A NEW INSTRUMENT FOR FACILITATING THE STITCHING AND SEWING OF WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1849

page_text: L'ARNALL, of the City of London, Clothier, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of
November, in the thirteenth year of the reign, did give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Parnall, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her special licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Robert Parnall, my
exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Robert Parnall, my
exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein men-
tioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that
part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"A NEW INSTRUMENT FOR FACILITATING THE STITCHING AND SEWING OF WOVEN
FABRICS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso requiring
me that I, the said Robert Parnall, shall particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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, reference being and thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Parnall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in certain means of facilitating stitching and sewing
processes by piercing or perforating the parts which are to be stitched or
sewn, through which perforations the thread or threads are to be passed in the
ordinary manner of such processes. By my Invention much less care and
attention are required in the after process of stitching or sewing, as the holes
for the needle are already made in a perfectly regular manner, and whilst
a great saving of time is effected the appearance of the work is superior to
that done in the ordinary way. -Shirts, in an especial manner, when stitched
in holes made according to my Invention look neater than when stitched in
the usual method. The apparatus which 'employ. are illustrated in the
accompanying three Sheets of Drawings, which are marked respectively A, B, C.
Fig. 1, Sheet A, being an elevation of the press by which the requisite
pressure or power is given to the cutters or perferators for forming the
piercings or perforations in the pieces of the woven fabric, and Fig. 2 a
sectional plan view of the same taken through the line 1, 2, Fig. 1.
Fig. 3, Sheet B, is an elevation of a cutter or perforator adapted to pierce or
perforate the edges of the plaits of shirt fronts which are to be stitched.
Fig. 4 a plan view of the same. Fig. 5 a plan view with the top plate
removed. Fig. 6 a vertical longitudinal section through the line 3, 4, Fig. 4:
Fig. 7 an end elevation, and Fig. 8 a vertical transverse section through the
line 5, 6, Fig. 4. The press shewn in Figs. 1 and 2 is of the ordinary
construction of such machines, when employed for the purposes of pressing,
but any other description of pressing or stamping machine. may be employed.
A bed a of wood or other suitable material is fitted upon the base or bed of the
press, and it is upon this bed the pieces of cloth or woven fabric are placed
when submitted to the action of the perforators. The substance of this bed a is
to be of such a nature as not to injure the teeth or points of the perforators;
when they perforate through the pieces of cloth or fabric placed upon the
bed a.
The pieces of cloth represented at 6 may be in any number, one, two,
three, or more, and may be placed one upon the other, being previously cut
out to the size required, in the usual manner. Upon the pieces of cloth or
other fabric b is placed the cutter or perforator c, immediately beneath the
follower d of the press. This being adjusted and placed, the screw of the

page_text: press is turned by the handle e, when the follower descends, carrying with it
the perforator, the teeth of which pierce or perforate the fabric with a series of
holes, and prepare it for the reception of the stitching or sewing threads. I
prefer to employ cutters or perforators constructed as follows, though other
modes of construction might be adopted :-The several Figures shewn in
Sheet B represent a cutter or perforator, which I employ for forming the per-
forations near the edges of the cloth or fabric to bé subsequently made into
shirt fronts; the cutting or perforating blade fis attached securely by screws f, f',
to the block f", and this is secured by the screws full to the top plate fil; the
screws 9, 9, pass freely through the block f", and the upper plate fill, and
screw into the lower plate g', those screws 9, 9, move freely in the holes in the
block, which serve as guides for allowing the proper motion of the lower plate g¹
when it rises, during the operation of perforating. There is a spring / placed
between the upper plate f™ and the lower plate g¹; it is secured to the upper
plate and bears against the lower plate. The object of this spring is to press
the lower plate again downwards after the perforating process has been effected
and the perforator has risen from the cloth, 'thereby clearing and relieving the
cloth from the teeth or points' of the perforator. The other perforating cutter
or blade i is secured in like manner as before by screws to the block i', which
is formed so as to be moveable in a transverse direction under the top plate fill
for the purpose of adjusting the distance between the perforating blades, in
accordance with the distance between the rows of stitches required upon the
fabrics. The hand nuts k, k, serve to secure the block to the upper plate fi
when the proper distance between them is obtained, the upper plate being
slotted for that purpose. There are also slots in the upper plate for allowing
the traversing of the heads of the screws i", ", which serve as guides to the
vertical motions of the lower plate.
In Sheet C is represented the description of cutters or perforators which
I prefer to employ for perforating the wristbands and the collars of shirts,
Fig. 9 being an elevation, and Fig. 10 a plan of the perforator, as adapted for
perforating wristbands of shirts, and Fig. 11 an elevation, and Fig. 12 a plan
adapted for perforating one of the sides of the collars of shirts. The perforator
for perforating the other side being constructed in a precisely similar manner,
with the exception that the shape is reversed, one being left-handed and the
other right-handed to correspond with the left and right handed portions of the
collar. The construction of these is precisely similar to that already described,
and the action of them in the press is the same. The shape and form of them
will, of course, be made to conform to the shape of the pieces of fabric to be
perforated, so that the perforations shall be in the required direction.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention and the mode of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself
to the arrangement or construction of the apparatus shewn and described
for carrying my Invention into effect. But what I claim as my Invention is,-
I claim the construction and use of an instrument having teeth or points
therein for piercing or perforating a series of holes in woven fabrics for
the purpose of facilitating the processes of stitching and sewing.
In witness whereof, the said Robert Parnall hath hereunto set his
hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
Enrolled the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.