CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING CORD OR PLATT FOR BOOT AND STAY LACES AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1824

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HEAD,
of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Hosier (being one of the people called
Quakers), send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourth day of November, in the fifth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Head, His especial licence, that I, the said John Head, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Head, my exors,
admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years herein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR MAKING CORD OR PLATT FOR BOOT AND STAY LACES AND OTHER
PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said John Head, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same
to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four calendar
months next and immediately 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Head, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention by the following
description thereof, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and
carried into effect, by the Drawing which is hereunto annexed, reference being
thereunto had, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, as follows (that
is to say) :-
The machinery which is represented by the Figures upon the annexed
Drawing is constructed according to my improvements, and is adapted to
produce or mako such descriptions of cord or platt as may be composed by
the union of twelve. threads or yarns; but I occasionally construct the said
machinery so as to be capable of making cords or platts composed of eight,
ten, twenty, or any other required number of threads or yarns disposed in such
a manner as to produce a round cord or platt adapted for boot and stay-laces,
or other purposes, being formed either with a middle or center cord in the
manner of ordinary curtain lines, or otherwise, as may be desired.
Figure 1 represents au horizontal plan of the machinery, wherein some of
the parts are supposed to be removed in order to explain the construction of
the principal parts more clearly.
Figure 2 represents a section of the machine taken through the centre
thereof, and Figures 8, 4, and 5 represent detached views of one of the
bobbin frames or carriages, with its appendages, shewing one of the bobbins or
reels for containing the thread or material intended to compose a cord or platt.
Note, the same letters of reference are used to denote corresponding parts
upon the various Figures, which are drawn to a scale of about one-half the
real size of a machine adapted for making small cords or platts for boot or
stay-laces; but the size of the machine will of course be varied according to
the description of work intended to bo produced by them. A, A, B, B,
represent the top and bottom boards, which constitute the frame of the
machine; they are formed to an hexagonal shape, as shewn in the Plan, and
are united firmly together at a proper distance asunder by means of the
upright pieces or sides C, so as to form a kind of hexagonal box. Upon the
upper surface of the board A, A, two metal plates a, b, Fig. 2, are screwed
down, the uppermost of which plates has six circular-formed curves D, E, F,
G, H, and I cut through it, as seen in the Plan. The said curves intersect
each other in such manner as to form circuitous passages or channels for the
bobbin carriages, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, to circulate
in, as will be herein-after explained. Note, in the Plan Fig. 1, only eight of
the bobbin carriages are represented in their places, the positions of the
remaining four being shown by dotted lines; d, e, f, g, h, and i represent small

page_text: spindles or axes, the upper parts of which are adapted to turn steadily in
bearings or collars fixed in the board A, A, as seen at k, l, in the section Fig.
2, such bearings or collars being formed in the center of the circles D, E, F,
G, H, and I, before mentioned. The lower extremities or toes of the spindles
de, f, g, h, and i, are supported in brasses or steps m and n, affixed to the
bottom board B, B, and each of the said spindles is furnished (near the middle
of its length, with a cog wheel, as represented at K, L, in Fig. 2, which said.
cog wheels are of equal diameters, and numbers of teeth being so disposed
that the teeth may engage with each other, and thus connect the six spindles
together, in order that when any one of them was turned round the whole six
should be caused to turn together, and with equal velocities. The upper
extremities of the said spindles project some distance above the collars in the
board A, A, at which part they are formed square, and are each provided with
four arms or radial bars in the form of a cross, as shewn in Fig. 1. At the same
time the four arms of the said crosses are not situated in one plane, but are
arranged in pairs one above the other, as represented at D, G, in Fig. 2, in order
that the extremities of the arms upon any two adjacent spindles may overlap
each other in a slight degree, and still be capable of revolving without coming
into contact. The yarn or thread of silk or other material intended to be
employed in making the cord or platt, is previously wound upon reels or
bobbins, which are mounted upon vertical axes in small frames or carriages,
as shewn by the Figures 8, 4, and 5 upon the Drawing, which Figures repre-
sent three different views of one of the bobbin frames, with it appendage
supposed to be detached from the machine. Note, the reel or bobbin in these
Figures is supposed to be empty, or free from thread. The lower parts or bases
of the bobbin frames are formed as represented by Fig. 5, so as to be capable
of sliding in the curved channels before mentioned; and the lowermost plate,
marked o, o, is made broader than the rest, for the purpose of sliding beneath
the edges of the channels which are form'd in the plate a; thus, when the
bobbin franies are once put into their places in the said curved channels they
will admit of being moved along therein, but cannot rise up or get out of their
places. This construction will appear evident by inspection of the Fig. 2,
where the section of the channels are shewn at D, G, and the shape or form
of that part of the bobbin frames which is adapted to move and fit in the
curved channels is represented in Fig. 5 at r, r. Upon the part r, r, an oval
piece of metal M is fixed, against the rounded ends of which the crosses before
mentioned (upon the tops of the spindles d, e, f, &c.,) are adapted to act, for
the purpose of forcing the bobbin frames along in their channels in a proper
order for twisting the threads together to produce the cord or plate. N, N,

