IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRICS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister and José Reixach both of Bradford
in the County of York for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER
LOOMS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRICS "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and
José Reixach at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th May
1883.
SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER and JOSÉ REIXACH both of Bradford in the County
of York, "IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PILE FABRICS
"
The object of this Invention or improvement is for weaving a double piled
fabric, that is two distinct cloths connected by the piled threads which have to be
split or severed to produce two piled fabrics when such double piled fabrics are
woven with two shuttles thrown simultaneously one for each cloth. When
weaving double pile fabrics in two shuttle looms in this way we split or sever the
pile whilst weaving by means of a knife which we cause to travel to and fro across
the loom by cords and pulleys the motion being given by preference by means of a
cam and loop tappet.
To sharpen the knives we use concave rollers covered with a cylinder of
vulcanized india rubber or like elastic material over which is a covering of leather
provided with the grinding material we use for the sharpening of said knives.
When double pile fabrics such as velvets are woven as two distinct cloths
connected by the pile thread which have to be afterwards severed to separate the
double fabric into two separate pieces of velvet and when such fabrics are woven
in a two shuttle loom that is with two shuttles thrown simultaneously one for
each cloth.
The pile rods over which the pile warps pass and which serve to take up the
slack of the warps and to keep a uniform tension upon them as the pile heald is
raised or lowered we place preferably between the two sets of ground warps for
forming the top and bottom cloths and we support the rods from levers to which
Pavice RI

page_text: an up and down movement is imparted from the same pile tappet or lever which
works the pile heald and in this way we maintain a uniform tension upon the pile
warps.
For plush called Utrecht we have four rods which divide the pile warps into
four piles each rod working separately and from its own pile tappet or lever,
three of these rods working above the top warp and one between the two warps.
The weighting motion we work by a feeler which regulates the delivery of the
warp as the warp beam becomes smaller in diameter so that the tension of the
warp is always the same whether the beam is full or otherwise.
We combine with this feeler two rollers held by two levers (one at each end of
the rollers) at the ends of these said levers are the weights the result being that
the weights are direct on the warp instead of the beam thus the warp is very
Bensitive and keeps the pile tight between the two pieces, its tension being always
the same whether the loom is weaving or in the act of being pulled back.

page_text: -
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and José Reixach in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th November 1883.
SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER and JOSÉ REIXACH both of Bradford in the County
of York "IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PILE FABRICS"
These improvements relate first to looms for weaving two pieces of velvet or
other pile fabric face to face at one operation in a power loom with two shuttles
thrown simultaneously the said pieces being connected together by means of the
pile threads upon severing which two separate and distinct pieces of pile fabric are
produced.
In such two shuttle power looms we employ for severing the pile a cutting knife
or blade mounted upon a carriage working in a transverse slide and drawn
backwards and forwards by means of cords.
When the knife comes to rest at one side of the loom it is made to enter between
sharpening rollers one above and one below it. The rollers are mounted so that
they can rise and fall
Either the upper or lower roller is brought into contact with the edge of the
knife and the knife is at the same time caused to travel slowly across it, the roller
always giving the same pressure to the edge of the knife. The other roller is then
brought into contact with the knife and the knife is caused to travel slowly back
by which means the edge of the knife is perfectly and evenly sharpened. To give
the knife a circular edge the rollers are made with a solid core having a concave
exterior covered first with india rubber or like elastic material and then with
leather or similar substance upon which is placed the grinding composition.
This improvement in the construction of the sharpening rollers is applicable not
only in double shuttle looms but also in single shuttle looms for weaving double
pile fabrics in which a knife is traversed to and fro across the loom to sever
the pile.
Another improvement consists in the employment in two shuttle looms for
weaving double pile fabrics of pile rods over which the pile warps are passed and
which rods are supported from levers to which an up and down movement is
imparted from the pile tappet or lever which works the pile heald so as to
maintain an equal or uniform tension on the pile warps.
For the weaving of cloth known as "Taffeta" we preferably place the rods two
in number between the two sets of ground warps whilst for weaving cloth known
as "Utrecht" we have four and by preference we place three of them above the
upper ground warp and one between the two ground warps.
as
t
Another part of this invention consists of the application of a feeler in
combination herein after described with two rollers one of which is kept pressed
against the warps by weighted levers for the proper regulation of the delivery of
the ground warps and also in a sensitive manner to keep the pile tight between
the two pieces, no matter whether the warp beam is large or small in diameter or
whether the loom is weaving or in the act of being pulled back.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed we have shewn the manner in which we
prefer to carry out our improvements.
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of the loom shewing position of
ground warps and pile warp for producing an Utrecht cloth."
Figure 2 shews a through section of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an outside elevation of part of Figure 1.

page_text: .
A is the framework of the loom. B is pedestal for carrying crank shaft. C crank
shaft. D the low or picking shaft. E pedestal for carrying low shaft. F F' are
the ground warps which form the backs of the top and bottom piece respectively.
F is the beam for carrying said ground warps which are wound on one and the
same beam. F³ is the warp guide roller under which the warps F F pass and
thence over the feeler roller F down to the still beams G. G. which are used for
the purpose of conducting each warp to its own angle. H is the lever which
carries the feeler roller F said lever H being fixed on the guide roller F³. At the
other end of lever H is a rod H¹ upon which are placed weights H2 for the purpose
of giving tension to the ground warps F F'. At one end of the guide roller F³ is
fixed the lever I (better seen in Figures 2 and 3) and when any change in the
tension of the warps F F¹ takes place, the feeler roller F* is caused to rise or fall
as the case may be, thereby giving a motion to the guide roller F³ and the lever I.
Lever I in its turn gives motion to a small pulley J" (which is fixed on a shaft J)
by means of a leather strap J. Upon shaft J is another pulley J³ (best seen in
Figures 1 and 2) to which is attached another leather connection J', communicating
the motion to rocking bar K (best seen in Figures 2 and 4). Fixed on the rocking
bar K is a catch K' working in a ratchet wheel K2 (best seen in Figure 1). This
ratchet wheel is keyed on an upright shaft K³ and on this shaft is also fixed a
worm K, geared in a worm wheel K³, which worm wheel is keyed on the warp
beam F. L is a prowl one arm of which receives its up and down motion from a
disc crank L¹ by means of a connecting rod L³ whilst the other arm when moved
forwards acts against the bar K.-The disc-crank L' is fixed on a horizontal
shaft M (best seen in Figure 1) which is driven from the low shaft D. It will be
seen from the above described mechanism that when the tension of the warp
varies, the rocking bar K is moved nearer or further from the prowl L when in its
backward position thereby taking up more or less teeth in the toothed wheel K², so
that at each forward movement of the prowl L the necessary amount of motion is
imparted to the worm K* and consequently to the warp beam F2, and by this means
the tension of the warps is regulated as described.
N N are the pile warp beams, N' is the pile warp for binding the two pieces
together. No. No. No. N° are the pile rods over which the pile warp N' passes and
which serve to take up the slack of the warp and to keep a uniform tension upon
it by means of the springs N* N* N* N* connected by the cords N³, N³, N³, N³, the
springs N receiving their motion from the jack rods 0¹ 0 0 0¹ said jack rods
being fixed on a jack rod stand O, the necessary movement being given to the jack
rods by the heald tappets.
P are the healds for working the pile and ground warps; Q the cloth before
being severed or cut asunder. QQ¹ cloth after being cut or severed. R R are the
pin rollers over which the cloth is drawn as it is being woven and severed; S, the
swords for carrying the batten S¹. S³, S², are the shuttles in their respective boxes;
T, T, are two rollers used for giving off the length of pile required by means of
friction. T¹, T', T¹, are guide rollers for conducting the pile warp round the
rollers T. T.
Figure 5 is an outside elevation of the loom, shewing the knife motion, also the
position and the manner of conducting the ground warps and pile warp, for
producing a cloth called Taffeta.
In this case we employ as above stated two pile rods both supported at each end
by a cord and spring from a jack rod operated by the pile heald-these parts are
marked with the same letters of reference as in figure 1 so that it is unnecessary
to give further description of them.
Figure 6 is also an outside elevation of the loom shewing the knife in its
position when sharpening also the sharpening rollers and the manner of driving
same.
Figure 7 is the double cam for knife motion.
Figure 8 plan of knife motion.

page_text: U Figure 5 is a shaft extending from one side of the loom to the other, upon
which is mounted the grooved wooden pulleys U' (one at each end). The shaft U
receives its motion from a toothed rack V geared with a pinion Us fixed upon the
shaft U (better seen in Figure 8) which is moved to and fro endwise by a double
cam V1 V, acting against two friction runners V³, V*. The rack V is fixed between
two slide bars V6, (Figure 9) said slide bar being supported by friction rollers
V Ve Ve, (better seen in Figures 5 and 8). The double cam V V is fixed upon
the pap or boss of a large toothed wheel W, said wheel being mounted upon the
end of picking shaft D and can turn freely round upon it, W' is a toothed wheel
keyed on the crank shaft C and geared into the large wheel W.
✗¹ is
X Figures 6 and 8 is the knife for cutting the double pile fabric asunder.
the knife frame upon which the knife is mounted and is drawn to and fro across
the loom in the grooved rail Y by means of the cords Z Z, these cords are
conducted downwards by means of guide pulleys Z' Figures 5 and 6 fixed at each
end of the loom. The other ends of the cords Z are attached one to each wooden
pulley U. The two cords Z are led into the pullies U¹ in opposite directions so
that when the shaft U is turned one cord is wound on to one pulley and the other
cord unwound from the other pulley, whereby by giving a partial turn to the
shaft U first in one direction, and then in the other the knife X is caused to
traverse to and fro along the knife or grooved rail Y from side to side of the loom
in a similar way to that described in the Specification of a former Patent granted
to us No 1117 in the year 1871 in which Specification a similar arrangement of
mechanism is described for giving a to and fro traverse to the cutting knife used in
a single shuttle loom.
Figure 10 is a side elevation of sharpening rollers showing the manner of giving
the rising and falling motion to same.
Figure 11 is a section and elevation of sharpening rollers.
Figure 12 is a side elevation of sharpening roller frame.
a a a Figure 11 are the sharpening rollers which are composed of metal
spindles b surrounded by firm barrels c concave on their exteriors; d are tubes of
india rubber surrounding the barrels, and e are coverings of thin leather, or similar
substance, over the surface of which any ordinary suitable composition of grinding
material is spread.
The advantage derived from forming the rollers in this way is that, when each
roller bears against the knife X, its elastic surface readily yields and makes the
cutting edge of the knife X of a rounded form just as though a concave
sharpening roller were being used for the purpose, but by reason of its
elasticity it answers much better than a concave sharpening roller of unyielding
material.
Having thus described the nature of our invention or improvements and the
manner of performing the same we would have it understood that we claim :-
First, In power looms constructed to weave double piled fabrics with two
shuttles thrown simultaneously one for each cloth the employment of a knife
traversed to and fro across the loom by means of cords to sever the pile in
conjunction with sharpening rollers at one side of the loom for sharpening the
knife and in conjunction with mechanism for revolving these rollers and for
bringing them alternately into contact with the opposite edges of the knife
substantially as herein described.
Second. In power looms constructed to weave double piled fabrics with two
shuttles thrown simultaneously one for each cloth the employment for severing the
pile of a knife X knife rail Y cords Z rock shaft U pullies U¹ pinion U' on rocking
shaft U rack V and double cam V₁V for operating this rack substantially as
herein described.
Third-In looms for weaving double pile fabrics in which the pile is severed by
a knife traversed to and fro across the loom the employment for sharpening the
knife of sharpening rollers each formed with a concave barrel covered with a
cylinder of vulcanized india rubber or like elastic material over which is an outer

page_text: covering of leather or similar substance upon which the grinding material may be
spread substantially as herein described.
Fourth In power looms constructed to weave double piled fabrics with two
shuttles thrown simultaneously one for each cloth the employment for maintaining
a uniform tension upon the pile warp of two pile rods suspended from lever arms
to which an up and down movement is imparted from the same pile tappet or lever
which works the pile heald substantially as herein described and illustrated in
Figure 5.
Fifth In power looms constructed to weave double piled fabrics with two
shuttles thrown simultaneously one for each cloth the employment of four pile
rods mounted and operated substantially as herein described and illustrated in
Figure 1.
Sixth The combination of mechanism substantially as herein before described
for maintaining a uniform tension upon the ground warps whether the loom is
weaving or being pulled back.
In witness whereof we the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and José Reixach have
hereunto set our hands and seals this twenty-second day of November in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty three.