Improvements in Looms.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th June, 1896-Accepted, 1st Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Looms.
I, CHARLES FOSTER PERHAM, of 100, Riverside Street, Lowell, in the County
of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Mechanic,
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 :-
My invention relates generally to looms and more particularly to the mechanism
for controlling the movement of the harness which governs the decussation of the
warps in a loom to form a shed or raceway for the weft carrying shuttle, the
mechanism for operating the picker sticks, and the shuttle checking and releasing
mechanism.
The objects of the invention may be stated to be:
First. To provide such improvements in looms, that the harness mechanism, as
well as the picker staves, may be operated directly from the crank shaft, and
obviate the necessity of a cam or cam shaft;
Second. To diminish the pressure of the binder upon the shuttle gradually while
the shuttle is entering the box and thereafter to substantially release the shuttle of
pressure until the binder serves only to guide the shuttle when the latter leaves the
shuttle box, thereby effecting the saving of the power required to throw the shuttle,
and saving wear of the shuttle and picking devices;
Third. To vary the pressure upon the binder, at the time the shuttle is entering
the box to the varying speed of the shuttle, and thereby stopping the shuttle in the
proper place for the next pick, and lessening the liability of breaking the warps
and the frequency of stoppages caused by the failure of the shuttle to complete a
pick in the allowed time;"
Fourth. To simplify the machine, and render it easier of operation and easier to
start and stop; and
Fifth. To provide other improvements of greater or less importance as will
appear to those skilled in the art from the following description.
To the ends mentioned, the invention consists of a loom provided with a shedding,
or harness controlling mechanism directly connected with and operated from the
lay operated crank shaft.
It also consists in providing the loom with means connected with the picker sticks
or staves constructed and arranged so that they may be operated upon to actuate
the staves in order to impel the shuttle through the shed, and movable means, as a
wiper or other suitable or equivalent device, directly connected with and operated
by the crank-shaft for acting upon the picker staff operating means to move or
actuate the picker staves.
And it further consists in providing the loom with a shuttle box, a shuttle binder,
a spring pressed finger bearing upon the binder, a tension lever operatively
connected with the spring pressed finger to control the stress with which it bears
upon the shuttle binder, and a cam support for the free end of the lever, whereby
the action of said tension lever may be controlled.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters
designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

page_text: Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1, are respectively an end and a front view of a part of
a loom equipped with my improved harness operating mechanism, actuated by the
crank shaft.
Figs. 3 and 4, Sheet 2, show only so much of a loom as is necessary to illustrate
my improved mechanism for operating the picker sticks.
Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the principal parts of said mechanism.
Figs. 6 and 7 are rear views of most of the parts shown in Fig. 3, illustrating
most of the movable parts in different positions.
Fig. 8 is a detail plan view of a part of the bearing box.
Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views in rear elevation of modifications hereinafter
particularly referred to.
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the shuttle checking and releasing mechanism.
Fig. 12 is a detail view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 11.
Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, on Sheet 1,-
A designates the loom frame. 13 is the crank shaft by which the lay C is
operated through suitable connections. D is the breast beam. E designates the
picker sticks; F, the harness; G, the cloth roll; H, a rod extending parallel with
the breast beam and connected with the stopping mechanism; and 1, a holding
pawl, co-operating with a ratchet-wheel J on the cloth roll to prevent the latter
from turning backward. These parts may be of the form and arrangement shown,
or of any other known or suitable construction, and their functions are so well
understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains as not to
need further description herein.
a designates a broad-rim wheel or pulley, arranged to turn on a stud or shaft b,
secured to the loom frame and provided on the interior of its, rim with a circle of
ratchet teeth c, which may be an integral part of the rim, or be formed on a ring
detachably connected with the rim.
Upon the outer surface or periphery of the rim wheel a, are detachably and
adjustably secured a series of cam rings d. But one such cam ring is, for the sake
of clearness of illustration, shown in the drawing. The cam rings may be
adjustably and removably held by means of an ordinary key, (not shown) or by
means of a spline d (see Fig. 1,) or in any other suitable way. The said cam rings
are provided on their peripheries with a plurality of rises e and falls f, according
with the number of ratchet teeth c, to the pattern to be woven. The means for
detachably and adjustably securing the cam rings upon the rim wheel is not shown
as any suitable devices may be employed for this purpose.
Upon the stud b is fulcrumed a lever g to the end of one arm of which is pivoted
a pawl h adapted to take into the teeth of the ratchet ring described. The other
end of the said lever g is provided with an elongated slot in which an eccentric j
on the crank shaft operates, so that at each rotation of the crank shaft, the lever g
and its attached pawl will be actuated so as to engage the ratchet teeth c and
move the rim wheel a to the extent of the distance between two of the said ratchet
teeth.
k designates a lever of which there may be as many as there are sets of harness
to be operated, (but one lever being shown in the drawing,) which lever is fulcrumed
at its rear end, as at l, and has a cord m attached to its other end, which cord
extends over suitable pulleys n and is connected at its other end with the harness F
to be raised. On the lever k there is a projection o which rests upon the periphery
of the cam ring d, so that in the rotation of the rim wheel with the said rings
secured thereto, the rises and falls of the said rings will act upon the levers k and
through their connections with the harness, raise the latter and allow them to be
depressed, it being understood that a rise e on a cam ring d will operate to raise a
heddle, under the arrangement shown, and that a fall will allow the heddle to be
lowered, through any of the common and known means employed in the art for the
purpose, such as springs, weights, or connections with other heddles which operate
to depress one set of heddles when another set is raised.

page_text: The finger p usually employed on the rod H of the common stopping mechanism,
which is provided with a pin q extending under the holding pawl I, I elongate, as
shown in Fig. 1, and attach thereto one end of a cord r, the other end of which is
connected to one of the angular ends of a rock rods, the other angular end of the
said rock rod being connected by means of a cord t with the pawl A so that as
the rod H is rocked and the pin 7 on the finger p operates to raise the pawl I,
the said finger will also, through the medium of its connections, operate to
raise the pawl h, and so arrest the movement of the rim wheel a and its
adjuncts.
It is obvious that the levers might be arranged above the rim wheel and the
cam rings d thereon, and the connections of the harness with the lever be made
from the lower part of the latter and operate to depress the same.
Referring next to Figs. 3 to 10, inclusive, on Sheets 2 and 3,-
A' designates the loom frame. B¹ is the crank shaft, by which the lay C¹ is
operated through the medium of the usual or suitable connecting means. D is the
breast beam, and E' E' are the picker-sticks or staves supported at their lower ends
as shown, or it may be in any other suitable or equivalent manner, so as that when
their upper ends are moved inward to act upon to impel the shuttle through the
shed, said upper ends may move in a line parallel with the line of movement of
the shuttle.
Keyed upon the crank-shaft by means of a set screw, as shown, or it may be by
a spline or other means, is a bracket a', journaled in and extending between the
arms of which is a short shaft or pin e', supporting a wiper d' which is adapted
to be moved from side to side thereon between the said arins. The form herein
shown as given to the wiper is that of a dise or wheel which is adapted to rotate
upon the shaft et as well as to slide longitudinally thereon, though in some instances,
I have contemplated constructing the wiper as an incline or curved cam simply
shiftable on the shaft c'.
e is a lever fulcrumed at on the bracket a', and having one end loosely
engaged with a collar or flange g' connected with the hub of the wiper d' or
otherwise suitably connected with the said wiper so that in moving the lever on
its fulcrum it may move the wiper from side to side on its pin or shaft. The
other end of the said lever is provided with a traveler t' pivoted to the lever,
and adapted to move in a double cam groove / forming a bearing for the crank
shaft. The grooves A' extend parallel with each other for part of the way around
the box and then for the balance of the way on lines crossing each other, as shown
in Figs. 6 to 10.
jare rock rods or pins journaled in brackets K' ' connected with the loom-
frame, which rods or pius have upwardly-projected crank arms secured to
their outer ends, the ends of which arms extend into the path of the wiper d
when it is shifted to the extremes of its allowed movement longitudinally on its
supporting shaft or pin. To the other ends of the rods jij are secured the upper
end of arms m m', the lower ends of which are connected with straps, or it may
he rods or cords n n', with the picker sticks E' E'. The form and arrangement
of the parts just described are such that the arms and m' m' form levers of
which the rock rods jj are the fulcrums, one of the said levers being connected
with one picker stick and the other lever with the other picker stick.
It will now be seen that as the crank-shaft B is rotated by the pulley thereon, or
by other means to operate the loons, the bracket a' will be rotated revolving the
wiper d around the shaft, and as the traveller.t¹ crosses from one cam groove to
another, as it were, the lever el will be moved upon its fulcrum so as to shift the
wiper d from side to side on its supporting pin, and cause it to act first upon
the end of one of the crank arms and then upon the other, actuating one of the
arms and the picker stick operatively connected therewith so as to pick the
shuttle through the shed, and then the other.
Instead of having two rock-rods and two arms m³, I may have a single rock rod ;',

page_text: with which both crank arms may be connected and a single arm m¹ secured at
its lower end with the straps n' connecting it with the picker sticks, as shown in
Fig. 9, in which case I may have two wipers on the shaft or pin c', so arranged
that they may be shifted by the lever e¹ in a manner that will cause one wiper
at one revolution to act upon one arm and the other wiper at the next revolution
to act upon the other arm l, one wiper being inactive while the other arm is
operative. Or I may have the modified construction last described, and employ a
single wiper d¹ with a construction and arrangement of parts by which it will
be caused to act first upon one arm and then upon the other, as shown in
Fig. 10.
I have also contemplated arranging a lever m' and wiper and operative
connections on one side of the loom for operating one picker stick and another
lever and wiper on the other side for operating the other picker-stick.
These variations in the form and arrangement of the parts referred to, serve as
examples to show the changes that may be made in my invention without departing
from the nature or spirit of the improvements made by me.
In all of the mechanisms which I have above referred to as embodying my
invention, it will be observed that the wiper, or wipers, intermittingly engage the
pick-actuating mechanisms so as to move the latter in an opposite direction cach
time the crank shaft revolved, the shifting of the wipers taking place when the
latter are disengaged.
Then referring to Figs. 11 and 12, on Sheet 4-
The lay-beam A2, throat-piece B2, back-piece C2, binder D, its pivot d² and
supporting-bracket d³, the guide-lug 62, which projects through a slot d in the
binder, near the free end of said binder, the dagger-rod E2, supported in bearings
or sleeves ees, and having a finger e, arranged to press against the front or outer
face of the binder D', near the free end of the same, the dagger e, the picker-
stick F and breast-beam G2, are all of the usual construction and operation, except
as hereinafter stated, it being understood that the lay-beam vibrates through an
are of a circle, and that the picker-stick, not only moves with the lay-beam, but
also moves in a longitudinal slot in said lay-beam, to throw the shuttle out of the
shuttle-box, in a well-known manner.
I secure to the breast-beam a stationary cam H2 preferably formed in one piece
with a bracket 2 having a flange ³, by means of which it is secured by bolts or
screws, the curvature of said cam H2 being substantially as shown. A tension
lever 12 is hinged at one end to the lay-beam, preferably by passing the dagger-
rod E' loosely through a hole in said tension lever, near the end thereof, and the
front end portion of said lever is provided with a lateral projection 3 which
extends over the stationary cam H2 and which may be in direct contact with the
upper surface of said stationary cam, but, to lessen the friction, it is preferred to pivot
on said projection is an anti-friction roll or the oblong anti-friction-piece it, said
anti-friction-piece being free to rock on said projection, to accommodate its under
surface to the upper surface of the cam H2, as the lay vibrates. The projection 23
or anti-friction piece is held in contact with the cam-H2 by a spring which bears
upon the top of the tension lever I', in front of the dagger-rod and is connected to
said dagger-rod, said spring being represented as a spiral spring J2, surrounding
the dagger-rod, one end of said spring resting upon the tension-lever and the other
end of said spring being bent around a pin 2 which projects laterally from a
collar K2 said collar surrounding the dagger-rod and being prevented from turning
thereon by a set-screw 3 which turns in said collar radially and thrusts against
said dagger-rod. By looseuing the set-screw k³ said collar K2 may be turned to
increase or diminish the tension of the spring J2. The spring J serves also the
usual purpose of the dagger-rod spring, that is, it holds up the dagger, except
when the dagger-rod is turned by the outward pressure of the binder D against
the dagger-rod finger e. The tilting block or pivoted cam L2 is substantially of
the shape shown and turns upon a stud 12 which projects from the bracket 2

page_text: of the stationary cam H2 and the upper end of said tilting block is held against
the stationary cam H2 by a spring secured to the stud and pressing upon a
pin which projects from the side of said tilting block.
The ends of the tilting-block are thinned down to a wedge shape, to allow the
anti-friction piece to run off from the cam H2 and on to the upper end of said block
and off from the lower end of said block on to the cam H, without sudden jar,
the surfaces of said block and cam being substantially continuous at either end of
said block, when that end of the block is in contact with said cam H2. When the
lay beam is farthest from the breast-beam the front end of the tension lever is at
its greatest height and the pressure upon the binder is the greatest, and, as the lay-
beam approaches the breast-beam, the anti-friction piece descends along the upper
surface of the block L2 and after passing the stud tilts the front lower end of
said block down against the cam H2, slides off from the block to rise and as the
lay-beam again recedes from the breast-beam, passes under the said block and to
the rear end of said block in so doing.
