IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUND WIRE SPRINGS AND ARTICLES MADE THEREFROM, AND IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicholas Jenkins, of New Haven, in the County of
Now Haven, in the State of Connecticut, one of the United States of America,
for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUND WIRE SPRINGS AND
ARTICLES MADE THEREFROM, AND IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR
PRODUCING THE SAME."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicholas Jenkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd March 1880.
NICHOLAS JENKINS, of New Haven, in the County of New Haven, in the State
of Connecticut, one of the United States of America. ." IMPROVEMENTS IN
COMPOUND WIRE SPRINGS AND ARTICLES MADE THEREFROM, AND IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME,”
The first part of the Invention relates to tension springs.
I have discovered that wires may be braided on a suitably adjusted machine,
making large angles with the axis or central line of the tape, and obtain the
required elasticity by the direct extension and contraction of the braid itself.
I employ a stationary flat former over which the goods aro braided.
The machine is adjusted to "take up" slowly in proportion to the motion of the
braiding bobbins, so that the braid instead of being extended with the wires nearly
parallel to each other is contracted so that the wires cross the fabric nearly at right
angles to the length of the goods.
The wires are inserted in lengths of one hundred yards, more or less, and
are made into one continuous spring. If cut off into lengths without previous
precautions the ends "broom" apart. I guard against this and also hold them
permanently together by soldering, the solder being applied at the proper points for
the ends before cutting, and cut carefully through the centers of the soldered places.
The proper clasps are afterwards clamped on the ends of these short lengths, and
joined thereto by compressing or by melting the solder and causing it to adhero, or
preferably both these means combined.
Any durable and tasty fastening may be substituted. I propose to rivet through
the clasp just above or within the soldered ends.
The action of the spring is a little less "live" than ordinary coiled springs. The
spring may be covered by a light muslin or other fibrous envelope.
The second part of the Invention relates to springs which yield by bending or
Bexure.

page_text: I make a strong elastic and sufficiently rigid stiffener adapted for use in corsets,
skirts, and other articles of dress, and for analogous uses of hard wire. It may be
made just sufficiently elastic in all directions, edge-wise as well as flat-wise. It
accommodates all the notions of the body. It has also the property of deadness
above referred to, and fo the same reason above given.
The wire should be spring brass, hard iron, or steel.
I weave by an ordinary narrow-ware loom or otherwise a tape of wire cloth,
or cut a corresponding breadth from previously woven wire cloth, and sub-
sequently fold over the edges upon the main body so as to cause the edges to
nearly or quite abut together. I can effect this either in connection with means
for compressing the material tightly together, thus forming a very flat product, or,
as for many uses will be preferable, I can leave the folds a little up from the body,
thereby making a rounder product.
The material woven or braided in a flat condition with selvages may serve as a
spring without folding.
I can use a single or a double tube of braided wire, hard brass, or steel.
The spring may be contracted at the ends by bringing the wires together. Then
they are strongly joined by solder skillfully applied to present a rounded drop at
the end. This solder performs the triple functions of securing the ends of the wire
against displacement, contributing to the stiffness-of the spring near the ends, and
producing a smooth and round end so as to avoid injuring a garment in which the
spring may be used.
The third part of the Invention relates to a further manner of finishing or
equipping the ends of my springs.
I manufacture my spring or stiffener with especially desirable ends by braiding
small wires of steel or hard brass or analogous elastic metal; soldering the cuds
without much contraction and capping over the solder with a metal cap to form a
smooth end which will not cut or injure the fabric in which it is held. I have
devised an apparatus for facilitating the soldering and capping. The metal caps are
compressed or flattened upon the wire spring by means of suitable dies which allow
them to take a firm hold. Heat may be applied to cause the solder to adhere to
the caps if desired in any case, but I havo not found it necessary. The caps will
be able to hold the wires in many cases without the soldering of the wires at all,
but my means for effecting, the soldering readers it easy and rapid to unite the
wires before the caps are applied.
I employ a series of soldering clamps adapted to treat a number of springs at
once, and a straightening device which serves also as a tension device, through
which the springs are passed in entering the soldering apparatus. There are also
winding parts which I employ to shift the springs ahead when the soldering at one
series of points has been completed. There are reels on which the lengths of
braided wire are wound, and stands on which such reels are mounted in the
vicinity of the soldering machine arranged to deliver their respective springs sido
by side. The braiding machine must be of the kind adapted to produce flat braid,
or tho braid after its manufacture must be Battoned to produce a properly flattened
spring.
The soldering clamps are adjustable at distances apart corresponding to the
lengths of the springs desired. The bench is provided with holes and each soldering
clamp is provided with pins adapted to match in the holes by lifting a clamp and
moving it so that its pins will match in different holes. The lengths of the springs
may thus be varied at will.
Each soldering clamp is provided with teeth on the side which receives the
springs, and with corresponding teeth on the side which discharges them, which
serve as guides and insure that the springs as they are intermittently moved
through the machine shall be kept properly apart.
The mechanism which draws the springs forward through the soldering clamps at
proper times and to the proper extent may be turned at the proper intervals by
machinery, but for small operations it may be worked by hand.

page_text: The several springs are soldered at the several points where they cross ridges in
the several soldering clamps, the solder filling the spaces between the braided wires
and extending along the length of the spring a quarter of an inch more or less.
The operation is repeated until the several springs are all soldered at the proper
points and wound on their several recls.
The next operation is to cut off the several lengths of springs, which may
be effected by suitable stout shears, taking care to cut through cach soldered
point.
I finish cach end of each spring by applying a metal cap forced on by hand or
machinery, and afterwards compressed in place so as to take firm hold of the
soldered surface within, not only by friction, but by a sort of interlocking action
due to corrugations or ridges on the dies, which imprint themselves in the flat faces
of the cap, and also to some extent in the solder and wire within.
The top die is moved vertically; side dies are opened and closed by lateral
motion. The lateral dies close first, and the upper die is brought down afterwards.
The effect is to slightly compress the soldered end of the spring and to firmly set
the cap thereon. This finishes the spring and leaves the ends smoothly rounded.
These grooves may extend directly across, but I prefer to employ two sets
crossing each other diamond-wise.
Several workmen may attend to the soldering, cach soldering the springs in ono
clamp or in two clamps nearest to him. The distance of the soldering clamps apart
may be graduated with any degree of nicety by means of clamping screws engaging
in long slots.
Some part of the benefit of the Invention may be obtained by clamping
sufficiently stout and long caps with firmness upon the wires without soldering.
The ridging of the dies and consequent impressing of corresponding indentations in
and through the material of the caps aids greatly in thus holding without soldering;
but I prefer the mode described of first soldering and afterwards applying the cap
or tip as an additional finish.
The braided spring may be covered with a coating of fibrous material braided on
after the wires are properly applied together. The coating may be stiffened with
starch or other stiffening material, as is common with single wire stiffeners.
My braided springs may be applied for other uses than those mentioned.
Bracelets and other articles of jewelry may be formed of richly burnished wire,
made of proper hard and elastic metal coated with gold.
The fourth part of the Invention relates to modifications of my flat spring
adapted for other uses than dresses.
Instead of the ordinary leather strap in railroad cars I employ my flat spring of
braided wires, upon which ends of the proper character are riveted or soldered, or
both, one end adapted to carry the bell-cord at the bottom, and the other cud
adapted to strongly fasten to the roof of the car at the top.
I can use the Invention successfully with only a single spring made flat and of
the proper breadth; but I prefer two mounted parallel at a little distance apart.
I can make my spring of approximately round section adapted for uso in bird
cages as perches. By its slightly yielding character it responds to the movements
of the bird in a manner analogous to natural twigs. The end pieces are formed
with claws which are easily bent by pliers, or the like, and caused to take firm
hold on the wires or bars of bird cages at the desired level. This perch may be
used with success secured only by one end.
The fifth part of the Invention relates to the mode of operation by which
I produce certain peculiar styles of my braided spring.
If, as has been above described, we take a common braiding machine, such as is
used in applying the covering of braided yarns upon whip-stocks, and introduce
bobbins filled with hard elastic wire instead of yarn with proper provisions on the
machine to compensate for the stiffness of the wire, etc., as explained below, and
procced to braid, we shall produce a hollow fabric of great strength and elasticity.
The size or diameter of the tubular fabric thus produced may be varied by

page_text: properly operating at different points in the same springs, so as to produce tapering
articles suitable for canes or whip-stocks. Or again, by a different method of
operating the tubular elastic article may be tapered both ways suitable for satchel
handles.
If as in most articles of this kind the spring should be tapered, the spring is
made with swells or alternate tapers in opposite directions at proper distances.
The perfection of the product is increased by introducing a solid article of tho
required form in the interior at the point where the wires are braided together.
When a continuous spring of uniform section is required, the "former" may be
stationary and made sufficiently smooth to allow the braid to slide continuously off
it as fast as it is formed.
Where the spring is required to be tapered, as for fish-poles and the like,
I can introduce tapering formers and cause them to move upward with the goods.
The articles are temporarily held at each end by a clamp or by a soft wire applied
and twisted to hold the wires, and the several articles cut apart as they are
produced. The ends of the wires are next soldered together and the clamps
removed. Then the core is carefully forced out and the onds permanently finished
with handles, ferules, etc., according to the uses for which the elastic tapering articlo
is intended.
A permanent core of elastic wood, whale-bone, or the like may be introduced if
desired. I can introduce the permanent cores to serve as "formers" in the act of
manufacturing, and finish the articles with the cores in place.
This mode of operating allows the production of articles which taper in both
directions, as satchel handles.
I can introduce temporary cores or formers made in the proper form from fusible
metal, which melts at a temperaturo far below that which will effect the hardness
of the wire if hard brass wire is employed. Then after each article is produced
and the ends temporarily secured I immerse it in water or oil of a sufficiently high
temperature to melt out the core. Then the article may be finished with tho
interior empty, and be peculiarly elastic, light, and graceful
In making a cane the handle is strongly clamped or soldered, or both, to the
large end of the structure, and a suitable ferule is correspondingly attached at the
bottom. The main body may contain a core of ash or other elastic wood; or it
may be left hollow, as may be preferred.
I propose in some instances to braid a close-fitting covering of cotton or other
suitable fibrous yarn over the exterior of my braided wire spring.
The solder may be dispensed with on nearly all the modifications by using tips
covering a sufficient length of the springs, and set on with sufficient pressure and
indentations. In nearly all the articles the best work will be accomplished by
combining both these methods.
The surfaces may be thinly coated with rosin or any suitable varnish to preserve
against oxydation. I can plate or coat the wire with metal of an incorrodiblo
character, as tin or nickel, whenever the expense will be warranted.
I can use such spring formed round in a continuous uniform length as a flexible
shaft to operate machinery at a distant and movable point.
The sixth part of the Invention relates to still further uses of my springs in
light articles for mantel or toilet use, valuable both for use and ornament.
I can make an casel adapted to serve in holding small photographs or other
pictures, a watch-stand provided with a hook for receiving the ring of a watch, a
watch-stand frame wrought in the form of an easy chair, and adapted to receive a
miniature seat upholstered, and a frame for a hair-pin cushion or other pin-cushion
for toilet use.
For such uses the junctions or crossing points of my springs may be secured by
ordinary riveting with washers of suitable size, or they may be secured by slight
attachments in the manner of paper fastenings, or they may be soldered, or both
the riveting or analogous fastening and soldering may be applied.
In all these forms of fancy or toilet articles made from my compound wire

