Improvements in or connected with Tension-regulating Weights for Loom Shuttles.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 1st Feb., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Tension-regulating Weights
for Loom Shuttles.
I SAMUEL WALKEY GILLETT of the firm of H. B. Barlow, of 4 Mansfield
Chambers, 17 St. Anns Square, Manchester in the County of Lancaster, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention which Invention has been
communicated to me from abroad by Harold Kelly, Machinist, of Biddeford, and
Melville Hutchins Kelly, Clerk, of Saco, both in the State of Maine, in the United
States of America, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in tension regulating weights for shuttles
and is specially designed to render a tension weight self-threading, and to prevent
the uneven wear of the bottom of the weight by the thread and the collecting of
waste around and beneath the weight. It also consists in providing a suitable base
for said weight to rest upon.
In the drawings herewith accompanying and making a part of this application,
Fig. 1. is a plan of a shuttle body fitted with my improved tension; Fig. 2. is a
longitudinal section of a part of Fig. 1.; Fig. 3. is a cross section showing a different
method of attaching the weight to the shuttle body, and same letters refer to like
parts.
In said drawings a represents the shuttle body, b the spindle and i the eye of the
shuttle. Between said eye and the end of the spindle is placed a tension weight c.
The weight c has more or less nearly the shape of a hemisphere and a central bore d.
The bottom of the weight has its outer edge bevelled to allow the thread to be
drawn underneath it. The weight may be attached to the shuttle body in various
ways, two of which are shown in Figs. 2 & 3 respectively. In Fig. 2. the bore at
the bottom is of less diameter than at the top and a screw having a head adapted to
enter the top of the weight passes through the weight and into the body of the
shuttle. Made thus the tension will thread itself whichever way the spindle is wound.
With some grades of thread there is found to be a tendency for several coils of the
thread to leave the spindle at the same time, and when this occurs one of the loose
coils will sometimes loop around the weight and the thread be broken. It is therefore
better sometimes to attach the weight in the manner shown in Fig. 3, the post m
passing through the central bore and having an arm extending to the wall of the
shuttle body so as to prevent any loose coils from getting around the tension.
When the thread passes between the weight and the wood of the shuttle body, it
soon wears a channel in the wood so that the weight soon fails to rest upon the thread
with sufficient force to give the necessary tension. To prevent this I place beneath
the weight a base of some very hard substance as e, having a hole therein through
which the attaching screw or post may pass. Said base may be sunk into the wood
so that its top will be even with the bottom of the shuttle. It is customary to insert
a tube f in the eye of the shuttle, said tube being made of porcelain or other hard
substance. The base may be made independently of the tube or the two may be
made from a single piece of material, as shown in Fig. 2.
The tension weight is free to move up and down upon the screw or post as the
case may be. It may be made of any suitable material, its shape and method of
attachment permitting it to be made of glass or porcelain as well as of metal.
The advantages of this improved tension are that it is self-threading and
self-cleaning and at the same time simple, durable and cheap.
Its operation is as follows. When the thread is drawn through the eye of the
shuttle it descends over the curved side of the weight to the bevelled edge and is
thence drawn under the weight, the said weight resting on the thread to give the

page_text: necessary tension. The thread as it passes between the two surfaces is cleaned of
more or less lint and foreign substances, thereby improving the quality of the cloth,
and yet not choking the weight, the weight being free to move on its screw or post
and being open on all sides. The revolution of the weight; caused by the thread
passing under it, helps to clear the weight of accumulating lint and also causes the
bottom of the weight to be worn smooth and uniform instead of in a channel as
would be the case, if the weight was fixed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said invention
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents and in what manner the same
is to be performed, 1 declare that what I claim is :--
1. The combination with a shuttle body, of a tension weight having more or less
nearly the form of a hemisphere and a flat base the outer edge of which is bevelled, as
and for the purposes set forth.
2. The combination with a shuttle body, of a tension weight having more or less
nearly the form of a hemisphere, its under outer edge bevelled, a central bore and an
attaching post, as and for the purposes set forth.
3. The combination with a shuttle body, of a tension weight having more or less
nearly the form of a hemisphere, its under outer edge bevelled, a central bore and an
attaching post one end of which extends down into or through said bore and the
other to the shuttle body, as and for the purposes set forth.
4. The combination with a shuttle body, of a tension weight having more or less
nearly the form of a hemisphere and a flat base, the outer edge of which is bevelled,
and a flat seat for said base to rest upon, as and for the purposes set forth.
5. The combination with a shuttle body having a tension weight substantially
as set forth, of a base plate and eye tube combined, as and for the purposes set
forth.
Dated this 23rd day of December 1889
H. B. BARLOW,
Agent for Applicant.