IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOSAIC RUGS
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Crossley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
March 1855.
I, FRANCIS CROSSLEY, M.P., of Halifax, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOSAIC RUGS" to
be as follows:-
Heretofore rugs of this description have been manufactured by cementing
a hard back on to a mass or block of worsted set in a frame or box, and
then cutting from such mass or block a slice of the thickness required for
the pile of the rug; but it is found that the rug so produced is of too hard a
substance; because, in addition to the back being hard, mosaic pile is neces-
sarily somewhat so, as the threads of worsted must be close to each other, or
the design would not retain its proper shape. Now, my Invention consists in
using for the backs of such rugs a pile carpet or other pile fabric, by which
elasticity is given to the rug. By this means also a reversable rug is obtained,"
the carpet side may have a rug pattern upon it for ordinary use, and the mosaic
side of the rug be of a more ornamental character.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Crossley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
CROSSLEY, M.P., of Halifax, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, 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 me,
the said Francis Crossley, Her special licence that I, the said Francis Crossley,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis
Crossley, 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
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 MOSAIC RUGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis
Crossley, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should parti-
cularly 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 Francis Crossley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
Heretofore rugs of this description baye been manufactured by cementing
either a hard thick back or thin calico or other similar thin substance on to a
mass or block of worsted set in a frame or box, and then cutting from such
mass or block a slice of the thickness required for the pile of the rug; those
rugs that have had a calico or other such back have been used for the purpose
of hanging up as pictures, or for exportation to countries where there has been
a high duty, and which has been levied upon the weight of the article imported
and not per-centage on the price; but my improvements relate more particularly
to those mosaic rugs which heretofore have had the thick back attached to
them, or rather in substituting a different kind of back, which remedies the
following evils that have attended rugs that have heretofore had the thick backs.
It has been found that those thick back mosaic rugs have had the following

page_text: defects-In the first place, they have lacked that desirable qualification of
softness to the tread of the foot, because in addition to the back being of a
hard substance, having been composed almost entirely of linen and tow yarns,
the mosaic worsted pile is necessarily hard, because the worsted threads must
be close to cach other, or the design would not retain its proper shape. And
in addition to these two reasons, the fact of the close worsted pile having to
be affixed to the hard thick back by means of india-rubber solvent, it is found
that the tendency is (especially in cold weather) for the said solvent to become
extremely stiff and hard. It is also found that when such rugs are placed
upon terry or velvet pile carpets, but especially the latter, that when they
come to be trodden upon they press down the terry or velvet pile carpet
wherever the tread of the foot comes, which again rises when the foot is taken
away, and removes the rug, so that in a very short time the rug has by this
process removed away from the place upon which it was first laid down.
Now, my Invention consists in remedying three distinct defects of the
present thick back mosaic rugs, videlicet, first, the hardness of the tread
to the foot; secondly, in producing a rug that will not remove from the
place upon which it has been laid down by being trodden upon; thirdly,
in removing to a considerable extent its liability to become stiff in cold
weather. And this I accomplish by using for the backs of such rugs a thick
pile carpet, the pile of which is composed of worsted or woollen yarns, by
which elasticity is given to the rug, and the solvent india-rubber is not nearly
so liable to become stiff in cold weather, because it is imbedded between two
compact substances made from sheep's wool, which, being an animal substance,
is, comparatively speaking, a non-conductor of heat and cold; whereas the
thick back formerly attached to the rug being linen or tow, and consequently
a vegetable substance, the cold penetrated through it, and so acted upon the
india-rubber solvent, that the rugs became so stiff that if rolled they
could scarcely be shown to a customer until they had been exposed to artificial
heat. By this means also a reversible rug is obtained, the carpet side may
have a rug pattern for ordinary use, and the mosaic side of the rug be of a
more ornamental character.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.
In the manufacture of rugs according to my Invention, in place of using
the ordinary material of fabrics for the backs of mosaic rugs, I employ a
piled fabric, the pile of the back fabric being on the under surface of the
rug when finished, and the mosaic or cemented pile on the front. For these
purposes I prefer that the fabric used for the back of rugs should be woven

page_text: with pile, either by the use of wires or otherwise, making the pile of greater
or less length, according as it is desired to give more spring or elasticity to the
finished rug. The pile thus made by. wires or. otherwise to the back fabric
may remain as terry pile or be cut, in which case it would be velvet pile. In
other respects, mosaic rugs according to my Invention are to be made in like
manner to that heretofore practised; but by reason of using pile fabrics at
the back of the mosaic or cemented pile, rugs of less.harshness or hardness
to the tread will be produced.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Crossley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
FRANCIS CROSSLEY. (L.S.)