A METHOD OR METHODS OF ORNAMENTING, EMBROIDERING, OR WORKING DEVICES UPON LACE, NET, AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1832

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 the Sixteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, in the second
year of His reign, did, Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Heathcoat, His especial licence that I, the said John
Heathcoat, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Heathcoat, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of fourteen years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, 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, my Invention of "A METHOD OR
METHODS OF ORNAMENTING, EMBROIDERING, OR WORKING DEVICES UPON LACE,
NET, AND OTHER FABRICS;" 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 the said Invention of which I am so possessed as aforesaid, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and cause the same to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months iminediately

page_text: 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 the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, that is to say :-
lace
My Invention of a Method or Methods of Ornamenting, Embroidering, or
Working Devices upon Lace, Net, and other Fabrics, consists in the employ-
ment of certain mechanism, parly resembling that of the ordinary warp
frame, by which I am enabled to work into the meshes and around the threads
of bobbin net lace, and through or upon the fibres composing other fabrics,
stitches or loops of silk, cotton, or other threads or yarns, for the purpose of
producing upon such fabrics embrodered patterns or devices in strips, zigzags,
Grecian borders, scroll work, vandikes, and various other running or con-
tinuous ornamental forms. The adaptation of mechanism which I employ for
this purpose is the same in principle as that described in the Specification of a
Patent granted to me by His present Majesty, bearing date at Westminster
the Third day of October, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, for 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;" which said Specification was duly inrolled in Chancery, in the
Rolls Chapel Office, oh or about the Third day of April last past. By the
former Invention just alluded to I worked or interwove with the net, as the
meshes were formed in the machine, stitches or loops of silk, cotton, or other
threads or yarns, producing the net and its embrodidered pattern simul-
taneously. In the present instance, however, I work the embroidery upon lace,
net, or other fabric after the fabric has been made and finished by the ordinary
means, by first rolling the said fabric lightly and smoothly upon a beam; 1 then
place the said beam in the upper part of my present embroidering machine, and
bringing down the fabric evenly at the intervals in parallel movements, by a
series of points or conductors, which draw the successive rows of meshes of
the net, or interstices of other fabric, opposite to the points of the needles and
guides, and enable the threads or yarn to be passed through the fabric, and
to be secured by looping or stitches in the manner explained hereafter. The
machine which I am about to describe for accomplishing this object is
peculiarly adapted for operating on bobbin or other net; but as the application
of the same mechanism to work upon other fabrics will be sufficiently obvious,
I shall only describe its operation upon net.

page_text: In the Drawing hereunto annexed, Fig. 1 represents a front elevation
of the machine; Fig: 2, an elevation at that end of the machine which is
toward the left hand; and Fig. 3, a transverse section through the middle
of the machine; the same letters of reference applying to similar parts
in the several Figures. Motion is communicated by means of a strap
from any first mover to the rigger A, to which is fixed a pinion, taking
into a toothed wheel on the horizontal shaft B, and thereby causing it to
revolve. On this shaft B are fixed the different cams or tappet wheels and
other contrivances for giving suitable movements to the various parts of the
machine. The net to be wrought upon is wound on the roller C, extending
along the upper part of the machine. From this roller it is carried through a
series of tension rods a, a, a, over a bar D, called the facing bar, to another roller E
which is intended to receive the work when finished. The silk, cotton, or other
threads or yarns to be interwoven with the net for the purpose of producing the
embroidering is wound upon the rollers L and M, from whence it is conducted
through the perforated bar O, O, to the guides and needles. The intervening
or combining of these threads with the net takes place immediately below the
facing bar D, the particular method of effecting which will be best under-
stood by reference to the enlarged Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. The
needles used for this purpose shown at F, F, are furnished with beards or
spring hooks, similar to those used in warp frames,, and are mounted in leads.
These leads of needles are screwed upon a bar G, called the needle bar,
extending along the back of the machine. The bar G is supported by links b,
upon the horizontal shaft H, which turns upon bearings, and is intended to.
communicate a vibrating movement to the needle bar. Between the needle
bar and the net is fixed another bar I, extending also along the machine at
the back, see Fig. 3. On this bar are screwed a series of combs K, K, which
consists of pieces of brass with slits or grooves cut across them at regular
distances, seen detached in two positions in Figs. 12 and 13, and of their real
size. These combs K, K, are intended to act as supports and guides to the
needles F, F, which slide when at work within the grooves of the combs, and
as the grooves of the comb are to guide the needles through the meshes of
the net, it is obvious that the distance between them must correspond with the
lateral distance of the meshes of the net to be acted upon. Immediately above
the needle bar G is situate a bar U, supported by means of links & from the
shaft W, which shaft is capable of turning upon its bearings fixed to the back of
the standards, and of imparting a vibrating movement to the point bar U. On
this bar U are screwed leads, containing a series of points V, V. One of these
leads is shewn detached in two positions full size in Figs. 10 and 11. The

