IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING PILED AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Briggs, of Castleton Mills, near Rochdale,
in the County of Lancaster, Silk Spinner and Manufacturer, and Samuel
Fearnley, of Rochdale, aforesaid, Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING PILED AND OTHER FABRICS."
Sealed the 12th September 1861, and dated the 15th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Briggs and
Samuel Fearnley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 15th July 1861.
We, EDWARD BRIGGS, of Castleton Mills, near Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Silk Spinner and Manufacturer, and SAMUEL FEARNLEY, of
Rochdale, aforesaid, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILED FABRICS, AND IN
THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING PILED AND OTHER
FABRICS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, first, in an improved mode of weaving piled fabrics.
We divide the pile warp into two parts, and first give three picks of weft to
form the ground; then a wire is introduced into the shed under the two pile
warps; then the pile warp that was last bound in is lowered, and three more
picks are thrown in to form the ground. The pile warp that has been lowered
is now raised, and the other pile warp is lowered; then three more picks are
given, and another wire is introduced under the two pile warps; then three

page_text: more picks are given to form the ground, and the operation proceeds as before.
The object of this improvement is to economise time in weaving silk velvets
and other piled fabrics.
The second part of our Invention consists in certain improvements in the
letting off and taking motions of looms for weaving various descriptions of
fabrics. The ratchet wheel employed in the said motions consists of a series
of eccentric or oval rings of ratchet teeth cast on a disc, which rings are sepa-
rated from each other by flanges, as described in the Provisional Specification
of Letters Patent applied for by us on the Twenty-seventh of March, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, No. 765. The catches for working the
ratchet wheel are connected to a lever hinged to the presser rod or roller,
which (as in looms of the ordinary construction) bears upon the warp or the
cloth beam.
Another mode of constructing the ratchet wheel is with two or more coils
of teeth cast on a disc, and either separated, by flanges as above referred to, or
made bevel, so that each catch may be free from one coil of teeth before it acts
on the teeth of another coil.
Another mode of making the ratchet wheel is by placing several rows of
ratchet teeth of different lengths side by side, or concentric to each other.
The catches for these ratchet wheels would receive a graduated motion by levers
from the warp beam or cloth beam.
Another part of our Invention consists in applying levers to the warp beam
and cloth beam for reducing the distance traversed by the catches to or from
the centres of the ratchet wheels.
The ratchet wheels above referred to may be used in combination with any
suitable intermediate gearing in connection with the warp beam and cloth
beam.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Briggs and Samuel Fearnley in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
BRIGGS, of Castleton Mills, near Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Silk
Spinner and Manufacturer, and SAMUEL FEARNLEY, of Rochdale, aforesaid,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
3

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Edward Briggs and Samuel Fearnley, Her special licence that we,
the said Edward Briggs and Samuel Fearnley, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edward Briggs and Samuel
Fearnley, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
PACTURE OF PILED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN
MANUFACTURING PILED AND OTHER FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Edward Briggs and Samuel Fearnley, 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 per-
formed, 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 Edward Briggs and Samuel Fearnley,
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 nature of our Invention consists, first, in an improved mode of weaving
piled fabrics.
And, secondly, in certain improved combinations and arrangements of
machinery forming the taking up and letting off motions of looms for weaving
piled and other fabrics.
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.
In performing the first part of our Invention we employ a loom of the
ordinary construction, but the warps are drawn in, and the treadles are
actuated so as to produce a fabric similar to that shewn in the diagram
Fig. 1. The full lines represent the binding warp, the dotted lines 'are the
figure or pile warp, and the wires are shewn in section. We divide the
pile warp indicated by the dotted lines into two parts, and first, give three
picks of weft to form the ground; then a wire is introduced into the shed
under the two pile warps; then the pile warp that was last bound in is

page_text: 'lowered, and three more picks are thrown in to form the ground. The pile
warp that has been lowered is now raised, and the other pile warp is lowered;
then three more picks are given, and another wire is introduced under the two
pile warps; then three more picks are given to form the ground, and the
operation is repeated and proceeds as before. The wires are cut out in the
usual manner. The object of this improvement is to economise time in
weaving silk velvets and other piled fabrics.
Fig. 2 is an elevation in section of part of a loom, shewing one mode of
constructing our improved taking-up motion; Fig. 3 is a front view of the
same, and Fig. 4 a detached view of the taking-up ratchet wheel and catches.
a is the taking-up roller; b, the presser rod, which is guided at each end in
the brackets c, as now customary; d is one of the lay swords. The foregoing
and the other parts of the loom which are not shewn in the Drawing, are
made in any approved manner. To the lay sword is jointed one end of the
link e, the other end of which is jointed to a stud in the lever f, which is sus-
pended to the presser rod b, and vibrates upon it; to the lever f are jointed the
catches g, shewn best in Fig. 4. These catches take into the teeth of the
ratchet wheel h, and are held in gear by the springs g', shewn in Fig. 4.
The teeth of the ratchet wheelf are arranged in oval rings, which are sepa-
rated from each other by flanges, as described in the Specification of Letters
Patent granted to us on the Twenty-seventh day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one, No. 765, or which are bevel so that the catches
in moving over the face of the wheel may be free from one oval or ring of
teeth before they act on the teeth of another oval or ring. The circumference
of the ratchet wheel h is furnished with ratchet teeth, into which the retaining
catches h¹ take; these catches are raised when required by the rod h² sus-
pended to the lever h³, which is fixed to the usual stop rod h* connected to the
weft stop motion of the loom. To the same shaft as the ratchet wheel h is
fixed the pinion i gearing into the wheel j, to the boss of which is fixed the
pinion gearing into the wheel 1, fixed to the taking-up roller a. The
Drawing represents the parts in the positions they occupy when a small
quantity of fabric has been wound on the taking-up roller a, but when the
taking-up roller is empty the distance from the centre of the catches 9 to the
axis of the ratchet wheel h must coincide or nearly so with the radius of
the taking-up roller. The catches then impart the greatest amount of motion
to the ratchet wheel; but when the presser rod 6 is lowered by the accumu-
lation of the fabric on the taking-up roller a, the catches gradually approach
the circumference of the ratchet wheel, and in traversing over the face thereof
they pass from one eccentric or oval row of teeth to the other, thereby

