US3529635A - Method and apparatus for actuating displaceable elements of a machine utilizing the jacquard principle of operation such as the lifting wires of jacquard machines or the punching needles of jacquard card cutters - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 22, 1970' HQRAK 3,529,635

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING DISPLACEABLE ELEMENTS OF A MACHINE UTILIZING THE JACQUARD PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION SUCH AS THE LIFTING WIRES OF JACQUARD MACHINES OR THE PUNCHING' NEEDLES OF JACQUARD CARD CUTTERS Filed April 15, 19 s 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 If 22 I2 Q/fl 22 m F [2 21 'm ii ii 23 I 9 10 2a W 24:1 i 1 hii 25 ,3 A I l ll 1715 Egg: 5 \HI E li 26 1 g a m N W 1 lv'za'zaao 29 1a 27 2e 1% I5 2023 1a 1 20 Ida-ma m cyr.

7 Sept. 22, 1970 H. HORAK 3,529,635 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING' DISPLACEABLE ELEMENTS OF A- MACHINE UTILIZING THE JACQUARD PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION SUCH AS THE LIFTING WIRES 0F JAGQUARD MACHINES OR THE PUNCHING NEEDLES OF JACQUARD CARD CUTTERS Filed April 15, 1968 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 (ff/1v; HpRnK Jim myr- Sept. 22, 1970 I Y H, HORAK 3,529,635

METHOD-AND APPARATUS FORACTUATING DISPLACEABLE ELEMENTS OF A MACHINE UTILIZING THE JACQUARD PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION suca AS THE LIFTING WIRES OF JACQUARD MACHINES OR THE PUNCHING NEEDLES OF JACQUARD CARD CUTTERS Filed April 15, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 v INVENTOR. HEINZ HORAK BY 9 ATTORNEYS United States Patent ,690/ 67 Int. Cl. D03c 3/16, 17/04 [1.8. Cl. 139-59 21 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The needles for the displaceable elements of a machine utilizing the Jacquard principle of operation are raised against the poles of their electromagnets. The energized magnets hold their needles in a raised position while the other needles, comprising the selected group, are subsequently lowered and pushed against their displaceable elements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method, and to apparatus for carrying out the method, for actuating lifting wires (frequently simply called lifters) of a Jacquard machine or the displacea'ble elements of a machine utilizing the Jacquard principle of operation such as the punching needles of a Jacquard card cutter.

The prior art discloses magnetically-actuated lifting wires for Jacquard machines for weaving fancy cloth. In the known arrangements, the electromagnets must actuate intermediate needles or other catching parts that act as armatures, thereby requiring a not inconsiderable amount of magnetic force to release these parts. A corresponding large amount of power is furnished the magnets, and the magnets are consequently quite large, so that only a small number of them can be located on a given surface. Moreover, too much power should not be fed the magnets, lest the windings thereof be excessively heated. This undesired heating can be held to tolerable limits by artificial cooling, but such a solution is expensive. In addition, the weight of the catching parts militates against highspeed operation of the machine, To a certain extent, this disadvantage can be compensated for by supplying more power to the electromagnets and increasing the restoring force for the catching parts; but these measures entail increased heating.

Moreover, the increased induced-EMF sparking between the switching contacts in the electrical control circuit, as a consequence of the larger current, badly burns the contacts. To be sure, this troublesome side effect can be suppressed with spark quenching devices, but this scheme is likewise expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVVENTION The invention relates to a method and apparatus for actuating the displaceable elements of a machine utilizing the Jacquard principle of operation such as the lifting wires of Jacquard machines or the punching needles of Jacquard card cutters, the invention enabling a reduction in the number of moving parts, the electrical power expended in the electromagnets, and in minimizing the amout of heat generated in connection with energization of these magnets.

An object of the invention is a method for shifting the needles for the displaceable lifting wires or displaceable punching needles at least to within the region of attraction of at least one pole of their respective magnets, and subsequently moving the selected needles against the lifting wires or punching needles as the case may be.

A further object of the invention is an apparatus for effecting the method of the previous object, including actuating means for shifting the needles at least to within the region of attraction of at least one pole of their respective magnets, and subsequently moving the selected needles against the lifting wires or punching needles.

These and further objects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be described with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a part of a Jacquard machine, showing the actuating arrangement of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of one arrangement for moving the actuator;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are respective side views of a second and third embodiment of the actuator;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the needle for pushing the lifting wires; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view diagrammatically illustrating the manner of actuating the electromagnets.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the Jacquard machine the warp threads are moved up and down by being drawn through heald eyelets, the healds being connected by means of neck twine 1 to the lifting wires 2. In FIG. 1 only those parts that cause the necessary movements are shown, in order to preserve the simplicity of the figure. The lifting wires 2 are U- shaped and incorporate two legs 3 and 4. When not in operation the lifting wires rest on a bottom board 5 in the vicinity of a respective hole 6, through which the neck twine 1 is led. Slits 7 and 9 in respective lower and upper guide plates 8 and 10 hold the lifting wires 2 in a vertical position and free to slide up and down. The upper end of the leg 4 is bent outwardly to form a hook 11. The lifting wires are made from a suitable, springy material, and the legs 3- and 4 are under tension to spread apart. The legs, consequently, bear on respective ends of a slit 7 or 9.

The books 11 of successive lifting wires 2 form a row, parallel to which is located a lifting blade 12 that is periodically moved up and down. The lifting blade is so spaced from the leg 4 of the lifting wire 2 that, when raised, it catches the hook 11 to lift the wire 2 off the bottom board 5. This movement is then transferred by the neck twine 1 to the harness and the warp threads (not shown).

If a needle 13' bends the leg 4 towards the other leg 3, the book 11' is moved out of the path of the lifting blade 12; and the lifting wire 2', therefore, is not moved upwards by the knife, but instead continues to rest on the bottom board 5. By bending selectively the legs 4 towards the legs 3 it is possible to choose which lifting wires are raised and which not. Those wires that are raised by the lifting blade fall back to their starting position under the force of gravity.

The needles 13 are horizontally movable in holes 14 incorporated in vertical guide plates 15 located in front of the lifting wires. The left ends 16 (as seen in FIG. 1) of the needles 13 rest on an acutator 17. Mounted on the actuator 17 is a gauge grid 18 incorporating vertical slits 19 which prevent lateral movement of the needles 13. The needles near their right ends are bent upon themselves to provide a lateral shoulder 20 that bears on a respective leg 4.

Located above each needle 13 is an electromagnet 21 comprising a U-shaped core 22 and an energizing winding 23 surrounding one leg of the core. That core-leg not having the winding 23 passes through a hole 24 in a mount 25 made of non-magnetic material. The lower end 26 of the mount is elongated and incorporates a hole 27 into which passes the end of the core-leg that carries the winding 23. The undersurface of the mount 25 is covered with a thin sheet 28 of synthetic plastic, which prevents sticking of the respective needle 13 that acts as an armature.

The number of connecting leads can be reduced by winding the bared ends of the inner ends of the Winding 23 directly on the bare cores 22, thereby connecting these ends to the electrical ground of the mount 25. The electrical circuit is closed by connecting the outer winding ends to the corresponding control units. The electromagnets are advantageously manufactured by winding the coil 23 on the core 22 while the latter is still straight, and afterwards bending the core into a U. The actuator 17 embodies a needlesupport surface 29 which extends parallel to a row of needles 13, and a needle-pushing surface 30 perpendicular to the surface 29. The actuator 17 is first raised towards the electromagnet 21, then again lowered, subsequently moved towards the lifting wires 2, and finally returned to its original position.

FIG. 3 shows schematically how the actuator 117 is made to undergo these movements. The actuator is connected to a parallelogram, comprised of links 150, 151, 152 and 153, and having a pivot point 154 that is fixed to the frame 155 of the Jacquard machine. Rollers 156 and 157 are rotatably mounted on respective ones of the parallelograms two non-fixed points of rotation that are located diagonally opposite one another. Below the roller 156 is located a cam shaft 158, of which the cam 159 raises the actuator 117 against the force of gravity to its uppermost position. A second cam shaft 160, with a cam 161, is positioned just left of the roller 157. In the position shown in FIG. 3, the cam 161 has shifted the actuator 117 to its extreme right-hand position. The two cams 159 and 161 rotate clockwise at the same r.p.m., as a result of which the actuator 117 is successfully raised, lowered, moved right, and moved left. The return movement of lowering is caused by the weight of the actuator, and that of moving left by the spring force of the lifting wires 2. Since the stroke of the movements caused by the cams 159 and 161 is short, the vertical and horizontal movements are approximately rectilinear. The needles 113 lying on the actuator support-surface 129 are raised by the first movement of the actuator towards the magnets 121. The height of the cam 159 is sufiicient to cause the needles 113 just to contact the two poles (or at least one) of the electromagnet. If the magnet is energized at this moment, the needle 113 is held in the position shown in dot-dash line, while the actuator 117 is lowered, and subsequently horizontally moved rightwards by the cams 161. The needle-pushing surface 130 is less than half as high as the length of the actuators vertical movement, whereby the needle 113, held to the poles of the magnet, is not caught by the surface 130, so that the latter executes a horizontal forward and backward movement, without shifting the needle. On the other hand, if the electromagnet is not energized at the time that the needle is brought into contact with its poles, the needle is lowered back to its starting position, and subsequently advanced by the surface 130 to bear against the lifting wires 2.

Two spaced rows of lifting wires 2 and 2 are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The needles 13 for the lifting wires 2 and the needles 13 for the wires 2' are each located in a horizontally extending row. Both actuators 17 and 17 are shown advanced to the right. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed in FIGS. 1 and 2 that all electromagnets 21 are energized, so that after the preceding movement of the actuator 17 all of the needles 13 are located in the position shown in full line. Since these needles were not caught by the needle-pushing surface 30, they were not shifted against the lifting wires 2. The hooks 11 are consequently caught when the lifting blade 12 rises and are raised by the latter.

On the other hand, the magnets 21' were not energized during the upward movement of the actuator 17'; therefore, the needles 13' followed, under their own weight, the downward movement of the actuator. The surface 30 subsequently pushes the needles 13' rightwards against the lifting wires 2', moving the hooks 11' out of the path of the lifting blade 12'.

The sequence of movements of the actuators 17 and 17' and the movements of the lifting blade 12 and 12' are so synchronized that the blades are always moved upwards after the actuators have moved to their extreme right-hand position. When the blades rise they take along all those lifting wires that are not displaced by being deflected or bent by a needle 13 or 13'. The blades 12 and 12' are slightly tilted, so that during their down-ward movement they can slide unhindered over the hook ends of the unraised lifting wires, briefly bending the legs 4 and 4' of these wires to the right.

The force fo the electromagnets is only sufl'icient to hold the needles attracted to the magnet poles. The force is not so great as to attract the needles from their lowered position. The actuators raise the needles into contact with at least one magnet pole; the magnets, therefore, can be made very small and energized with very little power.

An important advantage of the invention is that the work performed by the electromagnets is reduced. In acordance with the invention, the magnets, when energized, simply hold the needles that have been raised into contact with at least one of their poles. The magnets perform no or very little, mechanical work, and hold the needles for only a relatively brief period of timeuntil the actuator is advanced to the right and the surface 30 is located beneath the end 16 of the attracted needle. As a consequence, much less electrical power is consumed, thereby assisting in reducing the amount of heat generated to tolerable proportions.

A further advantage of the invention lies in the elimination of intermediate needles or other catching parts tha are required in the prior art to transfer the effect of the electromagnets to the needles that bend the lifting wires. Aside from the fact that the elimination of so many parts facilitates inspection of the machine, improves reliability, and reduces manufacturing costs, the reduction in the number of parts is itself of very considerable advantage in a machine having as many parts as a Jacquard machine necessarily does.

By eliminating these many components, in accordance with the invention, the weight of the moved parts is re duced, enabling operation at higher speeds.

