IMPROVING THE ART OF WEAVING, BEING AN IMPROVEMENT IN
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Barton H. Jenks, of Bridesburg, in the State of
Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVING THE ART OF WEAVING, BEING AN IMPROVEMENT IN
"
Scaled the 16th January 1855, and dated the 27th July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Barton H. Jenks at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1854.
I, BARTON H. JENKS, of Bridesburg, in the State of Pennsylvania, in the
United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVING THE ART OF WEAVING, BEING AN IMPROVEMENT IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING FANCY FABRICS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of looms, and also
to improve their working capacity. These advantages I attain by the adoption
of the following contrivances :-
1st. For raising and lowering alternately a two-shelf shuttle box, or holding
the same stationary for a longer or shorter period, I employ a rotating cam in
combination with a clutch box, which cam, by rocking a lever, raises a lifting
rod connected with the shuttle boxes.
2nd. For rendering the pattern or pin wheel capable of working large:
A

page_text: patterns than it could heretofore work without increasing its size, I employ a
ratchet wheel multiplier, which is driven by the same click that works the
pattern wheel.
3rd. I employ a series of shuttle boxes, independent of the cheeks of the lay,
and constructed of shelves, united by upright bars, which serve also as guides
so that it is a mero skeleton or frame, whereby the weight of the moving parts
of the series of boxes is materially reduced. This arrangement will admit of
the "changes" being safely made with greater rapidity than heretofore, and the
speed of the loom being correspondingly increased. The shuttle box I con-
struct in a skeleton form, of cast iron, rendered malleable and without joints,
which shuttle box combines strength, lightness, durability, and cheapness, and
is free from the great liability to shake to pieces, to which a light box made
with joints is subject, from the violent concussions to which it is continually
exposed, and it avoids the straining of the lay and driving machinery, caused by
shuttle boxes made heavy to secure the requisite strength.
4th. In place of the numerous shuttle binders, I employ one (whether placed
in the front or back of the lay) in combination with a series of shuttle boxes,
in such manner that the binder will perform the ordinary duties of that instru-
ment for every shuttle box of a series. This shuttle binder I operate indepen-
dently of the shuttle boxes, in such manner that it shall be withdrawn from the
shelves at the proper time to allow the boxes to be moved without obstruction
from it.
5th. For clearing the shuttle from the picker, preparatory to raising or
lowering the shuttle boxes, I move the shuttle from the outer end of the box
a short distance, by either a recoil spring or a slight forward movement of the
picker, or by holding the picker slightly in advance of its extreme back posi-
tion until the shuttle is in place, and then allowing it to retreat back from the
end of the shuttle. By this means the picking mechanism itself is made to
clear the shuttle before the shuttle box moves, instead of this clearance being
dependent upon the motion of the lay or other parts of the loom, as heretofore.
6th. To work the treadles, I employ rotating cams (having also an endway
movement), the bosses of which cams have two threads of unequal pitch, into
which segmental screw threads or nuts respectively work intermittently and
alternately, for the purpose of traversing the cams from one treadle to another
in the order required for the weaving.
7th. For working the shuttles, I apply a parallel motion to the picker stall,
preferring a telescope joint for connecting the picker staff with its fulcrum.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Barton Howard Jenks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BARTON
HOWARD JENES, of Bridesburg, in the County of Philadelphia, and State
of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Barton Howard Jenks, Her special license that I, the said Barton Howard
Jenks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Barton Howard Jenks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend,, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING PLAIN AND FANCY FABRICS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Barton Howard Jenks,
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 is to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Offico within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Barton Howard Jenks, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Certain Improvements in Power Looms for Weaving
Plain and Fancy Fabrics" is shewn in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 represents a view in perspective of a loom, fitted with two shuttle boxes
at one end of the lay, and with picker staffs which carry the pickers on their
upper ends in a line parallel, or thereabouts, to the race board, thereby dis-
pensing with the guide rods usually employed for the pickers to slide on.
Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section of the same, taken above the cam shaft
and through the axis of the pattern wheel, the mechanism for operating the
2

