IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED FOR EMBROIDERING FABRICS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Heaven, of. Hull, for the Invention o
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED FOR EMBROIDERING FABRICS."
Sealed the 7th September 1855, and dated the 10th March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Heaven at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
March 1855.
I, CHARLES HEAVEN, of Hull, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED FOR EMBROIDERING FABRICS" to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for embroidering
fabrics, and consists of applying a series of bent blades, or instruments with
inclined edges, one to each needle of the machine. Heretofore in constructing
an embroidery machine there was a fall wire employed, which; according to my
improvements, is dispensed with; and in place thereof a, bar, which I call the
catch bar, is used, on which are fixed several projecting bent blades or instru-
ments with inclined edges, one such blade or instrument being used to each.
needle; by which means, in place of the needles going simply through and
through the fabric to be embroidered, as. was formerly the case, a stitch in each
case, similar to the button or loop hole stitch, may.be produced by each needle ;

page_text: that is, the blades or instruments are capable of holding the threads in the
forms of loops, so that the needles in passing back through the fabrics may
pass through such loops.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Heaven in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HEAVEN, of Hull, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, 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 Charles Heaven, Her special license, that I, the said Charles Heaven,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Heaven, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY USED FOR EMBROIDERING FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Heaven, 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
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Heaven, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
(that is to say)-
The nature of my said Invention of Improvements in Machinery used for
Embroidering Fabrics consists in the application of a series of bent blades or
other suitable instruments, whereby each thread is formed into a loop, through
which the needle passes, to form, when the thread is tightened, a stitch similar

page_text: to the button or loop hole stitch. I have in the said Drawings given Figures
for shewing how my improvements may be constructed, similar parts in each
of the views being marked with similar letters of reference.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an ordinary embroidering machine to
which my improvements are applied, and Figure 2 is a front view of the same.
a, a, are the two pieces of fabric to be embroidered. These pieces of fabric are
wound on the rollers b, b, and supported in the frame c, which is raised and
lowered and moved sideways by a system of levers, partly shewn at d, according
to the design to be embroidered, one of the levers being furnished with a
pointer, which is passed over a pattern on an enlarged scale, but this is not
shewn in the Drawing, as it is common to embroidering machines now in
use. e and fare the carriages, which travel on the rails g, and support the
needle holders h; i, i, are the shafts for acting on the wires j, by which the
springs are depressed to liberate, and allowed to expand to hold the needles l,
as in ordinary embroidering machines; m, m, are shafts for raising and lower-
ing the faller wires n, n. These shafts are moved when the carriages are
nearly up to the fabric by the levers n' and inclines o, o, fixed to the side
frames in the usual manner. The faller wires n, n, on the left-hand carriage e
are made as usual; but on the right-hand carriage, in place of the wires catch
bars, marked p, are applied, to which are fixed the bent blades q, seen full size
in Figures 3 and 4; the object of these bent blades is to form the loops and
to guide the threads, as will be explained hereafter. To the side frames of the
machine are fixed bearings for the cross shaft 7, on which are keyed the pulleys
8, 8, for the chains s¹, s¹, which support the frame t; the object of this frame is
to depress the threads after the loop has been formed. The frame is counter-
balanced by the weight s², attached to a chain passing over the pulleys, and
the frame is raised or lowered by the attendant moving the handles, or by
a lever actuated by an incline attached to the carriage f. To this carriage
are attached brackets for supporting the slender rails u, which have projecting
pins u. These rails have a slight lateral motion imparted to them by the
attendant moving the lever handle v, which is jointed to a stud fixed at the
left hand of the carriage f, as shewn in Figure 2. This lever has a pin pro-
jecting from it, that takes into a slot in the upright v¹, by which the two rails
2 are united; the object of these rails will be explained hereafter. w, w, are
the guards, which support the threads as the carriages approach the fabric.
These guards are covered with flannel, and to the front edges are fixed strips
of horsehair cloth to keep the threads in their places. The mode of operation
is as follows:-In Figure 1 the parts are shewn in the positions they occupy
when the carriage e is up to the fabric, and the carriage f has been drawn from

page_text: .
the fabric to tighten the loop forming the button or loop hole stitch, on the
same side of the fabric as the carriage f. The attendant then pushes the
carriage towards the fabric, the loose threads dropping first into the bend of
the blades q, and then falling on the guard w. When the carriage is nearly
up to the fabric, the frame t is raised into the position shewn by dotted lines in
Figure 1, to be out of the way of the bent blades q, which are clevated by the
lever n and inclines o; by this means each embroidery thread, after catching
round one of the pins u', is raised to form a loop, or into the position.shewn
in Figure 5; in which view a represents the point through which the thread
has passed previous to the going.out of the carriage f; and y, the point above.
a, through which the needle is to pass when the carriage is up to the fabric.
The embroidery thread now passes under a pin u¹ of the rail u, over the blade
9, and then to the needle at the point y. When the carriage f.. is up to the
fabric, the attendant, moving a treadle in the ordinary manner, causes the
holders-in the carriage e to take firm hold-of the needles, and at the same
time the needles of the carriage fare liberated. The carriage e is then moved
out in the usual manner to draw the loops around the-pins u' and blades q,
as shewn in Figure 5, and it is again brought back to pass the needles through
the fabric at the point z, and through the loops of the embroidering thread,
formed as above described; but before the needles pass through the fabric,
the pins u¹ must be moved laterally, so as to bring the embroidery threads to
one side, or in the position shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 5, in order to
ensure the needles entering the loops, and to prevent them injuring the em-
broidering threads. As soon as the needles are through the loops, and secured
by the holders of the carriage f, the attendant moves the rails u with the pins
to their original positions, as shewn by the full lines in Figure 5, and draws
the carriage from the fabric; the lever n' then communicates, by means of the
inclined planes o, the. requisite motion for lowering the catch bar p, and the
frame t is lowered to give the requisite direction to the embroidery threads, so
that the loops when tightened shall bring the stitch to the edge of the design.
When the carriage arrives at the end of its stretch the loop is tightened, and
the requisite button or loop hole stitch is thus formed. These operations are
repeated as often as is necessary, the fabrics being moved up or down, or
laterally, for every stretch of the carriages by the system of levers d in the
ordinary manner. The stitch thus produced is similar to that known as the
button or loop hole stitch, which has hitherto only been produced by manual
labour.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself

page_text: to the precise arrangements or details given, as other combinations of machinery
may be employed for effecting the same object; but that what I claim as of
my Invention is, the use and application of machinery whereby the button or
loop hole stitch may be embroidered on fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Heaven, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
CHARLES HEAVEN. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said
Charles Heaven (being first duly stamped),
in the presence of
W* CHATHAM,.
Solr, Hull.