The spring may be omitted and the weight of the tilting block L2 (which is
mostly in front of the stud or pivot 12) be relied upon to return the upper end of
said block to position. It will appear obvious to those skilled in the art that the
form of the stationary cam H2 may be varied to suit varying circumstances and
that if the tilting block or switch L2 were removed the spring-pressed finger e
would still be operated by the action of the tension lever I on the said cam, though
by taking off the tilting block, the spring-pressed finger might not be capable of
being controlled to the same degree of nicety as with its use.
In operation, the greatest pressure upon the binder takes place when the tension
lever is in the position shown in Figure 11, and said pressure upon the binder
constantly diminishes as the lay-beam approaches the breast-beam and allows the
front end of the tension lever to descend on its cam support; and the picking
devices are adjusted with reference to the position of the tension-lever, so that the
shuttle is thrown when the projection 3 or the anti-friction piece is on the lower
part of the cam H2 and just before said projection or anti-friction piece begins to
rise, that is, when the pressure of the binder upon the shuttle is least, and the
shuttle enters the box when said projections or anti-friction piece has very slightly
descended on its cam support, for instance, to about the place where the upper end
of the said tilting block is represented in Fig. 11.
From this construction it follows that the pressure of the binder upon the shuttle
constantly diminishes while the shuttle is entering the box and that if the shuttle
is travelling at a rate of speed less than the normal rate it will encounter a less
resistance in entering the shuttle-box, and that if the speed of the shuttle is greater
than normal it will encounter a greater resistance in entering the shuttle-box, so
that whatever be the speed of the shuttle it will be stopped at substantially the
same place in the shuttle-box. The speed with which the shuttle travels depends
upon a variety of circumstances, among which are the force of the blow struck by
the picker, the amount of filling carried by the shuttle, the ease with which the
filling is delivered by the shuttle, and the condition of the warps and all these
circumstances are variable in effect; but, in any case, the longer the time consumed
by the shuttle in passing from one box to the other, the less will be the resistance
to its entering the latter shuttle-box, because the lower the projection or the
anti-friction piece will have descended, or, in other words, the lower will be the
front end of the tension-lever and the less will be the tension of the tension
spring.
With this invention it will be seen that I am enabled to operate the harness-
controlling mechanism directly from the lay-operating crank-shaft, and greatly
simplify and cheapen the cost of construction, making the machine easier of operation
and of stopping and starting and providing more room for the cloth roll and warp
beam than in looms most commonly organized. Besides this, the improvements
provide a construction which is most ready of examination and manipulation by

page_text: the weaver in case of need of turning the mechanism back or otherwise moving it
without moving other parts of the loom to correspond with the required pick; and,
moreover, the mechanism is such as to materially lessen the momentum of the
moving parts so that the loom can be stopped quicker than heretofore without
undue shock or jar.
It will also be seen that I make it possible in the organization of a loom to
entirely dispense with the usual cam shaft for operating the picker staves or their
equivalents, thus giving more room for the warp beam and cloth roll, and lessening
the liability of breakage of parts, to the end of rendering the machine more durable
than heretofore.
And again by providing a shuttle checking and releasing mechanism such as I
bave described, it will be observed that the shuttle is received with a pressure in
proportion to its speed, thereby being stopped at the proper place for the next
pick and the liability of breaking the warps, and the stoppage of the machine
caused by the failure of the shuttle to complete a pick in the allowed time is
greatly lessened.
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. A loom, comprising in its construction, a lay operating crank-shaft, harness
for forming the shed, a rim wheel having a circle of internal ratchet teeth, cam-
rings on the rim wheel, and a lever s connected with the harness and arranged to
be acted upon said cam rings in combination with a lever operated by the crank
shaft, and having a pawl adapted to engage said internal teeth.
2. A loom, comprising in its construction, a lay-operating crank shaft, harness
- for forming the shed, a second shaft, a rim wheel thereon provided with external
cam rings and an internal ring of ratchet teeth, a lever pivoted on second shaft and
operatively connected with the crank shaft, a pawl on the free end of said lever
adapted to engage the ratchet teeth, and a lever adapted to be actuated and
controlled by the cam rings and operatively connected with the harness.
3. A loom, comprising in its construction, a rotary rim wheel a, provided on its
periphery with a plurality of cam rings d, and on its interior with a ring of ratchet
teeth c, a harness, and means operatively connecting the same with the said cam
rings, in combination with a shaft, an eccentric thereon, a lever actuated by the
said eccentric and provided with a pawl to engage the said ratchet teeth to impart
a step-by-step movement to the rim wheel.
4. The combination with the rotary rim wheel a provided on its periphery with
a plurality of cam rims d, and on its interior with a ring of ratchet teeth, of the
cam shaft, an eccentric thereon, a lever actuated by the said eccentric and provided
with a pawl to engage the said ratchet teeth to impart a step-by-step movement to
the rim wheel.
