In- PROVEMENTS IN PICKER MOTIONS FOR LOOMS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN PICKER MOTIONS FOR LOOMS."-A communication from
abroad by Hosea Elliott, of Globe Village, in the County of Worcester,
and State of Massachusetts. United States of America.
Sealed the 29th January 1867, and dated the 21st September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
September 1866.
I, WILLIAN CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKER MOTIONS FOR LOOMS," to be as
follows:
This Invention relates more especially to power looms, and it consists
principally in throwing the shuttle independent of or in connection with the
cam shaft, and so as to secure a uniform pick motion whatever the speed of
the said shaft may be. The cord of the picker shaft runs over a pulley on
the end of a vibrating lever, which is placed between the swords of the lay,
and is made to vibrate by a cam that acts on an arm extending from the
lever; the said cord is attached to the longer end of another lever placed on

page_text: the lower part of the loom, the shorter end of the said last-mentioned lever
being connected with a spring that tends always to depress its longer end,
which is raised at certain times during the revolution of the ordinary cam
shaft by means of a lifting crank which falls rapidly through a portion of its
revolution, and allows the springs to depress the longer end of the said lever,
and thereby move the picker staff inward against the shuttle. The staff is
kept at the inner end of the shuttle box after it has driven out a shuttle-until
the shuttle is ready to return, when the staff is brought back to the outer end
of the box, thereby preventing the weaver from "boxing" two shuttles at the
same time. The motions for both picker staffs may be combined or they may
le separated; in the former case the vibrating lever may have a double arm,
one for the cord of each staff, and a central arm which rests on a cam wheel
whose revolution vibrates the lever so as to raise and lower the ends of the
arms which carry the cords of the picker staffs. When the motions are
required to be separated, as in the case of wide looms, the staffs are operated
from separate cams.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 58, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Clark, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKER MOTIONS
FOR LOOMS," a communtcation to me from abroad by Hosea Elliott, of Globe
Village, in the County of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, United States
of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said- William

page_text: Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 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 William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say)
This Invention relates more especially to power looms, and it consists prin-
cipally in throwing the shuttle independent of or in connection with the cam
shaft, and so as to secure an uniform pick motion whatever the speed of said
shaft may be. The cord of the picker staff runs over a pulley on the end of
a vibrating lever, which is placed between the swords of the lay, and is made
to vibrate by a cam that acts on an arm extending from the lever; the said
cord is attached to the longer end of another lever placed on the lower part of
the loom, the shorter end of said last-mentioned lever being connected with
a spring that tends always to depress its longer end, which is raised at certain¸
times during the revolution of the ordinary cam shaft by means of a lifting
crank which falls rapidly through a portion of its revolution and allows the
springs to depress the longer end of said lever, and thereby move the picker
staff inward against the shuttle. The staff is kept at the inner end of the
shuttle box after it has driven out a shuttle until the shuttle is ready to
return, when the staff is brought back to the outer end of the box, thereby
preventing the weaver from "boxing" two shuttles at the same time. The
motions for both picker staffs may be combined or they may be separated; in
the former case the vibrating lever may have a double arm, one for the cord
of each staff, and a central arm which rests on a cam wheel whose revolution
vibrates the lever so as to raise and lower the ends of the arms which carry
the cords of the picker staffs. When the motions are required to be
separated, as in the case of wide looms, the staffs are operated from separate
cams.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings is a front elevation of so much of a
loom as it is necessary to show in order to illustrate this Invention; Figure 2
is an under side view thereof; Figure 3 is a cross section in the plane of the
line in Figure 1.; Figure 4 is a side view of a modification. Similar letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts.

page_text: The letter A designates a platform which sustains the devices about to be
described; C is the lay of a loom, and B the shaft, usually called the crank
shaft. The lay is hinged at its lower end as usual, and is vibrated from the
shaft B by a crank and pitman rod B', connected to one of its swords D. The
picker staffs may be connected to the lay by any suitable devices for sending
the shuttle with a true aim, but in this example I have connected the staffs
to the lay simply by pins, on which they vibrate without rising during their
motions. The boxes which receive the shuttles at the end of the shuttle race
may be made in any suitable way. In front of the main shaft B are placed
two standards K', K', which carry a short shaft K, that is turned from shaft B
by means of a pinion T on the latter, which engages with the teeth of a gear
wheel L', the object of which is to provide means for lifting crank N', as
herein-after explained. The other end of shaft K has a plain disc L fixed on
it, and its outer face has a like pin M that lifts a like crank N³, such pins how-
ever being so arranged that they are on opposite sides of their respective cranks
although they are not in the same diametrical line, their distances apart being
such that soon after one pin has carried its crank past its centre the other is
almost ready to commence lifting its crank. The ends of shaft K are hollow to
receive the axes or spindles of the cranks N¹, which are allowed to turn loosely
therein, but are not free to move endwise. The cranks may be connected
with shaft K in any other way so long as they are free to turn loosely. The
free ends of the cranks have pins on which are suspended sweeps N, N, that
are connected to horizontal levers R, R, below by passing their lower ends
through slots in such levers and securing them by pins. The levers R, R,
are pivoted in this example below the platform A to studs S, the shorter ends
of each lever being attached respectively to the lower ends of springs P, P,
which are suspended by means of screw bolts 0, 0, from the ends of the
plate O¹. The tension of the springs is regulated by means of nuts placed
on the bolts O above the plate O¹, said nuts serving at the same time to hold
the springs in place. The longer ends of levers R pass through loops Q, Q,
which limit their motions downwards, and to their extremities are fastened
the picker staff cords F, as shown in Figure 2. On the shaft K at the middle
of its length is a cam wheel whose cam U is formed on opposite sides (one
part on one side and one part on the other side) of a flange J that projects
from the periphery of said wheel, said flange being interrupted or broken
away at opposite points in its course to permit the cam to be changed in its
course from one side to the other of the flange. Each break in the flange bas
guards V, V, two of which are seen in Figure 1, the other two being on the
edge of the wheel which is concealed from view in that Figure. The guards

page_text: consist of parallel plates, set at an angle across the track of the cam, being
joined to the ends of the divisions of the flange J, from which they extend in
opposite directions. The cam U receives a friction roller that extends
from the inner face of a short central arm I, which projects upwards from the
centre of a lever G, that is pivoted to the top of a low standard which is
placed on platform A in front of the shaft K. The lever G is pivoted at
about the middle of its length, its two ends extending towards the swords D
of the lay, and having each a pulley a in its extremity over which the
cords F, F, respectively are conducted on their way from the staffs E to the
levers R. To the bottom of each staff is attached a cord F, which is con-
ducted in a groove made in the bottom of the lay towards the middle part of
its length, where each cord is connected to one end of a spiral spring F¹
placed in the bottom of the lay. The office of the spring F is to return the
picker staffs to the outer ends of the shuttle boxes at the proper times.
The operation of the devices is as follows:-Motion being given to the
main shaft B, the shaft K will be put in rotation therefrom, their relative
rates of speed being determined by the relative proportions of the gear wheels
T and L'. As the gear wheel I is rotated its pin M comes against the
crank N¹ and carries it along, thereby lifting the sweep N and lever R until
the crank has got past its centre, when being loose as above explained it'
leaves the pin and is pulled suddenly downwards by the spring P acting
through the lever R and sweep N. The action of the spring P¹ in the short
end of the lever R throws down with great force its longer end, thereby
causing the top of the staff E on that side of the loom to be suddenly drawn
inwards by the pull of that lever on the cord F, which action throws the
shuttle to the opposite box. While the crank and parts connected with it are
being operated as just set forth the cam U will have vibrated the lever G, so
as to raise its right-hand end, as shown in Figure 1, in which position it'
remains until the crank on wheel L at the left has been brought near to its
centre, when the cam U again vibrates the lever G, lowering its right-hand `
end to a position like that occupied by the left-hand end in Figure 1. It will
be observed that while the right-hand end of lever G is elevated it takes up
the slack of cord F, and consequently the staff is kept in its advanced position,.
closing the inner end of the shuttle box; but when said right-hand end is
lowered the cord F is slackened, and the spring F is allowed to swing the
staff upon its fulcrum/and bring its upper end to the outer end of the shuttle
box. The like movements occur with the picker staff at the left-hand side of
the loom through the operation of similar devices. By keeping the staffs near
to the entranc.s of the shuttle boxes until the devices which return the proper

page_text: shuttle are nearly ready to act, I prevent the weaver from carelessly boxing
the shuttles at the same time, and thereby save the loom from damage and
also save delay. The cam U is in this example divided into two equal lengths
by equally dividing the flange J into semicircular divisions; but if desired the
divisions may be made of less extent than half circles without departing from
the principle of this Invention, providing that the staff be not thrown outward
too soon.
When it is desirable, as in wide looms, to have a separate cam for
operating the picker staffs, the modification shown in Figure 4 may be used.
In this modification the lever R is attached at one end to the picker staff
cord F, and at the other to the spring P', held to a frame O³ by an adjusting
nut screwed on to a screw rod O2, whose lower end is fixed to the upper end
of the spring. The ordinary cam shaft of the loom has near its end a plate L³,
whose periphery is cut away to form a cam U, which acts on the shorter
arm I of a transverse lever G¹, whose longer end projects towards the front of
the loom and carries a pulley b, over which the cord F proceeds on its way
from lever R to the staff. The plate L revolves with the cam shaft, and has
on its face a lifting pin M, which lifts a crank N¹ that turns loosely on the
end of the cam shaft, said crank being connected by a sweep or pitman rod N
with the lever R. The lifting of the lever R by the crank strains the spring,
which when the crank falls exerts its force through lever R and cord F to send
the picker staff against the shuttle independently of the cam shaft, whose only
office is, as in the case of the devices shown in Figure 1, to furnish power to
lift the lever R. The cam U meanwhile acts on the lever G and causes the
slack of the cord F to be taken up and given out at the proper time, as
explained above in reference to the example shown in Figure 1. Instead
of springs P, P¹, weights may be used for operating the levers R, if
desired.
By means of this Invention I am enabled to simplify the power loom in its
construction and to make its operation more certain and uniform. One of the
advantages derived from the Invention is that a variation in the speed of
the main or cam shaft does not affect the pick, its uniformity is the same under
all degrees of speed, from three to three hundred picks a minute, the power
with which the staff is sent against the shuttle being always the same while
the spring is not impaired. With the old methods of picking if the speed
of the driving shaft is increased twenty or thirty turns a minute the force and
speed with which the pick is made increases in a greater ratio, and if tho
speed is lessened the power that produces the pick is lessened in a greater
ratio than the ratio of decrease in the speed of the loom. Hence arises one

page_text: of the most serious imperfections in the operations of the power loom, it
being not uncommon-when the speed is increased twenty picks a minute, more
or less, to find the cap broken on the spindle and the filling thrown off,.
thereby producing much "waste;" again, the wear and tear of the old method
of "picking" is so great that the majority of the repairs required on a loom.
is expended in and about the picking devices; again, when the speed of the
picker motion is unduly increased the shuttle is apt to recoil in the box and
slacken the thread, and cause the filling fork to be operated and the loom to
stop, or the shuttle may recoil in one box and slam up in the opposite box,
exposing the stop motion and other parts to the liability of becoming broken,
and consequently exposing the warp to injury. If desired the loose crank
may be attached to the end of the crank shaft B, and the additional shaft K
may be dispensed with.
This Invention enables the weaver to produce more cloth, while less power
is required to run the loom and less labor in keeping it in order.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, in combination the loose crank N¹, sweep N, the lever R, and the
spring P, for giving motion to the picker staff, substantially as described.
Secondly, operating the picker staff of a loom by means of the appliances
that act independently of the driving shaft, substantially as described.
Thirdly, in combination the cam U, the arm G, and the cord F, for drawing
the picker staff inwards, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.B.)