IMPROVE- MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Conlong at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 30th September 1879.
JAMES CONLONG, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
My Invention relates in the first place to certain improvements in the shedding
of the warps, and consists principally of improvements on Letters Patent granted
to William and Thomas Nuttall bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the
year One thousand eight hundred and seventy two, and numbered Four hundred
and eighty seven. In the said shedding apparatus an oscillating frame carried two
switches, which were controlled in their action by means of two pattern chains.
The principal object of the first part of my Invention is to simplify the construction
of the said shedding apparatus and to improve the action of the same; to this end
I employ only one pattern chain or equivalent apparatus, and I am enabled to
dispense with the springs formerly employed. I arrange the barrel or shaft of the
pattern chain to revolve in bearings fixed below the centre of oscillation of the
aforesaid oscillating frame, the said pattern chain as a consequence not partaking of
the motion of the said oscillating frame, which I consider an improvement. The
said barrel or shaft of the pattern chain is formed of cast iron, and preferably of a
hollow cylindrical form, having suitable concave recesses formed thereon to suit the
form of pattern chain employed, and by means of which the action of the pattern
chain with the switches is more readily and securely maintained. To each switch
I joint a pendant rod or part, which passes through a guide rail, bar, or part so
formed and arranged as that the lower ends of the two sets of levers or rods
connected with the two sets of switches are caused to converge to or about to a
point above the pattern-chain, shaft, or barrel so that the said pattern chain can act
upon both sets of levers or rods. When any of the said levers or rods is pushed
upwards by the pattern chain or barrel the connected switch is raised. When
permitted by the pattern-chain the switches fall or lower themselves by reason of
their gravity, assisted by the weight of the levers or rods connected therewith.
Although I am enabled to dispense with the use of springs I do not confine myself
to their non-employment, and if found to be advisable I may use springs of any
suitable form and construction. I sustain the outer end of the pattern-chain, shaft,
or barrel by means of a fixing or bracket secured to the loom side. The shedding
apparatus may be fixed to the loom side, but may be fixed underneath and at the
bottom of the loom if desired. Heavy goods can be woven more advantageously
with this form of apparatus than formerly, together with a greater range of

page_text: pattern. My Invention relates in the second place to means for securing the
chains in position on the chain pegs, and consists of improvements in the manner of
securing the same. In lieu of the employment of a pin bent or turned down at
each end thereof after insertion through the end of the said chain-peg, I prefer to
turn or form a groove or recess thereon to receive and keep in position a steel
spring washer having a part of its rim cut so as to allow of its expansion when
fixing the same in the said groove or recoss; the said washer may be cut to any
Buitable form, and is applicable for employment in all cases wherein the cottar-pin
has been previously employed. My Invention relates in the third place to
improved arrangements for locking the reed when the loom is in operation; to this
end I employ a shaft suitably formed in bearings at each end or side of the loom
and at the beam end thereof. On each end of this shaft is suitably fixed or formed
an oscillating lever, which is provided with a pully and stud at its upper end.
The lower end is connected by means of a second lever to the sley, from which
motion is imparted to the oscillating lever. I connect one or more levers or feclers,
according to the number of the said oscillating levers, to the rod carried by the
sley which is connected to the reed. When the sley is actuated the pully levers
oscillate in the aforesaid manner. The levers or feelers will then be brought
against the said levers by the action of the sley, and when they meet will securely
lock the reed. I am thus enabled by means of this arrangement to lock the reed
in a less time than formerly occupied. A remaining part of my Invention relates
to arrangements for raising, lowering, and locking the boxes of drop-box looms. To
this end I form or fix on a stud and to the the side of the loom a spur-wheel, which
gears with a pinion on the end of the crank shaft. I arrange a series of cams
corresponding to the number of the drop boxes; the cams are fixed on the boss of
the said spur wheel. A small pulley which is in contact with the periphery of the
cam is raised and lowered by the curved form of the periphery of the cam. The
said pully acts as a fulcrum for a long lever with which it is connected. One end
of the said lever oscillates on a stud fixed or formed to the side of the loom, and the
other end thereof is connected by a rod to a second lever and rod which effects the
rising, falling, and locking of the said boxes. At times it is required to chango the
cams so as to bring one or the other of the boxes in position. To effect this I
employ a particular form of pattern chain consisting of links of different forms.
The said chain is arranged to act upon a rod which is connected with the cams by
means of a bell crank lever, or may be otherwise suitably connected. At the time
of the changing of the cains the boxes will be held or locked by the said locking
arrangement, but when the pully and connected lever have been brought down by
the action of the curved recess on the periphery of the can the boxes will be
released in order to permit of their being raised and lowered.