Improvements in Weft Pile Cutting Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st July, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 1st Apr., 1898-Accepted, 4th June, 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Weft Pile Cutting Machines.
I, JOHN BENTLEY DAYMONT, of Crompton, Rhode Island, United States of
America, Overseer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to construct a machine for cutting a weft pile,
that shall be capable of working faster, and with more certainty, and avoid the
liability of the knife to vibrate with every jar of the machine, which is the cause
generally of its missing the rows of loops to be cut.
The construction of the machine is hereinafter described, it comprises end
frames, one of which is higher than the other to give the cloth whilst being cut an
incline down towards the right end. Side beams or girts are provided that
connect the two end frames together, they support the bearings for the driving
shaft, segment shaft, and the grooved pulley shaft, the two latter shafts extending
across the machine and having bearings on the opposite side.
The top bars support the guides for the knife carriage the machine being of the
class in which the cloth is held stationary whilst being cut, and the knife moved
over the surface of it. This carriage consists of a plate that extends across the
machine and has widened ends that slide in the grooves of the guide bars.
This carriage is moved nearly the length of the machine and back by a rope or
chain, one end of which is attached to one side of the carriage, and carried over the
pulley, at the right end. of the machine, then down around the grooved pulley one
or more turns, and then it passes up over a pulley at the left end of the machine
and back to the carriage again and is made fast to it. There is a rope at each
side of the machine alike in arrangement and operation, to secure, a uniform
motion of the ends of the carriage. A screw is held in bearings at each end,
on the carriage and a gear wheel is made fast on one end of this screw, by which
it is turned to feed the knife holder across the machine. The turning of the
screw to feed the knife holder is done by a rack which is held on springs on the
side of the top bar near the left end of the machine. The springs allow the rack
to be depressed by a cam bar held on a pin on the end of the carriage. When the
carriage is going to the left and is cutting the pile the cam bar will catch on a
plate on the inner side of the rack, and push it down so that the teeth of the rack
will not engage with the gear, and the wheel and screw will not be turned.
when the carriage starts on its return the cam bar when it strikes the plate, will
be tripped up the back, and the rack will be held up by the springs so as to
engage with the gear and turn the screw and feed the knife a little towards the
other side of the machine so as to be ready to cut another row of loops when the
carriage gets back to the right end of the machine again. The motion that moves
the carriages back and forth on the machine is received from a short driving
shaft held in a bearing on the upper side beam, and is driven by the pulleys on
its outer end.
But
The inner end of driving shaft has an arm in the outer end of which an adjustable

page_text: stud is held in a slot by means of a nut and washer, and one end of a rod is
held on this stud and the other end on a stud in an arm on the segment gear fast
on the segment shaft. The segment gear engages in another on the grooved pulley
shaft gear on the side of the grooved pulley which has the rope around it that
is attached to the carriage. When the driving shaft is turned by a belt on the
driving pulley the arm on the said shaft is turned and pushes the connecting rod
and the arm on the segment gear down and turns that gear, which in its turn
operates the gear on the grooved pulley shaft and the pulley which draws the
knife carriage from the right to the left end of the machine cutting a row of
loops in its passage. And as the arm on the driving shaft approaches its lowest
point it slowly stops pressing and proceeds as it rises again to turn the segment
gear and grooved pulley in the other direction drawing the carriage back towards
the other end, turning the screw by the rack as described in its back passage, so
as to have the knife in position to cut another row by a repetition of these motions.
The motion of the arm on the driving shaft, in passing the centres starts and stops
the carriage so gradually as to avoid all shock to the knife mechanism, which allows
the speed of the machine to be greatly increased. The cloth to be cut is laid
in a pile at the left end of the machine, from thence it is carried up through a slot
in the shaft and over the top of the machine, then down over a rail at the right end,
said rail having a slot with a locking bar in it to hold the cloth tight whilst being
cut, and deposited in a pile. The method of feeding the cloth is to set the shaft
so that the cloth will pass freely through the slot in it, then draw the proper
length over to the right and secure it by the locking bar, and turning on the shaft
by means of a bar placed in holes in the end of the shaft.
