IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP LOOPED FABRICS, STAYS, AND OTHER PARTS OF DRESS; ALSO IN APPARATUS POR MEASURING
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,; we, WILLIAM
THOMAS, of. Cheapside, in the City of London, Merchant, and JOHN MARSH,
Foreman to the said William Thomas, send greeting."
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen. Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing dater at Westminster, the 'Ninth day of August,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her. heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Thomas and John Marsh, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her
especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
William Thomas and John Marsh, our exors, adiñors, and, assigns, or such
others as we, the said William Thomas and John Marsh, our exors, aduiors,
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, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OP LOOPED FABRICS, STAYS, AND OTHER PARTS OF DRESS; ALSO IN APPARATUS POR
MEASURING," partly our own Invention and partly communicated from abroad;
in which said Letter's Patent is contained a proviso that we; the said William
Thomas and John Marsh; or one of us, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of the said 'Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under our hands and scals, or under
D

page_text: the hand and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six 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 bad, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
William Thomas and John Marsh, do hereby declare that the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention consists, first, of improvements in the manufacture of looped
fabrics.
Secondly, the Invention consists of improvements in weaving fabrics for
making stays and other parts of dress, where the fabrics are required to be of
different widths.
Thirdly, the Invention consists of improvements in ornamenting, stitching,
or sewing stays and other parts of dress, by what is called tambour stitch.
Fourthly, the Invention consists of a mode of weaving thick stay cloth, con-
sisting of two fabrics stitched together by stitching warp, and so as to receive
filling weft between the two fabrics.
Fifthly, the Invention consists of improvements in giving figure to the bust
in place of the wadding heretofore employed.
Sixthly, the Invention consists of improvements in the means of fastening
stays and parts of dresses.
Seventhly, the Invention consists of improvements in making hoops or
distending apparatus for keeping out dresses.
Eighthly, the Invention consists of a mode of weaving moreen to produce
crinolines and such like stiffened parts of dress.
And, ninthly, the Invention consists of improvements in measuring
apparatus.
+
In order that the Invention. may be fully understood, and readily carried
into effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF-THE-DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a front view, Figure 2 a top view, and Figure 8 a sectional
plan of machinery, arranged according to the first part of the Invention. a is
a centre shaft or bearing which is supported in any suitable manner; but as
this forms no part of our Invention, and being well known, we have not
thought it necessary to shew the same, nor will it be necessary to enter into

page_text: any description thereof.. To this. shaft a is affixed the disc b, which supports
the bearings c, d. e,f,f', g, are the needles, which are of the ordinary kind,
and set in the leads g', which, by means of screws g, are affixed to the plate h,
which is supported with a capability of revolving on the fixed centre shaft a.
The plate h has affixed to it the bevelled pinion h', which is taken into by the
bevelled pinion on the shaft i, which is supported in bearings from the
disc b, and has affixed to it the crank handle i, by which motion is given to
The
the plate k, and thence to the various parts, as hereafter described.
thread to form the ground of the fabric is conducted from bobbins or otherwise
into the machine through the eye f, as shewn, so as to be fed under the
surfaces of the plates affixed around the cylinder k'. These plates are
arranged to pass between the needles g, and for this purpose they are each
placed, with respect to the cylinder k', at such an angle as will insure the one
undermost for the time being lying in the same plane as that of the needles
between which it is acting. Each of the plates & is formed with a projection ²,
which prevents the thread slipping off them, and insures its being conducted
under the beards of the needles, which is accomplished by the angular position
of the disc formed by the plates k; motion is given to the cylinder k', so that
the plates may pass correctly in between the needles g as they revolve by
means of the toothed wheel k', affixed on the axis or cylinder /', taking into
the stems of the needles g. The teeth of the wheel ' are set at an angle to
the axis of the cylinder k, so that as the circle of needles y revolves, it may be
correctly geared into by the teeth of the wheel. The cylinder is supported
in the bearings c and c', as shewn, and in order to prevent any derangement
of the needles g by their acting upon the wheel , they are supported and held
in position by the wheel, which turns upon an axis carried by the bracket c².
The length of loop is regulated by the depth which the plates k pass down
between the needles g; in order to this being varied, the bearings of the axis of
the cylinder arc adjustable. The thread thus laid under the beards of the
needles is in that position carried round with the needles to the point Z, where
the pressing on the beards of the needles and the knocking over of the work
take place. The work is indicated by the red line Y. m is a presser wheel,
which presses upon the beards of the needles so as to shut in the new loops,
whilst the platen (seen by dotted lines), acting against the work under the
needles, pushes it over the beards of the needles on to the new loops, which are
shut within the beards of the needles. o is another plate supported from the
brackets d, which also sustains the axis of the presser wheel m. This plate o
is for the purpose of keeping the work off the beards of the needles until the
pressing has taken place. p is another wheel supported from the plate n in

page_text: an inclined direction, and so that its periphery may revolve close under
-and just beyond the outer ends of the needles, in order to insure the work
being forced off the needles. The plate_n is supported by means of the
bracket from the fixed spindle a 9 is a cylinder to which motion is
given by its having affixed thereto a toothed wheel 7', which receives, motion
from the stems of the needles g in like manner to the cylinder. This
cylinder carries the cylinder of plates ; these plates, by passing down
between the ends of the needies and there acting upon the new loops,
serve to adjust and equalize the lengths of those loops and render the work
uniform. The cylinder 7 is formed with centre points by which it is supported
in the brackets e, e', with a capability of adjustment, as shown, so that the
plates may be caused to descend more or less between the needles. I have
not thought it necessary to show all the sets of instruments which work in the
machine, nor have I shown the work all round the circle of needles, as it will
be understood by workmen accustomed to such machines, that the several
parts for producing, knocking over, and equalizing the work will be repeated.
and thus would other threads, as well as those shown, be continuously laid on
to the needles to form loops at the same time as those shown and described.
r is a wheel supported from the bracket e, which by pressing in against the
work (produced and hanging down on the needles) serves to keep the work
tight, and help to draw it over the beards of the needles.
The cylinder
of work produced is kept out by passing over the ring s, and we prefer that
the work should be weighted as it is produced. Weft or additional threads may
be laid in when required by means of the guides t, t, and these are caused to
lay the threads in, under, and over the needles, according to the order desired,
by means of the wheels u, one to each guide . The tendency of these wheels u
is to raise the needles as they pass over them, and we place the guides t so
that when the needles 9 thus raised may pass over the guides, by which the
threads from the guides t will be laid under such needles, whilst the needles
which are not raised will, by the guides t, have the thread laid over them.
The peripheries of the wheels u are notched in order that the needles acting in
such-notches may carry, wheel u round, and that the guides may so act to lay
the threads over and under the needles, we cut away or deepen some of the
notches of the peripheries of the wheels 2, whereby the needles passing over such
cut away portions will not be raised. We have shown. the wheels u cut
to raise alternate needles, and thus cause the guides t in cach case to lay in
its thread alternately under and over the needles; v, v, are brushes to carry
the threads laid in by the guides t back against the work. These brushes are
carried by supports v¹ from the brackets f and f, and are caused to revolve by

page_text: contact with the needles g; x, x, are wheels which, by acting on slightly to
raise the needles, insures the threads from the guides t being properly drawn
in between the needles. In some cases we use a wheel cut as shown by
Fig. Z. The presser wheel is shewn with a plain surface, by which all the
beards of the needles passing under will be pierced thereby, but this may be
varied by using a wheel cut as described. With respect to the wheels u, or in
place thereof, we make use of the arrangement shown at Figures 4 and 5,
where m are a series of links, with ribs cut to act upon the beards of the
necilles in the required manner. We have only shown a portion of such chain;
it passes down under the guide pulley m²; thence under the fixed bar m²,
which acts to keep that portion of the chain in contact with the needles; the
chain m then passes under the drum m³, and it is by means of the drum m³
that the chain m is drawn forward, there being pins in the periphery of the
drum or cylinder m³ for this purpose, and this drum m³ has motion given to it
by the teeth of the wheel m* fixed thereon, taking into between the stems of the
needles; and in order to vary the pattern by varying the order in which the
pressing or the omitting to press on each needle shall take place, we employ
filling pieces to fill up the spaces, by which, supposing all the spaces in a
pressing wheel, or in a chain of pressing surfaces, be filled up, all the needles
will be pressed on, and the pressing will only be allowed to take place where
the spaces in the presser are left without filling. We would remark, that
this machine is very similar in several respects to a machine for which
Letters Patent were several years ago granted to Marc Isambart Brunel,
but the means of knocking over the work, and of regulating the length of loops
when the work has been knocked over, are new, and the means of laying
in addition, or what we have called weft threads, and of moving them up to
the work, are also new, and the use of endless chains or bands of pressers,
and employing filling picces to pressers, are new, as is also the use of a
wheel 1.
"
We will now describe the second part of our Invention, which consists of manu-
facturing stay and other cloths for parts of dress where they require to have one
part woven wider than another; and this part of the Invention consists of cm-
ploying a reed in parts, in such manner that when the whole of the parts are in
use, the greatest width of warp is being worked into a fabric, and as it is desired
progressively to narrow the fabric, and to reduce the quantity of warp, parts of
the reed are to be taken out, and the parts of the warp passing through such
abstracted parts of the reed are to be put out of use, and this is best done by
cutting the warps which are passing through the abstracted parts of the reed,
and then fastening the ends of such parts of the warp by making
a knot
thereof in front of 'the part of the reed taken away. For this purpose,

