IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS WEAVING
Year: 1866

page_text: FOR
LETTERS PATENT to John Bullough, of Accrington, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
WEAVING."
Sealed the 1st March 1867, and dated the 6th September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bullough at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th September 1866.
I, JOHN BULLOUGH, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN Looms FOR
WEAVING," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the construction and employment of a shuttle
case or box open at the top and bottom in connection with improved
mechanism for enabling a shuttle in which the weft is broken or absent to be
changed for another shuttle having weft without stopping the loom, and so on
continuously as long as the loom is at work, or until any given number of
shuttles are exhausted. To one end of the slay or batten I fix in an upright
position a box or case open at the top and bottom, and containing a number of
shuttles one upon another, so held as to allow space for a shuttle to pass to
and fro beneath them on the race of the slay. The said shuttles are supported

page_text: on the lower edge of a holder pivotted to brackets fixed to the shuttle box,
there being springs for keeping the holder in its holding position, and a lever
for shifting the holder when a fresh sbuttle is required to drop on the slay,
the said lever being worked by an incline on a sliding bar put in motion at
the required time by mechanism at the other end of the slay.
The picking sticks and weft stopping motions are of the ordinary construction,
but to the picking stick at the opposite end of the shuttle box I give a back-
ward movement after there is a breakage or absence of weft, the top of the
stick moving in a hole or space at that end of the slay. To allow this back-
ward movement the rocking bracket which carries the picking stick is held
to the rocking shaft by a key placed in a wider slot in the bars of the bracket
than the key, but held up to its working position by a strong spring. For
bringing the picking stick back I connect to the rocking bracket a tappet
lever which can be acted upon by a tappet worked from the tappet shaft when
there is breakage or absence of weft, but the tappet lever is kept out of
reach of the tappet when there is weft by means of a spring. For bringing
the tappet lever within reach of the tappet I place behind the weft lever an
arm fixed to a shaft extending across the loom below the breast beam, which
shaft carries at the other end an arm for acting by means of another lever and
rod on the tappet lever, so that when the tappet presses down the tappet lever
the picking stick is pulled back, and as the stick is going back it gives motion
to other levers which work the sliding bar employed for actuating the sbuttle
holder. When a shuttle has to be changed the incline at the end of the
śliding bar forces back the lever of the shuttle holder and moves back the
śwell of the shuttle, thereby slightly turning the holder on its pivots and
causing an upper ledge on the holder to move forwards and pass under the
edge of the second shuttle, resting on the bottom one in the box, and at the
same time causing the bottom ledge to move back to allow the bottom shuttle
to fall on the slay, but the moment the incline on the sliding bar is drawn
back by a spring the upper ledge moves away from the edge of that which
was the second, shuttle, but is now the bottom one, to allow the descent of all
the shuttles, and at the same time the bottom ledge of the holder passes
inwards and supports the bottom shuttle and also all the others above it.
Thus when there is a breakage or absence of weft the tappet lever is brought
in the way of the tappet, which as it revolves pushes down the tappet lever
and pulls back the picker for allowing the shuttle after being thrown across
to strike a cushion and remain for an instant at that end of the slay, and as the
stick is going back the sliding bar is moved so that its incline acts upon the
shuttle holder to allow a fresh shuttle to drop on the slay and be driven across

page_text: without any stoppage of the loom, and the instant the tappet is free of the tappet
lever the strong spring brings forward the picking stick to its proper position
for driving a fresh shuttle from that end of the slay, and as the stick comes
forwards it forces the shuttle with broken or absent weft into a receptacle.
At the other end of the slay an ordinary shuttle guard would interfere with
the dropping of the shuttles, and therefore I form in the fly plate a dove-
tailed groove, in which dovetailed projections on the under side of the picker
work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bullough in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BULLOUGH, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Bullough, Her special license that I, the said John Bullongh, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Bullough, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, 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 John 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):-
This Invention consists in various improved contrivances and arrangements
of mechanism for enabling a shuttle in which the weft is broken or absent to

