Disposition of the pincers

—The shaft L ′ carries, at regular intervals of a semi-diameter, the appendages q q cast upon it, upon which are fixed, by two bolts, the curved branches Q destined to bear the whole mechanism of the pincers. When the pincers are opened by their appropriate leverage, and the half of the needle, which is pointed at each end, with the eye in the middle, enters the opening of its plate, it gets lodged in an angular groove, which is le deep than the needle is thick, so that when the pincers are closed, the upper jaw pre es it into the groove. In this way the needle is firmly held, although touched in only three points of its circumference. Suppose, now, that all the pincers are mounted and adjusted at their proper distances upon their prismatic bar, forming the upper range of the right carriage. For opening all the pincers there is a long plate of iron, U , capable of turning upon its axis, and which extends from the one end of the carriage to the other. This axis is carried by a kind of forks which are bolted to the extremity of the branches Q . By turning that axis the workman can open the pincers at pleasure, and they are again closed by springs. This movement is performed by his feet acting upon the pedals. The threads get stretched in proportion as the carriage is run out, but as this tension has no elastic play, inconveniences might ensue which are prevented by adapting to the carriage a mechanism by means of which all the threads are pre ed at the same time by a weight susceptible of graduation. A little beneath the prismatic bar, which carries the pincers, we see in the figure, a shaft Y , going from one end of the carriage to the other, and even a little beyond it; this shaft is carried by pieces y which are fixed to the arms Q , and in which it can turn. At its left end it carries two small bars y′ and w′ , and at its right a single bar y′ , and a counterweight (not visible in this view); the ends of the two bars y′ are joined by an iron wire somewhat stout and perfectly straight. When the carriage approaches the web, and before the iron wire can touch it, the little bar w pre es against a pin w′ , which rests upon it, and tends to raise it more and more. In what has preceded we have kept in view only the upper range of pincers and needles, but there is an inferior range quite similar, as the figure shows, at the lower ends of the arms Q . In conclusion, it should be stated, that the operative does not follow slidingly with the pantograph the trace of the design which is upon the tablet or the picture, but he must stop the point of the style upon the point of the pattern into which the needle should enter, then remove it, and put it down again upon the point by which the needle ought to re-enter in coming from the other side of the piece, and so on in succe ion. To facilitate this kind of reading off, the pattern upon the tablet is composed of right lines terminated by the points for the entrance and return of the needle, so that the operative (usually a child) has continually under her eyes the series of broken lines which must be followed by the pantograph; if she happens to quit this path an instant, without having left a mark of the point at which she had arrived, she is under the nece ity of looking at the piece to see what has been already embroidered, and to find by this comparison the point at which she must resume her work, so as not to leave a blank, or to repeat the same stitch. Explanation of figure: A , lower cro bars, which unite the legs of the two ends of the frame. a , the six feet of the front end of the frame. a′ , the six feet of the posterior end of the frame. a′ ′ , curved pieces which unite the cro bars A ′′ to the uprights. B ′′, handle of the pantograph. b b′ b′ ′ , three of the angles of the pantograph. c , point of the side b b′ ′ on which the point is fixed. C ′′, point of the pantograph. D ′′, cro bar in form of a gutter, which unites the upper parts of the frame. d , fixed point, round which the pantograph turns. E , tablet upon which the pattern to be embroidered is put. E ′, support of that tablet. e , cord attached at one end to the side b c of the pantograph pa ing over a guide pulley, and carrying a weight at the other end. e′ , iron rod by which the tablet E is joined to its support E ′. F F , uprights of the cloth-carrying frame. F ′ F ′, horizontal sides of the same frame. G , four roll beams. G ′′, the piece of cloth. g′ ′ , the strings, which serve to stretch the cloth laterally.