78 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



feeding-board ; the fingers release the sheet at the proper time by suit- 

 able mechanism. Scientific American. 



IMPROVEMENT IX POWER LOOMS. 



THE Scientific American describes the following improvements in 

 Power Looms, devised bv Mr. Reynolds, of Columbia County, N. Y. 



tf V I/ > 



The first part of the improvements relates to the harness motion usually 

 employed in plain weaving ; he attaches the leaves above and below 

 to straps, cords, or chains, which are connected to the peripheries of 

 two rollers, whose axes are hung in suitable bearings one above and 

 the other below the harness, in a plane which equally divides the space 

 between the front and back leaves ; the straps or cords, from the two 

 leaves of the harness, pass in opposite directions around the rollers 

 spoken of, hence, if a rocking motion be given to one roller, and the 

 other be left free, one leaf will be raised and the other depressed 

 alternately. It is a desideratum, in weaving at a high speed, that the 

 warp be always opened to a certain width at the line where the shuttle 

 passes through, and that the upper and lower threads of the shed 

 always occupy the same position when the shed is open ; if a suitable 

 motion be given to keep the shed open, it only requires to be opened 

 just wide enough for the shuttle to pass through ; to do this the back 

 leaf that furthest from the filling or weft must be moved further 

 than the front leaf. The way to produce this difference in motion, 

 consists in making that portion of the periphery of each of the rollers 

 mentioned, to which the back leaf is attached, and which are termed 

 compensating rollers, of a larger diameter than the portion to which 

 the front leaf is attached ; by properly regulating this difference in the 

 parts of a roller, the required effect is produced. Another improve- 

 ment relates to the stop motion of a loom ; the fork of the common 

 stop motion, to arrest the action of the loom when a weft thread breaks, 

 is made in one piece of steel or iron, and must really be made stronger 

 than the work it has to perform, as the shuttle frequently strikes against 

 them, if, by any accident, it is thrown from the raceway of the lay ; 

 when this happens, the tines are either bent or broken, and to repair 

 this, the loom has to be stopped for a considerable time. The tines 

 are detached by Mr. Reynold's plan, and they are inserted in an elas- 

 tic socket, in which they can easily be placed ; this allows of their being 

 made of metal or wood, whalebone, or split rattan the last material 

 is preferable. The girl attending the loom keeps a number of spare 

 tines on hand, and when one becomes bent or broken, she puts in 

 another, and thus saves the labor of machinist and tenter in repairing 

 the said stop motion ; the bent tines can be straightened again, and 

 very slight interruptions are thus occasioned to repair such breakages. 

 The improvements of Mr. Reynolds, enables power looms to be 

 driven at a far higher velocity, than they now can be, and thus a most 

 important impulse will be given to the art, as it respects economy in 

 repairs, saving of time in stoppages, and the greater quantity of work 

 done in a given time. 



