IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR Looms
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47. Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR Looms."-A communi-
cation from M. Poivret.
Sealed the 20th March 1855, and dated the 25th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th October 1854.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR LOOMS," a com-
munication from M. Poivret, a foreigner resident abroad, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction and arrangement of
circular loom, whereby new forms of stitch are produced. The loom is
composed of a metal turning table, a plate having a number of slotted
radiating arms or spindles secured thereto. These arms, on the surface of
which the thread is deposited, by means of a suitable shuttle, or by hand, are
not composed of spring needles, as in ordinary looms of this class, but are

page_text: ridged arms, formed with a small projection at their outer extremities, whilst
the slot which runs their entire length serves to admit of the free working
therein of a vertical blade, which serves to beat up or secure the thread de-
posited on the radiating arms. The first turn of the running thread deposited
on the arms, either by hand or mechanical means, is pushed on to the points
of the vertical blades by a suitable curved arm beneath the slotting radiating
arms; this thread forming the stitch is afterwards raised by the vertical blades
as they pass under the beater-up; this "beater," while lifting the blades, carries
them in front of the radiating arms, and deposits each stitch over the pro-
jections herein-before referred to, and also over the second turn of the thread,
which has been supplied in a similar manner to the first thread. The beater
is an inclined eccentric piece, the inclination running from below upwards at
each end, thus the middle will be the highest part; the stitch having been
left over the projection, the blades return to their original position by the aid
of suitable springs. The second turn of the thread is now pushed against the
blades by the curved piece, as before described, and deposited over the pro-
jections, before referred to, and over the third turn of thread while passing in
front of the beater, and thus the operation of weaving is carried on to any
desired length of material. For obtaining a "knetted" or "cross" stitch, a
mechanical thread feeder of a peculiar construction is employed, the peculiar
kind of stitch produced depending upon the direction of rotation of such feeder.
This feeder consists of a revolving tube or mouth-piece, through which a thread
is passed; the tube is caused to pass the thread round the ends of the radiating
arms by the aid of suitable gearing. Several of these feeders may be applied
to one loom; whilst one beater alone will be required. The last-mentioned
feeder may be replaced by a feeder of a slightly different construction, to
which an oscillating or vibratory motion is imparted, instead of a rotatory one,
as in the last-described feeder. This feeder may be made to supply two threads
at a time, and several of these may be applied to the same loom. In order to
produce selvage goods, a partial rotatory motion only is imparted to the loom.
By the mechanism herein-before described various descriptions of stitches may
be produced either with one or more threads and with one "beater." The
radiating arms, in place of being horizontal, may be situated vertically, and
parallel with each other, or a ring of metal, in which case the fabric will
descend inside the loom as fast as it is woven.
Another portion of this Invention relates to certain improvements in the
ordinary needle looms of the circular class, and consists in the employment of
two wheels, carried in arms or forks, which may be brought nearer to each
other or farther asunder, similar to the legs of a pair of compasses. These

page_text: wheels are notched, so as to depress a certain number of needles, according to
the work to be produced. The thread is deposited in the opening or space
between the elevated and depressed needles. Two wheels are employed, in
order that a greater number of needles may be depressed at a time, and
thereby facilitate the introduction of the thread. The same effects, however,
might be obtained by one wheel alone, but it would require to be of a much
larger diameter. The other portions of the loom will remain the same as at
present in general use.
Another form of "beater" consists of a small oscillating hooked blade
sliding in the radiating arms. The centre of oscillation of the hooked blade is
carried by a sliding piece, and the blade is actuated by an eccentric. The
horizontal to and fro movement of the hook of this blade and the vertical
movement of the same causes the thread to be laid hold of during the beating-
up of the second turn of the thread.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CIRCULAR LOOMS," being a communication from M. Poivret, a
foreigner resident abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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

