IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF LACE OR BOBBIN NET
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF LACE OR
BOBBIN NET." A communication from abroad by Messrs. L'Heureux,
Brothers, of St. Pierre les Calais, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 6th November 1860, and dated the 26th June 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th June 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OP LACE
OR BOBBIN NET," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improved machinery for the manufacture of lace consists
of certain mechanical processes, whereby the warp threads used in the manu-
facture of imitation lace or blonde, either in narrow or wide widths, may be
worked in such a manner that these threads may be made to follow without
interruption all the forms required for producing a design or pattern without
it being necessary that these threads should occupy the same position at each
repetition of the pattern. In order to effect the desired object the Inventor

page_text: of the improved machinery makes use of the carriages and guide bars usually
employed in lace machinery. The carriages in the improved machinery work
in the usual manner, that is to say, to and fro in two movements without
changing places in the combs. It is the peculiar mode of working the guide
bar, and of combining and arranging it with the other parts of the mechanism,
which forms the subject of the present Invention.
The guide bar is set in motion from left to right, and from right to left,
by means of the following parts, viz., a reciprocating bar, a bolt to which the
bar is connected, and a wedge piece which rises and falls between the recipro-
cating bar and the bolt. As regards the reciprocating bar, it retreats back
to the right at each motion, so as to leave a space between it and the bolt, in
order that the wedge piece may work up or down according to the motion
which is given to it; and when the required movement has been executed, the
guide bar immediately returns to its position, so that by a combination of
two alternate motions it will gradually ascend from gate to gate. The rising
and falling wedge-shaped piece, and the movements which belong to it, deter-
mine the operation or working of the threads, and therefore it is, in fact, the
principal organ or part of the Invention.
The wedge piece is formed of a bar of iron, one edge or side of which is
cut out in steps, and these steps are shorter or longer according to the fineness
of the machine, or the work to be done. The number of these steps is
dependent upon or corresponds with the number of carriages employed for
the width of the strip it is proposed to make. The wedge-pieco is attached
by a cord to a carriage, and consequently it follows the movements of this
latter. This carriage is provided with two little rods, moveable upon their
axes, and called pushers. It acts between two toothed plates of iron, which
may be called combs, and are placed in two frames, one opposite the other, so
that the carriage may pass from one to the other. The divisions on the
combs correspond to the length of the steps in the wedge-piece. One comb
is fixed, and the other moveable up and down to the extent of the height of
one division or tooth of the comb. It will, of course, be understood that there
must be as many wedge-pieces, carriages, and combs as there are guides
required to form the strip of fabric. Opposite the combs are placed frames
of the same length and breadth as the former. These frames have a reci-
procating motion, and are furnished with a number of hollow pieces equal to
the number of teeth in the combs. To these pieces are jointed moveable
plates or blades called lifters, because they are employed to lift the pushers of
the carriages, in order to cause the latter to enter the hollow parts of the
frame, from whence they may be pushed into another gate in the comb

page_text: according as the design or pattern may require. This movement is com-
municated to the lifters by a thread or cord actuated by a jacquard apparatus.
In consequence of the motions of the combs, the frames, and lifters, the wedge
piece will naturally rise or fall in the combs according to the pattern, and
as governed by the jaequard. By the jacquard acting on the lifter, and these
latter upon the carriages, which are even with them wherever the combs may
happen to be, the result is that the carriages and bars (for the bars follow
the carriages) do not require at the finish of the pattern to be brought back
to their normal position, as the lifter will produce the same effect upon the
carriage which happens to be opposite at the time. In order to give greater
solidity to the fabric each carriage carries an additional fine thread, which is
wound round the thread of the carriage..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton, in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, 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 Inven-
tion of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF LACE OR BOBBIN NET,"
being a communication from abroad by Messrs. L'Heureux, Brothers, of
St. Pierre les Calais, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst
others), that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within

page_text: SIX calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said eaters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
This Invention of improved machinery for the manufacture of lace or
bobbin net consists of certain mechanical processes, whereby the warp threads
used in the manufacture of imitation lace or blonde, either in narrow or
wide widths, may be worked in such a manner that these threads may be
made to follow without interruption all the forms required for producing a
design or pattern without it being necessary that these threads should occupy
the same position at each repetition of the pattern. In order to effect the
desired object, the Inventors of the present improved machinery employ the
carriages and guide bars ordinarily used in lace machinery. The carriages in
the improved machinery work in the usual manner, that is to say, to and fro
in two movements without changing places in the combs. It is the peculiar
mode of working the guide bar, and of combining and arranging it with
the other parts of the mechanism which forms the subject of the present
Invention.
These improvements will be perfectly understood by reference to the ac-
companying Drawings in which Fig. 1, Sheet I., represents a detached view
of the apparatus to which the present improvements more particularly apply;
Fig. 2, represents a portion of lace manufactured according to the present
improvements drawn upon an enlarged scale in order to shew the progress
of the manufacture. Fig. 3, (Sheet II.) represents a jacquard apparatus arranged
and applied according to the present Invention.
The guide bar is set in motion from left to right and from right to left
by means of the following parts, viz. the reciprocating bar P, a bolt B, to
which the bar is connected, and a wedge piece A, which rises and falls between
the recriprocating bar and the bolt. As regards the reciprocating bar Pit
retreats back to the right at each motion so as to leave a space between it
and the bolt in order that the wedge piece A may work up or down according
to the motion which is given to it and when the required movement has been
executed the guide bar immediately returns to its position so that by a com-
bination of the two alternate motions it will gradually ascend from gate
to gate. The rising and falling wedge-shaped piece A, and the movements
which belong to it, determine the operation or working of the threads, and

