IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING CARPETS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Collier, of Halifax, in the County of York,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING CARPETS AND OTHER
PILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 22nd January 1856, and dated the 3rd November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Collier at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
November 1855.
I, GEORGE COLLIER, of Halifax, in the County of York, do hereby declare,
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING CARPETS AND
OTHER PILE FABRICS" to be as follows:-
The improvements relate, firstly, when using fixed wires (that is, "wires
affixed to their carriers,) to applying at the selvage of the fabric a moving
instrument to act in succession upon the wires for the purpose of conducting
their points as withdrawn from the fabric correctly into the open shed:
The improvements relate; secondly, to forming the shuttle boxes on the sides
of the loom where the wires are introduced & withdrawn separate from the
batten, with motions to them, adapted to cause them either to rise or to fall
out of the way of such wiré motions when effecting the beat-up; yet so as to
act correctly with the batten when throwing weft:
'
Thirdly, the improvements relate to a mode of arranging the motion to the
batten to effect an elastic beat-up in the weaving of plush and other light pile

page_text: fabrics. In place of communicating by links direct from the crank shaft to the
batten, I employ a link or links coming from a crank or cranks to an arm or
arms affixed to the axis of the swords.
The improvements relate, fourthly, to apparatus for operating pile wires,
by the use of a cylinder with grooves containing a series of them, such as for
which Letters Patent were recently granted to William Weild, and consists
in arranging the cylinder and parts acting therewith so that the wires passing
into and from the fabric may do so from the lower side of the cylinder in place
of from its upper side, and in raising it sufficiently high to admit of its clearing
the shuttle box without the necessity for separating that shuttle box from the
batten.
Also, the improvements relate to raising such cylinder sufficiently high, that
when the wires are operated from the upper part of it, it may be out of the
way of the shuttle box, affixed to and moving with the batten; and in order
to diminish the angle which would be given to the wires by thus rising the
cylinder, I move it considerably away from the selvage of the fabric.
Also, the improvements relate to effecting the withdrawal of the pile wires
by means of a screw, this screw being cut both way's, that is, the groove
worm is cut to cross itself in the length of the screw, in order that the instru-
ment working in the groove of the screw may have a backward & forward
motion given to it whilst the screw is always revolving in one direction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Collier in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd. May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
COLLIER, of Halifax, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Collier, Her special licence that I, the said George Collier, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other's as I; the said George.
Collier, 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

page_text: 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 WEAVING
CARPETS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George Collier, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Collier, 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:
The improvements relate, firstly, when using fixed wires (that is, wires'
affixed to their carriers,) to applying at the selvage of the fabric a moving
instrument to act in succession upon the wires for the purpose of conducting
their points as withdrawn from the fabric correctly into the open shed.
The improvements relate, secondly, to forming the shuttle box on the side
of the loom where the wires are introduced and withdrawn separate from the
batten, with motions to it adapted to cause it either to rise or to fall out of the'
way of such wire motions when effecting the beat-up, yet so as to act correctly
with the batten when throwing weft.
•
Thirdly, the improvements relate to a mode of arranging the motion to the
batten to effect an elastic beat-up in the weaving of plush and other light
pile fabrics. In place of communicating by links direct from the crank
shaft to the batten, I employ a link or links coming from a crank or cranks
to an arm or arms affixed to the axis of the swords.
The improvements relate, fourthly, to apparatus for operating pile wires,
by the use of a cylinder with grooves containing a series of them, such as for
which Letters Patent were recently granted to William Weild, and consists in
arranging the cylinder and parts acting therewith so that the wires passing into
and from the fabric may do so from the lower side of the cylinder in place
of from its upper side, and in raising it sufficiently high to admit of its
clearing the shuttle box without the necessity for separating that shuttle box
from the batten.
Also, the improvements relate to raising such cylinder sufficiently high, that
when the wires are operated from the upper part of it, it may be out of the

page_text: the loom acting upon the bowl c of the lever c, which at its lower end turns
upon a pin or stud c, whilst its upper end is attached by pin joint to the instru
ment a. The lever c is kept with its truck or bowl c bearing against the
cam 6 by a spring or other suitable means. The point of the instrument a is
supported and controlled in its movement by a stud a³ therefrom, resting upon
the guide d.
I will now describe the second part of my improvements. In giving the
requisite inserting and withdrawing motion to. pile ivires laid transversely
of the fabric, considerable difficulty has sometimes been experienced in so
arranging the means by which those motions are effected that they may not
interfere with the shuttle box at that side of the loom at the beat-up, and it
has been proposed to form such shuttle box separate, so that it only 'cauio
forward with the central part of the batten at the time of beating up..
...
Fig. 3 shows a front view, and Fig. 4 an end view, of part of a loom, suffi
cient to indicate the means which I adopt in carrying out this part of my
improvements. e is the sliding shuttle, box, which it will be seeni is formed
with ears e', by which it is capable of sliding up or down upon: guide rods f, f
one of which is affixed to the sword g of the lay, and the other to an arm g',
projecting therefrom, whilst the movements to bring that 'shuttle box into a
correct position with the batten at the time of throwing a shuttle, and of raising
it out of the way of the wire motion at the time of the beat-up; is óbtained by
the cam or tapped h, affixed to the cam or tapped shaft acting, upon the lever
arm i, formed on or affixed to the axis or shaft i, upon which are also formed
or affixed arms ; which by rods are connected, so as to give motion' to the
shuttle box e.. The truck or bowl of the arm iis kept to its cam or tappet by
spring or other means.. I would state that I have thought it necessary only to
shew the shuttle box capable of rising out of the way of the wire motion which
may be employed at the time of beating up, as it will readily be understood,,
that in order to cause it to descend in place of rising at such time; it will only
be necessary to alter the form of the cam, and the position of the guide rods f
to accomplish that object.
I will now explain the third part of the Invention, which is shown by Fig. 5..
j'is the crank axis, and one of the cranks formed thereon. k is the batten or
lay, and the axis of the lay swords; but in place of the cranks being con-
nected by rods directly, as is usual, to the lay swords at the back of the batten,
there are arms ; which are connected to the lower parts of the swords, so as to
act from the axis thereof. These arms are somewhat elastic, and they are at:
their outer ends connected by links m to the cranks j, by which an elastic

page_text: I will now proceed to describe_the_fourth part of my improvements, an
arrangement according to which is shown at Figs. 6 and 7. In carrying out
that part of the improvements: suggested in the Specification of the said
William Weild's Patent (dated March the Seventh, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five), where it is proposed to employ a rotating cylinder, or
roller grooved to contain a series of pile wires in such manner that they never
altogether leave it in their successive operations of entering the open shed, of
being tied in to formi a series of pile loops across the fabric, and then of being
withdrawn therefrom for re-entering the open shed to form fresh rows of loops;
it is found necessary to.detach the shuttle box at that end of the batten where
such roller. or cylinder is used from the other part of the batten in order to
admit of the beat-up, and such separate shuttle box has been arranged with a
to and fro motion to come into position at the proper time, to receive and have
its shuttle thrown across the fabric, but yet so that it did not come fully forward
with the batten at the beat-up.
I have discovered that by modifying the parts supporting and others acting
with the cylinder or roller carrying the pile wires, so that the same may be
inverted and at the same time raised somewhat, I am enabled to use at that
side of the loom as at the other, an ordinary shuttle box affixed to and moving
with the batten. But as the arrangement and mode of operating with such
cylinder is described in the Specification of Patent of the said William Weild,
referred to, it will be unnecessary to repeat the same here, except so far as to
point out the adaptations which have become necessary in carrying out this
part of the improvements; and it will be seen that the supports to the cylinder,
as also to the guide for the slide 9, are taken from the upper side and brought
over the front of the cylinder. The slide 9 is also somewhat modified, and the
instruments f³ serve to support the wire whilst being withdrawn, and their
points fare lifted from the cylinder to admit of the passage of the wire heads
by tail pieces f thereto, being operated by an enlargement g' formed on the
slide g. I have not shown, the instrument for conducting the point of each
wire correctly. opposite the open shed, as such may be the same, and operated
as described in the Specification referred to.
.
Figs. 8 and 9 show another modification of the parts upon the principle
referred to for conducting the wires, in order that the same may clear the
shuttle box at that side of the loom, and admit of the shuttle boxes being alike
at each side of the loom, moving with and being part of the batten. In this

page_text: case I raise tlie cylinder and parts acting therewith sufficiently high, that
though the insertion and' withdrawal takes place from the upper part, of the
cylinder, it yet clears the shuttle box at the beat-up, and to diminish the angle-
which the wires would otherwise form, I remove the cylinder and parts acting
therewith further from that selvage of the fabric. The wires employed will
consequently require to be longer to the extent of the extra distance which the
cylinder or roller is removed from the fabric, and I form their ends much
thinner towards the points, and curved upwards, as described in the Specifi
cation of a Patent granted to me on the 9th of March 1853. I also apply a
guide near the selvage of the fabric in addition to the conductor, explained in
tlie Specification of the said William Weild, referred.to.
I will now describo the fifth part of my improvements. In the Specification
of a Patent recently granted to me, bearing date the 22nd day of May 1855;
I have described means for operating with pile wires in the production of
carpets and other pile fabrics of extra width, and the instrument which takes
hold of each wire in succession, to withdraw such wires from the formed loops
and to reinsert them into the open shed, is operated upon at the withdrawing
motion by a chain, whilst the re-insertion is effected by a cord or band. This
part of my present improvements consists in the adaptation of a cross-threaded
screw, or screw cut both ways, as the means for obtaining the drawing-out
motion to the wires.
Fig. 10 shows part of a front view, and Fig. 11 part of an end view, of a
loom arranged according to this part of the Invention.
•
And I would, here state that I have not thought it necessary in the present
case to show more than the parts to which these improvements especially apply.
A, A, is part of the main framing; i is the wire carrier, and j a portion of the
bar upon which it slides, as shown and described in the Specification referred
to, which with the other similar parts shown are marked with the letters of
reference used therein in describing them. B is the screw, which is cut cross
or both ways, so that in its rotation a shoe C travelling therein will when it
has traversed to either end, by following the course of its thread or groove,
return, crossing that part of the thread in which it last traversed. The shoe C
is fixed by a pin joint to a slide D, which partly embraces, so as to be guided in:
its movements by a stationary bar E, which is supported at each end by the
supports to the screw B. The slide D carries a lever arm F, which at one end
turns upon a pin F¹, whilst by a slight spring it is borne against the stud F.:
And in order to describe the operation of these parts, I will suppose. the
carrier to have taken hold of the end of the wire next to be withdrawn.

page_text: from the fabric: the motion of the screw B will take the slide D past the
pin which in this case is fixed in the plate of the slide in place of
being in a separate lever,. and the lever arm F will by the spring. F³ be per-
mitted to yield to pass the pin ; but when the shoe C by coming to' that
end of the screw begins to return in the. thread thereof, the lever arm F
resting against its stop F will come against the stop 23%, and cause the carrier i
to slide upon its bar, and withdraw a wire till the shoe C has traversed to
the other or outer end of the screw, when the thread returns again, when the
lever arm F.will leave the pin 2; and the movement then given to the bar j
will leave the stud clear of the lever arm. F, and free to be operated upon
by the cord or band ; as described in the Specification of Patent granted to
me, as already referred to, to take the wire thus withdrawn again into the
open shed. Motion is given to the screw B from the axis 7 by there being
affixed: on that axis a bevilled tooth wheel B', which takes into and drives
the bevilled pinion: B upon the axis B³, upon which is affixed the bevilled
pinion B which takes into and drives the bevilled pinion B³, affixed upon
that screw shaft B.::
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details herein shown and described, so long as the
peculiar character of any part thereof be retained; but what I do claim is,-
First, the adaptation of a moving instrument acting as a guide or con-
ductor at the selvage of the fabric to conduct the points of the pile wires
as withdrawn from the fabric correctly opposite the open 'shed, when the
pile wires used are fixed to arms or other carriers which act independently
of such moving instrument to guide or conduct the point of the wire to the
open shed.
Secondly, I claim the arrangement and adaptation of parts by which the
shuttle box is capable of rising or falling at each beat-up of the lay out
of the way of the wire motions employed for inserting and withdrawing the
pile: wires.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of operating the batten to effect the beat-up, as
explained...
Fourthly, I claim the 'so arranging and combining parts operating upon the
principle referred to, to conduct the pile wires used in the production of pile
fabrics, that the same may better clear the shuttle box when the beat-up'takes
place, whereby the shuttle box at that side of the loom may be of the ordinary
character, moving with and being part of the batten or lay. I also claim the

page_text: mode of arranging and combining parts as described in respect of Figs. 8
and 9.
Fifthly, I claim the adaptation of a screw with its thread cut both ways,
or one part across the other in the direction of its length, with parts acting-
therewith, for the purpose of obtaining the withdrawing motion to the
pile wires.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Collier, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
WILLIAM BROOKES,
73, Chancery Lane,
Patent Agent.
GEORGE COLLIER. (L.S.)