IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Foster Burlock, of Birmingham, Con-
necticut, United States of America, but at present of 47, Lincoln's
Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS."-A communication from abroad by Charles
Henry Chapman, of Shirley, Massachusetts, United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Foster Burlock
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th January 1875.
I, FREDERICK FOSTER BURLOCK, of Birmingham, Connecticut, United
States of America, but at present of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS," a communication to me from abroad by
by Charles Henry Chapman, of Shirley, Massachusetts, United States of
America, to be as follows:—

page_text: for arresting the motion of a loom when a breakage of a warp thread
occurs, and consists of a peculiar arrangement and combination of
mechanism, by means of which the failure of a warp thread is caused to
bring into operation or release certain projections or catches arranged in
connection with apparatus for shipping the driving belt so as to effect
automatically the removal of such driving belt from a fast on to a loose
pulley, and the consequent cessation of the motion of the loom.
In carrying out this Invention a frame is provided consisting of cheeks
or brackets connected together by cross pieces, and either formed on or
attached to the main framing of the loom, in which checks or brackets,
there is supported a series of horizontal rods arranged in tiers, one above
the other, and carrying drops or rocking levers, which are placed side by
side on the rods, and correspond in number to the warp threads employed.
The warp threads which are wound upon the warp beam are conducted
therefrom first over guide rollers carried by the cheeks or brackets, then
over the drops (each warp thread resting in a groove formed in the upper
part of its corresponding drop), then through a separating reed, and
thence over and under other guide rollers to the breast beam. Behind
the drops there is placed a series of horizontal wires or rods carried at
one extremity of vibrating levers which are mounted on a horizontal
shaft, the opposite extremity of such levers being attached to another
lever or levers arranged horizontally and in a longitudinal direction.
These latter levers are pivotted at one end to the frame, and their
opposite end covers or rests upon one end of a tongue or tongues having
a continuous to and fro motion imparted thereto by means of a cam
(mounted by preference on the lower shaft of the loom), which action
⚫ causes the opposite end of such tongues to pass over or escape certain
stops or catches on a slide connected with the belt shipper during the
normal working of the apparatus whilst admitting of their falling and
coming into contact with such stops or catches, when the descending
motion of the longitudinal levers before referred to is arrested. The
vibrating levers carrying the horizontal wires or rods are provided with
projections, which rest upon lever arms fast on the same shaft, and
operated by a cam or cams carried by preference on the crank shaft, by
which means the vibratory motion of such levers is obtained. This
motion has the effect of bringing the horizontal wires or rods at each
complete vibration towards or opposite the drops, which latter in their
normal position offer no obstruction to the advance of the wires or rods.

page_text: When however a warp thread breaks the opposite end of the respective
drop to that on which the warp thread rested falls by its own gravity
on to a horizontal support, and forms a stop to the further progress of
the wires or rods on the vibrating levers, the opposite arms of which
levers acting upon the longitudinal levers prevent the latter from
descending so as to enable the tongues to escape the stops or catches
herein-before referred to. The tongues are thus caused to act upon such
stops or catches, and through their intervention upon the belt shipper,
whereby the belt is removed on to the loose pulley and the motion of
the loom is arrested.
The details of the arrangement of the stops or catches, and of the
mode of operating the same by means of the drops, may be varied
according to circumstances, as for example the drops herein-before
described may be combined with the system of catches described in the
Provisional Specification filed by me on the 30th September 1874
(No. 3350), or with the catches frequently employed on existing looms or
otherwise.
In the manufacture of broad goods, where the texture of the fabric
will admit of it, the drops may be arranged in a single row in a manner
similar to that described in the before-mentioned Provisional Specification
as applied to the manufacture of small ware or narrow goods, and
combined with stops or catches arranged in either of the ways herein-
before referred to.
SPECIFICATION In pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Frederick Foster Burlock in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
FOSTER BURLOCK, of Birmingham, Connecticut, United States of
America, but at present of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, hearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the

page_text: 38th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Ferderick Foster Burlock, Her
special license that I, the said Frederick Foster Burlock, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Foster
Burlock, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS," a communication to me from abroad by
Charles Henry Chapman, of Shirley, Massachusetts, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Foster Burlock, my executors or administrators, 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 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 Frederick Foster Burlock, 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 means to be employed with looms
generally for arresting the motion of a loom when a breakage of a warp
thread occurs, and consists of a peculiar arrangement and combination
of mechanism by means of which the failure of a warp thread is caused
to bring into operation or release certain projections or catches arranged
in connection with apparatus for shipping the driving belt so as to
effect automatically the removal of such driving belt from a fast on to a
loose pulley, and the consequent cessation of the motion of the
loom.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the accompanying Drawing, which represents a side
elevation of a loom with the apparatus applied thereto.

