IMPROVEMENTS IN WEFT STOP MOTIONS FOR LOOMS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John William Willans Shaw, of Rochdale, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturer, and James Hornby, of the same Place, Mechanic,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEFT STOP MOTIONS FOR LOOMS."
Sealed the 12th September 1879, and dated the 13th March 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John William Willans Shaw
and James Hornby at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th
March 1879.
JOHN WILLIAM WILLANS SHAW, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
facturer, and JAMES HORNBY, of the same Place, Mechanic. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WEFT STOP MOTIONS FOR LOOMS."
Our Invention relates chiefly to woollen looms, and consists in the use of certain
apparatus carried by the slay which detects the absence; of the weft, and in that
case causes the stoppage of the loom. Upon the front of the slay we mount a
finger capable of turning upon a centre, and around which the weft thread passes
as the picking takes place; but as the said finger is free to turn upon a centre it is
moved downward and the weaving takes place as usual. The above mentioned
finger is provided with a part which acts as a catch for holding up a sliding piece
connected to the stopping motion, but being released by the above mentioned action
of the weft it passes downward and prevents the stop motion from acting through
the intervention of rods, levers, or other such parts; but if the weft thread be
absent then the said finger is not turned over, the catch remains in action, and the
motion of the loom is arrested. The detecting apparatus above described is
adapted to both sides of the loom and connected together by a rod or other such
apparatus.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John William Willans Shaw and James Hornby in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th September 1879.
JOHN WILLIAM WILLANS SHAW, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
facturer, and JAMES HORNBY, of the same Place, Mechanic. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WEFT STOP MOTIONS FOR LOOMS."
Our Invention relates chiefly to woollen looms, and consists in the use of certain
apparatus carried by the slay which detects the absense of the weft, and in that
case causes the stoppage of the loom.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews a partial transverse section of a loom
with our Invention adapted; Fig. 2, a partial side view; and Figs. 3 and 4,
detached views on a larger scale of the main operating posts, and which I will in
the first place describe. At 1 is a plate or frame carried by the front of the lathe 2
and provided with a block 3 formed with a slot, in which is mounted a sliding
piece 4 carrying a pin 5 which acts as a centre, whereon a finger 6 may turn, the
upper end of the said finger projecting above the top of the slay at certain times.
Beneath the centre 5 the finger 6 has a notch capable of resting upon a part 7 of
. the block 3; when therefore the said finger is bent over in the direction of the
arrow, the recess thereof passing from the part 7, it will, together with the sliding
piece 4, be at liberty to fall, so that its top will be below the top of the slay..
Upon the tappet shaft 8 is mounted fast a short lever 9 which carries a centre 10,
on which is mounted a curved lever 11, one end thereof being in contact with the
tappet shaft 8 and the other carrying a bowl 12, so that the said bowl may act as
a wiper when turning with the tappet shaft in the direction of the arrow, but if
turned the backward way it will be inoperative, the use of which arrangement will
be hereafter referred to. At 13 is a lever turning on a centre 14 and provided
with a projecting part 15, and which is raised at each revolution of the tappet
shaft by the said bowl 12 so as to bring the projecting part 15 into the same plane
as the end of a lever 16 mounted on a centre 17 carried by the bottom of the
slay 2, and having a pin 18 which passes through the before mentioned sliding.
piece 4. Fast with the lever 16 is another 20 drawn upward by a spring 21 and
provided with a bowl 22 which, when turned downward and the slay moves
forward, can arrive against and run over an incline 23 formed on a lever 24 which
turns upon a centre 25, and is fast with another lever 26 connected to a rod 27:
jointed at its other end to a bell crank lever 28, 28*. According to the positions
of the parts shewn in Fig. 1 the sliding part 4 is down the weft thread, having by
its presence passed around one side of the finger and then on the other side thereof,:
so as to loop around and then turn it down so as to liberate it from the stop 7, so.
that the motion of the slay will carry the bowl 22 clear of the incline 23; but.
