IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HEMSLEY, of Melbourne, in the County of Derby, Lace Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her Heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hemsley, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege, and authority, that I, the said William Hemsley, my
exors, admors, and assigns,' or such others as I, the said William Hemsley,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, that I, the said William Hemsley, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part 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
William Hemsley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to bo performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
(that is to say):-
warp
My Invention is applicable to that class of warp machinery, wherein the
threads are caused to traverse diagonally, for which class of warp
machinery Letters Patent were granted to Thomas and John Whiteley of
Stapleton, near Nottingham, Lace Makers, in the year One thousand eight
hundred and forty; and my improvements have for their object so to
construct and arrange such machinery, that the threads may be caused to
travel correctly, and each to work with all the needles in succession, and so as
to produce good selvages. The warp threads being constantly arranged in
two rows, an upper and an under row, are caused so to work that each thread
having arrived at the end of the machine, and having worked with the last
needle, is caused to pass into the other row of threads, and the two rows of
threads into which the warp is divided as above stated traverse in opposite
directions, the one set or row of threads constantly moving from right to left,
and the other row of threads constantly moving from left to right; and in
order to keep the two rows of threads complete, there is a thread caused to
pass from the upper row of threads into the lower row of threads at one end
of the machine, and another thread is caused to pass from the lower row of
threads into the upper row of threads at the other end of the machine, and by
means of point bars the two rows of threads are kept constantly correctly
spaced for lapping with the needles; hence the warp threads will be correctly
divided into two rows both at the selvages as well as at the intermediate parts
of the machine.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into practice, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed, where the same letters and figures are used to indicate the same
parts. I would remark that as the nature of each view shewn by the
Drawings is written thereon, it will not be necessary to repeat the same
here.
The warp threads are wound on several bobbins which are placed in
carriages which are connected together into an endless chain, and the chain of
carriages is put in motion by means of two square barrels, on the axes of
which there are ratchet wheels which receive motion by means of suitable
drivers. The threads rise up from the bobbins and are divided into two rows,
one being in front and is the upper row, and the other row is more backward
and is the lower row. The upper row is supported on a bar running from end

page_text: to end of the needles on the needle bar, and the other row is on another bar
which is lower down; hence, as the threads of the upper bar successively
arrive at the end of their course, and have worked with all the needles, they
are by suitable apparatus caused to descend into and work with the lower
row, each thread working with the outermost needle at that end, and then
proceeding to work in succession as one of the lower row of threads with all
the other needles. Each thread as it comes to the other end is in succession
caused by suitable apparatus, when it has worked with the outermost needle
at that end, to rise into the upper row, and again work as one of the upper
row of threads, and the threads are kept correctly spaced for working with
the needles by means of three point bars, the stems of the points of which
bars are grooved in such manner that the points in ascending enter into the
grooves, and are guided in their ascent amongst the threads, and thus
is insured the correct entry of the rising points, and consequently the
correct spacing of the two rows of threads, in order that they may
correctly lap on the needles as the two rows move in opposite directions,
and they are as heretofore worked diagonally by looping into a fabric. a, a,
are the bobbins, each of which has several threads wound thereon. The
bobbins are each placed in a carriage b, and the carriages are all hinged
together at 6, so as to produce an endless chain of carriages as shewn, and
friction is offered to the unwinding of the threads from the bobbins by means
of weighted cords or bands 6, as is well understood, and as is clearly shown in
the Drawings. The carriages are provided with castors or wheels which move
on the platform c, c; ³, b³, are the square barrels by which the chain of
bobbin carriages is put in motion; * are ratchet wheels on the axes of these
barrels ; &³ is a sliding bar carrying two drivers 6º, 6º, by which the ratchet
wheels are caused to move at intervals by means of a cam 67 fixed on the cam
shaft; this cam gives motion to a lever 66, which carries a lever 6º, which is
constantly pressed outwards by a spring 61. The lever 68 also carries a ratchet
wheel ", which has movement given to it when the lever 68 descends by
coming in contact with the driver 6. On one face of the wheel 6" is a pro-
jection, which when it comes against a nob or projection on the lever 6º,
forces it inwards, and thus brings it into a position to act on and move the arm 6¹*
on the axis 61, which by the arm and link 6 gives motion to the sliding bar b³,
and consequently to the drivers 66. The threads from the front bobbins rise up
and are supported by the bar d; the threads from the bobbins in the back rise
up, and are supported by the bar e, and the threads of the bobbins passing the
ends are divided, and are partly supported by the bars d, e, so that at all
imes the threads of all the bobbins are divided into two equal parts or rows,

