Year: 1886

page_text: I, WILLIAM PHILIP UHLINGER, residing at 30 East Canal Street, in the City of
Philadelphia, County of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, one of the United
States of America, machinist 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:—
In the accompanying drawings; the letter, A, designates the frame and, B, the
table or feed plate on which the jacquard cards are fed to the stitching machinery.
The table is slotted at a³, for the passage of the feed belts, C, which for a short
distance run flush with the surface of the table. The feed belts are formed of
links, and are adapted to be moved by sprocket wheels, D, on a shaft, E, which is
provided with a ratchet wheel, F which operates in connection with a spring
holding pawl, b, and a moving pawl, c. The holding pawl, b, is attached to a fixed
portion of the framing, and the operating pawl, c, is pivoted to an arm, a¹, which is
loose on the shaft, E.
A spring, b¹, is attached to the arm, a¹, and a spring, c¹, to the pawl, c. The feed
movement of the pawl arm, a¹, is governed by a cam, A', which is for varying
length of stitch of arrow head form, having the sides, d, and re-entrant, e. By
using this form of cam I am enabled to feed a ratchet wheel having a regular
succession of several short teeth, d, alternating with long teeth, c', as shown.
Therefore the feed is adapted to the operation of lacing those jacquard cards, which
are provided with lace holes which are farther from each other than they are from
the edges of the card. The feed is designed to bring the lace holes to the looper
needle in time for its passage and the varying feed cam, enables this to be done.
In order to form the stitch, the looper is passed up through the lace holes, and
also through the interval between the cards as they are fed, the stitch formed in
this interval being the hinge stitch, or that by which the cards are hinged together.
In order to secure the cards in position exactly on the feed chains, and to enable
the latter to move them with accuracy the links of the feed chains are provided
with studs, f, which engage the peg holes, f¹, of the cards. These studs are high
enough to avoid any liability of a card slipping off or getting out of position. The
feed cam, A¹, is connected to or formed on a gear wheel, B¹, which is turned by a

page_text: pinion on the main shaft, C. This shaft extends transversely in the direction at
right angles to the direction of feed, and is located under the middle portion of the
table, at a distance below it sufficient to allow the proper movements of the looper
and needle levers. The shaft, C³, is provided with a grooved cam, D¹, which
engages an arm, E¹, of the rock shaft, F¹, which is also provided with arms, G¹,
which are connected to the looper levers, G, by the links, g. These looper levers
are pivoted to the framing as at, g¹, under the table, and are connected in front by
short links to the vertically reciprocating looper bar, H, which is provided with
bearings at its ends to move on vertical guides which are secured to the bed
framing. The looper needles, I, are connected to the bar, H, by suitable clamps,
and as they are operated their threaded ends are projected upward through per-
forations, h¹, in the table, and withdrawn therefrom at regular intervals governed
by the movement of the looper cam, D¹, the times of the stitch movements of said
looper being the same, whether the length of stitch is long or short. So that by
changing the cams and ratchet, I can readily adapt the machine to make stitches
of equal length or of such varying lengths as the style of perforation of the
jacquard card may require.
J, indicates the jaw tension devices, the upper jaws of which are fixed to the
framing or table, while the under jaws, H¹, are pivoted levers, the forward ends of
which engage the tension cams, I, of the main shaft, C. The lacings on the
spools, J, are fed through the guide apertures to the loopers and in their course,
-pass between the tension jaws, which close and open at the proper times to hold
the lacing, and to loose the same forming the stitch. These jaws are also provided
with adjustable tension guides. In order to open the loops of the lacings, which
are formed above the table to provide for the passage of the horizontal needles, K;
loop pressers, K¹, are used, these being attached to a transverse spreader bar, k,
which is reciprocated in guides by means of the lever arm, k', which is pivoted to
the framing below; extends upward, and is connected to said spreader bar by a
link. The movement of this lever arm, k, is governed by a peripherally and
angularly grooved cam, k³, on the main shaft, C'. The needles, K, are secured to a
transverse needle bar, L, which is provided with horizontal bearings, to move on
horizontal guides, l, said needle guides and needle bar being all above the table,
and said guides being placed far enough apart to provide for the passage of the
jacquard pattern, or series of cards between them, as the series is fed forward over
the table. The needle bar is reciprocated by levers, L¹, which are connected to said
bar by pitmans, l, or otherwise, said levers being fulcrumed at, m, and being
operated by a geared crank, M, having a connection, m², therewith.
This crank gear, M, engages a gear, N, of large diameter, which is provided with
a radial cam, P, whereby intermittent motion is communicated to said crank gear.
This motion is communicated from the main shaft, C₁, by the studded or escape-
ment cam, N¹, on said main shaft. This cam, N¹, is provided with the pins or
studs, n, which engage the radial slots or bearings of the cam, P, and with the
convex portion, n', which engages the concave sector ends of said cam and serves
to hold said cam when not in engagement with the studs or pins of the cam, N¹.
When the cam, N¹, moves the cam, P, the latter operates the geared crank, M, to
draw the horizontal needles back and project them forward again in the stitching
operation. The cords of the needles are stored on the spools, M¹, and pass thence
by the tensions, m¹¹, and guide perforations to the needles, K. A movable
transverse bar, S¹, extends across the table above the same, and is provided with
the fingers, 8, which serve to hold the cards down as they are fed forward for
stitching. This bar is also provided with the loop spreaders, Z, to prevent the
lacing loop from twisting.
The operator places the cards in succession on the table or feed platform so that
the peg holes of the cards are engaged by the studs of the feed chain. These studs
are of proper size to fit the peg holes neatly, so that the cards are held accurately
in position, as they are fed to the needles, and cannot move from such position in
any direction, being governed entirely in the movement, by the feed chain and its

page_text: '
operating devices. The feed chain is moved intermittently either by regular or
varying distances according to the ratchet and pawl cam employed. In the
illustration the ratchet is cut with two short teeth alternating with a long tooth,
the length of the latter depending on the relative distance, between the lacing holes
of the card, as compared with the distance of such holes from the adjacent edges of
said card.
The feed cam is so geared to the main shaft, in its relation to the position of the
looper cam and to that, which governs the movement of the radial needle cam,
that the feed movement stops where the needle and looper cams are in operation:
The studded escapement cam, N¹, is provided in the construction with two
studs, n, which are succeeded by the convex holding portion, n¹, so that the needle
bar is moved backward by one stud, forward by the other stud, and' is held in
stationary position by the convex, n¹. So also the groove of the looper cam is of
double or in and out curvature, having three of its portions further from the centre
than the fourth, and having one of these three portions more eccentric than the
other two, so that the looper is first passed up through the perforation of the
card, a portion of its way, is then held a moment while the horizontal needle. is.
drawn backward, the looper then passing upward its full extent, and then returning
a portion of the way.
•
At the point its movement ceases for a moment, the presser moves reversely and
the needle passes through the lacing loop formed above the table by the looper.
Then the looper moves down out of the way, and the feed takes place, the hori-
zontal needle running in position until the looper is again projected alongside
thereof, for the formation of the next stitch.
Each horizontal needle is made a little concave back of its threaded end, as
indicated at, s¹, to provide for the passage of the needle and its cord. So that the
lacing is carried upward in loop form and is encircled by a loop of the needle cord,
and as the stitch progresses the needle cord is carried through the loop of the
lacing, formed as the looper is descending, this lacing loop remaining on the needle
until the reverse movement of the latter, when said loop passes off and is drawn up
by the tension: In order to facilitate the adjustinent of the ratchet, it is usually
made in two parts, that portion which is keyed to the shaft being slotted as at, t,
and clamp screws, s", passing through the slots, serving to secure the ratchet wheel
in position after adjustment. The stitch made is a double thread stitch the larger
lacing passing along the bottoms of the cards in single line and the smaller needle
cord passing along the upper surfaces thereof, reversing and then passing forward
again, one loop of the latter being around the neck of the lacing loop and another
loop of the cord extending through said lacing loop to form a loop, to encircle the
lacing loop of the next stitch. At each lacing loop, the lacing which is the main
connection of the cards forming the patern, is bound in position by two bends or
loops of the needle cord, one around, and the other through and around one of its
branches so that its position is fixed in the stitch. When the spreader bar, S, is
removed from the table, the work is all laid open and free so that the cards can be
taken out to correct any error, or slip in the work. This machine is designed to
facilitate and simplify the operation of lacing jacquard cards together. But three
stitches are required for the breadth of a card so that the work of the machine is
rapidly executed and with very little noise or vibratory effect.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination with a series of jacquard cards of a lacing and a stitching
cord, looped together by machine stitches of varying length, substantially as
specified.
2. A jacquard card stitching machine having a slotted feed table, and studded
feed link chains, working through the slots of said table, substantially as specified.

page_text: 3. A jacquard card stitching machine having a slotted feed table, studded feed
chains working through the slots thereof, and a removable finger bar carrying loop
spreaders, substantially as specified.
4. In a card stitching machine, the combination with a slotted feed table, of
needle-operating and looper operating mechanism, studded feed chains working
through the slots of said table, a transverse presser slide, and a lever connected
thereto by link, and operated by direct connection with a cam on the main shaft,
substantially as specified.
5. In a card stitching machine, the combination with the studded feed chains,
the looper levers, the needle levers, and the laterally vibrating presser bar lever, of
the main shaft carrying the studded escapement cam, the looper cam, the lever
cam, and the feed gear and its cam, the radial slotted cam gear and its gear crank,
substantially as specified.
6. The combination in a card lacing machine, with the vertically reciprocating
loopers,, the horizontally reciprocating needles, and their operating mechanism, of
the slotted feed table the feed chains working in the slots thereof, the feed ratchet
* having long and short teeth, the spreading pawls, and the pawl cam, substantially
as specified.
7. In a jacquard card lacing machine, the combination with the needle lever,
of a geared crank, a radially slotted cam wheel in engagement therewith, and
a studded escapement cam, in engagement with said radially slotted cam wheel,
substantially as specificd.