CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO MACHINES FOR EMBROIDERING
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Wood and John Wood, both of the City of
Manchester, Embroiderers, and Phillip Billington, of Rusholme, near
the City of Manchester, Mechanic, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IM-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Wood, John
Wood, and Phillip Billington at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 2nd June 1859.
We, SAMUEL WOOD and JOHN WOOD, both of the City of Manchester,
Embroiderers, and PHILLIP BILLINGTON, of Rusholme, near the City of
Manchester, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO MACHINES FOR EMBROIDERING," to
be as follows:-
In embroidering machines of the usual construction it is customary to
employ two or more rows of needle holders, each row being required to produce
one copy of the enlarged pattern. Now, the first part of this. Invention.
consists in the application of an additional row or rows of needle holders to the
original rows of needle holders, whereby it is possible to produce compound
designs in much less time than can be accomplished in machines of the usual,
construction. The additional row or rows of needle holders are supported in

page_text: adjustable bearings, so as to be able to vary the distance between the original
and the additional row or rows of needles according to the pattern to be
produced. In embroidering a pattern with two or more rows of leaves con-
nected to a stem, the enlarged design of the stem and one leaf is sufficient, as
both or all leaves are transferred to the article to be embroidered from one
leaf on the enlarged design; other patterns of a similar description can in like
manner be produced.
The second part of our Invention consists in an improved mode of tightening
the fabric or other material to be embroidered; in the present frames tightening
screws are employed, which are regulated by the attendant. Our improve-
ment consists in tightening the fabric or other material by means of a sliding
bar and inclined planes, which acting on the frame in two or more places gives
the requisite uniform tension to the fabric or other material.
The third part of our Invention consists in jointing the levers of the penta-
graph, by which the motion is given to the fabric or other material to be
embroidered by means of centre punches and set screws, whereby greater
accuracy in the working is obtained.
The last part of our Invention consists in an arrangement of mechanism
for applying spots or figures of velvet or other material to the fabric to be
embroidered; for effecting this we employ a row of needles fixed on a swing
rail; the spots or figures are placed on these needles, and they may be applied
to one or both sides of the fabric by gum or other adhesive compound. When
these spots or figures have been applied, the swing rail is moved out of the way
of the usual needles, which are then at liberty to embroider the required design
around the spots or figures, or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Wood, John Wood, and Phillip Billington in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
WOOD and JOHN WOOD, both of the City of Manchester, Embroiderers, and
PHILLIP BILLINGTON, of Rusholme, near the City of Manchester, Mechanic,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: us, the said Samuel Wood, John Wood, and Phillip Billington, Her special
licence that we, the said Samuel Wood, John Wood, and Phillip Billington,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Samuel Wood, John Wood, and Phillip Billington, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO MACHINES FOR
EMBROIDERING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Samuel
Wood, John Wood, and Phillip Billington, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Samuel Wood, John Wood, and
Phillip Billington, 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 (that is to say):-
In embroidering machines of the usual construction it is customary to
employ two or more rows of needle holders, each row being required to
produce one copy of the enlarged pattern. Now, the first part of this Inven-
tion consists in the application of an additional row or rows of needle holders
to the original rows of needle holders, whereby it is possible to produce
compound designs in much less time than can be accomplished in machines.
of the usual construction. The additional row or rows of needle holders are
supported in adjustable bearings, so as to be able to vary the distance between
the original and the additional row or rows of needles according to the pattern
to be produced. In embroidering a pattern with two or more rows of leaves
connected to a stem, the enlarged design of the stem and one leaf or one set of
leaves is sufficient, as both or all the leaves are transferred to the article to be
embroidered from the enlarged design; other patterns of a similar description
can in like manner be produced.
The second part of our Invention consists in an improved mode of
tightening or stretching the fabric or other material to be embroidered; in
the present frames tightening screws are employed, which are regulated by
the attendant. Our improvement consists in tightening the fabric or other.

page_text: material by means of a sliding bar and inclined planes, which acting on the
frame in two or more places, gives the requisite uniform tension to the fabric
or other material.
The third part of our Invention consists in jointing the levers of the penta-
graph, by which the motion is given to the fabric or other material. to be
embroidered, by means of centre punches and set screws, whereby greater
accuracy in the working is obtained.
. The last part of our Invention consists in an arrangement of mechanism
for applying spots or figures of velvet or other material to the fabric to be
embroidered; for effecting this we employ a row of needles fixed on a swing
rail, the spots or figures are placed on these needles, and they may be applied
to one or both sides of the fabric by gum or other adhesive compound. When
these spots or figures have been applied, the swing rail is moved out of the
way of the usual needles, which are then at liberty to embroider the required
design around the spots or figures, or otherwise.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, we will proceed to describe the means pursued by us, reference
being bad to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the principal parts of an embroidering
machine of the usual construction, to which parts of our improvements are
applied; Figure 2 is a front view of the same. a, a, are the rails for the
carriages b, b, to run on; the rails c, c, connect the carriage frames together,
and serve to support the needle holders d, d, in the usual manner; the fabric
to be embroidered is held between the stretcher rails e, e, which are connected
to the frame f; this frame is moved by the pentagraph g; the parts above
enumerated, and all the others requisite to complete the machine which are not
particularly referred to hereafter, are made as now customary.
The first part. of our Invention, which consists in the application of an
additional row or rows of needle holders to each of the original rows, will be
fully understood in reference to the foregoing Figures, and to Figure 3, which
is a full-sized section of one of the rails c, with our improvements applied
thereto; the additional rows of needle holders are supported on the rails h, k,
one of which is placed above each of the original rows fitting on the rails c, c,
as seen in Figure 1; the rails are furnished with snugs passing through the
uprights i, which are screwed and furnished with lock nuts; by this means the
distance between the rows of needle holders can be varied to suit the size of
the pattern to be embroidered. We wish to remark that the rails h may be
supported in any other convenient manner. The additional row of needle

