CARDS. 





for the 

 the wire. 



For th 

 doubling. 



For the 



distance of 

 the teeth. 



Adjust- 

 ment of the 

 sitk- l>en- 

 dcis. 



For (lie 

 knee bend. 



smali, th.i- : "" a lio/i-n, or if they 



turned by a mill lie could aitencl a greater num- 



iy seldom do wrong, or make a false 



Th machine is capable of making wires of any 

 si/i-, by the following adjustments: 



1. Tin- length of the notch in the cam 1, regulates 

 the length of the wire which shall be cut off, because 

 it is only as long as this notch is presented to the 

 lifting tooth of the frame I, that the rollers act upon 

 the wire. The screw 10 is adjusted to stop the wire 

 when sufficiently advanced ; but this is only a precau- 

 tion, to prevent any accidental protrusion after the 

 cam 1 has lifted the upper roller. The cam 1, as 

 before stated, is a circle ; and to have the means of ad- 

 justing the length of the notch in it, the cam is made 

 of two equal circles, or wheels, fitted on the main 

 axis, and applied to each other, side by side, so as to 

 make one. The back of the frame I, which rests upon 

 their circumference, is as broad as both circles to- 

 gether. Each has a notch cut in it much wider than 

 the notch in the cam is ever intended to be. 



Now if these circles were twisted round on the 

 axis, so that the notch in one circle is applied opposite 

 to the complete part of the other, the cam would act 

 as a complete circle, and the tooth of I would never 

 drop into the notch of either, because the circumfe- 

 rence of the other circle holds it up at the time. On 

 the other hand, by placing the two notches opposite 

 to each other, the rollers would be suffered to act 

 upon the wire longer than is ever intended. Therefore 

 between these two extremes, the limits of the notch 

 may always be determined by trial, that the proper 

 length of wire shall be protruded, one circle making 

 the beginning, and the other the end of the notch in 

 the cam. Both are fastened on the axis by clamp 

 screws. 



2. The centre screws, on which the whole of the 

 pliers rr (Fig. 4,) are suspended, admit of adjusting 

 them, so that their blades shall seize the wire by the 

 middle, and make the ends of the staple equal when 

 doubled. 



3. The steel faces I and s, of the blade r of the 

 pliers, can be removed, and any other substituted. 

 This regulates the distance between the legs andpoints 

 of the card wire, or the length of its shank. 



4-. The screw m determines the degree of closure 

 the side benders shall have ; and the square nut on 

 the rod /, (which attaches to it the piece on which 

 the cam operates,) determines the distance to which 

 they will open. This is of consequence, for the wire, 

 if bent too sharply at once into the dotted position, 

 (Fig. 2,) might be cut or broken, instead of bent 

 fairly. 



5. The screw which fixes the lever 8 into the main 

 axis, admits the lever to be set farther out, and then 

 it will give a greater degree of knee bend, or if nearer 

 the axis will bend less. This is also influenced by 

 the quantity of motion the cam 9 gives to the pliers, 

 which can be adjusted by sliding the curved piece 11 

 up or down the lever r, for which purpose its screws 

 are fitted in grooves. This causes a more or less pro- 

 tuberant part of the curve 11, to meet the cam g. 

 The screw 16, as before stated, adjusts the blade g of 

 the pliers. 



The wires being thus crooked, cither by loud or 

 by ii to be stuck through the leathers, **;, ' 



in which holes arc pricked for thtir rcc.-j 

 This was formerly executed by the tedious process '* 

 of pricking with a double awl, but now it u done 

 by machines; one kind adapted to the sheet cards, 

 and the other for filleting. The former consists of a 

 square wooden frame, like a table without the top Maf ^ 

 board. In this a square frame or carriage slides bo- f ur k i, eet 

 rizontally, and has cross bars, provided with jaws to card-, 

 fasten, and screws to stretch the sheet of leather with 

 a proper degree of tension. A cord is fastened to one 

 end of the carriage, and passing over a pulley, has a 

 weight attached to it, which always urges the car- 

 riage one wny. It has a rack fastened to one side of 

 it, the teeth of which are engaged by the worm of 

 an endless screw, formed at the end of a long axu, 

 placed parallel to the direction of the motion of the 

 carriage, which is also parallel to the rack. The Dividing 

 endless screw is p-evented from running round, as it the leather 

 would do, by the weight drawing the carriage by a 

 cylindrical brass wheel, the circumference or which 

 has several circles traced upon it, each divided into a 

 different number of divisions, and marked by small 

 holes. A spring with a tooth, or pin at the end, 

 applies to these divisions, in the same manner as the 

 dividing plate of a wheel-cutting engine. Now, by 

 lifting the spring tooth out of any division, the 

 weight operating upon the carriage draws it for- 

 wards, the teeth of the rack turning the endless screw 

 about till another division comes to the tooth which 

 drops into it, and holds it fast till the workman 

 again relieves the spring catch. By this means the 

 carriage and the leather is moved an equal quantity at 

 every time, to measure the distance at which the rows 

 of holes shall-be pricked ; and this measure can be al- 

 tered at pleasure, by using a different circle of divi- 

 sions. The holes are pierced by a double row of Flickers 

 prickers, as long as the sheet of leather. They are 

 small steel points fixed into a piece of iron, which i- 

 screwed to a strong frame, moving on two centre 

 screws, forming an axis for it immediately over the 

 leather, and in a direction across that of the motion 

 of the carriage. On this axis the frame rises arid fall& 

 in the manner of a book lid, when moved by a long 

 handle (lever) which is fastened to it. The row ot 

 points being fixed parallel to the axis, forms a double 

 row of holes, when the lever is pressed down, in a di- 

 rection across the motion of the leather. A proper 

 bed is prepared beneath the leather, just where the 

 points act, to support the sheet while it is pierced. 

 This machine is used as follows : A sheet of leather 

 is prepared by rubbing the grain side with soap, and 

 sizing over the flesh side. It is then fixed to the two Operaticr 

 cross bars of the carriage, by the jaws which bite its 

 edge fast ; and by the two screws first mentioned, 

 the sheet is strained very tight. All this time the 

 lever and pricker frame is turned up out of the way ; 

 and the end of the lever being suspended from the 

 ceiling, but the leather being fixed, the workman 

 adjusts the carriage to the proper point of commence- 

 ment, and then strikes down the end of the lever, 

 pricking one double row of holes across the whole 

 length of the sheet ; he then lifts up the lever, and, 

 taking the spring catch of the dividing cylindel 1 in 

 2 



