Improvements in or relating to Braiding Machines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Dec., 1889
Complete Specification Left. 3rd June, 1890-Accepted, 19th July, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Braiding Machines.
A communication from abroad by DUANE DERRICK GRIFFIN, of 180, Main Street,
Westfield, County of Hampden, State of Massachusetts, United States of
America, Mechanical Engineer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
This invention relates to braiding machines, and the invention consists in certain
details of improved construction of various parts thereof, all as hereinafter fully
described.
In the drawing forming part of this specification
:-
Figure 1 is a plan view of a braiding machine embodying the improvements.
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the bed of the machine and the shuttle and
bobbin carriers, and in which is also shown portions of the driving mechanism, one of
the vibrating thread-arms, the central ring and parts of its supporting arms, and a
section of the cam-ring.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the inside of a portion of the cam-ring separate from
the machine.
Figure 4 is a plan view of one of the shuttles of the machine.
Figure 5 is an end elevation (looking from the centre of the machine) of a shuttle,
the thread-spools being removed from it.
In the drawing, 2 is the circular base-plate of the machine, 3 is the cam-ring
thereof, consisting of several sections a, a, a, as shown in Figure 3, which are
secured around the border of the base-plate 2 in the position shown in Figure 2.
Said cam-ring is provided with a cam-groove 4 therein, in which one arm of the
vibrating thread-guide 5 engages and whereby it is given its properly timed move-
ments to raise and lower the bobbin-thread 6 (see Figure 1) to carry the latter over
and under the shuttles as the latter are moved in their circular path, as below
described, said shuttles being indicated by 7, and the bobbins by 8. Said base-
plate is in the form of a flat ring.
The bobbin-carrier 9 consists of a flat ring arranged within the said cam-ring and
having its upper surface substantially in the same plane as the upper edge of said
ring, and the lower edge of the border of said bobbin-carrier has formed thereon a
circular rack 10, with which a gear engages as below described, to give it a rotary
motion in a horizontal plane. Said bobbin-carrier 9 rests on said base-plate 2.
A shuttle-carrier 12 consisting likewise of a circular plate or flat ring has a
bearing also on the base-plate 2, but its periphery is separated from the inner
border of the bobbin-carrier 9 by a groove 13, and the inner border of said shuttle-
carrier orverhangs the inner border of the base-plate 2, and has formed thereon a
circular rack 14 with which a driving gear engages, as below described. The outer
border of said bobbin-carrier overhangs the periphery of the base-plate 2 as does the
inner border of said shuttle-carrier the inner border of the base-plate, as aforesaid,
said two carriers having thereby such an engagement with the outer and inner
borders of said base-plate as compels them to rotate in concentric circles, and their
upper surfaces are both arranged in the same plane.
A series of segmental shuttle-guides 15 is secured on the upper face of the bobbin-
carrier 9. Said shuttle-guides are shown in section in Figure 2, and in plan view in
Figure 1, and their inner edges extend somewhat over said groove 13 between the
edges of the bobbin-carrier and shuttle-carrier, and the under side of said segmental

page_text: guides has a groove 16 therein concentric with its inner border and with said groove,
the groove in said guides being shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, and as shown in
said Figure, a space is left between the end of said guides 15, the centre of which is
about on a line with the bobbin-thread 6 when the latter is drawn towards the
centre of the machine..
Only one of said. bobbin-threads is illustrated in operative position extending
from the corner of the bobbin-plate 17 to the centre of the machine, as aforesaid,
but in practice when the machine is being operated a like thread is drawn from each
bobbin 8, passing through an eye or suitable hook in the end of the thread guide 5,
and between the ends of said shuttle-guides as aforesaid.
The said thread-guides 5 are bent in the form shown, whereby one end engages
with the aforesaid cam-groove 4 in the ring 3, and the opposite end, in which is said
thread-guiding eye, is turned downward as shown in Figure. 2 between the ends of
the shuttle-guides 15, said eyed-end reaching close to the surface of the shuttle-
carrier 12 in order to hold the bobbin-thread 6 in such position that the shuttles 7 can
easily. pass over.it in their rotary movement on said carrier. Said thread-guides are
-hung in the boxes or bearings 18 in which they have said vibratory motion, said
boxes being secured on the face of the bobbin-carrier 9, and the arm of the thread-
guide which engages in the cam-groove 4 extends between the edge of said bobbin-
carrier and the inner side of the cam-ring 3 as shown in Figure 1.
