CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WEAVING AND SEWING FABRICS
Year: 1877

page_text: «
LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Dabert, of St. Denis (Seine), France, Manufac-.
turer, for the Invention of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF WEAVING AND SEWING FABRICS."
Sealed the 13th October 1877, and dated the 18th April 1877.
"
CERTAIN IMPROVE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Daber at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th April 1877.
JOSEPH DABERT, of St. Denis (Seine), France, Manufacturer.
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WEAVING AND SEWING FABRICS.”
Hitherto the sewing machine has, from a decorative point of view, only been
employed to braid, embroider, and in general ornament, finished or ready made
materials, without in any way changing the nature of the base of the fabric, the
stitches appearing in relief upon certain portions only of the surface of the fabric.
The principal object of this Invention is to submit a fabric before it is finished
and in the condition in which it comes from the weaving machine to the action of a
sewing machine, which applies or administers to it, in straight or sinuous lines of
sewing, a thread of textile material similar to or different from those which form
the body of the fabric, and to cause it to undergo in this condition all the operations
of fulling, bleaching, dyeing, sizing, or others necessary to complete the material and
to qualify it for its final destination. In this manner the sewing thread is incorpo-
rated in the original fabric by reason of the operations to which they are both
subjected. The result is that the products of the weaving and sewing are united
and blend or coalesce, so that the fabric thus transformed has an appearance "sui
generis" quite different from that which it had upon leaving the weaving machine.
Such is the essential character of the process which forms the object of this
Invention.
The new process, the principle of which I have just described, constitutes a
complete revolution in the industry of woven fabrics, and permits a great number
of realizations and of different applications. I will limit myself to pointing out the
most important of each. In the first place, to execute the inlaying or sewing upon.
the fabric, I may employ any known sewing machine, chain stitch, single or double

page_text: shuttle stitch, &c. It will be preferable to employ a machine with several needles in
order to be able to apply several lines of sewing at the same time. The fabric to
receive them will be presented in continuous motion and in a state of tension
suitable to the sewing machine, which will form upon it stripes or lines, straight or
undulated, slanting or zig-zag, in short, any kind of design.
In the case of straight lines the fabric will partake of a rectilinear movement
perpendicular to the range of the needles.
To receive undulated lines a lateral to-and-fro movement will be imparted to the
fabric by excentric mechanism or other alternative movement. These stripes will
be more or less apart, according to the distance of the needles one from the other,
and they can be caused to approach as much as desired, either by employing two
successive sewing machines or by passing the fabric a second time or more through
the same machine.
It will be understood that by an arrangement, easy to realize, all kinds of stripes
may be formed, longitudinal or crossways, straight or sinuous, in checks, squares,
lozenge shapes, or according to any other design required.
As far as the applications of my Invention are concerned it is sufficient to remark
that they will be as numerous as the combinations which the nature of the textile
material employed and the kind of operations chosen give rise to or permit. Thus
the first fabric may be of cotton or of wool, or of wool and cotton, or of wool and
silk, or of cotton and silk, etc., etc., and this fabric may be smooth or corded. Fabrics
of all classes may be employed.
Further, the sewing thread may be of any thickness, simple or twisted or thrown,
and may be of any material, wool and cotton, cotton and silk, wool and silk, silk,.
goat's hair, or any other combination.
This application of sewing thread will, as I have explained, be by preference
effected upon the fabric in an unbleached state and previous to all the ordinary
operations. Thus it is after the ornamentation of the fabric by stripes or design in
sewing threads that it is fulled, gummed, calendered, dyed, or printed.
In undergoing these operations the sewing thread will be intimately united or
inworked in the fabric, and will finally produce effects which, retaining no trace of
the sewing, will present a peculiar appearance of relief which will be rendered still
more striking if the sewing thread differs by its nature or colour from the threads
of the base of the fabric.
If the fabric employed as a base be a common stuff, such as mousseline-laine, the
application of my Invention will convert it into a valuable material, restoring or
recovering by its relief the effects of hurried or bad workmanship.
Instead of applying the sewing to an unbleached fabric, I may wait till it has
undergone some of its operations of fulling and dyeing. But it is important always
that after the application of the sewing thread the fabric must undergo the last
operations, such as calendering, for example, in order to unite intimately the sewing
thread with the base of the fabric and to prevent it being confounded with the
embroidery produced afterwards.
In certain cases advantage may be taken of the property of the sewing stitch to
superpose and fasten together two or even several fabrics by the same process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Dabert in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th October
1877.
"CERTAIN IM-
JOSEPH DABERT, of Saint Denis (Seine), France, Manufacturer.
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WEAVING AND SEWING FABRICS."
Hitherto the sewing machine has, from a decorative point of view, only been
employed to braid, embroider, and in general ornament, finished or ready made

page_text: materials, without in any way changing the nature of the base of the fabric, the
stitches appearing in relief upon certain portions only of the surface of the fabric.
The principal object of this Invention is to submit a fabric before it is finished
and in the condition in which it comes from the weaving machine to the action of a
sewing machine, which applies or administers to it, in straight or sinuous lines of
sewing, a thread of textile material similar to or different from those which form
the body of the fabric, and, while in this condition, to undergo all the operations of
fulling, bleaching, dyeing, sizing, or others necessary to complete the material and to
qualify it for its final destination. In this manner the sewing thread is incorporated
in the original fabric by reason of the operations to which they are both subjected.
The result is that the products of the weaving and sewing are united and blend or
coalesce, so that the fabric thus transformed has an appearance "sui generis " quite
different from that which it had upon leaving the weaving machine. Such is the
essential character of the process which forms the object of this Invention.
The new process, the principle of which I have just described, constitutes a
complete revolution in the industry of woven fabrics, and permits a great number
of realizations and of different applications. I will limit myself to pointing out the
most important of each. In the first place, to execute the inlaying or sewing upon
the fabric, I may employ any known sewing machine, chain stitch, single or double
shuttle stitch, etc. It will be preferable to employ a machine with several needles
in order to be able to apply several lines of sewing at the same time. The fabric to
receive them will be presented in continuous motion and in a state of tension
suitable to the sewing machine, which will form upon it stripes or lines, straight or
undulated, slanting or zig-zag, in short, any kind of design or ornamentation.
In the case of straight lines the fabric will partake of a rectilinear movement
perpendicular to the range of the needles.
To receive undulated lines a lateral to-and-fro movement will be imparted to the
fabric or to the needles by excentric mechanism or other alternative movement.
These stripes will be more or less apart, according to the distance of the needles one
from the other, and they can be caused to approach as much as desired, either by
employing two successive sewing machines or by passing the fabric a second time or
more through the same machine.
It will be understood that by an arrangement, easy to realize, all kinds of stripes
may be formed, longitudinal or crossways, straight or sinuous, in checks, squares,
lozenge shapes, or according to any other design required.
As far as the applications of my Invention are concerned it is sufficient to remark
that they will be as numerous as the combinations which the nature of the textile
material employed and the kind of operations chosen give rise to or permit. Thus
the first fabric may be of cotton or of wool, or of wool and cotton, or of wool and
silk, or of cotton and silk, etc., etc., and this fabric may be smooth or corded.
Fabrics of all classes may be employed.
Further, the sewing thread may be of any thickness, simple or twisted, or "thrown,"
and may be of any material, wool and cotton, cotton and silk, wool and silk, silk,
goat's hair, or any other combination.
This application of sewing thread will, as I have explained, be by preference
effected upon the fabric in an unbleached state and previous to all the ordinary
operations. Thus it is after the ornamentation of the fabric by stripes or designs
in sewing thread that it is fulled, gummed, calendered, dyed, or printed.
In undergoing these operations the sewing thread will be intimately united or
inworked in the fabric, and will finally produce effects which, retaining no trace of
the sewing, will present a peculiar appearance of relief which will be rendered still
more striking if the sewing thread differs by its nature or colour from the threads
of the base of the fabric.
If the fabric employed as a base be a common stuff, such as mousseline-laine, the
application of my Invention will convert it into a valuable material, restoring or
recovering by its relief the effects of hurried or had workmanship.

page_text: Instead of applying the sewing to an unbleached fabric, I may wait till it has
undergone some of its operations of fulling and dyeing. But it is important always
that after the application of the sewing thread the fabric must undergo the last
operations, such as calendering, for example, in order to unite intimately the sewing
thread with the base of the fabric, and to prevent it being confounded with
embroidery or sewings produced afterwards, as by the ordinary methods.
In certain cases advantage may be taken of the property of the sewing stitch
to superpose and fasten together two or even several fabrics by the same process.
To carry my Invention into practical effect, I have invented a sewing machine
with multiple needles, the arrangement and action of which I proceed to describe.
This new machine is especially characterised by the mode of feeding the material
by means of feed rollers.
I have further added an arrangement enabling the transverse displacement of the
material in such a manner as to permit the change at will, and according to the
nature of the work of the straight lines of sewing into more or less capricious
zig-zags.
I proceed to describe these arrangements with reference to the annexed
Drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of the machine.
Figure 2 is a side view showing in detail the method of feeding the material and
the transverse displacement of the feed rollers.
My sewing machine like ordinary ones permits of a frame A¹ and the same
essential organs, the needle, the hook to make the loop and the lever or elevator;
but in this particular case the organs are multiple and act conjointly. Their
method of action is the same as in the ordinary sewing machine.
At
The needles a mounted all upon one rod b have an alternate up-and-down
movement produced by an iron rod d receiving its movement from a disc e mounted
upon the axis of the machine. The hooks c are also all mounted upon a square
horizontal bar f; this bar is terminated at each end by a cylindrical piece f¹; this
barf receives a slight rotary movement by the intermediation of a connecting rod g,
and of an excentric h acting upon a roller i terminating the connecting rod g.
the same time as this movement of rotation is produced a snug k forces the bar f¹
to be displaced from right to left; it is the combination of these two movements
which enables the hooks c to cause the loop of the thread to engage the needle at
the next stroke. So soon as the excentrich ceases to act upon the connecting rod g
a steel spring tends to return the bar f to its first position at the same time as the
helical spring pushes it from left to right.
The elevator m has not the same functions to fulfil as in an ordinary machine; it
on longer feeds the material in proportion to the sewing; it only serves to press upon
the material at the moment of disengagement of the needle to facilitate thus the
formation of the loop, the needle thus no longer leading the thread that it has
engaged across the material. This elevator m has therefore like the needle an up-and-
down movement which is communicated to it by an iron rod n which receives it
like the motive rod d of the needles. Helical springs r press upon the elevator at the
moment of the disengagement of the needle. The relifting of the elevator m is
made always by means of the rod n; a lever n¹ serves to lift the elevator the
moment the material is put in place.
The needles a receive their thread from the bobbins B placed at a certain height,
but to obtain an uniform and suitable tension of the thread I have been obliged
to cause the thread to pass over a series of small rollers B¹, upon each of which it
is rolled once; then as the distance from these rollers to the needle is still too great
I have another range of small rollers B. The thread is thus guided and perfectly
stretched till in immediate proximity to the needle, the tension being uniform,
regular sewing is obtained.
As the needles a have a certain movement I impart this same movement to the
rollers B¹ by, the intermediation of rods p and p¹ to preserve always the same

