IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED, WOVEN, AND ELASTIC FABRICS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN BIGGS,
of the Borough of Leicester, Manufacturer, and RICHARD HARRIS, the younger,
of Leicester aforesaid, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirtieth day of March, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Biggs and Richard Harris, Her especial license, sole privilege and
authority, that we, the said John Biggs and Richard Harris, our exors, adñiors,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Biggs and Richard Harris,
our exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED, WOVEN, AND ELASTIC FABRICS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that we, the said John Biggs and
Richard Harris, or one of us, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
John Biggs and Richard Harris, do hereby declare that the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
Our Invention relates, first, to the introduction of strands of india-rubber
into looped, woven, and elastic fabrics, after they are taken off the machine,
by running them in between the outer and inner surfaces of the fabrics by
means of a needle, bodkin, or other similar instrument.
And, secondly, to the introduction of strands of india-rubber into looped,
woven, and elastic fabrics, after they are taken off the machine, through
channels in the inner surface of such fabrics by means of a needle, bodkin, or
other similar instrument.
And in order that the first part of our Invention may be readily under-
stood, we will proceed to describe the mode we pursue in introducing such
strands of india-rubber between the inner and outer surfaces of the fabrics.
Supposing the fabric to be taken off the machine, we introduce strands or
threads of india-rubber between the outer and inner surfaces by means of
a needle threaded with a strand of india-rubber, which will readily be accom-
plished by running or pushing the needle so threaded, and thereby carrying
the india-rubber with it between the outer and inner surfaces of the fabric
for the whole width or length of the fabric, or so much thereof, and in such
parts of it, as is desired, and elasticity will be given to the india-rubber by
heat, as is well understood. In making gloves, and some other articles, we
prefer that the india-rubber strands should not be introduced till the fabrics
are cut up. The advantages of this will be that a greater length of india-
rubber in proportion to the length of the fabric can be introduced, by allowing
the india-rubber to extend for a short space beyond the fabrics. Another
advantage is, that by not introducing the strands until after the fabric has been
dyed, milled, dressed, bleached, or finished, the india-rubber is not injured, but
retains its strength unimpaired by any of those processes. The india-rubber
may
be used either covered or uncovered, as may be thought most desirable.
We will now proceed to explain the second part of our Invention, which
consists in introducing strands of india-rubber into looped, woven, and elastic
fabrics, after they are taken off the machine, through a channel made in the
inner surface of the fabrics suitable for their reception. And in order that
this part of our Invention may be clearly understood, we will proceed to explain
the mode we adopt. The construction of those descriptions of machines which

page_text: work in such manner as to cause several warp threads side by side to loop
together, and thus to produce looped, woven, or elastic fabrics, being well
known, and such descriptions of warp machinery producing various characters
of fabric, depending on the order in which the looping takes place, being also
well known, it will not be necessary to enter into any description thereof, further
than what is necessary to explain our Invention. Supposing it is desired to
introduce strands of india-rubber transversely across what are called Berlin
fabrics. In this case we prefer to use only one guide bar, carrying as many
guides as there are needles, and, consequently, as many warp threads, and a
wheel, such as is shown at Figure 1, is employed for racking that guide bar.
The channel is produced by causing the guide bar to rack an extra distance
when below the needles, whenever it is desired to make a transverse channel
across the fabric which is being produced. The machinery is worked in the
ordinary manner, and when it is desired to produce a channel, a sliding bolt is
introduced between the racking lever and the bolt of the wheel, Figure 1,
either at the racking of No. 3 or No. 7 of the wheel, and such sliding bolt is
to be of such thickness as to cause the needles to rack an extra distance of
two, three, or more needles, according to the size of the channel required, or
the same object may be attained by means of a nick spring attached to the
guide bar. The finer the guage of the machine, 'the more needles will be
required to be passed by such extra racking, in order to obtain a given sized
channel for a strand or thread of india-rubber to be received therein. And
this sliding bolt is to remain in action between the racking lever and the wheel
till the next channel is desired to be made, when it is to be withdrawn at the
racking of No. 3 or No. 7 of the wheel, when the guide bar will receive an
extra racking, in the same manner as when the sliding bolt was introduced, but
in an opposite direction, such extra rackings taking place in all cases when the
guides are below the needles. In working the machine, the guides are below
the needles at racking No. 1, and above in racking No. 2, and so on; and the
pressing takes place when racking Nos. 4 and 8 of the wheel.
In case it is desired to make channels in what are called Lisle fabrics, we
employ the wheels, Figures 2 and 3, to work two guide bars each guide bar
carrying as many guides as there are needles. The working of warp machinery
under such circumstances is in the ordinary manner; and in order to produce
the requisite channels extra rackings are to be given when the guides are
under the needles, and for this purpose we use a sliding bolt in such manner
that it may be moved from between the racking lever and bolt of the top
guide bar, and inserted between the racking lever and bolt of the lower guide
bar, and such changes are to take place on the racking No. 3 or No. 7 of the

page_text: wheels, Figures 2 and 3, according as the channels are required to be made,
or the same object may be accomplished by means of nick springs. On
racking No. 1 of the guide bar wheels, the guides are below the needles, at
racking No. 2 they are above the needles, and so on, and the pressing
takes place every course, or after raking Nos. 2, 4, 6, and 8 of the wheels,
Figures 2 and 3.
In some cases we make channels longitudinally of the fabrics. For such
purposes we employ an extra guide bar, which is the bottom guide bar, and
on this bar a guide is fixed at each place where a channel is to be made in the
fabric, and the wheel for working the extra guide bar is shewn at Figure 4,
which may be employed with the wheel, Figure 1, and also the wheels, Figures
2 and 3, and other cuts of wheels will be produced, as is well understood when
making other descriptions of fabrics.
In some cases we make the desired channels by lapping the warp threads
several times on the needles before knocking over the work. Figures 5 and 6
shew two wheels for producing an ordinary brace web by looping warp threads
together, there being two guide bars worked by the two wheels, each guide bar
having half as many guides as there are needles. This machinery is arranged
for the pressing taking place on racking Nos. 3, 7, 11, and 15 of the wheels,
Figures 5 and 6. The guides are above the needles at racking No. 1, and
below them at the racking of No. 2 of the wheels, and so on; and in order to
produce the channels we apply additional wheels upon the same axis as
Figures 5 and 6; these wheels are shewn at Figures 7 and 8. The racking
bolts of the guide bars being so constructed that they may be removed from
the one pair of wheels to the other; thus, supposing it were desired to make
a channel across the fabric, on the racking of No. 8 of the wheels the racking
bolts of the guide bar wheels, Figures 5 and 6, would be moved, and brought
into position to be worked by the wheels, Figures 7 and 8, and the machine
would be continued to be worked till racking No. 16, when a channel will have
been produced; and if only one channel is required, then the racking bolts will
be removed into position to be worked by the wheels, Figures 5 and 6, and the
work would be continued to be made by those wheels till another channel is to
be made; but if a channel be desired at every course for any length of the
work, the wheels, Figures 7 and 8, will be continued to be used so long as the
channels are required across the fabric. It should be stated that the racking
bolts may be moved at racking No. 16 of the wheels, as well as at racking
No. 8. When the wheels, Figures 7 and 8, are being used, the pressing takes
place or racking Nos. 7 and 15 of those wheels.
The fabrics being thus made, are to be dyed or otherwise treated, according

page_text: to the requirement of the particular fabrics, and when the fabrics are to be
made into gloves and some other articles, we prefer that the strands of india-
rubber should not be introduced till the fabrics are cut up, for the reason given
in describing the first part of our Invention. The strands of india-rubber, which
may be used either in the covered or uncovered state, are introduced into the
channels by means of a needle, which will readily be accomplished by running
or pushing the needle, threaded with a strand of india-rubber, into the channel,
thereby carrying the india-rubber with it until the channel across the fabric is
filled with a strand of india-rubber; and in this manner the channels are to be
successively filled, and elasticity will be obtained to the india-rubber by heat,
as is well understood; and in like manner india-rubber is to be introduced into
the hollow channels, which are made longitudinally of the fabric. We would,
however, observe that we do not confine this part of our Invention to any
particular kind of channel, and that we do not claim any particular mode
of producing the same, our Invention being for the introduction of strands
of india-rubber into channels, however produced, if introduced by means of a
needle, as above described. We would also observe that instead of a needle, a
bodkin or any other similar instrument may be used for carrying out this as
well as the first part of our Invention. And we would also observe that we do
not confine our Invention to the use of india-rubber in the non-elastic state, as
in some cases we prefer using it in a partially elastic state.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the precise means
pursued by us, we would wish it to be understood that we do not confine our-
selves to the details herein shown and described, as different patterns of looped,
woven, or elastic fabrics to those herein described may have channels produced
therein by the use of different cuts of wheels, or other arrangements for varying
the pattern may be resorted to, and the means of making the channels may be
varied. And we would state, that we are aware that india-rubber has before
been introduced into fabrics when the same are being made in the machine,
and such india-rubber has been introduced both longitudinally and trans-
versely, and it has also been proposed to introduce draw wires and draw threads
transversely across warp fabrics when making such fabrics in the machine,
and then to withdraw the wires or threads, thereby drawing the india-rubber
across the fabrics; and we mention these in order to state that we do not
claim the making of looped, woven, or elastic fabrics with india-rubber, in-
troduced either longitudinally or transversely, unless they be made according
to our Invention, as herein described. But what we do claim is,―
First, the introduction of strands of india-rubber into looped, woven, and
elastic fabrics, after they are taken off the machine, by running them in between

page_text: the outer and inner surfaces of the fabrics by means of a needle; bodkin, or
other similar instrument, as above described.
And, secondly, we claim the introduction of strands of indiarubber into
looped, woven, and elastic_fabrics, after they are taken off the machine, through
a channel in the inner surface of such fabrics by means of a needle, bodkin, or
other similar instrument, as above described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Biggs and Richard Harris, the
younger, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-eighth day
of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty-four
JOHN
(L.B.) BIGGS.
RICHARD (L.S.) HARRIS, JUN*..
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named John Biggs and Richard Harris, the
younger, in the presence of