page_text: holders is acted upon, to liberate and take hold of the needles, by the rod h¹,
connected to the rod c¹ by the links h2, and the rod c is acted upon in the
usual manner by the shaft c, lever c³, and link c; by this arrangement both
rows of needle holders are opened and closed simultaneously. In Figure 2
the rails c and h are broken to shew the pattern, which is represented with
two sets of leaves and flowers connected by stems. The enlarged design
required to produce this pattern is partly shewn in Figure 2 and in Figure 4,
and it consists of the stem and buds of one set of leaves and one flower. The
mode of operation is as follows:-The attendant first works in the stem and
buds with the original rows of needles, and then after placing the needles in
the additional rows of holders, commences to work in the flowers and leaves,
both sets of which are produced simultaneously in each part of the pattern,
thereby producing a highly ornamental design with comparatively little labour,
as shewn in Figure 2. Figure 5 represents another design of the same
description; this design is all in duplicate, with the exception of the small
portion of the stem marked z connecting the two wreaths.. It is evident that
ether patterns of a similar description can in like manner be produced, the
lateral and vertical positions of the needle holders being capable of adjustment.
We would also observe that in some patterns it may be desirable to employ
two or more additional rows of needle holders instead of only one additional
row, as shewn.
The second part of our Invention, which consists in an improved mode of
tightening the fabric or other material to be embroidered, is shewn in Figures
1 and 2. To the upper rail of the frame fare fixed the four or other con-
venient number of 'guides j, between which fit the sliding bar k; to the under
side of this bar are fixed the four inclines ; above the bar k is a rail m, from
which depend the looped wires n, to which the upper stretcher rail e is
suspended; the lower rail e is hooked to the rail o, see Figure 1, forming part
of the frame f. The fabric to be embroidered is connected between the
stretcher rails e,.e, in the usual manner, and when the fabric is to be tightened,
the attendant pushes the sliding bar k in the direction of the arrow, in
Figure 2, and in so doing, the inclines slide upon the bottoms of the slots in
the guides j, thereby causing the looped wires n to raise the upper stretcher
rail e, and thus to distend the fabric to the requisite uniform tension; the
looped wires are provided with regulating screws to equalize the strain on the
upper stretcher rail e.
The stop ffixed to the frame f is to arrest the rail k
when pushed back to slacken the fabric, as shewn partly by dotted lines, to
the left-hand side of Figure 2. It is evident that the fabric between the
lower pair of rails e, e, can in like manner be distended.
.

page_text: The third part of our Invention is shewn best in Figure 6, which represents
our improved mode of jointing the levers of the pentagraph; in this view g¹ is
a section of one of the pentagraph levers, and g is the end of one of the links
connecting the said levers. The link g² is screwed to receive the set screws p
which are furnished with heads and lock nuts; the ends of the set screws are
countersunk, and fit on the ends of the centre punch secured in the lever g';
by this means greater accuracy is obtained in the working of the pentagraph.
It is evident that the recesses may be made in the lever g', or in the stud fixed
through it, and the centre punches at the ends of the set screws. This part
of our Invention is also applicable in jointing the lever g, see Figure 2,
to the bracket g³.
The last part of our Invention will be fully understood in reference to
Figure 7. c, c, are the rails of the needle holders d, d; to one of the rails c
is jointed the swing rail 7, which is furnished with needles t, placed at any
required distance apart, and to the other rail c is jointed the tube 2, which is
or may be heated by hot air, or gas, or in any other suitable manner; the
spots or figures of velvet or other material to be applied to the fabric, having
been cut or punched of the proper shape, and covered on the back or reverse
side with gum or other adhesive compound, are placed on the needles t; the
tuber is then brought close up to one side of the fabric, as shewn to the right-
hand side of Figure 7, and it is held firm while the spots or figures on the
needlest of the rail 9 are brought up to and pressed against the fabric; the
heat of the tube acting on the adhesive compound causes the spots or figures
to adhere to the fabric; the carriage with the rail q is then withdrawn in the
usual manner, and when the position of the fabric has been changed, it is
again brought forward to apply another row of spots or figures as before.
When the spots or figures are applied to the fabric, the rail 9 and tube rare
moved out of the way of the ordinary embroidering needles, which are then at
liberty to work round the edges of the spots or figures, or otherwise, according
to the pattern to be produced.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the details given, as the same may be varied or modified; but
what we claim is,-
First, the application to embroidering machines of an additional row or
rows of needle holders to each of the original rows of needle holders, whereby
compound designs can be produced more expeditiously than heretofore, as
shewn and described.
Secondly, the improved mode of stretching or distending fabrics or other

page_text: materials in embroidering machines, as shewn and described in reference to
Figures 1 and 2.
Thirdly, the improved mode of jointing the levers and links of pentagraphs
used in moving the fabric to be embroidered, as shewn and described in
reference to Figures 2 and 6.
And, lastly, the application of machinery for applying spots or figures to
fabrics in embroidering machines, as shewn and described in reference to.
Figure 7.
In witness whereof, we, the said Samuel Wood, John Wood, and Phillip
Billington, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Thirtieth day
of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.
SAMUEL WOOD.
JOHN WOOD.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
PHILLIP BILLINGTON. (L.S.)