page_text: use of these points is to bring down the net and also to conduct the needles with
regularity and exactness through the line of meshes of the net as they come
opposite to the ends of the needles. In order to effect this with precision, the
under sides of the said points at those parts next the needles have grooves
or hollow channels in them, as seen at Fig. 11, so that when they occupy a
row of meshes in the net the needles may be advanced, and by sliding along
their grooves or channels may respectively enter the same meshes of net that
is occupied by the point under which it acts: When the needles have thus
entered the meshes, the points are drawn back out of them, and the bar U being
raised, the points are protruded through the row of meshes next above those
last occupied. A slight downward motion is then communicated to the point.
bar U, which causes the point V to force down the work or net which has been
embroidered towards the work roller E, and also to bring down a fresh row
of meshes to be entered by the needles. The rollers L, M, are furnished with
yarns or threads intended to supply the needles, and which is to be worked
upon the net. These threads or yarns pass up through the apertures in the
perforated bar 0, 0, to the guides J and needles F.
the
Figs. 14 and 15 represent one of the guides J detached in two positions.
The guides are mounted in leads, and these leads are screwed upon a bar P;
called the guide bar, which extends along the front of the machine nearly
opposite to the needle bar. From the under side of the guide bar P; two
arms Q, R, descend, which are perforated at their lower ends, and turn'
upon studs S, S, which are fixed in arms extending from the horizontal
shaft T. This shaft is mounted upon bearings fixed in the side frames, and
is intended to communicate a vibrating movement to the guide bar P.
Between the guides and the needles, extending along the middle of the
machine, is the bar O, called the presser bar, formed by one long or a con-
nected series of plates of brass. Apertures are made in this brass plate or
bar O, along its entire length, as shewn in Fig. 1, leaving a complete straight
edge at the top of it, about the eighth of an inch dcep, of which the use will
be shortly explained. This bar O is, by its links e, e, supported upon another:
bar Y, which turns upon pivots in arms f, f, extending from the shaft Z,
mounted in suitable bearings at the back of the machine.
Having given the general features of the machine, I now proceed to describe
the manner in which the needles F, points V, guides J, combs K, and presser
bar O, perform, so as to produce and secure the stitches or loops upon the fabric
in the act of embroidering, reserving the description of the manner of moving
the parts collectively until the objects of their particular movements are seen.
In order to better explain the nature of the operation, I have shewn at half

page_text: size, in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, five different positions in section of the points,
needles, and guides, in their relative situations at different stages of the work.
In Fig. 9 it will be seen that the points V, V, stand in an advanced
position through the meshes of the net, and through the apertures of the
presser bar O, whilst the needles F, F, are drawn back clear of the net upon
the combs K, K. The guides J, J, which conduct the threads or yarns to the
needles, are at this time stationary just below the points and needles. In
commencing the operation at this stage, the needles F, F, are made to advance
along the grooves or channels under the points V, V, through the meshes
of the net, and through the apertures of the presser bar O, until they occupy
the position shewn in Fig. 5. The thread guides J, J, are then elevated to
he place which they are seen to occupy in the said Fig. 5, and after having
been made to move laterally over the beards of the needles F, F, by a side
movement of the bar P, which carries them, they are again depressed to the
former situation, as shewn in Fig. 6. By these movements the threads or
yarns of silk, cotton, or other material coming from the rollers L and M
have been conducted, and doubled over the needles, in order that when the
needles recede they may form those portions of the threads into loops, and
draw them through the net. The thread guides J, J, are now shifted back to
the place they occupy in Fig. 7, for the purpose of tightening the threads, and
securing them under the beards of the needles, after which the needles are
made to retire. The needles in entering the meshes of the net were passed
through the apertures under the edge of the presser bar O, and now, as they
retire, the bar O is depressed, which forces the beards on the upper sides of the
needles down into their recesses. The needles with their beards thus com-
pressed are, as shewn at Fig. 7, capable of repassing the meshes of net without.
catching. Previously to the descent of the presser bar O, the points V, V, are
withdrawn from the meshes of the net, allowing the presser bar to come down
upon the beards of the needles; the points are then elevated a little. This
elevating of the points is for the purpose of placing them exactly opposite to
the row of meshes immediately above those which they last occupied. Before
the needles are drawn quite out of the meshes of the net, and whilst they may
be said to hold it in its place, the presser bar O rises, the points V are then
protruded through the row of meshes above those occupied by the needles, as
at Fig. 8. The needles are now drawn entirely clear of the meshes of the net,
and the presser bar O, acting. upon the points, depresses them the depth of a
mesh, thereby bringing the net, that is, the row of meshes which they occupy,
opposite to the heads of the needles, as shewn in Fig. 9.
acting upon the respective rollers C and E cause them
Cords and weights
to obey the action

page_text: of the points, the one to lett off the net to be operated upon, and the other
to take up that which is finished. Or it may be convenient to give movement
to these rollers by wheelwork.
I have thus shewn the operation of making a row of loops, and drawing
them through the meshes of the net, and also of the manner in which a
second row of meshes is brought down ready for the action of the needles.
The continued operation of the machine in forming loops or stitches, and
combining them with the net, being exactly similar to that described in
the Specification of my former Patent above alluded to (except the operating
parts being reversed), it is therefore unnecessary to repeat it. The principal
difference between the machine here described and the subject of my previous
Patent consists in its being intended to act upon the net independently
of and apart from the machine by which the said net is made, and as a
matter of convenience, the operativé parts in the present machine are in
inverted positions to those of the former. I now proceed to describe the means
by which movement may be communicated to the different parts of the
machine, so as to make it perform the evolutions above described. It has
before been stated that the various cams or tappet wheels for moving the
different parts of the machine are fixed upon the shaft B, to which rotatory
motion is given. The horizontal shaft H at the back of the machine, which
supports the needle bar, by means of links b, has an arm 9 at its left end, see
Figures 1 and 2, just over the cam or tappet wheel on the shaft B.
A lever is connected by a link with this arm g, at the end of which
there is a friction wheel bearing on the periphery of the tappet wheel h.
This cam or tappet wheel is so shaped that when the work is in that
state where the needles are required to advance through the net, a
recess or smaller radius in its periphery comes opposite to the friction
wheel at the end of the lever, and allows it to descend, when a spring k,
fixed to the shaft H, and pressing against the head of the machine, forces the
needle bar G forwards, and with it the needles, until they stand in the situation
shown at Figure 5. In this position the needles F remain stationary, whilst the
guides J have laid the threads upon them, as before described, when an elevation
upon the cam h, coming under the friction wheel of the lever i, lifts it upwards,
and through the agency of the parts before described draws the needles out of
the net; they then remain until the smaller radius of the cam h again comes
under the wheel of the lever i, when the needles are advanced as before.
The guide bar P has been represented as having two arms Q, R, with holes
at their lower ends, which fit and vibrate upon the studs S, S, fixed in two
arms proceeding from the horizontal shaft T. At the end of this shaft T is an

page_text: arm 1, directly over the cam or tappet wheel m, from which cam it receives
movement, through the agency of a lever n, carrying an antifriction wheel at
its end. At that stage of the operation where the needles require supplying with
loops of thread, an elevation upon the cam'm comes against the wheel of the
lever, and lifts it up, and the arm 1 also, thereby causing the shaft T to turn a
little on its pivots. In so doing it lifts the guide bar P by means of its arms
Qand R, and thus elevates the guides above the needles, as shewn in Fig. 5.
The rise upon the cam m then passes away, and allows the arm 1 to be forced
down again by a spring; pressing upon its upper side, whereby the guides are
made to descend. Just as they begin to descend, an arm projecting from the
shaft T depresses the short end of a lever o, by striking against the lower part
of its fork, which thus elevates the opposite end. This fork, acting upon a pin
screwed into the bolt p, causes the bolt to slide upwards in its staples, which
are attached to the arm Q of the guide bar, and in so doing a shoulder in the
side of the same bolt presses against the end of the stud q, and as this stud
cannot move, the bolt p and the arm Q, with which it is connected, are com-
pelled to move to the left upon the stud. Thus the guides are made to
traverse over or across the needles, previous to descending, for the purpose of
supplying the needles with portions of thread in doubles or loops, as abovo
described. Just before the guides have ceased to descend, the arm of tho
shaft T, acting against the upper part of the fork of the lever o, elevates its
short end, and depresses that which acts upon the bolt p, and thus makes it
slide black to its former situation. The hollow part in the side of the bolt is
thus brought opposite the stud q, when a spring on the side of the arm Q,
pressing against the back of that arm to which the stud q is fixed, forces the
arm Q and the bolt p connected with it to slide back again upon the stud
towards the right, to the place it occupied before. For drawing out the guides
so as to tighten the threads upon the needles as they begin to recede, the
guide bar P is furnished with a longitudinal arm r. The inner side of this arm
is acted upon by an excentric plate screwed to a quadrant arm 8, which
quadrant arm is made to vibrate on its stud by an elevation on the cam
wheel t, through the agency of a lever u, u, carrying an antifriction wheel and
a link. When the work is in that stage where the guides require drawing out-
ward, the rise upon the cam t operates by the means above described upon
the quadrant arm, whereby the excentric plates is depressed, which forces
outwards the arm r, and with it the guide bar and guides, and when the
threads have been held tight sufficiently long the elevation on the cam passes
away, and a coild spring pulls the arm r back again, as seen in Figure 2, and with

