IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNA- MENTAL WEAVING BY JACQUARD LOOMS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Crawford, of Beith, in the County of Ayr,
North Britain, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNA-
MENTAL WEAVING BY JACQUARD LOOMS."
Sealed the 15th February 1856, and dated the 18th August 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Crawford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
August 1855.
I, ROBERT CRAWFORD, of Beith, in the County of Ayr, North Britain,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ORNAMENTAL WEAVING BY JACQUARD LOOMS" to be as follows, that is
to say-
This Invention relates to various mechanical arrangements, modifications of,
and additions to, the jacquard movement or apparatus as adapted for orna-
mental weaving, the essential object of the Invention being the enlargement
of the range of action of the pattern-producing mechanism, whilst the details
of the pattern cards, or the actual figure-working and governing parts, are
condensed within very narrow limits. Instead of employing a string or long
chain of pattern cards, as in the ordinary jacquard arrangements, a single
composite or differential action card only is used, this single card being made

page_text: up of two or more separate layers or sections of card or pattern-producing
surface piled one above the other to form a single solid mass. A single length
or portion only of this composite card, which may be composed of any con-
veniently available material, is used for the production of any entire pattern
or device upon the fabric to be woven. This composite card is carried upon a
horizontal traversing table, disposed in the upper part of the jacquard or figure-
working apparatus, such pattern table being capable of step by step traverse
across the frame at a level just above the upper acting ends of the vertical
pattern needles.
The necessary traverse is effected by a toothed rack and engaging and dis-
engaging pin action, worked by connections passing down to the treadle move-
ment of the weaver in the lower part of the loom framing, or in any other
convenient way. The cord sections, composing the differential action pattern
surface, are each perforated in the usual manner in lines across their breadth,
but the perforations are so arranged in reference to each sectional layer of
card, that after the ground each layer refers to and governs one special color,
that is to say, the perforations where they occur under the exigencies of the
figure are made either through one, two, three, four, or the whole mass of the
card sections, as the relative positions of the colors in the pattern may require.
If the perforation is through the external layer or section only, the needle
then can pass only through that layer, and govern the action of one color only
in the weaving action of the loom. If the perforation is through two cards,
then the needle, entering so much further into the mass of sections, governs
another and quite a distinct color, and so on throughout the series, the number
of card layers being in relation to the number of colors in the figure to be
woven. Each pattern needle is notched or bent to form a hold for the recep-
tion of the end of a lever set on a stationary centre, the opposite end of this
lever having attached to it an inclined faced hook or detent piece in connection
with the connecting or tail cords passing to the loom harness or the actual
weaving mechanism. The effect of this arrangement is, that the needles,
except at the moment of the shift of the pattern card, are kept well up to
such card. The traversing lifter or "brander," which carries up the tail cords.
as governed by the acting needles, at any time is enabled to select or carry up.
the proper detent pieces of the cords, by reason of these detents being pushed
out beyond the line of the others. A duplex lever action is fitted up in con-
nection with this movement, carrying an inclined bar, against the face of which
the inclined detents of the cords are drawn, and this inclined bar movement
being connected with a treadle action of the weaver, the operator acts upon it

page_text: in such manner that the inclined bar is pushed outwards horizontally to the
proper acting distance, when, as the set of detents stand at various levels owing
to the pattern action, the inclined face sets them at various lines horizontally.
In this way the lifter carries up all the external detents and their tails, and
the detents then fall in upon the top of the inclined bar. Then the weft shot
being made, the lifter takes up the detents in the next line, and so on, until
all are up, after which the weaver, by his duplex lever arrangement, dresses
the detents to their common zero level by drawing back the inclined bar. In
this way the traverse of the pattern card across its path completes the figure,
and the repetition of the traverse continues the repeat of the figure to the
required extent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Crawford in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
CRAWFORD, of Beith, in the County of Ayr, North Britain, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred, and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Crawford, Her special license that I, the said Robert
Crawford, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Crawford, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ORNAMENTAL WEAVING BY JACQUARD Looms," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Crawford, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Crawford, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is 'to' be
performed; to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
a
The chief object of this Invention is to provide an efficient and economical
substitute for the endless bands of cards at present employed in looms, for the
purpose of effecting the changes of shed required to obtain a given pattern.
For this purpose-I provide peculiarly constructed traversing pattern block,
which, as different parts of its face are presented to a row of rods or needles
that control the action of the mechanism in immediate connection with the
loom harness, will admit of such sheds only being formed as will ensure the
production of the required pattern. The mode of constructing this pattern
block is immaterial (as respects its efficient action), providing the principle
which I will presently explain is retained. In my Provisional Specification I
have described it as composed of pieces of pierced card, laid one upon the
other, and having parallel lines of holes of varying depth in the same row, but
practically I find that the very obvious application of type blanks, composed
either of wood or metal, is to be preferred, and for that reason I have shewn
the same in the Drawings forming part of this my Specification. Besides the
advantage in point of economy, which pattern blocks formed on my improved
principle present, the block may be made to govern the formation of two, four,
or more sheds in succession for every traverse movement which it makes; and
further, the movement only of those parts of the mechanism which are required
to lift the particular warp threads that are required to be raised will be per-
mitted for each opening of the shed, the other parts being in the mean while
(unlike the corresponding parts in the ordinary jacquard apparatus) in a state
of quiescence.
.:
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1; Sheet I., shews the improved
pattern block in plan view, and Fig. 2 in cross section. The pattern block, it
will be seen, is composed of parallel lines of type, or small square blocks a, a,
of varying lengths, firmly secured in a chase or rectangular frame b, and this
frame is itself held fast by binding screws in a traversing frame c. The mode
of arranging the type (or of piercing the overlying thicknesses of card when
that material is employed for forming the block) will depend upon the pattern
to be woven in the loom. The different elevations or levels of surface in the
pattern block shewn in the Drawing are four. This block will, therefore, for
every row of types presented to the needles, permit of four sheds being opened
for every progressive movement of the pattern block.

page_text: I will now proceed to explain how the irregular surface of the pattern block
is caused to control the movement of the harness of the loom, premising that
the mechanism for opening the sheds, indicated by or which answer to the
receding or sunken portions of the surface of the pattern block, may vary con-
siderably, according to the fancy or convenience of the loom manufacturer, so
long as the same principle of action is preserved, which depends on the use of
a line of rising and falling rods or needles (which are borne up against the
face of the block), in combination with a reciprocating bar, by the movement
of which the lift of the harness is effected.
Fig. 3 shews in longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 in cross section, the
arrangement of mechanism which I prefer to employ in conjunction with the
pattern block.
In Sheet II. it is represented in various views on a smaller
scale, for the purpose of shewing the connection of this mechanism with the
other parts of the loom; Fig. 5 being a longitudinal sectional elevation of the
loom; Fig. 6 a cross section, taken through the line 1, 2, of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a
partial plan view; and Fig. 8, a partial elevation, taken in the line 3, 4, of
Fig. 5. In these Figures, d, d, are a series of rods or needles, set up vertically
and capable of sliding freely in guide plates d and d. These plates are carried
by a frame e, e, which is mounted in the upper part of the main framing of the
loom, and serves to support the other parts of the mechanism. Below the
needles lie a series of sliding bars or rock levers f, f, one for each needle.
These levers are slotted to receive a fixed fulcrum. pin f', on which they rock,
and over which they slide. To ensure the proper and independent motion of
the bars, they are separated from each other by means of two fixed guides f³,
formed somewhat like the reed of a loom. The rods or needles d (which are
provided with a shoulder to prevent them from dropping through the lower
guide plate d) are borne upwards into contact with the pattern block by
means of their respective levers f. These levers are weighted at their rear
ends, to give them a tendency to remain in contact with the needles, and a step
or notch is formed on their upper edge to receive the needles. Cords g,g, from
the various groups of lingoes pass over antifriction pulleys g¹ (mounted in the
main framing of the loom), and are attached to their respective levers f. At
the hinder end of these levers a notch is made in each to receive the cham-
fered edge of a bar h, which is suspended in a reciprocating guide frame h'.
This frame is supported by fulcrum pins in the main framing of the loom, and
it receives a to and fro motion through an arm h³ and a pendent cord h³
attached to a treadle under, the command of the weaver.
The bar his con-
nected with a counterpoise weight, but the weight of the bar preponderating, it

page_text: has always a tendency to retain a low level. It is thus always in contact with
those levers f, whose hinder ends are for the time being at the highest eleva-
tion, and it will rise and fall to suit the varying levels of this highest elevation.
The position of the hinder ends of the levers, it will be seen, is determined in
great part by the position of their respective needles d, and the raised position of
the needles, it will be understood, is regulated by the pattern block. The position
for action of the levers, or the levels which they will respectively take in order
to receive the thrust of the reciprocating bar h, will vary in number, according
to the construction of the pattern block; that is, if the face of the block pre-
sent four different levels of type, as exhibited in the Drawings, there will be
four acting positions of the levers. Now, supposing the lever f (Fig. 3) to
represent the set of levers that are to be next acted upon for the purpose of
opening a shed, the needle d which rests upon it will have been pressed (by
reason of the lever being weighted at its hinder end) up against the pattern
block. The reciprocating frame with its bar h is next rocked (by the pressure
of the weaver's foot on the treadle before mentioned) into the position indi-
cated by the blue lines, and the lever f is thereby driven into the blue position,
drawing with it the cord which connects it with the lingoes required to be
lifted. A shed is thus opened, and the shuttle being thrown, the weaver
releases the depressed treadle, and allows the reciprocating frame to fall back
to its quiescent position. The lifted barness also falls simultaneously by its
own weight, and (through the cord) draws back the rocking lever f; but this
lever having in its forward movement slidden over a bar i, carried by a swing
frame, mounted in bearings on the main framing of the loom, will, while
moving back, be pressed upward by the bar i, and it will be caught by the
edge of the lower guide plate d', and be retained in the position shewn by the
dotted lines. The lever f* occupies the position for action which the levers
must take when a different level of surface is presented to their respective
needles by the pattern block. When the lever is in this position it will still
be the highest in the range, and the reciprocating bar will therefore move
down to reach it and act upon it as on the lever f. The like movements will
then be repeated, the lever f* being caught in like manner on the edge of the
lower guide plate d¹. When all the types in the line presented to the needles
have thus acted to open the required sheds, it will bo requisite before pro-
ceeding further to disengage all the levers f from the guide plate, and to
bring them down to the working level. This is effected by a bar k, carried
by a rock frame ³, which is supported in bearings in the frame e. A
catch lever 2, to the upper limb of which a drag weight is connected,

page_text: bears against the bar k, and retains it in a depressed position, as shewn
at Fig. 3; but when pressure is put on a treadle connected by a cord
kwith the frame k¹, the bark is lifted to the position shewn by the red lines
of Fig. 3; and it will then lift all the levers f to their highest level, as repre-
sented by the red lines. To ensure this movement of the levers f, the swing
frame is connected by a cord to the frame k', and it is thus caused to rock
simultaneously with it, and thereby free the hooked ends of the lever f from
the bar i at the moment that the opposite ends of the levers are being raised
by the bar k. The needles & will now fall to their lowest position, that is, they
will rest on the lower guide plate d'. The next operation is to move forward
the pattern block a step, and bring a fresh line of types opposite the needles d.
This is effected by the workman pressing down a weighted lever C (Fig. 5),
which, through cords c', c, and a crank lever c³, at the upper part of the loom,
is. caused to actuate a click c', that works in the teeth of a rack c³, attached to
the frame c, and thereby to drive forward that frame and the pattern block
which it contains, a distance equal to one line of types. When this is accom-
plished, and the click is returned by its spring to its former position (ready to
repeat the action when required), the weaver, by pulling the cord 5, which is
attached to the upper limb of the lever, withdraws the catch of that lever
from under the bark of the rocking frame k¹, and the bark being now free
to fall from its elevated position, will also permit of the descent of the whole
series of levers to the several positions which their respective needles shall
determine. The reciprocating bar h is then operated as before, and the groups
of levers are all in their turn acted upon, as before explained, until all the
levers are again caught on to the lower guide plate d¹.
Having now described the arrangement of mechanism which I prefer to
employ in connection with my improved construction of pattern block, and
explained the manner of its operation, I will now proceed to shew how the
weaver transmits the several motions above noticed to the various parts of the
mechanism, reference being had to the general views of the loom marked
Figures 5 and 6. Assuming the mechanism to be in the position shewn at
Fig. 3, and that the weaver is required to continue the operation, he now
depresses with his foot the treadle A. This draws down the cord h³, and throws
forward the bar h, which carries with it the uppermost of the levers f, and
opens the shed for the passage of the shuttle, and leaves those levers in contact
with the lower guide plate d'. This action of the treadle A is repeated until
all the levers f, except the last group to be drawn, are lodged against the guide
plate. The weaver now depresses the treadles A and C, which has its fulcrum

page_text: on the side of the treadle A. This treadle C is connected by a cord to a lever
C', connected in its turn to the weighted lever C³, which, as before mentioned,
is attached to the cord c', that operates the driving catch c'. The treadle A,
therefore, now brings into action the last group of levers f, while the simul-
taneous depression of the treadle C causes the traverse of the pattern, as
explained. The treadle C is also connected by a cord to the lever B¹; this
lever is in its turn connected by a cord to a lever B, to which lever the cord
k', pendent from rock frame k¹, is attached. The depression as above, therefore,
of the treadle C acting upon the rock frame k', effects the lift of the draw
levers to their highest position, at which point the bar k is detained by the
catch lever ; the rock levers are thus detached from the edge of the lower
guide plate d', when the weight of the lingoes brings them under the needles d.
As soon then as the traverse of the pattern block is completed, the lever D, to
which the cord k' is connected, is rocked so as to disengage the catch lever k
from the bark of the frame k', and allows the levers f to fall into their posi-
tions, as represented in Fig. 3, when the series of movements is again repeated,
as before set forth.
When the repetition of a series of the immediately preceding sheds is
required, the treadle B is depressed at the last shed of said series in place of
the treadles A and C, and as it is attached to cord h³ it acts instead of the
treadle A in producing the said last shed, while at the same time it effects
the lift of the draw levers f to their highest position, as described in the action
of treadle C, but does not affect the levers C', C2, and C³, which move the
pattern block.
In Sheet III., I have shown so much of a loom as will serve to explain the
manner of adapting my Invention to the ordinary jacquard apparatus, the
advantage of which adaptation (independently of the economy effected in
the preparation of the pattern-producing surfaces) is, that a great saving of
power is effected in the working, and a proportionate reduction in the wear
and tear of the jacquard apparatus. To understand the operation of the
mechanism, it will only be necessary to say that the rock levers f, instead
of being connected directly to the harness, are connected by cords 1 to the
needles 2 of the jacquard apparatus. When, therefore, the reciprocating bar h
acts, it will, through the cords and needles, draw those hooked rods 3 which
are required to be lifted by the griff 4 (in order to open the shed) into a
proper position to be acted upon by the griff'; and thus, instead of all parts of
the jacquard apparatus being set in motion for the formation of a shed, those
parts only that are in connection with the group. of lingoes to be lifted will

page_text: receive motion. As the letters of reference in this Figure correspond with
those employed in Sheets I. and II., no further description of the parts will be
required.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention, and explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as of my Invention of "Improvements in Ornamental Weaving by
Jacquard Looms," the use of a pattern block (in place of the endless bands of
pattern cards, provided on its operating face with lines of uneven surfaces or
recesses of unequal depth for presenting (by the intervention of rods or needles)
draw bars or levers to the action of a reciprocating transverse bar or its equi-
valent, and thereby effecting the lifting of the harness to produce the required
changes in the shed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Crawford, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
ROBERT CRAWFORD. (L.8.)