CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Riley, of Bradford, in the County of Yorkshire,
Overlooker, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS."
Sealed the 7th January 1859, and dated the 14th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Riley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
September 1858.
I, WILLIAM RILEY, of Bradford, in the County of Yorkshire, Overlooker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist, firstly, in a "warp break" or series of rollers
for carrying and guiding the warp. Immediately over the warp beam is a sand
roller formed of wood and roughened on the surface with sand or emery; at
each end of this roller there is a toothed wheel, that on the left of the operator
for receiving motion from the driving part, the opposite one for giving motion
to the warp rollers which are mounted in a suitable carriage bolted to the loom
frame. The warp rollers are of iron, two of them being coupled together by
toothed wheels on their outer extremities, one of which wheels gears into the
driving wheel of the sand roller, which is so proportioned as to ensure an
uniform rate of motion. A fourth roller is employed to hold the warp in its
proper position when the next or still beam is raised or lowered to adapt it to
the particular class of goods which are to be manufactured. Motion is given
to the sand wheel and warp rollers by two ratchets proceeding from the slay

page_text: boards acting on a catch wheel and pulley kept steady by a weighted strap.
On the axle of the catch wheel there is a pinion gearing into a toothed wheel
mounted on a fixed stud or axis, and carrying a pinion which gears into and
drives the toothed wheel on the outer end of the sand roller; the adjustment
being such as to give one sneck in the catch wheel for each pick in the piece,
a single weighted lever suffices the keep the beam steady, and the warp tight.
By this arrangement, the heavy weights formerly employed are dispensed
with, while more regular and better work is produced by the loom.
My second improvement in looms consists in the addition of a measuring
apparatus. On one end of the uppermost warp roller there is a worm which
takes into and drives a worm wheel on the axis of a pinion of ten teeth gearing
into a wheel of a hundred, on the axle of which is a pointer traversing a dial
face divided into quarters, one revolution being the measure of a piece.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Riley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RILEY, of Bradford, in the County of Yorkshire, Overlooker, send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in. the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Riley, Her special licence that I, the said William
Riley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,. the
said William Riley, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Riley, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Riley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
These improvements consist, firstly, in a warp break or series of rollers for
carrying and guiding the warp. Immediately over the warp beam is a sand
roller formed of wood, and roughened on the surface with sand or emery. At
each end of this roller there is a toothed wheel, that on the left of the operator
for receiving motion from the driving part, the opposite one for giving motion
to the warp rollers, which are mounted in a suitable carriage bolted to the
loon frame. The warp rollers are of iron, two of them being coupled together
by toothed wheels on their outer extremities, one of which wheels gears into
the driving wheel of the sand roller, which is so proportioned as to ensure
an uniform rate of motion. A fourth roller is employed to hold the warp in
its proper position when the next or still beam is raised or lowered to adapt
it to the particular class of goods which are to be manufactured. Motion is
given to the sand wheel and warp rollers by a ratchet proceeding from the
slay boards acting on a catch wheel and pulley, kept steady by a weighted
strap. On the axle of the catch wheel there is a pinion gearing into a toothed
wheel mounted on a fixed stud or axis, and carrying pinion which gears
into and drives the toothed wheel on the outer end of the sand roller, the
adjustment being such as to give one sñeck in the catch wheel for each pick
in the piece. A single. weighted lever suffices to keep the beam steady and
the warp tight. By this arrangement the heavy weights formerly employed
are dispensed with, while more regular and better work is produced by the
loom;.
.3
My second improvement in looms consists in the addition of a measuring
apparatus. On one end of the uppermost warp roller there is a worm which
takes into and drives a worm wheel on the axis of a pinion of ten teeth
gearing into a wheel of one hundred, on the axle of which is a pointer
traversing a dial face divided into quarters, one revolution being the measure
of a piece:
And in order that the nature of these my improvements may be more fully
understood, reference is had to the Drawings hereunto annexed; and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say,
- Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations, and Figure 3 is an end elevation of so
much of a loom framé as is necessary to shew the nature of my improvements;
Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the driving part detached. The same letters
refer to similar parts in each of these Figures. A is the warp beam, and

page_text: immediately over it, in a cast-iron carriage bolted to the loom frame, is what
I term the warp: bréak, consisting of a wooden roller B, two and a half
inches in diameter, the surface of which is roughened by coating it, with sand
or emery.
At one end of this sand roller; there; is a toothed wheel C, for
receiving motion from the driving part, herein-after described, at the other
end of the roller there is a toothed wheel D, of 48 teeth, which gears into a
wheel E of 24 teeth, on the axle of an iron warp roller f, one and a quarter
inch in diameter; 9 is a second similar roller, coupled with the former by the
wheel H, and moving uniformly together at the same speed as the sand
roller B. A third iron roller i is for holding the warp in its proper position
when the still beam K is raised or lowered to adapt it to the particular class
of goods that is to be manufactured; A2 is a weighted lever to keep the
warp beam steady, and the warp tight. The manner in which the warp is
led from the warp beam round the rollers which compose the warp break is
clearly shown in the Drawing; a, a, being the warp; L is a ratchet for giving
motion to the driving part of the warp break, one end of the ratchet being
attached to the slay board, the other end taking into a catch wheel M, on
the axle of which there is a pinion N, gearing into the toothed wheel O, a
pinion o on the axis of which gears into and drives the wheel C on the end
of the sand roller B, and thus gives motion to the series of rollers which
compose the warp break at the rate of one sneck in the catch wheel for each
pick in the piece. By this arrangement I can weave any kind of piece that.
is required, without adding to or taking off any weights on the levers, by
simply changing the size of the wheels C or N. The catch wheel M may be
kept steady by a weighted strap passed over a pulley on its axis, but I prefer
to use the following arrangement, as shewn in the Drawing. m is a detent
wheel attached to the catch wheel M; d is a detent, kept in contact with the
indented periphery of the wheel m by a spiral spring p, which allows the
catch wheel to move tooth by tooth when acted upon by the ratchet L. With
these improvements I use the old taking-up motion affixed to the piece beam,
with a slip catch to recoil when the weft is broken.
My second improvement consists of a measuring apparatus applied to the
loom, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. Q is a worm or endless screw on
the end of the uppermost warp roller; R is a worm wheel, on the axis of
which is a pinion r of ten teeth, gearing into a wheel S of a hundred. On
the axis of the wheel S there is a hand or pointer, which traverses before a
dial face, divided into quarters, one complete revolution of the hand or pointer
being the measure of a piece of goods.
What I claim as new, and constituting my improvements in looms, is the

page_text: addition of a warp break, and also of a measuring apparatus thereto, as
herein-before described, and shown in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Riley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 12th day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
W. BADDELEY, Patent Agent,
Islington.
WILLIAM RILEY. (L.S.)