Improvements in Looms for Weaving Pile Fabrics.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Nov., 1899-Accepted, 21st Apr., 1900
[Communicated from abroad by SANFORD MILLS, a corporation organized under
the laws of the State of Maine, and having a place of business at Sanford, in
the State of Maine, United States of America, Manufacturers.].
Improvements in Looms for Weaving Pile Fabrics.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
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 he
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in looms, and consists
in the novel features of construction and relative arrangement of parts fully de-
scribed in the specification clearly illustrated on the drawings, and particularly
pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying four sheets of drawings forming
a part of this application, in which like characters are used to indicate like parts
wherever they occur.
Figure 1 represents in front clévation a loom constructed in accordance with
my invention.
Fig. 2 represents a top plan view thereof.
Fig. 3 represents a side elevation thereof.
Fig. 4 represents in side elevation a detail view of the mechanism for operating
the shuttle-box.
Fig. 5 represents a detail perspective view of the knife, and its associated
mechanism, showing the knife depressed in position to cut.
Fig. 6 represents a side elevation thereof.
Fig. 7 represents a detail cross-sectional view on the line 7--7 of Fig. 6.
Fig. 8 represents a view similar to Fig. 6, showing the knife in its raised or
inoperative position.
Fig. 9 represents in side elevation my novel form of wire.
Fig. 10 represents a cross-sectional view thereof, on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9.
Fig. 11 represents a detail view of the hook and latch.
Referring to the drawings, in the embodiment of my invention therein shown
and selected by me for the purpose of illustration, a represents a framework in which
are mounted the warp-beams, and other devices usual in looms. The framework
and other parts just mentioned may be of the conventional or any desired shape.
2 represents. the warp, the woven fabric, and at the take-up roll upon which
the fabric is wound in the usual way, the breast-plate over which the fabric
passes. represents a shaft upon which are mounted the sword arms a that
support the lay a, the latter being driven in the usual way by crank-arms a³
connected to a power shaft a mounted in the frame a. This shaft may be con-
nected in any desired way to a source of power, not shown. The lay a has at
one end a shuttle-box 10, forming an extension of the lay, and moves with it.
The shuttle-box all at the opposite end of the lay has mechanism for moving it

page_text: :
independently from the lay, so that it may not interfere with the wire mechanism.
The shuttle-box" is carried by sword-arms 2 mounted on the shaft a. The
shaft at the wire mechanism side of the loom carries a disk formed on its
face with a radial slot having a slide, which is arranged in said slot and held
there in any desired position by bolts 716. A bell-crank lever is loosely
mounted on the shaft a¹8. A pinion on the shaft a meshes with a spur
gear on the shaft 18, by which motion is imparted to the latter. One arm
of the bell-crank lever is connected by a link to the adjustable slide 15.
The other arm of said lever is formed with a tangential groove in which is
arranged a slide adjustably secured in any desired position by a bolt 24 (see
Figs. 2, 3, and 4). A link a connects this block to the movable shutile-box al.
The movement of transiation of the shuttle-box by means of this mechanism
just described, can be regulated at will, and is less than that of the lay a. The
parts are so timed when the lay is in its rear position that the shuttle-box all
is in alinement therewith, so that the shuttle can be received in the box and dis-
charged as if the box were integral with the lay. When, however, the lay ad-
vances to beat up the weft, the shuttle-box having a small movement of trans-
lation does not advance far enough to interfere with the wire mechanism. There
will be the usual picker-staff y etc., for each shuttle-box, the staff for the movable
shuttle-box being removed to prevent confusion.
represents the wire-trough into which the wires are withdrawn after the
knife has cut the warp to form the pile, and from which the wires are pushed in
front of the last weft to he again woven into the fabric. This trough has a
groove in which the wires lie, and is pivoted at its outer end to a bracket
see Fig. 3. represents a lever pivoted at its lower end to the framework. see
Fig. 2. and having its free end arranged loosely in a slot in the free end of
the trough. 66 represents a link connected at one end to the lever 4. and at its
other end to the vertical arm of a bell-crank lever . The end of the vertical
arm of the lever is pivoted to the framework, while the horizontal arm 68 of
said lever is pulled down by a spring into, engagement with a cam disk 7,10
fast on the shaft 18. The arrangement of the parts is such that the cam lifts the
horizontal arm of the bell-crank and holds it raised to throw the free end of the
trough forward into the position shown in Fig. 2, and hold it in said position
while a wire is being withdrawn from the wire magazine . When the wire
carriage begins its inward movement, to insert said wire in front of the last weft,
the shape of the cam permits the spring to depress the horizontal arm of the bell-
crank lever to move the free end of the trough backward in a position to permit
the insertion of the wire, as shown in Fig. 4. As soon as the wire is inserted,
the cam operates the lever to throw the free end of the trough forward for the
withdrawal of another wire, see Figs. 2 and 3.
represents a wire carriage or slide arranged to slide on a horizontal bar c¹.
A lever pivoted at its lower end on a bolt arranged in a slot. in the frame-
work is connected at its other end by a link to the slide c. By means of the
slot the pivoted end of the lever may be adjusted as desired. The lever is
formed with a slot 6 in which is arranged a roller a carried by a slide 8 adjustably
secured by a bolt to a crank c0fast on a counter-shaft cl An eccentric
gear fast on said shaft meshes with and is driven by a similar gear 3 fast
on the shaft 18. The parts are so arranged that the movements of the slide are
timed as in other looms of this class. The differential speed of the counter-
shaft is secured by the form of the gears 12, 13. The throw of the lever e
may be regulated by means of the adjustable slide 68.
An extension e¹ of the slide e extends over the wire-trough b (see Figs. 2, 3,
and 4) and upon its upper side is pivoted a lever . The forward end of this
lever is formed with a hook e arranged to engage the apertures in the wire heads
to withdraw the wires from the wire magazine. A spring e, see Fig. 2. is
arranged to yieldingly throw the hook into engagement with the heads of the
wires. A pin els on the extension limits the inward movement of the hook. A

page_text: the stud, engaging the inclined walls of notches 48 in the bar. The rod
is reciprocated and held in its elevated or depressed position in the same manner
as the shank ². The studs h, (see Figs. 6 and 8) are beveled or cam shaped
as shown, and adapted, as stated above, to engage the inclined walls of the
notches 8,, of the bar. Both the shank and the rod 76 are spring pressed.
By this construction and arrangement, it follows, as the carriage is reciprocated
the rod and the bar will be automatically reciprocated in a vertical direction
at each end of the stroke of the carriage, the depressing of the knife on the stroke
of the carriage when the warp is cut and raising the knife clear of the wires and
warp on the return stroke of the carriage. The rod 6 is formed with a head
to prevent the rod from slipping from the carriage. A leaf spring 410 secured to
the head has its free end arranged to engage the head of the shank to force
the shank down when its stud is on the upper surface of the bar fo and comes over
a notch. A second spring 11 is secured to the head 72, and has its free end ar-
ranged to be engaged by the spring on the head of the shank when the latter
is elevated. The spring is stronger than the spring 10 and has less play.
By this means, I keep a continuous downward yielding pressure on the shank,
which pressure is made the greatest when the shank is in its elevated position,
and in position to be depressed. If only one spring were used, it would have to
be so stiff that it would soon break by reason of the rapidity and amplitude of
its vibrations.
1 represents a block secured by a screw 13 to the lower end of the shank.
To the inner end of this block is secured a knife 14, and to the outer end is
secured a guide 5 (see Figs. 6 and 8). The guide and knife are arranged in
different planes whose distance apart is approximately equal to half the thickness
of the wire plus the thickness of the warp threads, the guide engaging the warp
on the front side of the wire, while the knife cuts the warp on the top of the
wire, the cutting edge of the knife running in a groove y², see Fig. 10, in the
middle of the wire. (See Figs. 7 and 9).
represents a rod connected at one end to a bolt 18 projecting from the knife
carriage. The free end of this rod is formed with a depression y arranged to
engage a study on the wire carriage, whereby the knife carriage and wire
carriages are moved in unison. As the wire carriage advances to insert a wire,
the knife carriage is moved to cut the warp from the front wire. As the hook
catches said wire, and the wire carriage retreats to draw the same into the trough,
the knife carriage is brought back in position to cut the warp from another wire.
As the knife carriage is drawn to the right, in Figs. 1 and 5, the knife is raised
clear from the warp by means of the lugs, see Fig. 8. As the knife carriage
reaches the right-hand end of the bar f, the shank and knife are forced down
by the springs, to bring the knife into engagement with the warp. As the knife
carriage is then immediately forced to the left in said figures, the lugs engage the
under side of the bar, see Fig. 6, and the knife is maintained in engagement
with the warp to cut the latter. Wings y on each side of the wire near its head
and located below the inner notch when the wires are in the warp and in con-
nection with the feeler, serve to guide the knife over the groove 2 on the wire.
while the yielding bar f permits the knife to follow the wire accurately, even
if the wire is out of the normal position. The knife carriage requires less move-
ment than the wire carriage, and for that reason, the necessary dwell of the knife
carriage is accomplished by having the walls of the notch in the rod 17 a
distance apart equal to the difference between the stroke of the knife or wire
carriages, and amount of dwell of the knife carriage at the limit of the movement
of the wire carriage, as shown in Fig. 1.
A cam 20 is arranged to be turned to lift and hold lifted the rod clear from
the stud, when desired, so that the knife carriage will not be affected by the
movement of the wire carriage. In some forms of fabric, the knife will remain
inoperative during a certain number of beats of the lay, in order to weave a
certain pattern, or it may be desired to stop the action of the knife for other

page_text: C
bell crank lever c19, see Figs. 3 and 4, pivoted at its angle to the outer face of
the slide e beneath the bar has the end of its horizontal arm arranged over the
end of the outer arm of the lever c¹, and formed with a notch or part arranged
to engage the outer arm of the lever c, when the latter is moved inward to throw
the hook back out of the path of the wires against the tension of the spring.
When it is desired to have the hook engage the wires, the operator moves the
vertical arm of the lever c¹ (see Fig. 3) toward the front of the loom, thereby
releasing the lever from the horizontal arm of the lever, thus permitting
the spring, to throw the hook e¹ into the path of the wires in the magazine
represents a latch secured to the extension by a leaf-spring 22. This latch
is constructed and arranged to engage the notches on the tops of the heads of
the wires to steady the latter, and is of such a length that it will engage the
heads of the wires in all of their lateral positions, both when being inserted and
withdrawn. (See Figs. 2 and 11). The hook withdraws the wires into the trough,
the latter holding and guiding the same, while the inner edge of the exten-
sion pushes or inserts the wires into the warp.
The
f represents a bracket secured to the side frame of the loom, and formed with
a horizontal flange f. A like bracket f2 is secured to the opposite side of the
loom, adjacent the wire magazine, and formed with a like flange. Each of
said flanges is formed with a slot fi arranged substantially parallel with each
other and with the warp. represents a knife carriage bar or slide, supported
at its ends upon the flanges f. f. Bolts fo are arranged in the slots f passing
through the ends of the bar and secured by wing-nuts f. By this arrange-
mient, the bar and the knife carriage and knife hereinafter described have a slight
play or movement in a line substantially parallel with the line of the warp.
bar can move or yield as a whole, or either end can move, while the other end
remains stationary, acting as a pivot. f represents a leaf spring secured to the
breast-plate or framework of the loom, and having its free end arranged to engage
the bar to hold the latter yieldingly toward its normal or rearward position,
and keep the feeler y that is attached to the bar f yieldingly in engagement
with the front wire near the wings, so that the knife carriage is automatically
adjusted into the position occupied by the wire, and the knife automatically
located in the proper position over the front wire on the cutting of the warp.
(See Figs. 2, 5 and 7). This feeler formis an important part of the cutting
mechanism, since without any attention on the part of the operator, the knife is
automatically brought in proper contact with the warp on the front wire, whether
the front wire is in its normal position, or has been diverted from its normal
position by any means.
f represents a leaf spring or a piece of spring steel, one end of which is
secured to the frame of the loom, while its other end is inserted in a bole or
depression in the outer end of the bar (see Figs. 1, 2, and 5). The spring f" is
arranged to hold the outer end of the bar about midway of the slot in the
flange f. By having the wire carriage bar arranged as described, the carriage
and knife can automatically locate and follow the plane occupied by the particular
wire on which the warp is being cut, the wire acting to guide the knife, as here-
inafter described.
The knife carriage is formed of castings constructed to loosely fit about the
bar f³, and are secured together by bolts h. "A shank 2 is mounted in the carriage
on one side of the bar f, and arranged to reciprocate vertically in said carriage.
The upper end of the shank is formed with a head to prevent the shank
dropping out of the carriage (see Figs. 5 and S). An inwardly projecting stud
on the shank is arranged to engage the inclined walls of notches on the
bar at either end of the limit of movement of the carriage to elevate or depress
the shank, the latter being held in its elevated or depressed position by the en-
gagement of the stud with the unnotched edge of the bar f. A rod Z6 is
mounted in the carriage on the opposite side of the bar f from the shank. and
is arranged to be reciprocated vertically in the carriage by a stud similar to

page_text: purposes. The cam 2 may be connected to, and operated by a pattern chain,
not shown, in any well known way.
