AN IMPROVED POWER LOOM FOR THE WEAVING OF SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, FLAX, AND HEMP, AND ALL MIXTURES THEREOF
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
HARVEY SADLER, of Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the 31st day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-five, in the sixth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Harvey Sadler, His especial
licence that I, the said John Harvey Sadler, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Harvey Sadler, my exors, admors, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in His said Majesty's Colonics
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED POWER LOOM FOR THE
WEAVING OF SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, FLAX, AND HEMP, AND ALL MIXTURES
THEREOF;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said John Harvey Sadler, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the samo is to be performed, and to cause the same
be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Harvey Sadler, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be built, constructed, formed,
and carried into effect, is herein-after particularly set forth and described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, that is to say -
My aforesaid Invention applies to all the various constructions of simple
looms at present in use, with very little variation in the form, construction,
proportions, or mode of fixing and arranging the same; and consequently, inas-
much as it becomes necessary to describe several parts of a common loom
in order to render my Invention intelligible I shall do so in the first instance,
and explain how such loom is to be worked by the application of my afore-
said Invention and contrivances, and I shall afterwards enumerate and
describe such parts and things or combinations of machinery as do constitute
my aforesaid Invention, and in which I claim an exclusive right and privilege
by virtue of my aforesaid herein before in part recited Letters Patent.
In the annexed Drawings Fig. 1 represents a side view, Fig. 2a front
view, and Fig. 3 a top view or plan of a weaving loom having my aforesaid
Invention or improvement applied to it for plain or simple weaving, and the
other Figures represent parts of the same in a detached state, that their form
and construction may be more distinctly seen, or the same or other parts
differently disposed, for the purpose of other or more complex processes of
_weaving;.and.the-same-letters of-references-are-used-throughout all the Figures 1
to denote the same parts whenever a repetition of them occurs. First of the
simple looma, a, is a revolving shaft, which I call the primary shaft, made of
iron or other proper material, turning in bearings at its two ends, which bearings
are supported in or upon the two top rails of the loom about the situation
shown in Figures 1 and 3, in such manner that the said primary shaft a, a,
may be parallel or nearly so to the breast and warp rolls, and other transverse
parts of the loom. To this shaft the power of first motion intended to work
the loom is to be applied through the medium of an ordinary clutch box in
such way that it may cause it to revolve with any required speed according to
the nature and fineness of the work, but in general from twenty to forty
revolutions in a minute will be found sufficient. This primary shaft carries
round with it the several parts or pieces shewn upon it, more particularly in
Fig. III., all of which are cast upon the shaft, or so fixed to it as to
compel them to revolve with it, and at the same time to preserve their relative

page_text: are
positions with respect to each other, viz., two projecting arms carrying friction
rollers, such arms. being placed opposite to each other,. or projecting from
opposite sides of the said shaft, so that when one roller is downwards the other
may be upwards, as at b, b. Secondly, two snails, or screw-like wheels or
cams c, c, the one being a right-hand and the other a left-hand screw, the
acting faces of which turn inwards, and the steps or jumps in which are
diametrically opposite to each other, and so placed upon the shaft that they
may form an angle of about 45 degrees with the direction of the aforesaid
armis and friction rollers b, b, in a manner more distinctly shewn at Fig. IV.,
which end views of the said shaft with its cams and lifters or wipers to
shew their relative positions of acting with respect to each other.
On or
near the centre of the said shaft a, a, is a fifth cam or wiper, having an arm
or projection from each side of the said shaft, as seen at d in Figs. 3 and 4,
such arms being directly opposite to each other. This central cam or wiper
works or operates upon the batten and lay while the two end friction
rollers b, b, raise and depress the lams or heddles, and the two snail wheels
wind up and discharge the drivers of the shuttle for plain weaving in the
following manner:-Two levers e, e, Figs. III. and IV., turning in pivots
(ff), are so placed that one end of each lever comes nearly under the shaft
a, a, at the place where the arms and friction rollers b, b, are placed, so that
as the shaft revolves the ends of these levers are despressed and their opposite
ends elevated, and to each of these ends a wire or line g, Figs. 1 and II., is
attached, and passes down perpendicularly to the lever or series of levers h, h
turning on pivots i, i, and to the opposite ends of these levers the lower shafts
of the heddles are attached by loops or straps, one heddle being attached to
each lever. The heddles are suspended by cords from the jacks or cross levers
fixed near the top of the loom, as at j, Fig. I. and II., or over a pulley, and
the suspending lines are crossed, that is to say, if the left-hand suspending line
of the front heddle is tied to the left-hand end of the front cross lever, the
right-hand line of the same heddle is tied to the right-hand end of the second
instead of the first lever, while the right-hand line of the second heddle is
attached to the right-hand end of the front cross lever, and the left-hand line
of the second heddle to the left-hand end of the second lever, or in any of the
usual and accustomed modes of suspending the harness of looms, so that the
lams or beddles may act on each other in such manner that whenever either
of the heddles is drawn downwards the next beyond it must be raised upwards,
and vice versa. The heddles are both kept tight and in their places by.
weights hung to them. as usual, or by spiral springs applied as at k, k, in
Figs. I and II., which I prefer. Whenever, therefore, one, of the levers e, e,