page_text: represent two thin bars of metal, which rise up from the pieco M of the
bottom frame; they are united at top by a thin plate of metal s, from which
plate a wire t descends, and has its lower extremity fixed to the piece M; the
bars N, N, have also a stout piece of metal O projecting out from them near
the top, for the purpose of supporting the upper pivot or spindle 7 of the
bobbin or reel. This bobbin is composed of a metal tube P, having two
small circular plates or discs p, p, affixed to its extremities so as to form ends
or flanges to the bobbin, and enable it to contain the thread or yarn destined
for making the cord or platt. The tube P has the pin or spindle 9 passing
through it so as to form an axis for the bobbin. The lower part of this spindle
is adapted to work in a small hole or step in the upper side of the piece M,
whilst the upper part 7 is fitted so as to turn round freely in a hole in tho
pieco O. Ench bobbin is provided with a piece of mechanism which causes
the thread or yarn to be drawn off the circumference thereof in proportion as
it may be required to form the cord or platt, at the same time keeping it
alway at the proper degree of tension. This is effected in the following
manner: The upper plate or flange p of each of the bobbins has four or
more small projecting ribs upon its surface, and against these ribs a small
detent or click vis adapted to act so as to restrain the bobbin from turning in
order to give off the thread from its circumference, unless the end of the
click has been raised up clear above the said projecting ribs. For this
purpose the click vis suspended upon a center or short axis turning in holes
formed near the extremity of the piece O, and the opposite end of the said
short axis has an arm or lever w proceeding from it, being borne upon by a
spring, which operates to force the click v down upon the surface of the
plate or dise p; at the same time the spring z will admit of the click v being
raised clear above the projections above the plate p, when it is required to let
out more thread from off the circumference of the bobbin. The raising of tho
click vis performed at the proper intervals in the following manner :-The
extremity of the thread or yarn which comes from off the bobbin is passed
under a small wire, which extends between the uprights N, N, of the bobbin
frame, as seen at z in the Figures, and from this wire the thread proceeds up
to the plates, and passes through a notch therein; it then proceeds along a
small groove in the upper surface of the plates, and descends through a round
hole therein. The thread then passes under a rounded pin fixed in a small
weight Q, which weight has free liberty to slide up and down between the
uprights N, N, and the wires t, t, from the round pin in the weight Q; the
thread rises up and passes through a second round hole in the plate s, and
goes directly to the part R, Fig. 2, where the threads proceeding from each

page_text: bobbin are united together, as indicated by the red lines upon the Drawing,
and formed into a cord or platt. By this mode of reeving or passing the
thread, it will appear evident that when the thread is pulled or strained it will
raise up the weight Q, because the bobbin is prevented from turning round
and giving out more thread by the action of the click before mentioned,
therefore the weight Q will remain suspended in a loop in the thread, and will
occasion a proper degree of tension thereupon. Now in proportion as the cord
or platt is formed, and is drawn or conducted away from the machine, it will
raise the weights Q in the bobbin frames until they arrive at the extent of
their motion upwards, at which time the upper surfaces of the said weights
will have come into contact with the extremities of the arms or levers w (as.
shewn by the left-hand bobbin in the section Fig. 2), and by overcoming the
resistance of the springs a will raise the detents or clicks v clear above the pro-
jections upon the plates p of the bobbins, and will thereby leave the bobbins at
liberty to be turned round upon their axes or spindles, by the gravity of the
weights Q, thus drawing off a portion of thread from their circumferences at
intervals, but without straining it, since the weights Qwill continually remain
suspended by the threads, and will thereby determine the strain each individual'
thread shall sustain. The aforesaid mechanism for locking and unlocking the
bobbin by the action of the suspended weight, in order to give off the thread,
I sometimes effect by means of small perpendicular sliding bolts or, clicks
locking against the projections on the bobbin plate, instead of. making the
clicks move upon centres or axes, as shewn in the Figures upon the Drawing;
their operation would be exactly similar to the one above described, but I do not
find the sliding bolts so convenient in practice. The bobbins or reels are capable
of being taken out of their frames for the purpose of being filled with thread or
yarn by simply raising up the spindle on pin q, which they turn upon until the
lower pivot or toe of the said spindle is out of the step on the piece M, in which
position the upper part of the spindle may be drawn down through the hole
in the piece O, and removed out of the frame along with the bobbin. The
spindle 9 has a small pin put through it near the bottom, which projects out
slightly on each side thereof for the lower part of the center tube of the
bobbin to bear upon when in its place. After all the bobbins are filled with
the required thread or yarn, and put into their frames, with the end of the
thread passed or reeved through the various holes in the plates, as herein-before
described, the said bobbin frames are to be inserted in their proper positions
in the curved channels or passages D, E, F, G, H, and I. This is effected by
unscrewing and taking off a portion of the plate a at the part A, a, Fig. 1, which

page_text: is capable of being removed for that purpose. The bobbin frames are then
entered into the channels one by one, first sending one towards the right hand
and turning the crosses and spindles round a slight portion, then sending one
to the left hand, and so on until they are all in their proper places in the
curved channels (as represented in the Fig. 1; the piece of plate at A, a, may
then be screwed down firmly in its place. In this situation the extremities of
the threads proceeding from each bobbin are tied together and are passed
through a round hole in a stationary bar of metal R, and are passed over a
roller at V, where they are strained or drawn sufficiently tight by being passed
and nipped or held fast between a pair of rollers W, the uppermost of which
rollers is loaded or pre down sufficiently upon the lower one by the operation
of a weight, spring, or other convenient means. The lower roller W has a
worm wheel X fixed upon one end of its axis, the teeth of which wheel engage
with the threads of a screw or worm Y formed upon the upper end of the
driving shaft S. By this means a slow rotary motion is communicated to the
rollers W for the purpose of drawing off or delivering the cord or platt away
from the machine as fast as it is produced; and on quitting the rollers W the
cord or platt is allowed to fall down into a box or basket at the part Z, in
order to be conveyed away. The machine is put in motion by any adequate
power applied to the vertical driving shaft S, which, by the operation of a cog
wheel T engaging with the teeth of the cog wheel L, communicates by the
aid of the equal cog wheels before mentioned, an uniform motion to the six
spindles d, e, f, g, h, and i, with their radial bars or crosses, which said crosses,
by acting against the parts M of the bobbin frames, will cause them to circu-
late in the curved or circuitous channels D, E, F, G, H, and I, in the direction
shown by the arrows in the Plan, Fig. 1; (viz'), one half of the bobbon frame
will be caused to pass or circulate in a serpentine line in one direction, being
according to the order of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, whilst the other
half of the bobbin frames will be caused to circulate in a serpentine line in a
contrary direction, or according to the order of the numbers 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
and 12, as represented in the Fig. 1. This action, if kept up, will produce a
circular or round cord or platt composed of twelve threads or yarns, which will
be regularly conveyed away from the machine by the operation of the rollers
W. The curved channels are cut nearly straight at some of the places where
they intersect each other, as will appear from inspection of the Fig. 1, for facili
tating the passage of the bobbins in the proper directions; and where a greater
or less number of bobbins than twelve (as represented in the Figures, arc
required to be used for making any particular cord or platt, it is only

page_text: necessary to be remarked, that the machine must be constructed with one half
as many crosses and spindles, with their respective curved channels, as the
number of bobbins which may be required for forming the cord or platt, and
the said spindles must be connected together by equal cog wheels, as above
described for the machine with twelve bobbins and six spindles. In some
cases I form a cord or platt which contains a round string or line in the
center thereof. This is effected by simply having a reel or large bobbin con-
taining the necessary materials for the centre situated beneath the machine,
and leading the string or lime from from such bobbin up through a hole which
is left in the centre of the machine, as shewn in the section Fig. 2, and then
conducting it away along with the cord or platt over the rollers V and W,
the bobbin upon which the said string or line is wound being caused to be
turn with a sufficient degree of resistance by the aid of a spring or weight.
I have already described, with reference to the annexed Drawing, my said
Invention of Improvements in Machinery for making Cord or Platt for Boot
and Stay Laces or other Purposes, in such a manner as to enable persons con-
versant with works of a similar nature to put the Invention in practice. And
whereas I have been obliged, in order to shew clearly the nature and appli-
cation of my said improvements, to describe and introduce into this my
Specification many parts which have been heretofore used in machinery
for manufacturing cords or platts, I do hereby declare that I make no claim
to the parts of the above-described machinery in their separate or uncom-
bined state, but I confine my present claim of Invention to the improved
arrangement and combination of parts and machinery herein-before described
with reference to the Figures upon the annexed Drawing, and which said new
arrangement constitutes an improved machine, which is capable of making
round cords or platts for boot and stay laces, or other purposes, as above
mentioned, observing, nevertheless, that the form and proportions of the diffe-
rent parts of the machinery may be varied according to the circumstances of
the case, or according to the discretion of the workmen, as well as the materials
of which the whole may be constructed, without departing from the object of
the Invention herein-before described and set forth.
. In witness whereof, I, the said John Head, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of Februaay, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of February,
in the year of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid John Head came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification 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.