CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING FIGURED FABRICS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
THOMPSON, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Weaver and Machinist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Thompson, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Thomas Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said Thomas Thompson, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England Wales, the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Man,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING FIGURED FABRICS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me the said Thomas
Thompson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
"

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said, I, the said Thomas
Thompson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My improvements in weaving figured fabrics apply to those particular kinds
of fabric which have a terry or raised looped surface, such as coach lace,
Brussels carpeting, velvets, and other woven goods having terry or raised
surfaces, either plain or figured, and consist in certain means of introducing
and withdrawing the wires or tags upon which the terry loops are formed by
means of machinery in conjunction with the ordinary operations of the loom.
The tags or wires are severally attached to movable arms, which, by suitable
arrangements of mechanism are made to advance and to be slidden laterally
in between the warp threads when the sheds have been opened, and are in like
manner withdrawn from the work after the terry loops have been formed upon
them, and by the course of weaving made fast... Two of these movable arms
are to be employed, one mounted on either side of the work near the selvage,
and each carrying a tag or wire fixed in its inner side, the two wires extending
horizontally in opposite directions towards the work, and sufficiently long to
reach through the breadth of the warps. One of these wires or tags having
been placed between the open sheds of the warp as above: said, and the terry
loops, formed thereon in the ordinary mode of weaving, the work must be
properly secured, by subsequent shoots and beating up, and then another tag
or wire introduced in a similar way, and the work secured in like manner.
This being done a lateral movement is given to the first-mentioned.-arm by
which the tag or wire is drawn sideways out of the work, the arm is then
advanced, and when so advanced is. moved laterally inward so as to place the
tag or wire again between the open sheds of the warp, ready to have the terry
loops formed upon it by the usual evolutions of the loom, and after that has
been effected the other arm is moved in a similar way, and the work continued
by a succession of the like movements. These operations of the arms carrying
the terry wires or tags will be better understood by reference to the accom-
panying Drawings which represent, parts of a loom for weaving coach lace,
having the improvements appended thereto; Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the
loom; Fig 2, a vertical section taken transversely through the middle of the
loom at a right angle to the front, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal view of the loom
taken a little above the level of the breast beam, in which several Figures the
similar letters of reference point out the same parts of the machinery.. A, A,

page_text: are the end standards and the framing; B, the breast beam; C, the batten.
carrying the reeds and shuttles; D, D, are the ground warp beams; E, E, E,
the terry warp beams, and F the work roller. Fig. 4 represents the forms:
and positions of a pair of these moveable arins placed by the selvages of the
work; each arm carrying the tag or wire. This Figure may be considered as
a detached portion of the loom in a horizontal view as in Fig. 3; but drawn
upon an enlarged: scale for the purpose of shewing their constructions and
modes. of working more clearly. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the same
arms, with their appendages, upon an enlarged scale, in the positions shewn at
Fig. 2; and Fig. 6. is a front view of the two arms, as Fig. 1 also upon an
enlarged scale. The arms a, a, sliding in and out in sockets, each carry a
tag or wire bat its end, which, wire or tag may be secured into the arm
by a clip and 'screw as shewn, or by any other convenient means. The two
sockets. c, c, in which the arm slides, are affixed to a plate d, forming a.
carriage for the arm, the plate of the carriage of one arm being made
fast to the underside of a horizontal rail e," and the plate of the carriage of the
other arm to the upper side of another horizontal rail f. These two rails, e and f,
extend longitudinally-along the front part of the loom, between the breast
beam B and the batten C; and parallel to both as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2.
The horizontal rails' e and f respectively bear upon rollers g, g, turning in the
standards h, h, by which they are enabled to slide laterally to and fro upon
the rollers as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, and the carriages of the arms being made
fast to the rails, are by the sliding of the rails occasionally brought into the '
situations represented by dots at a' and 'a; in Fig. 3. The alternating lateral
movenients, of the horizontal rails, e and f, are éffected by the actions of bolls or
studs i, i, on the ends of angular levers and l, which turn'on fulcrum pins in
brackets fixed to the end frame of the loom. One arm of each of tliese angular
levers and lis, by a cord morn (extending upwards), connected with the move-
ments of the mounture of the jacquard. When the cord m is drawn up the longer
arm of the lever k will rise, and the boll i on the other arm of the lever be
made to act against a tooth p, pendant from the upper horizontal rail e, as
seen in Figure 1-; and, by so doing, will cause the rail e to slide toward the
right hand, and thereby draw the carriages d and arms a into the situations.
shewn, for example, 'by dots at .a¹ in Figure 3, by which the tag or wire b,
whereon the terry loops have been formed, will be drawn out of the work on
the right-hand side of the selvage. A movement, to be presently explained,
will then project the arm a forward, carrying the tag or wire 6 opposite to
the open sheds of the warp: The longer arm of the lever k still rising will
cause the boll or stud i to escape past the tooth p, when a weighted cord g, at

