IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS, AND IN THE JACQUARD APPARATUS OF LOOMS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS,
AND IN THE JACQUARD APPARATUS OF LOOMS."- A communication from
abroad by Messieurs François Durand and Henry Auguste Pradel,
of Paris, France.
Sealed the 28th December 1860, and dated the 18th July 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th July 1860.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOOMS, AND IN THE JACQUARD APPARATUS OF Looms," communicated to me
from abroad by Messieurs François Durand and Henry Auguste Pradel, of
Paris, France, to be as follows:-
According to this Invention it is proposed to employ inclined wheels for
driving the shuttle and actuating the batten or lay; an arrangement of guide
boards or slabs is adopted for guiding the lead weights of the jacquard cords, and
preventing the latter from entangling. An improved jacquard is employed, in
which, instead of the usual mode of moving the revolving bar or cylinder with
its cards to and from the needles, the needles, according to this Invention, are
brought to and from the cards (or their equivalents), and the cylinder only
revolves and has no to-and-fro motion, hence a continuous band of perforated
paper rolled upon the cylinder may be employed instead of the usual cards.
I now proceed to describe more fully one arrangement, which is that pre-
ferred; but I do not confine myself to the mode of shifting the needles, nor
to the precise details mentioned. Here inclined wheels are keyed at the same

page_text: angle, and mounted on shafts rotated by connections from the driving shaft,
and enter between projections or flanges on the hatten, which, as they act in
the same direction they thus work to and fro. Each of these wheels has a
projection on it, by means of which they drive the shuttle and shoot the weft.
The jacquard cylinder, which is of circular section, is fixed to its axis, and has
an intermittent rotary motion, but no to-and-fro action. The needles are held
in a box, carrier, or frame, which is provided with springs, and has a regular to-
and-fro horizontal motion moving the needles with it. The cylinder revolves an
interval equivalent to the distance of one card when the needle carrier recedes,
so that on the latters return motion the points of the needles are brought to
the cards, and those which meet perforations pass through them. The jac-
quard is worked by connections from crank wheels on the driving shaft, which
actuate a rod or bar working a piece which slides up and down in guide ways,
and so effects the movements. This piece carries a rising and falling piece or
griffe, which moves up and down with it, and has a friction roller at each end
working in guide ways, and moves forward as it rises a space equal to that
moved by the needle carrier; the sliding piece has two rollers working outside
its guide grooves, and acting in the curved paths of levers on which the needle
carrier box is placed, and drives it back; when the rising and falling piece or
griffe comes down, the box returns and brings the needles to the cards. The
card or perforated paper band is shifted round so as to present fresh parts, as
required; thus, the friction roller of the lifting piece in rising comes against
and works a lever carrying a sort of double pawi or clawker, one branch of
which is in gear with a ratchet or tooth wheel on the cylinder shaft, and is
caused to turn it one tooth at a time, so as to turn the cylinder the proper
quantity, the perforated band unrolling guided by conical studs; a spring
click acts on a ratchet wheel on the cylinder shaft as a regulating stop. The
cylinder can be reversed by pulling a cord which moves the pawl, so as to free
the first branch from its wheel and bring the other in gear with another wheel
toothed in reverse direction; when the cord is released a spring throws the
first again into gear. A hook of the shape shown may be used to avoid
working flail-fashion when brought back the weights. The needles may
be arranged in a direction towards the centre of the cylinder to reduce the
size of the cards. Two perforated boards or slabs guide the weight o
plummet carrying cords; the weights which are of a very elongated narrow
form rise and fall in the perforations of the lower board without getting out
of them, the cords passing through the corresponding perforations of the
upper board.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London,. Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said.
Michael Henry, Her special license that I, the said Michael Henry, my
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Michael.
Henry, 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
terin 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 LOOMS, AND
IN THE JACQUARD APPARATUS OF Looms," communicated to me from abroad.
by François Durand and Henry Auguste Pradel, of Paris, France, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Michael. Henry, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their bands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michael Henry, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, as communicated to me, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is.
to say :-
This Invention consists, in the first place, in the employment in looms for
weaving of inclined wheels for driving the shuttle and actuating the batten
or lay.
Secondly, the Invention consists of an arrangement of guido boards or slabs
for guiding the lead weights of the jacquard cords, and thereby preventing
those cords from entangling.
Thirdly, the Invention relates to an improved jacquard apparatus herein-
after described.

page_text: Heretofore, in known arrangements of jacquards, the usual mode bas been
to move the revolving bar or cylinder with its pattern cards to and from the
needles, whereas, in the improved jacquard constructed according to this
Invention, the needles are brought to and from the cards or their equivalents,
and the cylinder has only an intermittent revolving motion, and no to-and-fro
movement; a continuous band of perforated paper rolled on the cylinder
may be employed instead of the nsual cards.
I now proceed to describe more fully an arrangement of jacquard loom and
apparatus constructed according to the present improvements, being the
arrangement preferred; but I do not confine myself to the particular means
herein-after described of imparting to the needle carrier the to-and-fro action
required, neither do I confine myself to the precise details mentioned, which
may be varied so long as the particular character of the Invention be retained.
Here inclined wheels are keyed at the same angle on shafts rotated by connec-
tions from the driving shaft, and run between projections or flanges on the
batten, which they work to and fro; each of these wheels has a projection on
it, by means of which they drive the shuttle and shoot the weft. The jacquard
cylinder, which is of circular section, is fixed to its axis, and has an intermittent
rotary motion, but does not vibrate or move to and fro. The needles are held
in a box frame or carrier herein-after called the needle carrier, having springs
as usual; this carrier has a regular to-and-fro horizontal motion moving the
needles with it. The cylinder revolves a portion of revolution equivalent to
the distance of one card or division of the pattern when the needle carrier
recedes, so that when the needle carrier returns to the cylinder, the points of
the needles are presented to the cards (or perforated pattern paper) and those
which meet perforations therein pass through them. The jacquard is worked
by connections from crank wheels on the driving shaft actuating a rod or bar
working a moveable piece or frame which slides up and down in guide ways,
and so effects the required movements. This pieco carries the rising and
falling piece or griff, which moves up and down with it, and has a roller at
each end working in guide ways, which piece or griff' as it rises is contrived to
move forward towards the needle carrier a distance equal to that moved forward
by the latter; the moveable frame is furnished with two other rollers which
work outside their guide slots and act in the curved paths of levers on which
the needle carrier is placed, thereby forcing the latter back. When the rising
and falling piece or griffe comes down, the carrier returns and brings its needles
to the cylinder cards. The card or perforated paper band is shifted to present
fresh parts as required for the pattern; thus the friction roiler of the lifting
piece as it rises comes against and works a lever or bar carrying a sort of double

page_text: pawl or clawker, one branch of which is in gear with a ratchet or tooth wheel
on the cylinder axis, and turns that wheel one tooth at a time, thereby turning
the cylinder the proper quantity, the perforated band unrolling on it, guided by
the conical studs; a spring click acts on a ratchet wheel on the cylinder axis
as a regulating stop. The cylinder's direction of rotation is reversed by pulling
a cord, which moves the double pawl or clawker, and frees the first branch
thereof from its wheel, bringing the other into gear with another wheel toothed
in reverse direction; when this cord is released a spring throws the first branch
again into gear with its wheel. A hook (y) of the shape shewn in Figure 3
of the Drawings may preferably be used, as when of that shape it does not work
flail fashion or vibrate when brought back by the weights. The needles (x) are
preferably arranged in a direction towards the centre of the cylinder, whereby
"cards" or divisions of the pattern of reduced dimensions may be employed.
Two perforated boards or slabs guide the weight or plummet-carrying cords;
the weights, which are of a very elongated narrow form, rise and fall in tho
perforations of the lower board without getting out of them, the cords passing
through the corresponding perforations of the upper board.
The accompanying Drawings represent the foregoing arrangement, and
explain more particularly the mode in which the Invention may be carried
into effect. Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of the improved loom;
Figure 1, front elevation of the jacquard apparatus; Figure 2, side elevation
of the loom with jacquard apparatus affixed. A is the driving shaft of the
loom worked by pulleys and driving band in any ordinary convenient manner,
and carrying two bevel pinions B, which drive other pinions C, mounted on
shafts c, and thereby communicate rotary motion to those shafts, and to two
inclined wheels D keyed thereon. E is the batten or lay; d flanges or pro-
jectious on the batten between which the wheels D run; both those wheels
being keyed at the same angle drive the batten forward and backward as
required. The batten is shown in the latter position in Figure 2; 9 is the
shuttle. On each wheel D is a stud or projection T, so placed that each stud
acts consecutively on the shuttle so as to drive it completely from one side to
the other, and shoot the weft through the shed of the warp. At each end of
the shaft A is a crank wheel H, wherefrom by crank arms J and bars or levers
1, K, L, motion is transmitted to the bar M, and thence to the jacquard
mechanism. a is the jacquard cylinder, having the perforated pattern paper
or cards rolled thereon, and 6 is its axis to which it is fixed, and which turns
in stationary bearings u in the frame W. Motion is communicated to this
axis b, and therefore to the cylinder a in such manner that it may have an
intermittent rotary action turning at equal intervals of time sufficiently to
.

page_text: present fresh cards or parts of the perforated paper to the needles as required;
but the cylinder with its axis turns in its own place, that is to say, without
moving to and from the needles; x, z, are the needles which are held in a
frame box or needle carrier g', furnished with springs in the manner usual to
the needle frames or spring boxes of jacquards; but this box g', instead of
being a fixture as is usual, has a to-and-fro horizontal motion moving alter-
nately towards and from the cylinder, and carrying the needles with it in its
travel. The respective motions of the cylinder and the needle carrier are
.contrived in such manner, that when the needle carrier has receded from the
cylinder, taking its needles with it, the latter performs such an amount of
revolution as to present a card, or portion of perforated paper equivalent to a
card, ready for the needles by the time they return, so that when the needle
.carrier performs its forward stroke, and brings its needles to the cylinder, they
come gently against this card or portion of the pattern and the points of those
which come opposite perforations pass through them, while those which come
in contact with the unperforated parts of the paper go back into the box-or
carrier, of course without passing through the paper. As soon as this portion
of the pattern is done with, the needle carrier with its needles again recedes
from the cylinder, and the cylinder again turns, presenting a fresh card or
perforated portion, and so on. There are transverse pins to hold the ends of
the needles in place, and vertical hooks pass through eyes in them. The
various movements are obtained in the following manner by the rise and fall
of the piece h, worked up and down in guide ways i, i', in the frame W by
the bar M. This piece h carries the griff or lifting frame 1, which rises and
falls with it, and the ends of which terminate in friction rollers m, m', which
work up and down in the guide ways n, so that when the griff / rises it moves
forward in a direction towards the needle carrier g', a distance just equal to
the distance travelled forward by the said carrier. The piece h carries two
friction rollers o, o', working up and down outside their guide ways, cne on
each side of the frame W; as these rollers rise, they move levers p, p, turning
on centres 1, r³, and on which levers the needle box or carrier 9 is fitted by
connections 3, s³, so that the rollers o, o', moving in the curved paths in the
levers p, p', force back the connections, s', and hence the carrier 9'. When
the griffe comes down the box or carrier 9' returns to its previous position,
that is to say, comes forward and brings the needles to the cylinder where
the perforated pattern is ready for them, so that on the rise of the griff 1, it
