IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- RATUS FOR CUTTING OUT PARTS OF GARMENTS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Francis, of 456, West Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR CUTTING OUT PARTS OF GARMENTS."
Sealed the 3rd June 1856, and dated the 21st December 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Francis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
December 1855.
I, HENRY FRANCIS, of 456, West Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OUT PARTS OF GARMENTS" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus to facilitate a
workman in cutting out parts of garments, and in such manner that a cut may
be made each time through numerous layers of fabric, and consequently a
large number of similar parts of garments may be cut out by hand at the
same time. For this purpose an upright cutter is employed, having its
cutting edge at the lower end; this cutter moves freely between guides, and is
simply pressed down by the workman by a hand lever or handle to which the
cutter is attached. The lever is attached by a pin joint to a frame or upright
fixed to a foot or base plate, through which there is a slot or opening for the
passage of the cutter sufficiently large to admit of the workman seeing the

page_text: chalk or other marks on the upper layer of fabric which guides him in making
the cut. This instrument is held and moved by one hand, whilst the cutter is
worked by the other hand; or in place of constructing the whole apparatus to
be moved over the surface of the upper layer of fabric, the cutting apparatus
may be mounted on a mechanical arm mounted on joints so as to be moved in
various directions; such arm carries a slotted presser, which is pressed down
by a spring. The cutter is guided and is retained in an upright position by
guides, and the cutter is actuated by hand by means of lever handles. The
cutter in each arrangement is constantly raised upwards by a spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Francis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
FRANCIS, of 456, West Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Francis, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Francis, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Francis, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OUT PARTS OF GARMENTS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Francis, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their; or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Francis, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment thereof, that is to say:-
i
. This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus to facilitate a
workman in cutting out parts of garments, and in such manner that a cut may
be made each time through numerous layers of fabric, and consequently a
large number of similar parts of garments may be cut out by hand at the
same time. For this purpose an upright cutter is employed, having its cutting
edge at the lower end; this cutter moves freely between guides, and is simply
pressed down by the workman by a hand lever or handle to which the cutter
is attached. The lever is attached by a pin joint to a frame or upright fixed
to a foot or base plate, throught which there is a slot or opening for the passage
of the cutter sufficiently large to admit of the workman seeing the chalk or
other marks on the upper layer of fabric which guides him in making the cut.
This instrument is held and moved by one hand, whilst the cutter is worked
by the other hand; or in place of constructing the whole apparatus to be moved
over the surface of the upper layer of fabric, the cutting apparatus may bo
mounted on a mechanical arm mounted on joints so as to be moved in
varying directions; such arm carries a slotted presser, which is pressed down
by a spring. The cutter is guided and is retained in an upright position by
guides, and the cutter is actuated by hand by means of lever handles. The
cutter in each arrangement is constantly raised upwards by a spring.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed
more fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
Figure 1: A is the table on which is laid several layers of the fabric to be
cut; B is the standard that carries the mechanical arms C and D; E is the
spindle that carries the cutter; and F is the lever handle by which the work-
man gives motion to the spindle E; J is a guard fixed to the arm D, one end
of which presses down the cloth, and is forked for the cutter to pass through.
The form of cutter preferred is that shewn at Figure 2; the lower edge and
the inclined side or edge being the parts sharpened, and the inclined side or
edge is that which goes first or forward as the workman moves the cutter up
to its work.
Figure 2: A is the frame plate, the bottom being formed with a slot for
the cutter to pass through, and for the workman to see the chalk marks. The
top of the frame A is jointed to receive the end of the lever B; this lever B
is actuated by hand, and forces down the cutter C by a succession of quick
stokes, the machine being passed along by the workman a small space at
each stroke; D is a spring that lifts the lever B*, and by it the lever B is
raised after being pressed down by the hand.

page_text: I would state that it will readily be understood that the cutter, Figure 1,
might, if desired, be arranged to be moved down to make its cut by mechanical
means, whilst the workman is guiding it over the upper surface of the several
layers of cloth or fabric according to the chalk or other marks on each upper
surface.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have it
understood that I make no claim to any of the parts separately; but what I
claim are the means, herein described, of combining the mechanical parts
shown and explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Francis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
HENRY W. CARPMAEL.
HENRY FRANCIS. (L.S.)