Improvements in Figured-fabric or Damask Looms.
Year: 1897

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Figured-fabric or Damask Looms.
I, EDUARD VON OBERLEITHNER, of Mahr. Schonberg, in the Empire of Austria,
Manufacturer, 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 improvements in figured-fabric or damask looms and com-
prises improved harness mechanism for such looms.
At the present time figured or damask fabric is usually produced in such a manner
that the pattern is lifted by the Jacquard machine, and the ground-binding is obtained
by means of treads and front mountings provided for this purpose.
Of the front mountings the number of which is dependant upon the ground-binding,
on every pick one is lifted and another lowered, when the Jacquard machine has
lifted the warp threads required for producing the pattern. The former causes those
design warp threads which retained their position to be bound whilst the latter
causes those design warp threads to be bound which were lifted by the Jacquard
machine.
The object of the present invention is to produce damask or figured fabric without
the use of special mountings for the ground-binding. The ground-binding according
to this invention is produced by means of a special device operating directly on the
harness heddles.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic side elevation of so much of my improved loom as
is necessary for the understanding of my invention..
Figure 2 shows in side elevation a modification of the mechanism for actuating the
parts of the divided harness board.
In the drawing it is assumed that the binding is that of eight leafed satin.
1 to 8 indicate a series of lifting wires of a Jacquard machine, a are harness cords,
c are the shafts, d and fare the usual harness board e¹-es is an additional harness
board divided into eight parts with projections o²-08 and r¹- 28.
At the right hand side of these harness board rods there are arranged springs 8¹-88
having a tendency to draw these rods to the right.
g is a crank shaft, h is an eccentric with a connecting rod i, k is a bell crank lever
one of the arms of this lever is connected with the eccentric the other with the
reciprocating knife l;
m, m' are guides for the divided harness board n¹, n³ are locking pawls held
against the divided harness board by springs pl-p³ and engaging with the
projections 7+³¸
The pawls nn8 are connected by cords q-q' with tread eccentricities suitably
arranged in the room and serving for lifting out of engagement the said pawls.
By arranging the divided harness board e¹e between the ordinary harness
boards d and f the harness-cords can be drawn in or bent between the ordinary harness
boards at any suitable angle.
C

page_text: When the Jacquard machine has been actuated to lift the warp threads in
accordance with the pattern and one of the divisions e-e of the divided harness
board is released by its pawl n'―n and drawn to the right by its spring 8'-8" such
pawl having been actuated by its cord and its tread eccentric then those of the
harness cords which were lifted by the Jacquard machine and are drawn through the
shifted part of the divided harness board e-e become slack and the heddles hanging
thereon, are drawn by their leads into the lower shed set lifting the wires 1-8.
Thus in the given example the eighth part of the whole warp enters the lower shed
and thereby the ground binding in the upper shed of the pattern is produced.
The ground-binding in the lower shed of the pattern is effected, by the aid of a
special moving-mechanism by which the shafts c are alternately raised, whereby in
the given case the eighth part of the whole warp is lifted.
The return of the divisions of the harness board is effected by the parts h i k l.
On pulling down one of the pawls n-n for instance the pawl n' and thereby
releasing the projection the division e" is pulled by its spring to the right and the
projection o abuts against the edge of the knife. When the knife / returns the
pawl n' again engages with the projection 7ª and the division e' is held in position by
pawl n until it is again released by the cord q*.
Figure 2 shows a side elevation partly in section of a modification of the mechanism
for actuating the parts ee" of the divided harness board those parts are provided at
their right hand ends with springs having the tendency to draw them to the right the
same as in Figure 1. At the left hand end they are connected by cords with levers t
mounted loosely side by side on a fixed shaft u.
Spring-controlled pawls or catches w arranged side by side upon a second shaft x
lying parallel to the first named shaft u are adapted to engage with projections v
arranged on the hubs of the aforesaid levers t and thus to cause these levers to keep
the divisions of the divided harness board drawn to the left that is to say in the
position they occupy when the harness threads are bent.
The said spring pawls or catches are, by means of cams y provided upon a drum z
journalled in the framing of the loom actuated in such a manner, that whenever such
a cam strikes the corresponding catch w, the latter will release the corresponding lever t
and will thus enable that part of the divided harness board which is connected
therewith to move under the action of its spring to the right so as to straighten the
harness cords as required for the ground-binding desired.
For returning the levers t and the appertaining parts of the divided harness board
to the normal position, a curved piece or guard A is loosely mounted upon the lever
shaft u.
This curved piece is by the intermission of the arm set in reciprocating
motion by means of a rod i connected with an eccentric upon the crank-shaft, and
during its downward movement it operates to turn back the released levert by
abutting against its projection (v) together with the corresponding part of the divided
harness board to the normal position, upon which the corresponding spring pawl or
catch w re-engages with and again locks the lever.
By the two movements: displacement of one part of the divided barness
board ees and lifting one of the shaft c, exactly the same effect is obtained as was
accomplished by the former damask attachments with front mountings by lifting and
lowering the latter.
The cross-shed produced in previous devices with front mountings which was very.
inconvenient for working is entirely obviated in the new device.
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. An improved harness-board mechanism for producing damask or figured fabric
according to which a divided harness board (e' to e), arranged between two rigid
harness boards d' and f, holds, under normal conditions, the harness cords in a bent
position; the parts constituting the divided, intermediate harness-board being capable
of independent displacement in order to effect the prolongation or straightening
respectively of the harness cords drawn into and through the said parts of the divided

page_text: harness board and to thus cause part of the heddles, which were lifted by the
Jacquard machine, to sink and to thus produce the ground-binding in the upper shed
of the pattern.
2. A constructional form of the device described in the first claim, in which device.
a constantly reciprocating knife (l) returns those parts (e' to e") to the initial or
starting position, which had previously been released by means of pawls (n' to n³)
actuated by treadle-eccentrics and cords (q' to ") and by their springs (8' to 8'), for
the purpose of lowering the corresponding heddles.
3. A modification of the device described in the first claim, in which device a
constantly oscillating guard or bow shaped piece A by acting upon projections (v) of
the actuated levers t, returns to the initial or starting position those parts of the
divided harness board which had previously been released by pawls (w) actuated by a
cam-drum (2) and which had been pushed forward by their springs, for the purpose
of lowering the corresponding heddles.
Dated this 8th day of May 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.