An Improved Loom Shuttle Guard.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 8th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan., 1895
I, HENRY BRERETON of Hill Bank House, Halliwell, Bolton in the County
of Lancaster, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention to be
as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved automatic shuttle guard and is designed to
protect weavers from injury in case shuttles fly out of a loom. This shuttle guard
is composed of a metallic rod provided with square or obloug surfaces mounted in
metallic bearings having angular or inclined slots, and bearing surfaces to receive
the square or oblong ends of the metallic rod when in position to prevent the shuttle
flying out, the said bearings being fixed on the front side of the lathe above the
reed. To the bearings employed for carrying the shuttle guard are secured flat
springs of sufficient width to allow of the guard being pressed back by the weaver.
when requisite. Immediately the metallic rod is released by the weaver and the
loom is set in motion the backward movement of the lathe automatically throws or
slides the said rod down the angular or inclined slots and places the same in the
bearings to hold the guard in position over the line of travel of the shuttle. The
metallic rod may be bent at each end so as to swivel in the bearings; the outer
ends being provided with angular surfaces of varying widths operated upon by flat
springs to hold the same in or out of position as desired. When this shuttle guard
is out of position it is immediately re-set by the backward stroke of the lathe of the
loom. The springs are secured to the lathe by suitable fixings.
Dated the 7th March 1894.
EDMUND CHADWICK, F.I.C.P.A.,
Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Loom Shuttle Guard.
I HENRY BRERETON of Hill Bank House, Halliwell, Bolton, in the County
of Lancaster, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings :—
My said invention relates to improvements upon the existing shuttle guard for
preventing shuttles from flying out of the loom as is well understood.
The accompanying sheet of drawings illustrates two modifications of my
invention. In the first instance the shuttle guard is arranged to slide towards and
away from the lathe; in the second example the shuttle guard is pivotted to the
lathe so as to be capable of being swung out to its normal position over the shuttle
or of being folded back against the lathe so as to be out of the weavers' way. In
both cases the starting of the loom automatically throws the shuttle guard into its
proper normal position.

page_text: Fig. 1 of the drawings is a front view of a portion of the lathe A of a loom
showing the mode of attaching and operating the shuttle guard.
Fig. 2 is an end view of the parts in Fig. 1, the shuttle guard a being shown in
its normal position out from the lathe.
Fig. 3 is a plan view.
Fig. 4 is an end view similar to Fig. 2 the shuttle guard a being shown pushed
up against the lathe so as to be out of the weavers' way.
The shuttle guard consists as usual of a bar or rod a. According to my improve-
ments the ends of the rod a are made square or oblong as at a' and a notch a² is cut
across the lower side of this square part a' as appears most plainly in Fig. 1. A
bracket bis provided to support each end of the shuttle guard, these brackets being
fixed to the front of the lathe A by screws or other means. The foot of the
bracket b is formed with an inclined surface 62 as clearly shown at Fig. 2, and at
the foot of the incline is a depressed flat seat 63.
The notched portions of the square ends a¹ of the shuttle guard a rest and slide
upon the inclines and flat seats of the bracket b. A plate spring c is secured by a
srew to each of the brackets b the curved toe c' of the spring resting with an
elastic pressure upon the upper side of the squared end a of the shuttle guard.
When the notched square ends of the shuttle guard are resting on the flat
seats 63 of the brackets as in Fig. 2 the shuttle guard a is in its proper normal
position above the shuttle and acts so as to keep the shuttle from flying out. When
the loom is at rest and the weaver wishes to place the shuttle guard out of the way,
the shuttle guard can easily be pushed back up the inclines 62 until it rests
against the lathe A as shown in Fig. 4. When thus pushed to the top of the
inclines, the constant pressure of the springs c keeps the shuttle guard in this
position so long as the loom remains at rest. But as soon as the loom is set in
motion this backward movement or fling of the lathe, throws the shuttle guard
ends down the inclines into the flat seats 63 at the bottom, and there the shuttle
guard remains until it is again shifted by hand. The shuttle guard is thus
automatically thrown into its proper normal position by merely starting the loom,
so that the re-placing of the guard in the position for safety is certain and is not
dependent upon the vigilance of the attendant.
The modified form of pivotted shuttle guard is shown in the remaining four
figures of the drawings.
Fig. 5 is a front view of a portion of the lathe A having my improved shuttle
guard mounted therein.
Fig. 6 is an end view with the shuttle guard a in its normal position that is to
say confining the shuttle.
Fig. 7 is a plan.
Fig. 8 is an end view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the shuttle guard a folded
back against the lathe so as be out of the way. In this instance it will be observed
that the shuttle guard a is cranked at the ends. The neck of each cranked end
lies in a bearing formed for its reception in the bracket b.
These brackets & are securely fixed as in the former instance to the front of the
lathe A. The extreme ends of the shuttle guard a are formed as fan shaped blocks a³
having two flat faces a* and a lying at a suitable angle to each other. The
bracket has a projection 64 which carries a spring c, the said spring extending over
and resting with an elastic pressure upon one or other of the flat faces a a. For
example in Fig. 6 the spring c is shown resting upon the flat face a thereby main-
taining the shuttle guard a in its proper normal position over the shuttle. When
it is desired to move the shuttle guard out of the way, the weaver folds it back
against the lathe into the position shown in Fig. 8. It will be noted in the latter fig.
that the spring c does not rest flat upon the face a³ but rather upon the inner portion
of the face or on the corner dividing the two surfaces. By this means the tendency
of the spring pressure is to hold the shuttle guard a close up against the lathe. The
return of the shuttle guard a to its normal position as in Fig. 6 is automatically
effected by the starting of the loom just as in the former example. The backward

page_text: movement or fling of the lathe throws the shuttle guard round upon its pivots into
the required normal position, and this position it retains while the loom is in motion
and until it is again pushed back by the attendant.
Although for the purposes of my invention the indicated flat or plate spring c is in
my opinion the most simple and useful form of spring, nevertheless a coiled or other
spring in compression or tension and applied or mounted directly or with an inter-
posed presser piece bearing upon the squared ends a¹ or upon the faces of the
blocks as might also be used without departing from the spirit of my improvements.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is.
1. The general arrangement, construction and combination of parts constituting
my improved shuttle guard capable of being easily moved out of the way when
desired and designed to be automatically replaced in its proper norinal position by
the starting of the loom, substantially as described and as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4
and Figs. 5 to 8 of the drawings.
2. The improved sliding shuttle guard, having square, oblong or other suitably
shaped ends and mounted so as to slide in brackets having inclined faces and
checked resting places, the said ends being held down with an elastic pressure upon
the said inclines and resting places, by flat springs c or by any other suitable form
of spring so as to be easily moved when desired by the attendant out of the way
and against the lathe, and so as to be replaced automatically by the movement of
the lathe on the restarting of the loom, substantially as described and as illustrated
in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings.
3. The improved pivotted shuttle guard having cranked ends and formed with
extremities a³ presenting two faces at different angles, the necks of the cranked
portions of the shuttle guard being supported in suitable bearings in brackets in
combination with the springs c or other suitable form of spring pressing upon the
flat faces of the extremities a³ the said springs permitting of easy movement of the
shuttle guard when desired, while maintaining the shuttle guard in its folded back
position when the loom is at rest, and permitting of its automatic return to the
normal position when the loom is restarted, substantially as described and as
illustrated in Figs. 5 to 8 of the drawings.
Dated this 7th day of December 1894.
EDMUND CHADWICK, F.I.C.P.A.,
Agent.