IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUNCHING HOLES IN CARDS USED IN JACQUARD MACHINES, AND THE APPLICATION OF PART OF THE IMPROVEMENTS TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bowker, of Eccles, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PUNCHING HOLES IN CARDS USED IN JACQUARD MACHINES,
AND THE APPLICATION OF PART OF THE IMPROVEMENTS TO OTHER PURPOSES,
Sealed the 30th October 1874, and dated the 9th June 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bowker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th June 1874.
I, WILLIAM BOWKER, of Eccles, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention" for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR PUNCHING HOLES IN CARDS USED IN JACQUARD
'MACHINES, AND THE APPLICATION OF PART OF THE IMPROVEMENTS TO OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
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This Invention relates to repeating punching machines used for
repeating sets of pattern cards made of cardboard, metai,»>
material, the cards forming the foundation or pattern to be repeated

page_text: being perforated or punched in any of the ordinary reading and
punching machines.
In my improved machinery I place the pattern cards to be repeated
on an ordinary jacquard cylinder worked by levers on a shaft, to which
motion is imparted by lever and rod worked by peculiarly shaped
regulating cam on a main shaft geared with the driving shaft of the
machine, the cam being used for timing or regulating the motion of the
jacquard cylinder.
The blank cards to be punched are fed onwards by two ordinary
jacquard cylinders, and pass over a perforated die plate usually called a
punch plate, above which there is a guide plate containing a series of
punches corresponding with the punch or die plate, and also another
guide plate containing vertical selecting rods having their lower ends in
contact with the punch heads, and their upper ends capable of being in
contact with ribs in a stationary plate or passing into spaces or slots.
The selecting rods are in contact with selecting needles as in an ordinary
jacquard machine, and it is these needles which are acted upon by the
pattern cards used as a foundation or pattern of the sets of cards to be
repeated. The perforated die plate is attached to a box or frame fitted
in guides fixed to the framework, and having pivotted to it bowls or
rollers in contact with eccentrics fixed to the main shaft.
When the machine is at work the holes in the pattern cards allow the
selecting needles to pass through and the tops of the selecting rods to
remain in contact with the stationary bar or plate, so that as the main
shaft revolves the eccentrics raise the die plate and cause holes to be
punched in the blank cards to correspond with those in the pattern cards
to be répated.
When there are no holes in the pattern cards the horizontal selecting
needles are pushed back by the cards and so shift the vertical selecting
rods that their upper ends can enter the slots or spaces and thereby
prevent the punches in connection with them from having any punching
action, and thus the non-perforated parts of the cards being repeated are
exactly similar to those of the pattern cards. The cam for working the
pattern cylinder is so formed as to allow the pattern cards to be moved
slowly to the selecting needles, and then allow a dwell during the move-
ments of the punching, and then the pattern cards are moved quickly

page_text: back, and thus the cards are prevented from being injured to the extent
which takes place with the ordinary motion, and this regulating cam I
employ for working the pattern cylinders of all descriptions of jacquard
machines and dobbys used in looms for weaving.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Bowker in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 1st December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BOWKER, of Eccles, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,.
give and grant unto me, the said William Bowker, Her special license
that I, the said William Bowker, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Bowker, my 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 PUNCHING HOLES IN CARDS USED IN JACQUARD MACHINES, AND THE
APPLICATION OF PART OF THE IMPROVEMENTS TO OTHER PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Bowker, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said William Bowker, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: My Invention relates to self-acting machinery for punching holes in
paper and cardboard, metal, or other suitable material commonly termed
"repeating machines," such machines being employed for punching
repetitions of cards from a set of pattern cards previously prepared in
any ordinary "reading and punching machine."
66
"
"
My Invention consists in an improved combination and arrangement
of mechanism, and is illustrated by Fig. 1, a side elevation; Fig. 2, a
front elevation partly in section; and by Fig. 3, a cross sectional eleva-
tion of the punching and selecting mechanism. The "cards or plates
to be punched are first cut to the size and then punched with such holes
as are required in every card" for guiding and holding them in
their correct position upon the "barrels " and for securing the cards to
each other, and when so prepared all the cards which are to be punched
according to the pattern are laced together one after the other to form a
long chain, which after being punched is divided into the required sets of
cards. The chain of blank cards shown by the peculiar dotted lines (a)
in Fig. 1 is passed over a blank cylinder or barrel (a) over a punching
die plate (6) and then over another blank "card cylinder or barrel (a³)
having bearings in the said frames A. The die plate (6) is secured or
forms part of a beam or table (6¹), the two ends of which can move in
vertical slides in the two side frames A of the machine, the beam (6') for
the die plate having two antifriction bowls (b) each of which rests
upon an excentric C' keyed upon a cross shaft (c) having bearings on the
side framing, and the rotation of this shaft (c) causes the die plate (b) to
rise and fall, and when it rises it forces the blank card against the ends
of the punches (d) which are over the die plate, and this punches the
holes. There are two brackets (73) secured to the die plate beam (¹), to
which brackets pawls (6) are jointed, and each up-and-down movement
of the die plate (¹) causes the pawls to move the card cylinders or
barrels (a and a¹) one division (equal to one card) and this movement
takes forward the card which has been punched and brings another into
its place upon the 'die plate; the pins (7) in the die plate (b) entering
holes in the card to keep it steady while being punched. The blank card
barrels (a and a¹) have the usual spring hammers (a²) to bring them to
their correct position and hold them steady after each movement. The

page_text: punches (d) are placed vertically over the holes in the die plate (6), and
cach punch has a head and shoulder to prevent it passing through its
hole in the guide plate (d') which is secured at each end to the side
frames. Between the guide plate (d') for the punches (d) and the die
plate (b) there is a presser plate (e) having holes in it through which the
ends of the punches can pass to the card. This presser plate (e) is
arranged on vertical slide or guide bars (e¹) which pass through holes in
the guide (d'), helical or other springs being applied to force the plate e
downwards so as to press upon the card when the die plate 6 lifts, and
force the card from the ends of the punches (d) when the die plate
descends. There are also two pins (d) fixed in the punch guide plate,
each of which will enter a hole in the die plate (b) when it rises, and
act to bring the latter to an exact "register" with the punches, that is,
so that the holes in the die plate will be exactly opposite the punches.
The punches are so arranged that those which have to punch are
prevented from lifting, while those which are not to punch are allowed
to lift. When the die plate lifts it forces the card or plate against those
punches which are held, and their ends pass through the card or plate,
but those punches which are not held are lifted by the card or plate, the
weight of the punch and connected part by itself not being sufficient to
force its way through the card or plate. The punches are held from
lifting by steel "props" (d³), there being one for each punch. The
lower end of the prop, which is slightly rounded, rests in a cavity in the
head of the punch; the upper end of the prop, which is also rounded,
comes against a groove in one of the ribs (f¹) in a stationary cross head
(f) secured to the side frames when the punch is to make a hole
through the card, but when no hole is required the end of the prop is
forced into such a position as to come opposite the space between the
ribs (¹), into which it can rise when the card lifts the punch. To get
sufficient space for the ends of the props between the ribs (f¹) the props
are bent and spread as shewn in Fig. 3. The props correspond to the
lifting hooks of, the jacquard machine, and they are each connected
with an horizontal wire or needle g, which passes through guides and i,
and arc acted upon by springs j, as in the jacquard machine, the ends
of the wires or needles coming opposite holes in a card barrel k, as in
the jacquard machine. It will be seen that the ends of the top row of
ncedles project furthest from the plate h, and each succeeding row less
and less, so that as the face of the card strikes perpendicular to the

page_text: needles it first comes in contact with the upper row, and then the other
rows in succession, and thus each prop receives its due amount of move-
ment, those props connected with the lowest row of needles requiring
the least movement. Round the card barrel the pattern cards pass
which are to be repeated by the punching mechanism. The card
barrel k for the pattern cards is moved to and from the ends of the
needles (g) by two arms (7) secured upon a shaft having bearings
in the side frames. This shaft / being oscillated by a double acting cam
(2) upon the shaft c, which cam acts upon bowls 3 in the end of a rod
1, which at its upper end is jointed to an arm 15 secured upon the shaft 7,
and at its lower end slides through a guide le secured to the side frame.
The can ² is so shaped as to move the card barrel k towards the ends of
the needles (g) slowly, and then cause a "dwell" while the card is
pressed against the needles to give time for the punching movement of
the die plate (b), then the cam causes the barrel to move back quickly
from the ends of the needles to allow it to turn, and bring the next card
opposite the ends of the needles, the card barrel k is turned by a hook
* jointed to the side frame, and is held by a spring hammer k² when
turned as in the ordinary jacquard machine. When the card barrel k
oscillates away from the ends of the needles and the die plate (b) has
descended the props d³ of all the punches come into the position under
the ribs ready to punch, but only those props remain in this position
when the pattern card comes towards the ends of the needles, whose
needles pass through a hole in the pattern card as those needles coming
against the blank parts of the cards are forced back, and thus the upper
ends of the props pass from under the ribs, consequently holes are only
punched where there are holes in the pattern cards, the machine in fact
"repeats" the pattern cards. The driving belt for the machine works
upon pulleys upon a shaft not shown in the Drawings; and this shaft by
spur gearing drives the shaft c. The cam for actuating the pattern
card barrel may be used in the jacquard machine for weaving, it will
cause less wear upon the cards and they will last longer.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention and
the mode of carrying it into effect, and claim as my Invention the
combination and arrangement of mechanism for "repeating" jacquard
cards or plates, especially the props (d³) in combination with the
jacquard mechanism and the cam & for oscillating and actuating the

page_text: pattern barrel k, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated
by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bowker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
WILLIAM BOWKER. (L.S.)