IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hancock, of the Town of Nottingham, Hosier,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED
FABRICS, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 2nd May 1862, and dated the 7th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hancock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
November 1861.
I, JOHN HANCOCK, of the Town of Nottingham, Hosier, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
LOOPED FABRICS, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the manufacture of looped fabrics, and
in machinery employed therein, has reference to the ordinary straight frame
now used for producing hosiery work.
My improvements enable me to make two or more courses of work in one
complete motion of the frame, instead of only one course as is now ordinarily
done.
My Invention consists, first, in an improved arrangement of instruments
(carrying needles) for working the needles backward and forward (the needles
being operated upon for forming the loops by the jack and lead sinkers), and
which arrangement I use for producing the results now usually effected in the
ordinary frame by the use of jack and lead sinkers. These instruments are
formed of plates of iron, one to each sinker of the frame, with two needles.

page_text: cast into each plate, (one needle only may be employed when it is so desired,)
and are moved backward or forward by an inclined plane.
Second, in an arrangement of machinery for working the instruments and
needles first referred to, when it is desired either to narrow, widen, or figure
by these instruments, and whereby no time is lost in performing these
operations. The instruments before referred to are, when used for the purpose
of narrowing or widening, raised up at the back to throw the needles out of
work, and thus the width of the material may be regulated. Any of the
needles may be operated upon in the same way for producing false loops
when figuring of the work is required, these instruments being raised by levers
operated upon by cams arranged for that purpose.
Third, in the use of two or more bars carrying feeders for laying the threads
under the sinker nibs, or on hooks, or on needles, and carrying two or more
inclined planes, by means of which combination two or more courses of the
fabric can be made at one time. This working of more than one course at
one time causes a double loop to be formed on the selvage of the fabric.
And last, in the combination of the parts, herein-before described, to form
an improved frame for making looped hosiery goods, whereby the whole work
may be twice (or oftener, as may be required) commenced and completed in
the space of less than six inches, thus leaving the rest of the frame at liberty
for narrowing, figuring, or widening without losing time in the manufacture
of the fabric.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hancock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HANCOCK, of the Town of Nottingham, Hosier, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Hancock, Her special licence that I, the said John Hancock,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Hancock, 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,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Hancock,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 I, the said John Hancock, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say -
My Invention of improvements in the manufacture of looped fabrics, and in
machinery employed therein, has reference to the ordinary straight frame now
used for producing hosiery work.
My improvements enable me to make two or more courses of work in one
complete motion of the frame, instead of only one course, as is now ordinarily
done.
My Invention consists, first, in an improved arrangement of instruments
carrying needles for working the needles backward and forward (the needles
being operated upon for forming the loops by the jack and lead sinkers) and
which arrangement I use for producing the results now usually effected in the
ordinary frame by the use of jack and lead sinkers. These instruments are
formed of plates of iron, one to each sinker of the frame, with two needles
cast into each plate (one needle only may be employed when it is so desired)
and are moved backward and forward by an inclined plane or planes.
Second, in an arrangement of machinery for working the instruments and
needles first referred to when it is desired either to narrow, widen, or figure
by these instruments, and whereby no time is lost in performing these
operations. The instruments before referred to are, when used for the purpose
of narrowing or widening, raised up or drawn out' at the back to throw the
needles out of work, and thus the width of the material may be regulated.
Any of the needles may be operated upon in the same way for producing false
loops when figuring of the work is required, these instruments being raised
or drawn out by levers operated as hereafter described.
Third, in the use of two or more bars carrying feeders for laying the

page_text: threads under the sinker nibs, or on hooks, or on needles, and carrying one,
two, or more inclined planes, by means of which combination two or more
courses of the fabric can be made at one time. This working of more than
one course at one time causes a double loop to be formed on the selvage of
the fabric.
And last, in the combination of the parts, herein-before described, to form
an improved frame for making looped hosiery goods, whereby the whole work
may be twice (or oftener, as may be required) commenced and completed in
the space of less than six inches, thus leaving the rest of the frame at liberty
for narrowing, figuring, or widening without losing time in the manufacture of
.the fabric.
. Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a front view of so much of a
machine as will be necessary to illustrate the manner in which I carry my
Invention into effect; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same, drawn on a
larger scale; Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, are views
of parts in detail and hereafter separately referred to.
It will be understood from the following description that where only one side
of the machine is described and referred to, that the other side is similar, and
therefore will need no further description. Similar letters of reference refer to
like parts in all the Figures.
a, a, are the instruments carrying the needles, a side elevation and top.view
of one of which are given at Figure 3, having a to-and-fro motion imparted to
them be means of inclined planes 6 and ¹, as well as by a lever c, which is free
to move about the point or shaft d, by rods as will be hereafter more fully
explained. e, e, are the sinkers, and f, f, is the facing bar for keeping the
sinkers in position. This bar is provided with screws not shown, whereby it is set
in any convenient position for knocking over the fabric and making the loop.
g is the jack carrying the sinkers e, e, and free to move up and down upon a
pin through combs on the bar h in the ordinary manner; 63, 63, are inclined
planes, detached views of which are given at Figures 4 and 5, for communi-
cating motion to the jack g and sinkers e, e; i is the falling bar; k, ², k, k
are bars for the instruments a, a, to work between; 1, Figure 6, is the comb
and lead;,, Figure 7, are slays for the instruments a, a, to work between.
The bar is screwed to the bar k', the slay is screwed to the bar k', and the
slay is secured to any suitable bearing not shown. m², m², m³, m³, m³, m³,
Figures 13, 14, and 15, are bars for communicating motion to the inclined
planes; Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11, are views of parts for communicating motion
to the bars m; n, n¹, are feeders for working two courses at one motion of the
flat frame; o is a pulley carried by a rod which works loosely on a pin o', for

page_text: acting against and communicating motion to the presser p. Motion is com-
municated to the machine from a shaft at the front thereof, whereby certain
cams and levers not shewn will be set in motion and draw out the different
bars as hereafter described, similar effects being produced at both ends of the
machine.
The most convenient way of making sinkers according to my Invention is,
to rivet two of them into one jack g, or as may be better understood, by working
them in double tier, as shewn in Figure 2. Half of the lead-sinker nib is taken
off, as shown at q, and the long nib q' is left on for keeping the work back while
the needles are working forward by means of the inclined plane b in the aper-
ture, the sinkers being always held in one position by the facing bar f
and f. The jacks are raised up and fall. at the end of inclined planes b³,
working on the bar m³. The pulley s, shewn at Figures 4 and 5, raises the
jack and sinkers high enough to allow the needles to take the loop back
under the nib of the sinker to knock over the work. At the time the jacks
are at the end of the inclined plane 63, a spring not shown working on one of
the bars, gives an additional impetus to the jack and sinker for dividing the
loops, and which works in combination with the ordinary spring at the back.
When the jack is operated upon by the ordinary slur cock the position of the
inclined plan ³ is altered from the position shewu in Figure 4 to that shewn
in Figure 5, changing the operation upon the jack, it being left up at the
finish of every loop, in the other case they are left down, which will be under-
stood by any workman. The needles are brought forward again by the inclined
plane b. Immediately after a similar operation begins with the bar m',
carrying the inclined plane 63 with it, as shewn at Figure 4, and as is worked
on bars m¹ and m*, the needles being worked in the same order by inclined
plane on bar mo. Figures 4 and 5 shew the position of the inclined plane
for the reverse motion of the machine, both operations being commenced and
finished in the space of, say, six inches on the same piece of fabric in one com-
plete motion of the flat frame. The improved instruments a, a, are formed of
plates of iron or steel with two needles or hooks cast into each plate (but one
needle only may be employed when desired); each plate is made with by
preference four apertures 1, 2, 3, 4, as shewn in Figure 3. Instead of
apertures I sometimes form projections with inclined planes for effecting a
similar purpose.. In the aperture the inclined plane b¹ on the bar m³ works;
in aperture the inclined plane b on the bar m³ works; and when the needles
are not wanted in work they are drawn out at the back of the frame, and
when out the bars me and m³ carrying inclined planes 6 and 6₁ are allowed to
move backwards and: forwards in apertures 7 and 8, without operating on the

page_text: instruments a, a, which are, when in work, moved by the inclined planes b
and 6', backwards and forwards. This instrument communicates a to-and-fro
motion to the needles, so that when the thread is divided on the needles by the
jack sinker or hooks (or in case jack and sinkers are not employed the thread
is laid under the beards of the needles or in books by a wheel or other equiva-
lent appliance made for that purpose) it is moved backward by the inclined
plane b, and before the head of the needle arrives at the sinker nib, a presser p
is moved down on to the needle beards by the pulley o, working loosely on a
pin o¹, as before described; the rod carrying the pulley swings from the bar m³;
t, t, Figure 1, are stops on each side of the feeder for preserving the position
of the pulley o. The sinkers e, e, are raised up by the pulley s on the bar m²,
so that the needle can draw the thread clear of the nib of the sinker to divide
and knock over the work, the sinker then falling to the inclination of the
pulleys, in order that the sinkers may fall on the work as in an ordinary frame
for producing a face on the work. The instruments a, a, are then pushed
forward by the inclined frames 6 and ₁ to their first position, the fabric being
always held by the nib on one part of the needle or by a bar not shown when
jack and sinkers are not used. There are two holes at the back to admit
loosely the pin at the upper end of the lever c, so that when they are wanted
to narrow, widen, or figure the fabric they are drawn out so that the bar m³
will not operate on them; the same results are obtained by the bar mⓇ working
in conjunction with it. The instruments are now at rest, and when wanted in
work again or for widening, they are pushed to the front by the lever c,
apertures,, allow the bars m³ and me to work consecutively, each bar
producing the same effects on two different courses in the same motion of the
frame. Similar results can as well be obtained by the employment of one bar,
but this would cause too much space between each division of the fabrics, it is
therefore to economize space that two bars. The instruments a, a, work or
slide on bars k³, k, and are held down by bars ² and k³; these bars are fixed
on the frame u.
The improvement referred to as the third part of my Invention has already
been partially explained; it will be however rendered clearer by the following:-
:-
m, is a bar suitably connected to a lever, drawn forward and backward by a cam
or cams, not shewn in the Drawings; it has fastened to it at each end a bracket,
Figure 12, which has projections v¹, v³, v, v, v³, formed on it; w, Figure 1,
is a box fastened on the end of the bar m²; x, is a bolt sliding in the box w,
kept down by a pin at top. The projections on the bracket, Figure 12, come
in contact with the bolt a at the required time, and are drawn. forward with
the bar m², which is moved by the cam and lever, not shewn, acting suc-
".

