IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Raynsford Jackson, Cotton Manufacturer,
and John Coupe, Weaving Manager, both of Blackburn, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING."
Sealed the 13th March 1868, and dated the 19th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Raynsford Jackson
and John Coupe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 19th September 1862..
We, ROBERT RAYNSFORD JACKSON, Cotton Manufacturer, and JOHN COUPE,
Weaving Manager, both of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR
WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The object of our Invention is an increase of speed in looms by a better
arrangement of the slay and other parts, and our Invention consists in
diminishing the throw of the cranks, and fixing. the fulcrum of the slay at
much less than the usual distance between it, and the junction of the crank
connecting rods with the slay swords, for example, in a common loom for
weaving cloth 40 inches wide, the crank radius is 24 inches long, and the
distance between the junction of the crank connecting rods with the slay
swords and the fulcrum of the slay is 24 inches, whereas these proportions
according to our improved arrangement are respectively about 2 inches and
12 inches. Though by our improved arrangement the throw of the cranks is.

page_text: diminished, this is partly compensated for by the increased angularity of the
slay, which also causes the shuttle race and reed to become more in the
nature of a trough, as the shuttle bears more against the reed in passing
through the shed than in the common loom. The fulcrum of the slay is also
set forward or towards the cloth, so that the reed will strike the cloth at about
the same angle as in the ordinary loom. We find with our improved loom
(the shedding tappets being modified accordingly) that we can obtain a
greater speed with proportionately less power, greater smoothness of working,
and less breakage of material than in the ordinary loom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and John Coupe in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 19th March 1863..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
RAYNSFORD JACKSON, Cotton Manufacturer, and JOHN COUPE, Weaving
Manager, both of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Robert Raynsford Jackson and John Coupe, Her special license that we;
the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and John Coupe, our executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and
John 'Coupe, 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 Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOOMS FOR WEAVING," upon the condition. (amongst others) that we, the said.
Robert Raynsford Jackson and John Coupe, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals (or under the hand and seal of one of us), 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-tho date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and John
Coupe, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and, in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement and the accompanying Drawings
(that is to say) :-
64
"
The objects of our Invention are to save power, to diminish the friction and
strain upon the warp, and enable the loom to be worked advantageously at a
higher velocity, and all these objects are gained by shortening_conjointly the
"
sweep or radius of the crank and the length of the slay sword or radius in
which the slay oscillates, so as to reduce the oscillation of the slay to con-
siderably less extent than that at present in use. By this arrangement, and by
bringing the healds as close as possible to the reed, when back from the cloth,
a wider shed is secured with the same tappets or extent of movement in the
healds, or an equally wide shed is obtained with less movement of the bealds,
and by the motion of the shuttle race of the slay being in the arc of a smaller
circle, and inclining more backwards when at its greatest distance from the
cloth the "back bearer" for the warp can be set lower and at the same time a
better "cover" is secured to the cloth, and from these causes combined the
strain upon
the warp is also considerably reduced. An additional advantage
in working the shuttle race in the arc of a smaller circle is that the "sweep
of the shuttle race, and the line of the yarn forming the bottom of the shed,
correspond more perfectly than in the common loom, and this, together with
the more obtuse angle of the shed and other circumstances, combine to enable
us to pick earlier in our loom than in the common loom. The friction upon
the yarn is considerably reduced from three causes, firstly, from the fact that
the " sweep "of the slay being of less extent the number of times the reed
passes or rubs any given point in the yarn is correspondingly reduced;
secondly, because the speed at which the reed travels, and therefore the
violence of its rubbing action is reduced; and, thirdly, because the reed passes
the yarn at a much more acute angle than in the common loom. This
advantage will be best understood by those who know that when "loomers"
have completed the "twirling" of a warp they do not pass the reed and healds
over the "twirls" in a position at a right angle to the yarn, but at a much
more acute angle, and by this means they pass the reed and healds easily over
those obstructions.
The saving of power is caused by the reduction of the weight of matter
in motion in the slay and the reduced space through which it travels, and
by the consequent reduced velocity at which it moves for the same numbers
of picks in a given time, and so great is this saving of power that when a
common loom is altered according to our Invention there is at once an
increase of speed of six picks or more per minute before any change is

