IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE TRIMMING OR SEVERING OF LACE OR LOOPED FABRICS
Year: 1884

page_text: I EDWARD WOODWARD WHITEHALL of Caroline Street Nottingham in the Town
and County of the Town of Nottingham Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE
TRIMMING OR SEVERING OF LACE OR LOOPED FABRICS to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the Trimming or severing of Lace or Inoped
fabrics, but more particularly Lace, and is in appearance similar to a sewing
machine, and which consists of the following principle parts (viz) Machine plate
for the fabric to rest upon, presser foot and feed motion, and upright shaft, for
carrying the Blade, for severing or cutting, the Lace, according to the pattern to be
operated upon. The chief novelty of the Invention lies in the blade, and its
peculiar shape and motion, and which is secured to the lower end, of the upright
shaft before mentioned and which moves up and down through the machine plate,
somewhat similar to a sewing machine needle, with, this exception, that the lower
part of the blade, never rises out of the plate This blade has a motion of
about 5/8ths of an inch and bears against another blade, or steel face fixed to the
machine plate, at right angles to the other blade or shaft. The upper part of the
top cutting blade, is made to cut at an angle, as it descends, the lower part of the
top cutting blade, terminates, in a thin rod or wire about 3/4 of an inch long and
by preference under 1/16 of an inch in diameter. The object of this wire like
termination of the top blade, is for the material to be kept up to it, by the will of
the operator, according to the pattern, to be cut or severed, by the descent of the
cutting part of the blade. When the machine is set in motion, either by treddle or
power, and it is required to cut round a sharp curve, by the will of the attendant,
the presser foot rises clear of the fabric, and the upright shaft that carries the blade
shortens its stroke or motion simultaneously, with the foot rising, the wire like end
of the blade, only working up and down, in or through the plate, without the
fabric being taken along, or cut, untill the Lace or other fabric is placed in proper
position to suit the curve or scollop to be cut round, when this is done, by the will
of the operator (by a suitable arrangement) the presser foot falls onto the feed, and
the blade rod resumes its full length of stroke, cutting round the curve, as far as it
is practicable, when by the will of the operator the foot again rises, and the blade
shortens its stroke untill the fabric is again placed into position, for finishing the
cutting round of the curve, or the commencement of another, and without stopping
the machine.
These movements are repeated untill the superfluous part of the material is cut
away, according to the pattern of the Lace or other fabric.

page_text: I EDWARD WOODWARD WHITEHALL of Caroline Street in the Town and County
of the Town of Nottingham Mechanical Draughtsman do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE TRIMMING
OR SEVERING OF LACE OR: LOOPED FABRICS and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and, by the following
statement:-
My Invention has for its object the Trimming or severing of Lace or looped
fabrics but more particularly Lace, and is in appearence similar to a sewing machine
and which consists of the following principle parts. viz. Machine plate for the
fabric to rest upon, presser foot and feed motion and upright shaft, for carrying the
blade, for severing or cutting the Lace, according to the pattern to be operated
upon, The chief novelty of the Invention lies in the blade, and its peculiar
shape, and motion, and which is secured, to the lower end of the upright shaft
before mentioned, and which moves up and down, through the machine plate,
somewhat similar, to a sewing machine needle, with this exception that the lower
part of the blade never rises out of the plate.
This blade has a motion of about five eights of an inch or less, and bears against
another blade or steel face, fixed to the machine plate, at right angles, to the other
blade or shaft.
The upper part of the top cutting blade is made to cut at an angle, as it descends,
the lower part of the top cutting blade terminates in a thin rod, or wire about
three quarters of an inch long, and by preference, under one sixteenth of an inch
in diameter, the object of this wirelike termination of the top blade, is for the
material to be kept up to it, by the will of the operator, according to the pattern
to be cut or severed, by the descent of the cutting part of the blade, when the
machine is set in motion, either by treddle or power, and it is required to cut
round a sharp curve, by the will of the attendant, the presser foot rises clear of the
fabric, and the upright shaft that carries the blade, shortens its stroke or motion
simultaneously, with the foot rising, the wirelike end of the blade, only working
up and down, in or through the plate, without the fabric, being taken along or cut,
until the Lace, or other fabric, is placed in proper position, to suit the curve or
scollop to be cut round, When this is done, by the will of the operator, by a
suitable arrangement, the presser foot falls onto the feed, and the blade rod resumes
its full length of stroke, in its descent, cutting round the curve, as far as it is
practicable, when, by the will of the operator, the foot again rises, and the blade
shortens its stroke, untill the fabric is again placed in position, for finishing the
cutting round of the curve, or the commencement of another, and without stopping
the machine, these movements are repeated, until the superfluous part of the
material is cut away, according to the pattern of the Lace or other fabric.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood, I will proceed to
describe it in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings forming part of
this specification.

