CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WRATIN
Year: 1871

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LETTERS PATENT to Richard Roberts, Agent, and David. Shaw,
Mechanic, both of the City of Manchester, in the County, of
Lancaster, for the Invention of “CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WRATIN "
.
.
Sealed the 14th July 1871, and dated the 23rd January 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Roberts and'
David Shaw at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 23rd January 1871:
We, RICHARD ROBERTS, Agent, and DAVID SHAW, Mechanic, both of
5 the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare.
the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS.
FOR WEAVING," to be as follows :-
Our Invention is applicable to looms in which two or more shuttles:
are used, and it consists, first, in certain improved mechanism for

page_text: moving the drop boxes up and down to bring the required shuttle in
line with the shuttle race. This mechanism consists of a cam acting
on a lever for giving a to-and-fro motion to the pattern chain which acts
on horizontal bars with inclined ends; these inclined ends act on a
vertical grid connected below to a pinion, the face of which coincides
with the axle of the swing frame, and a second pinion fixed to the first
is connected to the drop box. The lever for moving the pattern chain
to and fro is connected to the frame in which the barrel of the chain
revolves by a recess in the frame fitting on the end of the lever, so that
in case of an obstruction the parts may become disconnected without
causing injury. The frame is also connected to the weft stop motion
so that its traverse is arrested when the weft fails. This part of our
Invention may be modified by making the horizontal bars act direct on
pinions near the axle of the swing frame.
Secondly. In a break for checking the momentum of the drop box.
The horizontal bars above referred to act on an elbow lever, the weighted
arm of which is connected to a break block acting on a disc fixed to the
above-mentioned pinions near the axle of the swing frame.
Thirdly. In an improved chain for acting on the horizontal bars or
other equivalents by which the shuttle box is moved, or for other
purposes. This chain consists of rods of strong wire connected by links
of thinner wire, also by adjustable blocks of metal, the position of which
can be varied by set screws or other equivalents; also in connecting the
flat links of pattern chains by flat rings passing through slots in the
links.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
f
filed by the said Richard Roberts and David Shaw in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 21st July 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
ROBERTS, Agent, and DAVID SHAW, Mechanic, both of the City of 30
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in

page_text: the thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said Richard Roberts and
David Shaw, Her special licence that we, the said Richard Roberts
and David Shaw, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Richard Roberts and David Shaw, our 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 IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said Richard Roberts and David Shaw, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or
one of our or 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 we, the said Richard Roberts and David Shaw,
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 (that is to say):
:―
The first part of our Invention is applicable to looms in which two
or more shuttles are used, and it consists in certain improved mechanism
for moving the drop boxes up and down to bring the required shuttle
in line with the shuttle race.
Secondly. In a break for checking the momentum of the drop box.
'
Thirdly. In an improved chain for acting on the mechanism by which
the shuttle box is moved or for other purposes.
And, fourthly. In an improved mode of connecting the flat links of
pattern chains.
And in order that our. Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.

page_text: drop box power loom of the ordinary construction to which our im-
provements are applied.
*a, is the crank shaft; b, the tappet shaft; c, the lay or batten, one
end of which is provided with the drop box d containing in this instance
four compartments for shuttles, but a greater or less number of shuttles
may be employed; c' are the lay swords, and c² the axle of the swing
frame, these and the other parts of the loom not particularly referred
to hereafter are made in the usual manner. Our improved machinery
for raising and lowering the shuttle box d consists of the grooved
tappet 6 fixed on the tappet shaft b; this tappet imparts a vibrating
motion to the double lever e, which is mounted on the stud e¹, fixed
to the loom side'; the end of the upper arm of the lever e is rounded and
fits in a recess in the lower part of the plate f, which is hinged to
the bracket f, fixed to the sliding rod f, supported in fixed bearings;
the recess in the plate f being held on to the top of the lever e by the
spring. To the rod f is bolted the frame f*, in which revolves the
axle of the barrel g¹ of the pattern chain g; this pattern chain is shewn
detached in Figs. 4 and 5, and consists of rods of strong wire connected
by links of thinner wire which are held in position by rings placed
alternately on the outside and inside of the links. The adjustable blocks
of metal or other material 92 can be secured to the strong wires in any
desired position by means of set screws as shewn or otherwise. The
blocks g² act on the ends of the horizontal bars h, which are supported
in brackets fixed to the frame end. The chain 9 passes above around
a roller or drum g³, the axle of which is supported in adjustable bearings
fixed to the rod g³, which is jointed to a bracket projecting from the
loom side, as shewn, and at the return stroke of the frame f* the barrel g'
is turned partly round by the catch g', which takes into a ratchet wheel
fixed to the axle of the barrel g³, so as to bring forward another link of
the chain. There are six bars h to work the shuttle box d; when it
is requisite to bring any compartment either rising or falling in line
with the shuttle race the inner ends of the bars h are provided with
inclines which act on the bars of the grid i, shewn detached in Figs. 6
and 7; this grid is supported in grooved guides fixed to the brackets
in which the bars / slide horizontally, and these brackets have caps
to keep the bars in their places. The inclines of the outer bars move

