IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKERS FOR LOOMS
Year: 1885

page_text: "
I, WALLACE FAIRWEATHER C.E. of 96 Buchanan Street, Glasgow in the County
of Lanark, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature
of my said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PICKERS FOR LOOMS
cation from abroad by Conard Heucken of Berlin in the German Empire) to be as
(a communi-
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in pickers for driving the shuttles in
looms of any kind. Such pickers hitherto have been generally made entirely of
buffalo-hide or leather sliding upon a metal rod in the loom and striking with
their working-surface against the point of the shuttle.
of the hide or leather has been worn out by the frequent strokes against the
When the working-surface
shuttle-point, or when the guide-hole is worn by use, the whole picker must be
thrown away and a considerable waste of material is thereby occasioned.
The leather pickers hitherto in use, besides being subject to rapid wear and tear,
absorb much of the lubricating oil, and becoming soaked with the same not only
spread drops of it upon the fabric and spoil the same; but the oil also makes the
leather soft and of little resistance. The picker frequently becomes deformed and
squeezed upon the guide-rod. Such obstacle in the sliding movement of the picker
causes the picking strap, or the shuttle-driving-mechanism to break or to be spoiled,
and irregularities in the woven fabric are the result.
All these inconveniences connected with the pickers hitherto in use are obviated
by the use of the improved picker forming the subject of my invention, said
picker consisting of a metal-shell in which a bed is forined to hold a driving bolt
or core of leather or other suitable material, such as rubber, wood, paper-pulp,
celluloid, or the like.
The shell may consist of one piece of ductile metal, or of two pieces the one of
which forms a removable lid over the bed of the bolt. The said bed is provided
with webs which firmly catch into the circumference of the bolt and prevent its
eing pushed back in the bed by the strokes against the shuttle-point.
Whenever the working-surface of the said bolt or core is worn out it may be
ut away and the bolt put forward in its bed to present a fresh working-surface
[Price Sd

page_text: to strike against the shuttle-point. Moreover the bolt may be reversed in its bed,
so that its rear-end acts as striking-surface in front. By this arrangement of a
driving bolt firmly held within the bed of the shell the material of the belt may
be gradually worked up, and but very little waste is produced. When the bolt is
The shell
at length worn out it is replaced by a new one with very little expense.
remains in use and suffers very little from wear and tear.
The form of said shell may vary according to any requirements and be adapted
to any existing shuttle-driving and picker-guiding arrangements in power-looms.
The use of the improved pickers, accordingly, does not involve any alterations in
the construction of any parts of the loom. It may be made in any suitable form
to simply replace that particular form of picker which had been used before in the
same loom.
I prefer to give to the picker-shell the form of the T shaped buffalo-hide picker
which is in general use. In this case the metal shell is provided with a tubular
part to slide upon the guide rod, and with a notch or eye into which the picking-
strap is fastened.
With this improved picker, working smoothly in the metal guides of the loom,
scarcely any interruptions of the regular and uniformn play of the shuttle-driving
mechanism will occur. The striking bolt is fully out of reach of any lubricating
oil or grease and cannot spoil the fabric, and a considerable saving is secured by
the adoption of the improved arrangement.

page_text: Improvements in Pickers for Looms.
I, WALLACE FAIRWEATHER, C.E., of the firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
135 Buchanan Street Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Fellows of the Institute
of Patent-Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PICKERS FOR LOOMS (a communication from Conrad Heucken of Berlin
in the German Empire) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in pickers for driving the shuttle in looms
of any kind. Such pickers, hitherto, have been generally made entirely of buffalo-
hide or leather, sliding upon a metal-rod in the loom and striking with their
working-surface against the point of the shuttle. When the working-surface of
the hide or leather has been worn out by the frequent strokes against the shuttle-
point, or when the guide-lole is worn out by use, the whole picker must be thrown
away and a considerable waste of material is thereby occasioned.
The leather-pickers hitherto in use, besides being subject to rapid wear and tear,
absorb much of the lubricating oil and becoming soaked with the same, not only
spread drops of it upon the fabric and spoil the same, but the oil also makes the
leather soft and of little resistance; the picker frequently becomes deformed and
squeezed upon the guide-rod. Such obstacle in the sliding movement of the picker
causes the picking-strap, or the shuttle-driving mechanism to break or to be spoiled,
and irregularities in the woven fabric are the result.
All these inconveniences connected with the pickers hitherto in use are obviated
by the use of the improved picker forming the subject of my invention.
With reference to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan of the picker-shell, with the lid
removed and the tubular part sliding upon the guide-rod of the loom shown in
longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a plan with the lid in place; Fig. 3 is a side-
elevation of the picker, Fig. 4. a view of the driving-bolt, Fig. 5 a cross-section of
the same and Fig. 6 a longitudinal section of the same.
a is the picker consisting of a metal-shell in which a bed 6 is formed to hold a
driving bolt, or core c of leather or other suitable material, such as rubber, wood,
paper-pulp, celluloid, or the like.
The shell a may consist of one piece of ductile metal, or of two pieces, the one
of which, d, forms a reinoveable lid over the bed b of the bolt c. The said bed b
is provided with webs e which firmly catch into the circumference of the bolt c
and prevent its being pushed back in the bed by the strokes against the shuttle-
point.
Whenever the working-surface of the said bolt or core c is worn out, it may be
cut away and the bolt put forward in its bed to present a fresh working-surface
to strike against the shuttle-point. Moreover, the bolt c may be reversed in its
bed, so that its rear end acts as striking-surface in front. By this arrangement of
a driving-bolt firmly held within the bed of the shell, the material of the bolt may
be gradually worked up and but very little waste is produced. When the bolt is
at length worn out, it is replaced by a new one, with very little expense. The
shell remains in use and suffers very little from wear and tear.

page_text: The bolt c may consist of one solid piece of suitable material, or it may consist
of a number of disks, placed side by side and held together by a suitable glue or
by screw-bolts or rivets passing through them, as shown in Fig. 5 and 6.
The form of the shell a may vary according to any requirements and be adapted
to any existing shuttle-driving and picker-guiding arrangements in power-looms.
The use of the improved pickers, accordingly, does not involve any alterations in
the construction of any parts of the loom, as is the case with other metal-pickers
tried before. It may be made in any suitable form to simply replace the particular
form of picker, which had been used before in the same loom.
I prefer to give to the picker-shell the form of the T shaped buffalo-hide picker,
which is in general use. In this case, as shown in the drawings, the metal-shell a
is provided with a tubular part f to slide upon the guide-rod, and with a notch or
eye g into which the picking-strap is fastened.
The interior diameter of the tubular part f is wider than that of the guide-rod,
and bushes h of suitable metal are screwed into the openings at each side of the
tube f. to slide on the rod. By this means but little friction is occasioned by the
rapid to-and-fro motion of the picker on the rod, also the bushes hh may be easily
exchanged when worn.out.
Lubricating oil or grease is filled into the hollow interior of the tube f. The
flanges ii formed at the ends of the tube f serve to strike against elastic buffers at
one end of the picker-race.
The lid d may be secured on the shell a either by screws, or it may be hinged to
the shell at one end and screwed down at the other end to firmly grasp the bolt c.
Having, now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and, in what manner the same is to. be performed, as communicated to
me, I declare, that what I. claim is
First. A picker for looms, consisting of a metal shell a with a bed 6 having
webs e, and an elastic or removeable lid d with corresponding webs, to grasp the
striking-bolt placed between the said bed and lid,. substantially as and for the
purpose described..
Second. The combination with a picker for looms consisting of a metal-shell a,
bed b and lid d, of a tube f with removeable bushes hh to slide upon the guide-rod
of the loom, and a notch g for securing the picking-strap, substantially as and for
the purpose described..