IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS
Year: 1848

page_text: MOWBRAY'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WILLIAM MOWBRAY, of the Borough of Leicester, Paper Dealer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of
June, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the twelfth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederick William Mowbray, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Frederick William Mowbray, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick William Mowbray, my exors, adñiors, 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, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF LOOPED FABRICS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Frederick William Mowbray, shall cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be
inrolled in Her said 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.·

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Frederick William Mowbray, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the Figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of improvements in constructing and combining
certain parts of knitting machinery, whereby looped fabrics may be produced
at considerable speed; and in order that my Invention may be most fully
understood, and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means
pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a front view of the machine, Figure 2 an end view, and
Figure 3 a transverse section thereof. In each of these Figures the same
letters are used to indicate similar parts, and such is the case in respect to the
several detail views shown on a larger scale. a, a, is the framing of the
machine, the nature of which will readily be seen by examining the Drawings.
b is the main or driving shaft or axis which receives motion from a steam
engine or other power by a strap acting on the fixed drum, such strap being
moveable by means of the forked lever c, so as to come on the fast or loose
drum, as is well understood, there being a sliding bolt d at the back and front
of the machine to enable the workman at any time to start or stop the
machine. The machine may be said to be a double machine, it making two
separate fabrics by two separate apparatus; but as each apparatus is like the
other, the description of one will in fact be a description of both The main
or driving shaft b gives motion to the cam shaft or axis e, from which the
various working parts hereafter described derive their motion. The knitting
apparatus is each arranged for making a tubular fabric; the needles are fixed
to a cylinder f, which is capable of rotating freely on the fixed axis g, and it
is also capable of being raised and lowered on such fixed axis, and it is by
such rotation of needles about the axis, and the falling and rising thereof on
the axis, that the work is produced. Thus the rotation of the needles produces
the laying on of the threads across the needles, and the descending of the
needles causes the threads to enter the beards of the needles to form the work,
and the work is knocked over by the further descent of the needles, and the
rising of the needles causes the work to remain on the stems of the needles,
the newly-inade loops passing out of the beards as the needles rise up into
position to have the threads again laid across. There are as many threads as

page_text: needles, and they each produce a continuous helical row of loops on the needles.
This will be better understood hereafter when the whole construction and
working of the parts have been described. The cylinder f, carrying the needles,
receives its rotatory motion in the following manner :-h is a cam on the shaft
or axis c, which gives motion to the lever h¹, to which the connecting rod h³ is
attached by a pin joint, the other end of this connecting rod being attached
by a pin joint to one end of the bell-crank lever h', which gives motion by
means of the connecting link to the sliding rod h, and to this sliding rod
is attached the drivers h°, which take into and give motion to the ratchet
wheels h on the axes i, i, of the two knitting apparatus which are worked in
this machine. The axes i, i, move in suitable bearings in the framing of the
machine, and the lower parts of such axes are made square to receive the cog
wheels j, j, and to allow of those cog wheels rising and falling on those axes.
Tho cog wheels give motion to the cog wheels k, fixed on the upper part of
the tube f¹, fixed to or forming part of the cylinder frame f, which carries the
needles, as is shewn, hence the cylinder f will receive a step by step motion
equal to the space between two needles. The cylinder f, with the needles,
receives an up and down motion by means of the eccentric 7, fixed on the cam
shaft e, such eccentric giving motion to the connecting rod l, which at its
upper end is attached to the sliding socket on the short fixed pin P. To the
sliding socket are attached two connecting rods, each of which is attached to
a lever ', which at its forked end has connecting rods P attached, which at their
lower ends are attached to necks or axes on the collar 1, which embraces the
upper part of the tube f', by which arrangement the cylinder f and needles will
be caused to move up and down in addition to its rotatory motion. The threads
or yarns used are wound on bobbins m, which are placed on the upright pins n,
fixed on the bars n', such bars being on axes n³ at their ends, so that they can
fold back to allow of fresh bobbins being put on the pins, the bars being
prevented folding too far by means of the arms n³, which come against stops n'.
The threads or yarns are conducted from the bobbins in the directions shewn,
and they pass through the perforated bars o, and thence between the nipping
rollers p, p, and which I prefer being covered with cloth, and which periodically
have motion communicated to them by which they deliver a quantity of each
of the threads or yarns to the needles through the openings in the cylinder q
carried by the frame q', and fixed to the axis g; hence this thread-carrying
cylinder remains fixed and stationary, and in addition to its being a thread
carrier, it also acts as the presser to close the beards of the needles by reason
of the enlargement of the outer lower end thereof. Motion is communicated
to the nipping rollers p in the following manner:-", ", are cams on the cam

