IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOM SHUTTLES
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Sidney Crowley at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th September 1881.
A com-
munication from abroad by Messieurs J. S. Jaques & Co., of Lowell,
Massachusetts, one of the United States of America.
JOHN SIDNEY CROWLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer
and Ironfounder. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOM SHUTTLES." A communication from
abroad by Messieurs J. S. Jaques & Co., of Lowell, Massachusetts, one of the
United States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in shuttles used in looms for weaving.
The object of the Invention is to provide improved bearings for the rollers of
shuttles, improved appliances for holding the spools or bobbins, and also for
holding cop tubes on shuttle tongues, improved springs for shuttle tongues, and
improved tips for shuttles.
The first part of this Invention consists in an improved manner of fitting the
rollers in heavy shuttles for weaving woollen and other goods. Each end of the
shuttle is recessed at the bottom to admit the roller and two small brackets; a
small metal bracket in which is a bearing for the axis of the roller is placed at
each side of the roller, and the brackets and roller are put into the recess and
secured by screws which pass through the brackets; a small hole is made at each
side of the shuttle opposite the ends of the roller axis for lubrication.
The second part of this Invention consists in the use of improved appliances for
holding spools or bobbins in their places on the tongues in shuttles, one of which
consists of a flat spring rivetted to the base of the shuttle tongue which is extended
a suitable distance beyond the pin on which it hinges; the free end of this spring
is bent inward, so as to be at right angles to the tongue, and it is formed to fit in
an annular external groove at the base of the spool; a pin is fixed in the shuttle
between the spring and the tongue, so that in raising the tongue to receive the
spool it is moved from the free end of the spring, and when the tongue and spool
are pressed down into the shuttle the end of the spring enters the annular groove
at the base of the spool and retains it in its place.
Instead of employing a spring with the end formed to enter an external groove
in the spool, a somewhat similar spring is fixed in the same way to the base of the

page_text: shuttle tongue to enter an internal groove in the base of the spool; this spring is
bent outward at the free end, and a pin fixed in the shuttle presses the free end of
the spring against the tongue when it is raised; the spool, in the base of which is
an internal annular groove, is then placed on the tongue, and when pressed down
into the shuttle the free end of the spring moves outward and enters the groove
inside the base of the shuttle and holds it in its place.
Another improved way of holding the spool when an internal groove is formed
in its base is by fitting on the pin on which the tongue hinges a short lever with
a projection on the end over which the base of the spool is placed; this lever is
raised and lowered with the tongue, and the same spring that acts on the base of
the tongue acts on the lever and moves it outward and causes the projection to
enter the groove inside the base of the spool when it is pressed down; the lever
closes against the tongue when it is raised to remove or replace the spool.
Another improved manner of holding the spool is by making the tongue in two
pieces of about equal length, both hinging on the same pin, and so formed at the
base that they are pressed together when raised to have a spool placed on or
removed, and so acted on by a spring that when pressed down into the shuttle
they open at the point; each portion of the tongue has a catch or projection at the
point to retain the spool when in its place. In some cases a short fixed tongue is
used, and a flat spring bent at the end to enter an annular external recess in the
base of the spool is employed; this spring is pivoted on a pin in the top of the
shuttle, and it is pressed down at one end to release the spool.
To hold cop tubes on shuttle tongues, the tongue, which is in two parts joined
at the base and at the point, is made with projections or serrations on the portion
on which the cop fits; or instead of being provided with serrations the tongue
is undulated.
The shuttle tongue is acted upon at its base by an improved flat spring screwed
on the top of the shuttle; when a short lever is used at the base of the shuttle
tongue, or when the tongue is made in two separate parts, the spring is slotted so
as to allow the lever to rest against the tongue, or the two points of the tongue to
rest together when raised, and the spring causes them to separate when depressed.
The improvements in shuttle tips consist in making an annular recess in the
base of the tip, so that a portion of the wood at the point of the shuttle will be
enclosed by the tip; also in making the shank of the tip ribbed, grooved, or waved,
so that it will be held more securely when driven to its place; another improve-
ment consists_in_the_use_of_a loose ferrule-or-collar-preferably-smaller-than-the-
base of the tip placed over the shank, which ferrule is forced into the wood when
the tip is driven to its place.