Im- PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS OR MACHINERY FOR WEAVING WIRE GAUZE
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Clarke Rayson, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Wire Manufacturer, for the Invention of “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS OR MACHINERY FOR WEAVING WIRE GAUZE,"
Sealed the 30th January 1874, and dated the 15th August 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Clarke Rayson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th August 1873.
I, ROBERT CLARKE RAYSON, of Birmingham, in the County of War-
wick, Wire Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS OR MACHINERY FOR WEAVING WIRE
Gauze,” to be as follows :—
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
looms or machinery for weaving, my said Invention having for its object
to adapt looms or weaving machinery to the weaving of wire gauze.
Instead of making the eye of the shuttle at right angles to the line of
the shuttle's motion, as in shuttles of the ordinary construction, I make

page_text: the said eye in a diagonal direction, passing from the interior of the
shuttle to the under side and end of the shuttle. By this arrangement
any set in the wire is prevented, and the resistance to the passage of the
wire through the eye at right angles to the line of the shuttle's motion
is avoided.
5
In that part of the loom which effects what is called the taking down
of the fabric I employ two rollers, the upper one having a series of spikes
or points in it, and the other being plain. The lower or plain roller, or
both the lower and upper rollers, are wrapped or covered with calico or
other like fabric to give the requisite holding power. The spiked roller 1
and the under or plain roller are geared together by toothed wheels
situated on their respective axes, and within the bearings or framing in
which they turn. The said toothed wheels are of equal diameters, and
the rollers have the same speed, but rotate in opposite directions.
Instead of making the axis of the under or plain roller work in 1
bearings carried by a weighted lever, whereby the said plain roller is
capable of receding from the spiked upper roller, I make the said under
or plain roller work in fixed bearings, so that the said under roller is
incapable of receding from the upper spiked roller.
By these modifications the taking down mechanism is made effectually 2
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Robert Clarke Rayson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT 20
CLARKE RAYSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Wire.
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty- 30
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Clarke Rayson, Her special
license that I, the said Robert Clarke Rayson, my executors, adminis

page_text: trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Olarke Rayson,
my 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 OR MACHINERY FOR WEAVING WIRE GAUZE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Clarke Rayson, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 Robert Clarke Rayson, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
looms or machinery for weaving, my said Invention having for its object
to adapt looms or weaving machinery to the weaving of wire gauze.
"
Instead of making the eye of the shuttle at right angles to the line of
the shuttle's motion, as in shuttles of the ordinary construction, I make
the said eye in a diagonal direction, passing from the interior of the
shuttlo to the under-side and end of the shuttle. By this arrangement
any set in the wire is prevented, and the resistance to the passage of the
wire through the eye at right angles to the line of the shuttle's motion
is avoided.
A spring may be combined with this inclined eye to prevent the too
ready unwinding of the wire from the bobbin or creel.
In that part of the loom which effects what is called the taking
down of the fabric I employ two-rollers, the upper one having a series
of spikes or points in it, and the other being plain. The lower or plain
roller, or both the lower and upper rollers, are wrapped or covered with
calico or other like fabric to give the requisite holding power. The
spiked roller and the under or plain roller are geared together by

page_text: toothed wheels situated on their respective axes, and within the bearings
or framing in which they turn. The said toothed wheels are of equal
diameters, and the rollers have the same speed, but rotate in opposite
directions.
Instead of making the axis of the under or plain roller work in {
bearings carried by a weighted lever, whereby the said plain roller is
capable of receding from the spiked upper roller, I make the said under
or plain roller work in fixed bearings, so that the said under roller
is incapable of receding from the upper spiked roller.
By these modifications the taking-down mechanism is made effectually
to take down the fabric of wire gauze with certainty and uniformity.
My said improvements are illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
where Figures 1 and 2 represent in longitudinal section a shuttle con- 1
taining my improvements, the bobbin or creel being filled with wire in
Figure 1 and empty in Figure 2; Figure 3 is a plan of the upper side,
and Figure 4 a plan of the under side of the said shuttle.
a is the bobbin or creel containing the wire, the said bobbin fitting
tightly on the spindle 6, carried by the body c of the shuttle; d is the 2
eye in the shuttle, through which the wire from the bobbin or creel
passes. The said eye d has the direction represented in the Drawing,
that is, the said eye passes in a diagonal direction from the interior of
the shuttle c to the under side and end thereof. By this means any set
in the wire e, as it is drawn off the creel in its passage through the eyed 2
is prevented, and the resistance to the passage of the wire through the
eye when the eye is made in the ordinary way is avoided. I make the
interior of the eye d of a ring or tubular lining piece of bone or ivory.
In order to prevent the too rapid unwinding of the wire from the
creel or bobbin a, I cause pressure to be put upon the wire at a point å
between the nose a³ of the said creel or bobbin and the eye d. I effect
this by means of the light spring f, fixed at g, h, in the bottom of the
shuttle c. The said spring f has the figure represented, and bears
against the nose part a³ of the creel a, and presses the wire e as it is
unwound from the said creel, against the said nose part a³, and there is 3

page_text: thereby offered to the motion of the said wire such a resistance as will
prevent it being too rapidly unwound from the said creel.
Figure 5 represents in cross section, and Figure 6 in side elevation the
taking down mechanism of the loom constructed according to my In-
vention; Figure 7 is a horizontal section of one of the rollers of the said
mechanism and its bearings; and Figure 8 is an end elevation, and
Figure 9 a plan of one of the bearing plates of the roller. In Figure 5
the taking down rollers are represented in combination with the lathe
bottom i, reed k, and breast plate of the loom; m, n, are the taking
down rollers, the said rollers working in fixed bearing plates at p, p, so
that the under roller n is incapable of receding from the upper roller m.
The said rollers are geared together by the toothed wheels q, r, situated
within the bearing plates p, in which they turn. The said toothed'
wheels q, r, are of the same diameters, and motion is transmitted through
the prolonged parts of the spindle u of the upper roller m to the toothed
wheel q, and from the latter to the toothed wheel r, and the rollers are
made to rotate in opposite directions, but at the same speed, and grip
between them and take down the fabric of wire gauze with uniformity.
The manner in which the taking down rollers and their spindles and
bearings are constructed is best seen in Figure 7, that is to say, the
hollow roller has an internally screwed boss or projection t at each end,
into which the spindles u, u, are screwed. The bearing plates p have
the angular figure represented, one part being bolted to the framing v,
and the other part carrying the brasses in which the spindles turn.
Although I have represented the taking down mechanism as con-
sisting of a pair of plain rollers, which are covered with calico or other
like fabric, yet the upper roller may be spiked and the under one
plain.

page_text: the said beam having at each end a break consisting of a metal strap or
band b, the inner or bearing face of which is covered with leather. The
said straps or bands 6, 6, are supported in their places by means of a tie
rod on the framing of the loom passing through the eyes 63, 63, of the
said straps 6, 6. The said straps b, b, are more or less tightened upon t
the metal rings c, c, fixed upon the ends of the roller a by means of the
weighted levers d, d. One of these levers is shown separately on a
larger scale in Figure 12. One end of each break strap 6 is hooked by
the cross pin represented to the hook d² of the lever d, and the other end.
of each break strap is jointed by the arm e to the said lever d. By 1
adjusting the position of the sliding weights f, f, on the levers d, d, the
break straps b, b, at each end of the beam or roller a may be tightened
around and made to press upon the metal rings c, c, on the said beam or
roller with the required pressure, and the rotation of the beam or roller a
in its bearings more or less retarded, and the uncoiling of the wires 1
therefrom regulated.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my 2
Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in looms or
machinery for weaving wire gauze,-
Firstly. Making the eye of the shuttle in a diagonal direction, the said
eye passing from the interior of the shuttle to the under side and end
thereof, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described, and 2
illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawings; also,
combining with a shuttle containing the said diagonal eye-a spring for
preventing the too ready uncoiling of the weft wire from the creel or
bobbin of the said shuttle, as herein-before described, and illustrated in
the said Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
3
Secondly. Constructing, combining, and arranging the parts of the
taking down mechanism of the loom, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the accom-
panying Drawings; also, applying to the beam or back roller of the
loom used in combination with the said taking down mechanism a break, 3
the parts of which are constructed and arranged in the manner herein-.
before described, and illustrated in Figures 10, 11, and 12 of the

page_text: accompanying Drawings for regulating the unwinding of the warp wires
from the said beam or back roller, and maintaining the required tension
on the said wires.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Clark Rayson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
ROBERT CLARKE RAYSON. (L.S.)