AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CHENILLE, BONNET WREATHS, AND BONNET FEATHERS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Harper, Lace Maker, and Robert Stokes,
Lace Maker, and Thomas Walker, Clock Maker, each of Derby, in the
County of Derby, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CHENILLE, BONNET WREATHS, AND BONNET FEATHERS."
Sealed the 17th December 1859, and dated the 18th June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Harper, Robert
Stokes, and Thomas Walker at the Office of the Commissioners of.
Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th June 1859.
We, RICHARD HARPER, Lace Maker, and ROBERT STOKES, Lace Maker,
and THOMAS WALKER, Clock Maker, each of Derby, in the County of Derby,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHENILLE, BONNET WREATHS, AND BONNET FEATHERS,"
to be as follows:-
In carrying out this Invention we first place any required length of a
circular foundation, made of either brass, iron, wood, or other material, between
two supports or the opposite ends of a room, so that it can be held in an hori-
zontal position. This wire or foundation we make with two or more grooves
or flutes running the whole length, and into these grooves we place suitable
fine wire as described hereafter. Sliding upon this fluted wire is a tube or
socket actuated by means of a band and wheel. This tube has attached

page_text: to it a triangular or other shaped stud plate, on the studs of which bobbins
of silk or other fibre are placed, and each bobbin is fitted with a flyer to
conduct the silk or other material on the fluted wire. Thus when a circular
motion is given to the tube carrying the bobbins and flyers, the material
contained on the bobbins is wrapped upon the fluted foundation or wire.
This tube with the apparatus for driving it are fixed to a suitable stand or
carriage placed on wheels. These wheels run upon a suitable tramway, so
that the tube can be traversed along the fixed grooved wire. When the
above operation is completed to the length required, a knife is inserted into
one of the grooves for the purpose of severing the silk directly over it, and
thus liberate the material from the fluted foundation. This done, a small
twisting apparatus is attached to the severed portion by means of the wires
previously inserted in the grooves; the whole is twisted together, forming a
circular material or chenille.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Harper, Robert Stokes, and Thomas Walker in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
HARPER, Lace Maker, and ROBERT STOKES, Lace Maker, and THOMAS
WALKER, Clock Maker, each of Derby, in the County of Derby, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Richard Harper, Robert Stokes, and Thomas Walker; Her special
licence that we, ..the said. Richard Harper, Robert Stokes, and Thomas
Walker, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said Richard Harper, Robert Stokes, and Thomas Walker, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN. THE MANUFACTURE OF
CHENILLE, BONNET WREATHS, AND BONNET FEATHERS," upon the condition
(amongst others).that we, the said. Richard Harper, Robert Stokes, and.

page_text: Thomas Walker, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or one of our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Richard Harper, Robert Stokes, and
Thomas Walker, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement in writing, and on reference to
the accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
In carrying out this Invention we first place any required length of a
circular foundation, made of either brass, iron, wood, or other material, between
two supports or the opposite ends of a room, so that it can be held in an hori-
zontal position. This wire or foundation we make with two or more grooves
or flutes running the whole length, and into these grooves we place suitable
fine wire, as described hereafter. Sliding upon this fluted wire is a tube or
socket, actuated by means of a band and wheel. This tube has attached to it
a triangular or other shaped stud plate, on the studs of which bobbins of
silk or other fibre are placed, and each bobbin is fitted with a flyer to conduct
the silk or other material on to the fluted wire. Thus when a circular motion
is given to the tube carrying the bobbins and flyers, the material contained
on the bobbins is wrapped upon the fluted foundation or wire. This tube
with the apparatus for driving it are fixed to a suitable stand or carriage
placed on wheels. These wheels run upon a suitable tramway, so that the
tube can be traversed along the fixed grooved wire.
When the above operation is completed to the length required, a knife is
inserted into one of the grooves for the purpose of severing the silk directly
over it, and thus liberate the material from the fluted foundation. This done,
a small twisting apparatus is attached to the severed portion by means of the
wires previously inserted in the grooves; the whole is twisted together,
forming a circular material or chenille.
In making bonnet wreaths and bonnet feathers according to this Invention,
the revolving tube and bobbins may be dispensed with, as the length of wire
to be covered at one time being only short, the covering of the same can be
accomplished by passing the silk along by hand whilst the grooved wire
revolves, and when the latter is sufficiently covered, the process of cutting and
twisting is the same as that required for chenille.
In order that the practical application of our Invention may be readily

