IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BOBBIN NET OR TWIST LACE
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Birks, senior, and William Birks, junior,
both of Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham, Machinists, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
BOBBIN NET OR TWIST LACE."
Sealed the 4th May 1860, and dated the 25th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Birks, senior,
and William Birks, junior, at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 25th February 1860.
We, WILLIAM BIRKS, senior, and WILLIAM BIRKS, junior, both of Not-
tingham in the County of Nottingham, Machinists, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANU.
FACTURE OF BOBBIN NET OR TWIST LACE," to be as follows:---
This Invention has for its object improvements in bobbin net or twist lace
machinery. by which a very superior manufacture of net or lace is obtained so
closely resembling in character the pillow or cushion lace produced by hand as
scarcely to be distinguished therefrom. For this purpose, in carrying out our
improvements in the manufacture of bobbin net or twist lace, we dispense
altogether with the warp threads usually employed, and we either employ a
single tier of bobbins and carriages having independent action by jacquard or
other pattern surface. or the bobbins and carriages may be arranged in double
tiers, one set being in front of the other, as is well understood, and also having
independent action by jacquard apparatus; and the comb bars of machines,
arranged according to our Invention. are so controlled as to be capable of
shogging to the right or to the left hand after each selection or non-selection
of the carriages, so that any particular bobbins and carriages may be arranged

page_text: to work together. or twist or plait with each other for a given time, whilst the
neighbouring bobbins and carriages are progressively moving to the right or
to the left, to produce plain or ornamental lace or net according to the pattern
desired or determined by the particular arrangement of the jacquard or other
pattern surface acting on the bobbins and carriages; and we obtain this
additional and constantly varying control over the movement of the comb bars
by the application of additional wheels to give motion to the comb bars, two
of such wheels on one axis having uniform rises and falls, but placed at
opposite points, the rises on one wheel being placed opposite to the falls on
the other. These wheels are governed in their action by other cuts of wheels
on another axis, which act upon the comb bars through the medium of the
first-named wheels by the interposition of droppers actuated by jacquard or
other pattern surface, or other arrangements of apparatus may be employed to
govern the action of the comb bars, so as to traverse the bobbins and carriages,
or prevent them from traversing after they have been selected by the jacquard
apparatus to produce the particular pattern or net required without the aid of
warp threads, as heretofore practised in the manufacture of bobbin net or
twist lace. And our Invention also consists in employing warp threads in
combination with the arrangements for actuating the comb bars and carriages
previously described for producing ornamental lace or net without the aid of
warp threads, the warp threads employed according to this part of our
Invention only working with the bobbin threads according as it is desired to
produce net of a finer mesh at intervals or over portions of the fabric to give
an ornamental character thereto, such warp .threads when not working with
the bobbin threads being allowed to float over or remain slack upon the
fabric; and such portions of these warp threads are afterwards cut away or
removed when finishing the fabric, by which arrangements of machinery and
apparatus a very highly ornamental character of bobbin net or twist lace will
be produced, closely resembling in character and appearance the bobbin net
or cushion lace as at present produced by hand.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Birks. senior, and William Birks. junior, in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BIRKS, senior, and WILLIAM BIRKS, junior, both of Nottingham, in the
County of Nottingham, Machinists, send greeting..

page_text: our
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing daic the Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors give and grant unto us, the
said William Birks and William Birks, Her special licence that we, the said
William Birks and William Birks, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Birks and William Birks,
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 MACHINERY FOR THE MANU.
FACTURE OF BOBBIN NET OR TWIST LACE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said William Birks and William Birks, our executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Birks and William Birks,
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:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in bobbin net or twist lace
machinery, by which a very superior manufacture of net or lace is obtained,
closely resembling in character the pillow or cushion lace produced by hand.
For this purpose, in carrying out the first part of our improvements in
machinery for the manufacture of bobbin net or twist lace, we dispense
altogether with the warp threads usually employed, and we either employ a
single tier of bobbins and carriages having independent action by jacquard
or other pattern surface, or the bobbins and carriages may be arranged in
double tiers, one set being in front of the other, as is well understood, and
also having independent action by jacquard apparatus. And the comb bars
of machines, arranged according to our Invention, are so controlled as to be
capable of shogging to the right or to the left hand after each selection or
non-selection of the carriages. so that any particular .bobbins and carriages
may be arranged to work together, or twist or plait with each other for a
given time whilst the neighbouring bobbins and carriages are progressively

