IMPROVEMENTS IN JACQUARD LOOMS OR MACHINERY POR WEAVING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Shields, of the City and County of Perth, North
Britain, Power Loom Manufacturer, and Alexander Shields, of Cromwell
Park, in the same County, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Sealed the 8th May 1860, and dated the 15th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Shields and Alex-
ander Shields at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 15th March 1860.
We, JOHN SHIELDS, of the City and County of Perth, North Britain, Power
Loom Manufacturer, and ALEXANDER SHIELDS, of Cromwell Park, in the same
County, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN JACQUARD LOOMS OR MACHINERY POR WEAVING," to be
as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to various arrangements of jacquard looms or
machinery so contrived as to secure a more effective system of operation in
weaving, combined with a wider range of action for manufacturing certain
classes of ornamental goods, than has hitherto been the case; and it bears
importantly upon an Invention of " Improvements in Jacquard Looms or
Machinery for Weaving," for which Mr. John Shields made application for
British Letters Patent, on or about the 5th day of October 1859, No. 2255/

page_text: The present improvements may or may not be worked in conjunction with those
set forth in the Provisional Specification of the Invention herein-before referred
to; but when so combined for operation in ornamental weaving, they consist
essentially in giving the branders a horizontal traverse motion to and fro in
addition to the ordinary ascending and descending motion, as employed for
raising the jacquard wires or needles. This horizontal motion is effected by a
differentially formed cam or working barrel, which is caused to rotate in concert
with the ordinary jacquard barrel, and at any desired speed in proportion
to the speed of such barrel. With this arrangement the pattern working
range of the jacquard is very greatly increased, whilst the vertical needles or
cleeks do not require any horizontal traverse in themselves, and the most
effectual provision for twilling the fabric can be made to any extent by so
gearing the wires that any desired alternations of numbers may be lifted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions. of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Shields and Alexander Shields in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,. JOHN
SHIELDS, of the City and County of Perth, North Britain, Power Loom Manu-
facturer, and ALEXANDER SHIELDS, of Cromwell Park, in the same County,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third
year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Shields and Alexander Shields, Her special license that we, the said
John Shields and Alexander Shields, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Shields and Alexander Shields, our
executors, administrators, or 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 JACQUARD LOOMS OR MACHI-
NERY FOR WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
John Shields and Alexander Shields, by an instrument in writing-under our
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

page_text: 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 John Shields and Alexander Shields,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
I same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our said Invention relates to various arrangements of jacquard looms or
machinery, so contrived as to secure a more effective system of operation in
weaving, combined with a wider range of action for manufacturing certain
classes of ornamental goods, than has hitherto been the case; and it bears
importantly upon an Invention of " Improvements in Jacquard Looms or
Machinery for Weaving," for which Mr. John Shields made application for
British Letters Patent, on or about the Fifth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine. The present improvements may or may not be
worked in conjunction with those set forth in the Provisional Specification of
the Invention herein-before referred to; but when so combined for operation
in ornamental weaving, they consists essentially in giving the branders a hori-
zontal traverse motion to and fro in addition to the ordinary ascending and
descending motion as employed for raising the jacquard wires or needles. This
horizontal motion is effected by a differentially formed cam or working barrel,
which is caused to rotate in concert with the ordinary jacquard barrel, and at
any desired speed in proportion to the speed of such barrel. With this
arrangement the pattern working range of the jacquard is very greatly.
increased, whilst the vertical needles or cleeks do not require any horizontal
traverse in themselves, and the most effectual provision for twilling the fabric
can be made to any extent by so gearing the wires that any desired altenations
of numbers may be lifted.
And in order that our said Invention of improvements in jacquard looms
or machinery for weaving may be properly understood, we shall now proceed
to describe the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings, which
we have hereunto appended, for the purpose of showing certain modifications
under which our improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice,
that is to say:-
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is a partially sectional
elevation of one modification of our improved arrangement of jacquard appa-
ratus; Figure 2 is a plan of the mechanical arrangement for actuating the
brander slips, and bringing them in contact with the cleeks or vertical wires,
as well as throwing them clear of the same; and Figure 3 is a plan of one of

