CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hardman, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanic, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 25th September 1855, and dated the 31st March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hardman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
March 1855.
I, ROBERT HARDMAN, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING" to be as follows:-
My improvements are applicable to those looms in which two or more.
shuttles are used, and consist of certain improved combinations of parts for
raising and lowering the drop box containing the shuttles, so that any of the
shuttles may be brought in a line with the picker when required. A chain
consisting of links of different heights, arranged according to the order in.
which the shuttles are wanted, passes over two drums in the ordinary manner;
one of these drums is made to revolve partly round, when required, by a screw
cam, taking into the teeth of a spur pinion; by means of this screw cam,
the chain which acts on a double lever connected to the drop box is held.

page_text: stationary while the shuttle is picked. As it is often desirable to move the
chain of tappets independently of the other parts of the loom, I drive the
chain drum by means of a catch box; by this means, when the catch box is
disconnected, the drum and chain can be moved in either direction with
facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Hardman in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th September. 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HARDMAN, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Hardman, Her special license that I, the said Robert Hardman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Robert Hardman, my 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 I,
the said Robert Hardman, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 I, the said Robert Hardman, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention of improvements in looms for weaving consists
of certain improved combinations of parts for raising and lowering the drop

page_text: box containing the shuttles, so that any of the shuttles may be brought in a
line with the picker when required. I have in the said Sheet of Drawings
given Figures for shewing how my improvements may be constructed, similar
parts in each of the views being marked with similar letters of reference.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the principal parts of a loom of the ordinary
construction to which my improvements are applied; Figure 2 is a front
view; and Figure 3, a plan of part of the same; Figures 4 and 5 are enlarged
views of the tappet chain. In Figures 1 and 2, a is the crank shaft; b, the
tappet shaft; c, the lay bottom; d, the drop box; e, the rod connected above
to the drop box and below to the lever f, by which the drop box is put in
motion. The pieces above enumerated, and all the others requisite to complete
the loom, are made in the ordinary manner. g represents the chain, which, in
this instance, is shewn with links of three heights to correspond with the
number of compartments in the drop box d, but it is evident that when a
greater or less number of shuttles are employed, the links of the chain must be
made with a corresponding number of lifts. On referring to Figures 4 and 5,
it will be seen that the links of the chain fit into each other in such wise that
when the chain is taken over the drum h, as shewn in Figure 1, the exterior
portions of the links form part of the circumference of a circle, as in some
other tappet chains, and when extended the chain forms a straight line. The
drum h, around which the chain g passes is turned the eighth part of a revolu-
tion for every two revolutions of the crank shaft in the following manner :-
To the tappet shaft 6 is fixed a' screw cam i, which gives motion to the spur
pinion j, keyed on the cross shaft k, to which is also fixed a imitre pinion l,
gearing into a similar pinion on the shaft m, as seen best in Figure 3. The
drum his loose on the shaft m, but it is made to go round with it by means of
pin projecting from it, which pin takes into one of the eight holes in the
disk n, which is keyed on the shaft m; the object of this is to enable the
weaver to change the position of the chain of tappets independently of the
other parts of the loom. The chain of tappets passes above over the drum o,
which revolves freely on a stud fixed in the rail p; and the position of this rail
and of the drum o can be varied according to the length of chain required, the
rail being provided with slots, as clearly shewn in Figure 1. The chain g acts
on a bowl projecting from the double lever f, whose fulcrum is at r, and the
longer end of the lever f is connected to the drop box d by the link e. The
Drawing represents the centre compartment of the drop box in a line with the
shuttle race. The lever f being now acted upon by a link of the medium height,
the tappet shaft 6 in revolving brings the inclined plane 1, forming part of the
screw cam i against one of the teeth of the spur pinion j, thereby causing the
a

page_text: shafts and m to perform the eighth part of a revolution, and as there are
eight recesses in the chain drum h, it is evident that the tappet chain is
advanced one link at every revolution of the tappet shaft; as soon as one
of the lowest links comes below the centre of the drum h, the longer end of
the lever is lowered, thereby bringing the top compartment of the shuttle
box in a line with the shuttle race; and when one of the longest links of the
tappet chain comes below the centre of the drum h, the bottom compartment
of the shuttle box is brought in a line with the shuttle race. By varying the
order of succession of the links of the chain, it is evident that any of the
shuttles can be brought, when required, in a line with the shuttle race. If it
should be requisite to change the position of the chain of tappets, the weaver
draws the pin projecting from the chain drum h out of the hole in the disk n,
and re-inserts the said pin into another hole after the position of the chain has
been changed; this affords great facility in resetting the tappet chain when the
loom has made one or more picks without weft.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim any of
the elements of the machinery which I have described as forming any part
of my Invention separately or apart from the combination thereof for the
purposes above described; but that what I do claim is,-
First, the screw cam marked, i, and parts in combination therewith, for
giving motion to the tappet chain, as herein-before described.
And, secondly, the application of a catch box or other similar apparatus for
disconnecting the chain drum from the shaft on which it is mounted.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hardman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
ROBERT HARDMAN. (L.S.)