Improvements in and relating to Jacquard Mechanism.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 28th Oct., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by GEORGE WILLIAM STAFFORD, No. 9, Messer
Street, in the City of Providence, County of Providence, State of Rhode
Island, United States of America, Manufacturer.]
Improvements in and relating to Jacquard Mechanism.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The invention relates firstly to the means whereby the griff and movable bottom
board of Jacquard machines are actuated. As Jacquard machines usually are
constructed and operated, the griff and movable bottom board in approaching
each other, when closing the shed, continue to move until both reach the position in
which they rest for an instant with the shed closed, and in such position of
momentary rest the weight of the upright hooks and parts supported thereby is
sustained by the bottom board. Sometimes this weight is applied to the bottom
board before either the bottom board or the griff comes to a state of rest, the
upward movement of the bottom board being continued after the uprights come to
bear thereon, in order to free the hooked upper ends of the uprights from the bars
of the griff with which they are engaged. When this occurs, it usually happens
that in thus having applied thereto the weight of the uprights, harnesses, etc., the
bottom board receives a burden amounting to four or five hundred pounds. The
sudden arrest of the downward movement of this great weight, and the stress
incident to giving it an upward motion, gives a shock to the mechanism and
produces a great strain on the crank-shaft of the loom whereby the Jacquard
machine is operated, just at the time when the loom is doing its hardest work,
namely, that of beating up the filling, and the shock and strain are repeated when
the griff in rising takes up the uprights again, for they already have begun to
move downward in the return movement or descent of the bottom board, and in
consequence are in a measure dropped with some momentum on to the griff, instead of
being picked up thereby from a stationary position. These shocks and strains
are destructive to the Jacquard machine and limit the speed of the loom, beside
causing many breaks in the harness and warps. In accordance with one part of
the present invention, this difficulty is overcome by causing the bottom board to
get through with its upward motion and come to a state of comparative rest before
the lower ends of the uprights reach it, and, further, by so arranging the
actuating connections for the bottom board as that the shock of receiving the
weight of the descending uprights and their connections is transferred, from
the main actuating lever or walking beam that connects the Jacquard machine
with the loom, to the fixed parts of the framing. With the improved construction,
when the griff again picks up the uprights after the selection thereof for a new
shed, they are taken from a state of comparative rest instead of being seized and
arrested in the course of a downward movement. Consequently, the griff has to
overcome only the inertia of the weight of the uprights and connected harness, etc.,
without the momentum of a downward movement added thereto. The fore-
going desirable results are secured, in accordance with the invention by.
connecting the bottom board by a bar or link with a rocking-arm or bell-crank
which is actuated by intermediate connections from the main actuating lever or
walking-beam, the said rocking-arm or bell-crank being so disposed as to bring
the point of connection between it and the connecting bar or link approximately
in line with the axis of the rocking-arm or bell-crank and the point of connection.

page_text: of the bar or link with the bottom board, that is to say on the center at the
time when the descending uprights are received by the bottom board and before
the griff has terminated its descent, which maintains the bottom board in a state
of comparative rest until after the uprights have been selected for the next shed
and engaged by the griff.
