IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF LACE MADE ON LACE MACHINES EMPLOYED IN MAKING FIGURED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Edwards, of the Town and County of
the Town of Nottingham, Mechanist, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF LACE MADE ON LACE
MACHINES EMPLOYED IN MAKING FIGURED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Edwards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th May 1870.
I, FREDERICK EDWARDS, of the Town and County of the Town of
Nottingham, Mechanist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF LACE MADE ON
LACE MACHINES EMPLOYED IN MAKING FIGURED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in part in the manufacture and employ-
ment of thread carriers employed in warp lace machinery. These
carriers I construct in such manner as to reduce the space required in

page_text: the working parts of the machinery or apparatus, and to avoid the
necessity of the usual up-and-down motion now required in this class of
machinery. The presser which I employ in my Invention is made by
preference hollow, and itself reduces the space required for its operation.
In the connection of the guide bar and presser bar I effect a further
saving of the space required for an extra shaft in the working of the
guide bar and also in working of the shaft.
In the construction of the needle bar I employ slides which have a
bar connected with them, upon which bar are attached angular or
otherwise shaped plates recessed on two sides to admit the needles and
thread carriers.
By these means among other advantages I am enabled to produce
within a given period of time an increased quantity of lace from each
machine than at present produced.
My Invention is applicable also to lace machines other than those
employed in the manufacture of warp lace fabrics.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Frederick
Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
EDWARDS, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham,
Mechanist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Frederick Edwards, Her special licence, that I,
the said Frederick Edwards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Frederick Edwards, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at 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 Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
66
.

page_text: OR PRODUCTION OF LACE MADE ON LACE MACHINES EMPLOYED IN MAKING FIGURED.
FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Edwards, 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 seven calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Edwards, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying.
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is. to..
say:
These improvements consist in part in the manufacture and employ-
ment of thread carriers. employed in warp lace machinery. These
carriers I construct in such manner as to reduce the space required in
the working parts of the machinery or apparatus and so as to avoid the
necessity of the usual up-and-down motion which now is required in this
class of machinery. The construction of the presser which I employ in
this my Invention is made by preference hollow, and itself reduces the
space required for its operation.
In the construction of the guide bar and presser bar I effect a further
saving of the space required for an extra shaft in the working of the
guide bar and also in the working of the shaft. In the construction of
the needle bar I employ slides which have a bar connected with them,
upon which bar are connected angular or other shaped plates which
are recessed on two sides to admit the needles and thread carriers.
By these means (among other advantages) I am enabled to produce an
increased quantity of lace from each machine (within a given period of
time) than is now produced.
My Invention is applicable also to other lace machines than those
employed in the manufacture of warp lace fabric.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a front view of a warp lace machine constructed
according to my improvements. In this view an upper rod or roller

page_text: hereafter referred to is shown broken off between its supports the better
to enable the inside of the machine to be seen. Figure 2 is a sectional
view, the several parts of the machine being shown in the respective
positions they occupy when the work has been knocked over the heads
of the needles. The warp threads and spool threads are shown in this
view, but they are left out in the front view. Figure 3 is a full-sized
sectional view of the principal parts of the machine containing the whole
of my improvements combined.
Figure 4 is a separate view of one of the bearings of the upper cam
shaft with one of the needle bar slides, a needle sley bracket, and one
of the bearings for an arm of the carrier hook bar. Figure 5 is a front
view showing a portion of the needle bar at the left end of the machine,
two leads of needles, with part of the needle and carrier hook sley and
one of the arms supporting this sley. Figure 6. is an under side view of
a lead of carrier hooks attached to part of the carrier hook bar. Figure 7
is an under side view of a lead of guides which carry the presser wire, the
lead being shewn attached to a portion of the presser bar. Figure 8. is a
front view of a lead of pillar thread guides. Figure 9 exhibits portions
of two stump bars, each having a lead of stump guides attached thereto.
Figures 10 to 15 represent the cams which communicate motion to
the several parts. Figures 10 and 10* respectively are a side view and
front view of one of the cams and its counter cam which operate the
needle bar. Figure 11 is the cam which operates the thread carrier hook
bar; Figure 12 is the cam which causes the pillar thread guides to move
to and fro at right angles to the length of the machine; Figure 13 is
the cam which operates the presser; Figure 14 is the cam which gives
the right and left movements of the pillar thread guides;, and Figure 15
represents one of the cams which operate the stump bars. The whole
of the above parts are more particularly referred to in the following
description of the entire machine, reference being made firstly to Figures
1, 2, 3, and 4.
A, A, are two end standards connected by an upper tie bar B, two
lower tie bars B¹ and B², and a central tie B³. In the front of the upper
tie bar B bearings are secured to the end standards to support a cam
shaft C, below which is a needle bar D which I construct and operate in
manner following
To the top of the bar D are secured parallel sided brackets D' which
slide vertically in grooves on plates or saddles which are attached to the