page_text: the brander slips. In this modification there are four rows of horizontal
needles A, B, C, and D, the front ends of which pass through the guide or.
needle board E; the backward ends are formed into loops, which pass between
the horizontal wires F, that are arranged in the box G. Through the several
loops of each vertical row of needles a wire H is passed, which serves to retain
the needles, the length of the traverse either backward or forward being regu-
lated by the length of the loop formed at the end of each needle. The action
of these needles forms the figures in the fabric to be woven; and this action is
obtained by means of an ordinary jacquard barrel, and endless chain of per-
forated cards. The hexagonal card barrel is fitted in front of the free extre-
mities of the pattern needles A, B, C, and D, so that as it rotates with its chain
of cards, the needles are either thrust back by the ends coming in contact with
the solid parts of the cards, or they are allowed to come forward by the ends
passing through the perforations. Each of the needles A, B, C, and D, has
formed in it three or other number of loops or elongated eyes I, through which
the upper part of one of the vertical hooked wires or cleeks J is passed. The
lower part of each cleek J forms a long loop, at the upper part of which the
wire is passed round the vertical limb of the cleek, and is then prolonged
upwards as far as the pattern needles, this portion of the needle diverging
gradually from the vertical part. The looped portion of each clcek rests upon
a horizontal wire K of a brander or frame for carrying the series, the hori-
zontal wires admitting of the free motion of the cleeks in a vertical direction.
The free arm or diverging part of each cleek J rests against a cross wire L,
which is fitted in immediate proximity to the arm, so that when the pattern
needles are pushed back by the solid parts of the cards, they are restored to
their normal position on being released by the arm acting as a spring on the
other portion of the cleek. This forward movement of the cleeks, when not
otherwise acted upon, serves to bring the upper hooked end of each cleek over
its contiguous brander slip M, or horizontal bar of the brander N. The ends
of these brander slips are fitted into the blocks O, which slide freely between
the brander N and the flat steel plates P, which extend along the upper part
of the brander.
A plan of one of the brander slips is delineated in Figure 3 of the accom-
panying Drawings. The effect of this arrangement of the parts is, that as the
needles A, B, C, and D, are pushed back by tho action of the cards as they
are successively brought round by the jacquard barrel, those cleeks which are
thus acted upon are kept clear of the brander slips whilst the others are
raised. The cleeks J being raised in this manner in the predetermined
sequence the shed is thereby formed so as to produce the required figure or

page_text: pattern. The twilling of the fabric is effected by means of a mechanical
arrangement fitted below the pattern needles A, B, C, & D, and 'it consists
of a series of cams arranged upon one shaft, and acting in concert upon the
extremities of the rods Q. These rods are flat metal bars, which are supported
on the end standards R; each rod has upon its upper face two brackets S,
which serve as footsteps for the vertical rods T. The upper ends of the rods
T are suspended from the rail U by a pin, which passes through each rod, and
they also pass through the blocks O, to which the brander slips M are riveted.
It follows from this arrangement that the movement of the horizontal rods Q
is communicated to the vertical wires T, and through them to the brander slip
blocks O, so that when the rods. Q are pressed forward by the series of cams
acting on the extremities, the vertical wires T move the blocks O up to the
cleeks, and cause them to be raised by the brander slips M; this movement of
the wires T also carries back those cleeks which have been left forward by
the pattern barrel. The motion of the rods Q in the opposite direction will
obviously have the effect of moving the blocks O and brander slips M clear
of the clecks J, which consequently remain down. Provided then that the
rods are actuated in a proper sequential order by means of the cams or
twilling barrel, the cleeks will be operated in a corresponding manner so as
to produce the twilling of the figure and ground of the fabric to be woven, as
predetermined. These arrangements of the parts, whilst they simplify the
jacquard mechanism, serve also to extend the means for producing more varied
effects in the fabrics to be woven.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that what we consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or appa-
ratus for weaving twilled or figured fabrics, as herein-before described and shown
in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the system or mode of arranging and constructing jacquard mecha-
nism or apparatus, in which the "cleeks" or vertical wires are made with
upwardly turned diverging arms, that act as springs to keep the cleeks up to
the front of the eyes of the pattern needles A, B, C, and D, as herein-before
described and shown in the 'accompanying Drawings.
Third, the system or mode of arranging and constructing jacquard appa-
ratus with the vertical wires T, which pass through the blocks O of the

page_text: brander slips M, as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings, or any mere equivalent therefor.
Fourth, the system or mode of arranging and constructing jacquard appa-
ratus, in which the twilling of the ground, or of the figured part of the fabric
being woven, is obtained or effected by the movement of the brander slips
backwards and forwards; the movement of the brander slips being effected
by means of the twilling cams actuating the rods Q and the wires T, as
herein-before described and delineated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Shields and Alexander Shields,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth day of September;
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
JOHN SHIELDS.
(L.S.)
ALEXANDER SHIELDS. (L.S.)
JOHN SHIELDS.
(L.S.)
ALEXANDER SHIELDS. (L.S.)