page_text: the drop box one step or one shuttle up or down, the inclines of the
adjacent bars being at a sharper angle move the drop box up or down
two steps, and the inclines of the two middle bars move the drop box
three steps up or down. The inclines of the second and fifth bars h
are jointed to their respective bars to allow them to be drawn back out
of the grid after the drop box has been raised or lowered. The
bar / nearest the loom side is held up against the cap by a spring to
allow the bar to yield as the inclined end is being drawn out of the grid.
All the bars are drawn back after the chain g has pushed them
forward, by springs, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 6. As the tappet b¹
revolves it imparts a horizontal to and fro motion to the plate f, and
through it to the pattern chain g, and this motion continues unin-
terrupted until the loom is stopped or an obstruction occurs, in which
latter case the end of the lever e slips out of the recess in the under
side of the plate f, to allow the lever to continue its motion without
causing damage to the parts of the apparatus. The lever e is also dis-
connected from the plate f when the weft fails, as will be described
hereafter. When a change is required in the position of the drop box
the block g of the chain g in advancing towards the ends of the bars h
pushes the corresponding bar forward, while the other bars passing
freely between the rods of the pattern chain remain stationary; this bar
so pushed forward causes the incline at its end to act on the grid i and
thereby to raise or lower the drop box. The three outer bars lift the
grid i, the lower end of which is connected by the stay to the rack i²,
which gears into the pinion ³, and as this pinion is fixed to the pinion
d; which gears into the rack d², connected by the stay d to the under
side of the drop box d, it is evident that the rising of the grid i, lowers
the drop box d, and in like manner the inclines on the three inner bars
h by lowering the grid raise the drop box. When either of the bars h
is being moved forward by the action of the chain g the break jis
applied to the disc k, which is cast with or fixed to the pinions d³ and ³
in the following manner:-To the stud e' is jointed the lever 1, the
upper end of which has a cross head passing under all the bars h; to
the lever is jointed the weighted lever /, and to this lever is jointed
the upper end of the stay , the lower end of which is connected to
the break block j. At the under side of each bar'h is a projection
which acts on the cross head at the top of the lever. 1, so that as the
bar moves forward it carries with it the lever 7, and the weighted lever ;
•

page_text: applies the break block j to the disc k, a little before the incline at the
end of the bar h has completed its traverse to raise or lower the drop
box d. To the disc k is cast or fixed the flange with recesses k³, in
which the catch ² enters, and to the lower part of the lever e is secured
the arm at the end of which is the spring e³; when either of the
horizontal bars h has been moved in the manner above described the
spring es presses on the catch k² and locks the drop box during the throw
of the shuttle, but as soon as the tappet ¹ begins to move the lever e
back to the position shewn in Fig. 1 the spring e³ releases the catch
and sets the mechanism at liberty for producing the next change
in the position of the 'drop box. The drop box is counterbalanced
by means of the elbow lever m, see Fig. 2, which is mounted on a
stud fixed in a projection from one of the lay swords c¹; the longer
arm of this elbow lever is connected by a link to the end of the rack d³,
and the shorter arm is drawn towards the loom side by the spring m¹.
The arms of the elbow lever m are set at an angle to regulate the
tension of the spring according to the position of the drop box. As.
it is of the utmost importance that the motion of the drop box should
cease the moment the weft fails, we connect the ordinary weft fork
motion to the catch n, so that as soon as the weft breaks the catch
which is shown held back in Fig. 2 is allowed to come forward, and
when forward it reaches over the bevelled end of the plate f, conse-
quently as soon as the said plate has been advanced about half an inch
the bevelled end is depressed by the catch sufficiently to lift the recess
above the rounded end of the lever e, which is then at liberty to traverse
to and fro until the weft has been repaired. The catch n is mounted
on a stud projecting from the bracket in which the bars h slide, and
the lower end of the catch is pressed upwards by the spring n¹; to the
arm n² of the catch is connected one end of the cord n³, the other end
of which is secured to the additional spring starting lever n. The
ordinary starting lever o is provided with a stud o¹, and both the
starting levers n* and o are acted upon when the weft fails by the
usual knocking off lever p. As long as the additional starting lever n
is in its retaining notch the cord n³ holds the catch n back as
shewn, but when the weft breaks the cord being slackened allows the
spring n¹ to push the catch n forward. By this means the action
of the pattern chain g is instantly arrested when the weft breaks,
whereas the other parts of the loom may continue in motion for a short

page_text: time. Near to the drop box end of the lay bottom è is fixed a bracket
c3, the lower end of which has a stud for the check lever q; the upper
end of this lever is connected by a cord or strap to the picker ql, and
the lower end of the lever is connected by the spring q² to the lay
bottom; the object of these parts is to hold the picker clear of the
end of the drop box d when the change in its position is going to be
effected in the manner before described. When the shuttle has been
propelled out of the drop box the lever q assumes the position shewn
in dots, and the action of the spring is then very small, as the strap at
its end is then doubled over the boss of the lever. This check lever forms
no part of our present Invention.
In the Drawing we have shewn the drop box up, and it will remain
there until one of the three outer bars his brought into operation to
raise the grid i, and the lifting of the grid is effected according to the
pattern to be produced by securing the blocks 92 in the required positions
on the pattern chain g.
Figs. 8 and 9 represent part of another pattern chain the links of
which are flat, and they are connected together by means of flat rings
in the following improved manner :-At each corner of each link is a
round or other shaped hole connected by a narrow slit to the edge of the
link, the slit is just wide enough to allow the ring to pass edgewise, and
in coupling the links together they are placed side by side as shewn in
Fig. 10, the ring is then put through the slits until it enters the round
or other shaped hole, the links can then be opened, and the connecting
rings then assume the position shewn in Fig. 8.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, we declare that we claim,―
First. The general combination and arrangement of the parts for
raising and lowering the drop box of a shuttle loom, and particularly
the parts marked h and i, as shewn and described.
Secondly. The improved mode of and apparatus for applying a break
to check the momentum of the drop shuttle box as shewn and described.
1
Thirdly. The improved mode of counterbalancing the drop box as
shewn and described.
Fourthly. The improved mode of constructing the pattern chain as
shewn and described in reference to Figs. 4 and 5.

page_text: And, lastly. The improved mode of connecting the flat links of pattern
chains as shewn and described in reference to Figs. 8, 9, and 10.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Roberts and David Shaw,
have hereto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth day of July
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.