page_text: be changed for another shuttle having weft without stopping the loom, and
so on continously as long as the loom is at work, or until any given number
of shuttles is exhausted.
The manner in which this Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by the following particular description thereof, reference being bad
to the figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of
reference marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation, Figs. 2 and 3 end elevations, and Fig. 4 a
plan of part of a loom baving my improvements attached; and Figs. 5, 6,
and 7 are detached views of some of the parts.
In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, a represents the end frames of the loom; b, the
breast beam; c, the crank shaft; d, the tappet shaft; e, the sword arms;
f. the slay or batten; h, i, the pickers; and j, k, the picking sticks. To one
end of the slay or batten f I fix in an upright position a case or frame
open at the top and bottom, and place in it a number of shuttles m full of
weft, one upon another, but so held as to allow space for a shuttle n to pass
to and fro beneath them on the race of the slay, and the ends of the weft in
the shuttles mare attached to a stud o covered with plush, cloth, or other
suitable material, and fixed to the reed, cap, or shuttle case, it being necessary
that the stud should be in such a position as not to leave a trail of weft to
interfere with the weft fork, and that position is either inside the weft motion
or so high as to leave the weft at such an angle from the stud to the edge of
the cloth as will clear the fork. The shuttles in the case are supported on
the lower ledge p of a bolder 9 pivotted to brackets fixed to the front of the
slay, there being on the holder a lever r which with the holder is pressed
inwards so as to keep the holder to its holding position by a springs fixed to
the front of the slay, and the lever communicates with the swell t by means
of the bracket u. For shifting the lever swell and holder when a fresh
shuttle is required to drop on the slay there is an incline on the sliding
bar w, the other end of which bar is in contact with the arm of a two-
armed lever x, y, jointed to the back of the slay, and on the holder there is
second or upper ledge, the object and working of which will be berein-
after explained. The weft stopping motion pickers and picking sticks
are nearly of the ordinary construction, but for the picker h I employ a
picker holder connected by a band with the weft lever for preventing the
picker when a shuttle has to be changed from rebounding under the
lowest of the shuttles m, and form an obstacle to its being lowered on to the
slay. To the picking stick k, at the opposite end to the shuttle case, I give
a backward movement after there is a breakage or absence of weft, the top

page_text: of the stick moving in a hole or space a¹ at that end, of the slay, which
arrangement allows the shuttle with the broken or absent weft to pass to the
end of the slay and be held by a check strap or holder b', Fig. 5, previous to
its removal, there being either a stationary short shuttle guard c³ which allows
space for the shuttle to be removed, or a moveable guard which can be moved
up or down, or turn on a hinge joint, for allowing the escape of the shuttle,
and afterwards acting as a guard. To allow this backward movement the
rocking bracket & which carries the picking stick k is held to the rocking
shaft by a key placed in a wider keyway or slot in the boss of the bracket
than the key, but held up to its working position by a strong spring. For
bringing the picking stick k back I connect to the rocking bracket d' a
tappet lever h', having at its tail end a pink with an inclined end, which
lever can be acted upon by a tappet fixed to the spur wheel m² on the tappet
shaft d when there is breakage or absence of weft, but when there is weft the
tappet lever h¹ is kept out of reach of the tappet by means of a box spring
enclosed in a recess in the boss of the lever, or by any other ordinary spring.
For bringing the tappet lever h¹ within reach of the tappet I place behind the
ordinary weft lever n' an arm or lever o¹ fixed to a shaft pl passing through a
tube extending across the loom below the breast beam, and carrying at the
other end an arm q', having a fixed stud in contact with an incline s² on
the arm of the two armed lever t, u, working on a stud fixed to an end.
frame of the loom, and carrying on its arm u¹ a projection and weight w¹.
The arm working the weft fork bammer is not prolonged over the sector
tappet as in ordinary looms, but is left short, so that the tappet having raise:!.
it sufficiently to give the weft hammer its stroke may leave it suddenly to:
give the weft hammer and fork all the time possible to get in position again;
it being desirable not to reduce this time as it has already been reduced by
the necessity of so shaping the sector tappet as to give an extra dwell to the
bammer in order that the rod pl which runs below the breast beam may be
kept back a sufficient length of time to enable it by means of an additional
projecting finger to keep a moveable shuttle guard up or down out of the way
of the exit of the shuttle at or about the front centre; but in turning the loom
backwards the end of the arm would get under the tappet and so cause a
lock or breakage, but to obviate this I make a knuckle joint which yields to
the pressure of the tappet when the motion of the loom is reversed. At that.
end of the slay to which the shuttle case is fixed an ordinary top shuttle
guard would interfere with the dropping of the shuttles, and therefore I forin
in the fly plate a dovetailed groove in which dovetailed projections on
the under side of the picker work, and prevent it rising in delivering or