The second part of the invention has relation principally to Jacquard machines
of the class of such machines which are used in weaving Marseilles quilts and
similar fabrics. Looms for weaving this class of fabrics are equipped with a
Jacquard machine and with two or more ordinary harness-frames. The fine warp
threads used in forming the face of the fabric pass through the eyes of the said
harness-frames, and the harness-frames are raised alternately at the successive picks
of the loom, they being operated, for example, one up and one down. The coarse
pattern-threads which lie normally at the back of the fabric, and are raised as required
to produce the pattern are controlled by the Jacquard harness. The Jacquard
machine is caused to lift at regular intervals in order thereby to produce the
pattern and unite the coarse back and fine face together, its griff remaining raised
as long as may be required. In weaving the finest grades of fabrics of the
class mentioned, the Jacquard machine is caused thus to lift for the production
of the pattern at a predetermined time, once in every four picks, while in
weaving other grades thereof it is caused thus to lift for the production of
the pattern once in eight, twelve or sixteen picks. The Jacquard machine,
also, in addition to making a lift which serves for the production of the
pattern once in every series of picks is caused to make an additional lift in every
series of picks, for the purpose of separating the coarse threads for the reception
of the weft-thread which is necessary to be introduced among the same to bind
them into cloth. Ordinarily in weaving these fabrics the cylinder or prism of the
Jacquard machine is caused to make two beats during each series of picks, that is
one beat prior to each lift, one beat being for the purpose of presenting to the
needles that control the uprights the pattern-card which determines the lifting of
the coarse threads as required in the production of the pattern, and the second
beat being for the purpose of presenting to the needles a plain perforated card
having the holes therein arranged so as to produce simply the separation or
shedding of the coarse threads which is necessary for the reception of the weft-
thread which binds them into cloth. Therefore, ordinarily, two cards are required
for each series of picks. In view of the fact that for the weaving of most
patterns of fabrics of the class hereinbefore mentioned, a great number of pattern-
cards is required, it follows that a large portion of the expense incurred in the
production of such fabrics is in consequence of the necessary cost of the material
of such cards and of the preparation of the cards. It is the object of this part of
the present invention to render possible the weaving of such fabrics in any desired
pattern or design with a smaller number of cards than heretofore has been
required. To this end the Jacquard machine is provided with certain novel
parts which permits of dispensing altogether with the cards which heretofore
have been employed for effecting the separation of the coarse warp-threads for
the reception of the weft-threads which bind them into cloth. Thereby the
number of the cards required to be used is reduced one-half in the majority of
cases, as many as twenty-five hundred cards being dispensed with which with
ordinary mechanism will have to be employed. With the improved mechanism
there are employed only the cards which are actually required for the production
of the pattern and the binding together of the fine face and the coarse back.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a Jacquard
machine having the invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a view in elevation
looking from the left in Fig. 1 showing certain devices comprised in the second
part of the invention. Fig. 3 is a view of a forked lever hereinafter described.
The frames of the Jacquard machine is shown at 1, the uprights at 2, 2, the
horizontal needles at 3, 3, the pattern cards at 4, the pattern cylinder or prism at 5,
the swinging frame or batten at 6 carrying the said cylinder or prism, an actuating

page_text: link at 7 for said swinging frame or batten, an arm at 8 to which said link is
connected, and a rocking-shaft at 9 on which the arm 8 is fixed and from which the
swinging frame or batten 6 is operated, the said rocking shaft 9 being rocked in
known manner during the working of the Jacquard machine. At 10 is shown the
griff with its knives or blades, at 11 is shown the bottom board, at 12 is shown a
bracket affixed to the end of the griff, at 13 a somewhat similar bracket affixed to
the end of the bottom board, and at 14 is shown a guide-rod fixed to the framing
of the Jacquard machine and to which the brackets 12 and 13 are fitted with
capacity to slide up and down thereon. At 15 is shown the usual main actuating
lever or walking-beam, at 16 a transmitting link or bar connected at its lower end
with the inner end thereof, and at 17, 18 are transmitting links or bars pivotally
connected with the brackets 12 and 13, respectively. All of the foregoing parts
are or may be of any suitable or known construction, and are or may be combined
