IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING CERTAIN DESCRIPTIONS OF CLOTHS
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MAJOR, of Culcheth, near Leigh, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of December now
last past, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Major, my exors, adiñors; and assigns, Her especial license
that I, the said William Major, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Major, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING CERTAIN DESCRIPTIONS
OF CLOTHS;" in which Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said William Major, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Lotters Patent, as in
and by the said Letters Patent, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Major, do hereby proceed to describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, premising that it is applicable to looms for weaving double

page_text: cloth, where two complete warps are employed, and the shuttle is made to pass
alternately through the sheds formed by the upper and lower warps so as to
weave two pieces of cloth united together at the selvages and stitched or bound
at any required number of intermediate places. The nature of my Invention
consists in so constructing the looms, that when the reed strikes home the weft
thread in the upper portion of the double cloth the upper warp will be
tightened to resist the blow of the reed, and at the same time the lower warp
will be slackened so that the weft thread in the upper warp may receive the
whole force of the blow and be brought well home into the cloth; in like
manner, when the reed acts on the weft in the lower warp, the upper warp is
slackened, and the lower one tightened, for the same purpose. And in further
compliance with the said proviso, I do hereby declare that amongst the various
methods by which my said Invention may be carried. into effect, prefer the
following, which will be fully understood by a careful consideration of the
annexed Sheet of Drawings and the following remarks and explanations.
These Drawings are all made to one scale, and the same letters of reference
denote the same parts throughout.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of the principal parts of an
ordinary power loom to which my improvements are attached. Figure 2 is a
plan view, and Figure 3 is another elevation of my said improvements, and
certain-other parts of the loom. a represents the crank shaft, b the lay or
batten, c the warp beam, and d the cloth beam.
When the warps are
unwound from the warp beam c one of them is taken over the upper roller e,
and the other is taken over the lower roller f. These rollers revolve in
bearings provided in the levers g, which vibrate upon studs h attached to tho
loom sides. The guide bar i is also bolted to the loom sides, and guides the
warps from the beam c to the rollers e and f. The object of the guide bar i
is to prevent the upper warp from coming in contact with the surface of the
lower roller f. On referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that this loom has
eight sets of heddles marked k, six of which actuate the yarns of the warps
forming the double cloth, and two the silk or other threads for stitching the
two fabrics together. The number of heddles will vary according to the
peculiar cloth to be produced, but as the means of working them is common
to all looms employed for making double cloth, it is not necessary for me to
describe them more particularly. After the warps have passed the heddles
they are taken through the reed l, and the cloth is carried over the breast
beam m and wound on the cloth beam d in the usual manner. To the crank

page_text: shaft a is fixed a spur pinion n, which gears into the intermediate wheel o.
This wheel drives the wheel p, to which is fixed a crank pin g. It is necessary
to observe that the diameters of the pinion n and wheel p must be in the
relative proportion of one to two. The crank pin q gives a vibrating motion
to the levers g by means of the following pieces. The link r is suspended to
the crank pin 9 and is attached below to a stud fixed in the horizontal lever s
keyed on the shaft t, which moves in bearings attached to the loom sides. The
upright levers u are also fixed on the shaft t, and the horizontal links vare
attached at each end to studs fixed in the levers u and g, thereby establishing
1
the communication between the crank q and levers g, which perform one
vibration for every two revolutions of the crank shaft. By this means it will
be evident that at every stroke of the lay either the upper or lower warp is in
a state of tension owing to the vibrating motion given to the rollers e and f, as
before described. And this my Invention being to the best of my knowledge
and belief entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare
this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my
said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or
disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right
and privilege to the said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Major, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and font ning