CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bullough, of Blackburn, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 6th February 1866, and dated the 12th August 1865,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bullough at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on. the
12th August 1865. -
I, WILLIAM BULLOUGH, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate, first, to a mode of working the stop rod for
stopping the loom when the shuttle does not arrive at its destination, whereby
a considerable saving is effected in power and material and with less injury
to the working parts of the loom. I apply a break to the rim of the fly
wheel; this break is coated with india-rubber or other suitable substance; to
this break a catch is jointed, and to this catch is fixed a pin working in an
inclined groove in a lever jointed to the frame of the loom; to this lever is
also jointed a connecting rod, which connects the said lever to a spring frog.
[Price 8d.]

page_text: When the shuttle is absent, or fails to box, the stop rod finger acts on the
spring frog, which causes the catch to fall into a notch on the fly wheel,
thereby pulling the break against the rim of the fly wheel, and stopping the
loom. By this means the strain is betwixt the notch on the fly wheel and the
rim thereof, and not on the stop rod finger, as heretofore.
A modification of the above is performed by means of an incline on the
catch, which is supported by a stud in the framing. The break is at some
distance from the rim of the fly wheel, and a rod is employed to connect the
break to the spring frog. When the frog is put in motion owing to the
absence of the shuttle, the catch drops down the incline and comes in contact
with the notch on the fly wheel, thereby stopping the loom.
The above arrangement is applicable to looms where the slay is required
to dwell to give time for the shuttle to arrive at its destination. The catch
before named is so arranged that it comes in contact with the notch at every
revolution of the crank, and it retains its hold until the arrival of the shuttle,
but is then thrown off by the agency of the stop rod finger.
The second part of my Invention consists in certain improvements upon
former Letters Patent granted to me on the 31st day of August 1864,
No. 2135. When the loom is in motion the vibration of the yarn is pro-
duced by the giving way of the springs supporting or acting on the temples.
When the cloth has passed the temples it passes under a roller or bar which
is fixed between two slotted levers; the said slotted levers vibrate on the axle
of the cloth beam, and at each end of the levers is a weight to counteract the
tension of the cloth. If the length of yarn given off is less than that taken
up the rod is raised and stops the taking up of the cloth. The yarn is given
off by a positive letting-off motion derived either from the yarn beam or
otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bullough in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BULLOUGH, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster. Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,

page_text: did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto Hic, the said
William Bullough, Her special license that I, the said William Bullough,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Bullough, 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 William
Bullough, 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 Bullough, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in certain improved modes of
constructing and applying the break for stopping the loom when the shuttle
does not arrive at its destination, whereby a considerable saving is effected in
power and material, and less injury is done to the working parts of the
toom.
Secondly, in certain improvements upon the taking-up motion for which
former Letters Patent were granted to me on the Thirty-first day of August
Onc. thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, Number 2135.
And, lastly, in an improved mode of constructing the tappets for working
the healds, whereby the shed is opened and closed, so as to produce the
requisite vibration of the yarn.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 represents a loom side of the ordinary construction, to which
certain parts of my improvements are applied. a is the end of the crank
shaft; ', the fly wheel; b, the end of the lay or batten; c, the breast beam;
d, the taking up roller; c, the stop rod shaft; f, the stop rod finger; g, the
feeler for the shuttle swell; h, the spring frog, fixed to the spring i; these
parts and the others requisite to complete the loom, and which are not

page_text: particularly referred to hereafter are made in the usual manner. To the rim
of the fly wheel a' I apply the break j, but this break, instead of being lined
with wood or leather, as heretofore customary, is coated with a thick block of
india-rubber or other suitable elastic substance j'. To the face of the fly
wheel a' is fixed the notch piece a, and to the break ; is jointed the catch k,
from which projects the pin ¹, taking into an inclined groove in the upper
part of the lever 1, jointed to the fulcrum stud ; to this lever is jointed the
rod m, forming the connection between the lever and the spring frog h.
When the loom is at work, and the shuttle enters the shuttle box the stop rod
finger is lifted as usual over the frog h; the break and lever are then
back, and the catch is held above the notch piece a, as shewn by dotted
lines, but when the shuttle is absent, or fails to enter the shuttle box the stop
rod finger comes against the spring frog h, and the lever is then instantly
drawn forward, and causes the catch to fall into the notch of the piece a, as
shewn in the Drawing, and by this means as the crank shaft revolves the break
is applied with great force to the rim of the fly wheel, thus stopping the loom,
I wish to observe that by this means the strain is betwixt the notch on the fly
wheel and the rim thereof, and not on the stop rod finger, as heretofore, thus
preventing injury.
Figure 2 represents a modification of my improvements in this arrangement.
The lever is dispensed with, and an incline is made at the under side of the
catch this incline rests upon the stud k', fixed to the loom side. The
break is like the one shewn in Figure 1, but the rod m is in this instance
jointed to the break j, thus connecting the spring frog . to the break j. When
the spring frog is pushed forward by the stop rod finger f, owing to the
absence of the shuttle, the forward motion of the break causes the incline
below the catch k to slide on the stud, thus allowing the catch to drop or
to come in position for being caught by the notch a, which notch acting on
the catch applies the break to the rim of the fly, wheel, as before described.
Figure 3 represents another modification of my improvements. In this view
the break is placed below the fly wheel a', and is provided with the usual
counterweight. The notch piece a acts as before described on the catch k,
which is jointed to the end of the break. The catch is fixed to the lever 2,
to the lower end of which is jointed one end of the rod m, the other end of
which is jointed to the lower arm of the three-armed lever n, mounted on a
fulcrum stud n*. To the spring frog is fixed the plate h¹ which acts when
the frog is moved back on the horizontal arm of the three-armed lever n, and
depresses it, thereby causing the rod m to move slightly in the direction of the
arrow, or sufficiently to bring the catch k over the notch piece a, so that when

page_text: the fly wheel in revolving brings the notch piece against the catch the break
is instantly applied to the rim of the fly wheel. It is evident that as soon as
the loom is again started, and the catch is released from the notch, the
spring i causes the spring frog to press against the upper arm of the three-
armed lever n, and by this means the break is released and allowed to drop
out of contact with the fly wheel.
Figure 4 represents a mode of applying my improvements to looms that are
provided with sliding frogs of the usual construction. In this case the break j
is suspended from a stud placed above the level of the crank shaft a, and this
break is lined with a block of india-rubber j. To the break j is jointed one
end of the ordinary connecting bar m, the other end being provided with a
hoop or bridle, fitting on the excentric p, mounted on a stud projecting from
the frog h; from the excentric p depends the handle p¹. When the break has
been applied to the rim of the fly wheel a', and the loom has been stopped, it
is necessary to release the break previous to again starting the loom, and this
is effected instantaneously by the attendant partly turning round the handle p',
which moves the rod m in the direction of the arrow, and forces the break
back. This may also be effected by a sliding bar with inclines, as shewn in
Figure 5, acting on the stud projecting from the frog h, but I prefer the
excentric shown.
The arrangements above described are particularly applicable to those looms
in which the lay is required to dwell to give time for the shuttle to box or to
arrive at its destination, and the notch a comes in contact with the catch
when required, at every revolution of the crank shaft. The catch k retains its
hold until the arrival of the shuttle in the shuttle box. The catch is then
thrown off by the agency of the feeling finger and the stop rod finger f, as
above described. Or the catch may be released as shewn in Figure 6. In
this-arrangement the lever e' projects from the stop rod e, and acts upon the
lever projecting from the lever l. By this means as soon as the shuttle
enters the shuttle box the feeler g moving outwards depresses the lever e¹, and
the incline on the lever acting on the stud lifts the catch above the
notch piece a.
The second part of my Invention, relating to the taking up motion, is shewn
in Figure 1. In this view d is the taking up roller, and o is a roller or bar,
under which the fabric passes before it is wound on the taking up roller; this
roller or bar o corresponds to the roller o shewn and described in reference to
Figure 1 of the Drawings forming part of the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to me on the Thirty-first day of August One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-four, Number 2135. According to my present Invention this roller

