CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROSTRON, of Edenfield, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirtieth day of April, in the second year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Rostron, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said John Rostron, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said John Rostron, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTION OF LOOMS FOR WEAVING;" which has been communicated to
me by a certain foreigner residing abroad; in which Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said John Rostron, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Rostron, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof, that is to say :-
These improvements in the construction of looms for weaving consist
principally in the application of a novel and peculiar arrangement of mecha-
nism for the purpose of affording a much greater extent and variety of
operations in those parts of looms which are employed to form or work
patterns or devices in the cloth or fabric to be woven, that is in the working
of the harness or healds, which in connection with the suitable actions of the
treadles and jacks effect the requisite shedding of the warp threads to produce
the pattern. These improvements are applicable to the weaving of any
description of plain or twilled fabrics, but more particularly to figure or fancy
looms for weaving patterns or devices in or upon the cloth or other fabric, and
are principally intended to supersede the "jacquard," or any similar figuring
apparatus; they have also for their object a great economy of both material,
labour, and expense, in effecting the requisite changes of patterns by a ready
mode of altering or removing those working parts of the loom which produce
the design by their action upon the jacks and treadles, which shift the healds or
harness, and consequently by the use of the endless chain of any extent possess
the capability of producing an extended range of pattern before it is necessary
to repeat the shedding or recommence the same series of operations upon the
harness, commonly called renewing "the round." The improvements are
effected by the application of an endless or continuous chain of tappets of
a novel and peculiar construction, formed by a succession of side links con-
nected by transverse spindles or bolts upon or round which are placed at
suitable distances apart small bowls or rollers, as tappets of various widths,
turning loosely or otherwise upon such spindle, which bowls or rollers are
separated by collars or tubes of various lengths, according to the distances
required between such tappets. An endless or continuous chain so constructed
(as hereafter will be more minutely detailed) is to be suitably applied to the
loom for the purpose of "throwing out" certain parts of the mechanism
connected with the jacks and treadles, and with their lifting and depressing
apparatus by means of the bowls or rollers as the continuous chain revolves,
pressing against certain rods, bars, or levers called "jack lifters," connected
with the jacks above and the treadles below, which will by these means throw
out or disengage at the proper periods certain of those jack lifters from the
action of the lifting and depressing apparatus, and leave certain others of

page_text: them to be brought or conducted by suitable wires or strings under the opera-
tions of the lifting and depressing apparatus, by which means the harness or
healds will be caused to shed or divide the warp threads, as required. In
order that these improvements may be more distinctly explained and perfectly
understood, I have attached to these Presents a Sheet of Drawings, containing
such views of the improved mechanism, and its mode of application to looms
in general, as will be sufficiently explicit to those acquainted with the con-
struction of looms.
The improvements represented in the Drawings attached, are shewn
as applied to a power loom for weaving fustians; but it will be quite
evident to the practical weaver that they are equally applicable to any other
construction of power or hand looms, wherein the jacquard or any similar
apparatus has usually been employed to produce the pattern or figure. And
I would observe that, for the sake of distinction, I have represented such parts
and combinations of mechanism which are new, and constitute these improve-
ments as shaded, and the rest or ordinary parts of the machinery in outline
only, having marked the various Figures with similar letters of reference,
placed upon corresponding parts of the apparatus in all the Figures.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents in elevation the back part of a power loom for weaving
fustians; Figure 2 is an end elevation, Figure 3 is a front elevation, and
Figure 4, a plan or horizontal view of the same as seen from above, in all
of which the improved combinations of mechanism or apparatus for producing
the figure or pattern is shewn applied to the side of the loom, the whole being
drawn upon a scale of one inch and a half to the foot; Figure 5 is a front, and
Figure 6 a side view of the improvements, represented detached from the loom
upon an enlarged scale, that is, one-fourth the real size; Figures 7 and 8
represent a portion of the peculiar construction of endless chain, which
constitutes the essential feature of novelty in the application of these im-
provements, which Figures are drawn on a scale of one half the real size.
Figures 9 and 10 represent detached front and side elevations of a portion
of the improved mechanism for driving the chain, somewhat differently
modified from that shewn at Figures 1 to 6. This it will be perceived is
similar in principle to the former, but is represented in order to shew the
method of attaching these improvements to looms of the old construction..
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, a, a, a, a, represent the side and cross framing
of the loom, which supports the warp beam 6, 6, from whence the warp
threads pass over the guide or tension roller c, and through the healds d, d,

page_text: over the breast beam e, and around the work or cloth beam f, f, also sup-
ported in the framing a. g, g, is the vibrating lathe or slay carrying
the reed for the purpose of beating up the work, which is actuated by
the crank shaft h, and driving pulley i, as usual; the harness or healds d, d
being suspended from the jacks j, j, and connected to the treadles k, k,
below. A ratchet wheel n is keyed fast upon a horizontal shaft o, o, extend-
ing through about the centre of the loom, and which is supported in the
upright side frames a, a. Now, as the lathe g vibrates backward and forward
(driven by the rotation by the crank shaft h, and the connecting links 2, 1,)
a ratchet or draw catch m attached to the arm of the lathe, and taking
into the ratchet wheel n on the shaft o, draws or pulls that wheel and shaft
round one tooth at every beat of the lathe. Upon each end of this shaft o, o,
there are also keyed tappets or notched wheels p, p, and it will be seen in the
plan, Figure 4, that as these tappet wheels p, p, revolve, they alternately present
their projecting portion to one or the other of the small bell crank levers q, q,
and by striking the bell crank lever cause the picking stricks r, r, attached to it
by a strap, to impel the shuttle s across the shuttle race, and thereby to put
in the weft or shute, whilst the notched space upon the other tappet wheel'p
at the reverse end of the shaft clears the crank, and so on alternately. This
horizontal shaft o, o, also carries at its extremity a bevel toothed wheel t, t,
which gears into a corresponding pinion u of half its diameter (see the
enlarged and detached Figures 5 and 6) in order to obtain a quick action of
the chain bowls upon the jack lifters during the interval of shedding the warp
threads. The pinion u is fixed upon the end of a small transverse shaft v, this
shaft having semicircular flutes or recesses made longitudinally in its periphery.
In these cylindrical flutes or recesses and around this shaft v, the endless chain
w, w, passes, being driven by means of the bevel wheels t and u, and kept in
its proper situation by the flanges v¹ upon the shaft v, the bowls or rollers
w', w', of which it is partly composed lying in the fluted recesses of the said
shaft. The peculiar construction of this endless chain will: be clearly
understood by reference to Figures 7 and 8; it is composed of separate side
links A, A, which are jointed or connected together by means of the bolt or
spindle B, B, passed through their eyes. On these spindles are placed: the
small rollers or bowls C, C, which are allowed to turn' loosely or otherwise
upon the spindles, these rollers or bowl's being kept at any required distance
asunder by means of small loose tubes, collars, or washers, D, D, slipped upon
the spindles between the rollers or bowls. I have used the links made. of
light plate iron punched out to the required form, the spindles of iron wire,
the collars or washers of ordinary thin sheet iron tubing, and the bowls or

page_text: rollers of pot or earthenware, glass, iron, or any other metal or wood, or other
suitable material, but those made from pot or earthenware are decidedly the
best and cheapest. It will be evident that such being the simple construction
of the chain, the positions, breadths, and numbers of the rollers or bowls, and
the length of the intervening tubes or collars, may be very readily varied by
shifting upon the spindles, and thereby the pattern to be woven altered at
pleasure; and it will also appear to persons conversant with weaving
machinery, that upon the positions, breadths, and numbers of these rollers or
bowls, the pattern to be woven must depend.
Having now described the peculiar construction of endless chain, I will
proceed to describe its office and effect upon the working of the loom. The
horizontal fluted shaft v, around which the chain is passed, and by which it is
conducted, having by the bevilled or spur gearing advanced the chain one link
at every beat of the lathe, it will be obvious that the bowls w', w¹, successively
come in contact with and press against the sides or edges of the jack lifters
x, x, exactly at the periods when the bowls pass the horizontal plane of the
centre of the shaft v, and thereby project, or as it is commonly termed "throw
out the jack lifters x, x, the bowls or rollers being combined or prepared of
various breadths, in order that they may at each operation act against any
number of jack lifters which the intended pattern may require. The jack
lifters x, x, are connected at their upper ends to the jacks j, j, above, and by
conducting strings or wires y*, y*, to the treadles k, k, below. These jack
lifters are formed each with four hooks or bearings, two being upon each side.