page_text: shuttle boxes at the left end of the loom and the lay, and cloth and yarn rolls,
being omitted: Fig. 3 represents a plan of the shifting cams, which operate
the harness treadles, shewn detached from the loom and in connection with the
mechanism that adjusts them, a portion of the cam shaft and sections of the
treadles beneath them being shewn. The cams in this view are shewn in a
different position from that in which they are represented in Fig. 2. Figs. 4
represent one of the shifting cams, the mechanism for adjusting the same being
detached from the loom and dissected. Fig. 5 represents a top view of one
end of the lay with the two shuttle boxes, shuttle binder, picker, picker staff,
and the mechanism for operating the shuttle binder shewn. In Fig. 5, A re-
presents a front elevation of the parts shewn in plan in Fig. 5; and at Fig. 5,
B represents an end elevation of the same parts. Fig. 6 represents a view in
perspective of the skeleton shuttle box, detached from the lay. Fig. 7 repre-
sents an end elevation of the loom, with common picker staff and picker
moving on guide rods, and a modified arrangement of the shuttle binder, and
with the back check of the shuttle box at the back instead of the front of the
lay, as shewn in Fig. 1. Fig. 8 represents an elevation of the right half of the
front of the loom, shewing a front view of the parts seen in the end elevation.
Fig. 9 is a back view of that part of the shuttle box, lay picker, and shuttle
binder seen in front elevation in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 represents a supplementary
wiper on the cam shaft, and a supplementary shoe on the picker treadle, for
the purpose of separating the end of the shuttle and the picker preparatary to
moving the shuttle boxes, this device being a substitute for the recoil spring,
shewn in Figures 1 and 8. Fig. 11 represents a modified construction and
arrangement of the wiper and shoc, for the same purpose as that shewn in
Fig. 10.
The frame A of the loom, as well as the yarn and cloth beams, and the
mechanism for letting off the yarn, and that for taking up the woven cloth,
also the headles, treadles, crank shaft, driving gear, and pickers, are of the
usual construction; but any other approved construction may be employed, and
therefore I do not deem it requisite to give any particular description of them,
more especially as they will be herein-after described in connection with my
improvements, so far as may be necessary to a proper understanding of the
application and connection of that which is new to that which is old. The
headles B are suspended in the usual manner in pairs, by straps passing over
the rolls C, one headle of each pair being attached to one end of the strap and
the other to the other end, so as to counterbalance each other, and to cause
the depression of one to elevate the other; the elevation and depression of the
headles is effected by connecting them with treadles D, by means of cords or

page_text: straps, there being as many treadles as headles, so that the relative order of
moving the headles may be more readily varied. The treadles are held up at
a point half way between the extremes of the range of motion by counter-
weights or springs, and are depressed by a pair of cams; the depression of two
treadles by the cams causes the two others suspended by the opposite ends of
the same straps simultaneously to rise, and as each treadle must be depressed
in its turn, according to a determined order of succession, it is highly important,
in order to work the headles so as to produce regular and symmetrical figures,
that the mechanism by which this movement of the treadles is effected should
be certain and regular in its operation, and not liable to derangement. The
device which I employ for this purpose consists of a pair of cams E, mounted
on the cam shaft F, in such a manner that they are free to slide thereon
towards and from each other a distance equal to half the width of the space
occupied by the treadles. This sliding movement is for the purpose of enabling
each of the cams to traverse across ono half the treadles, so as to depress first
ono and then another, as may be required; while the cams are thus free to
slide on the shaft they cannot turn on it, but only with it, as the eye of each
cam is fitted with a groove, through which passes a longitudinal rib or feather
on the shaft; or the shaft on which the cam slides may be made polygonal, and
the eye of the cam of corresponding form, to permit them to slide but not to
turn on each other. The particular movement required of the cams, in the
example represented in the Drawings, is that they shall slide suddenly towards
each other, when that part of their circumferences having the least excentricity
is next the treadles, and stand in that position until the cam shaft, by turning,
causes that part of their circumferences having the greatest excentricity to bear
down the treadles, and then by continuing to turn again to bring that part of
their circumferences having the least excentricity adjacent to the treadles to
permit them to rise again. At this point the cams are required to diverge
or separate suddenly, so as to bring them over the two treadles next outside of
the two middle ones, and to stay in that position until the two treadles beneath
them have been operated in the same manner as the two middle treadles.
The cams are then required to diverge in the same manner as before, until
they stand over the two treadles outside of the two last-mentioned, and operate
them as they operated the others, when they must again diverge, to operate in
like manner the two outside treadles. The cams have now, by moving a step
at each revolution of the cam shaft, been brought in succession over, and have
operated each treadle between the middle and outside, and have reached the
point of greatest divergence, and must by a single step be brought back to the
middle in time to operate the middle treadle, and then by short steps, as before,