page_text: made in the size or speed of the drum and pulleys giving motion to the
loom.
Hitherto weavers and mechanics conversant with looms have acted upon
the principle of making the length from the fulcrum of the slay swords to the
shuttle race as great as possible, so that the shuttle race would have as near as
practicable an horizontal rectilinear movement, but for the reasons above
stated, and from the fact of having many looms satisfactorily at work, we have
come to a different conclusion, and the shortened slay swords (as it enables us
advantageously to shorten the sweep of the slay) is an important feature of
our Invention. In the common loom for weaving cloth forty inches wide the
length of the oscillation of the slay is about five and a half inches, the cranks
aré about two and a half inches in radius, and the length from the shuttle
race to the fulcrum of the slay swords is about thirty-one inches, and from the
fulcrum of the slay sword to the joint of the crank arm or connecting rod
about twenty-eight inches, the arc of oscillation of the slay being thus about
ten degrees.
To secure all the advantages we have described without countervailing
disadvantages, we have adopted, as a rule, the following proportions for a
loom to weave cloth forty inches wide, and for other widths in proportion.
The length of the slay sword, from its fulcrum to the shuttle race, is about
sixteen inches, the radius of the cranks when the crank arms are connected
with the slay sword in the usual position is about one inch and three-fourths
of an inch, and the sweep or oscillation of the slay at the shuttle race is about
four inches and three-eighths of an inch. We find, however, from actual
practice that these dimensions may be varied, and that with a slay sword of
twenty inches from its fulcrum to the shuttle race, and a radius of crank in
proportion, an advantage is gained over the common loom, whilst on the other
side the dimensions above given can be diminished so that the slay sword is
but eleven inches from its fulcrum to the shuttle race, the radius of the cranks
one-inch and one-fourth of an inch, and the oscillations of the slay only three
inches and three-eighths of an inch.
We find, also, that these advantages are secured, but in a much less degree,
when the slay swords are only shortened, as herein-before described, and the
radius of the crank is only so much reduced that the oscillation of the slay at
the shuttle race is five or five and a quarter inches, but we much prefer the
proportions first herein-before described. In fact, we make the length of the
slay swords from the fulcrum to the shuttle race, and the length of the
oscillation of the slay such that the slay will oscillate or move through an arc
of more but not less than fourteen degrees. The sweep or oscillation of the

page_text: slay may be shortened and a partial dwell can be produced to give time for
the shuttle to pass through the shed by raising the fulcrum or point of junction
between the connecting rod and slay sword, above the level of the crank shaft,
or by lowering the crank shaft in relation to the point of junction with the crank
arm or connecting rod and the slay sword, which may be done also with the
ordinary loom.
This arrangement is shewu in dotted line on the accompanying Drawing,
which is a cross section of so much of a loom as will be necessary for the
explanation of our Invention.
A, framing; a, warp beam; b, healds; c, slay; d, roller temple; e, sand
roller; f, cloth beam; g, crank shaft; h, connecting rod or crank arm; c',
slay swords; c, fulcrum of slay swords; h³, tappet shaft. We have looms at
work with the ordinary cross shaft or bar between the two fulcrums of the
slay sword, but do not recommend it, and to avoid inconvenience and keep
clear of tappet and other mechanism, and to enable us to carry out our
Invention in all looms, we mount the slay swords on pivots, and dispense
with the cross shaft or connecting bar between the fulcrums of the two
slay swords.
We have now particularly described the nature of our Invention, and the
mode of carrying the same into effect, and wish it to be understood that we
claim as our Invention,-
Firstly, the system or mode of arranging, mounting, and shortening the
slay swords of looms, in combination with the mechanism actuating the same,
as shewn in the accompanying Drawing, and herein-before described.
Secondly, we claim the mounting of the slay, and its arrangement and com-
bination with its actuating mechanism, as shewn in the accompanying
Drawing, when the radius of the crank and the length of the slay swords are
conjointly shortened to the proportions and for the purpose and in the manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Raynsford. Jackson and John
Coupe, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
R. RAYNSFORD JACKSON. (L.S.)
JOHN COUPE.
(L.S.)