Im- PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frederick Page at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th August
1874.
I, FREDERICK PAGE, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Ribbon
Weaver, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in looms for weaving relates to an
improved mode of constructing and operating the batten and slay or
reed, my object being to reduce the friction upon the warp and to
produce a more uniform quality in the surface of the fabric. There will
also be a reduction in the wear and tear of the loom and in the labour of
weaving, and an economy of time in the operation of weaving. To this
end instead of the reed or slay being rigidly fixed to the batten so that
it must necessarily move to and fro therewith I detach the reed from
the batten and impart a separate motion to the two parts.
Instead of moving the slay and shuttle race which are fixed upon one
bed or batten, as in the ordinary method of weaving, and which involves
the oscillation of the whole batten and slay to a great distanco and

page_text: necessarily at a great speed, the batten and the slay are moved simul-
taneously, yet separately, at differing velocities. The batten is moved
backwards only sufficiently to allow the shuttles to pass freely through
the widest part of the open warp shed, the batten reaching nearly back
before the shuttles enter the opening, and remaining almost stationary
until the shuttles have passed through the opening. In moving the
batten forward the shuttle eye is never forwarder than the ribbon line,
or parallel with the last beaten up shute or weft thread. It will be
evident from this that the reed must move at a greater speed and to a
greater distance than the batten; therefore, when the batten is back and
while the shuttles are passing through the opening the slay is nearly
stationary just at the back of the shuttles, and when the slay strikes the
ribbon it will be at the front of the shuttles.
An elevating motion is imparted to the slay as it comes forward, so as
to cause it to strike the ribbon full at the bottom of the slay dents (the
silk being protected by a small wire from rubbing on the bottom frame
of the slay) instead of the slay striking the ribbon in the middle of the
dents as is usual. From this it will be evident to a practical weaver that
this arrangement must give many advantages,-
1st. The most important one is that it allows of the use of a much
finer count wire to a given count slay. For instance, a sixty dent slay
would do with ninety count wire, thus giving as much space between
the dents in a sixty dent reed as could ordinarily be had in a much
coarser count of reed.
2nd. By striking the ribbon at the bottom of the dents the dents
(however fine the count of wire) would not yield or strain to any of the
irregularities in the warp or shute.
3rd. Causing the reed to strike at the bottom of the dents allows also
of a much deeper slay than is usual. Thus a large opening could be
made in the warp shed without any rubbing of the silk against either
the top or bottom frame of the slay dents.
The oscillating of the batten and the slay is effected by means of a
rocking pole, which is actuated by a crank upon the driving shaft or a
stud upon the fly wheel by means of a short link and upright lever.
Upon this rocking pole are a number of upright levers, and each reed is
moved by two horizontal rods or bars actuated by two of the levers upon

page_text: the rocking pole; there are also two fixed brackets through which these
rods or bars slide. The batten is moved by two shorter levers fixed on
the same rocking pole.
The shuttles are actuated by a marionette, such as is commonly used