An Improved Jacquard Power-loom.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Jacquard Power-loom.:
I, NICHOLAS ZWERINTZEFF, of Velicoë in the Government of Jaroslav, in the
Empire of Russia, 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 improvements in power looms whereby means are
provided for weaving textile fabrics with designs of large dimensions (table-cloths,
dinner napkins towels etc.) called Damask.
Up to the present these are made exclusively upon hand-looms with heddles and
Jacquard mechanism attached.
Only small designs can be woven upon the Jacquard-power-looms i.e. such as are
repeated several times in the length and breadth of the web. The dimensions of
the design also depend upon the closeness of the texture of the fabric and the sizes
(ie. the number of hooks) of the Jacquard employed; for instance if the Jacquard
has 400, 600, 800 or at the utmost 1200 hooks, then the design can only con-
tain 400, 600, 800 or at the maximum 1200 threads to the warp. This limit
cannot be exceeded notwithstanding that table cloths of 6 or 7 feet in width are
only of a middling texture, & contain from 4000 to 10000 threads to the warp
and those of a very fine texture contain considerably more.
In weaving damasks by hand the ground of the web (mostly satin) is prepared
by means of a system of heddles put in motion by treadles, and the Jacquard works
the design and instead of one thread of the warp being passed through each eyelet
(mail of the harness) as in the power loom 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 threads are passed which
afterwards separate in the heddle leaves; so that in a loom with 400 hooks a design
with 800, 1200, 1600, 2000, 2400 threads to the warp can be made.
As the designs are generally symmetrical commencing from the centre of the
warp to the border, a very large design, containing as many as 4800 threads to the
warp can be made upon a loom of 400 hooks.
In a like manner upon a loom of 1200 hooks it is possible to weave a design
containing 6000 and even 7200 threads in each half of the table cloth.
If more than 6 yarns are threaded through each eyelet the design ceases to be
clear. In the Jacquard power-loom each separate thread of the weft answers to
one card or paste board, in the hand-loom cach card answers to three four or five
threads of the weft, at the same time the heddle forms a separate gap for each weft
thread, so that the outline of the design is not strictly curvilinear but is jagged or
broken which is all the more noticeable, the greater the number of warp threads
passed through each eyelet and the more throws of the weft that are made to each
card or raising of the press.
Upon the hand loom the weaving is done as follows:-Suppose it is required
to weave a tablecloth 6 feet wide containing 4960 threads, upon an ordinary
Jacquard loom of 612 hooks (as they are generally made) and that the design
desired to be reproduced is perfectly symmetrical both in the width and length of
the web. In this case 600 eyelets with 4 threads to the eyelet are threaded upon
one side 600 x 4 = 2400 and the same number symmetrically upon the other side
making a total of 2400 + 2400 = 4800 threads. The remaining 160 threads go
into the border and selvage upon either side 80 threads.
Now suppose that the ground is to be composed of satin on 5 heddles, the number
of wefts thrown at each raising of the press can vary from 3 to 5, let us take it
at 4. The eyelets (mail) of the harness are 3 ins. in length the weaver works as
under...He forwards the .card, raises the press and allows it to rest while the waft.

page_text: is thrown 4 times, then raising the press he executes the ground with the aid of
the heddles. If the weaver commences by raising the first heald then he must
lower one of the others so as to sink one of the threads raised by the press, in order
to cross them. This crossing is also done upon the satin so that the design upon
the surface should consist of satin in the direction of the weft. Suppose the
weaver commences that crossing from the second heald then the work would be as
follows:

page_text: the 1st is sunk; the 5th raised the 2nd remains in its place. It will be seen that
only one heddle remains stationary each time; the other four are all put in
motion. This of course necessitates a certain amount of ability on the part of
the weaver and in addition, consumes much time. Sometimes the satin is woven
with S heddles, then the work is still more tedious the movement of the heddles
is still more complicated, the clement taking 8 movements of the press to finish it.
All this work can be executed mechanically by the improved power loom with
the double action Jacquard attached thereunto (the single action Jacquard has been
discarded having been found impracticable).
The working parts of the new loom are shown in the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 represents a front view of the loom.
Figs. 2 & 3 side elevations, from the two opposite directions.
Figs. 4, 5 & 6 represent the excentrics or cams which transmit motion to the
healds, the Jacquard cards, and the selvage heddles respectively.