page_text: therefore it is in fact the principal organ or part of the Invention. I will
now proceed to describe its construction and operation. This rising and
falling wedge piece A is formed of a bar of iron, one edge or side of which
is cut out in steps, and these steps are shorter or longer according to the
fineness of the gauge of the machine, or the work to be done. The number
of these steps is dependent upon or corresponds with the number of carriages
employed for the width of the strip it is proposed to make. The wedge piece
is attached by a cord Q to the carriage O, and consequently it follows the
movements of this latter. This carriage O is provided with two small rods
T, T, moveable upon their axes, and called pushers. It acts between two
toothed plates of iron P, P¹, which may be called combs, and are placed
in two frames, one opposite the other, so that the carriage may pass from
one to the other. The divisions on the combs correspond to the length of
the steps in the wedge piece A. One of the combs P is fixed, and the other
P¹ is moveable up and down to the extent of the height of one division
or tooth of the comb. This description of the wedge pieces, carriages, and
combs will of course apply to as many of such parts as may be employed,
and it will of course be understood that there must be as many of these wedge
pieces, carriages, and combs as there are guide bars necessary to form the
strip of fabric. Opposite the combs are placed two frames G, G', of the same
length and breadth as the former. These frames have a reciprocating motion,
and are furnished with a number of plates or pieces K, K', extending the
whole length of the frame and equal to the number of teeth in the combs. To
these pieces K, K', are jointed moveable plates or blades L, L', moveablo on
their axes, and extending the whole breadth of the frame, and which are called
lifters, because they are employed to lift the pushers of the carriages in order
to cause the latter to enter the hollow parts of the frame, from whence they
may be pushed into another gate of the comb according as the design or
pattern may require. This movement is communicated to the lifters by a
thread or cord actuated by a jacquard apparatus placed as at X, in Fig. 1,.
and in consequence of the upward and downward movement of this cord.
only one of the pushers will be engaged in the hollow part of the frame, and
this will be the pusher nearest these hollow parts according to which of the
combs the carriage shall be in. In consequence of the motions of the comb P¹,
and the frames G, G', with the lifters L, L', the wedge piece will naturally
rise or fall in the combs according to the pattern and as governed by the
jacquard apparatus.
Suppose, for example, the apparatus to consist of forty guide bars, there
will be forty combs each containing twenty teeth. In each of these combs is

page_text: placed a carriage, and each carriage, as above described, carries its wedge
piece. The carriages are arranged in such a manner that half of them
shall be in the combs P, and the other half in the combs P₁, each being
held at a different height of tooth. By this arrangement there will be
always two of them at the same height, one in the combs P, and the other
in the combs P¹. When the nature of the design requires it, the place of the
carriages may be altered, care, however, being always taken to raise those two
of the lifters L which are situate opposite to one another at the same height,
in order that the one which is in the combs P shall pass into the combs P¹,
and vice versa. There will thus always be two carriages at the same heights
the one in the combs P and the other in the combs P¹, although the carriages
shall have changed places. The jacquard apparatus by acting upon the lifters,
and these latter by acting upon the carriages which are at the same height
in whatever combs the carriages may be, the result will be that the carriages
(and consequently the bars as they follow the movements of the carriages) will
not require at the finish of the pattern to be brought back to the position they
occupied at the commencement, as the lifter will produce the same effect upon
the carriage which is opposite to it at the time of the design being repeated;
Fig. 2, Sheet I., represents the operation of the warp threads in forming a
pattern according to this Invention, seven carriages and the same number of
bars being employed to produce the desired effect.
In order to give greater solidity to the fabric each carriage carries an
additional fine thread, which is wound round the thread of the carriage. Theso
latter are represented in the diagram, Fig. 2, at a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and the
additional fine threads which are wound round them at a', b, c, d', e', f¹, g';
the other threads which run across the fabric are the warp threads. With
regard to the whipping and other operations they are conducted in the ordinary
manner.
Having, now described the nature of this Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect I, desire it to be understood that what I
claim as the Invention secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, is,―
The improvements, combinations, movements, and construction of the
mechanism herein set forth, and the operation of the warp threads as above
shewn and described for the manufacture of bobbin net or imitation lace,
the principal result of such improvements being to cause the warp threads
to be worked in the production of either narrow or wide widths by causing
them to follow in a continuous manner all the imaginary forms of a pattern

page_text: without its being necessary to bring these threads back to the same position
for each repeat of the pattern.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
year
of
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)