It will be seen that the knife severs the warp on the top of the wire in an
even, uniform manner, and that the knife can automatically adapt itself to
and follow the wire. Any suitable sharpening device may be used for sharpening
the knife, preferably, at the limit of the outer movement of the knife carriage.
A spring (see Fig. 1) is arranged to engage a lug (see Figs. 5, 6, and 8),
on the block fast to the shank to yieldingly raise the block, so that on the reverse
movement of the knife carriage, the lug will certainly engage the inclined
sides of the notch 8, and the lug will engage the inclined sides of the notch 4*
and be carried on the top of the bar, (see Figs. 1, 5, 6, and S).
It is evident that some of the features of the present invention may be included
in other types of pile-fabric looms.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:
1. In a pile-fabric loom, a lay, a shuttle box movable independently of the lay,
a.shaft connected to said lay, a disk on said shaft, a bell crank connections be-
tween one arm of said bell-crank and said disk, and connections between the other
arm of said bell-crank and said shuttle box.
2. In a pile-fabric loom, a wire-carriage, and means for operating the same,
and a warp-cutting mechanism comprising a movable bar, a carriage adapted to
slide thereon, a reciprocating knife shank mounted in said carriage and formed
with a stud to engage notches in the bar to reciprocate the shank transversely of
the bar, and connections between said carriage and the wire carriage.
3. In a loom, a wire carriage and means for operating the same, and a warp-
cutting device comprising a movable spring-pressed bar having notches, a knife
carriage arranged to slide thereon, a knife-shank mounted in said carriage formed
with a stud to engage inclined walls of the notches in the bar, a spring rod
mounted in said carriage formed with a stud to engage the inclined walls of other
notches in said bar, springs carried by said rod to engage the knife-shank, a
knife carried by the knife-shank, a wire-guide carried by said shank, and adapted
to engage the wire, and a feeler-lever carried by the bar adapted to be engaged
by a wire, to adjust the position of the bar and the parts carried thereby.
4. A pile fabric loom comprising a wire carriage, means for operating said
carriage, a knife carriage, means for reciprocating said knife carriage, a movable
knife on said carriage, à guide bar, a projection on said knife adapted to engage
said bar, and means for causing said projection to slide in one direction on top of
said bar and in the other direction under said bar.
5. A pile-fabric loom comprising a wire carriage, means for operating said
carriage, a knife carriage, means for reciprocating said knife carriage, a knife
on said carriage and a spring-held guide bar for said carriage, having means
moving said knife towards and from the wires.
6. In a pile-fabric loom, a plurality of independent wires, a wire carriage, a
slide bar or guide, a knife, a knife carriage slidable on said bar or guide pro-
visions on said slide bar and knife carriage for automatically moving said knife
into and out of operative position, and connections between said carriages whereby
one is operated by the other.
7. In a pile-fabric loom, a plurality of independent wires, a guide-bar spring
held and loosely mounted at its ends, a carriage movable longitudinally of said
bar, a movable knife carried by said carriage, and provisions on said. bar and knife
for moving said knife into and out of operative position.
8. In a pile-fabric loom, a plurality of wires, a knife carriage movable longi-
tudinally of said wires, a shank slidably supported by said carriage, and having
at its lower end means for attaching the knife thereto, and a guiding shoe on said
shank to engage the wires.

page_text: 9. In a pile-fabric loom, a plurality of independent wires, a knife, a wire
carriage, a knife carriage, means for moving one of said carriages and loose con-
nections between said carriages whereby one is moved by the other with a pre-
determined lost motion at the beginning of each movement.
10. In a pile-fabric loom, a plurality of wires, a knife-carriage, a sliding shank
supported by said carriage, and carrying a knife at one end, and one or more
springs bearing upon the other end of said shank.
11. In a pile-fabric loom, a plurality of wires, a knife carriage, a knife sup-
ported by said carriage, means for moving said knife toward and from the wire,
a movable rod, and springs carried by said rod and exerting their pressure upon
said knife.
12. In a pile-fabric loom. a plurality of wires, a knife, a knife carriage, a
spring for moving said knife towards said wires, means for moving said knife
away from said wires, and a guide for said carriage having means for maintain-
ing said knife in either of said positions.
The 914 dow of VALA 1900
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant,