IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Hitchen, of Halifax, in the County of
York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS
FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 6th August 1869, and dated the 17th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Hitchen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th May 1869.
I, DAVID HITCHEN, of Halifax, in the County of York, Manufacturer,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the "shedding motion" or the means of
operating upon the warp threads to open a shed or passage for the
shuttle, and my improvements consist in substituting in lieu of one of
I, DAVID HITCHEN, of Halifax, in the County of York, Manufacturer,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the "shedding motion" or the means of
operating upon the warp threads to open a shed or passage for the
shuttle, and my improvements consist in substituting in lieu of one of

page_text: the healds now used a pair of plain smooth rods or bars of iron or other
rigid material for those threads of the warp to pass betwixt which would
otherwise have passed through the mails of the heald thus supplanted.
These rods are connected at each end to a frame, which is capable of
sliding up and down in slots affixed to or formed in the loom frame and
operated by the ordinary treading tappet and jack rod, or other
equivalent and suitable means. Those threads which pass through the
mails of the healds as usual are first conducted under a rod placed and
fixed to the loom frame below the lowest position to which the pair of
rods are lowered, and as there is more motion or stretch upon these
threads than upon the others a cranked rod is hinged in the loom frame
and operated by the same lever which gives motion to the pair of rods,
so as to take up the slack which would otherwise be made in the said
threads and to give it back as required.
By this Invention a saving will be effected in every loom of one
heald, and consequently the constant wear and tear thereof will be
diminished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said David Hitchen in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
HITCHEN, of Halifax, in the County of York, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said David Hitchen, Her special licence that I,
the said David Hitchen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said David Hitchen, 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

page_text: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said David Hitchen, piy
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Hitchen, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Sheet of Drawings (that is to
say):
This Invention relates to the shedding motion or the means of
operating upon the warp threads to open a shed or passage for the
shuttle, and my improvements consist in substituting in lieu of one of
the healds now used a pair of plain smooth rods or bars of iron or other
rigid material for those threads of the warp to pass betwixt which would
otherwise have passed through the mails of the heald thus supplanted.
These rods are connected at each end to a frame, which is capable of
sliding up and down in slots affixed to or formed in the loom frame and
operated by the ordinary treading tappet and jack rod, or other
equivalent and suitable means. Those threads which pass through the
mails of the healds as usual are first conducted under a rod placed and
fixed to the loom frame below the lowest position to which the pair of
rods are lowered, and as there is more motion or stretch upon these
threads than upon the others a cranked rod is hinged in the loom frame
and operated by the same lever which gives motion to the pair of rods,
so as to take up the slack which would otherwise be made in the said
threads and to give it back as required.
By this Invention a saving will be effected in every loom of one
heald, and consequently of the constant wear and tear thereof.
This Invention will be readily understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, wherein Figure 1 represents an end

page_text: elevation, and Figure 2 a cross section of an ordinary loom with my
improvements applied thereto, the several parts of au ordinary loom
being so well known that I only deem it necessary to describe such parts
as are requisite to shew the application of my Invention thereto.
A are the pair of plain smooth rods or bars, connected or fixed at
each end into a frame B, which is capable of sliding up and down in slots
formed in the fixings C. Another rod D is supported in these fixings,
under which one portion of the warp threads E are passed, and thence
through the mails of the healds Fand reed G, in the usual manner. The
other portion of the warp threads II pass between the pair of rods A, and
thence through the reed. The rods A are raised and lowered similar to
and alternately with the healds F by the usual arrangement of jack rod
levers and tappet, the frame B being connected by straps or cords I to
the lever J, which is connected by rod K to the lever L, operated by the
tappet M, and the healds F are connected by cords and straps to the
jack rod levers N, which by rod O and lever P are operated by the
tappet Q, the bottom of the frame B being connected by a strap R to
the pulley S, which by another strap is also connected to the bottom of
the healds, whereby motion is given simultaneously to both the rods and
healds. It will now be observed that the shed is opened by the healds
being in the raised, and the rods in the lowered position, and that when
these are reversed, the rods A being raised to the position T, and the
lealds lowered so that the warp threads E rest on the batten, the shed
will be opened, as shewn by the dotted lines U, V. It will also be
observed that when the warp threads E are in the position indicated by
the letter V there will be an amount of slack produced, and this is taken
up or prevented by the action of a rod W, carried on arms X, fixed on a
shaft Y, on which is a lever Z connected by a rod Z' to the lever L,
which gives motion to the said rod W at suitable times, and the amount
of motion is capable of being regulated or adjusted by means of the slot
in the lever Z. (In every case where one heald is named it refers to one
tread or equivalent to two healds).
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and shewn
by Drawings how the same is or may be performed or carried into
practice, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise details herein shewn and described; but what I claim as my
Invention is the application and use of a pair of rods or bars instead or

page_text: in lieu or substitution of one heald, in manner and for purposes
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Hitchen, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named David Hitchen, in
the presence of
JOSEPH STEAD,
Clerk to Wm. Tasker,
Patent Agent,
DAVID HITCHEN. (L.S.)
Halifax and Bradford.