page_text: front of the upper tic bar B. The needle bar D is formed of an angular
shape recessed on its front lower edge, and has grooves cut in its front
face somewhat larger than the carrier hook sley arm hereafter referred
to. To the front of the bar D a brass or other plate is secured having
a projection on its lower front edge on which the needle leads D² rest;
the back-lower edge of the plate is recessed so as to allow the bar and
plate to be lowered over a sley F. The needle leads are secured to the
needle bar and plate by clamping plates and screws in the usual way,
but the stem of the needles is considerably shorter and requires a less
vertical movement than is usually employed, such vertical movement is
obtained as follows:-To the top of the bar D are secured two links E,
cach of which has a slot of sufficient width. to admit the cam shaft C on
which they slide vertically above and below this shaft; each link is
provided with a friction truck, the upper truck being operated by the
cam E which raises the needle bar to the position shown at Figures 2,
3, 4, and the lower truck is operated by the counter cam E² which lowers
the needle bar and consequently the needles into such position that the
pillar thread guides can lap their threads on the needles; F is a sley
made of brass or other metal and is held fast in the position shewn by
arms F to which it is attached. These arms are each supported by and
are adjustable in a bracket F2 secured to the front of the upper tie bar.
The arms F lie in the grooves cut in the face of the bar D, thus the
sley is held in a fixed position and the necessity of moving it up and
down with the needle bar is therefore avoided.
D cut in the face of its lower front edge.
needles slide vertically. The sley has also
under side and in these grooves slide thread carrier hooks G which
are cast in leads secured to the carrier hook bar G³, to which bar
are attached links G² which work at their upper end on axles carried
by brackets G³ secured to the upper tie bar. At the back of the
hook bar axle pins are secured, which pins carry links, and these
links at their outer ends work on axle pins adjustable in slots in the
lower ends of arms projecting from the lower side of a rocking
shaft G, which shaft has an arm which projects towards the front of the
machine. In this arm the axle of a truck G³ is capable of adjustment.
This truck is held to the surface of a cam Go by a spring G' which is
attached at one end to a lever secured to the lower arm and its other
end is secured to the back of the needle bar D. By this arrangement
the carrier hook bar G¹ only moves on its centre held by the bearing G³,
The sley has grooves
In these grooves the
grooves F³ cut on its

page_text: the vertical up-and-down movements of the bar being dispensed with.
The carrier hooks do not move out of the lower grooves in the sley F,
but they slide in the grooves towards the front of the machine at the
proper time to the distance shewn by the dotted lines in front of the sley
as seen at Figure 4, to catch such threads as are raised by the jacquard
previous to carrying the threads behind the needles before the needles
are lowered to secure such throads, and to receive the threads from the
pillar guides. Heretofore a separate shaft has been employed for the
presser bar, and another shaft has been employed for the pillar guide
bar; whereas I employ one shaft for both bars, while the presser bar
I employ reduces the space required for its operation, I thus effect a
further saving of the space required for an extra shaft in the working of
the guide bar, and also in the working of the shaft, and this I effect as
follows: H is a shaft which lies and oscillates in slotted bearings H¹
secured to the top side of the tie bar B³. The shaft is square for a
portion of its length between and next to the bearings, and it has no.
movement endwise. To the back of each square portion a bracket H²
is secured. These brackets support an angular presser bar H³ to which
the presser wire guide leads H are secured. The presser wire H³, sco
Figure 7, is passed through holes in and is held by guides cast in the
leads H, being moved towards the back of the machine prior to the
needles rising to close their beards so as to enable the previously formed
loops to pass over them, the guides holding the wire are formed hollow
on their under side, thereby lessening the space heretofore required to
lower the needles to receive the pillar threads.
The forward and backward movements of the presser are effected by
the following means:-To the front of the shaft H is secured an arm
which is slotted at its lower end; in this slot a truck axle is capable of
adjustment, the truck being operated upon by the cam H, the truck
being held to the cam by a spring attached to the slotted arm and also
to any part of the back framing in the usual way. The shaft HI also
make to serve as a shaft for operating a pillar guide bar in manner
following-The shaft is turned of a somewhat smaller diameter in
portions of its length next each square part to receive bearing brackets I,
which brackets embrace the shaft and are free to oscillate and slide upon
it. To these brackets is secured a guide bar I which has guide leads I²
secured to it in the usual way. The guide bar is provided at the back
with an arm slotted at its lower end; in this slot a truck is capable of

page_text: adjustment, it being acted upon by a cam I³ producing a backward and
forward movement of the guides, the truck being held to the cam by a
spring attached to the arm and also to the back of the tie bar B³ in the
usual way; the guides in the leads I³ are provided with threads which
pass through a sley and under a roller in front of the tie bar B supplied
by a warp beam I' at the back of the machine. The cams H and I³ are
carried by a driving shaft K which runs in bearings secured to the end
standards and being passed through and running clear of the sides of a
slot in the bearings H¹. This shaft is provided at the left end of the
machine with a fly wheel and also a toothed wheel, which gear into an
intermediate toothed wheel K' gearing into a similar wheel K² on the
left end of the upper cam shaft C. By means of these wheels the shafts
C and K are driven simultaneously. The end of the shaft K at the right
of the machine is provided with a spur wheel which gears into a toothed
wheel on a shaft N which is carried by and revolves in bearings secured
to brackets which project from the right end standard; on the shaft N
are secured cams which operate the guide bars I', and L, and L, each
such cam being furnished with a lever M carrying an adjustable friction
piece at its lower end, the lever M. being connected by a link to the
guide bar, each of which is furnished with a spring attached to it and
also to the left end standard. The spring I may be attached to a
pin projecting from the bearing I instead of the bar I', the cam on the
shaft N is assisted by such spring and moves the pillar guides to the
right and left. In front of the pillar guide bar I-employ two stump bars
to which are secured the leads L and L', in which stumps are cast as
seen at Figures 9 and 3. The front stumps are provided with a wire L³
in order to receive the friction of the threads when down instead of the
metal. The front stumps are somewhat longer than those cast in the
leads L', and they are cach provided with a thread L³ passed through the
cye of a link which is lifted (when selected) by the jacquard and held
down by a weight in the usual way. The threads L³ cach pass over an
upper thread roller, then through a sley, and under a lower roller, being
supplied from separate spools as shown in the usual way. The threads
L' are each passed through the slots of the front stumps but between
those stumps in the leads L.
Having described the several parts of my improved machine, and their
separate movements, I will now proceed to describe the whole of the
movements continued in the order they occur. Suppose the needle bar

page_text: to be in the position shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 3, the work having just
been knocked over the needle heads, the jacquard selects the threads, the
thread carrier hooks take back such selected threads and hold them at
the back of the needles until they are secured by the needles descending,
the hooks then come forward to be ready to seize the threads when a fresh
selection is made, the needles then fall to their lowest position, the pillar
bar then traverses and lays the threads between the stems and beards of
the needles, and at the end of the traverse the threads are slightly
inclined towards the back of the needles until the threads are secured
by the beards, the needles then rise as the presser falls back to meet the
beards to press them to enable the previously formed loops to slip over
the beards and heads of the needles, such movements being successively
repeated.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The improvements in manufacturing or producing lace on
lace machines employed in making figured fabrics as herein-before
described.
Second. The general arrangement and combination of parts con-
stituting the improved machinery or apparatus substantially as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Edwards, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy..
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON,
Patent Office,
Nottingham.
FREDERICK EDWARDS. (L.S.)