IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LACE AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I JAMES
OLDKNOW, of Lille, in the Republic of France, Lace Manufacturer,' 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 Fifteenth day of Decem-
ber, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Oldknow, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James
Oldknow, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said
James Oldknow, my exors, adññors, 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 LACE AND OTHER FABRICS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James
Oldknow, should cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment 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

page_text: shewn on the support h of the drilling apparatus, the passage of the drill
through it at any place must be correctly in position with regard to the combs
of the lace machine. The support h is affixed to the drilling apparatus by the
screw and nut i, as shewn. The tension of the warp bar g during the passage
of the drilling apparatus across the machine is maintained by one end of the
warp bar g being fixd to a projection z, which for the time being is made fast
to the framing of the machine, whilst to the other end of the bar g is affixed
a coiled spring, such as is ordinarily used in lace machinery, and each of the
warp bars during the operation of drilling by apparatus such as described is
similarly held. The drill having been caused to drill one hole is to be moved
to the position where the next hole is to be made by lifting the combs of the
drilling apparatus out of the combs of the lace machine, and then again
inserting the combs of the drilling apparatus into the combs of the lace
machine where the next hole is required to be drilled, and so on, till all the
holes have been drilled in the warp bar. In thus passing the drilling appa-
ratus through the machine to make the required holes I prefer to move it
from the end when the pin retains the warp bar towards the end where the
spring holds that bar. I have called the instruments which are to carry the
warp threads of a twist-lace machine "warp bars," simply because they are
to be used in place of ordinary guide bars, but they are in fact thin strips of
steel or of other metal, using steel by preference, and the object to be accom-
plished is to perforate such thin strips of metal with holes at intervals in
precise accordance with the combs of the lace machine with which the warp
bars are to work, thus saving much time as well as expence as compared with
the making and adjusting guide bars, and also greatly improving the working
of such machinery, and, consequently, the manufacture of lace and other
fabrics made in twist-lace machines. In place of the drilling apparatus above
described having two leads of combs, one to enter the front combs and the
other to enter the back combs of the lace machine, one lead of combs may be
dispensed with and the apparatus used in connection with slide apparatus, as
described in respect to the punching apparatus hercafter explained. Figure 3
shews an en view of the apparatus shewn by Figures 1 and 2. Figure 4
shews a section of the same through the line A, A, with one of the bars in
position for a hole to be drilled therein. In using this apparatus the work-
man will press with a suitable plate against the outer end of the spindle d.
Figure 5 shows a section of parts of a lace machine with guide bars, according
to my Invention, applied therein. Figure 6 shews one of the bars separately.
The guide bars g are supported by means of brackets at a suitable distance
apart across the machine. These brackets pass through slotted openings g'

page_text: formed in the guide bars, and the guide bars are retained on the brackets by
means of pins l', l', as shewn. The yellow lines represent warp threads
passing up through the slea m and through their respective holes in the warp
bars g to the work. Figure 7 shews one of the brackets / separately.
I will now describe an arrangement of punching upparatus to be used for
perforating long holes in warp bars used in lace machines, but it may be
used by applying a suitably shaped cutter to form similar holes to those
above described. And I would here state, that although I have described
the previous apparatus as operating upon the bars in a lace machine, I do
not confine myself to such arrangement, but in some cases I take out one of
the comb bars with its combs complete from the lace machine, and then place
the warp bars in position to be acted upon by suitable cutters apparatus
according to my Invention, and the apparatus which I will now proceed to
describe, is so arranged. Figure 8 shews a sectional side view; Figure 9, a
plan; and Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13, various views of such apparatus.
m is one of the comb bars with its combs. This bar I affix in any suitable
imanner to framing, which I have not thought it necessary to describe, in
connection with the bar n, upon which slides the carriage o supporting the
perforating apparatus. In this apparatus only one lead of combs is employed
to enter amongst the combs of the comb bar. The plate a in this apparatus
has a handle a' by which its combs are lifted out of the combs of the comb
bar and again dropped into the place where the next hole is to be punched,
the plate a moving on axes at a², a³, on the slide o, which slides along the
bar n. p is the punching instrument which is retained in the slide p' by
means of the screw p². The slide p is connected to the end of the screw p* by
turning which the slide has a to and fro movement given to it, there being
a handle for this purpose formed on the end of the screw p². The screw p
passes through a female screw found in the projection a', and the slide is
guided in its movements by the guide at. The bar z is supported at one end
upon a pin q, and is kept distended by a spring at the other end and in such
a position that it may be capable of resting against the plater which has a
hole formed in it corresponding to the form of the punch p. This plate r is
supported with a capability of adjustment in the bracket as, as shewn.
a stop to regulate the position of bar z to be punched in respect of the punch,.
so that the holes made thereby may be correctly placed in respect of the
width of the bar. In piercing several rows of holes in a bar z, I prefer to
do so in succession across the bar in place of completing one row first and
then the others. The bar to be pierced is borne up to the stops by means of
the spring t, and in order that the holes made by the punch p may, if required,
s is

page_text: be variously placed in respect of the width of the bar under operation (as is
shewn by the bar Figure 14, which represents a portion of a bar to be used
in place of an ordinary stump bar), I have formd the stop s with a screw
stem s', which passes through the nuts to which the handle is fixed, by
turning which the stops will be raised or lowered. The nuts is retained on
the plate a with a capability of turning freely thereon by means of the flange
plate a", as shewn. In order to fix the stops at the required position the
rim s' of the nut & is formed with notches, into which slides the tooth of the
slide u, as shewn, and by which it is retained correctly. The tube a slides on
the slide p', but in the act of withdrawing the punch p from the bar = the
tubecomes against the guide a*, which prevents its further movement in that
direction, whilst the movement of the punch continuing the tube x serves to
knock the bar z off the punch. The bar z, Figure 14, is shown to twice its
real size, and is intended to be used in place of what are called stump bars.
It is shewn in its place in the sectional view of parts of a lace machine,
Figure 15, which also shows another mode of carrying guide bars, such as
before described. The guide bars in this case are supported in the brackets v,
one of which is shewn separately at Figure 16, by which its construction will
be more readily understood. It will be seen that these brackets are notched
to support the bar 2 with a capability of its sliding therein, as required.
The threads pass up to the guides 9 through the slea w, as is indicated by
the yellow lines; those to the plate z pass through the brass bars z', which
have motion given to them in order to regulate the position of the threads in
the slotted holes of the plate z.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which relates to the
construction of guide bars of twist-lace machine. It is well known that
heretofore guide bars have been constructed by forming notches transversely
of such bars, and then guides have been inserted and soldered in the notches,
which is an expensive mode of construction. Figure 17 shows a plan and
side view of portion of a guide bar, constructed according to one of my
improvements, and it consists of punching out or removing portions of the
bar, so as to leave guides such as is shown at x, x. Figure 18 shows a plan
and a longitudinal side view of portion of another guide bar, and Figure 19
shows a plan and longitudinal side view of portion of another guide bar,
according to this part of my Invention; in one the guides with perforated
eyes or holes are soldered or rivetted to one side, and in the other the hooks
used in place of ordinary guides are also soldered or rivetted to one side of
the guide bars, such soldering being readily and more cheaply effected than by
the old means of cutting notches and inserting guides.

page_text: 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 as herein shewn and described, so long
as the peculiar character of any part of my Invention be retained; but what
I claim is,―
Firstly, the improvemonts herein described of drilling and punching the
warp bars of twist-lace machinery, and I also claim the application of per-
forated slotted plates or bars in place of stump bars, as herein described.
And I also claim the application of the brackets and means of carrying the
bars herein described.
Secondly, I claim the improvements in the construction of guide bars
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Oldknow, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of
our LorOne thousand eight hundred and fifty.
Taken and acknowledged by James
Oldknow (party hereto), at Calais,
in the Republic of France, this 27th
JAMES (Ls.) OLDKNOW.
This is the Specification referred to in the Affidavit of Edward [Pillbeam
Cox, sworn before me this 31st day of May, 1850,
J. JEFFERSON.
Edward Pillbeam Cox, of Nottingham, maketh oath and saith, that he is
acquainted with the manner and character of the handwriting of Edward
Walter Bonham, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Calais, in the Republic
of France. And this deponent further saith, that the signature "Edw. Walter
Bonham," set, subscribed, or written in the margin of the Specification
hereunto annexed marked A, and dated the Twenty-seventh day of May
instant, and purporting to be executed by James Oldknow, of Lille, in the
Republic of France, Lace Manufacturer, whereby it is stated that the said
Specification was acknowledged by him, the said James Oldknow, before the
said Edward Walter Bonham, on the said Twenty-seventh day of May, at