IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE MANUFACTURE OF WARPED FABRICS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Lennard, of Newark Street, Leicester, and
Frederick Lennard, of Belgrave Gate, Leicester, for the Invention of
"
Sealed the 17th April 1868, and dated the 24th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Lennard and
Frederick Lennard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 24th December 1867.
We, SAMUEL LENNARD, of Newark Street, Leicester, and FREDERICK
LENNARD, of Belgrave Gate, Leicester, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE MANUFACTURE OF WARPED FABRICS," to
be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
warped fabrics.
In the manufacture of fabrics in warp machines the fabric is produced
by means of needles or hooks, such as are used in knitting frames. In
knitting. frames however the thread is laid. continuously along the row of
needles so that one thread is common to all the needles, but in the warp
machine numerous threads are required for the production of the fabric, and
each thread works it may be with two only or at. most with a few of the
needles. In order to produce a ribbed fabric on a warp machine the row of
needles has in some cases been divided between two bars, each bar carrying,
1..

page_text: every alternate needle, and the needles in the one bar then have their beards
turned to the front and those in the other bar to the back, that is to say, the
needles are back to back. Then in producing the fabric a course, say a
front course, is first worked with the one bar and afterwards another course, say
a back course, is worked with the other bar, and so on, every needle having
thread lapped upon it. In this way a fabric is produced with a number of
narrow ribs on both sides, each needle producing its own rib.
Now according to our Invention in order to produce a fabric with broader
ribs each requiring two or more needles for its production we arrange the machine
to lap the threads not on every needle as heretofore but in the following manner:
For one course, say the front course, the threads are lapped over several
adjacent needles as many as are required to make the front rib, next to them
a number of needles are left without lapping sufficient to produce the space
between the front ribs, and beyond other needles are lapped to produce another
rib, and so on. Then in the back course only the needles are lapped which
are opposite the spaces where in the front course the needles were not left,
and these needles produce the back rib, so that as will be seen wide ribs are now
produced, such ribs being each the product of several needles carried by one bar.
In order to lap the threads on the needles in the manner described in place of
using only guides working with the needles on both bars we use three sets of
guides, one set working with the needles of one bar only, another with the
needles of the other bar only, and the third working with needles of both bars.
The guides in each set may be carried by two or other number of guide-bars.
It is obvious that where the needles are not lapped the needles themselves
may be omitted from the machine; but this is not desirable as it would render
considerable alteration of the machine necessary to adapt it to each pattern.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Lennard and Frederick Lennard in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
LENNARD, of Newark Street, Leicester, and FREDERICK LENNARD, of Belgrave
Gate, Leicester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: us, the said Samuel Lennard and Frederick Lennaril, Her special licence that
we, the said Samuel Lennard and Frederick Lennard, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or sueh others as we, the said Samuel, Lennard and
Frederick Lennard, 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 WARP. FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Samuel Lennard and Frederick Lennard, our
executors or administrators, 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 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 Lennard and Frederick:
Lennard, 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 the manufacture of warp
fabrics.
.
In the manufacture of fabrics in warp machines the fabric is produced by
means of needles or books such as are used in knitting frames. In knitting
frames however the thread is laid continuously along the row of needles so
that one thread is common to all the needles, but in the warp machine
numerous threads are required for the production of the fabric, and each thread
works it may be with only two or at most with a few of the needles. In
order to produce a ribbed fabric on a warp machine the row of needles has:'
in some cases been divided between two bars, each bar carrying every alternate
needle, and the needles in the one bar then have their beards turned to the
front and those in the other bar to the back, that is to say, the needles are
back to back. Then in producing the fabric a course, say a front couse, is
first worked with the one bar and afterwards another course, say a back course,
is worked with the other bar, and so on, every needle having thread lapped
upon it. In this way a fabric is produced with a number of narrow ribs on.
both sides, each needle producing its own rib.
Now according to our Invention in order to produce a fabric with broader
ribs each requiring two or more needles for its production we arrange the

page_text: machine to lap the threads not on every needle as heretofore but in the
following manner :-For one course, say the front course, the threads are lapped
over several adjacent needles as many as are required to make the front rib,
next to them a number of needles are left without lapping sufficient to
produce the space between the front ribs, and beyond other needles are lapped
to produce another rib, and so on. Then in the back course only those.
needles are lapped which are opposite the spaces where in the front course the
needles were not lapped, and these needles produce the back rib, so that as
will be seen wide ribs are now produced, such ribs being each the product of
several needles carried by one bar. In order to lap the threads on the
needles in the manner described in place of using only guides working with
the needles on both bars we use three sets of guides, one set working with the
needles of one bar only, another with the needles of the other bar only, and
the third working with needles of both bars. The guides in each set may be
carried by two or other number of guide bars. It is obvious that where the
needles are not lapped the needles themselves may be omitted from the
machine.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto.
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
On Sheet 1 of the Drawings is shown a transverse section of part of a warp
machine constructed in the manner we prefer for carrying out our Invention.
In this machine there are two guide bars in each of the three sets of guide
bars. The pair of guide bars which works with the front row of needles is
marked A, the pair which works with the back row of needles is marked B,
and the central pair which works with both rows is marked C; the front row
of needles is marked No. 1 and the back row No. 2. Each needle bar is
carried by arms a, a, which by turning on axes at a¹ allow the needle bars
alternately to rise and fall; this motion is given to the needle bars by the cam
shaft carrying cams at each end of the machine. Each cam acts on the
vertical arms of two bell-crank levers d, whilst the horizontal arm of one lever
is connected with one needle bar by a link e, and the horizontal arm of the
other lever is similarly connected with the other needle bar. As the vertical
arms of the two levers are on opposite sides of the cam one needle bar will be
caused to rise whilst the other descends. By carrying the needle bars on lever
arms turning on axes as above described the tops of each row of needles may,
at the time that the work upon them is being knocked over, be brought much

page_text: closer to the stems of the needles in the other row than is practicable, when
the needle bars are caused to rise and fall vertically as usual. The loops
which serve to unite the fabric formed on one row of needles with the fabric
formed on the other row may thus be made of the same length as the loops
on the needles of each individual row, otherwise the fabric produced would
have comparatively a thin appearance at these points. The presser bars f
which close the beards of the needles are carried and actuated in the following
manner. Each bar is carried by lever arms jointed at f¹ to the upper ends of
levers f, the lower ends of which are acted on near each end of the machine
by cams c¹ on the cam shaft c, so that the presser bar can be moved towards or
from the needles at the times desired. When one or other of the needle bars
is in its highest position the presser bar which works with this needle bar
then rests upon arms h standing up from it, the arms carrying the presser bar
being drawn downwards against them by spiral springs g; thus when the
needle bar descends the presser bar will descend with it and remain opposite
the beards of the needles in a suitable position for closing them whenever it
is pressed forward by its cams. When the needles have descended far enough
for the old loops of work upon their stems to have slipped over the points
of the beards the presser bar is prevented from further descending by the arms
which carry it then coming against adjustable screw stops carried by the
upper ends of the levers f³. The above arrangements for working the needle
bars and presser bar are those which we prefer to employ.
On Sheet 2 of the Drawings Figures 2, 3, and 4 show three transverse
sections of the needle bars, guide bars, and presser bars, showing the parts in
various positions; the nature of each of these views is written above it. A
front view of a portion of the two rows of needles is shown at Figure 5, and a
plan view of the same at Figure 6; two similar views are shown on an enlarged
scale at Figures 7 and 8, in which the lappings of the threads around the
needles and the directions in which they are lapped are shown by arrows; the
numbers marking the arrows show the guide bars to which the several threads
belong, corresponding numbers being marked on the guides in Figures 2, 3, and 4.
A complete Diagram of the lappings of the threads around the needles is shown
at Figure 9, the threads which lap with the needles of one row only being
shown by black lines whilst the threads lapping with the needle in each row
are shown by colored lines. From these views a workman would readily give
the required motions to the guide bars for producing the lappings shown. In
the Diagram views the needles in the front row are arranged in sets of three
whilst the needles in the back row are in pairs, thus making the rib on one
side of the fabric broader than on the opposite side; but the ribs might be

page_text: made of equal or any other desired width. Each thread also in the Diagrams
shown is lapped alternately over two needles, but the several threads might if
desired be made to work with other number of needles.
In witness whereof, we, the said Sanuel Lennard and Frederick Lennard,
have hereunto set our hands and, seals, this Twentieth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
SAM. LENNARD.
(L.S.)
FREDERICK LENNARD. (L.S.)