IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHAG OR PILE FABRICS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1884

page_text: I, FERNANDO ALSINA Y PARELLADA of N° 25 Calle Nueva de San Francisco,
Barcelona, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SHAG OR PILE FABRICS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:
This invention consists in improvements in the process and apparatus described
in Patent N° 1852, 12 April A.D. 1883.
The mechanical process forming the object of the above Patent and described
in the specification of the same, comprises the following principal operations
or steps.
1. Weaving simultaneously two parallel, equidistant and superposed pieces of
cotton fabric (or of cotton in combination with any other textile materials) by
means of a power loom, having several shafts or harness frames operated by driving
mechanism similar to that used in the manufacture of ordinary pile fabrics or by
any analogous mechanism suitable for this purpose.
2. Producing the pile or nap of the shag which constitutes the weft (composed in
the tissues or fabrics made by the other known processes of two or several yarns
or two or several white or coloured threads) by threads of different thicknesses
and colours, following each other or grouped in sections or parts more or less
separate and variable according to the pattern or design to be produced.
3. Cutting the white or coloured threads (collected or accumulated by the
passages of the weft of the two tissues or upper and lower pieces of fabric) by
means of a knife.
Two or more shuttle boxes and a corresponding number of shuttles are used in
the loom for the wefts of different thicknesses and colours, according to the
composition or formation of the pattern or design to be represented in the fabric.
The apparatus hereinafter described comprises, in addition to the mechanism
serving to feed the thread intended for the production of the pile or nap, a
mechanism to carry out the following process.
Instead of crossing the weft with the warp one by one as has hitherto been the
case, that is to say one crossing or pick for each stroke of the lathe, the picks are
now double, viz. two distinct crossings of the weft, one for the upper and one for
the lower piece of fabric, produced simultaneously at each stroke of the lathe.

page_text: In addition to this manner of producing the picks, the invention comprises the
application of any number of leaves or shafts each heald having two eyelets or
small rings, for the purpose of obtaining at one motion the two distinct openings
necessary for the passage of the two shuttles, which simultaneously produce the
two picks of the weft.
The invention also comprises the application of a loom of double triple or
multiple width by means of which two, three or more pieces of fabric may be
woven simultaneously, which mechanism may be applied at will (that is to say
according to the requirements of the manufacturer), this part of the invention
being completely independent of the principal part of the process and apparatus
patented as set forth.
о
In further describing this invention reference will be made to the accompanying
drawings and to those annexed to the specification of Patent N° 1852 12 April
1883.
The improvements in the mechanism for winding off the thread, serving to
produce the shag, from one or more warp beams, consists in replacing the mechanism
described in Patent N° 1852, 12 April 1883 by the following arrangement (see
Fig. 1 of the annexed drawing).
The wheel A mounted on the driving shaft of the loom gears into the wheel B
made fast on the same shaft as the wheel C which gears into the wheel D mounted
on the shaft E The latter drives the shaft O provided at one end with the
wheel N and at the other end with the worm P. The worm P drives the worm-
wheel mounted on the same shaft as the cylinder R, whereby the latter is turned.
The surface of the cylinder R is made uneven (by covering the same with emery,
sand, ground glass, or other more or less hard material), so as to prevent the yarn-
beam T from sliding. This. beam loosely rests on the cylinder R, and according
to the direction in which the cylinder R turns, the thread is wound on or
wound off.
,
The improvement in the manner of producing the crossings or picks of the weft
constitutes the principal feature of this invention and is of great importance for
the process of manufacturing already patented, the production of the loom being
doubled by its application.
The improvement consists in driving at each stroke of the picker L (see Fig. 2
of the annexed drawings) two shuttles K K¹, moving together to and fro, so that
at each stroke of the lathe the shuttle k inserts a thread of the weft for the
lower piece of fabric, while the shuttle k¹ inserts a thread of the weft for the
upper piece of fabric."
In order to obtain the necessary space for the passage of the two shuttles which
produce the two simultaneous crossings of the weft, I employ shafts or harness
frames ¹, i, i, il, provided with two sets or rows of eyelets or rings h h¹h h¹
gggg placed at a distance from each other corresponding to the opening required
for the passage of the shuttles K K¹.
The leaves i i which serve exclusively to lift the thread wound off the beam T
are provided with one set of eyelets or rings only, and their motion which may be
caused by any suitable mechanism, permits the thread which produces the pile to
be alternately seized by one of the shuttles, according to the pattern to be produced
and which may vary indefinitely.
The direct result of the application of two shuttles passing simultaneously, is
an increase in the production to double the quantity of that obtained by the
passing of one shuttle only, for each stroke of the lathe.
As regards the faculty of doubling, tripling or still more increasing the breadth
of the loom for the purpose of weaving double, triple or a still larger quantity of
fabric, no special details of description are required, as it will be easily understood,
that by increasing the breadth of the loom the production will be increased,
whatever the construction of the loom and whatever the kind of fabric may be.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is,
1. The mechanism substantially as described for unwinding the yarn intended to
produce the pile or nap.
2. The method of producing double crossings of the weft, or double picks, namely
simultaneously one for the upper and one for the lower piece of fabric by means
of two shuttles, substantially as described.
3. The use of any suitable number of leaves or shafts, each of which has two
sets of eyelets for the purpose of producing at one operation the two shuttle-races
or openings for the passage of the shuttles.
F. ALSINA Y PARELLADA.
Herbert & Co.,
Agents.