IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Holms, of, Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturer, and Jabez Oldfield, of the
same Place, Foreman Weaver, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WEAVING."
Sealed the 12th February 1861, and dated the 15th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Holms and Jabez
Oldfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 15th August 1860.
We, WILLIAM HOLMS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Manufacturer, and JABEZ OLDFIELD, of the same Place, Foreman Weaver,
do hereby declare the nature of the said. Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WEAVING," to, be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of machinery or
apparatus which is designed to facilitate the simultaneous production of two
pieces of fabric in one loom.
The first part of these improvements has reference to a mechanical arrange-
ment for forming the inner and contiguous selvages of two pieces of cloth
woven simultaneously. Under one modification this apparatus consists of a
moveable brass ring, which is carried by and rotates freely in a curved metal

page_text: strap or collar, which is formed in two parts that are keyed together. The
backward part of this strap is prolonged, and a slot is formed therein to admit
of its being attached to a convenient part of the loom framing. The periphery
of the ring is grooved, that is to say, the faces of the ring form vertical flanges
extending a little above the solid portion of the ring, which forms a recess or
sunk part. A portion of this sunk part is flat to admit of the ring resting in
the strap, the other portion of the sunk part forms a small and narrow spur
wheel. The apparatus is placed centrally in the warp or midway in the width
of the same, and is fixed to a cross rail at the back of the loom framing.
Rotatory motion is imparted to the apparatus from a piñion on the crank
shaft, which pinion gives motion to an intermediate wheel in gear with the
spur wheel of the ring portion of the movement. Within the ring are
arranged 'four bobbins, which are disposed in the same plane; the spindles of
the bobbins extend across the ring, so that the bobbins lie parallel to each
other, and form two rows. The bobbin spindles are fitted with helical springs
and adjustable nuts for regulating the tension on the yarns or threads wound
on the bobbins. There are two holes in each rim of the ring portion of the
apparatus, through which the yarns or threads from the bobbins are carried
outwards to the warp to form with-the-interlacing-of-the weft the selvages of
the contiguous pieces.. The rotatory movement of the apparatus, combined
with the shedding action, causes the yarns or threads from the bobbins to be
interlaced with each shot or thread of weft, and thereby form the inner
selvage to each piece of cloth. An important advantage attending the peculiar
arrangement and construction of this apparatus in the small space which it
occupies between the warp; this advantage is obtained by the annular arrange-
ment of the apparatus, and the bobbins being disposed in the same plane. In
this way the apparatus does not occupy much more than one-fourth of the
space in breadth compared with that which is at present used for effecting a
similar object:
...
After the formation of the selvages the weft extending between the pieces
requires to be cut asunder, 'and the apparatus for doing this forms the second
part of our 'improvements: Under one modification it consists of a circular
knife carried in a "bracket, which is "fixed to the 'breast beam of the 'loom
immediately 'beneath the web. Rotatory motion is imparted 'to this cutter by
means of pulleys or other convenient means "driven from one of the shifts of
the loom. In lieu of a rotatory cutter'a bevelled, or wedge, or other shaped
cutter or cutter's may be arranged to sever the weft, to which either a
horizontal, reciprocatory, or other movement 'is imparted in any convenient
+

page_text: With either of these arrangements the weft is divided between the
selvages in an even and uniform manner, which is far superior to the ordinary
mode.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Pätent; filed
by the said William Holms and Jabez Oldfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,,we, WILLIAM
HOLMS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturer,.
and JABEZ OLDFIELD, of the same Place, Foreman Weaver, 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, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Holms and Jabez Oldfield, Her special license that we, the said
William Holms and Jabez Oldfield, our executors,, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Holms and Jabez Oldfield, our
executors, administrators, or 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we; the said William
Holms and Jabez Oldfield; by an instrument in writing under our 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. William Holms and Jabez Oldfield,
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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say.:-
Our said Invention, relates to the arrangement and construction of machinery,
or apparatus which is designed to facilitate; the simultaneous production of two;
pieces of fabric.in one-loom.

