IMPROVEMENTS IN LACE PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Livesey, of New Lenton, in the County of
Nottingham, Lace Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LACE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Livesey at the Office:
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th July
1854.
I, JOHN LIVESEY, of New Lenton, in the County of Nottingham, Lace
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LACE MACHINERY, AND IN FABRICS MANUFACTURED BY SUCH MACHINERY," to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in improved arrangements in lace machinery of
the cutting apparatus for cutting pile fabrics; and second, in improvements in
the instruments now used in lace machinery for forming pile or loops, whereby
I am enabled to produce much longer pile or loops than have heretofore been
made by such instruments, and which lengthened pile or loop may also be cut
or be separated, by drawing out a draw thread, and so form a fringe; and
third, in the production of a fabric made from lace machinery, combining the
long loop or pile fabric forming fringes, as aforesaid, with a heading of lace
work, having velvet ornaments thereon, or with a heading of velvet only to such
fringe.

page_text: My improvements in instruments, and improved arrangements of instru-
ments for cutting pile fabrics made on lace machinery consist, 1st, in placing
instruments, having cutters working in such instruments for cutting the pile,
pointing downwards instead of upwards, as heretofore. 2nd, in employing
instruments, also pointing downwards, made with a round point, by which they
are guided into the pile, and having a cutting edge upon it, by means of which
the pile is cut as the work advances. 3rd, in making the top of the pile-
forming instruments now used into a cutting blade. 4th, in attaching fixed,
but at the same time removeable, cutting blades to the top of pile-forming
instruments. 5th, in lengthening the instruments heretofore used, on which
the pile is formed and cut, so that the cutters do not obstruct the view of the
fabric as it is produced by the working of the machinery. 6th, in the use of
a spindle bar placed behind the fabric, to produce an improved action of the
pile-cutting instruments.
My Invention in improved instruments to be used on lace machinery for
forming a long pile, or loop, or fringe, consists, 1st, in the use of much broader
pile-forming instruments than have heretofore been used for such purpose in
lace machinery, and by means of which I produce a long pile or loop, which
may be cut or drawn into fringe; and 2nd, in passing the pile, loop, or
fringe thread in front of more than one such instrument, having at the same
time wires or threads introduced between the instruments, for the purpose of
taking up a larger quantity of material, and thus forming a proportionately
longer loop or fringe.
3rd, my Invention in the manufacture of a new fabric consists in the
manufacture from lace machinery of fabrics, combining fringes made from the
long loop or pile fabric, as aforesaid, with a heading of lacework having velvet
ornaments thereon, or with a velvet heading only to such fringe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Livesey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LIVESEY, of New Lenton, in the County of Nottingham, Lace Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did,

page_text: for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Livesey, Her special licence that I, the said John Livesey, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Livesey, 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 LACE MACHINERY, AND IN FABRICS
MANUFACTURED BY SUCH MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Livesey, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 John Livesey, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, in improvements in and improved arrange-
ments of the cutting apparatus used in lace machinery for cutting the pile
fabrics formed thereon.
Second, in improvements in the instruments now used in lace machinery,
and arrangements for working the same, in order to form pile or loops,
whereby I am enabled to produce much longer pile or loops than have heretofore
been made by such instruments, and which lengthened pile or loops may be
cut or be separated by drawing out a thread, and so form a fringe.
And, third, in the production of a fabric made from lace machinery, com-
bining the long loop or pile fabrics forming fringes, as aforesaid, with a
heading of lacework having velvet ornaments thereon, or with a heading of
velvet only to such fringes.
My improvements under the first head of my Invention have reference to
improvements in instruments and arrangements for the cutting of pile fabrics
made on lace machinery, for which (with other improvements) Letters Patent
were granted to me the 18th September 1851 and the 22d December 1852, and
to me, conjointly with Samuel Nichols and Edward Wroughton, the 19th day
of August 1852. The present improvements have principally for their object
the placing of the cutting apparatus in such a position as not to obstruct the
view of the work during its formation, and for this purpose the apparatus is
placed at some distance from the points where the work is formed, or else it is

page_text: placed so as to act underneath the loop (as will be hereafter explained),
whereby such loops are cut from the inside instead of the top. These arrange-
ments and improvements will be better understood by reference to Figures 1,
and to the description thereof. And for the sake of greater clearness, I have
divided my improvements under this first head of my Invention into six parts,
the first of which consists in placing instruments, having cutters working in
such instruments for cutting the pile pointing downwards, instead of upwards,
heretofore. A is a piece of steel, which has been softened, so that it may be
doubled into the form shewn at A', between the sides of which the cutters
work. A is a piece of round wire, flattened at A5, so as to allow it to be
soldered inside the top part of A. and also to be set in any position required.
As is one of the leads into which the wires A' are cast. A is. a bar, supported
by brackets A, attached to the top tie bar, and upon it the leads .A are
screwed. The cutters A10 are worked in a similar manner to tliat described in
a Patent granted to me, the 18th day of September 1851, but they are altered
in form to suit the arrangement shewn; the holder B is lengthened to allow
the blade B to have a longer cutting edge, which edge forms the segment of
a circle drawn from the axis B³, upon which the cutters work. The cutting
apparatus referred to, in reference to the Patent granted to me the 18th Sep-
tember 1851, is applied to a circular lace machine, where motion is given to
the cutters from the shaft in a line with the centre of the machine; but I do
not confine myself to circular machines, as the motion may be equally well
obtained from the back shaft of a Leaver's machine, as shewn in Figure 1:
The manner in which the cutting is performed is as follows:-As the work
advances upwards, the points of the instruments A' enter underneath the loops
formed by the ordinary pile-forming instruments, and the loops are cut by
motion given to the cutters B2, and also to the spindle bar A'; this spindle
bar will be hereafter explained.
.The second part consists in employing instruments, also pointing downwards,
made with a round point, by which they are guided into the pile; they have a
cutting edge upon them, by means of which the pile is cut. As the work
advances I use the form of blades D, shewn at Figure 1, (fixed. in the same
position as that last described,) which terminate, in a round point D³, which
serves as a guide as the work advances to conduct the loops coming from the
loop-forming instruments on to the sharpened part above the rounded point
which projects. These blades are placed in divisions cut in the stationary
bar E, and are fastened in their places by caps, in a similar manner to
that followed in fastening the needles of a circular knitting machine. The
stationary bar E., is supported by brackets fastened, to the top tie bar,

page_text: Instead of the blade D being rounded at the point, it may be used with
a sheath having a rounded point, similar to the sheath used in the cutting of
fustians.
The third part consists in converting the top of the pile-forming instruments
now used into a cutting blade; for this purpose I make that portion of the pile-
forming instrument which reaches above the points (which take up the work)
broader and longer, so as to allow the front edge to project and be sharpened,
so as to cut the loop as the work advances. The friction roller, which is
covered by wire carding, or other suitable material, by which the fabric is
drawn up as made, must be of larger diameter than usual, in order to take up
the work and cut the pile, both in this arrangement and in that last described;
as well as in the one that follows.
The fourth part consists in attaching fixed, but at the same time removeable,
cutting blades to the top of pile-forming instruments. I use similar pile-forming
instruments to those described in the Patent granted to me the Eighteenth
day of September 1851, and shewn in Figure 1, having, as there described, a
slot in them, or being double at the upper part F', through which I put the
rivets F, Figure 1, keeping the doubled part sufficiently asunder to admit the
blade F, Fig. 1, to be pressed in between such double part, when the notches
F', coming in contact with the rivets, will be prevented from rising as the
work advances. Thus, these blades may be readily taken out to be sharpened,
and as they wear they inay be lowered a notch.
The fifth part consists in lengthening the instruments heretofore used, on
which the pile is formed and cut, so that the cutters do not obstruct the view
of the fabric as it is produced by tho working of the machine. For this pur-
pose,
I solder and rivet a thin piece of flat steel G, Figure 1, of sufficient
length to reach from the top of the instruments G", now used, to the spindle
bar herein-after described. This piece of steel has a slotted piece G fastened
at the top, forming a slot for the cutters to work in, and thus carrying the
cutting apparatus to a greater distance from the points G'.
And the sixth part of the first head of my Invention consists in the
employment of a spindle bar, placed behind the fabric, to produce an improved
action of the pile-cutting instruments. For this purpose I employ a semi-
circular spindle bar, Figure 1, made round in those parts required for the
bearings in which it turns. II is a lever, moved by means of a cam on the
back shaft H', by which sufficient motion must be given to the bar A7 to
bring the fabric forward, so as to bring the tops of the loops in contact with
the cutters, either during their upward or downward motions, and by which
means the loops will be cut, and a greater portion of the blades will be brought