page_text: to operate the remainder in succession to the outer treadles, thus moving over
and actuating the treadles in regular succession. These intermittent move-
ments of the cams along the shaft, during their continuous revolution with the
same, is effected by means of two sectional screw threads 1 and 2, of unequal
pitch, on the cylindrical hub of each cam, the thread 1, which causes the cams
to diverge, being only one-fourth the pitch of the thread 2, which causes them
to approach. The thread which causes the divergence of the cams remains in
connection with its nut 3 (which is also a sectional screw) during four
consecutive revolutions of the shaft F, when it's connection with its nut is
intermitted for one revolution, during which time the other screw with the wide
pitch is brought into gear with its nut 4, and as it moves the cam in the
opposite direction from that in which it was moved by the thread of the narrow
pitch, the cam is by one turn of the wide pitch screw restored to the position
whence it was started by the narrow pitch screw; the narrow pitch is now
again brought into gear, and the wide pitch thread thrown out of gear, where
it remains until four revolutions of the cam shaft have operated the narrow
pitch screw four times, when it is again brought in gear, so that it is in action
one revolution and intermits four, while the other thread intermits one revolu-
tion and acts during four. The relative action and intermittence of the two
screw threads must in all cases correspond to their relative pitch. If one is of
three times as wide pitch as the other, one must connect with its nut during
three revolutions and disconnect during one, and the other must connect with
its nut during one revolution and disconnect during three. This movement
would be adapted to six headles and six treadles; other variations in the
relative pitches of the screw threads would adapt them to working a greater or
'less number of headles. In order to facilitate those changes, the screw threads
may be made removeable from the hub of the cam, and that part of the hub to
which they are attached may be detachable from the other part of the hub, so
that the same loom may be adapted to working different numbers of headles
ns may be required in the fabrication of different kinds of cloth. The two cams
do not act upon their respective treadles simultaneously, nor do they slide from
or towards the middle of the shaft simultaneously, but they act and slide
alternately, as one cam opens the shed for the shuttle from one side of the
loom, and the other for the shuttle from the other side. The point of greatest
excentricity of each cam is therefore on the opposite sides of the cam shaft,
and each revolution therefore of this shaft will open two sheds, and as two
wipers corresponding to the two cams are mounted thereon to actuate the two
pickers, it will cause two weft threads to be thrown across the web at each
revolution, and as the lay must beat up each weft thread into the front angle

page_text: of the shed of the cloth, the crank shaft G, which actuates the lay, must turn
twice for every revolution of the cam shaft F.
The two sectional screw threads 1 and 2 are placed on the opposite sides of
the hub, and each must act while the cam bas its side of least excentricity next
the treadles. The nuts 4 and 5 are placed on opposite sides of the hub, and
connected by a yoke that turns on a pivot (see Fig. 4); this renders the action
of the threads much more certain, and the danger of breaking is diminished, as
the act of throwing one nut out of gear will bring the other into gear.
The
sectional threads of the nut of narrow pitch are formed on a bar 5, attached to
one extremity of the yoke 10, and the threads 3 of the bar 5 resemble a cogged
rack. On the end of the bar a projection or knob 7 is placed, against which
an inclined wiper or projection 8, on the cylinder E2, is brought immediately
after the cam has reached its extreme point of divergence, and has operated
the outside treadle. This wiper 8 forces the nut 3 out of gear with the thread 1,
as seen on the right of the treadles in Fig. 2, and it at the same time forces
the sectional nut 4 on the opposite extremity of the yoke into gear with the
wide pitch thread 2, which is formed by cutting a groove into the surface of the
cylinder; this groove is enlarged at each end, to allow the foot or enlarged
extremity 9 of the nut thread 4 to enter, but is narrow between these points,
so as to permit the foot of the nut thread to slide over it without entering.
When the foot emerges from the end of the thread groove 2, opposite to where
it entered, it rises to the surface of the cylinder, whose radius is so much
greater than that of the groove, that it will turn the yoke 10 far enough to
bring the thread 1 again into gear with the nut 3, where it will remain until
the cam E has revolved four times, and brought the wiper 8 into the proper
position to throw the nut 3 out of gear, and the end 11 of the groove 2 brought
ready to meet and receive the foot 9 of the nut 4, and by turning it to move
the cam E back to the proper position to gear again with the nut 3. The
yoke 10 and the cylinder E², detached and dissected, are shewn in Figures 4.
The uninclined rib 1*, which connects with and is a continuation of the narrow
pitch thread 1 (at the point i), is for the purpose of holding the cam steadily
over the treadle while actuating the same. The rib 1, which is parallel to a
plane at right angles to the axis of the cam, performs its office by turning
between the threads of the nut 3; in this way the sectional nut 3, in connec-
tion with this rib, and the sectional thread 1, performs the duties of moving the
cam into the proper position, and then holding it there until it is ready again
to change its position.
Thus, these complicated intermittent movements of the cams are performed
with great certainty and precision, and by the simplest means.

page_text: It is obvious that the form and arrangement of the sectional screws, nuts,
and yoke may be varied to a very great extent, and still they will perform the
duty of changing the cam substantially as they now do. Several modifications
have been essayed by me, some more and others less advantageous and perfect;
but as the form which I have represented is, in my opinion, the best, I deem it
unnecessary to describe others.
This loom is fitted above the end of the lay with a series of shuttle boxes II,
to carry a series of shuttles with a variety of colors or qualities of weft thread,
and these shuttles arc, by mechanism provided for the purpose, brought in
succession and in the required order on a level with the race, ready to be thrown
through the shed and woven into the web. These shuttles with the different
kinds of weft are arranged one above another on a series of shelves 12, affixed
to upright bars 13, supported on a cross bar 14, which rests upon the upper end
of a rod 15, whose lower end has a shoe 16 affixed to it, (as seen in Figures 6
and 7,) which rests upon a lever 17, that turns on a fulcrum 18, to raise and
lower the rod 15, and with it the shuttle boxes. The inner sides of the upright
bars 13 of the shuttle box frame are grooved, and they fit on ribs or guides
upon the edge of the ribs 19, on the stationary back check 20, which is affixed
to the lay, as in the case of stationary shuttle boxes. The front check of the
shuttle boxes is also in this example affixed to the lay, so that the moving part
of the shuttle box is reduced to the mere shelves and upright pieces which
connect them together, thus avoiding all necessity for moving the heretofore
heavy and cumbrous box, with back and front checks, binding levers, and other
parts, the great weight of which has prevented looms for weaving fancy fabrics
from being worked fast without subjecting them continually to such heavy
shocks and jars as would rapidly tear them to pieces.
This frame of shelves I prefer to make of cast iron, rendered malleable and
without joints, and when made in this manner it combines strength, durability,
and cheapness; it is also free from the great liability to shake to pieces, to
which a light box made with joints is so subject from the constant concussions
to which it is exposed. Its lightness prevents it from straining the lay and
driving machinery, like other boxes of equal strength constructed upon other
plans, and which must always be made much heavier than these, in order to
obtain the requisite strength. Sometimes the front stationary check is dispensed
with, and instead thereof a flange 21 (see Figures 6 and 8) is turned up on the
whole length of the front edge of the shelves, instead of being formed on a
portion of it only, as represented in the Drawing.
This arrangement permits the picker rods to be placed nearer the shuttle,
which causes the picker to work casier, as the directions of the force and

page_text: resistance then act nearer the same line. The shuttle boxes are raised or
lowered at each revolution of the cam shaft the height of one shelf, or they
may be left standing any required number of revolutions, so that the shuttle in
the shelf opposite the race may be thrown to the opposite side of the loom and
back at least once before another change is made, or, if required, several times
in succession. This movement of the shuttle box is effected by a cam I on the
cam shaft, controlled and regulated by a pattern wheel J.
It often happens that broad stripes of any kind of weft are required, in
combination with several narrow stripes of weft of other kinds, and it is
necessary to make a pattern wheel very large to work such patterns or designs
as this, and some designs run into such great extremes that they cannot be
worked by a pattern wheel of this kind within any practicable dimensions.
To remedy this defect in the pattern wheel I have devised what I denominate
a multiplier, which I have shown, in connection with the pattern wheel J, on
the right side of the loom. This multiplier is a small ratchet wheel K, with
teeth of the same pitch as those upon the periphery of the pattern wheel, except
on one side, where there is a deep notch 22, occupying the space of about
three teeth. This ratchet wheel is placed in such a position that the ratchet
finger L, which turns the pattern wheel, will traverse equal distances above and
below the ralius, which extends from the centre of that wheel through the axis
of the ratchet wheel. The periphery of the ratchet wheel K is made to project.
beyond that of the pattern wheel J (see Fig. 7) a distance fully equal to the
depth of its teeth, in order that the ratchet finger L, whose edge is wide
enough to extend across the face of both the pattern and ratchet wheel, may,
when engaged with the ratchet wheel, not be engaged with the teeth of the
pattern wheel, thus allowing the pattern wheel to remain at rest until the
ratchet wheel has been turned one tooth at a time, a complete revolution or
rather a revolution all but the width of the notch 22, in its periphery. As soon
as the ratchet finger L reaches the notch 22, it again drops into gear with the
periphery of the pattern wheel, and turns the same, one notch at a time, until
one of the pins 25 on its back comes round into contact with the pin 24, near
the notch 22, in the ratchet wheel, and turns the latter far enough for the notch
to pass the range of motion of the finger L, when the latter again takes into
the teeth of the ratchet, and is raised out of gear with the teeth of the pattern
wheel. Now, as it is only when the pattern wheel is turned, so as to vibrate
the toe in and out, in order to clutch and unclutch the cam I with the shaft,
that the shuttle boxes are changed, it is plain, that when the proper shuttle
for a broad stripe is brought opposite to the race, it may be kept there for any
required length of time, by having a ratchet wheel of the proper size at that

