IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR UNITING PARTS OF LOOPED FABRICS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Beven, of Wards End, Loughborouglı, in
the County of Leicester, in the employment of the Nottingham
Manufacturing Company, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR UNITING PARTS OF LOOPED FABRICS."
Sealed the 16th April 1872, and dated the 15th January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Beven at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th January 1872.
I, THOMAS BEVEN, of Wards End, Loughborough, in the County of
Leicester, in the employment of the Nottingham Manufacturing
Company, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR UNITING PARTS OF LOOPED FABRICS,"
to be as follows:-
The object of the Invention is to facilitate the uniting together of
parts of looped fabrics, and the improvements are particularly applicable
to uniting parts of looped fabrics at the selvages.

page_text: The selvage edges of looped fabrics have a tendency to curl over to
one surface thereof, and whilst it is comparatively easy to lay the selvage
loops on to a series of points with one face or surface of the fabric
towards such points, it is very difficult to lay the corresponding selvage
loops on to such points with the opposite face of the fabric towards them
as is necessary in uniting two such parts of such fabric together. To
remedy this evil I lay the loops of the two parts of fabric to be united
together on to separate series of points or holding instruments, and I
apply these points or instruments so that the part of fabric on one set
may be transferred therefrom to those of the other, which then holds
both in position to receive the uniting thread.
The respective points or holders for the different parts of the fabric to
be united are by preference set radially in rings or wheels capable of
corresponding simultaneous rotary motions. The points in the one ring
or wheel are by preference recessed on their upper surface to facilitate
the passage therein of the point of the sewing needle to enable it the
better to carry its threads through the loops of the fabric held thereon.
The points or holders of the other circle, or the holding instruments of
the other portion of fabric, arc by preference what we call " coverers,"
that is, they are formed hollow or recessed on their under sides to receive
or cover the points of the other circle, and these two rings or set of
points are placed in relative position such that when the loops of the
parts of fabric to be united have been placed those of one part on one
series of points, and those of the other part on the other series of points,
the points or "coverers" of the one may in the movement of both come
over those points of the other, when the fabric on the covering points
will be "knocked off" on to the those of the other, so that then in thic
further movement of the two point surfaces both portions of fabric will
be held on the one set of points with the corresponding faces of the parts
of the fabric towards each other, and in that relation the two parts of the
fabric to be united will be brought opposite to the uniting needle, and be
united by the thread conducted by such needle, aided by a hook or
hooks.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Beven in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BEVEN, of Wards End, Loughborough, in the County of Leicester, in the
employment of the Nottingham Manufacturing Company, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Beven, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Beven, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Beven, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS
FOR UNITING PARTS OF LOOPED FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Beven, 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
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Beven, 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, that is to say :-
The object of the Invention is to facilitate the uniting together of
parts of looped fabrics, and the improvements are particularly applicable
to uniting together parts of looped fabrics at the selvages.
The selvage edges of looped fabrics have a tendency to curl over to
one surface thereof, and in consequence whilst it is comparatively easy

page_text: take into the teeth of the worm wheel 65, also affixed on the shaft or
axis c, so that on motion being given to the shaft or axis c simultaneous
motion will be given to the two wheels a and b to cause them to travel
towards each other in the direction of the arrows, and so that their
respective points or holding instruments may in such motion come one
over those of the other, the points or holding instruments in the one
ring a for this purpose corresponding in number and relative position to
those in the other ring b.
The form of these points or holding instruments a³ and b' will be better
understood by reference to the enlarged views of them, drawn to an
enlarged scale at Figures 6, 7, and 8. These points or holding instru-
ments as shewn are each recessed on their upper surface. The points or
instruments a' are somewhat broader than the points or instruments b',
and cach of them is adapted to receive into it one of the points or
instruments at the time of their coming together. The points or
instruments 'arc cach recessed on their upper surface to facilitate the
passage of the sewing needle, hereafter more particularly referred to,
with the thread carried thereby under the loops of the two portions of
fabric to be united. d is the needle for carrying the uniting or sewing
thread, indicated by the red line x, through the loops of the portions of
fabric to be united, and e is the hooked instrument for taking into the
thread thus passed through the loops of the fabric, and holding it whilst
the needle recedes to enter a fresh pair of loops when re-entering the two
portions of fabric in effecting the sewing together by what is called a
loon or chain stitch.

