CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Handel Openshaw, of Over Darwen, in the
County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 16th September 1864, and dated the 16th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Handel Openshaw
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th March 1864.
I, GEORGE HANDEL OPENSHAW, of Over Darwen, in the County of Lan-
caster, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates, first, to that part of the power loom known as the
warp beam,"
," and is designed for the purpose of placing the required amount
of friction upon the beam without the use of weights as hitherto employed.
The improvements consist, first, in the application and use of a long
laminated or plate spring, (similar to a coach spring,) which is attached in
the form of an arch to a bar on the-framing of the loom immediately beneath
the beam, the ordinary ropes or bands which pass round each end of the warp
beam being attached by means of a screw and nut to the ends of the spring,
so that the usual weights are dispensed with, the tension on the warp being
regulated by the screw and nut.
A second part of the Invention relates to a novel means of imparting an
even tension to the warp as the healds rise and fall, and consists in the use of

page_text: 'an eccentric on the crank shaft, which is connected with arms carrying a rod
or bar on which the warp bears, so that as the eccentric rotates it causes the
rod to move to and fro, thereby giving an even tension to the yarn by taking
up the slack, and vice versâ, to compensate for the rise and fall of the healds.
I
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Handel Openshaw in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HANDEL OPENSHAW, of Over Darwen, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
.facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Handel Openshaw, Her special license that I, the said
George Handel Openshaw, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Handel Openshaw, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER LOOMS FOR WEAVING,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Handel Open-
shaw, my executors or administrators, by an instrument 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Handel Openshaw, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
66
My Invention relates, first, to that part of the power loom known as the
warp beam," and is designed for the purpose of placing the required amount
of friction upon the beam without the use of weights as hitherto employed.

page_text: The improvements consist, first, in the application and use of a long
laminated or plate spring, (similar to a coach spring,) which is attached in
the form of an arch' to a bar on the framing of the loom immediately beneath
the beam, the ordinary ropes or bands which pass round each end of the warp.
beam being attached by means of a screw and nut to the ends of the spring,
so that the usual weights are dispensed with, the tension on the warp being
regulated by the screw and nut.
A second part of the Invention relates to a novel means of imparting an
even tension to the warp as the healds rise and fall, and consists in the use of
an eccentric on the crank shaft, which is connected with arms carrying a rod
or bar on which the warp bears, so that as the eccentric rotates it causes the
rod to move to and fro, thereby giving an even tension to the yarn by taking
up the slack, and vice versa, to compensate for the rise and fall of the healds.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about three inches to the foot, having letters of reference marked upon corre-
sponding parts of the apparatus.
Fig. 1 represents that portion of a loom where the warp beam is situated, and
Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of a part of a loom, shewing the end of the
tension spring and apparatus for tightening or loosening it, and also the
eccentric on the crank shaft for equalizing the tension on the warp by com-
pensating for the rise and fall of the healds.
In Fig. 1, a, a, is the framing of the loom to which the laminated or plate
spring 6 is secured in the position and by the means shewn; c is the warp
beam, around the ends of which the rope or band d is coiled as usual, the
lower ends of which are connected to a screwed rod which passes through the
ends of the spring, and is tightened or slackened by means of the wheel nut d,.
the tension being entirely removed from the beam by disconnecting the spring
from the rope. In Fig. 2, e is the crank shaft, on which are the eccentrics
ff, which are encircled by clips g, g, carrying the arms h, h, whereby the
tension bar or rod i is supported. As the crank shaft rotates the eccentrics
cause the said bar to advance and retire, or rise and fall according to the rise
and fall of the healds, and by this compensating for the motion of the healds
is kept at a regular tension.
the warp
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim,-
First, the application and use of a laminated or plate spring (similar to a
coach spring) to looms for the purpose of regulating the tension of the warp.

page_text: And, secondly, I claim imparting a reciprocating or rise-and-fall movement
to the tension bar, over which the warp passes by means of eccentrics or their
mechanical equivalents on the crank shaft, so as to compensate for the action
of the healds and keep the warp at an even tension, as herein-before described,
set forth, and fully illustrated in. the Drawings attached....
In witness whereof, I, the said George Handel Openshaw, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GEORGE HANDEL OPENSHAW. (L.S.)
Witnessed by
JOHN L. DAVIES,
Office for Patents,
4, St. Ann's Sq.,
Manchester.