page_text: time brought into gear with the finger by a pin 23 in the proper place on the
back of the wheel J; and in case the ratchet wheel has not teeth enough to
make a stripe of the requisite length, that is easily remedied by having a pin
23 in the proper place on the back of the pattern wheel, and a blank space, or
a space of pins, as the case may be, on the face of the wheel under the toe /,
of the length required to hold the toe in the proper position, until the pins 23
turn the ratchet wheel K by its pin 24, so as to cause the notch 22 to pass the
range of motion of the ratchet finger L, when the latter will again be thrown
out of gear with the pattern wheel by engaging with the ratchet wheel, and the
pause or interval between the changes of the shuttle box will be doubled, and,
if need be, trebled, by putting the finger L and ratchet wheel K again in gear
before the pin wheel is turned, so as to change the position of the toe. . By
this means, the blank spaces between the pins 25 on the pattern wheel J may
bo shortened, and the stripes, checks, or other figures and design at the same
time increased in breadth to any required extent, thus uniting the heretofore
incompatible properties of increased capability for working designs with
increased compactness.
As the pattern wheel is a well-known device in looms, I have not deemed it
necessary to describe the manner in which it operates to change the shuttle
boxes, as every intelligent constructor of looms is already familiar with its mode
of operation.
The main object of this shuttle box motion is to give the power loom an
increased capacity for weaving checks and plaids, and it does this by rendering
it safe to run the loom at a speed of about two hundred picks per minute.
Heretofore it was not safe to run anywhere near this speed, because the
shuttles could not without great danger of breaking the machinery be changed
fast enough. At a speed like this the power loom will, as a matter of course,
entirely supersede the ordinary hand loom check weaving, which from defects
in the power loom has hitherto been extensively carried on by hand, especially
in Great Britain. This shuttle box motion, although specially designed for
plaid looms, is adapted to the weaving of fabrics of any description that require
two shuttles for the weft thread. The pin wheel J is for the purpose of regu-
lating the order in which the shuttle boxes are raised and lowered. The cam
I effects, through the medium of the lever 17 and lifting rod 15, the raising
and lowering of the boxes. On the front extremity of the lever 17 the shoc
of the lifting rod 15 rests, and the opposite end of the lever is fitted with a
lateral pin 26, which carries a slide which traverses two spiral grooves starting
from a common point, one winding to the left and the other to the right round
a common centre; and the divergent end of each, when it has nearly completed

page_text: a convolution, say, when it has reached about three hundred and twenty
degrees, turns rapidly but not abruptly in towards the beginning of the other
spiral and meets it, thus forming an endless groove of two intersecting
convolutions.
Although I have designated these convolutions as spiral, they are not regular
geometrical spirals; but, except for about one sixth of a circle, including an
equal distance on both sides of where these grooves intersect, they are con-
centric with the axis of the cam, and give no motion to the lever 17 or
shuttle boxes H. The latter are only moved when, by the revolution of the
cam I, the slide passes through the excentric portions of the grooves from one
convolution to another; and when this motion is from the inner convolution
to the outer, the rear end of the lever is depressed, and its front extremity,
with the shuttle boxes resting thereon, are raised; on the contrary, when the
slide passes from the outer to the inner groove of the cam, the rear end of the
lever. is raised, and the front, with the shuttle boxes, are depressed. The
relative length of the two ends of the lever 17, and the distance through which
the slide moves in passing from one groove to another, are such, that the
shuttle boxes are raised and depressed the proper distance to bring the two
shelves 12 alternately opposite the race. The positions of the shelves are thus
changed at every revolution of the cam shaft F, while the cam I is kept
clutched to the shaft and turns with the same; but whenever it is required to
keep one of the shelves opposite the race during more than one revolution of
the cam shaft, the toe l is allowed to rest against a blank space on the side of
the rim of the wheel J, when the shaft 27, to which the arm L2 of the toe is
affixed, turns far enough to move the arm 28 towards the side of the loom, so
as to draw in the clutch bolt 29, and uncouple the shaft F and cam I. The
clutch being constantly pulled from the, cam by the spring 30 acting on the
arm 28, the instant the pin releases the toe the clutch is drawn by the spring
out of gear with the cam, and uncoupling it with the shaft, a spring detent 31
dropping at the same time into the notch 32 on the periphery of the cam, to
prevent it from being turned by the friction between its eye and the shaft. As
the wiper or cam M on the cam shaft F, which actuates the click or finger L
through the lever 33, only acts when the notch 32 of the cam I is up, and in
gear with the detent, the shuttle box is always held stationary when in its
highest or lowest position, but not in any intermediate one.
As the toe can,
in connection with the cam I, perform all its functions by occupying two posi-
tions, it is only necessary to have pins 25 of one length for it to rest upon when
not bearing against the face of the wheel. If the toe were required to occupy
more than the two positions exemplified by the arrangement represented in the