5..The combination with the rim wheel provided on its periphery with a plurality
of cam rings and on its interior with a ring of ratchet teeth, of the cam shaft, an
eccentric thereon, a lever actuated by the said eccentric and provided with a pawl
to engage the said ratchet teeth to impart a step-by-step movement to the rim
wheel, a rock rod adapted to engage the said pawl to raise it, stopping devices
and operative connections between the said rod and stopping devices, as set
forth.
6. A loom comprising in its construction, picking means for propelling the shuttle
through the shed, a lay-operating crank shaft, and mechanism directly connected
with the crank shaft and adapted to be intermittingly engaged with the picking
means to actuate the latter.
7. A loom comprising in its construction, picking means for propelling the shuttle
through the shed, a lay-operating crank-shaft, a wiper mounted on and revolving
with the crank shaft, and means for causing it to intermittingly engage the picking

page_text: means in such way as to actuate said means in an opposite direction at each
revolution of the crank shaft.
8. A loom comprising in its construction, picking means for propelling the shuttle
through the shed, a lay-operating crank shaft, a shiftably supported wiper revolubly
connected with the crank shaft, a pivoted lever adapted to shift the wiper on its
support, means for operating the lever, and means operatively connected with the
picking-means upon which the wiper is adapted to act to operate the latter.
9. A loom comprising in its construction, picking means for propelling the shuttle
through the shed, a lay-operating crank shaft, a shiftably supported wiper con-
nected with the crank shaft, a pivoted lever adapted to shift the wiper on its
support, means for operating the lever, levers upon which the wiper is adapted to
act, and means operatively connecting the last mentioned levers with the picking
means.
1. A loom comprising in its construction, picking means for propelling the shuttle
through the shed, and having two arms, a crank shaft, and mechanism mounted
directly on, and revolving with, the crank shaft, and intermittingly engaging said.
arms alternately.
11. A loom comprising in its construction, picking means for propelling the shuttle
through the shed, and having two arms, a crank shaft, a shiftable wiper mounted
on the crank shaft to revolve therewith and adapted to intermittingly engage said
arms, and meats for shifting said wiper at each revolution of the shaft.
12. A shuttle-checking and releasing mechanism for looms comprising in its
construction a lay and shuttle-box connected therewith, a shuttle binder, a spring
upon the shuttle-binder, a tension lever operatively connected with the spring to
control the stress with which it bears upon the shuttle binder, and a cam support
for the free end of the tension lever, whereby the action of the said tension lever
may be controlled, as set forth.
13. In a loom, the combination of the lay-beam, the shuttle-box, the binder, the
dagger-rod having a finger arranged against the outer surface of said binder, the
tension lever, having at its free end a lateral projection, a stationary cam and a
tension spring, connecting said dagger-rod and said tension lever, and adapted to
hold said projection against said cam and to have its tension varied by the position
of said projection on said eam, to vary the pressure of said finger on said binder, as
and for the purpose specified.
14. In a loom, the combination of the lay-beam, the shuttle-box, the binder, the
dagger-rod having a finger arranged against the outer surface of said binder, the
tension-lever, having at its free end a lateral projection, au anti-friction piece
loose thereon, a stationary cam, and a tension spring, connecting said dagger-rod
and said tension lever and adapted to hold said antifriction piece against said cam
and to have-its tension varied by the position of said anti-friction piece on said
cam, to vary the pressure of said finger on said binder, as and for the purpose
specified.
15. In a loom, the combination of the lay-beam, the shuttle-box, the binder, the
dagger-rod, having a finger arranged against the outer surface of said binder, the
tension lever, having at its free end a lateral projection, a stationary cam aud
having thin upper and lower edges and normally in contact with said stationary
cam at the upper end of said tilting block, and a tension-spring, connecting said
dagger-rod and said tension-lever, and adapted to hold said projection against said
cam and to have its tension varied by the position of said projection on said cam
and tilting block, to vary the pressure of said finger on said binder, as and for the
purpose specified.
16. In a luom, the combination of the Jay-beam, the shuttle-box, the binder, the
dagger-rod, having a finger arranged against the outer surface of said binde,
the tension lever, having at its free end a lateral projection, a stationary cam,
tilting block arranged above said stationary cam and having thin upper and lower
edges, a spring, to hold the upper end of said block against said stationary cam,
and a tension-spring connecting said dagger-rod and said tension lever and adapted

page_text: to hold said projection against said cam and to have its tension varied by the
position of said projection on said cam and tilting block, to vary the pressure of
said finger on said binder, as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 27th day of June 1896.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.