IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Denton, of Prestwich, near Manches-
ter, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the
LooNG FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 5th December 1858, and dated the 8th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Denton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th October 1853.
I, JOSEPH DENTON, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates particularly to an improved method of raising
the shuttle boxes of looms when a number of shuttles are used for the
purpose of varying the picks, so as to form or produce the particular
pattern required, which I accomplish by fixing a pinion on the end of
the crank shaft to give motion to a star wheel fixed on the end of the
tappet shaft either by direct action or through an intermediate wheel or
intermediate wheels. In this star wheel make a number of slots

page_text: from the centre or boss to the extremity, so that a small pully or a
boss will slide up and down each slot, and be secured by means of a
screw bolt and nut at any part of the slot. I also attach a horizontal
lever to the loom frame crossing the star wheel, to the end of which I
fix a vertical rod ascending to the shuttle box, so that when any one of
the pullies or bosses comes in contact with the horizontal lever it lifts
it up, and thus raises the shuttle box by means of the vertical rod afore-
said. It will be observed that by the facility of fixing the pullies or
bosses in any part of the slots I am enabled to work any number of
shuttles without the necessity, as at present, of altering the loom, and in
order to throw the said motion out of gear when necessary to throw in
an additional number of picks I fix a regulator above the crank shaft,
which consists of a fork shaft with a small projection, which, coming in
contact with the said wheel on the shaft, gives it a sudden push, and
thus suspends the operation of the star wheel to allow any number of
intermediate picks to be thrown in. It will be evident to any one cou-
versant with fancy weaving that by this contrivance I obtain a
travelling, and shall be able to accomplish the same object by means of
sections to the star wheel or similar contrivance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Denton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th April 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOSEPH DENTON, formerly of Prestwich, near Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, but now of Pendleton, near Man-
chester, aforesaid, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-

page_text: sors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Denton, Her special
licence that I, the said Joseph Denton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Denton, 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 Joseph Denton, 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, 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 Royal
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Denton, do hereby de-
clare 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 Invention relates particularly to the motion connected with what
is technically called the "riser," that is, the apparatus used to raise and
fall the shuttle boxes so as to have the proper shuttle working or throw-
ing in the requisite number of picks according to the pattern required.
and then remove it and place another shuttle in the required position
to perform a similar operation. This I accomplish by fixing a pecu-
liarly shaped pinion on the end of the crank shaft, or by a toothed
wheel fixed on a stud bolted to the frame, and causing it to slide in and
out, so as to act upon the star wheel at the proper times to give
motion to the lever to raise cach of the shuttle boxes at the proper times.
I cut a piece out of part of the surface of this slide pinion, by which
it is always in gear, revolving on the periphery of the star wheel; the
vacancy caused by the said piece being cut out prevents it acting,
except at the required times, to raise a shuttle box. I fix on the lag
roller pins or projections in number according to the number of picks

page_text: to be thrown in by each shuttle; the said projections coming in contact
with a spring bar pushes the said slide pinion on the periphery of the
star wheel, and coming in contact with the pullies or bosses which are
fixed in the slots of the wheel press against a lever, which, communi-
cating with the under side of the shuttle box, raises it to the required
position on the slay for putting in the necessary picks. By the rollers
or bosses moving in slots in the star wheel I am enabled to regulate
the motion so as to vary the number of picks to be put in by each
shuttle, according to the pattern required, almost to an indefinite extent;
because any of the said rollers or bosses can be fixed so as to act upon
the lever which communicates with the shuttle boxes, either at every
revolution of the star wheel or at any portion of such revolution.
These my said improvements will be more clearly understood by
reference to the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, in which the
same letters of reference are used to represent similar parts where
different views or diagrams are shewn. In No. 1, Sheet of the Draw-
ings Fig. 1, is an end view of the right-hand side of the loom, shewing
one of my methods of working the riser by means of a positive motion
working the lag roller and star wheel. Fig. 1, is a front view of a
loom, shewing the said motion. Fig. 2, is a plan of the lag roller, shew-
ing the pegs and safety motion for bringing back the spring fork when
the peg of the lag roller comes in contact with it or when the spring
breaks. Fig. 3, is a front view, shewing the positive lever motion in
gear with the star wheel motion upon the lag roller, and also shewing
the lag roller in gear with the spring fork, and how the said spring fork
is connected to the small crank which works the tappet wheel. Fig. 4
shews the steady spring which is placed upon the lag roller shaft
having as many divisions as there are number of teeth in the sta
wheel, which allows it to turn each vibration of the positive motion
lever. Fig. 5, is an end view, shewing the lag roller with pegs upor
it in gear with the spring fork, with a small spring at the back of it t
keep it up or against the lag roller as each peg passes, and also shew
the said spring fork in gear with the small crank for working th
tappet wheel and the wheel upon it, which works in gear with th

page_text: wheel upon the crank shaft. Fig. 6, shews two front views of the two
star wheel motions which work upon the lag roller shaft and drives it:
These two star wheels are cast together with a flange between then,
and this view shews the vertical rod connected to the positive notion
lever upon the tappet shaft; it also shews the vertical rod in gear with
the star wheel, with two notches upon it which fit into the teeth of the
star. wheel. Fig. 7, is a plan, shewing the crank with a wheel upon it
in gear with another wheel upon a stud, also shewing a small crank in
gear with the tappet wheel. Fig. 8, is a plan of the tappet wheel, show-
ing the tappet in connection with the tappet rollers upon the tappet
wheel. Fig. 9, is a front view, shewing the toothed. wheel in gear with
the small crank for driving the tappet wheel; it also shews the tappet,
tappet wheel, and tappet lever connected to the main lever which
works the shuttle boxes. In No. 2, Sheet of the accompanying Draw-
ings Fig. 1, is an end view of the right-hand side of a loom, shewing
another method of working the positive motion and lag roller. Fig. 1ª,
is a front view of the same. Fig. 2, is a front view, shewing a method
of working the positive notion or lag roller by a toothed wheel fixed
upon the crank shaft, and another to work in gear with it, which is
connected to the lever of the positive motion, the speed of which can be
regulated by the number of teeth in the said wheels. Fig. 3, is a front
view of the same, shewing a method of working the positive motion
without the said wheels. Fig. 4, is a view of the lag roller, shewing
the pegs in the lags and how they are made fast to the barrels when
turning. Fig. 5, is an end view of the two vertical rods connected to
the horizontal lever of the positive motion and in connection with the
tappet roller. Fig. 6, shews the pins on the tappet roller. Fig. 7, is
a front view of the tappet roller and horizontal tappet levers in connec-
tion with the vertical levers for working the shuttle boxes. Fig. 8, is a
view of the steady spring working on the lag roller shaft; it has as
many divisions which the spring fits into as there are numbers of pins
on the lag roller, which allows it to turn for each pull of the pin.
Fig. 9, shews two positions of the tappet rollers and horizontal shafts
in the respective positions of one up and the other down, that is, when

page_text: only two boxes are used, but if the top box is required both positions
must be down. Fig. 10, shows the two steady springs connected to
cach tappet roller, having eight divisions in each to answer to each turn
of the tappet roller. Fig, 11, is another view of the tappet levers,
shewing a modification of the plan as in Fig. 7, by which I dispense
with the intermediate horizontal lever, and make the two tappet levers
the same length, and obtain the same result by making the rise or pro-
jection on the tappet louble the size to what is required when the in-
termediate lever is used, and the two tappet lovers of different lengths.
", represents the frame of the loom; B, the crank shaft; c, the tappet
shaft; d, the main lever for working the positive motion, which vibrates
every half revolution of the tappet shaft; e, the connecting rod, which
works the star wheel F, every vibration of the lever d; g, the lag roller
for working the spring fork h, which moves backwards and forwards on
the centre o, o, as the pegs i, come in contact with it; j, a lever to
move back the spring fork h, by means of the peg i, i, in case the
spring w, should break or fail to move it back; k, the steady wheel
fixed on the lag roller, to which is attached the spiral spring 1; the
wheel k, being divided into twelve divisions allows the lag roller to turn
or move every half revolution of the tappet shaft. m, is a moveable
crank for moving round the tappet wheel n, which is driven from the
crank shaft B, by means of two wheels of equal size (or as may be re-
quired) represented by dotted circles; this crank slides on the small
shaft or stud o, when the peg i, comes in contact with the spring
fork h, thus causing the tappet wheel at every revolution of the crank
when pushed in gear to move round one fifteenth part of its circle, or
according to the number of divisions that may be required equal to one
revolution of the crank m. p, is the tappet lever, which rises and falls
as the tappet rollers r, come in contact with it, thus causing the
lever 2, to move three different positions; S, the main lever, connected
to the tappet lever p, and also to the shuttle boxes T, by the vertical
rod v. In case the loom should be required to make a few turns back-
wards the star wheel F, which is fast to the regular working star
wheel F, has its teeth fixed the contrary way, so as to allow the

page_text: roller y, to move either way. In No. 2, Sheet of Drawings A, repre-
sents the frame of the loom; B, the crank; C, the vibrating lever.
worked from the crank shaft B, and by its vibration and sliding motion
at the centre u, works the positive motion or lag roller d, by means of
twelve pins which are placed upon its face, similar to those shewn in
Fig. 6; e, the main lover, worked from the crank shaft B, and vibrates
with the lever c., F, are the tappet rollers, both loose from each other
on one shaft there are eight pins placed on each, as shewn at Fig. 6,
which are worked round by means of two vertical rods g, connected to
the vibrating lever c, and each of them are pushed alternately in gear
with the pins by the pegs w, upon the lag roller d, each lag moving
half way every motion enables me to put in one hundred picks with
fifty lags instead of using one hundred. h, are two tappet levers of un-
equal lengths, worked by the tappet rollers F, and connected separately
to the lever k, by means of the two rols i, and j. m, is the main lever,
which is connected to the shuttle boxes n, by means of the rod o. The
short lever k, in Fig. 9, works the top and middle shuttle boxes, and
the long lever 1, h, works, when required, the bottom shuttle box,
which has a larger tappet and makes up the difference in leverage.
When the two tappets with the risers are down the top box is at work,
and when the second or bottom box is required to be at work they will
be as seen in Fig. 9. E, seen in Fig. 8, is the steady spring, placed
upon the lag roller d, with twelve divisions in it, equal to the number of
pins on the lag roller, which allows it to turn every revolution of the
crank shaft B. In Fig. 10, 8, s, are the steady springs placed upon
each of the tappet rollers F, with eight divisions, equal to the number
of pins on the tappet rollers, which allow them to turn every revolution
of the crank shaft B, when the rod g, is pushed in gear.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said
Invention, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact details thereof, as such may be varied or modified
without departing from the principle of my Invention. But I claim
collectively the arrangements of mechanism for working the shuttle
boxes and regulating the number of picks to be thrown in the fabric by

page_text: each shuttle, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
two Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Denton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Joseph Denton in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
JOSEPH DENTON. (L.S:)
Patent Agent, Manchester.