IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DAMPING WARPS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Ormerod Whitehead, of Belmont, Raw-
tenstall, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of
“ IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DAMPING WARPS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Ormerod White-
head at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st May 1873.
I, PETER ORMEROD WHITEHEAD, of Belmont, Rawtenstall, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DAMPING WARPS," to be
as follows:-
My improved apparatus is particularly applicable for damping the
warp in the loom, but it may be applied to any of the machines used in
preparing the warp for the loom, and it consists in a trough containing
water or other liquid, which water or other liquid is applied to the warp

page_text: by the capillary attraction of a band of woven fabric or other suitable
porous material, one edge of which enters the trough and the other is in
contact with the warp.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Peter Ormerod Whitehead, in the Great Seal Patent ||
Office on the 30th October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I PETER
ORMEROD WHITEHEAD, of Belmont, Rawtenstall, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her:
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors give and
grant unto me, the said Peter Ormerod Whitehead, Her special licence
that I, the said Peter Ormerod Whitehead, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Ormerod Whitehead,
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 s
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Iε-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DAMPING WARPS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Peter Ormerod Whitehead, 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 Peter Ormerod Whitehead, do {
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
My improved annaratus is particularly annlicable for damning the

page_text: warp in the loom, but it may be applied to any of the machines used in
preparing the warp for the loom, and it consists in a trough containing
water or other liquid, which water or other liquid is applied to the warp
by the capillary attraction of a band of woven fabric or other suitable
porous material, one edge of which enters the trough and the other is in
contact with the warp.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Fig. 1. is an elevation of the principal parts of a loom to which my
improvements are applied, and Figs. 2 and 3 are detached views of
my improved apparatus drawn full size. a is the warp beam, 6 the
vibrator or back rail, and c the healds, d is a trough shewn full size in
Fig. 2, the ends of which are supported by the loom sides; this trough.
contains water or other liquid and in it is placed edgewise a band or
strip of woven fabric or other suitable porous material marked e; this
band is steadied by the cross rail f. The lower edge of the band e
reaches down to near the bottom of the trough, and the water or other
liquid in the trough is carried to the upper edge of the band by the
capillary attraction of the fibrous or porous material of which it is com-
posed, and as the warp threads are carried forward from the vibrator or
back rail to the healds they come in contact with and are damped by
the upper edge of the band e.
Instead of placing the trough d in the position shewn near the
vibrator or back rail it may be placed in any other convenient position,
and in some cases I apply the apparatus shewn in dots in Fig. 1, and
full size in Fig. 3, to the warp beam. When placed in this position the
trough dis suspended by cords or otherwise from the back rail and fits
between the flanges of the warp beam against the surface of which
beam it rests.
For some fabrics it is sufficient to allow the warp to pass close to but
not in contact with the edge of the band e, the warp absorbing the
desired amount of moisture by the evaporation of the liquid raised out
of the trough by the band e.
I wish to remark that I do not limit myself to the form and position
of my improved apparatus for damping as they may be considerably

page_text: varied, nor do I confine myself to the application thereof to looms for
weaving, as it may be applied to any of the machines used in preparing
the warp for the loom.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described the
manner of performing the same, I declare that I claim damping warps
by causing them to pass close to or in contact with a band of porous or
fibrous material which is kept moist by capillary attraction.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Ormerod Whitehead, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
]
PËTER O. WHITEHEAD. (L.S.)