CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON MACHINERY FOR THE FINISHING OF COTTON, ANGOLA, AND LAMBS' WOOL STOCKINGS, AND OTHER FRAMEWORK GOODS, AND ALSO THE APPLICATION OF KNOWN POWERS TO THE WORKING OF THE SAID MACHINERY
Year: 1818

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BROWN MILNES, of Lenton, Nottinghamshire, Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did by petition humbly represent to His present Majesty
King George the Third, that I had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON
MACHINERY FOR THE FINISHING OF COTTON, ANGOLA, AND LAMBS' WOOL STOCKINGS,
AND OTHER FRAMEWORK GOODS, AND ALSO THE APPLICATION OF KNOWN POWERS TO THE
WORKING OF THE SAID MACHINERY," His Majesty was pleased to issue His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date Nineteenth
day of May in the fifty-eighth year of His reign, which Letters Patent do give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Brown Milnes, and to my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, or to my and their servants or agents, His said Majesty's especial
licence to make, use, exercise, and vend my said Invention within England,
Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and to have and enjoy the whole
benefit, property, and advantage arising by reason of the said Invention,
during the term of fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent,
by which His Majesty also requires and strictly commands all His subjects
whatever within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, that
during the continuance of the said terin of fourteen years, that they shall not
directly or indirectly make, use, or put in practice my said Invention or any
part of it, or any ways counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same. The said
Letters Patent also contain a proviso, obliging me, the said Thomas Brown
Milnes, to particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: 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 six calendar months next after the date of
the said Letters Patent,
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Brown Milnes; do hereby declare that my said Invention of certain
improvements on machinery for the finishing of cotton, angola, and lambs
wool stockings, and other framework goods; and also the application of known
powers to the working the said machinery, is described in manner following
(that is to say):—
My said improvements are applicable to those heated iron which are now
used to finish stockings or other framework goods by rubbing the smooth
surfaces of such heated irons over the stockings; this operation is now per-
formed by women, who give motion to such irons by the strength of their arms
alone. By my improvements heated irons of a similar description, but of larger
dimensions, are worked or rubbed backwards and forwards over the stockings
by machinery, which may actuate several such irons at once, and may be put
in motion by the strength of a man or men, or by the known power of horses,
water, or steam; a boy or child can sufficiently attend such iron to put in or
itake-out-the-stockings as they are finished. By my improvements great part
of the expence of labour will be saved; also heated. irons may be used of
greater weight and pressure than women can manage in the common way, and
thus give a higher finish to the goods. The Drawings hereunto annexed repre-
sent a machine constructed according to my improvements, which actuates two
irons, but it may be extended to carry six, eight, or more irons:-Fig. 1 is
an elevation in front of the machine; Fig. 2 an elevation at one end, and
Fig. 3 a perspective view, shewing one of the irons only; in all these Figs.
the same letters and numbers of reference are used; A, A, is the bench of
beach or other hard strong wood, upon which the stockings or other goods are
spread; B, B, the irons with which they are dressed; each iron is made hollow,
like a box, to contain two cast-iron heaters b, b, which fill the internal space of
the box, and give heat to the bottom plate thereof, which is made smooth on
the underside, to rub over the goods; c is a stem, which rises up from the
bottom of the box, and has a handle d fixed across the stem, wherewith the
boy guards and directs the iron. The heaters b, b, have each two eyes pro-
jecting from them, to take them out from the boxes of the irons by hooks F
when they become cool and return to be changed for others which are fresh
heated. Also, for some goods, two caps e, e, Fig 3, can be laid on over the iron
heaters to increase the weight and pressure if required. These irons are

page_text: nearly the same as those in common use, except that they are larger and
heavier. I do not claim these as a part of my Invention, but only the improve-
ments of the machinery for giving motion to then, which machinery is denoted
in the Drawings by numbers of reference, as follows:-1, 1, are two horizontal
nails or beams of wood fixed beneath the bench A, with iron rails on their
upper sides, for the wheels 2, 2, of the carriage 3, 3, to run upon; the carriage
is moved backwards and forwards on the rails by the action of a connecting
rod 4 and crank 5; 6, are pillars, which are erected upon cross rails of the
carriage 3, and stand up at the back of the bench A, at the upper ends of these
the iron brackets 7 are bolted; they project over the bench, and support a
small roller 8, upon which the strap 9 winds, and the lower end of the strap is
fastened to the handle d of the iron with a swivel joint; 10 is a handle, fixed on
the end of the axis of the roller 8, for the boy to turn the roller round, and
thereby wind up the strap 9, so as to raise the iron B up from the bench
when the iron is not required to act, or when a fresh stocking is to be spread
upon the bench; 11 is a latch to detain the handle 10 when the iron is thus
raised up; 12 is an iron linck, which receives the stem c of the iron through it,
the other end of this linck is connected by a joint with the end 13 of a lever
13, 14, which moves on a center pin 14, supported by the
which is affixed to the pillar 6, the lever also fits into a
bracket 15, to keep the lever steady, but allowing the end
belonging to it to rise and fall. The whole machine is
iron brackets 15,
notch 16 in the
13 and the link 12
put in motion by
horses, steam, water, or other first moving power; the motion is communicated
by an endless band or strap to a pulley 17, upon the axis of which is a pinion
19 to work a cog-wheel 20 upon the axis of the crank 5, the connecting rod 4
is jointed at one end to the pin of the crank, and the other end is jointed to a
bracket 21, which is fixed firmly to the carriage 3; by this means, when
the pulley 17 and crank 5 are turned round, the connecting rod 4 moves the
carriage 3 backwards and forwards alternately, and the stems c of the irons
B, B, being received through the links 12, 12, the irons B, B, are also moved
backwards and forwards; they may be let down by unwinding the handles
10, so that they will press with their weight upon the stockings or other goods
which are spread upon the bench A, A, and by the heat and motion rubbing
over the goods, they will dress and finish the same, but when the handles 10
are wound up and caught by their latches 11, then the irons will be raised
up clear above the stockings, and will not act thereupon.
Note: In my machine which I use, each iron with its two heaters b, b,
weighs about 80 lbs., and when the two caps c, e, are also put on, the weight
is about 105 lbs. The crank should make about 20 revolutions per minute

page_text: more or less;: the motion of the carriage is varied from 28 to 34 inches for
different goods; for this purpose the crank pin is fitted in a groove in the crank
5, in which groove it can be fastened by a nut at the requisite distance from
the centre, so as to adopt the motion of the carriage to the length of the
stockings which are to be dressed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Brown Milnes, have hereunto
cat my hand and seal this
day of
in the year
THOMAS BROWN (L.s.) MILNES.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1818, the aforesaid Thomas Brown Milnes 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 stampt
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.