CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING LACE, COMMONLY CALLED BOBBIN NET
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
PAUL LEFORT, late of Grand Coronne, near Rouen, France, but now residing
in Cornhill, in the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-three, and in the third year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs
and successers, give and grant unto me, the said Louis Paul Lefort, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Louis Paul
Lefort, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Louis Paul Lefort, my executors, administrators, 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 makė,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING LACE, COMMONLY CALLED BOBBIN
NET;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said Louis Paul Lefort, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled

page_text: in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately 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
Louis Paul Lefort, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, that is to say:-
These improvements in machinery for manufacturing bobbin net lace apply
to that particular construction of lace machinery commonly called or known
by the name of the Lever's principle, and consist,-
First, in a peculiar apparatus for separating the bobbin carriages at those
periods of the movements of the machine when the carriages are to be divided
into two rows.
Secondly, a peculiar apparatus for moving the point bars which take up
the half meshes of the net as they are formed. And,
Thirdly, the peculiar machinery and means through which the general move-
ments of the machine are effected by a rotary impelling power.
In the accompanying. Drawings these improvements are shewn in connection
with the original machinery, and their several constructions and modes of
adaptation will be fully understood by reference to the Figures in those
Drawings, and the following description thereof.
Figure 1 is a front elevotion of a Lever's machine, with the improved parts
connected thereto. Figure 2 is an elevation of the right-hand end of the
machine. Figure 3 is an elevation of the back of the framing, with such of
the improved parts of the machinery mounted thereon as would be seen
behind. Figure 4 is a transverse section taken through the machine, shewing
the connection of the new with the old parts, and the way in which they are
made to effect the several evolutions through a main rotary shaft driven by
steam or any other motive power. Figures 5 and 6 are sectional representa-
tions of the interior or working parts of the mechanism in two different
positions, which are drawn on a scale corresponding to the real size, for the
purpose of shewing the separation of the bobbin carriages more perfectly,
and also the operations of the catch bars which move the carriages to and fro
in the 'gates of the combs in the ordinary operations of a Lever's machine,
the several letters referring to corresponding parts of the mechanism in all
the Figures. Rotary power being communicated to the main shaft a, a, a,
at the back of the machine, the cranks 6, 6, upon that shaft, actuate the

page_text: joints or vibrating arms c, c, carrying the working parts of the machine, and
through the agency of the bent levers d, d, give those reciprocating movements
requisite in putting the machinery into effective operation. As the construc-
tion and mode of working a Lever's machine is well understood by lace makers,
it will be necessary to describe it further than to shew the connection of the
improvements with the original machinery. The landing bars of the ordinary
Lever's machine are represented in the sections at e, c, the comb bars at f, f,
and the catch bars at 9, g, which are all in their usual situations, and are
employed as heretofore. Beneath the catch bars on each side a series of
fingers, hooks, or fetchers i, i, are applied, mounted upon additional longi-
tudinal k, k, which I call the separating bars. These separating bars k, k,
are supported on pivots in bearings affixed to the leading bars, as shewn in
the front elevation, Figure 1, and also in the sections Figures 5 and 6. A#
one extremity of each separating bark there is an elongation or piece attached'
which carries an arm 7 (see Figure 1), and from this arm extends a tooth m
(see the section Figure 5 and 6), which acts against a camm or cut-wheel n,
fixed on the axle of the Dawson's wheels employed in lifting the catch bar and
pusher bar in the ordinary Lever's machine. Instead of dividing the carriages
by the advance of the pushers, as in the ordinary Lever's machines, the series.
of fingers, hooks, or fetchers i, i, are made to fall down and take hold of the
nibs of such carriages as are to be moved out on each side from the centre.
The arms attached to the separating bars k, k, are so formed and situate that:
the tooth m on each arm bears against the periphery of the cam or edge of
the wheel n as it revolves. And when the circular part of the wheel runs.
against the tooth m, the bar is raised, and the fingers are kept up free from
the ears of the carriages, as shewn in Figure 6; but as the wheel n goes.
round, when the notch or eccentric part of the wheel comes under the tooth m,.
the tooth falls towards the axis of the wheel, which causes the bar ke to tilt,.
and to bring the series of fingers i down into the notches behind the ears of
the respective carriages in which they are intended to act, when the opening.
of the joints or vibratory arms c, c, moves the landing bars outward, and with
them the series of fingers which separate the carriages by drawing them apart,.
as shewn in Figure 5. Immediately after the fingers i have fallen into the
notches of the bobbin carriages, the pushers o, o, are by the ordinary move-
ments of the machine projected forward into each of the alternate gates of
the combs, where they act as guards, preventing in any instance two carriages
being drawn out by one finger or fetcher as the carriages separate. The
fingers, hooks, or fetchers i, i, having drawn the respective ranks of bobbin

