CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING OR MANUFACTURING LACE
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
DUNNINGTON, of Nottingham, and WILLIAM COPESTAKE, of Stapelford, both in
the County of Nottingham, Lace Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by Iis Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirteenth day of May, in the fifth year of His reign, did,
for Himself, Ilis heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Henry
Dunnington and William Copestake, His especial license, full power, solo
privilege and authority, that we, the said Henry Dunnington and William
Copestake, our exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Henry Dunnington and William Copestake, our exors, adiñiors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, uso, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING
OR MANUFACTURING LACE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
that we, the said Henry Dunnington and William Copestake, or one of us,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Dunnington, in behalf of myself and the said William Copestake, do
hereby declare. the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the
following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our Invention relates to that description of machinery for making lace
known in the trade by the name of the "warp frame." And our improvements
consist, first, in the application of a peculiar clutch or catch box to the driving
or working this description of machinery; secondly, in the application of a
worm or screw to the driving, or giving the requisite motion to the back
shaft; thirdly, in so arranging the cams and parts on the back shaft as
to produce three courses by each revolution of the said back shaft, thus pro-
ducing additional speed to this description of machinery.
The nature and construction of the warp frame being so well understood,
and as our improvements do not alter the general character of the machine,
but only as to the manner of actuating the various parts, it will not be neces-
sary to enter into a description of the machinery, further than to shew the
application of our improvements to the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a front view of a warp frame, having our improvements
applied thereto; Figure 2 is an end view thereof; and Figure 3 is a transverso
section of the same. In each of these Figures the same letters of reference
indicate similar parts, a being the main or driving shaft to the machinery.
The shaft a receives motion by a strap or band from a pulley or drum b on the
shaft or axis c, as is clearly shewn in the Drawings. On to the shaft c is affixed
the clutch or catch box d, e, by which motion is communicated to the warp
frame, in order to actuate the various parts, and this clutch or catch box d, e,
is so arranged that such motion may be stopped (so far as the working parts of
the machinery are concerned) at any period. This clutch or catch box d, e,
consists of two cones, one within the other, the cone d being connected to
the shaft c, and always turns with it, but it is capable of sliding along the
shaft c when required, whilst the cone e is capable of turning loosely on the
shaft c, and only turns with that shaft when the cone d is pressed into it, as
hereafter described. It will Le evident that it is not essentially necessary
that the cone d should be the one connected to the shaft c, as the action of

page_text: the two cones d, e, may be reversed. On the cone e is affixed the pulley or
drum, which receives motion from any first mover, whereby the cone e is
constantly caused to revolve, whether the lace machine or warp frame is at
work or not. ġ is a falked lever, moving on a fulcrum at h. This lever g
is for forcing the cone d into the cone e when the warp frame is to be
worked; and it should be stated that the weight i has always a tendency
to keep the cone d in the cone e, unless that weight be forced towards
the back of the machine, as will be hereafter described; j is a shaft or
axis turning on suitable bearings affixed to the framing of the warp frame,
as is clearly shewn in the Drawings; k, k, are handles affixed to the shaft j,
and it is by means of these handles the workman can stop the machine
at any period of the work, in order to examine the same, for it will be
seen that the lever 'g is connected to the shaft j by the link and the arm m,
which arm m is affixed to the shaft j, as shewn in the Drawings. The weight
being affixed to the lever n, that lever n being connected to the shaft j, the
weight i, by a very short movement of the handles k, will be forced towards
the back of the warp frame, and keep the clutch or chatch box d, e, separated,
when it is required to stop the working of the warp frame. It will now become
evident, that so long as the weight i is left free to act on the shaft j, and the
lever n with that weight inclines to the front of the warp frame, the cone d
will be forced into the cone e, and by the contact of those two surfaces motion
will be communicated to the machine, and the machine will be kept at work
by the contact of those surfaces depending on the quantity of pressure pro-
duced by the weight i, or in place of a weight a spring might be substituted.
And it should be stated, that the object of applying such clutch or catch boxes
to warp frames used for the purpose of making lace and worked by power is
to prevent accident to any of the parts of the machine at the time of starting
or working the same, should any parts get out of order, which would not be
the case wero the clutch or catch boxes d, e, of such a construction as not to
give way readily at any time, and it should be remarked, that although we
prefer such clutch or catch boxes to be conical, as above described, yet it is
not essentially necessary they should be so shaped, as other formed, clutch
boxes depending on the friction or mere contact produced by a weight or
spring; will have a like effect, and produce the object of our Invention. Should
it be desired to stop the machine to examine the work, or to see whether
the guides, needles, and other parts are working correctly, or for any other
purpose, the workman presses against the handles k so as to force them
inwards, by which means the cone-d.will be drawn out of contact. from-the
cone e; motion will then no longer be communicated to the machine, and on

