CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME OR BE
MADE KNOWN, I, HENRY MEYER, of the Strand, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of August, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant to me, the said
Henry Meyer, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power,
sole privilege, and authority, that I, the said Henry Meyer, and such others
as I, the said Henry Meyer, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times hereafter
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR
WEAVING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me,
the said Henry Meyer, to particularly describe the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being had thereto, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I have prepared
the following description of my improved power loom, and have made the

page_text: Drawings hereunto annexed, and forming part of this my Specification; and I
would further desire it to be noted, that similar letters of reference are placed
upon and denote similar parts or portions of mechanism, or otherwise, in each of
the Figures respectively, which Figures I explain thus ;-Figure 1 is a side view
of the machine, being the left side; Figure 2 is a front view thereof; Figure 3,
a view of the right side (standing in front) of the machine; Figure 4, a top plan
view; Figure 5, a section taken through the line A, B, at Figure 2; Figure 6 is
an elevated view of the mechanism which serves to stop the loom when the weft
thread is broken or has come to its end; Figure 7 is a front view of the com-
partment or box, in which is worked the operations for charging the shuttle;
Figure 8, a view of the interior of the said compartment or case above men-
tioned, as taken through the line C, D, at Figure 9; Figure 9, a view of the
interior of the right side of the above-mentioned compartment box or case, taken
through the line A, B, at Figure 7; Figure 10, a top plan view of the said com-
partment or case. I would here observe that the loom is intended to and capable
of weaving wool, silk, cotton, or other similar fabric, and, as shewn in the
Drawings and herein-after described, is worked with 5 or 6 shuttles, were it
found necessary, even ten shuttles may be employed at one time; or with the
It
same apparatus two, three, or four shuttles only may be worked at once.
will work as much as thirty headles, which are regulated or commanded by a
small jacquard, Figure 2, placed above them. It will also work with a full-
sized jacquard with as many cords as there are threads in the warp. It will
be unnecessary for me to describe the general mechanism of the loom which
is already well known, and which every power-loon maker fully comprehends;
but I intend herein to give every explanation of the 'inechanism or apparatus
invented or adopted by me, which in the combination I use and herein describe
is altogether new, and which will form the Invention on which the annexed
claims to novelty and utility are founded. In the arrangement of the shuttles
the changing thereof may be performed at will. The operation of changing
is carried on in case A, seen at Figures 3, 4, and 5, and separately at Figures
7, 8, 9, and 10; the mechanism in this case is controlled by the jacquard,
Figure 2; the case shewn is for working as many as five shuttles at once, but,
as before said, it may be made upon the same system to work as high as.ten
shuttles. To work with two shuttles, one only of the hooks of the jacquard is
required to denominate this case; to work four or five shuttles, four or five
books of the jacquard are required; and to work with seven shuttles would
require the assistance of eight of the jacquard hooks. To change the pattern
there is nothing further required than to change the cards on the jacquard;
every pattern.may be executed. The color may be worked in front or rear,

page_text: as required; in changing the shuttle, it is not necessary to go from one to the
other, but one may overspring the first to the third, fourth, or fifth; thus, as
aforesaid, the shuttles may be meneauvoured at will, and in any manner that
may be required. At Figure 2 is seen, at the right side of the loom (standing"
in face, as aforesaid,) a box containing five shuttles; this box is seen also at
Figures 3 and 4; this box rises and falls at the will of the operator; as scen
in the Drawing, it is placed at its utmost height. The operations for raising
or lowering this box are performed in the case A, Figures 3, 4, and 5, and
shewn separately in the Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10, and this case is denominated
or commanded by the jacquard a. At Figure 3 is a lever, which has its axis
in b, and it is by means of this lever that the case A communicates its move-
ment to the box which contains the shuttles c, in Figures 7, 9, and 10, as a
drawer which may mount and descend with the said lever a; the drawer
contains several hooks of iron or other metal, as seen at Figures 7 and 9, (for
a case where only three shuttles are to be worked, only six hooks are required
in the drawer c, but when seven shuttles are worked then thirty hooks must
be placed in the said drawer); each of these hooks has a spring placed before
it which always pressos it backwards; besides this there are four long hooks d,
Figures 7, 8, and 9, which are pushed forwards by the springs, and which
retains each in its turn the drawer c in the required position; in the interior
of the said case there are five cylinders e, e, e, e, e, Figures 8 and 9; it
is these cylinders which are governed by the jacquard. The manner in
which the jacquard can turn them is easily seen at Figures 3 and 5;
for every cylinder possesses on the outside of the case a square nut, with
which the form of the jacquard book corresponds. If it be desired to
lower the shuttle box from the first to the fifth, the five cylinders are turned
a quarter turn, then the four long hooks d are passed behind, and the draw
c becomes free to ascend, and the shuttle then descends; to re-raise the
box shuttle to its full height, a quarter turn is given to the cylinder e 1, and
directly after to the cylinder e 4. To raise a single shuttle, turn the cylinder
€ 4, and afterwards e 1, and then proceed as before described. At Figures
2, 3, and 4 will be perceived four keddles which mount and descend alter-
nately by the excentrics g, Figures 2, 3, and 4; at the extremity of each of
these treddles a hook k is fixed, as shewn at Figure 3. The hooks which are
in the drawer e, Figures 7 and 9, and which are as aforesaid always pushed
back by springs, and it is by the cylinders e 1, e 2, e 3, &e 4, that they are
pushed or pressed forwards, according as the cylinders are made to turn. As
soon as one of these hooks (which I will call drawer hooks) is pushed or
pressed forwards, one of the hooks attached to the treddles f comes and

