A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING THE GYMP OR EMBROIDERY THREADS IN SHAPED ARTICLES, SUCH AS TULLES, LACES, VALENCIENNES, EMBROIDERY, and TarlatANS.”
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Octave Léon Deschamps, of Paris, in the Republic of
France, Machinist, for an Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE
FOR CUTTING THE GYMP OR EMBROIDERY THREADS IN SHAPED ARTICLES,
SUCH AS TULLES, LACES, VALENCIENNES, EMBROIDERY, and TarlatANS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Octave Léon Deschamps at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th March 1881.
OCTAVE LEON DESCHAMPS, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Machinist.
"A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING THE GYMP OR EMBROIDERY
THREADS IN SHAPED ARTICLES, SUCH AS TULLES, LACES, VALENCIENNES,
EMBROIDERY, AND TARLATANS."
In the manufacture of tulles, laces, valenciennes, embroideries, tarlatans, and
other similar articles by machinery, the mechanical production of the designs
necessitates the use of embroidery threads and gymps which assist in the formation
of flowers and other designs, the said embroidery threads and gymps having to bo
cut away afterwards close between each of the aforesaid flowers or other designs
because they are useless and encumber the back of the tissue.
Heretofore the cutting of the ombroidery threads or gymps has been offected by
hand, which is a difficult operation to perform and an onerous one for
manufacturers.
By means of the apparatus herein after described this operation may be per-
formed mechanically; by it the gymp or embroidery threads may be cut in all
kinds of tulles, laces, etcetera, whatever may be the shape of the designs or the
nature of the tissue it cuts, better and quicker than by hand; it never goes through
the tissue, but keeps it fresh, and finally, as it operates mechanically nothing is
required of the person using it but to guide it, which is not a fatiguing operation.
In a wooden handle is fixed a metallic tube which is cast to or connected with
three arms uniting it to a base ring. In the tube is fitted a cylindrical stock

page_text: which constitutes the shaft of the mechanism; at the upper end of this stock or
shaft is fixed a pulley, the boss of which bears on the end of the aforesaid tube;
round this boss and between the body of the said pulley and the end of the tube
there turns a shaft or arm carrying two rollers placed on its opposite ends; these
rollers are intended to guide the cord which gives motion to the apparatus, and
to force the said cord to lay sufficiently close to the arc of the pulley to
drive it.
The lower end of the stock or shaft is fitted with a lock nut intended to securo
the shaft vertically; below the lock nut the shaft receives a socket, from which
issue three arms which carry cutting rowels or rollers.
These rollers are composed of steel discs which are fixed on or formed with
vertical axes passing through the last mentioned arms and carrying at their upper
ends pinions which gear with an internal toothed wheel fixed to the arms of the
aforesaid base ring.
In this base ring is fitted and fixed a second ring, to which is fixed a third ring
of steel which lays horizontally so as to be always in contact with the under side
of the beforementioned cutting rollers, which latter are pressed against the said
steel ring by springs secured to the arms and pressing on the upper ends of the
axes of the cutting rollers.
To the outside of the base ring is screwed a sole piece, the edges of which near
its end or nose are sharpened so as to act as a cutting blade.
On this sole piece are arranged two blades which cross each other, the upper
one having its end turned up to prevent it from going under the gymp or
embroidery threads.
:
The under side of the sole piece and the steel cutting circle must be exactly in
the same plane. The action of the cutting apparatus is as follows:-By means of
any convenient driving gear a cord gives motion to the pulley on the stock or
shaft, thereby the farms carrying the cutting rollers or discs are turned and
the pinions on their axes impart rapid rotary motion to such cutting rollers
or discs.
The apparatus being firmly held in the hand and caused to act is moved in all
directions over the tulle to be cut while the latter is in the loom. The operator
follows carefully the end of the sole piece, and guides it under the embroidery
threads, which it cuts either near the design or in the spaces which separates the
designs from one another. In either case the base ring being kept firmly on the
tulle raises the cut threads as it passes, and then presents them between the stoel
ring and the cutting discs; these threads are thus cut as short as the small thickness
of the said steel ring will allow.
In order to collect all the threads with great certainty the sole piece or blade
may be cut to a point, and the base of the machine may be fitted with a ring of
felt or any other suitable material, such as india rubber for example.
A steel ferrule holds the said felt firmly against the base.
If preferred the aforesaid sole piece may be arranged so as to be guided inside
the steel ring whereby greater security is obtained for inexperienced operators.
Instead of the steel cutting discs, the number of which may be varied according
to circumstances, I may employ any suitable number of knives turning round the
stock or shaft in order to raise elastically the steel cutting ring with their cutting
edges.
In the base ring and in combination with one or more revolving knives, there
may be placed under such revolving knife or knives one or more fixed or moveable
instruments for collecting the gymp or embroidery threads and presenting them to
the knives. Such collecting instrument or instruments when made to rotate may
be turned in the same direction as the knives, or in the opposite direction, and
whether fixed or moveable they may be made of any suitable shape and
dimensions, and may be arranged over the knife or knives if preferred.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Octave Léon Deschamps in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th September 1881.
OCTAVE LÉON DESCHAMPS, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Machinist.
"A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING THE GYMP OR EMBROIDERY
THREADS IN SHAPED ARTICLES, SUCH AS TULLES, LACES, VALENCIENNES,
EMBROIDERY, AND TARLATANS."
In the manufacture of tulles, laces, valenciennes, embroideries, tarlatans, and other
similar articles by machinery, the mechanical production of the designs necessitates
the use of embroidery threads and gymps which assist in the formation of flowers and
other designs, the said embroidery threads and gymps having to be cut away
afterwards close between each of the aforesaid flowers or other designs because
they are useless and encumber the back of the tissue.
Heretofore the cutting of the embroidery threads or gymps has been effected by
hand, which is a difficult operation to perform, and an onerous one for
manufacturers.
By means of the apparatus hereinafter described this operation may be performed
mechanically; by it the gymp or embroidery threads may be cut away in all kinds
of tulles, laces, etcetera, whatever may be the shape of the designs or the nature of
the tissue, it cuts better and quicker than by hand, and as it operates mechanically
nothing is required of the person using it but to guide it, which is not a fatiguing
operation.
Figure 1 of the Drawings is a sectional elevation of one arrangement of the
machine; Figure 2 is a partial plan taken on line 1-2 of Figure 1, and Figure 3
a general plan of same.
.
Figure 4 is a plan of a modified arrangement of a constituent and cutting part of
the machine.
Figures 5 and 6 show respectively in elevation and in plan, seen from below,
another modification and special arrangement of the same constituent parts;
Figure 7 shows in detail one of the cutting parts.
In a wooden handle a intended to be held in the hand is fixed a metallic tube b
which is cast to or connected with three arms c¹, c', c', uniting it to a base ring c.
In the tube b is fitted so as to move easily therein a cylindrical stem d which
constitutes the shaft of the mechanism; at the upper end of this stem or shaft is
fixed a pulley e, the boss e¹ of which bears on the end of the aforesaid tube b.
Round this boss e¹ and between the body of the said pulley e and the end of the
tube there turns loosely a support or arm f' carrying two guide rollers f, f, placed
on its opposite ends; these rollers are intended to guide the cord, which gives
motion to the apparatus, and to force the said cord to embrace sufficient of the arc
of the pulley e to drive the latter.
The lower end of the stem or shaft d is furnished with a shoulder or collar d¹ to
prevent the said shaft from rising from its position vertically; below the shoulder
or collar d' the shaft receives a socket g¹, from which issue three arms g,g, g, which
carry cutting rollers or discs.
These cutting rollers or discs are composed of steel discs h chamfered at their
circumferences, and fixed on or formed with vertical or slightly inclined axes i
passing through the last mentioned arms g and carrying at their upper ends pinions p
which gear with an internal toothed wheel m fixed to the arms c², c³, c², of the
aforesaid base ring c.
In this base ring c is fitted and fixed by a bayonet joint a second ring n,
to which is fixed by soldering or otherwise a third ring of steel / which lays

page_text: •
horizontally so as to be always in contact with the underside of the beforementioned
cutting rollers or discs h, which latter are pressed against the said steel ring by
springs r secured to the arms g and pressing on the upper end of the axis i of the
said cutting rollers or discs.
"To the outside of the base ring c (Figures 1, 2, and 3) is secured by a screw v
.a sole piece 8, the edges of which near its end or nose s' are sharpened so as to act
as cutting blades. On this sole piece and normally to it are arranged two blades t, t³,
which cross each other at all times, the upper one t¹ having its end turned up to
prevent it from going under the gymp or embroidery threads. The under side
of the sole piece 8 and of the steel cutting circle must be exactly in the same
plane.
The action of the cutting apparatus (Figures 1, 2, and 3) is as follows:-By
means of any convenient driving gear a cord gives rotary motion to the pulley e
on the stem or shaft d, and thereby to the arms 9 carrying the cutting rollers or
discs h.
By this motion the pinions p are caused to turn, imparting rapid rotary motion
to the said cutting rollers or discs.
The apparatus being firmly held in the hand and caused to act is moved in all
directions over the tulle to be cut while the latter is in the loom, The operator
follows carefully with the eye the end of the sole piece s, and guides it under the
.embroidery threads, which it cuts either near the design, or in the spaces which
separate the designs from one another. In either case the base ring c being kept
firmly on the tulle raises the cut threads as it passes, and then presents them
between the steel ring and the cutting discs h; these threads are thus cut as short
as the small thickness of the said steel ring & will allow of.
In order to collect and raise with greater certainty the threads which the sole
piece or blade s has only divided at one point, the base c of the machine may be
fitted with a ring of felt x or any other suitable material, such as india rubber,
for example. A steel ferrule at holds tho said felt x firmly against the base c.
If preferred the aforesaid sole pieces may be arranged so as to be guided inside
'the stoel ring 7, as shown in Figure 4, whereby greater security is obtained for;
inexperienced operators..
In Figures 5 and 6 the blades 8, t, shown in the preceding arrangements, are
replaced by a number of blades or knives y placed tangentially to the ring c in
rigid supports y' screwed to the said ring (see Figures and 7). An external
ring & surrounds all tho knives y; and as it descends to the level of the ring c it is
hollowed out opposite each of the knives to allow the latter to project to the
necessary extent.
The action of this modification of the apparatus is the same as that described in
reference to the apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 4; the threads to be divided are
cut in all directions by one or other of the knives y, according to the direction
given to the tool before they are sheared by the cutting discs h.
Figures 8 and 9 show an arrangement applicable to the machines above
described. The object of this arrangement is to prevent the enlargement of the
holes which the tool may meet with or which it may make itself. It consists in
arranging the blade carrier A so as to swing or rock on the carriage B in such
manner that on meeting a hole the nose A¹ enters the fabric, and the carrier A
swings up, and as the thread encounters the blade L it is divided.
In Figures 1, 2 3, and 4 the sole plate t with the blade s, and in Figures 6 and 7,
the parts y, y', may be replaced by the parts A,B, Figures 8 and 9.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to or may be carried into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim in connection with machines for cutting the gymp or embroidery
threads in shaped articles, such as tulles, laces, valenciennes, embroidery; and
tarlatans, is,
Firstly. The circular base c provided with a handle a for the purpose of sup-
porting and directing the said base ring by hand over the tulle or other fabric to

page_text: be cut, as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 5 of tho
Drawings.
Secondly. The steel ring fixed in the interior of the circular base c, as herein-
before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 4, 5, and 6 of the Drawings, and for
the purpose set forth.
Thirdly. The sole-piece s fixed to the base of the tool and projecting therefrom
in the same horizontal plane, either externally, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3,
or internally, as shown in Figure 4, for the purpose of dividing by its cutting sides
and at the edges of the designs one or both ends of the threads to be cut, the said
sole piece being furnished or not with an arrangement of blades placed normally
thereto for the purpose of dividing such threads at intermediate points of the
designs, as hereinbefore described.
Fourthly. One or more blades or knives arranged and secured tangentially to
the circular base c for the purpose of cutting the threads at any point, as herein-
before described and illustrated in Figures 5, 6, and 7 of the Drawings.
Fifthly. One or more steel discs h, h, mounted at the end or onds of an arm or
arms g driven with a rapid rotary motion concentrically to the base of the machine,
and constantly pressed against the upper surface of the steel ring 7 fixed in the
said base, in order to form with the said ring the devico for cutting off the
embroidery threads previously divided by the beforementioned sole-plate, as,
herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the
Drawings.
1
Sixthly. The combination of the internal toothed wheel m fixed to the base of
the tool, with the pinions p fixed on the axes of the steel discs h for the purpose of
communicating to the said discs a rotary motion on themselves, simultaneously
with and by means of the rotary motion of the arms g which carry them, as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the Drawings.
Seventhly. The means of imparting motion to the arms carrying the cutting
disc, consisting of a pulley e fixed on the shaft d carrying the said arms, and of
two guide rollers f, f, turning on an arm or carriage f¹ mounted loosely on the
said shaft, such guide rollers causing the driving cord to embrace a sufficiently
large portion of the circumference of the driving pulley c, as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in Figures 1, 3, and 5 of the Drawings.
Eighthly. The arrangement of knives or blades mounted so as to rock or swing
on their supports or carriages, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, which arrangement
may be substituted for the parts s, t, shown in Figuros 1 to 4, or for the parts y, y',
shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7, as herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Octave Léon Deschamps, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.