SELF-ACTING SHUTTLE GUARD.


[Illustration: SELF-ACTING SHUTTLE GUARD.]

The annexed illustration shows the essential parts of Hahlo and
Liebreich's improvement, the loom being now at work. The handrail,
shuttle race, and starting handle can be at once recognized, and the
shuttle guard will be seen in its proper position, which position it
rigidly retains as long as the loom is working, but on a stoppage the rod
swings back close underneath the handrail, and quite clear of the reed.
The mode in which this is accomplished we will endeavor to make clear.
The guard is connected to the starting lever by the arrangement shown,
consisting of a stud on the handle, on which, with the movement of the
slay, lever, a, slides. This lever, by means of another lever and a link,
is attached to the shuttle guard by the crank, b, which, by means of the
set screw in the boss, permits the shuttle guard to be adjusted in the
most convenient place. It will be observed that whenever the loom stops
working, whether it is stopped by hand or automatically, the hand lever
has to be moved, and this movement is communicated to the shuttle guard
by the mechanism just described, placing the guard rod beneath the hand
rail, and leaving the whole of the shuttle race free and unencumbered.
The act of starting the loom brings the guard again to the working
position without any extra act having to be performed by the weaver. The
action is entirely automatic, and the weaver has not anything to do that
she has not to do with the present unguarded looms. The arrangement
appeared to ourselves to be a very efficient one, and it has the merit
that the length of the guard can be made greater than the width of the
cloth, a further advantage that will be recognized by practical weavers.