8729. Sp÷rri, H. April 16. Loom shuttles, changing bobbins in, automatically; stop-motions.-In an automatic loom, the bobbinchanging mechanism may be brought into operation by weft-fork mechanism or by weft-feeler mechanism, according as the loom is employed for weaving plain or fancy goods respectively. When the loom is weaving plain, the weft fork 1 is operated in the usual manner on failure of weft, and the slide 34 on which it is pivoted strikes and moves forward the middle lever 6 of three levers 7, 6, 10, which are pivoted one above the other on a spindle 44 on a plate 37 fitted to the breast beam and are normally held back by three springs. When the lever 6 is moved forwards, it acts on a bolt 31<a> on a lever 31, so that a shaft 39 is rocked and the bobbinchanging mechanism thereby brought into operation. At the same time, a plate 5 pivoted at 43 on the lever 6 assumes the position shown in Fig. 2, being moved from under a tongue 8 which is pivoted on a pin 8<a> in a recess in the lever 7. When the weft hammer 2 recedes, the lever 6 is returned by its spring, and the tongue 8 engages in a recess in the lever 6, which is thus temporarily coupled to the lever 7. When the weft hammer again moves forwards, it strikes a projecting part of the plate 5, which is turned on its pivot into its original position, the tongue 8 being raised by a projection 41 on the plate. If the change of bobbin is not properly effected, or if the weft fails for any other reason, the lever 6 is again moved forwards before the plate 5 is returned, and, as the levers 6, 7 are coupled together, the lever 7 is moved forward, pressing against the knocking-off lever 32 and moving it out of its notch, thus stopping the loom. The lever 6 has a recess 36 opposite the knocking-off lever, so that the loom is not stopped when the lever 6 is moved forward alone. To arrange the loom for fancy weaving so that the weft bobbin may be changed before total exhaustion of the weft, the levers 6, 7 are coupled together by a pin through holes 9, and the bolt 31<a> is removed from the lever 31, so that, when the levers 6, 7 are moved forward with the weft hammer on breakage of the weft, the bobbinchanging mechanism is not operated, since the lever 31 enters a slot 6a in the lever 6, but the loom is stopped by the lever 7 acting on the knocking-off handle. The change of bobbin is controlled by a weft-feeler 26 adjustably mounted on an arm 27 fixed to a shaft 20. When the shuttle enters the shuttle box, an arm fixed to the swell is put into position to strike a loose depending arm on the shaft 20 as the lay moves forward. This arm turns on the shaft 20 against the action of a spring, and allows the shaft 20 to be partially rotated by a spring. The weft-feeler 26 is swung down, and enters the shuttle box, pressing on the weft. When the weft is nearly exhausted, the shaft 20 is allowed by the weft-feeler to rotate sufficiently to cause a flattened stud 12 on an attached arm 17 to raise a catch lever 13 and free a cranked lever 38. The lever 38 is pulled down by a spring so that a pin 14 depresses a weighted lever 3 which is pivoted to the free end of the lever 10. The lever 3 is engaged and carried forward by the weft hammer, so that the lever 10 is moved forward and acts on the lever 31 to turn the shaft 39 and to bring the bobbin-changing mechanism into operation. The lever 10 has a recess on its edge opposite the knocking-off lever, so that the latter is not acted upon.