page_text: a is the main framing of the loom to which there are attached cheeks
or brackets 6 (one only of which is shewn in the Drawing) which are
connected together by cross pieces c, c', c³, c³, and d, extending trans-
versely from one side to the other of the loom. The cross piece d is
formed with a flat surface on its under side and rests upon a main cross
piece e, to which it is bolted or otherwise secured, such main cross
piece e being itself attached to the main framing a of the loom. Or the
checks or brackets b may be formed in one with the main framing a if
found practicable. In these cheeks or brackets 6 there is supported a
series of horizontal rods ƒ, f', f, f, arranged in tiers one above the
other, and carrying drops or rocking levers g, g', g, g', which are placed
side by side on the rods and correspond in number to the warp threads
employed. 'The warp threads h, h¹, h³, h³, which are wound upon the
warp beam i, are conducted therefrom first over guide rollers k, k³, kª‚k,
carried by the cheeks or brackets b, then over the drops.g, gỗ, g³, 9³,
(each warp thread resting in a groove formed in the upper part of its
corresponding drop), then through a separating reed carried by the
cross piece d, and thence over guide rollers m, m³, m², mª, and under a
guide rollern, through the harness and the reed to the breast beam. o.
Behind the drops g, g', g³, g², there is placed a series of horizontal wires
or rods p, p², p³, p³, carried at one extremity of vibrating levers q (one
only of which is shewn in the Drawing), which are connected together
by a sleeve or tuber mounted on a horizontal shaft 8, the opposite
extremity of such levers being attached at s¹ to another lever or levers t
arranged horizontally and in a longitudinal direction. One end of the
levers is pivotted at u to the frame a, and the opposite end covers or
rests upon one end of a tongue w having a continuous to-and-fro motion
imparted thereto by means of a bell-crank lever from a
cam y
mounted on the lower shaft z of the loom, and also a tilting motion, as
herein-after explained. Underneath the tongue w there is disposed a
slide 1 provided with a catch or projection 2, and so arranged in con-
nection with a belt shipper 3, as that when the slide 1 is moved longi-
tudinally it shall come into contact with the belt shipper 3 and cause it
to transfer the driving belt from the fast to the loose pulley, and thereby
arrest the motion of the loom. This effect is obtained by the tongue w
being brought into contact with the catch or projection 2 when the
breakage of a warp thread occurs, such tongue being however caused to
escape the catch or projection 2 by reason of the before-mentioned
tilting motion during the normal working of the apparatus.

page_text: The vibrating levers 9 carrying the horizontal wires or rods p, p', p², p³,
are provided with projections 4, which rest upon lever arms fast on the
same shaft, and operated by a cam or cams 6 carried on the crank shaft 7,
by which means the vibratory motion of such levers is obtained. This
motion is transmitted to the levers t, which are thereby caused to
oscillate upon their centre u, the arm of the levers being thus brought
into contact with one end of the tongue w at each complete oscillation,
so as to tilt the same and enable its opposite end to escape the catch or
projection 2 during the forward motion of such tongue.
At each com-
plete vibration also of the levers q the horizontal wires or rods p, p', p³, p",
which are maintained taut by means of screws, are brought towards or
opposite the drops g, gỗ, g², g³, which latter in their normal position offer
no obstruction to the advance of the wires or rods..
warp thread breaks the drop, on one end of which the warp thread
rested, being overbalanced, the opposite end of such drop falls by its own
gravity on to the corresponding cross piece c, c', c³, or c³, as the case may
be, and forms a stop to the further progress of the wires or rods on the
vibrating levers, the opposite arms of which levers acting upon the
longitudinal levers & prevent the latter from descending so as to enable
the tongue w to escape the catch or projection 2 herein-before referred
lo.
When however a
The tongue w is thus brought within the range of the catch or
projection 2, on which it acts during its reciprocating motion, thereby
traversing the slide 1, and actuating the belt shipper 3, by which means
the belt is removed on to the loose pulley, and the motion of the loom is
arrested.
The details of the arrangement of the catches or projections, and the
mode of operating the same by means of the drops, may be varied
according to circumstances, as for example, the drops herein-before
described may be combined with the system of catches described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the Thirtieth September
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four (No. 3350), or with the
catches frequently employed on existing looms, or with any other suitable
arrangement of belt shipping devices.
In the manufacture of broad goods, where the texture of the fabric
will admit of it, the drops may be arranged in a single row in a manner
similar to that described in the before-mentioned Specification as applied
to the manufacture of small ware or narrow goods, and combined with

page_text: catches or projections arranged in either of the ways herein-before
referred to.
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 what I consider to
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 application and use to and with a loom of drops or rocking
levers arranged side by side and in tiers one above the other, and
operating substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described
and as illustrated by the accompanying Drawing.
Second. The application and use to and with a loom for weaving
broad goods of drops or rocking levers arranged side by side, and in the
same horizontal plane, and operating substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Foster Burlock, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the First day of
F. F. BURLOCK. (L.S.)