AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF POWER LOOMS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Carter, Power Loom Regulator, and James
Maher, Manager, both of Victoria Mills, Lockwood, near Huddersfield, in
the County of York, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF POWER LOOMS."
Sealed the 28th January 1863, and dated the 15th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Carter and James
Maher at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 15th August 1862.
We, JOHN CARTER, Power Loom Regulator, and JAMES MAHER, Manager,
both of Victoria Mills, Lockwood, near Huddersfield, in the County of York,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF POWER LOOMS," to be as follows:→
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of the parts for
working the shuttle boxes of power looms, and bringing them severally as
required into line with the open shed; to this end we cause the levers from
which the shuttle boxes are suspended to rock, and raise the boxes by motion'
obtained from the main driving shaft, and we effect the tripping of these
levers so that they may fall and let down the boxes by motion derived from
the jacquard lever. The shuttle boxes we lift by means of excentrics or
cranks on the driving shaft, which are connected by straps or otherwise.to a
pair of catch rods, and by their rotation give an up-and-down motion to those
rods. The catches of these rods are intended to take on to pins projecting..

page_text: from the sides of the shuttle box levers when the boxes are to be raised, and
then on their descent to rock the levers and elevate the boxes. When, how-
ever, it is desired that no such action shall take place, the excentric catch rods
are pressed back, so that on their descent (actuated by their excentrics or
cranks) the hooks on their upper end will pass by the pins of the box levers.
This pressing back of the excentric rods is effected as follows:-Attached to
the ordinary jacquard lever is a small rock lever which has its fulcrum on the
main frame of the loom, and jointed to the end of this rock lever is a click
which takes into the teeth of a ratchet wheel keyed to a shaft mounted in
bearings on the top of the loom frame. This shaft carries also a chain wheel,
over which a tappet chain passes, and an intermittent axial motion is given to
the chain wheel (through which a progressive motion is transmitted to the
tappet chain) by means of the click and ratchet wheel before mentioned. The
tappet chain is employed to act upon rock levers, the outer ends of which
(when the tappet acts upon them) bear against the. excentric rods and press
them back, so that they shall miss in their descent the pins of the shuttle box
levers. When thus pressed back the rods will force back or trip up pendent
catches, which act as stops to the shuttle box levers, and thereby maintain the
shuttle boxes in their highest position. This tripping of the pendent catches
will leave the shuttle box levers free, and the boxes will then fall by their own
weight to the lowest position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Carter and James Maher in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
CARTER, Power Loom Regulator, and JAMES MAHER, Manager, both of
Victoria Mills, Lockwood, near Huddersfield, in the County of York, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Carter and James Maher, Her special license that we, the said John
Carter and James Maher, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said John Carter and James Maher, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF POWER LOOMs," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Carter and James
Maher, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 John Carter and James Maher, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Our object in this Invention is to simplify the construction of the parts for
working the shuttle boxes of power looms, and to bring them severally as
required into line with the open shed; to this end we cause the levers from
which the shuttle boxes are suspended to rock and raise the boxes by motion
obtained from the main driving shaft, and we effect the tripping of these levers
so that they may fall and let down the boxes from a motion derived from the
same main driving shaft. The shuttle boxes we lift by means of excentrics or
cranks on the driving shaft, which are connected by straps to a pair of catch
rods, and by their rotation give an up-and-down motion to those rods. The
catches of these rods are intended to take into pins projecting from the sides
of the shuttle box levers when the boxes are to be raised, and on their descent
to rock the levers and elevate the boxes. When, however, it is desired that
no such action shall take place, the excentric catch rods are allowed to be
brought forward by a spring, so that in their descent, actuated by the excentrics,
the hooks on their upper end and on the right hand will pass by the pins of
the box levers. By this means the hooks on the left-hand side of these rods
are brought over the disengaged ends of the pendent catches (which act as
stops to the shuttle box levers, and maintain the shuttle boxes in their different
positions), and press the catches to a different position-on-the-box-lever,-so as
to allow the shuttle box required to come into line with the open shed. The
reversing motion is obtained by the agency of two eight-sided star wheels on a.
small cross shaft supported in the top rails of the loom. These star wheels are
different in size. On the top of a shaft (driven from the main shaft by toothed
wheels equal in size) are two circular surfaces to correspond with the star.
.

page_text: wheels, and as the one or the other is in position a back or forward motion is
given to the chain box.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a loom shewing
our improvements adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a top or plan view of some of the working parts.
A is an excentric mounted on the driving shaft B connected with the jointed
excentric rod C, C, which thereby receives an up-and-down motion from the
excentric A. On the driving shaft B is a bevil toothed wheel D, which drives
a similar wheel G on the diagonal cross shaft E, E. On the top end of
this cross shaft are two circular surfaces or discs F and H, provided with pins
to work in the star wheels L and M on the shaft r. On this cross shaft r,
outside the loom rail, is a chain box N, which carries in its revolutions a tappet
chain N (supported in the back rail by a small bracket), and in contact with
the tappet chain N', are two short levers e 1 and 2. Connected to the top ends
of e 1 and e 2 are two small rods d and b, which are connected with and give
direction to the cranked levers a, a, Fig. 3, one at each end of the loom; these
crank levers at their extremities come in contact with and give direction to the
excentric rods c, c. The top end of the cross shaft E, E, turns in a bearing
in the end of a cranked lever J, and the other end of which is connected by a
rod T to the reversing lever S. This crank lever J works on a pin as a
fulcrum, so that when the lever arm is at the right hand the small disc H is in
contact with the star wheel M, and consequently gives a forward motion to the
tappet chain N¹. When the lever arm S is to the left, the larger disc F is
brought in contact with the larger star wheel L, and at each revolution of the
shaft E, E, the pin in the disc F causes the star wheel L to move in a back-
ward direction. From this it will be seen that whether the motions derived
from the star wheels Land M and the discs F and H, be backward or forward,
they will just take place at exactly the same position of the driving shaft. The
reversing of the lag barrel and pattern surface is simultaneous with the back-
ward motion of the tappet chain N¹, and is effected by very simple means, as
will be seen.
A bent leyer W is connected to the upper end of the reversing
arm S by the rod V, the other end of the bent lever W being connected to the
spring X, which is connected with the lever Y, When the loom is weaving
the wire spring hangs loose, and thus allows the catch of the lever Z to hook
the projections of the lag barrel and turn it over in a forward direction; when
reversing the action, the wire spring X is drawn tight by the lever arm S, the
top catch Z is then drawn out of connection, and the catch on the other lever Y
is brought into play. This under catch is as effective as the top one, and turns
the lag barrel backwards by the same projections as the other catch.

page_text: We will now proceed to explain the rocking of the shuttle box levers, and
how the shuttle boxes are brought into line with the open shed. It will be
seen that the chain box N receives an intermittent motion from the main
shaft B by the shaft E, E, which at every revolution moves the shaft r (which
bears the chain box) by the star wheels L and M and the discs F and H, and
that eight revolutions of the driving shaft B will cause one revolution of the
shaft r. When the blank link of the tappet chain N¹ is in contact with the
lever 1, the books on the right of the eccentric rod c, c, pass by the pin I,
Fig. 2, of the lever O, O, and the end of the pendent catch P, P, rests on the
lowest notch 8 of the shuttle box lever O, O. When the middle link is in
contact, the excentric rod is pressed back so as to bring the top hook on the
right hand over the pin I in the lever, and the rod C, C, in its descent actuated
by the excentric A, rocks the lever 0, 0, and consequently brings the shuttle
box No. 2 in a line with the open shed. The end of the pendent catch slides
on to the notch 2 of the shuttle box lever O, and so keeps it in suspension as
long as similar sized links come in contact with the short lever e 1. Should
the bottom shuttle box 3 be required, the highest surface of the tappet chain N¹
is brought in contact with the lever e 1, which will act through its rods on the
eccentric rod C, C, and press it back, so that the lower hook on the right hand
is over the pin of the lever O, O. The rod in its descent rocks the lever and
allows the end of the pendent catch P, P, to rest on notch 1 of the shuttle box
lever O, O. The lowermost shuttle box, or No. 8, will now be in line with the
open shed, and may be kept there as long as may be required by repeating
similar links. To cause the shuttle boxes to drop, a smaller tappet is brought
in contact with the lever e 1; this relaxes the pressure of the cranked lever
which bears the eccentric rod back, and so allows the spring to draw the left-
hand hook of the eccentric rod C, C, to bear upon the loose end of the
pendent catch and press the contrary end out of connection with the notch 1
of the lever and on to the notch 2. A repetition of similar links will keep the
shuttle box in the same position as described in the ascent. A further easing
of the pressure of the eccentric rod allows the spring R to draw the rod C, C,
further to the left over the loose end of the pendent catch, and the deeper
projection 2 of the eccentric rod resting upon this end pulls in its downward
course the other end off of notch 2 and on to the notch 3 of the shuttle box
lever O, by this means shuttle box 1 will be brought into line with the open
shed as where we started.
In order to avoid complexity in the Drawings and to simplify the description
we have confined our explanation to only one side of the loom, but the same
can be said of the other, as both are worked alike, and the description of one

page_text: will answer for the other. The pick is obtained from the jacquard by the
employment of a needle spring and jack. Each picking lever is out of con-
nection until required, and kept so by springs. Between the levers is a long
rod which receives a motion to the right or left from the jack, and so presses
the one required into action; when not required, the spring takes it back to
its original position.
Having now described our Invention of an improvement in the construction
of power looms, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, we claim as the Invention secured to us by Letters Patent as aforesaid,
the mode herein set forth of changing or working the shuttle boxes; we claim
particularly the application of the excentric or crank on the driving shaft in
connection with the rod hooks which lift and drop the shuttle boxes in their up-
and-downward motion, and also the application of the star wheels and discs as
a simple and efficacious means of reversing the tappet chain and lag barrel.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Carter and James Maher, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, the Thirteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN CARTER.
(L.S.)
JAMES MAHER. (L.S.)