With reference to FIG. 4, a second embodiment of the actuator is illustrated. A needle 213 for bending the lifting wires (not shown) is shown in full line in its starting position and rests on a gauge grid 218. An actuator 217 in the form of a lever is composed of a short pushing arm 230 and an arm 229, the right end of which is up wardly curved towards the needle 213. The actuator is pivoted back and forth by any suitable means, not shown, through a pre-determined angle of approximately 30 about an axle 231. When the actuator pivots counter clockwise, the needle 213 is raised towards the electromagnet 221. If the magnet is energized, the needle is held against the magnet and is not advanced by the pushing arm 230 against the lifting wires, when the actuator is subsequently pivoted clockwise. A needle 213 5. held to the magnet poles is shown in dot-dash line. But if the magnet is not energized, the needle is free to return to its starting position, whereupon it is engaged by the pushing arm 230 and shifted against a lifting wire. The pivoting of the actuator is suitably synchronized with the movements of the lifting knife (not shown).

A third embodiment of the actuator is illustrated in FIG. 5, wherein an actuator 317 is comprised of a cam shaft 331, rotated clockwise, mounting a dual-purpose cam incorporating a lifting cam part 329 and a pushing cam part 330. The needle 313, in its starting position, rests on the gauge grid 318. The needle end 316 is located approximately perpendicularly above the shaft 331, and, at the start of each sequence of movements, rests lightly on the circular portion of the cam surface. Turning the cam shaft clockwise causes the slowly rising cam surface of the lifting cam part 329 to raise the needle towards the magnet poles. If the electromagnet is energized, the needle is held in the dot-dash position, attracted against the poles, even though the steeply falling cam surface of the lifting cam part 329 revolves past below the needle. The pushing cam part 330, incorporating an at least approximately radial face, cannot act on the needle as it rotates by underneath the end 316, because at its maximum extent it is spaced less far from the shaft 331 than the lifting cam part. If the magnet is not energized, the needle falls back to its original position, as shown in FIG. 5, and is subsequently caught by the radial face of the pushing cam part 330 and shifted against the lifting wires. Because the gauge grid 318 supports the needle 313 vertically, the radial face, after the cam has rotated through a certain angle, can no longer engage the left end of the needle, and the latter can be returned to its starting position by the spring action of the lifting wire. The r.p.m. of the cam shaft 331 is so synchronized with the movements of the lifting knife (not shown) that the latter is raised, upon the unraised needles having been advanced to their extreme right-hand position.

In accordance with the invention, the actuator 317 can comprise two separate cam shafts, respectively mounting a lifting cam that incorporates a slowly rising and a steeply falling cam surface and exercises the same function as the lifting cam 329, and a pushing cam that incorporates an at least approximately radial face and exercises the same function as the pushing cam 330. As in the previous embodiment, the cam surface of the pushing cam is spaced less far, at its maximum extent, from its shaft than that of the lifting cam. In a variation of this form of the invention, the two can be mounted on a common shaft.

The electromagnets are energized in any suitable, known manner. The method of the invention, and the novel apparatus for practicing the method, as herein described, relate only to the selecting mechanism for raising the desired lifting wires. In accordance with the invention, the method and apparatus are also eminently suited to operate punching needles of Jacquard card cutters. The manner in which the punching needles are selected and actuated is exactly the same as that described above in connection with lifting wires. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the circuit for each electromagnet includes a source of current 42, a lead to a switch 41 which is momentarily closed after the actuator such as 17 has lifted the needles to within the region of attraction of at least one pole of an electromagnet located opposite each needle. Another lead 40 is connected to one end of the winding 43 for each electromagnet. The other end of the winding 23 is connected via a lead 43 to one of the key contacts 44 which have tips engaging the perforated paper strip 45 trained over metal roller 46. The roller 46 is via a wiper contact 47 connected to a ground on the machine frame. If the tip of a key contact enters a hole 48 in the paper strip, the circuit for its associated electromagnet is closed so long as contact 41 is in closed condition. The holes 48 are arranged in the paper strip according to the pattern to be woven so that the corresponding electromagnets are energized for selecting the appertinent push needles.

In accordance with the invention, the needles of the previously described embodiments need not be raised so as to touch at least one pole of their respective magnets, but instead raised sufiiciently to be brought within the region of attraction of at least one pole, whereby the needles are magnetically drawn against the poles of the energized magnets.

Although the individual electromagnets are small and fed little power, it is still possible for a relatively large stray field to be produced, if, for example, many magnets are simultaneously energized. In order to prevent this stray field from acting upon those needles of which the magnets are not energized, preferably only that part of each needle near its magnet is ferromagnetic. A needle 413 of this kind is shown in FIG. 6, the needle itself being composed of a non-magnetic material. A ferromagnetic sleeve 432 is pushed onto the needle near its end 416. The sleeve cooperates with the electromagnet in the manner of an armature. Any stray field that might be 7 produced cannot act on the remaining part of the needle Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, the scope of, and the breadth of protection afforded to, the invention are limited solely by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for actuating the lifting wires of a Jacquard machine, wherein the position of each lifting wire is so controlled by a respective magnetically-attractable needle which, when moved against the lifting wires, moves the hook of its respective lifting wire out of the path of the lifting knife, and wherein the improvement comprises the following steps: initially shifting from a starting position and in a given direction each needle of a row of needles at least to Within the region of attraction of at least one pole of an individual electromagnet of a row of selectively energizable electromagnets located opposite each needle, energizing selected ones of said electromagnets so that all needles of the energized electromagnets are held to their electromagnets, returning all those needles of the unenergized electromagnets to their starting position to separate the needles into a first group of needles held to their associated electromagnets and a second group of needles again located in their starting position, moving the needles of one of said first and second groups transversely to said given direction and against the respective lifting wires, and subsequently returning the needles of said one group to their starting position.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the movements of the needles are approximately rectilinear.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the needles of said second group are moved against the lifting wires.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, including the further step of returning to their starting position the needles of that group which is not moved against the lifting wires, whereby the needles of both said groups are in their starting position.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein each needle is sufficiently shifted so as to touch at least one pole of its respective electromagnet.

6. Apparatus for actuating the lifting wires of a lacquard machine comprising a plurality of displaceable lifting wires each having a hook thereon, said lifting wires being arranged in rows, a vertically reciprocable lifting knife means for cooperation with the hooks of the lifting wires in one position thereof, to lift such lifting wires, an individually magnetically attracta-ble shiftable needle for selectively displacing each lifting wire to position its associated hook out of the path of movement of the lifting knife means, an individual electromagnet for each needle, means for energizing selected electromagnets, movable actuating means located parallel to the ends of the needles of a row of needles that are remote from said lifting wires, means controlling said actuating means for movement to shift each needle of a row from a starting position to a position at least within the region of attraction of at least one pole of its assciated electromagnet so as to divide the needles into two groups comprising a first group of needles which are held by their associated energized electromagnets and a second group of needles not magnetically held, said means further controlling said actuating means for movement in a direction to shift the needles of one of said two groups against their associated lifting wires so as to displace their associated hooks.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim '6, wherein said actuating means includes a support surface approximately at right angles to the direction in which the needles are shifted towards their electromagnets, for shifting the needles towards their electromagnets, and a pushing surface, located in front of the end of the needles remote from the lifting wires, that is approximately perpendicular to said support surface, for moving the selected needles against the lifting wires, the projection of said pushing surface beyond said support surface being less than onehalf of the stroke that shifts the needles towards their electromagnets.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7, and said support and pushing surfaces being connected together, a parallelogram linkage connected to said actuating means for displacing the latter, a frame, and means pivotally fixing said parallelogram linkage to said frame.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein one corner of said parallelogram linkage is pivotally fixed to said frame, and said actuating means is connected to said parallelogram linkage in the vicinity of a second corner thereof located diagonally opposite said one corner.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein said second corner executes approximately rectilinear displacements, and further including first means for displacing said second corner in a first direction to shift the actuating means towards the electromagnets and then to allow it to return to its starting position, and second means for subsequently displacing said second corner in a second direction to move said actuating means towards the lifting wires and then to allow it to return to its starting position.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said actuating means includes a plurality of arms pivotal about an axis located below the ends of the needles remote from the lifting wires.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim '11, wherein said actuating means includes a lever incorporating said plurality of arms and mounted for reciprocation through a predetermined arc about said axis.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 6-, wherein said actuating means includes a shaft to be driven in rotation and located underneath a row of needles, a dual-purpose cam mounted on said shaft for the needles of a row and contacting with its cam surface the longitudinal surface of the needles at the end thereof remote from the lifting wires, said dual-purpose cam including a first cam means for shifting the needles towards their electromagnets and a second cam means for moving the needles against the lifting wires, said second cam means incorporating a radial pushing face, and the cam surface of said first cam means being spaced farther from said shaft than said radial pushing face of said second cam means.

14. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said actuating means includes a first shaft and a shifting cam mounted thereon and incorporating a slowly rising and steeply falling cam surface for contacting the longitudinal surface of a row of needles to move the needles towards their electromagnets, and further including a second shaft and a pushing cam mounted thereon and incorporating an approximately radial pushing face for pushing on the ends of the selected needles to move the latter against the lifting wires, and the cam surface of said shifting cam being spaced farther from said first shaft than the spacing of said pushing cam is from said second shaft whereby those needles attracted to their electromagnets lie outside of the path of said pushing cam, said first and second shafts extending parallel to a straight line defined by the needle ends when the needles of a row are in their starting positions, and said shafts being spaced from the needles, on the side thereof remote from the electromagnets, by a distance at least equal to the respective shaft radii.

15. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a shifting cam incorporating a slowly rising and steeply falling cam surface for contacting the longitudinal surface of a row of needles to move the needles towards their electromagnets, and a pushing cam incorporating an approximately radial pushing face for pushing on the ends of the selected needles to move the latter against the lifting wires, and a common shaft for said two cams, and wherein the cam surface of said shifting cam at its maximum extent is spaced farther from said shaft than said pushing face of said pushing cam, and said shaft extending parallel to a straight line defined by the needle ends when the needles of a row are in their starting position and said shaft being spaced from the needles, on the side thereof remote from the electromagnets, by a distance at least equal to its radius.

16. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein only that part of each needle located opposite its electromagnet is ferromagnetic.

17. The apparatus as defined in claim 16, wherein the needle itself is non-ferromagnetic and the ferromagnetic part is a sleeve on the needle.

18. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said second needle group comprises the selected needles.

19. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein the needles are shifted from their starting position to touch at least one pole of their respective electromagnets.

20. In a method for actuating the displaceable elements of a machine utilizing the Jacquard principle of operation and in which the position of each displaceable element is so controlled by an associated electromagnetically attractable needle that when such a needle is moved against an element, the same is displaced, the improvement comprising initially shifting from a starting position and in a given direction, each needle of a row to a position at least within the region of attraction of at least one pole of an individual electromagnet of a row of electromagnets located opposite each needle, selectively energizing certain electromagnets of said row so that all needles associated with an energized electromagnet are held thereagainst, returning all needles associated with unnenergized electromagnets to said starting position to thus separate the needle into a first group of needles held by their associated energized electromagnets and a second group of needles again located at said starting position, moving the needles of one of said first and second groups transversely of said given direction and against their associated displaceable elements to displace the same and subsequently returning the needles of said one group to said starting position.

21. Apparatus for actuating the displaceable elements of a machine utilizing the Jacquard principle of operation comprising a plurality of displaceable elements arranged in rows and displaceable between two positions, an individually magnetically attractable and shiftable needle operably positioned relative to each displaceable element for selectively displacing the same from one position to another, an individual electromagnet for each needle, means for energizing selected electromagnets, movable actuating means located parallel to the ends of the needles of a row of needles that are remote from said displaceable elements, means controlling said actuating means for movement to shift each needle of a row in one direction, from a starting position to a position at least within the region of attraction of at least one pole of its associated electromagnet so as to divide the needles of a row into two groups comprising a first group of needles which are held by their associated energized electromagnets and a second group of needles not magnetically held, said means further controlling said actuating means for movement to shift the needles of one of said two groups in a direction transverse to said one direction and against their associated displaceable elements to displace the same.

10 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,282,223 5/ 1942 Hamilton 13955 2,976,891 3/1961 Wicker 139-71 FOREIGN PATENTS 934,290 1/ 1948 France. 253,240 2/1948 Switzerland.

10 HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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