IMPROVEMENTS IN DIVIDING AND FINISHING LACE GOODS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Weston Moore, of Nottingham, Lace Manu-
facturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DIVIDING AND FINISHING
LACE GOODS."
Sealed the 1st November 1856, and dated the 15th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Weston Moore at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th May 1856.
I, SAMUEL WESTON MOORE, of Nottingham, Lace Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DIVIDING AND
FINISHING LACE GooDs," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in dividing and finishing lace goods by machinery, so
arranged as to divide the lace pieces into breadths, without disturbing the mesh
of the fabric or the evenness of the edge, and thus effecting a considerable
improvement in the finish of the same. This I accomplish by such an arrange-
ment of rollers, or other equivalent mechanism, as causes the whole breadth of
each part to be divided to be held tight at the instant of the divisions taking
place; and I use, or not, an arrangement of rollers, in connection with the
dividing machine, to operate on such goods as may require rolling as well as
dividing..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Weston Moore in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
WESTON MOORE, of Nottingham, Lace Manufacturer, send greeting.
+
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing dâté the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Weston Moore, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Weston
Moore, my executors, adininistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Samuel Weston Moore, my 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DIVIDING AND FINISHING LACE GOODS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Samuel Weston Moore, my executors or administrators;
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Samuel Weston Moore, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:-
.
My Invention consists in dividing lace goods, in the finishing process, in such
a manner that the stiffening the goods is not injured, and the edges are not
dragged unevenly, as is the case, more or less, in the method now adopted for
dividing such lace goods as are divided by hand labour by tearing or ripping.
The manner in which I carry my Invention into effect is shewn in Figures
1, 2, and 3, of the accompanying Drawings.
Figure is a transverse section of the machinery I employ, and Figure 2 a
top view of the same. A, A, are standards, forming the framework of the
machine, bolted together by the bars a', as, a'; B is a reel or drum, the spindle
or axis of which works in the bearings a²; b is a grooved pulley fastened

page_text: on the axis &', and round which a rope 6 passes, fastened at one end on the
frame A, and having a weight 6' at the other end, the object of which is to.
give tightness to the drum B; C, C, are drums or reels made with two arms
in each, moveable or collapsible, as is commonly done in reels for winding
cotton slips. The spindles c work in bearings a7; a are brackets screwed to
the frame A by the screw as; c³, c', and 6¹ are points fastened in one of the
bars of each of the reels C, C, and B, for the purpose of hooking the ends of
the laces to the reels; D, D', are cylinders moving in the bearings a³; the
bearings a' are carried by the brackets a*. The reels C, C, work together by
means of the wheels c³, c, connected by the intermediate wheels c, c'; .tho
wheels and c work on axles fastened on the frame A. A fly wheel F, with
a handle, is fastened to the wheel c', for the purpose of turning the machine.
The method of working this machine is as follows:-The piece of lace is first
wound on the reel B, it is then carried upwards between the cylinders D, D';
for the convenience of doing this, the cylinder D' is lifted out of its bearing and
laid on the long end of the bracket a', as shewn in dotted lines. After the lace
piece is brought between the cylinders, D¹ is replaced in its bearing; a short
length of the lace is now ripped or torn, and every breadth is hooked on the
row of pins c¹, c', alternately right and left, as shewn in Figure 2. Now, by
turning the fly wheel F, the lace piece is ripped at the moment of leaving the
cylinders D and D', and at the same time wound round the reels C, C, in con-
sequence of the ripping taking place at the same instant of time; as the lace
leaves the point of contact between the cylinders D, D', the ripping is per-
formed uniformly, the edges are not dragged, and the laces are kept level and
straight without disturbance of the stiffening in the same. Straight bars might
be used instead of the cylinders D, D', but for most kinds of goods the
operation would not be so perfect as by the employment of the cylinders
described. The lace goods having been now ripped, are, for the further
finishing of the same, wound from the reel C, C, on to swifts, from which they
may be placed upon cards, or otherwise finished.
Figure 3 is an end view of one of the swifts, a number being employed
equal to the number of the breadths contained in the piece of lace to be
divided, one arrangement of swifts being placed opposite each of the drums C, C.
G is a swift, made with bosses g', arms g³, and wires g³, of the ordinary descrip-
tion; a spring is fastened on one of the bosses of each of the swifts, the end of
which presses on the shaft II, on which the swifts are placed; this spring is
for the purpose of keeping the swifts slightly in contact with the shaft H. The
swifts are turned by means of the pullies m, m, on the reels C, and the
pullies m, n, on the shaft II, which are connected by driving bands. The

page_text: working of this part of the apparatus is as follows:-The ends of the ripped
laces on the reels C, C, are fastened to the swifts G; the handle on the
wheel F is now turned, and this action gives off the laces from the rcels C on
to the swifts G on each side of the machine.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the dividing and finishing of lace goods by pressing the lace between
rollers, separating the parts to be divided, and carrying such parts over reels
made to revolve in contrary directions until the division of the whole piece has
been effected.
Second, the arrangement of machinery for dividing and finishing lace goods,
as herein-before explained and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Weston Moore, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
SAMUEL WESTON MOORE. (L.S.)