Fig. 150
A good method of working the reed is shown in [Fig. 149], which is a back view. A is a rocking shaft supported by brackets, as a, on the top rail of the loom; B is a lever projecting towards the front of the loom, and the rod b from it supports one end of the reed; C is another lever on the shaft A, projecting backwards, and the rod D connects it with the tappet treadles, so that when the treadle is pressed down the reed rises; about 3-1/2 in. is the usual height for it to rise. F is the upper rib of the gauze reed, and F1 the lower one. G is the yoke of the reed. On the yoke is fastened a bar P P, connected with the strap which passes round the top rib of the reed. I I are two projections on the bar P P, through which the slide rod E E1 passes and is fastened at the top to a bracket C on the top of the loom, and at the bottom it fits into a socket or stand N fixed to the ground; the reed slides up and down on this rod. H is a tube round the slide rod between the projections I I, and is about 1/2 in. shorter than the distance between them; to the bottom of this tube is fixed the support H1 for the dipping rod K, which, when the yarn under it is very tight, can yield 1/2 in., along with the tube H. The reed is not positive in falling, but when raised by the tappet it falls by its own weight and that of the weight-box L, which slides on the rod E E1. The weight-box is fastened by a rod M to the crank on the bar which supports the dipping rod, and weights it as well as the reed. Small weights, as R, about 1/4 lb. weight, can be placed in the weight-box till as much weight as is required is put on. [Fig. 151] gives a view of the gauze reed mounting, with the gauze or cross-shed open. Every alternate thread of the warp is drawn into one of the gauze dents, and every other one into the harness, as shown. The harness is levelled 2 in. or 2-1/2 in. below the level of the breast beam; or, having the slay levelled with the race 1/2 in. below the breast beam when the cranks are at the top centre, push back the slay till the cranks are at the back centre, and place a straight-edge across the race, and the under edge of the straight-edge where it passes the front row of the harness will give the height for the eyes of the mails. The back shell E should be set 1/2 in. below the level of the breast beam, and should be made to vibrate with a tappet, which should lower it when the gauze shed is opened, and keep it raised for the figuring shots. A shows the position of the weaver’s reed, B is the gauze reed, C the dipping rod, D the heck or ravel which is on the harness under the harness reed or cumber board F; the ravel should be about 6 in. above the yarn and 3 in. below the cumber board, making the latter 9 in. or 10 in. above the yarn. The ravel is like a small harness reed with only one rib on it, which is placed behind the harness, being covered with an iron tube to strengthen it; in front a flat iron rod is fastened above the ends of the dents and serves as the second rib. Three wires are stretched along the ravel to keep the harness steady, in the same way that they are stretched along a harness reed, but three are sufficient, instead of having one for each row of harness. The ravel is shown in full in [Fig. 150]; it is about 1-1/2 in. deep (or across it), and the cumber board 3 in. deep; it is for the purpose of drawing the yarn in the harness to either side, so that when the gauze reed is rising the half dents may pass to the right and left of the threads in the harness alternately; it is this which gives the gauze twist. Two bars A A1 ([Fig. 150]) extend from the ends of the frame of the heck; these slide in brackets C C1 fastened to the sides of the loom. The lateral motion is given to it by a lever B B1 with its fulcrum at B1; this lever has a bowl D on its lower end, which is acted on by a wheel E driven at the proper speed to suit the shedding. E1 is a face view of this wheel, which has a projection on it for shifting the lever.
Sometimes the motion is imparted to the lever so as to shift the ravel just when it is required—that is, before the gauze reed has risen to form the shed; and sometimes the ravel is shifted a part of the way at each shot of figuring, and has completed its traverse before the gauze reed has risen; this latter makes a more gradual pressure on the harness, and avoids any sudden plucking. When the wheel E acts upon the lever the ravel is drawn to the right, and when released the spring F, fastened from the side of the loom to the end of the ravel, draws it back again. The traverse of the ravel should be about 3/4 in. C2 is a separate view of the brackets C and C1.
