Improvements in Looms for Weaving.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 14th June, 1894-Accepted, 4th Aug., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Looms for Weaving.
I, JOHN POYSER, of Peck's Hill, Sherwood Road, Mansfield, in the County of
Nottingham, Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention to be
as follows:-
This invention relates more especially to looms for weaving narrow fabrics, but
parts of the improvements are also applicable to looms for weaving wide fabrics,
and the object of the invention is to provide a loom that will weave at a very
much higher rate of speed than looms heretofore in use, without impairing the
quality of the material or fabric produced.
For the purposes of this invention I employ mechanism of the following
character:-
A suitable frame is furnished with bearings which carry a driving shaft provided
with fast and loose pulleys, a clutch, or other means by which it can be started
and stopped at pleasure. The aforesaid driving shaft carries two cams for
actuating the shuttle carrying the weft thread, the one cam moves the shuttle in
one direction and the other cam moves it in the opposite direction. The driving
shaft also carries two cranks or cams for actuating the shedding plates in which
the healds are fastened. These shedding plates are attached to slides working in
or on guides fixed to or formed with the machine frame; and each slide is
connected by a suitable connecting rod to its appropriate crank or cam on the
driving shaft, the two cranks or cams being set on such shaft in positions
diametrically opposite to one another. On suitable lugs or other parts of the
frame are fixed the fulcra for the levers which actuate the shuttle, hereinafter
called the picking levers, which levers are operated by the two cams on the
driving shaft first above mentioned. Near the top of the machine frame and
transversely thereto is fixed a bar having a vertical slot formed in it opposite the
shedding plates, through which slot the warp is passed on its way from the warp
bobbin or beam at the back of the machine to the take-up rollers at the front.
This transverse bar is provided with a shuttle-race, guide or groove which runs
horizontally or at right angles to the aforesaid vertical slot. In this shuttle-race
are placed the shuttle, to be hereinafter more fully described, and two drivers or
pickers one on each side of the shuttle. These pickers are connected by suitable
devices with the ends of the before mentioned picker levers so that they are free
to be moved by such picker levers to and fro in the shuttle race in order to drive
the shuttle through the shed at the proper times.
The taking-up rollers are mounted in suitable bearings at the front part of the
machine, as is also the reed or beater-up which is of peculiar construction to be
hereinafter described.
The shuttle which carries the weft bobbin, spool or cop, is adapted to slide in
the aforesaid shuttle-race, and carries on its front a projecting finger furnished
with an eye through which the weft thread is passed. This finger extends forward
so as to deposit the weft thread in front of the batten which is to beat it up. This
batten is as above stated of peculiar construction. It is divided into two parts, an
upper and a lower. The upper part is stationary being secured to an appropriate
part of the frame immediately behind the take-up rollers; the lower part is
movable and oscillates on a pivot or pivots connected with the frame. The lower
part of the batten may be actuated by any suitable means, for example its pivot
may be provided with a crank arm to which is attached a connecting rod or
other device actuated by a suitable cam on the driving shaft.

page_text: Both the upper and lower parts of the reed or batten may be made of sheet
steel or other suitable material and they form a constant guide for the warp
threads. The lower or movable part acts as a beater-up of the weft thread, the
division into two parts allowing of such weft thread being laid in the shed in front
of the movable part and over the top thereof.
The taking-up rollers may be moved the required distance at each pick by any
of the known appliances for that purpose; but I prefer to employ the following
arrangement-On the axis of the first take-up roller is a friction wheel provided
with a rim which is grasped by a clutch which is free to move in one direction
without moving the friction wheel, but when it moves in the opposite direction it
grips the rim of the friction wheel and carries it forward the required distance.
The clutch is operated by means of a lever and cam, the stroke of the lever being
regulated by a set screw or otherwise. The take-up roller is prevented from being
drawn backwards by the pull of the warp when the clutch is not acting on the
rim of the friction wheel, by means of a spring acting on the periphery of
such rim.
The slack of the warp threads produced by the closing of the shed is taken up
or compensated for by means of a rocking or reciprocating device through or over
which the warp threads are passed. This device is moved backwards to take up
the slack of the warp threads as the shed closes and forwards to let out the warp
again as the shed opens, by any suitable mechanism, for example by means of a
connecting rod or radius rod jointed to the slide carrying one of the shedding
plates. The warp threads after leaving the bobbin or warp beam pass under
springs, then over the aforesaid slack taking up device, then through the healds,
then through the vertical slot in the shuttle-race bar, then through the divided reed
or butten, and finally to the taking-up rollers.
The requisite resistance to turning of the warp-bobbin or beam to give the
required tension to the warp threads may be produced by the friction of a cord and
weight or spring in the usual way, and the usual devices for stopping the machine
on the breakage of a warp or weft thread may be employed in connection with the
machine.
Dated this 14th day of August 1893.

page_text: for a driving shaft b (to which are fixed a driving pulley c and a series of cams for
effecting the movements of the different parts of the machine) and with guides d, d'
constituting a race for the shuttle e. The guides d, d' constituting the shuttle-race
are formed on a transverse bar or bed-plate having a gap in the middle through
which the warp threads pass. As shewn in the drawings, this transverse bar or
bed-plated, d has a horizontal face like a lathe-bed but it may in some cases
conveniently have an upright face like the traversing-bed of a planing machine,
but with a vertical slot through which the warp passes.
The shuttle e (which is shewn in plan view in Figure 5 drawn to an enlarged
scale and in section in Figures 6 and 6^, the section being taken on the line 6-6,
Figure 5) is provided with a dovetail block e¹ which fits in corresponding dovetail
grooves in the shuttle-race formed by the guides d, d'. Arms or brackets e³, es
attached to the shuttle carry the shuttle bobbine and a projecting finger e* is furnished
with an eye through which the weft thread is passed. The said shuttle is also of
such length that it will bridge the slot or gap formed in the race-way so that before
leaving the guide d¹ it will enter the guide d and vice versa. The movement of
the shuttle is positively effected through the medium of two cams f, fixed upon
the shaft b, each of the said cams being provided with a cam-groove f having the
shape shewn most clearly in Figure 7 which is a development of the cam f¹, the said
cams being alike except that the angle of the cam-groove in one case to the right
of the straight part of the same and in the other to the left. These cams actuate
picker-levers g, g pivotted at g° upon extensions of the frame a, the said two levers
being at one end connected to the pickers h, sliding in the guides d, d¹ respectively
and at the other end provided with rollers running in the grooves f, f* of their
respective cams, Figures 1 and 4.
The cams f, are fixed upon the shaft b in diametrically opposite positions so that
when the roller of one picker-lever is at the extreme of the angle of the corresponding
cam-groove the roller of the other picker-lever will be in the straight part of its
cam-groove, as shewn in Figure 3.
i, are the shedding plates carrying the healds or heddles which are preferably
bars with eyes therein, the said plates being provided with slides or sockets sliding
on guide-rods, fixed to extensions on the frame a. It will be noticed by
reference to Figures 2, 2B (which is a horizontal section through the shedding plates)
and 3 that each plate i, i¹ is provided with a lip or flange, which lips serve as
guides for the free edges of the two plates. The slides of the shedding plates i, ¹
are respectively connected by means of rods j, j' to crank-pins, jupon the
cams ff, the said crank-pins being arranged diametrically opposite to each other
so that when one shedding plate is up the other is down, and in such positions
relatively with the cam-grooves f³, that when the shed is open the roller
of one picker-lever will be in the straight part of its cam-groove and the
other in the extreme of the angle of its cam-groove, as shewn most clearly in
Figures 3 and 4.
k, kare taking-up or feed-rollers which are moved by suitable step by step
mechanism suitably controlled in order to draw the work forward at a speed corre-
sponding to the number of weft threads to be laid per inch. As shewn in the
drawings this feed-movement is effected by the following means:-
Upon the spindle of the roller k is fixed a wheel having a rim or flange k³
with which a clutch or gripping pawl engages in a well known manner.
This
pawl is carried by a lever actuated by a cam on the driving shaft b, the said
cain being of a double heart-shape so that for each revolution of the said driving-
shaft the feed-mechanism is operated twice, that is to say, once for each movement
of the shuttle. A spring 3 adjusted by a screw k* bears upon the rim or flange
to prevent the roller k from moving backwards under the tension of the warp threads
during the time that the gripping pawl k is sliding backwards upon the flange k
preparatory to gripping the said flange.
In order to regulate the speed of the feed-rollers according to the number of
weft threads required per inch, I provide a small cam having a finger or

page_text: pointer k³ working over a graduated dial k³, shewn most clearly in Figure 15 which is
an enlarged view of this portion of the mechanism, the said cam serving to more or
less limit the backward inovement of the lever under the action of a spring ko
after it has been raised by the cam ** and consequently also the amount of
rotation imparted to the feed-rollers. The roller is held against the roller k
by means of spring-pressure, the said roller being mounted in the arms of a
bifurcated lever pivotted at 2 to the frame a and having an extension ¹³
against which a spring k acts as will be readily understood by reference to
Figures 1 and 15.
In order to hold the roller k¹ away from the roller k when required, a lever 15
having a cam-head 16 is arranged in conjunction with the under side of the
extension also as shewn in Figures 1 and 15.
The reed or batten consists of two parts, which are situated in relation to the
shuttle (as shewn most clearly in Figure 4) in such a manner that the shuttle
finger may lay the weft thread on the far side of the part when it is in the
position shewn by the dotted lines. The parts of the batten are shewn detached in
elevation in Figures 8 and 9 respectively, in vertical transverse section in Figures 10
and 11 respectively, in front elevation in their relative working positions in
Figure 11, and in vertical section, also in their relative working positions,
in Figure 12, all of the said figures being drawn to an enlarged scale. Each part
of the batten may conveniently be constructed of a series of plates 12 (or pins)
with intermediate distance-pieces 1*, Figure 11ª, the spaces between the said plates
serving to receive the warp threads and the plates or pins 12 corresponding and
being "end on and almost or quite touching when the batten is in the closed
position shewn in Figures 11A and 12. The upper part 1 of the batten is fixed to
the framing of the machine in such a manner that the upper warp threads of the
shed will always pass between the plates thereof, and the lower part
the batten is fixed to a pivotted oscillating block in such a position that the
lower warp threads of the shed will pass between its plates, and that the batten
after it has beaten up a weft thread will occupy the position shewn in full lines in
Figure 4 and in Figure 12, two projecting arms, on the sides of the movable
part of the batten then embracing the sides of the fixed part of the same: when
the two parts of the batten are in this position the two sets of plates, coincide
so that the warp threads at the upper and lower sides of the shed can change places,
that is to say, those in the movable part of the batten can pass into the fixed part
and vice versa.
of
The movable part 1 of the batten is operated from a cam-groove m, formed
in one of the faces of the driving pulley c, through the medium of a connecting
rod m³ carrying near the lower end a roller m² running in the groove m and at the
upper end connected to a lug on the pivotted block 13. The lower end of the rod m¹
is bifurcated and slides upon the shaft b which forms a guide for the said rod. The
cam-groove m is so shaped that the part of the batten will make two oscillations
for each rotation of the driving shaft b. It will be readily understood that a batten
constructed and arranged as herein before described can be driven at a very much
-higher rate of speed. than the usual swinging batten owing to its relatively small
weight and short arc of movement.
The slack of the warp threads produced by the closing of the shed is taken up or
compensated for by means of a rocking-bar or roller n over which the warp-
threads are passed, the said roller being carried between two arms n', n pivotted to
the base of the framing a. To one of the said bars n' is fixed a slotted quadrant n
and to the shedding plate is fixed an arm n³ carrying a roller projecting into the
slot of the said quadrant. With this arrangement it will be understood that as
the shedding plates move up and down, the bars n', n' carrying the roller a will be
caused to oscillate a distance corresponding to the curve of the quadrant n which
in all cases must correspond with the amount of slack produced when the two sets
of warp threads forming the shed are crossing one another. Instead of using
the quadrant n' and armn³ as shewn in Figure 1, I sometimes use a connecting rod.or

page_text: radius rod jointed to one of the shedding plates or to an arm thereon. In Figure 1B
I shew the latter arrangement, n being the arm fixed to the shedding plate
and n the connecting or radius rod. The dotted lines shew the position of
the roller n at the moment when the upper and lower warp threads are crossing
one another.
The warp threads are carried upon a bobbin or beam o, Figures 14 and 24,
adapted to rotate on a spindle o¹ fixed to a bracket o. The thread after leaving
the bobbin passes over a guide-roller p and through a ravel q, Figures 1 and 2,
both of which are carried by a bracket q', thence under a grooved roller carried
by springs r, which serve to impart a certain amount of tension to the threads,
thence over the slack take-up roller n, thence through the eyes in the heddles 1º, 2º
and thence between the plates 1, 2 of the batten to the take-up rollers k, k¹.
The requisite resistance to the turning of the warp bobbin or beam o to give the
required tension to the warp threads is advantageously produced by the friction of
a cords, Figures 14 and 24, fixed at one end, and at the other connected to a
levert pivotted at t¹ and carrying a weight u which serves to tighten the cord upon
the bobbin. Onto the warp threads is hung a weight by means of a roller w, the
said weight being also connected to the end of the lever t in such a manner that
when, owing to the gradual using up of the warp threads, the part thereof between
the roller p and the beam is straightened to a certain extent, the weight is
lifted whereby the lever t will be moved sufficiently to relieve the friction of the
cords on the bobbin o which will then give off a certain length of warp thread
under the action of the weight v.
In the operation of the apparatus, the shuttle is moved backwards and forwards
through the shed by means of the pickers h, h¹, Figure 13 shewing in section the
position of the shuttle and pickers in the shuttle-race when the picker-lever g' has
just moved the shuttle from right to left, and Figure 14 shewing the same parts in
the position which they occupy when the picker is just commencing to return the
shuttle from left to right. During the time that the shuttle is moving through
the shed the pivotted part of the batten is open as indicated by the dotted lines
in Figure 4 so that the weft thread which passes through the eye in the finger et
will be laid in the shed. When the shuttle has passed completely through the
shed the batten closes to the position shewn in full lines in Figure 4 and in
Figure 12 to beat up the thread and remains in this position whilst the warp
threads are crossed and then again opens ready for the shuttle to pass through in
the opposite direction.
