MACHINERY FOR THE FABRICATION OF FISHING OR OTHER NETS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Rome, of the Route du Pont de Fer, near
Grenoble, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "MACHINERY FOR
THE FABRICATION OF FISHING OR OTHER NETS."
Sealed the 25th January 1861, and dated the 30th July 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Rome at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
July 1860.
I, LOUIS ROME, of the Route du Pont de Fer, near Grenoble, in the Empire
of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "À
MACHINE FOR THE FABRICATION OF FISHING OR OTHER NETS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the fabrication or manufacture of fishing or other
nets by means of a machine, which is effected in the following manner :-Two
traversing or chariot frames C and D, Fig. 1 are supported on wheels, and
move longitudinally on the frame of the machine; attached to these frames
are levers, which move them simultaneously backwards and forwards. The
shuttles which carry the cord or twine of which the net is made are fixed to
these traversing frames.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are the details of the shuttles. M is the shuttle,
and N the shuttle carrier. The pieces O, O, are fixed to the chariot or traver-
sing frames and hold the shuttle carriers. On one side of the machine is placed

page_text: a series of bobbins, which supply the cord for the fabrication of the net. The
cord which comes from the bobbins meets that from the shuttles towards the
bottom bar, which carries a series of hooks. And it is at their junction that
the knots are made. The first knots are made by hand. The chief principle
in the machine is the mode of forming the knots.
Fig. A is a Drawing, which by aid of the following description will render
it easily understood.
The position of the cords, shewn in. the Figure, is given by the machine by
the aid of the bar carrying a series of tubes directed by the guide, then the
front of the work presents a series of cords alternately single or double. The
shuttles pass through at a³, and return by y', pass again through v', and return
by: y. The top hooks are then let go, the work drawn tight, and the knots
are formed. The cords from the bobbins are kept tight by weights, which
are attached to pullies resting on the cords.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Rome in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
80th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
ROME, of the Route du Pont de Fer, near Grenoble, in the Empire of France,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Louis Rome, Her special licence that I, the said Louis Rome, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Louis
Rome, my 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 "A MACHINE FOR THE FABRICATION
OF FISHING OR OTHER NETS," upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the
said Louis Rome, my executors or administrators by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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

page_text: 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 I, the said Louis Rome, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the fabrication or manufacture of fishing or other
nets by means of a machine, which is effected in the following manner :-Two
traversing or chariot frames C and D, Fig. 1 are supported on wheels, and
move longitudinally on the frame of the machine. Attached to these frames
are levers, which move them simultaneously backwards and forwards. The
shuttles which carry the cord or twine of which the net is made are fixed to
these traversing frames.
Figs. C, D, E, F, G, and H, are the details of the shuttles; M is the
shuttle, and N the shuttle carrier. The pieces O, O, are fixed to the chariot
or traversing frames and hold the shuttle carriers. Ou one side of the machine
is placed a series of bobbins, which supply the cord for the fabrication of the
net. The cord which comes from the bobbins meets that from the shuttels
towards the bottom bar, which carries a series of hooks, and it is at their
junction that the knots are made. The first knots are made by hand. The
chief principle in the machine is the mode of forming the knots.
Fig. A is a Drawing, which by aid of the following description will render it
easily understood.
The position of the cords shewn in the Figure is given by the machine by the
aid of the bar carrying a series of tubes directed by the guide, then the front of the
work presents a series of cords alternately, single or double. The shuttles
pass through at a³, and return by y', pass again through V, and return by y'.
The top hooks are then let go, the work drawn tight, and the knots are
formed. The cords from the bobbins are kept tight by weights, which are
attached to pullies resting on the cords.
And that the said Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to
describe the same more particularly referring to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 a plan;
Fig. 3, a section through A, B, in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4, an end elevation of
the same.
There are two transversing frames or chariots C and D, see Figs. 1, 2, and
8, supported by four wheels. These chariots move longitudinally upon the
frame of the machine. The levers E, F, F, G, H, I, I, K, K, L, attached to
the chariots C and D, and held by a bearing fixed to the framework of the

