IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Blackburn, of Blackburn, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanic, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 21st April 1867, and dated the 8th November 1867."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomasi Blackbütnästhe
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the
8th November 1867.
I, THOMAS BLACKBURN, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
"My Invention consists in an improved combined letting-off and taking-up
motion. The taking-up roller is driven as usual by a ratchet wheel and catch
from the lay sword or other equivalent. The ratchet wheel for driving the
emery or taking-up roller is connected by a toothed chain or other equivalent
and by pinions and wheels to the letting off-roller placed above or near the
yath beam. By varying the number of teeth in the wheel on the letting-off
roller the tension of the yarn between the letting-off and taking-up rollers is
varied according to the quality of fabric to be woven. In combination with
the above I apply a vibrator to slacken the warp when the shed is opened and
to tighten it as the shed closes. An indicator consisting of a worm and
[Price 8d.]
:

page_text: wheel is connected to the letting-off roller to indicate the length of warp let
off. In order to dispense with levers and weights to hold the cloth beam
against the taking-up roller I connect the axle of the cloth beam to a
pressing roller by side links, this pressing roller is held in contact with the
taking-up roller by a fold of the fabric. In looms without a friction taking-
up roller in which the fabric is wound on the cloth roller direct and the
letting-off is performed by chain as above described, the cloth roller is turned
round by the usual catch and lever worked by the lay sword; in this arrange-
ment the cloth roller can only be moved round when a sufficient quantity of
yarn is let off.
Another part of my Invention consists in covering the letting-off and
taking-up rollers with cloth prepared with a solution of india-rubber or any
other preparation of india-rubber, in order to obtain the proper friction without
injuring the yarn or fabric.
SPECIFICATION-in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Blackburn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BLACKBURN, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Blackburn, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Blackburn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Blackburn, 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 "Im
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Thomas Blackburn, 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

page_text: be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
Nd
1
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Blackburn, 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 (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists,-
First, in certain improved combined letting-off and taking-up motions.
Secondly, in certain improved modes of working the vibrator to slacken and
tighten the warp.
Thirdly, in the application of an indicator to register the length of warp
let off the warp beam.
Fourthly, in certain improvements in the taking-up motion.
And lastly, in covering the letting-off and taking-up rollers of the letting-
off and taking-up motions above referred to, with cloth prépared with a
solution of india-rubber or any preparation of india-rubber.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a loom to which my improved combined
letting-off and taking-up motions are applied. Fig. 2 is a front view of part
of-the same.
a is the crank shaft; b, the tappet shaft; c, the lay sword; d, the warp
beam; c, the letting-off roller; f, the emery or friction roller; g, the cloth
or taking-up roller; c¹ is a stud fixed to the lay sword c, and giving motion
to the lever h, to which is jointed the catch h¹ for working the ratchet wheel i;
on the boss of this ratchet wheel is fixed the pinion, gearing into the
wheel to which is fixed the pinion ¹ gearing into the wheel on the
friction roller f. These parts are all made in the usual manner and form no
part of my Invention.
My improvements consist in connecting the letting-off and taking-up
motions by-the toothed chain or other equivalent k, which is driven by the
toothed pulley, and drives the toothed pulley ¹ fixed to the pinion °, which
gears into the wheel e¹ on the letting-off roller e, which draws the warp off
the warp beam d. By this means a positive letting-off motion corresponding
to the taking-up motion is obtained, and by varying the number of teeth in
the wheel e¹ the tension of the yarn between the letting-off and taking-up
rollers may be varied according to the quality of yarn or the fabric that is
being woven. The axle of the cloth roller passes through slots in the end

