IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STOCKINGS AND Socks
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, and 38, Porchester Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
STOCKINGS AND Socks."-A communication from Pierre François Jean
Baptiste Bezard, residing at Grandvilliers, in the Empire of France,
aforesaid:
Sealed the 20th October 1864, and dated the 12th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th May 1864.
I, HENRI ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and
38, Porchester Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF STOCKINGS AND SOCKS," a communication from Pierre François
Jean Baptiste Bezard, a person resident at Grandvilliers, in the Empire of
France, aforesaid, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the manufacture of
stockings and socks without seams, and stockings and socks shaped by cutting

page_text: and equally without seams, and in various modes of ornamenting and
diminishing them as will be hereafter described.
Firstly, I begin my stocking or sock by the leg, as is usually done, thus for
the socks I begin by making the ribbed border, which I turn up on a circular
loom, I make the leg take the tissue down, and turn up the part, to which
the heel should be woven, then after re-stitching it, as will be hereafter
explained, I turn up the whole on a circular loom of the same or smaller size
than the first, and I make the foot as far as the narrow part, then take it off
and turn it up again on an ordinary loom, so as to make the toe end as
hereafter. For stockings I proceed in the same way beginning with the
hem.
Secondly, in order to make the ribbed hem border for the stockings and
socks, I proceed as follows:-I reduce the number of falls of the circular
loom to two, one vertical and the other horizontal, then preventing the first
from descending, and the second from gathering and descending, I make a
few rows of stitches, then break the thread, which feeds the horizontal fall,
and make one round; next I make with the vertical fall the number of plain
stitches necessary for the hem, I raise the horizontal fall, break the thread
still working after doing away with its descent, and folding the tissue, I thread
with the bodkin the first row of plain stitches on the vertical needles, and
lower the horizontal ones..
Thirdly, if a plain hem is required for stockings or socks, after, having made
the necessary number of rows, I loosen the tissue and folding it over I thread
on the needles, by means of a bodkin, the first row of the tissue intended for
making the hem, I then continue the leg.
Fourthly, I make the calves as follows, by remounting several times the
tissue from a larger to a smaller loom, until I obtain the size necessary for
the lower part of the leg at each remounting I charge the needles, on which
I intend to make my diminutions with two or three stitches, and am thus.
enabled to continue my tissue as far as the next change of loom, I can thus
make calves, with 1, 2, 3, and even 4 diminutions, one above the other, the num-
ber depending on the difference existing between the number of needles at each
row; and on the number of loops or stitches placed on the diminishing needles.
In order to lengthen the calves, and give them the appearance of having a
still larger number of diminutions than that really made, I form between the
real diminutions, some few imitated ones, made by means of the loops of the
stitches at their sides. Again, I can make the calves in form of a V more
or less open, or any other form by not making all the diminutions, real
or imitated, on the same needles, or by making them more or less regularly.

page_text: Fifthly, the foot of the stocking or sock having been taken off the circular
loom, I turn up on the ordinary loom the part which should form the
underneath of the foot, next I weave this part of the end of the foot with its
diminutions, and take it off the loom, then I turn up the other part, that is
to say, the upper part of the foot, and perform the same operation, taking
care to leave a stitch free between the two parts of the end of the foot, in
order to take it up while re-stitching the selvages. It must be understood
that I call re-stitching the operation by which I unite two selvages without
making seams.
Sixthly, I diminish and ornament the stockings and socks by employing
the circular and ordinary looms. These diminutions and ornamentations may
also be applied to the toe ends, calves, arch of the foot, and in fact to all kinds
of hosiery. The forms of these diminutions, and of these ornamentations may
be varied infinitely by taking a larger or smaller number of stitches at a time,
and carrying them either to the right or left or on both sides, or by leaving a
larger or smaller number of rows between each displacement of stitches or
diminution.
Seventhly, I re-stitch the toes and heels by hand instead of closing them in
the ordinary way.
Eighthly, I shape the heels in the following manner I take a circular
frame, which I divide into two equal parts. I turn up on both of them the
part of the stocking on which I would make the heel, I make the heel
as far as the diminutions, then I make these latter by carrying with the
bodkin towards the centre the two sides of the heel, or by carrying on both
sides a certain number of stitches taken from the middle. In the latter case,
I cut off the portion of tissue remaining between the diminutions, and unite
the two cut edges by a seam.
Ninthly, I make the point or toe end on the circular loom as follows:-The
foot being made as far as the narrowest part, I divide the threads into two
equal parts, then carry to the right and to the left of these parts, that is to
say, from the edges to the centre, as many stitches as it is wished to put in
the ribbon, and I continue in the same way until the foot is finished, I next
remove the tissue left between the diminutions, and I unite the edges by a
seam.
Tenthly, I place an embroidered ornamentation behind the leg below the
calf.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and 38, Porchester
Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, Her, special licence that I, the said Henri
Adrien Bonneville, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should in 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STOCKINGS AND SOCKS," a com-
munication from Pierre François Jean Baptiste Bezard, a person resident
at Grandvilliers, in the Empire of France, aforesaid, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in. writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare the nature of the said. Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement.:
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the manufacture of
stockings and socks without seams, and in stockings and socks shaped by.
cutting and equally without seams, and in various modes of diminishing and
ornamenting them as will be hereafter described.
MODE OF OPERATION.
Shaped stockings without seams.-On one of my circular plain mesh
looms (patented in France,) I make the number of rows necessary for the

