IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OPEN FABRICS AND EMBROIDERED CLOSE AND OPEN FABRICS."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Coltman, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester,
for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR
PRODUCING OPEN FABRICS AND EMBROIDERED CLOSE AND OPEN FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Coltman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th September 1881.
THOMAS COLTMAN, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OPEN FABRICS AND EMBROIDERED
CLOSE AND OPEN FABRICS."
My improved machinery and apparatus consists of a rocking axle shaft carried
by a bearing at each end, and also intermediate bearings where required; the
rocking of the axle shaft is effected by connecting links and levers operated by one
or more cams on the main cam shaft of the machine to which the apparatus is
applied. The axle shaft has a number of bearing brackets secured upon it in which
one or more bars are caused to traverse over one or more needles either by con-
necting links and levers operated by cams on the cam shaft of the machine or by
studs on wheels at or near one end of the bars; each traversing bar carries as many
slotted sleys as there are breadths of fabric produced on the machine, and in each
slot a guide or coverer point slides too and fro, each such guide or coverer point
being held to the front plate of the sley by a spring except when operated upon by
a string attached to the top of the guide or coverer point and to a jacquard placed
over or at the back of the machine.
The above described machinery and apparatus is equally applicable to either
machines making warp looped fabrics or knitted fabrics, such machine employing
bearded needles or latch needles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Coltman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th March
1882.
*
THOMAS COLTMAN, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester. IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OPEN FABRICS AND EMBROIDERED
CLOSE AND OPEN FABRICS."
My improved machinery and apparatus consists of a rocking axle shaft carried
by a bearing at each end and also intermediate bearings where required; the
rocking of the axle shaft is effected by connecting links and levers operated
by one or more cams on the main cam shaft of the machine to which the apparatus
is applied.
The axle shaft has a number of bearing brackets secured upon it in which one
or more bars are caused to traverse over one or more needles either by connecting
links and levers operated by cams on the cam shaft of the machine or by studs on
wheels at or near one end of the bars; each traversing bar carries as many slotted
sleys as there are breadths of fabric produced on the machine, and in each slot a
guide or coverer point slides to and fro, each such guide or coverer point being
held to the front plate of the sley by a spring except when operated upon by a
string attached to the top of the guide or coverer point, and to a jacquard placed
over or at the back of the machine. The above described machinery and apparatus
is equally applicable to either machines making warp looped fabrics or knitted
fabrics, such machine employing bearded needles or latch needles.
Figure 1 is a front view of my improved machinery and apparatus shown as
applied to one division of a knitting machine of eight divisions carrying vertical
bearded needles.
Figure 2, a sectional view of the same shewing the relative position of the
several_shafts and axles of the knitting machine, which_is_of_a_well-known
construction.
Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view shewing a rocking sley jack and vertical
needle in their relative positions.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 are views of the apparatus I employ to raise the jack sleys
when making a welt, or for the convenience of the workman.
Figures 7 and S are respectively a side view and edge view of a reversing cam,
and
Figure 9 is a side view of a lifting cam I employ.
The whole of the above Figures are severally referred to hereafter, and the
corresponding parts in each Figure are indicated by the same letters where
necessary.
My improved machinery and apparatus is equally applicable to all kinds of
knitting machines provided with vertical needles, in which the construction allows
room for my embroidering apparatus to operate, but for the sake of illustration
I have shown the apparatus as applied to a knitting machine in which the several
shafts and axles are arranged as follows:-Number 1 is the cam shaft; number 2,
the falling bar bracket axle; number 3, the knocking over bit sinking axle ;
number 4, the needle sinking axle; number 5, the needle bar truck lever axle ;
6, the work roller axle; 7, the hand wheel axle; S the narrowing bracket shaft ;
and 9, the narrowing bracket coverer axle; the combined actions of these parts
being well understood I shall not farther describe them.

page_text: In addition to the above I employ a rocking axle shaft A carried by a bearing B
at each end, and also by intermediate bearings where required; the rocking of the
axle shaft is effected by the following means:-The axle shaft has a lever A¹
secured on it; near the end of the lever at the back of the machine is an oblong slot
through which the lower screw threaded end of a connecting rod A² is passed;
beneath the lever the rod is provided with lock nuts which are capable of adjust-
ment so as to rock the shaft as required; the upper end of the connecting rod is
hinged to a lever secured on a rocking shaft C carried in bearings in front of two
jacquards, which are not shown in the Drawings, being single lift jacquards of the
usual construction; the shaft C is provided with a second lever C¹ hinged to the
upper end of a link C³, capable of adjustment in its length by a set screw and
securing nuts; the lower end of the link is hinged to the back end of a lever C³,
the front end of which rocks on an axle in a bracket C* secured to the lower front
rail of the machine framing; parallel to the lever C³, is a shorter lever which carries
a truck operated by a cam C³, an enlarged side view of which is shown at Figure 9;
the short lever and truck are shewn at Figure 2 somewhat higher than and in
connection with the lever C³, which is not acted upon by the cam except when
connected by the following means:-On the left side of the lever C³ is a plate.
