IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHUTTLE SKEWERS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Collison, of Preston, in the County
of Lancaster, Cloth Looker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHUTTLE SKEWERS."
Sealed the 14th January 1858, and dated the 6th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Collison at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th October 1852.
I, DAVID COLLISON, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHUTTLE SKEWERS" to be
as follows:-
In ordinary shuttles the metal skewer or pin on which the cop of weft is
placed has a spring attached to it on one side, and as this skewer or pin is
passed up the hole of the cop, the spring not being very clastic, has a ten-
dency to thu ust in the bottom of the cop a little, the consequence is that a
large cop bottom is left on the skewer or pin after the shuttle has been
worked in the loom, and of course this piece of weft is thrown away as
useless. and a loss thereby ensues. In order to obviate this loss I
dispense with the spring, and employ a plain skewer, similar in size to the
spindle on which a cop has been spun. This skewer or pin is jointed

page_text: to the shuttle as usual, and has an opening made throughout nearly its
whole length, and in that opening or groove there is inserted a lever
which is mounted on a pin or stud, and when the skewer is pulled up
out of the shuttle in order to take off the useless cop bottom and put
on another cop the lever is made to go inside this groove, and does not
stand out above the level of the surface of the skewer, consequently the
cop bottom can be pulled off and another cop put on with ease, as the
skewer being without a spring, like the spindle on which the cop was
spun, it offers no resistance to the bottom of the cop, so that when the
cop is put on it may be worked up more closely in the loom, and when
the skewer is put down in the shuttle the lever is made to rise up or
expand as it were in the cop, thus holding the cop firm on the skewer.
and performing the same office as the spring in the ordinary shuttle.
By the heel on the bottom side of the lever coming in contact with a
wire pin going across the shuttle on the bottom side the lever is thereby
caused to rise in the cop and tighten it to the skewer, and at the same
time causing some teeth or indentations which are made on the top
side of the lever to insert themselves in the cop, and thus hold the cop
very firm, without in any measure preventing the weft from coming off
or being delivered freely from the skewer in the process of weaving.
This mode of constructing the skewers of shuttles, and holding the
weft cop thereon, will be found decidedly superior to the old skewer, as
it will effect a saving of much weft in consequence of not thrusting
in the cop bottom, and also preventing the cops from breaking or
knocking off.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said David Collison in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 30th March 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
DAVID COLLISON, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Cloth Looker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said David Collison, Her especial license
that I, the said David Collison, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said David Collison, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHUTTLE SKEWERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that 1, the said David Collison, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, aud 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 David Collison, lo 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, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The principal object of my Invention of "Improvements in the Con-
struction of Shuttle Skewers" is to prevent the loss which now takes
place from the end of the cop of weft being rendered so far useless that
it cannot always be run off the skewer to the last.
In ordinary shuttles the metal skewer or pin on which the cop of
weft is placed has a spring attached to it on one side for the purpose of
holding the cop steady, and as this skewer or pin is passed up the hole
of the cop, the spring not being very clastic, has a tendency to thrust in
the bottom of the cop a little, the consequence is that a large cop
bottom is left on the skewer or pin after the shuttle has been worked
in the loon, and as this piece of weft is usually thrown away as useless
a loss of weft of course thereby ensues. In order to obviate this loss I

page_text: dispense with the spring, and employ a plain skewer, similar in size to
the spindle on which a cop has been spun. This skewer or pin is
jointed to the shuttle as usual, so that it may be turned up at right angles
to receive the cop, and it has an opening or slot made throughout nearly
its own length, and in that opening or slot there is inserted a lever
which is mounted on a pin or stud in such a manner that when the
skewer is pulled up out of the shuttle in order to take off the useless
cop bottom and put on another cop the lever is made to go inside this
groove, and does not stand out above the level of the surface of the
skewer, consequently the cop bottom can be pulled off and another cop
put on with casc.
In order, however, that my Invention may be more clearly understood,
I have shown in the accompanying Drawings various views of a shuttle,
with my improvements adapted thereto. Fig. 1, is a plan view of the
shuttle. Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section shewing the skewer down
in the shuttle, and the lever for holding the cop steady projecting from
the slot made in the skewer. Fig. 3, is another sectional view, the
skower being also drawn in section, and shewn as drawn up out of
the shuttle, and with the holding lever forced back into the slot of the
skewer so as to offer no impediment to the weft cop being placed on the
skewer. a, a, is the body of the shuttle; b, b, the skewer which is
hinged or jointed thereto in the ordinary manner, and turns on the pin c.
This skewer is slotted nearly from end to end, as seen in Fig. 1, and
the holding lever d, is secured in the slot by a pin e, on which it turns
as its fulcrum. A portion of both sides of this lever is serrated or
notched, as seen best in Fig. 3, and when the skewer is down in the
shuttle, as shewn in Figs. 1, and 2; the heel or back of the lever d, rests
against a pin f, which forces the serrated or notched part of the lever
out of the slot, as shewn at Fig. 2. A spring g, bears against the heel
of the skewer and holds it steady, either in the horizontal or vertical
position. When the skewer is drawn up into the vertical position the
front of the holding lever d, is brought against the pin h, and is thereby
forced back so that the serrated edge is hidden within the slot; it will
therefore be seen that as the skewer has no side spring, but is made
plain and smooth throughout, like the spindle on which the cop was 3

page_text: spun, it will offer no resistance to the bottom of the cop, so that when
the cop is placed on the skewer, and the latter is put down in the
shuttle, the lever in the slot is made to rise up or expand, as it were,
in the cop, thus holding the cop firm on the skewer, and performing the
same office as the spring in the ordinary shuttle. By the heel on the
bottom side of the lever coming in contact with the wire pin f, the lever
is caused to rise in the cop and tighten it to the skewer, at the same
time causing the teeth or indentations which are made on both sides of.
the lever to insert themselves in the cop, and thus hold the cop very
firm, without in any measure preventing the weft from coming off, or
being delivered freely from the skewer in the process of weaving.
This mode of constructing the skewers of shuttles, and holding the
weft cop thereon, will be found decidedly superior to the old skewer,
as it will effect a saving of much weft in consequence of not thrusting
in the cop bottom, and also preventing the cops from breaking or
knocking off.
Having now described my improvements in the construction of
shuttle skewers, and the best means with which I am acquainted for
carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I
claim the adaptation to the skewers of shuttles of a lever, which being
jointed to the skewer is capable of being thrust in or out for the
purpose of holding the weft cop securely on the skewer, or allowing the
cop bottom or end to be drawn off with facility, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Collison, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
DAVID COLLISON.
(L.S.)