IMPROVEMENTS IN JACQUARD MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Melvin, of Prinlaws, in the County of Fife,
North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN JACQUARD
MACHINES."
Sealed the 7th November 1865, and dated the 10th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Melvin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
May 1865.
I, JAMES MELVIN, of Prinlaws, in the County of Fife, North Britain,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
JACQUARD MACHINES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in jacquard machines,
whereby a great reduction in the number of cards required for forming a
pattern on the cloth is effected.
The arrangement of mechanism under which this Invention is carried into
effect consists of a rectangular frame containing the set of needles which act
upon the wires to which the harness is attached. The needles are arranged
so that their ends pass through the plates or sides of the frame, and a spring
is placed at either end of them, shoulders or collars being formed on the
needles so that the springs may be kept in position between these collars or
shoulders and the interior sides of the frame. The frame containing the
needles is made capable of sliding to a small extent horizontally, so that by
moving in one direction or the other the springs on opposite ends of the
needles are alternately brought into a state of compression or inactivity, that
is to say, the springs when in a state of compression act upon the needles,

page_text: accordingly when the springs on one end of the needles are released the
opposite ones are compressed, and the needles are forced in the opposite
direction. To utilize this arrangement of the needles, two jacquard barrels
are used, one being situated on either side of the machine so as to act upon
the adjacent ends of the needles; two sets of cards are employed; one on each
barrel.
From the foregoing description of needle arrangement and jacquard barrels,
it is obvious that when working in one direction the vertical needles or wires
(except when pushed off by means of blanks in the cards) will be situated as
bearing upon the bars of the lifting frame or "brander," (herein-after always
called the "brander,") and that when working in the opposite direction the
opposite springs being compressed the vertical wires will be all pushed off
the "brander," except when forced. against it so as to be lifted up by it. The
cards working over the second jacquard barrel are therefore punched reversely
to the first, that is to say, where there is a hole in the first jacquard card
there would be a blank in the second, so that when the barrel is brought
near to act upon the needles, the requisite needles may be forced against the
"brander" to be lifted by it, and then the pattern is formed by means of the
opposite or second jacquard barrel. The "brander" is lifted by means of a
connecting rod driven by a crank from the loom, and the jacquard barrels are
actuated by means of cranks or eccentrics on a second shaft, and provided with
a clutch so as to put either the one or the other of them in or out of gear.
The above arrangement of jacquard machine is chiefly useful for looms in
which cloths with cross borders are woven, in which case one jacquard barrel
is used for the cross border and the other for the body or main part of the
cloth, thus enabling the cloth to be woven with two sets of cards, one for the
cross border and the other for the body or ground, under which arrangement
the cards are used over and over again for corresponding pieces or portions of
the same piece of cloth instead of requiring a set of cards with the pattern
repeated in it several times.
When using the afore-mentioned jacquard machine the loom is stopped,
when one section (either the cross border or ground) is woven, and the barrel
with the card for that part are thrown out of gear; at the same time the
barrel and cards for forming the pattern on the next portion of the cloth are
brought into gear.
.
One of the most important features of the present Invention consists in the
adaptation of two jacquard barrels to one set of needles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Melvin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th
November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MELVIN, of Prinlaws, in the County of Fife, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Melvin, Her special license that I, the said James Melvin,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Melvin, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN JACQUARD MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said
James Melvin, by an instrument in writing under my band 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Melvin, do hereby declare
the. nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to he
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in jacquard machines,
whereby a great reduction in the number of cards required for forming a
pattern on the cloth is effected.
The arrangement of mechanism under which this Invention is carried into
effect consists of a rectangular frame containing the set of needles which act
upon the wires to which the harness is, attached. The needles are arranged
so that their ends pass through both plates or sides of the frame, and a spring
is placed at either end of them, shoulders or collars being formed on the
needles, so that the springs may be kept in position between these collars or
shoulders and the interior sides of the frame. The frame containing the

page_text: needles is made capable of sliding to a small extent horizontally, so that by
moving in one direction or the other the springs on opposite ends of the
needles are alternately brought into a state of compression or inactivity, that
is to say, the springs when in a state of compression act upon the needles;
accordingly when the springs on one end of the needles are released the
opposite ones are compressed, and the needles are forced in the opposite
direction. To utilize this arrangement of the needles two jacquard barrels
are used, one being situated on either side of the machine so as to act upon
the adjacent ends of the needles; two sets of cards are employed, one on each
barrel.
From the foregoing description of needle arrangement and jacquard barrels
it is obvious that when working in one direction the vertical needles or wires
(except when pushed off by means of blanks in the cards) will be situated as
bearing upon the two bars of the lifting frame or "brander" (herein-after
always called the "brander,") and that when working in the opposite direction,
the opposite springs being compressed, the vertical wires will be all pushed
off the "brander," except when forced against it so as to be lifted up by it.
The cards working over the second jacquard barrel are therefore punched
reversely to the first, that is to say, where there is a hole in the first jacquard
barrel there would be a blank in the second, so that when the barrel is brought
near to act upon the needles the requisite needles may be forced against the
brander to be lifted by it, and thus the pattern is formed by means of the
opposite or second jacquard barrel. The brander is lifted by means of a con-
necting rod driven by a crank from the loom, and the jacquard barrels are
actuated by means of cranks or eccentrics on a second shaft, and provided
with a clutch so as to put either one or the other of them in or out of
gear.
The above arrangement of jacquard machine is chiefly useful for looms in
which cloths with cross borders are woven, in which case one jacquard barrel
is used for the cross border and the other for the body or main part of the
cloth, thus enabling the cloth to be woven with two sets of cards, one for the
cross border and the other for the body or ground, under which arrangement
the cards are used over and over again for corresponding pieces of cloth
instead of requiring a set of cards with the pattern repeated in it severa
times.
When using the afore-mentioned jacquard machine the loom is stopped
when one section (either the cross border or ground) is woven, and the barre
with the cards used for that part are thrown out of gear; at the same time
the barrel and cards for forming the pattern on the next portion of the cloth
are brought into gear.

page_text: One of the most important features of the present Invention consists in the
adaptation of two jacquard barrels to one set of needles.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the mode or manner in or under
I which the same is or may be used or carried into practical effect, reference
being had to the two Figures upon the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which
I have hereunto appended, and in which similar parts are indicated by cor-
responding letters of reference, that is to say :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved jacquard machine, and
Figure 2 is a corresponding front elevation thereof with the jacquard barrel
removed.
As herein previously mentioned the essential feature of this Invention
consists especially in the application of two jacquard barrels to one set of
needles; the barrels are shown of the hexagonal form at A and B, Figure 1,
the barrels not being shown at Figure 2, in order that other parts of the.
apparatus may be more distinctly visible. The two barrels A and B are
carried on bearings in the upper ends of two levers C and D; these levers
are broken off short in Figure 2. They are keyed or otherwise fixed upon
cross shafts E and F, one of which, namely E, is seen at Figure 2. The
shafts E and F are caused to partly rotate in their bearings by motion derived
from a crank or cam on a second shaft driven off the first motion shaft of the
loom not seen in the Drawings, the motion being communicated to the shafts
E and F by connecting links and levers G, H, I, and K. The second shaft
carrying the cranks or cams is provided with clutches so that the links G
5 and H may be alternately engaged or disengaged, by which arrangement it
is only possible that one of the barrels A or B can be actuated at once.
It is to be understood that this arrangement of jacquard machine is intended
only to be used in producing goods, part. of which are formed with a repeated;
centre and part with a plain ground or figured cross border. One of the
barrels, for instance the barrel A, carries a chain of cards punched according
to the pattern to be produced on the cloth; the other, B, carries a chain of.
cards punched to shed the warp in such manner that a plain ground or figured.
cross border only can be produced. In changing the machine from working
the centre or cross border portions of the cloth the loom is stopped, and either:
5 one or the other of the barrels A or B is put out of action by means of the
clutches on the second shaft, as herein-before described.
Another very important part of the present Invention consists in arranging
the horizontal needles a, a, a, Figures 1 and 2, in such manner that they are,
capable of being acted upon at both ends by, the barrels. To effect this,

page_text: object the needle guides M and N, one at either side, contain the ordinary
springs used for pushing the needles outwards in ordinary jacquard machines.
Beyond the two needle guides M and N metallic plates or moveable spring
boards O and P are situated; these are fixed on the ends of the two bars R
and S, which slide in the bearings T, Figure 1, and shown in dotted lines in
Figure 2. On those portions of the horizontal needles at either end, and at
any suitable distance from the end, shoulders are formed, against which one
end of the spiral spring abuts, the outer end abutting against the inner side of
the metallic plates or spring boards O and P. It is thus evident, then, that
as either of the plates O or P is brought nearer against the adjacent needle
board M or N, the ends of the needles on that side will protrude through the
holes in the plates O or P to such a length that they are capable of being
acted upon by the jacquard barrels. But owing to the fact that the vertical
wires of the jacquard apparatus are made with a single hook or crook at their
upper end, and that their wires or needles are acted upon by springs at both
ends, it is evident that whilst they are pressed off the bars of the brander U,
by the action of the springs at one side of the machine, that when the springs
at the opposite side of the machine are in action they will be pushed against
the brander; it therefore becomes necessary to punch the cards on the one
barrel, that one on the side where the wires are all pushed off the brander in a
manner precisely the reverse of what would be the case if the wires were by
the action of the springs all maintained against the brander, that is to say,
that in those places where in an ordinary jacquard machine holes would be
punched to allow the needles to enter, so that the wires might be lifted by the
brander; in this case blanks would be left in the cards so that the wires
might be pushed on the brander. A lever V is attached to a cross shaft W,
to which other levers X are fixed for bringing one or other of the plates O
and P into action, as may be required.
It is to be understood that one of the most important features of the present
Invention consists in the great saving of cards which is effected by its
adoption, it being only necessary to employ a chain of cards on one barrel
containing no greater number than is required to form one repeat of the
pattern, and on the other barrel a chain consisting of a few cards to work the
plain ground or figured cross border, instead of using a long chain of cards as
usual with the pattern repeated, as is done in the ordinary mode of weaving
ornamental or figured goods.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would
observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and original, and

page_text: therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the berein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of parts forming the par-
ticular species of jacquard machine, as herein-before described, or any mere
modification thereof.
Second, the application of two barrels with two sets of cards to jacquard
machines, for the purpose of weaving a pattern or plain cloth or figured cross
border in different parts of the same web, as herein-before described, or any
mere modification thereof.
Third, the use of the sliding or spring board plates for acting on the
alternate ends of the needles, and the use of springs for acting on the needles
at both ends, as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness, whereof, I, the said James Melvin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
ST. JOHN VINCENT DAY, C.E.,
Patent Office,
166, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow.
JAMES MELVIN. (L.S.)