which is slotted and slides upon a stud in the lever; this plate is provided with a
handle at the front end and terminates in a fork C6, which clips both levers when
the attendant draws the handle towards him; the revolution of the cam then
causes the back end of the lever C³ to be lifted to operate the rocking shaft C,
which is provided with two other levers not shewn in the Drawings (being of the
usual construction); each of these levers are connected to the lift of a jacquard, each
jacquard being provided with as many strings as will operate the jacks in four
divisions of the machine. The extent to which the shaft A is rocked is thus
determined by the position of the lock nuts on the connecting rod A².
The shaft A has a number of bearing brackets B' secured upon it, which support
sley bars B3, which carry a sley brass B³ to each division of the machine.
Each sley is constructed as follows:-Two saw gates are cut in the brass to each
jack, and in these saw gates steel leaves B4, B5, are soldered, which form a sley for.
the jack guides D; each jack is slotted at its lower end to receive a guide, which is
soldered in it, above which the jack is slotted on its front edge to allow of the
passage of an axle wire, which is held in position by being passed through a hole
in each of the leaves B'; each jack is held to the sley plate by a spring soldered in
the back edge; the upper end of the jack is slotted from front to back, and has a
recess in its front edge to receive a stud rivetted in the front end of a flat wire D',
which has a hole through the opposite end to which a string from the jacquard is
attached. One such jack guide and wire is shewn in side view at Figure 3A. The
sley bars B³, sleys, and jack guides, are traversed over one needle by the following
means: To the left end of the framing of the machine is secured an axle on which a
lever E rocks; the lower end of this lever is provided with a stud at the back, which
striking either side of a reversing lever E¹, which turns on a stud in a reversing
cam, shewn in side view and edge views at Figures 7 and 8, is carried to the other
side of the cam; thus at each revolution of the cam the lever is alternately reversed,
and its upper end lying between two collars E² alternately traverses the jack sleys
to the right or to the left. By such means each jack guide being supplied with a
silk or other embroidering thread, when the shaft A is rocked upwards such move-
ment will pass the whole of the guides through the needles; the guides are then
traversed one needle to the right or to the left, and repass through the needles by
the reversing cam and rocking cam, that is to say, where the jacquard card is
punched; but where the card is unpunched the jacks will be held back, as shown by
the jack guide D¹ at Figure 3; while so held such guides cannot pass between the
needles when the sley is rocked, and do not embroider.
After the above described movements have been effected the embroidering threads
have a slackness, which if permitted to continue would endanger the perfect pro-
duction of the fabric, to obviate which I employ the following apparatus:-Above the

page_text: machine I place an angular bar, to which are rivetted a number of bars provided
with cop pins, upon each of which is placed an embroidering thread cop F; the thread
is then passed through one of the guide holes in one of a series of guide bars F¹,
then through a sley G, and under a wire G', which is carried by a bracket at each
end of a roller G2, over which the thread is passed to the jack guides and thence to
the needles; either end of the roller G2 has an arm on which a weight G³ can be
adjusted; this weight is raised during the operation of the jacks, and when they
come to rest the weight falls; the roller being rocked takes up the slackness of the
threads. The roller G2 is covered with cloth or other suitable material.
welt is required to be made, or when readier access is required to the needles, I
raise the jack_sley by the following means:-Instead of attaching the sleys to the
bearing bars, I secure slides to the bars in which the sleys slide, and between these
slides I place a double ended lifting lever H, which rocks on the shaft A, the
lifting ends of which take into slots in the upper part of the sleys; upon the work-
man moving the handle H¹ from the position shewn at Figure 4 to the position
shewn at Figure 6 the guides will be raised out of the way for turning the welt.
When a
By such means I am enabled to place an embroidering thread upon the width of
needles required, or upon only one or more of them, according to the pattern.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The rocking lever E, reversing lever E¹, and cam shewn at Figures 1, 2,
7, and 8.
Second. The jack sley constructed as described.
Third. The spring jacks carrying the guides.
Fourth. The lifting apparatus to raise the jack sleys when a welt is required to
be made, or for the convenience of the workman.
Fifth. The sliding clip fork C, to release the lever C³ from the operation of the
cam C when a welt is required to be made, or when not embroidering.
Sixth. The slack thread taking up roller G³, wire G¹, and weight G³, the whole
substantially as described for the purpose set forth and illustrated in the Drawings
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Coltman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.