IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Marsh, of Nottingham, and John Catt, of
Stepney, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 9th January 1857, and dated the 10th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Marsh and John
Catt at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 10th July 1856.
We, JOHN MARSH, of Nottingham, and JOHN CATT, of Stepney, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS," to be as
follows:-
For the purposes of this Invention we employ what is termed a warp lace
machine," in which needles, sinkers, and guide bars are at prèsent used for the
making of lace and bosiery, and apply thereto other bars to which are attached
forks for the purpose of operating on the warp threads, and traversing them'
diagonally from side to side. The bars carrying these forks are operated upon
by wheels, or by a jacquard, and thus "shogged" or moved from left to right
and from right to left of the machine. The warp threads are received and
kept separate by means of "stumps," from 'which they take on to the needles

page_text: to lap and form loops. The work is then "knocked over" by means of
pressure. By the addition of another bar in conjunction with points to
operate upon the warp threads, a great variety of patterns both in close-worked
fining, and open work may be produced. The raising and lowering of these
points between the warp threads may be effected by wheels, by a jacquard, or
by wheels and a jacquard combined, as known and practised in the manu-
facture of lace. When necessary, the old method of additional guide bars
may be employed for the purpose of lacing the work together, and working
in extra threads.
These arrangements will produce lace and hosiery with greater rapidity and
of a kind superior to that made in
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Marsh and John Catt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JOHN
MARSH, of Nottingham, and JOHN CATT, of Stepney, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said John
Marsh and John Catt, Her special licence that we, the said John Marsh and
John Catt, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said John Marsh and John Catt, our 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said John Marsh and John Catt, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our 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.
18

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, we, the said John Marsh and John Catt, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
For the purposes of this Invention, we employ what is termed a "warp
lace machine," in which needles, sinkers, and guide-bars are at present
used for the making of lace and hosiery, and apply thereto other bars to which
are attached forks for the purpose of operating on the warp threads, and
traversing them diagonally from side to side. The bars carrying these forks
are operated upon by wheels or by a jacquard, and thus "shogged" or moved
from left to right and from right to left of the machine. The warp threads
are received and kept separate by means of "stumps," from which they take on
to the needles to lap and form loops. The work is then "knocked over" by
means of pressure.
By the addition of another bar in conjunction with points to operate upon
the warp threads, a great variety of patterns, both in close-worked fining, and
open work may be produced. The raising and lowering of these points
between the warp threads may be effected by wheels, by a jacquard, or by
wheels and a jacquard combined, as known and practised in the manufacture
of lace. When necessary, the old method of additional guide bars may be
employed for the purpose of lacing the work together, and working in extra
threads. These arrangements will produce lace and hosiery with greater
rapidity, and of a kind superior to that made in the ordinary manner.
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, represents a sectional view of part of a warp lace machine
with our improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the same,
having portions of the respective bars broken away for the purpose of more
clearly representing parts which lie behind.
a, a, represents the framing; b, the driving shaft, which may be operated
on either by hand or power in the usual manner, and from which motion is
communicated to the cam shaft c; d, d, are bobbins or spoles, on which the
warp employed is wound, in the same way as is customary in traverse-warp
bobbin-net machines. On leaving the bobbins d the warp passes round the
roller e, thence over the roller f, and through the perforated disc or jingler g.
Upon leaving the disc or jingler g the threads spread out and pass horizontally.
between the stumps h, fixed to and supported by the bar i; they (the threads)
are then lapped on to the fixed needles j. k, k, are fork bars, carrying the

page_text: rows of forks 1, 1, and supported by means of pins m, m, taking into the
brackets n, n, attached to the cradle bar o, which works upon the axes p, p, and
receives motion through the links q and levers r from the cam s. The levers t
are attached to the forks bars k, k, and carry the pins m, m, working in the
brackets n, n. At the ends of the fork bars and above the levers are attached the
brackets and guide rollers u (shewn also at Figs. 1 and 2 of Sheet 2), moving
upon suitable surfaces v, attached to the stump bar i. The rollers u are kept in
contact with the surfaces v, by means of springs w attached between the ends
of the levers t and the cradle bar o. To the ends of the fork bars are attached
the rods 17 and 18, which are connected with levers operated upon by the wheels
19 and 20, for the purpose of "shogging" the fork bars. Where it is required
to lace the various breadths of work together, the wheel 21 may be employed
to give motion to a guide bar for that purpose, in the manner well understood
in the warp lace trade. The shaft, upon which the foregoing wheels are fixed,
is actuated by a ratchet wheel 22 in the ordinary manner. The point bar & is
attached to the hanging levers y, suspended from the end of the lever z, work.
ing upon the fulcrum 1, fixed above the tie bar 2. The end 3 of the lever z
carries a roller operated upon by the cam 4, which carries the pins 5, 5, which
as the cam revolves come into contact with the vertical parts of the bars 6,
attached to the hanging levers y, and sliding on the bearings 7, attached to the
tie bar 2. The sliding bars 6 are provided with stops 8, which, excepting at
intervals when the sliding bar is drawn backward by means of the pins 5, 5,
are kept up to the bearings 7 by springs 9.
The sinker bar 10, carrying the sinkers 11 and the presser bar 12 (for
pressing down the needle beards into their grooves while the work is "knocked
over" by the sinkers), are operated upon by cams and levers in the usual
manner. The lever 13, having its fulcrum at 14 in the framing, is moved
upward at intervals to ease the warp threads when the sinkers are taking the
work back on the stems of the needles, by a suitable cam fixed on the shaft c,
and has attached to its extremity the cord 15, which passes round the roller e,
and carries the weight 16. The portions of warp threads between the bob-
bins d, d, and the roller e, are kept at the requisite tension by means of rings
23, or other suitable weights hung thereon. As the work is completed, it is
wound on to a beam or roller 24 in the ordinary way.
In Sheet 2, Fig. 1 is a full-sized cross section of the fork bars, with their
guide rollers, levers, and springs in connection with the cradle and stump
bars.
Fio is a corresponding front elevation of parts of the several bars, with

page_text: he roller f, and thence in separate threads through the disc or jinglers g, and
etween the stumps h, is lapped on to the needles j, as herein-before described.
The machine is then set in motion, upon which the lever r is acted upon by
he cam s, and by means of the links q raises the cradle-bar arms, and with
them the fork bars k, k, and their accompanying fors 1, l, which carry the
threads upward out of the stumps. The action of the wheels 19 and 20 then
shogs the front fork bar one gait towards the right hand, and the back fork
bar a corresponding gait towards the left hand, in which position they are
lowered, and deposit the threads between the stumps; the consequence of
these movements being that the threads which were at first parallel now lie
across each other, as represented at Fig. 6 of Sheet 2. The action of the
cam 4 then causes the point bar x to descend, and the points to enter between
the threads in front of the crossing, upon which one of the pins 5, 5, comes
into contact with and draws back the bar 6, and with it the levers y and point
bar x, the points of which carry the threads, crossed, as before described,
backwards on to the needles. The action of the cam 4 then withdraws the
point bar, and the crossings of the threads tending to resume their former
position, pass beneath the beards of the needles. The presser bar then descends
and presses the ends of the beards of the needles into their grooves, and the
sinkers knock or carry the work over the heads of the needles. The action of
the sinkers then carries the work back into its former position, and the move-
ments are repeated as before. The front fork bar will now have moved two
gaits towards the right hand, and the back fork bar two gaits towards the left
hand. The two fork bars then resume their original positions by each shogging
two gaits in the contrary direction while out of the warp threads, and the
entire series of movements then recommence.
Having thus described the nature and object of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same may be performed, we wish it to be understood that we

page_text: do not confine ourselves to the details shewn, so long as that which constitutes
the main feature of our Invention, namely, the application of fork bars with
forks attached thereto and of stump bars and stumps, to warp lace machines
is retained; but what we claim as of our Invention is, the application of fork
bars and forks, and of stump bars and stumps to warp lace machines.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Marsh and John Catt; have here-
unto set our hands and seals, this Tenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord 1857.
JOHN (L.s.) MARSH.
JOHN (L.S.) CATT.