The ratchet wheel and the pawl will hold the shaft when the cloth is properly
tightened. A sleeve has a screw thread cut in it to fit on the screw and a forked
arm has a hub on each side of sleeve by which the knife holder can be turned up
on the screw. The said arm is extended out and has an upright on it carrying
a pin in it near its upper end, on which a sleeve is fitted that has a downwardly
.projecting arm with the bar held in a hub at its lower end, that holds the knife sheath.
A square stud is inserted in the said arm to catch the inner end of the bar and hold it
until the bar is turned by the catching of the point of the knife in the cloth, when the
flat side of the bar will be free to pass under the stud and the arm and the knife will
be thrown up backward by a spring one end of which is held by a pin and the other
is made fast to the downwardly projecting arm. A spring plate is held by a stud
on a pin fast in the outer end of the forked arm which bears on the knife and holds it
down, and a shoe is held on a screw that screws up through the head of the pin,
and bears on the cloth in advance of the knife and holds the forked arm up at the
proper distance from the cloth to keep the knife in proper position for catching
the loops. If the point of the knife catches in the cloth under the loops, it will be
instantly turned down with its pivot in the lower end of the downwardly projecting
arm and the inner end of the pivot will be released from the stud so that the said
arm and the knife will be thrown back by the spring and entirely released from
the cloth without doing injury to it.
A difficulty is found in cutting weft pile by a machine that is not met
with in hand cutting, which is that the knife stops and starts at the same place
every time and is liable to cause a streak across the finished goods that injures the
appearance of them. To avoid this a device is placed on the arm of the segment
gear which consists of a cam placed on a stud and having the eye of the connecting
rod fitted on it. A. four pronged plate is made fast on the arm and a hooked pawl
is held on a stud in the frame in position to catch on one of the prongs of plate
when the arm of the segment gear goes up and the knife is going back from
cutting a row of loops, but when the said arm goes down again the prong presses
the pawl back and is not moved by it, as it has a spring at the back of it, the
turning of the cam will lengthen and shorten the distance between the centres of
the studs, at different strokes and produce an irregular line of cuts which entirely

page_text: obviates the difficulty stated. More than one knife can be operated on the screw
at one time, and by easing the nut it can be turned and the knives set with regard to
each other, and by turning the screw by the gear wheel the knife or knives can be
set to accommodate any variation in the rows of loops. The length of the carriage
traverse can be made longer or shorter by adjusting the stud in the slot in the arm
on the driving shaft.
T .
1007
improvem
I, JOHN BENTLEY DAYMONT, of Crompton, Rhode Island, United States of
America, Overseer, 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: —
This invention relates to weft pile cutting machines and has for its object to
construct a machine of this class that shall be capable of working faster, and with
more certainty, and avoid the liability of the knife to vibrate with every jar of the
machine, which is generally the cause of its missing the rows of loops to be cut.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a weft pile cutting machine constructed according
to my invention.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
Figure 3 is an enlarged view in perspective of the operative devices connected
with the cross feed of the knife holder.
Figure 4 is also an enlarged view in perspective of the knife controlling
mechanism, and
Figures 5, 6 and 7 show details hereinafter referred to.
A, A, are the end frames, one of which is higher than the other to give the cloth
whilst being cut an incline down towards the right end. .C, C, are side beams or
girts that connect the two end frames together, they support the bearings for the
driving shaft D, segment shaft F, and the grooved pulley shaft H, the two latter
shafts extending across the machine and having bearings on the opposite sides.
The top bars B, B, support the guides S, for the knife carriage E, the machine
being of the class in which the cloth is held stationary whilst being cut, and the
knife moved over the surface of it. A short section of one of these guides S, is
shown in Figure 3, and one end of the carriage E, that slides in it. This
carriage E, consists of a plate that extends across the machine and has widened ends
that slide in the grooves a, of the guide bars S.
This carriage is moved nearly the length of.the machine and back by a rope or
chain J, one end of which is attached to one side of the carriage, and carried over
the pulley d, at the right end of the machine, then down around the grooved
pulley K, one or more turns, and then it passes up over a pulley at the left
end of the machine and back to the carriage E again and is made fast to it. There
is a rope at each side of the machine alike in arrangement. and operation, to secure,
a uniform motion of the ends of the carriage.
A screw N, is held in bearings at each end, on the carriage E, and a gear
wheel P, is made fast on one end of this screw, by which it is turned to feed the

page_text: knife holder across the machine. The turning of the screw to feed the knife
holder is done by a rack h¹ which is held on springs e, e, on the side of the top
bar B, near the left hand end of the machine. The springs e, allow the rack h¹
to be depressed by a cam bar g, held on a pin on the end of the carriage.
When the carriage E, is moving to the left and is cutting the pile the cam bar g,
will catch on a plate i, on the inner side of the rack, see Figure 3, and push it
down so that the teeth of the rack will not engage with the gear P, and the wheel
and screw will not be turned. But when the carriage starts on its return, the cam bar
when it strikes the plate i, will be swung back, see dotted lines in Figure 3, and the
rack will be held up by the springs so as to engage with the gear wheel P, and
turn the screw N, and feed the knife holder a little towards the other side of the
machine so as to be ready to cut another row of loops when the carriage reaches the
right hand end of the machine again. The movement of the carriage E, back and
forth on the machine is effected by a short driving shaft D, held in a bearing on
the upper side beam and driven by pulleys L, on its outer end.
The inner end of the driving shaft D is provided with an arm h, having a slot in
its outer end in which an adjustable stud v, is held by means of a nut and washer.
A rod n, connects this stud v, to a stud v¹ in an armir, on the segmental rack M
secured to the shaft F. The segment rack M, engages in a pinion O, on the side of
the grooved pulley K, which carries the rope J, attached to the carriage E. When
the driving shaft D, is turned by a belt on the driving pulley L, the arm h, is
turned and pushes the connecting rod n, and the arm r, on the segmental rack
down, and turns the said rack, which in its turn operates the pinion O, and the
pulley K, which draws the knife carriage E, from the right to the left hand end
of the machine cutting a row of loops in its passage. And as the arm h, approaches
its lowest point it slowly stops pressing and proceeds as it rises again to turn the
segmental rack and grooved pulley K, in the other direction drawing the carriage E,
back towards the other end. In its return movement the rack will operate the
screw as described, so as to cause the knife to move into position to cut another row
of loops.
The motion of the arm h, in passing the centres starts and stops the carriage so
gradually so as to avoid all shock to the knife mechanism, which allows the speed
of the machine to be greatly increased. The cloth to be cut is laid in a pile at
the left hand end of the machine, from thence it is carried up through a slot in
the shaft R, Figure 1, and over the top of the machine, then down over a rail at
the right hand end, said rail having a slot with a locking bar in it to hold the cloth
tight whilst being cut, and deposited in a pile. The method of feeding the cloth
is to set the shaft R, so that the cloth will pass freely through the slot in it,
then draw the proper length over to the right and secure it by the locking bar,
and turn the shaft R, by means of a bar placed in holes in the end of the
shaft.
A ratchet wheel T, and its pawl is arranged to hold the shaft when the cloth
is properly tightened. A sleeve G, Figure 4, has a screw thread cut in it to fit on
the screw N, and a forked arm P¹, has a hub V on each side of the sleeve G, by
which the knife holder can be turned upon the screw N. An extension of the
arm P is provided with an upright H¹ carrying a pin y, near its upper end, on
which a sleeve having a downwardly projecting arm is fitted. The arm a¹
carries a bar f in a hub at its lower end, which holds the knife sheath s.
A square
stud m is inserted in the said arm P¹ to catch the inner end of the bar f, and
hold it, as shown in Figure 5, until the bar is turned by the catching of the point
of the knife in the cloth, when the flat side of the bar f, will be free to pass
under the stud m, and the arm a¹ and the knife s, will be thrown backward as shown
by the dotted lines in Figure 4, by a spring n¹, one end of which is held by a pin,
and the other end secured to the arm a¹. A spring plate o is arranged on a
pin s¹, fast in the outer end of the extension of the arm P₁, which bears on the knife
and holds it down, and a shoe p is held on a screw that screws into the head of
the pin s¹, and bears on the cloth in advance of the knife and holds the arm P¹ at

page_text: the proper distance from the cloth to keep the knife in position for catching the
loops. If the point of the knife catches in the cloth under the loops, it will be
instantly turned on its pivot f, in the lower end of the arm a¹ and the inner end of
the pivot will be released from the stud m, so that the said arm a¹ and the knife
will be thrown back by the spring n¹ into the position shown in dotted lines in
Figure 4, and entirely released from the cloth without doing any injury to it.
A difficulty is experienced in cutting weft pile by a machine, that is not found
in hand cutting, this difficulty being that the knife stops and starts at the same
place every time and is liable to cause a streak across the finished goods that
injures the appearance of the same. To avoid this a device shown to an enlarged
scale in Figure 6 is placed on the arm r, of the segmental rack, which device
consists of a cam y, placed on the stud ¹, and having the eye of the connecting
rod n, fitted on it. A plate having four teeth or projections is made fast on
the cam y', and a hooked pawl j, is held on a stud in the frame in position to engage
with the teeth of plate w when the arm r, moves up and the knife is passing back
from cutting a row of loops, but when the said arm r, moves down again the teeth
press the pawl back against the action of a spring. The turning of the cam will
lengthen and shorten, the distance between the centres of the studs v, v¹, at different
strokes and produce a line of cuts similar to the diagram shown in Figure 7, which
entirely obviates the difficulty stated. More than one knife can be arranged on
and operated by the screw N, at one time, and by easing the nut G, it can be
turned and the knives set with regard to each other, and by turning the screw by
means of the gear wheel P, the knife or knives can be set to accommodate any
variation in the rows of loops. The length of travel of the carriage can be made
longer or shorter by adjusting the stud v, Figure 1, in its slot.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a weft pile cutting machine the combination of a carriage to carry a knife,
sliding in guides on the top of the machine, a shaft having a screw thread formed
thereon held in bearings at each end on said carriage, a sleeve or nut fitted on said
screw thread, an arm to hold a knife clamped to said nut, with means for moving
said knife carriage forward and back lengthways of the machine, substantially as
described.
2. In a weft pile cutting machine, a frame having guides on its top, a knife
carriage to slide in said guides, a grooved pulley held on a shaft, a rope to move
said carriage passing around said grooved pulley and over pulleys at each end
of the machine and fastened to said carriage, with means for turning said grooved
pulley first in one direction and then in the other, substantially as described.
3. A reciprocating mechanism for a knife carriage in a weft pile cutting
machine, consisting of the following combination of instrumentalities, a shaft with
a driving pulley, an arm fast on said shaft and having an adjustable stud in its
outer end, a rod pivoted on said stud and connected with an arm of a segmental
rack, a pinion fast on a shaft and engaging with said segmental rack a grooved pulley
fast on the shaft with said pinion, a rope passing around said grooved pulley and
made fast to said knife carriage, substantially as described.
4. The combination of the following instrumentalities to control the operation
of the knife in a weft pile cutter, a carriage to convey the knife over the cloth,
a screw held in bearings on said carriage to carry the knife across the machine,
a screw nut fitted on said screw to convey the knife holder, an arm attached to said
nut to carry the knife, having an upright with a pin fast near its upper end, a
sleeve held on said pin and having a vertical arm with a horizontal bar held in
its lower end to carry the knife, an angular stud fast in the arm of the nut to catch
the end of the horizontal bar, a spring to throw the vertical arm back when its
bar is released from the stud by turning, substantially as described.

page_text: 5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame to hold the
cloth, a carriage to carry the knife, a screw to feed the knife across the carriage
a gear wheel on the end of said screw, a rack. held on springs on the side of said
frame, a cam bar pivoted to said carriage to depress said rack clear of the
gear wheel when the carriage is passing and cutting the loops, and leave said
rack up to engage and turn the gear wheel when the carriage returns with means
for moving the carriage, substantially as described.
6. In a machine of the character described, the following mechanism in com-
bination with a frame to receive and hold the cloth to be cut, a carriage to convey
the knife over the cloth to cut the loops, a variable mechanism to feed the knife
across the cloth, at each return passage of the carriage, and a knife releasing
mechanism to free the knife when it is caught in the cloth, substantially as
described.
7. In a weft pile cutting machine the combination of a frame to hold the cloth,
a carriage to move the knife over the cloth, a rope attached to said carriage, a
pulley to draw said rope, a segment gear to move said pulley, a cam with prongs
held on an arm of said segment gear, a pawl to catch one of the prongs of the
cam when the arms moves in one direction and not when going in the other
direction, substantially as described.
Dated this 1st day of Anril 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.;
45, Southampton Buildings, London; W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.