IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BOTTOMLEY, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of February,
in the twelfth year of Her reigu, did give and grant unto me, the said John
Bottomley, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her special license, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Bottomley, my exors,
admiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Bottomley, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso requiring that I, the said John Bottomley, shall
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Bottomley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are ascertained and
described by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the arrangement and construction of certain
apparatus and machinery applicable to power looms, to be employed in the
production of figured woven fabrics, and which improvements enable me to
effect a very considerable saving in the material used for producing the figure
or design upon such woven fabrics. It is well known that in the manufacture
of figured woven fabrics where the jacquard apparatus is employed in con-
nection with power looms, it is necessary to use a much greater quantity of
the figured material than is absolutely necessary to make the design, or will
appear on the face of the fabric when finished, and which is lost to sight by
incorporation in the fabric itself, or appears upon the back of the fabric, in
neither case contributing any thing to the appearance of the design or figure
upon the face of the fabric, and are therefore superfluous and waste.
By my improvements, as will be hereafter seen, a great part of the hitherto
superfluous or waste figure threads are rendered unnecessary for the pro-
duction of figures on fabrics woven by power looms, and consequently
considerable economy is effected in the figuring material.
I will now proceed to describe my improvements, which are illustrated by
the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 being a front elevation of a power loom to which
my improvements are applied; Fig. 2, an end elevation taken at the driving
or left-hand end; Fig. 3, a similar elevation taken at the opposite end; Fig. 4,
a section taken through the line 1, 2, Fig. 1, shewing more distinctly the
apparatus for traversing the tappet shaft; Figures 5, 6, 7, represent detached
parts drawn to an enlarged scale.
A, A, the framing of the loom; B, the crank shaft, upon the ends of
which are placed the ordinary fast and loose pullies C, C¹; D, the fly-
wheel; and E, crank for working the jacquard apparatus, which is placed
upon the top of the loom at F in the ordinary manner, as is well known,
and is likewise of the usual construction; the fly-board I and shuttle boxes
H, H 1, are also of the ordinary construction, modified only so far as to
adapt them to the purposes of my improvements. In addition to the ordinary
shuttle carrying the ordinary weft through the shed from one to the other
of the shuttle boxes, and which forms the plain or unfigured portions of the
fabric in the usual manner, I employ several smaller shuttles or shuttle

page_text: apparatus which are thrown through a portion only of the shed of the extent
of the design or figure required; these are placed above the warp, and are
attached to the slay in the following manner, which will be better understood
by reference to the detached Figures; Fig. 5 being a front elevation; Fig. 6,
a plan; and Fig. 7, a side elevation of two of these shuttle apparatus. The
upper ends of the swords project upwards some distance above the slay, and to
them is attached the back plate or piece I, and to these are fixed the pro-
jecting pieces 1', I", which are provided with slots in a vertical direction, and
they serve as guides for the ends of the traversing bar or plate L during its up
and down motion. This traversing bar is likewise capable of being moved in
the grooves in the direction of its length, that is, transversely of the loom,
for the purpose of shifting and altering the situation of the shuttle apparatus.
To the lower point of the traversing bar L is attached a series of shuttle boxes
or guides. 0, 0, 0,. a short distance asunder; the number of these is such, that
combined they extend over the whole width of the fabric manufactured, or
such portion of it only as is required to be figured and in such manner that
the figure or design to be produced shall be produced in the interval of space
between the boxes or guides. Each of the boxes or guides is likewise pro-
vided with two small toothed pinions N,. N, the pins or studs upon which they
rotate being secured to the traversing bar L; the teeth of the rack M,
into the teeth of pinions N, N, and the rack M traverses upon the traversing
bar L in manner as will be herein-after described; the shuttles P, P, P, which
carry the bobbins of the figuring threads, are likewise provided with teeth
gearing into the teeth of the pinions N, N, and are by their action traversed
from one shuttle box or guide to another, and back again.
gear
The number of tecth upon the shuttles p, p, is such that, in passing from
one shuttle box to another, the teeth shall come into gear with the pinion upon
the shuttle box into which the shuttle is arriving before they entirely leave the
teeth of the pinion upon the shuttle box it is leaving, in order fully to ensure
the passage of the shuttle. The figured design upon the fabric represented
in Fig. 1 is supposed to be produced upon the fabric alternately in two
alternating parallel lines, the traversing bar L carrying with it the shuttle
apparatus, being shifted forward and backward alternately to produce the
figures required in the two alternating scries of lines by the action of the
jacquard apparatus through the two lines or cords Q; Q, the one Q when moved
by the jacquard apparatus traversing the bar in one direction, and the other Q'
in the other direction at the proper time, thus shifting and moving the shuttle
apparatus to the situation requisite for producing the figure at the proper
place. When the traversing bar L has been moved it becomes necessary to

page_text: secure its position there, and this is done by the locking apparatus, which
consists of a rod or shaft R attached to the traversing bar, and moving
vertically with it but not in a horizontal direction; the ends are provided
with friction pullies bearing against the sides of the guides I', I"; upon the
rod is fixed the lever a, which, when the traversing bar is to be locked, falls
into one of the two notches a', a', (as the case may be) of the plate attached
to the traversing bar, and thereby prevents it from moving horizontally. It is
necessary when traversing the bar L that it should be done without disturbing
the relative position of the rack M which is attached to it. This is effected
by the peculiar arranged lever S fixed to the rod R, which upon being lifted
lifts the spring lever T off the pin C fixed to the rack M, and thus allows
the traversing bar L to be traversed; the teeth or serrations upon the lever S,
when that lever is raised, take hold of the spring lever T, and prevent it from
altering its situation during the traversing of the bar L. The levers S and A
are raised at the proper time, that is, after one series of figures have been
woven, and before the commencement of another series by means of the
jacquard cord or line 6, which communicates between the jacquard and the
lever a. The levers A and S are allowed to drop, the former into the other
locking notch, and the latter carrying with it the spring lever T allows the
looped-end-of-that-lever to pass on to the other pin or shed c.
The spring
lever T is for the purpose of stopping the movements of the loom whenever
the small shuttles P, P, fail to complete their course or traverse from one
shuttle box or guide to another. The loop of the spring lever T passing over
one of the pins or studs C, C, causes the lever to be vibrated backwards and
forwards, the pin or stud upon which it moves being fixed to the lathe. The
lower part of the lever is double-ended, as shown, the ends of which as the
lever is vibrated bear against the upper side of a flat spring, which it thus presses
down. This spring presses upwards a lever fixed upon the ends of the rod c",
which thereby falls when the spring is depressed, and allows the slay to beat
up by the slay passing over the lever; upon the other end of the rod c
another and similar lever is fixed acting against the slay in a similar manner;
upon this lever rests the lever C, the fulcrum of which is affixed to the
lathe; the other end of the lever moves a vertical sliding piece, the lower.
end of which, should it not be lifted, would strike against a projection from
the frog of the loom, but if raised passes over it. Should the small shuttles
therefore duly perform their traverse the levers upon the rod c" will be
depressed, and the vertical sliding picce will be elevated, thereby allowing
the slay to beat up without obstruction; but should the small shuttles not
complete their traverse from one shuttle box to another, then these parts will

page_text: fail to be moved, and consequently the slay in beating up will come in contact
with the ends of the levers, and the vertical sliding piece will strike against
the projection from the frog, and thus suddenly stop the movements of the
loom. There is also a handle caffixed to the rod c", by which the loom
can at any time be suddenly stopped by hand as required. The shuttles
P. p, p, are thrown from one to another of the shuttle boxes or guides 0, 0, 0,
by the following means:-Upon the rack M are placed the two studs or pins
d, d, and over one of these the looped end of the spring lever U passes when
the traversing bar L is at one end of its traverse, and one series of figures are
being woven; but upon the traverse of the bar L taking place, then the
looped end of the spring lever is passed over the other stud thus:-Upon
the rod or shaft R is fixed the broad lever v, which bears against the back
of the spring lever U, so that when the shaft or rod is moved by the raising
of the lever a by the jacquard apparatus, the lever V pushes the looped end of
the spring lever U off one of the studs d on which it may be, and when the
traverse or the bar L shall have been effected, then upon the descent of
the lever V the looped end of the spring lever U falls over the other pin d,
though. the position of the lever U has not been changed. It becomes
necessary when the shuttles are to be thrown that the whole of the shuttle
apparatus should be made to descend, in order that the shuttles in passing
from one shuttle box to another should pass through the shed formed by the
warp threads, and this is effected by the following means:-To each end of
the traversing bar L are secured the rods or chains e, e; they pass upwards,
and are attached by the other ends to the levers f,f, the other ends of these
levers being connected together, and are also connected by the jacquard cords
ff, to the jacquard apparatus; a spring 9 also connects these levers to the
fly-board I. To the chains or rods e, e, are attached the chains h, h, which
passing over the pullies h', h, suspending the balance weight h". The object
of this is to balance the weight of the traversing bar L and the attached
shuttle apparatus, thereby enabling them to be elevated and depressed when
required by the jacquard apparatus with facility. The upper end of the
spring lever U is connected by the straps U', U', to the picking segments
U", U", and these last by the rods U, U, with the tappet levers
WW", the bowls or friction pullies upon which being acted upon by the
tappets upon the tappet wheels W', W', effecting thro' the before described
apparatus the throwing of the shuttles P, P. To each of the tappet levers
V, VI, there are double tappet wheels W₁, W; all of these tappet wheels are
fixed upon the tappet shaft W; by the traversing of this shaft either the one
or the other of the tappets is brought to act upon the tappet levers as