page_text: tension to the thread. It only remains to me to describe now what characterizes
my sewing machine. This machine being especially an industrial machine the motor
axis D which communicates the movement to the different organs which execute the
sewing is itself put in movement by a friction pulley E with which another pulley E¹
may be put in contact, the last-named pulley receiving its movement from the
main shaft of the works by means of a strap, belt, or band F. At each turn of the
wheel E a slight movement of oscillation is imparted to the connecting rod q¹, and
consequently to the click a¹, which acting upon the ratchet wheel t causes it to
turn one tooth as well as the roller H, upon the axis of which it is mounted. The
material taken thus between the two feed rollers H and H advances the length of
the tooth of the ratchet; this precisely what constitutes the length of the thread.
To vary it, it is therefore necessary either to vary the length of the teeth or to
take several at once. The two other rolls H2 and Hs furnish the same length of
material.
The lines of sewing may be straight, but sometimes it is necessary to make them
of curved or wavy form; then it is that this machine is indispensable, and it is
with the object of attaining this result that I have invented the following
mechanism: As the needles remain fixed it becomes necessary to give the guide
rollers the transverse movement required. For this purpose I have mounted upon
the two axes of the rollers H and H² two racks vand v¹ in gear with two pinions u
mounted upon an axis o upon which are wedged two ratchet wheels x and x¹ having
their teeth in opposite directions. Two ratchets y and y¹ which receive their
movement from the rod q act upon these ratchet wheels, but always one after the
other. A cam z permits of uncoupling them both at once or of putting one or tho
other in gear with the corresponding wheel. It will be seen therefore by this
arrangement the transverse to-and-fro movement is communicated simultaneously
to the two rollers H and H2. The two collars c¹ and c³ serve to animato or
impel at the same time the two rollers H' and H³.
Further, to be certain that the material will retain always its width in the
transverse movement I have added two little rollers wand w¹ furnished with
emery; these rollers will receive the same transverse movement as the rollers H,
H1, H2, H3, and as the emery will not permit the material to slide there will be no
fear of the sewing lines being irregular.
Instead of having a single range of needles they may be disposed in two or
several rows or ranges or quincuncial to approach more the sewing threads.
The distance between the threads may be varied at will by putting a corre-
sponding number of needles out of action.
The form, dimensions, and details of the machine may of course be varied.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly. The combined employment of the work of the sewing machine, and of
weaving in the manner and for purposes described.
Secondly. As new products the mixed materials with figured "relief" effects as
herein-before described.
Thirdly. As peculiar characteristics of the Invention; (a), the application of
Bewing to woven fabrics in continuous, straight, or wavy lines by the aid of a
machine with several needles, and imparting to the fabric while in continuous
progress a suitable lateral movement; (b), the simultaneous application to the
woven fabric and its sewing of all or any of the operations of fulling, dyeing, and
finishing.
Fourthly. As a novel industrial result the blended or married effect of the
sewing and weaving by reasons of the operations undergone at the same time by
the fabric, and its inlaying or setting of sewing.
Fifthly. The arrangement described of my sewing machine with multiple needles
5 to realise practically my process; and notably (a), the method of feeding the material
by an arrangement of call rollers applied for the first time to sewing machines ;

page_text: (b), the transverse displacement that may be given to the material by means of
racks or other suitable mechanism acting in accordance with the designs to be
produced; (c), the general combination of the machine with several needles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Dabert, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-seven.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
Bd. de Strasbourg, 23,
Paris.
JOSEPH DABERT. (L.S.)