page_text: the left end of the loom, immediately draws back the horizontal rail e toward
the left hand into the position shewn in Figs. 1 and 3, by which means the
advanced tag or wire b will be projected in between the open sheds of the
warp on the right-hand side of the selvage ready for the terry to be woven
upon it. The tension of the cord m being then relaxed by the descent of the
mounture, the lever k will fall back by its own gravity (the pendant tooth p,
which hangs upon a joint pin, allowing the boll i to pass) into the situation
shewn in the last mentioned Figure. In a similar way, the cord n being drawn
up by the rising of the mounture, the other angular lever l at the opposite end of
the loom will cause its boll or stud i to act against the pendant tooth p of the
horizontal rail f, and slide that rail laterally toward the left hand, by which
the carriages & attached to that rail, with their arms a and the tags or wires b
extending from them, will be withdrawn from the work on the left side of the
selvage. The arms a being then advanced into the situation shewn by dots at
a (by the means about to be explained,) on the escape of the boll i past the
tooth p, the horizontal rail f will, by its weighted cord r, be immediately drawn
toward the right hand, into the position shewn in Figs. 1 and 3; and the arms a,
being thereby moved laterally toward the right hand, the wires or tags 6 by
those will be again introduced between the open sheds of the warp, ready to
form the terry loops of the next course by the subsequent evolutions of the loom.
b
It is now necessary to explain the means by which the arms a are moved
forward when the tags or wires are drawn out of the work, which will be best
understood by reference to the enlarged Figures 4, 5, and 6. To the hinder
part of each of the plates d of the carriages, affixed to the horizontal rail e, a
weighted cords is attached, which cord passes over a pulley t, inserted into a
mortise hole in the back end of the arms a. This cord passes also over another
back socket c, and by the draft or
pulley u, attached to the lower part of the
tension of the weighted cord s a pressure will be always operating at the back
end of the arm to force or project the arm a forward. The arm a, therefore,
having been moved laterally, and the tag or wire drawn out of the work, it
will be immediately sent forward by the pressure of the weighted cord s into
an advanced position, as a² in Fig. 3. It will be necessary here to notice that
the arms a are slightly bent upwards, and that in each of the back sockets c
there is a swivel box turning on pivots, through which swivel box the
arm a slides, and by it is guided, in order to raise as it advances the end of
the arm and the tag or wire b to a level with the open sheds of the warp.
When this has been done, the lateral movement of the horizontal rail e in the
opposite direction to that last described, will then place the tag or wire be-
tween the open sheds of the warp, and the subsequent beating-up operation of

page_text: the batten and reed will drive back the tag or wire 6 home into the work to
form the terry loops, the tension of the weighted cord s giving way to the pres-
sure of the reed and batten, and allowing the arm a to recede. By similar
means, weighted cords being made fast to the upper parts of the back
sockets c of the horizontal rail f, and the cord v passed over a pulley t in each
of the arms a, connected with the rail f, the same projections of those arms will
take place after the tags or wires have been withdrawn from the work; and, by
the means described, the tags or wires will be again inserted into the open sheds
of the warp, and brought back into the work by the operation of the batten. In
order to withdraw the pressure of the weighted cords s and v from the ends of
the arms a whilst the tags or wires 6 are in the work, there is provided a flap
or moveable shelf w, w, (seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) which turns upon pivots in
standards j, j, fixed to the frame of the loom. This shelf w is weighted at its
back upper edge with blocks of lead, as seen at x in Figs. 3, and is held in
an inclined position, as seen in the Figures, by a cord or cords y, connected
with the mounture; but when the pressure or tension of the weighted cords s
or v is required to be taken off the ends of the sliding arms a, then the draft of
the cords y is relaxed, and the shaft is allowed by the gravity of the
weights x, x, x, to be brought into an horizontal position, which causes the
shelf to lift the weights of the cords s or v, and this takes place at the time
that the tags or wires are in the work; but as soon as the tags or wires are
withdrawn from the work, the shelf is made to assume the inclined position
again, in order that the weights may act upon the cords s or v, and project the
arms forward, as above described.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of adapting the same
to the weaving of coach lace, or other narrow terry fabrics, I wish it to be
understood that I do not intend to confine myself to the production of narrow
goods only, as this improved means of weaving may be also adapted to the pro-
duction of carpets, and other terry goods having raised or looped surfaces.
Neither do I intend to limit myself to the precise mechanism above described,
(which, however, I believe to be entirely new as applied to that purpose,) for
working the arms that carry the tags or terry wires, as their required move-
ments may be effected by a variety of means or mechanical agents; but that
which I particularly claim as the main feature of my Invention is the weaving
of terry fabrics by means of tags or wires attached or affixed to, or inserted
into moveable arms, mounted by the sides of the selvages, such arms being
shifted at intervals by the agency of suitable machinery, (as a substitute for
manual labour,) and made to introduce the wires or tags into the open sheds of
the warp, and to hold them in the warp during the formation of the terry

page_text: loops, and also to draw them out of the work after the terry loops have been
formed and secured by the ordinary evolutions of the loom.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Thompson have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
N. W. SENIOR.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-first day of June,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Thomas Thompson came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year above written.