The bobbins 8, on which the thread 6 is wound, rotate on a pin projecting upwardly
from the bobbin-plate 17 and they have metallic heads preferably, the lower one of
..which is provided with ratchet-teeth, as shown in Figure 1. The bobbin-plate 17 is
suitably secured to the face of the bobbin-carrier 9 and has on its opposite corners
thread-guiding hooks 19 and a guide-pin 20 around which the thread 6 is drawn as
shown. A stop-arm 21, consisting of a piece of suitable spring wire or strip of
metal plate, is secured by one end to the bobbin-plate 17, and has thereon a stop 22
which engages with said ratchet-teeth on the lower head of the bobbin 8. The
arm 21 is so set and adjusted that it holds said stop normally in engagement with
the head of the bobbin and a hole is provided through it near its free end through
which the thread 6 is passed, as shown. A spiral tension-spring 23 secured by one
end to one corner of the bobbin-plate 17 has a hook on its opposite end, as
shown.
The above described stop-arm 21 and the spring 23 constitute the devices connected
with the bobbin 8 which govern the tension of the thread and the delivery of the
latter from the bobbin to the centre of the machine where the converging threads
from all of the bobbins are gathered and applied to the article upon which the
braiding is to be done, and the operation of said devices is as follows:-
The thread from the bobbin is led around one of said thread-hooks 19 nearest to
it, thence around the post which constitutes the fastening of one end of the arm 21 to
the bobbin-plate, thence around said pin 20, thence through the end of the stop-
arm 21, and through the hook of the spring 23, and from thence the thread is
returned through said arm and around the hook 19 which is set a little beyond the
border of the machine, and thence through the eye in the end of the thread-guide 5,
and thence under the ring 24, which is located over the inner ends of the shuttles 7
and is supported in that position by arms 25, portions of which are shown_in
Figure 2, which arms are secured rigidly to the outer. border of the machine. The
position of the stop-arm 21 and spring 23 in which they are shown in Figure 1, on
the bobbin and plate on which the thread 6 is shown in connection with those parts,
is that which they occupy when at rest, or in other words, when no tension is exerted
on the thread and whereby the bobbin is so held that it cannot rotate by reason of
any motion which the parts of the machine may have contiguous to it, but when, by
the braiding action of the machine, the thread 6 is drawn towards the centre of the
machine, the spring 23 becomes elongated and its end is drawn against the side of the
stop-arm 21, thereby swinging it in the direction that the thread is drawn and carry-
ing the stop 22 out of engagement with the ratchet teeth of the bobbin, thereby.
leaving the bobbin free to turn by the tension of the thread, delivering the requisite

page_text: quantity of the latter therefrom, but as soon as the thread required has been drawn
from the bobbin, said tension becomes so reduced that the spring 23 is allowed to
contract, leaving the arm 21 free to spring back towards the bobbin and re-engage
the stop with the head thereof. If it be desired, as it may be in some classes of
braiding work, to run two bobbins in the place of each one, as shown in Figure 1,
the bobbin 8 and its plate 17 and said tension devices may be duplicated.
辈
The above referred to duplicate bobbin-construction is illustrated in the construction
of the shuttles 7, which occupy the position shown on the shuttle-carrier 12. Said
shuttles consist of a plate 26, on which are two pins 27 on which the two thread-
bobbins 28 are placed, and for each of said bobbins is provided a stop-lever 29 and
tension spring 30, which springs and stop-levers are constructed and applied to the
shuttle and operate to control the delivery of the thread and its tension, substantially
in the same manner as that described above relative to the operation of those parts on
the bobbin-plate 17. In Figure 1, one of the shuttles, 7, is shown "threaded-up" as
it is termed, and the two threads from the two spools 28 thereon are led through
the nose of the shuttle towards the centre of the machine as shown in Figures 1,
and 4. The rear edge of the shuttle-plate 26 has an upwardly projecting, rib 31
thereou, which engages in the above referred to groove 16 in the under side of the
shuttle-guides 15, whereby the shuttles are maintained in a proper relation to each
other and to the centre of the machine while they are being carried around on the
shuttle-carrier 12, the nose or inner end of each shuttle extending somewhat
beyond the inner border of the shuttle-carrier, and projecting sufficiently under the,
ring 24 to cause the shuttles to be, by the latter, held down or retained in a
horizontal position while they are being operated, thereby preventing the shuttles.
from being lifted from the carrier by the tension of the threads passing through the
nose of the shuttles, as shown. An arın 32 projects laterally from the opposite sides
of the shuttle to which a thread hook is attached, as shown, and the under edges of
said arms are suitably curved to facilitate the passage of the bobbin-threads 6 beneath
the shuttles as the latter run over it. As means for such engagement of the shuttles
with the shuttle-carrier 12 as is requisite to cause the shuttles to move with the
carrier, a stud n of spherical form projecting slightly above the carrier is located at
the side of each shuttle. Said stud, owing to its form,. presents no obstacle to the
passage of the bobbin thread under the shuttle.. Said ring 24 also serves to guide all
the threads in the same plane.
The above referred to means for imparting a rotary motion, in reverse directions, to
the shuttle-carrier and the bobbin-carrier whereby the usual braiding effect is pro-
duced as the bobbin threads are carried alternately over and under the shuttles while
all are revolving, consists in a driving shaft 33 hung in proper bearings under the
machine and connected with any suitable driving mechanism having fixed thereon a
bevelled gear 34 which engages with the rack 10 on the bobbin-carrier 9, and has
thereon also a pinion 35 which engages with a bevelled gear 36, and the latter
engages with the rack 14 on the inner border of the shuttle-carrier 12. The said
gear 36 is fixed on the end of a shaft which is hung in suitable bearings. under the
machine, the latter being provided with any suitable legs or supports upon which it
rests when standing on a bench or table in operative position.
While the machine is in operation, the operative movements of the thread-guide 5
are so timed by the form of the cam-groove 4, with which one arm of said guide
engages, that the bobbin-thread 6 is held alternately in the position shown in Figure 1
downward so that the shuttle may pass over it, and then it is raised to permit the
succeeding shuttle to pass under it, the several bobbins and shuttles having said
co-operating action as is usual in machines of this class.
Dated this 9th day of December 1889.
.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.;
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Braiding Machines.
A communication from abroad by Duane DERRICK GRIFFIN, of 180, Main Street,
Westfield, County of Hampden, State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
Mechanical Engineer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street Liverpool, and 6 Bank Street, Manchester, both in
the County of Lancaster, and 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil
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:
This invention relates to braiding machines, and the invention consists in certain
details of improved construction of various parts thereof, all as hereinafter fully
described, and pointed out in the claims.
.
In the drawing accompanying the provisional specification:-
Figure 1 is a plan view of a braiding machine embodying the improvements.
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the bed of the machine and the shuttle and bobbin
carriers, and in which is also shown portions of the driving mechanism, one of the
vibrating thread-arms, the central ring and parts of its supporting arms, and a section
of the cam-ring.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the inside of a portion of the cam-ring separate from
the machine.
.
Figure 4 is a plan view of one of the shuttles of the machine.
Figure 5 is an end elevation (looking from the centre of the machine) of a shuttle,
the thread-spools being removed from it.
In the drawing, 2 is the circular base-plate of the machine, 3 is the cam-ring
thereof, consisting of several sections a, a, a, as shown in Figure 3, which are secured
around the border of the base-plate 2 in the position shown in Figure 2. Said cam-ring
is provided with a cam-groove 4 therein, in which one arm of the vibrating thread-
guide 5 engages and whereby it is given its properly timed movements to raise and
lower the bobbin-thread 6 (see Figure 1) to carry the latter over and under the
shuttles as the latter are moved in their circular path, as below described, said shuttles
being indicated by 7, and the bobbins by 8. Said base-plate is in the form of a flat
ring.
The bobbin-carrier 9 consists of a flat ring arranged within the said cam-ring and
having its upper surface substantially in the same plane as the upper edge of said
ring, and the lower edge of the border of said bobbin-carrier has formed thereon a
circular rack 10, with which a gear engages as below described, to give it a rotary
motion in a horizontal plane. Said bobbin-carrier 9 rests on said base-plate 2.
A shuttle-carrier 12 consisting likewise of a circular plate or flat ring has a bearing
also on the base-plate 2, but its periphery is separated from the inner border of the
bobbin-carrier 9 by a groove 13, and the inner border of said shuttle-carrier
overhangs the inner border of the base-plate 2, and has formed thereon a circular
rack 14 with which a driving gear engages, as below described. The outer border
of said bobbin-carrier overhangs the periphery of the base-plate 2 as does the inner
border of said shuttle-carrier the inner border of the base-plate, as aforesaid, said
two carriers having thereby such an engagement with the outer and inner borders
of said base-plate as compels them to rotate in concentric circles, and their upper
surfaces are both arranged in the same plane.
A series of segmental shuttle-guides 15 is secured on the upper face of the
bobbin-carrier 9. Said shuttle-guides are shown in section in Figure 2, and in plan
view in Figure 1, and their inner edges extend somewhat over said groove 13
between the edges of the bobbin-carrier and shuttle-carrier, and the under side of
said segmental guides has a groove 16 therein concentric with its inner border
and with said groove, the groove in said guides being shown in dotted lines in

page_text: Figure 1, and as shown in said Figure, a space is left between the end of said
guides 15, the centre of which is about on a line with the bobbin-thread 6 when
the latter is drawn towards the centre of the machine.
Only one of said bobbin-threads is illustrated in operative position extending from
the corner of the bobbin-plate 17 to the centre of the machine, as aforesaid, but in
practice, when the machine is being operated, a like thread is drawn from each
bobbin 8, passing through an eye or suitable hook in the end of the thread guide 5,
and between the ends of said shuttle-guides as aforesaid.
The said thread-guides 5 are bent in the form shown, whereby one end engages
with the aforesaid cam-groove 4 in the ring 3, and the opposite end, in which said
thread-guiding eye, is turned downward as shown in Figure 2 between the ends of
the shuttle-guides 15, said eyed-end reaching close to the surface of the shuttle-carrier 12
in order to hold the bobbin-thread 6 in such position that the shuttles 7 can easily
pass over it in their rotary movement on said carrier. Said thread-guides are hung in
the boxes or bearings 18 in which they have said vibratory motion, said boxes being
secured on the face. of the bobbin-carrier 9, and the arm of the thread-guide which
engages in the cam-groove 4 extends between the edge of said bobbin-carrier and
the inner side of the cam-ring 3 as shown in Figure 1.
The bobbins 8, on which the thread 6 is wound; rotate on a pin projecting
upwardly from the bobbin-plate 17 and they have metallic heads preferably, the lower
one of which is provided with ratchet-teeth, as shown in Figure 1. The bobbin-
plate 17 is suitably secured to the face of the bobbin-carrier 9 and has on its opposite
corners thread-guiding hooks 19 and a guide-pin 20 around which the thread 6 is
drawn as shown. A stop-arm 21, consisting of a piece of suitable spring wire or strip
of metal plate, is secured by one end to the bobbin-plate 17, and has thereon a stop 22
which engages with said ratchet-teeth on the lower head of the bobbin 8. The arm 21
is so set and adjusted that it holds said stop normally in engagement with the head of
the bobbin and a hole is provided through it near its free end through which the thread 6
is passed, as shown. A spiral tension-spring 23 secured by one end to one corner of
the bobbin-plate 17 has a hook on its opposite end, as shown.
The above described stop-arm 21 and the spring 23 constitute the devices connected
with the bobbin 8 which govern the tension of the thread and the delivery of the
latter from the bobbin to the centre of the machine where the converging threads
from all of the bobbins are gathered and applied to the article upon which the
braiding is to be done, and the operation of said devices is as follows:-
The thread from the bobbin is led around one of said thread-hooks 19 nearest to
it, thence around the post which constitutes the fastening of one end of the arm, 21,
to the bobbin plate, thence around said pin 20, thence through the end of the stop-
arm 21, and through the hook of the spring 23, and from thence the thread is
returned through said arm and around the hook 19 which is set a little beyond
the border of the machine, and thence through the eye in the end of the thread-
guide 5, and thence under the ring 24, which is located over the inner ends of the
shuttles 7 and is supported in that position by arms 25, portions of which are shown
in Figure 2, which arms are secured rigidly to the outer border of the machine.
The position of the stop-armı 21 and spring 23, in which they are shown in Figure 1
on the bobbin and plate on which the thread 6 is shown in connection with those
parts, is that which they occupy when at rest, or in other words, when no tension is
exerted on the thread and whereby the bobbin is so held that it cannot rotate by
reason of any motion which the parts of the machine may have contiguous to it,
but when, by the braiding action of the machine, the thread 6 is drawn towards the
centre of the machine, the spring 23 becomes elongated and its end is drawn against
the side of the stop-arm 21, thereby swinging it in the direction that the thread is
drawn and carrying the stop 22 out of engagement with the ratchet teeth of the
bobbin, thereby leaving the bobbin free to turn by the tension of the thread, delivering
the requisite quantity of the latter therefrom, but as soon as the thread required has
been drawn from the bobbin, said tension becomes so reduced that the spring 23
is allowed to contract, leaving the arm 21 free to spring back towards the bobbin and

page_text: re-engage the stop with the head thereof. If it he desired, as it may be in' some*
classes of braiding work, to run two bobbins in the place of each one, as shown in
Figure 1, the bobbin 8 and its plate 17 and said tension devices may be duplicated.
