JACQUARD WEAVING AND DESIGNING

JACQUARD
WEAVING AND DESIGNING

BY

T. F. BELL

NATIONAL SCHOLAR IN DESIGN (1875-8) AND THIRD GRADE CERTIFICATED ART MASTER, SCIENCE AND ART DEPARTMENT, S. K.: MEDALLIST IN HONOURS AND CERTIFICATED TEACHER IN ‘LINEN MANUFACTURING,’ AND IN ‘WEAVING AND PATTERN DESIGNING,’ CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE

LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16^th STREET
1895

All rights reserved

PREFACE

The contents of the following pages have been derived from a long course of art and technical training, together with a lengthened practical experience in textile manufacturing and designing; during which time I received much valuable assistance from many kind friends—especially Mr. B. Ashenhurst, when master of the Belfast Technical School, and his brother, of Bradford; also Mr. John Mitchell, of Belfast and Glasgow—which I thankfully acknowledge.

To supply a treatise that would be alike suitable to the manufacturer, the workman, and the student would be a difficult matter. To explain each point so fully that it would be clear to every person would make it wearisome to those having a knowledge of the subject. I have therefore endeavoured to keep the descriptions as concise as is compatible with a fairly clear explanation, which I hope will be considered the wisest plan to adopt; and, while quite aware of the many shortcomings of the work, I venture to hope that it will prove a valuable assistance to those wishing to improve their knowledge of jacquard weaving and designing.

T. F. BELL. Belfast, 1894.

It affords me much satisfaction to add a few words of introduction to this work of my friend Mr. Bell. I cannot pretend to criticise his explanation of technical processes, but, from an examination of the proof-sheets, I am convinced that the book will be found an invaluable aid to students of both art and technical schools. We already possess numerous text-books on designing as an art, as also on the technical processes of weaving, &c., and on the materials of manufacture. Mr. Bell has aimed at bringing the technical and artistic sides of the subject together in a practical form, and has thus provided us with a valuable handbook.

Though we have a Government Department of Science and Art, a knowledge of both branches is seldom united in the same individual. The artist is too often deficient in the science of his craft; while the man of science not unfrequently shows contempt for art. The author of this volume is peculiarly qualified for the task he has set himself, being a practical manufacturer as well as a designer of long experience, and thoroughly learned in the science of his subject. His book will supply a long-felt need.

GEORGE TROWBRIDGE,

Head-Master Government School of Art, Belfast.

CONTENTS

JACQUARD WEAVING AND DESIGNING

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Though the term ‘jacquard weaving’ is properly applied to work done by the jacquard machine, it will here be taken to apply to all harness weaving, or work that extends beyond the range of shafts, or leaves of heddles.

The question arises, When is the limit to the number of shafts that ought to be used reached? It apparently used to be when no more could be got into the loom, as up to ninety-six shafts were used; and this seems to be quite enough for any weaver to get the yarn through, or for any loom to hold, but it must be remembered that at present the appliances are much more suited to the work than they formerly were; and now, except in woollen or worsted goods, where it is desirable to use shafts on account of their firmness in comparison with that of a harness, from twelve to sixteen shafts are as many as it is generally thought desirable to have in a power loom. I have seen thirty-five shafts, all in one tier or set, working diaper very conveniently in a hand loom, and more than double that number of leaves working worsted in a power loom; but whether the latter was desirable, or not, I must leave to the judgment of the manufacturer who possessed it.

Many ingenious inventions have been made for the purpose of simplifying the working of a large number of shafts, but as a description of them would be out of place here, we may pass on to the draw loom, which appears to be the first form of harness of which we have an accurate description. How the cloths of Babylon were woven, in which

Men’s figured counterfeits so like have been

That if the party’s self had been in place,

Yet Art would vie with Nature for the grace—

is not known, though in Gilroy’s report of Arphaxad’s description of his loom to Deioces, king of the Medes, it is stated to have been accomplished by means of carved blocks of wood acting on needles, which wrought the harness or heddles and thus formed the pattern; but as Gilroy has admitted that the introduction to his work on weaving is a pure invention of his own, for the purpose of making it appear that the Ancients were acquainted with motions similar to those on our modern looms, or as a ‘take-off on those who angle hourly to surprise, and bait their hooks with prejudice and lies,’ we need not dwell further on the subject. In any case, figured cloths must have attained considerable excellence in very early ages. The curtains of the Tabernacle were embroidered with figures, and the veil of the Temple was, according to Josephus, embroidered with all sorts of flowers, and interwoven with various ornamental figures, the door curtain being embroidered with blue and purple and scarlet. The ephod of the High Priest was similarly embroidered.

Fig. 1

The Egyptians worked coloured patterns in the loom so rich that they vied with the Babylonian cloths, which were embroidered with the needle. The method of working is unknown, but cloths taken from the tombs in Egypt, which may be seen in South Kensington Museum and in the Gobelins tapestry manufactory, Paris, appear to be made on a principle similar to that of the Gobelins tapestry; the warp is of flax and the weft of coloured wool: and the looms depicted on the catacombs in Egypt are very similar in appearance to tapestry looms.

Embroidering was practised in Egypt prior to the Exodus of the Israelites; and gold and silver threads or wires were used both for embroidering and weaving, being known nearly 4,000 years.

The Babylonish garment taken by Achan, whose sin brought much woe upon the Israelites, is said, by Josephus, to have been a Royal garment woven entirely of gold; but it might only have been embroidered with gold, and was probably wrought in the plain of Shinar, as it was not till long after that Babylon was celebrated for its manufactures.

Pliny says that weaving cloth with gold thread was invented by Attalus, an Asiatic king, and that the Babylonians were most noted for their skill in weaving coloured cloths. This was in Homer’s time, about 900 B.C., when weaving and embroidering appear to have attained great excellence, and to have been very gorgeous. At that time the labour of the loom was considered an accomplishment, which ladies and even princesses tried to excel in.

As before stated, the draw loom is the first form of machine for figured weaving of which we have any record. It is not known where it was invented, but it probably passed from China to Western Asia with the silk manufacture. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans do not appear to have known it. The Chinese have still in use a draw loom in which the drawboy stands on the top and draws up the parcels of twines which have been previously arranged for him. After being established in Damascus (hence the name damask), the draw loom passed on to Europe, where the Chinese method of working was used till 1604, when M. Simblot, in France, connected to the neck a separate series of cords, called the ‘Simple’ (perhaps a corruption of his name), so that the drawboy could work when standing at the side of the loom. It is said to have been introduced into England in 1567. The next improvement was to dispense with the drawboy’s services, and for this purpose a patent was taken out in 1687, by Joseph Mason, for ‘a draw boy engine by which a weaver may performe the whole worke of weaving such stuffe as the greatest weaving trade in Norwich doth now depend upon without the help of a draught boy.’ In 1779 William Cheape patented a plan to dispense with the drawboy by having the ‘simple’ above his head, and drawing it down with knots which were held in notches, as described in [Fig. 2].

Before beginning to describe the draw loom it may be better first to describe what it is required to do.

Its principal use appears to have been for the weaving of damask, which is one of the simplest forms of figured weaving. Reduce a damask texture to its elementary form, and it consists of twilling, or, more correctly, turned or reversed twilling. If we take a common dice pattern woven with shafts, it will easily be seen that one dice is formed by a warp twill, and the next one by a weft twill, or that the dices are formed by warp and weft twills alternately.

Fig. 2

Now, what forms the pattern? The yarn may be all of one colour, the threads may be so closely set together as to make them individually invisible, or to appear as a plain surface, and yet the dices come out distinctly in two shades of colour. The play of light on the longitudinal and latitudinal threads produces this effect. The dices formed by the latitudinal or horizontal threads will always appear darker than the yarn in the cloth when the latter is placed between the observer and the light, whether these threads be warp or weft, as there is a certain amount of shade on each of them, and of shadow cast by them, whereas the longitudinal or vertical threads are illuminated, without any shade or shadow, and appear lighter than the yarn did before being woven; and this is the reason why a good side light is the best for showing up the pattern on damask, it developing the above to the utmost. In a good material the difference of shade between the ground and figure is very considerable, but in some thin, coarse goods it is hardly visible, requiring them to be held in a favourable light to show the distinction: the pattern will appear light on a darker ground, or the reverse of this, according as the surface threads forming it run across the light or in the direction of it.

This is the reason of the pattern appearing on the cloth; then it is the business of the designer to regulate what form it is to partake of, by preparing a suitable design; and according to instructions furnished to him by the design, it is the duty of the drawboy to raise the warp by regulating the cording of his harness, and drawing it so as to reverse the twill from a weft one to a warp one wherever the figure is to be formed on the cloth, and to do so in such order as to produce the pattern required.

The draw-loom mounting consists of two parts—the drawboy mounting, or the harness with its tail and simples, to be wrought by the drawboy; and the shaft mounting, which is required to form the texture of the cloth, or to interlace the warp and weft through both ground and figures; the harness only interlaces them at the edges of the pattern, or causes either warp or weft to be above, to form the figure en bloc, but without interlacing them together.

It is therefore a ‘compound mounting,’ and is known as a ‘presser’ or ‘pressure’ harness. For simplicity’s sake let us suppose the principle of the drawboy to be applied to shafts or healds, and take a simple figure, as [Fig. 1].

For it there are 5 parts, or it could be wrought with 5 leaves of heddles with a straight draught. [Fig. 2] shows the mounting; A A is the back mounting, which in this case is a shaft mounting, but would be a harness for a more extensive pattern. B, B are the pressure heddles or front mounting. These are 5 in number, as the ground or texture is taken as a 5-end satin or twill, C is the pulley box with the tail cords, D, D, passing over the pulleys, and tied to the wall or to the loom framing as at E. The knobs F hang over the weaver’s head, and are attached by cords H, passing through a hole board G, to the tail cords, D, D. There are heads on the cords H, and the holes in the hole board are made thus

; so that when the weaver pulls down a knob the bead can pass through the round hole, and the shaft or shafts of the back mounting attached to it will be raised, and can be kept in this position by drawing the cord into the notch or narrow part of the hole, which the bead will not pass through. Any number of shafts can be raised that are required to form the pattern, either by pulling down the knob for each shaft, or by having the knots corded to the shafts, so that each one will raise the proper number of shafts. Thus, in the figure, each knob is only tied to one of the tail cords; therefore a knob must be pulled down for each leaf of heddles to be raised, but each knob might be attached to any number of the tail cords according to the number of leaves of heddles it is required to raise, so that pulling down each knob in succession will complete the pattern. It might require too many knobs to do this, and then the former method would have to be adopted. When the weaver begins to work he draws the first figure shed with the back mounting by pulling down one or more of the knobs as is required; he then works over the ground treadles, b, b, till a change of pattern is required. Next he releases the drawn shed by pulling the cord out of the notch in the hole board; draws another shed, and works over the ground treadles as before. This gives the principle of how the draw loom works, but the principle of forming the texture with the back and front mountings combined will be fully explained under ‘Pressure Harness.’