page_text: imparting a regular and positive reduced motion to the taking-up roller cor-
responding to the increasing diameter thereof.
Fig. 5 represents a modification of our improved taking-up motion, and
Fig. 6 is a front view of the same. In these views the link e is jointed to the
lever f, through which is a hole for the stud m to pass through. This stud
projects from the slide n which moves on the elbow lever o, jointed to the axle
of the compound ratchet wheel h, which is of the usual construction, or
arranged in the manner described hereafter in reference to Figs. 8 and 9.
The catches are jointed to the elbow lever o; as the fabric accumulates on
the taking-up roller the slide n is lowered, and the action of the catches g is
reduced in proportion to the increasing diameter of the taking-up roller.
The object of the lever f, in this arrangement, is to afford facility in
regulating the action of the catches g, and to bring the link e in the proper
position for acting on the lever f.
Fig. 7, represents a ratchet wheel similar to h, but constructed with two
coils of teeth, these coils are separated by flanges or made bevel as above
described in reference to Fig. 4. In some cases we make the ratchet wheel
with three or more coils of ratchet teeth by which means the action of the
catches g, in traversing over the face of the ratchet wheel produces a greater
uniformity in the taking up of the fabric.
Fig. 8 is a section of part of a loom to which another of our improved taking
up motions is applied, and Fig. 9 is an elevation of the same, the requisite
rotary motion is given to the taking up roller a, by the four ratchet wheels h,
which are mounted on the stud h³, these ratchet wheels are furnished with
teeth of different lengths, and we wish to observe that although we have
shewn four ratchet wheels a greater or less number may be applied; the
catches g working in the ratchet wheels h are all mounted on a stud fixed to the
elbow lever o which vibrates on the stud h, and is put in motion by the
link e connected to the lay sword d; the stud m, to which the link e is jointed
is gradually lowered as the fabric increases on the taking up roller by the
vertical rod 62 which is connected above to the pressure rod 6 and below to
the said stud. When the loom is started and the fabric is only just lapped
round the taking up roller a, the stud m is at the same or nearly the same
distance from the axis of the ratchet wheels.h as the radius of the taking up
roller, the lay sword d in vibrating gives the requisite motion to the elbow
lever o for causing the catch 9 to take up one or two teeth of the coarsest
pitched ratchet wheel h, but as the fabric accumulates on the taking up roller a,
the presser rod 6 descends, and the link 62 causes the stud m to increase its
distance from the axis of the ratchet wheels, the vibration of the elbow lever o,

page_text: and of the catches g is thus reduced, and the catches are brought successively
into operation with the finer teeth of the ratchet wheels until the taking up
roller a is full, or the piece finished. The ratchet wheels h are held by
retaining catches or by friction in the usual manner. By making the ratchet
wheels of gradually increasing diameters, they may be cast all in one piece
instead of separate as shewn.
Fig. 10 is an elevation, and Fig. 11, a front view of a modification of the
taking up. motion shewn in the preceding Figures; in this arrangement, the
ratchet wheel h has four or other convenient number of concentric rings of
teeth; the teeth are of different lengths in each ring, that is to say, the
coarsest tooth of each ring is about one-fourth longer than the finest tooth,
and the intermediate teeth diminish progressively; the catches g, always act
on the same rings of teeth, but the amount of vibration of the elbow lever o,
is varied according to the increasing diameter of the fabric on the taking up
roller, by the link 62 suspended to the presser rod e pressing down the slide n;
the ratchet wheel h is held by the friction clip p instead of the retaining
catches shewn in the preceding Figures.
Fig. 12 is an elevation in section of part of a loom to which another modi-
fication of our improved taking up motion is applied, and Fig. 13 is a front
view of the same. The taking up roller a receives its motion in the following
manner: To the lay sword d is jointed one end of the link e, the other end
of which is jointed to the stud' m projecting from the slide n, which fits on the
vibrating lever o. The stud m is also connected to the presser rod b by the
link 6, the vibrating lever o is fixed to the boss of the ratchet wheel h, which
is loose on the shaft he, the teeth of the ratcheth are of different lengths corre-
sponding to the difference in diameter of the taking up roiler when empty
and when full. Upon the boss of the ratchet wheel h is mounted loose the
dise r, which has a pinion r¹, gearing into the rack s cast or fixed to the slide n
the circumference of the disc r is bevelled in one or more places, the object of
of which will be described hereafter. The ratchet wheel h takes into the
catches t which are mounted on studs fixed in the face of the ratchet wheel t
this wheel t¹ is keyed on the shaft h6 to which is also keyed the pinion i giving
motion to the taking up roller a, by the wheels and pinion shewn in the
Drawing, or by any other convenient arrangement of gearing; the retaining
palls h¹, take into the ratchet wheel t', and they are lifted up when the usual
weft stop motion comes into operation by the link h² suspended to the lever h³.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When the taking up roller a is empty,
the distance from the centre of the stud m corresponds or nearly corresponds
to the radius of the roller a, the larger teeth of the ratchet wheel h are at this

page_text: time acting on the catches t, consequently as the lever o vibrates, the ratchet
wheel h gives the greatest amount of motion to the catches t, and through
them to the ratchet wheel t¹, and thus to the taking up roller. As the fabric
accumulates on the roller a, the presser rod 6 lowers and increases to a corre-
sponding degree the distance of the stud m, from the axis of the ratchet wheels;
when the slide n is thus lowered, the rack s gearing in the pinion r³ causes the
disc r to move partly round in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 12, this
partial rotation of the disc disengages the catches t, working in the coarser
teeth of the ratchet wheel h, and allows the other catches to take into the finer
teeth of the said ratchet wheel, thus proportioning the action of the wheel t¹
to the diameter of the taking up roller, the catches t are held in contact with
the ratchet wheel t¹, or with the circumference of the disc r by springs d³,
indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 12, and the retaining palls h¹ prevent
the slipping back of the ratchet wheel t¹, these palls are connected to
the weft stop motion as before described in reference to the preceding Figures.
The handle v is jointed to the bearing of the shaft h6, this handle is made with
a curved lever acting on the disc r, and when it is required to turn the taking
up roller round by hand the lever is depressed, thus pressing the disc r towards
the ratchet wheel hand causing the bevelled edge of the disc to lift the catches t
out of gear with the teeth of the ratchet wheel h, a spring is or may be applied
to draw or push the disc apart from the ratchet wheel when the handle vis
liberated. It may be preferable to use only one row of gradually increasing
ratchet teeth in the wheel h.
Fig. 14 represents an elevation in section of part of a loom shewing one
mode of applying our improvements to the letting off motion.
w is the warp
beam; a double lever hinged at a¹, to the shorter arm of which is jointed
the upper end of the lever f, the lower end whereof is connected to the
lay sword d by the link e; to the lever f are hinged the catches 9 as in Figs. 2
and 4, which catches take into a ratchet wheel similar to any of those shewn
in the preceeding Figures, or with eccentric rings of teeth as shewn in the
Drawing; to the ratchet wheel 'h is fixed the mitre pinion y gearing into a
similar pinion on the horizontal shaft y' which is connected to the warp
beam w in the manner described in the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to us above referred to, or in any other suitable manner. The Drawing
represents the warp beam about full, and the catches 9 acting on the larger
diameter of the ratchet wheel h; as the warp decreases the longer arm of the
lever a remaining in contact with the surface of the warp raises the lever f, and
the catches g gradually approach the axis of the ratchet wheel h, thus increas-
ing the action of the warp beam in proportion to its decreased diameter.

page_text: We wish to remark that the ratchet wheels above referred to may be used in
combination with any suitable intermediate gearing in communication with
the warp beam and cloth beam.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the means of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we do not limit 5
ourselves to the details set forth, as the same may be considerably varied and
modified, but we claim as our Invention,-
First, the improved mode of weaving piled fabrics as described and shewn
in the diagram Fig. 1.
Secondly, the general arrangements and combinations of the taking up and 1
letting off motions as shewn and described.
Thirdly, constructing ratchet wheels for the taking up and letting off
motions, with oval and eccentric rings or rows of teeth as shewn and described
in reference to Figs. 2 and 14.
Fourthly, constructing ratchet wheels for the taking up and letting off 1
motions with two or more coils of teeth as shewn and described in reference
to Fig. 7.
Fifthly, making the teeth of face ratchet wheels in a diagonal or bevelled
position for the purpose described and as shewn in Fig. 4.
Sixthly, traversing the catches of face ratchet wheels by moving the lever 2
to which they are hinged as shewn and described in reference to Figs. 2, 3,
and 14.
Seventhly, the compound ratchet wheels shewn and described in reference
to Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 when applied to the taking up and letting off motions
of looms.
And, eighthly, the modification of the compound ratchet wheel as shewn and
described in reference to Figs. 12 and 13, and the parts acting in combination
therewith.
2
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Briggs and Samuel Fearnley,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Fourteenth day of 3
January in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two.