CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Lee, of the Firm of Tootal, Broadhurst,
Lee, and Company, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 22nd June 1869, and dated the 20th April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Lee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th April 1869.
I, HENRY LEE, of the Firm of Tootal, Broadhurst, Lee, and Company,
5 of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to weave tucked fabrics (such as are
suitable for petticoats, shirt fronts, and for other similar uses) by means
0 of power looms, such fabrics having hitherto been woven only by hand.
In my improved loom I use two warps and four healds; the top warp
beam is weighted in the usual way, but the under or back warp beam is

page_text: weighted in such a manner that upon the raising of the taking-up
catches (as hereafter described) it draws the under warp back a certain
distance. The healds are worked by means of a well-known machine,
called the " dobby" or "index machine;" one of the hooks of this
machine is connected by a cord to a lever, the other end of which,
whenever a corresponding perforation occurs in the cards which act on
the needles, raises the catches off the taking-up ratchet wheel and holds
them off the wheel for two picks of the shuttle. In gear with one of
the carrier wheels of the taking-up motion is a spur wheel mounted on
a stud and having attached to its boss a weighted lever. Some of the
teeth of this wheel are removed for a purpose described hereafter. The
perforations are so arranged on the pattern card of the "dobby" that
the healds are worked for a certain number of picks so as to weave both
warps and form a plain cloth, then for a certain number of picks pro-
portioned to the depth of tuck required they weave only with the top
or front warp, letting the back warp "float" underneath, then after a
pick or two of plain cloth to bind the two together the catch lever
comes into operation, raising the taking-up catches and holding them up
for two picks. Meanwhile the carrier wheel before named has raised
the weighted lever until the wheel to which it is attached presents its
plain part (from which the teeth are removed) to the carrier wheel and
held it in that position in readiness to act. As soon as the taking-up
catches are raised this weighted lever falls and lets back the cloth a
certain distance, and at the same time the weight draws back the under
or back floated warp, whilst the slay" beating up drives the last two
or three picks up to the point where the under or back warp commenced
floating," throwing the cloth (formed of the top or front warp) up
into the form of a tuck. A second perforation now occurs, which allows
the taking-up catches to come again into operation, and the loom
proceeds to weave plain cloth with both warps as before. I may here
remark that instead of letting back the cloth the same effect might be
produced by having a loose reed, which is allowed to travel gradually
backwards whilst the tuck is being formed, and is then at once advanced
to its former position to knock up the tuck; but for several reasons
I prefer the arrangement first described, principally because it is more
simple and less costly in its application.
66

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Lee in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
LEE, of the Firm of Tootal, Broadhurst, Lec, and Company, of Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Lee, Her special license that
I, the said Henry Lec, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Henry Lee, 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 IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Lee, 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Lee, do hereby declare the
nature of the said 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 (that is to say)
The object of this Invention is to weave fucked fabrics (such as are
suitable for petticoats, shirt fronts, and for other similar uses) by means
of power looms, such fabrics having hitherto been woven only by
hand.
In my improved loom I use two warps and four healds; the top warp
beam is weighted in the usual way, but the under or back warp beam is
weighted in such a manner that upon the raising of the taking-up

page_text: catches (as hereafter described) it draws the under warp back a certain
distance. The healds are worked by means of a well-known machine,
called the "dobby" or "index machine;' one of the loops of this
machine is connected by a cord to a lever, the other end of which,
whenever a corresponding perforation occurs in the card which acts on
the needle, raises the catches off the taking-up ratchet wheel, and holds
them off the wheel for two picks of the shuttle. In gear with one of the
carrier wheels of the taking-up motion is a spur wheel mounted on a
stud, and having attached to its boss a weighted lever. Some of the
teeth of this wheel are removed for a purpose described hereafter. The
perforations are so arranged on the pattern card of the "dobby" that the
healds are worked for a certain number of picks, so as to weave both
warps and form a plain cloth, then for a certain number of picks
proportioned to the depth of tuck required they weave only with the top
or front warp, letting the back warp "float" underneath, then- after a
pick or two of plain cloth to bind the two together the catch lever comes
into operation, raising the taking-up catches and holding them up for
two picks. Meanwhile the carrier wheel before named has raised the
weighted lever until the wheel to which it is attached presents its plain
part (from which the teeth are removed) to the carrier wheel, and holds
it in that position in readiness to act. As soon as the taking-up catches
are raised this weighted lever falls and lets back the cloth a certain
distance, and at the same time the weight draws back the under or back
floated warp, whilst the "slay" beating up drives the last two or three
picks up to the point where the under or back warp commenced
'floating," throwing the cloth (formed of the top or front warp) up into
the form of a tuck. A second perforation now occurs, which allows the
taking-up catches to come again into operation, and the loom proceeds
to weweave plain cloth with both warps as before.
I may here remark that instead of letting back the cloth the same
effect might be produced by having a loose reed, which is allowed to
travel gradually backwards whilst the tuck is being formed, and is then
at once advanced to its former position to knock up the tuck, but for
several reasons I prefer the arrangement first described, principally
because it is more simple and less costly in its application.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for " Improve-
ments in Looms for Weaving," I will now proceed to describe more in
detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or

page_text: carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be clearly
understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative
thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof (that
is to say):
=
In my improved loom for weaving tucked fabrics I employ, as before
stated, two warps and four healds, the top warp beam being weighted in
the usual way, and the under or back warp beam being weighted in the
following manner:-A rope or cord is attached by one end to the beam,
and after being coiled two or three times round the latter has a weight
attached to its other end, the rope being coiled round the beam in such a
direction that upon the raising of the taking catches off the ratchet
wheel the weight will draw the under warp back a certain distance
whilst the slay beats up the tuck. The method of raising the taking-up
catches and putting them in gear again at the requisite intervals will be
readily understood on reference to the annexed Drawings and the
following explanation thereof.
Fig. 1 is a back view, and Fig. 2 an end or side view of so much of a
loom as is requisite to illustrate my Invention.
26
a, a, is part of the frame of the machine; b, b, the emery roller; and
c, c, the taking-up wheel connected thereto by the train of spur
gearing d, d, and actuated by the taking-up catches e*, ex, attached to
the lever ff, motion being given to the said lever by the pin g fixed to
the slay sword in the usual manner; h, h, i, i, and k, k, are three levers
which are connected by cords 1, l, m, m, and n, n, to hooks on the
dobby" or "index machine" which works the healds. When the tuck
is woven the cord 1, 1, is pulled upwards, causing its lever h, h, to pull
down one end of a lever h*, h*, which throws the driving catches e*, e*,
and holding catch e, e, out of gear with the ratchet wheel c, c, and holds
them in that position for about two picks of the loom, when the cord
m, m, is pulled upwards, which throws the step of the cranked
lever k, k, backwards, allowing the longer ends of the levers h and i to
fall, which releases the lever h* and allows the taking-up catches to fall
again into gear; o, o, is a wire connected to one end of the lever i, i,
which ensures the driving catch ex being put into gear again. The
arrangement for letting back the cloth is as follows:-In gear with
one of the carrier wheels d a spur wheel p mounted on a stud t, and
having a weighted lever u, u, attached to its boss, some of the teeth of

page_text: the said wheel at u* being removed. During the weaving of the tuck
the wheel d raises the weighted lever u, u, into the position shown in
Fig. 2, but in consequence of the plain part u* of the wheel it cannot
raise it any higher and consequently holds it in that position till the
taking-up catches are raised as above described, when the weighted lever
falls and lets back the cloth the required distance, as previously
mentioned.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention, the arrangement of mechanism herein-before
described and illustrated by the accompanying Drawings for weaving
tucked fabrics by means of power looms, or any mere modification or
imitation thereof constructed and operating in substantially the same or
a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Lee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
HENRY LEE. (L.S.)