[Fig. 3] gives the draw-loom harness; A, A is the carriage, or the rails that support the harness, which rests on the capes or side rails of the loom. Supported by the carriage is the pulley box P, which is a frame fitted with small pulleys, and must be sloped at such an angle as will allow the tail cords to sink when opening the sheds without obstructing the pulleys underneath them. The neck twines extend from the figures 1 to 8 to the knots above the hole board D D. The cords which connect the neck twines to the mails E, E are called sleepers, and those which connect the mails with the leads F, F are called hangers. The hole board is made of hardwood perforated with holes, which run from front to back in diagonal rows from right to left; it should be a little finer than the set of the reed, to allow for empty holes that are sometimes caused by the tie of the harness ending with broken rows of hooks in some or all of the repeats. In Scotland, for this reason, when the reed is set on 37 in., the cumber board, or hole board, is set on 36 in.

Fig. 3

B, B are the tail cords, attached to the neck of the harness at one end, and at the other end all of them are fastened to the tail stick M, by means of which they are secured to the roof of the house. There must be a tail cord for each part of the harness; here only eight are shown for the front row of the harness, and if there were eights rows of harness in the hole board, 64 tail cords would be required, and the complete harness would be made up of several repetitions of the 64 neck twines; four of these repetitions are here given for the first row of the hole board. Of course there might be 400 to 600 tail cords in a full mounting.

From each tail cord descends a vertical cord to the ground, as shown at G, G. These are the simple cords, which, taken collectively, are termed the ‘Simple.’ It is on these cords that the pattern is read, or, rather, tied up. The simple cords are gathered together, according to the pattern, by passing twines round them and forming the twines into lashes or leashes, as shown at I, I. Heads of stronger cord, to which the lashes are attached, are shown at N, N. The leashes or lashes are made of cotton yarn No. 48, from six to eighteen plies of which are moderately twisted together so that the twine will not curl; the heavy twine is used for coarse work, where only a small number of lashes is necessary. The length of the lashes is from 8 to 12 in., according to the breadth of the simple. The heads are about 4-1/2 in. long, of good cord, as foot twine, which is used finer or coarser according as more or less heads are required. The heads are made with a noose on them that will run up or down on the gut cord L, which is a strong cord, generally extending from the ground to the roof of the house. K, K are the bridles connected with the lashes, and used to draw them down in succession as they are wanted by the drawboy. When there are a great number of lashes, two gut cords are used, as shown at No. 1 ([Fig. 3]), and the lashes are looped alternately on each and bridled accordingly. In coloured work, where three or four draws are required for each weft line of the pattern—that is, one draw for each colour—it is usual to have two gut cords with cross bridles from the one to the other which will slide up and down on them. On these, cross bridles the heads of the lashes are fastened, about 1 in. apart, so that the drawboy can take them in succession and draw the shed for each colour.

The method of preparing and mounting the draw-loom harness is much the same as that now in use for jacquard harnesses, and, as it is entirely out of use, it is unnecessary to describe it.

In order to make the neck twines draw evenly, rollers are placed between each set of cords at the points 1, 2, 3, &c.; these rollers keep the cords straight and make them all rise the same height at the mails, which they would not do unless they all sloped to the hole board at the same angle.

READING OR LASHING THE PATTERN

Fig. 4

The pattern, painted on design paper, same as for pressure-harness damask, is fixed upon a lashing frame, as shown in [Fig. 4], and the lower ends of the simples are passed over it and fastened to the crossbar B. The simple cords are held in position over the design by the comb C, C, which must be of such a fineness as to make each simple cord stand directly opposite that space of the pattern to which it corresponds, one simple cord being placed between each pair of teeth of the comb. It will thus be seen that there must be a simple cord for each vertical line on the pattern, or rather for each vertical space between the black lines. In the same way, there must be a head of lashes for each horizontal space, or line, as it is usually called, and which would answer to a card for the jacquard or dobby. The straight-edge E E is made so that it will slide up and down in the frame, to mark the line on the design paper that is to be next read by the lasher. Now refer to the line of the pattern above the straight-edge, and it will be seen that the first square or check to the left is blank, and it is accordingly passed over by the lasher; the second and third checks are painted, and as the simple cords corresponding to them have to be drawn to form the pattern, the lasher twists one end of his lash over the pin G, and takes a turn of it round the second and third simples, again passing it round the pin G. The fourth check, being blank, is passed over, and a turn or tack of the lash twine is taken round the fifth, sixth, and seventh simples, as the checks on the design paper opposite these are painted. The reading and lashing proceeds in this way till the line is finished, as shown in the figure; then the two ends of the lash twine are tied together round the pin G, which is then taken out, and the loop made round it by the lash twine is twisted round and formed into a snitch for the purpose of fastening it to the head. The lash is now pushed down behind the board H, to make room for another; the straight-edge is then shifted to the next line, and the lashing proceeded with as before. If too many painted squares of the design paper come together, all the simple cords corresponding to them must not be looped or lashed together, but can be taken in two or more loops or tacks, never taking more than six or seven simple cords into one tack of the lash twine.

It will be observed that the board H is rounded at the back; this is for the purpose of having all the simples at an equal distance from the pin G when they are tacked up by the lash twine, and consequently a more regular shed will be produced when they are drawn in the process of weaving.

The method of fastening the head to the lash is to loop the cord for the head, which should be double, round the gut cord, then knot the two ends of it together, and take this knot through the snitch formed on the end of the lash, and when the snitch is drawn tight the knot prevents the head from slipping out.

In weaving with the draw loom two persons are required—the weaver, who works over the ground treadles, throws the shuttle, beats up the weft, &c.; and the drawboy, who takes the lashes in succession as he draws them down by the bridle, and by pulling out the simples raises the harness and holds it in this position till the weaver has worked as many shots as are required to be given to each draught.

When some thousands of twines were required for the harness, and with a simple of three or four hundred cords, the weight and friction made it very severe work for the drawboy. To assist him a fork, as shown at V, No. 2, [Fig. 3], was used. It was made to run to and fro on a carriage, so that when the simples were drawn forward by the lashes, one spike of the fork could be run in behind those drawn forward, while the other spike was in front of them. When the fork was depressed, till the handle T came to the position shown by the dotted lines, it drew down the simple cords, and they could easily be held in that position till a change of draught was required.

Fig. 5

When the mounting of the draw loom was very extensive, it was necessary to employ from two to ten pulley-boxes and as many drawboys, so that it is not surprising that many endeavours were made to work without the aid of a drawboy. One of these machines, known as the ‘Parrot’ or ‘Pecker,’ is shown in [Fig. 5]. It is wrought by the treadles T, which are attached to the marches M, and these are connected by the pulley P, on the rocking shaft R, by a cord which passes over and is fastened to it. When one of the treadles is pressed down the pulley rocks and turns the shaft to one side, and when the other treadle is pressed down the shaft will rock to the other side. The parrot or pecker K is movable on the rocking shaft—that is, it can slide along it—but it must rock from one side to the other with the shaft. The cords C, C are passed through holes in the boards B, B, for the purpose of keeping them in position, and they have knots or beads on them at m, m, and weights, W, W, at their ends to keep them in tension. Fastened to the cords C, C is another set of cords, S, connected with the tail cords of the draw-loom harness, and so corded or arranged as to draw those tail cords required to be sunk to raise the harness to form the pattern. As the shaft R is rocked from side to side by depressing the treadles in succession, it carries with it the pecker K, and the groove or notch at the point of the pecker, shown clearly in Nos. 2 and 6, coming into contact with the knots or beads on the cords, draws them down alternately, first at one side of the machine and then at the other, until the pecker, as it slides along the rocking shaft, has passed over all the cords; it is then released and drawn back to its original position by means of the weight D, attached to it by the cord e. At the end of the rocking shaft is a ratchet wheel, N. The cord e passes from the pecker through the segmental hole in the pulley P, as shown in No. 4, and is fastened to a boss, O, on the inner side of the ratchet wheel. This wheel receives its motion from a catch, as shown at E, No. 5, which is simply a pin fixed in a slotted piece of wood. The pin y forms the catch, and the slot acts as a guide, which passes over the edge of the ratchet wheel, and keeps the catch in position. The catch is attached to the marches and works vertically. It is raised by the treadles, and when released is drawn down by the weight attached to it, the wire y catching one of the teeth of the ratchet and moving it round. There are two pins, z and t, in the ratchet, as shown in No. 3, and it is according to their distance apart that the length of traverse of the pecker is determined. The bar q, shown in No. 3 attached to the pulley V, which is loose on the axle, is raised by the stud t, as the ratchet wheel is advanced tooth by tooth, till it comes into contact with the catch S, and raises it; this allows the ratchet wheel to be reversed by the weight D on the end of the cord e till the stud z comes round and draws away the bar, which allows the catch to fall into position again and stops the pecker where the pattern is to begin. Thus, the distance between the studs z and t must be arranged to suit the number of cords the pecker has to pass, or to give the number of threads in the pattern. The teeth of the ratchet wheel and traverse of the catch must be of such a pitch that as each tooth is moved round the pulley will be turned the exact distance required to move the pecker from one cord to the next one. No. 2, [Fig. 5], is an elevation of a ‘parrot’ arranged for a single row of cords, as these machines were first made. There was only one treadle, as shown in section at M, No. 2, and the pecker only rocked to one side. Either this or the double machine could be used for a shaft mounting where a large number of treads are necessary. The cords C pass over pulleys, and are fastened to long coupers or levers with their fulcrum at the side of the loom, and to these the shafts are hung from jacks or otherwise. These machines were made to work very exactly. In the double machine the pecker would travel over three or four hundred cords in consecutive order.

To avoid confusion the beads are not shown on the front cords in No. 1.

CROSS’S COUNTERPOISE HARNESS

About the year 1816 Mr. James Cross, of Paisley, invented a machine to do away with the drawboys.

