IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Timothy Yates and Rufus Yates, of Bury, in the
County of Lancaster, Overlookers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Timothy Yates and
Rufus Yates at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 3rd March 1854.
We, TIMOTHY YATES and RUFUS YATES, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS" to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to a motion or apparatus applied to the loom, for
working or governing the reed, so as to make it perfectly firm at the time of
beating up, and loose or slack when the slay recedes to a certain point, (what
is technically called the loose and fast reed), by which we are enabled to weave
strong or heavy goods without making the reed perfectly fast. Our improve-
ments upon other methods used for the same purpose consist of a vertical rod
fastened to the slay sword, working in a slotted bracket fixed to the frame of
the loom. To the under side of the slay we fix a forked finger, which extends
to the bottom cap reed, and is acted upon by the aforesaid vertical rod during
the forward and backward motion of the slay, so that when the weft is to be
beaten up, the said forked finger, by the action of the vertical rod, keeps the
reed perfectly fast, without having any communication with the shuttle or
swell, and thus preventing the usual vibrations as well as enabling us to make
stronger and better cloth than is now made by the fast and loose reed looms
in general use. We propose to apply the said apparatus either to one or both
ends of the slay as may be found necessary.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Timothy Yates and Rufus Yates in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, TIMOTHY
YATES and RUFUS YATES, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Overlookers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Timothy
Yates and Rufus Yates, Her special licence that we, the said Timothy
Yates and Rufus Yates, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Timothy Yates and Rufus Yates, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time 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," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Timothy Yates and Rufus
Yates, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us, 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
Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Timothy Yates, 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
(that is to say):
Our Invention relates to a motion or apparatus applied to the loom for
working or governing the reed, so as to make it perfectly firm at the time of
beating up, and loose or slack when the slay recedes to a certain point; this
operation is technically called the loose and fast reed, and which enables us to
weave strong or heavy goods without making the reed perfectly fast. Our
improvements upon other methods used for the same purpose consist of a
vertical rod fastened to the slay sword, working in a slotted bracket fixed to
the frame of the loom. To the under side of the slay we fix a forked finger,
which extends to the bottom cap reed, and is acted upon by the aforesaid

page_text: vertical rod during the forward and backward motion of the slay, so. that when
the weft is beaten up, the said forked finger, by the action of the vertical rod,
keeps the reed perfectly fast without having any communication with the
shuttle or swell, and thus preventing the usual vibrations, as well as enabling
us to make stronger and better cloth than is now made by the fast and loose
reed looms in general use. We can apply the said apparatus either to one or
both ends of the slay, and accomplish the same object by many modifications
of our said Invention, several of which we shew in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, in which the same letters of reference are, used to represent the
same parts in all the Figures.
0
.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, are side views and plans of the several
modes of applying and working the forked finger or gibbs, or hooks, shewing
the reed in a fast position; Figs. 9 and 10 are side views, shewing the reed
loose; and Figs. 11, 12, and 13, are views of some of the parts detached.
a represents a side frame of the loom; b, the crank shaft; c, the connecting
rod; d, the slay sword; e, the slay; f, the reed; and g, the breast beam.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 9, the reed is allowed to be. loose, or made fast by the
double levers or forked fingers h, at each end of the reed, which vibrates in
the centres i, fixed to the slay swords. When the reed is fast, the back
part of the forked fingers are pressed against the bottom cap reed, as seen
in Figs. 1 and 2; but when the reed is loose, they are thrown backwards
as seen in Fig. 9, thus taking off all pressure from the bottom cap reed,
which we effect as follows:-At k,. in each forked finger, shewn also at
Fig. 12, is a slot or fork, in which slides or works the rod l, fixed to the slay.
sword at m, having at the top a gibb or hook n, see Fig. 11, and on it the
roller or pulley o, which works in the frame p, attached to the breast beam
with a groove or slot in it, shewn enlarged at Fig. 13, so formed as alternately
by the motion of the slay sword, by bending the lower part of the rod 1, to
throw the gibb or hook n off and on the part k of the forked finger, thus
making it and the part j pressing against the bottom cap reed both fast and
loose: At q is a spring, which by a slight pressure keeps the reed in its place
when the parts are loose, but which easily gives way when the shuttle is
lodged. In Figs. 3, 4, and 10, the reed f is made fast and loose, by having
the double lever placed at each end, which works in the bearings or centres s
fixed to the slay e. One end of the lever r is brought to the back of the
bottom cap reed, and is furnished with the gibb or hook t, the other end of
the lever r having the pully or roller u, which as the slay vibrates moves
under and over the projection v fixed to the breast beam. When under, as
seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the gibb t is pressed upwards keeping the reed fast;

page_text: when above or over, as seen in Fig. 10, the reed is loose. The spring w is to
keep the lever r and the reed f in their places, unless the shuttle is lodged.
In Figs. 5 and 6 we shew that the part of the double lever r can come in
contact with an incline, or a pully can be used to produce the same result.
In Figs. 7 and 8 we place the rod y, with a gibb or hook z, through the slay
at each end of the reed having the part as at a', which is flexible. To the rod
y is connected another rod b¹, having the pully c¹ working in the groove or
slotted frame d' attached to the breast beam; the slot or groove being so
formed, that as the pully advances and recedes, it is drawn down, bending the
rod
and raising and lowering the gibb or hook z, thus making the reed fast
and loose. The bottom cap reed can be slightly held in its place by a spring,
which gives way to any obstruction.
Y,
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of our said Inven-
tion, we desire it to be distinctly understood that we do not confine ourselves
to the exact details herein set forth, as such may be varied or modified without
departing from the principle of our said Invention; but we claim,―
The several plans of apparatus as herein described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, for working the fast and loose reed, or any
modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Timothy Yates, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
TIMOTHY YATES. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed and delivered by the within-named
Timothy Yates in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.