A NEW AND USEFUL ENGINE, LATELY CONSTRUCTED BY ME AND NOW IN MY POSSESSION, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CUTTING, TWISTING, AND SPREADING OF WICK USED IN THE MAKING OF CANDLES, BY WHICH A GREAT SAVING OF MANUAL LABOUR.IS ACCOMPLISHED
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
COLEBANK, of Broughton, in Furness, in the Parish of Kirkby Treleth, in the
County of Lancaster, Tallow Chandler, send greeting..
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, called England, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourth
day of June, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, in the third year
of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Colebank, my exors,
admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Henry Colebank, my exors, adñors, and assigns,
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL ENGINE, LATELY CONSTRUCTED
BY ME AND NOW IN MY POSSESSION, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CUTTING, TWISTING, AND
SPREADING OF WICK USED IN THE MAKING OF CANDLES, BY WHICH A GREAT SAVING OF
MANUAL LABOUR.IS ACCOMPLISHED;" in which said Letters Patent.there is contained
a proviso, that if I, the said Henry Colebank, shall not particularly describe
and ascertain 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, and
cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery,
within two calendar months: next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, that then the said Letters. Patent, and all liberties and advan-
tages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and: become

page_text: void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
i
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Colebank, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, (that is to say):-
"
My Invention doth consist in a machine by means of which a series of
cotton threads for candle wicks may be arranged in such manner that any
number of the said threads will be properly doubled, equidistantly spread on a
wick rod, cut to the same length, and twisted with the same degree of twist,
thus being brought into a state fit to be used as candle wicks, each operation
being performed to all the threads at the same time.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Drawing A, Figure 1, is a perspective view of the whole apparatus. A is
a box or framework principally to support the works above it at B (but being
too low down to be seen in this view) is a reel turning on an axis, on which
reel is wound a series of cotton threads side by side in the view given by this
Figure; 24 are supposed to be the number made use of from this reel. The
threads are led through the first rack or guide plate C, then through the
second rack or guide plate J, and then the end of the thread is brought over
the little board covered with wash leather and colored green and confined
there by means of the said green board being pressed against a shear set into
a part of the frame work as will be shewn more clearly hereafter in Drawing B.
The threads having been so arranged, a wick rod must be passed under the
thread just behind the green board, then lifted up in a horizontal position by a
hand at each end till it will pass over the green board, and then drawn
forwards over the third rack or guide plate L to the groove or rest made to
receive it, along the front of the framework D, D, where it is secured by the
pins e, e. It will be seen by this process that the ends of the threads being
confined, as before described, and the cotton allowed to unreel as the rod is
pulled forward, the threads from the green board to the rod will be doubled
over the rod which will then lie between the upper and lower thread. Care
should be taken as the rod is drawn over the third rack L that the threads
which will then be doubled lie regularly in the space exactly opposite the
corresponding spaces in the racks C and J; the part colored red and marked
E is a board covered with cloth which lets down over the rack L, and is
provided with a slit F which allows of its being drawn from right to left by

page_text: means of the winch and string G and HI; the other part colored red and
marked I is a corresponding board also covered with a cloth, and when the
threads have been drawn over the board E, doubled as before described, this
board I, which is also provided with a slit to pass over the rack L, is dropped
down upon the board E; and by this means the threads are kept fixed in
the required position while the operation of cutting is performed, which I shall
now proceed to describe. Exactly on a level with the board E and let into the
framework opposite the green board is a shear or knife corresponding with
the shear S, and against which the shear S acts from the position of the under
shear, which in Drawing B is marked K. It will be seen that the threads,
when in the position before described, pass over the edge of the under shear;
the dropping of the upper shear S therefore cuts them all off to one length;
this done, the shear is again suspended as described in the Figure now under
description by the weight T and pulley. The threads which lie between the
two boards being now all cut to one length and double, the operation of
twisting is performed upon them all at once by the following simple process :-
The handle of the winch G being turned, the under board E is drawn to the
right, while the upper board is by the same process drawn to the left; and
both boards being covered with cloth, as before described, it will be seen that
this motion must twist all the double threads which lie between these boards,
thereby making them into wicks. This operation being performed, the upper
board I is raised by the weight V in a similar manner to the shear S, and the
wick rod be removed from the groove D, D, it will be found filled with wicks
all cut to one length, twisted, and spread, ready for dipping to make candles.
Z is a treadle for purposes herein-after described.
Figure 2 is a representation of the two boards, shewing the winch and
manner in which the contrary lateral motions of the boards is effected.
Having now given a general description of the manner in which the
machine is worked, I shall now proceed to describe the Drawing B and C,
which represent various parts that could not be shewn in Drawing A, and
which more clearly shew the details of the various operations.
Drawing B is a section of the machine shewing its internal arrangement
and the direction of the threads, just when they have been drawn over the
board E and before the board I has been dropped upon them. A is. the box;
N is the reel; Z is the treadle, the string of which passes up through the
pulley 9 and thence to the block f where it is fastened; while another, string,
fastened by one end also at the block f, passes through the pulley. r, and has
the weight b attached to it. The offices performed by these two strings are
very important. It will be observed that the part of the machinery marked X
g

page_text: is colored of a paler color than the box, which is done to distinguish it from
the box; it will also be observed that the block f is attached to this part of
the machinery. Now, X is a carriage, to the front edge of which the green.
board is fixed, mounted on wheels, and which moves backwards and forwards
by means of the treadle Z and the weight b, by which it is either advanced
towards the under shear Kor drawn backward from it at pleasure. To understand
Drawing B clearly, reference should here be made to that part of Drawing C.
marked X, which shews how the carriage is mounted on the railway Y. But.
to return to Drawing B, the use of this motion of the carriage is to hold the
ends of the threads as before described while the rod is drawn across the
board; when the treadle therefore is pressed upon by the foot, the carriage
is drawn forward, and the green board is pressed against the under shear.
holding the thread, which is represented by the red line between it and the.
shear; if the threads were now to be cut, it is obvious the end of that which
comes from the reel would be very apt to recede, and thus get out of the guide
plates, and therefore to prevent this and the consequent necessity of replacing,
the threads in the guide plates, the little apparatus O is supplied. P is a
sort of rail set on to the top of the second guide plate J which keeps the:
threads from rising out of their places, and attached to this rail is the lid or.
flap O which is weighted heavily, and which, when the carriage is rolled back
drops down upon the threads, as shewn in Drawing C, and by its weight
holds the ends of them fast; and to this position the carriage should be.
brought before the upper shear is used and the threads cut. After the threads
are cut the carriage may be again rolled forward, when the green board
pressing against the under shear holds the ends of the threads, as before
described, and the flap O may be lifted up; in fact the weight and
length of the string are so arranged (the weight being on the ground) that.
the rolling of the carriage back causes the flap to fall, while the contrary
notion raises it.
Now the dimensions of my said Invention may vary at the pleasure of the
manufacturer; that represented by the Drawings is on a scale of about th of
an inch to an inch, but a machine or apparatus by means of which cotton
threads for candle wicks may be so arranged that any number of threads may
be doubled, spread, cut, and twisted, as herein-before more particularly
described, and each operation performed to all the threads at the same time,
being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely new and never before
used in these Kingdoms, I hereby declare this to be my Specification of the
same, believing the said Specification in all respects fully and without reserve
or disguise to comply with the proviso in my herein-before in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent contained, and intending hereby to maintain an exclusive right
and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Colebank, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1822, the aforesaid Henry Colebank 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.
Inrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty t