IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR MAKING WIRE HEALDS AND JACQUARD HARNESS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Bernoulli Barlow, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Wire Heald Maker, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR MAKING WIRE HEALDS AND
JACQUARD HARNESS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th April 1881.
HENRY BERNOULLI BARLOW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Wire
Heald Maker. " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR
MAKING WIRE HEALDS AND JACQUARD HARNESS."
The object of my Invention is to make wire healds without cutting any wire to
waste by an automatic machine of simple construction, which shall run at a higher
speed while twisting the wire than when discharging the heald and taking in fresh
wire.
the
I use a suitable framing which supports the bearings of the main shafts of the
machine and the bridges in which the three loop forming pinions revolve;
twisting nippers which hold the wire while it is being twisted consist of pairs of
nippers connected to the bridges, and opened and closed by means of cams on the
main shaft or otherwise.
I form the warp eye and the other loops by means of a peg fixed on a hollow
cam which slides at one side of and revolves with the pinion; the peg slides across
the axis of the pinion in a hole made between two of the teeth, and the warp eye
is stretched by forcing the peg (which is taper) further through the hole beneath
the twisting pinions; gearing into them are spur wheels (the middle one loose) on
the main shaft; parallel to the main shaft are two other shafts, one of which
communicates motion from the other to the main shaft, and the other, on the end
of which is keyed a bevil gear formed of two toothed segments, one of larger radius,
that gives a slow motion to the machine when the retracting rod slides to and fro
to discharge a heald and take in fresh wire, and one segment of small radius that
gives a quick motion to the machine while twisting the heald.

page_text: These toothed segments are driven alternately by two small bevel pinions on the
driving shaft.
Each twisting pinion is formed with two teeth longer and larger than the
others, which two rest on a portion of the periphery of the spur wheel gearing into
it, which is smooth and without teeth, thus allowing the pinions to remain
stationary while the retracting rod passes through them; the retracting rod is
fitted with suitable springs and connected to a hollow bracket which slides on a
bar, one end of which is fixed to a cross piece of the frame, and the other end to a
standard on the stand on which the machine is fixed; the retracting rod is caused
to slide by a crank connected by a link to a vibrating lever, connected by a link
to the sliding bracket to which the retracting rod is connected.
I provide a spring for the sliding bracket to rest against while it is stationary.
I draw the wire from the swift by nippers, which are fitted on a carriage which
slides in horizontal guides extending across the front of the machine; the carriage
and nippers are actuated by a vibrating lever (worked by a crank on the main
shaft) pivotted near the floor, which causes them to place the wire in front of the
first twisting pinion where it may be seized by the retracting rod.
I fit shears on the guide bars to cut the wire, and a stop to cause the nippers to
release the wire when seized by the rod, so that the wire is cut off exactly to the
length required, and no wire need be cut off the heald when formed.
Instead of using a vibrating lever to actuate the carriage carrying the drawing
nippers,
I attach it to an endless chain driven by gearing, whereby a continuous motion
is imparted in place of a reciprocating one when desired.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th October 1881.
HENRY BERNOULLI BARLOW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Wire
Heald Maker. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR
"
MAKING WIRE HEALDS AND JACQUARD HARNESS."
The object of my Invention is to make wire healds without cutting any wire to
waste by an automatic machine of simple construction, which shall run at a higher
speed while twisting the wire than when discharging the heald and taking in
fresh wire.
I use a suitable framing which supports the bearings of the main shafts of the
machine and the bridges in which the three loop forming pinions revolve; the
twisting nippers which hold the wire while it is being twisted consist of pairs of
nippers connected to the bridges, and opened and closed by means of cams or
springs on the main shaft or otherwise.
I form the warp eye and the other loops by means of a peg fixed on a hollow
cam which slides at one side of and revolves with the pinion; the peg slides across
the axis of the pinion in a hole made between two of the teeth, and the warp eye
is stretched by forcing the peg (which is taper) further through the hole beneath
the twisting pinions; gearing into them are spur wheels (the middle one loose) on
the main shaft; parallel to the main shaft are two other shafts, one of which com-
municates motion from the other to the main shaft, and the other, on the end of
which is keyed a bevel gear formed of two toothed segments, one of larger radius,
that gives a slow motion to the machine when the retracting rod slides to and fro
to discharge a heald and take in fresh wire, and one segment of small radius that
gives a quick motion to the machine while twisting the heald.
These toothed segments are driven alternately by two small bevel pinions on
the driving shaft.
Each twisting pinion is formed with two teeth longer and larger than the others,
which two rest on a portion of the periphery of the spur wheel gearing into it,
which is smooth and without teeth, thus allowing the pinions to remain stationary
while the retracting rod passes through them; the retracting rod is fitted with
suitable springs and connected to a hollow bracket which slides on a bar, one end
of which is fixed to a cross piece of the frame, and the other end to a standard on
the stand, on which the machine is fixed; the retracting rod is caused to slide by a
crank connected by a link to a vibrating lever connected by a link to the sliding
bracket, to which the retracting rod is connected.
I provide a spring for the sliding bracket to rest against while it is stationary.
I draw the wire from the swift by nippers, which are fitted on a carriage which
slides in horizontal guides extending across the front of the machine; the carriage
and nippers are actuated by a vibrating lever (worked by a crank on the main
shaft) pivoted near the floor, which causes them to place the wire in front of the
first twisting pinion, where it may be seized by the retracting rod. Instead of this
mechanism, a revolving disc keyed on the end of the main shaft and fitted with
suitable jaws and cutters may be used for drawing in and cutting the wire to
length.
I fit shears on the guide bars to cut the wire and a stop to cause the nippers
to release the wire when seized by the rod, so that the wire is cut off exactly to
the length required, and no wire need be cut off the heald when formed.
In some cases instead of using a vibrating lever to actuate the carriage carrying
the drawing nippers, I attach it to an endless chain driven by gearing, whereby
a continuous motion is imparted in place of a reciprocating one when desired.

page_text: And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will describe the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, reference
being had to the Figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2 is a front elevation; Fig. 3 is a back
elevation ;
and Fig. 4 is a plan of my improved machine for making wire
healds.
Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are enlarged views of parts of the same.
The operation of this machine is as follows:-
A ring of wire is placed on a swift or winchel near the machine, from which the
wire is drawn through a guide a fixed to a leg of the machine, and a guide y
attached to the upper part of the machine.
The wire is drawn into the machine by a pair of nippers a¹, which is connected
by a lever a² to another long lever or whip staff a, whose fulcrum a³ is close to
the ground; to this lever is given a reciprocating motion by means of a crank b,
which is fixed to the front end of the main shaft c of the machine.
The crank pin or bowl works in a long slot in the whipstaff a. In some cases I
prefer to use an endless chain in place of the whipstaff to actuate the nippers for
drawing in the wire.
The nippers a' which draw the wire travel in a long slot formed between two
parallel guide bars d, on which are a pair of tension rollers through which the
wire is drawn; near one of these guide bars are fixed a pair of wire cutters d' which
are made to cut off by a lever d² attached to a shaft d³ extending across the front
of the machine, to the other end of which shaft is connected a projecting piece d
against which the crank b strikes at the time that the whipstaff is at the end of its
stroke, at which time the drawing nippers release the wire by coming into
contact with a stop d5 fixed to the guide bars at the opposite end to the wire
cutters d¹.
The drawing-nippers are closed to seize the wire by a stop e fixed to the pair of
guide bars near to the wire cutters.
When the length of wire to make a heald is cut off and released it is held in
position by a stationary spring e¹ fixed to the guide bar d till it is seized by the
retracting rod f and drawn into the twisting mechanism.
The retracting rod f is of the ordinary construction, but I give the reciprocating
motion to it in the following improved manner :-
On the back end of the main shaft c is keyed a segment of a spur wheel c¹
which gears into a pinion g (see Fig. 4) fixed to a short shaft g', on the other end
of which is a mitre bevel pinion g² which drives a similar mitre wheel h keyed to
a short shaft h¹, to which is fixed the crank h² for operating the retracting
rod f.
On the crank h² works a connecting rod h³ which at its other end is connected
by a stud to a vibrating lever h*.
At the upper end of this lever h is a stud which carries a second connecting
rod attached to a hollow sleeve or carriage h which slides on a bar h.
One end of the retracting rod f passes through and is connected to a bracket on
the hollow sleeve h6.
One end of the bar h which forms a guide for the sleeve or carriage is fixed to
the bridge i, and the other end is held by an upright casting fixed to the machine
table, or the bar is bent at right angles and fixed to the machine table. A pin j
on which is a spiral spring held by a button head passes through h', the object
of which spring is to prevent the jar when the retracting rod crank h² falls upon
the catch lever k by the sleeve he coming against the button on j. The catch lever k
is.keyed on a shaft k¹ supported in two brackets, at the opposite end of which
shaft is another lever k² actuated by a stud fixed on the face of the segmental spur
gear c¹, and this lever k² is so arranged as to make the catch lever k release the
retracting rod crank h² just as the segmental spur wheel c¹ comes into gear with
the small pinion g. By this means the reciprocating motion is given to the
retracting rod, and the necessary dwell for twisting the heald is obtained.

page_text: A novel arrangement of gears is used for imparting a quick motion to the
machine while twisting the wire heald, and a slow motion to the retracting rod,
while it discharges the heald and takes in the necessary wire for making the next
heald.
This is effected in the following manner :-
The driving shaft stands at right angles to the retracting rod, and keyed on
it are two bevel pinions 11, 12, which gear into a bevel wheel (formed of two
segments at different distances from the centre) keyed on to an intermediate
shaft m¹..
