IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND IN SHUTTLES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Stevenson, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Yarn Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WEAVING AND IN SHUTTLES.”
Sealed the 13th August 1875, and dated the 22nd June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Stevenson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd June 1875.
I, ROBERT STEVENSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Yarn Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND IN SHUTTLES," to be as follows:—
The object of my Invention is to reduce the labour of the operative
weaver, to increase the production of power looms, and to reduce the
amount of cop waste.
In looms of the ordinary construction, owing to the limited space
allowed in the shuttle for the cop or pirn on which the weft is wound,
frequent stoppages are required for putting fresh cops or pirns in the

page_text: shuttle. Now my Invention consists in so arranging the shedding
motion of the loom and constructing the shuttle that two or more times
the quantity of weft can be wound on the cop or pirn, and consequently
the stoppages of the loom are reduced to the same extent. In order to
accomplish this I make the shuttle larger than usual to contain the
enlarged cop or pirn, and I reduce the thickness of the wood, particularly
at the ends of the shuttle, to increase the cop space, and to diminish the
weight of the shuttle.
The tappets or other equivalents for forming the shed may be of the
ordinary construction, but their lift must be increased to open tho shed
sufficiently for the passage of the enlarged shuttle.
By means of these improvements it will be competent for one weaver
to attend four or five ordinary power looms, whereas hitherto one weaver
could only attend to two or three.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Stevenson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
STEVENSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Yarn Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Stevenson, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Stovenson, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Stevenson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any timo 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 WEAVING AND IN SHUTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Stevenson, my executors or administrators,

page_text: skewer steady at the point, I make the head with side plates e, as shewn
detached in Figs. 4 and 5. These plates project beyond the fulcrum
pin, and when the skewer is raised to put on a fresh cop they fit on each
side of the spring f, which acts as usual on the heel of the skewer.
These steadying plates are particularly useful when the weft is rather
fine, as they effectually prevent the vibration of the skewer.
The tappets or other equivalents for forming the shed may be of the
ordinary construction, but their lift must be increased to open the shed
sufficiently for the passage of the enlarged shuttle.
By means of these improvements it will be competent for one weaver 1
to attend four or five ordinary power looms, whereas hitherto one weaver
could only attend two or three. This effects a saving of from fifteen to
twenty per cent. in the wages, and increases the production by about
ten per cent.; the quality of the cloth is improved, owing to the
reduction in the number of broken picks; the amount of cop waste is 1
réduced; and the shuttles are less liable to fly out of the shed, thereby
reducing the number of accidents.
In the shuttle described I have shewn a cop of about three times the
usual size, but I do not limit myself to that proportion.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the 2
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I
do not intend to limit myself to the details given, as the same may be
varied, but what I do claim as my Invention of improvements in
weaving is,―
First. The use of cops or pirns containing two or more times the usual 2
quantity of weft, and in arranging the shedding motion of the loom to
correspond with the enlarged shuttle required.
And, Secondly. The improved shuttle shewn and described, and the
side plates to steady the shuttlo skewer.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Stevenson, have hereto 8
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.