In order that when the shuttle is altering its direction of movement there shall
be no slack thread between the selvage of the material being woven and the
finger e, I provide the spring take-up lever which is fixed at ¹ and provided at
its free end with an eye; upon the shuttle are also fixed two eyes y, y'. The
weft thread passing from the spool e³ is first of all passed through the
thence
eye y,
through the eye of the take-up lever and thence through the eye y¹ to the eye
of the finger e. During the time that the shuttle is being moved through the
shed in one direction the pull upon the weft thread will draw forward the lever .c
so that its eye is between the eyes y, y: when, however, on the reverse
movement of the shuttle slack is formed the said lever under the action of the.
spring moves backwards into the position shewn in Figure 5 to take up the
slack. As this shuttle thread take-up device forms part of the subject matter of
my Application No. 193 of 1894 I make no claim to it in this Application.
2 is a frictional device which when the loom is working bears on the surface of
the thread of the bobbin e under the action of a spring pressing on the surface 20
of the frictional device near the hinge thereof and causes the tension with which
the weft thread unwinds from the bobbin, as shewn in Figure 6, but which when
the bobbin is to be removed is turned up to the position shewn in Figure 6ª. The
pressure of the said frictional device upon the thread may be regulated by means
of a screw 2 which adjusts the pressure of the spring upon the surface 2º, the

page_text: said spring also serving to hold the frictional device in the position shewn in
Figure 64 by pressing upon the surface * thereof.
,, Figure 5 are notches with which spring-catches or clips *, * (Figure 13)
upon the guides d, d are adapted to engage in order to prevent the shuttle from
recoiling under the force of impact with the pickers and, in order to deaden the
force of impact, the shuttle is provided at its ends with buffers 2*, * of leather or
other suitable material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A loom for weaving constructed and arranged substantially as herein before
.described.
2. In a loom for weaving a batten arranged and operating substantially as
hereinbefore described.
3. In a loom for weaving a shuttle and a batten arranged and operated in
combination by suitable actuating parts substantially in the manner hereinbefore
.described.
4. In a loom for weaving, a batten formed in two parts carrying corresponding
series of plates or pins having spaces between them through which the upper and
lower threads of the warp formning the shed pass, the said two parts of the batten
being adapted to coincide in such a manner that when in coincidence the lower
threads of the shed can pass into the upper part and the threads from the upper
part into the lower part of the batten under the action of the heddles, substantially
as described.
5. A loom for weaving provided with a transverse bar for plate having a slot or
gap through which the warp threads pass and a shuttle guided thereby and
adapted to bridge the gap and with a batten consisting of two parts arranged in
relation to the shuttle substantially as herein before described, and also with
suitable mechanism for positively actuating such parts so as to permit of working
.at a high speed.
6. In a loom for weaving having a batten formed in two parts, a shuttle operating
behind the said batten and having a projecting finger which extends over the
movable part of the batten and lays the weft thread in front of the said part of the
batten, substantially as described.
7. In a loom for weaving, heald or heddle plates having slides or sockets such
as for sliding on fixed guide-rods or slides such as i³, and lips or flanges such as i
adapted to hold the plates together in such a manner that the flange on the socket
of each plate acts as a guide for the free edge of the other plate, substantially as
.described.
8. In a loom for weaving, take-up mechanism consisting of two rollers one of
which is driven by pawl or clutch mechanism operated by a lever or its equivalent
the amount of oscillation of which is regulated by a cam or its equivalent, whereby
the number of weft threads per inch laid in the fabric may be regulated at will,
=substantially as described.
9. In a loom for weaving the combination with adjustable step by step mechanism
for regulating the motion of the take-up rollers, of a pointer and graduated dial or
their equivalent for controlling through such step by step mechanism the number
of weft threads per inch, substantially as described.
10. In a loom for weaving a vibrating roller or support for taking up the slack
of the warps at the closing of the shed actuated by and operating in conjunction
with the heddles, substantially as described.
11. The two several arrangements for taking up the slack of the warps at the
closing of the shed herein before described and respectively illustrated in Figure 1
.and Figure 1B.
12. In a loom for weaving the combination with the vibrating roller or support

page_text: for taking up the slack of the warps at the closing of the shed of the groovel
roller and springs for maintaining an even tension of the warp threads, substantially
as described.
13. The manufacture and use of the improved loom for weaving hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 14th day of June 1894.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.