and operated as heretofore save as hereinafter indicated. At 19 is a rocking-arm
or bell-crank having the upper end of link or bar 16 pivoted thereto, and capable
of being operated through the said link or bar from the main actuating lever or
walking-beam 15. This rocking-arm or bell crank has an upwardly extending
arm 191 to the outer extremity of which is pivoted the upper end of the link or
bar 18, which latter has its lower end pivotally connected with the bracket 13
which is connected with the bottom-board, as aforesaid. It has, also, a laterally
extending arm 192, to which is pivoted the upper end of the link or bar 16, and,
also, the lower end of the link or bar 17, which latter has its upper end connected
with the bracket 12 which is connected with the griff as aforesaid. It will be seen
that as the inner arm of the main actuating lever or walking beam 15 descends it
will act through link or bar 16 to rock the bell-crank 19 thereby moving downwardly
the laterally projecting arm 192 of the latter in a manner to draw downward the
link or bar 17 and the griff, while at the same time the vertical arm 191 of the
bell-crank will be carried from a position at the left in Fig. 1 upward to and
slightly past the vertical, thereby raising the bottom board. As the said orm 191
thus moves it will act to draw the bottom board upward until the pivot which
connects link or bar 18 with arm 191 is on the center, that is in line with the pivot
of the bell-crank 19, and the pivot which connects the lower end of link or bar 18
with the bracket 13 connected with the bottom-board. The movement given to
the bell-crank 19 is sufficient to carry the pivot which connects link or bar 18 with
arm 191 slightly past the center. While the said pivot is approaching and passing
the center the movement communicated to the bottom-board will be imperceptible,
ceasing while it is on the center. At the same time the said pivot is passing the
center, the bell-crank will continue to act to draw the griff down, and in the reverse
movement of the bell crank the griff will be started on its upward movement before
the said pivot rej asses the center. Thereby, by properly timing the movements,
the bottom-board will be sustained on a line passing through the supporting pivot
of the bell-crank when it receives the impact of the uprights descending with the
griff, and will be stationary, or practically so, at the moment when the said uprights
are picked up by the griff in its ascent.
The devices which are added to the usual parts of a Jacquard machine in
carrying into effect the second part of the invention operate at predetermined
intervals in the weaving to press successively given portions or divisions of the
uprights 2 either over or away from certain of the knives or blades of the griff, in
a manner to occasion the lifting of given portions of the coarse warp-threads
successively as in plain weaving, or otherwise as required for the reception of the
weft-thread which binds them into cloth, this being effected without the use of a
perforated card.
Thus in the drawing, 20, 20 are rods or wires extending lengthwise of the
machine between the side-frames, there being one of such rods or wires arranged
adjacent to each transverse row of the uprights 2. These rods 20, 20 are fixed in
bars 21, 21 arranged to slide crosswise of the machine in guides 22, Fig. 2, carried
by the frame of the machine. The rods or wires 20, 20 are divided into two or

page_text: more series, the rods of the different series alternating with one another, as shown
in Fig. 1. In the drawing, the rods or wires are shown divided into two series.
Each series of rods or wires 20, 20 and the bars 21, 21 pertaining thereto constitute
a frame capable of sliding cross-wise of the Jacquard machine and when a frame is
thus slid the rods or wires thereof act to press the uprights upon which they act
either over or away from over the knives or blades of the griff, this depending on
the side of the series of the uprights upon which the rods or wires are placed. In
the drawings, the rods or wires 20, 20 are shown arranged in position to press the
uprights away from over the knives or blades of the griff, when the said rods or
wires are moved toward the right-hand side in Fig. 1, and this is the arrangement
which I prefer in practice. The different series of rods or wires 20, 20 must be
moved in alternate succession, the movements thereof occurring at predetermined
intervals during the weaving, and for the purpose of thus moving the same, any
desired form of automatically operating shifting devices may be employed. In the
most perfect and preferred embodiment of the invention, levers 22, 22 are connected
with the respective bars 21, 21, or otherwise with the respective frames these
levers 22, 22 being pivoted upon a rod 23 held in brackets 24 supported by the
frame-work of the Jacquard machine, and being acted upon by cams 25, 25, fixed
upon a shaft 26 mounted in bearings in brackets 27, 27, fixed to the framework,
their upper ends being held by springs 227, in contact with said cams. The shaft 26
also has fixed thereto a ratchet wheel 28, with which engages a pawl 29 that is
