IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRAIDS AND PLATS
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, CHRISTOPHER
NICKELS, of the York Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of June, in the third year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,. the said
Christopher Nickels, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Christopher Nickels, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Christopher Nickels, my exors, adñiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BRAIDS AND PLATS," partly invented by myself and partly communicated to
me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Christopher Nickels, shall cause a-
particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
Christopher Nickels, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and
Pil

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):--
The Invention relates first to a mode of making ornamental braided or
platted fabrics by the aid of stationary instruments, which I call maundrils,
applied to braiding machines, whereby the braiding or platting threads in
performing their evolutions are caused to braid or plat over or round such
maundrils, and to be drawn therefrom as the work is produced, thus obtaining
fringed or looped parts to braided and platted fabrics; and, secondly, the
Invention relates to a mode of making braided or platted fabrics by causing
the braiding or platting threads to work together in sets, in place of all the
threads passing from selvage to selvage, as is the usual practice in braid
machines. And in order to give the best information in my power, I will
proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which the same letters
of reference are used to indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The construction and mode of working of the various parts of braiding or
platting machines being well understood by workmen engaged in the making
and working of such classes of machinery, it will not be necessary to enter
generally into a description of the parts which are well known and in common
use; all which will be required in order to instruct the workman, that he may
fully understand the Invention, will be a description of the alteration required
to a machine, in order to its working according to the Invention. In carrying
out the first part of the Invention of making looped fringes or parts to braids
or plats, I apply maundrils to the axes of revolving heads, in such manner as to
produce looped fringed edges or parts of the fabric produced by the machinery.
The nature of each of the views of the braiding and platting machines shewn
in the Drawings being written thereon, it will not be necessary to repeat them
here. The first improvement consists in applying a maundrilor maundrils, which
remaining stationary, the braiding threads in their evolutions pass round, and
the threads are laid upon such maundrils, and as the work is produced and
carried up, it is drawn off the maundrils; hence some of the braiding threads
are constantly working to produce close braided or platted fabrics, whilst other
of the threads are working to produce looped or fringed edges or parts thereto.
In constructing braiding and platting machines I apply hollow axes for the
revolving hea is to move on, in order that there may be longitudinal threads
introduced into the fabrics made by a machine, such longitudinal threads not

page_text: partaking of the evolutions necessary in producing the platted or braided
fabrics, such longitudinal threads being simply laid into the fabrics and
covered by the platting or braiding threads, as was fully described in the
Specification of my former Patent. The machinery shewn in the Drawings is
suitable for making fabrics according to the two parts of the Invention; but I
would remark that machines may be made to work to produce fabrics
according to one or other of the improvements, without being capable of
working to produce fabrics according to all the improvements. Thus a
machine may be made to produce fabrics with a looped edge by means of a
maundril, without having the machine arranged for working according to the
second part of the Invention. In such case the machine will be made like
ordinary machines, but the revolving heads are to move on hollow axes, in fact,
similar to a machine made as described in my former Specification; and in
such case a maundril will be placed and affixed in the axes of the end or outer
revolving head, and longitudinal threads will only be introduced into part of
the hollow axis. Thus supposing the machine to be an eight headed machine,
I generally apply longitudinal threads into four or five of the hollow axes of the
heads next the opposite selvage to where the looped edge is to be produced; and
thus there will be a platted or braided fabric produced on longitudinal threads
with a looped or fringed edge; and if I desire by the same machine to produce
a looped edge at both selvages, then I apply a maundril to each selvage by
fastening one in the hollow axis of each of the outer or selvage revolving
heads of the machine, and I apply longitudinal threads to two or more of the
centre revolving heads of the machine; ora maundril may be applied to either of
the axes of the revolving heads more or less distant from either selvage, and
thus produce braids with open looped work intermediate of the selvages. The
Drawings clearly show how these stationary maundrils are to be placed in
respect to the guide through which the work or fabric as it is made is drawn,
and the size of the maundrils may be varied according to the width of fringe or
loops desired to be produced; the width of such maundrils, however, must not
be such as to prevent the bobbins which carry the braiding threads passing
freely under such maundrils, and the guide for the fabric will have to be
enlarged if the maundrils are enlarged; hence it will be understood, that in
carrying out the first part of the Invention, in the most simple form, it will
only be necessary to have an ordinary baiding and platting machine, which is
made capable of introducing longitudinal threads into the fabric and applying
stationary maundrils thereto, as above explained..
Having thus explained the most simple means of carrying out the first part
of the Invention, I will describe the mode of performing the second part of the

page_text: Invention, which relates to causing the fabric to be produced by a machine
without the threads being permitted to pass from selvage to selvage of the
fabrics produced. In accomplishing this part of the Invention it will readily
be understood that each strip of the fabric made by the machine, if made
separate one from the other, would be a complete braid or plat; and the
second part of the Invention consists of so arranging the machine, that in the
act of working of the parts the threads of one set shall so pass into and work
with the next or neighbouring set of threads that the separate braids which
would otherwise be made by the machine may be connected together and
formed into one fabric. The Drawings show a machine capable of making
braids and plats with three sets of threads,-pink, yellow, and green; and
supposing there to be no maundrila, nor any longitudinal threads, the machine
as shewn would be a braid or plat made with ten heads, the left-hand selvage
(when looking front to back of the machine), would be a green stripe; the
next stripe would be yellow; and the next stripe would be pink; all which
will readily be traced by examining the Drawings, as the bobbins and their
pipes are colored according to the color they introduce into the fabric; and
it will be seen that the threads of one set only so work into the other set as to
combine the neighbouring strips or portions of the fabric or work produced to
each other; and it will be found that the braiding threads do not in this
machine each and all pass from selvage to selvage of the fabric produced;
thus the green threads which are at the left hand selvage do not pass to the
right-hand selvage, nor do the pink threads which are at the right-hand
Belvage pass to the left-hand selvage; and it will further be seen, that the
yellow threads do not pass to either selvage; hence, by such means, striped
and ornamented as well as plain braids and plats may be produced, and thus
great advantages be derived by causing the threads of what may be considered
a series of braiding machines to work into and braid with each other, and thus
have the various products of each set of threads connected together to produce
one fabric. And it will be evident, that if it is desired to have the fabrics
fringed according to the first part of the Invention, a maundril is to be applied,
but in this case I do not apply the inaundril to the fixed axis of the outermost
revolving head when the fringe is to be at the left-hand selvage, but to the
third head, because of the narrow fabric which is produced at that selvage;
but if the fringe is to be formed at the right-hand selvage the maundril may be
applied at the outermost revolving head at the right-hand side or edge of the
fabric, the fabric produced by the separate set of threads at that selvage being
sufficiently wide. The Drawings shew the nature of the revolving heads
which divide the separate sets of threads, and the tappets which control the

page_text: working of the pipes in the revolving heads are clearly shewn in their places;
and I prefer in all cases to make the machines with a hollow axis for each
revolving head, as by such means the machine is capable of introducing
longitudinal threads or not as desired. It should be stated, that when the
longitudinal threads are of india rubber (caoutchouc), they are introduced
into the fabrics in what is called the non-elastic state, and elasticity is to be
obtained to the fabrics by heat, as is well understood by persons manufacturing
fabrics with india-rubber threads; and when india-rubber threads are used,
they may be covered or uncovered, as is well understood. I generally use
them uncovered. In using maundrils, when it is desired that the looped or
fringe edge produced thereby should be cut, I apply a cutting edge to theupper
end of the maundril, by which means, as the fabric is drawn off the maundril in
taking up the work as it is made, the loops in being drawn off are cut. I
would remark, that I have not thought it necessary to shew acircular machine,
that is, a machine such as is used for braided tubes and cords, as it will be
evident that the first and second parts of the Invention may be applied in con-
structing such machines; and by applying that part of the Invention which
relates to using maundrils to the revolving heads in such a machine, very
ornamental braids with open fringe may be produced, applicable for a variety
of purposes; and by constructing circular machines according to the second
-improvement, close platted or braided tubes and cords or fabrics may be
produced in stripes.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, I would have it under-
stood that I make no claim to the machinery or parts thereof other than is
hereafter particularly pointed out; nor do I confine myself thereto so long as
the Invention is retained; and I would have it understood that what I claim
is,-
First, the mode of making braids or plats with fringed edges or parts by
means of maundrils, as herein described. And,
Secondly, I claim the mode of manufacturing braids and plats by so
arranging the parts of machines that the threads work in sets, as herein
described, and the portions of the fabric produced by the several sets of threads
are combined without the threads passing from selvage to selvage of a flat
fabric produced, and without the threads constantly performing a continuous
circuit when working in a circular machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Nickels, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
O thousand eight hundred and forty.
CHRISTOPHER (L.B.) NICKELS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid Christopher Nickels came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord One