Teases mad WEAVING HATS. CAPS. AND OTHER PROVISIONAL SPECIATION
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Van Dussen Reed, of the City, County,
and State of New York, United States of America, and at present
of Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
Teases mad WEAVING HATS. CAPS. AND OTHER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Van Dussen
Reed at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th November 1871.
I, JOHN VAN DUSSEN REED, of the City, County, and State of New
York, United States of America, and at present of Bloomsbury, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR LOOMS FOR WEAVING HATS, CAPS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates more particularly to improvements in the
O circular hat weaving loom for which Letters Patent for the United

page_text: lifting roller or rollers mounted on an arm carried on the shuttle carriage,
and operating as described in the former Patent above referred to.
The ratchet wheel is carried on a pivot fixed to a sliding piece working
in a slot in the warp carrier and moved by a lever, also pivoted to the
carrier, by which the "let-out" mechanism may be thrown out of gear
when it is necessary to let out a considerable length of warp at once, as
for commencing another hat, when all the warp threads have to be
gathered into the centre, as mentioned below. This lever may be
operated by hand or by a guiding device mounted on an arm fixed to the
shuttle carriage, and working in a somewhat similar manner to the
lifting roller above referred to.
Instead of a ratchet wheel the delivery of the warp thread may be con-
trolled by the teeth of a double-acting pawl lever nipping the said thread
against a fixed block and which lets out the warp in a regular manner
at each oscillation of the pawl lever by the lifting roller. The thread is
led through eyes or guides in the block and in the lever, each oscillation
of which draws a certain length of thread off the spool, thus lengthening
the strand to that extent.
Either the pawl lever or the block may be made adjustable or capable
of being moved back from the other by means of a lever, operated as
before described, for letting out any required amount of warp at once.
After a hat has been woven the let-out mechanism is thrown out of
gear as above-mentioned, and the woven hat is drawn down through the
"cup" of the loom, which in this case is made bottomless, by which
action the warp strands are drawn out or unwound from their spools.
They are then clamped together in the centre of the loom, just above
the hat already woven, and the let-out mechanism having been again put
in gear the loom is ready to start again to weave another hat, and so on
continuously until the spools in the warp carriers are exhausted.
In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the spools from the
carriers the upper or lower ring of partition plates in which the carriers
slide is constructed so as to be capable of being raised or lowered (as the
case may be) from the other ring sufficiently to enable the carriers to be
withdrawn entirely from their guides so that the spools may be changed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Van Dussen Reed in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN VAN
DUSSEN REED, of the City, County, and State of New York, United
States of America, and at present of Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said John Van Dussen Reed, Her
special licence that I, the said John Van Dussen Reed, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Van
Dussen Reed, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR LOOMS FOR WEAVING HATS,
CAPE, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Van Dussen Reed, my 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Van Dussen Reed, do
hereby declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-

page_text: Letters Patent for the United Kingdom were granted to Alexander
Melville Clark, bearing date the 2nd day of September 1870, No. 2402.
In the Specification filed in pursuance of the conditions of the said
Letters Patent the strands or threads which are to form the warp in the
hat or other article to be woven are described as being placed across the
loom and attached at each end to a carrier on opposite sides of the loom,
the said warp strands being only long enough to make a single hat, which
is removed from the loom when completed, and a fresh set of warp
strands must be introduced by means of a conical frame, on which they
are previously arranged. This arrangement and attachment of the warp
strands requires much time and labor, and necessitates the stoppage of
the loom after the completion of each hat for the introduction of fresh
warp strands.
Both these inconveniences are avoided and the conical frame before
referred to is dispensed with by the present Invention, whereby a number
of hats or other articles may be woven consecutively with but a com-
paratively short stoppage of the loom after each is completed.
The Invention consists in combining with each warp carrier a large
flat spool carrying a considerable length of yarn. The warp carriers are
somewhat similar to those described in the Specification of the Patent
before referred to, but the "let-out" mechanism and spring to which the
warp strands are attached, as therein described, are replaced by other
mechanism hereafter described, actuated in a similar manner and having
the same object.
The spool above mentioned carrying the warp yarn is fitted to rotate
freely in guides on the warp carrier, and so that it can be readily
removed and replaced when exhausted.
The yarn is led from the spool to the "let-out" mechanism and
through a spring to a hole or guide at the front of the carrier and
thence to the centre of the loom, where all the warp strands are con-
nected to the cord by which the said warp strands are drawn down taut
when the loom is put in work.
The "let-out" mechanism consists of a double-acting spring pawl
gearing with the teeth of a ratchet wheel, around which the warp thread
is carried so as to be held firmly thereby and let out in a regular manner
by the rotation of the wheel, which moves to the extent of one tooth
only at each oscillation of the double-acting pawl lever, which is actuated

page_text: by a "lifting roller
carriage.
""
or rollers mounted on an arm carried on the shuttle
The ratchet wheel is carried on a pivot fixed to a sliding picce working
in a slot in the warp carrier, and moved by a lever also pivoted to the
carrier, by which the let-out mechanism may be thrown out of gear when
it is necessary to let out a considerable length of warp at once, as for
commencing another hat, when all the warp threads have to be gathered
into the centre, as mentioned below. This lever may be operated directly
by hand or indirectly by a device mounted on an arm fixed to the shuttle
carriage, and working in a somewhat similar manner to the "lifting
roller” above referred to.
After a hat or other article has been woven the let-out mechanism is
thrown out of gear as above mentioned, and the woven hat or article is
drawn down through the " cup" of the loom, which is bottomless, by
which action the warp strands are drawn out or unwound from their
spools. They are then gathered together in the centre of the loom and
held by a suitable device just above the hat or article already woven, and
the let-out mechanism having been again put in gear the loom is ready
to start again to weave another hat, and so on continuously until the
spools in the warp carriers are exhausted.
The cord heretofore used in the circular loom described in the said
Letters Patent to draw down the warp is attached to the ends of the
warp strands (or just below the above-mentioned device, which binds the
warp strands together at the centre of the loom) to draw down the hat
after it is woven, and heretofore the warps, as far as I am aware, have
been used in short lengths.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the warp carrier with the parts in com-
bination; Figure 2 is a sectional plan or edge view of the same taken
on the line 1-1, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation, showing a 3
modified arrangement and devices for connecting and disconnecting the
ratchet wheel with the "let-off” lever; and Figures 4 and 5 are a side view
and plan respectively of the same. Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of
one half of the circular loom described in the said former Letters Patent,
for which my improvements are designed. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in all the Figures wherever they recur.

page_text: Referring first to Figure 6, which represents so much of the machine
for which the improvements are intended as is necessary to illustrate
their application, A is the bed plate of the machine; B standards for
supporting the upper frame and the stationary ring plate C; E is the
stationary ring for supporting the lower stationary mechanism, and is
fitted to the bed plate A near the centre of the loom in the form of a
cylinder, as a guide or base for another cylinder F to revolve around it.
This ring supports a ring F³, which revolves and carries the shuttle
carriage, while the stationary ring E supports the stationary ring E², on
which the lower plates or guiders a¹ for the warp carriers are mounted,
while the upper plates a² are supported on the ring C. The said warp
carriers are worked back and forth from one set to the other of these
plates for forming the shed by the grooves formed by the annular bands
or rings D, forming the principal part of the shuttle carriage which is
carried by the ring F, said carriers having a projection working in the
said grooves.
e³, d, g³, and k* constitute the weft depositing blade or
shuttle carrier, which is capable of being extended and retracted in order
to deposit the weft at a point more or less distant from the centre of the
work, and so produce a variable filling, which is a characteristic feature
of this loom as described in the said former Letters Patent. G' is the
bracket attached to the annular rings for supporting and carrying the
shuttle carrier, and J represents the wheel or roller for operating
the let-off lever g. a, Figure 1, is the warp carrier, and 6 is a spool of
large dimensions held in guides c fixed on the carrier a. These guides
are made with flanges which are received between the
which the spool b is composed, as shown in Figure 2.
simply slipped between the guides and rests on a stop or
roller d. e is the ratchet wheel of the let-out mechanism. It is carried
on a pin fixed to a slide f grooved and fitted in a slot in the carrier, and
the rotation of the wheel is controlled by a double acting spring pawl g
pivoted at / to the carrier, and one or other tooth of which is always in
gear with wheel e.
i is a yoke in which the tail end of the pawl works,
and jis its spring. When the "lifting roller" J, Figure 6, passes under
the carrier it raises or oscillates the pawl g, and therefore fulfils the same
function in this case as in the aforesaid Letters Patent, namely, to let
out the warp, which is effected by the rotation of the ratchet wheel e,
which is released and moved and lets out the warp to the extent of onc
tooth at each oscillation of pawl lever g.
two discs of
The spool is
small friction
The warp thread is shown in
red lines. It is led from the bobbin or spool b completely around wheel e,

page_text: thence through a spring k to a hole in the end of the carrier, whence
it is taken to the centre of the loom.. The deflection of spring k serves
to compensate for the shortening by corrugation of the warp in weaving.
Z is a lever pivoted at its extremity to the carrier. This pivoted end is
made of the angular form shown, and works in a corresponding angular
recess made in a plate m fastened to the slide f. By moving the lever
to the position shown in dotted lines, Figure 1, the wheel e will be drawn
back out of gear with its pawl g, thereby permitting any desired quantity
of warp to be drawn freely off the bobbin.. The wheel e is grooved to
receive the warp thread, and one edge only of its periphery is serrated,
the other being plain. The object of making lever 7 angular at its
pivoted extremity is to prevent it being shifted by the tension of the
warp on the ratchet wheel e.
When the lever 7 projects above the carrier, as shown in Figure 1, it
must be moved or oscillated as required by hand, but the let-out
mechanism may be arranged as shown in Figure 3, in which case a
device shown in Figures 4 and 5 may be employed to shift the lever l.
It consists of a grooved guide » jointed to the end of a rod o carried by
the same or a similar bracket on the shuttle carriage to that which
supports the lifting roller. This guide runs round the loom in advance
or in rear of the lifting roller, and is pivoted at its forward end n¹ to
rod o, which is bent as shown in Figure 3, and the said guide is capable
of being readily shifted to either position shown by means of a lever p
and sliding rod p¹ operated by hand. The blue lines, Figure 5, show the
ends of levers which are in course of being shifted from one position to a
the other by the guide n in its passage, also asshown by blue lines.
The device for binding together the warp strands is shown in Figure 6.
It consists of a clamp pivoted to the top of a tube or hollow cylinder >
fitted to slide up and down within the "cup" Y' in guides in the bed plate
of the machine and provided with a rack (not shown) by which it is
adjusted at any required height in the cup by a pinion operated by hand.
The clamp consists of two jaws 8, 8¹, being segments of a hollow sphere
pivoted at t to cylinder r, and each provided with a segmental rack u, u',
with which gears a worm von a shaft c', the two shafts being actuated
simultaneously by endless screw gearing from a vertical shaft v operated
by hand through any suitable arrangement for opening and closing the
jaws of the clamp. The latter, which are shown closed upon the warp
strands, have curved edges so as to gradually contract the opening as

page_text: they are brought together; the jaw 8, which is curved to a smaller
radius than the other s¹, being partly received therein, as shown. After
a hat is woven the jaws are opened, and the hat is drawn down through
the clamp into the cylinder by the cord before referred to; the clamp
is then again closed upon the strands, and the weaving of another hat
proceeded with as before. The "cup" in this case is carried on two (or
more) upright arms to sliding in guides in the bed plate and jointed to a
forked lever beneath the loom as before.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The application, substantially as herein-before described and
shown in the Drawings, to each of the warp carriers of the circular
loom before referred to of a spool containing a warp thread, when
employed in combination with a variable weft depositing blade or its
equivalent, for weaving a consecutive series of hats or other articles as
set forth.
2ndly. I claim the combination with the carrier a and spool 6 of the
improved "let-out" mechanism, arranged and operating substantially as
herein-before described and shown in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Van Dussen Reed, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two.