Improvements in and relating to Jacquard Mechanism.
Year: 1893

page_text: 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 Agente,
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 :-
Jacquard mechanisms as at present ordinarily constructed cannot satisfactorily
and successfully be run at the desired high speeds. Various improvements in such
mechanisms have been devised and put into practical use, these improvements being
of a character which has resulted in the application of simpler and better mechanical
principles to the working parts of the mechanisms than formerly was the case, and
in a great increase in the possible capacity of the said mechanisms. There is met
in practice, however, one difficulty which places practically a limit upon the speed
that may be attained. That is to say, the devices at present employed in such
mechanisms for presenting in succession the perforated cards in position for acting
upon the horizontal needles, and for moving each of the said cards in turn against
the ends of the said needles and thereby determining which hooked upright shall be
engaged by the vertically moving griff and which upright shall not be engaged, are
of such a character that they require considerable time for their operation, thereby
reducing the speed of the entire mechanism, and of the loom to which the latter is
applied, and also present the cards against the ends of the horizontal needles with a
blow which is very severe upon the cards, this blow increasing in force and injurious
effect as the speed is increased. It is the object of the first part of the present
invention to obviate this difficulty, and to provide a mechanism in which the time
required for feeding forward the cards so that they may act successively and for
causing each card in turn to act upon the needles shall be reduced to a minimum, and
in which moreover, the cards shall be carried against the ends of the needles by a
movement which is very slight in extent and with a very slight blow. This part of
the invention consists in an improved construction and combination of parts providing
in a satisfactory manner for the attainment of these improved results.
Sometimes in the operation of a Jacquard mechanism one of the perforated pattern
cards used therein, when brought by the working of the mechanism into proximity
to the ends of the horizontal needles, will buckle or otherwise project from the
position it is intended to occupy so far that in its advancing movement its edge will
strike the ends of the horizontal needles which extend through and in front of the
needle board, and therefrom will result injury to the card or needles, or to both.
The second part of the present invention has for its object to render such accident
and resulting injury impossible, and it consists, therefore, in a guard or protector
for the said horizontal needles, of a character hereinafter specified, and connected
and combined with the parts of a Jacquard mechanism in the manner which
hereinafter is inade to appear.
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a view in end elevation of a Jacquard mechanism having the present
invention applied thereto.
Fig. 2 is a view, in elevation from the right hand side in Fig. 1 of certain parts
which are shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a view in plan of the parts which are shown in Fig. 2.
T

page_text: The frame of the Jacquard mechanism is shown at.1. Within this frame are
located the griff 2, and bottom board 3, the latter of which in the mechanisın shown
is supported without capacity for vertical movement although in some forms of
mechanism it may be movable, as will be understood. The griff 2 having the knives
or blades 51 is mounted at each end on a bracket 4 which is fixed at the upper end
of a rod 5, sliding vertically in guides 6, 6, on the framing 1, the said bracket having
a pin 7 to which is pivotally connected the upper end of the link or bar 8, which
latter, at its lower end is connected pivotally to the inner arm of the main actuating
lever, or walking beam 9 which is operated from a crank or cam forming part of the
loom over which the Jacquard mechanism is placed. Thereby the griff is reciprocated
vertically. At 10 are shown the hooked uprights, at 11 the horizontal needles, and
at 12 the perforated needle board through the holes in which the front ends of the
needles project in position to be acted upon by the pattern cards. Ordinarily, the
pattern-cards which are linked together into a series as is well known pass around a
cylinder or prism having the shaft thereof supported in journal bearings in a
vibrating frame or batten. This vibrating frame or batten swings toward and
from the ends of the needles during the working of the loom, and in the movement
toward the said ends it carries into contact with the latter that card which is on the
proximate face of the prism or cylinder. As the vibrating frame or batten moves
outward to carry the cylinder or prism and the cards passing around the same away
from the ends of the needles, the cylinder or prism is given a partial revolution upon
its axis, by well known mechanism, that as the frame or batten moves inward again
a new card shall be presented to the needles. With this construction and arrange-
ment, necessarily a long outward movement is given to the prism or cylinder and
cards in order that they may be carried away from the needles sufficiently far to
permit of the turning of the cylinder or prisin about its axis, and, also, inasmuch as
the parts require to move quickly, the cards strike against the ends of the needles
with quite a forcible blow, which is very severe on the cards and causes considerable
wear and tear thereof. In the improved mechanism which is shown in the drawings
there are employed disks or wheels 13 which are provided at the peripheries thereof
with pegs or pins 131 for feeding forward the cards. These disks or wheels 13 are
mounted on a shaft 14 supported in bearings in bearing-pieces 15 carried on rods 16
arranged to slide horizontally through guides 17, 18 applied to the framing of the
Jacquard mechanism at the sides of the latter, as shown.
Each of these rods has applied thereto an arm or plate 171 formed with an
angular slot 181 in which plays a bowl 19 on the pin 7. Thereby, as the griff is
moved up and down a horizontal reciprocating movement is communicated to the
rods 16, and the parts carried thereby. The chain or series of cards passes around
the disks or wheels 13, holes therein receiving the pegs or pins 131. For the
purpose rotating the shaft 14, intermittently as required for advancing the cards, a
star-wheel 20 is fixed on the end of shaft 14, and on a shaft 22 mounted in bearings
in the bearing-pieces 15 is fixed a pin-wheel 21 provided with a pin 211 which
enters the slots 201 in the star-wheel to turn the shaft 14, and the wheels carried
thereby, and, also, provided with a concentric flange 2111 which fits the cou-
cavities 2011 in the periphery of the star-wheel 20 between the slots 201 and serves
to lock the star-wheel and shaft 14 from movement while the pin 211 is out of the
slots. The shaft 22 has fixed thereon a sprocket-wheel 23 around which passes a
sprocket-chain extending from a sprocket wheel on one of the shafts of the loom
whereby the said shaft 22 is rotated at the proper speed to move the shaft 14 at the
proper times in the working of the Jacquard mechanism. The disks or wheels 13
have grooves 1311 in the peripheries thereof as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and in such
grooves lie endless bands or cords 24 which also pass around a roller 25 journalled
in brackets 26 applied to the framing. These bands or cords serve to strip or free
the cards from the pegs 131 of the wheels 13, and prevent them from being carried
around too far with the said wheels in the movement of the latter. A press-board 27
extends parallel with the needle-board 12 being perforated like the latter and with the
holes thereof in line with those of the needle-board. The press-board has applied

page_text: to the back thereof brackets 28 the parts being secured together by bolts 29 and
nuts 30, and in the hub 281 of each bracket is received and fixed by a clamping
screw 31 the forward end of a rod 32, the said rod passing through a guide 33 fixed
to the frame 1, and having its rear end fixed by a screw 34 in a hub 351 of a
socket piece 35 fitted on the shaft 14. Thus, as the slide-rods 16 move horizontally,
carrying the shaft 14 and its disks or wheels 13, and other appurtenances with
them the said press-board is moved toward and from the ends of the needles 11.
The said press-board serves as a backing or support for each card in turn as the
cards are successively presented against the ends of the needles 11. The front
face of the press-board is in advance slightly of the most forward portions of the
peripheries of the disks or wheels 13, the ends of the press-board being reduced in
thickness as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 so as to pass within the flanges of the wheels 13.
The arrangement and construction described operates with a much diminished
extent of horizontal movement, and presents the cards to the needles with a much
gentler and easier action than heretofore has been the case.
The ends of needles 11, in practice, are caused to project a short distance in
front of the perforated needle-board 12 by which the needles are supported at
the front of the mechanisin, and in consequence of this projection the said ends
are liable to be struck in the movement of the cards as. they are being fed
along or advanced by any card which is buckled or from any other cause pro-
jects unduly toward the needles. When the ends of the needles are thus struck,
the card which strikes is likely to become torn, and the needles are likely to
become bent. To prevent the ends of the horizontal needles 11 from being thus
struck by the cards as the latter are being fed along or advanced, a guard or
protector is applied as now will be explained, the same being supported aud
arranged in a manner to permit it to move forward and back in unison with the
press-board and the disks or wheels 13, etc., or other parts employed for feeding or
advancing the cards and presenting them to the needles, such movement being
through a part of the distance traversed by the remaining parts mentioned.
Thereby the said guard or protector is carried out by the moving parts of the
mechanism far enough to shield the projecting ends of the needles, prior to each
feeding or advancing movement, that is communicated to the cards. The said
guard or protector is provided with a number of vertical wires or cross bars 36
that are placed between adjacent vertical rows of horizontal needles 11, and are con-
nected at their upper and lower ends with a supporting frame, comprising longitudinal
bars 37 to which the ends of the wires or cross-bars are attached in suitable manner,
as by screws 38, and end pieces 39. Preferably the end pieces 39 are formed, as
shown, to fit upon and slide along the horizontal rods 16. The best mode of moving
the guard or protector outward at the proper time to enable it to cover the ends of
the horizontal needles and serve as a shield therefor is considered to be by
connecting it with the moving device for presenting the cards to the needles, so as
that when the said moving device is moved out or away from the needles the guard
or protector is carried with it, the guard or protector being arrested when it has
moved outward to the desired point, by a suitable fixed stop herein constituted by
the guide or bearing 18. The guard or protector thus is arrested before the
completion of the outward movement of the card presenting device, in order that
there may be secured between the two an unobstructed space which will permit the
cards to be fed along or advanced. The simplest and best manner of connecting
the guard or protector with the card presenting device so as to cause the latter in
its outward movement to carry the former with it until arrested by the stop, is by
means of the spring 40 having one end thereof attached to the end piece 39 and the
other end thereof attached to the bearing-pieces 15. As will be apparent. when the
card presenting device is moved away from the needles the guard or protector will
be carried in the same direction until it reaches a point just beyond the ends of the
needles and has covered the said ends, when the end piece 39 strikes the bearing 18
and prevents the guard or protector from going farther, the continued movement of
the card presenting device merely stretching the spring 40. This presents the

page_text: series of vertical wires or cross bars 36 beyond the ends of the horizontal_needles,
and across the whole length of the series of needles so that if the advancing
card buckles, or otherwise projects it will come in contact with the said wires or
cross bars instead of the needles, and cannot become torn itself or bend the needles.
On the inward movement of the card-presenting device, the guard or protector is
moved back positively as by contact therewith of the pattern card in front of the
press-board. It is deemed best that the movable guard or protector should be
employed in addition to the usual fixed needle board 12, and.between the latter and
the card presenting device, as shown, although it is not regarded as being entirely
outside of the invention to omit the fixed needle board. Heretofore it has been
proposed to employ a movable needle board which is pressed outward normally by
the action of springs so as to cover the ends of the needles. Also it has been
proposed to employ in connection with a fixed needle board a supplemental guard
or protector similarly pressed needle board or supplemental guard or protector is
carried back by the card when the latter is advanced toward the needles, the
springs mentioned are compressed. In devices embodying the present invention
there are no springs having to be compressed in order to permit the ends of the
needles to be exposed.
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 Jacquard mechanism herein before set forth and shown in the
accompanying drawings.
2. The improved combination and arrangement of parts for supporting the chain
of cards, feeding or advancing the same, and presenting the cards successively to
the horizontal needles, substantially as described.
3. The arrangement and combination of devices constituting the improved guard
or protector, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 11th day of September 1893.
Haseltine, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.