IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HEALDS EMPLOYED IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Randal Harris and Joseph Holding, of
the Patent Heald Superseding Company, Limited, Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF HEALDS EMPLOYED IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Randal Harris.
and Joseph Holding at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 29th June 1872.
We, WILLIAM RANDAL HARRIS and JOSEPH HOLDING, of the Patent.
Heald Superseding Company, Limited, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
86 'IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HEALDS EMPLOYED IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," to be as follows: —
Our Invention relates to such healds as are made from yarn, in which
eyes have been formed, or in which metal eyelets have been fixed, and
consists principally of improvements in and additions to the Invention
for which Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of February.
in the year One. thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine have been
granted to the within-named William Bandal Harris. In the last-named
Invention a machine was employed which fixed a single metal eyelet in
the yarn at each operation,

page_text: According to the first part of our said Invention we multiply the
number of acting parts in a single machine, and we so otherwise modify
the said machine as that it may be capable of fixing a number of eyelets
in a single length of yarn at a single operation, as for example, supposing
it to be decided to fix ten eyelets at a single operation we construct a ₹
machine acting similarly to the machine described in the Specification
of the said William Randal Harris, but capable of fixing ten eyelets
simultaneously, the speed of production being thereby considerably
increased.
This part of our Invention may be applicable in cases wherein eyes or 1
eyelets are fixed in or upon yarn by other means than those described in
the Specification of the said Invention of William Randal Harris.
The second part of our Invention has for its object to expedite the
formation of the finished set of healds from the yarn in which the eyelets
have been fixed as aforesaid; and is also applicable to be used in the
formation of finished sets of healds from yarn in or on which eyes or
eyelets have been fixed or formed by other means.
A number of ends
of the said yarn are led from bobbins on which the said yarn has been
wound through suitable guides; and are drawn in through the eyes of a
set of healds or harness, and through a reed as or nearly as in the case
of an ordinary warp. The said ends are then woven together at intervals
with the employment of a suitable weft, a sufficient length of the said
ends being drawn forwards or wound on to the breast beam between the
processes of weaving. The fabric so formed is then severed into lengths
suitable to form healds, and the said lengths are mounted on or fixed to
heald shafts, and may then be employed as ordinary healds. The number
of ends of yarn so woven together may be equal to the number of eyes
in the finished set of healds, or may be equal to one-half only of the said
number of eyes; or to a lesser proportion than one-half, so that the said´
fabric would require to be folded when being mounted on or attached to:
the said heald shafts. The width of the said fabric may in some cases
be less than the length of the finished set of healds.
.
To ensure that the eyes in each set of healds shall be somewhat in line
with each other we may employ a grooved holding bar, against which
bears one of the eyes in each end when the ends are drawn forwards.
We also prefer to employ a second grooved bar, arranged to hold in-
opposition to the first-named bar, so that a length of the warp of ends.

page_text: containing a central row of eyes may be extended between the said bars.
The said bar or each bar is or may be fitted to swivel so as to allow the:
fabric to be "taken up" during each weaving process.
In a modification of the said weaving process we secure the ends of
yarn between shafts or rods of wood, which are formed in pairs, the rod
in one pair being formed with a ridge which enters a groove in the
other rod.
The rods may be temporarily tied or fastened together, and be per-
manently screwed or otherwise connected together after removal from
the loom or frame, and together form one of the shafts of the heald.
The rods to form both shafts of each set of healds are fixed to the warp
at intervals, and the warp with the rods in position may be wound upon
a breast beam, and may be subsequently severed into sets of healds at
any suitable stage of the finishing process. The forms of the said rods
may be varied so long as they are secured together, so as to grip or hold
the ends of yarn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Randal Harris and Joseph Holding in-the:
Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
RANDALL HARRIS and JOSEPH HOLDING, of the Patent Heald Super-
seding Company, Limited, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said William Randall Harris and Joseph.
Holding, Her special license that we, the said William Randall Harris and
Joseph Holding, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said William Randall Harris and Joseph Holding, our 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

