LOOM, a term originally meaning simply «tool,* but now particularized so as to apply to a machine for weaving. The simplest form of the loom, still in use among semi-primitive tribes and up to the middle of the 18th century practically the only form, was the hand loom, a rectangular frame, from one side of which yarn is stretched to the opposite side, where it is so secured that the transverse threads may be passed by hand «over and under» the threads already stretched. Fig. 1 shows the simplest form of this loom. From ancient carvings it appears that this simple loom frame was at first hung vertically from an over head support, and in all probability was ar ranged to be lowered as the weaving progressed, so as to keep the work at a convenient level.
So long as the warp lay inert before the weaver it was a very slow process to pick up each alternate thread by hand in order to pass the weft under them. This was overcome from the earliest times by the device of attaching these alternate threads to a staff on which was a loop into which the weaver inserted his great toe and pulled the alternate threads of the warp down together, producing a ((shed" below the level of the cloth through which he could throw his shuttle with a single cast. The loose ness of the cloth thus woven called for some method of firming it as the weaving proceeded, and at first this was done by lengthening the shuttle so that it was longer than the width of the cloth, and using that to press the newly laid thread or "pick" snugly into the angle or shed of the divided threads of warp. This function was later performed by the "reed" or ((sic? — a frame hanging upright, from pivots at the top and filled, at first, with very thin strips of bamboo, but later of fine polished wire. According to the firmness of the cloth to be woven the wires were passed between every two threads of warp, or between every other pair or every other triplet. After each throw of the shuttle the reed is pulled forward, pressing the pick solidly against the newly woven cloth on the cloth roll. When working a wide piece of cloth it was customary to have an assistant at one end to throw the shuttle back to the weaver's end, or if the piece were very wide two shuttle throwers were required, on at each side of the loom.
The first important improvement was the shuttle" invented by John Kay in 1733. This consisted of a pair of shuttle boxes fastened each at one end of a smooth wooden shelf or deck running along the lower part of the reed, and coming close up against the threads of the warp. In each of the shuttle boxes was
placed a block of hard wood known as a - ((picker" strung on a wire, and connected by a cord to a handle immediately above the cloth and in front of the weaver. A sharp pull on the handle would drive the picker against the shuttle with a quick blow and send it flying through the shed. Kay's invention practically revolutionized the weaving industry, as it in creased four or five fold the output of a loom fitted with the "fly shuttle," and rendered assistants unnecessary. He was granted a patent but the weavers everywhere appropriated the device in spite of the patent, and finally mobbed him and drove him to France, where he died in extreme poverty. Nevertheless his invention was a long step forward toward the development of the power loom.
The hand loom for most of the modern textiles has been superseded by the power loom, but for some classes of work it cannot be re placed. It is still in constant use for working out new patterns to be eventually wrought on power looms, and many kinds of high grade fabrics in silks, velvets, fancy cloths and the so-called art fabrics are still made on it.
The accompanying illustration (Fig. 21 shows in a simplified form the essential parts of the hand loom as it existed up to the time of Cartwright's invention of the power loom in 1785. The primitive frame (Fig. 1) occupies a horizontal position in the framework (AAAA), and the former end pieces have become rollers, so that the length of the piece of cloth is no longer necessarily less than the length of the frame. These rollers are the beam or yarn roll (B), which is at the back of the loom, and upon which the warp threads are wound, and the cloth beam (C) to which the threads are fastened and which winds up the cloth as it is made. The threads of the warp, held tight by weights (b, b) acting upon the yarn-roll to pull it backward, pass through the eyes of the healds, by which they are separated to permit of the passage of the shuttle, and also between the wires of the reed. The shuttle in the hand loom is thrown by the operator, and in the power loom by the picker-staff machinery; in either case it is made of hard wood, is pointed at either end with iron and carries in a recess the quill or bobbin. D shows the hanging batten frame with the reed at the bot tom, and the shuttle boxes at each end. At E are the treadles which operate the healds (H) and at G are the points which separate the threads of the warp so that a broken yarn can be quickly identified and mended.