page_text: is depressed by its corresponding friction roller b, it will bring down its cor-
responding or attached heddle or heddles, and raise others, which will after-
wards be brought down in like manner by their corresponding friction roller,
and thus it will appear that every revolution of the primary shaft a, a, will
open two sheds in the warp for the passage of two shoots of weft. The front
part of the batten is constructed in very nearly the same form as that in
ordinary use, and it carries the same lay, slay and reeds, and it hangs as usual
from the upper part of the loom, but I attach a supplemental part behind it to
give it greater strength and weight in the rear, as seen in profile in Fig. I.,
where 1, l, m, indicato my improved batten. 1, 1, is the ordinary batten,
hanging by two swords, and turning on a hinge or pivot n on each side, the
sley being fixed in the lay at the bottom as usual. m, m, is a piece of frame-
work morticed into the top rail or rocking tree of the batten nearly at
right angles to its plane; and this framework, which is better seen at m, m, in
the Plan Fig. III. may be weighted to any extent that may be found necessary
to make the sley give a sufficient blow to drive the shoot home. 0, 0, Fig.I.,
are two oblique braces for the more effectually uniting the ordinary batten to
the horizontal framework, and for adding strength and weight to the whole;
from the greater weight of this compound batten being behind its pivots of
suspension, it will, whenever it is at liberty, remain up or home in the work.
In order to withdraw or move back the batten, I use the lever p, Figs. III.
and IV. turning on the pivot or center q. One end of this lever lies under
the central cam or wiper d of the primary shaft a, a, and the other end of this
lever is attached by a connecting link and joints to the hinder part of the
horizontal frame of the batten m. As the shaft a, a, revolves once round each
of the cams or drivers d will in its turn depress the end p of the lever p, q,
which will thus, by its connection to the batten, draw the same twice backwards
for the passage of the shuttle, and afterwards release it and permit it to make
two blows upon the work. The holes shewn in this lever in Fig. IV. are for
hanging on a weight or weights to decrease the blow of the batten, while, if a s
weight is hung at S, it will increase it so that it may be regulated at pleasure.
It now only remains for me to show how the shuttle is made to throw two
shoots for each revolution of the primary shaft, and the operation of plain or
simple weaving will be compleat. The race rod, boxes, drivers, and other
parts for discharging and guiding the shuttle are fixed precisely in the usual ways
in which they are constructed for flying shuttles; but the driving rods operating
to drive the shuttle are differently disposed and worked, as will appear by the
Drawings. t,, Figs. I. and II. are such driving rods, which are made of wood
for lightness, and move upon hinges or pivots u, v, at their upper ends, which