page_text: understood, and for the purpose of describing the same more in detail, we
have annexed hereunto a Sheet of illustrative Drawings, and have marked
the same with figures and letters. of reference corresponding with those in the
following explanation thereof:-
.
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Figure 2 a side view, of the apparatus
which we employ for the purpose of carrying out our improvement in the
manufacture of chenille.
a, a, are two rails running parallel the whole length of the room, and fixed
to the floor of the same; b, b, is a carriage running on flanged wheels c, c*,
on these rails, and supporting a tube d, d, capable of revolving in the two
sockets of the bracket e, e. The carriage b, b, also supports a driving shaft f, f
turned by a winch handle g, g. The grooved pulley h, h, on this shaft causes
the tube d, d, to revolve rapidly by means of a band i, i, passing around.it,,
and the small grooved pulley k, k, fixed on the tube, at the same time that
the band,, passing round the pulley m, m,. and the pulley n, n, on the axle.
of the wheels c*, c*, causes the carriage to move slowly along the rails a, a..
The tube d, d, carries at one end a stud plate o, o, on which the bobbins p, pi
carrying the silk are mounted, each bobbin being furnished with a flyer or
guide to conduct the silk on to the grooved wire q, q, the sectional form of.
which wire is shewn enlarged in. Figure 3. This wire is stretched perfectly
level and central. with the tube d, d, and parallel with the rails a, a, from end.
to end of the room; r, r, is a bearer or guide for steadying the wire, and
keeping it perfectly central in the tube. There is a slot through one side of.
the tube, and the sockets, pulleys, and stud plate, in order that the grooved.
wire 99, may be passed in and out when required without having to be.
threaded through the centre.
Our improved process of making chenille by the use of this apparatus is as
follows: The grooved wire q, q, having been properly adjusted and fixed, a
length of fine wire is fastened to one end of the same (by passing it through a.
hole drilled. in. the grooved wire), and then passed along the lower groove to
the other end, and again made fast, being first stretched so tight as to insure.
its laying at the bottom of the groove. The carriage b, b, carrying the
revolving tube d, d, and bobbins of silk p, p, is then placed on the rails, and
the grooved wire passed through the slot into the centre of the tube.. This.
done, the covering of the wire. with silk is the next process, for which purpose,
the ends of silk on all the bobbins must be passed through. their respective.
guides or flyers, gathered together, and made fast to the grooved wire. The
handle g, g, must then be turned, and the tube with the bobbins will be caused
to-revolve rapidly by the band i, i, at the same time that the band I, I, will

page_text: cause the carriage b, b, with the tube and bobbins to be traversed slowly from
end to end of the grooved wire, and thus the latter will be evenly covered with
silk. throughout its whole length, or as far as may be desired...
.
Another piece of fine wire of the same kind as that laid in the
groove (and
now covered. with silk) is also made fast to the grooved wire, and passed
along outside the silk (directly over the grooves containing the first mentioned
wire) to the opposite end of the same, and the wire in the groove is then
loosened. and twisted at the end so as to connect it with the wire passed out-
side the silk. The ends thus connected together are then attached to the
hooks of the twister (see Figure 4),. which is a small apparatus consisting of
a spur pinion and wheel t, t, actuated by a handle u, u. The cutting and
twisting are then commenced, by one workman holding and turning the
twisting apparatus whilst another cuts the silk by passing a knife along the
groove on the top of the wire (see enlarged view Figure 3), and at the samo
time holding under the grooved wire a bearing or guide v, v, of about one or
two inches in length. The semicircular recess in this bearer is of about the
same diameter as the grooved wire, and at the bottom of this recess is a small
groove to receive and guide the fine wire placed outside the silk. As soon as
one workman commences severing the silk by passing the knife along the top
groove, the other workman holding the twister, commences to twist the two
fine wires together, and the bearer or guide v, v, being held under the part
being cut, it holds the severed silk from falling away before it is caught and
held by the twisting together of the two wires. The cutting and twisting thus
proceed simultaneously until the whole length has been cut and twisted, and
the chenille is then finished.
It will be evident that a self-acting apparatus embodying the same principles
might easily be arranged for this purpose, if desired.
The only alteration in the apparatus required for making different thick-
nesses or diameters of chenille, is to substitute a thicker or thinner grooved
wire accordingly, and if a different quality of chenille be required, by placing
the band i, i, on the other grooved pulleys, the tube will be caused to revolve
more slowly, and consequently deposit a smaller quantity of silk on a given
length of the grooved wire.
For making bonnet wreaths and bonnet feathers where only short pieces of
chenille are required, the method of operating is much the same, excepting
that the grooved wire may be caused to revolve by means of the "twister"
whilst the silk is passed along by hand. The fine wires are used in the same
manner, and the cutting and twisting are performed in a precisely similar
manner to that above described for chenille..

page_text: Having now fully described the nature and object of our said Invention for
"An Improvement in the Manufacture of Chenille, Bonnet Wreaths, and
Bonnet Feathers, together with the manner in which the same is to be per-
formed, we would remark, in conclusion, that we claim as our Invention, the
manufacturing of chenille, bonnet wreaths, and bonnet feathers, in the manner
and by means of the grooved wire or foundation and other apparatus above
described, and shewn in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Harper, Robert Stokes, and
Thomas Walker, have hereunto set our hands ands seals, this Fifteenth
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hun-
dred and fifty-nine
Witness,
SAMUEL BARTON, jun".,
Patent Agent.
RICHARD HARPER. (L.S.)
ROBERT STOKES.
(L.S.)
THOMAS WALKER. (L.S.)