CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Rothwell, of Heywood, near Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, Manager, for the Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 7th February 1853, and dated the 2nd December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Rothwell at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd December 1852.
I, JAMES ROTHWELL, of Heywood, near Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING" to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to check the shuttle when it
arrives near the end of the shuttle box, and to prevent the re-
bounding of the shuttle. I accomplish these objects in the following
manner Near the fulcrum of the picking stick I attach one end of
a leather strap, the other end of which is attached to a spring fixed
to the loom side; the action of the spring draws the end of the
picking stick about two inches into the shuttle box; consequently,
when the shuttle is thrown across the shed it comes against the

page_text: picking stick, and overcomes the action of the spring before it gets
home into the shuttle box; by this means the tension of the spring
serves to facilitate the picking of the shuttle, when the picking stick
is acted upon for giving the succeeding pick, and the check bands
which are usually employed are dispensed with, as the injurious
effects produced by allowing the shuttle to enter suddenly into the
shuttle box are entirely obviated by the spring acting on the picking
stick. I also propose, in some cases, to apply vulcanized india
rubber springs for the same purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said James Rothwell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd June 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES ROTHWELL, of Heywood, near Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Rothwell, Her
special licence that I, the said James Rothwell, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Rothwell, 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 James Rothwell, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should parti-
cularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same

page_text: to 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 James Rothwell, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say):
'My Invention consists in peculiar applications of springs to the
picking sticks of looms, whereby the injurious effects resulting from
the shuttle entering suddenly the shuttle box are obviated, and less
power is required for picking the shuttle from one shuttle box to
the other, than in looms of the ordinary construction; and in order
that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried.
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,
reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, is a front view of part of a loom, shewing one mode of
applying my improvements; Figure 2, is a side elevation; and
Figure 3, a plan view, of the same. In these views, a are the frame
sides, the lay swords, c the lay bottom, and d, the cross shaft or
fulcrum of the lay or batten; e, e, are the picking sticks hinged to
studs projecting from the cross shaft d, and guided above in the
lay bottom c, in the usual manner. The picking sticks e, e, may be
driven in any convenient manner, as the mode of communicating
motion to them forms no part of my Invention; to each picking
stick is fastened one end of a strap f, the other end of which is
fastened to a screw g, furnished with lock nuts, which, when tight-
ened up, serve to connect the picking sticks to the springs h, h;
these springs are bolted to the frame side, as seen best in Figure 3,
and the amount of tension can be regulated by the lock nuts on the
screws g. Vulcanized india rubber springs inay be used when
convenient. When the shuttle is thrown across the shed, the
momentum of the shuttle overcomes the springs h, and forces the
picking stick to the end of the slot in the lay bottom, as shewn at

page_text: the left hand side of Figure 1, but the moment the picking stick
arrives in that position the tension of-the-spring h, overcomes the
resistance of the shuttle, which is then held by the swell in the
ordinary manner, and draws the picking stick into the position
shewn by dots at the left hand side of Figure 1, or as shewn in full
lines at the right hand of the same figure. When the shuttle has
to be picked to the opposite side of the loom, it is evident that the
tension of the spring h, acts in the same direction as the power
exerted to move the picking stick, and consequently less power is
required for picking than in looms of the ordinary construction. I
wish it to be understood, that although I have shewn the picking
sticks connected to the springs by straps and adjusting screws,
because I consider this mode of construction the most convenient,
still I do not limit myself to this mode of construction, as the same
may be varied to suit the construction of looms to which my im-
provements are applied, without departing from the peculiar cha-
racter of my Invention; and I claim the improvements herein-before
described, whereby the momentum of the shuttle is checked, and
the picking of the same facilitated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Rothwell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, Onc
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JAMES ROTHWELL. (L.S.)