page_text: moving to the right or to the left, to produce plain or ornamental lace or net
according to the pattern desired or determined by the particular arrangement
of the jacquard or other pattern surface acting on the bobbins and carriages;
and we obtain this additional and constantly varying control over the move-
ment of the comb bars by the application of additional wheels to give motion
to the comb bars, two of such wheels on one axis having uniform rises and
falls, the rises of one wheel being placed at opposite points to the falls on the
other wheel. These wheels are governed in their action by other cuts of
wheels on another axis, which act upon the comb bars through the medium
of the first-named wheels, or by the interposition of droppers actuated by
jacquard or other pattern surface, or other arrangement of apparatus may be
employed to govern the action of the comb bars so as to traverse the bobbins
and carriages, or prevent them from traversing after they have been selected
by the jacquard apparatus to produce the particular pattern or net required
without the aid of warp threads, as heretofore practised in the manufacture of
bobbin net or twist lace.
And in order that this part of our Invention may be most fully under-
stood and readily practised, we will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure shows a plan, and Figure 2, a side view partly in section, of
apparatus suitably arranged for shogging or giving endway motion to the
comb bars and pusher bars of an ordinary "pusher machine" when working
according to this part of our Invention, and the other Drawings show separate
views of the cuts of wheels we employ for giving motion to the comb bars and
pusher bars.
i
F
We have not thought it necessary to show any other of the parts of a lace
machine beyond those which are necessary to explain the means we employ
for actuating the comb bars (and the pusher bars when our improvements are
applied to the "pusher machine.") The nature and working of lace machinery
being now well understood, a competent workman acquainted with this class
of machinery will readily apply our improvements to those machines to which
it it is applicable, aided by the Drawings and the following description thereof:-
a is an axis supported in bearings at the right-hand end of the machine; the
axis a receives motion from the crank shaft or main driving axis as shown, or
by other suitable gear. On the axis a a series of wheels a are mounted, two
to cach of the comb bars and pusher bars; these wheels are formed with
uniform rises and falls, as shown in the Drawings of one pair of the wheels,

page_text: which are alike, and suitable for giving motion to either of the bars, the rises
on one wheel being placed opposite to the falls on the other wheel, so that if
one wheel only was permitied to act on either of the bars, it would cause it
to shog one gait or space of the combs to the left and back again alternately;
but when the rises of both wheels are permitted to act on the bar in succession
the bar will be constantly borne one gait or space towards the left-hand end
of the machine. And we have thus minutely described what the action
of the two cuts of wheels on each bar would be under certain circumstances,
in order the better to explain our improvements in governing the action of
each bar by the interposition of droppers or filling pieces actuated by other
cuts of wheels or by jacquard apparatus.
.
And we will now proceed to describe the arrangement of apparatus we
prefer to employ. for actuating the droppers or filling pieces which are from
time to time interposed between the levers which act on the ends of the comb
bars and pusher bars to govern their movements in order to traverse one-half
of the bobbins and carriages to the right and the other half to the left-hand
end of the machine. a' is a toothed pinion fixed on the axis a, which takes
into and drives the toothed wheel b' fixed on the axis b, on which are fixed the
series of wheels A. A', B, B', C, C', and D. D', (shown separately full size.)
which give motion to the levers A, B, C, and D2, of which there are two to
cach bar, and to the ends of which the droppers or filling pieces A³, B³, C',
and D3, are suspended, and according to the order in which they are inter-
posed between the ends of the levers A, B, C, and D (of which there are
also two to each of the comb bars and pusher bars), and the two set screws
on the end of each bar or its sliding bolt, so will be the effect produced in
shogging, or omitting to shog either of the comb bars or pusher bars; and
supposing the machine to be working without any selection of the carriages by
the jacquard apparatus, these cuts of wheels would cause one-half of the
bobbins and carriages to traverse to the right and the other half to the left
hand so as to traverse and interweave the alternate bobbin threads, and thus
produce what is generally known as plain finings, but without the aid of warp
threads.
It may be desirable to remark that a bar or straight edge is employed
under the front comb bar to slacken the bobbin threads when the carriages
are selected for forming the crossings for the open work portions of the lacé
or net. this bar being moved towards the back of the machine to meet the
bobbin threads as they move into the front combs, and thus slacken the
threads off those bobbins. Extra point bars are employed to work in combi-
nation with the ordinary point bars in order to retain the form of the tickings

page_text: We
or pin holes around and in the open work portions of the lace or net.
also arrange guide bars with gymping or ornamenting threads to work in
combination with our improvements; the arrangement and application of such
extra guide bars to lace machinery being well understood. no further description
will be necessary, as a competent workman would readily apply the same in
combination with our improvements.
By thus arranging apparatus for governing the movements of the comb
bars and pusher bars ornamental lace or net may be produced of very varied
character without the aid of warp threads, depending on the order in which
the jacquard or other pattern surface is arranged to vary the selection of the
bobbins and carriages, to cause them to plait or twist with each other, or to
traverse to the right or to the left to produce the requisite pattern or design of
the lace or net required; and although we have shown cuts of wheels A, A¹.
B, B, C, C, and D. D', suitable. for carrying out our Invention in the pro-
duction of lace or net of varied character and design without the aid of warp
threads, we do not intend to confine ourselves thereto, as a competent
workman acquainted with this class of machinery would readily arrange other
cuts of wheels suitable for this purpose and although we prefer the arrange-
ment of apparatus previously described for actuating the comb bars and
pusher bars, we do not intend to confine ourselves thereto, as the action upon
the comb bars and pusher bars may be obtained by the interposition of
droppers or filling pieces (two to each bar) governed by jacquard or other
pattern surface.
Neither do we intend to confine the application of our
improvements to the "pusher machine," the same being suitable for giving
motion to the comb bars of other descriptions of lace machines, such as those
generally known in the trade as "single" and "double tier circular machines;"
and a workman acquainted with the nature of our improvements, aided by the
previous description and Drawings, would have no difficulty in adapting them
to other arrangements of lace machinery.
Another part of our Invention consists in employing warp threads in com-
bination with the above arrangements for actuating the comb bars and
carriages previously described for producing ornamental lace or net without
the aid of warp threads, the warp threads employed according to this part of
our Invention only working with the bobbin threads, according as it is
desired to produce net and filling of a finer mesh at intervals or over portions
of the fabric to give an ornamental character thereto, such warp threads
when not working with the bobbin threads being allowed to float over or
remain slack upon the fabric, and such portions of these warp threads are
afterwards cut away or removed when finishing the fabric, by which arrange-

page_text: ments of machinery and apparatus a very highly ornamental character of
bobbin net or twist lace will be produced.
The warp threads employed in carrying out this part of our Invention may
be wound upon beams or rollers, or upon separate spools or bobbins, and
passed through guides arranged upon guide bars or actuated by stump bars,
as is well understood when introducing warp or ornamenting threads in lace
machinery. Extra point bars would also be employed for forming the ticking
or pin holes when working according to this part of our Invention.
We are aware that it is not altogether new to arrange machinery for the
inanufacture of bobbin net or twist lace from the bobbin threads alone
without the aid of warp threads, patents having been before obtained for this
purpose; but in the previous attempts to accomplish this object, two heights
of bobbins and carriages, one tier above the other, were employed; and we
state this in order to show that we make no claim to the manufacture of
bobbin net or twist lace from bobbin threads alone; but what we claim is, the
arrangement of machinery for the. manufacture of bobbin net or twist lace
without the aid of warp threads, where only one set of bobbins and carriages
are employed, arranged in single or double tiers, as herein described. We
also claim the employment of warp threads in combination with the first part
of our improvements in order to produce net of a finer character over portions
of the fabric, as herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Birks, senior, and William
Birks, junior, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-first
day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty.
Witness to the signatures of William
Birks, senior, and William Birks,
junior,
SAM. MAPLES,
Solicitor,
Nottingham.
WM. BIRKS, SENR. (L.S.)
W. BIRKS, JUNR. (L.S.)