page_text: If
Drawing, pins of more than two different lengths would have to be inserted in
the wheel. With these modifications of devices for working the shuttle boxes
by the combination of a cam and pin wheel, any skilful constructor. of fancy
fabric looms for weaving will easily be able to vary the mechanism to adapt
it to special circumstances and purposes. Heretofore the cheeks of the lay
have been fitted with as many spring swells or shuttle binders as there were
shelves or shuttle boxes; this added greatly to the weight, bulk, and com-
plexity of the boxes. Instead of a binder for each shuttle box, I employ one
on each side of the loom, and which is common to all the boxes on that side,
and the check is perforated for the face 34 of the binder N to pass through
and project into the box, which for the time being is on a level with the race,
whether such cheek be placed in the front or rear of the box. Each binder is
mounted on one end of a rod 35, that lies in bearings on the back of the lay.
Near the middle of the rod two arms are affixed, which project forward beneath
the lay; the longer one, 36, has its front extremity turned upwards to an angle
of about twenty degrees, so that as the lay moves forward it may strike on a
roller, or on a bar 37, and be raised up to turn the rod 35, and retract the
swells from the shuttle box into the perforation in the side of the cheek, and
thus permit the shuttle boxes to be raised or lowered without obstruction.
the shuttle is not properly boxed, the short or slotted arm a will be depressed
by the spring b, Fig. 9, and will hold down the arm c, whose wrist pin e is
engaged in the slot f, and this will turn the shaft g, on which the arm c is
affixed, so as to raise a finger h, which the shaft g also carries, and which pro-
jects forward in the raised position, so that its front extremity will strike the
lever o and turn it on its fulcrum. This movement of the lever will unlatch
a spring shipper P, which will throw off the driving belt from the fast to the
loose pulley, and thus stop the loom. By this arrangement, the rod 35 with
ts arms is made to perform the ordinary duty of a protector, to unship the belt
from the fast pulley and stop the loom when a shuttle fails to enter the box
properly; the rod 35 and its appendages will also perform the additional office
of holding the swell N back from the range of motion of the shuttle boxes
while they are being raised and lowered, and will again release it as soon as
the shuttle boxes are in their proper position and ready for the swell to perform
its duty; it will also allow it to be pressed forward into the shuttle box by the
spring b, which, by pressing upon the arm a, will constantly tend to turn the
rod 35, and force the face 34 of the swell forward into the box. Under such
an arrangement as this, one swell can be adapted to all the shuttle boxes on
either side of the loom, however numerous they may be, and will work more
satisfactorily than the series of swells heretofore used.

page_text: The shuttle binder N2, shown in Figures 1 and 5, differs in construction
from that shown in Figures 7 and 8, and is placed in front of the lay, while
the other binder is on the back thereof. This binder N³ is a spring, bent into
the form represented, so that the part which is shaped like a bow may protrude
through the cheek into the shuttle box, and form a gradual swell for the shuttle
to press against on entering the box. The outer end of the spring binder or
swell No is secured firmly to the front cheek 38, projecting from the lay, which
guides the shuttle boxes, its position being such that it will, if not restrained,
press the bow or swell 39 into the box through the slot or opening in the cheek
38. To draw the swell of the shuttle binder out of the box, in order to permit
the latter to move up or down to change the shuttles, it is connected by a link
or joint 40 to an arm 41, on a rod or light shaft 42, which lies in bearings on
the front of the lay. Near the middle of the lay a second arm, 43, projects
forward horizontally from the rod 42; this arm is curved downward at its front
end, so that when the lay moves forward it will be depressed, as shown in
Fig. 5, B, by coming in contact with a friction roller 44, and passing beneath
the same. This depression of the arm 43 will turn the rod 42 in a correspond-
ing manner, which will turn the arm 41 forward far enough to draw the swell
39 of the binder out of the shuttle box. When the lay falls back, the arm 43
will be free to rise, and will be raised by the force of the spring binder, which
will again return the swell 39 into the shuttle box. In this way the swell will
be withdrawn and returned with every beat of the lay. In case the shuttle
should not properly enter the box; and force out the swell far enough to
turn back the arm 41, and depress the finger h to a corresponding extent, the
latter will stand high enough to strike the stop lever, and throw the driving
mechanism out of gear, thus by the simplest means preventing injury to the
loom from the failure of the shuttle to arrive at its proper destination in
the box.
When the shuttle is thrown into its box, it enters with great momentum,
which causes it to drive back the picker 45 before it, and force back the swell
or binder, and only stops when it has driven the picker entirely home to the
other end of the box, and is itself forced tightly into the cavity made in the
picker, for the reception of the end of the shuttle. It is plain that with the
shuttle and picker thus firmly interlocked the shuttle boxes cannot be raised;
I have therefore been compelled to contrive a mode of attaining this object.
This is effected by affixing a spring, 46, beyond the end of the shuttle box and
outside of the picker, for the latter to strike against, and then, by the recoil of
the spring, rebound and throw the shuttle forward slightly into the box; this
spring thus performs the duty of detaching the shuttle from the picker very

page_text: well. Another mode of attaining this object is to attach a wiper Q, Fig. 10, to
the cam shaft, at the proper position to strike a shoe q, on the picker treadle R,
and move the latter slightly, so as to start the picker and shuttle forward, say,
an inch, and then let the picker fall back again; this effectually forces the
shuttle from the picker by a certain and positive motion. Another method of
accomplishing this object is to attach a shoe s, Fig. 11, to the picker treadle,
and a wiper S to the cam shaft; the shoe and wiper being of such a form, and
árranged in such manner, that the treadle will, at the time the shuttle is enter-
ing the shuttle box, be depressed far enough to hold the picker forward an
inch, more or less; but after the shuttle has entered the box, and its motion
has been arrested, the picker shall be released, and permitted to retreat again
to the outer extreme of its range of motion by striking it, thus leaving
the end of the shuttle free, so that the shuttle box may be raised or lowered
without obstruction.
As the jarring of the shuttle boxes and shuttles by the motion of the lay
sometimes causes the ends of the shuttles in those boxes which are above and
below the race to protrude so far, that in raising or lowering the boxes the
shuttles would come in contact with the upper or lower side of the picker,
and arrest the motion of the boxes prematurely, or break some part of the
mechanism, I have placed plate V a short distance without the range of
motion of the shuttle boxes, to prevent the ends of the shuttles from pro-
truding too far, and in the range of motion of the picker I make a notch, 50,
in this plate, so that the picker may pass behind it, and be thus placed entirely
out of the reach of any of the parts which are moved while raising and lowering
the shuttle boxes.
For the purpose of avoiding the friction produced by the sliding of the
picker on guide rods, in the manner in which pickers are usually arranged
to work, I dispense with the guide rods altogether, and mount the picker
upon the upper end of the picker staff, as shown in Figures 1, 5, and 5 A.
Under this arrangement it is necessary to give to the upper end of the staff
a rectilinear motion, parallel to the race board, otherwise the shuttle would
not be truly thrown. To accomplish this object, and at the same time avoid
the use of slides and guides to direct the picker, I suspend the picker staff T
from the lay by a radius bar t, the pivot u on which the upper end of the bar
turns being immediately over the pivot v, on which the lower end of the picker
staff turns. The lower end of the staff is fitted into a metallic socket w, which
turns on the pivot v, on the outer end of the bracket y. This socket and the
lower end of the picker staff are so fitted together that the staff can readily be
drawn out of or pushed into the socket, in the manner of a telescope slide, in

page_text: order to elongate and contract the staff, in such a manner, that while its lower
end turns on a pivot v, while it is vibrating to throw the shuttle, its upper end,
which carries the picker 45, may, instead of describing the arc of a circle in
vibrating back and forth, describe a right line, parallel to the race and tan-
gential to the arc, it would describe, if it had the motion of the ordinary
picker staff turning on a pivot. The manner in which this rectilinear move-
ment is produced is obvious:-Suppose the picker staff standing vertically over
the pivot v, on which its lower end turns, it would be parallel to the radius bar,
and to a line drawn through the upper and lower pivots u and u. of the radius
bar, and the pivot v at the lower end of the picker staff. If, now, the picker
be moved towards the outer end of the shuttle box, the picker would tend to
descend in a curve below the level of the point at which it stands if the radius
bart were not there; but the instant the top of the picker staff begins to turn
down, the lower end of the radius bar t begins to ascend, in a corresponding
ratio, and carries up with it the staff, by drawing it out of the socket wat the
foot. (The red line shows how far the staff is drawn out of the socket in the
position which it now occupies at the outer end of the shuttle box.)
this way the picker is kept moving in a right line, or thereabouts, without
the use of guides.
In
The advantages of this parallel motion picker staff are very great in looms
in which a series of shuttle boxes are used, as it gives facilities for detaching
the shuttle from the picker preparatory to shifting the shuttle box, which
cannot be obtained with the use of guides, especially if the loom be worked
at a high speed.
.
I have shewn one mode of dispensing with the use of guides for the picker
to slide on in connection with a series of shuttle boxes, but I do not confine
myself to this alone, as it is obvious that numerous devices besides that which
I have invented are capable of giving to the picker a parallel motion, and I
intend to use any of them that may happen to be convenient; and I reserve
the right to a parallel motion picker staff in combination with a series of
shuttle boxes, whether the parallel movement be produced by the contrivance
I have shown, or any of its numerous equivalents, some of which will, in theory,
carry the picker nearer a straight line, but none of which that I have tried
are, all things considered, as good, in my opinion, as that which I have
represented.
Having thus described my improvements in looms, and some of the modi-
fications thereof, and shown and described the manner in which they are
connected and adapted to such parts of the loom as are old, what I claim
therein as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

page_text: First, the spiral cam I, in combination with the shifting clutch 29 and
lever for raising and lowering alternately a two-shelf shuttle box, or holding
the same stationary for a longer or shorter period, substantially as herein set
forth.
Second, I claim the method, herein described, of rendering the pattern or
pin wheel capable of working larger patterns than it could heretofore work,
without increasing its size, by means of a multiplier, whether the same be
constructed, arranged, and connected with the pin wheel, as herein described,
or otherwise, provided the wheel has its capacity increased thereby, substantially
as set forth.
Third, I claim a series of shuttle boxes independent of the cheeks of the
lay, and constructed of mere shelves, connected together by upright bars, which
serve also as guides, or in any other convenient manner, so that it is a mero
skeleton or frame, whereby the weight of the moving parts of the series of
boxes is materially reduced, and the changes can therefore be safely made with
greater rapidity than heretofore, and the speed of the loom be correspondingly
increased.
Fourth, I claim a skeleton shuttle box, constructed as herein described, of
cast iron, rendered malleable and without joints, which shuttle box combines
strength, lightness, durability, and cheapness, and is free from the great
liability to shake to pieces, to which a light box made with joints is subject,
from the violent concussions to which it is continually exposed, and it avoids
the straining of the lay and driving machinery caused by heavy shuttle
boxes, which must be necessarily made so, in order to secure the requisite
strength.
Fifth, I claim the use of a single shuttle binder, whether placed in the front
or back of the lay in combination with a series of shuttle boxes, in such manner
that the binder will perform the ordinary duties of that instrument for every
shuttle box of a series, however numerous.
Sixth, I claim arranging and operating the shuttle binder independently
of the shuttle boxes, in such manner that it shall be withdrawn from the
shelves at the proper time to allow the boxes to be moved without obstruction
from it.
Seventh, I claim the method, herein described, of clearing the shuttle from
the picker (preparatory to raising or lowering the shuttle boxes) by moving
the shuttle from the outer end of the box a short distance, by either a recoil
spring or a slight forward movement of the picker, or holding the picker slightly
in advance of its extreme back position until the shuttle is in place, and then
allowing it to retreat back from the end of the shuttle, substantially as set forth,

page_text: whereby the picking mechanism itself is made to clear the shuttle before the
shuttle box moves, instead of making this clearance dependent upon the motion
of the lay or other parts of the loom, as heretofore.
Eighth, I claim the combination of the shifting cams for working the
treadles with the two segmental screw threads or nuts of unequal pitch, and
working intermittently and alternately, substantially as herein described, so as
to traverse the cams from one treadle to another, in the order required for the
weaving.
Ninth, the combination with a series of shuttle boxes of a parallel motion
picker staff, whether such motion be produced as herein described, or by
equivalent means.
In witness whereof, I, the said Barton Howard Jenks, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
BARTON HOWARD JENKS. (LS.)