IMPROVEMENTS IN DOBBIE MACHINES FOR WEAVING
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Patrick Burns of Gillis. and Robert Garmany McCrum
of Milford both in the County of Armagh Ireland for an Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN DOBBIE MACHINES FOR WEAVING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Patrick Burns and Robert
Garmany M Crum at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
3rd August 1883.
:
PATRICK BURNS of Gillis and ROBERT GARMANY MCCRUM of Milford, both in
the County of Armagh Ireland "IMPROVEMENTS IN DOBBIE MACHINES FOR
WEAVING,"
The object of this invention is to facilitate the operation of weaving in pattern
by improvements in the well known dobbie machine and especially in those having
shifting needle-plates.
Whereas a great difficulty has been experienced in shifting needle plates of
dobbie machines while the loom on which such machine works is in motion; and
an especially great difficulty with double-acting dobbies, or such as use two card
cylinders on opposite sides of the machine; and whereas dobbie machines require
a considerable number of cards for intricate patterns which number it is desirable
to reduce, our invention purposes to remedy both these defects, and consists in the
first place, of an elastic lever, or levers, in connection with a locking apparatus so
arranged that they may be used at any point in the rotation of the driving shaft
of the loom, to move the needle plate or needle plates at the best position for such
movement, and to prevent them being moved at any other; and in the second
place of a simple counting apparatus to stop the loom when any desired length of
cloth has been woven. To accomplish simply the shifting of the needle plates
at the proper time we use rising and falling needle plates carried in frames
pivotted to the frame of the dobbie, so as to allow of their being rocked
sufficiently to present the needles as required to either the first, second, third or
other row of holes in the cards passing over the cylinders of the dobbie. This
rocking is effected by the following means. Towards each end of the needlo

page_text: plates are formed short horizontal slots placed obliquely one above the other, one
slot for each row of holes in the dobbie cylinder, which horizontal slots are joined
together by inclined slots all being arranged for receiving stud pins that project
from sliding bars (one for each cylinder) lying transversely to the loom, and
supported in guides in the dobbie frame.
By giving these bars a longitudinal motion in either direction the needle plate
frames are tipped so as to bring their needles to the proper level for entering the
desired row of holes in the cards, but as it would cause injury to the dobbie if these
plates should be tipped before the cylinder and cards are moved completely free of
the points of their respective sets of needles, we provide a locking apparatus to
each sliding bar which prevents any movement in such bar till the corresponding
cylinder has been so moved. This locking apparatus consists of a bolt fixed
to the ordinary reciprocating frame that carries the dobbie cylinders, such
bolt being long enough to enter certain slots in the sliding bars and thereby
to hold them in position till their respective cylinders have been moved free
of their respective needle points. These sliding bars are each actuated by means
of a pair of fingers which act alternately on opposite sides of a stud pin projecting
from such bars. These fingers are pivotted on arms keyed on a rocking shaft and
are connected together by a helical or other spring or springs and between them
stands out a stud pin from the arms on the rocking shaft, the whole forming
an elastic lever. This rocking shaft can be moved automatically by a suitable
mechanism attached to the loom or may be rocked by hand by means of a lever.
When this shaft is rocked in either direction the fingers press against the stud
pins in the sliding bars, and if either bar is not then locked, the bar will be moved,
thereby raising or lowering the needle plate connected with it, as may be required,
but if the bar be locked the coupling spring will allow the fingers to separate till
the locked bar is released. The fingers will then close by the force of the spring
and move the sliding bar and its corresponding needle plate to the required
position.
Our counting apparatus is of use chiefly when the dobbie is employed to weave
towels or goods with cross borders. It generally occurs that in these goods there
is a border at each end while the body is composed of repeats of a given design,
complex or simple as the case may be; such repeats occurring in numbers depending
on the length of the article required to be woven. We produce these repeats
from a set of cards that will suffice for weaving one cross border, using in these
cards three rows of holes, one row for one border, another for tho border reversed,
and the third for the body of the fabric, each row being brought into action
as may be required by using the apparatus hereinbefore described. To this set
of cards wo give the usual continuous rotary motion using them over and over
again for weaving the body of tho article till the desired length has been attained,
and as soon as all the repeats and borders have been woven, and the towel
or other like piece of work is completed, the loom is automatically stopped.
