Improvements in Looms for Weaving Chenille Carpets.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 11th June, 1891-Accepted, 11th June, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Looms for Weaving Chenille Carpets.
I ANDRÉ ARCHAMBAULT of 38 Rue St. Georges, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Engineer, 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 :-
The invention for which I make the present application for a Patent consists in
improvements in looms for weaving chenille carpets.
Heretofore chenille carpets were manufactured as follows:-When the chenille
was ready and made in the usual manner that is to say in the form of cords and
manufactured by reading generally in a serpentine way from left to right and from
right to left on the design, the said chenille was introduced by hand between the
under chains of the fabric, the chenille cord being wound upon a stick or otherwise
arranged, while each separate design or pattern was adjusted by untwisting the cord
which was always twisted and adjusting the different lengths. The wool was raised
by hand with a comb, the selvedge was properly formed and lastly, the ground
fabric was woven by hand or by mechanical means.
Various attempts have been made to effect by mechanical means the several
entering or mounting operations, but it has hitherto been found impossible to enter
or mount the chenille by mechanical means, to raise its pile and to subsequently
weave the fabric without trouble and without employing manual labour.
My invention has for its object to construct a loom which shall perform all these
operations mechanically. In order that the object of this invention may be better
understood I have annexed to this description two sheets of drawings which show
how I carry into effect the object in view, without however restricting myself to
the forms and arrangements shown as the only ones whereby I may carry my
principle into practice, reserving the right to modify the same in its detail such as
practice and special circumstances shall suggest.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the right head of the loom and
Fig. 2 is a front view of the loom and
Figs. 3 and 4 show three details of the loom.
In order to more clearly illustrate the parts which form the object of my inven-
tion I have dispensed with all the details that are well known.
The special tube or chenille shuttle Fig. 3 and its mechanical motion. This
apparatus has for its object to draw the chenille across the loom and to place it at
the apex of the angle formed by the chains that is to say nearly in its final place,
and with a uniform and necessary tension. Upon a transverse bar A slides the
carrier A¹ upon which is fixed the arm A² furnished with an opening A3 and sup
porting the small truncated cone-shaped tube B with its ring B¹. The carrier A¹
carries at its lower part two hooks A, the object of which will be hereinafter
explained.
The lever turns horizontally upon the pivot C', this being necessary when the
lobe C³ formed upon the disc C³ which rotates with the shaft C operates the pro-
jection C fixed upon the lever C. The lever C can also turn vertically upon the
horizontal pivot C, this motion being requisite when the roller C' fixed upon
one end of the lever C comes into contact with the lobe C8 formed upon the large
disc or platten D Fig. 1.
At the other end of the lever C is connected an adjustable vertical rod E which
is connected at its upper extremity to the lever E' pivoting upon E². The lever E¹
carries at E³ a vertical rack rod guided in its ascending and descending stroke
by the piece F and which gears with the pinion F2, keyed upon the F³ carrying
also the pulley F4 provided with two grooves.

page_text: The raising device (Fig. 4) and its mechanical motion. This apparatus has for
its object to finally place the chenille cord in the necessary position without
requiring the attendance of a workman.
A transverse bar G carries small blades G₁ of steel or other material and of
special form, the distance between which is determined by the length of the
chenille stitch the bar G is formed in one piece with a suitable lever G2 which
pivots upon G³ and is connected at G to the lever H. The lever H is secured by
the joint H' to the lever H2 which pivots upon H³ and carries the roller H*, the
latter being in constant contact with the cam H. The bar G carries the two small
rollers which roll in the rail 12, their motion being so calculated that the
roller I leaves the rail at the end of its stroke towards the rear of the loom,
descends and ascends the inclined plane 13 while raising a small spring in order to
return on the rail 12. It is obvious that the bar G and the blades G³ are
compelled to follow this motion, the object of which will be hereinafter explained.
The binding chain and the needles (Fig. 4). In the attempts at designing a
mechanical loom for entering and mounting; the binding chain was always the
source of great difficulties on account of the slacking or looping which occurred
and interfered with the proper working of the loom. Various means were devised
to remedy this defect amongst which was the picking up of the loops with a suitable
device. The arrangement which I use in my mechanical loom remedies all these
. defects by preventing the formation of the looping. Upon the shaft O is keyed a
cam K in the groove of which works the roller K2 fixed to the lever K³ pivoting
upon C. The rod L which moves vertically within the guide L' is secured by the
joint L' of the lever K³ and carries the guide L' within which works the cross-
bar L upon which are fixed the needles L' and the support L of the beam L' of
the binding chain. The cross bar L' carries moreover the roller M which rolls in
the curved guide M', the curvature of which is so calculated that the points of the
needles L' describe a circular arc, the centre of which is the apex of the angle
formed by the binding chain and the ground chains. It is obvious that with this
arrangement, the binding chain is only delivered as it is required for weaving
purposes and that the length of the thread from the beam to the fabric remains the
same whatever may be the portion of the movable frame which carries the beam of
this chain and the needles. The action of each of the above described parts will
be more clearly explained by the following statement.
Operation. Supposing the mechanical loom provided with all the necessary
chains and weft and the chenille in continuous cords and made by a serpentine
reading or pricking, the chenille is placed on a roller or even in a basket in any
suitable place and led over a suitable wheel designed to constantly feed a length of
chenille in advance, so as to avoid any tension which may interfere with the motion
of the tube. This wheel is mounted upon a shaft driven by a chain wheel actuated
by a chain driven from a chain wheel keyed upon the shaft C. The chenille is
next passed above a rod A', through the ring A and the opening A³ of the arm A³
and finally through the last ring B₁ of the conical tube B. Everything having
been thus got in readiness, the entering or mounting and the weaving of a row of
chenille is effected in the following manner.
The fast and loose pulleys N N (Fig. 2) through which the machine is operated
are mounted upon the crank shaft N2 which transmits its motion to the axes 0 0¹ C*
through the gearing N3 N4 N N N'. The lobe C2 fixed upon the disc or platten C³
will come in contact with the block C5 which will cause the lever C to pivot in a
horizontal direction upon C' and to put the roller C' into contact with the lobe C
of the large disc or platten D. This contact causes the lever C to pivot in a
vertical sense, raising the rod E and lowering the rack rod F which rotates the
pinion F2 and so imparts a rotary motion to the pulley F* mounted upon the same
shaft F³. A cord fixed, to the two hooks A which are secured to the carriage A¹,
passes first over the roller F, then over the pulley F provided with any suitable
device to prevent the cord from slipping then over a similar pulley on the other
side of the loom and finally returns over the necessary guiding rollers to the other

page_text: hook A. This being understood it will appear obvious that the above described
rotation of the pulley F' causes the carriage A' to slide upon the transverse bar A.
and carry the special tube across the loom. When the tube has arrived on the
other side of the loom, the roller C' has left the lobe C8 and the tube remains at
rest until the next or return operation is effected by a similar mechanism on the
the opposite side of the loom, the lobes C on the discs D being so arranged that
they act alternately.
This motion having taken place, the row of chenille is entered and placed close
to the apex of the angle formed by the different chains, being stretched in a suitable
manner, when the "raising device" comes into action. The small blades G¹ fixed
upon the rod G move forward horizontally without touching the chenille and hence
without shifting it. When they have arrived beyond the chenille row they are
lowered and enter the ground chains. On being withdrawn, the small blades seize
by their notch G³ the length of chenille, raise it in its final position and carry it
to the end of the apex of the angle formed by the chains.
The forward motion of the comb P, which takes place notwithstanding the
advanced motion of the small blades placed between the teeth of the comb assists
this final shifting of the chenille whilst holding the same. This comb is of ordinary
construction with open teeth or the teeth may be jointed two by two or three by
three according to the number of binding chains required; the comb may be even
entirely closed in which case the needles are lowered behind the teeth.
The chenille being thus placed in position and the comb P being moved forward
by means of the crank shaft N2 and of the lever P₁ the needles L' are lowered by
means of the mechanism above described (Fig. 4) the beam for the binding chain
following the motion of the needles. This operation having been effected the
ground fabric is effected mechanically in the usual manner, and I shall only mention
the arrangement of the levers QQQQQQ serving for the motion of the heald
frames Q and Q8. The levers Q and Q¹ fulcrummed at Q and jointed at q are
similar to one another and are actuated by the links Q2 Q3 operated by cams and
are connected by the pairs of links Q and Q to the heald frames Q7 and Q8 so that
at the required moment one frame is raised and the other lowered. The shuttle
which is at R and contains the weft for weaving the ground is actuated by the
shuttle driver R' which oscillates about the pivot R2 and is operated by a strap
from the arm R³ fixed on the shaft R4. At the upper end of the shaft R' is a
sliding arm S2 which is moved into the path of the lobe S on the disc D by means
of the cam S on the shaft O acting on the lever S₁ and forcing its longer arm
towards the shaft N2. The shaft R is then operated suddenly and operates the
shuttle driver through the arm R³ and strap. A spring R returns the shuttle
driver.
The following detail remains to be mentioned :-Upon an axis T is mounted the
worm wheel T engaging with the endless screw T keyed upon the cross shaft N².
The endless screw T3 acts upon the gearing T and winds the finished carpet upon
the roller T. The ratchet wheel U, its pawl U and the fly wheel U2 allows the
carpet to be unwound independently of any mechanical motion. The ground fabric
thus completed, the special tube returns to action being operated by the mechanism
on the opposite side to that which had just been working.
I have thus demonstrated that I can enter or mount by my loom the chenille
manufactured by a serpentine reading and effect the weaving absolutely mechanically
without the aid of an attendant who will only have to supervise the working of the
loom, if the chenille is carefully made that is to say if all the rows are of equal
length. I may further mention that the arrangement of an open comb and of my
needles enable me to make a much stronger fabric than heretofore while the
arrangement of my raising device which shows the way so to speak for the binding
chain prevents the latter from carrying chenille pile into the ground of the fabric
and thus allows of a more even and richer velvet being produced than heretofore.
I may make my loom and its parts of any suitable material and modify their
form and dimensions in each special case.

page_text: 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. In chenille weaving looms, the special tube or apparatus serving to lay the
chenille in position nearly at the summit of the angle formed by the chains and the
means for imparting thereto a rapid alternate motion so as to avoid loss of time
and motion substantially as described.
2. In chenille weaving looms the arrangement consisting of the special tube and
of the means for operating the binding chain so as to prevent the formation of loops
substantially as described.
3. The chenille weaving looms, the arrangement consisting of the special tube
and of the means for operating the same, of the binding chain and the means for
operating the same, and of the raising device and the means for actuating the same
whereby the chenille entered by the tube is finally placed in position and raised
before being bound by the binding chain so that the latter cannot carry away the
pile of the chenille, their course being cleared by the blades of the raising device
substantially as described.
4. The improvements in chenille weaving looms substantially as described with
reference to the drawings.
Dated this 11th day of June 1891.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.