Sometimes the heck is on the yarn between the reed and the harness, instead of being on the harness; in this case there must be about 8 in. between the reed and the harness, and the heck or ravel rests about half-way between them. The harness is wrought with a double-lift machine and three tappets. One tappet which is much like a plain wyper tappet, but with less dwell on it, acts on one of the treadles, which is connected by a rod and lever to one of the griffes: this raises the flowering shed, the lift being about 3-1/2 in., and the flowering shot is thrown in as in ordinary work, the sheds being close when the cranks are at the top centre or a little over it. As soon as this shot is thrown in, when the cranks are a little over the back centre, the second griffe is raised by another tappet. As this takes place before the cylinder is in against the needles, all the yarn in the harness is raised; the reason for raising it is to get all the harness yarn clear of the half dents of the reed, so that it can be shifted over them by the ravel. The gauze reed is raised by the third tappet; it begins to rise shortly after the second griffe, or when the cranks are a little past the top centre during the same revolution. The yarn raised by the first griffe begins to fall at the same time that the reed begins to rise; the second griffe raises the bottom yarn till it meets the top yarn of the first shed descending, at which time the ravel should be fully shifted, and the points of the half dents rising should be 3/4 in. below the harness yarn. As the harness falls and the reed rises, the yarn in the former will pass down at the opposite sides of the half-dents to which it was before being raised; a ground shot is then thrown in (this is the second ground shot), and the reed descends, taking the yarn in it down level with that in the harness. The harness is again raised as before for the next flowering shot.
When the reed is raised to form the shed for the ground shot no card is required to pass over the cylinder of the jacquard, and to prevent one passing the sneck or shears is raised for this shot, so that the cylinder is not turned. The reed must be raised in time to have the shed open for the passage of the shuttle, but keeping it a little late requires less lift to be given to the second shed which is being raised to get the bottom yarn clear of the half dents of the reed. The above description is intended for weaving fabrics with one cover, or one colour of flowering shot, as when the pattern is in white or a single colour, as it often is; but when two or more colours of figuring weft are used, the flowering sheds might be opened with one griffe working the machine single-acting, and constructing and timing the tappets to suit. One tappet would then open two or more sheds for the flowering; the second and third tappets would act on the bottom yarn and reed as before. It is, however, usual to work the machine double-acting, and to construct the tappets to raise the griffes alternately for two covers. No. 1 tappet would raise one griffe, No. 2 tappet would raise the other griffe; then a small wing on No. 1 tappet would lift the bottom yarn, and No. 3 tappet would raise the reed, the sneck being lifted at the last beat of the cylinder to prevent it from turning. For three or more covers the tappets would require to be arranged to suit in a similar manner. [Fig. 151a] is a front view of the position of the yarn in the reed when the flowering shed is drawn. Only a portion of the harness would be raised for each shot, as, say, the threads 1, 1, the remainder 2, 2, being sunk. After the flowering shots are thrown in, the bottom yarn in the harness 2, 2 has to be shifted to the other side of the half dents for the gauze shed. It is therefore raised up to meet the threads 1, 1 coming down. All are then shifted together, and when the reed is raised the position of the harness yarn is shown at the crosses; 0000 shows the position it was in at the previous ground shot. The dots on the half dents show the position of the yarn in them in relation to that in the harness 2, 2 when the reed is at rest, the yarn in both reed and harness being on a level. The reed could be wrought turned upside down with a harness, but all the loose flowering weft would require to be below. In this case there is no necessity for getting the under shed clear of the gauze dents for changing it with the ravel to form the ground shed; but this is an objectionable method of working, particularly with a light pattern, on account of the heavy shed that has to be raised. If the flushed yarn was thrown to the top and the reed turned upside down, the only way to work the heck would be on the harness below the mails, which would require it to be as deep as a reed or cumber board, in order to let the lingoes fall, and this would not answer very well.
Fig. 151 Fig. 151a