pivoted to the outer end of a lever 30 which turns on a pivot at 31 on one of the
side frames, the inner end of the said lever 30 being forked as shown in Figs. 1
and 3. Between the arms 301, 302 of the forked inner end of the lever 30 plays a
pin or bowl 36 moving with the griff, and thereby the lever 30 and pawl 29 derive
the movement which enables the pawl to rotate the shaft 26, and the cams carried
thereby. In order to regulate the throw of the pawl, one of the arms of the
inner end of the lever, as, for instance, the arm 301, is formed, see Fig. 3, as a
separate piece having a hole therethrough to fit upon the pivot pin 31 and also
having a slot 3012 formed concentric with the said hole and through which passes
a bolt 3013 whereby the said arm 301 is secured to the lever 30 in the desired
position relatively to the arm 302. For the purpose of preventing the shaft 26
from overrunning when actuated by the devices which have been described, and of
bringing it into proper position after each movement thereof, I attach to the said
shaft 26, a squaring-wheel 32 of usual construction and employ a T-shaped
hammer 33, the head of which is caused to bear upon the said wheel 32 by a
spring 34 placed upon the stem of the hammer between a shoulder 331 thereon and
the lug 332 on the framework, the stem of the hammer sliding through the lugs 332,
333 on the frame work. The ratchet-wheel and the devices whereby the same is
actuated are shown located at one end of shaft 26, and the squaring-wheel and its
hammer at the other end of the said shaft. In the drawings are shown a pair of
levers 22, 221 disposed adjacent to each side frame, a cam 25 for actuating the said
levers being placed at each end of the shaft 26. Other levers and cams located at
intermediate points may be employed if desired, or a single cam and set of levers
may be relied upon to move the said frames if desired. In the drawings, since
there are shown but two levers 22, 221, in each set of levers, this number corre-
sponding with the number of frames composed of bars 21, 21, and rods 20, 20,
which are shown, the noses 251, 251 of each cam 25 are diametrically opposite to
each other. The number of teeth in the ratchet wheel 28 and the extent of
movement of the pawl 29 are such that one or the other of the said cam noses
comes in contact with its lever 22, 221 and acts to move it and the connected frame
prior to every alternate ascent of the griff, this being the lift by which the coarse
warp threads should be separated or shed for the reception of the weft-thread which
binds them into cloth. Prior to each of the remaining lifts the cams are shifted by
the devices described into the position in which they are represented in Fig. so
as to permit the pattern-cards to act in making the selection of the hooks. which
are required to be raised for the production of the pattern. By preference, the

page_text: apex of each cam nose is formed with a depression as shown in Fig. 1, to receive
the bowl or roller of its respective lever, inasmuch as otherwise the said apex
would be so sharp the bowl could not well rest thereon. It will be understood that
in practice, inasmuch as the devices described dispense with the use of the plain
cards which heretofore have been employed, the pattern-cylinder or prism will need
to be swung inward toward the needles only once during each series of picks
instead of twice, as heretofore.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
:-
1. The improved combination of parts for actuating the griff and bottom board
of a Jacquard machine comprising the bell-crank having a lateral arm joined by a
link or bar with the griff, and also having an upwardly extending arm connecte.l
by a link or bar with the bottom-board, the pivot connecting the last mentione.
link or bar with the upwardly extending arm of the bell crank being arranged to
reach or pass slightly the center on the closing of the shed, whereby the bottom
board is brought to a state of comparative rest before the uprights reach it, the
shock of the impact of the uprights is transferred to the fixed framing, and the
uprights are picked up from a state of rest by the rising griff, all substantially as
set forth.
2. The improved attachment for Jacquard machines consisting of rods disposed
between the uprights of the latter, adjacent to the upper ends of the said uprights,
and arranged in two or more series mounted in sliding frames, the levers connected
with the said frames, and the rotating cams acting upon the said levers to move
the frames.
3. The combination with the rods disposed between the uprights of the Jacquard
machine adjacent to the upper ends of the said uprights, and arranged in two or
more series mounted in sliding frames, the levers connected with the said frames
and the rotating cams acting upon the said levers to move the frames, of the means
for rotating the cams consisting of the ratchet wheel on the shaft of the cams, the
pawl which engages with the ratchet wheel and the adjustable forked lever
carrying the pawl and actuated by a pin moving with the griff.
Dated this 11th day of September 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.