CARD CUTTING AND LACING FOR JACQUARD (DESIGN):-

CARD CUTTING AND LACING FOR JACQUARD (DESIGN):-

Process of Jacquard designing:-

For Jacquard weaving designs are prepared and made ready for reproduction in the loom. The process involves include three major process is followed as given below:-

(1) Sketching, 

(2) Designing on point paper, and

(3) Card cutting or transferring the design on to pattern card.

A motif or design is to be selected for sketch . A leaf , a creeper, a tree, an animal , a scene, a picture or a concept may be accepted as the motif for designing. This requires to enlarged or reduced and transferred on to a point paper to the required size and picks. The outline of the figure having been drawn must be filled up with warp or weft satin or other weave and the ground with plain or other simple weave . The cards are the generaly cut on 'one pick one card 'principle , the total number of cards being equal to the number of picks in one repeat of the design.

Sketching and Designing:-

(i) First a sketch is drawn on to a point paper or graph paper, ruled vertically and horizontally indicating the numbers of ends and picks required in one repeat of the design or pattern.

(ii) Colour, laid upon the small squares on graph papers , formed by vertical lines intersecting horizontal lines, denotes warp threads lifted above weft threads , and therefore holes are cut in the cards.

(iii) Each horizontal line on the point paper represents one pattern card and one pick in the cloth, except for special and complex fabrics. Again each vertical row on point or graph paper represents one end of a single repeat of the design and is controlled by a harness cord of the Jacquard.

CARDS:-

(1) The mill board are cut into suitable sizes to make pattern cards for a jacquard. The size of cards must cover the needle space of the machine for which they are intended to be used . A card for 400s Jacquard is 16,3/8 (16.375) inches or 41.6 cm. long by ,2 ,7/16 (2.4375) inches or 6.2 cm wide , and a card for 600s Jacquard is 42.5 cm. long by 8.74 cm. wide.

(2) The cards used on handlooms are weighted than those used in powerlooms. A hundred cards of a 400s Jacquard for a handloom will weigh 3.5 lbs. or 1.6 kg, but cards of the same size for a power loom will weigh 7 lbs. or 3.18 kg. per hundred.

PIANO CARD CUTTER:-

(i) The cards are usually cut from the design on a machine , called a ' piano card cutter . This machine consist of an iron table and a punch box containing thirteen punches, twelve for cutting the smaller holes and one for cutting the peg holes in the cards . A piano card cutter is illustrated in fig. 153.

fig.152. piano cards cutter.

(ii) From the iron table two upright rise support a boards 132 cm. long 50 cm. deep . A design is pinned upon this board , and two straight edges traverse it from side to side: they guide the eye when reading along horizontal lines of a design and may be moved up and down by screws that of a design, and may be moved up and down by screws that pass through nuts attached to each end of the straight edges.

(iii) There are eight 'key' nos. 3 to 10 behind the punch box, each of which has a small spring round it to spring it back to its original position, when the finger is taken off it . These eight keys are used for cutting the right rows of holes in each cards for 200s or 400s Jacquard. For cutting the cards with twelve rows of holes in 600s Jacquard, the four key nos. 1, 2, 11, 12 in front are used . For cutting peg holes the 'key' no. 13 is used.

(iv) The two punches in front at the right hand are operated by the thumb on that hand , and the eleventh and twelfth punches are operated by the thumb on the left hand. The eight keys behind are governed by the four finger on each hand . At A is the headstock, at B are the spindles , at C are the punches and at D is the peg hole punch (fig 153).

CARD CUTTING:-

Fig. 154A shows the effect of pushing in one of the keys . The key is pushed over the punch K , and as an up-and-down motion is given to the whole punch box by means of two treadles , operated by the card-cutter’s feet, the punches that are locked will cut in the card . Where the keys are not pressed (fig. 154B ), they do not act upon the punches , and the card is left blank accordingly. The card is clipped at the numbered end by a clip on the 'carriage,,. This carriage recedes with the card for a space of one row if holes every time the left treadle is pressed down.

Fig. 154A. and 154B.

Methods of Card Cutting in Piano Card Cutter:-

(i) The cards are always numbered at the '26-sude' : and the cutting is commenced at this end. At the first strike of the right foot , the lace holes and the peg holes are cut . Then one stroke of the treadle is made without cutting and the pointer of the machine arrives at the first or spare row. If the selvedges are worked from this row, holes are cut accordingly. Then the pointer comes to the second row, and in this row the cutting from the design is commenced.

(ii) When cutting the cards , the design is usually turned round ; and the cutting commenced from the top right hand corner. The first hole cut in the card is operated with the little finger of the hand . Following this hole to the loom , we find that it operated the last or 400th end in the draft and that the hole cut last on the card , numbered 400, operates the first end in the draft or tue-up, This is the hole which operates the bottom needle in the last row on the ' 25-side’ of the Jacquard machine, which is the first hook from which the tue-up begins.

(iii) When the 26th row has been cut, the lace holes are cut, and then the cutting proceeds again till the 50th row. With the same stroke of the treadle which cuts the 51st row the peg hole is also cut . Then follows a stroke without cutting , after which the two lace holes are cut. This makes 56 strokes if the feet for each card.

Hand Card Repeater:-

When several sets of cards of the design or pattern are required , a repeating machine is used . In the hand repeater , the cards are are made to leave punches in a plate where there are holes in the card . The plate is then taken to repeating press, where any number of cards can be cut like the first by applying pressure to the plate. This done by passing it under a roller or wheel.

Automatic Card Repeater:-

There are various automatic Card repeaters , such as vertical Punch Reading-in and Repeating machine. Devoge and Co’s repeater , Nuttall’s repeater , and Hanson’s repeater. They may be divided into two classes viz. the 'Table Repeater which is worked in conjunction with the railways or vertical press; and the 'Automatic Card Repeater ' which both selects the punches and stamps the card at the rate of 30 to 40 cards per minute. The blank pattern cards are all punched with a peg and lace hole cutter and then laced.

CARD LACING:-

Before cards are ready for use, they must be laced into a chain ; this may be done by hand or machine.

Card lacing.

HAND CARD LACING:-

(i) For hand lacing , a frame is required which contains 40 to 50 wood or metal pegs on each side. They are set to face each other and to a pitch suitable for the width of cards to be laced . The cards are placed on rotation upon the peg , and the lacing is threaded through the lace-holes with a needle . Lacing is then crossed over from right to left between every pair of holes in one cards , and also between two adjacent cards , then back again in the same order , as shown in figs. 155A and 155B.

(ii) The defects of this plan are inequality in the tension of the lacing , an excessive number of knots and the time taken to do the work 

(iii) Lacing is of different kinds and is used in different condition. It may consist of single or folded cotton or linen twine, of plaited tubular banding or narrow braid, or of woven tape. In any case they must be strong supple and not readily influenced by atmospheric.

Fig.155B (top) Fig.156 (center) Fig. 157 (bottom)

MACHINE LACING:-

There are also card lacing machines, viz. 'Rotary Wheel Machine' the ' Rapid ' machine, etc. The rotary wheel machine is more in use . In this machine, adjustable feed wheel with carrier pins for the holding the cards are used , which constitute chief features. Fig. 156 is an illustration of a card laced in machine , and the tape stitching card in machine is shown at fig. 157. 

After the pattern cards are cut and laced , it is necessary to 'wire' them between every 12 to 20 cards. The length. The length of the wires should projects from 1/2" to 3/4" , or 1.27 cm. to 1.9 cm. beyond the width of the cards to support them on 'Card Iron' or a 'Card Cradle' to be drawn upto the card cylinder during weaving.

Ref:- Weaving Mechanism Book by Prof. N. N. Banerjee Vol.1