IMPROVEMENTS IN GUARDS FOR THE SHUTTLES OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GUARDS FOR THE SHUTTLES OF LOOMS
FOR WEAVING.”—A communication from abroad by Edgar M. Stevens
and Alonzo Stockbridge Gear, both of Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America.
Sealed the 20th October 1873, and dated the 27th August 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th August 1873.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GUARDS FOR THE
SHUTTLES OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING," a communication, to be as follows:-
.
1
•
This Invention relates to a guard consisting of a stout wire fastened
with its attachments to the front of and parallel with the lay bar of a
loom, and its object is to prevent the shuttles flying out of and away

page_text: from the loom, while at the same time locking the guard in position,
and permitting ready adjustment of the said guard for the purpose of
mending threads or removing the shuttle.
Two projecting arms are fastened to the front of the lay bar and
extend horizontally therefrom; they bear in apertures a metal rod
called the guard rod passing in front of and parallel with the lay
bar at a distance from the same less than that across the shuttle
at a right angle to its axis, and when in operation at a short distance
above the upper threads of the warp. This guard rod is bent at an
angle twice at each end, so that each end enters the apertures of the
aforesaid arms and moves loosely in them. The said arms are pro-
vided with projections called the end stops at right angles to their
axes on the sides of the bent portion of the guard rod, which portions
when in operation lie against the inner sides of the projections. The
guard rod hangs downward from the aforesaid arms. Another arm,
called the spring arm, projects from the front of the lay bar, and is
arranged horizontally in the middle of the same; it has parallel with
its axis in its lower half a perforation which carries a small bolt;
the latter is pressed forward by a spiral spring which lies in the
said perforation. A bent metallic arm called the catch arm is borne
at its centre by a pin carried by the spring arm, on which spring
arm it partially rotates. The lower half of this catch arm extends down
to the guard rod, and is forked, the prongs of the fork passing on each
side of the guard rod. Just below the said pin the inner edge of the
catch arm is cut away to a right angle, or nearly so, with the aforesaid
small bolt, the end of the bolt impinging upon this part of the catch
arm. Below this part the catch arm is cut away, so that when the
guard rod is forced back against the bolt and its spring the bolt impinges
freely upon that portion.
Another method by which I automatically secure the lay bar in
or out of working position is as follows:-I provide one side or end
of the lay bar with a horizontal projection, spring, and bolt, and
other parts, as above described, but with this difference, namely, the
guard rod is up when out of work, and down when in work. An
arm, answering to the bent portion of the guard rod is hinged to
one of the aforesaid two projecting arms; the latter is made shorter
than the other arm. This short arm bears a cylindrical aperture
reaching nearly to its front cnd, and running at right angles to the

page_text: lay bar; through this aperture passes a short rod which carries inside
the aperture a shoulder, and outside the short arm a circular thumb
piece. Between the shoulder and the body of this arm the catch rod
carries a spiral spring, so that when the catch rod is drawn out on
letting go its hold the spring drives the rod in again. At its inner
end the catch rod enters a notch cut in the front edge of the support
when the guard rod is out of work. Another similar notch below the
first-named notch is entered by the catch rod end when the guard
rod is pushed down and in position for work. This apparatus thus
locks automatically.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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 GUARDS FOR THE SHUTTLES OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING," a
communication to me from abroad by Edgar M. Stevens and Alonzo
Stockbridge Gear, both of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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,

page_text: carries a small bolt F; the latter is pressed forward by a spiral spring G.
which lies in the said perforation; H is a bent metallic arm called
the catch arm which is borne at its centre by a pin J carried by
the spring arm at its hither end in Figure 1, on which spring arm
it partially rotates. The lower half of this catch arm extends down
to the guard rod O and is forked, the prongs of the fork passing
on each side of the guard rod. I sometimes fasten this lower end
of the catch arm to the guard rod. Just below the pin J the inner
edge of the catch arm is cut away to a right angle, or nearly so,
with the bolt F, Figure 2, the end of the. bolt impinging upon that
part of the catch arm. Below this part the catch arm is cut away.
horizontally, or nearly so, as in Figure 2, so that when the said guard
rod is forced back against the bolt F and its spring the said bolt impinges
freely upon that portion.
Another method of automatically securing the lay bar in or out of
working position is this :-I place upon one side or end of the lay
bar a horizontal projection, spring, and bolt, and other parts, as above
described, but with this difference, namely, the guard rod is up when
out of work, and down when in work. An arm, answering to the
bent portion of the guard rod O at the point C*, Figure 1, is hinged
to the arm B*, which for the purposes of this mode of construction
is made shorter than shown in the Drawing, the other arm B being.
made of the same length. This short arm 0* bears a cylindrical
aperture reaching nearly to its front end, and running at right angles.
to the lay bar; through this aperture passes a short rod which carries
inside the aperture a shoulder, and outside the arm C* a circular
thumb piece. Between the shoulder and the body of the arm C*.
at the front the said catch rod carries a spiral spring, so that when,
by means of the thumb piece, the catch rod is drawn out on letting
go its hold the spring drives the rod in again. At its inner end the
said catch rod enters a notch cut in the front edge of the support B*
when the guard rod is out of work. Another similar notch below
the first-named notch is entered by the catch rod end when the
guard rod is pushed down and in position for work. This apparatus
thus locks itself automatically.
It is often the case in the operation of looms that the shuttle in
its passage across the warp will diverge from its straight course and
fly out from the loom in consequence of the breaking of the thread,

page_text: or from other causes, thus injuring the operative or breaking the warp;
but with this Invention such accidents are effectually prevented as
when the guard rod is in the position shown in Figure 1, the shuttle
being wider than the space between the guard rod and the lay bar cannot
pass through between them..
To hold the said guard rod in position it is necessary that it should
be locked, and this automatically to save time and trouble to the
operative.
When the shuttle is to be removed or to be placed in position, or a
warp thread is to be mended, the operative presses the guard rod back,
and it swings into the position shown in Figure 2, being thus out of
the way. The catch arm holding the centre of the guard rod in place
it cannot be bent outward, and thus made inefficacious, as with some
other shuttle guards. I sometimes have more than one of these catch
arms. The end stops in case of the divergence of the shuttle's course,
and its hitting the guard rod prevent the rods yielding to the blow.
By the peculiar arrangement of the two plane surfaces at right angles,
or nearly so, to each other at the points in the inner edge of the catch
arm H where the bolt F impinges, this bolt being pressed forward by
.the spring against either plane surface alternately holds the catch arm
in place both when the rod is drawn out and in operation, and when
it is pushed back to the lay bar, the rod being thus self-locking by
means of the spring and bolt in both positions, and thus it is not
necessary to go to one side of the loom to work any hand device.
When the aforesaid guard rod is pushed back on the starting of the
loom again I do not need to handle the guard rod to draw it out away.
from the lay bar, as the first motion outward of the lay throws the rod
outward into working position, it thus sets itself automatically. This
results from my guard rod hanging downward from its hinged supports
on the arms B, B*. I do not confine myself to any form of guard rod,
holder, or method of locking it.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The hinged guard in combination with a positive self-locking
device which will hold the same in position when down against any

page_text: blow of the shuttle, while it may be readily unlocked and thrown up
by the operative when desired, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose set forth.
Second. In a shuttle guard the combination and arrangement of the
lay bar A and its projections B, B*, and the guard rod, with one or more
intermediate supports of the rod, constructed and arranged substantially
as described.
Third. In a shuttle guard the combination and arrangement of the
lay bar A, and its projections B, B*, and the swinging guard rod C,
with the end stops D, D, constructed and arranged substantially as
described.
Fourth. In a shuttle guard the combination and arrangement of the
swinging guard rod C, the catch arm H, the spring G, and the bolt F,
constructed and arranged substantially as described.
Fifth. In a shuttle guard the combination and arrangement of the
lay bar A, the arms B, B*, and the swinging guard rod O, when the
latter hangs below the arms, all substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
WN. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)