22
The above referred to duplicate bobbin-construction is illustrated in the construction,
of the shuttles 7, which occupy the position shown on the shuttle-carrier 12. Said
shuttles consist of a plate 26, on which are two pins 27 on which the two thread-
bobbins 28 are placed, and for each of said bobbins is provided a stop-lever 29 and
tension spring 30, which springs and stop-levers are constructed and applied to the
shuttle and operate to control the delivery of the thread and its tension, substantially,
in the same manner as that described above relative to the operation of those parts
on the bobbin-plate 17. In Figure 1, one of the shuttles, 7, is shown "threaded-up:
as it is termed, and the two threads from the two spools 28 thereon are led through
the nose of the shuttle towards the centre of the machine as shown in Figures 1'
and 4. The rear edge of the shuttle-plate 26 has an upwardly projecting rib 31
thereon, which engages in the above referred to groove 16 in the under side of
the shuttle-guides 15, whereby the shuttles are maintained in a proper relation to
each other and to the centre of the machine while they are being carried around on the'
shuttle-carrier 12, the nose or inner end of each shuttle extending somewhat beyond"
the inner border of the shuttle-carrier, and projecting sufficiently under the ring 24
to cause the shuttles to be, by the latter, held down or retained in a horizontal
position while they are being operated, thereby preventing the shuttles from being
lifted from the carrier by the tension of the threads passing through the nose of
the shuttles, as shown. An arm 32 projects laterally from the opposite sides of the'
shuttle, to which a thread hook is attached, as shown, and the under edges of said
arms are suitably curved to facilitate the passage of the bobbin-threads 6 beneath'
the shuttles as the latter run over it. As means for such engagement of the shuttles.
with the shuttle-carrier 12 as is requisite to cause the shuttles to move with the
carrier, a stud n of spherical form projecting slightly above the carrier is located at.
the side of each shuttle. Said stud, owing to its form, presents no obstacle to the
passage of the bobbin thread under the shuttle. Said ring 24 also serves to guide
all the threads in the same plane.
The above referred to means for imparting a rotary motion, in reverse directions,
to the shuttle-carrier and the bobbin-carrier, whereby the usual braiding effect is
produced as the bobbin threads are carried alternately over and under the shuttles
while all are revolving, consists in a driving shaft 33 hung in proper bearings under
the machine and connected with any suitable driving mechanism having fixed thereon
a bevelled gear 34 which engages with the rack 10 on the bobbin-carrier 9, and
has thereon also a pinion 35 which engages with a bevelled gear 36, and the latter
engages with the rack 14 on the inner border of the shuttle-carrier 12. The said
gear 36 is fixed on the end of a shaft which is hung in suitable bearings under the
machine, the latter being provided with any suitable legs or supports upon which it
rests when standing on a bench or table in operative position.
While the machine is in operation, the operative movements of the thread-guide 5
are so timed by the form of the cam-groove 4, with which one arm of said guide
engages, that the bobbin-thread 6 is held alternately in the position shown in Figure 1,
downward so that the shuttle may pass over it, and then it is raised to permit the
succeeding shuttle to pass under it, the several bobbins and shuttles having said
co-operating action as is usual in machines of this class.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
-
1. On a braiding machine, the rotating bobbin-carrier, the fixed cam-ring having
a cam-groove therein, the vibrating thread-guides hung on the bobbin-carrier, and
having one arm engaging the cam-ring and the other the bobbin-thread combined
with the shuttle-carrier, the upper surfaces of both the shuttle and the bobbin-
carrier being in substantially the same plane.
J

page_text: 2. In a braiding machine and in combination with suitable driving mechanism
the shuttle-carrier 12 and the bobbin-carrier 9 thereof having their outer surfaces
on which the shuttles and bobbins are carried, both in the same plane, whereby the
operation and interweaving the threads is facilitated, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with the shuttle-carrier, and the shuttles, of a plaiting ring 24,
fixed over and near the inner border of the shuttle-carrier, substantially as set forth.
4. The bobbin-carrier and the shuttle-carrier, the upper operating surfaces of both
of which lie in the same plane, whereby the interweaving of the threads is facilitated,
the segmental shuttle-guides 15 having grooves in the under side thereof, secured
around the inner border of the bobbin-carrier and near the grooves between the
latter and the shuttle-carrier, combined with shuttles having ribs thereon engaging
with the grooves in said segmental guides, and mechanism substantially as set forth
for actuating the carrier.
Dated this 31st day of May 1890
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.