page_text: springs the ends, wherever they occur, are secured by solder, by tips compressed on,
or by both these moans.
The seventh part of the Invention relates to the braiding machine.
A more than usual and a very reliable tension must be employed. I attain this
tension by the friction induced by a sufficient spiral spring. I mount such a spring
below each bobbin or spool, pressing it up against a transverso pin or other reliable
stop above; thero may be washers interposed between. The upper stop may be
an adjustable nut with a jam-nut to allow of screwing down or up as required to
delicately adjust the amount of tho friction.
I hold the material in a flat condition while in process of formation.
I prefer to employ rollers as guides, and I esteem it preferable to mount the
rollers clastically. The perfected form of this portion of the Invention is developed
in a pair of rollers mounted in yielding bearings, and applying against two parallel
plane faces of the entire group of wires.
Another difficulty lies in the liability of the stiff material to hold up the ordinary
weight, which serves as a stop motion. It is important that the machine shall
stop immediately if a strand is broken by any chance. I have devised a stop-
motion, which, while guiding the weight reliably on the upright rod, which serves
as a guide for the strand, so as to allow the rapid serpentine motion required,
devolves its weight on the wire between tho guide and the braiding point outside
of the guide. This position allows a slight weight to depress the froe end even of
a highly elastic wire so soon as a break occurs.
Each wire is delivered from the bobbin under the proper tension horizontally
through a hole at the mid-height in the upright, and thence upward through a
hole in the top of said upright, from whence it is led away to be properly braided
with the other wires. When the wire breaks the free end is sure to be deprossed
by the gravity of the weight, and on the latter falling it touches one of the
ordinary stop-levers so soon as the movement has brought it around to that point,
and acting through it on an ordinary stop mechanism stops the machine.
The several wires deliverod from the several guides past their several stop-
weights are brought together through a fixed guide formed by a liberal aperture in
a fixed piece of sheet-metal. This insures that the wires are approximately
together as they pass up between the pair of rolls. Theso rolls are mounted on
separate holders. I can adjust the tension or force with which the rollers aro
pressed together.
When the take-up of the braiding machine is operated slowly, relatively to the
braiding motion of the carriers and their attachments, the wires are applied
together at a great angle, and the spring is elastic tensionally, as is required for
garters and analogous articles, and when the take-up is worked rapidly with no
increnso in the motion of the braiding mechanism, so that the wires are applied
together at a small anglo nearly parallel to each other, the braid has little or no
elasticity tension-wise, but is peculiarly well adapted to serve elastically by flexure
or bending, as is required for stiffeners in corsets, bustles, etc. Stretching is not
required or desired in stiffeners. I propose in some instances to prevent the
possibility of tensional elasticity in my stiffeners by introducing one or more
straight longitudinal wires within the braid.
I can employ two braiding machines to make my covered springs, the lowermost
carrying the wires, and braiding them together to produce my spring, and the
uppermost carrying yarns of cotton, linen, worsted, or other material to be thus
applied as covering. The wires are braided at a greater angle with the axis of the
finished spring than the covering yarns. It follows from this relation that when
from any cause this covered spring is exposed to a tensile strain the covering
yarns are straightened first, and serve as a check to arrest the tensional yielding of
the wires.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Nicholas Jenkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
September 1880.
NICHOLAS JENKINS, of New Haven, in the County of New Haven and State
of Connecticut, one of the United States of America. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COMPOUND WIRE SPRINGS AND ARTICLES MADE THEREFROM, AND IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME."
The first part of the Invention relates to tension springs.
It has been before attempted with some degree of success to produce garters and
analogous articles by first coiling hard brass wire in close compact coils, and then
braiding fivo or other number of these coils together. The braiding was a means
of holding the coils together, and making them serve as a unit; but the extension
and contraction was due entirely to the fact that the individual wires were coiled,
and that the coils extended and contracted.
I have discovered that wires not coiled may be braided on a suitably adjusted
machine making large angles with the axis or central line of the tape and obtain
the required elasticity by the direct extension and contraction of the braid itself.
Being made of larger wire the material is produced with less labor and cost, and
the construction is less liable to injury if accidentally stepped on or otherwise
subjected to unusual strains.
The accompanying Drawings form a part of this Specification and represent what
I consider the best means of carrying out the Invention. Similar letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
"
Figure 1 is a side clevation, and
Figure 2 an edge view of a garter complete.
Figure 3 represents the wires in the act of being braided together.
The stationary flat former over which the goods are braided is shown in this
Figure in dotted lines.
A is tho body of my.spring. The wires which spiral to the left are marked a', a'.
The series which spiral to the right are marked a³, a². A wire of either set
indiscriminately will be designated, when necessary, by the single letter a. The
solder applied to hold the ends is marked A*. The braiding may be effected by
machinery, as will be explained further on.
The machine is adjusted to "take up" slowly, in proportion to the motion of the
braiding bobbins, so that the braid instead of being extended with the wires nearly
parallel to each other is contracted, so that the wires cross the fabric nearly at right
angles to the length of the goods. 1 prefer to use from 16 to 24 strands of No. 26
wire, but this may be varied.
The wires are inserted in lengths of one hundred yards, more or less, and are
made into one continuous spring. If cut off into lengths without previous
precautions the ends "broom" apart; I guard against this, and also hold them
permanently together by soldering, the solder being applied at the proper point for
the ends before cutting, and cut carefully through the centres of the soldered places.
The proper clasps are afterwards clamped on the ends of these short lengths and
joined thereto by compressing, or by melting the solder and causing it to adhere,
or preferably by both theso means combined.
Any durable and tasty fastening may be substituted. I propose to rivet through
the clasp just above or within the soldered ends.
The action of the spring is a little less "live" than ordinary coiled springs.
This is due to the friction of the wires of the braid one upon another. 1 esteem
the slightly deadened elasticity of this garter superior to the intense freedom of the
coiled spring. The improved spring may be produced cheaply, and it is obviously

page_text: adapted for long endurance of ordinary usage, and even for very rough usage if
such by any chance shall be inflicted.
Modifications may be made. The degree of angularity of the wires may be
varied within considerable limits. The spring may be covered by a light muslin or
other fibrous envelope; but I have not found such to be generally' nccessary with
this form of the Invention.
The second part of the Invention relates to springs which yield by bending or
flexure.
I make a strong clastic and sufficiently rigid stiffener adapted for use in corsets,
skirts, and other articles of dress, and for analogous uses, entirely of small wire. I
will describe the stiffener as a flat spring adapted for use in corsets and skirts.
It may be made just sufficiently elastic in all directions-edge-wise as well as flat-
wise. It accommodates all the motions of the body. It has also the property of
deadness, above referred to, and for the same reason above given.
The wire should be spring brass, hard iron, or steel.
I weave by an ordinary narrow-ware loom or otherwise a tape of wire cloth, or
cut a corresponding breadth from previously woven wire cloth, and subsequently
fold over the edges upon the main body so as to cause the edges to nearly or quito
abut together. I can effect this either in connection with means for compressing
the material tightly together, thus forming a very flat product, or, as for many uses
will be preferable, I can leave the folds a little up from the body, thereby making
a rounder product.
The inaterial woven or braided in a flat condition with selvages may serve as a
spring without folding.
Modifications in the proportions and details may be usefully made, some of
which may be better adapted than others to particular uses. I will represent
several modes of carrying out the Invention.
Figures 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 are side views of portions of a completely formed
spring made according to this part of my Invention.
Figures 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 are cross sections of the forms to which they stand
opposite.
Figure 14 is a view of a short length made of folded material partly formed.
Figure 15 is a cross section through the completely formed part of Figuro 14.
Figure 16 is a side view intended to indicate a double tube of braided wire
with a portion of the outer tube broken away.
Figure 17 is a cross section through the double tube.
Figure 18 is a side view, aiding to show the mode of securing the ends.
Referring to Figs. 14 and 15, A¹ is the back or main body of a narrow fabric,
and A2, A2, are folds thereof. The material is first formed as a tape of wire cloth,
preferably with selvage at each edge. The longitudinal wires or warp are of hard
brass or steel with a spring temper. The transverse wires or woof are of softer
steel or may be of tough iron. This is all folded by being passed through between
suitable rollers or through a "Douglass" binder, or both, so as to initiate the folds
A, A2, and to gradually and uniformly lay them over upon the main body A'.
When the article is complete and the edges A, A, are protected by being folded
inward towards the main body, my improved stiffener thereby produced may be
used in the same manner and with a better effect than springs of whale bone or
other ordinary material.
They have the advantage of increased strength and toughness owing to the
rigidity of the materials which impart a very great capacity to resist fracture or
a permanent set, and the fineness into which its several parts are divided which
give it great capacity of yielding to strains in all directions when necessary.
Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, Fig. 8 is a side view, and Fig. 9 a cross section of
a tape woven sufficiently narrow and thick to serve directly as a stiffener for
garments without the necessity for folding.
Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13 represent other modifications of this general plan
Figures 14 and 15 represent a nearly flat tape made by braiding the wires