The teeth on the two bevel segments m are so placed that those on the larger or
outside segment are driven by the pinion U to drive the machine whilst the
retracting rod is in motion, the other pinion 12 then comes into gear with the
smaller segment, and so gives a quicker motion to the machine whilst the wire is
being twisted by the twisting apparatus.
The operation of preparing for and twisting the wire is as follows:-
After the wire has been seized in the middle and is being drawn through the
twisting mechanism the two ends of the length of wire are held apart by two bent
pins on the top parallel guide bar d, whilst the middle and twisted end loop
formers p are inserted between the wire.
These loop formers consist of taper steel pieces p of the size and shape suitable
for the loop, which are riveted to steel buckles p¹, see Fig. 5, which slide by the
side of and revolve with their respective pinions n, n', n².
The pinions n, n¹, n³, revolve in bearings in bridges o, o¹, o², which rest on the
two sides of the machine frame; the pinions n and n³ revolve in the same direction,
and the pinion n' revolves in the opposite direction; the mechanism for twisting
the wire consists of five pairs of nipping levers r; the first pair are placed in front
of the end loop forming pinion n, and they swivel on a stud r¹ fixed to the front.
bridge o; this pair of levers in conjunction with the loose tooth or peg p rivetted
to the buckle p¹ in the pinion n twists the two ends of the wire forming the
twisted end of the heald together; the long twists are put into the wire (heald) by
the rotation of the retracting rod previous to the short twists which form the loops.
Fig. 5 shows on an enlarged scale the wheel and pinion with the buckle and peg
and levers for twisting the loop at the "stub" (twisted) end; Fig. 6 is an edge view
of the wheel and pinion, and Fig. 7 shows a front and an edge view of the levers; 9
is the wheel, on the boss of which is fixed the cam w, which raises the sliding
brackets to close the nipping levers r while the long twist is put in the heald,
and the swell w' on the cam tightens the levers r while the short twist is being
put in.
Gearing into q is the pinion n having two large teeth under and against which
slides the plain portion of the periphery of q, thus causing n to remain stationary
while the retracting rod passes through the pinions; o is the bridge in which n
rotates, and on which are two projecting pieces o³ on which the bracket s slides;
t is a lever which vibrates on a stud on o, against one end of which the projection q³
on the wheel q strikes, thus causing the other end of t to press against the buckle p¹
and move the taper peg p across the hole in the pinion n and between the wire.
For forming the middle loop or warp eye there is a similar buckle p' with a peg p
working in the pinion n', moved in the same manner as before described; but an
additional projection on the face of the wheel q comes in contact with the buckle p¹
and forces the peg or loop former p further through the pinion after the loop is
formed so as to stretch the loop or warp eye.
The nipping levers r in pinion n have on one side a peg which guides the end
of the wire into the small notches in 7.
The openings through the centre of pinions n¹, n², are semicircular and fit the
retracting rod f; the opening through n is circular.
One end of the retracting rod f rests in the pinion n³ in the back bridge o³, and
revolves with it, thus assisting to make the end loop of the heald and also the long
twist in the heald between the retracting rod and the middle loop.

page_text: The main crank b and the whipstaff a are slotted for making different lengths of
healds.
The short crank h³ for retracting rod is also slotted.
The healds are kept to uniform length by the small spring j¹ at back of retracting
rod which prevents back spring.
The machine is driven as follows:-
The driving shaft
gives motion to the shaft m¹ which gives motion to the
shaft u by the gears v, vl.
The shaft u gives motion to the shaft c by the gears v³, v³, and on the shaft m'
is a wheel which drives the wheel fixed on the boss of wheel q¹ running loose
on the shaft c.
I am aware that prior to my Invention machines for making wire healds have
been made in which a retracting rod is used similar to the rod shown in my
Drawings, and I make no claim to such retracting rod nor to a simple crank for
actuating the same, but what I do claim and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,―
1. An automatic heald making machine which cuts off (and twists into a heald),
the exact length of wire required for forming each heald, substantially as shown
and described.
2. The whipstaff a and straight guide employed for drawing in the wire shown
and described.
3. Working or driving heald making machines at a quicker speed while twisting
the wire than during the discharging of the heald, and taking in of the next wire
by the retracting rod, substantially as shown and described.
4. The peculiar construction of the wheels q, q', q', and pinions n, n', n³, for
twisting the wire by which the pinions are stationary during the to and fro passage
of the retracting rod, as shown and described.
5. The levers or their equivalents for holding the wire while being twisted,
combined with the wheels and pinions, as herein set forth.
6. The hollow sleeve or carriage he and the bar h' shown and described.
7. The levers and driving gear for giving motion to the retracting rod, also the
spiral spring j¹ for obviating the jar and keeping the retracting rod always at the
same place on its return, as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
TT
TID PARTY