Improvements in Pile-wires for Looms.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 15th Oct., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pile-wires for Looms.
I, CHARLES FORD, of Lowell, in the County of Middlesex, and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturer's Agent 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:-
My invention relates to pile-wires; and it consists in the improved means herein-
after described of securing such wires to their heads.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pile wire and head made according to my
invention, the free end of the wire being provided with a cutting edge;
Fig. 2, a side elevation of a pile wire without a knife and a head of slightly
different form from that shown in Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 3, a horizontal cross section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1;
Fig. 4, a similar section on the line 44 in Fig. 2;
Fig. 5, a vertical section on the line 5 5 in Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 6, a vertical section on the line 6 6 in Fig. 2.
Pile wires such as are used in forming the loops which project from the face of
pile fabrics require to be narrow enough to make the loops of the proper size and
stiff enough to reach entirely across the fabric without sagging or lateral bending
or displacement. They are therefore usually made of steel, tempered, and are
secured in heads adapted to be engaged by suitable devices for withdrawing the
wires from the loops after the loops are formed, and the heads require to be very
thin in order to allow several pile wires to remain in their respective rows of loops
for sometime after the last row of loops is formed, five or six or more wires being in
an equal number of rows, of loops at the same time in order to support the loops
nearest the 'making end' of the fabric, the pile wire farthest from the making end
being first drawn from the loops, so that the distance from the middle of one head
to the middle of the next adjacent head cannot be greater than the distance from
the middle line of one row of loops to the middle line of the next adjacent row of
loops. The heads are therefore about a sixteenth of an inch in thickness and are
usually made of sheet metal slotted entirely through to receive the end of the wire
proper, which is secured in the slot so formed by brazing. Brazing the wires into
the heads usually draws the temper of the wire for a short distance from the heads
and makes the wires extremely liable to be bent laterally at this point, it requiring
considerable force to withdraw the wires from the loops, especially such of the
wires as have been left in the loops over night or over a Sunday or other holiday,
the loops frequently contracting on the wires and holding them so firmly that where
the pile is to be cut it is frequently cut by hand before attempting to remove the
wires. Again, the strain of the wires on the heads, where the heads are slotted
entirely through, frequently spreads the sides of the slot apart and releases the
wires, and the wires are more easily twisted out of the slots because said wires are
united to the heads only at the top and bottom of the wires.
By the means hereinafter described I prevent the spreading apart of the sides
of the wire-receiving slot and provide a greater contact surface between the head
and the wire.
In the drawings two kinds of wires A A' are shown, the wire A (represented in
Figs. 1, 3, and 5) being a wire nearly rectangular in cross section, but slightly
rounded at the corners at a, (see Fig. 5,) and at the outer free end or end farthest from
the head B flattened and vertically or upwardly enlarged and sharpened to form a
cutting edge a², which cuts the loops as the pile wire is withdrawn from them to
make a fabric similar to velvet or cut velvet, plush, velveteens, or Wilton carpets.

page_text: The wire A' (shown in Fig. 2) is more nearly round, but has slightly flattened
vertical sides, and is straight and of uniform cross section, and does not cut the loops
when withdrawn from them, but leaves them whole, as in uncut or terry velvet and
Brussels carpets. In both cases the wires proper A. A' are usually secured in their
respective heads B B₁ by the means hereinafter described.
Instead of slotting the heads entirely through in the usual manner, I drill a
hole b b in the head B B of a sufficient diameter to receive the ends of the wire
and groove or slot the head at 62 63 partly through, as shown at Figs. 5 and 6, from
said hole bb' to the end of the head, to receive the wire and closely fit the same,
and after drawing the temper of the extreme head end of the wire-say for about a
quarter of an inch from the end-I insert the wire A A' endwise in the slot so
formed, and by means of a punch force the end of the wire into the hole b b and
then sweat or solder with soft solder the head and the wire proper together, this
operation not drawing the temper of the wire as brazing would do, and the
preliminary drawing of the wire above mentioned not extending the entire length of
the slot in the head, so that when the operation is completed the part of the wire
outside of the head and for some distance within the slot still retains its hardness
and temper. The slot is preferably narrower at its open side, as shown in
Figs. 5 and 6, so as to be in effect a dovetail slot, to prevent the wire being drawn
laterally out of its slot, while the engagement of the wire with the hole b¹ prevents
the wire being drawn endwise out of said slot and also, assisted by the shape of said
wire and said slot, prevents the wire from turning in said head.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination of a flat metallic pile-wire head provided in one of its sides
with a groove or slot cut to a depth less than the thickness of said head and a pile
wire secured in said slot, substantially as described.
2. The combination of the flat metallic head provided with a groove or slot of
less depth than the thickness of said head, said slot being narrowest at its open side,
and the pile wire inserted in said slot and secured therein, as and for the purpose
specified.
3. The combination of the flat metallic head provided with a hole and provided
in one of its sides with a groove or slot extending nearly to the opposite side of said
head and from said hole to the end of said head and the pile wire inserted in said
slot and bent into said hole, as and for the purpose specified.
4. The combination of the head provided with a hole and with a slot or groove
of less depth than the thickness of said head and extending from said hole to the
end of said head, said slot being narrower at its open side, and the pile wire inserted
in said slot and bent into said hole, as and for the purpose specified.
5. The combination of the flat metallic head provided with a hole and with a slot
or groove extending nearly to the opposite side of said head and from said hole to
the end of said head and the pile wire inserted in said slot and bent into said hole,
and secured to said head by sweating or soldering with soft solder, as and for the
purpose specified.
6. The combination of the head provided with a hole and with a slot or groove
of less depth than the thickness of said head and extending from said hole to the
end of said head, said slot being narrower at its open side, and the pile wire inserted
in raid slot and bent into said hole and secured to said head by sweating or soldering
with soft solder, as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 19th day of Santamhan 1000
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.