page_text: 'machine permit the 2 chariots to move simultaneously to and fro. These
chariots carry 152 series of three pieces, that we will examine in detail. The
'shuttle M (see details) in which the cord for making the net is rolled, the
shuttle carrier N in the interior of which is placed the shuttle M, moveable
upon the axis n; this' axis n is fixed only to one side of the shuttle carrier N,
as it is by bending the other side that the shuttle is introduced. The other
piece O is attached invariably to the chariot. These pieces O hold the shuttle
carriers, partly by the bottom a, and partly by the turned up edges. To retain
'the shuttle carriers lengthways, there are small holes or mortices b, which
receive the tenons of the bar c, (see plan Fig. 2; and section Fig. 3);"
this bar is placed upon the chariot, and is attached thereto by a hinge so
'that the shuttle carriers may be held or let loose by raising the bar 'c,
and be made to pass from one chariot to the other. At the lower part of
'the chariot is shewn a small hinged bar d. (section Fig. 3) upon which
rest the extremities of the shuttles, which are thus prevented from turning
round on their axis, and another small bar or iron band placed' above prevents
their movement in the opposite direction, however if the workman pulls the
bandles P, which are before the chariot, he draws with him the bar d, and
the shuttles being no longer held underneath, commence a movement of
rotation, which the workman completes by hand, (this occurs after a quantity
of meshes made, of which the length corresponds to that of the cord on one
'side of the shuttle.
The simultaneous movement of the two chariots is given by the workman,
who acts with his arms upon the handle p'; nevertheless this force is not
sufficient for the movement which takes place when the two chariots are
'engaged, when the shuttles pass from one to the other. It is made up in the
following manner:-In fixing upon the ground (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3 a
bearing or journal Q, and upon the shaft held by this bearing is placed a
lever g, upon which the workman operates with his foot. The same shaft
carries a crank, which communicates its movement to two sectors S by means
of a connecting rod. The two sectors transmit the force afterwards to the
hammers R, which operate upon the levers F, G, and I, K, in order to assist
to their movement.
The extremities of the chariots carry two other pieces T and U, of which the
following is the intention:-The piece U (when the chariots approach each
other) come against another piece u, and engages its extremity in the notch
'carried by the piece u, but before arriving at this position, the piece V has
been lifted by the curved shape of the piece u, and the shuttle carriers have
been disengaged from the mortises (for the piece U is fixed to the bar c.)

page_text: An analogous movement is produced upon the second chariot, but in place of
letting go the shuttle carriers they are seized, and the shuttles pass thus from
one chariot to the other. In order to produce the contrary passage, a slight
movement must be given to the piece u, which is done by the wheels V.
The two supports X, Y, see Figs. 1 and 2, and also details, are fixed to the
framework of the machine. The piece T fixed upon the chariot operates upon
the-lever plate f, and at each passage turns it one-eighth of a revolution.
This. movement is transmitted by the wheels ¡V to the support Y, obtains
different results; 1stly, it gives the movement of translation to the notches u,
as already described; 2ndly, it gives, by means of the cam g, a movement in
'the direction. of their length to the shafts a¹ and 6, which carry each 152
hooks h see (details). The form of the cam 9 is shaped to produce all the
movements which are necessary to finish the work.
Figs. 3 and 4 shew still more bars or rods; the one C¹ carries 152 tubes i
(see details). A vertical movement is given to this bar by the hand; another
bar.d serves to hold or sustain the bar tube c¹ (see also details); the bar & has
given by hand a vertical movement and a movement in the direction of its
axis by means of a leaver f¹, the extremity of which moves in a guide j. In
placing this extremity in g¹, , i, j, (see details) the movements indicated are
given to the bar c'. In Figs. 2 and 3 is shewn a system of foot levers; these
levers act upon the sector K, which transmits motion to the large roller l.
This movement is intended to bring back the roller upon itself at a given
moment. To follow the movements of the cord examine the section Fig. 3.
At the right hand side of the Figure are placed 152 bobbins (the Drawing
shews only one) which supplies the cord; two weights are hung upon the
cords in order to keep them tight. The cords which come from the bobbins
meet those from the shuttles towards the lower hook bar, and it is at their
junction that the knots are made (the first knots are made by hand.) The
knots being made, the net thus formed passes upon several rollers m', n',
o', and is rolled definitely upon the roller 7. To keep the net tight, a
pulley operated upon by a weight is placed at the extremity of the shaft of the
roller r'.
When one row of knots is made the net must be moved forward the length
of a mesh. This movement is obtained by means of a ratchet wheel s', which
transmits the movement by means of bevel and spur wheels to the rollers
carrying the net; this movement of the ratchet s' is regulated in a very simple
manner. The extremity of the shaft O¹ (see Fig. 4) carries a small notched
wheelt (see details), a lever v moved by the ratchet s' on one part, and by a

page_text: spring on the other, stops the movement at each division on the wheel t¹. To
obtain the number of divisions of this wheel, divide the circumference of the
roller O by the length of a mesh.
The Figure B (details) represents the movement which is transmitted to the
shaft m', which is in the direction of its length. The chief point in the work
is evidently the mode of making the knots; this may be easily understood by
referring to Figure A in the details. The position of the.cords shewn in the
Figure is given by the machine by the aid of the tube bar C¹ directed by the
guide; then the front of the work presents a series of cords alternately single
and double. The shuttles pass through at and return by y', pass again
through v², and return by y'.. The top hooks are then let go, the work drawn
tight, and the knots are formed, having care for the next mesh to alternate the
single and double cords in the opposite order that the meshes may form
lozenge shapes in the net.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Rome, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and.sixty-one.