IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS, of Cheapside, in the City of London, Merchant, 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 Westminster, the Third day of October, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Thomas, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Thomas, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Thomas, 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
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plan-
tations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS," being a communication from
a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, obliging me, the said William Thomas, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and inimediately 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 proviso, I, the said
William Thomas, do hereby declare that the nature of the 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):-
These improvements in looms relate to a description of loom which is
employed for the weaving of stays, bandages, and other articles which are
intended to fit the shape of any part of the body or other irregular figure.
The principal difficulty in weaving these sorts of articles is the inequality that
it is necessary to give to fit the shape, some parts being nearly straight, whilst
others are curved inwards or outwards, as must be the case for the bosom and
hip parts of stays. My improvements, therefore, consist in the peculiar con-
struction and arrangement of the various parts of a loom, whereby I am
enabled to weave or produce with great facility, and in one entire piece, the
inequalities or irregularities in stays or other articles required to fit the shape
of the body, or other figuro having an irregular or undulating surface; also to
change the pattern and weave or produce one or more thicknesses of cloth at
the same time.
In the accompanying Drawings different views of my improved loom are
shewn, in which Figure 1 represents a front elevation of the loom. Figure 2
is a transverse section of the same, taken about the middle of Figure 1.
Figure 3 represents a plan or bird's-eye view of the upper portion of the loom.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken in the dotted line A, B, of Figure 2.
The same letters of reference are used to indicate corresponding parts in all
the Figures. A, A, indicates the framework of the loom. B, B, the batten
or stay. C, D, E, F, and G, are treadles. II is the pulley mounted on the
shaft L, which pulley is attached to the treadle E by the cord I, and to the
treadle F by the cord K. Upon this shaft L are also mounted two other
pulleys M, M, which are connected to a horizontal lever frame N by the
bands O, O. This lever frame has its fulcrum at P (sec Figures 1, 2, and 3),
and has a vertical motion communicated to it. Q indicates another lever
frame placed in a vertical position, having its fulcrum or centre of motion at S.
This lever frame Q works horizontally, and is connected to the pulley H and
wheel on the shaft L, by means of the connecting rods R, R. In this
lever frame Q is mounted the cylinder or prism U, which, it will be seen, is
similar to that of an ordinary Jacquard, but is made to revolve in two
directions in a manner and for the purpose herein-after to be explained. V is
the chain of cards which are numbered and cut or pierced in such a manner

page_text: as to produce a material of the figure or shape required. W, W, are two
octagonal sliding pieces mounted on the hollow square shaft X, which square
shaft is mounted and turns in bearings at suitable intervals in the loom frame
Q. The octagonal pieces W, W., are connected together by a rod a passed
up the hollow of the shaft X, as shewn in the detached sectional view
Figure 5 (which Figure represents a front view of a portion of the lever
frame and Jacquard cylinder U, with its chain of cards V, and Figure 6 is
a side elevation of the same): by means of this rod the pieces W, W*, are
slidden backwards and forwards on the shaft X when required. Upon the
frame rod A, in front of the machine, are mounted two shafts b and c, upon
which shafts are fixed four chain wheels d, d, and e, e. f,f, are the blocks or
pieces of the figures or shape of the article required to be produced. One of
these blocks, suitable for taking up the work produced by the action of the
Jacquard apparatus for the hip part of a stay, is shewn of full size at Figures 7..
These blocks are placed between the presser bar g, g, and the fabric, and as the
operation of weaving proceeds the blocks f, f, are gradually drawn in, and by
the weighted levers j, j, continually acting upon the presser bar g, are forced
between the horizontal chain rods h, h, of the endless chains i, i, as they are
carried round by the chain wheels d, d, and, by means of the projections f*
(see Figure 7) in the blocks f, force down the irregular surface of the work as
it is produced, as shewn by the red line in Figure 8 (which Figure is a
vertical section of the taking-up apparatus, and Figure 9 is a horizontal plan
of the same), between the bars h, h, thereby taking up and maintaining an
equal degree of tightness or tension upon each of the warps throughout the
whole breadth of the fabric.
Having given a general description of the machine, and the means whereby
the work is taken up, I shall proceed to describe the manner in which tho
machine operates in order to produce the irregularities in the fabric before
mentioned; and also the mode in which it operates for the production of
a double cloth or hollow in the fabric, where it is required to insert a whale-
bone, cord, or other substance. It will be seen by reference to Figures 2 and
4, that the horizontal spring needles or wires k, k, are mounted in a move-.
able lever frame *, the fulcrum of which is at l. This frame k* may be
raised or lowered by means of the handle m, lever m³, and connecting rods m².
In the side of the handle m are four notches 1, 2, 3, 4 (see Figure 1); the
notches are intended to be hooked upon a catch n, and are for the purpose of
securing the lever frame k* in any required position with respect to the cards
of the Jacquard, depending upon the shape of the fabric required to be formed:
for instance, in order to produce the shapes required for the hips, waist, and

page_text: bosom of a stay, it will be necessary to place the respective notches 2, 3, 4, of
the handle m upon the catch n, at proper intervals, thereby bringing the ends
of the spring needles opposite to that part of the cards of the Jacquard
suitable to the figure or shape required to be formed, and by depressing the
treadle C will, by the agency of the cord C*, treadle E, and cord I, give
motion to the pulley H, which by means of the connecting rod R brings
forward the rocking frame Q with the pieces W, W*, and Jacquard cylinder
U. The pieces W, W*, have holes or slots in their surfaces which allow of
a suitable number of the horizontal spring needles o, o, to enter, thereby
allowing a corresponding number of the perpendicular hooks o*, o*, to catch
upon the bars N* of the lever frame N; a suitable quantity of the lower series
of needles k, k, corresponding to the recesses in the cards V, at the same time
allow a corresponding number of hooks p, p, to catch upon the horizontal bars
o', o, which are drawn up as the shaft L turns by the straps O and pulleys M,
as shewn at Figures 1 and 2, and thereby form the shed for the weft. When
the notch 1 of the handle m is placed upon the catch n, the lower spring
needles & cease to act, their points being raised above the Jacquard cylinder,
as shewn in the Drawing (Figure 2); a lever q is attached at one end to the
back of the moveable lever frame * by the rod q¹ (see Figures 1, 2, and 4),
and at the other to the fork-shaped lever q. The ends of this lever are
attached to the hooks or catches q, q, by cords, as shewn in the Drawing;
and these hooks or catches are made to act upon the Jacquard cylinder, when
required, by tappetts r, . On the end of the square shaft. X (see Figure 6),
acting against the arm on the shaft, in front of the machine, is placed. a
handle s, which is notched in a manner similar to the handle m before
described. This handle is connected to an adjusting lever s¹, shewn by dots
in Figure 2, so that, when a heart-shaped piece of fabric is required to be
made, the lever s¹ is raised or lowered by the handles for the purpose of
allowing the catches q³ or q (as may be required) to act upon the cylinder of
the Jacquard, in order to reverse its motion, so as to bring back successively
the same inclined pattern of card (see Figure 5) to act upon the needles k.
The manner in which a double fabric or loop for the covering of a whalebone
or cord is produced is as follows:-The handle m must be brought down and
placed in the position shewn at Figure 1, for the purpose of bringing the lever
frame k, needles k*, &c., out of action, as shewn at Figure 2, and on bringing
down the lever G, which is done by depressing the treadle D, the lever G will,
by the agency of the cord u, force in the upper end of the bent lever u', which
will, by ineans of the rod a before mentioned, slide the pieces W, W*, into the
position shewn by dotted lines in Figure 3, thereby bringing a different

page_text: portion of the pieces W, W*, in a position to act upon the upper series of
spring needles o, o, so as to raise the warps y in a manner suitable to the
production of a double fabric.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner in which the same is
carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to confine
myself to the precise arrangement herein shewn and described, as that may be
varied, without departing from the principle of my Invention. But that which
1 do claim and wish to have secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is: the manner in which the irregularities in the fabric are
produced, and the employment of patterns or shapes suitable for taking up the
irregular fabric, as above described; also the method herein shewn, whereby
I am enabled to weave one or more thicknesses of cloth at the same time.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas, have hereunto set my
band and seal, the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Thomas came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
baforesaid, 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.
Trolled the Third do of Anvil in the woo ahova mitton