page_text: The first part of these improvements has reference to a mechanical arrange-
ment for forming the inner and contiguous selvages of two pieces of cloth
woven simultaneously. Under one modification this apparatus consists of a
moveable brass ring, which is carried by and rotates freely in a curved metal
strap or collar, which is formed in two parts that are keyed together. The
backward part of this strap is prolonged, and a slot is formed therein to admit
of its being attached to a convenient part of the loom framing. The periphery
of the ring is grooved, that is to say, the faces of the ring form vertical flanges,
extending a little above the solid portion of the ring, which forms a recess or
sunk part: A portion of this sunk part is flat, to admit of the ring resting in
the strap, the other portion of the sunk-part forms a small and narrow spur
wheel. The apparatus is placed centrally in the warp, or midway in the width
of the same, and is fixed to a cross rail at the back of the loom framing.
Rotatory motion is imparted to the apparatus from a pinion on the crank
shaft, which pinion gives motion to an intermediate wheel in gear with the
spur wheel of the ring portion of the movement. Within the ring aré
arranged four bobbins, which are disposed in the same plane; the spindles of
the bobbins extend across the ring, so that the bobbins lie parallel to each
other, and form two rows. The bobbin spindles-are-fitted-with-helical-springs.
and adjustable nuts for regulating the tension on the yarns or threads wound
on the bobbins. There are two holes in each rim of the ring portion of the
apparatus, through which the yarns or threads. from the bobbins are carried
outwards to the warp to form with the interlacing of the weft the selvages of
the contiguous pieces. The rotatory movement of the apparatus, combined
with the shedding action; causes the yarns or threads from the bobbins to be
interlaced with each shot or thread of weft, and thereby form the inner
selvage to each piece of cloth. An important advantage attending the peculiar
arrangement and construction of this apparatus is the small space which it
occupies between the warp; this advantage is obtained by the annular arrange-
ment of the apparatus, and the bobbins being disposed in the same. plane. In
this way the apparatus 'does' not 'occupy much more than one-fourth of the
space in breadth compared with that which is at present used for effecting a
similar object.
After the formation of the selvages the weft extending between the pieces
requires to be cut asunder; and the apparatus for doing this forms the second
part of our improvements: Under one modification it consists of a circular
Knife carried in a bracket, which is fixed to the breast beam of the loom
immediately beneath the web. Rotatory motion is imparted to this cutter by:

page_text: •
means of pulleys or other convenient means driven from one of the shafts of
the loom. In lieu of a rotatory cutter a bevelled, or wedge, or other shaped
cutter or cutters may be arranged to sever the weft, to which either a
horizontal, reciprocatory, or other movement is imparted in any convenient
manner. With either of these arrangements the weft is divided. between the
selvages in an even and uniform manner, which is far superior to the ordinary
mode.
And in order that our said Invention of "Improvements in Machinery
or Apparatus for Weaving" may be properly understood, we shall now proceed
to describe the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which
we have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing certain modifications
under which our said improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice,
that is to say:-
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is a partially sectional
elevation of one arrangement of our improved machinery or apparatus for
forming the contiguous selvages of two or more widths of fabrics when woven
simultaneously in a loom, and for cutting the woven fabrics asunder prior to
their being wound upon the cloth beam. Figure 2 is a plan of the apparatus
corresponding to the principal portion of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan of the
arrangement of the rotatory cutter, and showing the severing of the weft after.
the formation of the double selvages. At the back part of the loom the.
framing has bolted to it a vertical stay, to which the selvage-forming apparatus
is attached. This stay or supporting piece has bolted to it an adjustable
laterally projecting bracket, in which is a slot to receive the stud which
connects the selvage apparatus to this bracket, the slot affording the means of
adjusting the apparatus centrally as regards the warp of the pieces to be
woven. To the bracket just referred to is attached the curved bracket A,
which has a slot B formed in the sole-part to admit of the adjustment of the.
apparatus in a direction at right angles to the supporting bracket. In this
way the whole of the movement may be adjusted laterally or in a direction.
parallel with the warp. The ends of the bracket A are curved inwards, and.
both are slotted; in the front end the slot C.has fitted to it a stud, which
carries the pinion D; this-pinion is driven by a corresponding pinion E on the
crank shaft F. In the slot G of the bracket A is a bolt, by means of which is
attached thereto the circular metal strap H; which is formed in two parts
that are connected together by a screw at I, or these parts may be hinged
together: This strap overhangs the pinion D, and by means of the bolt
working in the slot G, the strap and the mechanism which it carries may be.

page_text: =
adjusted vertically. The strap has arranged within it a brass ring J, which
moves freely within it, the periphery of this ring is formed with flanges, and
a portion of the space between the flanges is encircled by the strap H. The
arrangement of this portion of the apparatus is shown in the sectional part of
Figure 2 in the accompanying Drawings. The other portion of the periphery
of the ring J forms a small spur wheel K, which gears with the pinion D, the
slots C and G, affording the means of adjusting the wheel and pinion up or
down as required. The ring J is made with an elliptical opening, in which
are arranged parallel to each other and in the longer axis of the ellipse two
spindles L, the extremities of which run in holes formed in the inner rim of
the ring. Both the spindles L are arranged in the same plane, and cach
carries two bobbins M and N. Between the bobbin which is first put on to
the spindle, and the second one there is interposed a shoulder O, which is fast
to the spindle, and a helical spring P, the pressure of which against the end of
the second bobbin is regulated by a small pin, which is passed through one of
the holes Q in the ends of the spindles. Just beyond the shoulder O the
spindle has inserted in it a small pin, the projecting part of which passes into
a corresponding notch formed in the end of the bobbin, which is arranged on
that portion of the spindle: The-holes Qin the end of the spindle are made
at right angles to one another, and if the pressure of the bobbin on the spring
P requires to.be increased a pin is inserted in a hole nearer to the end of the
bobbin. The removal of the pin admits of the spindle being slipped down-
wards into the hole in the ring J, and the upper end can then be passed
outwards clear of the ring. In filling the four bobbins M and N with cotton
or other, material, they are wound in contrary directions, or in a manner corre-
sponding to the convolutions of a right and left handed screw. The bobbins
are arranged on the spindles in the same manner, that is to say, the drawing
off of the respective threads from one pair of bobbins M or N will cause one
bobbin to turn to the right and the other to the left, and so avoid any
slackness of the threads. The threads from each pair of bobbins are carried
through the holes R, in the ring J; there are two of these holes in each face
of the ring, through which the four threads are passed. The two threads from
each pair of bobbins after being passed through the holes R are carried forward
to the front of the loom with the warp, and are attached to the cloth beam..
When the loom is put in motion the crank shaft F causes the ring J carrying
the bobbins M and N to rotate, but at a slower speed, that is to say, the ring J
makes but half a revolution to one revolution of the crank shaft. The effect
of this arrangement is that at each revolution of the crank shaft the threads S

page_text: proceeding from each pair of bobbins M and N are caused to cross each other,
and in manner similar to the shedding action of the warp, which is arranged
to form the separate and contiguous pieces of cloth. When the threads S are
crossed by the partial revolution of the ring J they form a portion of the
shed, through which the weft passes; the next half revolution of the ring
continues the crossing or twisting of the threads M and N, and so binds in
the. weft. In this way a regular and uniform selvage is formed on each piece
of cloth, and from the particular arrangement of the mechanism it occupies.so
small a space in the centre of the warp as not to interfere in any way with it.
As the weft passes right across the warp and between both the compound
selvage threads S it is necessary to cut this weft asunder to separate the two
pieces of cloth. It is preferred to effect this severance of the pieces by the
arrangement of a rotatory cutter, as delineated in Figure 1 of the accom-
panying Drawings. The endless band T derives its motion from a pulley
arranged at the lower part of the loom; this pulley is driven in any convenient
way from the tappet shaft or other suitable part of the loom. A small bracket
U is bolted to the inside of the breast beam; this bracket carries the pulley V
round which the band T passes and gives motion to the circular cutter W.
As the cloth is drawn over the breast beam by the take-up motion the con-
tinuous rotatory movement of the cutter W severs the weft threads as they are
successively brought up to, it, as shown in Figure 8, and the two or more
pieces of cloth are wound separately on to the cloth beam. This arrangement
of the rotatory cutter is much superior in its action to a stationary blade, as
the motion of the cutter tends to sever the weft in an even and more efficient
manner without the tearing asunder which characterises the severance when
effected by means of a stationary blade. In lieu of a rotatory cutter a clean
cut may be obtained by means of a wedge-shaped cutter, or any other suitable
figure may be given to the cutter, to which a horizontal or other reciprocatory
movement is imparted by means of a cam or other convenient contrivance
actuated from either of the ordinary movements of the loom.
With these improvements the manufacture of two or more pieces of cloth
in a single loom is facilitated, and the appearance of the selvages formed
and cut by the mechanism herein-before described is greatly improved.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe in conclusion, that what we consider novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-

page_text: First, the system or mode of arranging and constructing the selvage forming
mechanism in the form of a narrow,ring, and, having the bobbins for carrying
the selvage. threads arranged in, the interior of the ring, and in the same
plane, as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the system or mode of dividing the two or other number of pieces
of cloth or other, woven fabric, by means of a rotatory or other moveable
cutter, arranged as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Holms and Jabez Oldfield,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth day of February,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOHN HOLMS,
Witness:
ARCHP. CAMPBELL: HOLMS,
Witness.
WILLIAM HOLMS. (L.S.)
JABEZ OLDFIELD. (L.S.)