page_text: together in the form of an elastic tube throughout, and then flattening the tube
thus formed.
Referring to Figures 16 and 17, a', a³, is a set of steel wires braided together by
suitable machinery constituting a fabric similar to that shown in Figs. 6 and 7,
and a³, a', is another set of wires braided as a covering upon the set a', a². The
compound fabric thus produced is peculiarly tough and elastic.
Referring to Figure 18, the spring made according to Figs. 6, 7, or 10, 17, is
contracted at the ends by bringing the wires together. Then they are strongly
joined by soldering. A is a drop of solder. It is skilfully applied to present a
rounded drop at the end; this solder performs the triple functions of securing the
ends of the wire against displacement, contributing to the stiffness of the spring
near the ends, and producing a smooth and round end so as to avoid injuring a
garment in which the spring may be used.
The third part of the Invention relates to a further manner of finishing or
equipping the ends of my springs.
I manufacture my spring or stiffener with especially desirable ends, by braiding
small wires of steel or hard brass, or analogous elastic metal, soldering the ends
without much contraction, and capping over the solder with a metal cap to form a
smooth end, which will not cut or injure the fabric in which it is held. I have
devised an apparatus for facilitating the soldering and capping. The metal caps
are compressed or flattened upon the wire spring by means of suitable dies, which
allow them to take a firm hold. Heat may be applied to cause the solder to adhere
to the caps, if desired, in any cases, but I have not found it necessary. The caps
will be able to hold the wires in many cases without the soldering of the wires at
all, but my means for effecting the soldering renders it easy and rapid to unite
wires before the caps are applied.
The spring may be used for a great variety of purposes.
Figure 19 is a view of an end of one of these finished springs seen flat-wise.
Figure 20 is a corresponding edge-view.
Figuro 19 is a face view of a portion of my spring not soldered, but covered by
a fibrous envelope, braided on or otherwise applied. I have shown it as braided on.
The cap in this modification is applied without solder.
Figure 21 is a section on the line S, S, iu Fig. 19.
Figure 22 is a section on the lino T, T, in Fig. 19. This Figure also shows the
adjacent portions of the compressing dies which are employed in the act of setting
the cap firmly upon the spring.
Figure 21 is a section through a modified construction, having a cap simply
compressed on without solder.
Figure 21 is a section through a modified construction, having the end soldered
and smoothly rounded by any suitable means without a cap.
Figure 23 is a perspective view of a portion of the apparatus which I employ in
soldering the ends of the wires previous to cutting them. It will be understood
that I braid the springs in lengths of some hundred feet, more or less, on a suitable
machine adapted to produce flat braids, and apply solder in small quantities at the
required distances apart, and then cut off the spring in the middle of each soldered
point so as to leave each end of each spring with its individual wires soldered
firmly together.
Figure 24 is a section across one of the soldering clamps in the plane of one of
the springs. I adapt the apparatus to treat a number of springs at once.
Figure 25 is a section on a smaller scale showing the relation of the clamps to
each other and to the straightening device, which serves also as a tension device,
through which the springs are passed in entering the soldering apparatus.
Figure 26 shows the winding apparatus or winding parts which I employ to
shift the springs ahead when the soldering at one series of points has been
completed.
I have not deemed it necessary to represent the reels on which the lengths of
braided wire are wound, nor the strands on which such recls are mounted in the

page_text: vicinity of the soldering machine, arranged to deliver their respective springs side
by side. The braiding machine must be of the kind adapted to produce flat braid,
or the braid after its manufacture must be flattened to produce a properly flattened
spring.
M is a bench or platform provided with guide pins M' and a cross-bar M², which
guide a series of six or other convenient number of springs A proceeding from as
many reels not represented; N, N, aro rolls turning in stationary bearings;
which are capable of rising and sinking, and may be loaded by a weight
not represented. The springs A aro passed over the rollers N, and under
the rollers N'. The facility for raising and lowering aids in the insertion of the
springs, and also accommodates any irregularity in the several springs. The
passage through this apparatus induces a resistance which is useful in attaining the
proper tension on the springs, and also aids in flattoning and straightening the
springs.
D, D, are plates of cast iron mounted transversely on the bench M.
They are set at distances apart corresponding to the lengths of the springs desired.
The bench M is provided with holes, and each plate D is provided with pins d,
adapted to match in the holes by lifting a plate D, and moving it so that its pins &
will match in different holes. The lengths of the springs may be varied at will.
Each plate D is provided with teeth D' on the side which receives the spring,
and with corresponding teeth D3 on the side which discharges them. They serve
as guides, and insure that the springs as they are intermittently moved through
the machine shall be kept properly apart.
E, E, are top pieces of cast iron hinged to the respective plates D. They are held
down upon the springs by their gravity and also by a turning button E. There are
sufficient spaces between each top piece E and the corresponding plate 1 to allow the
springs to be drawn through by a gentle force when required. The ridge form of
each plate D insures that each spring shall bear firmly upon it at that point. The
top piece E is made with a beveled slot which exposes the proper points A* in the
springs to be conveniently soldered by hand or by any suitable machinery.
The mechanism which draws the springs forward through the soldering clamps
at proper times and to the proper extent may be turned at the proper intervals by
machinery, but for small operations it may be worked by hand, and is so represented.
G, G, are rollers mounted in fixed bearing, one being provided with a hand crank g,
by which it is turned; G¹ is a roller pressing thereon by the force of a treadle G³,
suspended to its extended axis; G³ is a pulley fixed on the shaft of the roller G,
and giving motion through a round belt H to a pulley 1', fixed on a feathered
shaft I. This shaft carries a number of reels J, which are frictionally connected to
the shaft I, through the aid of intermediate plates which engage in the spline in
the shaft I, and are compelled to turn therewith. The parts are so proportioned
that the shaft I tends to turn the reels faster than the springs are delivered. This
keeps a sufficient tension on the several springs, and they are wound properly on
their several recls.
The operation of this apparatus will now be readily understood.
The several springs are soldered at the several points A*, where they cross the
ridges of the several plates D, the solder filling the spaces between the braided wires,
and extending along the length of the spring a quarter of an inch, more or less.
When all the points A* are soldered the attendant takes hold of the crank g, and
through it gives motion to the rolls G, G¹, and also to the take-up-shaft I and the
connected reels J. This moves the several springs A endwise through the several
guides and soldering clamps, and when the last soldered points A* have reached a
tmark or gauge not represented the crank g must be released. The springs stop,
each exposing the proper points in the several clamps to be soldered. This opera-
tion is repeated until the several springs are all soldered at the proper points and
wound on their several recls J.
The next operation is to cut off the several lengths of springs, which may be
effected by suitable stout shears, not shown, taking care to cut through each

page_text: soldered point A*. This leaves the springs of a proper length, but tends to mako
the ends sharp-cornered.
I finish each end of each spring by applying a metal cap B. In my experiments
I have used what are known as open caps. They are forced on by hand or
machinery, and are afterwards compressed in place so as to take firmn hold of the
soldered surface within, not only by friction but by a sort of interlocking action duc
to corrugations or ridges on the dies which imprint themselves in the flat faces of
the cap, and also to some extent in the solder and wire within.
Referring to Fig. 22, L is the bottom die, which is stationary; L' is the top die,
which is moved vertically; and L², L³, are side dies, which are opened and closed
by lateral motion, as will be understood.
Each end of each spring, after receiving its proper cap B, is introduced and the
dies closed thereon. The lateral dies L' close first, and the upper die L' is brought
down afterwards; the effect is to slightly compress the soldered end of the spring
and to firmly set the cap B thereon. This finishes the spring and leaves the end
smoothly rounded.
Both the upper face of the bottom die L and the lower face of the top dio L' are
corrugated or impressed with transverse grooves of rounded section; these grooves
may extend directly across, but I prefer to employ two sets crossing each other
diamond-wise.
Modifications may be made in some of these details without departing from the
principle of the Invention or sacrificing all the advantages thereof. Instead of
setting the several plates at uniform distances apart they may be at variable
distances, and the springs produced will correspondingly vary in length, taking care
to properly separate the springs at the time when they are cut apart, or at some
later period. Where a great number of springs are required of a certain length, as
in the corset business, the soldering plates may be fixed immoveably on the bench.
Machinery may be applied to turn the rollers G, G. One soldering clamp alone
may be used with success. Only one wire may be led through the clamp or clamps,
but I prefer to guide through the apparatus a considerable number of wires at once,
and to effect the soldering in several clamps, and thus allow a greater extent of
motion when the springs are moved forward. Several workmen may attend to the
Foldering, each soldering the springs in one clamp or in two clamps nearest to him.
The distance of the soldering clamps apart may be graduated with any degree of
nicety by means of clamping screws engaging in long slots instead of the holes a.
I have used successfully hard brass wire of No. 26 gauge with the caps B mado
from softer brass, No. 30.
Some part of the benefit of the Invention may be obtained by clamping sufficiently
stout and long caps with firmness upon the wires without soldering. The ridging
of the dies, and consequent impressing of corresponding indentations in and through
the material of the caps, aids greatly in thus holding without soldering; but I prefer
the mode described of first soldering and afterwards applying the cap or tip as an
additional finish.
The braided spring may be covered with a coating of fibrous material braided on
after the wires are properly applied together. The coating may be stiffened with
starch or other stiffening material, as is common with single wire stiffeners.
Bracelets and other articles of jewelry may be formed of richly burnished wire,
inade of proper hard and elastic metal coated with gold.
The fourth part of the Invention relates to modifications of my flat spring adapted
for other uses than dresses.
Figure 27 represents a similar construction of spring, but larger and with different
attachments at the ends marked K. This is intended to serve for the hangers for
bell cords in railroad cars and for analogous purposes. Instead of the ordinary
leather straps in railroad cars I employ my flat spring of braided wires, upon which
ends of the proper character are riveted or soldered, or both, one end adapted to
carry the bell cord at the bottom, and other end adapted to strongly fasten to the
roof of the car at the top.