page_text: In
again forcing the handles outwards, the weight i will again force the cone d
in contact with the cone c, and the machine will then continue to work.
working the warp frame it is often found necessary to stop the same, and pass
the guides through the needles, in order to ascertain whether they are working
correctly. In order to perform this operation when the warp frame is worked
by our improvements above described, the workman takes hold of the cord or
band o (which being on the pulleys p and q, the pulley p being affixed to the
driving shaft a, and the pulley 9 turning on an axis affixed at the other end of
the machine), and moves it opposite any part of the machine in the direction
he desires, the guides will pass and repass through the needles, the machine
being stopped in the meantime by the workman pressing the handles k, as
above described.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of our Invention. On the
shaft a is affixed the worn or screw, which takes into and drives the wheels;
this wheel s is affixed to the back shaft t of the warp frame, and turns in
suitable bearings in the framing of the machine. The object of applying the
worm or screw r for giving motion to the back shaft t is the quiet casy motion
which a worm or screw working in the manner here shewn is known to produce,
and by this means we insure greater safety in working the parts of the
machinery at a quicker speed than has heretofore been attainable in warp
frames for making lace.
I will now proceed to describe the third feature of our Invention, which
relates to the excentrics or cams affixed on the back shaft t, and in order to
do this more clearly, I have shewn this back shaft t separately at Figure 4,
together with an edge view, and also plans of each of the cams or excentrics
which actuate the various parts of the machine, and give the necessary move-
ments at the proper periods for making three courses or rows of work at each
revolution of the back shaft t. The machine or warp frame here shewn and
described is for making what is called Paris blond quillings, having two laps
in each course, and each of the cams or excentrics are cut to adapt them to
such description of work; but should it be desired to have only one lap or
three laps, then those portions of the lapping cams would have to be changed
accordingly. Thus, should it be desired to make only one lap of the threads
round the needles at each of the three courses, then there is to be only one
fall to each portion of the lapping cam which produces the lapping of the
threads round the needles; and if there are to be three lappings of the
threads round the needles, then there are to be three falls at each portion of
the lapping cams which produce the lapping of the threads round the needles,
all which will be very clearly understood by an examination of Figure 4 aud

page_text: the following description thereof:-v, v, are the lapping cams, one at each end
of the back shaft ; these cams actuate the levers u, u, which respectively
move on axes at w; one end of each of these levers u have a friction roller x,
which run along the outer edge or periphrey of the lapping cams v, the other
ends of these levers u being connected by links u¹ to what is called "the
machine," or that portion of the warp frame which carries the guide bars.
At the lower joint of cack link u', at the point of connecting it to "the
machine," is affixed a friction roller, which passes along a suitable surface for
governing the working of the guides between the needles. The cams v, it will
be seen, have three divisions or portions which perform the lapping of the
threads, and each division has two falls, into which the friction rollers x
fall successively at the proper intervals for lapping the threads round the
needles; B, B, are the presser bar cams, which are also divided into three
divisions, in order to bring down the presser bar three times in each revolution
of the back shaft t, as will be evident on inspecting the Drawings; C, C, is what
is called the knocking-over cam, it performing the operation of forcing the
sinkers outwards and taking them back, and it performs this operation three
times in each revolution of the back shaft t. The cams A are for the purpose
of giving the up-and-down motion to the sinkers, performing that operation
three times in each revolution of the shaft t. The wipers or cams D, D,
are what are called the throwing out cams, and throw the guides from between:
the needles three times in each revolution of the back shaft t. The tappet
wheel E which works the guide bar wheels has eighteen tappets to work the
wheels in place of twelve, which is the number when there are but two courses
of work produced by each revolution of the back shaft t, as heretofore practised:
It may be here desirable to remark that the levers and parts actuated by the
various cams here described are similar to those heretofore used for the same
purpose, when the cams have only produced one or two courses of work at
each revolution of the back shaft t, such having been the extent of the speed
produced to warp machinery before used for making lace. The winding on of the
work to the work roll or beam is performed by the working of the warp frame
in the following manner :-On to the shaft (which is actuated by the throwing-
out cam D at the right-hand end of the machine) is affixed the arm or lever G,
to which is connected the rod II, which is connected to the swinging plate or
lever I, such connections of the rod H being by pin joints, as shewn in the
Drawings. On to the swinging plate or lever I is attached the driver, J, which
is kept to the ratchet wheel K by means of a spring; the axis of the ratchet
wheel K turns in suitable bearings, and on to that axis is affixed a pinion, which
takes into and drives the cog wheel affixed on the work roller, whereby the

page_text: work is wound on at each time the cams D throw out the guides, or what is
called "the machine."
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner of
applying our improvements to an ordinary warp frame, I would remark that
I have confined my description to the making only one description of lace in
the frame; but it will readily be evident to an intelligent workman acquainted
with this description of machinery that with slight alteration of the guide bar
wheels, and by adding to the number of guide bars, as is well understood, other
descriptions of lace may be formed in the warp frame having our improvements
applied thereto, as have been heretofore produced by other warp frames where
only one or two courses of work are produced at each revolution of the back
shaft t, the only difference to be kept in mind in so arranging the parts is that the
cams perform three courses of the requisite movements to the various parts of the
warp frame, and at proper intervals in each revolution of the back shaft t, and
for this purpose the only cams which will require alteration to adapt them to
the different descriptions of lace are the lapping cams, for giving one or more
laps of the threads round the needles at each of the three divisions of the lap-
ping cams, as above described; and the other cams, which will also occasionally
want alteration, are the presser bar cams, which will be required to perform in
some degree different when the pressing operation is not to take place as often
as the lapping process has been performed; and I would remark that although
I have here shewn a complete warp frame adjusted for producing the descrip-
tion of lace herein-before described, we lay no claim to any of the parts
thereof; but we do hereby declare that we claim, first, the application to the
warp frame for making lace of clutch boxes, which perform by the contact of
surfaces held together by springs or weights, as above described, whereby in
the event of any part of the machine being or getting out of order, the warp
frame would not be injured, as the hold of the clutch or catch box would
give way; secondly, we claim the application of the worm or screw for
driving the back shaft, as above described; and, thirdly, we claim the con-
structing and arranging of the various cams and the levers u, u, in such
manner as to produce three courses of work by each revolution of the back
shaft, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Dunnington, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
HENRY (L.S.) DUNINGTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1835, the aforesaid Henry Dunnington 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.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1835, the aforesaid Henry Dunnington 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 Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.