Improvements in Tubular Fabrics and in the Methods of Producing the same.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Aug., 1893-Accepted, 16th Sept., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Tubular Fabrics and in the Methods of Producing
the same.
I, GEORGE CHARLES MOORE, No. 1 Railroad Avenue, Easthampton, Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, Weaver, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention has for its object to produce, by weaving, a curved seamless tubular
fabric adapted for use in the manufacture of pneumnatic bicycle tires of which it
will constitute a component part in connection with a suitable rubber outside portion
which renders the same air tight. My improved seamless tubular fabric, which has
a uniform curve in the direction of its length, may be produced in various ways by
which one side of the tubing will be shorter than the other so as to give the tubular
article the desired curve.
In weaving my improved tubular fabric I follow, to a certain extent, the old
method of weaving tubular fabrics in the production of which four harnesses are
preferably employed, these harnesses being operated by suitable cams so that
harnesses 1 and 3 may make the upper part of the tubing, and harnesses 2 and 4
the lower part thereof in the usual way.
One method which I follow to give the seamless tubing the desired curvature is
by the use of rubber warps which are thinly introduced at the portion of the tubing
to form the outer or longer part thereof, and are gradually placed closer together
toward the portion of the tubing which is to form the inner part thereof, until at
the extreme inner edge they come very close together. These rubber warps, being
woven in under tension in the usual manner of producing elastic fabrics, serve, by
their increased numbers at one side of the tubing, to contract the same more at one
side than at the other side of the tubing, and thus give to the same the desired
curvature.
Another method of forming my improved seamless tubing is by the use of warps
of different sizes, very coarse yarns or warps (preferably linen twine) being
employed at that portion of the seamless tubing which is to form the outer side
thereof, and warps of gradually increased fineness being used toward the portion of
the tubing which is to form the inner side of the circular article, until at the
extreme inner side very fine warps are used.
Still another method of producing my curved seamless tubular fabric is by giving
different tensions to the warps, those which enter into the portion of the fabric
to form the outer or longer side of the tubular fabric being under but slight
tension, while the tension upon the warps toward the portion of the tubular
fabric which is to form the shorter or inner portion thereof is gradually
increased so that the greatest tension is upon the warps entering upon the
shorter or inner side of the tubing. In this manner a larger amount of warp
thread will be introduced into the longer or outer side of the curved tubular
Fabric while a much lesser amount will enter into the shorter or inner side
thereof, as will be apparent; the web, as it is produced, running between conical
presser or take-up rollers so as to cause the warps at the longer side of the fabric
o be drawn in faster than those at the short side thereof.
Still another method of producing my curved, seamless tubular fabric is by the
se of independent (but not necessarily differential) warp tensions, so that the warps
re independent of each other, and by the use in connection therewith of conical
eed or take-up rollers which will cause greater lengths of warp threads to be fed
nto one side of the tubular fabric than into the other, thus making one side of the
abric longer than the other to give the desired curvature.

page_text: By following any of these methods a perfect woven, seamless tubular fabric, of
any desired curvature, may be produced.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 represents a short flattened-out section of my curved seamless tubular
fabric produced by the use of differentially distributed rubber warps.
Fig. 2 is a similar view of my curved seamless tubular fabric produced by the
use of warps of different sizes, and Fig. 3 is a similar view representing my curved
fabric as produced by the use of warps of uniform size but subjected to varying
tensions in weaving, or produced by a differential feeding of the warps.
Fig. 4 represents a cross-section of the seamless tubular fabric.
In Fig. the seamless tubular fabric A is represented as containing rubber
warps a, which, in the finished article, are preferably placed about one-fourth of an
inch apart at the outer or longer side of the tubular fabric, and are gradually
placed nearer together towards the shorter or inner side thereof until at the extreme
inner edge they are less than one-sixteenth of an inch apart.
In Fig. 2 the seamless tubular fabric is represented as having very coarse
warps a at the outer or longer side thereof, and very fine warps a² at the inner side
thereof, the warps from the outer to the inner side being preferably gradually
increased in fineness so as to give a uniform curvature to the completed article. In
the said Fig. 2, as also in Fig. 3, the transverse radial lines which represent the
weft are shown as being farther apart at the outer edge or side of the tubular
fabric than at the inner side or edge thereof, this divergence indicating that a
greater fullness or length of the warps is introduced into the outer edge or side of
the tubular fabric than at the inner edge or side, to produce, the desired curvature
of the same.
While I prefer to produce my curved, seamless tubular fabric by one or the
other of the methods above specified I do not wish to be understood as limiting the
production of my invention to either one of these methods, as it is possible that
other methods than those described may be employed for the production of a
curved seamless tubular fabric, which I wish to be understood as claiming broadly.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A seamless tubular fabric having a uniform curve in the direction of its
length, substantially as described.
2. A seamless tubular fabric woven in such a manner that one side or edge
thereof will be shorter than its other side or edge, thereby giving to the same a
natural uniform curvature of any desired radius.
3. The herein described methods of producing curved seamless tubular fabrics
by weaving, the same consisting in forming a woven tubular fabric in such a way
that it will be shorter at one side than at the other side thereof, so as to give the
same any desired curvature.
Dated this 28th day of July 1892.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.