IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING FANCY GOODS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah Firth, of Flush Mills, Heckmondwike, in
the County of York, Manufacturer, and Joseph Crabtree, of Mill Bridge,
in the same County, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Toons"
Sealed the 28th July. 1857, and dated the 14th February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah Firth and Joseph
Crabtree at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 14th February 1857.
We, JOSIAH FIRTH, of Flush Mills, Heckmondwike, in the County of York,
Manufacturer, and JOSEPH CRABTREE, of Mill Bridge, in the same County,
Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING FANCY GOODS," to be as follows:-
This Invention applies to such power looms for weaving checked or fancy
goods, of any description wherein moveable tiers of shuttle boxes are employed
for the purpose of bringing the various shuttles to the level of the shuttle race
as the pattern may require.
The Invention consists principally in regulating the changes of the shuttles
by means of the ordinary jacquard machine. The pattern cards passing over
the ordinary jacquard cylinder are so arranged as to act upon sliding bars
or other similar suitable means, which withdraw detaining catches so as to
allow, the tier of shuttle boxes to descend, or which put into action other

page_text: moving catches so connected with the shuttle-moving apparatus as to cause
the tier of shuttle boxes to ascend according as the various weft threads may
be required to form the pattern.
It is evident that the same effect may be produced by a variety of other
mechanical appliances without departing from the spirit of the Invention,
namely, the causing the ordinary jacquard machine to effect the regulation
and changes of the shuttle boxes in power looms for weaving fancy goods.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Josiah Firth and Joseph Crabtree in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th August 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSIAII
FIRTH, of Flush Mills, Heckmondwike, in the County of York, Manufacturer,
and JOSEPH CRABTREE, of Mill Bridge, in the same County, Machine Maker,
send greeting.
"
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Josiah Firth and Joseph Crabtree, Her special licence that we,
the said Josiah Firth and Joseph Crabtree, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, t the said Josiah Firth and Joseph Crabtree,
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 POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING
FANCY GOODS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Josiah
Firth and Joseph Crabtree, or one of us, or our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under 'our, or one of our 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 Josiah Firth, do hereby declare the
nature of our said Invention; and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Sheets of Draw-
ings that is to say:
0
Our Invention applies to such power looms for weaving cliecked or fancy
goods of any description wherein moveable tiers of shuttle boxes are employed
for the purpose of bringing the various shuttles to the level of the shuttle raco
as the pattern may require."
=
Our Invention consists principally in regulating the changes of the shuttles
by means of the ordinary jacquard machine. The pattern, cards passing over
the ordinary jacquard cylinder are so arranged as to act upon sliding bars or
other similar suitable means, which withdraw detaining catches so as to allow the
tier of shuttle boxes to descend, or which put into action other moving catchies
so connected with the shuttle-moving apparatus as to cause the tier, of shuttle
boxes to ascend according as the various weft threads' may be required to form
the pattern. It will be'evident that the same effect 'may be produced by:a
variety of other mechanical appliances without departing from, the, spirit of
our Invention, nainely, the causing the ordinary jacquard: machine to effect
the regulation and changes of the shuttle boxes:fin powerloomsi for weaving
fancy goods,
Such being the nature and object of iour, said Invention of Improvements
in Power Looms for Weaving Fancy Goods,I will proceed to describe the
manner of carrying the same into practical effect; and in order that the, samic
may be more fully explained 'and, readily understood I have annexed; to theso
Presents. two Sheets of Drawings, representing what we have found to be ían
efficient arrangement of mechanism: for effecting the required movements of
the shuttle boxes by the ordinary jacquard apparatus: iThe Drawings are
made to a scale of about one inch and a half to a foot; and are marked with
figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in, the following, expla
nation thereof; the same letters of references indicating, similar parts in the
several Figures. . c
bob
Figure 1 is a front view of the loom with our improved, apparatus,attached,
thereto; Figure 2 is an end view of theiloom, and Figure, 3, is a back view of
one end of the same. In all these Figures. certain of the ordinary, parts of the
loom are supposed to be. removed in order to shew more.
re clearly the peculiar;
arrangement and action of the new parts. A, A, is the side, framing of the:
loom; B, B, the crank shaft; C, C, the tappet shaft; and D, D, the lathe or
slay; -E, E, is the picking lever, connected by a strap'to the picker, which slides.
on two parallel horizontal rods; F, F, are the moveable shuttle boxes, six in
number, formed of sheet iron; except the backs, which are of wood. Theso
shuttle boxes move freely up and down the rods, aa,.socketsob, b,being;

page_text: +
attached to the back of the shuttle boxes for that purpose; or the rods a, a,
may be attached to the back of the boxes and move with them, sliding freely
in guides fixed to the back part of the lathe. The tier of shuttle boxes is
made of such a length that the picker when it returns to the end of the lathe
shall be quite clear of the ends of the shuttle boxes, so as to allow them to
pass freely up and down as required, and the picker sliding on the parallel
rods or spindles is quite disconnected with and independent of the shuttle
boxes. At each end of the lathe.or slay D, D, is a double bracket,c, c, carry-
ing two pulleys d, d, which run'on the curved rails e, e, and support the weight
of the extreme ends of the lathe and the moveable shuttle boxes. The frame
which carries the curved rail is capable of adjustment at the jointings f, f, to
the height required. 9, 9, (see Figure 2) is a vertical rod or bar capable of
sliding in its guides or bearings h, h, and to this bar ġ a bracket i, i, is fixed,
and carries a roller, which is acted upon by the tappet k, upon the tappet shaft C.
The bar g, after being depressed by the tappet k, is raised again by a spiral
spring or a counterbalance weight; to the bar g is also,fixed another bracket l,
carrying a pin, upon which the moveable arm m swings freely in an horizontal
direction. The arm m carries a pin n, which passes freely through a socket
in the horizontal bar o'; one end of this bar o slides in a guide or socket fixed
to the end frame of the loom, and the other end thereof is jointed by a pin to
the vertical arm of a bell-crank lever p, p, and to the horizontal arm of the
said lever the vertical sliding bar q, q, is jointed at the top, whilst the lower
end thereof slides freely in a guide. r, r, is another bell-crank lever, placed
on the same centre as the lever p, p, but having its vertical arm turned down-
wards, whilst its horizontal arm is jointed to a vertical sliding rod or bar s, 's;
similar to the bar q, and working parallel with it in the same guide. To the
lower end of the vertical arm of the bell-crank lever r, r, a sliding catch t, t,
is jointed, which takes into the notches of the upright rack u, u; this rack
slides freely in guides fixed to the end frame of the loom.
of the moveable arm m is bevilled; so as to take into the
rack u.when the arm is pressed against the rack.
upper end. of
the rack u, u, a chain is carried over a pulley v'across the top of the loom
and round a cylinder w; w, to which it is made fast. To this cylinder w is
also attached another chain, partially wrapped round it, and carried downwards
and attached to the upper part of the tier of shuttle boxes.F, F. Above the
sliding catch-t, t, is placed another catch a, x, which is jointed to the catch t
by a short lever, so that when the catch t is withdrawn the catch x is pushed
in so far as to take into the notches in the rack u, and prevent it from passing
more than one notch at each withdrawal of the catch t. Immediately below.
From the
The outer end
notches of the

page_text: the vertical sliding bars q and s a jacquard cylinder y is fixed, either in upright
slides, as shewn at Figure 3; or on a pair of vibrating levers fixed to the end
frame of the loom, so that the cards in passing over the cylinder are brought
9
to bear upon the lower ends of the said bars 7 and 8, so as to raise the bars
when the cards are blank, and to leave them at rest when the cards are
punched with holes.
The relative arrangement and combination of the
several parts of the mechanism having been described, it remains to detail
the operation of the same, which is as follows:-Each revolution of the
tappet shaft C causes the tappet k to act upon the roller on the bracket i,
and thereby depress the rod or bar g and moveable arm m to rather
moro, than the depth of one tooth or notch of the rack u. It will be
evident, that if a blank card be made to act upon and raise the upright
bar q just before the tappet k begins to depress the rod g, the moveable
arm m will be pressed against the rack u, and taking into one of the notches,
the rack will be carried down one notch, and as soon as the rack has descended
the depth of one notch, the sliding catch t, being pressed forward by a spring,
will drop into a fresh notch on the rack u, and will retain it in the lower
position to which it has been depressed. The descent of the rack will (by the
action of the chains before described) have the effect of raising the tier of
shuttle boxes the depth of one box, and of exposing a fresh shuttle to the
action of the picker. And in like manner, every time that a blank card is
caused to act upon the vertical bar g, as described, the tier of shuttle boxes
will be raised the depth of another box, and a fresh shuttle will be brought up
to the level of the shuttle race and exposed to the action of the picker.
the case, however, of a blank card being caused to raise the vertical rod s
whilst a correspending perforation in the card allows the bar g to remain at
rest, it is evident that the sliding catch t will be withdrawn, and the rack u
will be allowed to rise until the notch just liberated is caught by the catch.a,
and on the return of the catch t the notch retained by the catch a will be
liberated, and the rack u will be finally retained at a fresh notch by the
catch t, whereby the tier of shuttle boxes will be lowered the depth of one box,
and the same operation will be repeated every time that a blank card is caused
to raise the vertical bar s. In this case it is to be understood that if the
shuttle boxes be not of sufficient weight to cause the rack u to rise with the
necessary rapidity, a spring or counterbalance weight is to be applied, as may
be required. Thus, it will be evident that by the simple means of having a
blank or a perforation on the cards which act upon the two vertical sliding
rods 9 and s, complete command is obtained of raising or lowering the tier of
shuttle boxes in any series or succession of lifts, and when it is desired to
In

page_text: retain any one particular shuttle in action for a length of time, this effect may
be produced during any required number of picks by having the cards as
they are presented by the jacquard cylinder perforated with two holes so as to
leave both the bars q and s at rest.
Having thus described the nature and object of our said Invention of
Improvements in Power Looms.for Weaving Fancy Goods," together with the
manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in con-
clusion, that I claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent, — *** * * *
Firstly, the application of the ordinary jacquard apparatus.to the movement
and regulation of tiers of shuttle boxes by the means above described, or by
similar means; whereby we are enabled to apply the regulation of the shuttles
by the jacquard apparátus to the manufacture of classes of goods to which it
has not hitherto been applied; videlicet, such goods as require_shuttles larger,
heavier, and more numerous than can be worked by the revolving barrel
shuttle changing apparatus hitherto employed.
And; secondly, I claim the various mechanical movements above described
and shewn in the Drawings (or any mere modification thereof) as applied for
the purpose of regulating the successive delivery of a variety of shuttles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah Firth, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. GRAHAM.
JOSIAH FIRTH. (L.S.)