page_text: The
Fig I represents front view of machine, showing main shaft A, Driving wheel B,
bearings C and C1, at the left end of the main shaft, is the eccentric D, for giving
the required feed motion, D. I is the lever for determining the length of feed or
cut, to be taken, E is the slide or knife rod, that works up and down, in the
bearings E1 and E 2 and that carries the blade F, at the back of this slide rod, is
the shaft that carries the presser foot, as is well understood, and which works in
similar bearings to the knife rod, in the rod or shaft E is a slot for receiving the
end of the lever G this lever receiving motion, from the cam H, by the stud.
secured, at the end of the said lever, and working in the groove, of the .cam.
boss of this cam, or eccentric, has a slot in it, for receiving the stud I which stud is
secured to the main shaft, the object being to allow the cam to slide, while at the
same time, it is carried round with the shaft as it revolves, J is a lever for slightly
raising the presser foot, by the sliding of the cam H, by the will of the operator.
It also acts, on the feed in a similar manner, so that both the feed and the presser
foot, come together, or seperate themselves, by the will of the operator, and while
the main shaft of the machine is revolving. K is a slide that carries the feed
bracket or arm L, that works through the bed plate, similar to the feed of a sewing
machine.
C1 is a moveable bearing, that slides up and down, in the frame or bed of the
machine M (Fig 2) plan of same,) and that carries the end of the main shaft A,
sufficient play being allowed in the bearing C to allow of the left end of the said
shaft, to move vertically, about an eight of an inch, so that the feed may be
brought into action or (vice versa) by the will of the attendant.
N is a rod that is connected to a treddle, which when depressed, acts, upon the
cross lever O, the left end of which brings into action, the feed motion, the small
upright lever acts upon the rod P which moves the cam H, and brings into action
the cutting part of the blade or vice versa by the spring, and at the same time
the sliding of the cam allows the presser foot Q, to drop onto the feed, by the
spring R.
The brackets S. S are for carrying the cross lever O and the slide rod P which
acts upon the knife bar, the presser foot, and feed motion, simultaneously.
Fig 3 is a side view of the knife bar, knife and bottom blade T which is
adjustable, and which is kept well up to the knife F. This figure also shows, the
combination of the knife, presser foot and feed, with its appendages, as is well
understood.
The modus operandi is as follows:- -We will suppose the main shaft of the
machine, revolving at the rate of five or six hundred revolutions per minute, and
it is desired to trim, cut, or sever, a Lace piece, or other material, or to cut away
the raw edges, in a straight line, The material would be placed between the feed
and the presser foot, immediately that is done, the attendant brings down the
lever O, the lever acting on the rod P, brings down the knife, by the sliding of
the cam H, the presser foot and the feed also come into action at the same time,
and take along the material as fast as it is cut, but directly the treddle is released,
the presser foot and feed seperate themselves, and the knife ceases descending, low
enough to cut, the wirelike termination only working up and down, through or in
the machine plate, without the fabric being taken along, or severed.
The treddle is released instantly it is desired to shift the position of the
material, to be cut or severed, the knife, presser foot, and feed, taking up the
different positions assigned to them.
In conclusion I may here state that a modification, of the wire like termination
of the blade, may be effected, by fixing the wire in the plate, and having a groove
in the wire, so that the back of the knife may slide, in the said groove, or vice
versa, and as regards the motion of the said knife, instead of shortening its descent,
if the left hand side of the cam H only was used, and the lever kept up to the
cam by a spring, when the cam moved to the left, it would leave the blade a fixture,
somewhat in the position shown in Fig 4, while the material is moved to suit the
cutting round of any curve required.

page_text: The requisite motion of the knife rod may also be obtained, by a sliding cam or
boss having concentric and eccentric portions upon it, or from a shaft fixed above
the machine plate. The action of the knife, presser foot, and feed, may all be
varied, according to circumstances, and without departing from the principle of the
Invention.
Having now particularly described, and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner, the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
First. The use or employment of a knife having a wirelike termination, or any
mere modification thereof, for the purpose substantially as described.
Second. Causing the presser foot to rise and the feed to lower, while the main
shaft of the machine is revolving substantially as shown and described.
Third. Causing the knife having a wirelike termination to shorten its descent, or
to cease working while the main shaft of the machine is revolving, for the purpose
substantially as described.
Fourth. The combination of the knife, the presser foot, and feed motion,
substantially as described.
177 Jabury AD 1885
EDWARD WOODWARD WHITEHALL