THE

London

JOURNAL AND REPERTORY

OF

Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures.

CONJOINED SERIES.

No. LXIX.

Recent Patents.

To JOHN HEATHCOAT, of Tiverton, in the county of Devon, lace-manufacturer, for his invention of a method or methods of weaving or manufacturing divers kinds of goods and wares, and for machines or machinery applicable thereto.-[Sealed 23d December, 1835.]

THIS invention consists of new and improved mechanism and arrangements of machinery, whereby different articles, such as tapes, ribbons, edgings, and other narrow fabrics, may be manufactured with increased dispatch, and in less room or space than by the machinery in common use for such purposes.

The chief point in which this improved method of weaving narrow fabrics differs from those commonly adopted, is, that the operation of weaving is performed in a transverse direction, that is, at right angles to the back and front of the machine, the tapes or other

narrow fabrics standing edgewise ranged side by side, their faces being parallel to each other, and to the ends of the machine; whereas, in the ordinary methods of weaving, the weft threads are laid in or inserted between the warp threads longitudinally, in directions parallel to the front of the machine. The machinery for effecting this object admits of modifications, in order to produce the different articles which may be required; but as the chief feature or principle of my invention will not be changed, although its application be modified, I do not limit myself to the particular forms and constructions of the several parts of the mechanism which I shall describe. For the illustration of my invention, however, I now proceed to explain one method of applying the same in the production of narrow tapes or ribbons.

Plate VI., fig. 1, represents a portion of the front elevation of the machine; fig. 2, is a vertical section, taken transversely; and fig. 3, is an end view of the machine arranged for weaving tapes or ribbons: A, A, are end standards for supporting the machinery secured to the floor by their feet, and braced together by stays at the top; B, is the driving shaft, which derives its movement from any first moving power, by means of a strap acting upon its pulleys; and c, is the vertical shaft at the end of the machine, geared to the former by bevil wheels. Upon these two shafts are fixed the different wheels, cams, or cranks, which actuate the other parts of the machine; D, is the roller on which the warp threads are wound; E, E, E, is a series of guide plates, through the holes of which the said warp threads pass, and by which they are divided into sets, each set being conducted in a range standing at right angles to the axis of the warp roller: F, F, are a number

of slender plates to act as headles, placed close behind each other, and extending along the length of the machine; through apertures formed between these plates the warp threads are conducted, and by their lateral movements, portions of the thread are carried to the right and to the left, for the purpose of crossing and opening the sheds of the warp for the passage of the shuttles. In order to make these openings between the different sets of warp threads wider and more distinct, a series of flat points or teeth G, G, G, is pushed forward through them, and then raised upwards about three inches, whereby the threads are disentangled from each other; for distinction, I call this part of the machine the rake; H, H, H, are the shuttles (one of which is shown in different positions in fig. 4,) on the bobbin of which the material is wound to form the weft, and which weft they are intended to carry through the respective sets of warp threads after the said threads have crossed each other; these shuttles slide on curved bolts from side to side across the machine; I, I, is the slay or reed for beating up the work, of which the slips or divisions are broad thin plates, put together so as to leave sufficient space between them for the warp threads to pass through, and to admit of their lateral movement; K, K, are a row of stationary pins or guides, for the purpose of keeping the work parallel with the shuttles, whilst the weaving goes on; L, is a small roller for preserving the face of the work in a line, and м, the work roller upon which, and close beside each other, the finished tapes or narrow ribbons are wound.

From the foregoing general notice of the principal parts of the machine, and their relative positions, it will be seen wherein the arrangement in my method of weaving narrow fabrics differs from the methods in

common use, and that a great diminution of the space usually occupied ensues therefrom.

It is now necessary to describe how the various operations above alluded to may be performed, and the mechanism which is capable of accomplishing the same.

Let it be supposed that the cotton, silk, or other material for the warp has been wound upon the warp roller D, the threads conducted from thence through the guides E, E, the headles F, F, the divisions of the slay I, I, the upper guides K, K, and secured to the work roller M, the first movement required, will be to cross the sets of warp threads laterally by means of the headles; each of these headles I make of two long thin strips of brass or tin, rivetted or soldered together with oval thickness pieces or counters between them at proper intervals, (as shown detached in several positions at fig. 5,) so as to leave openings for the threads between each pair of counters; the headle plates lie one behind the other, adjusted so that their respective apertures shall be exactly opposite one another across the machine, and slide lengthwise in bearings N, N, attached to the standards, and confined between longitudinal bars.

For plain weaving, the headle plates are divided into two sets, carrying the alternate threads of which, at their right hand end, one set has ears or pieces projecting upwards, and the other set downwards; these two sets of ears are jointed to the links o, o, by pins, whilst the opposite ends of the two said links are jointed to the lever P, one link above and the other below its fulcrum: wheels or studs on the two ends of this lever, work against the two cam wheels Q, Q, fixed on the vertical shaft c; which cams (shown detached at fig. 9,) are so formed, as by their revolution to give at the proper time an alternating movement to the lever,

and, consequently, to the headles, whereby half the latter are pushed in one direction, whilst the other half are pulled in the opposite one, and vice versa: for better illustrating this movement of the headles, I have shown it apart in fig. 6. The threads forming the warp of each respective tape or ribbon having been thus made to cross each other, the flat points of the rake (one of which is shown in two positions detached in fig. 7,) are advanced through the openings just above the headles, and then made to ascend about three inches, for the purpose of disentangling the threads, and thus preparing the way for the shuttles. To effect this movement, the bar of the rake has two stems R, r, descending and connected by joints to the levers s, s, which bear upon the cam wheels T, T, and receive an upward movement from the said cams as they revolve. It will be seen, also, that the upper parts of the rake stems carry small studs, which slide within the obtuse-angled channels or grooves U, of brackets fixed to the standards. Now, as the cams T, T, in revolving, cause the stems of the rake to rise, the rake itself is forced by the studs confined within the lower parts of the grooves to advance through the threads at the commencement of its movement, and then to rise perpendicularly; thus, the flat points of the rake straighten the threads, and clear the openings between them for the passage of the shuttles this done, the cams T, T, allow the rake to descend out of the way of the shuttles; the slay (whose movement will be described forthwith) is allowed to do the same; and whilst this takes place, the shuttles enter between the threads, and commence their passage across the machine to lay in the weft.

Duringt he completion of this passage, the slay gradually begins to re-ascend, the headles again carry back