IM- PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Garnett, of Low Moor, near Clitheroe, in the
County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner and Manufacturer, Christopher
Geldard, of the same Place, Manager, and John Dugdale, of Blackburn,
in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 17th September 1858, and dated the 29th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Garnett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 29th
March 1858.
We, WILLIAM GARNETT, of Low Moor, near Clitheroe, in the County of
Lancaster, Cotton Spinner and Manufacturer, CHRISTOPHER GELDARD, of the
same Place, Manager, and JOHN DUGDALE, of Blackburn, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, first, of an improved let-off motion, which may be
applied on one or both sides of the loom on the beam flange or other suitable
place; having a connection with the beam is a wheel into which works a worm
or pinion. This worm or pinion is upon the same shaft as a ratchet wheel, in
the latter of which works one or more catches. These catches are made
to move out and into gear of the ratchet wheel alternately by means of a
.

page_text: finger or stud properly adjusted on the vibrator or other moveable part of the
loom, so that when the shed opens to receive the shuttle the vibrator is
depressed, and the before mentioned finger comes in contact with one of the
catches and relieves it from the ratchet wheel, thereby allowing half a tooth
of the ratchet wheel to escape and give off the yarn from the yarn beam. An
excentric may be applied to the vibrator to regulate the tension of the warp
during the action of the catches. When the shed closes the vibrator rises,
consequently allows the detached catch to go to its former place; also the
finger or stud in its backward motion relieves the second catch, but does not
allow more than half a tooth to escape of the ratchet wheel. This operation
is only repeated when the yarn that has been let off is woven. The catches
and wheel may be relieved by any other moving part of the loom in connection
with the warp on the beam.
The second part of our Invention consists in having a fixed bearing at each
side of the loom to hold the lease rods, so that they can be set at any required
distance, from the healds.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Garnett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
GARNETT, of Low Moor, near Clitheroe, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton_
Spinner and Manufacturer, CHRISTOPHER GELDARD, of the same Place,
Manager, and JOHN DUGDALE, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of:
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto, us,
the said William Garnett, Christopher Geldard, and John Dugdale, Her
special licence that we, the said William Garnett, Christopher Geldard, and
John Dugdale, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as;
we, the said William Garnett, Christopher Geldard, and John Dugdale, our
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,

page_text: within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Garnett,
Christopher Geldard, and John Dugdale, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said William Garnett, Christopher Geldärd,
and John Dugdale, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
The nature of our Invention of improvements in looms for weaving consists,
first, in an improved self-acting let-off motion; by which the yarn on the warp
beam is let off when the tension becomes too great; and, secondly, in the
application of a fixed bearing at each side of the loom to hold the lease
rods.
In order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, we will proceed to describe the means pursued by us, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the figures and
letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of a loom side to which our improvements are
applied; Fig. 2 is a view from the back; and Fig. 3 a plan of our improve-
ments. a represents the warp beam, the yarn from which passes over the
vibrator rail b, under the vibrator shaft c, and thence to the healds; the
vibrator is acted upon by a spring or weight connected to the rod c¹ in the
ordinary manner; the warp beam a is connected to the short shaft a¹ by snugs
on the end of the beam, taking into notches in the cross head a², as shewn in
Figs. 1 and 2; and to the short shaft a¹ is fixed the bevel wheel d, gearing
in the pinion e fixed to the upright shaft f, to which is also fixed the crown
ratchet wheel g. The catches h and i which are jointed to the stud; take
into the ratchet wheel g, each catch being pressed downwards by a spring, as
shewn in Fig. 8. To the catch h is cast a projection ', and to the catch i is
cast a projection passing through the catch h; both these projections are
acted upon by the bowl ke fitting on a stud in the lever c³ fixed to the vibrator.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When the loom is at work the taking-
up motion (which is not shewn in the Drawing, as it may be made in any

page_text: approved manner) by increasing the tension of the warp causes it to overcome
the spring or weight connected to the rod c', and consequently to depress the
vibrator rail b; this depression of one side of the vibrator causes the bowl k to
move in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, thereby liberating the catch i,
which had been held by the bowl k, and allowing it to drop on to the ratchet
wheel g, and then acting on the projection ', thereby raising the catch h out
of gear with the ratchet wheel
9.
As soon as the catch h is raised, the warp beam, which had previously been
held by this catch taking into the ratchet wheel g, the pinion e and wheel dis
liberated, and the tension of the warp causes a small portion thereof to be un-
rolled or let off the warp beam; by this means the tension on the warp is
instantly reduced, and the spring or weight acting on the rod c¹ connected to
the vibrator causes the bowl k and the catches h and i to regain their former
positions. By these means, whenever the tension of the warp is so great that
the rail b is sufficiently depressed to raise the retaining catch h, it is lifted off
the ratchet wheel g and sets it at liberty; the warp is thus slackened to the
requisite extent, and the loom continues its work until the tension of the warp
again becomes too great, when the operations are repeated as before. We
wish to remark that the bevel wheel d may be fixed to the flange of the warp
beam, and that instead of the pinion e, a worm may be used to gear into the
wheel fixed to or connected with the warp beam.
Fig. 4 represents a modification of our improved letting-off motion; in this
arrangement the ratchet wheel g is made with two sets of teeth and the catch
his double, that is to say, the upper part of the catch takes into the teeth on
the upper side of the ratchet wheel g, and the lower part of the catch marked
h is acted upon by the teeth on the lower side of the ratchet wheel g; the
lower catch his adjustable to enable it to be set to the teeth of the ratchet
wheel. The catch h hinges as before on a stud j, and it is or may be pressed
down by a spring similar to the one shewn in Fig. 1. When the tension on
the warp overcomes the resistance of the spring or weight connected to the
rod c¹ the vibrating rail 6 is depressed and the bowl k is brought against the
projection h¹, thereby raising the catch h out of gear with the upper teeth of
the ratchet wheel g; the warp beam being thus liberated allows a portion of
the warp to be drawn off, but as the catch h² is also raised when the catch his
lifted by the bowl k, it is evident that the quantity of yarn unwound will only
be equal to that due to one tooth of the ratchet wheel g, because the teeth at
the under side of the wheel g coming against the catch h², causes the catch h
to drop again into gear with the teeth of the ratchet wheel.
When a portion

page_text: of the warp has been thus let off, the weight or spring acting on the rod c³,
draws the bowl k from under the projection h¹ and the parts regain their
former positions.
In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 we have shewn another modification of our improved
letting-off' motion; in this arrangement a spur wheel d is fixed to or connected
with the warp beam, and into this spur wheel gears the pinion e; to this pinion
is cast or fixed the ratchet wheel or clutch box which is mounted loose on
the stud m; the sliding clutch box is also loose on the stud m and between
the two is the disc n, which is fast on the stud-m; the sliding clutch box &
has two pins fitting in notches in the disk n, and at the end of the boss of the
clutch box is a bowl o which is acted upon by the segment p, fixed to the
vibrator shaft c; the segment p is made with a raised part p¹, see Fig. 7, the
object of whieh will be explained hereafter. The mode of operation is as
follows: As long as the raised part pl. acts on the bowl o the clutch boxes
are closed and the yarn beam is fast, that is to say, no yarn is let off the warp
beam, but as soon as the tension becomes sufficiently great to depress the
vibrator rail the lower part of the segment p comes opposite the bowl o, and
the strain of the warp then causes the wheel d to give a slight motion to the
pinion e, or sufficient to force the sliding clutch box from the clutch box l,
and to allow one or more teeth to pass; as soon as the requisite quantity of
yarn has been let off the clutch boxes are again locked by the action of the
raised part p of the segment p, as before described.
As there is a greater
tension on the warp when the shed is open than when it is closed, we propose
to make use of an excentric on the tappet shaft or other convenient part of the
loom, acting on the vibrator to equalise the tension.
The second part of our Invention is represented in Figs. 1 and 2; in these
views r is a bearing, and a similar one is fixed to the other side of the loom;
the ends of the lease rods which are markeds and t fit into these bearings,
and are retained by them at a positive and uniform distance from the vibrator
or froin the healds, thereby insuring regularity in the opening of the shed.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we declare that we claim,―
First, the improved combination of machinery forming a self-acting letting-
off motion, as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and particularly the catches marked
hand i, with the ratchet wheel g.
Secondly, the improved letting-off motion, shewn and described in reference
to Fig. 4, and particularly the double ratchet wheel g, and the double catch

page_text: Thirdly, the improved letting-off motion, shewn and described in reference
to Figs. 5, 6, and 7, and particularly the clutch boxes / and l'.
And, lastly, the application of fixed bearings for holding the lease rods, as
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Garnett, Christopher Geldard,
and John Dugdale, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
W GARNETT.
CHRISTOPHER GELDARD.
JOHN DUGDALE.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
(L.S.)