page_text: one half or row being supported by the bar d, and the other half or row being
carried by the bar e, together with the apparatus for transmitting the threads
in succession at either end of these bars, as will be better understood hereafter,
the parts being so arranged that the whole of the threads carried by a bobbin
do not simultaneously pass from the upper to the lower and from the lower to
the upper bar, but in succession, as before stated. By this means the selvages
will be made with two rows of traversing threads as well as the other parts of
the fabric intermediate of the selvages. The bar d is carried by the uprights
d', d', as shewn, and the bar e is carried by the uprights e³, e. There are, as
hereafter described, three point bars, a front one, middle one, and a back one,
but only-the middle one has any shogging or end-way motion given to it. The
front row of threads traverse from the right hand to the left hand end of the
machine, and the back row of threads traverse from the left hand end of the
machine,to the right hand end of the machine, and the threads are successively
transferred from the front row into the back fow of threads as they arrive at
the end of the bars d, e, in the following manner :-When a thread has
arrived at the left-hand end of the bar d, and has worked with the outermost
needle at that end, it is transferred to the bar e, and becomes one of the back
row of threads, and so remains, but it is progressively moved towards the
right-hand end of the machine, and when it arrives there, and has worked with
the outermost needle at that end of the machine, it is raised from the bar e to
the bar d, and again becomes one of the front row of threads, and this takes
place with each of the threads of the warp, the warp being kept in two
rate rows by means of the bars d, e, together with the bar x, which is supported
at intervals from the bar d by means of blades or supports a¹, as shewn, a³, x²,
being two wires or thin rods, which are stretched from end to end of the
machine. The threads are transferred from the bar d to the bar e in tho
following manner, and by the following apparatus:-The last of the top row of
threads to the left hand at the last movement of the thread was received
between the point j and the point 7, they bring the last of the points carried
sepa-
the point bar j at that end of the machine. In the descent of that bar the
enlarged part of that point will cause the outermost thread to the left hand
to be separated a greater distance than the others, and at such time the instru
ment d² (which with the instrument d³ is carried by an arm from the presser
bar) will descend, and by its broad surface further separate that separated
thread, when the point d' of the instrument d³ will come into action. The
instrument d³ turns upon the pin &, as shown, and its end de, as it is caused to
descend with the motion of the presser, is tilted up by means of the stop d
carried by the framing, by which the point d' will be caused to draw the

page_text: selected thread till it falls off the bar d on to the bar e. The point d' and the
instrument d then recede with the rising of the presser bar, and the surface d³
of the instrument d' then comes into action to move the selected thread along
the bar e to take its position with the other threads on that bar, and they are
moved forward to the right as the threads on the upper bar d are successively
moved to the left by means of the bar k, which receives a sideway shogging
movement for this purpose, as hereafter described. By this movement of the
bar k, as soon as the points caused by that bar have ascended through the
loose row of threads, they are moved two spaces to the right hand; those
points then ascend up through the upper row of threads, and move one space
back to the left hand, by which the threads of each row will have moved each
one space, the one to the right and the other to the left. The outermost thread
carried by the bar e will in the ascent of the point bar & be taken to the out-
side of the point ³, which as it rises will by its broadside throw that thread
some distance off the other threads at that end of the bar e. Then in the
descent of the presser the instrumente (which with the instrument & turns
upon axes carried by a bracket from the presser bar) will descend, and further
separate that thread, which will then be acted upon by the point of the
instrument, the outer end of which coming against the stop causes it to
draw the last selected thread from under the needle point ds, which is affixed
as shewn to the right-hand end of the bar d, with its point resting between
the two raised parts e² of the bar e. Then, by the rising of the presser bar
the instrument and the point will be removed from acting upon the
selected thread, and the surface e³ will be caused to act to push such thread
over the needle on to the bar d, the point of which will lie between
the raised slides e of the bar e, and not offer any obstacle to the passage
of the thread. The surface j aids in guiding the thread round the end
of the bar a. The upper ends of the instruments d² and e² are by
means of springs shown, caused to press against the stops carried by the
framing, by which the movements of the lower ends of those instruments
will be controlled; f is the needle bar, which is fixed to the framing
of the machine; g is the presser bar, which receives its motion from a cam
fixed on the cam shaft; this cam gives motion to the presser bar in the
ordinary manner; h are the sinkers, which receive motion from the three
cams h, h, h³, in the ordinary manner. The bar i is what I call the lapping.
bar; it acts to depress the threads below the needles, and it is actuated by
means of the cam i fixed on the cam shaft, such cam acting on the lever i³,
which by means of the link igivos motion to the arm i' fixed to the spindle
haft of the lapping bar i; the lapping bar being carried by arms i fixed

