Iм- PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING GAUZE 'FABRICS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Speirs, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING GAUZE 'FABRICS."
Sealed the 29th April 1873, and dated the 1st November 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Speirs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1872.
I, JAMES SPEIRS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING GAUZE FABRICS," to be as follows, that
is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements designed to simplify, facilitate,
and cheapen the weaving, and more especially the weaving by power, of
gauze fabrics; the said improvements being applicable when the fabric
is a simple or plain gauze, and also when figuring or other ornamental
effects are combined with the gauze, as for example, in leno or muslin
curtains.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention in the case of a plain gauze, one "doup"
heddle, or combined heddle and doup, commonly employed for gauze
weaving, is used, and two ordinary heddle leaves are placed behind it.
Those warp threads which are raised alternately on opposite sides of the
other warp threads are passed through the eyes of the back heddles and
through the doup loops, and the and the other warp threads are passed
through the eyes of the middle heddles. The middle heddles serve
principally to hold down their warp threads after each crossing beneath
them of what may be termed the gauze threads, and they are suspended by
springs which raise them up to admit of the crossing after each time that
they are depressed by a treadle or lever. The back heddles and the front
or doup heddles are raised at alternate shots, and whenever the back
heddles are raised cords or equivalent connections between the pulleys
or parts actuating those heddles and the bar to which the doup loops
are attached cause that bar to be raised and so admit of the doup loops
slipping up through the heddle eyes as required by the gauze action.
The gauze threads are passed over a separate bearer at the back of the
loom, and by a periodical cam movement this bearer is moved forward
so as to slacken those threads sufficiently for the gauze action, and thus
prevent unequal strain on the warps.
When weaving ornamental fabrics the jacquard or other pattern
mechanism usually employed is combined with the gauze weaving
apparatus herein-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Speirs in the Great Seal Patent Office on 2
the 30th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, James
SPEIRS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her a
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Speirs, Her special licence

page_text: that I, the said James Speirs, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Speirs, 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 FOR WEAVING GAUZE FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Speirs, 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 James Speirs, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to improvements designed to simplify,
facilitate, and cheapen the weaving, and more especially the weaving by
power, of gauze fabrics; my said improvements being applicable when
the fabric is a simple or plain gauze, and also when figuring or other
ornamental effects are combined with the gauze, as for example, in leno
or muslin curtains.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and showing the
mode of applying my improvements in weaving plain gauze, together
with the mode of arranging the apparatus to act in combination with
jacquard pattern mechanism. In these Drawings the same reference
numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are
repeated, and only so much of the loom details is shown as is considered
necessary in explaining my improvements.
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a loom as fitted or arranged
according to my Invention for weaving a plain gauze fabric. In carrying

page_text: «
out the Invention in this case one doup" heddle 1, 2, (or combined
heddle 1 and doup 2) of the kind commonly employed for gauze weaving
is used, and two ordinary heddle leaves 3, 4, are placed behind it. In
forming any shed some of the warps are raised above and others are kept
at a normal level, and after being raised, the heddles 1, 2, 3, are returned
down to their normal positions by springs, to which their bottom bars
are directly or indirectly connected. The front heddles 1 are raised by
a pair of cords with straps 5, passing over pulleys 6 carried by a bracket 7
to a horizontal bar 8, which is connected to a lever 9 acted on by. a
cam 10 on the low shaft 11. Similarly the back heddles 3 are raised by
a pair of cords with straps 12 passing over pulleys 13 to a bar 14, which
is connected to a lever 15 acted on by a cam 16 on the shaft 11. The
pairs of cords 5, 12, and pulleys 6, 13, as seen from the front, are set at
some distance apart, as is well understood, to act evenly on the heddles,
but only one of each pair is seen in the Figure from its presenting the
parts in side view. Those warp threads 17 which are raised alternately
on opposite sides of the other warp threads are passed through the eyes
of the back heddles 3 and through the doup loups, and the other warp
threads 18 are passed through the eyes of the middle heddles 4. The
middle leddles 4 serve principally to hold down their warp threads 18
after each crossing beneath them, of what may be termed the gauze
threads 17, and they are suspended by a pair of springs 19 which raise
them up at each change of shed to admit of the crossing of the gauze
threads 17, whilst they are depressed during the throwing of the shuttle
by the action of a cam 20 on the shaft 11, which depresses a lever 21
connected through a bar 22 to the bottom bar of the heddles. The back
heddles 3 and the front or doup heddles 1, 2, are raised at alternate
shots, and whenever the back heddles 3 are raised cords 23 or equivalent
connections passing from the pulleys 13 over guide pulleys 24 to wires 25
attached to the bar 2 to which the doup loops are fixed cause that bar
to be raised, and so admit of the doup loops slipping up through the
heddle eyes as required for the gauze action. The gauze threads 17
are passed over a separate bearer 26 at the back of the loom, and by a
periodical cam movement this bearer is moved forward so as to slacken
those threads sufficiently for the gauze action, and thus prevent unequal
strain on the warps. The bearer 26 is adjustably fixed to a pair of
levers 27 fast on a rocking shaft 28, on which there is also fast a lever 29
connected by an adjustable rod 30 to an eccentric 31 on the low
haft 11

page_text: Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation showing the adaptation of my
improvements to a loom provided with jacquard apparatus and harness.
In this modification the doup heddles 1, 2, and back heddles 3 remain
as already described, but the middle heddles (4) are dispensed with,
their place being occupied by the harness 32, the weights attached to
the lower ends of the harness keeping down those warp threads which
should not be raised, as is well understood. In addition a rod 33 is laid
across the top of the warps in front of the harness and prevents the
warps which are raised by the heddles 1 from lifting the harness. This
rod is suspended and kept in place by two or more wires 34 passing
loosely through the hole board 35, and is of course lifted by any warps
raised by the harness or by the back heddles 3. The top bars of the
heddles 1 and 3 are arranged to work in guides 36, 37, and instead of
being actuated by cords passing over pulleys are connected each by a
pair of rods 38, 39, (only one of each pair being seen in side view)
connected to the outer ends of two pairs of levers 40, 41, carried by
over head brackets 42. The inner ends of the pairs of levers 40, 41, are
connected by rods 43, 44, to the levers 9, 15, acted on by cams on the
low shaft 11. This arrangement is a well-known equivalent for the
cords (5, 12,) and pulleys (6, 13,); and the cords 23 for raising the doup
bar 2 are fixed to studs 45 suitably placed on the levers 41. In this
modification the low shaft 11 is connected with the crank shaft by
toothed gearing, which causes it to make one revolution for every eight
weft shots, and it has fast on it cams 46, 47, which through levers 48, 49,
and rods 50, 51, actuate the two lift boards of the overhead jacquard
apparatus, whilst a cam 52 revolving at twice the speed of the shaft 11
acts through a lever 53 and rod 54 on the jacquard pattern barrel. By
altering the positions of the cams 46, 47, and the relative speed of the
shaft 11, one, two, or more shots of figuring weft may be introduced
between each pair of ground wefts.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to
the precise details herein-described or delineated, but that what I believe
to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The arranging or combining together of the parts of looms for
weaving gauze fabrics, substantially in the improved manner herein.
decorihed and delineated.

page_text: 2. The obtaining of the gauze action by the combination of the doup
heddles (1, 2,) with the back heddles (3), and with the intermediate
heddles (4) or harness (32), all arranged and acting substantially as
herein-before described.
3. The working of the doup bar (2) by connecting it to the back 5
heddles (3) as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Speirs, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JAMES SPEIRS. (L.S.)