Year: 1888

page_text: We, JOHN STEWART SMITH and SAMUEL SMITH, both of Nursery Mills, South
York Street, Glasgow, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what mannor the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Our invention has reference to jacquard machines for looms ; and consists of
certain improvements in the construction thereof all of which are fully set forth in
the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form part
thereof.
By our Invention we impart a smooth rotary motion to the power applying devices
of jacquard machines, which will enable the loom to work without shaking and to
be driven much faster.
In the ordinary jacquard the motion which raises the brander or griff, or the trap
or comber board (which acts upon the harness threads) is invariably communicated
by levers working from above by lifting or from under by thrusting upward. This
motion causes an overbalancing strain and gives a jerky and shaky motion to the
loom.
In our invention a shaft is placed in the middle of the jacquard preferably near
the bottom and under the needles operated upon by the loom pattern cards; and on
which shaft we secure six eccentrics, cranks, or cams two on the inside of the frames
of the machine to lift and lower the trap or comberboard which catches the usual
knotted tails, two outside of the frame to lower and lift the top board from which
are suspended the knotted tails, and two outside of these again to work the card
barrel or cylinder.
By using the two sets of eccentrics or cams as described and causing the trap or
comberboard to rise with the knotted tails (which have been acted upon by the
needles and pattern cards in the usual way) simultaneously with the lowering of the
topboard and the remainder of the tails and harness threads controlled thereby,
the open shed can be obtained by much smaller eccentrics and the warp yarn only
requires to pass through half the distance. At the same time the weight on the
descending board acts as a counterpoise to the weight on the rising board (or vice
rersa) thereby helping the working of the loom and inducing a more uniform and

page_text: smooth action. But it is not essential that both boards should move; either may
be a fixture and only one arranged to move.
This movement applies equally to jacquard machines with top board and trap or
comberboard and knotted tails lowering and lifting as described, or with griff's or
brander knives and hooked wires lifting and lowering.
In the drawings fig. 1 is a side clevation of a jacquard machine embodying our
invention, fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same on the line X-X and fig. 3 is
a front view of the same.
-
A, A, are the side frames of the machine connected by stay rods a. B, is a hori-
zontal shaft extending across the machine and adapted to be driven in any manner
from the loom or power mechanism for driving the same. This shaft may be located
in any convenient position on the frame. Upon this shaft within the frames A are
secured eccentrics or cams c and upon the outside of the said frames and also secured
to the shaft are the eccentrics d'and e. These eccentrics are preferably arranged
at angles of 90 degrees with reference to each other. Cis the trap or comberboard
and is supported upon vertical slides H having guides adapted to slide in the vertical
grooves on the frames A, and said slides are moved vertically by the two eccentrics c
upon which they directly rost. D is the top board and is connected by guides g
(working in the guide slots F on the frames A) with the vertical slides & which
receive motion from the cams or eccentrics d and upon which they directly rest. The
trap or comberboard C and top board D are shown as simple boards but it is evident
that so far as our invention is concerned they might be constructed like any of the
well known griffs or hook lifting frames provided with the usual blades or knives
and wires instead of tails. These details are of little moment so far as the invention
is concerned as the trap or comberboard and top board and the top and under griffs
or hook frames are equivalents and interchangeable and either might be employed
without in the least changing the function of the operating cams and their connections.
It will be noted that the eccentrics c and d are arranged diametrically opposite so
that the trap or comberboard and the top board approach and recede from each other.
It is evident that either sot of these eccentrics may be dispensed with and the corre-
sponding board C or D allowed to be stationary. In some cases the trap or
comberboard C (or where hooks are employed, the lower griff) may be made
stationary while the top board D or griff may be raised or lowered by the eccentrics
in the manner described; on the other hand the top board D or griff may in some
looms be made stationary while the trap or comberboard C or lower griff may be
raised and lowered by the eccentrics in the manner described. It is obvious that the
Intter arrangement involves merely a slight reversal of that first referred to and
practically may be regarded as the equivalent thereof. E is the card cylinder and is
supported by reciprocating horizontal rods I working in bearings i. Said rods are
provided with arms J, J, between which the eccentrics or camse work to cause a
reciprocation of said card cylinder.
The weight of the trap or comber board and top board and their slides always
insures them working with a steady surface contact with their eccentrics and the
arins J may be adjusted upon their rods by set screws j so as to avoid all lost motion
with reference to the eccentrics e. By this construction it is seen that a most constant
and uniform movement of parts is obtained, all lost motion prevented, loss
power
required, and when applied being uniformly distributed over the entire series of
movements. This perfect action of the jacquard enables a greater speed of the
operation in the loom and thereby increases its product in a given time. Whilst we
prefer to use eccentrics with the slides resting directly upon them yet it is evident
that an eccentric strap may encircle the eccentric and be pivotted to the guides of the
boards C, D; or we may employ a simple crank and connecting rod, cranks and
eccentrics being identical in operation and principle and therefor equivalents. It is
also evident that the exact configuration of the cams might be varied though wo
prefer to use true eccentrics.
The pattern or card cylinder E may also be reciprocated by means of eccentrics

page_text: with eccentric straps or by cranks and connecting rods but we prefer to arrange the
eccentrics to operate directly on the card cylinder rods I.
While we prefer the construction shown we do not limit ourselves to the details
thereof as they may be modified without departing from our invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a jacquard machine the combination of the main frame and the vertically
reciprocating top board and trap or comberboard or griffs adapted to approach each
other or recede from each other with a rotating shaft and eccentrics to simultaneously
lower the top board and raise the trap or comberboard or raise the top griff and lower
the under griff and vice versa substantially as described.
2. The combination with the vertically reciprocating top board and trap or comber-
board or griffs and the card cylinder, of the shaft B, and the eccentrics thorcon
adapted as described to lower the top board or raise the top griff and raise the trap
or comberboard or lower the under griff and vice versa and reciprocate the card
cylinder, substantially as described.
3. The combination with the card cylinder, the guide rods I and arms J, of the
eccentric e and shaft B substantially as described.
4. The combination with the card cylinder operated by the eccentric e of the trap
or comberboard or lower griff or the top board or upper griff made movable and
operated from the eccentric c or d substantially as described.
Datod this Second day of April 1888.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agents.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agents.