IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING LOOPED OR PILE FABRICS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Bradford, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING LOOPED OR
PILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 25th September 1855, and dated the 13th July 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th July 1855.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING LOOPED OR
PILE FABRICS" to be as follows:-
Hitherto the weaving of silk velvets and other similar fine piled or looped
fabrics has not been accomplished by power, owing to the great difficulty of
inserting fine slender wires, also in cutting the pile. I have succeeded in
overcoming those difficulties, and my improvements consist as follows:-I
attach the wire intended to form the loop to a lever arm from above, and have
it so arranged that the wire rests in a carrying trough fixed to another lever
arm worked from the under side of the loom. Both lever arms, that is, the one
that carries the wire and also the one to which the carrying trough is fixed,
are governed by tappets, so that when the wire has to be inserted into the

page_text: warp, they both move forward at the same moment, the wire being supported
by the carrying trough. The action of the tappet then forces back the lever
arm to which the trough is fixed, and leaves the wire, which is held in its place
by its own carrying arm. These arms are placed on both sides of the loom,
and the number of them will depend upon the kind of work to be produced.
This plan may be modified by having the wire on one side of the loom and
the carrier on the other. The mode of action then would be, that the carrying
instrument would project through the warp by means of the tappet action on
the lever arm (or a sliding action may be used) and receive or take the wire;
the lever arm to which the carrying instrument is fixed being acted upon by the
tappet, would draw back and leave the wire in the warp; but I prefer the
first plan. On the end of the wire I place a cutter, which differs from those
now in use in this respect, that instead of cutting upwards it cuts downwards
and sideways. This is accomplished by having the cutter fixed to the wire, so
as to be like a knife blade slightly open; and as the wire is drawn out, the
Joop passes under the cutter, which cannot fail to cut it, because there is a
nick or groove in the wire into which the edge of the cutting instrument is
partially placed, the point of the cutter being slightly raised to allow the loop
to pass under, and the heel depressed into the nick or groove, as I have before
stated, exactly similar to the blade of a knife slightly open.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel
Cunliffe Lister, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such-others as-I,
the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN WEAVING LOOPED OR PILED FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, my executors or administra-
tors, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 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 thereof:-
My Invention applies to looms which are employed to weave pile fabrics when
very fine pile wires are used, and are attached to lever arms or other instru-
ments, which introduce the wire into the open shed, hold it while it is tied into
the fabric, and then withdraw it from the fabric, so as to leave a series of loops
on the surface of such fabric, or by the cutting of such loops producing velvet
pile, the lever arm or other instrument which is operated upon to introduce
and withdraw the wire never being at any time released from the wire which
it actuates, and consequently necessitating the employment of a separate instru-
ment and actuating apparatus to each pile wire; and my Invention consists in
so applying and actuating a supporting trough with each wire, that such trough
may be caused to travel into the open shed with the wire and then be with-
drawn, leaving the wire to be beaten up and tied into the fabric.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will now proceed to
describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into
practical operation.
In the Drawing this improvement is shown as applied to a method of
actuating pile wires, for which a Patent was obtained by William Wood on
the Twenty-fifth of March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four; but it
will be evident that the improvement is capable of application to any form of
loom in which wires are introduced into and withdrawn from a fabric without
being detached from the moving instrument, as above stated.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a side view, and Figure 2 a front view, of so much of a
loom for weaving piled fabrics having my improvements applied thereto as
will enable me to explain its operation. The parts of the loom which are

page_text: omitted in the Drawing being well known and in common use, can be readily
applied by any competent mechanic acquainted with the nature of this descrip-
tion of machinery. And I will here also remark, that to avoid complexity
in the Drawing, the loom is there shewn arranged for weaving piled fabrics
with two wires only, and having three shutes of the weft between each row
of loops; but it will, upon examining the Drawing, be readily understood that
a greater number of wires and carrying troughs may be applied, and that the
manner of working the loom may be greatly varied without departing from
my Invention. a is the crank axis of the loom, and b the cam shaft. Motion
is communicated to the crank axis a by means of the pulley c, and this motion
is transmitted to the cam shaft 6 by the train of toothed wheels d, d, indicated
in Figure 1 by dotted circles. e, c, are arms or levers to which the wires f, f,
are attached, one on each side of the loom, the wires f, f, being attached to
the lever arms e, e, by knuckle joints e', e, as is more clearly seen in Figure 3,
which shows an enlarged view of the end of one of the lever arms c, e, and
there are springs h, h, attached to the lever arms and pressing against pins i, i,
on the knuckle joints, so as to cause the wire when withdrawn from the fabric
to spring towards the open part of the shed, and thus be in a suitable position
for re-insertion. The lever arms c, c, are fixed on the tubes n', which move
around the axes g, g, on each side of the loom, and are actuated from time to
time by the cams h, h, on the axis b, acting on trucks on the levers 7, 7, and
through the connecting rods on the lever arms g¹, gl, fixed on the tubes n'.
m, m, are the supporting troughs, one in connection with each wire, and these
supporting troughs are attached by the rods m³, m', to lever arms n, n, in a
similar manner to that in which the wires are connected to the lever arms e, c.
The lever arms, n, are fixed on the axes g, g, which move in bearings attached
to the framing of the loom; but the lever arms n, n, may be actuated and
supported from below, and the lever arms n, n, are so actuated from time to
time as to enter the open shed with and support the wire while it is being
introduced, and to be then withdrawn, leaving the wire to be beaten up and
tied into the fabric. This is done in the following manner :-0, 0, are cam
surfaces, formed on the other side of the cams h, h, and the cams o, o, act on
trucks on the levers p, and through the connecting rods p' on the lever arnis p²,
--fixed on the axes 75g, to which the lever arnis n, n, are attached.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and the best means I am
acquainted with for carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood
that I make no claim to the exact form of the apparatus or mechanical move-
ments described, and they may be greatly varied without departing from my

page_text: Invention; and I would also observe, that troughs for supporting the wire
while being introduced into the open shed of a pile fabric have before been
employed when loose wires, or wires at times detached from the wire apparatus,
have been used; but what I claim is, the application as herein described of a
supporting trough to pile wires when such wires remain at all times attached
to the instruments by which they are actuated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
0
SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER. (L.s.)
Witness,
C. H. FESSON,
of Addingham, in the County of York.