page_text: or when brought into clutch connection with it of causing rotary motion
to be given to that shaft f. The sliding of this pulley wheel f³ on the
axis fis effected by the lever handle g, which is supported to turn on the
fixed stud y', and has a fin or feather standing up from it into the
groove of the boss of the pulley wheel f³. On the axis or shaft fis
affixed the ring cam & for operating the needled by the recess d³ in
that cam d³, receiving a truck or sliding piece d³ carried by a projection
from one end of the lever d' which is supported to turn on the fixed
pio d, and at its other end carries the needle d for the necessary to-and-
fro motions to that needle. The sewing thread a passes from the bobbin ¹
down through a hole formed for it in the lower part of the lever, needle
holder, or arm d to the needle d. The hook or holder e is carried, as
shewn, by the one end or arm of the lever e, which is supported to
turn on the fixed stud e², and is acted upon by the spring e³ to cause
the part of the other end or arm thereof to bear against the surface of
the cam or tappet e³, whilst that spring e also gives to the lever arm c¹
a tendency for its surface e to bear against the side surface e³ of the cam
or tappet e³, so that a sideway motion may be imparted to the hooked
instrument e by the action of the form of the side surface e" of the cam
or tappet e* in order that such instrument e may be capable of entering
the loop of thread passed by the needled through the loops of the fabric,
and of holding that loop of thread whilst the needle retires to enter the
fabric again but by a fresh pair of loops, and into such previously formed
loop of the thread when the hooked instrument will have a sideway
movement imparted to it to release that previous loop of thread, which
loop as the hook e retires rests against the end of the instrument m; the
hook e then takes into that loop made by the re-entering of the needle,
and so on, as is well understood, and which method of sewing separately
forms no part of these improvements.
The step-by-step motion desired is given to the shaft or axis c by the
crank pin / affixed in the plate affixed on the end of the shaft or axis f
acting by the connecting rod h³ upon the rocking arm i, such connecting
rod ² being connected to the arm i by the pin h³. The lever i is sup-
ported to rock on the shaft or axis c, whilst it carries by a pin 2² a click
or driver which is borne by the spring with its outer end against the
teeth of the ratchet wheel affixed to the axis c, so as to impart a step-
by-step rotary motion to that ratchet wheel it, and thence to the shaft or
axis c, and to the wheels a and b. j is a stop supported by the stationary

page_text: stud j¹ from the standard, and borne towards the ratchet wheel * by a
spring to prevent back motion to that wheel and parts operated
thereby.
In operating with this apparatus each portion of the fabric will be
hung by its loops at the edges to be united together on the points or
instruments a¹ and 6', the one portion on the one set of points or instru-
ments, and the other on the other set of points or instruments, and with
the corresponding faces of each towards the rim of each respective
wheel a or b. Then when the apparatus is set in motion as the parts of
the fabric approach the one to the other the fabric on the points a¹ of
the wheel a will be progressively moved off those points a¹ on to the
points b¹ by the aid of the outer end of the lever arm k, which is sup-
ported to turn on the stud, and is borne by the spring & against the
cam surface on the side of the wheel h³. The two portions of fabric
will then be suspended by the loops at the parts thereof to be sewn
together by the points or instruments b', and they are held thereon by
the curved plate until these two portions of fabric come opposite to
the needle d, and are sewn together by the sewing thread or threads
employed.
The instruments a' are broader than the instruments 6' to receive
within and thereby in part cover the instruments b'. In the arrangement
shewn the hollow of each of these instruments a³ is on their upper
surface so as to receive the instruments 6' within their upper surface,
but the instruments a¹ may be applied so that their hollow surface is on
their under side, when in working they will travel over and so as to
receive the instruments 6 within their under surface. The object in any
case is that as the two series of instruments a' and b' revolve with the
separate portions of fabric on them facility may be afforded by the
covering of the points 6 by the points a' for the transfer on to the
points of that portion of the fabric which had been held by
the points a², so that both portions of fabric may be suspended from the
points for the sewing of them together.
Having thus described my Invention and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details of parts, as shewn and described,
as these may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of
the Invention; but what I claim is, the arranging and combining means.

page_text: or apparatus whereby parts of looped fabrics to be united are brought
together for that purpose by two sets of points or holding instruments
set in rings or wheels and acting substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Beven, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of July, in the year of 5
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.