is as follows:-The
lever II, being in the position shewn in the Drawing tends to fall by
the action of the weight E, upon it; but the screw T, being geared into
the wheel g, the lever cannot descend without turning the wheels
g, and h, with it, and the latter one turns the wheel , and with it the
cloth beam, thus producing the requisite tension on the cloth. When
the reed strikes home the weft thread last put in the tensional strain
on the yarn beam is partially overcome by the blow; and the weight E
and lever H, having less resistance will fall a short distance. The
spring catch or pawl o, now takes hold of the teeth of the ratchet
wheel, and turns round the screw I, thus winding up the lever H
again to a horizontal position ready for a repetition of the same action.
Should the lever H, be lifted too high by the action of the screw the
ratchet wheel is moved away from the pawl by the rotation of the lever
on its axis, so that the pawl cannot touch the ratchet till the lever falls
down again to a proper level. On the other hand, if the lever II,
falls down too low the ratchet goes deeper into gear with the pawl,
and receives from it an increased amount of motion; hence, the lever
remains always in a horizontal position, or nearly so, and produces
a constant tension on the cloth. The giving off motion for the yarn
beam is similar in its construction and action to the taking up motion
just described, except that it tends to rise instead of fall as the process
of weaving goes on, and the action of the ratchet is to lower the lever

page_text: to the level position. The two weights E, and F, can be adjusted to
produce any required proportion of tension upon the cloth and warp
for weaving a given quality of cloth by the addition or removal of extra
weights placed on E, and F; or the same effect may be obtained when
the first portion of this Invention is not used by sliding the weights
E, and F, nearer to or farther off from the axes of their respective
levers.
The third portion of my Invention consists of a substitute for the
temples now used for keeping the cloth distended laterally while
weaving. Figure 5, is a front elevation, Figure 6, a side eleva-
tion, and Figure 7, a ground plan of this part of my Invention, only
so much of the loom being shewn in the Drawing as is requisite to
shew the nature of this arrangement. K, is a bar having a gudgeon
at each end working in hearings attached to the frame of the loom;
,,,and, are levers moving somewhat stiffly in mortises in the
bar K, each of the centre pins on which the levers turn having a
Screw and nut by which the stiffness may be regulated by pinching or
relaxing the sides of the mortise. Firmly fixed in each of the upper
eyes of the levers,,,and, is a small spindle carrying one of the
upper jaws of the nippers,,, and s. Each of the lower jaws of
these nippers has a socket freely turning on one of the spindles just
alluded to, and is on a piece with or is firmly secured to one of the
double-ended levers t, t, t, and t'; the horizontal limbs of these levers
are connected together in pairs by a pin fixed in the end of one lever,
and working in a slot in the end of the other corresponding lever.
Upon the lower shaft I, of the loom is fixed a pair of cams, t, which
give alternate motion to the two double-ended levers v. v, and which
again by means of the two connecting rods w, w, give a reciprocating
alternate motion to the levers t', t, t, and t'. A pair of springs act
upon the lower limbs of the levers t, &,, and t', or upon the hori-
zontal limbs of the same, or upon the levers v. v, as may be found most
convenient, so as to cause the nippers on one side of the cloth to recede
from those on the other side, when free to do so. When by the revo-
lution of the shaft L, one of the cams comes in contact with the end of
one of the levers-v, it raises that end of the lever, and depresses the

page_text: The cam now leaving
levers 7, and 1³, closes
other end, causing a corresponding depression of one of the pair of
levers connected with it, say t³, and t. The effect of this is to overcome
the elasticity of the spring, and to open the jaws of the two inner pairs
of nippers &², and, until the levers &, and 3, come in contact with
the pins or stops a, a, on the levers 72, and 3; the levers t2, and 1, now
move together as a single piece on the joint pin in the bar K, and the
nippers &³, acting simultaneously and similarly.
the lever v, allows the spring to react upon
the jaws of the nippers s, and 3, upon the cloth firstly, and then by
causing the nippers s, and s³, to recede from each other stretches the
cloth between them. The other cam next raises the other lever v, and
produces a series of actions in the outer pair of nippers s', and st
precisely similar to those just described. A small piu or stop a, a, in
the jaws of each of the outer pairs of nippers prevents them from
advancing farther upon the cloth than is desired.
Fourthly, this Invention consists of a method of applying the
required dressing to the warp threads in the loom while the process of
weaving is proceeding, instead of using an independent machine for
the purpose. P, P, Figures 1, and 4, is a wooden or metallic trougl
fixed across the loom, but capable of being easily detached for the
purpose of being cleansed. In this trough is placed the dressing of
flour paste or other dressing to the depth of about an inch. Q, is a
roller of hard wood, or of metal turned truc, and revolving on an axis
running in bearings fixed to the side frames of the loom. This roller
dips into the dressing, and revolves in contact with the scraper or
"doctor" R, which removes any superfluous quantity of the dressing
and returns it into the trough. S, S, are a pair of brushes, in length
about equal to the width of the cloth to be woven, and fixed to arms
keyed fast upon a shaft T. A pulley U, is fixed near the end of this
shaft, and receives motion from a small pulley on the crank shaft M,
of the loom by a band or cord passing round both. A pinion V, on
the end of the brush shaft working into the wheel W, gives motion to
the dressing roller. Or I sometines, in place of this pair of wheels,
fix a ratchet wheel on the end of the dressing roller axis, and give
motion to it by a pawl or catch actuated by any of the reciprocating

page_text: parts of the looni as may be convenient. X, is a disc or wheel keyed s
on to the axis of the dressing roller at an angle of about two or three
inches to its diameter. Y, is a wheel fast on the axle of the brushes,
having a flanch on each side, between which the wheel X, works, by
which the axle of the brushes, being without collars, receives a traverse
motion once backwards and forwards for every revolution of the dress-
ing roller. The brushes S, S, are so placed in the loom as to pass
lightly through the warp threads when stretched in the loom, and to
touch lightly on the surface of the dressing roller; in doing this they
lick up a portion of dressing from the roller, and transfer it in the
course of revolution to the warp, at the same time brushing down the
fibres of the threads. I also generally employ a second set of brushes
similar to that described, except that it may or may not have the
traverse motion communicated to it. This second set of brushes I
place over the warp, and the direction of the motion should be the
reverse of the lower one.
I do not limit myself to the precise forms of apparatus or modes of
communicating motion described in this Specification, as both may be
varied to suit particular cases.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the method of equalizing the strain or tension on the cloth
and yarn by making the change in diameter of the cloth beam or yarn
beam the means of varying the effective radius with which the tension
weights act, as herein-before described.
Second, the taking up and giving off motions produced by the
employment of weighted levers, as herein described, the said levers
being kept in the proper position for obtaining the best effect by
self-contained endless screws, put in motion by some portion of the
machine.
Third, the employment of nippers or substitutes for the present
temples in keeping the cloth distended, such nippers being in pairs
acting alternately, as heren described; and,
Fourth, the mode of applying the dressing to the warp in the
loom itself while the process of weaving is proceeding, instead of using

page_text: an independent machine for the purpose, the dressing being applied
by brushes having either a rotary or reciprocating motion.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rowan, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
WILL ROWAN. (L.S.)