CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A GIG, AND OF CARDS, SO CALLED, IN THE CLOTHING AND OTHER MANUFACTORIES, AND OTHER MACHINES OR INSTRUMENTS USED AND EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTORIES FOR THE SAME OR SIMILAR PURPOSES, A CON- TRIVANCE NEVER BEFORE PUT IN PRACTICE
Year: 1816

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY LASSALLE, of the City of Bristol, Apothecary, send greeting.
WHEREAS His Majesty King George the Third, in and by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-third day of April last, for Himself, His heirs and successors, did
give and grant unto me, the said William Henry Lassalle, His special
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Henry
Lassalle, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and
themselves, or by mine or their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or
such other as I, the said William Henry Lassalle, my exors, adñiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time and
at all times hereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A GIG, AND OF CARDS, SO CALLED, IN THE CLOTHING
AND OTHER MANUFACTORIES, AND OTHER MACHINES OR INSTRUMENTS USED AND
EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTORIES FOR THE SAME OR SIMILAR PURPOSES, A CON-
TRIVANCE NEVER BEFORE PUT IN PRACTICE;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso that if I, the said William Henry Lassalle, shall not
particularly describe and ascertain 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, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said recited Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever

page_text: thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and
by the said Letters Patent, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, William Henry Lassalle, do hereby describe
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, as follows (that is to say):-
I do tako plates of stcel, iron, or other suitable material or metal, or com-
pound of metals, of about the thickness of parchment or vellum, little more or
less, according to the degree of stoutness or elasticity required. I proceed
then to cut, stamp, or otherwise divide them into teeth of such fineness as
shall be suited to the texture of the cloth or other material or materials to be
dressed or otherwise worked. And I do use or make these teeth, if for fine
cloths or other fine articles, of tough elastic steel, and of such a length and
fineness as will allow them to be yielding, yet afford sufficient resistance to
dress the same, the length of them being from half an inch to an inch and an
half, more or less. These plates of teeth may be ground or polished, if thought
necessary, and tempered, then fixed in wood or metal, or other proper
substance, at about one eighth of an inch, as under, nearer, or more distant,
as may be thought necessary or required; but that the points may more
effectually be applied to every part of the surface of the cloth, I dispose them,
one rank of plates after another, so as to fill up ultimately the distances
between the teeth; that is to say, the teeth of one plate are not placed
exactly opposite to the teeth of the preceding plate, but a little to one side,
and so I continue to insert the plates till I have finished a cylinder; or, if the
machine be to work by hand, I have inserted a sufficient number of the plates
of teeth according to its size. When intended to be applied to the gigs com-
monly used, a convenient number of the plates of teeth may be put into
frames or handles of a proper size, which may be attached to the gig in a
similar way that the handles with teazles are fixed in it, and so used for the
like purpose. The teeth stand up straight, but may be inclined, and may be
used of a curved or other shape, as must appear sufficiently obvious. In other
cases the teeth may be cut out separately, and inserted in leather or other
suitable material. When required, I employ, for inferior or other clothes,
plates of teeth, or individual teeth, as above, inserted in wood or leather, or
other suitable substance, but much shorter, projecting above the surface of the
wood or other material one twentieth part of an inch, or thereabouts, more or
less; or I do cast any suitable metal or metallic composition into ranks of
short teeth or points, disposed in the way described; but I. also, in cases of
long teeth, use guards of wood, metal, or other material, being plates.or frames

page_text: set up at convenient distances longitudinally between the plates of teeth or
individual teeth, respectively for the purpose of defending the cloth as well as
for protecting to a certain extent the said teeth. The guards may be occa-
sionally moved lower or higher by means of screws, or otherwise, the height of
the frames or guards is somewhat below the height of the teeth (that is to
say), about one twenty-fourth part of an inch. I do, when necessary, coat the
metals used with boiled linseed oil, spirit of turpentine, or a mixture of these,
or a solution of gum, elastic, or other suitable varnish, to preserve them from
the effects of damp, which may be repeated occasionally.
Lastly, in making my cards I do employ iron or steel, square, flat, or oval
wires, which I bend by heat or otherwise, where necessary, and cut or grind to
convenient shapes and sizes, as may be suited to answer the different sizes or
kinds of cards used in the various manufactories of wool, cotton, flax, hemp, or
such like fibrous substances to which the Invention can or may be applied,
and fix the same in leather or other material, after the usual manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Lassalle, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixteen.
WILLIAM HENRY (L.S.) LASSALLE.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named William Henry Las-
salle, being first duly stamped, in the
presence of
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1816, the aforesaid William Henry Lassalle 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.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixteen.