CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING LACE, COMMONLY CALLED BOBBIN-FET
Year: 1828

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LEVERS, late of the Town of Nottingham, but now of New Radford, in the
County of Nottingham, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of December, One thousand eight hundred
and twenty-eight, in the ninth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Levers, His especial
licence that I, the said John Levers, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Levers, my exors, adñiors, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING
LACE, COMMONLY CALLED BOBBIN-FET;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, obliging me, the said John Levers, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His 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 in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW ANOW IE, that i compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
John Levers, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the samo is to be performed, are particularly described in
and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following description thereof
(that is to say):-
My improvements in machinery for making lace consist in a certain
combination and arrangement of mechanism to be adapted to lace machines
constructed upon the principle commonly called or known by the name of
Levers principle, which improvements are designed to communicate the
required movement to all the working parts of the machine from any rotatory
first mover, instead of actuating the parts by hand, as heretofore. As the
movements of all the working parts of an ordinary Levers' machine are well
understood by practical mechanics, it is unnecessary for me to explain the
construction and motions of those parts by which the threads are twisted and
the meshes of the net formed; I shall therefore merely describe the new
mechanism, by which the several parts of the machine are put in operation,
by means of any rotatory first mover, referring to the same by their respective
names as already known.
The Drawings hereto attached do not represent a perfect machine, but
only the frame and the principal working parts, to which motion is to be'
communicated when the machine is put in operation either by hand or
rotatory power.
Fig. 1 is a front view of the machine, with the improvements shewn
attached to the different parts to which they are intended to give motion.
Fig. 2 is the right-hand end view; Fig. 3 is a section, taken transversely
through Fig. 1 at the dotted line A, A; and Fig. 4 is a section, taken in the
same direction at B, B. a is a rotatory shaft, to which motion is to be
communicated by a rigger b and band leading from a steam engine, or any
other first mover, or by the crank rod c, to be driven by hand. At the end of
this shaft there is a spur wheel d, taking into a similar wheel e, which last-
mentioned wheel is locked to the principle crank f, but occasionally turns
loose upon it as its axle. There is affixed to this wheel e a pinion g, taking
into a larger wheel A upon the lower shaft i. The rotation of the crank shaft
actuates the parts called the joints of the machine, and all the parts
connected to them, by which the threads are twisted to form the meshes of
the net. The rotation of the shaft i gives the proper motion of the point bars
for taking up the twist, and of the pusher bars for dividing the bobbins and
carriages.
In the operation of a Levers' machine it. is well known that there are five

page_text: impelling actions given at distinct intervals, four of them by the hands of the
operator for the purpose of forming the twist, and the fifth by the foot upon a
treadle for effecting the taking up and dividing, consequently the shaft f which
drives the mechanism for producing the twist must turn four times to effect its
object, and then remain quiescent while the shaft i is moving the point bars
and dividing.
Having thus described generally the principle movements of the machine,
I now proceed to explain the manner of effecting the interrupted movement
of the shaft f, that is, the means by which it is made to revolve four times
and then to stand still for a space of time equal to one revolution. There is
affixed to the crank shaft the guide piece k, carrying a bolt 7, which bolt is
forced outwards by a helical spring; the outer end of this bolt takes into a
staple m fixed to the side of the wheel e, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6, and by that
means the shaft f, and the wheel e, are locked together; consequently, when
so connnected, the crank shaft f revolves with the wheel e, which is the
case during four successive revolutions. In the section, Fig. 3, the cranks
n, n, are shewn connected by the pieces o, o, to the elongated arms of the
joints p, p, and as the cranks revolve they move the joints backward and
forward, and give the required motion to all the parts connected thereto, by:
which the twisting of the threads is effected; after every fourth revolution of
the wheel e, oue of the tappets q, q, fixed on the shaft i, comes in contact with
the pin or stud r on the spring bolt 1, as shewn in Fig. 7; and as they pass
the centers it raises the bolt out of the staple m; and the wheel and pinion
being now unlocked, turn freely round on the crank shaft, leaving the shaft
stationary, and consequently the working parts quiescent. At this time a cam
s on the shaft i near the middle of the machine acts against the levert (sce
Fig. 4), which lever is connected by a pin and slot to the bar u, sliding through
guide pieces, and by the raising of this lever the end of the bar u is brought
up behind the back landing bar v, and holds it steadily when the carriages are
divided; at the same time also another cam u, on the same shaft, working
against the lever x, raises the vertical sliding bar y, and its end acting against
the bent arm; attached to the back pusher bar, gives it the required motion
for dividing the carriages. When the wheel e has performed an entire
revolution, sliding upon the crank shaft, the enclined plain of the staple m,
passing under the end of the bolt, allows the bolt to slip into the hole or.
socket of the staple, by which the crank shaft and the wheel are again locked
together, and continue so for the next four revolutions, and so on. Figs. 2 and
8, being views of the end of the machine, shew the manner of working the
point bars by cams, and levers, and the dawsons wheels, for giving the

page_text: lateral or shogging motion to the guide bars and comb bars; but these last-
mentioned parts are not claimed as forming any portion of my present
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Levers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine.