AN IMPROVEMENT IN GLOVES, STOCKINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF HOSIERY
Year: 1839

page_text: BEDELLS, of Leicester; Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminister, the Twenty-first day of January, in the first year of Her reign.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Caleb Bedells, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Caleb Bedells, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Caleb Bedells, my exors, adñiors 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 England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN GLOVES, STOCKINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF HOSIERY;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Caleb Bedells,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Caleb Bedells, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-

page_text: My Invention relates to the mode of applying elastic bands of india-rubber
(caoutchouc) web in the making of gloves, stockings, and other articles of
hosiery, and consists in placing such webs on the needles of stocking or knitting
frames, and producing thereon knitted fabrics, such as gloves or stockings, or
night caps, or other fabrics produced in knitting frames. And in order to give
the best information in my power of the precise nature of my Invention, and
to distinguish it from other modes of applying the elasticity of india-rubber to
gloves, stockings, and other articles of hosiery, and that the Invention may be
readily performed, I will in the first place remark, that I am aware that elastic
bands containing india-rubber have been before applied to gloves and other
knit articles in various ways.
First, by enclosing strands or threads by sewing them between two woven
fabrics or other substances such as leather, and applied to gloves and other
articles of hosiery.
Secondly, obtaining double fabrics by weaving and strands or threads of
india-rubber have been drawn between such double fabrics, and such bands
have been applied by sewing to various articles of hosiery.
Thirdly, elastic webs or bands have been obtained by weaving india-rubber
threads, and by means of sewing such bands have been applied to various
articles of hosiery.
And, fourthly, strands or threads of india-rubber have been applied or
introduced into stockings, gloves, and other articles of hosiery in the act of
making such fabrics, and by means of a long needle or such like instrument,
drawing threads of india-rubber through the several rows of stitches or loops
as they are formed in knitting frames, and by this means producing elastic
tops to stockings and other articles of hosiery.
Now, my Invention consists in taking elastic india-rubber webs or bands
prepared suitably for the purpose, and running them on to the needles of
stocking or knitting frames, and working the knit fabrics thereon.
The elastic fabrics, webs, or bands I prefer for the purposes of my Inven-
tion are such as are produced in looms working with shuttle and warp, and are
well known and used for a great variety of purposes; and in weaving such webs
for the purposes of my Invention the warp threads of india-rubber may be covered
in suitable covering machines, or they may be uncovered thread covered in the
act of weaving, as is well understood in weaving such elastic bands or webs,
and the warp of such fabrics may be wholly of india-rubber threads or partly
of india-rubber and partly of threads or yarns of cotton, silk, or other fibrous
substances; and I would state that I do not confine myself to any particular

page_text: description of elastic bands of india-rubber, nor does the making of such bands
constitute any part of my Invention.
In weaving bands containing threads or strands of india-rubber to be used
according to my Invention, I so arrange the warp that there is a strong thread
of cotton or other material next to the selvage warp thread or yarn, which_
strong thread is to be drawn before running the band or web on to the needles
of a stocking or knitting frame.
By this means when such thread is drawn the selvage warp thread or yarn
stands at a distance from the other warp threads, and the fabric from which
such warp thread has been drawn will simply consist of the weft threads which
will offer an open fabric for the passage of the needles, and the web or band so
prepared may readily be run on to the needles. It is well known that in
making elastic webs or bands by the application of india-rubber, that the
threads or strands of that material are used when in a stretched and non-elastic
state, and elasticity is obtained thereto by the application of heat.
And in using such bands or webs according to my Invention, I prefer them to
be in their elastic state, and in working according to my Invention, supposing
I am about to make a glove or a stocking, or other article of hosiery, I take
a length of india-rubber web of the length I desire the band to be, and stretch
it out to the width of needles of a stocking frame according to the size I desire
to make the top of the glove or stocking, or other article, and by a wire or other
stretcher having points at the ends, I keep the elastic band stretched out to the
desired width; I then run the selvage of the band over the heads of the needles
and commence working with the stocking or knitting frame in the ordinary
manner by the band or thread carrier laying thread on to the needles, which,.
by means of jack and lead sinkers, is depressed between the needles and passed.
into the eyes or under the beards thereof, as is well understood, and the presser
bar closing the beards allows of the elastic band or web to be thrown or
knocked off the needles, and the loops of thread produced as above explained
will thereby be drawn through the elastic band, and in the working of the
machine those loops will be carried back on to the stems of the needles; and
the band or thread carrier will lay a fresh quantity of thread on to the needles
which will be sunk between them by the sinkers, and the previously formed.
loops or work will be then thrown off the needles in the ordinary manner.
The knitting of the glove, stocking, or other article will then be gone on with
in the usual way of making such work in knitting frames, and in respect of
stockings or other articles, it will only be desirable to remark, that in using
elastic bands according to my Invention it will not be necessary to make the
top of the stocking double at the top by turning over a portion thereof, as

page_text: is now practised, and such is the case will gloves and socks and other articles
of hosiery where one part has in like manner been folded over. From the
foregoing description it will readily be understood that various articles of
hosiery may have elastic india-rubber bands produced thereto in stocking or
knitting frames, for, whatever be the article to be produced, whether stockings,
gloves, socks, or other articles of hosiery, it will only be necessary to com-
mence working by putting a length of elastic india-rubber band or web on to the
needles, and then producing the article in the usual way of making.
I would remark, that in case it is desired to have an elastic band between
two portions of knit fabric, in such case I weave the elastic bands with a draw
thread at each selvage, and first work by putting one selvage on the needles
and producing the quantity of knit fabric on that selvage which may be
required, and having taken the work off the needles, I run the other selvage of
the elastic band on to the needles, and produce the quantity of knit fabric
required on the selvage.
"
I would remark, that although I have described a particular mode of
making the elastic bands of india-rubber for the purposes of my Invention, I
do not confine myself thereto; and although I prefer commencing the work by
putting the previously made web on to the needles, it will be evident that the
web may be put on to the knit fabrics before taking them out of the knitting
frame by running a width of elastic india-rubber band or web on to as many
needles as have been at work and have knit fabric thereon, and drawing the
last loops through the elastic fabric or web, and then by the operation called
binding off" the loops may be successively drawn through each other and
fastened, or a fastening of the knit fabric and the elastic fabric may be accom-
plished by passing a thread of cotton or other fibre through the row of loops of
the stocking fabric which have been previously drawn through the elastic fabric
as above explained, and by fastening on each side the two will be made fast.
I do not, however, confine myself to a particular mode of 'combining elastic webs
(prepared by other means than the stocking 'frame) with stocking fabrics, so
long as the combination takes place in the working of knitting or stocking
frames or machines.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that what I claim as my Inven-
tion is, the mode herein described of applying elastic india-rubber bands in
the making of gloves, stockings, and other articles of hosiery, and such my
Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely new and never
before used within that part of Her said Majesty United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, Her said Dominion of Wales, or Town or

page_text: Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the
same, and that I do verily believe that this my said Specification doth comply
in all respects fully and without reserve or disguise with the proviso in the said
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I hereby
claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Caleb Bedells, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-nine