page_text: into cutting operation, without the necessity of compound motion being given
to the cutters.
My improvement under the second head of my Invention consists in the
employment and adaptation of pile-forming instruments sufficiently broad and
so arranged as to produce a loop long enough to form a fringe, and in passing
the loop or fringe thread in front of more than one of such pile-forming
instruments, and in introducing at the same time wires or threads between
and on each side of the fringe-forming instruments, for the purpose of taking
up a larger quantity of material, and thus forming a proportionately longer
loop or fringe. The instruments and arrangements for this purpose will be
understood by reference to Figure 1. I shews the instrument, over which
the loop is thrown; it is made of two pieces of steel, joined together at the
tops by a piece of steel I' (shewn in dotted lines), Figure 1, separating the
two pieces the distance of one gauge of the machine. They are kept asunder
at the bottom by the combs I. Figure 1 is a lead of combs; the shoulder of
this head fits on to the shoulder of a bar I. I', a cap, with a groove on its
inner face, which fits over the notches made in the end of the instruments; the
cap lead of combs and the bar are all held together by a screw, passed through
an aperture made in each for that purpose. A strip of india-rubber lies in
the top groove of the bar, and upon it the back of the instruments rest, which
are thus pressed against the facing bar, and have a certain amount of elasticity
imparted to them. J is one of the wires, (shewn in Figure 1 as broken), of
which there are three to every two fringe-forming instruments; these wires
are placed in front of the fringe threads, and are for the purpose of taking up
and holding a quantity of thread on each side of and between the instruments.
The following is one illustration of proceeding :-To make a fringe, which may
be cut in the middle and form two fringes, each one and a half inches long,
or which may be cut on either side, and so form a fringe three inches long,
I use two of the fringe-forming instruments with three wires, as before men-
mentioned, and employ the space of, say, twelve carriages. For convenience of
explanation, I will consider them placed in the order following one another,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; then I use 1 and 12 to form a platted
pillow, and to loop the fringe thread to; (this pillow may be attached to a
broad heading of lace or other fancy heading by loop or net threads, as is well
understood); 2 and 11 I use as corders along with twisting threads, which
threads must work at the back of the fringe threads; 3, 4, 9, 10, are empty
carriages; the spaces for 5 and 8 are left without carriages; 6 and 7 are also
empty carriages, and have bits soldered on them at the top, to work over the
empty spaces left by the carriages, 5 and 8 being withdrawn. The points

page_text: working to the carriages 3, 5, 8, and 10, are better taken out, and the points
2, 6, 7, and 11, set so as to obviate the danger of these points entering and
taking-up on the wrong side of the fringe thread, which, in consequence of
the angle formed by these threads when thrown across the broad fringe forming
instruments and carriages, they might otherwise be liable to do. The two
fringe-forming instruments are so placed that the carriages 4 and 9 pass
between the opening in each of such instruments. The cut of wheels given,
Figure 1, shew the motions of the guide bars for forming the fringe. By this
arrangement, a fringe as above, of three inches long, can be made in the space
occupied by eight carriages.
My improvement under the third head of my Invention consists in a new
fabric produced upon lace machinery, embodying the peculiar features of a
fabric manufactured in lace machinery (that is to say, the peculiarities given
to fabrics by the use of bobbins and carriages to tie together the work made
on such machinery), having a fringe with a heading of plain velvet, or a fringe
with a heading of ornamental velvet, made in one piece with it, in contra-
distinction to having a plain or ornamental velvet stitched or stuck thereon, as
may have been heretofore done.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the samo is to be performed, I declare that I claim, under the first
head of my Invention, the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth several
improvements, as separately herein-before described under the first head of
this my Specification.
And under the second head of iny Invention I claim the improvements
in and adaptations of the pile-forming instruments, herein-before described,
whereby they are adapted to the production of fringes, as described.
And under the third head of my Invention, I claim the new fabric, con-
sisting of the combination of a velvet heading and fringe, produced all in one
piece upon lace machinery, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Livesey, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five.
JOHN LIVESEY. (L.S.)