IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING JACQUARD CARDS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Nuttall and Thomas Nuttall, both of
Ramsbottom, in the County of Lancaster, Machinists, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING JACQUARD
CARDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Nuttall and
Thomas Nuttall at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 27th March 1875.
We, JAMES NUTTALL and THOMAS NUTTALL, both of Ramsbottom, in
the County of Lancaster, Machinsts, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING JACQUARD
CARDS," to be as follows:
The object of our Invention is to cut any number of sets of cards
from the original set which has been cut from the design.
Our improved machinery consists of a cylinder over which the pattern
set of cut cards passes; this cylinder is moved to and fro by a cam and

page_text: lever, and it is turned one-fourth round for each card by a hook as in
ordinary jacquard engines. The pattern card acts against rows of needles
which are connected to a second and lower row of needles by lever wires
hinged midway between the two sets; the lower row of needles are
provided with keys which are brought over the heads of the punches
when selected by the holes in the pattern cards; these punches work in
a block of metal placed over the cutting plate which is raised and
lowered by cams on a cross shaft. The cards to be cut are placed by the
attendant on the cutting plate, and in pushing the card into its place it
displaces two spring catches against which the edge of the card is held.
The introducing of the blank card pushes forward the card that had
previously been cut, and this cut card is caught on two levers vibrating
on centres; at the next upward motion of the cutting plate these levers
are moved apart by a spring to allow the cut card to drop into a suitable
receptacle, thereby keeping all the cards in the order in which they have
been cut. When the blank card is in its place the attendant depresses
a treadle which moves the driving strap on to the fast pulley, thereby
imparting the requisite rotary motion to the cam shaft to raise the
cutting plate, and to press the card against the selected punches.
soon as the attendant has depressed the treadle he must remove his foot
to allow the treadle to be raised by a spring and to apply a break which
checks the momentum of the fly wheel; the needles are all brought back
after they have been selected by a cross board acting on the ends of the
upper set, and these needles are bent at one end which bent part passes
between fixed wires, and acts as a spring to prevent the needles re-
bounding or moving.
As
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Nuttall and Thomas Nuttall in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES 30
NUTTALL and THOMAS NUTTALL, both of Ramsbottom, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty- 3

page_text: eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said James Nuttall and Thomas Nuttall, Her
special license that we, the said James Nuttall and Thomas Nuttall, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
James Nuttall and Thomas Nuttall, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
JACQUARD CARDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
James Nuttall and Thomas Nuttall, our exccutors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said James Nuttall and Thomas Nuttall,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say) :—
The object of our Invention is to cut any number of sets of cards
from the original set which has been cut from the design.
Our improved machinery consists of a cylinder over which the pattern
set of cut cards passes; this cylinder is moved to and fro by a cam and
lever, and it is turned onc-fourth round for each card by a hook as in
ordinary jacquard engines. The pattern card acts against rows of
needles which are connected to a second and lower rows of needles by
lever wires hinged midway between the two sets; the lower rows of
needles are provided with keys which are brought over the heads of the
punches when selected by the holes in the pattern cards; these punches
work in a block of metal placed over the cutting plate which is raised
and lowered by cams on a cross shaft. The cards to be cut are placed
by the attendant on the cutting plate, or they are laced together and
carried through the machine by a cylinder. The needles are all brought
back after they have been selected by a cross board acting on the ends
of the upper set.

page_text: And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a front view; and Fig. 3, a plan
of our improved machinery for cutting jacquard cards.
a, a, are the side frames, and 6 is the driving shaft which is turned
round by steam or other power; on the shaft b is the pinion b¹ gearing
into the wheel c¹ on the cam shaft c, which revolves in sliding blocks
fitting in slots in the side frames, and the level of these blocks can be
adjusted by regulating set screws. To the shaft c are fixed the cams c²
for working the jacquard cylinder d to and fro, and the cams c³ for
raising and lowering the cutting plate e, see Fig. 4, which is fixed to the
block e¹; this block supports the cross shaft e to which are fixed the
bowls e³ which work in the cams c³. The block e¹ is guided so as to
work vertically up and down by the bushes at the ends of the cross
shaft e and of the studs e. The cams c act on the bowls at the lower
ends of the side levers d', the upper ends of which are connected to the
side rods d² to which the bearings of the axle of the jacquard cylinder d
are fixed. As the cams c revolve they cause the side levers d to move
from the position in which they are shewn in Fig. 1, to that indicated by
the dotted line, and in so moving the end of the cylinder d is brought
against the catch ƒ by which it is turned one-fourth round as in ordinary
jacquard engines.
The original set of pattern cards marked y is carried around the
cylinder & and over the guide roller g', as shewn in Fig. 1, and as the
cylinder d is moved to and fro by the cams c³, the jacquard cards g act
on the upper set of needles h, see Fig. 4, which are bent at one end, as
shewn in Fig. 9, and guided in the needle board i and the grid g. The
bent ends of the needles fit between the wires of the grid j, and are
held rigid by the spring of the bent end when the position of the needles
has been changed by the pattern card. The upper set of needles / is
conected to the lower set of needles % by the lever wires / which are
hinged to the rods passing through the plates 1, see Fig. 3; the
needles are provided with hinged keys k¹, shewn detached in Fig. 5,
which are placed over the heads of the punches m when selected by the
pattern cards g. The bent ends of the needles & catch on the grid Z³, and
the keys slide to and fro in horizontal holes in the block which is

page_text: bolted to the under side of the cross beam a', and the punches m are
guided in vertical holes in the said block and in the plate screwed to
the under side of the same. On each punch is a shoulder resting on the
top of the plate 21, and the lower ends of the punches pass through the
plate e screwed above the punching plate e. The inside of the block
is cast with steps to facilitate the boring of the holes for the keys and
punches.
The blank cards to be cut marked m are first fed into a preliminary
machine by which the semicircular holes n', the lacing holes n², and the
peg holes n³, are cut, as shewn in Fig. 6; these blank cards after they have
been laced together in the ordinary manner are fed into the machine over
the roller o, and they are carried forward over the cutting plate e by the
jacquard cylinder o' which is turned one-fourth round at every revolution
of the cam shaft c by the pin in the plate c* fixed to the end of the cam
shaft c acting on the star wheel 0%, to which is fixed a pinion o³ gearing
into a similar pinion o' to which is fixed a toothed pulley for driving
a chain which passes over a pulley on the axle of the cylinder o¹.
We wish to remark here that the peg holes n³ punched by the
preliminary machine in the blank cards are not the full size of the pegs,
but that these holes are enlarged to the proper size when the blanks are
being cut to the pattern; this ensures the accurate position of the peg
holes.
When it is necessary to cut a single card the blank can be introduced
by hand between the cutting plate e and punch plate e°, and on turning
the cam shaft the cutting plate is raised to press the blank against the
selected punches. After a card has been cut the needles and are all
brought back to their original position by the cross bar d³ connected to
the ends of the side rods d², and this motion also brings all the keys k
over their corresponding punches m.
Before the blank cards n are cut it is of the utmost importance that
each card should be accurately held on the cutting plate e both length-
ways and sideways, and this is accomplished in the following manner :—
To the upper guide pins e of the block e¹ are fixed the uprights p, one
of which is shewn in Fig. 8, at the top of the upright is a horizontal
bush containing the stud p¹, to which is fixed the piece p² supporting the
bowl p which fits in the semicircular hole n¹ in the blank card n, the
stud p is pressed outwards by a spring coiled around it, and the piece p

page_text: is held parallel by the pin p* passing through the upright p. The
piece p is connected to the side lever by a strap d³ passing around
the bowl p on the upright p. By this arrangement when the side
levers are moving in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, to turn the
jacquard cylinder d partly round as above described, the straps d³ cause
the studs p¹ to overcome the springs in the horizontal bushes, thereby
drawing the bowls 2 out of the simicircular holes n', and liberating
the cut card which is then at liberty to be drawn forward by the
cylinder o¹. As soon as a fresh blank card is drawn on to the cutting
plate e, the side levers d have regained their vertical position, and the
straps d allow the studs p¹ to be pressed forward again, thereby bringing
the bowls p³ into the recesses n' and holding the blank card accurately
both lengthways and sideways before the holes are punched.
The Drawing shews the parts in the positions they occupy when the
machine is ready to start; as soon as the jacquard cylinder d has
approached the needle board the card presented to the needles pushes
back some of the wires h, and leaves the others, according to the pattern;
those needles that are pushed back represent the blank spaces in the
card to be cut, because each needle h that is pushed back moves the
correspondig lower needle k to draw the key k¹ out of the way of
the punch, so that when the cutting plate rises the blank card lifts the
punch, but all the needles that are not pushed back leave the corre-
sponding needles kand keys at rest, and consequently when the cutting
plate rises the punches are held down by the keys and cut the holes in
the cards, the punchings drop through the block e on to the floor or into
a suitable receptacle.
By means of this improved machinery any number of sets of jacquard
cards may be cut with great rapidity and accuracy.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention and described the
manner of performing the same, we declare that we claim,-
First. The general combination and arrangement of the parts of the
machine for cutting jacquard cards, as shewn and described.
Secondly. The mechanism shewn detached in Fig. 4, for actuating the
needles and for supporting the punches.
Thirdly. Making the rows of punches of different heights to corre-
spond with the horizontal rows of needles & and keys k', as shewn in
Fig. 4.