SECTION TENTH. PLAIN WEAVING BY POWER. Now the steam begins to blow; Stay no longer idly singing: See the shafts begin to move, Turn correctly every beam. Force is constantly supplied, Brought by straps of leather strong; Levers play on every side, While the shuttle shoots along. See how fast the lay is driven; BRIEN DHU O'FARRELL. We shall not in this place give any repetition of the old hacknied story regarding the origin of the power loom (in Europe),* by Mr. Edmund Cartwright, of Marnham, Nottinghamshire; and for which he obtained a patent, bearing date 4th April, 1785. It is certain that this machine would have long since passed into oblivion, had it not been for the improvements made upon it by other men of genius. It was not until the year 1801 that power loom weaving began to be extensively introduced for the manufacture of plain goods; and not until the years 1830 to 1834 that it was successfully applied to light fancy fabrics, with small patterns, (say, of from 10 to *For the true origin of power loom weaving (plain, tweeled and figured, of every description) see introduction to this work, page 5, 20 to 37, and 64. 75 changes of design.) Since 1834, it has been still further improved by various ingenious individuals, both in Europe and America, so as to make it available in the manufacture of almost every description of figured textures, whether of cotton, silk, linen or wool. In the present section, we shall confine ourself to laying before our readers its application to the weaving of plain fabrics. Fig. 155 shows a side view in elevation of the power loom, as constructed by Messrs. Sharp, Roberts & Co., Manchester; but as their machine contains no particular feature of novelty, we shall not waste much time upon it. Fig. 156 is a section of the same taken through the centre, showing the interior working parts of the machine. A is the frame work of the loom; B, belt pulleys (Fig. 155;) C, fly wheel for equalizing irregularities of motion during the working of the machine: D (Fig. 156,) driving spur-wheel, fixed on the crank shaft E, and gearing into the wheel F; this wheel F, has double the number of teeth of the spur wheel D, and consequently makes only half as many revolutions: it is keyed, or made fast, on the end of the cam shaft G; and it is by means of this shaft, in connexion with suitable tappets and levers, that motion is communicated to the headles for the purpose of shedding the warp, as well as for giving motion to the shuttle. The cranks of the driving shaft are connected to the swords of the lay by arms H (see Fig. 155.) The cams JJ, give motion to the treadles K K, which work the headles JJ, as will be seen very plainly in Fig. 156. The yarn beam is Fig. 156. weighted in the ordinary manner used for coarse goods, namely, by passing a rope round the circumference of each end, to which rope a friction weight M, is attached. The cloth roller and take-up motion (as any practical manufacturer will perceive) possess no feature of novelty, consisting merely of a spur wheel N, working into a pinion are O, which pinion is made fast to the ratchet wheel P, and this wheel receives motion from the clicks or drivers Q, by means of the arm R, this arm receiving motion from the stud-pin S, fixed in the sword of the lay L. The shuttle is thrown by means of two levers T (one of which is seen in Fig. 155 and the other in Fig. 156,) connected at bottom with the horizontal shafts U, motion being communicated to these shafts by a wiper V, working against the iron shoe or slide W, (see Fig. 155.) The shoes or slides W, bolted to the side of the horizontal shafts U (one at each side of the machine) at X. The picker staves or levers T, are recovered to their original positions, alternately, after having thrown the shuttle through the shed, by means of a leather strap and spiral spring which connects the horizontal shafts UU, together across the machine; the position of one end of this leather strap, as bolted to the horizontal shaft U, will be seen at Y, in both Figs. The shaft U, has suitable bearings at each end, which are indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 155, and at Z, Fig. 156. The protector A2, as seen in both these Figs. is of the ordinary construction. This form of the power loom being unworthy of further notice, we shall, therefore, pass on to describe others of greater merit proceeding gradually until we arrive at the most perfect. Figs. 157, 158, 159 and 160, show the different parts of a loom, as improved by Messrs. Apelles Howard, of Stockport, and John Scattergood, of Manchester. Fig. 157 is a back view of the common loom; Fig. 158, a side view, in which part of the framing is removed for the purpose of making the application of the improvements more obvious; and Fig. 159, a view of the improvements apart from the loom, for the purpose of showing more clearly the nature and construction of the same. In Figs. 157 and 158, some of the ordinary parts of the loom are omitted, and only such parts delineated as we consider requisite to explain and show the position in which the improvements are applied. In Fig. 157, A, represents the driving pulley keyed on the crank shaft, which gives motion to the lay; B, the yarn beam; D, Fig. 158, the cloth roller; and C, the tappet shaft by which the position of the headles is regulated, thereby producing the shed or opening in the warp for the passage of the shuttle at each vibration of the lay. In Figs. 157 and 158, E represents a shaft Fig. 158. supported at each side of the loom, parallel to, and immediately above the yarn beam B: on this shaft is made fast two arms F, and F'. The extremity of the arm F, carries a shaft G, similar to that marked E, and crossing the loom in the same way: the shaft E |