only lifts those hooks y, which correspond to those needles that enter per-
forations, leaving those hooks y down which correspond to the needles that
do not enter perforations. The requisite intermittent rotary motion is com-

page_text: municated to the cylinder a to unwind the perforated paper thereon, and
present fresh parts in succession as required for the pattern by means of the
rising of the griffe 7 in the following manner:-As the roller o rises it comes
against the end of a lever bar or beam v, which turns on a fixed centre a', and
carries at Pa double or two branched clawker e, e', consisting of two claws or
clawkers on the saine shank Q, one of which as e takes into the teeth of a
toothed wheel X on the cylinder axis b, and when the bar is depressed,
turns the wheel X one tooth, its stroke being regulated accordingly, and this
is rendered more certain by means of a spring catch or click S, which directly
the clawker e is freed of the wheel is operated by its spring U, and inserts its
tongue or projection between two of the teeth of a ratchet wheel W', also
fixed on the axis b, and so acts as a stop. The wheel X being caused by the
clawker e to turn one tooth, as explained, the cylinder a will thus be turned a
corresponding portion of a revolution, the pattern paper unrolling on its
periphery to the extent required for presenting a fresh part of the pattern,
(guided by the conical studs.) To reverse the direction of rotation of the
cylinder a, a cord 1 is pulled, which moves the shank Q, and thereby forces
the clawker e away from its wheel ✗, at the same time throwing the other
clawker into gear with another toothed wheel X' also fixed on the axis b,
but toothed in a direction contrary to X; hence, when the bar v is depressed
by the rise of the griff the axis 6 will turn in a reverse direction until the
cord 1 is released, when a spring Z throws the first clawker e again into gear
with the wheel X.
Among the advantages resulting from employing this improved arrange-
ment are these, that as the cylinder does not vibrate to and fro, and is conse-
quently not exposed to repeated shocks, the pattern paper may be rolled on it
with much precision unattainable in the old method; and instead of using stiff
cards, a continuous band of properly perforated paper, which need not be of
very stout texture, may be employed for the pattern. Also the needles in this
apparatus, working regularly and gently to and from the cylinder, is further
an improvement on the old mode, in which the cylinder fell somewhat forcibly
on the ends of the needles, as there is far less danger of the perforated paper
being torn in this improved arrangement.
In Figure 2 are shewn the perforated guide boards 4, which guide and
steady the lead weights 3 suspended to the jacquard cords 2, thereby allowing
of the jacquard being worked rapidly without danger of entangling the cords.
The needles a, as before stated, instead of being parallel, are preferably fitted
to lie in a direction towards the centre of the cylinder. Figure 3 shews the
form of lifting book y preferred; Figure 4 is a view on an enlarged scale of a

page_text: moveable lattice for preventing the hooks from turning, and for guiding the
needles x, x.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment in looms for weaving of inclined wheels for driving
the shuttle and working the batten, and this I claim whatever be the other
arrangements of the loom to which such wheels may be applied.
Second, the arrangement of guide slabs or guide boards for guiding the
lead weights, by the employment whereof the jacquard may be worked at
increased speed.
Third, the employment in jacquard apparatus of a cylinder having no to-
and-fro motion, but only an intermittent rotary motion, with a needle spring
box or frame, or needle carrier, having a regular to-and-fro horizontal motion
carrying the needles with it in its travel, and this I claim however the
mechanical means for communicating such motions be varied..
Fourth, the arrangement and combination of parts for imparting the to-and-
fro motion to the griff following that of the needle carrier, whereby the descent
of the hooks when the griff rises is prevented.
Fifth, the arrangement and combination of the toothed wheels and double
clawker arrangement, herein-before described, for imparting the required
intermittent rotary motion to the cylinder instead of using for that purpose
the hooks or catching arms hitherto employed.
Sixth, the arrangement and combination of parts of jacquard weaving
apparatus, herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
S. E. A. NEWSOME, Patent Office,
84, Fleet Street, London.
M. HENRY. (L.S.)