supposing the weft thread at the next pick to be absent, then the finger 6 would
not be turned over and liberated so as to drop, and the bowl 22 would remain
depressed and within range of the incline 23, so that when it runs thereon the
levers 24, 26, would be caused to turn upon their centre, and by drawing forward
the rod 27 would elevate the lever 28* into a position for shifting the driving:
shaft by any usual or suitable means; but the following is a method we adopt,
reference being had to Figs. 6, 7, and 8. At 30 is the fly wheel upon which there is a
projecting stud 31, which, so long as the weft thread is present, runs clear of a rod 32
which is connected to a block 33 sliding upon a fixed part 34, and drawn towards the
said part by a spring 35; and at 36 is another spring also connected to the said
block 33, but at its other end to a lever 37 turning on a centre 38, and in contact with
the usual strap lever 39. The rod 32 is connected to the above mentioned lever 28*
and when for the reason described this lever is turned upward it brings the said rod
32 within range of the revolving stud 31, whereby the block 33 is caused to slide,
and through the intervention of the spring 36 and lever 37 shift the strap fork,

page_text: The use of the springs 35, 36, is to gain an elastic medium. As the loom continues
to weave the finger 6 has of course to be raised to act as a detector after every time
it has dropped. This is effected by the bowl 12, which raises the lever 13 so as to
bring the stop 15 into position for intercepting the lever 16, whereby the pin 18 is
caused to turn upon its centre. Referring back now to the method by which the
bowl 12 is connected to the shaft 8, the object as will be evident) is that the loom
may be turned backward without actuating the lever 13. It will have been seen
that when a weft thread has been absent the finger 6 remains in its upward position.
On again starting it may be moved down by hand, but to facilitate this lowering
the following contrivance is adopted. The sliding part 4 is provided with a trigger
40, 40, the end 40 of which arrives in contact with an incline 41, and the other
end by being turned in contact with the tail end of the finger 6, thus removing it
from its stop if the weft thread has not already effected that motion. To prevent
the chance of the rebounding of the finger on to its stop 7, we provide it with a
tumbler 42, which passes (when the finger is lowered) behind a part 43 projecting
from the plate 1. The arrangement above described has reference to plain looms,
with the weft detector on one side only thereof, but we now proceed to describe how
our Invention may be adapted on both sides of the loom. Fig. 2 is an end view of
the apparatus; and Fig. 10, a side view. The main acting parts are substantially
the same as those already described, the connexions being modified to suit the object
in view, and the same numbers of reference will be used to indicate parts which
correspond to those already described. At 4 is the sliding part of the finger, at 18
the pin passing through it, and connected in this case to the lever 16 provided with
a bowl. At 50 is the crank shaft provided with a cam 51, which as it revolves is
capable of acting against a bowl 52 mounted on a short lever 53, carried by a lever
54 in such manner as not to allow the cam to act bodily in one direction in a similar
manner to that before described.. The lever 54 is provided with a square slot,
within which is a block extending from a centre 55, carried by a lever 56*, sup-
ported by a fixed bracket 56, and the said lever 54 is therefore capable of being
moved downward by the cam (towards which it is drawn by a spring 56), and also
of turning upon the centre 55. The lower end of the lever 54 is connected by a
pin to a lever 57, 57×, mounted on a centre 58, and the part 57* of the said lever is
provided with an incline 59. Upon the shaft of the lever 16 is an arm 60, which
consequently moves in concert with the pin 18. The operation of the parts thus
far described is as follows, but it refers to one side of the loom only; that of the
other side will be described further on. According to the positions of the parts
shewn, the sliding part 4, with its finger, are down, and the revolution of the cam
51 will depress the lever 54, so as to cause it to elevate the incline 59 within the
plane of the bowl on the lever 16, which on the motion of the slay in the direction
of the arrow will run up the said incline, and the lever 16 being thus caused to
turn upon its centre will elevate the finger precisely as before described, and at the
same time the arm 60 will also be elevated clear of the stopping apparatus, which,
as in the former case, may be of any suitable construction, although I shall point
out a method we adopt. Supposing the weft thread is absent, then for the reasons
before mentioned the detecting finger will remain up, and the bowl 16 will not
come within range of the incline 59, the consequence of which will be that when
the slay carries it forward it will be within range for effecting the stoppage of the
loom. The method (used only as an example) which we use for effecting this
stoppage is shewn at Fig. 9. The arm 60 has on its end an incline 61, which,
according to the means above described, is moved below the plane of a lever 62,
when the slay beats up and the weft is present, but should it be absent then the
said arm continuing in its upward position will arrive against the lever 62, so as to
cause it to turn upon its centre and draw a rod 63 connected to the strap fork.
This, as before stated, refers to one side of the loom only, but the object now is that
there shall be a detector on both sides thereof. To accomplish this the apparatus
just described is repeated on each side of the loom, and the two are connected.
together in the following manner:-At 64 is the usual shaft, which extends across

page_text: the loom for regulating the picks on each side thereof, and upon this is an arm 65,
which at its upper end is connected by means of a slot to the lever 56*. When the
shaft 64 is moved in one direction or the other, it moves the lever 54 upon the
centre 55, so as to shift the bowl 52 into or out of range of the cams 51 at either
side of the loom, and thus the detection of the weft thread may be established
according to the picking required.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that we
claim as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters Patent, and for the
purpose above set forth, the use of the finger or fingers 6, mounted on the front of
the slay and acting in the manner substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hornby, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
JAMES HORNBY. (L.S.)