IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING THE COVERING OF BLIND CORD AND OTHER TUBULAR FABRICS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward, Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
. man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING
THE COVERING OF BLIND CORD AND OTHER TUBULAR FABRICS."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Isaac Emerson Palmer, of Middletown, in the
State of Connecticut, United States of America.
Sealed the 6th March 1866, and dated the 17th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th October 1865.
I, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR WEAVING THE COVERING OF BLIND CORD AND OTHER TUBULAR FABRICS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists principally in the employment, for carrying the warp
thread or yarn in a loom or machine for weaving blind cord or other tubular
fabrics, of one or more gravitating shuttles kept by its or their own weight at
the bottom of a hollow rotating cylinder, which has its axis in a horizontal
position, and which carries a number of bobbins on which are the warp yarns.

page_text: It also consists in the employment of a series of traversing warp guides or
carriers having a movement parallel with the axis of the said cylinder for the
purpose of producing the crossing of the warp yarns, by which (as they
revolve with the said rotating cylinder) they are made to receive the weft
between them. It also consists in the employment for operating the aforesaid
warp guides or carriers of a stationary cylinder, arranged at one end and
concentric with the aforesaid rotating cylinder, and having on its periphery two
crossing grooves for the reception of switch pieces attached to the said
traversing warp guides or carriers. It also consists in the attachment to such
a gravitating shuttle of a weft conductor, which is made so to conduct the
weft into the warp and so to act upon the warp as to serve the purpose of a
reed, viz., to press the weft up closely at the filling point. And it further
consists in the application of a series of elastic warp conductors in combination
with the bobbins on the rotating cylinder and with the aforesaid traversing
warp guides or carriers, for the purpose of regulating and equalizing the
tension of the warp yarns. Two standards are erected upon a bed plate to
support or contain the bearings for a horizontal main shaft. This shaft is
hollow, and is composed of two pieces arranged in line with each other, with
a space between them; a rotating hollow cylinder, which carries the warp
bobbins, forms on its inner periphery a track for the gravitating shuttle or
shuttles.
At one end of the shaft a fast-and-loose pulley for driving the machine is
secured, and to the fast pulley is secured a forked head, which contains the
bearings for a bobbin from which the cord to be covered is supplied. To the
other end of the shaft is secured a frame for the take-up apparatus, by which
the cord is taken up as fast as covered, the cord passing through both portions
of the shaft and being covered as it passes. The take-up apparatus consists
principally of a take-up roll and a collecting spool, both arranged transversely
to the shaft, and their shafts working in bearings in the sides of the frame.
The shaft of the take-up roll is set off so far from the axis of the hollow
shaft that the said roll will receive the cord in a line passing directly through;
the axis of this shaft of the take-up apparatus has secured to it a worm gear
and a pulley. The worm gear gears with an endless screw on one end of a
short shaft, which is arranged parallel with the main shaft of the machine in a
suitable bearing on the frame, and on the other end of which there is secured
a spur gear, which is caused to revolve around a stationary spur gear con-
centric with the main shaft, but secured firmly to the bearings. The endless
screw is thus caused to give a rotary motion to the take-up roll. The
warp bobbins are placed on spindles mounted in the rotary cylinder at.equal

page_text: distances apart. Traversing warp guides are provided by which the crossing
of the warp yarns over the weft is produced. These guides (corresponding in
number with the bobbins) consist of straight rods nearly twice the length of
the cylinder, and are fitted to slide parallel with the axis of the cylinder
through holes provided in the flanges about midway between the bobbins, and
each has at about the middle of its length an eye through which the yarn
from one of the bobbins passes. These guides or carriers have each a switch
piece pivotted to one end, which are fitted to run freely in grooves of the
stationary cylinder, situated between the rotating cylinder and the take-up
apparatus. As the warp guides or carriers revolve with the cylinder their
switch pieces pass along the grooves, crossing from one groove to the other
as they severally pass over the top of the cylinder, and by thus crossing from
one groove to the other will produce a longitudinal movement of the guides.
The yarns pass on their way from the bobbins through elastic guides corre-
sponding in number with the bobbins, and which guides are formed of a
single piece of wire coiled so as to form an eye at about the middle of its
length for the yarn to pass through, it is again coiled so as to form two elbows,
and is secured rigidly to the rotary cylinder. The wire thus forms a double
spring, the portions between the end coils and elbow coils forming one spring,.
which presses upon the yarn upon one of the bobbins, and thereby produces
friction and tension upon the warp yarns, and the portions between the elbow
coils and the eye forming another spring, by which the eye is made to take
up the slack of the yarn.
The gravitating shuttle is made with a curved sole, which conforms
nearly to the interior of the rotary cylinder, and each end is bevilled on the
upper side to enable it to pass easily between the warp yarns, and is made
hollow for the reception of a bobbin. A friction spring is applied to
press on the bobbin and produce proper tension on the weft yarn.. A
weft conductor is attached to the gravitating shuttle for the purpose of
conducting the weft into the warp close to the filling point, acting upon the
warp so as to press up the weft, and thereby serve the same purpose as the
reed of an ordinary loom. This conductor consists of a straight or slightly
bent rod of steel, the lower end of which is hinged or otherwise attached to.
the shuttle, and the upper end is fastened in the direction of the axis of the
cylinder and brought to a thin edge, that it may enter freely between the
warp yarns at the weaving point and press them close up to the cord, where it
will be held by the tension of the weft yarn, which passes through an eye at
its upper end.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Edward Newton, 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 MACHINERY FOR WEAVING THE COVERING OF BLIND CORD
AND OTHER TUBULAR FABRICS," being a communication from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Edward Newton,
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 Henry Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists principally in the employment, for carrying the warp
thread or yarn in a loom or machine for weaving blind or shade cord or
other tubular fabrics, of one or more gravitating shuttles kept by their own
weight at the bottom of a hollow rotating cylinder, which has its axis in a
horizontal position, and which carries a number of bobbins on which are the
warp yarns. It also consists in the employment in combination with such
rotating cylinder (having its axis horizontally arranged and with the gravi

page_text: tating shuttle or shuttles) of a series of traversing warp guides or carriers
having a movement parallel with the axis of the cylinder for the purpose of
producing the crossing of the warp yarns, by which (as they revolve with the
rotating cylinder) they are made to receive the weft between them. It also
consists in the employment for operating the aforesaid warp guides or carriers
of a stationary cylinder, arranged at one end and concentric with the rotating
cylinder, and having on its periphery two crossing grooves for the reception of
switch pieces attached to the traversing warp guides or carriers. It also
consists in the attachment to such a gravitating shuttle of a weft conductor,
which is made so to conduct the weft into the warp and so to act upon the
warp as to serve the purpose of a reed, viz., to press the weft up closely at
the filling point. And it further consists in the application of a series of
elastic warp conductors in combination with the bobbins on the rotating
cylinder and with the traversing warp guides or carriers, for the purpose of
regulating and equalizing the tension of the warp yarns.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is an axial vertical section of a
machine with a gravitating shuttle; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 8 is
a transverse vertical section of the same in the line x, x, in Figures 1 and 2;
Fig. 4 is a view of the under side or sole of the shuttle; Fig. 5 is a view on a
large scale of the opposite side of the upper part of the weft conductor to
that which is shewn in Fig. 3; Figures 6 and 7 are views of parts of a machine
in which the gravitating shuttles are used. The machine represented in
Figures 1, 2, and 3, and its parts represented in Figures 4 and 5, will be first
described.
Two standards A and B are erected upon a bed plate C to support or con-
tain the bearings a; a¹, for the horizontal main shaft D, D, of the machine.
This shaft is made hollow, and is composed of two pieces arranged in line
with each other, with a space c between them, as shewn in Fig. 1. E is the
rotating hollow cylinder, which carries the warp bobbins G, G, and the interior
periphery of which forms a track for the gravitating shuttle I. This cylinder
is made with two hubs b, b², one at each end, each hub being connected with
the cylinder by a separate set of arms. One of the hubs is keyed or other-
wise firmly secured upon one portion D of the shaft, and the other upon the
portion D¹, so that the cylinder forms a rigid connection between the two
portions of the shaft. On the outer end of the portion D of the shaft there
is secured a fast pulley P, which receives the belt for driving the machine,
and there is fitted the loose pulley P to receive the belt when the machine is
not running. To the fast pulley P there is secured a forked head K; which
contains the bearings for the bobbiu L, from which the cord 12 to be covered

page_text: is supplied. To this head there is attached a spring L, which presses upon
the cord 12 on the bobbin, and so produces the necessary friction to give the
necessary tension on the part which is being covered. To the outer end of
the portion D¹ of the shaft there is secured the frame M of the take-up
apparatus, by which the cord is taken up as fast as it is covered, the cord
passing from the bobbin L through both portions of the shaft, and being covered
as it passes
the
espace c. The take-up apparatus consists principally of a take-up
roll N and a collecting spool P, both arranged transversely to the shaft D, D¹,
and their shafts work in bearings in the sides of the frame M. The shaft N1
of the take-up roll is set off so far from the axis of the hollow shaft D, D',
that the roll will receive the cord in a line passing directly through the axis
of the latter shaft, as shewn in Fig. 1. The shaft N¹ has secured to it a
worm wheel N and a pulley N°. The worm wheel gears with an endless
screw Q on one end of a short shaft Q, which is arranged parallel with the
main shaft D, D'. On the other end of this shaft D, D¹, is secured a spur
wheel R, which is caused by the revolution of the shaft to revolve around a
stationary spur wheel S, which is concentric with the latter shaft, but is
secured firmly to the bearing a¹. The revolution of the wheel R around the
stationary wheel S causes the former wheel and its shaft Q and the endless
screw Q to receive also a rotary motion about their axes. The endless screw
is thus caused to give a rotary motion to the worm wheel N' and to the take-
up roll. The pulley N on the shaft of the take-up roll receives an endless
band T, which also runs on a pulley P¹ attached to the collecting spool P, so
that as fast as the cord is taken up by the take-up roll, around which it is
given one or more complete turns, it is delivered to and taken up by the
collecting spool. The warp bobbins G, G, are placed on spindles e, e¹, which
are inserted into bearings in lugs f¹, f, provided on the external flanges f, f,
of the rotary cylinder E at equal distances apart. These spindles and bobbins
are parallel with the shaft D, D. There may be any odd number of these
bobbins. H, H, are the traversing warp guides or carriers by which the
crossing of the warp yarns over the weft is produced. These guides or
carriers, which correspond in number with the bobbins, consist of straight rods
nearly twice the length of the cylinder, and are fitted to slide parallel with
the axis of the cylinder E through holes provided in the flanges f, f, thereof,
about midway between the bobbins. Each has drilled through it at about
the middle of its length an eye e, through which the yarn from one of the
bobbins G passes before passing through one of a series of longitudinal
slots 8, s, provided in the cylinder E. These guides or carriers have each a
switch piece n pivotted to one end by a pin q, and these switch pieces are

page_text: fitted to run freely in the crossing grooves p, p', which are cut in the exterior
periphery of the stationary cylinder F. This cylinder is arranged around the
portion D¹ of the main shaft of the machine, between the rotating cylinder E
and the take-up apparatus, and is concentric with the rotating cylinder. It
is secured firmly to or forms part of the standard B, and the bearing a¹, which
is supported by the standard, is constructed in a central hub, which is connected
to the shell of the cylinder by arms d, d. The two grooves p, p³, extend
around the greater portion of the circumference of the cylinder in planes
perpendicular to the axis thereof, and at a distance apart from centre to centre
equal to the desired length of traverse of the guides or carriers H, H, but for
the remainder of the circumference of the cylinder equal to twice the distance
between the guides or carriers they run obliquely, as shewn in Fig. 2, so that
each unites with the other at the top of the cylinder, as shewn at 6 in the
last-mentioned Figure. As the warp guides or carriers H, H, revolve with
the cylinder their switch pieces n, n, pass along the grooves p, p¹, crossing.
from one groove to the other as they severally pass over the top of the
cylinder F, and by thus, crossing from one groove to the other the switch
pieces are made to produce, a longitudinal movement of the guides or:
carriers, by which the eyes e, e, thereof are caused to move first toward one
and then toward the other end of the cylinder E. The guides or carriers
are severally so arranged that when the switch piece of one is in one of the
grooves p, p, the switch piece of the other is in the other groove, and by
that means one is caused to move in one direction and the next one in the
opposite direction, and the warp yarns are thereby crossed over the weft."
V, V, are the elastic warp guides through which the warp yarns pass on
their way from the bobbins G, G, to the traversing guides or carriers H, H.
These guides V, V, which correspond in number with the bobbins, are formed
each of a single piece of, wire coiled to form an eye u at the middle of its
length for the reception of the yarn; it is coiled again at v, v, (Figures"
2 and 3,) to form two elbows, and coiled again near its ends, as shewn at y, y,
around a pin w, which is inserted through and is secured rigidly in the
flanges ff, of the cylinder. The ends of the wire are inserted into the holes
in the flanges to prevent the coils y, y, from turning freely on the pin w. The
wire thus formed and secured at its ends forms a double spring, the portions.
between the end coils y and elbow coils v forming one spring, which presses
upon the yarn which is upon one of the bobbins, and thereby produces friction
and tension upon the warp yarns (which are represented in red color), and the
portions between the elbow coils and the eye u forming another spring, by 1
which the eye is made to take up the slack of the yarn between it and the

page_text: filling point as its respective traversing guide is making the movements by which
the crossing of the warp yarns over the weft is effected. These springs have a
peculiar operation, for when any extra tension comes upon the warp yarn,
between the filling or weaving point and the eye u, it tends to draw the eye
toward the cylinder, and in so doing tends to draw away from the bobbin the
portion of the spring which presses upon it, and thus reduce the pressure and
friction upon the bobbin, which is thereby permitted to give off its yain until
the tension between the eye.u and the weaving point is in a certain degree
reduced, when the pressure of the spring upon the bobbin is again restored.
In this way the proper tension of the warp yarns is regulated.
The gravitating shuttle I (so termed because it is kept in place and made
to operate by gravitation) is made with a curved sole; which conforms nearly
to the interior of the cylinder E. It has its ends bevilled on the upper side, as
shewn at g, g, in Fig. 3, and has its sides bevilled upwards, as shewn at m, m,
in Fig. 1, to enable it to pass easily between the warp yarns. It is made hollow
for the reception of the bobbin h and two rollers k, k, which are held in place
by pins or axles passing through them. These rollers project slightly below
the face of the sole of the shuttle, so that they may bear upon the inner.
periphery of the cylinder E and keep the sole out of contact therewith. A
friction spring i is applied to press on the bobbin and produce proper tension
on the weft yarn. This shuttle may be made of cast iron or other metal, and
should be heavy enough to enable it to remain nearly stationary at the bottom.
of the cylinder E, while rotary motion is given to the latter. It is fitted.
loosely between two internal flanges f, f³, provided around the cylinder, and
is thereby prevented from being displaced laterally. A weft conductor J is
attached to the gravitating shuttle for the purpose of conducting the weft into-
the warp close to the filling point, and so acting upon the warp as to press up.
the weft, and thereby serve the same purpose as the reed of an ordinary loom.
This conductor consists of a straight or slightly bent rod of steel or iron, the
lower end of which is hinged or otherwise attached to the shuttle. The upper
end is fastened in the direction of the axis of the cylinder, and is brought to a
thin edge, as shewn at 20 (Figures 5 and 6), so that it may enter freely between.
the warp yarns close up to the weaving point and press them close up to the '
cord, where it will be held by the tension of the weft yarn passing through an
eye 7 in a projection 8 on one side of the back of the conductor. The weft
yarn, represented by blue color, passes from the shuttle bobbin through a
longitudinal slit in the top of the shuttle directly to the eye 7 above mentioned,
and from the eye is delivered between the warp yarns.
