IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FIGURED FABRICS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Orr, of Glasgow,, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Manager; and James Templeton, of the same Place,
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF FIGURED FABRICS."
Scaled the 3rd August 1855, and dated the 23rd April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Orr and James
Templeton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 23rd April 1855.
We, JOHN ORR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Manager, and JAMES TEMPLETON, of the same Place, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAO-
TURE OF FIGURED FABRICS" to be as follows, that is to say:
This Invention relates to the weaving or manufacture of fabrics, either by
hand or power, suitable for use as carpets, damasks, and shawls, as well as for
other purposes for which figured goods are used, which fabrics, whilst they are
solid throughout, are capable of presenting the pattern or ornamental figure
complete and distinct on each face.
In weaving such solid goods either by hand or power looms, a single warp
is used for giving solidity to the centre of the fabric's thickness, and for acting

page_text: upon the figure weft shots; and the figure itself is produced entirely by weft
threads so woven in that they appear on one side or other, or go into the centre
of the fabric's thickness, according to the exigencies of the pattern, the actual
binding together of the fabric's mass being effected by a second warp. The
jacquard or figure-working apparatus necessarily acts upon the centre warp,
(but it may be arranged to act upon the second warp also,) drawing up, leaving,
or depressing such portions of the threads as will produce the effect intended by
the designer of the figure, the centre warp remaining completely hidden in the
centre of the fabric, whilst at the same time the ordinary harness or heddle
action, as actuated or wrought by treddles in the usual way on both warps at
the same time, works the binding or second (or outer) warp, to incorporate the
weft and produce a solid fabric. The cards of the jacquard movement are so
contrived that at any given portion of the fabric where a particular coloured
weft is required to appear on the lower face of the fabric, the whole of the
centre warp threads at that part will be lifted or shedded upwards preparatory
to the figure weft shot being woven in. If the figure weft be required to
appear on the upper or reverse face, then the required portion or number of
the dead warp threads are correspondingly depressed; whilst, when that
particular colour is not required on either face of the fabric, one-half of the
centre warp threads only is lifted or shedded, so that the figure weft at that
part disappears in the centre of the fabric.
The weaving action may be varied in many ways, so as to carry out the
essential object of producing a solid fabric with the same pattern complete and
distinct on each face.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Orr and James Templeton, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JoшN
ORR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manager, and
JAMES TEMPLETON, of the same Place, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Orr and James Templeton, Her special license that we, the said John
Orr and James Templeton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as we, the said John Orr and James Templeton, our executors, adminis-
trators, or 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 MANUFACTURE OF FIGURED FABRIOS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Orr and James
Templeton, by an instrument in writing under our hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 we, the said John Orr and James Templeton, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompany-
ing Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our said Invention relates to the weaving or manufacture, both by hand and
artificial or mechanical power, of fabrics suitable for use, as carpets, damasks,
and shawls, as well as for other purposes for which figured goods are used, and
the improvements constituting such Invention supply a system or mode of
producing a distinct and perfect pattern, figure, or device on both surfaces
of such fabrics, which fabrics at the same time are compact, solid, and single-
bodied. The patterns or devices produced upon the two faces or sides of the
fabrics may either be counterparts of each other, or they may be totally distinct,
different, and independent figures, whilst the fabrics so ornamented possess
solidity of bulk and great strength, all these ends being attained or accomplished
in a more simple and economical manner than by any other process or inode'
hitherto known. In the manufacture or production of an ornamental fabric
of this kind, two separate and distinct warps are employed; one of these warps
is herein termed the inner warp, and the other the outer warp. The inner
warp is employed for the purpose of giving position to the coloured weft
threads used in the formation of the ornamental pattern or device. The outer
warp, on the other hand, binds the mass of the fabric together, and it also
answers for producing a textural pattern or figure, that is to say, a figure
which is not necessarily dependent upon colour. The inner warp is worked or
operated upon by a jacquard machine or other pattern-working apparatus.'
The outer warp is either operated upon in a similar manner, or it is worked
by heddles in the manner cominon to plain weaving. The working by heddles

page_text: is the preferable mode in cases where a uniform textural surface is desired,
that is to say, a surface of a plain, twilled, or other kind not necessarily
dependent upon colour. The inner warp is held at a much greater tension in
the loom than the outer warp. In manufacturing a two coloured pattern.
fabric on this general principle, the weaver primarily forms a shed in his outer
warp for the passage through of both coloured weft threads. In the inner
warp a different shed is made for each weft thread. Wherever a coloured weft
thread is to be shown on the under surface of the fabric, the whole of the inner
warp threads are elevated. On the contrary, when the coloured weft thread is
to be shown on the upper surface of the fabric, all the inner warp threads are
depressed. Hence, in working a pattern with only two colours in it, all those
portions of the inner warp threads which have been elevated for the passage
beneath of the threads of the first colour are depressed for the passage above
them of the threads of the second colour. At each successive couple of weft
shots a change is made in the shed of the outer warp, accordingly as the
surface of the fabric is intended to be plain or twilled. The same general
routine is pursued when three or more coloured weft threads are involved in
the production of the fabric. The weft of each colour passes once through the
same shed of the outer warp, but each coloured weft demands a distinct and
different shed of the inner warp, as it is essentially necessary that portions of
each of the three coloured wefts should be concealed between the two surfaces
of the fabric, or in the centre portion of the thickness thereof, in accordance
with the special requirements of the pattern. This end is attained by forming
a shed in the inner warp, by alternately elevating and depressing each thread
of the inner warp at the parts where the coloured weft is to be concealed in
the centre of the fabric's thickness.
Having thus explained how the coloured weft can be made to appear either
on one side or the other of the fabric, and how the weft may be. entirely
concealed within the fabric's thickness, so as not to appear on either surface,
the practical operator will understand that the routine herein-before described
is all that is necessary for the production of a clear, distinct, and perfect pattern
or figure on both surfaces of the fabric, and that the pattern or figure may be
made more or less or entirely different on each surface, the fabric being under
all circumstances quite solid, and forming a single ply or thickness of cloth.
The inner warp being at all times wholly concealed from view, it affords the
means of making the fabric more or less bulky and strong, as may be
desired.
And in order that the said Invention, may be properly understood in such
manner as to render it easily carried out by the practical weaver, a Sheet of

page_text: detailed explanatory diagram Drawings is hereunto appended, in illustration
of the manufacture of a fabric wherein three coloured wefts are used. The
several diagram Figures on this Sheet of Drawings represent side or end
elevations of the reed, jacquard tails or cords, heddle, and warp beam details,
indicating the various changes which occur throughout the weaving routine, as
well as opposite surface views of a piece of figured fabric complete as woven,
and sections thereof.
In these Diagrams the warp A is what is herein-before termed the inner
warp, used for giving solidity to the fabric; B is the outer or binding warp.
The inner warp A is operated upon by the tails or cords C of a jacquard or
other pattern-working apparatus, whilst the outer or binding warp B is
operated upon by two or more heddles D. The Diagram Figures 1, 2, 3,
and 4, on the Slicet of Drawings hereunto attached, represent different positions
of the warps at the throwing of the successive weft shots; Figure 5 is a face
view of the upper side of a piece of figured fabric woven according to this.
Invention Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the fabric, as at the line a, b,
in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a transverse section of the fabric, as at the line
c, d, in Figure 5; Figure 8 is a face view of the under side of the fabric on
the side opposite to that represented in Figure 5; Figure 9 is a longitudinal
section of the fabric, as at the line e, f, in Figure 8; and Figure 10 is a
transverse section, as at the line y, h, in Figure 8. The sections represented
in Figures 6 and 7 are taken at lines where a single colour only is shewn
upon each surface of the fabric, whilst the sections represented in Figures 9
and 10 are taken through the figured device, and indicate the weaving action
by which such device is formed. Supposing the weaving action has reached
the part at which the section, Figure 7, is taken, the effect to be produced
requires that of the three wefts, the blue weft shall appear upon the upper
surface of the fabric, and the green weft on the under surface thereof, whilst
the red weft is entirely hid in the centre of the fabric. It may be remarked
here that when one of the wefts has not to appear at all at any particular part
of the pattern it need not be shot, or a shot of inferior thread may be sub-
stituted to make up the thickness of the fabric. In the Drawings, however,
the non-appearing weft is represented as shot to illustrate the herein-after
contained description of the figuring action. In weaving the fabric at
this point, where a single colour appears on each side all the way across.
the fabric, a shed is formed in the outer warp as at B1, B2, Figure 1;
and the blue weft E is shot above the inner warp A, and the green weft F
below this warp. A shed is then formed by the jacquard action in the inner
warp A, and the red weft G is shot through it, as represented in Figure. 2. In

page_text: this instance the red weft is hid and contained between the threads of the
inner warp A, and does not appear on either external surface of the fabric,
it being preferred to form this shed by raising the alternate threads of the
warp. Next a reversed shed is made in the outer warp B, as represented in
Figure 3, and the blue and green wefts E and F are shot in, as before; then
a shed is formed in the inner warp A, exactly as before, and the third weft G
is again shot through, as represented in Figure 4. Any kind of plain or
twilled surface may be produced upon the fabric by arranging the heddles by
which the outer warp B is worked, in the same way as is done in weaving
ordinary plain or twilled fabrics; or a pattern or device independent of or
combined with the coloured device may be produced, by differential twilling
or otherwise, by suitably working the outer warp B, either by means of the
jacquard apparatus or otherwise, as is already done in weaving various well-
known fabrics. Supposing the weaving action to be at the line g, h, in
Figure 8, it will be observed that the pattern requires the blue weft to appear
on one side and the green weft on the other side for the short distance from
toi, whilst the red weft is hid in the centre of the fabric.
In the space
from i to j, however, the red weft has to appear on one side of the cloth and
the green weft on the other, whilst the blue weft is hid in the centre of the
fabric. To effect this, the inner warp threads are acted upon by the jacquard
at this particular point in such a manner as, in the first place, to allow the
green weft to pass over them, so as to appear on the upper side of the fabric
as at i, j, in Figure 5; the jacquard then changes the threads of the inner
warp so as to allow the red weft to pass below them and appear on the under
side of the fabric, as represented at i, j, in Figure 8 after this a shed is
formed in the inner warp to allow the blue weft to pass through it and remain
hid in the centre of the fabric. Passing on to the space j, k, the weaving
action here is the same as from g to i. At k, however, another change takes
place, and from k to the green weft is shot through the centre of the inner
warp, the threads thereof being suitably shed by the jacquard action for that
purpose; the jacquard then changes the inner warp threads so as to allow the
red weft to be shot above them, and appear on the upper surface of the fabric,
as at k, l, in Figure 5; then the inner warp is again acted upon by the
jacquard so as to allow the blue weft to be shot below it, and appear on the
under side of the fabric, as at k, l, in Figure 8. At a very small portion of
the device is the same in colour as from g to i, and is produced in the same
way, the blue weft being shewn on one side and the green weft on the other,
whilst the red weft is hid in the centre of the fabric. From to m the action
is the same as from i to j, the green weft appearing on the upper and the red

page_text: weft on the under side, whilst the blue weft is hid in the centre of the fabric..
From m to n the action is the same as from k to ; and after this the changes
already described are repeated in an inverse order. What has been just
described regarding the weaving action at the line g, h, refers to only one shot
of the several wefts. Thus, when the green weft is shot, the inner warp is
acted upon by the jacquard in such manner that this weft passes below the
inner warp threads from g to i, above them from i to j, below them again
from j to k, through the centre of the inner warp threads from k to so as to
be hid, and so on across the piece according to the pattern. The jacquard
action then changes the inner warp threads in such a manner that the red
weft passes through the centre of the inner warp threads from g to i so as to
be hid, then below them from i to j so as to appear on the under surface,.
next through the centre of them from j to k so as to be hid, then above them
from k to so as to appear on the upper surface, and so on across the piece
according to the pattern. The jacquard action next changes the inner warp
threads in such a manner that the blue weft passes above them from g to i so
as to appear on the upper surface, then through the centre of them from i to j
so as to be hid, next above them again from j to k so as to appear on the
upper side of the fabric, then below them from to so as to appear on
the under surface, and so on across the piece according to the pattern.
According to this system of weaving, both sides of the fabric present similar
finished pattern surfaces, whilst any amount of thickness or strength may be given
to the fabric by suitably proportioning the inner warp, which being completely
hid in the centre of the fabric may consist of any suitable cheap material.
And for convenience in working with this inner warp, one, two, or more of its
threads may be acted on by the jacquard as a single thread. In the example.
represented in Figures 5 and 8, the pattern or device is the same in form or
outline on both sides of the fabric, but each side is different in colour. In
weaving with two wefts of different colours, one colour appears on one side
of the fabric exactly opposite to the other colour on the other side of the
fabric; in other words, supposing the colours to be red and blue, that part of
the pattern which is red on one side will be blue on the other, and vice versa,
as in two-colour damasks; but when three or more wefts of various colours
are used, this counterpart correspondence of the two surfaces does not take
place, and the patterns on the opposite sides of the fabric can be made up of
quite different combinations of the colours. It will also be obvious to the
practical weaver that totally different patterns, either as regards their outlines
or form, or as regards the combinations of colours in them, may be produced
on the opposite sides of the fabric, by contriving the jacquard mechanism to
03

page_text: act in a suitable manner upon the inner warp threads. The binding warp
threads B are acted upon so as to change their shed once for each combined
shot of all the wefts in use at that part of the fabric, and this change of shed
of the warp B thus binds down each set of weft shots as they are made.
In transferring the pattern or device to be woven, to design or lined paper,
especial care is to be taken to paint or lay on the distinguishing colours in
such manner as to simplify the instructions to be given to the jacquard
figuring card cutter. The card cutter must be instructed as to how many
cards are to be cut for each line of the pattern paper, what parts of the inner
warp are to be all raised, and what are to be depressed, and what parts are to
have the threads alternately raised and depressed. When a special harness
or pattern-working movement is required for the outer warp, as in the case of
its being desirable to have a variety of twilling worked upon the surfaces of
the fabric in addition to the essential ornament thereof, a design for such
secondary ornamentation is specially made on lined paper.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, we may observe, in conclusion, that we do not confine or restrict ourselves
to the precise details or arrangements which we have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of our said Invention; but what we consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the manufacture of a solid or undivided fabric having a dead inner
or centre warp, and with a complete and distinct pattern or device on each
surface, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of a dead inner or centre warp, operated
upon. by a jacquard or other pattern-working mechanism, for the purpose of
producing a solid or undivided fabric, with a complete and distinct pattern or
device on both surfaces:
In witness whereof, we, the said John Orr and James Templeton, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.