IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAIDING MACHINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BRAIDING MACHINES." -A communication from abroad by Thomas
James Sloan, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Engineer.
Sealed the 1st April 1862, and dated the 18th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th October 1861.
1, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAIDING MACHINES," à communication from abroad by
Thomas James Sloan, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Engineer, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and arrangements of
parts of braiding machines, whereby such machines are enabled to work at a
greater speed than heretofore, and with greater precision and efficiency.

page_text: According to this Invention it is proposed to substitute helical springs for
the weights hitherto employed for giving the requisite degree of tension to the
several threads, such springs being in some cases connected to vertical sliding
rods, which work through the bobbin holders, and descend and protrude
underneath the same when a breakage of the thread occurs, the projecting end
of the rod striking against a stop, and bringing into action a disengaging lever,
which constantly stops the machine. The threads on leaving the bobbins pass
through suitable guide eyes in a vertical arm or bracket attached to the
bobbin holder, and thence through an eye in an oscillating detent lever, the
nose of which when down becomes engaged with one or other of a series of
ratchet teeth formed on the head of the bobbin, and consequently stops its
further rotation on its axis. The lower parts of the bobbin holders, which
travel along the guiding slots in the table of the machine, are of an oval or
lenticular section, and have flanges above and below the slots to maintain
them in their places. The slotted plate, which is usually made in one piece,
is here proposed to be made in several parts accurately put together, and
secured by means of ordinary screws to the bed plate of the machine. The
travelling motion of the bobbin holders along their guiding slots is obtained
from a series of horizontally rotating arms actuated by spur gearing, and the
braid is taken up as fast as it is made by a worm wheel and worm motion
driven from the machine itself, or actuated by a handle or by separate driving
pullie. The tension springs above referred to may be situate either inside or
outside the bobbin, as found most convenient.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there--
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BRAIDING MACHINES," a communication from abroad by Thomas James Sloan,
of Paris, in the Empire of France, Engineer, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and
seal of one of them, should particularly 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 I, the said John Henry Johnson,. do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,.
and to the letters and figurés marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and arrange-
ments of parts of braiding machines, whereby such machines are enabled to
work at a greater speed than heretofore, and with greater precision and
efficiency..
According to this Invention it is proposed to substitute helical springs for
the weights hitherto employed for giving the requisite degree of tension to the
several threads, such springs being in some cases connected to vertical sliding
rods, which work through the bobbin holders, and descend and protrude
underneath the same when a breakage of the thread occurs, the projecting end
of the rod strikes against a stop, and brings into action a disengaging lever,
which instantly stops the machine. The threads on leaving the bobbins pass
through suitable guide eyes in a vertical arm or bracket attached to the bobbin
holder, and thence through an eye in an oscillating detent lever, the nose of
which when down becomes engaged with one or other of a series of ratchet
teeth formed on the head of the bobbin, and consequently stops its further
rotation on its axis. The lower parts of the bobbin holders, which travel along
the guiding slots in the table of the machine are of an oval or lenticular

page_text: section, and have flanges above and below the slots to maintain them in their
places. The slotted plate, which is usually made in one piece, is here proposed
to be made in several parts, accurately put together, and secured by means of
ordinary screws to the bed plate of the machine. The travelling motion of
the bobbin holders along their guiding slots is obtained from a series of hori-
zontally rotating arms actuated by spur gearing, and the braid is taken up as
fast as it is made by a worm wheel and worm motion driven from the machine
itself, or actuated by a handle or by separate driving pullies. The tension.
springs above referred to may be situated either inside or outside the bobbin,
as found most convenient.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a side elevation of the improved.
braiding machine; Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same; taken along
the line 1, 2; Figure 3 is a sectional detail of the plate which carries the
bobbins and Figure 4 is a detail elevation of the improved bobbin holder.
.
On referring to Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen that the bobbins A, which
carry the threads or strands a, are actuated by the cross arms C, formed on
the collars or bosses D, which receive their rotatory motion from the spur
pinions E. These pinions, which gear one with another, receive their rotation
from the spur wheel F, keyed on to the boss of a bevel wheel G, which rotates
on the vertical shaft f. Motion is imparted to the wheel G by the pinion G¹,
cast in one piece with a clutch collar g', the teeth of which engage with those
in the boss g of the driving pulley H. The thread or strand x, which is
unwound from its bobbin A, passes through a guide eyes made in an arm,
which forms a part of the piece S (see Figure 4). It passes thence through
a second eye s', whence it proceeds through the eye of the oscillating detent
lever T, which works on a centre at t, and through an eye or ring R', formed
on the end of the helical spring R. The thread then returns again through
the eye in the lever T, and passes upwards to the centre of the machine, where
it unites with the other threads of the plait or braiding, as shewn in Figure 1.
The nose of the lever T forms a detent, by engaging with the ratchet teeth
formed on the top of the bobbin, and where it is maintained elevated by the
pressure of the tightened threads against the opposite sides of the eye or
aperture formed therein, allows of the free rotation of the bobbin. The lower

page_text: end of the helical spring R (Figure 4) is hooked into the rod r, which
passes through the boss or collar 6 of the bobbin carrier B. When the
machine is at work the tension of the thread elevates this rod r by reason of
the tension of the spring R, a stop r¹ preventing the spring from rising further
than is necessary. Should any of the threads a become broken the instant
contraction of the spring R causes the rod r to descend and protrude slightly
beyond the bottom of the boss b, so as to strike against a stop h³, which is in
connection with the boss of the horizontal lever H₁ (Figure 1), which
operates upon the clutch lever H². The displacement of the stop h¹ moves
the lever H', and allows the clutch lever to recede slightly, whereupon the
rotation of the pulley H effects the desired disengagement of the clutch. The
stopping is thus effected almost instantaneously. An arrangement of mechanism
composed of the pulleys Y keyed on to the shaft causes the work to advance
as fast as it is manufactured. The shaft V₁ is actuated by the worm wheel V,
which gears with a worm von the vertical shaft f, the whole being so arranged
that the shaft may be rotated either by hand, through the handle M, or
mechanically, by means of the wheels G, G¹. I may observe that grooved
pullies m may be also fixed on the shaft V, should it be desired to drive the
shaft in this manner. The bobbin carriers B at the part marked a are of a
lenticular or elongated oval shape in plan, the curves of the opposite sides
corresponding to the outer curves of the guiding grooves or slots O, which are
ordinarily made in one entire plate, but according to this Invention, for the
sake of simplicity and economy of construction, it is proposed to construct this.
plate of a number of sections, which are properly placed together, and secured
at O', and to the main frame at O2 by screws.
In Figure 5, which represents a modification of the arrangement of spring
for distending the thread, the thread x on leaving the bobbin passes through
the eyes of an arm S in one piece with the bobbin carrier, thence through
another eye or ring s¹, whence it passes through the oscillating lever T, and
through the eye in the top of the spring R, the lower end of which is secured
to the bobbin carrier. The thread then returns through the lever T, and
through an eye in the top of the piece B¹, also secured to or forming part of
the bobbin carrier, whence the thread finally emerges and mingles with the
other thread forming the braid. A central tube admits of the passage of a
card forming the centre or foundation of the braiding, which is effected over or
around it. The operation of the spring is as follows:-When the bobbin
recedes from the centre of the machine the spring becomes distended, and
when it approaches the centre the spring contracts, drawing with it the thread

page_text: and taking up the slack which would otherwise form. The teeth or notches in
the top of each bobbin serve to stop its rotation when the oscillating lever T
descends thereon.
In Figure 6 the bobbin A, traversed by a vertical axis a, rests upon the
prolongation B' of the carrier B; this carrier, like those in Figures 1 and 2,
is made of a lenticular shape in plan at 6, which travels along the curved ways
or guiding slots O of the fixed plates O³; a boss b¹, in one piece with the bobbin
carrier, serving as a guide for the stop rod r, the head of which slides along a
slot in the upright support S. This slot forms a guide and a stop to prevent
the over rising of the rod r when the spring is distended. The upper end of
the spring carries an eye r², which descends on the breaking of the thread, and
brings into action the stopping mechanism, as herein-before described. The
spring R, which maintains the uniform tension of the thread a, is attached at
its lower end to the head of the stop rod r, sliding in its slot in the piece S..
At the top of the spring is formed an eye r¹, through which passes the thread
x, and which serves at the same time to raise the lever T, which works on a
centre t; this lever on being disengaged from the teeth t¹, admits of the free
rotation of the bobbin, and allows the thread to be unwound therefrom. The
thread on leaving the bobbin passes through a hole s in the upright S, and
thence through a second hole s² in the upper part of the same piece S, whence
it descends to the eye r¹, having previously traversed once through the eye in.
the lever T, and ascends again and passes through the eye S, after which it
joins the other threads in the braid.
Figures 7 and 8 represent in elevation and plan an arrangement which
dispenses entirely with the central rod herein-before described, by substituting
therefor a small apparatus, having the same action on the breaking of the
thread as the rod before referred to. The arm or support in one piece with
the bobbin carrier, the grooved pulley B carries an axis a, which is flat at its
lower part, and under it is placed the piece C, which has two projections
c, c, formed thereon. These projections, when the machine is at work,
should not protrude beyond the arm S (see red lines in the Drawing). The
axis 6 of the piece C is attached to the spring R. When a thread breaks the
piece C falls by its own gravity, and assumes the position indicated in black
lines in the Drawing, and consequently presents its projections c, c, to the
action of the stop mechanism, thereby stopping the machine, as herein-before
described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried

page_text: into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
1st, the general construction and arrangement of braiding machines, as
herein-before described.
2nd, the peculiar arrangement and combination of self-acting mechanism
for stopping the machine on the breakage of a thread, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)