page_text: we believe the best means of constructing a reed is to cast them in parts
in lead, in like manner to that in which the combs and reeds of lace machinery
are commonly cast; but it will not be necessary so to form the middle portion.
of the reed, that is, so far as the same is required for the narrowest part of the
fabric to be produced, but only those outer parts of the reed,: which will, in the
progress of weaving, have to be abstracted when narrowing the weaving, and
again to be brought back as the weaving is progressively required to be woven
wider. The selvage portions of the warp, and also the parts of the reed at
the two outer parts thereof, at all times remain in work; but as parts of the
reed are abstracted, the selvage parts of the warp are to be slided up by moving.
the parts of the reed which carry such selvage warp threads, so that when at
work the reed will at all times be regularly spaced, and the fabric produced
will not vary in texture but only in width by reason of the taking out
and bringing back parts of the reed, for the portions of warp which work with
the abstracted parts of the reed being out of use when the parts of the reed
which carry them are out of use, no fabric will be produced thereby; and we
use filling pieces of wood or other material put outside of the selvage parts of
the reed to make up for the abstracted portions of the reed, and such
abstracted parts of the reed, as they are moved out of the main reed, are hung
up to any convenient part of the loom. The knotted ends of the warp held by
them will be securely retained, so that when they are again called into action
they will be ready again to be introduced into their places in the reed, the
ends of the warp being made fast to the previously woven fabric in the loon,
and then again these parts of the warp will come into work with the other
parts of the reed, the abstracting and bringing back of the parts being
governed by the particular case; and the width of the parts of reeds so
made suitable to be taken out from and returned into the reed may be
varied, but we prefer that they should be such as not to make great changes
in the width, for although that may sometimes be required it is better in such
cases to take out several parts of a reed at once, and we believe it will
generally be found better to have the width of each separate piece of reed
equal to the least width which will at any time be required to be abstracted.
In working with reeds thus formed, the warp-threads or yarns are wound on
bobbins so that they. may be used up at different rates, and the harness is to
be such that the parts of the warp for the time being out of action shall not
be put in motion, the parts of the harness for such parts of the warp being
hung up out of the way when these parts of the warp are not in use.
The third part of the Invention relates to a mode of arranging machinery in
order to produce tambour stitch. on stays and other articles of dress. Figure 6
shews a side view, Fig. 7 a plan; and Figures 8 and 9 two end views

page_text: of machinery arranged according to the Invention.
a is the main axis, which
receives motion by means of a band from a treadle wheel or otherwise, passing
over the pulley wheel a affixed upon the shaft a.. The pulley wheel a' is capable
of sliding along the shaft a, so as to be put in connection with the shaft a², by
which that shaft will revolve with the shaft a, or be thrown out of gear
therewith, as required. 6 is a table upon which the work to be tamboured is to
be laid; c is the thread carrier which conducts the thread from a suitable reel ;.
d is a hooked instrument acting in connection with the instrument e to produce
the looping. The hooked instrument c passes down through the fabric, and
when thus below the fabric, as shown by dotted lines, the instrument c is
caused to take a movement round the hooked instrument d, and lay its thread
so as to pass into the hook of the instrument d, which then ascends, and the
work being shifted, the instrument d again descends to receive its thread, and
the operations are repeated. e is an instrument with an eye, through which the
instrument d passes. This instrument is for the purpose of holding the work
down on the table b whilst the sewing through takes place. The instru
ments c, d, and e, have motion given to them in the following manner:-
The instrument c is aflixed to the end of the rod c', which is supported and
guided in the guides c², c, carried by the lever c', which turns upon the
axis c, and is connected at the other end to the lever c, by which the
instrument c receives a sideway movement.
The lever c' moves upon an
axis c", and at its upper end carries a truck which passes into the cam c², by
which the lever is actuated. The rod c is connected to the lower end
of the lever c, which turns upon the axis c, and at its upper end carries a
truck which passes between the cam surfaces c¹ carried by the shaft a. By
this means the instrument c has given to it a to and fro movement, which,
combined with the sideway movement produced by the action of the lever c³,
gives to the instrument c the necessary movement to lay the thread around
the hook d. The instrument dis held in the sliding rod d', which is guided,
as shewn, in its up and down movement produced by the crank d², which, by
means of the link d³, is connected to the sliding rod d'. The instrument e is
carried by the cross bar e affixed to the sliding rod e, which is constantly
borne upwards by the spring es, but is forced down to hold the work under
operation by the came on the shaft a³, the cam et acting upon a spring e
carried by the slide e². The object of this spring is that whilst the instru-
mente may be constantly pressed down upon the work to hold it, there may
be a slight yielding to accommodate to different thicknesses of fabric. The
shafts a², a, are disconnected so as to prevent the looping of the thread when
required by means of the lever f, which turns upon the axis g, and by means

page_text: of the link his connected to the fork i, which embraces the pulley a', and at
its lower end turns upon the axis : We would remark that we are aware
that various machines have before been made for working parts-of dress with
tambour stitch, and therefore, in order that the peculiarity of this part of the
Invention may be readily ascertained, we will state that the novelty consists in
so arranging mechanical parts that the thread carrier shall be caused to pass
on one side (from a position behind) the instrument to the front of the
instrument d, then in front of the instrument d, and then back to its position
behind the instrument d, by passing on the other side of the instrument d, and
although we believe, the above to be the best arrangement for these move-
ments, yet the parts may be varied so long as these movements are obtained to
the thread carrier..
"
We will now describe the fourth part of our Invention, which consists of
weaving thick stay cloth with spaces for bones. This part of our Invention
consists of mounting a loom suitable for weaving stay cloth consisting of two
fabrics woven at the same time, and connected at intervals by a binder warp
or stitching warp, so as to leave suitable spaces for bones, all which is well
understood; and the novelty consists in throwing in additional weft or wadding
between the two fabrics, so that considerable increase of thickness will be
obtained to the fabric produced, the filling or wadding weft being shut in
between the two fabrics, and held secure by the stitching or binder warp, thus
producing at one operation cloth consisting of two fabrics, with thick wadding
material between them, with suitable spaces for bones; and such fabric will
resemble a thick fabric composed by hand by sewing together two fabrics
having between them thick weft side by side, so as to keep the two fabrics at
a distance apart, the whole being formed into one fabric by the stitching or
sewing or quilting making suitable spaces for receiving the bones of stays: In
weaving ornamental fabrics for stays, whether the same be woven with
thickening, as above explained, or woven without such thick weft or wadding,
we employ an additional warp for ornamenting the stay fabrics, such additional
warp being of silk or other material. This additional warp may be all across
the-loom, or-only-at-intervals, in which latter case it will only weave the fancy
or ornamental patterns in stripes, which is what we believe will be that
generally preferred. In other respects we weave the stay cloth in any of the
ordinary manners; and we so weave with such additional warp as to bring it
on to the surface, and cause it to flush thereon over the weft thrown into the
other warp, as will produce the desired pattern, as is well understood, and the
parts of the additional or ornamenting warp will be thrown into or at the
back of the fabric, where the surface is not to be ornamented. The means of
'

page_text: weaving the pattern by an additional warp when for other purposes being
well understood, it will not be necessary to go further into details, this part of
the Invention consisting of employing an additional or ornamenting warp when.
weaving stay fabrics as explained.
We will now describe the fifth part of our Invention, which relates to
means of giving shape to the bust. Heretofore it has been the practice to wad
these parts of stays or of the dress, by which a great thickness of material
is accumulated in these parts, which is prejudicial to health. Now, this part
of our Invention consists of making hollow elastic shields or shapes to be
introduced into the interior of stays or dresses. Figure 10 shews an exterior
view, and Figure. 11 an edge view, of such a shield or shape. It consists of a
fabric a woven, like those for stiffeners, with bristles or bones, as indicated by
dotted lines; b, b, being two bones; c, the binding. These parts, when put
together, are damped and fastened down on a shape to dry, when they will
assume the desired shape; and they will be found far superior to the use
of wadding. The details may be varied in the making up, so long as a
hollow clastic shield or shape be made suitable to be introduced into stays
or dresses.
The sixth part of the Invention relates to a mode of connecting together to
fasten stays and other parts of dress. This arrangement is shewn by Figures 12
and 13. a, a, represent portions of a stay, or it may be other part of dress to
be fastened together. Within the edges al is enclosed a cord, which is con-
tinued down below the bottom of the stay or the part of dress requiring to be
fastened. b, b, are a series of. clips which embrace the cord a' so as to slide
thereon. These clips b, b, are connected together by means of the band c, by
which the clips or slides b, b, are capable of being pulled up or down to fasten
or loosen the stay or other article of dress.
We will now describe the seventh part of our Invention, which has for its
object means of making flexible and clastic hoops for distending dresses, and
consists in connecting a series of comparatively inelastic parts together by
elastic connections, that the whole hoop will be rendered elastic and flexible.
ways. We
This part of our Invention may be carried into practice in various
prefer to employ short lengths of wood for the hoop, connected together by
means of india-rubber, preferring such india-rubber as will retain its elasticity.
The pieces of wood or other material may be any desired length, but we prefer
them to be about one to one inch and a balf. long; and they may be hollow,
the ends being rounding, and somewhat larger than the intermediate part;
and in making a hoop the india-rubber may be run through them in the
manner of threading beads, and thus will. a hoop be formed which will be

page_text: 1
elastic and flexible, or, in place of the pieces being tubular, they may be
solid, and have several holes drilled in their ends, and then connected by india-
rubber thread, the object-being to obtain a hoop composed of numerous com-
paratively inflexible and light parts connected together so as to be-flexible
and elastic.
Another part of the Invention relates to a mode of manufacturing moreen
to be used in the manufacture of crinoline or stuff petticoats. In manufac
turing this fabric we arrange the loom with a double warp, and proceed to
weave for a certain length as in making ordinary moreen, and then for a
certain distance we omit to throw in the ordinary weft, and throw in horsehair
or whalebonc, as in the manufacture of horsehair cloth, or we weave the fabric
in such parts into two single fabrics, which, when united again, form open
parts for the introduction of stiff cord, the object of which is to produce an
increased elastic stiffening to such articles of dress.
We will now describe another part of our Invention, which relates to an
instrument to be used in measuring. One of such instruments is shewn by
the Figures 14, 15, & 16. This instrument is to be attached to any suitable
measure (say, a yard measure). a is a spring with a projection a', which
each time of measuring the length is to be pressed in, and in so doing the..
spring a will be caused to drive the ratchet wheel a distance equal to one.
notch, which, being indicated by figure at c, will indicate that one yard has
been measured. d is another wheel, also with figures upon it, which are
indicated at c. This wheel dis taken into once in each revolution of the
wheel b, by which it is moved one tooth; and as the wheel has ten ratchet
teeth, it will indicate up to ten figures, and then begin again, but the wheel d
will then indicate (1) till the wheel has again moved round, when the
wheel & will be moved another notch and indicate (2), and so on; and, in like
manner, other numbers of wheels and indices may be combined to register
higher numbers, as is well understood in arranging other kinds of indices.
Having thes described the nature of the Invention, we would have it
understood that what we claim is,-
First, the improvements herein described in the manufacture of hooped
fabrics.
Secondly, we claim the mode of weaving fabrics for stays and parts of dress
by employing a reed made in parts, and abstracting and returning parts of the
reed as the fabric is required to be narrowed and widened.
Thirdly, we claim the improvements in producing the tambour stitch on
stays and other parts of dress, as herein described.

page_text: making stay fabrics with ornaments by employing ornamenting warps when
weaving such fabrics.
Fifthly, we claim the making of a shield or shape, as herein described, for
giving shape to the bust.
Sixthly, we claim the mode herein described of constructing fasteners for
stays and other parts of dress.
Seventhly, we claim the mode herein described of making flexible and
elastic hoops for distending dresses.
Eighthly, we claim the mode of weaving moreen, in order to produce
crinolines and such like parts of dress, as described.
And, ninthly, we claim the improvements herein described in measuring
apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
در
11
Enrolled the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty.