IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
LONGDON, the younger, of Derby, in the County of Derby, Glove Manufacturer,
and THOMAS PARKER TABBERER, of Derby, aforesaid, Manufacturer of Elastic
Fabrics, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of Sep-
tember, One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Robert Longdon and Thomas Parker Tabberer, our exors, admors,
and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority;
that we, the said Robert Longdon and Thomas Parker Tabberer, our exors,
adiiors, and assigns, or such others as; we, the said Robert Longdon and
Thomas Parker Tabberer, our exors, admors, 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,
our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that we, the said Robert
Longdon and Thomas Parker Tabberer, or one of us, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner. the same
is to be performed; by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or
under the band and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High

page_text: 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, we, the said
Robert Longdon and Thomas Parker Tabberer, do hereby declare that the
nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment thereof, reference being had to the. Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
Our Invention consists, first, in improvements in the means of narrowing or
shaping knit fabrics.
Secondly, our Invention consists of improvements in the manufacture of
needles used in making looped fabrics in knitting and warp machinery.
Thirdly, our Invention consists of a mode of making looped fabrics in
knitting machines or frames with fleece or projecting loops on one side.
Fourthly, our Invention consists also of a mode of making knit fabrics with
fleece or projecting loops on one side.
Fifthly, our Invention consists of a mode of employing india-rubber in
looped fabrics when the india-rubber is employed in an elastic state.
:
And, sixthly, our Invention consists of improvements in the looped fabrics
used in making the socks or "uppers" of boots.
And in order that our Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the means pursued by us. In
narrowing or shaping fabrics in knitting machines it, is usual to employ what
are called tickling points at the selvages or edges of the work, and generally
four or five such points are used at each selvage or edge where the narrowing
or shaping is to take place, and in making the ends of the fingers of gloves and
other like work, the work at the end of each finger has to be divided and
made into two scolloped pieces,, which require separate pieces of thread to be
laid on by-hand, the thread-carrier, which lays on the thread for making the
other part of the finger being put out of action, or is only used for laying the
thread for one of the two divided or scolloped ends of each finger. Now,
according to our Invention, we are enabled to shape or narrow the work by
employing a larger. number of tickling points, and we carry the work back, not
only at the selvages or edges, but at the interior of the work, by which there
will be no necessity to divide the ends of the work which are to form the
fingers of gloves or other like purposes.
In carrying out this part of our Invention we use the ticklers in two rows,
those which are to work at the selvages or edges (for which purpose we use

page_text: five points at each edge or selvage) we bend down into a lower row than the
others, so that they may be used without the necessity of bringing the others,
which are in an upper row, into action, by which means we are enabled to.
tickle off the work when it is desired to do so at the selvages. In working we
proceed as follows:-Having worked in the usual manner till the shaping or.
narrowing is to take place, and the course being worked in the usual way, the.
lower or selvage ticklers are brought down on to their needles, and the loops,
are shifted in the usual manner. In the next shifting of the loops all the
tickling points come into action, the selvage ones bending down their needles
a distance equal to that which is between those tickling points and the upper
ones, by which the upper ones will come into action on their needles, and they
will shift the work therefrom into or towards the centre portion of the work, and
in such cases as the ends of the fingers of gloves or other narrow work, when
the narrowing has been obtained to some extent, then in the further working
it will not be desirable to bring the selvage tickling points into action, and
there will be no necessity for dividing or splitting the work at the end of the
fingers of gloves. By these means it will be seen that the workman will be
enabled not only to tickle at the selvages, but also at any part or parts of the
body of the work according to the arrangement of the ticklers, and such
shaping or narrowing of the work in the body as well as the selvages will be
found a great improvement in the manufacture of shaped knit fabrics.
The second part of our Invention consists of a mode of giving strength to
the stems (beyond where the work comes) of the needles used in the machinery
employed in making looped fabrics. Heretofore in making such needles, the
wire employed has been of the same diameter or substance from end to end,
and the flattening of the stems at the back ends weakens them in a lateral
direction. Now, according to this part of our Invention we cause each needle
to be made of wire of different degrees of thickness; that for making the parts
whereon the work comes being, as heretofore, of the gauge desired, whilst the
part which is to form the back end of the needle and to be flattened is of a
stouter gauge. In carrying out this part of our Invention several modes may
be resorted to for obtaining the lengths of wire, each consisting of two degrees
of thickness or diameter, such as reducing a thicker piece of wire by removing
the metal at the part requiring it to the degree or gauge desired, or by drawing
down the part desired by lesser dies. But we believe the best and cheapest
mode is by chemical action, for which purpose we employ a board with
numerous holes, into which we insert the pieces of wire (each to form a
needle), leaving a quantity of each projecting below, the board equal to that
which is required to make the portion of a needle of the gauge desired, and