page_text: or bar o is supported by the two slotted levers q fitting on the axle of the
roller d. The levers q are weighted to counteract the tension of the fabric,
which on leaving the temples r passes over the plain or fluter roller s, and
from thence passes under the roller or bar o, consequently if the length of
yarn given off by the warp beam is less than that taken up the roller or bar o
will be raised, and in so doing the catch for working the ratchet wheel by
which the cloth roller is moved will be lifted out of gear, thereby stopping
the taking up until the tension of the cloth is reduced, and the roller or bar o
is allowed to drop as described in the Specification above referred to. The
rollers is supported in bearings fixed to the breast beam, and the temples
are supported as usual in spring fixings. When the loom is at work the
vibration of the yarn is produced by the yielding of the springs, against which
the temples act, and by the tappets for working the healds; these tappets
(one of which is shewn in Figure 7) are constructed in the following manner:
The vibration of the yarn is in all cases caused by the opening or forming of
the shed by the tappet. My improved tappet is made with a dwell, which
comes in operation when the lay is beating up the weft, so that the vibration
ceases during the time that the reed and lay are putting in the pick of weft;
this dwell may be twenty degrees, or any other portion of the circumference
of the tappet to suit the fabric that is being woven. After the reed has beat
up the weft, and is going back, the tappet is made to complete the remaining
part of the shed before the shuttle commences to pass through the shed for
the next pick, and this is repeated at every pick, whether the healds be
worked by a single or a double tappet. Ordinary tappets are made with
the two sides uniform, and consequently they have the same number of
degrees to rise and fall; these tappets have generally ninety degrees rise.
ninety degrees dwell, and ninety degrees to close the shed. In my improved
tappet, as shewn in Figure 7, there are eighty degrees rise. twenty degrees
dwell, thirty-five degrees rise, and forty-five degrees dwell. Thus I have one
hundred and fifteen degrees to rise, or to form the shed, whereas in the
ordinary tappet the shed is completed in ninety degrees; the above refers to
a single tappet. In a double tappet of the ordinary construction there are
forty-five degrees rise, ninety degrees dwell, and forty-five degrees for closing
the shed. In my improved double tappet, as shewn in Figure 7, there are
forty degrees rise, twenty degrees dwell, thirty-five degrees rise, and forty-
five degrees dwell. Thus I have seventy-five degrees rise and sixty-five
degrees dwell. The novelty of my improved tappet is, that the two sides are
not uniform, thereby giving more time than in the ordinary tappet to form the
shed to receive the shuttle.

page_text: In Figure it will be seen that two-thirds of the shed is formed when the
reed has arrived at the fell of the cloth; there is then a dwell of twenty
degrees, and the remaining one-third of the shed is completed in thirty-five
degrees more.
I do not confine myself to the precise number of degrees given for the rise
and dwell, as the same may be varied to suit the kind of fabric to be woven.
The dotted lines in Figure 7 represent an ordinary tappet.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described. several
modes of carrying the same into operation, I declare that I claim,-
First, the application of india-rubber or other suitable elastic substance for
coating or lining the breaks of looms.
Secondly, the improved combinations and arrangements of machinery shewn
and described in reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, or any modification thereof,
whereby the strain required to apply the break is kept betwixt the notch on
the fly wheel and the rim thereof.
Thirdly, the modes described and illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 for releasing
the break from the fly wheel..
Fourthly, the improvements in the taking up motion, as described and
shewn in Figure 1.
And, lastly, the improved mode of constructing tappets for actuating the
healds, as shewn and described on reference to Figure 7.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bullough, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM BULLOUGH. (L.S.)