page_text: be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to an improved construction and arrangement of
circular looms for weaving looped fabrics, whereby a greater variety of stitches
or loops may be produced than in the ordinary circular looms.
And in order that the said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto. annexed.
the same.
Figs. 1 and 2 of the Drawings represent two circular looms, fitted each
with twenty-five radiating arms or spindles A, A, fixed on to the circumference
of the revolving plate M; and Figs. 3 and 4 are corresponding plans of
The spindles A, upon which the threads are thrown, either by
mechanical aid or by hand, obviate the use, according to this arrangement, of
the spring needles, used in ordinary looms; they are simply furnished with a
hook B, B', and have a vertical slot formed in them, to afford a free passage to
the blades C, C', which are arranged to produce the necessary fall of the stitch
or loop on the spindles. By this arrangement of mechanism, the first turn of
the running thread supplied to the spindles, either by a mechanical feeder or
by hand), is pushed upon the points of blades C by the piece D or D', which is
level with the under sides of the spindles A. This thread is now raised by the
blades C, C', as fast as they pass over the eccentric E, E', which, while raising
the blades C, C', carries the threads to the ends of the spindles, and throws
each loop over the hooks on the ends of the spindles, and at the same time
over the second turn of the thread, which has been supplied like the preceding
one on to each spindle.
The blade actuator consists of an eccentric plate E, E', inclined slightly
from below upwards on both sides, the highest part being about the centre.
When the blades C, C¹, have arrived at the middle of the eccentric, they
allow the loop of the thread to fall outside the hooks of the spindles; and are
then brought back to their original position by the springs D2, which constantly
draw them inwards, when the stitch or loop falls from off the points of the
blades. At the next revolution the second turn of the thread is pushed against
the blades C, C', by the piece D or D', and is thrown back, like the preceding
thread, as it passes before the eccentric over the hooks, of the spindles and

page_text: over the third turn of the thread, which has been supplied like the preceding
The operation is thus continued until the required length of fabric has
been woven, which descends below the spindles, as in the ordinary looms.
ones.
The loom represented by Figs. 1 and 3 is fitted with a mechanical thread
feeder, which produces the different kinds of stitches or loops required, accord-
ing to the direction of rotation of the feeder, in relation to the motion of
the spindles.
The bent arm F, through which the thread G passes to the spindles, is made
to revolve rapidly by means of a train of wheel-work H, I, J, combined in
such a manner, that the bent arm, which is carried by the fixed bracket X²,
makes the requisite number of revolutions round the spindles as fast as they
pass in front of it, according to the stitch or loop required to be produced.
This movement is imparted to the feeders by the revolution of the plate M,
to which is fixed the bevel wheel H. Motion is transmitted to the plate M by
means of the bevel gearing N and winch handle O.
:
F
Several feeders may be applied to one loom in order to supply several
threads at once, thereby varying the fabric while one eccentric E actuates the
whole of the blades C.
The feeder F, shewn in detail, Fig. 5, is capable of supplying 1, 2, 3, or
even 4 thirds at one time. The conductors of the threads are placed on a
horizontal bar E, which bar is jointed in two places on the discs P, P¹, by
pins, placed eccentrically on the discs and at equal distances from their centres.
These discs are driven by two pinions G, G², which gear with the wheel J,
which thus causes the bar E² to have a parallel and horizontal movement.
By this arrangement all the thread conductors will have a rotatory motion,
which will enable them to pass the threads round each of the spindles A.
Fig. 6 represents a feeder for one or two threads; the wheel J drives only
one pinion G³, and the thread conductor is placed at the lower end of a
vertical bar R, which is attached by the pin to the disc G. This bar works
through a guiding slot, and is slotted to work over the shaft of the wheel J.
The mechanism which drives the rotatory feeder, Fig. 1, is fitted with a series
of bevel wheels F, F, F, to change the direction of rotation when requisite.
These wheels gear together; the wheels F and F are fitted loosely on the
shaft E3, but may be fixed alternately by pinching screws. The wheel Fis
for the purpose of turning the wheels F and F in opposite directions. The
wheel J is fixed to the wheel F, & the shaft E turns always in the same
direction, so that as one or the other of the wheels F and F are made fast,
the thread conductors will turn in one direction or the other. When turning
in one direction the cross loop ("maille croisée ") will be produced, &

page_text: when turning in the opposite one the knot loop (maille à noeuds) will be
the result.
Figs. 7 and 8 represent another form of thread feeder, on the same prin-
ciple as those at Figs. 1 and 5, though slightly modified, the rotatory
motion being replaced by a vertical, rectilenear one. For this purpose, the
driving pinions G2, G3, and discs F2 and F3, are placed above the wheel J';
and the horizontal bar E', which carries the thread conductors, is placed in
front of the spindles A, and receives its vertical, motion from two rods R¹ and
R2, connected with the discs F, F3. The horizontal position and the vertical
rectilencar movement of the bar E' are preserved by the two rods L', fixed to
this bar, and sliding in grooves in the supporting frame. The oscillating
motion of this feeder places the threads crosswise over and under the spindles
as they pass. The spindles A² and the blades C (Fig. 7) are represented of a
new form, for the purpose of producing the various kinds of stitches or loops,
but principally the knot loop. The blades C2 for effecting the slipping of the
loops require several successive 'movements imparted to them, namely, from
behind forwards, and from below upwards; for this purpose they are actuated
by the compound eccentric, shewn at Fig. 9. U¹ is a vertical shaft, fixed to a
beam in the ceiling, and answering as a suspending rod for holding the loom;
N, N, are set screws for securing the mechanism; Q2 is a cup for receiving
the oil for lubricating the collar of the plate M. M' is a nut for supporting
the loom on the spindle U¹; R is a plate, fixed to the shaft U', and answering
as a support for all the stationary parts of the mechanism. The loom repre-
sented at Figs. 2 and 4 is arranged to work with as many threads as there
are spindles in the loom; there are therefore as many feeders as there are
spindles. The spindles A¹ of this loom are round, and made with a projection
inclining upwards, to facilitate the falling of the stitch. The loom is here
divided to contain 25 spindles, and consequently 25 feeders; these revolving
feeders D³ are separate, and are actuated by the circular rack L³, the teeth of
which gear with the pinions of the feeders, & the threads pass through the
axes of the pinions and through the ends of the feeders. The plates M' and S',
which carry the spindles and blades, have a slow rotatory motion imparted to
them; whilst the plate X, which carries the eccentrix E', for actuating tho
blades, and rod D', which pushes the thread on to the hooks of the blades,
rotates at about twenty-five times the velocity of the plates M' and S¹, and in
a contrary direction to these plates; it is driven direct by the bevel gearing
Ne and winch handle O¹. The spindle-carrying plate is driven by the
intermediate wheels Z, Z, Z, Z3, Z, which reduce the speed, at the rate
of twenty-five to one, equal to the number of spindles in the loom. The

page_text: pinion V, which latter
The speed of the rack
ring or circle T, upon which rests the circular rack I³, is fixed, and is
suspended by means of the rods S to the upper plate R', which plate serves
as a support for all the fixed portions of the locm. The rack L is actuated
by the intermediate wheels 2, V, V, and the
gears directly with the vertical teeth of the rack.
is so calculated that each feeder shall make one turn round the spindle
which corresponds to it during the time that this spindle makes one-
twenty-fifth of a revolution, so that all the feeders which are secured to
the circle T by small bearings T make one turn round cach spindle, but
changing consecutively the spindle at each of their revolutions. The thread
conductors P are not all placed in the same position or point of rotation,
but are arranged in different positions in these circles of rotation in such a
manner, that when the eccentric, which actuates the blades C', comes round
in front of each feeder, the thread will be immediately below the spindle which
corresponds to the conductor. U is a fixed vertical spindle, to which is
attached the loom; N³, N³, represents a pinching screws, for fixing the dif-
ferent parts of the mechanism; Q, a cup for holding the lubricating oil, on the
bottom of which rests the collar of the plate M'. The loom is kept in position
by resting on the nut M. C' are the hooked blades, which work in the same
manner as those in the loom, Figs. 1 and 3; D2 are helical springs for
drawing in the blades. Fig. 10 represents a new form of counter for circular
looms, driven by the mechanism of the loom. This apparatus serves to
indicate the number of revolutions or ranges of stitches or loops formed by the
loom. It is composed of a revolving disc or dial U³ suitably divided, a fixed
indicator Vs and an endless screw T gearing into the disc U³, which is toothed
for that purpose. The endless screw is fitted on to the shaft of the actuating
handle, or on any portion of the loom, which makes one turn for every entire
range of stitches or loops. If the rotating part of the loom, upon which is
fitted the endless screw, should not be in exact relation with the number of
ranges of stitches or loops, it will be necessary to arrange the teeth of the
wheel and the screw threads in such a manner as to place such portion of
the loom in proper relation with the divisions on the dial. The indicator and
supports for the disc are fixed on to the frame of the loom.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I consider to

page_text: be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general construction and arrangement of circular looms .for
producing knitted or looped fabrics, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use in circular looms of inflexible spindles in
place of spring needles, as herein-before described.
Third, the construction and arrangement of the vertical hooked blades,
herein-before described, and the application in conjunction with the slotted
inflexible spindles.
Fourth, the system or mode of actuating the hooked blades by means of
eccentric inclines, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the peculiar constructions and arrangements of thread feeders or
supplyers, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)