For the purpose of this automatic stoppage we provide an adjustable counting
apparatus which may be set to suit any desired length of weaving, and which
will, when that length of weaving has been produced, stop the working of the
loom, and may be instantly returned to its starting position by means of a rod
with which it is fitted. This counting apparatus consists of a bracket casting
bolted to the dobbie frame and carrying a stud axle on which is mounted loosely
a ratchet wheel having a number of teeth equal to the maximum number of
repeats required to be made. On this stud axle are mounted two levers one
carrying a pawl for rotating the ratchet wheel, and the other hanging in the path
of a pin projecting from the outer face of the ratchet wheel. In the bracket
casting is formed a segment slot to receive an adjustable stop piece against which,
whatever may be its position, a pin on the inner face of the ratchet wheel rests
when that wheel, stands at its starting position. Made fast to the hub of this
wheel is one end of a coiled spring which surrounds the stud axle and has its
other end secured thereto. The tendency of this spring is to hold the piu just

page_text: mentioned in contact with the adjustable stop piece, and after the ratchet wheel
has been worked round to the extent of a number of teeth corresponding to the
number of repeats intended to be woven the coiled spring will, so soon as the
ratchet wheel is released, return to its starting position. At the time this
amounts of rotation is completed the other pin on the ratchet wheel will have.
come into action and raised the pendent lever before mentioned, to a given point.
This lever is connected with a belt shifting apparatus and when raised as
explained it will throw the loom out of action.
The lever carrying the pawl is actuated from the dobbie machine a needle
being set apart for that purpose and one of the cards being cut so as to
present a look on the completion of a report for the rising griff to pull up. This
hook is attached by a cord to the tail of the pawl lever, and thus when raised it
will lift the pawl which is in contact with the ratchet wheel and effect the
racking of the wheel round, the distance of one tooth.
When the hook is released from the griff the pawl will drop into the position
for repeating its action, and to prevent the ratchet wheel running back, a retaining
pawl mounted on a stud on the bracket casting is provided.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Patrick Burns and Robert Garmany McCrum in the Patent Office
on the 2nd February 1884.
PATRICK BURNS of Gillis and ROBERT GARMANY M°CRUM of Milford both in
the County of Armagh, Ireland "IMPROVEMENTS IN DOBBLE MACHINES FOR
WEAVING
.
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the operation of weaving in pattern
by improvements on the well-known dobbie machines and especially on those
having shifting neodle plates.
Great difficulty has, as is well known, been experienced in shifting needle plates
of dobbie machines while the looms to which they are fitted were in motion-This
was especially difficult with double-acting dobbies or such as use two card cylinders
on opposite sides of the machine. Moreover dobbie machines require a considerable
number of cards for intricate patterns and it has become a matter of importance
to reduce this number to a minimum
Now the object of our Invention is to facilitate the shifting of the needle
plates and to lock them in position, and also to limit the number of cards to the
picks required for completing, say, for example a cross border pattern when
weaving towelling.
".

page_text: In Sheet I of the accompanying Drawings Fig: 1 is a front elevation of a
Dobbie with our improvements applied thereto, and Fig: 2 is a side elevation of the
same; Fig: 3 Sheet II is a vertical section of the Dobbie taken in the line 1, 2 of
Fig 2, that is transversely of the Dobbie when mounted on the loom.-Fig: 4 is a
detached view on an enlarged scale of one of the levers used for operating the
needlo plates, and Figures 5 and 6 are detached views (also on an enlarged scale)
of a counting apparatus employed for controlling the action of the cards when
repeats of the pattern are required to be woven.
A A is the frame of the Dobbie furnished with guides through which the
frame B carrying the card cylinders C C moves in a horizontal direction for the
purpose of bringing the cards of the two cylinders alternately into action.-D D are
two sets of borizontal needles supported as usual in rocking frames E E pivotted
in the main frame A and set one above the other. These needles are fitted as
usual with hooks D' connected with the harness and receive a tendency through
coiled springs to move outwards or towards their respective card cylinders.-Their
ends project through a row of holes in the needle plates F F which form the outer
ends of the rocking frames E E, and they are presented by these needle plates to
the action of the cards. By reference to Fig: 2 it will be seen that the cylinders
are formed each with three rows of holes on each face. This is for the purpose of
carrying out our Invention in connection with the weaving of towelling in which
thero is usually a border at the ends while the body is composed of repeats of a
smaller pattern
The uppermost and lowest row relate to the two borders, the one being usually
the reverse of the other, and the middle row.relates to the pattern for the body of
the towelling-The rising and falling motions of the needle plates serve, as is well
known, to bring the needles opposite one or other of these rows of holes as the
-weaving-progresses.
To provide for the vertical adjustment of these plates the following means is
adopted-Towards each end of the needle plates are formed short horizontal slots
arranged obliquely one above the other (one slot for each row of holes in the
dobbie cylinder). These horizontal slots are joined together by inclined slots f
and they are arranged for receiving stud pins that project from horizontal sliding
bars G (one for each cylinder) supported in guides in the dobbie frame.
By giving these bars a longitudinal motion in either direction the needle plate
frames E E are tipped so as to bring their needles to the proper level for entering
the desired row of holes in the cards, but, as it would cause injury to the dobbie
if these plates should be tipped before the cylinder and cards are moved completely
free of the points of their respective sets of needles, we provide a locking apparatus
to each sliding bar which prevents any movement in such bar till the corresponding
cylinder has been so moved. This locking apparatus consists of a spring bolt b
fitted to the reciprocating frame B that carries the dobbie cylinders C C such
bolt being long enough to enter certain holes in tho sliding bar G and thereby to
hold it in position until the cylinder has been moved free of the neeille points.
The sliding bars G G are each actuated by means of a pair of fingers h h' which
act alternately on opposite sides of a stud pin g¹ projecting from such bars.-The
pairs of fingers h h are respectively pivotted to arms H which are keyed on a
rocking shaft H',
Fig. 4 shews one of these arms detached together with a portion of the bar
which it is designed to operate, the stud g¹. being represented in three different
positions.
The fingers h. h. are connected together by a coiled spring h². and the arm H
is provided with a stud pin h³. which serves as a propelling pin for the fingers h. h¹
alternately, as the arm is rocked. Thus in the position of the parts represented
in fig: 4 the arm has just been rocked in the direction of the arrow and the stud h³.
has struck the finger h. which, by reason of its elastic connection with the
finger h¹., causes that finger to bear against the stud g'. on the bar G and move it
in the direction of the arrow. By this endway motion of the bar the studs g.

page_text: will be caused to travel along the inclines in the needle plate and thereby raise or
lower it as the case may be. When the motion of the rocking arm H is reversed,
the finger . will be struck by the stud 8. and the finger h. will be caused to act
in like manner on the sliding bur G and thereby raise the needlo plate thus
bringing the needles into line with the proper row of holes to suit the progress of
the weaving. The rocking of the shaft H¹ may be conveniently effected by the
weaver raising or lowering a rod pendent from an arm of the rock shaft H'. I. I.
are the levers for lifting the hooks D'. that are left by the action of the cards
within the plane of motion of the levers.-These levers are actuated in the usual
mannor as are the card cylinders, both in respect of their axial and reciprocating
motions. Returning now to the action of the rocking arms H which with their
fittings may be termed elastic lovers, it will be understood on inspecting fig: 4
that when the shaft H. is rocked in either direction, the fingers h. h¹ press against
the stud-pins in the sliding bars and if either bar is not then locked, the bar will
be moved, thereby raising or lowering the needle-plate connected with it as may
be required; but if a finger is brought into contact with a locked bar the coupling
spring will allow the fingers to separate.-On the locked bar being released the
finger held back will by the force of the spring move the sliding bar G end wise
and thereby raise or lower its needle plate to the required position.
The counting apparatus shewn at Figures 5 and 6 is of use chiefly when the
dobbie is employed to weave towels or goods with cross borders. It generally
occurs that, in these goods, there is a border at each end while the body is composed
of repeats of a given design, complex or simple, as the case may be, such repeats
occurring in numbers depending on the length of the article required to be
woven. We produce these repents from a set of cards corresponding in number
with the picks required to produce a cross border, such number being a multiplo
of the picks required to produce the repeat, or it may be equal to the picks
in the repeat. The cards will in this case have three rows of holes as provided for
in the cylinder shewn in fig: 2, one row for one border, another for the border
reversed, and the third for the body of the fabric, each row being brought into
action as may be required, by using the apparatus herein before described. To this
set of cards wo give the usual continuous rotary motion, using them over and over
again for weaving the body of the article, till tho desired length has been attained;
and as soon as all the repeats have been woven and the body of the towel or other
like piece of work is completed, the loom is automatically stopped. It is for the
purpose of this automatic stoppage that we provide an adjustable counting
apparatus which may be set to suit any desired length of weaving, and which will,
when that length of weaving has been produced, stop the working of the loom
and may be instantly returned to its starting position. This counting apparatus
consists of a bracket casting K bolted to the dobbie-frame A, and carrying a stud
axle k. on which is mounted loosely a ratchet wheel L having a number of teeth
equal to the maximum number of repeats required to be made.-On this stud
axle k, are mounted two levers M N. The lever M carries a pawl m. for rotating
the ratchet wheel and the lever N hangs in the path of a pin l. projecting from the
outer face of the ratchet wheel L.-In the bracket casting K is formed a seginent
slot kl. to receive an adjustable stop piece ³. against which rests (whatever may be
its adjusted position) a second pin . on the inner face of the ratchet wheel when
that wheel stands at its starting position.-Made fast to the hub of this wheel is
one end of a coiled spring . which surrounds the stud axle k. and has its other end
secured thereto.-The tendency of this spring is to hold the pin l. in contact with
the adjustable stop piece k., and after the ratchet wheel has been worked round to
the extent of a number of teeth corresponding to the number of repeats intended
to be woven, the coiled spring will, so soon as the ratchet wheel is released from
the pawl m. return the ratchet wheel L to its starting position. At the time that
this amount of rotation is completed the pin 2. on the ratchet wheel will have
come into action and raised the pendent lever N to a given point. This lever
which we connect with a belt shifting apparatus in any ordinary manner will,

page_text: when raised as explained, throw the loom out of action The lever M carrying the
pawl m. is actuated from the dobbie machine; a needle and hook as at d. being
set apart for that purpose, and one of the cards being cut so as to leave or present,
as the case may be, the hook on the completion of a repeat to the rising lever I.-
This hook is attached by a cord to the tail of the pawl lever M, and thus when
raised it will lift the pawl which is in contact with the ratchet wheel L and effect
the racking of the wheel round the distance of one tooth.
When the hook is released from the lever I the pawl will drop into position for
repeating its action, and to prevent the ratchet wheel running back, a retaining
pawl m² mounted on a stud on the bracket casting is provided.
For releasing the pawls m. and m². from the ratchet wheel, and thus allowing it
to return to its starting position, we provide the pawl with an arm m³. from which
depends a rod m. accessible to the hand of the weaver. By lifting this rod the
pawls will be raised clear of the counting wheel teeth and the coiled spring will
then return the wheel to its starting position ready for action when the weaving
of the repetition design is recommenced.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in Dobbio
Machines for weaving" and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect;
we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
we claim :-
First The means above described for operating the Needle plates of Dobbics and
retaining them in their set position while presenting the needles to their advancing
Cylinder.
Secondly The means-above described whereby any given length of fabric having a
repetition pattern may be woven with the use of a limited-number of cards
sufficient say for weaving a cross border.
In witness whereof. Wo the said Patrick Burns and Robert Garmany M Crum
have hereunto set our hands and seals the Thirty-first day of January in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty four.
RADIAD
DRAWA