IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING WIRE CARDS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Foxwell, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Card Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING WIRE CARDS, AND IN THE
MANUFACTURE THEREOF."
Sealed the 23rd October 1855, and dated the 7th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Foxwell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1855.
I, DANIEL FOXWELL, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Card Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING WIRE CARDS, AND
IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF," to be as follows:-
Instead of manufacturing the card in a horizontal position, and putting the
wires through the foundation at right angles, I put in the wires in angular
positions, and make or manufacture them in a vertical position, by which
means I make the wires much stronger in the card, because they have a bear-
ing or leverage against the foundation, and the vertical position of manufacture
causes a great saving in the space or room required for each machine. These
improvements will be understood by reference to the accompanying outlino
Drawing; in which, Fig. 1 is a plan of the improved arrangement of the

page_text: machine; and Fig. 2 shews the crookers, drawn full size. The card a is placed
at an angle; the crookers are shewn at 6, connected to which are the rods or
wires c, which transmit motion to the crookers through the medium of the rod
d, acted upon by the cam e, by which process the wires are put through the
foundation in an angular position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Daniel Foxwell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
FOXWELL, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Card
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Daniel Foxwell, Her special licence that I, the said Daniel Foxwell,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Daniel
Foxwell, 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 MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING WIRE CARDS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Daniel Foxwell, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Daniel Foxwell, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
:-
My Invention consists of making or manufacturing sheet cards in a vertical
position (the same having been hitherto manufactured in a horizontal position),

page_text: and putting the wires through the foundation in an angular position instead of
at right angles. By this arrangement of the machine, the wires being put in
the foundation obliquely and crooked in the same direction, the crown of each
tooth has a direct bearing or leverage against the foundation, thereby making
the cards much stronger than those made upon the present plan, and the
vertical position of manufacture causes a great saving in the space or room
required for each machine. I adopt two modes of producing these results; one
consists in placing the card in an angular position, and the other in placing the
prickers, and the slide which holds and delivers the wire, in a diagonal or
angular position to the card.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying two Sheets of Drawings, and the letters of reference thereon.
In Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is an elevation, shewing the frame and some of the prin-
cipal parts of a card-making machine, with the card placed in an angular
position; Fig. 2 is a plan thereof; Fig. 3, a side view, shewing the action of
the break; Fig. 4, a plan of the crookers; and Fig. 5 shews another con-
trivance for crooking. In Sheet 2, Fig. 1 is also an elevation, shewing the
frame and some of the principal parts of a card-making machine, in which the
card is placed in the ordinary manner, but the prickers and slide are placed in
an angular position; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. In Sheet 1, a represents
the foundation placed at the required angle to the wire, which is made to
enter in the usual manner. The crookers are seen at b, behind which are the
holders c, both of which are raised and depressed simultaneously; when the
holders are acting on the wire, the crookers are put in motion by the cam d
acting on the rod e, the bell crank f, and the rod g; the return of the crookers
is effected by the spring h. In Fig. 5 the crookers are shewn at i, which are
also raised and depressed as usual, and turn upon the pivots k by the action
of a cam, as in the former example. In order to check or regulate the
momentum of the cam wheel l, I employ a ratchet wheel, as seen at m,
Fig. 3, which is acted upon by the lever n and the cam o, the parts being so
arranged as to allow one tooth only to escape, thus preventing the cam wheel
outrunning its task. In Sheet 2, p represents the card; q, the slide, placed in
any desired angle; the other parts of the machine are similar to the one
already described.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the exact details herein
set forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from the prin-
ciple thereof; but I claim as my Invention, the construction and arrangement

page_text: of machinery or apparatus for manufacturing wire cards in a vertical position,
and putting the wires through the foundation in an angular position, as herein
described, and illustrated in the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Foxwell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
DANIEL FOXWELL. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-named
Daniel Foxwell, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.