IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TAPE LADDERS FOR VENETIAN BLINDS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wadsworth, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF TAPE LADDERS FOR VENETIAN BLINDS AND APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the 15th June 1875, and dated the 21st April 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wadsworth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st April 1875.
I, WILLIAM WADSWORTH, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF TAPE LADDERS FOR VENETIAN BLINDS AND APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists principally in manufacturing broad tapes for
Venetian blinds, having at the required intervals narrow tape loops pro-
jecting therefrom alternately near to each selvedge, the said broad tape
and narrow tape loops being woven in one piece at one and the same
operation and with only one shuttle.

page_text: The loops are made about half the length required for a complete
ladder, and two of these tapes with their loops being placed face to face
and their opposite loops connected by means of split rings or otherwise,
a complete tape ladder for supporting the laths of a.Venetian blind is
formed.
I weave the tape (several widths at a time) in a small ware loom
specially adapted for the purpose, and provided with a jacquard appa-
ratus. I employ four warps, two for the broad tape, and one for each of
the narrow tapes. I first weave all four warps together into a broad
plain or twilled tape, and I proceed in this manner for a certain distance
équal to the space between each two loops. The taking up of the work
is then stopped and the whole of the warps with the exception of that
for one of the narrow side tapes are thrown down out of action, and the
shuttle proceeds to weave through this narrow warp only until a length
of narrow tape is formed sufficient to make the loop, this work being
taken up by an apparatus herein-after described. The weaving of the
whole of the warps together into a broad tape then goes on, the taking
up of the work proceeding as before for the required space, and then a
narrow tape loop is similarly formed near the other selvedge, and so on
alternately.
The taking up of the narrow tapes into loops during the cessation of
the weaving of the broad tape is effected by means of a T headed hook,
which as soon as a few picks of the narrow tape have been woven is
caused to advance, and pass in beneath the warps of the narrow tape,
and then gradually recede and take up this tape as it is woven, until a
sufficient length for a loop has been produced. The loop being then
formed the hook is released and as soon as the required space of plain
broad tape has been woven, the hook is thrown forward, and hooked into
the warp of the narrow tape on the other side, and so on alternately.
The shed of the warps is effected by means of the jacquard machine,
and the movement of the T headed hook is produced partly by the
jacquard machine and partly by a stud on a toothed wheel acting upon
a lever connected to the hook.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Wadsworth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st October 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WADSWORTH, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Wadsworth, Her special license that
I, the said William Wadsworth, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Wadsworth, my exc-
cutors, 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 Ohannel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVELIENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TAPE LADDERS FOR VENETIAN BLINDS AND
APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH Manufacture," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Wadsworth, my exccutors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain tho
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 William Wadsworth, 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 and accompanying Drawings :—
This Invention consists principally in manufacturing broad tapes for
Venetian blinds, having at the required intervals narrow tape loops pro-
jecting therefrom alternately near to each selvedge, the said broad tape
and narrow tape loops being woven in one piece at one and the same

page_text: operation and with only one shuttle. The loops are made about half
the length required for a complete ladder, and two of these tapes with
their loops being placed face to face and their opposite loops connected
by means of split rings or otherwise, a complete tape ladder for
supporting the laths of a Venetian blind is formed.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to
be or may be performed or carried into practical effect; and in order that
the same may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet
of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following expla-
nation thereof :-
In the annexed Drawing Fig. 1 is a partial front elevation; Fig. 2, a
partial plan view; and Fig. 3, a vertical section of so much of a small
ware loom as is necessary to illustrate my improved method of weaving
tapes for this purpose.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6, show three views of a tape ladder made according to
my Invention.
I weave the tape (several widths at a time) in a small ware loom
specially adapted for the purpose, and provided with a jacquard appa- 2
ratus not shown in the Drawing. I employ four warps, two for the
broad tape, and one for each of the narrow tapes. I first weave all four
warps together into a broad, plain, or twilled tape, and proceed in this
manner for a certain distance equal to the space a, a, Figs. 1 and 2,
between each two loops. The taking up of the work is then stopped and 2
the whole of the warps with the exception of that for one of the narrow
side tapes b, b, are thrown down out of action, and the shuttle proceeds
to weave through this narrow warp only until a length of narrow tape is
formed sufficient to make the loop b, b, this work being taken up by an
apparatus herein-after described. The weaving of the whole of the 3
warps together into a broad tape then again commences, the taking up of
the work proceeding as before for the required space a, a, and then a
narrow tape loop b, b, is similarly formed near the other selvedge and so
on alternately.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, c, c, is the framing of the loom; d, d, the 3
bobbins of warp; e, e, the mails connected in the usual manner the

page_text: hooks of the ordinary jacquard machine above (not shown on the
Drawing); ff, is the slay; 9, 9, the shuttles, and h, h, the taking up
roller.
The taking up of the narrow tapes into loops b, b, during the cessation
of the weaving of the broad tape a, a, is effected by means of a T headed
hook i, i, carried by a rail k, k, which as soon as a few picks of the
narrow tape have been woven is caused to advance, and pass in beneath
the warps of the narrow tape which are at this time both raised by the
jacquard, and then gradually recede and take up this tape as it is woven
until a sufficient length for a loop has been produced, as seen at Fig. 7.
The loop being then formed the hook i, i, is released, and as soon as the
required space of plain broad tape a, a, has been woven, the book i, i, is
thrown forward and hooked into the warp of the narrow tapo b, b, on tho
other side, and so on alternately.
The shed of the warps is effected in the ordinary manner by means of
the jacquard machine, the cards being suitably perforated and the move-
ment of the T headed hook is produced partly by the jacquard machine,
and partly by studs on a face plate acting upon a lever connected to the
hook in the following manner:-The series of T headed hooks i, i, are
carried by a rail k, k, mounted in slides fixed on the breast beam m, m, of
the loom. Each hook (see enlarged views Figs. 7 and 8) is mounted in a
cross slide 1, 2, on the rail k, k, and is provided with an india-rubber
band n, n, passing round two studs o, p, (one o being attached to the
hook i, i, and the other one p being fixed in the rail k, k, and passing
through a slot in the stem of the hook, so that the hook i, i, will follow
the movements of the rail k, k, at the same time that it is capable of a
certain amount of play in the slide, owing to the elasticity of the
band n, n.
As soon as the required length of plain or twilled broad tape a, a, has
been woven, the whole of the warp is carried down below the shed
excepting those warps (at or near one selvedge), which are required for
weaving one of the narrow loops b, b, and at the same time the taking
up of the broad tape by means of the roughened rollers h, h, is caused to
ccase in the following manner :—

page_text: 8, 8, to take up a tooth of the ratchet wheel t, t, which is connected to
the taking up roller h, h, by a worm and worm wheel. When weaving
the narrow tape loops a cord u, u, from one of the hooks of the jacquard
machine connected to this pawl lifts it at each beat out of gear with the
ratchet wheel, and thus prevents it from acting on the taking up roller.
As soon as the loom has made a few picks of the narrow tape, the whole
of the warp forming this narrow tape is raised, and at this moment a
cord v, v, (scc Figs. 1 and 3) is raised by the jacquard machine, and by
means of the levers w, w, and link x, x, draws forward a rail y, y, which
acting against the rear ends of all the hooks i, i, forces them forwards in
their slides in the direction of the arrow, the slots and india-rubber
bands n, n, allowing of this movement. As soon as they have reached
the limit of their forward movement, one of the cords z, z, attached to
the ends of the rail k, k, (acted upon by one of the small bell-crank
levers 1,-1, and cords 2, 2, connected to the jacquard machine), draw
the rail k, k, to the right or the left, and bring all the hooks beneath the
narrow warps on one side or the other. The narrow warps are then shed
and the weaving proceeds through them alone. At the same moment
one of the studs 3, 3, on a face plate 4, 4, comes against the lower arm of
a lever 5, 5, and causes its upper end to commence gradually to draw
the rail 6, 6, to the right. This rail 6, 6, is connected at each end by
means of a bell-crank lever 7, 7, and link 8, 8, to the rail k, k, and thus
as the rail 6, 6, moves to the right the rail k, k, is drawn gradually
backwards (in the reverse direction of the arrow), and thus causes the
hooks i, i, to take up the narrow tape as it is woven. As soon as a
sufficient length of this narrow tape to form a loop has been woven, the
whole width of the warps commences to shed and the taking up roller
h, h, to revolvo, the weaving of the broad tape goes on as before; thus
weaving in the end of the narrow tape and forming the loop.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as my Invention,―
First. The manufacture of the tape ladders for Venetian blinds by
weaving broad tapes with narrow tape loops, and connecting these loops
together by rings or staples 6', b', as herein-before described and shown
at Figs. 4, 5, and 6, of the Drawings.

page_text: And, Secondly. The improved method of and apparatus for weaving
such looped tapes as described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8,
in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wadsworth, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.