I would here remark that these jack lifters are well known, being the same
instruments as have been heretofore used in various positions for the purpose of
actuating the jacks and treadles, for effecting the shedding or opening of both
sheds of the warp simultaneously, excepting that these improved jack lifters *, *,
are provided with two books or bearings both at the back and front. By these
means the jack lifters are rendered capable,) when combined with certain other
arrangements of the improved mechanism herein-after described), of producing
patterns or devices upon cloth, that if woven by the agency of the "jacquard "or
the "wizard," (which are also endless or continuous pattern chains) or any other
machine or apparatus heretofore used, would require double the number of
shifts or changes to the round, to produce the same effect. There is a comb
bar fixed in the framing, seen in section at 13 in Figure 6, having partitions
for the purpose of separating the jack lifters a, a, and keeping them always
opposite to the acting peripheries of the chain, bowls, or rollers, and the back
of the bar forms a guide conducting the chain and preventing it from interfering
with the jack lifters below the horizontal plane of the shaft v. This comb bar

page_text: is provided with two lock nuts for the purpose of adjusting it. The jack lifters
are to be raised and depressed by the transverse bars y' and y (shewn attached
to vertical slide rods =,, in Figure 5, and in section in Figure 6, in which two
of the jack lifters only are represented. In this last-mentioned Figure it will
be observed that by the action of the chain bowls the jack lifter a¹ is thrown
out of the reach of the lifting bar y as it ascends, represented by dotted lines,
and thus thrown into a suitable position to be depressed by the bar y², whilst
the jack lifter a, by the stringing y*, is brought into a suitable position to be
raised by the bar y' as it descends. Thus it will be understood that those
jacks and treadles with which the jack lifters a are acted upon by the
descending bar y² in connection, will constitute rising threads in the warp, and
those jacks and treadles connected at the jacks lifters, which are acted upon
by the raising bar y¹ will constitute sinking threads on the warp, and thus
produce the pattern in the fabric as the weaving proceeds. The raising and
depressing bars y¹ and y slide vertically in mortices in the frame attached to
the loom side as seen in Figure 6, and are affixed by their adjusting screws to
upright rods, z, sliding also vertically in a part of the frame as seen at
Figure 1. The alternate rising and falling movements of the bars y¹ and y³
are performed simultaneously with the advance of the endless chain, by means
of the crank or excentric pin 1, fixed in the side of the spur wheel 2, upon
the end of the crank shaft h, (see Figure 2 and Figure 4); as this wheel 2
revolves, the connecting rod 8 attached by the link 4, to one of the two
upright rods, slides this rod up and down at each revolution, and the rods
2,, being connected together by means of straps passing over the pullies 5
and 6, causes the bars y' and y to be raised and depressed alternately. It
must be here observed that these raising and depressing bars y', y³, are also
peculiar in their form, being made taper, that is, narrowed from the back
towards the front, as the back most healds will require to be separated further
apart than those in front, in order to bring all the warps of each distinct shed
into coincidence, which has the peculiar effect of causing the shed to be evenly
made throughout instead of leaving any of the back warps loosely or unevenly
spread, which is of considerable importance, in order to leave a free and clear
passage for the shuttle; and also that there is a spring 7 pressing a piece of
leather against the side face of the driving bevilled wheel.t to produce friction,
in order to prevent any rebound or over rim of the chain, and give steadiness to
its rotation. It will be seen that the jack lifters a, a, are always kept close
against and made to return to the action of the chain by means of the conducting
wires or strings y*, by which they are connected to the treadles, being placed
obliquely, thereby dispensing with a spring which would otherwise be required

page_text: to each jack lifter in pattern looms as hitherto used, and that the treadles
only require a slight steadying motion to bring the healds level when in the
rest or quiet position, which is effected by the straps and pullies 8, also actuated
by the spur wheel 2, driving the wheel 9 and connecting link 10, or by any
other suitable arrangement, and it will be perceived that by this steadying
motion thus geared, the steadying motion may be readily adjusted to bring
the treadles and jacks level or square in the rest position or at any other
required time.
Now, supposing the above-described combination of mechanism and its
application to the loom to be fully understood, I would here observe that by
a simple alteration in the mode of working these improvements another very
important object can be obtained. By removing the link or arm 3 and
substituting one of about double its length, the motion being communicated
from the ordinary "taking-up" wheel 11, fixing the lower end of such arm
to the pin 12 in the arm of the lever wheel 11 (as shewn by the red line in
Figure 2), and also either by having an odd link or two similar rows of
rollers and collars placed together in the same round in the endless chain
w, w, I am enabled to effect or work a double number of shifts or changes
to the round, as each of the lifting bars y' and y, having two hooks or
bearings on either side, will both perform the lifting and depressing motion
alternately, and as the taking-up wheel 11 only performs one revolution to
two of the crank shaft, the pattern will be thus woven upon both surfaces of
the cloth, but in reversed positions. As, for example, in weaving a plaid of
any required square or pattern it will be seen that when the crank pin 12 in
the wheel 11 is passing the horizontal plane of the centre of the wheel on
that side represented in Figure 2, the first acting link or row of the bowls
in the endless chain, which forms the pattern, will throw out the required
number of jack lifters a to the action of the depressing bar y, and by means
of the conducting wires y cause the said disengaged jack lifters to be
brought against the opposite bar y ready to be raised. Thus it will be
perceived that on the following revolution of the endless chain the crank pin
in the wheel 11 will by passing the horizontal plane of the centre of the
wheel 11 at the opposite side (as shewn in red lines in Figure 2) cause those
jack lifters which were before depressed to be lifted, and consequently
produce the pattern reversed upon the cloth, and so on alternately. The
loom thus arranged may also be made to work two ordinary calico healds for
weaving stripes, or ribs, or plain calico, cloth, or ground, by attaching their
jacks direct to the lifting bars y', y, (shewn also in red in Figure 2) in
conjunction with any pattern to be effected by the endless chain. In those

page_text: cases where it is desirable to attach these improvements for producing the
pattern or figure to old looms it is only necessary to adopt the method repre-
sented in Figures 9 and 10, wherein the whole of the apparatus connected
with the chain for producing the figure will be found to be the same as
already described excepting in the mode of driving. In these Figures 9
and 10 the motion for working the chain is to be communicated directly from
the ordinary crank shaft of the loom a by means of the excentric b, link c,
and slide rod d. Upon this slide rod d the draw catch e is attached for
pulling round the ratchet wheel f and driving the chain by means of the
toothed wheel and pinion g and h, when the operation of the loom will
proceed, as before explained.
Having now described these improvements in the construction of looms for
weaving, I desire it to be particularly understood that although I have in this
my Specification and Drawings described and shewn many parts common to
looms in general and heretofore well known and in ordinary use in the trade,
yet I hereby declare that they have been only represented for the sake of
shewing the immediate application of these improvements, and to which old
parts of course I make no claim; but I do claim exclusively the peculiar
construction of the endless chain composed of side links, spindles, or bolts,
tubes, washers or collars, and rollers or bowls revolving loosely or otherwise,
and capable of being readily changed and adjusted, of whatever material they
may be constructed, as shewn particularly in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, for
producing the pattern or figure upon the cloth or fabric in looms for weaving,
and the application of such thereto, also its employment in conjunction with
the taper-formed lifting and depressing bars or arms y¹ and y² working in
combination with the vertical sliding rods z, z, for actuating the jacks and
treadles, and also in combination with the jack lifters provided with two hooks
or bearings on each side, that is, on the back and front, in order to perform
the requisite and even shedding of the warp threads; and further, the manner
of stringing and connecting the jacks lifters to the treadles by placing the
conducting strings or wires y* inclined out of the perpendicular in order to
dispense with the necessity-of separate springs in such or similar situations in
looms for weaving.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Rostron, have bereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
JOHN (L.S.) ROSTRON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of October,
in the third year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said John
Rostron came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
thousand eight hundred