Roberts Loom
Encyclopedia
The Roberts Loom was a cast iron power loom
introduced by Richard Roberts
in 1830. It was the first loom that was more viable than a hand loom, it was easily adjustable and reliable thus widely used in Lancashire cotton industry.
, on the border between England
and Wales
. He was the son of William Roberts, a shoemaker, who also kept the New Bridge tollgate. Roberts was educated by the parish priest, and early found employment with a boatman on the Ellesmere Canal
and later at the local limestone quarries. He received some instruction in drawing from Robert Bough, a road surveyor, who was working under Thomas Telford
.
He was responsible for developing ever more precise machine tools, working eventually from 15 Deansgate, Manchester
. Here he worked on improving textile machinery. He patented the cast iron loom in 1822 and in 1830 patented the self-acting mule
thus revolutionising the production of both the spinning
and weaving
industries.
The frame of the loom was cast iron. There were two side frames cast as single pieces. The three cross tails were machined for an accurate assembly. The great arched rail at the top supports the healds. The front and back cross rails bifurcate at each side to give a larger binding surface.
The warp passes from the warp beam, passes over a friction guide roller, where it horizontally passes through the loom to a breastbeam. Here it turns vertically to the cloth beam. Even tension is essential as any variation will lead to broken threads. As the warp beam empties its effective diameter changes making the warp slacker- tension is maintained by adding a wooden pulley to the beam, around which are two turns of rope that are attached to mill weights- thus retarding the beam through friction. The cloth beam bears a toothed wheel which works a pinion. A ratchet wheel is attached with a click level to take up the slack in the cloth. This was Roberts invention.
The heddles are of standard construction. They are arranged in groups of four, obviously even threads and odd must go up and down alternatively but two heddle
s are used for the evens and two for the odds so adjacent threads don't rub. The lower end of the heddle leaves are attached to treadles or marches. These are depressed by cam referred to as eccentrics..
The loom is powered by a leather steam-belt which drives the driving shaft. Here there is a flywheel to smooth the motion and a crank mechanism to drive the battens (swords) and a toothed wheel. This engages a second shaft known as the tappet shaft or wiper shaft whose job is to lower the treadles and throw the shuttle. This turns half the speed of the driving shaft, so its toothed wheel is twice the size.
The shuttle is thrown by two levers attached to the side frame, but activated by a friction roller on the tappet shaft. As the shuttle enters the shuttle-box at the end of its travel, it depresses a lever which acts as a brake. If this lever is not depressed then the loom is stopped.
Power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...
introduced by Richard Roberts
Richard Roberts (engineer)
Richard Roberts was a British engineer whose development of high-precision machine tools contributed to the birth of production engineering and mass production.-Early life:...
in 1830. It was the first loom that was more viable than a hand loom, it was easily adjustable and reliable thus widely used in Lancashire cotton industry.
Richard Roberts
Roberts was born at LlanymynechLlanymynech
Llanymynech is a village straddling the border between Montgomeryshire/Powys, Wales and Shropshire, England about 9 miles north of the Welsh town of Welshpool. The name is Welsh for "Church of the Monks"....
, on the border between England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. He was the son of William Roberts, a shoemaker, who also kept the New Bridge tollgate. Roberts was educated by the parish priest, and early found employment with a boatman on the Ellesmere Canal
Ellesmere Canal
The Ellesmere Canal was a canal in England and Wales, originally planned to link the Rivers Mersey, Dee, and Severn, by running from Netherpool to Shrewsbury. The canal that was eventually constructed was very different from what was originally envisioned...
and later at the local limestone quarries. He received some instruction in drawing from Robert Bough, a road surveyor, who was working under Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
.
He was responsible for developing ever more precise machine tools, working eventually from 15 Deansgate, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. Here he worked on improving textile machinery. He patented the cast iron loom in 1822 and in 1830 patented the self-acting mule
Spinning mule
The spinning mule was a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of two boys: the little piecer and the big or side piecer...
thus revolutionising the production of both the spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
and weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
industries.
The Weaving Process
The major components of the loom are the warp beam, heddles, harnesses, shuttle, reed and takeup roll. In the loom, yarn processing includes shedding, picking, battening and taking-up operations.The Loom
The Roberts loom of 1830 incorporated ideas embodied in an 1822 patent.The frame of the loom was cast iron. There were two side frames cast as single pieces. The three cross tails were machined for an accurate assembly. The great arched rail at the top supports the healds. The front and back cross rails bifurcate at each side to give a larger binding surface.
The warp passes from the warp beam, passes over a friction guide roller, where it horizontally passes through the loom to a breastbeam. Here it turns vertically to the cloth beam. Even tension is essential as any variation will lead to broken threads. As the warp beam empties its effective diameter changes making the warp slacker- tension is maintained by adding a wooden pulley to the beam, around which are two turns of rope that are attached to mill weights- thus retarding the beam through friction. The cloth beam bears a toothed wheel which works a pinion. A ratchet wheel is attached with a click level to take up the slack in the cloth. This was Roberts invention.
The heddles are of standard construction. They are arranged in groups of four, obviously even threads and odd must go up and down alternatively but two heddle
Heddle
A heddle is an integral part of a loom. Each thread in the warp passes through a heddle, which is used to separate the warp threads for the passage of the weft. The typical heddle is made of cord or wire, and is suspended on a shaft of a loom. Each heddle has an eye in the center where the warp is...
s are used for the evens and two for the odds so adjacent threads don't rub. The lower end of the heddle leaves are attached to treadles or marches. These are depressed by cam referred to as eccentrics..
The loom is powered by a leather steam-belt which drives the driving shaft. Here there is a flywheel to smooth the motion and a crank mechanism to drive the battens (swords) and a toothed wheel. This engages a second shaft known as the tappet shaft or wiper shaft whose job is to lower the treadles and throw the shuttle. This turns half the speed of the driving shaft, so its toothed wheel is twice the size.
The shuttle is thrown by two levers attached to the side frame, but activated by a friction roller on the tappet shaft. As the shuttle enters the shuttle-box at the end of its travel, it depresses a lever which acts as a brake. If this lever is not depressed then the loom is stopped.
Economics
The Roberts was made at a time when the power loom industry was set to expand. Until this moment, hand looms were more common than power looms. The reliable Roberts loom was quickly adopted and again it was the spinning side that was short of capacity. Roberts then addressed this, with the construction of a self-acting (automatic) spinning mule. Essentially, textile production was no longer a skilled craft but an industrial process that could be manned by semi-skilled labour. Mule spinning became the mans occupation, and weaving a girls occupation.| Year | 1803 | 1820 | 1829 | 1833 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Looms | 2400 | 14650 | 55500 | 100000 |