page_text: required; upon the tappet shaft are likewise fixed the tappet wheels V", V",
which effect through the tappet levers V, V, the throw of the ordinary
shuttle through the shed in the usual manner. The object of traversing the
tappet shaft W at the proper time is to change the tappet wheels acting upon
the tappet levers, so as to effect the proper movement of the shuttles.
The mode by which I effect the required traverse of the tappet shaft is as
follows:-Upon the crank shaft B is fixed the cam 7, and to the framing of the
loom is jointed the hanging lever 1, in such a manner that a bowl or friction
pulley upon the lever can be brought against the face of the cam. The
lower end of this lever bears against the curved end of the fork or clutch lever
7, the fork of which passes between collars upon the tappet shaft. The other
end of the forked lever passes through a bush, so as to allow the lever being
moved in a horizontal direction; and this horizontal movement is effected
in one direction by a strap passing partially around the pulley m, and then
upwards to the jacquard apparatus, by which its movement is regulated. The
other and backward movement of the forked or clutch lever is effected
by a projecting pin or stud upon the back of the cam 1, which, upon the
continued revolution of the crank shaft, strikes against the vertical arm of the
forked or clutch lever, and so moves it backwards. The action of this apparatus
is as follows:-When it is necessary to traverse the tappet shaft in the
direction of the arrow, the jacquard apparatus, by means of the cord-and-strap
before named, draws the clutch lever outwards, and this movement presses the
hanging lever against the face of the cam. The continued revolution of
the crank shaft causes the cam to act against the lever, and this pressing
against the clutch lever traverses the tappet shaft as required; and then the
continued revolution of the crank shaft, by means of the pin or stud projecting
from its back, brings all the levers back to their original positions; but the
tappet shaft is prevented from returning by the locking lever m', which, so
soon as the traverse has been effected, falls behind the collar m" upon the tappet
shaft; this prevents it from returning until the backward traverse is required,
when the jacquard apparatus, by means of the cord m, lefts the locking
lever m', and the tappet shaft is then immediately brought back by the clutch
lever n and spring n³.
I will now proceed to describe the action of my improved apparatus. The
loom, as shown in the accompany Drawings, is supposed to be arranged and
adjusted for weaving the plain portions of fabrics, that is, the part in which no
figures or designs occur, and to this end the ordinary shuttles only are thrown,
all the figuring apparatus being out of action. The tappet levers V, VI, which
throw the ordinary shuttles are moved in the usual manner; but as the tappet

page_text: shaft W makes but one revolution while the crank shaft makes four, it
becomes necessary to have two tappets upon the wheel to effect the necessary
movements of the shuttles; and the tappet levers W", W", which actuate
the figuring shuttles bear against the tappet wheels not provided with cams
or tappets, and therefore no movement is communicated to the shuttles;
but when the figures are required to be given to the fabric, the jacquard
apparatus causes the tappet shaft to be traversed, by which the tappet
levers are actuated by the other tappet wheels; and the tappets upon these
wheels are such that, although the crank shaft is going at the same speed, the
number of picks of the ordinary shuttles are reduced to one half the number in
any specified interval of time. In consequence of these ordinary picks now
alternating with the picking of the figuring shuttles, there is only one tappet now
in action, instead of two as before; but the tappet wheels W', W', actuating the
tappet levers W, W", having tappets upon them, cause the figuring shuttles
to be thrown so soon as the tappet shaft is traversed. The jacquard apparatus
likewise effects the necessary depression and elevation of the traversing bar L
and all the other necessary movements of the apparatus, and at the termi-
nation of one series of figures the jacquard apparatus affects the necessary
re-arrangement and re-adjustment of the parts preparatory to another series of
figures being produced, as has been before described.
Although I have herein-before described the production of a certain design
or figure, still I do not confine myself thereto, as other descriptions of designs
may be produced with equal facility, as, for example, continuous unbroken
figures, in parellel, straight, or curved or waived lines.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention, and the
mode of carrying the same into effect, I desire it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details or arrangements of machinery herein-
before described or shewn, as minor modifications thereof may be made without
deviating from the principle of my Invention.
I claim the combination and application of machinery and apparatus for
producing figures upon woven fabrics by means of the power loom, in the
manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bottomley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
JOHN (L.s.) BOTTOMLEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Jolin Bottomley came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.