IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake
"
& Co, Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING communicated to him from
abroad by William Brown and Thomas Lang both of West Point, Georgia,
United States of America, Gentlemen.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th November 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, 'London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
communicated to me from abroad by William Brown, and Thomas Lang, both of
West Point, Georgia, United States of America, Gentlemen
This invention relates to looms provided with lease rods which either reciprocate
or oscillate in a horizontal or nearly horizontal plane, and by such back and forward
movement are caused to traverse against the warp-threads in the direction of the
warp, simultaneously with the movements of the lathe, and thereby smooth, and
remove knots and kinks and other imperfections and irregularities from the said
threads; also separate the said threads and partly open the sheds of the warp, and
otherwise so operate upon the warp-threads and sheds of the warp as to prevent
the threads from clinging to or hanging back, upon the lease rods, avoid faulty or
imperfect weaving, facilitate the weaving operation, and increase the production by
the loom.
The said invention consists partly in providing a loom with lease-rods moving
forward and backward, horizontally, or nearly so; also in mechanism for auto-
matically oscillating or reciprocating the lease-rods simultaneously with the.
movement of the lathe; also in making the couplers or clamps of the lease rods
to rock on their levers or supports; and also in certain constructions and
combinations of parts as hereinafter described.
The use of oscillating or reciprocating lease rods is very desirable, and in looms
where the rods are not constructed to oscillate, it is customary to apply them in a
stationary manner by securing them with a leather band fastened to the cross beam

page_text: or whip roll behind the loom; or in other words, the end couplers or clamps of the
lease rods are fastened in place by cords or leather bands instead of being mounted
upon oscillating levers, or supported by other accommodating supports.
Lease rods when stationarily applied offer great resistance to the warp threads,
on account of the knots, swells and the like imperfections of the threads hanging
upon the rods during the weaving operation; but by making the lease rods
movable in the manner herein described, the draft of the said threads is eased, the
sheds partly opened, and the passage of the aforesaid knots and swells of the
threads over the rods facilitated; thus the loop can be operated more rapidly and
without dragging or danger of breaking the warp threads; and more work, as well
as more compact and better weaving can be done with the loom in a given time
than with a loom having the stationary lease rods above referred to.
In looms wherein vibrating lease rods or bars have been employed prior to this
invention, the operation and purpose of such rods or bars has been essentially
different from the horizontally, or nearly so, moving lease rods, The ordinary
vibrating lease rods or bars having simply an up and down movement or up and
down movements simultaneously with the heddles or harness of the loom for the
purpose of relieving the friction of the warp threats upon the harness, while the
movable lease rods separate the warp threads and traverse them horizontally or
nearly so, back and forth in the direction of the warp for the useful purposes
hereinbefore mentioned.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a loom with the improved lease
rods applied thereto
Figure 2 is a top view of a portion of a loom provided with this invention
Figure 3 is a diagram of the main working portions and the warp, the position
of the said portions being the same as in Figure 1, but the sheds of the warp being
in reversed position,
Figure 4 is a diagram showing the lathe and lease rods in their most advanced
position and the shed closed previous to reversal.
Figure 5 is a vertical section through one of the lease rod clamps and the upper
portion of one of the supporting and operating levers.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the two couplers or clamps their supports, and
the lease rods detached the couplers or clamps being shown slightly raised above
the bases upon which they rest and rock whenever in proper position; and.
Figure 7 is a plan shewing the lease rod couplers or clamps attached to springs
on brackets of the loom frame, and to brackets on the lathe, thus dispensing with
the vibrating levers.
A indicates a lever frame; B the lathe; C the operating crank shaft; D D¹ the
lease rods; E E the lease rod carrying-levers; and X the warp.
The parts just named excepting the lease rods and lease rod levers with couplers
or clamps and connecting devices, may be of any suitable construction and adapted
for any style of weaving, and individually form no part of this invention.
The lathe B is connected with the cranks c by means of ordinary connecting
rods band with the lease rod levers by means of suitable connecting rods d
The lease rod levers E are suitably pivotted to the frame at e. Their top portions
are reduced so as to form a rounded or other suitably shaped shoulder as at e¹, and
to these reduced portions the lease rod clamps or couplers F are secured by means
of oblong slots f¹, allowing the couplers or clamps to rock longitudinally in vertical
planes on their supports, and thus permitting the lease rods D D' to rock and
accommodate themselves to the position of the warp while the levers E are moving
backward and forward
:
The lease rods D D' are secured to the clamps by being properly fitted into
them. The half shed a¹ of the warp passes over the lease rod D and under the
lease rod D¹, and the half shed a passes under the lease rod D and over the lease
rod D¹, and the warp at one end and the finished fabric at the other end are
secured in. position and fed along in the usual way.

page_text: With apparatus constructed according to this invention upon a loom the
operation is as follows, that is to say;-After the loom is provided in the usual
manner with the warp, the lease rods having been withdrawn from the couplers or
clamps, are reinserted in the following way: the back heddle is raised and the
back lease rod is inserted between the warp; the back heddle is now let down,
and the front beddle is raised whereupon the front lease rod is inserted between
the crossed warp. The clamps or couplers F are then by means of horizontal
oblong holes f, formed in them as shown, attached to the ends of the lease rods and
finally by means of the oblong vertical slots f¹ also formed in the couplers or
clamps, are passed down over and thereby connected to the top portions of the
levers E; resting down upon the curved shoulders e¹ of said levers so as to rock
thereon as occasion requires.
In the operation of the loom thus constructed, the lathe moves forward and
backwards, as do also the lease rods; the stroke of the latter being by preference
of less length than that of the lathe, and while the movements of the lease rods
are proceeding the rods with couplers accommodate themselves to the position of
the warp notwithstanding that the levers move backward and forward on fixed
axes of the loom frame. By means of the construction and combination of parts as
herein described and shown, the lease rods are caused to pass so effectively over
and in contact with all portions of the warp threads, as to smooth all rough places,
such as knots and swells, preparatory to their passage through the heddles,
whereby the warp threads are prevented from hanging to the lease rods and to the
heddles, and breaking in consequence thereof
By means of the back stroke of the lease rods every separate warp thread is
combed backward; and if in passing through the heddles, or through the reeds in
the lathe, any of the above described inequalities of the warp threads should cause
such thread or threads to become stretched, the said back stroke of the lease rods,
together with the friction of the warp threads and lease rods serves to again
equalize or reestablish the proper tension of those threads. Any imperfection in
the warp such as "twisted half beers" " 'spoolers knots" "leaf" "cross threads in
heddling" "improperly sized warps" and the like, will cause the warp to cling
behind the ordinary lease rods, causing breakage of warp threads, loss of time and
damaged places in the fabric. These difficulties are overcome by means of the
horizontally, or nearly so, moving lease rods by which the warp is gently opened
before entering the heddles, and all clinging to or behind the rods is prevented.
Thus the loom is not only enabled to produce a more perfect quality of fabric, but
it can also be rendered more productive by running it faster the increased speeding
not endangering the fabric.
Other modes analogous to the one shown and described, might be adopted for
giving movement to the lease rods, according to the requirements of the different
styles of looms to which they are applied. For instance the movement might be
a straight reciprocating, instead of a curved vibrating, or oscillatory one. Again,
the couplers or clamps of the lease rods might be connected at one of their ends, as
in Figure 7, to spiral springs K fastened to brackets k of the loom frame, and by
their other ends to brackets of the lathe B; and the levers E, E, thus be dis-
pensed with. And the connectious k² between the lathe and couplers or clamps
may be cords or straps. In this construction the springs serve for producing the
back movement of the lease rods. Also more than two lease rods might be used,
and the lease rods might be moved by eccentrics fixed upon the tappet shaft, such
eccentrics being connected by straps to suitable lease rod levers. It has however
been found that the construction shown in Figures 1 to 6 of the drawing is the
best, and most preferable.
---
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I Claim :-
First. A loom provided with horizontally, or nearly so, moving lease rods, the

page_text: said rods having a forward and backward motion, substantially as, and for the
purpose, described.
Second. The lease rods, their couplers or clamps, and the levers supporting the
same having a forward and backward motion, horizontally or nearly so, in the
direction of the warp, simultaneously with the motion of the lathe, substantially
as, and for the purpose, described.
Third. The couplers or clamps of the lease rods having a vertically rocking
motion on the levers and a forward and backward motion with the levers,
substantially as, and for the purpose described.
Fourth. The combination of the lathe B, the connecting rods d, the levers E
provided with couplers or clamps F, and the lease rods D D which are removable
end wise from their couplers or clamps, substantially as, and for the purpose,
described.
Fifth. The lease rod levers E E having reduced top portions and shoulders c¹, in
combination with the lease rod couplers or clamps F, F having slots ƒ¹, substantially
as, and for the purpose, described
Sixth. The combination of horizontally (or nearly so) movable lease rods, and a
lathe of a loom, substantially as, and for the purpose, described,
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Thirteenth day of November in the year of Our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
XXXX TAR