page_text: I can use the Invention successfully with only a single spring mado flat and of
the proper breadth; but I prefer two, mounted side by side at a little distance
apart, as representod.
Fig. 28 represents a modification of small size and round or approximately round
section adapted for use in bird cages as perches. By its slightly yielding character
it responds to the movements of the bird in a manner analogous to natural twigs.
The end pieces K' are formed with claws which are easily bent by pliers or the
like, and caused to take firm hold on the wires or bars of bird cages at the desired
level. This perch may be used with success secured only by one end; I have shown
it adapted to be secured at both ends.
The fifth part of the Invention relates to the mode of operation by which I
produce certain peculiar styles of my braided spring.
If, as has been above described, we take a cominon braiding machine, such as is
used in applying the covering of braided yarns upon whip-stocks, and introduce
bobbins filled with hard elastic wire instead of yarn, with proper provisions on the
machine to compensate for the stiffness of the wire, etc., as explained below, and
proceed to braid, wo shall produce a hollow fabric of great strength and clasticity.
I can use such spring formed of hard wire in a continuous uniform length as a
flexible shaft to operate machinery at a distant point.
The size or diameter of the tubular fabric thus produced may be varied by
properly operating at different points in the same springs so as to produce
tapering articles suitable for canes or whip-stocks; or again, by a different
method operating the tubular elastic article may be tapered both ways suitable
for satchel handles.
I propose to introduce the wires in quantities as large as the machine can
accommodate, and to thus braid lengths of one hundred yards, more or less, in
a single continuous pieco. If, as in most articles of this kind, the spring should
he tapered the spring is made with swells or alternate tapers in opposito directions
at proper distances.
"
The perfection of the product is increased by introducing a solid article of the
required form in the interior at the point where the wires are braided together.
When a continuous spring of uniform section is required the "former
may bo
stationary, and made sufficiently smooth to allow the braid to slide continuously off
it as fast as it is formed. Such a former is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3.
I can by this means produce uniformly braided springs either of a round section
or of an oval, or even a very nearly flat section, by introducing fixed formers of
corresponding shape.
When the spring is required to be tapered, as for canes, whips, sections of fish
poles, and the like, I can introduce tapering formers, and cause them to move
upward with the goods. A sufficient clear height being provided above, with the
proper take up mechanism at an elevated point, the articles may be thus produced
in long pieces. If great difference in diameter in whips, or in shorter pieces with
less difference for canes and analogous articles, each being temporarily held at each
end by a clamp, or by a soft wire applied and twisted to hold the wires, and the
several articles cut apart as they are produced. The ends of the wires are next
soldered together and the clamps removed; then the core is carefully forced out,
and the ends permanently finished with handles, ferules, etc., according to taste, or
according to the uses for which the elastic tapering article is intended.
"
A permanent core of elastic, wood, whale-bone, or the like, may be introduced if
desired. I can introduce the -permanent cores to serve as "formers in the act of
manufacturing, and finish the articles with the cores in place.
This mode of operating allows the production of articles which taper in both
directions, as satchel handles. To make such I provide corresponding tapering
cores having the required taper in both directions, and introduce them in succession
at the proper distances apart by hand or machinery.
With either of these kinds of work, and more especially those articles which
taper in both directions, I can introduce temporary cores or formers made in the

page_text: proper form from fusible metal, which melts at a temperature far below that which
will effect the hardness of the wire if hard brass wire is employed. Then after
each article is produced and the ends temporarily secured, I immerse it in water
or oil of a sufficiently high temperature to melt out the core. Then the article
may be finished with the interior empty, and be peculiarly elastic, light, and
graceful.
I have used successfully hard brass wire, No. 24 to No. 26, drawn down from
No. 18, without annealing; I do not confine myself to that material; steel properly
tempered may be used, but care must be taken not to reduce the temper of the
main body in the soldering, and other treatments.
The Drawings, Figures 29 to 41, represent modifications of the continuous spring
and of the goods produced therefrom.
Fig. 29 is a side view showing the spring as tapered one way for sections of
fish-poles and the like, with a taper somewhat exaggerated.
Fig. 30 shows the spring also in a continuous length with the articles tapered
both ways.
Fig. 31 is a cane; the wires a¹, a³, are braided together in a round braiding
machine in a manner analogous to that long employed in the covering of whip
handles, but more open-work. The body is braided tapering by means well
known to operators of braiding machines. The bandle O is strongly clamped or
soldered, or both, to the large end of the structure, and a suitable ferule is
correspondingly attached at the bottom. The main body may contain a core P of
ash or other elastic wood, or it may be left hollow, as may be preferred.
Fig. 32 represents a whip correspondingly braided in a tapering forin; a portion
or the whole of this may be filled. The coro may be elastic wood with a butt of
metal.
Fig. 33 is a side view of a tip for a fish-pole with a core of whalebone or other
material inside.
Fig. 34 is a cross section of a correspondingly cored construction taken near the
butt. The body or core P is formed of segment-shaped pieces applied together
with shellac or other strong cement.
I propose in some instances to braid a close fitting covering of cotton or other
suitable fibrous yarn over the exterior of my braided wire spring; Figs. 35 and 36
are sections of portions thus constructed.
Fig. 37 shows one construction of the butt; in this the wires at that end aro
annealed for a little distance, and after the core is properly inserted the ends of tho
wires are brought together and twisted. Then an ornamental close-fitting cap is
applied and soldered fast.
Figs. 38 and 39 show side views of satchel handles; they are either tapered or
flattened both ways from the centre. I prefer that they shall be both tapered and
flattened, so as to preserve about the saine width at each end as the middle. The
metal ends with the proper tips for connecting to a satchel may be strongly
secured by soldering; Fig. 41 is a longitudinal section through an end of one of
these without the ring; Fig. 40 shows the same with the ring.
The ferule or separate sheet metal part which encloses and finishes the end is
marked K³. Where, as in the satchel handle, an additional ring is connected at
each end, such ring is marked F.
The enclosing ferule or finishing piece K³ may be extended and varied indefinitely.
In the cane Fig. 31 the piece O at the thick end is so made as to serve as a tasty
handle. On the butt of a whip, Figs. 32 and 37, the finishing piece K* is a cap
or close-ended ferule either left empty or loaded with lead or the like.
With any of these forms the sheet metal end or tip may be set by compression
between dies, either plain or variously ridged, to produce corresponding slight
indentations or ridges both on the exterior and on the interior of the sheet metal.
And in all I propose, in addition, to apply heat sufficient to fuse the solder by what
may be termed "sweating."
Tips or ferules B, K, K', etc., may be dispensed with on some of the several

