IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hudson, of Burnley, in the County of
Lancaster, Gentleman, and Christopher Catlow, of the same Place,
Overlooker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING.”
Sealed the 23rd October 1863, and dated the 27th April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hudson and
Christopher Catlow at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 27th April 1863.
We, WILLIAM HUDSON, of Burnley, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman,
and CHRISTOPHER CATLOW, of the same Place, Overlooker, do hereby declaro
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING,"
to be as follows:-
Our Invention refers, firstly, to the motion for making the shed, and to that
arrangement thereof in which a revolving tappet is employed, acting at its
upper and lower sides upon rollers connected to the treadles.
According to our Invention we mount these rollers upon an arm through
which the tappet shaft passes, so as to act as a guide and support for it.
This arm is connected at its lower end to a treadle, which is thus caused to
vibrate in order to form the shed. As applied to the arrangement above
mentioned for making the shed, we cause one treadle to give motion to another
by jointing the two together.
Another improvement upon the said motion consists in mounting one or
both of the rollers acted upon by the tappets upon springs, so as to yield when
required

page_text: Another part of our Invention relates to the beating-up motion, and consists
in forming the connecting rod and slay as one rigid part, the latter being
jointed to the latho sword.
Another part of our Invention relates to the motion for taking up the work
or for letting off the warp. For this purpose we use a plain wheel and clip, or
friction surface, which is brought into action by a lever acting thereon within
the diameter of the work or warp beam.
Another part of our Invention relates to a method of regulating the tension of
the warp threads accordingly as they are required to be tightened or loosened
during the operation of weaving. For this purpose we cause a rod to bear
upon them about half way between the back beam and the healds, by preferenco
between the rods inserted in the warp. A method we adopt for bringing this
rod into action consists in causing it to be elevated or depressed by the direct
action of a cam or excentric placed upon the crank shaft, but we can also
employ a lever or lovers as intermediate apparatus between the said crank
shaft or other moving part and the rod. By this method of acting upon the
warp threads at the above-mentioned situation we are enabled to obtain more
effectually that which is tochnically called the covering of the cloth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hudson and Christopher Catlow in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 27th October 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HUDSON, of Burnley, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, and CHRIS-
TOPHER CATLOW, of the same Place, Overlooker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of ller reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, tho said
William Iudson and Christopher Catlow, Her special license, that we, the said
William IIudson and Christopher Catlow, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said William Hudson and Christopher Catlow,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any timo 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR

page_text: WEAVING," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said William
Hudson and Christopher Catlow, by an instrument in writing under our
bands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 Christopher Catlow, do hereby declare
the nature of our 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 :-
The first part of our Invention is shewn at Fig. 1, which represents the
shedding motion of a loom in side elevation, and Fig. 2 is an end view
thereof.
The tappet shaft is at a, passing though a slot formed in an arm b, which
carries at its upper end a roller c and beneath a roller d. Between these two
rollers and mounted upon the shaft a is a tappet e. The lower end of the
arm 6 is connected by a joint to a treadle f, capable of turning upon a fixed
centre at g. The other treadle h is mounted upon a fixed centre i, carried by
a bracket j, which extends from the framework, and is connected by means of
a pin and slot at k to the first-mentioned treadle f. These treadles are
connected to the healds in the usual manner. Supposing the tappet shaft to
be caused to revolve, the tappet e, moving in the direction of the arrow, will
clevate the roller c, and thus cause the arm 6 to slide upward, guided in its
course by the shaft a. This movement will cause the treadle f to turn
upward, which, acting by means of the pin and slot & upon the treadle h, will
effect its turning downward, and thus the shedding motion will be effected in
like manner; when the roller d is depressed the treadle f will bo turned down-
ward, and the other, shewn at h, upward.
The next part of our Invention is shewn at Fig. 8, which represents our
improved construction of beating-up motion.
The crank shaft is at me and the connecting rod at n. This rod, instead of
being jointed to the slay o, is fixed thereto rigidly, and the said slay is jointed at
p to the lathe sword q. When therefore the vibrating motion is communicated
by the crank the slay turns upon the centre p, as shewn by the dotted lines,
and thus the rigid connexion of the rod n to the slay is permitted.
The next part of our Invention is shewn at Fig. 4, which represents the
taking-up motion in side elevation, and Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the
driving parts.