page_text: pivots are universal joints, and admit of a back and forward motion as well as
a lateral onc.
These joints are supported by the cast-iron or other metal
cocks u, u.
These driving rods are drawn inwards by the spiral or other
spring w, which needs no central attachment, but is fastened at its two ends to
the lovers x, x, as is best seen in Fig. III. This spring must be of a strength
or power proportionate to the weight of the shuttle and the width of the work
it has to traverse. These driving rods are operated upon and worked by the
the two snail wheels or cams c, c, on the primary shaft a, a, through the inter-
vention of the levers y, y, Figs. III., and which levers for this purpose act
horizontally, and have friction rollers upon their ends next to the snail wheels,
as shewn at 2. Thus, if the spring w has drawn the driving rod inwards to
its full extent, as best scen in Fig. II., by which the shuttlo has been thrown,
the levers will stand in the position shewn at x, y, in Fig. 11I.; the screw wheel
or cam, by revolving with the primary shaft a, a, will, however, in the course of
half its revolution, have moved the end y of the lever into the position shewn
by the dotted lines at 1, Fig. 3; consequently, the driving rod will have
been gradually removed backwards in opposition to the force of the spring till
at length the drop or fall in the snail c passing the end 2 of the lever y will
suddenly discharge it, and it will fall towards the center of the said snail or
cam by which the driving rod will be suddenly discharged inwards, and being
attached to the ordinary shuttle driver 15 by a thong of leather, gut, cord, or
other proper material, will force the shuttle thro' the shed of the work. The
drops in the two snail wheels c, c, being diametrically opposite to each other,
nd the last half of the snail wheel being flat or without inclination, it follows
that at the moment when either of the driving rods is discharged the
other will be fully wound up for action, but held in its place till wanted, and
vice versa; consequently two shoots of the shuttle will take place, as before
stated, for every single revolution of the primary shaft a, a. It may happen
occasionally that the shuttle will not make its entire traverse
but may stop in the middle or some other part of the warp; and in this case,
if the batten were to make its blow very serious injury might be done to the
work or to the reed, and it therefore becomes necessary to have some means of
stopping the work of the loom, and particularly the stroke of the batten,
whenever such an accident may take place, and this I effect in the following
manner:-3, 3, in Fig. V., represents a transverse section of the lay of my
batten immediately under the race rod. In this place I introduce two similar
slight iron levers 4, 4, turning upon the pivots or fulcrums 5, and being formed
as shewn in the said Figure, the extreme or outward ends being bent a little
upwards into the form of a gently inclined planes, while their central or
thro' the work,

page_text: inner ends cross and overlap each other in the eye or mortice formed in the
upper part of the vertical iron bolt 29, which, by its own weight, descends and
projects a short distance below the under side of the lay: Immediately under-
neath the lay, and within reach of the said vertical bolt, is placed a flat bar or
piece of wood 6, Fig. V., seen also at 6, in Fig. I. & III. This flat bar turns
on a pivot or screw, by which it is held down at one of its ends to the rail 7 of
the frame of the loom, while its opposite end slides horizontally on the other
side rail, and to prevent friction is equipped with a small friction roller 8, and
is restrained from moving too far by the metal guide 9. . To the end-8, imme-
diately beyond the said friction roller, a gut or string is attached, which, passing
over the horizontal pulley 10, is connected to the lower end of the vertical
lever 11, turning on a center or fulcrum at 12; and the upper end of this
lever is connected to one end of the horizontal lever 13, turning on a center or
fulcrum at 14, while its opposite end operates upon the clutch box, which
engages or disengages the primary shaft a, a, with the driving power or
machinery. Whenever the lay of the batten strikes forward with the small
bolt 29 hanging down, that bolt will engage with the-flat-bar 6,- and bring it
forward with it, so that the levers 11 and 13 must be operated upon, and the
working power will be disengaged or thrown out of gear, by which the whole
work of the loom will instantly stop; but if by any means the small bolt 29 is
drawn upwards so as not to project below the lay the lay will move forwards
without engaging with the flat bar, and as long as this is the case the loom will
work without interruption. To so withdraw this bolt as aforesaid, each driver
15 of the shuttle (otherwise formed in the ordinary way) has a tailor
projection underneath it sliding in a groove in the bottom of its box imme-
diately over the said two levers in such manner that if the driver is driven
home by the shuttle to the extreme end of its box it will pass over the inclined
plane of the lever, and being itself prevented from rising by its guide rod or
wire 16, it will depress that end of the lever, and thereby clevate the opposite
end and with it the vertical bolt 29, and thus prevent its engaging with the
flat bar. The lever coloured red in Fig. V. shows the position of such levers
when the bolt 29 is down. "This same effect will take place at either end of
the race, and thus whenever the shuttle is thrown home the vertical bolt will
be withdrawn, and' the loom will continue to work; but should the shuttle
make a short stroke the driver will not come in contact with the inclined
plane of either lever, consequently the bolt will remain projecting downwards
and stop the work of the loom.
The above-described loom will weave all descriptions of plain work of
every kind; but in more complex weaving, such as sattins, twills, velvets,

page_text: and the like, a greater number of treddles will be required, . and. 'my
machinery therefore requires certain additions and alterations, but they do
not go to affect the loom itself, as that will answer for all the said pur-
poses, the only difference being in the number and working of the heddles
or lams. Thus, for example, in .sattin weaving, which requires .10 lams.or
heddles rising two at a time, while..no corresponding ones are depressed, a
different arrangement becomes necessary for such lams or heddles as well as
in the levers or tredles for working them, and this. I bring about as follows:-
In the first place, the two heddle.levers.e, e, must be taken out of the loom as
the two arms, and friction rollers b, b, now become unnecessary; one end of
the primary shaft a, a, must also be equipped with a spur cog or toothed wheel
20, see Fig. VI., working into another spur cog wheel 21 on an additional
shaft, which must now be introduced into the machine as at 22, and this,
which I call the secondary shaft, is for the purpose of carrying a set
of wipers to operate upon the levers for working the lams or heddles,
consequently the number of wipers or projections must correspond with the
description and quality of the work to be produced, as must also the diameter
of the cog wheel 20, in order that this secondary shaft may move with its
proper velocity with respect to the primary shaft which still works the batten
and driver rods in the manner herein-before described for plain or simple
weaving. For weaving sattin. fine wipers or projections are necessary on the
secondary shaft, and they stand radiantly round it by the side of each other,
and have their points at equal distances so as to form a star-like appearance
when viewed from the end of the shaft, as shewn.at 28.
These wipers act in
succession on 5 levers 24, placed immediately underneath them, and turning
on centres at 25. The opposite end of these levers are connected by tyes or
lines or wires to the 10 jacks or levers, also placed side by side and parallel to
each other across the front part of the loom, as seen at 26, in Fig. 5. Two
of the lower jacks or levers are tied or connected to each of the 5 upper levers,
or they may be tied in any way to suit the work. The opposite ends of these
lower levers are connected by perpendicular wires or lines 27 to another set of
10 shorter upper levers seen at 28, and the opposite end of each of these is
tied to a lam or heddle, while each lam or heddle has a separate weight or
spring to draw it down. It will therefore appear that whenever any of the
ends 24 of the upper levers are depressed by their corresponding wipers or
projections upon the secondary shaft two lams or heddles will be raised
together, and as the primary shaft a, a, produces two blows of the batten and
two shoots of the shuttle in each revolution, so it must go two and a half times
round while the secondary shaft makes a single revolution, in order that one

page_text: shoot and blow of the batten may be made for every one of the five 'top levers
24 that are depressed; consequently if the wheel 20 on the primary shaft has
20 teeth or cogs, the wheel 21, on the secondary shaft, must have 50 teeth
or cogs, or any other number of teeth in a similar proportion may, bo
substituted, according to the number of lams or heddles required for the work.
And in like manner if twilled goods or velvet are to be produced only, 4.upper
levers will be necessary, consequently only 4 wipers or projections need be
made upon the secondary shaft, but in this case if the wheel upon the primary
shaft has still 20 teeth or cogs that upon tlie sécondary shaft must have but
40 teeth, or the wheels must be in that proportion to each other that the
primary shaft may make two revolutions to one of the secondary shaft, and
this proportionate velocity of the two shafts must be strictly attended, to for
every variation that may be necessary in the number of wipers, or projec
tions that are to be formed upon the secondary shaft, all which will be quite
clear and simple to any one acquainted with the process of weaving, and
who comprehends the nature and action of my aforesaid continances and
improvements.
Having thus described the nature of my said loom, and its mode of opera
tion, I shall now enumerate the several matters which I consider to be my
particular Inventions and improvements, and in which I claim the sole pri-
vilege and advantage under iny said Patent; and these are, generally, the whole
combination of machinery by which the effects herein-before described are
brought about above the loom instead of underneath it, by which a greater
number of looms may be erected and set to work in the same space without
interruption to the passage of persons round them, the whole of the shafts and
principal part of the machinery being over head, which I consider as au im-
portant advantage and improvement. The power necessary to work the loom
by the arrangement above described will also be found less than what is usually
necessary for driving power looms.
And as to the particular parts, I claim the application and use of the primary
and secondary shafts, and the particular construction and disposition of the
wipers.or cams upon them; as herein-before described, and the several iron
or other levers. upon which they operate.. Also the peculiar manner. of fixing,
hanging, and working the driving rods by a spiral or other spring to impel the
shuttle so as to form universal joints.
The additional part or parts of the batten and the bolt, and the modo of
operating on the same, so that it may, through the medium of the bar or lever,
stop the work of the loom in case of a false or short shoot, and as these
several parts may be varied in forin from the Drawing hereunto annexed, and

page_text: may yet be capable of answering the purpose for which they are intended, so
I do declare that notwithstanding such variation of form I claim them as
parts of my Invention, provided they are used and applied for the purposes
and in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Harvey Sadler, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.