Year: 1885

page_text: J
I, JULES BELICARD of 33 Clifford Street Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:--
It consists in an improved apparatus or arrangement on each side of the lathe or
sleigh whereby the loom is instantly stopped if the weft breaks.
To accomplish this, I pivot on a stud or bracket mounted upon a convenient part
of the back of the lathe, a weftholder with two fingers, connected at the back to a
lever, the two fingers are pressed upon the top of the shuttlerace by means of a
spiral spring or other convenient apparatus, they are raised upon the lathe retiring
by the lever passing under a bowl or tappet attached to the frame of the loom thus
leaving a free course for the shuttle, and again press upon the weft when the lathe
comes forward. This apparatus is fixed on each side the loom and works in
conjunction with two needles or weft-catchers one of which is pivoted in front of
each weftholder upon a projection upon a shaft across the front of the loom one end
of which is formed into a projection or cam, so that is releases the lever which
controls the strap fork upon being partially turned. These needles are formed at
the other end into a catch, which works in a ratchet or toothed wheel, fixed upon
another rod or shaft across the front of the loom which is turned by means of a
ratchet or projection attached to the lathe which turns another ratchet wheel fixed
on the shaft, at each beat of the lathe.
The action is as follows:
When the shuttle has been picked, and the lathe swings forward to beat up the
weft, the weftholder is released and is pressed down by the spring upon the weft,
the needle or weftcatcher passes between the two fingers of the weftholder beneath
the weft; the weft passes down the needle or weftcatcher and allows the other
shaft to revolve-freely.
If however the weft has broken it fails to press down the needle or weftcatcher
and the revolution of the shaft pulls the shaft the weftcatcher is attached to, over,
and thus releases the strap fork lever, and so instantly stops the loom.
The foregoing is applicable to a one shuttle loom, but when more than one
shuttle is employed as in a box loom I add the following:-
-
Upon a stud or bracket fixed to the leg or other convenient part of the loom
frame, I pivot a lever one end of which extends to the level of the shuttlerace; to

page_text: this extremity of the lever is attached a moveable finger which works in a groove
in the batten. This moveable finger as the lathe swings strikes against a projection
in the groove which causes it to fall down, and draw with it all the wefts that are
not working, and this operation taking place either before or after the working
shuttle has arrived, there will be only one weft left, the last beaten up. The weft-
motion already described in the prior part of this specification now comes into
operation and when the working shuttle has entered the box this finger is drawn
backwards in its reversed position, by a bowl or tappet coming in contact with the
other end of the lever. The finger is returned to its former position another
projection in the groove.
JOHN HENRY TOPHAM,
Agent to Applicant.

page_text: I, JULES BELICARD of 33 Clifford St. Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained.
in and by the following statement:-
It consists in an improved apparatus or arrangement on each side of the lathe or
sleigh, whereby the loom is instantly stopped if the weft breaks.
To accomplish this, I pivot on a stud or bracket, mounted upon a convenient part
of the back of the lathe, a weftholder with two fingers, this is connected at the
back to a lever.
:
The two fingers of the weftholder are pressed upon the top of the shuttlerace, by
means of a spiral spring or other convenient apparatus, when the lathe comes
forward, they are raised when the lathe retires, by the lever at the back, which
passes under or over as may be convenient a bowl or tappet or other suitable
projection attached to the frame of the loom, thus leaving a free course for the
shuttle, and again press upon the weft when the lathe comes forward. One or both
of the fingers of the weftholder is or are covered with cloth, indiarubber or other
soft material so as to give it a hold on the weft. Or a pad of soft material is placed
on the surface of the lathe, upon the spot where the fingers press, to accomplish the
same object. A weftholder is placed on each side of the lathe or sleigh, or more as
may be convenient, and each weftholder works in conjunction with a needle or
weftcatcher which is pivoted in front of it upon a projection upon a shaft across
the front of the loom, one end of which shaft is formed into a projection or cam so
that it releases the lever' which controls the strap fork upon being partially turned
thus stopping the loom. The needles or weftcatchers are formed at the other end
into a catch, which works in a ratchet or toothed wheel keyed upon another rod or
shaft across the front of the loom which is turned by means of a ratchet or
projection attached to the lathe which turns another ratchet wheel fixed on the
same shaft at each beat of the lathe. The action is as follows:-When the shuttle
has been picked, and the lathe swings forward to beat up the weft, the weftholder
is released and is pressed down by the spring upon the weft, the needle or weft-
catcher passes between the two fingers of the weftholder beneath the weft :-the
weft presses down the needle or weftcatcher and allows the other shaft to revolve
freely. If however the weft has broken it fails to press down the needle or weft-
catcher and the revolution of the shaft pulls the shaft the weftcatcher is attached
to over, and thus releases the strap fork lever, and so instantly stops the loom. It
is by no means necessary that a ratchet wheel should be employed to pull over the
stopping shaft as this may be accomplished in various ways, by the batten, such as
a sliding bar, or a lever from a cam on the main shaft, the ratchet wheel is merely
given to illustrate one method, in which the stopping bar can be actuated, but I do
not confine myself to it only, but use other methods as may be suitable or necessary.

page_text: In order that the foregoing may be better understood I send herewith a sheet of
Drawings in which :-
Fig. 1 shows a side view of the apparatus; a indicates the lathe or sleigh, b the.
doublefingered weftholder, c the raising lever actuated by the projection d upon
the loom frame k. e indicates the weft finger pivoted upon the projection f of the
stopshaft g, h the ratchet end working in this case in ratchet wheel i. The dotted
lines show the position of the weftholder when resting upon the lathe.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
"
1st The apparatus substantially as described and shown hereinbefore and in the
accompanying Drawing for the purpose set-forth.
2nd A weftholder with two fingers pivoted to the lathe of a loom, substantially
as described and shown herein before and in the accompanying Drawing for the
purpose set-forth.
#
3rd A needle or weftcatcher pivoted on a projection on a shaft in the front of a
loom, substantially as described and shown hereinbefore and in the accompanying
Drawing for the purpose set-forth.
JOHN HENRY TOPHAM,
Agent to Applicant.