Fig. 6

This machine is fully described by Murphy and Gilroy in their works on weaving. Only the general principle of it will be given here, as an introduction to the jacquard. The detail of drawing the lashes and treading, though ingenious, is not of any practical importance now, and it requires rather a lengthy description to explain it. The harness F is the same as in the common draw loom till it reaches the tail cords, where the counterpoise apparatus commences. The framing B B ([Fig. 6]) of this machine is supported by the carriage A A, which rests on the capes or top rails of the loom. In this frame are two boards, C and D, perforated with holes corresponding in number with the tie of the harness or cords in the simple. The top board is called the suspension board, and is mortised into the bar E. From this board the harness hangs, the neck being taken up through the holes in it, and fastened above them. The lower board, D, which is mortised into the bar G, is called the neck board, or directing board, as it keeps the harness in its proper place. H and K are two other boards, perforated as shown in [Fig. 7], mortised into the sliding bars I and L respectively; these are called the trap boards, M, M and N, M are four bars, called pushers, which are fastened to the sliding bars I and L as well as to the pulleys P, P, and when the pulleys are oscillated by means of a treadle the sliding bars will be moved up and down. The knot cords or tail cords O, O are fastened to the suspension board C, and pass through the two trap boards, then through the neck board, and are tied to the harness. Only two of these cords are shown tied to the harness, to avoid confusion. These knot cords have knots or beads on them as shown, and the round holes in the trap boards H and K, as shown in [Fig. 7], must be sufficiently large (about 1/4 in. in diameter) to allow the knots or beads to pass freely through. There are notches or saw-cuts at the sides of the holes to admit the cords, but support the knots. T, T¹ is the simple, extending horizontally through the knot cords. It is fastened to the ceiling beyond T, and to the frame of the machine beyond T¹. S is a half-leaf of heddles for the purpose of supporting the simple cords. Each simple cord is tied to a knot cord, and beyond T¹ the simple is lashed according to the pattern. In working the machine the lashes are drawn by means of hooked levers, wrought by a treadle connected with the pulley V, and those simple cords that are drawn down pull the knot cords into the notches or saw-cuts in the trap boards, so that when the trap board is raised the harness fastened to those knot cords that are drawn into the saw-cuts will also be raised. R is a set of cords with weights on their ends for the purpose of drawing the knot cords out of the saw-cuts as soon as the simple is released by the lashes. The two trap boards rise and fall alternately, and this is why the machine is called a counterpoise.

Fig. 7

Some time after an improvement was made upon this machine which was known as

THE COMB DRAW LOOM

Fig. 8

This machine appears to have been invented in both Scotland and Ireland, as Gilroy describes it as an invention of Dr. McLaughlin, of Ballyshannon, County Donegal; and Murphy describes a similar machine invented by Mr. Bonnar, of Dunfermline. The machine is shown in Fig. 8. A, A are the posts of the loom, and B B the top rail; C C is the framing of the machine. The harness G, G is suspended from the suspension board D, and passes through the guide board E and the cumber board F. The upper portion of the harness is composed of tail or knot cords, as in Cross’s machine. From each of the tail cords a simple cord, H, extends horizontally over the weaver’s head, and is fastened to the board I. The lashes K hang from the simples over the weaver’s head, and have a knob on the end of each, so that the weaver can catch them and draw his own draught.

Fig. 9

The lash cords have a knot or bead on them, so that when drawn they can be held in the cuts of the board L, also shown in plan at L ([Fig. 9]). M, N ([Fig. 8]) is a side view of the comb and handle, or lever, shown in plan at M, N ([Fig. 9]). S is a cord or chain attached to the end of the lever M, and passing down to a treadle. When the weaver draws one of the knobs, the tail cords connected with the simples in this lash are drawn between the teeth of the comb, as shown by the dotted lines in [Fig. 8]. He then depresses the treadle, which raises the comb, and the harness along with it; he holds the treadle down with his left foot, and works over the ground treadles with his right one. The comb is recovered or counterbalanced by the cord O, which passes from the comb through the board P, and has a weight, R, suspended on it. D ([Fig. 9]) is a plan of the boards D, E, F and I ([Fig. 8]).

THE BARREL OR CYLINDER LOOM

This machine was introduced by Mr. Thomas Morton, of Kilmarnock. The harness and tail or knot cords are arranged similarly to those in the comb draw loom; but instead of the simple cords for drawing out the tail cords, each tail cord in the barrel loom passes through a slide, or horizontal wire. The points of these slides are acted upon by the pattern cylinder or barrel, and those held back press out their tail cords from the others, and the knots on these tail cords are caught by the teeth on the comb or roller, and the harness raised.

The pattern is arranged upon the barrel much in the same way as a tune is arranged on the cylinder of a barrel organ or musical box. A section of the barrel is shown at A ([Fig. 10]), with wire staples driven into it to form the pattern.

Fig. 10

Each of these staples represents so many lines of the design paper, or so many lashes or draughts. The pattern is ruled out and painted on the barrel, and staples are driven into it so as to cover the painted squares of the pattern. The barrel is so arranged on the loom that exactly the space of one line of the design paper is turned round for each draught, and the slides are drawn back by cords attached from their ends to a roller when the shift of the barrel is being made. B is a section of the comb; it is a cylinder with teeth, C, like a parrot’s beak fixed to it. The teeth are made of this shape to hold the knot cords when they are caught by them, and they rise or fall as the roller is rocked upwards or downwards by a treadle.

Whilst these improvements on the draw loom were being made in this country for the purpose of producing a convenient method of harness weaving, the French were endeavouring to obtain the same result, but on a different principle, and their method has proved successful.

In 1725 M. Bouchon employed a band of pierced paper, pressed by hand against a row of horizontal needles, so as to push back those which were opposite the blank spaces, and thus bring loops on the extremities of vertical wires into connection with a comb-like rack below, which, being depressed, drew down the wires, pushed on the pins in it, and raised the harness.

Fig. 11

[Fig. 11] is a sketch of a model of this loom in the Conservatoire des Arts, Paris. A is the pulley-box with two rows of pulleys in it; B the tail cords; C the simples, tied to rings on their upper ends, which run on the tail cords at B; the other ends of the simples pass over a small roller at D to prevent them rubbing against the side of the loom, then down through the hole board F, under which they are tied to wire hooks or loops, as shown under A ([Fig. 11a]). Next these wires pass through the needle box G, also shown at B, [Fig. 11a], and down to the comb H ([Fig. 11]), and C ([Fig. 11a]). The perforated paper is rolled on the roller E, and passing downwards, is pressed against the needles with a hand bar, as shown at L, [Fig. 11b]. The roller K is for rolling up the paper as it passes down from the upper roller.

[Fig. 11b] is a back view of the mounting. A shows where the simples are connected with the tail cords P; B shows the connection of the tail cords with the harness; C is the cumber board; D the mails and E the leads. F and K are the two rollers for the paper, H the needle box, and I the comb. This was the first attempt at forming the pattern by means of perforated paper acting upon needles and wires.

In 1728 M. Falcon adopted a chain of perforated cards in lieu of the perforated paper, and placed his horizontal wires or needles in several rows or ranks, thereby admitting the use of a greater number of them in a moderate space. He also used a square prism or cylinder, as it is called, for the cards to pass over.

Fig. 11a

Fig. 11b

[Fig. 12] is a sketch from a model of his loom, also in the Conservatoire des Arts. The principle of it is much the same as the preceding. A is the pulley box for four rows of pulleys, B the connection of the simple with the tail cords, C the hole board for the simple to pass through and also the support for the cylinder H, D is the needle box, E the comb or griffe, F the levers for drawing down the griffe, and G the treadle. The cards are laced in a chain and pass over the cylinders I and H, but they are pressed against the needles by a hand bar, similar to that used by Bouchon. There are two racks or receptacles for holding the cards, as shown. The cylinders H and I are simply used as rollers to support the cards, and not for pressing them against the needles, as in the jacquard.

Fig. 12

Figs. 12a and 12b give detailed views of the hooks, etc., for drawing the harness: the letters in both refer to the same parts as are marked with similar letters in [Fig. 12]. The simples B are tied to loops on the hooks under the hole board C. In Fig. 12b it will be clearly seen how the needles in four rows act upon the hooks. The griffe consists of four round iron rods or wires set in the frame E, Fig. 12a, which can be drawn down by the treadle G, connected with the levers F by the cords 3 and 4. One of the levers has its fulcrum at one side and the other has it at the opposite side, and the points of the levers are tied to the griffe frame by the cords 1 and 2. The griffe, when sunk, is brought back to its place again by weights hanging on cords running over pulleys. It may be seen that the hooks hang in front of the rods or bars of the griffe; therefore, those hooks will be pushed on the griffe whose needles come against the solid portions of the cards, thus acting similarly to Bouchon’s machine. The hand bar for pressing the cards against the needles is shown at F. The needles can pass through the slot in it, and, when a card is pressed against the needles, the bar can be fastened with hooks for the purpose, so that the operator is free to depress the treadle. There are no springs on the needles, but a clap board comes behind them, which is pressed in by means of a cord passing over each end of it and fastened to a spiral spring. There are ten leaves of heddles in front of the harness. They are plain clasped heddles, and apparently act as five, the front five being raised by the top levers connected with the treadles, as shown in [Fig. 11], and the back five are held up by a set of levers at each side, with weights on the ends of them, similarly to those now used for hand-loom damasks, and tied to the treadles below, so that sinking a treadle would cause one of the back leaves to sink and one of the front ones to rise. Only the harness mechanism of Falcon’s loom is given in [Fig. 12], the front portion being similar to that of Bouchon, or to any hand loom.

Fig. 12a

Fig. 12b

In 1746 the accomplished mechanician, Vaucanson, altogether dispensed with the cumbrous tail cords and simple of the draw loom, and made the draw-boy machine completely self-acting by placing the hooks upright on the top of the loom, and hanging the harness from them. This loom may be seen in the Conservatoire des Arts, as well as a model of it on the same scale as those already mentioned—viz., one-third the size. The machine for drawing the harness is exactly like a small jacquard, with two rows of hooks and two rows of needles, as shown in [Fig. 13]. Instead of a square cylinder and cards, the pattern is punched on a band of paper, which passes over a round or true cylinder. This cylinder is fitted with a rack wheel, so that a tooth can be passed for each change of pattern, the cylinder moving out and turning one tooth, then pressing in against the cards again. The diameter of the cylinder is about twelve inches. The hooks are raised with a griffe, similar to that in a jacquard, which is fastened to a lever connected to a treadle below. This treadle, and four others for working the heddles, is wrought by tappets, made of wood, on a shaft running along the side of the loom and turned by a wince handle in front. Altogether, the loom is a nice mechanical contrivance, and a great step in advance of its predecessors.

Fig. 13

Joseph Marie Jacquard, a working mechanic of Lyons, having invented a fishing net loom, turned his attention to improving the means of drawing the harness in looms for figured weaving, about 1790. A model of a machine by him, dated 1790, to dispense with the drawing of the harness, is in the Conservatoire des Arts. It is made with cords and rollers, and has no resemblance to the machine bearing his name. He was brought to Paris to repair Vaucanson’s loom about 1804, and it appears to be then that he combined the best qualities of the machines of his predecessors, and produced the jacquard, a model of which, dated 1804, is in the Conservatoire des Arts. This is very much like our present jacquard, but with four rows of hooks and needles made similar to those of Vaucanson, [Fig. 13]. He dispensed with Vaucanson’s cylinder and band of paper, and used instead a square prism with a chain of cards passing over it. The cylinder (or prism) he set in a frame or carriage, made to run on four wheels or pulleys on the top of the frame of the loom. The carriage is drawn out by depressing a treadle, and brought back again to press the cylinder against the needles, by means of weights tied to cords running over pulleys. The griffe is raised by means of two levers, one at each side; one end of each is connected with the griffe, and the others to a crossbar at the bottom of the loom, and this crossbar is fastened from its centre to a treadle. In all these looms the cards or paper hang at the side of the loom, the mounting being on the principle known as the London tie. Jacquard was born in 1752, and died in 1834. Vaucanson died in 1782.

FRENCH DRAW LOOM

Shortly after the introduction of Cross’s counterpoise harness, a machine was imported from France, which is shown in [Fig. 14], and described in Murphy’s ‘Art of Weaving’ as a French draw loom. This machine far surpassed any attempts at the improvements at the draw loom that had hitherto appeared, in simplicity of construction and operation. From the neck upwards the harness is similar in construction to Cross’s counterpoise, having the knot cords arranged in the same manner, but with only one trap board. Instead of the cumbrous tail, the knot cords are acted upon by wires or needles, on each of which is a loop, through which one of the knot cords passes. D is the cylinder or barrel, perforated with holes, as in the common jacquard cylinder, and C, C shows the chain of cards for forming the pattern; E is the lever for raising the trap board, to which it is connected by means of pieces of iron at each side, with a bar across between them, to the centre of which the lever is connected with a piece of wire. O O are crossbars of wood, with holes in their centres, through which run pieces of strong iron wire, which are fixed into the trap board at each end to keep it steady while in operation. There is no spring box for the needles as is now used in the jacquard, but into the crossbar or frame F is inserted a flat piece of wood moving on springs, which yields to the pressure of the needles that are forced back by the barrel, and recovers them again when the barrel is withdrawn. The lever E is drawn down by the cord H, attached to a treadle, when the trap board is to be raised, and the barrel is drawn back by the cord G, which is attached to another treadle. The barrel is pressed against the needles by springs, and when it is relieved by the treadle and is moving inwards, it is turned by one of the catches shown in Fig. 14a. Either of these catches can be brought into action, so as to turn the barrel either way, by raising or lowering them with a cord. When at rest the knot cords stand in the notches or saw cuts of the trap board, but when the cards are pressed against the needles, except where there are holes in the cards, the needles are pressed back and the cords are pushed out of the notches so that the knots stand above the holes in the trap board, and pass through them when the board is raised by depressing the treadle connected with the lever E. The trap board is shown in [Fig. 7].

Fig. 14

Fig. 14a

Whether this machine was Jacquard’s invention or not, I have not been able to ascertain; but Gilroy states that Jacquard’s first machines were made with cords and trap boards, like Cross’s counterpoise machine. It is also recorded that William Jennings, of Bethnal Green, invented a machine, similar to the above, about 1830, as an improvement on the jacquard, on account of its simplicity, as the latter appears to have given the weavers some trouble, and notice was taken of his machine by the Society of Arts.

Fig. 15

Machines similar to the above are still in use for hand-loom work, and answer very well. They have also been used for power looms, but the cords do not stand the friction long. As at present made about Glasgow, the cylinders of these machines work on slide rods, and receive their motion from the rising of the trap board, same as the cylinders in jacquards are sometimes wrought by the rising of the griffe with what is known as the ‘swan neck’ motion. The spring board at the ends of the needles is held back by a spring and drawn in by the cylinder frame as it moves outwards, which brings all the needles forward, and the cords into the saw cuts in the trap board, or comb as it is frequently called. The knots on the cords for these machines are made as at B, [Fig. 15], which, when drawn tight, are as shown at A. The cord is a good twisted cord, such as whipcord, and the holes in the trapboard are about 3/16 in. in diameter, which the knots on the cords must pass freely through. The upper ends of the cords pass through a perforated board on the top of the machine, and another cord is drawn through loops on their ends, which prevents them from being drawn through the holes.

CHAPTER II
JACQUARD MACHINES

The jacquard machine was introduced into England about 1818 and came into general use from 1824 to 1832. It was introduced into Scotland about 1824. [Fig. 16] is a representation of the early form of jacquard, and of course intended for hand-loom work. Although the present machines for power-loom work are very different in make, nearly all the working parts as here used are to be found in different machines at present working, or still being made, though the best machine makers have adopted newer and better principles for fast working and withstanding wear and tear. Fig. 16a is a view of the interior of the machine. The working of the machine will be explained further on; only those parts that will not be given in the new machines will now be noticed. The griffe or frame for raising the hooks is lifted by the straps A, A, [Fig. 16], which are attached to the pulleys B, B, and a cord C over a pulley on the same shaft as B, B, is attached to a treadle beneath the loom. As the weaver presses down this treadle the griffe is raised, and when the treadle is released the griffe falls of its own weight. The cylinder is moved out and in by the pulley E, fastened on the bent iron bar, attached to the frame which carries the cylinder, when the griffe rises and falls. D, D is a frame which lies in the turned-up portion of the hooks; only a few hooks are shown, and the outer bars of the frame. There should be a bar in the frame for each row of hooks. This frame rises up and down with the hooks, the turn on the ends of which must be of such length that when the frame is raised by the hooks lifted by the griffe, it will not be raised out of the turns on those that are left down. This frame is for the purpose of preventing the hooks from turning round, so that the turns on the upper end of them, as shown at A, A, Fig. 16a, cannot get out of position to be caught by the blades or crossbars of the griffe. The lower ends of the hooks rest on a perforated board as shown in Fig. 16a, and tail cords are looped on them and pass through the perforated board as shown. To these cords is fastened the neck of the harness. Machines with these perforated boards and frames to keep the hooks in position are still (1890) being made in Yorkshire. In Fig. 16a is shown a section through the spring box B. This box contains a spiral spring for each of the horizontal needles, the ends of which press against the springs, which allow them to yield or move back as the cards press on their points; but recover them again when the card is moved away by the cylinder. Similar spring-boxes are now used.

Fig. 16

It might be interesting to describe the various changes and attempted improvements that have been made on the original jacquard, but it would take up too much space, and many of them are of more historical than practical importance; some of them will be mentioned that may be interesting from a mechanical point of view, in connection with the descriptions of the machines, even though they have only been partially successful. Though a very different machine from what it originally was, the principle of the jacquard remains the same, and is not likely to be altered or superseded till a revolution takes place in the process of weaving.

Fig. 16a

A jacquard machine is simply a shedding motion by which a great variety of sheds can be formed; the larger the machine, or the greater the number of hooks it contains, the greater is the variety of shedding that can be produced by it.

If a jacquard is made small, with, say, from 16 to 48 hooks, it is called a dobby or shedding motion, and is used for working shaft mountings; but the ordinary jacquard machines have from 200 to 600 hooks, which have long cords, called the harness, connected to them, no shafts being required, as each hook has only a few cords tied to it, which can be raised independently of the others. The fewer the cords that are tied to each hook, the greater is the variety of shedding that can be made on the same number of warp threads, till, when there is but one cord to the hook, any thread or any number of threads can be raised independently of any of the others.

Jacquards may be divided into four classes—viz. single-acting, double-acting lift, double acting with double cylinders, and twilling jacquards; and besides these there are several other varieties made for special purposes. The single-acting is the real jacquard, and much the simplest machine. It has the disadvantage which all single-acting shedding motions have—viz. that one shed must be closed before the following one begins to open. This is on account of the same lifter having to open each shed; it must bring down the set of hooks that are raised, and then raise the next set.

This constitutes the true jacquard lift; and while it makes a clear shed, and is desirable for some purposes, it is generally considered the most imperfect form of shedding—that is, so far as the making of a good cloth is concerned. It is not suitable for making a heavy, well-covered cloth, nor for working at a high speed, 120 to 140 picks per minute being a very good speed to drive it.

A single-acting jacquard is a very simple machine, and when properly made should give very little trouble in working, particularly if the motions are properly set in relation to each other, and if such methods of working are adopted as will cause the least wear and tear on it.

In whatever way jacquards are made, the principle of working is much the same. There are a number of upright hooks set in a frame; attached to each hook is a horizontal wire or needle, one end of which is pressed upon by a spring, which keeps both it and the hook steady and in position, while the other end, or point, passes through a perforated plate, beyond which it projects about half an inch (see Fig. 16a). To lift the hooks there is a set of bars or knives arranged in a frame, just below the heads of the hooks; this frame is called the ‘griffe’ or ‘brander,’ and if raised would draw all the hooks up with it. What hooks will be lifted for each shed is regulated by perforated cards being pressed against the points of the needles. A perforation in the card allows the point of a needle to pass through and the hook to be raised; but where there is no perforation the card comes against the point of the needle, pressing it back, and holding the head of the hook clear of the blade of the griffe, so that the griffe will pass without raising the hook. It will thus be seen that any variety of shedding can be made by punching the cards to suit it. [Fig. 17] shows one of the best makes of single-acting jacquards. One of the best methods of driving is shown in this and the following figure. The griffe is raised by means of the lever G, which is sometimes supported on a beam fastened to the roof or pillars of the shed, or it may be supported by an upright fastened on the frame of the loom. A portion of this upright is shown in Fig. 17, and as well as being fastened to the loom frame, it should be stayed to the top of the machine. One end of the lever is fastened by a link connection to the centre of the bar across the griffe frame, care being taken that the connection is so made as to draw up the griffe vertically, and not have any strain on the slide rods or spindles that are used for keeping the griffe horizontal when rising.

Fig. 17

The other end of the lever is connected to a crank on the crank-shaft of the loom by a rod, E ([Fig. 17]); also shown at A ([Fig. 18]), where the crank is also given.

Fig. 18

In hand-loom machines the griffe is frequently pushed up from below instead of being drawn up from the top as is shown in [Fig. 17]. The method of doing this is similar to that given for lifting the griffes of twilling jacquards.

F ([Fig. 17]) is called the cylinder or barrel, evidently taking its name from the round cylinders or barrels used in the old machines, but is in reality a square prism. It is made of wood, and perforated on each side with a set of holes—a hole for each needle in the machine; its use is to draw round the chain of cards and press each one against the needles, or horizontal wires, in the machine. In order to keep the cards firmly on the cylinder, flat steel springs are sometimes used, as shown, attached to the top rail of the frame which holds the cylinder; and there are also steel wires which pass down in front of the cylinder over the ends of the cards. These springs are useful when only a small number of cards is used and the machine driven quickly; with a large set of cards, where there is plenty of drag on them from their own weight, they are not necessary, and but seldom used; but they are in common use in the Yorkshire districts.