page_text: frames, and the cloth is held in contact with the friction roller f in the usual
manner by the levers 1 which vibrate on the fulcrum brackets 1, and are.
weighted by the weights ; the position of these weights on the lever can be
varied to regulate the pressure according to the cloth. To the tappet shaft b
are fixed tappets b' for working the ordinary treadles 62, and these treadles
draw down the vibrator m by means of the levers b³; the vibrator is supported
in the levers m¹, which are raised by the springs m² coiled round a stud.
When the lay is back, as shewn in the Drawing, the vibrator is down to
slacken the warp, but as soon as the tappet b' has passed beyond the bowl in
the treadle b, the vibrator being no longer held down is at liberty to be
pressed upwards by the springs m², thereby tightening the warp when the
weft is beaten up.
I
In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shewn a modification of my Invention applied to
a loom in which the cloth is wound on the cloth roller without the aid of a
friction or emery roller. In these views the parts marked d, e, e¹, h¹, i, i¹,
1, 12, k, k¹, and k², are similar to those above described. The wheel drives
the pinion n, to which is cast the friction plate n¹ acting against the face of
the ratchet wheel n², which is fixed on the same shaft as the pinion n³, gearing
into the wheel g¹ fixed to the cloth or taking-up roller g. The ratchet wheel n²
takes into the retaining catch o¹ jointed to a stud fixed in the bracket o
bolted to the loom end; the friction plate n¹ can be tightened against the
wheel n by the hand wheel n', in order to vary the take-up according to the
tension required for the fabric in the loom. By this arrangement the cloth
roller 9 can only be turned round when a sufficient quantity of yarn has been
let off the warp beam to slacken the warp and to allow the friction plate n¹
to give motion to the wheel n².
-
Fig. 5 represents another modification of my improved combined letting-off
and taking-up motions, particularly adapted for weaving very heavy cloth.
In this arrangement the warp passes from the beam d under the roller e³,
over the roller e
and then around the letting-off roller e. The rollers e² and e³
revolve in fixed bearings, and the roller e is pressed against the warp passing
between them by a tension screw acting on the cap of the bearing to prevent
slipping. The warp then passes under the axle m³ of the vibrator m, and
then over the vibrator which is actuated by the tappet a¹ on the crank shaft a.
This tappet a lowers the lever m³ and slackens the vibrator when the shed is
open, as shewn, and when the shed is closed the vibrator tightens the warp.
The roller e may be moved to and fro horizontally, so as to act like a vibrator
by a tappet on the crank shaft or by other suitable means. Near the back
heald is the cross bar m', which bears on the warp for tightening the top
2:
4
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page_text: shed so that it will give clearance for the shuttle. This bar is either sup
ported in swivel arms as shewn or fixed. The taking-up motion is similar
to that shewn in Figs. 1 or 3, and the chain k is kept tight by two pulleys k
mounted on levers, suspended to the axle of the chain pulley ; by this
means the chains are kept at an uniform tension, notwithstanding any changes
in the diameter of the change pinion i¹.
Fig. 6 represents a modification of my improved taking-up motion. In
this arrangement the ratchet wheel i is worked by a stud c¹, as shewn in
Fig. 1, and the pinion drives the wheel ; and chain k and letting-off motion.
also as shewn in Fig. 1, but the taking-up roller g is driven by the stud c³
fixed to the lay sword. This stud acts on an incline at the under side of
the lever p, to which is jointed the catch p¹ driving the ratchet wheel p³,
which is provided with a retaining catch as usual. To the wheel pa is fixed
the pinion p gearing into the wheel g¹ fixed to the taking-up roller g. The
lever p
is connected to the weighted lever q by the link q¹. By this arrange-
ment the cloth roller can only be moved when a sufficient quantity of yarn
has been let off, because when the lever p has been raised by the stud c³ it
can only descend by the action of the weighted lever q. The tension on the
cloth can be varied by changing the position of the weight suspended to the
lever q, and the weight may be brought nearer to the fulcrum of the lever q
by the stretching rod bearing on the cloth wound on the cloth roller. I wish
to observe that this taking-up motion is similar to that formerly in use before
the emery roller was adopted, and my Invention consists in combining it with
the letting-off motion as described.
Fig. 7 represents another part of my improvements in the taking-up
motion. In this case the cloth roller is pressed against the friction roller f
by the weighted levers 1, and the fabric after passing over the breast beam
passes under the pressing roller g, which is supported in the side links
hinged below to the axle of the cloth roller g. After the fabric has passed
under the pressing roller g it is taken over the roller f, the surface of which
is plane, and then wound on the cloth roller g. As it is very desirable in
weaving some fabrics to be able to ascertain how much warp has been drawn
off the warp beam, I apply an indicator to the axle of the roller e. The
indicator consists of a worm and wheel or a train of pinions with an index
and dial, and the circumference of the roller is made of a certain definite
size, so that by multiplying the number of revolutions performed by the roller
with its circumference, the exact length can be ascertained.
The last part of my Invention consists in covering the taking-up and
letting-off rollers of looms to which my improvements are applied with cloth

page_text: prepared with a solution of india-rubber or any preparation of india-rubber
whereby the requisite friction is obtained with a smooth surface, and the
injury to the fabrici,pccasioned by the emery or other rough surface of the
taking-up roller is avoided. This is of great importance in weaving fine
fabrics:
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim;-
First, the combined letting-off and taking-up motions described and shewn
in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Secondly, the improved mode of working the vibrator, as described and
shewn in Figs. 1 and 5.
Thirdly, the application of an indicator to the letting-off roller, as
described
Fourthly, the improved taking-up motion shewn in Fig. 7, and described.
And, lastly, covering the letting-off and taking-up rollers of my improved
combined letting-off and taking-up motions with india-rubber cloth or any
preparation of india-rubber.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Blackburn, have hereto set
my hand and seal, the Fifth May day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight.
T. BLACKBURN. (LAS.)