page_text: receiving the shuttle. For raising the trigger or frog finger y' each time the
shuttle is properly boxed I place in contact with the bracket u one arm =¹ of
à double lever jointed to the front of the slay, the other arm a' being so bent
or shaped as to act on a projection or pin on the trigger and raise the trigger
from the frog when the shuttle presses against the swell. The changing of
the shuttles takes place when the crank is at the back centre, and the band 6³
connecting the picker holder with the weft lever n' is of such length as to
tighten a little before the slay gets to the back centre, or in other words, as
soon as the picker has rebounded to the end of the slay after delivering its
stroke. The band being drawn tight brings the arm ca of the lever outwards,
causing the other arm to move inwards to bind the picker and hold it in its
position near the end of the slay, thus giving room for the shuttle to drop at
the change. When the slay has got to the place where the pick is delivered,
that is, about the bottom centre, the band has become slack, leaving the
picker free to make its pick. The check strap or holder 6' at the other end
of the slay is simply a strip of leather or other material fixed at one end to
the back of the slay, and connected at the other end to a screw d for
tightening the holder so as to detain the shuttle until it is forced from the
slay by the forward movement of the picking stick. When the loom is
working and there is no breakage or absence of weft the shuttle n is driven
to and fro by the picking sticks and pickers, and delivers its weft in the same
manner as in an ordinary loom, but when there is breakage or absence of
weft and a fresh shuttle to be supplied the weft hammer gives motion to the
weft lever n', so as to force back the arm o', slightly turn the shaft p', and
move forward the arm q', the stud of which depresses the arm and raises
the arm u so as to force the projection v' against the inclined end of the
pin k', thereby overcoming the box spring, and placing the tappet lever h¹
within reach of the tappet I, which as it revolves presses down the tappet
lever, slightly turns the rocking bracket d' on the rocking shaft, and pulls
back the picking stick k. As the stick is going back it acts on the army of
the two-armed lever x, y, causing the other arm a to move the sliding bar w
and inclinev so as to overcome the pressure of the spring 5, move back the
lever r and swell t, and slightly turn the shuttle holder 9 on its pivots, and
cause the upper ledge e on the holder to move forwards and pass under the
outer edge of the second shuttle resting on the bottom one in the case, and
at the same time causing the bottom ledge p to move back to allow the
bottom shuttle to fall on the slay, the shuttle with the broken or absent weft
having passed to the opposite end, where it is held by its nose by the check
strap or holder 6'. The instant the tappet on the spur wheel m¹ is free of