page_text: The tappet shaft is at r, upon which is an excentrics, imparting a vibratory
motion to a lover t, which turns loosely upon an axis u. This lever has a
projecting part which carries a loose link w, furnished at its outward end
with a groove which clips the flange of a pulley, as shown at Fig. 5. Tho
construction of this clip, however, is well known, and forms therefore no
part of our Invention; we merely describe it to illustrate our improvement.
Upon the axis of the flanged pulley is a pinion y, which gives motion to the
work beam, through the medium of the train of gearing shewn by the pitch
lines in red colour. The lever t, as seen in Fig. 4, is in the middle of its
vibratory motion; supposing it to be moving in the direction of the arrow, then
the projecting part will carry the link w upward, and the clipping part
thereof will move free of the flange pulley ; but supposing it to move in the
other direction, then the projecting part v, turning downward, would cause the
clip w, as is well understood, to bind upon the flange of the pulley a, and offect
a turning thereof and consequently of the work beam z. At 1 is a rod
mounted at each side in a slot formed in the framework and bearing against
the work which passes also over it. To this rod is connected an arm 2
carrying at its outward end a rod 3 extending downward, and supporting at
bottom a collar 4 sliding upon the lever t, and to which collar the rod of the
excentrics is connected. As the work beam increases in diameter the collar 4 is
slidden downward, and less vibratory motion will bo communicated to the lever t
and clip w, consequently a diminished portion of a revolution of the work
beam will be effected. At 5 is a clip similar to that already referred to,
turning upon a fixed centre at 6, and connected at its other end to rod 8.
When tho flanged pulley is turned for taking up the work, as above described,
this clip will be turned upward upon its centro 6, but falls down again when
such taking-up has been effected, and binds upon the flanged pulley so as to
prevent it from turning backward while the clip w is returning to its acting
position. The rod 8 is connected to the weft motion as usual, so that the
clip 5 may be moved upward free of its binding position when the weft is
absent, and then the flanged pulley will move backward for every forward
motion that is communicated to it, so as not to impart any motion to the work
beam, as is well understood. Fig. 6 represents this part of our Invention as
applied to letting off the warp. Upon the warp beam is a flanged pulley 10,
acted upon by a clip and lever 11, 12, as described in reference to Fig. 4, a
vibratory motion being communicated to the lever 13 from a crank pin 14
capable of adjustment in a slot 15. The arrangement is supposed to be that
in common use, in which the warp beam is weighted so as to be drawn
forward. When the lever 18 vibrates in the direction of the arrow, then the

page_text: clip 11 will be moved upward free from its binding position, and the warp
beam will be at liberty to be turned by the weights, but when the said lever
turns in the opposite direction then the clip falls, and by clipping the flange
arrests the giving off of the warp. The vibratory motion of the lever 18 is
communicated through the medium of a sliding collar 16, as in the previous
instance, which collar is in this instance moved upward as the warp beam
decreases in size, so as to occasion a greater turning thereof by means of the
rod 17 resting against the warp and communicating motion to the collar 16
through the medium of levers 18, 19.
The next part of our Invention, and which relates to a method of regulating
the tension of the warp threads, is shewn at Figs. 7 and 8. At 20 is the
back beam, over which the warp threads pass, and from thence over and
above the usual rods 21, after which they pass to the healds in the ordinary
manner.
Now this part of our Invention consists in acting upon the warp threads so
as to tighten or loosen them by means of a rod bearing thereon about half
way, or substantially so, between the back beam and the healds, by which
arrangement we are enabled to obtain more effectually that effect which is tech-
nically called the covering of the cloth. By preference we act upon the threads
between the usual rods 21, and we have therefore so illustrated our Invention
in the Drawings. At 22 is a rod bearing against the threads and mounted
upon levers, one of which is shewn at 23. These levers are carried by a
bar 24, turn on axes provided with a lever 25, which rests upon an excentric 26
fixed upon the crank shaft. As this excentric therefore revolves, it alternately
raises and allows the lever 25 to fall, thus causing the rod 22 to tighten or
loosen the warp threads.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, we desire it to be understood
that we claim, as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,-
Firstly, in the arrangement described for making the shed, mounting the
rollers, upon which the tappet acts, upon an arm through which the tappet
shaft passes, and by which shaft the said arm is guided; also causing ono
treadle to act upon another by jointing the two together.
Secondly, in the beating-up motion forming the connecting rod and latho as
one rigid part.
Thirdly, as applied to taking-up motions acting by means of clips, as above
described, and also to similiar motions for letting off the warp, bringing such

page_text: clips into action by a lever situate within the diameter of the surface upon
which they act.
Fourthly, as applied to regulating the tension of the warp threads, causing
a rod to act upon them between the usual rods illustrated at 21 or at a
situation midway, or substantially so, between the back beam and the
healds.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Catlow, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
CHRISTOPHER CATLOW. (L.S.)