page_text: to the spindle shaft i³, and these parts are sustained by springs i'. There are,
as before stated, three point bars j, k, l, and they receive motion in the follow-
ing manner:-The back and front point bars simply rise and fall, but tho
middle point bar has also a shogging or endway motion given to it. The point
barj receives its up-and-down motion from the cam j¹ fixed on the cam shaft,
which acts on the arm j³ of the spindle bar js, which by arms j' carries the
bar js, which, by means of arms as shewn, carries the bar j, in the manner
shown, the point bar having forked arms j³ (for the purpose of setting) which
are controlled by pins, as shewn. The bar ; has a slight to-and-fro movement
given to it to enable its points to go into and recede from the grooves in the
points carried by the point bar k, by means of the arm j10, which causes a plate
j", which in the rising and falling of the bar j gives the required to-and-fro
movement by its surface acting against the fixed stop j", carried by the
framing. The middle point bar k is constantly acted on by a spring k¹, which
draws it towards its stop at the left-hand end of the machine, as is well
understood, and the point bar k is actuated to obtain the required rising and
falling motion by the cam k², the cam k³ acting on the arm k³, which is fixed
to the spindle bar k, which by arms k³ carry the bar k, which by arms,
as shown, carries the point bar k, as shown. The to-and-fro movement of
the bar is obtained by means of the cam k" acting upon the lever k¹³,
which by means of the link k gives motion to the arm fixed to the bar
10, and the point bar k receives its endway motion by means of the cam k*
on the cam shaft acting upon the lever k', which, by means of the lever k*,
acts upon oue end of the bell-crank lover ko, the other end of which is by
moans of a lever connected to the bar k, as shewn. The back point bar /
receives its motion from the cams 11, 1, fixed on the cam shaft. The cam
acts on the arm 13 fixed on the spindle bar 4, which, by means of arms 15
carries the bar 1, and the back point bar is carried by arms l' fixed to the
spindle bar 16, and the backward and forward motions of the point bar / are
governed by the cam * acting upon the lever 18, which, by means of. a link 1º,
gives motion to an arm 110 affixed to the spindle bar 1, as shown, and the
points j, k, l, are caused to act as herein described; motion is communicated
to the cam shaft in the following manner :--m is a crank handle which, by
means of the pinion m', gives motion to the intermediate wheel m², which gives
motion to the cog-wheel m³ fixed on the cam shaft.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the details as herein given, as the same may be varied without departing
from my Invention, so long as the peculiar character of my improvements be

page_text: retained; but what I claim is, the mode of combining the parts of warp
machinery, wherein the two rows of threads, into which the warp is divided,
are caused to traverse diagonally in opposite directions from selvage to selvage,
in such manner that each thread as it arrives at either end of its course after
working from selvage to selvage in one row of threads is, after working with
the outermost needle, transferred into the other row of threads, as herein
explained.
In witness whereof, 1, the said William Hemsley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
WILLIAM (L.S.) HEMSLEY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid William Hemsley came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.