page_text: carriages out on each side in the same way as the ordinary catch bars are used
to do, on the closing again of the joints or vibratory arms c, c, the fetchers
become pushers, forcing the carriages back toward the middle of the combs;
when on the separating bars rising and withdrawing the fingers the catch bars
instantly fall into the notches, and close all the carriages together into one
uniform row ready for the next movement.
2
For the better illustration of the form of the fetchers, Figures 7 and 8 are
drawn at the full size, shewing one of the fetcher brasses with a series of
fingers placed in a uniform range; Figure 7 is the edge or sectional view,
and Figure 8 is the under side or that surface of the brass which is placed in
contact with the upper side of the separating bar k.
Figures 9 and 10 represent similar fetcher brasses, suited for a machine
in which several narrow breadths of lace are to be made and connected at
the selvages by a single thread. Figure 9 shews the separating brass for the
back bar of the machine, and Figure 10 the corresponding brass for the
front bar, the former having two fingers united, the latter one finger removed,
the object of which will be well understood by lace makers.
Figures 11 represent the cut of wheels to be fixed on the horizontal shaft
placed longitudinally near the end of the machine called the Dawson's wheels.
A is the ratchet by which the shaft and wheels are driven. B is the wheel
for working the pusher bar. C is the wheel for working the separating bar
(marked m in the other Figures). D is the wheel for working the catch bar.
They are all placed in their relative positions to each other. It may be
necessary here to observe, in reference to shogging the turn-again bar in
making breadths with this improved machine, that this lateral movement must
take place when the carriages are returning towards the close, and immediately
before they enter the warp threads, which will be determined by the position of
the cam that gives the shogging movement. The improved machinery which
effects the taking up or working of the point bars is actuated by the main
rotary crank shaft a. Upon this crank shaft there is a star pinion p of twelve
teeth connected by a chain with the star wheel q of forty-eight teeth, and by
the rotation of which shaft and pinion this star wheel is driven. On the axle of
the wheel 7 there is also a pinion of thirty teeth taking into a wheel r of
sixty teeth on the upper shaft s at the back of the machine, which shaft
carries the cams that act upon the tail poles v, v, of the point bars. These
cams are shewn at t, t, in Figure 4, and also in two different positions in the
auxiliary Figures 12 and 13. Let it be supposed that the cam t 1, in
Figure 12, as it revolved in the direction of the arrows, had been acting

page_text: against the antifriction roller u, at the under side at the tail pole v 1, and
consequently raised that tail pole, and depressed the back point bar attached
to the opposite end of the lever, when the highest point of the cam has passed
the roller the tail pole will fall down into the horizontal position shewn in
Figure 4, and the back points by that means will be made to take up the
half meshes of the net. The other cam t 2 will now begin to act against the
other tail pole v2, and as it goes round will depress and then raise the front
point bar in like manner. In order that the points may be made to take up
the meshes of the net with sufficient and regular tension, a small curved
hollow tappet w, attached to the cam shaft s, is as the cams revolve brought
over the roller u, by which means the tail pole that carries the roller will be
slightly depressed, and the points connected with its opposite end be drawn up
so as to produce the required tension. This tappet w will be seen just coming
into action with the roller u of the tail pole v1, in Figure 13. The other
tappet when it comes up acts precisely in the same way on the tail pole v2.
In the event of driving this machinery by steam or other motive power, a
rigger is to be placed on the main shaft a, which is to be actuated by a band
leading from the first mover; but in driving the machinery by hand a pair of
equal wheels may be employed, the one fixed upon the crank shaft, the other
turning in a suitable bearing with a winch handle, and the two connected
together by a chain or band, as shewn in the end view, Figure 2. For the
purpose of working the Dawson's wheels which produce the shogging or lateral
movements of the several bars, an excentric or cam wheel x is fixed on the
crank shaft, as shewn in Figure 2. This excentric as it revolves works
against two antifriction rollers attached to a ring or hoop at the top of a
vibratory lever y, y, y, and an arm z extending from the top of the ring
or lever, and passed through guides, carries a click which takes into the ratchet
wheel on the Dawson wheel shaft, and hence by the successive vibrations
of the lever y the Dawson's wheels will be driven round, and the shogging
of the bars be effected. I must further observe that the width of the fingers,
hooks, or fetchers i, described above, should be made about wide enough to
cover two combs and one carriage, which will prevent the liability of their
retiring without taking the intended carriages with them.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Paul Lefort, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.
LOUIS PAUL (L.S.) LEFORT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of November,
in the fourth year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth,
the said Louis Paul Lefort came before our said Lord the King in. His
Chancery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
Instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
made in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the
Inrolled the Sixteenth day of November, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-three.