A NEW AND IMPROVED METHOD OF STITCHING, LACING, OR MANUFACTURING OF FLAT ROPES BY MEANS OF CERTAIN ROTATIVE MACHINERY CONNECTED WITH AND WORKED BY A STEAM ENGINE OR OTHER ROLATIVE POWER, WHEREBY THE SAID STITCHING, LACING, OR MANUFACTURING OF FLAT ROPES IS BETTER EXECUTED THAN THE SAME CAN BE DONE OR PERFORMED BY ANY OTHER METHOD NOW IN USE
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GRIMSHAW, of Bishop Wearmouth, in the County of Durham, Ropemaker,
being one of the people called Quakers, send greeting.
WHEREAS the present King George the Fourth did, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Sixteenth day of April, in the third year of His reign, for Himself,
His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Grimshaw,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Grimshaw, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within that part of His United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, the Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW AND IMPROVED METHOD OF STITCHING, LACING,
OR MANUFACTURING OF FLAT ROPES BY MEANS OF CERTAIN ROTATIVE MACHINERY
CONNECTED WITH AND WORKED BY A STEAM ENGINE OR OTHER ROLATIVE POWER,
WHEREBY THE SAID STITCHING, LACING, OR MANUFACTURING OF FLAT ROPES IS BETTER
EXECUTED THAN THE SAME CAN BE DONE OR PERFORMED BY ANY OTHER METHOD
NOW IN USE;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said John Grimshaw, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
such instrument in writing to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of

page_text: Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the said
Letters Patent, as in and by the said Letters Patent, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John
Grimshaw, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as follows, that is
to say:
For the better understanding thereof I shall first explain what is meant by
flatt rope, and then describe the method of lacing, as used by some manufac-
turers, in order that my improvements may be more readily comprehended;
namely, a flatt rope consists of a number of round or common ropes, laid side
by side in a parallel direction, and fastened together by a small cord or rope
(called the lacing) being passed through them. The lacing generally runs in
a diagonal direction, as shewn in the Drawing Fig. 3, in which A, B, C, D,
represents four ropes, now called the strands, laid side by side, the strands A, C,
being twisted in a contrary direction to the strands B, D. This is done to
prevent the flat rope E from having any tendency to untwist itself when sus-
pended by one end, and a load attached to the other end of it. a, a, repre-
sents the lacing drawn through the four ropes or strands diagonally, so tight as
to hold them firmly together. This is what is called a flat rope, and the com-
mon way of lacing the four ropes together is as follows, namely:
The ropes or strands intended to be laced together are separately wound upon
reels, as shewn by Fig. 2 and Fig. 10. Fig. 2 is an empty reel, and Fig. 10
the same reel with a strand upon it. These reels are mounted by their centres
upon round bolts of iron, so as to admit of each rope or strand being drawn
away as it is wanted during the operation of lacing. Suppose four round
ropes, which are now called the strands, be required to be laced together.
The strands are introduced into a pipe (10, Fig. 1) warmed by steam from
the boiler 6, or otherwise, and partially drawn through a kind box y, Fig. 6,
generally made of cast iron, the two opposite sides of which box have each of
them a slit 5 or 6 inches in length and three quarters of an inch in width
directly opposite the centre of the strands, to allow the needle (afterwards
described) to pierce through the sides of the box, and enter the strands, the
breadth of the inside of the box being equal to the diameter of all the four
strands. added together, and the depth of the box equal to the diameter of one
of the said strands. The top and bottom of the said box are distinct from the
sides, and the top is fastened down by screws or wedges, sufficiently tight for
preventing the strands from riding upon each other. Being thus adjusted, a
needle or round punch, with a sharpe pointed end, is thrust through the centre

page_text: That is done by men pressing
The needle and lever are in some
of all the strands in a diagonal direction.
forcibly against the end of a long lever.
instances connected together by a rack and cogged wheel, the wheel being
fastened to the short end of the lever, and working upon a stud through a
hole in the centre of the wheel, and in others the connection is effected by a
ram head and straps. When the hole is pierced through all the four strands
in the manner described, the lacing is introduced into the hole, and drawn
through by men pulling at the lacing till they judge it is sufficiently tight.
The four ropes or strands, being thus laced together, thereby become one rope,
which is then drawn forward by a purchase similar to what used for lifting
heavy loads at a crane, by a man turning at the handle of such purchase till
he thinks the rope is drawn far enough through the box for the length of the
stitch. Another hole is then pierced through the four strands from the oppo-
site of the box by another similar needle or punch, acted upon in a similar
manner to what has been already described. The same lacing which has
been drawn through the four strands from the opposite side is now introduced
into this second hole, and again draw tight, so as to form the second stitch,
and thus the work proceeds till the ropes or strands proposed to be laid toge-
ther are entirely finished. There are various ways of performing these three
operations of piercing the the holes, drawing the lacing through, and measuring
the stitch, besides that which I have now described, but they are all (to the
best of my knowledge) performed by manual labour, and the distance of the
stitches from one another, and the drawing of the lacing of sufficient tightness,
entirely depends on the discretion of the workmen; whilst, on the contrary,
my method of lacing, which I am now about to describe, is capable of being
done by the power of a steam engine or any other rolative power. All the
three operations of piercing the holes by the needles, drawing the lacing through
the strands, and drawing the rope forward after the stitch is taken, are per-
formed in the first instance by a rolative motion, and capable of being attached
to or detached from the principal movement at pleasure, as follows, namely:
Fig. 1 is a general view in perspective of my machine now in use at my
manufactory in Bishop Wearmouth.
Fig. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, are detached parts of the same machine for
elucidating these parts more distinctly, in all of which the same letters refer
to the same parts of the machine, both in the general view and the separate
parts. A, B, C, D, represent four round or common ropes, now called the
strands, wound upon their respective reels F in the ordinary way of winding;
but the reels themselves, instead of being mounted by their centres, as com-
monly done, upon round bolts, bear only upon three heads or circular rims on

page_text: segments of cast iron, as shewn at Fig. 2 and Fig. 9, so as to produce con-
siderable resistance to their rolatory motion when the strands are drawn for-
ward. F, Fig. 9, represents a reel head; G, the segment upon which the
reel head rests. The reel head is made of cast iron, and each head consists of
a circular rim with four arms, as shewn at Fig. 9, and is about three feet dia-
meter and two inches thick, and the regulating segment G, about a foot long,
the same thickness, and also of cast iron.
This forms one part of my improvement, and is a very important part, is as
much as it produces an uniform tention in each strand throughout its whole
length, from the beginning to the end of it, because as the lever purchase over
drawing the reel forward upon the regulating segment is lessened as the strand
is drawn off from the reel, so in the like proportion the friction of the reel
head upon the segment is also lessened by its becoming lighter at the same
time, and thus it's retardation is equalised throughout the whole length of the
rope. The box in common use for holding the four strands firmly together
side by side till the hole is pierced through them varies in its construction, at
the option of the manufacturer, but it is the same in principle, and for effect-
ing the same object in all of them, namely, for holding the strands in a firm
position till the hole is pierced through them. Mine is for this purpose; but I
claim no exclusive privilege from its use or construction. y, Fig. 6, shews
the box and the needle or punch, such as is commonly used for piercing the
holes. 14, Fig. 8, the rack upon which the needle is firmly fixed. x, the
cogged wheel pitched into the rack. Z represents the lever fastened to the
wheel through the medium of the axle W, Fig. 6, as before described to be
in common use, and for which I claim no exclusive privilege. The following
is my improved method of working this part of the apparatus, namely: I place
an axle, 12, Fig. 6, at a convenient distance, eight feet, more or less, with a
crank O upon it, as shewn in Fig. 6 and Fig. 8, connected with the end end
of the lever Z by a spear u, in the ordinary way of connection, and which
crank O and axle 12, by revolving, produces the alternate motion in the lever
Z required for pushing the needle through the strands, in the same manner as
if the end of the lever Z had been pushed forward and backward by men, as
I have already described to be done in the common way. The application of
this crank motion for pushing the needle or punch through the strands about
to be laced is my improvement in this part of the process of manufacture, for
by this movement I reduce the operation to a rolative motion, capable of being
attached to or detached from a constant and continued motion, produced by a
steam engine or other rolative power, by a clutch or catch, as at m, Fig. 1,
and Fig. 6, and the bandles or levers q, r, as shewn in Fig. 1, in the ordinary