page_text: the tappet lever h¹ the strong spring brings forward the picking stick k to its
proper position for driving the shuttle from that end of the slay, and as the
stick comes forward it forces the idle shuttle from the check strap or
holder b' into a receptacle, and at the same time releases the two-armed
lever x, y, for enabling the sliding bar w and incline v to be drawn back by
the spring f, and allow the springs to move forward the lever r and swell t,
and turn the shuttle holder q until the upper ledge moves away from the
edge of that which was the second shuttle, but is now the bottom one, to
allow the descent of all the shuttles, and at the same time the lower ledge p
of the holder passes inwards and supports the bottom shuttle and also all the
others above it. These operations are repeated at each breakage or absence
of weft until all the shuttles in the case are exhausted or until the last shuttle
has been thrown out, when the loom stops by the action of the stop rod in the,
usual way; but the wenver may replace the shuttles in the case while the
loom is working, and if they are so replaced the loom will never stop through
breakage or absence of weft. In loose reed looms it will be necessary to add,
a stop rod to stop the loom when the weft in the last shuttle is expended, but
this stop rod may be very light, no frog or break being required, as the looso
reed will act as before in case of the shuttle being caught in the shed. The
only function the stop rod will have to perform will be to knock the spring
handle off when the shuttle does not arrive in the box, not to stop the loom
suddenly to prevent a mash, as in ordinary looms. A light finger in place of
the ordinary stop rod trigger will be adequate to this work,, and it will be
lifted just clear of a <-shaped ear or projection on the spring, handle by the
action of the swell when the shuttle arrives in the box, and the finger will be
so short as to allow the utmost possible time for the shuttle to arrive, so that
if it escape being caught in the shed it will be in time to raise the finger
above the ear and avoid stopping the loom.
In Fig. 7 I represent a moveable shuttle guard at the delivery end of the
slay instead of the short stationary guard. As the shaft p' is turned as finger. m
is raised, which is fixed to the shaft at the delivery side of the loom, the end of
this finger being in the form of an inclined plane. To the back of the shuttle
box back board I attach two small fixings n², one near the extreme end of the
slay the other near to the slay sword... A small, horizontal shaft o³ is sup-
ported by these fixings, and this shaft carries two fingers p³, one close to each.
fixing. These fixings stand at right angles to the shaft and project through
the backboard or through the body of the slay, and on them is mounted the
shuttle guard q'; on the horizontal shaft o a lever is fixed as near to the
loom side as convenient, and this lever is bent under the slay and projects

page_text: towards the front of the loom. Now as the rod p' is turned by the action of the
sector hammer as described the inclined finger m² at the end of it is raised, and
as the slay advances that incline on that end of the finger m² and the lever on
the shaft p' come in contact, the effect being to turn the small horizontal shaft,
causing it to raise or depress the shutter guard according as the incline acts
on the under or upper side of the lever; there being no obstruction the shuttle
may now be forced out by means of the picking stick springing forward to its
picking position, as before described.
As it is necessary this inclined finger
should be kept in its raised position till the slay arrives at the front centre the
tappet working the sector lever has an extra dwell accordingly, I make a
knuckle joint in the pin or lever k', Fig. 2, so that it may avoid locking as
the slay returns from the back centre with the projection v', which the extra
dwell causes to be retained in its raised position.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim,-
First, the pivotted shuttle holder q, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, having lower and
upper ledges p and e and the lever r for enabling the holder to be worked.
Secondly, the system of giving a long dwell to the sector tappet for enabling
the ejecting motions to be worked at the right time, and the shortened
knuckle jointed arm of the sector lever for enabling the weft fork hammer
to resume its working position quickly, and allowing the loom to be reversed
without locking.
Thirdly, the system of moving back the picking stick k when there is break-
age or absence of weft, and the mechanism and contrivances for producing
this result, such as the arm o', shaft p', arm q', two-armed lever t', u', pro-
jection v', tappet lever h' on the rocking bracket d', pin k', tappet l, and wide
koyway in the rocking bracket.
•
Fourthly, the stud o covered with plush, cloth, or other material, and
placed in the proper position for the attachment of the ends of weft in the
shuttles contained in the shuttle case.
Fifthly, the picker holder and mode of working it.
Sixthly, the check strap 6' or its equivalent for detaining the shuttle with
broken or absent weft on the slay until it is forced off by the forward
movement of the picking stick.
Seventhly, the mode of working the weft and shuttle feed motions at the
contrary sides of the loom to the ejection side, by which arrangement I gain
the time which elapses from the weft motion detecting the absence of weft till
the shuttle has travelled to the other side to bring the ejecting motions into

page_text: operation so that the operations of feeding and delivering though separate and
independent in themselves are performed simultaneously, as all such improve-
ments are herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bullough, havo hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named John Bullough, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,.
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JOHN BULLOUGH. (L.s.)