AN IMPROVEMENT IN FINISHING MOHAIR CLOTH
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Firth, of the Firm of Edwin Firth and Sons,
of Flush Mills, Heckmondwike, near Leeds, in the County of York,.
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FINISHING MOHAIR CLOTH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Firth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
January 1862.
I, JAMES FIRTH, of the Firm of Edwin Firth and Sons, of Flush Mills,
Heckmondwike, near Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FINISHING MOHAIR CLOTH,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists principally in so finishing mohair cloths that one
part of the same shall present the appearance of the skin or fur of animals (as
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to Edwin Firth, the
12th day of August 1856, No. 1890) and the remaining part of the piece
shall be finished with a velvet pile.
The object of the Invention is to produce a shawl (all of one piece) with a
velvet centre and a fur border, or to produce a cloth for mantles having a

page_text: velvet pile, with one or both border or borders finished to represent fur; the
novelty consisting principally in the combination in one piece of cloth of the
velvet pile and the fur "finish."
The cloth is first woven in the ordinary manner, and the pile is then raised
in a longitudinal or straight direction by the "gig mill," or other ordinary
apparatus, frequently reversing the wool or pile; and it is afterwards raised in
a transverse or lateral direction, or across the piece towards the lists.
The cloth is next boiled or steamed to give it a lustre, and it is then dyed the
required color (if not previously wool dyed) and tentered in the usual manner.
The centre or border (or both) is then, printed to the required design, and the
pile is re-raised, and the piece is tentered, carded, and batted with sticks or
rods, so as to produce a fur "finish" all over the piece. The fur is then cut
(by any suitable machine ordinarily employed for such purposes) down to a
velvet pile where required, leaving the fur pile its original length at the
other parts.
In finishing a shawl so as to produce a velvet centre, with a fur edge, the
cutter of the machine is made shorter than the width of the machine, so as to
cut the centre only, and leave the fur at the edges. The cutter is raised and
the piece passed into the machine the width of the border; the cutter is then
brought down and the cutting proceeds till the opposite border arrives at the
cutter, when the machine is stopped and the piece removed.
If a long piece of cloth is required with two fur borders, the same cutter is
used and the piece passes continuously through the machine; but if only one
fur border is desired, or alternate stripes of fur and velvet, the form of the
cutter is altered accordingly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters, Patent, filed
by the said James Firth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FIRTH, of the Firm of Edwin Firth and Sons, of Flush Mills, Heckmondwike, 3
near Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year' of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, 3

page_text: the said James Firth, Her special licence, that I, the said James Firth,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Firth, 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
térm 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FINISHING
MOHAIR CLOTH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Firth, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
. 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 James Firth, 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 in writing, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to a method of producing a new style or effect of
finish upon "mohair cloths," or cloths made from mohair, camels' hair, goats'
wool, alpaca, vicuna or Cashmere wool, sheep's wool, or of any one or more of
these materials mixed, or in combination with other kinds of wool, hair,
cotton, or other fibre.
This Invention consists principally in so finishing such cloths that one part
of the same shall present the appearance of the skin or fur of animals (as
described in the Specification of Letters Patent, granted to Edwin Firth, the
Twelfth day of August One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, No. 1890)
and the remaining part of the piece shall be finished with a velvet pile; such
combined finish or effect not having been previously produced on the same
piece of cloth at the same time, the same cloth having only hitherto been
finished either entirely velvet or entirely fur.
The object of this Invention is to produce a shawl or rug (all of one piece)
with a velvet centre, and a fur border, or a fur centre with a velvet border, or
alternate stripes of velvet and fur, according to taste; or to produce a cloth
for mantles and other purposes having one or both border or borders finished
to represent fur, the novelty consisting pricipally in the combination in one
entire piece of cloth of the velvet pile and the fur finish.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for ""An Improve-

page_text: ment in Finishing Mohair Cloth, I will now proceed to describe more: in
detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried
into practical effect, which will be readily understood on reference to the fol-
lowing explanation thereof, that is to say:-The cloth is first woven in the
ordinary manner, and the pile is then raised in a longitudinal or straight
direction by the "gig mill," or other ordinary apparatus, frequently reversing
the wool or pile; and it is afterwards raised in a transverse or lateral direction,
or across the piece towards the lists.
The cloth is next boiled or steamed to give it a lustre, and it is then dyed
the required color (if not previously wool dyed) and tentered in the usual
manner. The centre or border (or both) is then printed to the required design,
and the pile is re-raised, and the piece is tentered, carded, and batted with
sticks or rods, so as to produce a fur "finish" all over the piece. The fur is
then cut (by any suitable machine ordinarily employed for such purposes)
down to a velvet pile where required, leaving the fur pile its original length at
the other parts.
In finishing a shawl so as to produce a velvet centre, with a fur edge, the
cutter of the machine is made shorter than the width of the machine, so as to
cut the centre only, and leave the fur at the edges. The cutter is raised and
the piece passed into the machine the width of the border; the cutter is then
brought down and the cutting proceeds till the opposite border arrives at the
cutter, when the machine is stopped, and the pièce removed.
:
:
If a long piece of cloth is required with two fur borders, the same cutter
is used and the piece passes continuously through the machine; but if only
one fur border is desired, or alternate stripes of fur and velvet, the form of the
cutter is altered accordingly.
I I may here observe that the pile may be raised in any other well known
manner, and may be cut by any of the ordinary cutting machines, so long as
the peculiar feature of my Invention is adhered to, namely, the production of
a combination of the velvet pile and fur finish on one piece of cloth at the
same time. When the pile has been cut as required, the piece of cloth is
then finished in the ordinary manner of finishing such goods..
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
An Improvement in Finishing Mohair Cloth," together with the manner in
which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I
would remark in conclusion, that I claim as my Invention the production on
cloths made from any of the above-named materials or combinations of
materials, and known as "mohair cloths," of a combination of the velvet pile

page_text: and the fur finish, upon one and the same piece of cloth, as above particularly
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Firth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JAMES FIRTH. (L.S.)