IMPROVEMENTS IN WOVEN FABRICS APPLICABLE FOR TOWELLING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WEAVING THE SAME.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Haslam, of Bolton, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WOVEN FABRICS
APPLICABLE FOR TOWELLING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN THE METHOD OF AND
APPARATUS FOR WEAVING THE SAME.
Sealed the 23rd August 1870, and dated the 4th June 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Haslam at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the"
4th June 1870.
I, WILLIAM HASLAM, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WOVEN FABRICS APPLICABLE FOR TOWELLING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN THE
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WEAVING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
The improvements in woven fabrics are designed principally for the
production of a new kind of bath towelling, but the same method of
weaving may also be applied to the manufacture of a similar kind of
fabric for other useful purposes.

page_text: "
The improved fabric consists principally in the combination of a
"leno or crossed warp with a full weft thrown up into loops between
each pair of warp threads across the whole width of the fabric.
In weaving the improved fabric I
arrange the warp threads as in an
ordinary loom for weaving gauze or leno, that is to say, in such a
manner that the warp threads can be caused to cross each other between
each two casts of the shuttle.
For weaving bath towelling I use (by preference) a cotton warp and
also a cotton weft, the latter being very thick in substance and also
twisted hard, but for other kinds of towelling and fabrics for other
purposes other fibrous substances or mixtures of fibrous substances may
be employed.
The loom is so arranged that after each pick of the shuttle two rows
of points or needles are brought upwards or downwards through the
warp threads, one on each side of the weft thread, the points or needles
of one row being opposite to the spaces of the other row. One row of
points is then caused to cross or pass through the other, so as to draw
or pull the weft thread into a zig-zag or serpentine form, the cop running
freely in the shuttle, and allowing the required amount of weft to be
drawn off. The length of weft in the shed being thus much longer (say
about two-thirds more) than the width of the warp. The weaver now
treads so as to cross the shed and hold the weft, and the lathe then beats
up, the result of which is that the weft is thrown up equally into loops
over the whole width of the fabric. The warp threads are then caused
to cross or twist, as in ordinary gauze or leno weaving, and the operation
proceeds as before. The result is an open fabric with a piled or looped
surface more or less hard according to the amount of twist given to the
weft, and having great power of absorbing moisture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Haslam in the Great Seal Patent Office 30
on the 3rd December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HASLAM, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of 35

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Haslam, Her special license
that I, the said William Haslam, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Haslem, 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 WOVEN FABRICS APPLICABLE FOR TOWELLING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN THE
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WEAVING THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Haslam, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 dato
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Haslam, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :—
The improvements in woven fabrics are designed principally for the
production of a new kind of bath towelling, but the same method of
weaving may also be applied to the manufacture of a similar kind of
fabric for other useful purposes.
The improved fabric consists principally in the combination of a
"leno or crossed warp with a full weft thrown up into loops between
each pair of warp threads across the whole width of the fabric.
In weaving the improved fabric I arrange the warp threads as in an
ordinary loom for weaving gauze or leno, that is to say, in such a manner
that the warp threads can be caused to cross each other between each
two casts of the shuttle.
For weaving bath towelling I use (by preference) a cotton warp, and
also a cotton weft, the latter being very thick in substance, and also
twisted hard, but for other kinds of towelling and fabrics for other

page_text: purposes other fibrous substances or mixtures of fibrous substances may
be employed.
The loom is so arranged that after each pick of the shuttle two
rows of points or needles are brought upwards or downwards through
the warp threads, one on each side of the weft thread, the points or
needles of one row being opposite to the spaces of the other row.
One row of points is then caused to cross or pass through the other, so
as to draw or pull the weft thread into a zig-zag or serpentine form, the
cop running freely in the shuttle and allowing the required amount of
weft to be drawn off. The length of weft in the shed being thus much
longer (say about two-thirds more) than the width of the warp. The
weaver now treads so as to cross the shed and hold the weft, and the
lathe then beats up, the result of which is that the weft is thrown up
equally into loops over the whole width of the fabric. The warp threads
are then caused to cross or twist, as in ordinary gauze or leno weaving,
and the operation proceeds as. before. The result is an open fabric with
a piled or looped surface, more or less hard according to the amount of
twist given to the weft, and having great power of absorbing moisture.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in Woven Fabrics applicable for Towelling and other Purposes,
and in the Method of and Apparatus for Weaving the same," 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; and in order
that the same may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a
Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with
figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof.
In the annexed Drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the working
parts of a hand loom adapted to weave my improved fabric.
a, a, represents the lathe, which is suspended in the usual manner
from the rocking beam b, b. In front of the lathe a, a, is mounted a
needle frame c, c, capable of rising and falling on studs d, d, and pro-
vided with a series of needles e, e, projecting upwards. This frame with
its needles is raised up so as to project the latter through the warp
when required by means of two levers f, f, actuated as herein-after
described. The lathe cap 9, 9, carries the upper needle frame h, h,
which is provided with a series of needles i, i, projecting downwards.
This frame is held by cords k, k, passing over pulleys 1, 1, and connected

page_text: to a counterbalance weight m, so that it is capable of being both lowered
and drawn forwards, but when released it will be pulled back by the
weight m into its original position, as shown in the Drawing. A
horizontal bar n, n, is carried in slotted brackets o, o, beneath the
rocking beam b, b, and is connected at or near the end by cords p, p, to
the levers ff. The bar is also similarly connected by cords p', p', to
the outer ends of two levers q, q, above, their inner ends being connected
by cords r,, to a weighted lever 8, 8.
The centre of the bar n, n, is
also connected by a cord t, t, to a lever u, u, attached by a cord w, w,
to the treadle v, v. x, x, are two catch levers connected by cords y, y,
to the fingers, 2, attached to the rocking beam.
The operation of this mechanism is as follows: The lathe a, a, being
pushed back the fingers z, z, tighten the cords y, y, causing them to
withdraw the catch leters x, x, from the bar n, n, allowing the weighted
levers 8, 8, to descend, and by means of the cords r, r, p², p², p, p, and
levers q, q, to cause the levers ff, to lift the under needle bar c, e, and
project its needles e, e, upwards through the warp close in front of the
shoot or pick, which is now put in but not beaten up. The upper
needle bar h, h, is then lowered by hand, so that its needles i, i, pass
through the warp behind the pick or shoot, and it is then drawn
forward, so as to pull the pick or shoot into a zig-zag form, as shown
at Fig. 2, the cop running freely in the shuttle, so as to give off the
extra amount of shoot or weft required. When the pick has been thus
formed the weaver allows the upper needle frame h, h, to assume its
original position by the action of the weight m. He then depresses the
treadle v, v, drawing down the bar n, n, and allowing the levers f,f, and
lower needle frame c, c, to fall into their original position, the catch
levers x, x, acting as the lathe is brought forward to beat up, and holding
the bar n, n, in that position till again released by the pushing back of
the lathe. When the zig-zag pick is beaten up in the shed it forms a
series of loops across the whole width of the fabric; the warps are then
crossed as in ordinary gauze weaving, and the operation proceeds as
before.
Fig. 3 shows a magnified view of a piece of my improved fabric woven
as above described.
A looped fabric may be produced by this method without crossing the

page_text: Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, Į wish it to be understood that I
do not intend to confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, as
such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle
or spirit of my Invention; but what I claim as my Invention is, putting
in the shoot or weft in a zig-zag form, and then heating it up either with
or without crossing the yarn, so as to produce a cloth with a raised or
looped surface, elastic and porous, and applicable for towelling and
other purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Haslam, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
WILLIAM HASLAM. (L.S.)