IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph John Harrison and Edward Harrison, both
of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph John Harrison
and Edward Harrison at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 18th July 1867.
Wẹ, JOSEPH JOHN HARRISON and EDWARD HARRISON, both of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The first part of our Invention is designed for the purpose of reducing and
simplifying the mechanism termed the "weft motion," the novel construction
of which stops the loom in the absence of weft with accuracy and precision.
The following being a description of two arrangements of weft motion, the
first of which is more particularly designed for slow "pick" looms, and the
second to looms making any desired number of picks.
The first arrangement consists in attaching a finger to the "swell" of the
loom that is caused to extend and rest against the "grid" of the "reed" when
the "swell" is not depressed by the shuttle, the effect of which is to form an
abutment that will tilt the weft fork when the shuttle is in the opposite box,
but at the same time allow it freely to pass through the grid should the weft
break or not be continuous when the shuttle enters the box containing the

page_text: swell to which the projecting finger is attached, the weft when continuous
The second
forming an abutment that tilts the fork in the ordinary manner.
application of the weft motion consists in an arrangement of ratchet or catch
wheels secured by a bracket to the loom framing; these wheels are situated
in such a position that they receive an intermittent rotatory motion with
every beat of the "lathe," which is obtained by means of a catch lever or
adjustable stop attached to the "slay" coming into contact with the ratchet, the
said ratchet being caused to actuate the "hammer" through the medium of a
"disc" wheel on the ratchet shaft, supplied with projections or indentations
which are caused to act upon and force the "hammer" forward with every
vibration or "beat" of the "lathe," or with every alternate "beat," the
hammer being caused to assume its vertical position by means of a weight
or spring; thus when the weft is not continuous the catch of the weft fork
remaining untilted is caught by the "hammer" as it moves forward, thereby
stopping the loom in the ordinary manner.
Secondly, our improvements relate to an arrangement of mechanism for
producing and regulating any amount of tension upon the warps without the
employment of weights, and also for facilitating the operation of effecting such
tension; and the improvement consists in encircling or embracing about two-
thirds or more of the circumferences of the ends of the warp beam with steel
blades, chains, or other equivalent; the lower ends of these blades on each
side of the loom are firmly revitted or otherwise secured to a stiff blade spring
fixed to the lower portion of the loom frame, their opposite ends after passing
over the ends of the beam are coupled with rods that connect them with a bar
of metal running parallel with the beam from side to side of the loom.. The
centre of this bar midway between its extremities is attached to a lever, the
fulcrum of which is supported by a bracket secured to the back rail of the
loom a little beyond where the lever is connected with the aforesaid paralle
bar; the opposite extremity of this lever at the side of the loom is. acted upor
by a strong helical or other shaped spring which can be caused to increase o
diminish its tension by means of a screw and wheel, the platform upon which
the spring rests being readily raised or lowered into or out of position by
means of an eccentric or other equivalent for the purpose of readily drawin
back, removing, or placing the warp beâm:
And, lastly, our Invention consists in substituting a spring in lieu of
weight to the lever supporting the cloth toller for the purpose of keepin
such roller in contact with the "taking up" sand roller.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph John Harrison and Edward Harrison in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 3rd January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
JOHN HARRISON and EDWARD HARRISON, both of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Joseph John Harrison and Edward Harrison, Her special license that we, the
said Joseph John Harrison and Edward Harrison, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph John Harrison
and Edward Harrison, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Joseph John Harrison and Edward Harrison, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of
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 Joseph John Harrison and Edward
Harrison, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is
to say)-
.
:-
The first part of our Invention is designed for the purpose of reducing and
simplifying the mechanism termed the "weft motion," the novel construction
of which stops the loom in the absence of weft, with accuracy and precision, the
following being a description of its construction and arrangement, which consists
in attaching a finger to the "swell" of the loom that is caused to extend and
rest against the "grid" of the "reed" when the "swell" is not depressed by
the shuttle, the effect of which is to form an abutment that will tilt the weft

page_text: fork when the shuttle is in the opposite box, but at the same time allow it
freely to pass through the grid if the weft breaks or should not be continuous
when the shuttle enters the box containing the swell to which the projecting
finger is attached, the weft when continuous forming an abutment that tilts
the fork in the ordinary manner; a stud secured to the lathe forces the
hammer forward with every vibration or "beat" of the "lathe," or with every
alternate "beat" the "hammer," which is attached to a bracket secured to the
frame, is caused to assume its vertical position by means of a weight or spring;
thus when the weft is not continuous the catch of the weft-fork remaining
untilted is caught by the hammer as it moves forward, thereby stopping the
loom in the ordinary manner.
Secondly, our improvements relate to an arrangement of mechanism for
producing and regulating any amount of tention upon the warps without the
employment of weights; and also for facillitating the operation of effecting
such tension, and the improvements consist in encircling or embracing the
ends of the warp beam with steel blades, chains, or other equivalents; the
lower ends of these blades, chains, or other equivalents on each side of the
loom are firmly rivetted or otherwise secured to a stiff blade or spiral spring
fixed to the lower portion of the loom frame, their opposite ends after passing
over the ends of the beam are coupled with rods, or otherwise, that connect
them with a bar of metal running parallel with the beam from side to side of
the loom; the centre of this bar midway between its extremities is attached
to a lever, the fulcrum of which is supported by a bracked or stud secured to
the back rail of the loom a little beyond where the lever is connected with the
aforesaid parallel bar; the opposite extremity of this lever at the side of the
loom is acted upon by a strong helical or other shaped spring which can be
caused to increase or diminish its tension by means of screw and wheel.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained
in detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings illustrative of
same.
Fig. 1 represents the improved "weft motions;" in this simple arrange-
ment of the weft fork motion the lever and tappets now generally in use are
dispensed with. The hammer m formes an upright lever supported by a stud
from the loom side and by the set screw n on the bracket secured to the lathe
it is caused to move forward with each beat up of the lathe. A wire or
abutment o (seen in Fig. 3) behind the grid in connection with the swell
causes the weft fork to tilt so as to escape the hammer when the shuttle is in
the opposite box; but when the cop is spent or the weft breaks the shuttle on
entering the box forces back the swell and consequently the wire or abutment,

page_text: thereby allowing the weft fork to pass through the grid and remain untilted,
which with the action of the hammer forces back the handle and stops the
loom in the usual way.
Fig. 2 represents the improved "letting off motion" applied to an ordinary
loom. In this view the lever a works on a stud secured to the back rail of the
loom; at the end of the lever marked b a slot is provided so as to allow a rod
secured to a bracket to pass through and work freely, and on which a spiral steel
spring d is placed; the rod is screwed and provided with a hand wheel c, which
when screwed or unscrewed exerts a greater or less pressure upon the lever a,
and so produces a like motion and tension on the yarn, as in the old weighting
motion, but more regularly and with less strain on the healds. From the
cross bar e the connecting rod g is suspended by a hook, which after passing
through a hole in the lever a carries the two inclined surface discs i and k,
the upper one of which is retained in its position with the lever a by lugs or
projections therefrom; the lower disc k is provided with a handle, as shewn in
the Figure 2. The band wheel on the connecting rod 9 is for the rough
adjustment of the tension on the yarn, and should be screwed up when the
handle of the disc k is at right angles to the line of the lever a. When the
proper amount of tension is almost obtained the handle should be turned into
a parallel position with the lever, when it will be locked by the notches in the
inclined discs, at which time if a further or more accurate adjustment be
required the hand wheel c must be slightly turned, which will regulate the
tension to the greatest nicety. When it is necessary to slacken the yarn the
disck is turned at right angles, as above stated, which is easily done by the
weaver without interference with the first and permanent tension obtained.
f is the usual loom chain, and h the warp beam.
The principal points to be observed in adjusting this motion are, first, to
see that all parts are firmly attached; and, secondly, that the lever a is in a
horizontal position when the proper tension has been given for the loom to
work. The rough adjustment must in all cases be given by the hand wheel
on the connecting rod g. When desirable a great additional power can be
obtained by shifting the stud o¹ to the notch on the lever nearest the con-
necting rod.
It will be observed that the chains are hooked at one end to
spiral springs inside the loom, the other being slipped in to the cross bar by
means of a link.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be distinctly
understood in conclusion that we claim,-
First, the novel adaptation of an abutment for the weft fork in connection

page_text: with the "swell," together with the construction and arrangement of the weft
hammer, as shewn and described.
Secondly, we claim the novel construction, adaptation, employment, and use
of springs in combination with levers, as described, or any slight modification
thereof, whereby a perfect and even tension is obtained upon the warps.
And, lastly, we claim the novel employment and use of inclined surface
discs employed in combination with other arrangements of mechanism for
giving tension to the warp, the said inclined surface discs being employed
for easing or reducing the tension at any time for purposes required when
weaving, as herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the
Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph John Harrison and Edward
Harrison, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-eighth
day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.
JOSEPH JOHN HARRISON.
EDWARD HARRISON.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
JOSEPH JOHN HARRISON.
EDWARD HARRISON.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)