page_text: carries with it the drawer c downwards; to cause the rising of these treddles,
there is placed at each a counterweight i, Figure 8, which draws them by
the levers k, Figure 3. 1, Figures 2 and 3, is a lever, which has its fulcrum
in m, and which is pulled by the spring n, Figure 2; this lever is to carry
back the shuttle picker to its place. When the woof is broken or used up, the
loom instantly stops; the apparatus effecting this stoppage is seen at Figure 6
seperately, but likewise in Figure 2. o, at Figure 6 and 2, is a horizontal
lever, which has at one of its extremities two vertical rods, p and q, Figure 6
and 2; p has at is extremity five points or fingers; while there is a thread
these fingers or points rest above, but when there is no longer a thread they
descend and with them the rod q; when the rod 9 descends, the point or
finger r, Figure 6 and 1, rises and comes in contact with the hooks s, Figures
6 and 1, and then the loom stops. t, Figure 6, is an eccentric placed on the
cam shaft, and which holds the two rods p and q suspended when the shuttle
is on the other side. The treddles (see Figure 5) work with the greatest
uniformity and exactness, and each the further it is back the quicker the
motion it acquires, so that all the threads are evenly before the reed when
the shuttle passes, see Figure 5. In order to obtain this working of the
headles, as it has been just above described, and which is seen at Figure 5,
for each headle two levers U are required, see Figures 1, 2, and 4; these
levers are pair for pair, bound or connected by wire, of iron or other metal, v,
Figures 1 and 2; but this connection is not in a direct line, but pursues a
diagonal declination as at w, Figure 4. The rolling of the stuff is effected
by a regulator, Figures 2, 3, and 4; the stuff goes direct from the breast
beam to the cloth beam (see Figure 5); the regulator always regulates
itself, as, for example, suppose the stuff to have sixty weft threads to the inch
at the commencement of the warp, it will continue to have that quantity to the
end with the greatest regularity, and without the slightest need of the super-
intendance or touch of the operator. I will now explain the action of the
regulator; the shaft goes as aforesaid, direct from the breast beam to the
cloth beam, Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5; the cloth beam is put in motion by the
catching or chain of wheels 'y, Figures 2 and 3. 2, Figures 2 and 3, is the
ratchet wheel; this ratchet wheel receives its momentum by the angular lever
a, at Figure 3; and this lever is put in motion by the horizontal rod 61, Figure 3,
the rod by the vertical lever c', and the lever c¹ by the horizontal rod d², which
is connected to the slay. On the cloth beam a is a roller e; with this roller is
attached a curved lever f¹ by an iron blade g¹, Figure 5; at the other ex-
tremity of the curved lever f' is a short iron blade h', and it on this blade h',
Figure 2, that the rod 6' rests; as the cloth beam a acquires more body from

page_text: the rolling of the new made stuff around it the roller c¹ ascends, and with it
the curved lever f¹, and with this lever f¹ the rod which first gives motion to
the angular lever a', and with it to the entire regulator; the thicker the cloth
beam becomes (by the cause aforesaid), the higher the roller e¹ rises, and with
it the rod ; the higher the rod b¹ rises the more it departs from the centre
of the angular lever a¹, and consequently the movement of the regulator
diminishes; and it is from these means that equal measure to the increasing
bulk of the cloth beam; the movement of the regulator is diminished with
the same regulator, and the same wheels; a stuff of thirty to one hundred weft
threads to the inch, may be made without need to change them. To give a
greater or less number of weft threads to the inch the rod d', Figure 3, must
be raised or lowered; when the desired number is secured, it is complete and
should not be interfered with; let the cloth beam be more or less bulkly, the
number of weft threads is always the same.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and illustrated the mode
or modes of applying them, I wish it to be understood that what I have
described and illustrated shews an efficient mode of making such improve-
ments in the power loom, and putting them in operation; but I do not confine
myself to the precise details, as where, for brevity and clearness, I have used
the word iron, instead of recapitulating the various sorts of metals the
article so designated may be made with, or when portions of the apparatus
are designated as made of wood, such portions may, if desirable, in many cases
be made of iron or other metal, and by the word iron, I mean wrought or cast
iron, as may be preferred; I consider such desiguation sufficient, and that
substitution of any other metal in making such article would not in any
manner endanger my rights in the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent.
I do not claim the parts of the loom, or improvements, taken separately or
distinct, as hooks, levers, or others, but only as they are placed by me in com-
bination for the purpose of working out my Patent for certain improvements
in looms for weaving.
But what I do claim as of my Invention is,-
Firstly, the system or mode changing the shuttles, as herein-before described,
set forth, and illustrated in various Figures in the annexed Drawing.
Secondly, I claim the producing the peculiar motion of the headles, as
herein-before described, set forth, and illustrated at Figure 5 of the annexed
Drawing.
Thirdly, I claim the self-regulating regulator, for facilitating the rolling up
of the stuff or manufacture in the loom, as herein-before described, set forth,
and illustrated in the Drawing.

page_text: Fourthly, I claim the mode or apparatus by which the loom is stopped
when the weft is broken or finished, as herein-before described, set forth, and
illustrated in the Drawing.
Fifthly, I claim the jacquard as it is illustrated in the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Meyer, have hereunto set my 5
hand and affixed my seal, this Twelfth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty.