IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING LACE MADE OF SILK, COTTON, OR OTHER MATERIAL
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jonathan Bircumshaw, of Lenton, in the County of
Nottingham, Lace Dresser, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR DRESSING LACE MADE OF SILK, COTTON, OR OTHER
MATERIAL."
Sealed the 27th August 1858, and dated the 2nd March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jonathan Bircumshaw at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd March 1858.
I, JONATHAN BIRCUMSHAW, of Lenton, in the County of Nottingham, Lace
Dresser, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING LACE MADE OF SILK, COTTON, OR OTHER MATERIAL,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in applying pressure during the process of dressing
lace made of silk,, cotton, or other material, in manner following, that is to say,
I employ a metallic table or bed, or if preferable rollers, which I heat by
steam or otherwise. My machine is so constructed that the lace is carried
over the heated surface of such metallic, table or bed or rollers during the
process of dressing, and when in contact with the said table, bed, or rollers
receives pressure, which is applied by machinery.
In dressing a lace piece it is necessary in the first instance to wind it on a
roller, and as the piece is dressed it passes off the roller over the heated table,

page_text: bed, &c., previously to which the dressing material in a liquid state is applied
to the piece. The lace on receiving the hot pressure upon the table,
bed, &c. becomes partially dried, and from the table, bed, &c. throughout
the length and width of the machine are heated pipes; the lace then
passes from the bed directly over the heated pipes, and immediately above
the lace is a fan the entire width of the machine, which revolves rapidly,
wafting the hot air emitted from the pipes above-mentioned, whereby the lace
is completely dried, so that it may at once be wound on a roller, instead of as
heretofore, being stretched out the whole length of the piece on dressing frames
for the purpose of drying, an advantage that will be at once perceived, as it
enables me to dress or get up lace, as "before stated, in rooms of much
smaller size than those now required for the same purpose.
By this my Invention the material is flattened, a more brilliant gloss or
face is imparted to the articles when dressed, and fewer hands are required to
perform a given work.
I propose to use a self-supplying instrument for putting the dressing upon
the lace previously to its passing over the heated table, bed, &c., thereby
dispensing with the manual labour required for that purpose.".
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jonathan Bircumshaw in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, I, JONATHAN
BIRCUMSHAW, of Lenton, in the County of Nottingham, Lace Dresser, send
'greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifty-eight,-in-the-twenty-first-year-of-Her-
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jonathan Bircumshaw, Her special licence that I, the said Jonathan
Bircumshaw, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Jonathan Bircumshaw, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING LACE MADE OF SILK, COTTON, OR OTHER MATERIAL,"

page_text: upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jonathan Bircumshaw,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 I, the said Jonathan Bircumshaw, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
:
:
My Invention consists in applying pressure during the process of dressing
lace made of silk, cotton, or other material, in manner following:-I employ
a metallic table or bed, or, if preferable, rollers, which I heat by steam or
otherwise. My machine is so constructed that, the lace is carried over the
heated surface of, such metallic table, or bed, or rollers, during the process of
dressing, and when in contact with the said, table, bed, or rollers, receives
pressure which is applied by machinery.
In dressing a lace piece it is necessary, in the first instance, to wind it on a
roller, and as the piece is dressed it passes off the roller over the heated table,
bed, or rollers, previously to which the dressing material in a liquid state is
applied to the piece. The lace on receiving the hot pressure upon the table,
bed, or 'rollers, becomes partially dried, and from the table, bed, or rollers
throughout the length and width of the machine are heated pipes; the lace
then passes from the bed directly over the heated pipes, and immediately
above the lace is a fan the entire width of the machine which revolves rapidly,
wafting the hot air emitted from the pipes before-mentioned, whereby the
lace is completely dried, so that it may at once be wound on a roller, instead
of, as heretofore, being stretched out the whole length of the piece on dressing
frames for the purpose of drying it, an advantage that will be at once per-
ceived, as it enables me to dress or get up lace, as before statéd, in rooms of
much smaller size than those heretofore required for the same purpose. By
this, my Invention, the material during the process becomes flattened; a more
brilliant gloss or face is imparted to the farticle or articles when dressed, and
fewer hands are required to perform a given quantity of work. I use a self-
supplying instrument for applying the dressing upon the lace previously to its
passing over the heated table, bed, or rollers, thus dispensing with the manual
dabour required for that purpose.

page_text: Figure 1 is a horizontal or top view of my lace dressing machinery; Figure
2 is a front view; Figure 3 is a side view; Figure 4 is a section of steam bed
C¹, and the wood work; Figure 5 is a section of presser B, and also of the
blocks D; which are made to slide in the bottom of presser B; Figure 6
shows the small wheel having only a few teeth; Figure 7 shows the eccentric
by which the presser B is worked; Figure 8 shows the large cog-wheel;
Figure 9. is a front view of heated rollers B¹; C" to be placed as B, C, in
place of presser and bed, as shown in Figure 1, to press or roll the lace during
, the process of dressing as it passes from E to L. Figure 10 is an end or side
view of the rollers at work, in place of the presser and bed B, C. The
reference letters correspond with the reference in Figure 3; Y, in Figure 10,
corresponds with the same letter as in Figure 3. The rollers are worked by
a cog wheel X, placed on the end of the bottom roller, and geared to the
other cog wheels on shaft H. The method of passing the piece from E to the
rollers, is by an endless strap, as represented in Figure 3. W is a pulley
which the strap. winds round. Figures 1, 2, and 3, are drawn to a scale of
of an inch to a foot; Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, are drawn to a scale of
.three inches to.a foot. Similar letters of reference are marked upon corre-
.sponding parts of the mechanism in all the Figures.
The letters A show the wood or framework; B shows the presser, by which
the fabric is pressed; C' shows the steam bed, upon which the fabric is pressed
by presser B; the letters D, shown in Figure 2 are blocks of wood, which
are made to slide in the bottom of the presser B, as shown in Figure 5.;
these blocks are about: four inches long, and can be put in or taken out, ac-
.cording to the width of the fabric to be dressed; these blocks are covered
'with flannel or such other soft material as thought fit, which said flannel is
put over the blocks, and tied to the presser B, by which the fabric is then
_pressed.__E_is_the_front_roller,-upon-which-are-fastened-tapes-that-will-reach-
unto the back roller L, at the end of which tapes is fastened a light bar E',
of iron, in which bar of iron are pins or hooks to which the fabric is fastened;
it is then wound round the said roller E by means of the handle C; the back
roller L has also the same length of tapes with iron bar I; and hooks also as
the front roller E; these tapes are unwound and brought forward between the
presser B, and steam bed C¹, up to the front roller E; where the fabric is
wound round as before described. The fabric is then fastened to the hooks or
pins in the bar I of the back roller; the machine is then put in motion by
turning the handle J; this handle is screwed fast to the shaft H, upon which

page_text: is fastened the small cog wheel X, which said wheel works within the larger
wheel Y; this said wheel Y is fastened on the shaft J', upon which shaft also
is fastened the crank V, to which is attached the lever S, which said lever.S.is
also attached to another crank U, which crank is fastened to the shaft G, upon
which shaft are fastened the pulleys N, over which the straps K work; the
said straps K have the tension pins upon which the fabric is put," and by
turning the handle J the straps are made to move from the pulleys O round
the pulleys N, therefore carrying the fabric from the front roller E to the
back roller L. To the shaft G is fastened the pulley R, over which works a
strap P, which said strap works over another pulley Q, which pulley is fastened.
on the spindle of the back roller L, which said roller receives. the fabric when
dressed. When the handle J is turned it moves the shaft G, which said shaft
turns the strap P'from the pulley R-round the pulley Q, which said pulley is
fast on the back roller L, by which means the said. roller receives the fabric
when dressed from the straps K. The small catch wheel P¹; which is fastened
on the spindle of the back roller L, and the catch R¹ are to prevent the said
-back roller from turning back; the straps K are made to work in the slides
G', which slides are supported by an iron support F, which same support is
screwed fast to the support Z to which same support Z is fastened the axle
for the pulleys O, the support Z is made to move either way on the front
rail for the accommodation of any width of fabric. The pulleys N are also
moveable on the shaft G. On the shaft H are the eccentrics W to which said
eccentrics are attached the levers T, from which said levers the presser B is
worked by the joints 01; on the same shaft H, and close to the eccentrics is
the small cog wheel X, which said wheel, having only a few teeth, when the
eccentrics have caused the presser B to press the fabric and again raised the
said presser, then these few teeth coming in connection with the large wheel
Y, which wheel is fast on shaft J¹; by this connection the machine is put in
motion when the fabric is carried forwards by the straps K. At the back of
the presser B, and over the straps K is fixed the fan F', which said fan is
supported by iron supports K', which supports are screwed fast to the side
rail; at one end of the fan F is fastened a pulley S¹ for the strap, which strap
is worked by steam, or otherwise, as most convenient. Also at the back of
presser B, and under the straps K is fixed the steam piping M; the said
piping is supported by iron supports, which said supports are screwed to the
side rail. M' is a small pipe, by which the steam is let into the.steam bed
C', upon which the fabric is pressed; the steam passes. from the bed C' through
the piping M, and is carried down the small pipe N¹ to a convenient place for
escape. The fan F¹ and steam piping M are for drying the fabric.
a is a

page_text: small ratchet wheel screwed fast on the spindle of the front roller E; and 6 is
the catch, by which said wheel and catch the fabric is kept tight while dressing;
:while the machine is in motion, the said catch bis lifted off to allow the fabric
to pass from the front roller E unto the back roller L; the front roller E is
supported by wood supports D'. Hshows the fabric from the front roller E
to the back roller L.
The mode of dressing is as follows:-The fabric to be dressed is first
fastened to the pins or hooks in the bar E¹ on the front roller E; it is then by
means of the handle C wound round the said roller E, when the tapes of the
.back roller L are brought forwards under the presser B, and the end of the
fabric is fastened to the pins or hooks in the bar of iron I at the end of
.the tapes;
the handle J is then turned until the fabric is brought up to the
presser B, the pulleys O and N, over which the straps K work, having been
inade right for the width, the fabric is then put on the tension pins in the
straps K, the fabric is then dressed, when the machine proceeds until the part
.dressed is pressed, thus is one part pressed and drying while the other part is
dressing; the fabric having passed under the fan F1 and over the steam
piping M is then delivered by the straps K unto the back roller L; when the
above-described is completed the fabric is taken off the back roller L by
folders. After a piece has been dressed or stiffened, in order to give it
additional gloss or lustre I pass it through the bed or rollers in its then
dressed state without using any further dressing or stiffening material.
1
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 the improvements
in machinery for dressing lace made of silk, cotton, or other material herein-
before described, and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed..
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonathan Bircumshaw, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JONATHAN BIRCUMSHAW. (L.S.)
GEO. JON. ROBINSON, Patent Agent,
Middle Pavement, Nottingham.