It will be seen from the illustrations (Figs. 17 and 18) that the cylinder hangs in a frame suspended from the top of the machine; this is called the swing or batten motion, to distinguish it from the horizontal or sliding motion which is shown at [Fig. 20] (No. 1) and in Fig. 27. The swing motion is the simpler of the two, and is cleaner, requiring less oil; but the sliding motion is steadier, and does not swing the cards so much, consequently is more suitable when the cylinder has to travel quickly. The swing motion also requires the machine to be higher; with a slide motion the frame is usually cut off a little above the griffe.

The cylinder has to travel out and in when the machine is working, so that it may be turned round and bring a fresh card against the needles for each shot. There are many methods of accomplishing this, which may be divided into two classes—viz. independent motions, or those which are driven from the loom independently of the machine; and self acting motions, or those which drive the cylinder out and in through the rising and falling of the griffe. The latter are the simpler, but the former are much better, causing less wear and tear on both the cards and machine, as will be explained further on.

It will be seen in [Fig. 18] that as the cylinder travels out it will be caught by the hook K¹, and turned round; the head or lantern of the cylinder is made of iron, as shown, so that the hook, or shears, will take a firm catch on it. To prevent the cylinder from turning more than one card at once, and to keep it steady so that it will always come in fair against the needles, it is held firm by a hammer pressed on it by a spring. This pressure is applied in different ways, one of which may be clearly seen in [Fig. 17], and another in [Fig. 27]. When taking out the cylinder, or wanting to run it round quickly to draw over a number of cards, the hammers can be held up by a hook or sliding catch, which should be fitted to the machine for the purpose.

One of the best independent motions for driving the cylinder is shown in [Fig. 17]; and that shown in [Fig. 18] is also a very good one for small machines, perhaps the most convenient that is made; but the former is much stronger. In [Fig. 17] a connecting-arm from the frame of the cylinder is attached to the lever B. The connecting-arm should have a slotted joint, so that it can be made shorter or longer, if required, for the purpose of regulating the pressure of the cylinder on the needles.

The lever B is on a horizontal shaft, bracketed to the frame of the loom, or to the beams on which the machine rests; or some machines have bearings attached to their framing for it. There is, of course, a lever, as B, and a connecting-arm at each side of the machine. There is another lever on the end of the shaft, at right angles to B, which is connected with an eccentric on the crank-shaft of the loom by a rod, C, in the same way as the rod C is connected with the eccentric in [Fig. 18]. The eccentric can be set to bring the cylinder against the needles at any required time, independent of the lifting motion of the machine, which cannot be done when the self-acting motions are used. The larger the eccentric, the greater dwell the cylinder will have against needles. The method of working the cylinder in [Fig. 18] is somewhat similar, and can easily be seen; but it will be observed that a good deal of pressure will be put upon the studs on which the cylinder frame, or batten, hangs, particularly when the cylinder is being pressed in, as this is effected by drawing down the lever L; however, in a light machine this does not matter much.

Fig. 19

The principal feature in this motion is the escapement apparatus for the purpose of disengaging the cylinder from its connection with the driving eccentric when it is required to turn some of the cards back. [Fig. 19] (Nos. 1 and 2) shows this arrangement. The motion is not quite the same as that given in [Fig. 18], but is on the same principle, and one may be easily understood from the other. In [Fig. 18] the latch G comes out of the notch in the quadrant F, when the handle E is pressed close; the handle is on the lever D, having its fulcrum on the shaft N, and the quadrant F is connected to the eccentric rod C. The quadrant is loose on the shaft, and the lever is fast on it. [Fig. 19] is a more convenient motion. The two halves of the handle A are held apart by the spring H, and this, through the hook B on the inner end of the handle, presses the latch or catch on the slide D into the notch on the quadrant C. The quadrant and handle are one piece, and are fast on the shaft E, and a lever F on this shaft is connected to the batten of the machine, in the same manner as shown by D and B in [Fig. 18]. When there are two or more machines, one of these levers would be required for each. The lever K is loose on the shaft E, and the rod G connects it with the eccentric, same as is shown by the rod C in [Fig. 18]. In No. 2, [Fig. 19], the quadrant is left out to show clearly how the hook B acts on the slide D, and also to show the lever K on the shaft. The two halves of the handle, being pressed out by the spring, keep D in position, firmly pressed inwards; but when the handle is pressed the hook B presses the slide D outwards, leaving the quadrant free to pass up or down; and by pulling down the cord H ([Fig. 18]), which raises the shears K and K¹, the cards can easily be turned back by working the handle up and down, as the under shears will catch the cylinder and turn it the reverse way. The weaver must be careful not to jerk the motion and throw the cards off the cylinder or damage them; but a very little practice will enable anyone to turn them back quite easily and quickly. This motion answers very well for one, or perhaps two, small machines; for a 400 or 600 machine, or any smaller size working spottings, &c., it is very convenient, but when large mountings are required, as in 800 to 2400 machines, it is quite too weak for the work; even if made strong enough it would not be satisfactory, as the strength of spring that would be required to bear the strain and keep the catch in the notch would make it a very difficult matter to use the motion for reversing the cylinder. For heavy machinery the method of working the cylinder shown in [Fig. 17] is far preferable, and separate motions for turning back the cards can be fixed on the machine. These will be explained further on.

Instead of the eccentric and crank for driving the cylinder and raising the griffe being as they are shown in [Fig. 18], though a plan frequently in use, it is neater, and perhaps better, to have the eccentric at the back of the fly-wheel, and the fly-wheel either cast with one half solid, or have a plate fastened across two or more of the spokes, to which the connecting-rod can be attached with a bolt fastened in a slot. The amount of lift can be increased or diminished, either by shifting the top of the connecting-rod along the lever G ([Fig. 17]), or by increasing or reducing the throw of the crank at the fly-wheel.

Fig. 19a

Self-acting motions actuate the cylinder through the rising and falling of the griffe without requiring any special connection from the loom. One of the most convenient of these is that frequently used on hand-loom machines, and known as the S iron or swan-neck motion. It is shown in Fig. 19a (No. 1), and another form of it on a swing cylinder motion is shown in Fig 16. D is the swan-neck or S iron. In the groove in it a roller stud on the griffe frame travels, sliding in and out the cylinder A as the griffe falls and rises. E is the slide bar, which may be flat or round; if round, there must be some means of keeping it from turning in its bearings, which is generally accomplished by having a crossbar bolted across the two slide bars behind the machine.

No. 2, Fig. 19a, is a motion for the same purpose, but consists of a series of levers; and No. 3 is an arrangement of a similar nature. B is the fulcrum of the levers, or fast pin by which they are connected to the machine. C shows the attachment of the levers to the slide rod of the machine. A is the connection with the cylinder frame. As the griffe rises or falls it will easily be seen that the cylinder will be driven out or in.

The connecting-bar H is in two parts, slotted and bolted together at H to admit of regulating the position of the cylinder.

No. 4 is a motion on a different principle; it is a French motion. It will readily be seen that the cylinder is driven out and in by the toothed wheel, which is wrought by a rack on the slide rod E. This slide rod works outside the framing of the machine, as is common in the French machines. One point must be observed about these motions—viz. that they must have a certain amount of dwell at the bottom of the stroke, or when the cylinder is in. The reason of this dwell will be explained further on, but the method of obtaining it may be given here. In the swan-neck motion (No. 1), any desired dwell can easily be obtained at either top or bottom by the length of the slot that is in a vertical direction, as when the stud is passing through this portion of the slot no motion is given to the cylinder. In the lever motions Nos. 2 and 3, as well as in No. 4, the dwell is got by the levers or arms passing the centres; in Nos. 2 and 4 it is by the lever or arm H passing the back centre, which may be considered as a crank; and in No. 3 it is the short lever C passing the centre that gives the dwell.

Fig. 20

Fig. 21

Fig. 22

[Fig. 20] is a view of the interior of a single-acting jacquard machine with the framework removed; only one row of hooks and needles are given, to avoid confusion. The blades or knives of the griffe, with a support running across their centres, are shown at B. A is the face-plate or needle board, sometimes made of iron, but better to be of hard wood. C is the spring-box, the detail of which is given in [Fig. 24]. E, E¹ are the hooks, and F, F¹ the needles. D is the grating through which the hooks pass, and are supported by it. It will be seen that the hooks and needles are arranged in rows of eight: a 400 machine would have 50 or 51 of these rows in it; 500 machines are usually arranged in rows of 10, and 600 machines in rows of 12. The hooks should be set perfectly upright or vertical, and should be close up against the knives, but not pressing against them. There should be a provision made for shifting both the grating and the knives, so as to admit of both them and the hooks being properly set in relation to each other; but if set correctly by the maker, which they should be, no alteration is necessary. A ([Fig. 21]) is a side view of four hooks and needles, with the ends of the knives of the griffe shown at a, a, a, a. When the machine is working the needles are acted upon by perforated cards cut from the pattern. Suppose we take plain cloth—that is, a pattern in which each half of the warp, or every alternate thread, is raised and sunk alternately; then, if the first card acts on all the odd numbers of the needles, and the second card on all the even numbers, this repeated would make plain cloth. Whenever a hook of the jacquard is to be raised a hole is cut in the card for the needle connected with that hook, and a card with all the even numbers of holes cut in it will cause the griffe to raise all the even-numbered hooks. Refer to b ([Fig. 21]), where the second and fourth holes are cut in the card. If the card is pressed against the needles, as at c, the first and third needles will be pressed back, and will push the first and third hooks back from their position—shown by the dotted lines—to the position in which they are shown in B ([Fig. 21]); but the second and fourth hooks are not moved, as their needles pass through the holes in the card. If the griffe is now raised, the blades or knives will pass the first and third hooks, but will lift the second and fourth; and if the odd numbers of holes are cut on the next card, the first and third hooks will be lifted when it is pressed against the needles, as shown at C ([Fig. 21]), thus making the cross-shed; and this explains the principle of working any pattern by the jacquard without taking into consideration the intricacies of mounting, &c. In C ([Fig. 21]), it will be seen that if the knives d, d were upright instead of slanting, they would come down on the heads of the hooks that are under them, but, being slanted, their lower edges pass the heads of the hooks, and press them away as the griffe descends. Sometimes, even with slanting knives, if there is much vibration in the hooks, or if the loom ‘bangs off,’ some of the hooks are liable to get under the knives and be ‘crowned,’ or bent down. To avoid this deep blades are often used, principally in double-acting machines, so that the lower edges of the blades will not pass the bottom hook, as shown at D ([Fig. 21]). This prevents any danger of crowning, but it darkens the machine a little—that is, makes it more difficult to see down into it if any of the wires require to be examined; it also requires the heads of the hooks to be somewhat higher above the heads of the needles than is necessary with the narrow blades. Another principle has been tried—viz. that of making the heads of the hooks as shown in [Fig. 22], and using narrow blades. This effects its object well, but there is too much friction of the knives against the hooks, and the latter are liable to wear out too quickly. A good machine with firmly set hooks should work very well without these protections if it is steadily placed above the loom, and it is better not to be resting on the loom framing, if convenient to have it so. It will be seen from the foregoing explanation that the proper time, or, rather, the necessary time, for the cylinder to press against the needles is just after the griffe begins to rise. When the griffe is down the top edges of the knives should be 3/16in. or 1/4in. lower than the turned points of the hooks, and before this edge rises up to the hooks those that are not to be lifted should be full back, or the cylinder should be close in, having the front of the head of the hooks 3/16in. or 1/4in. behind the blades. The cylinder should have a short dwell in this position; and if it has a longer dwell it may assist to reduce the friction of the heads of the hooks against the knives; but if it has too great a dwell it may have to travel out and in too quickly to make up for the lost time, which will probably not be compensated for by the advantage of the increase in the dwell. Now, when the cylinder is driven with an independent motion, as in Figs. 17 and 18, it is easy to set the eccentric so that it can be brought in at any required time; but when a self-acting motion is used, it is plain that if the cylinder must press against the needles when the blades of the griffe are passing the heads of the hooks in rising, it must also press against them in the same position when the griffe is falling, unless some special escapement motion could be devised to avoid it, and this is where the dwell is required, and where the evil effect of the motion takes place; and it is worse in a double-lift machine with one cylinder, as the heads of the hooks in it are larger, or have a longer turn on them. A little consideration will suffice to show that when the brander or griffe is falling, say, with one-half of the hooks hanging on its knives, and the cylinder is brought in against the needles before the hooks are quite down, as it must be, it will either cause the hooks to be shot off the knives, or will put a considerable strain on them, as well as upon the needles and cards. It is for this reason that these motions are objectionable, particularly in power-loom work, where the speed is high and the hooks are strong. In hand-loom work it is not so objectionable, as there is more spring in the wires, and the heads of the hooks need not be too large, and, besides, the speed is less and the wear and tear not so great; but, even with this, if a hand-loom machine that has been in use for some time be examined, it will be seen that the points of the hooks are considerably worn, and that the edges of the knives are hollowed out like a coarse saw by the friction of the hooks on them. This latter will partly arise from the lifting of the hooks.

Fig. 23

In the old Jacquard, given in Figs. 15 and 16, the hooks are shown resting on a perforated board, and it was mentioned that in order to prevent them from turning round a frame lay in the turned-up portion of the hooks. The grating in [Fig. 20], through which the turned-up bottoms of the hooks pass, readily accomplishes this object. Sometimes flattened hooks are used, as in C ([Fig. 23]), with the needles twisted once or twice round the hooks; this makes a firm arrangement, but if anything goes wrong with a hook it is not easy to get it clear of the needle. When the needles were made with a full twist or loop on them, as at B, the same was the case; they are now usually made as at A, and if arranged in the machine as in [Fig. 20], there is no danger of the hooks sliding out of the recess in the needle, and if a hook gets bent or broken, it can be taken out and replaced by a new one without disturbing the needles.

[Fig. 16] shows how the needles press against the springs in the spring-box, which is much the same as that at present in use. Fig. 24 is the present arrangement. No. 1 gives a plan of the end of a needle, B. C C is the horizontal wire which supports it as shown in section at C C in No. 2. D (No. 1) is a section of the vertical wire shown at D D (No. 2), which passes through the loops or eyes on the ends of the needles, and keeps the springs from shooting them too far forward. A (No. 2) is a wire which passes down at the outside of the box over the ends of a row of springs, so that by drawing out this wire any of the springs can be drawn out without taking off the spring-box, as the springs pass through the box. The springs should be strong enough to keep the hooks and needles steady, but if unnecessarily strong they give the card and cylinder unnecessary work.

Fig. 24

In some machines there is no spring-box. The hooks are made double, as shown in [Fig. 25], and rods, as a, a, run along between the rows of hooks; the spring of the double wire keeps the hooks steady. There is a clap-board used, similar to that in the French draw loom, ([Fig. 13]), which is pressed against the needles with springs; this board is connected with the face-plate by a bar at each end, forming a frame. The needles do not project much through the face-plate, but when the cylinder is pressed against it, it slides back on the needles, and presses the clap-board back, which also allows those needles to go back which the card presses against. The needles are not looped on the hooks, but have a turned catch in front of them as shown. The bottom of the hook rests on a hole board, C, through which the tail cords pass; and through the hooks at D are wires fixed in a frame which rises and falls when the hooks are raised, and keeps them from turning round, same as explained in [Fig. 15]. Machines of this description are at present being made in France, and work with a rising and falling shed, which will be hereafter explained (see [Fig. 30]).

Fig. 25 Fig. 26 Fig. 27

In working, the card cylinder must be so set that it will come forward fair on the needles—that is, that when it comes forward the points of the needles will enter fair into the centres of the holes in it. For the purpose of setting it there must be provision made in the fittings so that it can be moved laterally or vertically. In the swing motion the frame can be moved laterally by means of the two screw studs on which it hangs. C, [Fig. 27], shows the bearing on which the stud of the cylinder revolves. This bearing can be raised up or down in the frame R—a side view of which is given at S—by slackening the bolt B with the wing nut A, and adjusting the bearing with the set screw D or E.

A method commonly adopted by tacklers or tuners to see that the needles are perfectly fair in the centres of the holes in the cylinder, is to rub their fingers on some dirty oil, and touch over the points of the needles with it. They then bring in the cylinder against the needles with a card on it, in which about half of the holes are cut. The points of the needles mark the card where there are no holes, and it can easily be seen whether the mark is in the centre of where a hole should be, or not.

One of the best bearings and attachments for a cylinder with a horizontal slide motion is given in [Fig. 26]. D is the bearing for the cylinder E, and C the bolts for setting it. F F is the bracket which holds the hammer and bearings, which can be set in position on the slide bar B by the bolt A. I is the hammer held down by the spring H attached to the rod G.

The cards are kept in position on the cylinder by pegs or studs, originally made of wood, and driven into the cylinder. Now they are made of brass, and set in a slotted bracket, so that they can be shifted in order to have the holes in the cards corresponding exactly with those in the cylinder. The pegs should also be set on springs, so that if a card gets off them, and between them and the needle plate, they will yield or sink into the cylinder, and not break the card. In all good machines they are made in this way.

When the motion for driving the cylinder is not fitted with an escapement for the purpose of turning back the cards, it is necessary for the convenience of the weaver to have a motion on the machine for the purpose.

Fig. 28

Figs. 28 and 29 show two varieties of these motions. A is the cylinder head; C, the catch for reversing the cylinder; F, the spring for returning the catch to its position; E, a cord which hangs down, with a knob on the end of it, in a convenient position for the weaver to catch and work the motion. In [Fig. 28] the motion is on the opposite side of the machine to the shears, but might be on either side, and the weaver has to raise the shears to turn the cylinder, which she can easily do by catching the knob for raising the shears in one hand, and working the reversing motion with the other. The cylinder must be full out for this motion to turn it properly, and this prevents the weaver from tearing the cards on the needles, as she might easily do by trying to turn the cylinder when it is too close in. In [Fig. 29], B is the shears for turning the cylinder, and both it and the pushing catch, C, pass through a keeper or bracket, D, on the side of the machine. There is a rise on C a little back from the point, and when the cord E is pulled down C is shot forward by the lever, which has its fulcrum at G, and in going forward the rise on it comes into contact with the bend in the shears, and raises them up so that it can turn the cylinder when it catches on the head of it. Both these are good and convenient motions. For the latter the cylinder should be about half-way out when the cards are being turned back.

Fig. 29

Sometimes the cylinder may not be completely turned by the shears when the machine is working, by reason of the cards catching, or if the shears are too long, or it may arise from other causes. In this case the cylinder would come in with one corner against the needles, and be pressed heavily against the needle plate. Some of the levers would probably be broken, or the cylinder might be shot out of its bearings and fall, breaking the yarn, or perhaps injuring the weaver. To avoid this, small snecks, as at H, Figs. 28 and 29, are set so that when the cylinder is square it will pass over them; but if turned angularly its lower edge will catch on the point of the sneck, as the cylinder is coming in, and turn it square. The sneck is held up with a spring so as to allow the cylinder in turning to depress it. Sometimes the sneck, as at H, is liable to cause broken shots; for if the weaver turns back the loom, and the cylinder moves out sufficiently far to be turned to its angular position, and remains there, it will, in coming in, be turned square by the sneck, and thus a card would be passed over without a pick being put in for it. This is sometimes remedied by putting the sneck above the cylinder, instead of below it, which would turn it the reverse way; but this might come wrong at other times. The better plan is to keep it below, and let the weaver get to understand what she is doing, as it is not very difficult to learn.

The setting of a jacquard machine for working consists in adjusting the cylinder motion so as to bring in the cylinder at the proper time, and press it sufficiently close against the face-plate to keep the hooks clear of the knives of the griffe, without pressing it too close; and regulating the lifting of the griffe to suit the time for shedding, and to give the size of shed required. The shed must be open for the shuttle to pass through; the time for picking is when the cranks of the crank-shaft of the loom are at the bottom centre, therefore the shed should be almost fully open at this time. The lifting of the griffe can be made a little earlier or later to suit circumstances, but very little alteration can be made, as it takes a full revolution of the crank to raise and lower the griffe. Further consideration will be given to jacquard shedding after double-acting machines have been explained.

The motion for working the cylinder, if an independent one, should be rigid and strong; for if there is any spring in it, though the cylinder may be brought in sufficiently close when there is much cutting on the card, if a blank card or one with very little cutting on it comes on, the extra pressure on the needles, especially with a large machine, may prevent it from getting in sufficiently close to clear the hooks from the griffe. With self-acting motions there may sometimes be some trouble in this way, as the weight of the griffe may not be sufficient to press in the cylinder. In this case the griffe may be weighted, or may be allowed to drop quicker, or the lifting rod and lever may be made to assist in pressing it down somewhat.

Before starting the machine the needles should be examined to see that they are all free, and that they will spring out easily after being pressed back. The griffe should be perfectly horizontal and all the knives properly set; the holes in the cards and cylinder should exactly correspond, and when the cylinder comes in the needles should be fair in the centre of the holes; if not, the cylinder must be set as described (see description of Figs. 26 and 27).

The driving of heavy single-acting jacquards will be further considered under Twilling Jacquards.

When any of the hooks or needles in a jacquard get bent or broken, they can easily be straightened, or taken out and replaced by others. By putting a thin blade of iron or wood down through the needles alongside of the hook to be replaced, and springing open the passage, the old hook may be drawn out and a new one put into its place. The tail cord must, of course, be cut off the bottom of the hook, and a new one tied on. For changing a needle take off the spring-box and draw up the pin which fastens the row of needles at the back; then the needles in this row may be taken out till the defective one is reached, and the row made up again; or, the old one may be renewed without taking any of the others out. A flat blade is used to slide through the hooks and keep clear the place for the needle to be put in.

Card Frames.—The cards for jacquard work are usually hung on a frame as O, [Fig. 18], wires sufficiently long to catch on both sides of the frame being tied to the lacing of the cards. The number of cards between each wire may vary to suit the space and the quantity of cards. Sixteen to twenty suit very well, the former for small and the latter for larger sets, and for very small sets twelve or fourteen might be more convenient. The frame may be made of round iron rod, or of flat or bar iron, and should be of the shape shown in the sketch, and not semicircular, as is usually the case, which presses the cards together in the centre; almost flat at the bottom, with just enough of a slope to make the cards slide back, is much the best. Of course, for a few cards it does not matter much what shape it is. P ([Fig. 18]) is the frame for the rollers over which the cards travel to the cylinder. They should be so sloped as to make the cards travel up nicely with sufficient drag on them, and not too much; on this depends a good deal the proper working of the cards, particularly when the machine is running at a high speed, and when springs are not used to steady them on the cylinder. It is usual to have a roller below the cylinder, attached to the frame which holds the cylinder, and the falling cards pass over it. Sometimes the cards, when falling, are shaken, so that some of the wires may not catch on the frame, but pass through it, or the ends of some of the wires may be bent and cause the same result; if the weaver neglects to put these up on the frame before the cards work round to those that have fallen, the wire may catch on it and prevent the cylinder from turning, or, perhaps, pull it out. Sometimes a crank or bend is made in the frame at the outer end, so that the wires can pass up through it without catching. The frame should just be sufficiently wide to enable the cards to pass freely through it with, say, one-eighth of an inch clearance at each side; then, if three or four inches at the outer end is cranked, or set out so as to be a little wider between the two bars than the length of the wires, they will pass up through without catching. Frames of the shape described are, of course, only suitable when the cards are to be wrought forwards—that is, with the cards falling between the cylinder and the machine; but if they require to be wrought both backwards and forwards, as is sometimes the case, the card frame must be made more of a semicircular shape, and the rollers must be set so as to give a sufficient fall to the cards, and keep them firm on the cylinder.

As has already been said, the nature of the shedding of a single-acting jacquard is objectionable for speed in working, for ease on the yarn, and for heavy work, or for well-covered work. The jacquard harness is levelled so that the yarn is all sunk, and the shed is entirely a rising one; it can easily be understood that when the griffe rises to open one shed, it must again fall before it can begin to rise to form the next shed. Now, mostly all tappet motions, and a great many dobbies or shedding motions, either have the yarn springing up and down from the centre, or have one portion rising and the other portion falling at the same time, so that in them the second shed could be open at the same time that the griffe in the single-acting jacquard had fallen to begin to rise the second shed; but as this would be much too soon, they can take a greater time to accomplish the work, and thus have a much slower and steadier motion.

It has been attempted to work the single-acting jacquard on the centre-shedding principle, and machines are at present being made in France of this class. It is only necessary to let the board on which the upright hooks rest fall at the same time that the griffe is rising in order to accomplish what is required, and the method of working is good, and would suit well in dobbies where the heddles can be taken firmly down. But in the jacquard the drawback is in the harness: the constant rising and falling causes a vibration in it, and does not admit of nearly so firm work as when the rising shed alone is used.

Fig. 30

One of these machines is shown in [Fig. 30]; they are a very compact and neatly made machine, and contain a much greater number of hooks than one of the English machines. [Fig. 26] gives one of the hooks in this machine, and the way in which it acts is there explained. It will be seen that the frame for the cylinder is inverted; F is the face-plate or needle board as it rests when the cylinder is not pressing against it, being held in this position by the spring H pressing on a stud on the bar I, which extends from the face-plate to the clap-board G. The cylinder frame is driven by a rod, C, connected with a lever. E, E¹ are two racks on the ends of the hole board on which the hooks rest, and D, D are two levers with quadrant racks on each end, which work into the racks E and E¹, and also into the racks on the slide bar a¹. This slide bar is fastened to the griffe A A, which is raised by a connecting-rod from a horizontal lever to the stud a. As the griffe is raised one end of the racked levers, D, is also raised, and the other end sinks, taking down the hole board by pressing on the racks E and E¹. The hole board is fixed so that it will easily slide up and down. If the griffe is raised two inches, the hole board falls rather more than one inch.

This is a very good motion, perhaps could not be surpassed for the purpose, but, as I said before, has the objection which all similar contrivances for the purpose must have—viz., causing too much vibration in the harness. All the cords constantly dancing up and down causes an unsteadiness and swinging that is not to be found in the ordinary jacquard harness. These machines have sixteen rows of needles in them, which are much closer set together than those in this country, and give a large number of hooks in a small-sized machine, which is a great advantage when extensive patterns are required. In this machine the half-card contains 440 holes, or 880 holes to the full or double card. The pitch is shown at A, [Fig. 31], which represents the end of one of these cards, and a piece of one of the usual 8-row cards as here used is shown at B for contrast, the black dots in both cases representing holes.

These machines have not been adopted here, nor is it likely that they will be, although they are said to work well in France. They have been tried here, and the difficulty lay in setting the cards properly so as to act correctly on the needles, and keeping them so for any length of time. The least contraction or expansion of the paper, or any irregularity in the cutting, any bend in the points of the needles, or, in fact, anything but perfect exactness, interferes with the working: there is too great compactness in the machine, and in the ordinary wear and tear of work a little allowance is necessary for success. Considering that these are working, it would appear that the pitch and size of the holes in our cards are unnecessarily large, except where small machines answer and saving of space is no consideration; in that case the extra paper required for the cards might be more than compensated for by the strength of the machine, and the saving of trouble in attending to it.

Fig. 31

The method already mentioned of getting over the disadvantage of the single-acting jacquard is not likely to gain general favour, and is not required, as it is surpassed by the double-acting jacquard, or that in which there are two griffes, one rising when the other is falling, forming a counterpoise as well, making the shed more after the principle of ordinary tappet shedding. In a loom fitted with a single-acting jacquard, if there is much weight to be lifted, it will turn round the loom so that it will rest in no position but with the griffe down, and this is frequently of so much annoyance to the weaver as to necessitate a counterpoise being applied to balance it. Sometimes weights are used, and sometimes springs. With the double-acting lift nothing is required, and this was first used in Cross’s counterpoise harness (about 1816).

Fig. 32

Fig. 33

In the double-lift machine there are double the number of hooks that there would be in a single-lift machine of the same size, but the same number of needles; each needle is connected with two hooks, as shown in [Fig. 32], which gives one row of hooks and needles for an 8-row or 400 machine. There are two griffes, one working above the other, as shown at A and B, [Fig. 33]. E, E is the top griffe in both; C, C is the bottom griffe, shown complete at A, but at B the side-bar of the frame is omitted, leaving only the knives to show how they fall in between those of the bottom griffe; D, D¹ are the two slide rods or spindles which keep the griffes steady in their traverse. There must be a sufficient space between the frame C of the lower griffe and that of the upper griffe, E, to allow of the required draw being given to form the sheds without them coming into contact. In these machines, although there are 16 hooks in the row, they only act as eight, so far as forming the pattern is concerned, as two hooks are governed by one needle; the additional hooks are solely for the purpose of obtaining a rising and falling shed. Each pair of hooks is connected together at the bottom by a piece of strong cotton cord, called the tail cord or tug cord, as shown in [Fig. 35]. The griffes are raised by two levers arranged side by side, and similar to the one shown in [Fig. 17]. These levers are wrought by rods connecting them to a double crank, or sometimes to a tappet, on the tappet shaft of the loom. The common form of crank is shown at A, [Fig. 34]. B is the tappet shaft, and on the end of it is fastened a disc. A second disc, which carries the double crank, G, is bolted against this one, and can be shifted to whatever position is required to give the tread at the correct time. The cylinder is driven from an eccentric on the crank-shaft as before described. One of the griffes rises for each shot, the other falling at the same time; but the cylinder must come in for every shot, and it is here that the principal fault in this machine lies. Not only has the cylinder to travel at a high speed, but when one griffe is at its highest position, it has to press against the needles, so as to clear away those hooks that are not to be lifted by the lower griffe, which should now be beginning to rise; and in consequence of the needles being attached to two hooks, one belonging to the upper griffe, and the other to the lower one, it follows that those needles that are pressed in by the cards have to spring back the hooks connected with them that are raised by the upper griffe, which is a severe strain on both needles and cards. To prevent the hooks being pushed off the upper griffe, they must have larger turns on them than would otherwise be necessary.

Fig. 34

[Fig. 35] shows how the raised hooks can be allowed to yield to the pressure of the needles. A, B, C, D are four hooks connected with two needles, 1 and 2. When the hook A is raised, if B, which raises the same warp—as will be seen by the connection of the tail cords with the harness at E—is not to be raised for the next shot, the needle 1 is pressed back by the card, and presses the hook B back from its knife as shown, the dotted line being its original position; the A hook, being connected with the same needle, must also be sprung back, but its head cannot get back, as it is held on the blade of the griffe, so that the wire would require to spring, if some escape were not made for it. The lower ends of the hooks are made V-shape in the grating, so that when raised, if pressed on by the needles, they can move forward as shown, the dotted line showing the original position of the hook A. When the hooks fall, they fill the slots in the grating, and are thus kept steady. G shows the tail cords as connected with the harness when both hooks are down; E shows them when one hook is up and the other down, and if the hook B was raised for the next shot, the tail cord on it would be tightening up as that on A would be falling, and the harness attached to them would be caught up a second time from the middle position, thus forming centre shedding with any portion of the harness that is raised several times in succession. With plain-texture cards the upper and lower portions of the shed would pass each other in the centre when the sheds are being reversed, all the even numbers of hooks being on one griffe, and all the odd numbers on the other.

Fig. 35

Fig. 36

The tail cord consists of two pieces of cotton cord, one fastened to each hook of a pair, then the two ends are together tied to the bunch of neck twines that are to hang from these hooks, as shown in [Fig. 35], and at A, [Fig. 36]. When one hook is raised and the tail cord drawn up with it, the other portion of the tail cord, which is tied to the other hook, is slackened—as shown at A, [Fig. 36]—which causes a certain amount of friction on them. Also, when one hook of the pair is falling with the descending griffe, and the other hook rising, the pluck occasioned thereby on the cords, when the hooks are passing at the centre, has a tendency to wear and break them. Although this does not occur when the lingoes are of a moderate weight (18 to 25 per lb.), and when only a few neck twines are tied to each tail, yet when a large number of neck twines (say 20) are tied to each tail, with weighty lingoes, as may frequently be the case in weaving small patterns on woollen and worsted goods, the breakage of the tail cords is a common source of complaint, which not only gives the trouble of renewing them, but is liable to cause defects in the cloth, by the weaver not observing the breakage for some time, as one hook of the pair may be raising the neck twines—that is, in case of the tail cord to only one of the hooks breaking. To remedy this Messrs. Hancock, Rennie, and Hudson have this year (1890) introduced a patent link connection for joining the tail to the hooks, which only requires one cord, or double cord, to be used, instead of two as before. This is shown in [Fig. 36] at B. When one hook is raised and the other down, the link is in the position shown at C. The old method is shown at A. When one hook is rising and the other falling, the partial turning of the link causes a loss of time equal to about a quarter of an inch of lift, and this eases the sudden pluck on the tail cord. When both hooks are down there is also a loss of a quarter of an inch in the lift when one hook begins to rise, caused by the turning of the link.

Fig. 37

Fig. 38

This patent works very well, but, except when heavy weights are on the hooks, is not likely to supersede the older methods. These links are fitted to machines by makers in Manchester and Bradford.

Before the form of griffe shown in [Fig. 33] was adopted the hooks were made of two heights, as shown in [Fig. 37], and one griffe wrought above the other, instead of the one set of blades or knives passing through each other; but this method was given up on account of the vibration of the long hooks, which made it uncertain whether they would remain on the knives or keep clear of them when required. [Fig. 37] shows this arrangement of hooks for a double-cylinder machine; for a single-cylinder machine with two griffes the heights of the hooks would be similar, but the heads would all be turned in the same direction, and the knives sloped to suit this, as is done when the hooks are all of the one height; each needle would be connected to a short hook and a long one. The short hooks give much more certain work, and can have the cylinder set so as to press back the hooks only as much as is required, whereas with long and short hooks allowance had to be made for the uncertainty of the vibration and the difference in the length of the two sets of hooks.

[Fig. 38] is a view of one of the best makes of double-lift jacquards with a single cylinder.

The machine is made by Devoge & Co., of Manchester, but is not here given as being specially recommended in preference to others; it is only given as an illustration. Those wanting to buy a machine had better see what are in the market, and select what they consider most suitable to their work and price. This applies to all the machinery given in these articles. There is rarely a best machine for all purposes.

Fig. 39

These machines are much in use, and can be run at a high speed, say 160, or even 180, and by many are preferred to the double-cylinder machines, as there is no danger of one cylinder getting before the other, and the cards are all laced in one set; besides, it may be more convenient for working, as some arrange their machines so that the cards for one loom hang to the back, and those of the next to the front. When these machines are to work at a high speed, the slide-motion cylinder will probably be found the most satisfactory. [Fig. 39] illustrates one of these machines with slide cylinder motion and the levers for driving it, the connections being as before given. The levers for raising the griffes are also shown, but here go to the back, whereas they are usually at the side.

The most perfect jacquard machine in the market is undoubtedly the

DOUBLE-ACTING JACQUARD WITH TWO CYLINDERS

Fig. 40

The only drawback to this machine is, except what may be said against the method of shedding, the liability of one cylinder to be turned out of time, or get a shot or two before the other, so as to put the cards off their proper rotation; but this is only a difficulty in the hands of inexperienced weavers; nevertheless it exists. The effect will be to spoil the pattern on the cloth, giving the twill a mixed or broken-up appearance. There are motions in use for stopping the loom, unless the cards come in rotation, but many prefer to work without them. [Fig. 40] is a view of a two-cylinder machine made by Messrs. Devoge & Co., with swing-motion cylinders, which are, perhaps, the best motions for these machines, as they do not require to travel quickly. A very good speed for the machines to work at is 160 to 180 or 200 picks per minute, and the cylinders would only travel at half this speed. The cylinders should be driven by an eccentric, same as given for the single-acting machines, but instead of being on the crank shaft, it should be on the tappet shaft, which runs at half the speed; and as the two cylinder frames are connected together, when the one is going out the other is coming in, so that one eccentric making a revolution for two beats of the slay will drive both cylinders. Sometimes the eccentric is on the tappet shaft, inside the framing of the loom, and is connected with the top lever, as shown in [Fig. 34] (B). C is the eccentric, D the fulcrum of a short lever attached to it, and E the upright rod attached to an arm or lever on a horizontal shaft supported by the machine, or on the top of the loom. A lever from this shaft on each side of the machine drives the cylinders. The eccentric may be on the end of the tappet shaft, same as it is shown on the crank shaft in [Fig. 18]; but it might not always be convenient to have it here, and perhaps the most desirable way to have it at any time is to have a pinion on the crank shaft with, say, twenty teeth in it, and a stud wheel alongside with forty teeth gearing into it. On this stud the eccentric can be fixed, and will give a very steady and convenient method of driving. The griffes are raised in the same way as for the double-lift jacquard with one cylinder. (See [Fig. 34] (A)).

Fig. 41

Fig. 42

[Fig. 41] shows the arrangement of a row of hooks and needles for a double-cylinder machine. The top needle of the upper set and the bottom needle of the under set are attached to two adjoining hooks, which are connected together with the same tail cord. This arrangement is to enable the cards when working at both sides to act on the correct hooks, which will be better understood by referring to the description of lacing cards for these machines. In [Fig. 41] it will be observed that all the hooks are vertical. Sometimes the hooks are slanted a little, as in [Fig. 42], to give more space between the hooks at the top, without increasing the width of the machine, and there is a slight difference in the arrangement of the hooks and needles, as is shown. Both work very well.

[Fig. 43] shows a two-cylinder machine, by Messrs. Devoge & Co., with a slide motion for the cylinders, which would be driven in the same way as the swing motion.

It has been said that the shedding of a single-acting jacquard is of the worst description for general weaving. That of the double-acting machine is by no means perfect either; some prefer the single-to the double-acting for making fine damask. Jacquard shedding cannot be regulated in the same way as tappets or the best shedding motions can. In tappets the dwell can be regulated to suit the cloth required, and the time of the shedding can be made early or late as desired. In jacquards this cannot be done to anything like the same extent. The shed must always be open in time for the pick, and the pick should begin when the cranks are about the bottom centre, a little earlier or later, as desired. The jacquard must have the shed open at this time, and must keep it open till the shuttle passes through.

It has been said that the usual method of raising the griffe or griffes is by a crank (or a stud in the wheel, which is practically a crank) on the crank shaft for a single-acting machine, and by a double crank on the tappet shaft for a double-acting machine. Now, a crank gives a continuous eccentric motion with a slight dwell when it is at both top and bottom centres. Sometimes a tappet is used to raise the griffes instead of a crank, and of course any required dwell can be made on a tappet; but then it must suit the jacquard, and the greater the dwell, the less time is occupied in the rising and falling of the harness. If the harness is plucked up or dropped down too quickly, the result is a dancing or unsteadiness of the cords, and in a double-lift machine there will be a considerable plucking when the hooks that are rising take up the cords that are falling. In order to keep the cords as steady and free from vibration as possible, if there is any swinging in the weights or lingoes, it is a common practice to put a frame round these, with wires run through it at whatever distance apart is thought desirable, so as to partition them off in bunches and keep them from swaying about.

Fig. 43

The smoother and slower the harness can be raised and lowered, the better. Therefore, to get a high working speed, the time or the portion of a revolution of the crank shaft given to the rise and fall must be as great as possible, so that very little could be gained by using a tappet. If a tappet is to be used, a box tappet will be required, or is more satisfactory for a single-acting machine, in order to make the griffe in falling follow the tappet and avoid any plucking or jerking; sometimes a fork lever, with the tappet or wiper working between the prongs of the fork, is used for the same purpose. For a double-acting machine double wiper tappets, acting on levers or treadles, are sometimes used, the griffes falling of their own weight; the tappets are nearly round eccentrics, or like plain tappets with a very short dwell, not more than one-fourth of a revolution of the crank shaft. It may therefore be considered that the harness should always be moving either up or down, with a small pause when the griffes are at the top and bottom, to admit of an easy turn and to allow the shuttle time for its passage through the shed. With the crank drive the shed will require to be opened a little wider than if the dwell was as great as it should be, especially in wide looms, in order to let the shuttle get through freely; but it would be more desirable, and a saving of strain on the yarn, to have the dwell greater, and not open the shed any wider than is necessary to admit the shuttle.

Speaking generally, the usual rule for the time of shedding may be said to be to let the shed be closed when the cranks of the loom are at the top centre, or perhaps one-sixteenth of a revolution farther forward, and let the shed be full open when the cranks are about the bottom centre. It therefore follows that the single-acting jacquard must open the shed in a little less than half a revolution of the crank shaft, and close it in the same time; but the double-acting machine takes nearly a full revolution (three-quarters, or a little more, should do) to either rise or let fall one of the griffes. It will be evident that there is a considerable difference in the nature of the shedding. A single-acting machine requires the weft to be beaten up on a closed shed (the time of the crank in coming from the top to the front centre being taken up with rising the griffe from the bottom up to catch the hooks), whereas in a double-acting machine the case is different; though the shed is closed at the same place, or in the same position of the cranks, the griffes are in an entirely different position. The closed shed with the single-acting jacquard is when the griffe is down, but with the double-acting machine it is when the two griffes are on a level—that is, halfway up. Of course, more or less of the yarn may be at the bottom position, so that there may be no closed shed, or in no position of the griffes may the yarn be all on a level, unless none of the hooks are on either of the griffes, or if one griffe has all the hooks on it. When the single-acting machine begins to open the shed, the driving-crank of the griffe is upright or at the top centre, and in the position to give the slowest motion to the griffe; whereas for the double machine the lifting cranks are horizontal when the shed is closed, and in the position to give the griffes the quickest motion; therefore, when the lay gets to the fell of the cloth in a single-acting machine, the shed is still close, whereas with a double-acting machine it is fully half open. From this it follows that, to get a close covered cloth, the double-acting machine is the better, as the weft is beaten up in a crossed shed; but to get a clean-surfaced fabric, with the weft lying straight between the two portions of the warp, the single-acting jacquard is better. It is for this reason that the single-acting machine is preferred by many workmen for making fine damask, which does not require much covering to give it a good appearance, and there is less chance of having cut weft and of looping when striking on the open shed. Of course the weft may be cut in a hard fabric by the reed having to strike too heavily against it, and in this case striking on a crossed shed might prevent the cutting, by the weft going on easier.