IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING FIGURED FABRICS
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th April
1864. A communication from abroad by Friedrich Emil Obermüller,
of Heidenheim, in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Manufacturer.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR WEAVING FIGURED FABRICS," a communication
to me from abroad by Friedrich Emil Obermüller, of Heidenheim, in the
Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Manufacturer, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
apparatus to be applied to looms for weaving figured fabrics as a substitution
for the ordinary jacquard, whereby a greater number of healds may be
employed in a smaller space, and various other advantages obtained.
The improved apparatus consists of a lifter containing, say, two lifter bars
for operating upon two rows of vertical hooks. A lever or levers operated
upon by two treadles, and connected with the lifter, causes the latter to rise
and fall, and with it the two ranges of hooks above referred to. The lower
ends of the stems of these hooks rest upon a board, which turns or oscillates.
upon a fixed centre at one end, whilst its opposite extremity is connected by
means of a rod with one end of an overhead balance lever. The opposite end
of this lever is connected by a second rod with the lifter. The free ends of
if
tlie two lifter levers, above referred to, are connected with the shorter arms
two bell cranks by means of suitable connecting rods, counterweights being
fitted to these shorter arms to ensure that the longer and vertical arms of the
どう

page_text: 66
or
bell cranks shall return to their original position again when released. The
two longer arms carry the main or large "cylinder" of the machine, which
consists of a four-sided prism, perforated with as many holes as are required
according to the number of needles in the machine. This prism is provided
with the usual means for rotating and for steadying the same after each move-
ment on its axis, and carries cards. It is in most respects similar to those
in ordinary use, but is larger and has its perforations wider apart. In
combination with this large cylinder" there is a small " cylinder
prism, which is caused to rise and fall alternately, whilst the large "cylinder"
moves to and fro in a horizontal or nearly horizontal direction. A small lever
on each side of the machine, working on fixed centres, impart the desired
rise and fall to the small "cylinder," which is solid, in lieu of being per-
forated like the larger one. Upon this small cylinder is carried an endless
series of pattern surfaces, upon which rest vertical.rods pressed down by helical
springs and guided in horizontal guiding bars; these rods carry or support
the needles in two horizontal rows, and through loops in these needles pass the
vertical hooks above mentioned, helical springs being employed to force
the needles outwards after they have been pushed inwards by the, cards on
the main or large "cylinder." The ends of the needles are guided in parallel
vertical slots to ensure their proper position opposite the holes in the large
cylinder." The rising of the small "cylinder" is effected by means of
counterweights on the actuating levers. Two larger books are connected with
the small cylinder levers, and are acted upon by the lifter so as to produce the
descent of the small cylinder; this taking place when the large hooks are
engaged with the lifter bar. They are disengaged from the lifter bar by
means of a short weighted lever arm. The engagement of the large hooks
with the lifter is accomplished by means of a horizontal rod connected to the
upper ends of the books, and to which rod a cord is attached when the pattern
is to be reproduced after four picks of the weft. The same result may be
obtained from the main "cylinder" by causing it to push against horizontal
rods, which bring into action a lever and rod in connection with the large
hooks, thereby causing those hooks to be engaged with the lifter bar, and
effect the descent and rotation of the small cylinder. The small cylinder
rotates by tlie usnal arrangement of levers and stops or catches, and its axis is
provided with the ordinary steadying appliances. If desired this cylinder may
be situate above the needles, and be provided with two stop levers to cause it
'to move forward and backward. The endless series of pattern surfaces carried
by the small "cylinder," consists of a number of laths jointed or laced together,
and having a dovetail groove formed longitudinally therein. In this groove are

page_text: inserted, according to the pattern to be produced, a number of movable
blocks of different heights, which serve to raise, more or less, the vertical rods
when brought against them by the rising of the small cylinder; this causes
the ends of the needles also to be brought to different elevations, so that they
may engage with the proper holes in the main cylinder. The healds consist
of a wrought-iron bar connected by cords with the vertical hooks before men-
tioned, and having suspended therefrom the leads or weights, each of which
has an eye in the middle, and through the series a weighted or distended cord
passes horizontally so as to thread together each row.
For a power loom the general arrangement may remain the same, excepting
that the parts should be stronger. On the large cylinder there may be an
endless chain, of which the number of links depends upon that of the wefts
or shoots necessary to form a pattern, and which serve to rotate the small
cylinder. The horizontal rod for working the large hooks, herein-before
referred to, may also, in lieu of being acted upon by the large cylinder, be
worked by a shaft driven by the endless chain, the links of which have a hole
perforated at each end and two holes in the middle, which are stopped, as
required, by movable slides working in grooves, the rod acting upon these
holes.