page_text: way of connection. The holes being thus pierced through the strands about
to be laced, I insert the lacing in the ordinary way, by a needle with two eyes.
The lacing is attached to one eye of this needle, and the needle when put
into the hole made through the strands is caught
the workmen with a hook,
roller C being of suffi-
frame d, in which the
The lacing being thus
X, Fig. 5, on the other side of the rope by the other eye. This hook is fas-
tened to the end of a cord V, Fig. 5, and this cord fastened by its other end
to a roller, U, Fig. 7, and this roller connected by another cord to e, Fig. 7
and 8; and my improvement consists in connecting this same roller e to the
principal rolative movement, as shewn at 1, 2, 4, 5, Fig. 1, by means of a strap
or belt, as shewn at C, Fig. 5, and this strap or belt is loaded, as shewn
in the Drawing, Fig. 5, with any determinate weight at d, so as to keep
the said strap or belt of one uniform tightness, to such extent as the work-
man thinks proper for drawing the lacing of the same exact tightness at
every stitch. This is a very important improvement for drawing the lacing
of the same uniform tension, as the strap or belt thus loaden slides upon the
drums or pullys y, b, the monent that the lacing is drown home; and this
exactness is obtained by what I call a sliding strap, C, loaden by a pully or
roller to the proper degree of tightness, either by the
cient weight to produce that effect, or by loading the
roller C is fixed, as shewn in the Drawing, Fig. 5.
drawn through the hole, the rope is pulled forward, as shewn in the Drawing,
Fig. 4, by passing it between the rollers K, I, H, held so firmly together by.
screw bolts as to prevent the rope from sliding between them. A purchase is
gained over these rollers by cogged wheels and pinions, as shewn in the Draw-
ing Fig. 4, in the exact ratio of one revolution of the quickest pinion to the
length of the stitch required; then upon the axis of this pinion I fix a pully O,
of about two feet diameter and about six inches broad, with ledges to protect it's
strap or belt from sliding from off the pully, and directly underneath this pully
there must be a drum Q, constantly revoving on it's axis, whose surface is
going at the rate of about four feet per second. The pully O and drum Q are
connected by an endless strap or belt P, hanging upon the pulley, and passing
under the drum, but not so tight as to cause the pully O to be carried round
by it. A jockey pully or rider P mounted in a frame R, as shewn in the
Drawing Fig. 4, is in readiness for being pressed against this strap, so as to
cause the strap to bear against the drum Q and pully O together, and by that
means carry the pully O round with it, and thus draw the rope forward. The
frame of the jockey pully or rider P is kept bearing against the strap by the
bar or catch S, until the pully O has made one revolution, at which time the
pin T in the side of the pully O, when it comes in contact with the catch S,

page_text: lifts it up, and the rider P and its frame R fall bach by the action of the
weight 15, so as to relieve the belts, and the work stops. This measures one
stitch of such length as the director of the work chuses to have it. In my
machine the barrel or roller H is three feet six inches diameter. The cogged
wheel upon its axis has 104 coggs. The barrel I is one foot diameter, and
wheel upon end of its axis, and acting upon the larger cogged wheel
of 104 coggs, has 30 coggs, and upon the other end of the axis of the
smaller barrel is a cogged wheel of 45 coggs. The pinion on the axis pitched
into it has 13 coggs, and the wheel L upon the same axis 78 coggs. There
is likewise another barrel of fifteen inches diameter, pressing against the rope
on the opposite side of the 12-inch barrel, and which fifteen-inch barrel has a
cogged wheel upon one end of its axis of forty coggs pitched into the cogged
wheel of thirty coggs. This is to keep the rope from slipping when drawn
forward. The pinion N on the pully axis, with twenty-four coggs, makes a
stitch (by this train of wheels and pinions) of about six inches in length. If
it be required to have the stitches longer, the pinion on the pully axis must
have a greater number of coggs in proportion; if shorter, a smaller number;
for a four-inch stitch a pinion of sixteen coggs, and so in the proportion of four
coggs to one inch. 9, 9, Fig. 1, is the reel for receiving the rope when
finished; and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, are the axles and wheels connecting the machine
with the steam engine or other rolative power. By means of the apparatus
for drawing forward the strands I produce mathematical accuracy in the length
of the stitch. By means of the sliding strap I obtain uniformity in the tight-
ness of the lacing; and by the regulating segments placed under the reel heads
I produce an equal degree of tension upon each strand separately; and thus
by those several means I am able to make the flat rope more perfect than is
possible to be done by any of the other methods now in use. Whilst by the
application of the crank motion for piercing the holes through the strands, for
receiving the lacing, together with the preceeding movements, I reduce the
whole of the manufacture to rotative motions, and consequently within the
limits and powers of being worked by a steam engine or any other rolative
motion whatever, which I claim to be my Invention.
In witness whercof, I, the said John Grimshaw, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of June, in the third year of the reign of
our Sovereign Lord George the Fourth, by the grace of God of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of
the Faith, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and twenty-two.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same First day of June, in the
year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Grimshaw came before our Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute in
that case made and provided.