page_text: Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF HEALDS EMPLOYED IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition,
amongst others, that we, the said William Randall Harris and Joseph
Holding, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,
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 we, the said William Randall Harris and Joseph
Holding, 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 and accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :—
Our Invention relates to such healds as are made from yarn.in which
eyes have been formed, or in which metal eyelets have been fixed, and
consists principally of improvements in and additions to the Invention
for which Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of February
in the year One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine have been granted
to the within-named William Randall Harris. In the last-named In-
vention a machine was employed which fixed a single metal eyelet in
the yarn at each operation.
According to the first part of our said Invention we multiply the
number of acting parts in a single machine, and we so otherwise modify
the said machine as that it may be capable of fixing a number of eyelets
in a single length of yarn at a single operation, as for example, supposing
it to be decided to fix ten eyelets at a single operation, we construct a
machine acting similarly to the machine described in the Specification
of the said William Randall Harris, but capable of fixing ten eyelets
simultaneously, the speed of production being thereby considerably
increased.
This part of our Invention may be applicable in cases wherein eyes or
eyclets are fixed in or upon yarn by other means than those described in
the Specification of the said Invention of William Randall Harris.
The second part of our Invention has for its object to expedite the
formation of the finished set of healds from the yarn in which the eyelets
have been fixed, as aforesaid; and is also applicable to be used in the

page_text: "
are not represented in the Drawings. The nipping disk, which draws
forward a length of yarn is with its actuating gearing an exception to the
duplication of parts, as only one shown at fis required; but it is caused
to revolve at a greater speed or to a greater extent than in the said former
Invention by means of a train of spur gearing 9, which receives an
intermittent motion from the sector wheel h, which has the same action
as the wheel marked 25 in the Drawings attached to the Specification of
the aforesaid former Invention. The said nipping disk being thus rotated
to a greater extent, or being increased in size, as may be preferred, draws
forward the length of yarn containing the four eyelets after each operation
of the eyeletting apparatus. The yarn is passed partly around small
pulleys situated between the sets of tubes e, e. Each of the said pulleys
is mounted on a slide, so that by moving it away from the ends of the
tubes e, e, the length of yarn extending between any two eyelets is
increased, whereby we are enabled to regulate the length of the
healds.
**We do not confine ourselves to the details of the apparatus so long as
a length of yarn is untwisted at two or more places, and two or more
eyelets are fixed at such places between any two operations of the
apparatus which draws forward the yarn.
We have not considered it to be necessary to specially illustrate that
part of the second portion of our Invention which relates to the weaving of
the yarns, in which eyelets have been formed or fixed; but the manner
in which such weaving may be performed will he herein-after indicated.
-
Fig. 2 represents a cross sectional elevation, and Fig. 3. a part plan of
a modification of a loom adapted to be used in the formation of healds
by securing the yarn between bars or rods of wood; Fig. 4 is an end
view of a heald so formed, the ends of yarn passing between the bars 1
and 2, and 3 and 4, and being secured in position by riveting, screwing,.
or otherwise fastening the said bars together. In Figs. 2 and 3, i is a
warp composed of yarns, in or on which eyelets have been fixed or
formed, the said yarns being, in the example, wound upon bobbins, not
shewn in the Drawing, but the said yarns may be formed into a warp,
and be wound upon a "beam" in the usual manner, if preferred. The
ends of
yarn are " drawn " in through the comb or reed j, the healds k, k,
and the reed in the sley m. The said sley is actuated by the crank
shaft n through connecting rods, one of which is seen at o, and the said.
crank shaft is caused to revolve when so required by means of the winch

page_text: handle which gives motion to the bevil wheel q which is fixed on the
end of the crank shaft. The healds are actuated by means of a handle
fixed on one end of the shaft 8, but not seen in the. Drawing. The
warp ends lie in grooves formed in a roller t, and the ridges between the.
said grooves are removed at one part of the circumference of the said
roller, as represented in the Drawing, so that the said ridges at the said
part form a comb which holds the eyelets so that the warp cannot be
drawn forward until the said roller is caused to revolve in the direction
of the arrow, so as to release the eyelets. The warp. or the partly
finished healds is or are drawn forward by means of the breast roller u,
which is provided with two combs & which also take hold of the eyelets, so
that a length of warp sufficient to make two sets of healds is firmly held
at each end. "A worm wheel is fixed on the said breast roller, and a
second worm wheel w on the roller and worms x and x',. the latter of
which worms is fitted to slide on the shaft y, gear with the said worm
wheels. The sliding motion of the worm is controlled by the weighted.
lever "", which tends to move the said worm along the shaft y in the.
direction of the arrow, and the said worm acting as a rack on the
worm wheel causes the roller to have a tendency to revolve in the
contrary direction to that indicated by the arrow, whereby a suitable
amount of tension is imparted to the warp. When the lever is raised
or held so as to prevent the sliding of the worm ¹, and when the shafty
is caused to revolve a certain number of times by means of the handle.
séen on its end, the roller t makes one revolution, and the breast roller u
half a revolution in the direction indicated, by the arrows in Fig. 2. A
comb is fitted to slide up and down between the breast beam at and a
bar 61, the said comb being moved up and down when required by means
of the handle c² which is fixed on the rocking shaft d, which shaft
gives motion to the said comb by means of levers, one of which is
seen at e¹.
go
We may mention in this place that when forming sets of healds by a
weaving operation, we should prefer to employ a loom fitted with the
rollers tandu, or with rollers or parts acting in a similar manner, the
said loom being also fitted with ordinary or suitable parts and motions
for weaving together the yarns in the warp, as herein-before. mentioned.
The number of ends of yarn woven together may be equal to the -
number of eyes in the finished set of healds, or may be equal to one-
half only of the said number of eyes, or to a lesser proportion than one-

page_text: half, so that the said fabric would require to be folded when being
mounted on or attached to the said heald shafts.
The manner of operating with the apparatus represented by Figs. 2
and 3 may be as follows:-The comb z having been moved upwards so
that its teeth project above the surface of the breast beam a¹, a bar of
wood, say for example, the bar 3, in Fig. 4, is passed beneath the warp
yarns, and is placed on the breast beam a¹ so as to abut against the
comb z, as represented about the full size in cross section at Fig. 5. The
bar 4 is now placed over the bar 3, and is pressed down so that the
ridges of one bar enter the grooves in the other bar, as shewn at Fig. 6.
The two bars are now temporarily tied or fastened together, or are
screwed together, or supposing the surface of the breast beam a¹ to be
sufficiently hard, the two bars may be conveniently and readily secured
together by driving nails through both bars, so that the points are riveted
or clenched by coming in contact with the said breast beam. It may,
however, be desirable to use such a mode of fastening as that the two
bars may be readily separated and used again when the healds are worn
out. The shed is now opened by partly revolving the shaft 8, and a bar,
4
say, the bar i, is placed in the shed, and the sley is or may be caused to
beat up the said bar. The shed is now reversed, and the bar 2 is
placed in the shed, and is beat up by means of the sley, so that its ridge
enters the groove in the bar 1, as shown at Fig. 8, the crossed warp
threads being pressed into the said grooves; the said bars must now be
temporarily or permanently secured together. The comb is then
moved downwards, and the lever - being raised and supported, the
roller u is rotated by means of the shaft y, thereby drawing forward the
completed or partly finished healds which are or may be wound on the
roller f.
In order to cause the release of the healds from the roller u, we may
fit the combs z to be slid in and out of the said roller by means of fixed
cams, in manner as indicated by Fig. 9. As the roller revolved the
said cams would cause each comb to be withdrawn into the roller when
the other comb had taken hold of a fresh row of eyelets.
a
The moving parts of the apparatus just described are designed to be
actuated by hand, and this may be found to be a suitable arrangement;
but we do not confine ourselves to the use of hand power, as the
apparatus may be adapted to be actuated or partly actuated by steam

page_text: power, and also the details may otherwise be greatly varied, the important
feature of this part of our Invention being the formation of healds from
a warp of yarn containing or fitted with eyelets.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of our said
Invention, and means for carrying the same into practical effect, we
would in conclusion have it to be understood that we claim,―
First. The fixing of two or more eyelets in a length of yarn between
any two operations of drawing forward the yarn, substantially as and for
the purpose herein-before set forth and indicated.
Secondly. The formation, or partial formation, of sets of healds from
warps of yarn previously formed or fitted with eyelets, by the operation
of weaving in suitable looms, substantially as herein-before set forth and
indicated.
Thirdly. The formation or partial formation of sets of healds from
warps of yarn formed or fitted with eyelets, by clipping and securing the
yarns in the said warp between shafts, rods, or bars of wood, substan-
tially as herein-before-set forth and indicated.
And, lastly. The apparatus substantially as and for the purpose as
herein-before described, and as illustrated by Figs. 2, 3, and 9 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Randall Harris and Joseph
Holding, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
HUGH G. GRANT,
Clerk to Edward K. Dutton,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
W. R. HARRIS.
(L.8.)
JOSEPH HOLDING. (L.S.)