page_text: shaft c, which act respectively on the levers 8, 8, which, by means of the
connecting rods s¹, s, give motion to the levers s³, 82, which carry at their
other ends clawkers s', which give motion to the ratchet wheels t, t, each
on the axis of one of the nipping rollers p, and the pairs of nipping rollers
are geared together by cog wheels, as shewn. The object in having two
pairs of nipping rollers is, to supply thread to the two separate knitting
apparatus, all which will readily be traced and understood by examining
the Drawings. On the outside of the cylinder f is fixed the ring
and it is fixed by the frame ¹ to the axis g, as is shewn; hence the work
as it is produced passes over this ring and frame, and this ring is the
instrument by which the work, that is, the row of previously made loops,
is knocked over the heads of the needles; and it will only be desirable to
recapitulate the motions shortly, in order that a workman may fully understand
how all parts are to be arranged, in order to produce the desired result. The
step by step rotation of the cylinder f, with the needles, causes the threads to
lie across the needles; the descent of the needles will cause the threads so across
the needles to enter under the beards of the needles, and the further descent of
the needles will cause the beards thereof to be closed on the new loop by the
enlargement at the lower end of the thread carrier and the further descent of
the needles will draw the heads of the needles through the previously formed
loops, which will be resting on the ring u, and the ascent of the needles will
cause them to pass up through the new loops, which will thus be brought
on to the stems of the needles, and such last made loops will remain on tho
stems, and rest on the ring u till the next row of loops is drawn through
them. The work is taken away as it is produced by means of the rollers u, v,
in the following manner-w is an eccentric on the shaft e, which gives motion
to the sliding bar by means of the connecting rod w', and the sliding bar
carries drivers a', which give motion to the ratchet wheels v', on the axis of
the lower of the rollers v, the rollers being geared together by cog wheels
as shewn, there being two pairs of such rollers similarly worked, one pair
acting for each of the two knitting apparatus. The tubular knit fabric as it is
produced passes under the rollers y, carried by levers y', as shown, there being
a tail piece y affixed thereto having a pin or projecting study which moves
back the driver, and thus prevents the taking of the fabric too quickly.
I would remark, that in place of the cylinder f being caused to rotate con-
tinuously in one direction, it might be caused to move for a time in one
direction, and then for a time in another direction. And, further, if different
colored threads be used different effects may be produced, and it will be
evident to a mechanic that suitable apparatus might be applied to work

page_text: such alterations of movement, and the same might be governed by Jacquard
or other pattern surface. In the above description I have treated my Inven-
tion as if only suitable for making tubular knit or looped fabrics, but the
Invention is not confined. thereto, though I believe that is the most advan-
tageous mode of carrying the same into effect. I-would- however state, that
a workman well acquainted with such descriptions of machines will readily
understand, that if in place of having the needles carried by a cylinder a
straight needle bar be used, and a straight bar for carrying the threads, and
a straight bar were used in place of the ring u, then by causing the needle bar
to move step by step across the thread carrier one needle or more at a time
for a distance of a few needles, and then back again step by step, the needle
bar having like up and down motions given thereto to what has been above
described in respect to the cylinder f, then a like effect would be obtained,
in which case the needle bar would have additional needles, according to the
extent of traverse of the needle bar. And it will be further evident, that
if the cylinder f. were fixed, and the same relative movements brought about
by means of the thread carrier and the ring u, a like effect might be obtained,
but by more complex movements.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood, that I do not
confine myself to the details herein given provided the peculiar character of
my Invention be retained. But what I claim is, the mode herein-described of
manufacturing. looped fabrics by combining the frame f, or bar-carrying
needles with a-thread carrier q, such as is herein described, and surface u for
knocking over the work, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick William Mowbray, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of December,
in the year of our Lord 1848, the aforesaid Frederick William Mowbray
'came before our said Lady the Queen in Her 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 5
stainped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.