IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF VELVETS, PLUSHES, AND OTHER PILE FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jules Bélicard, the younger, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, now residing temporarily in the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF VELVETS, PLUSHES, AND OTHER PILE FABRICS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Scaled the 16th January 1866, and dated the 26th July 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Bélicard at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
July 1865.
I, JULES BÉLICARD, the younger, of Paris, in the Empire of France, now
residing temporarily in the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF VELVETS, PLUSHES, AND OTHER PILE FABRICS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates more especially to velvets, plushes, and other pile
fabrics in which two stuffs or pieces with a pile between them are woven at
one and the same time, and consists, firstly, in an improved mode of main
taining the constant and uniform tension of all the warps of the fabric, and in
employing two shuttles instead of one; and, secondly, in improved arrange
ments for cutting and separating the pile and maintaining the knife in a sharp
and efficient condition.

page_text: Firstly, to any of the frames of the looms employed for weaving two pieces
of cloth with a pile between them, I employ two beams or rollers for the
main warps
instead of one as at present, and one or more beams or rollers for
the pile warps varying in number according to the pile fabric required. At
each end of the two main warp beams and the beam or beams containing the
pile warps there is a pulley, having fixed to it a rope or band, which passes
over a corresponding pulley at the top of the framework, and carries a weight
for the purpose of maintaining the warps at a constant and uniform tension.
The pulleys on the beams wind on the ropes spirally side by side, until the
weights are raised to their highest positions, and then the loom is stopped and
the ropes unlocked from the pulleys and the weights lowered, in order that
they may, when the ropes are again locked, produce exactly the same tension
as before, and so on continuously; and as the warps are pulled through the
loom by the winding of the fabric on a beam, worked by a taking-up motion,
the tension of all the warps is always the same at any part in the length of
the said fabric, and instead of using one shuttle for throwing one weft across
the two pieces of cloth alternately, I employ two wefts and two shuttles, one
for each piece, both shuttles passing across at the same time and thereby
greatly increasing the speed at which the pile fabric is made.
Secondly, my improved arrangements for cutting and separating the pile
consist in the employment of two bars of steel, which guide the two pieces
before they are cut, and a third bar or slide for guiding the knife, the effect of
which is that the cutting and separating the pieces exactly in the middle is
greatly facilitated.
For sharpening the knife I place at each side of the fabric a sharpener,
each consisting of two stones, so that the knife as it moves to and fro shall
after cutting the pile pass between the edges of the stones or sharpeners, and
thereby be maintained in a perfectly sharp condition. The knife works from
right to left and from left to right, and cuts in its passage of going and
returning in those velvets, or fabrics which require it, and for those which
require one cut on one side it is regulated accordingly.
By means of the foregoing improvements the velvets, plushes, and other
pile fabrics are not only much better cut but possess much greater freshness,
evenness, and brilliancy than those hitherto made, inasmuch as the knife
is always sharp, and the warps and fabric are maintained at the same
tension.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jules Bélicard in the. Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th.
January 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULES
BELICARD, the younger, of Paris, in the Empire of France, now residing
temporarily in the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,.
the said Jules Belicard, Her special license that I, the said Jules Belicard,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Jules
Belicard, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-.
TURE OF VELVETS, PLUSHES, AND OTHER PILE FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Jules Belicard, 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 Invention,
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 Jules Belicard, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
:-
.
This Invention relates more especially to velvets, plushes, and other pile
fabrics in which two stuffs or pieces with a pile between them are woven at
one and the same time, and consists, first, in an improved mode of maintaining
the constant and uniform tension of all the warps of the fabric, and in
employing two shuttles instead of one; and, secondly, in improved arrange-
ments for cutting and separating the pile and maintaining the knife in a
sharp and efficient condition.
:
First, in any of the frames of the looms used for weaving two pieces.of

page_text: cloth with a pile between them 1 employ two beams or rollers for the main
warps instead of one as at present, and one or more beams or rollers for the
pile warps, varying in number according to the pile fabric required. At one
or both ends of the two main warp beams and the beam or beams containing
the pile warps there is a pulley, grooved or plain, having fixed to it a rope or
band, which passes over a corresponding plain pulley above the framework,
and carries a weight for the purpose of maintaining the warps at a constant
and uniform tension. The pulleys on the beams wind on the ropes spirally
side by side, until the weights are raised to their highest positions, and then
the loom is stopped and the ropes unlocked from the pulleys and the weights
lowered in order that they may, when the ropes are again locked, produce
exactly the same tension as before, and so. on continuously, and as.the warps
are pulled through the loom by the winding of the fabric on to beams worked
by a taking-up motion, the tension of all the warps is always the same at any
part in the length of the said fabric; and instead of using one shuttle for
throwing one weft across the two pieces of cloth alternately, I employ two
wefts and two shuttles, one for each piece, both shuttles passing across at the
same time, and thereby greatly increasing the speed at which the pile fabric is
made.
Secondly, my improved arrangements for cutting and separating the pile
consist in the employment of two bars of steel or other substance, which guide
the two pieces before they are cut, and a third bar or slide for guiding the
knife, the effect of which is that the cutting and separating the pieces exactly
in the middle, or with such different heights of pile as may be required is
greatly facilitated.
For sharpening the knife I place at each side of the fabric a sharpener,
each consisting of two stones or other suitable materials, so that the knife as
it moves to and fro shall after cutting the pile pass between the edges of the
stones or sharpeners, and thereby be maintained in a perfectly sharp condition.
The knife works from right to left and from left to right, and cuts in its
passage of going and returning in those velvets or fabrics which require it,
and for those which require one cut on one side it is regulated accordingly.
By means of the foregoing improvements the velvets, plushes, and other
pile fabrics are not only much better cut but possess much greater freshness,
evenness, and brilliancy than those hitherto made, inasmuch as the knife
is always sharp, and the warps and fabrics are maintained at the same
tension.
The manner in which this Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by referring to the figures and letters on the accompanying two

page_text: Sheets of Drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, are end and front
elevations of the main parts of a loom, provided with my improvements,
and Figs. 3, 4, and 5, Sheet 2, are parts of the same, drawn about full
size..
"
In Figs. 1 and 2 a represents the end frames of the loom; b; the crank
shaft; c, the slay or batten; d, the slay swords; e, e, the two beams for the main
warps of the two fabrics;ff, the beams for the pile warps; g, the healds-;
hh, the two shuttles; i, i, the two shuttle boxes; j, j, the two taking-up
beams.;, 1, Figs. 4 and 5, the bars of metal or other material for guiding
the two, woven pieces of fabric before they are cut; m, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the
knife; and n, the frame or slide on which the knife moves to and fro. At
one end of each main warp beam e, e, is fixed a pulley o, and at one end of
each pile beam a pulley P, and above these pulleys there are guide pulleys r,
working on studs fixed. to beams or other suitable supports at a convenient
height above the loom. In the rims of the pulleys o, p, there are holes, into
which are fitted pins or bolts, to which are fixed one end of the ropes q, which
are coiled round the said pulleys o, p, and passed over the guide pulleys r,
above them, and have weights s attached to them; and it is these pulleys,
ropes, and weights which maintain their corresponding warps at one constant
tension.
pile are g
are guided before
The lower bar is.
The two shuttles for carrying the two wefts through the two sheds are
shewn at h, h; there are two shuttle boxes i, i, at each side provided for
them, and they are both propelled from one side to the other alternately by
one picking stick and a double picker at each side. The two bars of metal
or other material; between which the two fabrics and
they are cut asunder, are shown at k, l,. Figs. 4 and 5.
fixed to the cross plate t, which extends across the loom and is bolted to
brackets u, fixed to the cross frame v, fastened to the framework, The upper
bark is attached by screwed pins, w to the small standards a, fixed to the
brackets u, the plain parts of the pins being held in the bar, so that they can
turn, and the screwed parts fitting threads in the tops of the standards.
The knife is shewn at m; it is fixed in the slide y, working on the slide
frame n, and for keeping the knife steady whilst cutting the slide is in contact
with the cross bar, held in small brackets fixed to the upper bar k.
The knife sharpeners, one pair at each side of the fabric, are shewn at a¹, b¹,
Fig. 3. The lower sharpeners a¹ are held in holders c¹ forming part of the
brackets d' fixed to the frame v, and the upper sharpeners 6' are held in
holders e¹ connected to one end of springs f¹, the other ends of which are
fixed to the brackets d', the springs being formed of the strength and temper

page_text: required to keep the sharpeners in contact with the cutting edge of the knife
and keep it always sharp.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim,―
First, the system of maintaining the constant and uniform tension of all the
warps of the fabric by means of weights and pulleys.
And, secondly, the sharpeners at each sideof the fabric for maintaining the
knife in a sharp and efficient condition, as all such improvements are herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jules Belicard, the younger, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JULES BELICARD, JEUNE. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Jules Belicard, the
younger, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.