CHE 



763 



(ii i; 



I' I. IT* 



OLL, 



^ of plaiu calicoes for printing. It was not put in 

 practice, by the death of the person for whose use it 

 was intruded ; and other pursuits have hitherto pre- 

 vented the inventor from taking any steps to bring it 

 into practice. 



To fit a loom moved by power to the operation* 

 of weaving checks of every description, from the 

 most simple pattern of blue and white, for a seaman's 

 or a negro's shirt, to the most variegated pattern of 

 a Madras handkerchief, it is only necessary to add 

 to the loom a very simple apparatus for moving the 

 various shuttles, so as to work alternately according 

 to the pattern required. This apparatus will be 

 found in Figures 1. and 2. Plate CXL. ; and the in- 

 ventor offers it with the less hesitation or diffidence, 

 because although he admits that it has never been 

 practically applied to this purpose, yet he has used 

 and proved cue of a much more complicated and di- 

 versified nature, with unequivocal success, and entire- 

 ly upon a similar principle, in the patent tambouring 

 machinery, where the effect produced was greatly 

 more difficult of accomplishment. The figure is a 

 profile section, taken longitudinally, of the frame- 

 work of a power loom of that kind which was ori- 

 ginally introduced in Cheshire and Lancashire, and 

 is known there by the name of the Stockport loom. 

 In Scotland, it is generally called the Crank loom, 

 from the means by which the motion is communica- 

 ted. The upper rail, or cape of the loom, is repre- 

 sented at AA, and the hanging part, or, as it is call- 

 ed by weavers, the sword of the lay, at B. Suppo- 

 sing that a pattern combining five colours is required, 

 and that, of course, five different shuttles are requi- 

 site, a section of a box with five divisions, distinguish- 

 ed by numerals, will be seen at C. This box is to be 

 placed on a centre pin at I, and by moving it back- 

 ward and forward, the separate divisions from 1 to 5 

 may be successively brought into the working posi- 

 tion, that at 3 being represented in that situation. 

 Let D be a wheel or a convenient diameter, with a 

 ratchet wheel on its rim. This wheel may be made 

 of well-seasoned wood ; but, although more expen- 

 sive, cast-iron will be greatly preferable. With the 

 lower part of the box-frame the lever E is connected 

 by a common joint ; and by means of two iron pins 

 or studs, the motion for shifting the boxes will be 

 derived by the rotation of the wheel D on its own 

 axis. This motion will be given at each motion of 

 the lay by the hook H, connected with the lever G 

 by two intermediate cranks at L and M. The vibra- 

 tion or oscillatory motion of the lay, generated by the 

 revolution of the crank F, is represented by the two 

 dotted lines drawn from the centre on which it swings. 

 Now when the lay swings forward towards the wheel 

 D, the pin in the end of the lever E will come in 

 contact with the piece of wood or metal which is 

 screwed on the wheel at S. Let another vibration of 

 the lay between the dotted lines take place, and the 

 piece of wood 4 will be presented to the pin in the 

 end of the lever E. This piece being nearer the cir- 

 cumference of the wheel D than the former, the pin 

 will be soo-.ier stopped ; and the lay continuing it* 

 motion to the dotted line, it is evident that the frame 

 of boxes must move upon its centre, and the box 4> 

 will then occupy the place which the box 3 now 

 does, and thus the shuttle will be instantaneously 

 changed, without for one second impeding the speed 



of the loom. When the*: again huu.!, 



the piece 5 will present ittelf to the pin, and agati. 

 iiutantaneouily shift the frame to precent a new *hut- 

 tie in the box 5. Let the leter E be lengthened, and ^_ r - 

 another pin placed *o at to come in contact with the 

 iniide of the second range of pieces on the wheel D, 

 and the boxes will be *ucce**ivelr shifted from 5 to 

 1 in the inverted order of the former bhift. This, 

 however, will not be effected when the lay comet for. 

 ward to the cloth, but when it i* again thrown back 

 towards the heddles ; and the thift will take place 

 immediately before the shuttle receive* the in>; 

 which is to throw it across the cloth. Now a . 

 reflection will make it apparent, that a wheel of this 

 description may be fitted to every possible diversity 

 of pattern, merely by giving the ratchet wheel at 

 many teeth as necessary, and screwing piece* to more 

 cither pin between the concentric circle* on the wheel 

 which correspond to the box to be presented. If the 

 wheel is made with a number of (lotted hole diver- 

 ging from the centre towards the circumference, the 

 pattern may be very speedily altered from one de- 

 scription to another, and very few wheels will be re- 

 quired for each loom. The spring K will keep the 

 frame of boxes steady in the position where it is pla- 

 ced until a fresh shift is requisite. An apparatus of 

 this kind might be added to any of the power loom* 

 now in use ; and there seems no reason to doubt that 

 it would fit them for a much more extensive range of 

 work than they have been hitherto applied to, 



The small Figure 4-. is a profile of the wheel D ** * 

 and lever E, and will further illustrate how the stop 

 pieces act upon the pins at both extremities of the 

 vibration. 



It seems rather extraordinary that no plan of thi* 

 nature has as yet been adopted ; and it can only be 

 accounted for by reflecting how very precarious eve- 

 ry new invention is, from a variety of causes both in 

 its mechanical and economical relations. The exten- 

 sive use to which this might be applied, even in its 

 most simple state, for weaving low-priced blue and 

 white checked cloth must be evident, when we reflect 

 that these checks supply the men employed in the 

 navy, amounting to upwards of 130,000, with shirt? 

 and trowsers ; that most of the labourers and opera- 

 tive mechanics wear the same kind; and that it sup- 

 plies the negroes in the colonies with their chief and 

 almost only clothing ; that it furnishes a very use- 

 ful part of the dress of females employed in almost 

 every branch of domestic industry ; and that, besides 

 being an article of dress, it is also, among the most 

 numerous class of the people, very much in use for 

 bed-hangings, window-curtains, and many other kinds 

 of household furniture, (j. D. ) 

 CHEESE. See DAIKV. 



CHEIRANTHUS, a genus of plant* of the cla 

 Tetradynamia, and order biliquosse. See BOTANY, 

 p. 261. 



CHEIROSTEMON, a genus of plants of the 

 class Monadelphia, and order Pentandria. See Bo- 

 T\\Y, p. 271. 



CHEL1DONIUM, a genusof planwof the da** 

 Polyandria, and order Monogynia. See BOTAKY, 

 p. 234-. 



CHELMSFORD, the county town of Ewex, is 

 delightfully situated at the confluence of the rivera 

 Chelmer and Cann, the former of which i* crowed by 