page_text: immerse such projecting portion into a solution of sulphate of copper, which
we prepare by dissolving one lb. avoirdupoise of sulphate of copper in each
gallon of distilled water, and we, from time to time, examine the
progress till
the degree of thinness is obtained to the projecting ends of the wire, and in
order to protect the upper ends, which are inserted in the wood, we apply fat
as a coating, which is readily done by having the wood thin, so that the upper
end of the wire may project above, and we apply a raised edge all round the.
board so as to form a shallow trough, into which we pour melted fat. The
wires thus consisting each of two thicknesses are then to be made into needles.
in the ordinary manner.
The third part of our Invention consists of a mode of making looped fabrics
with projecting loops or fleece on one side in knitting machines. Heretofore
it has been usual in making such fabrics to employ double-knibbed sinkers,
one knib of each being lower than the other, the lower knib producing the
projecting loops or fleece by making the loops longer than the others. Now,
according to this part of our Invention, we employ ordinary sinkers together
with needles alternately, having long and short beards, so that at one time the
presser may press the loops of all the beards, and at another time only off the
beards of every alternate needle, by which the loops on the needles having
long beards may be knocked over the needles with the shorter beards, re-
ceiving and holding the work. In working, the loops for the body of the
work are produced in the ordinary manner. The fleece (or projecting loops)
is then produced by laying the thread in the ordinary manner, and drawing
the jacks and lowering the lead-sinkers as usual; then press the needles
whilst over the arch, and by bringing forward the work it is pressed off every
alternate needle; that is, off every needle having a long beard, and the work
will be received by and held by the needles with the short beards. The
working is continued in the ordinary manner till the next row of fleece is
desired, and the working above described is to be repeated. Heretofore, in
making like descriptions of fleeced fabrics in knitting frames, the fleece has
been attached to every needle, but in this it is produced on every alternate
needle, and the result is that a finer or more elastic fabric is produced.
Fourthly, our Invention consists of a mode of making fabrics in knitting
machines, such fabrics having a ribbed appearance on one side. For this
purpose we employ sinkers, each with two knibs of a like length, together
with needles having long and short beards, as before explained, and two
threads are used, either of the same or of different sizes, and of the same or
different color or material. The course is worked in the usual manner of
double-knibbed sinkers, except that the pressing is twice in each course, once

page_text: over the arch and once off the arch. In pressing over the arch, the front
loops are pressed off the long bearded needles, and the work is caught by the
short-bearded needles only. The back thread is brought under the long-
beards; the frame is then thrown up, and in so doing, the back thread is
moved behind the short beards, and the course is worked in the usual way..
The fabric thus produced has ribs or stripes (according to the materials used)
on one side, and a satin appearance on the other.
The fifth part of our Invention consists of a mode of employing india-rubber
in knit fabrics, when the india-rubber is employed in the elastic state, such,
for instance, as in the state of what is called vulcanized. Heretofore, in
introducing india-rubber into knit fabrics, it has been usual to employ the
india-rubber in a set or inelastic state, and to obtain elasticity thereto by
heat, by which the work contracts considerably; and it has also in some cases
been the practice to use india-rubber in the elastic state when introducing it
in the progress of making knit fabrics. In doing so, however, the strands are
not stretched, so that the work when it comes out of the machine does not
contract, or contracts very little. Now it is desirable that the work should.
contract considerably, and the object of this part of our Invention is so to intro-
duce india-rubber in its elastic state, that it may be stretched to the desired
extent, and be worked into the fabric in the stretched state, and so that it.
may cause the work to contract to the extent desired.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a section of so much of a knitting machine as will enable
us to describe this part of our Invention.
Figures 2 and 3 shew two views of a thread-carrier for introducing a strand
of india rubber, and Figure 4 is a plan thereof. The thread carrier is a tube.
down which the strand of india rubber proceeds and is delivered at the lower.
end; b is a rod through the tube a, there being an eye through the rod for the
passage of the india rubber; the rod 6 is carried to and fro with the thread
carrier, and so long as the eye or opening therein is away from the sides of the
tube the india rubber will pass through'freely, but immediately the rod is drawn
to one side, and the india rubber is held securely thereby, the further movement
of the thread carrier will cause the india rubber to be stretched for a distance
equal to that which the thread-carrier passes over after the holding of the india
rubber, and the extent of stretch given to the india rubber may be regulated
by the workman; and the best means we are acquainted with for effecting.
this object it to attach a cord to each end of the rod b, the cord hanging slack
so long as the india-rubber is to be delivered freely and becoming straight and

page_text: tight when the india-rubber is to be held so that although the rod is allowed
to move with the thread carrier the rod is retained tight during the further
movements, and to prevent the needles being drawn together the points care
used fixed to the rafter. The india-rubber in other respects is laid on in the
ordinary manner and worked into the fabric.
The sixth part of our Invention consists of a mode of making a compound
clastic fabric for the "uppers" or socks of boots, for which purpose we make
the "uppers" cr socks of boots by knitting, and we produce an elastic band at
the upper part as heretofore, to which we make no claim, this part of the
process being already the subject of a Patent, but we combine with the elastic
stocking fabric portions of clastic fabrics containing india-rubber, and which we
prefer to be made according to the means herein-before described. This will
readily be understood by reference to the Drawing, where Figure 5 shows a
side view of a boot complete; the red lines showing the position of the elastic
india rubber fabric within the looped stocking fabric of which the sock or
upper" of the boot is composed, the india-rubber portion of the compound
fabric giving strength to the whole over the ancles of the wearer.
Figure 6 shows an interior view of the "upper" lined at the parts a, a, with
brown holland or other suitable inelastic fabric, the parts b, b,, being lined with
india-rubber elastic fabric, and the compound looped fabric thus produced will
have strength of elasticity over the ancles. These portions b, b, are sewn to
the inelastic parts of the lining, the inelastic lining having spaces cut out to
receive the elastic portions of the lining. The effect of using this compound
fabric will be that externally the foot and ancles will appear to be covered by
a sock and the looped fabric of the sock will by combining it with the use of
india-rubber fabric on either side of the upper part of the foot have stability
given to it, which will be found to be a great improvement in the looped
fabrics thus used in making the socks or "uppers" of boots.
Having, thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we do not confine
ourselves to the details herein described, and the-same may be varied without
departing from our Invention so long as the peculiar character of any part of
our improvements be retained; but what we claim is, -
First, the improvements herein described in the means of narrowing or
shaping knit fabrics.
Secondly, we claim the improvements in needles used in machines employed
in the manufacture of looped fabrics.
Thirdly, we claim the mode herein described of making knitted fabrics with
fleece or projecting loops on one side produced by the alternate needles.