CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Elliott, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanic, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 26th December 1861, and dated the 18th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Elliott at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th July
1861.
I, ARTHUR ELLIOTT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to simplify the box motion of looms for
weaving, having two or more shuttles, and to produce them at a less cost than
heretofore. In performing my Invention, I make use of a tappet which
is made in two parts, one portion being a disc having two bearings on
its face. At right angles to the tappet shaft, between which the tappet
portion for working the star wheel which raises or lowers the shuttle boxes
moves on a pin in such wise as to allow the tappet portion to approach or
recede from the face of the disc, one side touching, whilst the other is the
reverse, and vice versa. On one end of the face of the tappet is a pin,
projecting through the face of the disc for the purpose of moving the star wheel
which actuates the shuttle boxes, this disc and tappet is placed between the
star wheel just mentioned and the chain which is made of a much smaller pitch
than usual, thus economising space between the chain which is worked in the

page_text: usual manner, and the tappet is placed a lever which moves on a stud fixed to
the frame side, upon this lever is a V-shaped projection for the purpose of
moving the loose portion of the tappet from or against the face of the disc.
When the chain has prepared the lever for effecting a change in the position
of the shuttle boxes, that part of the face of the tappet in which the pin is
fixed, is held in contact with the face of the disc by means of a spiral spring,
in which position the pin projects through the disc, and moves the star wheel
for actuating the lever, which effects the change in the usual manner. When
no change is required in the shuttle boxes, the V-shaped projection on the
lever causes the opposite parts of the faces of the disc and tappet to meet,
thus withdrawing the pin from the position in which it could move the star
wheel; this same pin actuates the star wheel for moving the chain, and
another similar lever may be placed on the reverse side of the tappet for the
purpose of preventing the pin from actuating the chain star wheel, thus
allowing one shuttle to make any number of picks required without change,
by these means a shorter chain can be employed, this last-mentioned lever
must be moved when wanted by the attendant.
My Invention is also applicable for working the healds of looms by placing
a number of these tappets and star wheels together in a similar way to that
just described, (one treadle being required to each star wheel and tappet), any
number of picks may be given, according to the pattern desired, in this case
the tappets are made doubleacting, that is, one or more pins project from each
side of the face of the tappet.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Arthur Elliott in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
ELLIOTT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Arthur Elliott, Her special licence that I, the said Arthur Elliott, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Arthur Elliott,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,

page_text: 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Arthur Elliott
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 Arthur Elliott, 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 (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in certain improved combinations
and arrangements of parts, for changing the position of the shuttle box, so as
to bring any required shuttle in a line with the shuttle race; and, secondly, in
certain improved combinations and arrangements of parts for working the
healds of looms.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of my improved apparatus for
changing the position of the shuttle box, this apparatus is suitable for a loom
in which a drop box with three shuttles is employed, but by changing the
cams and tappet plates it may be modified so as to operate upon a greater or
less number of shuttles; Fig. 2 is an end view, Fig. 3 a plan, and Fig. 4 a
plan of part of the details. a, represents the floor line of the loom to which
the improved apparatus is applied; b, b, are two side frames supporting the
bearings of the axles c, d, and e. On the axles c, are mounted the star wheels
cand c², to which the cams or tappets f and fare cast or fixed, both these
cams or tappets act on the bowl f, connected to the lever f³, whose fulcrum is
at f. The stud f³, near the other extremity of this lever is connected by a
link to the drop box. The axle d, is turned round at the same speed as the
ordinary tappet shaft of the loom, by suitable gearing, and to it are fixed the
discs g, g, each of which has two bearings at right angles to the axle d, on
which the tappet portion h swivels; these parts are shewn best in Fig. 4, on
referring to which, it will be seen that when one side of the swivel piece h is

page_text: touching the disc g, the other side is held at a slight distance from it, the
object of this is to move the studs h¹, which are fixed to the pieces h, into
position, either for acting on the star wheels c¹ and c², or for passing without
acting on them; the spring h³ acts against one end of the piece h, and holds
the stud h¹ in the position for acting on the star wheel c¹ or c. The axle e
supports the star wheel i, the boss of which forms the barrels for the endless
chains; and j', the links of these chains are much smaller than usual, thus
economising space, and the elevating links act on the levers k, k¹, which are
suspended to the stud ; each of the levers k and k¹, has a V-shaped
projection, shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 2, acting when required on the
tappet portions or swivel pieces h, of the discs g, g'. I wish to remark that a
single chain with suitable shaped links may be used instead of the two chains
shewn in the Drawing. The lever 1, which is hinged at is provided with a
vertical arm he, having a V-shaped incline similar to that on the levers k and
k³, and with a pin 1, the object of which is to hold the levers k and k¹ towards
the discs 9, 9', and thus to prevent the studs in the swivel pieces h from
actuating the chain star wheel i, and the star wheels cand c³, when any one of
the shuttles has to perform several picks consecutively; the lever lis raised and
lowered by the attendant. The Drawing represents this lever in the
position it occupies when the chains j and j³, and the cams f¹ and and f are in
operation; when the lever h is raised, the incline on the arm h², and the stud
h³ liberate the parts required for working the drop box.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The lever f is now supposed to be in
the position for holding the centre compartment of the shuttle box, in a line
with the shuttle race, and the lever is raised into the position for liberating
the levers and k', and for holding the arm 1 beyond the swivel pieces h of
the discs g and g¹. As the shaft d performs one revolution for every two
revolutions of the crank shaft, it is evident that each revolution of the shaft d
causes the star wheel i to perform the sixth part of a revolution, thereby
bringing a fresh link of the chains; and forward, for two picks of the
shuttle, the elevators on these chains press forward the levers k and k¹ when
required, so as to act upon either or both of them.
When the lever k is pressed forward, the incline upon it acting on the
swivel piece h, of the disc g withdraws the stud h¹ through the disc 9, and
allows this stud to pass the star wheel c¹ without acting upon it, but when a
flat link of the chain ; is brought forward the lever k is not pushed
towards the disc g, and the swivel piece h passes without coming in contact
with the incline on the lever k, the stud h¹ then remains in the position shown
in Fig. 4, that is to say, it projects through the disc 9, and acts on the star

page_text: wheel c¹ which is then moved round one-sixth of a revolution, consequently
the bowlf is then at liberty to drop into the hollow part of the cam f¹ and the
lever fin descending brings the top compartment of the shuttle box in a line
with the shuttle race. When the bottom compartment of the shuttle box is
required to be brought in a line with the shuttle race, the plain link of the
chain, passes the lever k¹, thereby allowing the stud h¹ of the swivel piece h,
of the disc g¹, to actuate the star wheel c³, thus causing the cam f to raise the
lever f. The links in the chains j and 7, can be arranged so as to change the
position of the shuttle box from the top to the bottom, and vice versa. When
a shuttle box with only two compartments is employed, one chain j, one disc
9, and one star wheel c' and cam f¹ are required, and when the shuttle box has
four or more compartments, the number of chains, discs, and star wheels with
cams, must be increased in a corresponding ratio; in all cases a single star
wheel for working the chain or chains is required. When the lever is down,
the arms and the levers k and k¹ are brought towards the discs g and g¹, conse-
quently the swivel pieces h, on the discs g and g¹, in revolving, come in
contact with the inclines on the said arm and levers, and draw the studs h¹
through the discs 9 and g¹, so that they cannot act on the star wheels c¹, c³,
and, this provision enables the weaver to work with one shuttle for any
required length, and then by raising the lever l, to bring the mechanism for
actuating the drop box into operation, thus producing a great variety in the
pattern, with short chains. Fig. 5 is an elevation, and Fig. 6 a plan of my
improved apparatus for working the healds; the treadles m, which are
connected to the jacks and healds of the loom, in the ordinary manner, aré
actuated by the tappet plates n', which are mounted on the axle n, the
circumferences of the plates n', form star wheels, which are actuated by the
studs h¹, of the swivel pieces h connected to the discs g, in the manner
described in reference to the preceding Figures, the discs g, are fixed to
the shaft d, which is driven by suitable gearing from the tappetshaft, or
O other convenient part of the loom; k, k, are weighted levers suspended
to the stud k³, and having inclined surfaces in contrary directions, shewn
detached in Fig. 7, acting on each side of the swivel pieces h. Each disc
9, and swivel piece h, is acted upon by two of the levers k, k, one of
which is brought into operation when required by the studs on the chain of
lags j, passing over the drum 3, cast or fixed to the star wheel i, this star
wheel is moved round by the studs in the disk o, which is fixed to the
shaft d. When this improved apparatus is in operation, the treadles to be
elevated or depressed are selected by the pegs on the chain of tappets j, the
levers k, that are pushed forward by the pegs hold the studs h¹, out of contact

page_text: with the star wheels of the tappet plates n', consequently the treadles of
those tappet plates remain inactive, but those levers k, that are not pushed
forward by the pegs allow the swivel pieces h, to pass without coming in
contact with the inclines on the levers and the studs h¹ of those acting on
the corresponding star wheels of the tappet plates n', cause them to raise or
lower the selected treadles according to the elevation or depression of the
tappet plate. The Drawing represents eight treadles for actuating the healds,
but it is evident that this number may be increased or diminished. Fig. 8
represents in elevation, a modification of my improved arrangement of
machinery for working the healds; in this case the tappet plates n' are
moved round so as to actuate the treadles m when required by the studs
on the face of the pinions p, these pinions are driven by the wheels 9, which
are also provided with studs, and these studs are acted upon by the dentated
links of the chains r. The chains pass over the drum r, which is fixed to
the shafts, and this shaft is driven by suitable gearing from the tappet shaft
or other convenient part of the loom. By this arrangement any suitable
number of healds can be put into operation, but each treadle must be worked
independently of the others by a separate chain r, wheel 2, pinion p, and
tapppet plate n¹. The chains r, can be made of any required number of
links, and the links can be arranged in the requisite succession for producing
the pattern in the weaving, and it is evident that when a plain link comes
between the drum r, and the wheel q, no motion will be communicated to
that wheel, and that consequently the corresponding tappet plate n', and
treadle m, will not change their positions, only those treadles being put into
action that correspond to the dentated links of the chain r.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim, first, the general combination
and arrangements of the parts, as shewn and described, for changing the
position of the shuttle box, and for working the healds of looms; and, secondly,
I claim the disc marked g, and swivel piece, or tappet plate marked h,
when used in the manner, and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Elliott, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ARTHUR ELLIOTT. (L.S.)