CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY USED FOR THE MAKING OF BOBBIN OR TWIST LACE NET, WHEREBY NET AND OTHER FABRICS MAY BE PRODUCED
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HEATHCOAT, of Tiverton, in the County of Devon, Lace Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Third day of October, in the
second year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give unto
me, the said John Heathcoat, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His
special license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
John Heathcoat, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them,
by myself and themselves, or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as I, the said John Heathcoat, my executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years in the said Letters
Patents expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY USED FOR THE
MAKING OF BOBBIN OR TWIST LACE NET, WHEREBY NET AND OTHER FABRICS MAY
BE PRODUCED," within that part of His Majesty's United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, His Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His Colonies and Plantations abroad, in

page_text: such manner as to me, the said John Heathcoat, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or any of them, should in my or their discretion seem meet, and
I, the said John Heathcoat, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
and lawfully might have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commodity, and
advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising by reason
of the said Invention, for and during the term of years in the said Letters
Patent mentioned; in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said John Heathcoat, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said 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, I, the said
John Heathcoat, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
as follows, that is to say:―
"
My improvements in the machinery used for the making of bobbin or twist
lace net, whereby net and other fabries may be produced, consists in certain
mechanical appendages. to be attached to a machine of the ordinary construc-
tion employed for the making of bobbin net or twist lace, the object of which
is to effect the combination of various kinds of fabric heretofore produced by
that description of machine known in the trade by the name of ".
warp frame,'
with the ordinary bobbin net. These improvements are capable of being
adapted to various principles or systems of mechanism for making bobbin nct.
I have, however, thought it sufficient to shew the mode of constructing the
improved machinery and of connecting the same to that particular kind of
machine called the circular bolt principle.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed, Sheet 1, Fig. 1, is a front elevation of
a circular bolt machine for making bobbin net lace, in which the improved
parts are shewn in the situations they are intended to occupy when put to
work; Sheet 2, Fig. 2, is a sectional elevation taken transversely through
the machine; and Fig. 3 is an elevation shewing that part of the back of the
machine which is towards the left end of Fig. 1. For the better illustration
elevation of the improved
of this Invention, Sheet 3, Fig. 4, exhibits an
parts, alone, upon a larger scale; and Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the
same; in all which Figures, the similar letters refer to corresponding parts
of the machinery.

page_text: Rotary motion is given to the machine by means of a band from any first
mover, passes over the rigger a, or by any other convenient means, the main
horizontal shaft b, b, may be actuated... Pinions on' this shaft take into the
toothed wheels c, c, on the tappet shaft d, d, which drive the operative parts of
the lace-making machine in the ordinary way, and therefore need no further
description. On the end of the tappet shaft d there is a bevel pinion e, taking.
into a corresponding bevel pinion on the vertical shaft f, which vertical shaft
carries the cams or tappet wheels that give motion to the several mechanical
appendages for producing, in combination with the lace net, the various kinds
of fabric commonly made by warp machinery. The fabric to be produced.is
effected by interweaving silk, cotton, or other fibrous materials with the ordi-
nary.bobbin net, by means of looped stitches passed through the meshes of the
net, and round the threads which form the meshes, by the agency of guides and
needles, in a similar way to the operations of the warp machine. The silk,
cotton; or other material intended to be interwoven with the net is first wound
upon rollers g and h, which are placed above the lace machine, from whence it
is conducted downwards to the guides i, i, (shewn in two views of their real
size in the detached Figures 6 and 8.) These guides are mounted in leads and
screwed to the bar k, k, extending along the front of the machine, which bar k
is suspended upon links 1, 1, 1, from the longitudinal shaft m, m, that vibrates
upon its bearings. The needles o, o, to be employed in forming the loops or.
stitches, and interweaving thein with thic net; are furnished with beards or
spring hooks, as in the ordinary warp frame, and are mounted in leads, as.
shewn full size at Figures 7 and 9. The leads of these needles are attached
to the bar p, p, placed at the back of the machine, which bar also is suspended
by links j, j, from the shaft q, q, and to these shafts m' and q vibrating motion
is given by the rotary cams on the vertical shaft f, before mentioned. In the
bar r, commonly called the facing bar, which extends through the lace machine,
just above the taking-up points, there is inserted a long plate or a series of
short plates s, s, s. This plate is perforated with a series of holes in a straight
line, cach hole being sufficiently large to allow one of the needles to be pro-
truded through; the respective holes of this plate are situate exactly opposite to
and corresponding with a line of 'méshes in the net, and the points of the needles
rest in these holes previously to their being passed through the net. The
guides i and needles o, above described, are placed in the machine immediately.
over the taking-up points, and should be as near to them as convenience will
allow.
Having described the relative situation of the guides and needles, and also of
the rollers which supply them with. silk, cotton, or other thread, to produce

page_text: the work, I now proceed to explain the operation intended to be performed,
reserving the details of the mechanism, which will be best understood when
the objects are known. An advancing movement being given to the needle
bar p, the ends of the needles o are protruded about half an inch through the
holes of the plate s, s, and through the meshes of the net t, which is extended
over the facing bar r. In this position the needles remain stationary, while
movement is given to the guide bar k; by this movement the end of the guides
carrying the thread are depressed, and conducted round the under parts of the.
needles, moving sideways at the same time, and then rising up to their former
situation, for the purpose of laying each thread in a loop round the needle,
ready to be drawn within the beard or spring hook when the guides recede.
The next movement causes the guides to recede, which draws the looped thread:
up to the points of the needles within the beards. Another movement at the
same time causes the needles to recede, when their springs or beards are
brought against the rounded horizontal edge u of a pendant frame v, shewn
detached and in section full size at Fig. 8; and by means of this horizontal
edge u, which is called the presser bar, the beards of the needles are pressed
closely into small grooves or recesses in the under parts of the needles, in order
to allow of their repassing the meshes of the net without catching, whilst in
the act of drawing the loops of thread which they have just received from the
guides through the meshes of the lace. During the operation just described,
the various evolutions of the lace machine have been proceeding, and a portion
of the net, that is, a row of meshes across the machine, have been produced;
the action of the points in beating up the net, and of the work roller in drawing
it up, has at this period of the operation (videlecit, the receding of the needles
above described) presented another row of meshes opposite to the holes in the
plates s. The needles are therefore again are advanced, and in passing
through the net the loops of thread which they had previously drawn through
are pressed or slidden back from under the beards of the needles on to their
stand. The needles are now ready to receive another supply of thread, and to
have it looped round them by a similar movement of the guides to the one
above described; and if the pattern or fabric to be produced upon the lace is
intended to be formed by rows of single stitches in straight lines, then the
same guides are respectively to supply the same needles as before; but if a
broad stripe of work of many rows of stitches connected is intended to be
wrought, it will then be necessary to cause the guides to traverse, latterally and
to supply the threads respectively to the next needles to those which they
formerly operated upon. On the needles receding again over the presser bar,.
their beards as before are pressed into their recesses, by which they are not

page_text: only enabled to pass freely through the net, but also to let the loops of thread
previously made, and last described as resting upon the stems of the needles, to
slide over them, by which means the needles, in receding to the extremity of
their movements, draw the new loops through those made before, and thereby'
secure the stitch. At this moment the work roller turns a little, draws up
the first-described row of loops or stitches, combined with or attached to the
meshes of the lace, whilst the loops last formed upon the needles, are left
there under the beards, in order to have another set of loops drawn through
them at the next operation. Thus, a succession of loops or stitches of silk,
cotton, or other thread are worked into or upon the meshes of the net in
stripes, and which loops or stitches may be arranged in a variety of forms or
patterns upon the lace, by shifting the needles or the guides by the other
means usually practiced in the working of warp
machines.
Having explained the general features of my Invention, I now preceed to
describe the several parts of the mechanism to be connected with a lace making
machine for the purpose of producing the proposed fabric. Let it be con-
sidered that the lace machine is in operation, the horizontal shaft d revolving,
and consequently driving the vertical shaft f. The lower cam upon this vertical
shaft, shewn at w (and a plan view of whic his exhibited at Fig. 10,) acts against
a lever at the back of the machine, for the purpose of giving vibratory
motion to the back horizontal shaft 9, which' is connected by links j, j, to the
horizontal needle bar p, while the antifriction roller at the lower end of the
lever runs against the circular edge of the cam wheel w, the needle bar p'
will remain stationary, and the ends of the needles o rest in the holes of the
plate s; but when that part of the cam w where a segment is cut away from
its edge comes round to the antifriction roller, the back spring y acting power-
fully against the lever x, will cause the lever to move inwards, and consequently
the vibrating shaft q, connected with it, to turn sufficiently to carry the bar p
forward, and by that means to pass the needles o through the holes in the plate
s, for the purposes described above. The recess in the cam w is such as to:
allow (though it continues revolving) sufficient space of time for the needles
to remain stationary in their advanced situation, while the guides travel round
then to produce the loops of thread, as above explained; and when the larger
diameter or circular part of the cam w again comes round and acts against
the lever x, the needles will be drawn back into the situations first described,
and, as before said, remain for a time quiescent.
I now proceed to explain the mechanical means whereby the guides are
actuated which carry the threads of silk, cotton, or other material, and form
them in loops upon the needles. In describing the movements of the guides i, i, i,

page_text: It is first to be observed that the guide bar k hangs upon joints or small axles
2,2, z, in the links 1, 1, 1, pendant from the vibratory shaft m, and that the guides
derive their movements from the upper cam wheel A, fixed upon the perpendi-
cular shaft f. As the cam wheel A revolves, its periphery (seen in the horizontal
view, Fig. 11) comes against an antifriction roller in the end of the lever
B, and consequently lifts that end of the lever, and as it turns upon a fulcrum
in the middle, necessarily causes the opposite end of the lever to be depressed.
Near the said opposite end of this lever a clip C is screwed, which, with the
extremity of the lever, together constitute what may be called a finger and thumb
upon the guide bar k, towards its left, and there is affixed a perpendicular
arm D, which is bent back at its upper part, and terminates in a small upright
pin E; and from the side of this arm D, a small piece extends, which is taken
hold of by the finger and thumb C of the horizontal lever B, before described.
It will now be perceived that when the elevated part of the cam wheel A
forces outwards the end of the lever B, the finger and thumb C, at the opposite
end, will press inwards the upper part of the arm D, and by so doing tilt up.
the guide bar, and cause the ends of the guides to be depressed below the
needles. The pin E at the top of the arm D; by being thus pressed inwards,
is made to pass between an inclined plane at the inside of the stationary
piece G and a spring stud H, commonly called by the trade a castaback.
This stud H is formed like the frustrum of a cone, and is affixed to a
small lever I, which has a spring J acting behind it. The pin of the arm D,
therefore, when forced back against the inclined plane I, escapes through
the castaback behind the spring stud J, and in so doing is slidden with the
guide bark and also the guides i, to the left; which movement of the
guides carries the threads under the needles, as before described. The roller
at the end of the lever B now drops off the elevation of the cam as it
revolves on to the circular part of the wheel; this enables the lever B to
resume its former situation, and consequently the arm D to rise to its
perpendicular, and the guide bar k to its level position where it is.slidden
back again to the right upon its axles by the force of springs K, so as to
occupy its former place. By these movements the guides have been made to
carry the threads under and round the needles, and to lay them upon the
needles in loops, as before explained. In order to make the guides recede and
draw the loops of thread under the beards up to the points of the needles, as
before described, a small cam I (see Fig. 11), fixed on the upper surface of
the wheel A, now acts against the end of a pendant lever M, being, by means
of the cam, forced outwards, gives movement to the shaft m, and consequently,
through the links 1, 1, 1, to the bar f, which draws back the guides for the

page_text: purpose of tightening the threads. And when the cam L has passed the lever,
the force of a spring N causes the guide bar k to move inwards again to its
quiescent position. In order to supply the guides with threads, for the
operation above described, the silk, cotton, or other material wound upon the
rollers g and h, as before said, is passed from the rollers to the guides, as a
warp, between reeds, or by any other convenient mode of dividing the threads,
as shewn in front of the machine at P, P. The necessary quantity of thread
is given off by a small rotatory movement which the roller h receives from a
click R, attached to the back vibrating shaft g, which click takes into the teeth
of a ratchet wheel S, affixed to the axle of the roller h, and drives it a few
teeth at every vibration of the shaft q, for the purpose of delivering that
portion of the thread which is to constitute the internal part of the stripe work.
The other roller g, which is driven at the reverse end by the wheel T, commu-
nicating with a wheel on the axle of the roller h, furnishes the threads for the
selvages of the stripe, and when stripes or lines of single stitches are intended
to be worked upon the lace, one of these rollers only will be required. It is
only necessary further for me to describe the means by which broad patterns
or stripes of the fabric, consisting of several lines of stitches connected together,
may be brought upon the lace net. This I effect by means of a shogging or
lateral movement given to the guides, or to the needles, or to both; if to the
needles, the plates with holes through which the needles pass must be shogged
also. And for this purpose I find it convenient to employ a cam wheel V,
driven by a pinion at the top of the perpendicular shaft f, the periphery of
which cam wheel must be cut into such suitable elevations and indentations as
will effect the object by acting against an antifriction roller in the standard U,
fixed to the front vibrating shaft m, and by that means shogging or shifting
that shaft, and, consequently, the guide bar, which is an operation well under-
stood by lace makers; but I do not intend to confine myself to this particular
mode of shogging or traversing the guides or needles for the purpose of
producing varieties of work, as several other modes might be employed which
would be equally effective.
Lastly, I wish it to be understood that though I have described my improved
machinery in connection with a lace machine constructed upon the circular
bolt principle, and actuated by rotary power, yet I do not intend to limit
myself in its adaptation to that particular principle of machinery alone, as it is
obvious that the contrivance may be applied, with such modifications as each.
case shall require, to other constructions or principles of machinery for making
bobbin net lace, and whether driven by rotary power or by the hands of
the workman; but I claim as my Invention the adaptation of needles and

page_text: guides as employed in the warp machine to work in connection with a
machine for making bobbin net, whereby those varieties of work produced by
warp machines may be made or wrought in or upon the fabric of the net
produced in the bobbin net machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Heathcoat, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
JOHN (L.S.) HEATHCOAT.
AND. BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of March, in
the second year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the
said John Heathcoat came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery,
and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Second day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-two.
MY ONVAL