page_text: it the guide bar and guides. The pressing of the beards within the recesses
of the needles is accomplished by the action of the cam or tappet wheel and
quadrants just described, for when the said quadrant has nearly reached the
extent of its downward motion, it strikes upon the elevated part of a bended
arm v, affixed to the framing of the presser bar O, see Figure 4, and depresses
the presser bar, whereby the upper edge of that bar forces the beards within
the recesses of the needles. When the action of the presser bar has continued
upon the reedles long enough to let them pass the net, the cam t ceases to act
upon the arm v, when a powerful spring, operating upon an arm proceeding
from the back of the shaft z, causes the presser bar to resume its former position.
The movement of the points for bringing the meshes of net under the action of
the needles is produced by the cams w and x. These cams have over each of
them a lever,. y and z, carrying a friction wheel and a link, and these links are
respectively connected with the ends of levers which turn upon short transverse
axles or fulcrums a, in the upper part of the head of the machine. See
Figure 2, 3, and 4. The opposite ends of these levers act upon other levers
b, c, turning upon studs screwed to the inside of the machine head. The lever
6 bears against the end of the point bar u, and at the time that the cam a on
the tappet wheel acts through the medium of the parts just described, the
lever is forced outward, and with it the point bar u. The points are by these
means drawn out of the work just when they become clear of the meshes, and
before they have done receding a link connected with the lower end of the
lever draws forward a tumbler d, which tumbler in its vibration presses
against the shoulder of the brass lever e, and elevates it a little. This lever
is turned upwards at its end, to serve as a rest for an arm f, proceeding from
the point bar, and which the end of that bar slides upon; therefore, when
this rest is elevated, the point bar and points are of course elevated also,
which must be exactly the distance of a mesh of net. The elevation upon the
cam x now ceases, and the point bar is forced forward again by a spring g at
its back, and as the cam f slides upon the rest, which has just been elevated
the height of a mesh, the points will be made to enter the row of meshes just
above those last occupied, as shewn in Fig. 8. When the points having been
edge of the presser bar o, an
protruded through the net so as to be under the
clevation on the cam w operates, through the medium of the parts before
described, upon the lever c, and in forcing it outwards, draws, by means of a
link at its lower end, the tumbler back to its former position. This enables
a strong spring h to force down the rest, so that its lower end presses upon
the arm v, attached to the framing of the presser bar o, and by overcoming

page_text: the resistance of the large spring to cause the presser bar to descend. The edge
of the presser bar, bearing upon the points, depresses them, and with them the
net, the depth of a mesh, so as to present the new row of meshes which the
points occupy exactly opposite the heads of the needles to be operated upon
as before. The threads of silk, cotton, or other material are given off from
the roller L by a slight movement being communicated to the periphery
of the milled wheel i, fixed on its end. This roller furnishes the threads for
forming the centre part of the stripe; and at the opposite end to that from
which it is driven, it communicates. movement by means of wheelwork to the
second roller M, which is intended to furnish thread for the selvidges of the.
stripes; and where rows of single stitches unconnected are intended to be..
wrought, one roller only is necessary.
It now only remains for me to shew how broad.stripes of. work may, be
produced; but in so doing I do not mean to confine myself, to any particular.
plan, as various others may be equally effective. Upon the shaft B are fixed
two spiral worms, the one being a left-handed thread, the other a right-
'handed one. In these worms the ends of a lever vibrating upon a stud in the
bolt k are alternately carried along, and cause the said bolt to slide in its
staples at the same time. When one of the forks of the lever arrives at the
end of its worm, it bears against a slope or inclined plane, which lifts it out
of its worm, and depresses the contrary end of the lever into action with the
other worm.
By these means the bolt k is made to travel to and fro. The
said bolt has a notched piece screwed on its upper edge, and on this piece the
horizontal arm of the right angle lever I rests, whilst its perpendicular arm
bears against one of the arms of the shaft T which supports the guide bar.
Thus when one of the elevations of the bolt k forces up the horizontal arm
of the lever I, the perpendicular one shogs or gives a lateral movement to the
shaft T, and with it the guide bar, whereby the guides are made to operate
upon a different set of needles to those which they last acted upon, and thus
the rows of stitches are variously interwoven and connected with each other,
as well as with the net, producing different patterns. When the elevations
upon the bolt k terminates, a spring acting against the shaft T forces
it to slide back to its former place, and with it the guide bar and guides.
Lastly, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to this
particular contrivance for producing varieties of work, as many others are
equally practicable. But I claim as my Invention the application of needles
and guides, in the way which they are used in the warp machines, to embroider
or produce, upon or in combination with net and other fabrics as a foundation,