To set the machine in operation, the bobbin L, containing a piece of cord:

page_text: to be covered, is placed in the head K, and the cord is inserted through the
shaft D, D¹, and coiled round the take-up roll N; its end is secured to the
collecting spool P. The warp yarns from the several bobbins G, G, are con-
ducted through their respective elastic guides V, V, traversing guides H, H,
and slots 8, s, to the space c between the two portions of the main shaft, and
their ends are either tied to or coiled once or twice tightly around the cord 12.
The filling yarn or weft is passed through the eye 7 of the weft conductor J,
so that a short piece projects beyond the eye, and is then inserted into the
cylinder. The machine is started by slipping the driving belt from the loose
pulley P' to the fast pulley P³.. The revolution of the cord 12, bobbins G, G,
and warp yarns with the cylinder E, while the shuttle remains stationary or
nearly so, and the yarns are carried back and forth from one. end of the
cylinder to the other, causes the weft to be unwound from the shuttle and
deposited between the warp yarns, and the warp yarns to be crossed over it as
in ordinary weaving. The conductor J, like the shuttle, passes between the
successive warp yarns, and by pressing against the cord is caused to deposit
the weft close into the crossings of the warp. The conductor, moreover, passes
in front of alternate warp yarns, as indicated in Fig. 5, where it will be
seen that parts of some of the yarns are dotted to shew that they are behind
the hook. Those yarns are pressed against the weft which was laid over
them in the previous revolution, and thus causes them to press up the weft,
thus performing a duty like the reed of an ordinary loom.
To adapt the machine to the weaving of tubular fabrics, the portion D of
the shaft is made solid, and a cylindrical metal core piece of a diameter equal
to that intended for the interior of the fabric is attached thereto, the core piece
entering some distance into the portion D¹ of the shaft, which is made hollow,
as represented in the Drawing.
In adapting this Invention to the use of the gravitating shuttles the
cylinders E and F require to be made of greater length in the direction of
their axis, the rotating cylinder E requires a flange f³ at the middle of its
length, as shewn in Fig. 6, to separate the tracks for the two gravitating
shuttles I, I, and the stationary cylinder F has in its outer periphery three
grooves p, p, p, as shewn in Fig. 7, instead of two. These grooves cross
each other in the manner shewn at 6, 6, in the latter Figure, so that the
switches of the warp guides or carriers will travel round the three grooves
one after the other in succession, and then cross from one to the other of
the outer ones, and produce a crossing of the warp yarns over each of the
two weft yarns from the two shuttles. By the use of two shuttles the weaving
is performed twice as fast as with one. It may be practicable to use a greater

page_text: number than two shuttles by providing an additional groove in the stationary
cylinder F for every additional shuttle.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
as aforesaid, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid,―
First, the employment for carrying the weft yarn in a machine for weaving
the covering of shade cord, or other circular or tubular fabric, of one or more
gravitating shuttles I, applied and operating as herein specified within a
rotating cylinder which carries the warp yarns.
Second, in combination with the rotating cylinder E carrying the warp
bobbins G, G, and one or more gravitating shuttles I, I claim the traversing
yarn guides or carriers H, H, having eyes e, e, provided in them, and applied
and operating as and for the purpose herein specified.
Third, in combination with the rotating cylinder E and the traversing yarn
guides or carriers H, H, I claim the stationary cylinder F, arranged at one
end of the said rotating cylinder, and having two or more crossing grooves p, p',
on its outer periphery, and the switch pieces n, n, or their equivalents, attached
to the guides as herein set forth.
Fourth, the weft conductor J combined with a gravitating shuttle as
described.
Fifth, I claim the elastic yarn guides V, V, forming double springs, and
serving the purpose of guiding the warp yarns from the bobbins to the
traversing guides or carriers, that of producing friction upon the bobbins, and
that of taking up any slack of the yarn, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
H. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)