A MACHINE OR ENGINE FOR WEAVING COTTON, WORSTED, FLAX, HEMP, OR ANY SPECIES OF YARN INTO CALLICOES, CLOTHS, BUNTINGS, OR ANY OTHER ARTICLES OF ANY FABRICK WHATSOEVER, THAT WILL BE MORE BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLIC THAN ANY MACHINE OR ENGINE FOR THAT
Year: 1788

page_text: KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS; that I, THOMAS CLARK, the
younger, of Leeds, in the County of York, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Eighth day of November, in the twenty-ninth year of His reign, hath given
and granted unto him, the said Thomas Clark, his executors, adñiors, and
assigns, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that he,
the said Thomas Clark, his exors, admors, and assigns, and every of them, by
himself and themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as he, the said Thomas Clark, his exors, admors, or.
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise and vend, within that part of the Kingdom
of Great Britain called England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
his Invention of having brought to perfection "A MACHINE OR ENGINE FOR
WEAVING COTTON, WORSTED, FLAX, HEMP, OR ANY SPECIES OF YARN INTO CALLICOES,
CLOTHS, BUNTINGS, OR ANY OTHER ARTICLES OF ANY FABRICK WHATSOEVER, THAT WILL
BE MORE BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLIC THAN ANY MACHINE OR ENGINE FOR THAT

page_text: PURPOSE NOW IN USE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that if the said Thomas Clark should not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of his said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under his hand and seal, and cause the
same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one
calendar month next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever thereby granted should utterly cease, determine, and become void,
as in and by the said in part recited Letters Patent, relation being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with, and agreeable to the true intent
and meaning of, the said proviso, in the said Letters Patent contained, I, the
said Thomas Clark, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is and are described
and ascertained in manner following, that is to say:—
The machine may be worked by a water mill, horse mill, or any other kind
of mill, and is made and used as herein-after described in the Drawings or
Plans added thereto, and figured 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, of which No. 1 represents
a perspective view of the whole machine, in which the breast beam is removed
to shew the working parts. The 8 Figures represent plans of seperate parts
of the machine, drawn by the scale of one inch to the foot, of which No. 2 is a
plan or Drawing of the slay boards; No. 3 is a plan or Drawing of the shuttle
in the box, the sliding boards being removed to shew the grooves on the back
side of the pullies on the slay boards; No. 4 represents the treadle and
treading stocks; No. 5 represents an end view of the frame and slay boards
with the pushing stocks; No. 6 represents the hands, lever, and spring; No. 7
represents a back view of the frame with the false beams, pullies, and weights;
No. 8 represents a ground plan of the iron axis, with the stocks, hands, wheel
catch, and stopper upon it.
THE FOLLOWING LETTERS REFER TO THE DISTINCT PARTS IN EACH OF THE
DRAWINGS OR FIGURES WHERE THE LETTERS ARE PLACED.
Letter A, in the Figures No. 1, 5, 6, 7, & 8, is the outward frame, the
dimensions of which must be varied according to the width of the cloth wanted
to be wove. That here described is sufficient for weaving at peice 40 inches
wide. It is six feet in width.
Letter B, in the Figures No. 1 & 8, is the iron axis, which must be two

page_text: inches square, and rounded four inches at one end for the wheel to run freely
upon, fixed in the two-bottom rails in the ends of the frame exactly under the
slay boards when drawn back.
Letter C, in the Figures No. 1 & 8, is the cog wheel upon the iron axis,
which receives its motion from the mill.
Letter D, in the Figures No. 1, 6, & 8, are four hands, two of which must
be fixed at each end of the iron axis by two bars of iron that fit tight on the
axis, to which bars the hands must be screwed, six inches from the inside of
the bottom rails of the frame on which the axis rests; the two hands, at each
end, must be fixed on opposite sides of the axis, so that they may form a
perpendicular and horizontal direction to each other, like the sails of a wind-
mill, that when the two hands at one end of the loom are perpendicular, the
two hands at the other end shall be horizontal.
Letter E, in the Figures 1, 4, & 8, shews the treading stock, which is a
piece of wood eleven inches square and two inches thick; it must be fixed on
the centre of the iron axis by square colletts on each side, with two pullies
made of cast iron bushed with brass, turning on an iron pin, and fixed on each
side of the treading stock at opposite corners, an inch and an half from the
corners, as described by letter F, in the Figure No. 8.
Letter G, in the Figures No. 1, 5, & 8, shew the pushing stocks, which are
to be of the same size, and fixed in the same manner, on the iron axis, as the
treading stock is fixed; each of these pushing stocks must be placed twenty
inches from the treading stock; to each of these pushing stocks there must be
four pieces of iron screwed or fixed on the outer reins of each pushing stock, at
opposite directions to each other, two inches from each corner, with pullies.at
the end of each piece of iron, which pieces of iron must be of such a length, that
when screwed into the stocks, the extremity of the pulley shall be projected four
inches from the outer rim of the pushing stock.
Letter H, in the Figure No. 5, shews the four pieces of iron; with the pullies,
as they appear in looking through the frame from either end of it, and the
same letter in the Figure No. 8 shews them as they appear in the front of the
frame.
Letter I, in the. Figures No. 1 & 4, shews the treadles, of which there must
be two. The Figure No. 4 shews their form or shape, and they must be of
dimensions proportioned to the machine. The pullies marked letter F act
upon the treadles in manner after mentioned.
Letter K, in the Figure No. 1, shews cords, which must be fastened to each
treadle, and wrapt once round each roller; there must be two rollers. The