Fig. 7 shows the action of the heddles while working a five heddle ground (satin)
and selvages.
Figs. 8 & 9 explain the working of a satin ground with 8 heddles.
Fig. 10 exhibits the draught and cording for a satin ground.
Figs. 11 and 12 are the diagrams for the lease or plane of decussation for
the weft.
Working of the Jacquard mechanism (Figs. 1 & 2) A is a cog wheel firmly
affixed to the principal shaft of the loom. It is geared with an interchangeable
cog-wheel B working freely upon a suitable spindle and forming a part of the
pinion C. A & B have the same number of teeth cach, but C can have 12, 15, 20,
or 24 as required.
This pinion is geared with a wheel D of 120 cogs carrying on each of its sides an
eccentric cam (Gand H. placed in opposite directions).
Motion is given to the cog-wheel F (60 teeth) by D through the transmission
pinion E also having 60. teeth.
The excentric R is attached to one side of F.
The cams G and H. attached to D move the Jacquard and produce the rising
and falling of its hooks by means of the treadles P and Q.
These treadles are placed under the excentric cams GH and oscillate upon
pivots at the hind part of the loom. They are furnished with rollers running in
contact with the cams G H. The free ends of the treadles P Q are joined to the
weights which connect them with the balances attached to the Jacquard. In a
like manner by means of a weighted pedal, the excentric cain R of the pinion F
moves the rod and the spindle carrying the paste-boards.
During one revolution of the pinion F the cam R (shown separately in Fig. 5)
moves the cardboard forward, retains it close up to the Jacquard until the hooks
are raised, then causes it to recede and keeps it away during several revolutions of
the loom.
Suppose that the interchangeable pinion with 12 teeth C is put on then during
one revolution of the principal shaft of the loom, the wheel D will make and
the pinion F of a revolution. While the shaft makes 5 revolutions the wheel D
will make a revolution and the pinion Fone revolution.
It therefore follows, that for every five revolutions of the shaft one advancement
and one retirement of the card will take place at the same time a certain number
of hooks will be raised by the excentric cam, for instance G whereas the hooks
previously raised will be sunk by the other cam H for instance.
During the following 5 revolutions of the principal shaft, the wheel D will
accomplish the other half a revolution, and the pinion F another revolution i.e. the
card is again forwarded then drawn back and at the same time a corresponding
umber of hooks will be raised and sunk by the cams G and H. Examining these
novements in detail by single revolutions we arrive at the following:-
Let us suppose the excentric cam G is placed so that the point K (Fig. 2) is

page_text: about to be surmounted by the roller L, and at the same time the cam R with the
pinion F holds the card pressed against the needle plate.
The treadle Q is raised and the treadle P lowered.
At the first revolution of the principle shaft, the treadle Q is lowered fresh hooks
are raised the treadle P is raised and sinks the hooks that were previously raised.
The Jacquard is raised and remains up above. During the second revolution of
the shaft the treadle Q remains lowered and the treadle P raised. During the
third revolution Q is down and P is up. During the 4th and 5th revolutions just
the same. During the five revolutions of the principle shaft the hooks of the
Jacquard do not change their position, and the card having advanced previous to
the raising of the hooks, recedes and remains stationary. At the 6th revolution
the spindle carrying the card advances, the treadle P drops, raising fresh hooks, the
treadle Q rises allowing the other hooks to fall back into their places and the
cards recede.
At the 7th revolution P is down and Q is up. At the 8th revolution P is down
and Q is up, at the 9th and 10th revolutions the same. At the 11th revolution all
the parts revert to their primitive places. With a pinion C of 20 teeth the wheel D
would make half a revolution and the pinion F one revolution to three revolutions
of the principle shaft. In order to give stability to the said system of. wheels and
cams they are enclosed between two frames (Fig. 1).
The transmission pulleys are placed outside of the second standard.
THE MOVEMENT OF THE HEDDLE LEAVES (FIG. 1 & 3).
Supposing that the ground of the table cloth is to be satin upon heddles, then
5 heddles for satin would be employed with long eyelets, 3 ins and 2 ordinary
heddles with small eyelets for the selvages. An interchangeable pinion A is affixed
to the other end of the principal shaft (Fig. 1) which is geared with the cog-
wheel B of 160 teeth. For the satin warp upon five heddles, the pinion A' of
16 cogs is employed. The wheel B' carries 5 cams or discs C (Fig. 4) with
excentric grooves for the rollers. The entire groove of each disc is divided into
10 parts of the following forms: the 1st part projects outwardly, the 2nd part
is concentric with the circumference the 3rd is sunk towards the centre the 4th and
5th have concentric paths, the 6th has an outward projection, the 7th is concentric
with the circumference, the 8th has a fresh indentation and 9th & 10th are con-
centric with the circumference. The roller moving in this groove is pivoted to the
lever E Fone end of which, F¹ turns upon a pivot and to the other end, E the
raising cords are attached which transmit the movements of the roller to the
heddles. So that when the extremity of the lever E is lowered the heddle leaves
are raised and vice versa. Upon rotation of the disc C¹ in the direction of the
arrow (Fig. 4) while the roller is in the 2nd part of the groove, the heddle will
remain stationary, during of a revolution of the disc. As soon as the roller
glides into the third part of the disc it depresses the end E' of the lever which
will raise the heddle during of a revolution of the disc; at the 4th and 5th
sections of the disc the roller and consequently the heddle will remain in a neutral
position, during of a revolution of the disc; at the 6th section of the disc the roller
will rise together with the end of the lever E' and the heddle will descend and so
forth. Thus during a whole revolution of the disc (+8) the heddles will be twice
raised twice sunk and during of a revolution they will remain stationary i.e. in
a central position. It is easy to understand that the term "raised means the
displacement above from its central position and in a like manner " lowered or
"sunk
means a downward movement of the heddle from that position.
"
The two discs (Fig. 6) for the selvages C2 are similarly divided into 10 sections
none of them however allow the heddles to descend to a point lower than the central
position. Now let the eccentric cams and discs be set in accordance with the
working of a hand-loom as summarised above.

page_text: Imagine the different parts of the system in an expanded manner as shown in
the diagram (Fig. 7) in which case the vertical lines represent unwound discs in
communication; the 1st disc with the 1st heddle from the front, the 2nd with the
2nd heddle and so forth.
:
The 6th and 7th discs are connected with the selvage heddles.
The horizontal lines represent parts of a disc in each. The rising of the
heddle is denoted by the sign X, the sinking by 0, and the central position by ..
Let us now set the combination so that the first rising of the press corresponds to
the first line of the discs towards the rollers. Put the interchangeable pinion of
15 teeth on to the Jacquard machinery and one of 16 teeth on to the heddle
machinery then the work would be carried out as follows :—
3rd heddle raised 4th sunk 1, 2, & 5 stationary 1st gap
5
1
27
"
32
2, 3, &
2
22
"
2
3
"
"
29
1, 4, &
3
"
33
4
5.
وو
1, 2,
4
وو
At the sixth raising of Jacquard the movement of the heddles is repeated in
the above enumerated order.
Thus it is apparent that the work as affected in the proposed system, is identical
with that upon the hand-loom. If the crossing (gap) is, to be commenced from
the third heddle, then the disc must be set with the second or raised section in
place of the first, before the loom is set in motion. This makes no difference in
the working neither has it any effect upon the web. For a satin ground upon
eight heddle leaves, the disc is divided into eight sections: the first extends
outwards, the 2nd is concentric with the circumference the 3rd is an indent and
the 4th 5th 6th 7th and Sth are concentric paths. The decussation (gap) will
take place at every other heddle as shown in the Figs. 8 & 9.

page_text: 6th
"
29
8th
"
The eight discs (for 8 heddle satin) to the said wheel B' with 160 cogs the
interchangable pinion must have 160: 8 = 20 cogs. The work is executed the
same as with five healds. If a serge selvage is made upon 4 heddles then 4 more
serge discs without indentations must be annexed.
If it is required to weave a serge ground instead of a satin one, then discs for
serge must be put on instead of those for satin. Altogether by changing the
discs any desired ground can be obtained. The number of cogs upon the wheel B¹
must in each case be a multiple of the number of heddle leaves; for instance:
with 18 heddles the number of cogs would be 252 or 288.
Movement is transmitted to the heddles by a system of cranks and bell pulleys S
situated at the top and bottom of the loom (Fig. 1). Sectors S₁ are fitted to one
end of these pulleys which takes in or lets out the chains or straps to which the
heddles are attached. A swaying or right to left movement is thus entirely
prevented, at the same time ensuring an easy and reliable adjustment of the
heddles.
In the mechanism for giving motion to the press (Figs. 1 & 2) the wheel D has
120 teeth, that number being divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6, thereby ensuring means
for raising the press for 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 throws of the shuttle. The most approved
form of single shaft double-rising Jacquard looms are those upon Crossley's
system. The hooks however must be longer than those generally fitted to such
machines and the upper part of the loom modified to allow of a rise of six ins.
instead of four as in the ordinary pattern. The rear of the loom has to be
somewhat lengthened it remains however much shorter than the handlooms used
for executing large patterns an important item in the economy of mill space.
Drawing the warp (draught & cording). If the design or figure is to be
symmetrical, on a line with the centre, then two skewer threads are fastened to
cach hook of the Jacquard and afterwards threaded through the skew board
symmetrically. On the contrary if for instance a picture or portrait is to be
woven, then each thread is fastened separately and passed through the skew board
from one end to the other. In accordance with the number of threads intended
for the warp on the skewers, so many are threaded through each hook attached to
the skewers, or, to each thread of the harness are tied as many eyelets as there are
threads required (2, 3, 4, 5) and a single thread is passed through each eyelet.
The Jacquard will raise the threads the same in either case, but the motion of the
heddles as well as the passage of the yarn will be much easier in the latter
instance. The whole warp is collected in the heddles for the tweel in the order
indicated in Fig. 10. The loops of the heddles are three inches long, so that the
threads may form a clear lease (Fig. 11). The cording is done in such a manner
that whilst the heddles are in a central position, the threads should lay upon the
bottom of the eyelets so as to leave play for their rising at certain movements of
the Jacquard. In Fig. 11 the line A. B represents the lower portion of the lease
as it lays upon the sliding surface of the bottom or lathe. The line A. D. shows
the upper part of the lease Fig. 12 represents the loom in action at the moment
when the Jacquard press is risen to the point D.
The 3rd heddle is raised, the 4th is sunk C is the principle or rear supporting
slope of the warp. The threads A, B, C remain perfectly stationary and are only
slightly strained by the weights or bobs (g g). The tension of the threads AFBE
is more marked because they have a longer stretch. The strain upon them is

page_text: however not great comparitively speaking as they casily raise the cyclets B' and
the weights g, up to B¹ which diminishes the strain upon them. The threads AECD
have the greatest strain upon them, as they are stretched upwards by the press to
the point D and simultaneously, downwards by the heddles to the point E. The
relative degree to which they are strained may be judged by the difference in
their lengths (AE + ED + DC) - (A B+ BC) ie., by their decussation so as
to form the lease. This difference is less accordingly as (A. B+ BC) is greater
i.e. the longer the loom is (it is easier to produce the same deviation in a long
thread as in a short one) and it is also less the shorter that (A. E) is, i.e. the
nearer the heddle is to the point A.; it is also less, the shorter (ED) is, i.e. the
shorter the rise of the Jacquard (BD) and the fall of the heddle (EF). In
order to reduce the length of AE, E F & B D the weaving is done with as small
a shuttle as possible and by placing the heddle nearer to the lay.
To facilitate the working it will be found advantageous to fix the eyelets of the
skewers lower than the line A C, by nearly half the rise of the press; then
(A D & D C) will be rather less than (A. B+BC) which difference will lessen
the strain upon the threads. The distance of the heddles from the skew board
may with advantage be 10 ins. or more. The length of the gap should be from
56 to 58 ins. (A. C).
In a like manner, to ensure clearness of the gap when working nonelastic wefts,
such as linen, it will be found an improvement to hang small weights p p upon
cach thread of the warp; at the points N. N. Then there will be a uniform strain
at all positions of the threads because, by raising the weights ppa perfect equality
of the distances between AB NC, AF B₁ N₁ C and AEDN" C can be
obtained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
An improved Jacquard power loom having a special mechanism for working the
heddles, consisting of cog wheels A B and eccentric discs or cams C operating
upon suitable levers and treadles of the heddles in combination with a special
mechanism for operating the Jacquard press consisting of cog wheels A B C
D & F and eccentrics G H & R acting upon the levers and treadles of the
Jacquard loom both mechanisms being simultaneously driven from the main shaft
of the machine in order to effect the weaving of large patterns substantially as
subscribed.
Dated this 10th day of April 1891.
FELL & WILDING,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.