page_text: cessively in the same manner on the bars m', m³, m², m³, m³, as before
described, and y, is a bar fixed on the frame u, and carrying an inclined plane
y, which slides outwards; it is provided with set screws, not shewn, for the
purpose of adjustment; each bar has one original length of motion, and is put
out of motion by the bolt apparatus, operated upon by inclined plane y, each
in succession, as they are wanted out of work. The bolt a on one side has an
inclined plane x¹, to allow the projection v¹, Figure 12, to raise it up out of the
-way, and traverse the whole of the distance; the bolt a is held down by a small
spring at the other end, not shewn, and thus, in the reverse motion each bar
is brought into operation in succession at each end of the frame. Bolts and
inclined planes, similar to those before described, are also fitted on the other
side, or, in other words, at each end of the bars. When it is required to
commence narrowing or widening the work, the feeder bar m² is operated on
by the inclined plane y, which is pushed out or in as required; by apparatus
not shewn in the Drawing, the bracket projection v moving along the bar m³
by bolt a, at y; this bolt a will come in contact with the inclined plane y²,
and the projection v1 will pass under the projection a³, and thus cause the
bar m² to stop short of its original length of motion, the bar m³ being acted
upon as in the last case described, and in the same motion of the frame.
The improved. apparatus and method of working the same for narrowing or
figuring the fabrics referred to under the second head of any Invention, is
shown at Figure 2; c, is a lever working on the shaft d, and connected to the
instruments a, a, at the back by a pin rivetted to the end of the lever c, the
pin working loosely in a hole formed at the end of the instruments a, a; there
are two holes shewn at the end of the instrument a, made so that the lever c
is connected by the pin to the top of the hole, and in the same order at the
bottom hole, as shewn in Figure 2. These levers c, c, are connected at their
lower ends to rods 53, 53, which pass through a guide bar st, fixed to the frame
of the machine; they terminate in hooks or catches st, into. which correspond-
ing projections so take, which and are made in a piece, and free to slide with.
a bar s'; $8 are stops on the levers R, R, which limit the distance to which:
the latter may be drawn back. By this arrangement, the workman may draw
back or out any of the instruments in rotation, as required, for the purpose of
narrowing the fabric. To widen the fabric, the rods s³ are pushed back by
projections s, on the bars s'. A bar marked $10 carries brackets not shewn,
but similar to those marked so and so, for effecting a similar operation at the.
other end of the fabric. The bars s' and so have motion imparted to them
as in the ordinary tickling machine. The needles are operated on by the
tickler in the usual way, when the loops are to be shifted from one needle to

page_text: '
another. It will be understood, that by the application of a jacquard to the
machinery before described, the pattern of the fabric may be varied.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my "Improve-
ments in the Manufacture of Looped Fabrics and in Machinery, to be
employed therein,"
First, the employment of a single or double tier of jacks and sinkers for
producing one, two, or more courses of work at one and the same time, sub-
stantially in manner herein-before described, with reference to the accom-
panying Drawings.
Second, the construction and employment of instruments carrying needles,
for making two or more courses on the same piece of fabric in one complete
motion of the frame, whether such instruments be used in the particular com-
binations shewn and described, or otherwise, in machinery for the manufacture
of looped fabrics.
Third, the method of narrowing, widening, or figuring looped fabrics
substantially as herein-before described, with reference to the accompanying
Drawings.
Fourth, the employment of one, two, or more bars, carrying inclined
planes, together with the employment of thread carriers, for the purpose of
laying the threads under the sinker nibs, hooks, or needles, for making two or
more courses of looped fabrics on one piece of fabric, in one complete motion
of the frame substantially as herein-before described.
Fifth, the manufacture of looped fabrics, by making them at two or more
courses in the same motion of the frame, whereby a double selvage is
formed.
And sixth, the construction and general combination and arrangement of
the parts forming a frame for the manufacture of looped fabrics, whereby I
am enabled to make one or more courses of the fabric in one complete motion
of the frame substantially, as herein-before described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two
JOHN HANCOCK. (L.S.)