page_text: letter L, in Figure No. 1, shews the position of them; they rest upon a frame,
about four inches below the slay boards, which frame, in the Figure No. 1, is
marked with the letter M. Two cords going round the rollers, and marked in
the Figure No. 1 with the letter N, are to be tyed to the geer in the same
Figure, marked with the letter O; this geer marked with the letter O is
delineated in the Figure No. 5.
Letter P, in the Figures No. 1 & 4, shews the grate by which the ends of
the treadles are kept worked in their proper position.
Letter Q, in the Figures No. 1 & 2, shews the slay boards, which moves, as
in common looms, upon gudgeons rest on the top end rails.
Letter R, in Figures No. 1, 2, & 5, shews two arms or projections in the
machine, each of which is six inches in length, and must be faced with iron,
and fixed to the lower shell of the slay boards; upon which arms or projections,
the four pieces of iron, with the pullies described by letter II, act in the work-
ing of the machine.
Letter S, in the Figures No. 1, 2, & 3, shews the pullies, which must be
fixed on the foreside of the lower shell of the slay boards, which pullies have
two grooves in the back side of them, as described in the Drawing of the
Figure No. 3.
Letter T, in the Figures No. 1, 2, & 3, shews the shuttle picker, which is
a piece of wood one inch deep, half an inch thick, and must be three inches
longer than the breadth of the piece required to be wove, including the length
of the shuttle with a piece of iron at each end, and which in these Figures, No.
1, 2, and 3, is marked with the letter V. This piece of iron must be faced
with leather; it rests upon the pullies marked letter S, and is moved by them.
Letter U, in the Figures No. 1 & 6, shews two wooden levers, moving on an
axle fixed at one end to the middle back rail; the other end is raised by the
hands marked letter D, as they turn round.
Letter W, in the Figures No. 1 & 6, shews two iron springs, which must be
each four feet long, one inch and an half broad, and one quarter of an inch
thick, and fixed at one end to the floor, and tied at the other end to the levers
marked letter U, by the cords marked in the same Figures with the letter X;
these springs are made more or less powerful by shortening the cords according
to the force required.
.
Letter Y, in the Figures No. 1, 2, & 6, describes two cords, one end of each
of which is to be fastened to the shuttle picker, passing over the grooves on the
back side of the pullies marked letter S. The other end must be fastened near
to the loose end of the levers marked with the letter U.

page_text: Letter Z, in Figures 1 & 6, describes two cords, which must be fixed to the
loose end of the levers marked letter U, and also to the back of the slay
boards to prevent the levers from falling down too low to stay the shuttle.
Letter a, in Figures No. 1 & 5, shews two steel springs, one and a quarter
inch broad one eighth of an inch thick, fixed to the low back rail upon which
the low shell of the slay boards slides to keep them steady. There are also
two wood springs three feet long, one inch broad, and a quarter of an inch
thick, one end of each of which is fixed to the middle back rail, to the other
are tied cords fixed to the back of the slay. boards.
Letter b, in Figures No. 1 & 5, shews two levers six feet long, turning on
an axle fixed to the floor a little behind the back rail, and weighted at the
other end.
Letter c, in Figures 1 & 5, shews two straps, fixed at one end to the floor,
passing over the warp beam, marked with the letter a, the other end tied to
the levers, marked with the letter b.
Letter d, in Figures 1 & 7, shews the warp beam, which has a groove at
each end, turned true jupon its centre, for the straps C to slide over.
Letter e, in Figures 1 & 7, shews small false beams for the warp to pass
over.
Letter f, in Figures 1 & 7, shews upright pieces of wood fixed in a frame
upon the middle rail, which has grooves for the false beam to slide in.
Letter g, in Figures 1 & 7, shews small pullies, fixed on the top back.rail.
Letter h, in Figures 1 & 7, shews cords tied to the false beam e, and which
pass over the pullies g, and have weights marked with the letter i, No. 1 & 7,
tied to the other end of them, heavier or lighter according to the strength of
the work.
Letter k, in Figure No. 1, shews a roller lying horizontally near the floor at
the front of the loom, and resting at each end on standards fixed to the floor.
Letter i, in Figures 1 & 8, shews the stopper, which is a piece of wood an
inch and half square, fixed to the middle back rail, and coming over the low
front rail, having a piece marked letter m, in No. 1, and 8 inches square fixed
to it, in which the iron axis turns freely.
Letter n, in Figure 8, shews the catch, a piece of iron turning on a pin
in an iron standard, fixed to one end of the iron bar to which the hands are
screwed; it is made six inches long from the shoulder, with a point three
inches long, which goes through the hand, and takes hold of an arm of the
wheel, and is kept in that position by a slender spring, which is fixed to the
iron bar, and acts against the tail of the catch. The machine being thus

page_text: prepared, the warp is put upon the beam, and passing over the false beams e,
goes through the geers and slay, as in other common looms, motion being given
to the wheel c, by which work as usual from a water-mill, horse-mill, or any
other kind of mill, an arm of the wheel takes hold of the point of the catch n,
which goes through the hand, and by that means turns round the iron axis;
one of the pullies F, on the right-hand side of the treading stock E, presses
down the right-hand treadle I, which by means of the rollers L, and the cords
K and N, worked the geer O. In the meantime, two of the small pullies H,
upon the pushing stocks G, have come against the two arms of the slay
boards, and as the axis turn round, push forward the slay boards till they slide
off the arms. The slay boards are drawn back by the wood springs, which are
fixed to the low back rail. By this time the right-hand lever U is raised up
by one of the hands D, which as the axis turns further round drops off, the hand
D being forced down by the spring W, and by the cord Y plucks the shuttle
picker T, which picks the shuttle through the warp. The axis having now
made one-fourth of a revolution, another of the pullies F, on the left-hand side
of the treading stock, presses down the left-hand treadle.; two other pullies F
on two other corners of the pushing stocks push forwards the slay boards, as
before; the left-hand lever U is now raised by one of the hands D, and, dropping
off, is forced down by the spring W, and by the cords Y plucks the shuttle
picker T, which picks the shuttle back again. The motions succeed one
another in the above order, the shuttle being picked four times in every revo-
lution of the axis.
When the weft is required to be laid closer, it may be done by increasing
the weight on the ends of the levers 6, which makes the warp come slower off';
the warp beam and the slay boards being always pushed to the same place,
the piece will consequently be filled fuller of weft. If a fuller sett is to
be wrought, four shafts may be worked by fixing two additional rollers, which
are worked by two breakers, as is in use in common looms, and for any kind
of figured work any number of treadles may be worked by an additional
number of trading stocks on the same axis, or, if necessary, on another
fixed parallel to it.
For narrow or light goods, the iron pushers H may be fixed in the treading
stock, and work a single arm fixed in the middle of the slay boards. When the
shuttles happen to catch in the shed, the small false beam e over which that
part of the warp passes where the shuttle is caught give way, sliding down the
grooves in the upright pieces f, and drawing up the weights i, by which means
the warp is so much slackened as to prevent the shuttle from breaking the.

page_text: threads; when the shuttle is taken out the weights draw the false beams and the
warp into the former position.
As the piece is wove, it passes over a roller fixed upon the breast beam and
under the roller K, and afterwards passing over other rollers, is taken up by a
weight. When the loom is required to be stopped, the stopper is pushed
against the tail of the catch by the weaver's foot, which throws the point out
of the wheel. The wheel is then set at liberty, and turns round upon the axis,
and the loom immediately stands still.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.
(1.5.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of December, in the
year last above mentioned, the said Thomas Clark came before our said Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified in form last above mentioned,
and also the Specification aforesaid was duly stampt according to the tenor of
the Statute made in the sixth year of the reign of their Majestys King William
and Queen Mary of England, and so forth.
Inrolled the Sixth day of December, in the year last above written.