page_text: hem, and, folding the fabric on itself, I thread with the bodkin on the
needles of the loom the first row of the fabric which should form the hem,
then I make the upper part of the leg, as far the first diminution; I turn up
this leg top on a second circular loom of the same guage as the first, but the
diameter of which is narrower, that is to say, having less needles; and in order
to reduce my fabric to the size of the loom on which I work, I charge the
needles on which I would make my diminutions with two or three meshes, then
I make a few rows and pass to a third loom, narrower than the second, then to
a fourth narrower than the third, and so on always operating in the same way
until my leg is sufficiently diminished; then I make the bottom of the leg on
the last loom. If I think fit, I can ornament the bottom of the leg with an
embroidered corner or device (grisotte) made either on the loom or
and placed behind the leg between the calf and the heel.
.
by hand
To obtain the heel, I turn up on a rectilinear loom the part of the bottom
of the leg on which it should be made; next 1 divide the needles on which it
is turned up in three parts, two of these parts will form the sides of the heel,
and the third or middle part will be the one to be diminished; then, with a
needle bearer of Delarothière's machine I diminish by one needle at a time
and at each row, both sides of the central part carrying this part, and one side
of the heel on the other side, which remains fixed on the same needles. I
continue thus as far as the total suppression of the part to be diminished. I
close my heels by meshing or looping by hand their extremities folded in two.
On a circular loom narrower than that on which I have made the bottom of
the leg, I turn up the selvage side of the heel, and the free part of the leg ;
next I make the foot as far as the commencement of the point or toe end.
The foot being made on a narrower loom is sufficiently diminished at the arch.
However I figure diminutions at the arch by taking up meshes to be carried on
other meshes and by refilling the needles remaining empty with loops taken on
the neighbouring meshes, or simply by taking loops of meshes to carry them on
other meshes. The foot being made as far as the commencement of the point,
I turn up the part which should form the bottom of the foot on a rectilinear
loom, and I make this part of the point while diminishing it on its selvages. I
then turn the foot over in order to turn up on the same loom the part which
should form the top of the foot, except one mesh which I leave at each side, to
be taken up during the meshing operation, to be spoken of hereafter; then I
make the second part of the point in the same same way as the first.
In order to join the selvages of the end of the foot, I turn up on a rectilinear
loom on the right side of the stuff the loops of each mesh forming the one

page_text: selvage. then make a loose turn on these loops and I take the fabric
down from the loom. I perform the same operation for the selvage to be
joined to the first, and take it off the loom also. I next turn up these two
loose turns on the same needles of the rectilinear loom, one on the right and
the other on the wrong side, and unite them by means of the little mesh hook
taking, in the first place, the stitch left free between the two parts of the
point of the foot. The two other selvages are united by the same process, which
I name Bezard's meshing. I next close the end of the foot by hand stitching.
Shaped seamless socks.-I begin my making a ribbed border on a ribbed
circular loom, and I surmount it by an openwork gallery and machine hem,
made on the same loom. I proceed as follows:-After having reduced the
number of falls to two, if a larger number exists, I suppress, on one hand the
lowering of one of the two falls of the vertical set of needles, and on the
other hand the gathering and lowering of the other fall, of the horizontal set. I
then make a few rows, then break the thread which fed the horizontal fall
still working and make one round; next I make with the vertical fall still
working the quantity of plain rows necessary for forming the hem; then I raise
the horizontal set of needles, I break the last thread working after suppressing
its lowering, and raising the fabric I fold it on itself, and thread with a bodkin
the first row of plain on the vertical set; next I lower the horizontal set and
set the loom to work as far as a new hem; I turn up this ribbed border on
one of my circular plain stitch looms; next I finish my sock in the same way
as my stockings from the calf downwards. When I think fit to lengthen the
calves of my stockings and to give them the appearance of a larger number of
diminutions, I figure false diminutions between the true ones by taking the
Joops of the meshes bordering on the needles on which I intend to figure them,
and in carrying these same needles. I may thus give these diminutions the
form a V more or less open, or any other form, by not making all the diminu-
tions, true or false, on the same needles, that is to say, by closing them together
or opening them out more or less, or by making them more or less regularly.
Again, I may make my calf on the rectilinear loom, by making on this
loom the part which should be diminished, the diminutions are ordinary, and
I unite the. selvages by my meshing process like those of the end of the foot.
When I make this calf it is by it that I commence my stocking. I next turn
up its large part on a circular loom of the same size, I make the top of the
eg and the hem. by. hand; then I turn it up by the narrow end on a second
circular loom equally narrow, and I make the bottom of the leg as far as the
heel. If I wish to make real diminutions, at the arch of the foot I obtain them
by passing one or more looms as far as the calf.

page_text: I may modify my diminutions made on the rectilinear loom like those made
on the circular looms by combinations of meshes and of half meshes,forming
designs to be varied infinitely; for this it is only necessary to take a certain
quantity of meshes and to carry them either to the right or left, or on both
sides at once,, and to reform meshes on the needles thus emptied by taking the
loops of the neighbouring meshes to carry them on these same needles; or again
by opening out or closing the diminutions to a greater or less extent, or by
making them irregularly. These different systems of diminutions obtained on
the circular looms, and on the rectilinear looms, apply equally to the calf, the
arch of the foot and the point of the foot or toe end. I may replace the meshing
by mesh-hooking, I may also replace my stitching by a small seam every time
I have two selvages or cut-edges of meshed tissue to unite. By means of my
meshing process I may unite two selvages by turning up immediately on the
needles of the rectilinear loom the loops of each of the meshes of these two
selvages, and by making one loose turn on these two rows of loops and then
mesh-hooking it. I can also unite two selvages of any kind of knitted fabric,
or meshed tissues made on the loom, or by hand, by taking not only the first
loop of each mesh, but by taking the loop of any mesh whatever at the right
or wrong side of the stuff, as well as any kind of knitted fabrics and other
meshed tissues whether cut vertically, horizontally, or slanting.
Cut-shaped Stockings without Seams.-I make the hem, the top of the leg,
the calf, and the bottom of the leg like those of my shaped stockings.
The heels of these stockings are made several at a time on a circular loom of
a certain size. For this purpose I divide 'the loom in several parts equal to
the size I intend to give my heels; next I turn up on each of these parts the
parts of the lower part of the leg on which the heels should be made; and
I make these heels, when they attain a suitable length, I make the diminu-
tions with the bodkin, carrying the two sides of the heel toward the centre;
and not to the right and left, as in the ordinary system; next I separate them
with the scissors, and close them by hand-meshing..
To make the foot, I turn up the cut side, of the heel as well as the part of
the bottom of the leg which has, remained free on another circular, loom.
I next make, the foot as far as the commencement of the diminutions of the
toe end, with or without true or false diminutions at the end of the foot.
Arrived at this part of the foot, I divide the loom in two equal parts, and by
means of a bodkin I carry a certain number of meshes right and left of each
of my two divisions and in going farther from it. I repeat this, operation as
many times as it is necessary, then, taking the tissue off the loom, I take off

page_text: No text detected.

page_text: Sixthly, my calf made on the rectilinear loom, looped, then turned up
on the circular loom.
again
Seventhly, my system of diminutions made on the rectilinear loom, which
allows me to accompany the selvages of the calf, insteps, toe ends, and others
by designs varied infinitely.
Eigthly, my new application of a corner (grisotte) placed behind the leg,
between the calf and the heel.
Ninthly, my heel diminished and made with selvages on the rectilinear
loom then closed without either sewing or mesh-hooking.
Tenthly, my foot, narrower than the bottom of the leg, with or without
diminutions, real or imitated, at the instep or arch.
Eleventhly, my toe end diminished, made in two parts on the rectilinear
loom.
Twelfthly, my process which I call Bezard's meshing, by means of which
I unite, without seams, the selvages or cut edges of all kinds of knitted
fabrics or tissues with plain meshes, made by hand or loom, whether cut
horizontally, vertically, or slantingly.
Thirteenthly, my new application of hand looping to the closing of the heel
and toe point.
Fourteenthly, my shaped stocking made by these different means.
Fifteenthly, my hem and my open-work gallery, terminating my ribbed
border.
Sixteenthly, my shaped socks made by these means, and those comprised in
my shaped stockings.
Seventeenthly, my calf shaped by cutting.
Eighteenthly, my heels shaped by cutting.
Nineteenthly, my cut shaped toe end.
Twentiethly, and my stockings and socks shaped by cutting made by the
above means, and those comprised in my shaped stockings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
H. BONNEVILLE. (L.S.)