IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Lee, of the Firm of Tootal, Broadhurst,
Lee, and Company, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Lee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th November 1869.
I, HENRY LEE, of the Firm of Tootal, Broadhurst, Lee, and Company,
of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as
follows:-
This Invention is applicable to what are known as "swivel looms,"
and is intended to facilitate the weaving by power of fancy goods, such
as spotted muslins and other fabrics having isolated raised spots or other
similar patterns on a plain or other ground. In weaving plain spots,
for instance, I use two separate sets of cords for those warp threads with
which the weft threads forming the spots are to be interwoven (one for

page_text: each alternate row of spots) and a separate set of cords for the warp
threads which form the plain ground, cach set being worked by its
respective needles in the "jacquard" machine, or the "Dobby or index
machine," by means of the endless pattern card, as is well understood
by weavers. Attached to the front of the reed and carried thereby is a
shuttle plate or swivel plate, so mounted as to be capable of rising and
falling so as to bring the shuttles which it carries into and out of action
when required. When the shuttles are not in action the shuttle plate is
raised by means of springs, and when the shuttles are required to
operate the shuttle plate is brought down by means of levers actuated
by a tappet or cam on the tappet shaft being thrown into and out of
gear as required by means of a cord provided for that purpose and
worked by the "jacquard" or "Dobby." The shuttle plate is provided
with as many circular recesses as there are to be spots in a row, and each
recess has its own annular shuttle capable of turning therein. The
recesses and also the shuttles are not perfect circles, but are provided
with a notch at the lower side, so that when the shuttle plate is lowered
the warp threads with which the spot weft is to be interwoven can be
raised up into the centre of the annular shuttle, so that as the latter
revolves partially it carries or floats tho weft thread round its group of
warps, the said shuttle carrying a small bobbin to contain the thread
and a needle, through the cyc of which the thread passes, a spring
pressing in a groove of the bobbin to keep a proper tension on the
thread. The shuttles are caused to revolve partially to and fro by means
of a toothed rack sliding in the shuttle plate, and having a projecting
finger, which is caught by one or the other of two notches on a bar,
which is moved to and fro at each revolution of the loom by means of a
lever actuated by a cam on the tappet shaft, the notched bar being
thrown into gear with the finger, when required, by an inclined plane
at the upper end of a rod, which is raised and lowered at the proper
intervals by means of a pegged chain driven by a pin and star wheel
from a spur pinion on the tappet shaft. When the notched bar is
released by the lowering of the inclined plane it is drawn out of gear
with the rack finger by a spring. The shuttle rack can be shifted so as
to bring the finger opposite to either notch on the bar (either by hand
or by a cord from the "jacquard" or "Dobby") in order to cause
the spots of one row to come opposite to the spaces of the last row, and
vice versa. The ground or body of the cloth is woven by means of the
ordinary shuttle, and the spots by the revolving shuttle. The " picking"

page_text: of the ordinary shuttle is effected by two bowls on a wheel or plate on
the tappet shaft, giving two picks for one revolution of the shaft when
weaving the plain part of the cloth between the rows of spots, but only
picking at half speed alternately with the revolving or spot shuttles
when the latter are in action, one of the bowls being at this time thrown
out of the way of the lever which acts on the picking stick by means of
a forked lever actuated by the same motion which brings down the
shuttle plate. If the requirements of the pattern are such that the
group of threads required to produce the same is too broad to pass
through the centre of the revolving annular shuttles above described, or
when it is desired to interweave the spot weft with the threads instead
of floating it over or round the wholo group, I employ sliding shuttles
moving across notches or spaces of a suitable width in the lower edge of
the shuttle plate, and actuated by toothed wheels driven by the toothed
rack before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Lee in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
LEE, of the Firm of Tootal, Broadhurst, Lee, and Company, of Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Lee, Her special license
that I, the said Henry Lee, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Lee, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any timo 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 I, the said Henry Lee, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,

page_text: or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Henry Lee, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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): :-
This Invention is applicable to what are known as "swivel looms,"
and is intended to facilitate the weaving by power of fancy goods, such
as spotted muslins and other fabrics having isolated raised spots or other
similar patterns on a plain or other ground. In weaving plain spots,
for instance, I use two separate sets of cords for those warp threads
with which the weft threads forming the spots are to be interwoven
(one for each alternate row of spots) and a separate set of cords for the
warp threads which form the plain ground, each set being worked by
its respective needles in the. "jacquard" machine or the "Dobby or
index machine," by means of the endless pattern card, as is well under-
stood by weavers. Attached to the front of the reed and carried thereby
is a shuttle plate or swivel plate so mounted as to be capable of rising
and falling, so as to bring the shuttles which it carries into and out of
action when required. When the shuttles are not in action the shuttle
plate is raised by means of springs, and when the shuttles are required
to operate the shuttle plate is brought down by means of levers actuated
by a tappet or cam on the tappet shaft being thrown into and out of
gear as required by means of a cord provided for that purpose, and
worked by the "jacquard" or "Dobby." The shuttle plate is provided
with as many circular recesses as there are to be spots in a row, and
each recess has its own annular shuttle capable of turning therein.
The recesses and also the shuttles are not perfect circles, but are pro-
vided with a notch at the lower side, so that when the shuttle plate is
lowered the warp threads with which the "spot weft" is to be interwoven
can bo raised up into the centre of the annular shuttle, so that as the
latter revolves partially it carrics or "floats" the weft thread round its
group of warps, the said shuttles carrying a small bobbin to contain the
thread and a needle, through the eye of which the thread passes, a spring

page_text: pressing in a groove of the bobbin to keep a proper tension on the
thread. The shuttles are caused to revolve partially to and fro by
means of a toothed rack sliding in the shuttle plate, and having a pro-
jecting finger, which is caught by one or the other of two notches on
a bar, which is moved to and fro at each revolution of the loom by
means of a lover actuated by a cam on the tappet shaft, tho notched
bar being thrown into gear with the finger when required by an inclined
plano at the upper end of a rod, which is raised and lowered at the
proper intervals by means of a pegged chain driven by a pin and star
wheel from a spur pinion on the tappet shaft. When the notched bar
is released by the lowering of the inclined plane it is drawn out of gear
with the rack finger by a spring. The shuttle rack can be shifted so as
to bring the finger opposite to either notch on the bar (either by hand or
by. a cord from the "jacquard" or "Dobby") in order to cause the spots
of one row to come opposite to the spaces of the last row and vice versa.
The ground or body of the cloth is woven by means of the ordinary
shuttle and the spots by the revolving shuttles. The "picking" of the
ordinary shuttle is effected by two bowls on a wheel or plate on the
tappet shaft, giving two picks for one revolution of the shaft when
weaving the plain part of the cloth between the rows of spots, but only
picking at half speed alternately with the revolving or spot shuttles
when the latter are in action; one of the bowls being at this time
thrown out of the way of the lever which acts on the picking stick by
means of a forked lever actuated by the same motion which brings
down the shuttle plate. If the requirements of the pattern are such
that the group of the threads required to produce the same is too broad
to pass through the centre of the revolving annular shuttles above
described, or, when it is desired to interweave the spot weft with the
threads, instead of "floating" it over or round the whole group, I
employ sliding shuttles moving across notches or spaces of a suitable
width in the lower edge of the shuttle plate, and actuated by toothed
wheels driven by the toothed rack before named...
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in Looms for Weaving," I will now proceed to describe more
in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed
or carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be
clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings
illustrative thercof, and have marked the same with figures and letters:

page_text: of reference corresponding with those in the following explanation
tucrcof.
In Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical section
of my improved loom for weaving fancy goods, such as spotted muslins,
showing the position when the lathe is just returning after beating up
the plain pick, the shuttle plate being raised; Fig. 2 is a front view of
the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view. with the yarn and cloth removed;
Fig. 4 is a detached view of the picking motion for weaving the plain
part of the cloth with the large shuttle; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7, are
enlarged views of the shuttle plate and revolving shuttles.
In Sheet 2 of the Drawings Fig. 8 is a front view, showing the sliding
shuttle arrangement, and Fig. 9, enlarged detached views of the working
parts of the same; Fig. 10. is a side elevation of the loom, showing a
modification of the arrangement for actuating the notched bar, and
Fig. 11 is a section of the same.
In Sheet 1, a, a, is the shuttle plate attached to the front of the reed
and capable of rising and falling; b, b, are springs for raising the
shuttle plate up out of the way by means of the rods c, c, when the
revolving shuttles are not required to be in operation. The rods c, c, are
attached to levers d, d, connected by straps e, e, to a treadle f,f,
actuated by a tappet or cam g, g, being thrown into and out of gear by
means of two inclined cams h, h*, one h being fixed to the frame, and
the other being movable and worked by means of a special cord from
the jacquard" or "Dobby," attached to the finger i, i. The shuttle
plate a, a, is provided with as many circular recesses as there are to be
spots in a row (see enlarged view, Fig. 6), and each recess has its own
annular shuttle 1, k, capable of turning backwards and forwards therein.
The recesses (and also the shuttles) are provided with notchics 1, 1, at
the lower side for the passage of the "spot" warp threads, so that each
shuttle in revolving can carry the "spot" weft round its group of warps, as
clearly shown at Fig. 7, cach shuttle being provided with a bobbin m, m,
of weft, and a fixed needle n, n, through the eye of which the thread
passes, the proper tension being preserved by the spring o, o. p, p, is
the toothed rack sliding in the shuttle plate for causing the shuttles to
revolve partially to and fro, and having a projecting finger q, q, which
is caught by one or other of two notches on a bar r, r.
This bar r, r,
is moved to and fro at each revolution of the loom by means of a
lever 8, 8, actuated by a cam t, t, on the tappet shaft u, u, the said

page_text: notched bar being thrown into gear with the finger q, q, when required
by means of the inclined plane v, v, at the upper end of the rod 10, w,
(see Fig. 1.) The rod w, w, is raised and lowered at the proper intervals
by means of a lever wo* acted on by the pegged chain x, x, driven by a
pin and star wheel y, y, actuated from the tappet shaft u, u.
When
the notched bar, r, is released by the lowering of the inclined plane u, v,
it is drawn out of gear with the rack by a spring,. (see Fig. 3). The
shuttle rack p, p, must be shifted between each row of spots, so as to
bring the finger q, q, alternately opposite to each notch in the bar, r,
in order to cause the spots of one row to come opposite the spaces of the
last row, and vice versa, and this shifting of the shuttle rack may either
be performed by hand or by cords from the "jacquard" or "Dobby"
connected to the bell crank levers 1, 1, (see Fig. 2). The "picking"
of the ordinary shuttle for the. " ground" weft is effected by the
bowls 2, 2, (see also detached view, Fig. 4), which bowls are carried
on a wheel or plate 3, 3, on the tappet shaft u, u. These bowls give two
picks for one revolution of the shaft when weaving the plain part of
the cloth between the rows of spots, but only pick at half speed (that
is, once in each revolution) alternately with the rovolving or "spot"
shuttles when the latter are in action; one of the bowls being at this
time thrown out of the way of the lever 4, 4, which actuates the picking
stick by means of a forked lever 5, 5, in connection with the same
motion which brings down the shuttle plate a, a. The arrangement
for working the "spot" shuttles in cases where the group of threads
required to produce cach spot or pattern is too broad to pass through
the notches 1, 2, in the revolving shuttles, or when it is desired to inter-
weave the "spot" weft with the warp threads instead of floating it over
is shown in Sheet 2, at Figs. 8 and 9, in which it will be seen that
the modification for this purpose consists in using a series of sliding
shuttles 6, 6, instead of the revolving shuttles. These shuttles aro
carried by a sliding shuttle plate 7, 7, and are worked by a rack and
pinion, together with the notched bar and finger, as in the previously
described arrangement.
Figs. 10 and 11 show a modification of the pin and star wheel motion
for actuating the notched bar. 8, 8, is the star wheel, and 9, 9, the disc
or plate to which the pin is usually affixed, but in this instance the pin 10
is fixed in a second plate 11 which revolves with the disc 9, and is
capable of sliding therein, so as to project the pin 10 when it is required

page_text: to act, but to withdraw the same out of the way of the star wheel when
it is not required to act on the latter, the sliding of the plate 11 being
effected by a lever 12 actuated by a finger on the back shaft 13, which
carries the treadles f (see Fig. 1). In this case the pegged chain is
dispensed with. The star wheel is driven from the tappet shaft, and
the notched bar is actuated by the bell crank lever 14, 14, by means of
a crank 15 driven by the spur gearing 16, 16.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
for "Improvements in Looms for Weaving," together with the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention the
various modifications in the construction of "swivel" looms for the
purposes above alluded to, as shown in the Drawings hereto annexed
and herein-before particularly described, or any mere modification or
imitation thereof, constructed and operating in substantially the same
or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Lec, have hereunto ect my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Office of Patents,
4, St. Ann's Square,
Manchester.
HENRY LEE. (L.S.)