page_text: articles, using solder alone, properly smoothed and finished, after cutting off. The
solder may be dispensed with on nearly all the modifications by using tips covering
a sufficient length of the springs, and set on with sufficient pressure and indenta-
tions. In nearly all the articles the best work will be accomplished by combining
both these methods.
Where woven or braided yarns, or other fibrous or organic matter as paper,
leather, or the like, is employed as a covering over the elastic braided_wires, tho
soldering will ordinarily require to be dispensed with altogether. The fibrous
material being saturated with a water proof sizing and polished serves as a means
of temporarily holding the wires a¹, a, together to prevent their spreading apart
or "brooming" during the short period after they are cut off, and before the
caps are applied. It also serves to exclude dirt, and generally as a protection and
finish.
Further modifications may be made. Other hard metal may be used instead of
steel or brass as the material for the wires. The surfaces may be thinly coated
with rosin or any suitable varnish to preserve against oxydation. I can plate or
coat the wire with metal of an incorrodible character, as tin or nickel, whenever tho
expense will be warranted.
The sixth part of the Invention relates to still further uses of my springs.
Figs. 42 to 47 inclusive represent some of the fanciful uses to which my spring A,
constructed as above, may be successfully applied. All represent light articles for
mantel or toilet use, and aro valuable both for use and ornament.
Fig. 42 is an easel adapted to serve in holding small photographs of other
pictures.
Fig. 43 is a watch stand provided with a hook for receiving the ring of a
watch.
Fig. 44 is a watch stand frame wrought in the form of an easy chair, &
adapted to receive a miniature seat upholstered, and so forth.
Fig. 45 is a frame for a hair pin cushion, or other pin cushion for toilet use.
Fig. 46 is a face view, and
Fig. 47 is a corresponding edge view, showing one of the crossings or junctions
of two of my springs.
The junctions or crossing points of my springs may be secured by ordinary
riveting, with washers of suitable size, or they may be secured by slight attach-
ments in the manner of paper fastenings, or they may be soldered; or both the
riveting or analogous fastening and soldering may be applied.
In all these forms of fancy or toilet articles made from my compound wire
springs, the ends, wherever they occur, are secured by adequate means, as by solder,
by tips compressed on, or by both these means.
The seventh part of the Invention relates to the braiding machine.
I have before stated that the ordinary braiding machines used in producing
round or flat braid from fibrous yarns can be used, with certain additions and
modifications, to make the corresponding braid from hard elastic wires. I will now
describe those modifications.
Hard brass wires, No. 26, drawn down from No. 18 without annealing, can be
wound on spools carried on a braiding machine, and delivered through guides and
formed into braids; but a more than usual and a very reliable tension must be
employed. I attain this tension by the friction induced by a sufficient spiral spring.
I mount such a spring below each bobbin or spool, pressing it up against a
transverse pin or other reliable stop above. There may be washers interposed
between. The upper stop may be an adjustable nut with a jam-nut to allow of
screwing down or up as required to delicately adjust the amount of friction.
A difficulty met with in working wire on a fint braiding machine is the
tendency of the hard metallic braid to assume a guttered or tough-like form.
When fibrous yarns are applied together in that position in the manufacture of
ordinary flat braid, the softness and flexibility of that material allows it to flatten.
Hard wires on the contrary are not easily changed in condition aftor the goods are

page_text: completed. I hold the material in a flat condition while in process of formation.
In other words I so guide the wires that they are braided together with the goods
in a flat condition.
I prefer to employ rollers as guides, and I esteem it preferable to mount
the rollers elastically. The perfected form of this portion of the Invention is
developed in a pair of rollers mounted in yielding bearings, and applying against two
parallel plane faces of the entire group of wires a', a, a², a², as they are applied
together in the act of forming flat braid.
•
Another difficulty lies in the liability of the stiff material to hold up the ordinary
weight which serves as a stop-motion. It is important that the machine shall stop
immediately if a strand is broken by any chance. I have devised a stop-motion
which while guiding the weight reliably on the upright rod which serves as a
guide for the strand so as to allow the rapid serpentine motion required, devolves its
weight on the wire between the guide and the braiding point outside of the guide.
This position allows a slight weight to depress the free end even of a highly
elastic wire so soon as a break occurs.
I have not deemed it necessary to give a general view of the entire braiding
machine. I will describe my Invention as applied to an ordinary tape braiding
machine such as is used in the production of flat braid.
Fig. 48 is a plan view of the ordinary track in which the carriers aro travelled
by the ordinary mechanism with the ordinary stop-motion levers ready to be
actuated by the stop as soon as it falls on the breaking of a strand. So far the
machine in nowise differs from the ordinary flat-braiding or tape-braiding-machine.
The diagram A shows the trough-like condition in which the goods tend to be
formed by the motion of the carriers if the wires are unguided. The diagram B shows
the flat condition in which the goods are produced by the aid of my improvements.
Fig. 49 is a side elevation. This Figure shows the means for inducing a flat
condition of the braid in the act of manufacture with so much of the other parts as
is necessary to show its relation thereto.
Fig. 50 is an elevation showing some of the parts at right angles to the views
shown in Fig. 49.
Fig. 51 is a plan view.
Fig. 52 is an elevation of one of the spools with the upright guide and stop-motion.
Figure 53 is a horizontal section on the line 8, 8, in Fig. 52.
Fig. 54 is a top view of the stop-motion.
These Drawings represent the novel parts with so much of the fixed frame-work
and other ordinary parts as is necessary to indicate their relations; J is the fixed
frame-work; R is a carrier traversed in the grooves therein in the ordinary manner;
R is one of the upright rods on the carrier, the ordinary dead spindle on the
bobbin R is a transverse pin set therein; Q is a bobbin filled with hard elastic
wire mounted loosely on the spindle rod R¹; and T is a coiled spring exerting
considerable tension on the lower end of the bobbin Q forcing it tightly against
the pin R. The upright R³ serves as a guide. Each wire a and a is delivered
from the bobbin Q under the proper tension horizontally through a hole at the
mid-height in the upright R3, and thence upward through a hole in the top of said
upright, from whence it is led away to be properly braided with the other wires in
the ordinary manner except as now to be explained.
U is a loaded piece embracing the upright R³, and formed at the top in a nearly
complete circle, which rests on the wire a after it has passed the upper or top
guide hole in the rod R'. The load U bears on the wire a at a point where it is
entirely incapable of supporting it by its stiffness alone. The wire can only
support the weight U by its tension in being led from the upper guido hole to the
braiding point. When the wire a breaks the free end is sure to be depressed by
the gravity of the weight U, and on the latter falling it touches one of the
ordinary stop-levers W or W₁ so soon as the movement lias brought it around to
that point, and acting through them on an ordinary stop-mechanism, not shown,
stops the machine. It will be understood that like ordinary stop motions in this

page_text: class of machines the weights U, so long as the wire a is intact, move in a path
above the lovers W, WI, and produce no effect.
The several wires a delivered from the several guides R³ past their several stop-
weights U are brought together through a fixed guide formed by a liberal aperture
in a fixed piece of sheet metal X. This insures that the wires are approximately
together as they pass up between a pair of rolls Y', Y2 These rolls are mounted
on separate holders Z1, Z2. The holder Z' is mounted on the fixed frame, not
represented; it is stationary. The holder Z' is movable on the holder Z. It is
controlled by a metal spring Z³ reinforced by a rubber spring Z' embraced therein.
By adjusting the latter up and down in the wedge-like space within the metal
spring I can adjust the tension or forco with which the rollers Y', Y³, are
pressed together.
I so mount the holders Z1, Z2, that the bite or point of contact of the rollers
Y¹, Y, will stand just at the level where the several wires a are braided together,
or, in other words, at the point where the wires assume the united condition of a
braid. As the rollers Y₁, Y, are cylindrical rollers the braid formed in the narrow
space between them is correspondingly plane, and retains a flat condition as it is
carried up and over the delivering roller V and under the pressure roller V¹ to be
led away and wound on a proper spool, not represented.
I may remark generally of my braided wire springs that when the take-up of
the braiding machine is operated slowly, relatively to the braiding motion of the
carriers R and their attachments, the wires are applied together at a great angle,
and the spring is elastic tensionally, as is required for garters and analogous
articlos, and that when the [take up is worked rapidly with no increase in the
motion of the braiding mechanism, so that, the wires are applied together at a
small angle nearly parallel to each other, the braid has little or no clasticity
tension-wise, but is peculiarly well adapted to servo elastically by flexure or
bending, as is required for stiffeners in corsets, bustles, etc. Stretching is not
required or desired in stiffeners. I propose in some instances to prevent the
possibility of tensional elasticity in my stiffeners by introducing one or more
straight longitudinal wires within the braid.
Fig. 55 is a diagram showing the relation of two braiding machines to make my
covered springs, the lowermost carrying the wires, and braiding them together to
produce my spring, and the uppermost carrying yarns of cotton, linen, worsted, or
other material to be thus applied as covering. The different angles at which the
strands converge are due to a difference in the rate of their braiding, motion,
because the take-up is necessarily uniform for each. The wires are braided at a
greater angle with the axis of the finished spring than the covering yarns. It
follows froin this relation that when from any cause this covered spring is exposed
to a tensile strain the covering yarns are straightened first, and serve as a check
to arrest the tensional yielding of the wires. Such a spring is efficiently guarded
by its covering against any undesirable stretching.
Modifications may be made in the form and proportions of the machine. Instead
of making the weight of the stop-motion bear on the wire a at a point above the
upper guide holo, as shown, I can make it bear below the upper guide hole, as
shown, I can make it bear below the upper guide hole, but off at a corresponding
distance from the guide. This may be done either by a direct connection, or
indirectly through a lever.
Figs. 520 and 52 are outlines representing these two inodifications.
Fig. 52 represents the modification in which the stop-weight V is made to
depend on the wire a at a point wide off from the guide R³, near the level of the
lower guide hole. The connection is direct, but differs from the ordinary stop-
notions used on yarn braiding machines, in the fact that the bearing point is
distant from the guide R", so that the stiffness alone of the wire, when the tension
is removed by its breakage, cannot hold up the weight.
Fig. 52b represents a further modification in which the weight is made to depend

page_text: on the wire at or near the same point as in Fig. 52 with the same effect, but
instead of bearing directly on the wire, it is made to do so through the medium of
a lever U, which turns on a centrer pivoted on the guide R³.
The effect is the same with all these modifications. A breaking of the wire
allows the weight U to fall by virtue of the weight being caused to bear at a point
distant from the guide R³.
Having thus described my Invention, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the exact details as shown and described, so long as the peculiar
character of the Invention be retained, substantially as described, but what I do
claim is,-
First. The tension spring described, composed of hard wires, braided directly
together at about the angle described, so as to constitute a stretching or tensional
spring, all substantially as herein specified.
Second. A stiffener for dresses and other purposes, made of elastic wire braided
or woven together, adapted to serve substantially as and for the purposes herein
specified.
Third. The compound metallic spring described, made of a size adapted for use
in dresses, composed of three or more elastic wires woven or braided together, and
having the ends brought together and finished with solder, as herein specified.
Fourth. The double metallic spring described, having two separate sets of
braided or woven wires a¹, a³, and a³, as, one within the other, with the ends united
by solder A*, so as to confine the whole rigidly, and present a smooth rounded end,
as herein specified.
Fifth. The soldering clamp described, composed of the base plato D, guides D', ',
top piece E, and holding means E¹, combined and adapted to serve as herein
specified.
Sixth. The combination of a series of soldering clamps D, E, with a tension
device G, G', and a take-up device N, N', adapted for joint operation relatively to
cach other and to a series of springs A, as herein specified.
Seventh. The braided wire spring A with terminal caps compressed thereon, as
herein specified.
Eighth. The braided wire spring A, terminal caps B, and solder A*, combined
as herein specified.
Ninth. The spring composed of hard elastic wires a', a², braided together in
combination with terminal pieces K strongly united, and adapted to serve as herein
specified.
Tenth. The bird perch described composed of braided elastic wires a², a², in
combination with each other and with the claw-formed ends K' adapted for ready
attachment to the bars of the bird cage, as herein specified.
Eleventh. A tube of braided elastic wires, as herein specified.
Twelfth. A tube of braided clastic wires tipped and soldered at each end, as
herein specified.
Thirteenth. A satchel handle of braided elastic wires a', a², in combination with
terminal pieces K³ and rings F, as herein specified.
Fourteenth. An irregular tube of braided elastic wires a', a³, presenting
enlargements and contractions, as herein specified.
Fifteenth. The method herein described of producing swelled tubes of clastic
wire by braiding the same over a "former," having the desired swelled contour, and
removing the former through the interstices of the wires by subsequent melting,
all substantially as herein specified.
Sixteenth. Toilet and fancy articles, composed of the braided elastic wire-springs
A, fastened together as set forth in Figs. 42 to 47.
Seventeenth. In a braiding machine in combination with a series of properly
guided carriers R, carrying spools and guides as represented, the tension springs T
exerting an end wise friction on the bobbin, as herein specified.
Eighteenth. In a braiding machine in combination with one or both the stop

page_text: levers W, W, the stop weight U carried on the guide rod R³ formed, as represented,
to rest on the wire a after it has passed a guide hole and at a distance from the
guide, as and for the purpose herein specified.
Nineteenth. In a braiding machine, the flatting surfaces or rollers Y', Y',
arranged to guide the wire a at a point where they are braided together, so as
to cause the braid to be produced in a plane condition, as herein specified.
Twentieth. The spring T and abutting means R2 in combination with the rollers
Y', Y, and with the carriers R and their connection and suitable take up
mechanism, as herein specified.
Twenty-first. In a braiding machine the fixed guide X in combination with the
flatting rollers Y', Y, carriers R, with their bobbins Q traversed thereon, and with
a suitable take up mechanism, as borein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nicholas Jenkins, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord Eighteeen
hundred and eighty, in the presence of subscribing witnesses.
Witnesses,
THOMAS DREW STETSON,
Patent Solicitor,
New York,
WILLIAM COLBORNE BROOKES,
New York City, U.S.A.
NICHOLAS JENKINS.
(LS)