IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU FACTURE OF OUT PILE FABRICS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Manningham; in the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU
FACTURE OF OUT PILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 22nd January 1869, and dated the 29th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th July 1868.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manuingham, in the County of York,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT PILE FABRICS." to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture
of cut pile fabrics, and the improvements relate to that class of cut pile
fabrics which are woven face to face and are then cut asunder, as
is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to G. Davies on
the 1st day of November 1858 (No. 2429). In manufacturing cut
pile fabrics in this manner a knife having a reciprocating motion to
and tro across the loom has ordinarily been used for severing the
[Paine 87]

page_text: directions.
My first improvement consists in so arranging the cutting instrument
that it shall cut only in one direction, and this I accomplish by causing
the slide or race in which the knife moves to recede, so that the knife
shall be out of action whilst moving in one direction.
The second part of my Invention consists in weaving pile fabrics made
of silk, cotton, and other vegetable fibres, also wool and hair, face to face
in the grey, that is, undyed, and subsequently dyeing them as herein-after
described.
Silk velvets have been woven by the above and other methods, but
the pile yarn has always been dyed on account of the difficulty of dyeing
such goods after being woven without injuring the pile. Cotton
velvets, such as are made in Manchester, are woven in the grey
and then cut by haud, but as the pile of these goods is not woven to
stand upright, but is a sort of bastard pile or nap, there is no difficulty in
dyeing and finishing them.
For dyeing and finishing silk and cotton velvets woven in the grey as
above described, I subject them to the dyeing process whilst held
distended, so that they may be dyed and finished without handling. This
I prefer to do by fixing or extending them on a wheel of equal circum-
ference to the length of the piece, or a long straight frame may be used.
The wheel to which the velvet is fixed is then placed in a dyeing vat
and slowly turned until the velvet is properly dyed; the wheel is then
removed and immersed in a water or steam bath or both to clean the
velvet from superfluous dye, and by blowing steam through the cloth to
raise the pile. After this the wheel is placed in a frame and made to
revolve rapidly until the velvet is dry; it is then removed into a
brushing frame and thoroughly brushed, which greatly improves the
velvet. In place of brushes card rollers may be used with advantage,
more particularly for cotton velvets. When silk velvets are woven in
the grey with cotton warp or weft I dye the cotton yarn before weaving
the same, otherwise the silk would be injured in dyeing the cotton, and
the piece would not be thoroughly dyed through. When pile fabrics
woven face to face are made from wool or hair, whether dyed or undyed,
I singe the yarn and then size it, which greatly facilitates the weaving.
When such goods are woven in the grey and then dyed they should be
treated the same as silk or cotton velvets as above described, but when

page_text: printed I steam the pile cloth to raise the pile and then brush it when
damp. At the present time for low velvets cotton warp and weft is
used, and the piece is stiffened with some preparation; but this stiffening
soon vanishes when the velvet comes to be used. For the best silk
velvets neat silk is used, but this is very costly; spun silk cannot be
used because it has no stiffness; wool or hair cannot be used because
they will not by themselves spin fine enough.
According to this part of my Invention I employ for the warp and
weft of velvets of all qualities a yarn made from a mixture of wool or hair
and silk, by which a firm and elastic piece is obtained at a comparatively
small cost.
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 29th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME I, SAMUEL
CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, in the County of York, send
greeting.
ני
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eigbt, in the thirty-
second 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 and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT PILE FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 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

page_text: 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, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
cut pile fabrics, and the improvements relate to that class of cut pile
fabrics which are woven face to face and are then cut asunder, as is
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to George Davies on
the 1st day of November 1858 (No. 2429). In manufacturing cut pile
fabrics in this manner a kuife having a reciprocating motion to and
fro across the loom has ordinarily been used for severing the pile, and
such knife has been caused to cut when moving in both directions.
When the fabric is cut in this way the appearance of the face suffers
from the fibres of the pile being severed at different angles.
My first improvement consists in so arranging the cutting instrument
that it shall cut only in one direction. This may be accomplished by
causing the slide or race in which the knife moves to recede, so that the
knife shall be out of action whilst moving in one direction.
The arrangement is shown at Figure 1 of the annexed Drawing,
where a and b are the pin rollers around which the two cloths pass after
they have been divided, and which draw the cloths forward; c is the
slide rail for the knife; it is capable itself of moving a short distance in
guides on the frames to and from the cutting point; d are levers giving
such a motion to the rail; they turn on centres d¹ on the frame, and
are rocked by eccentrics e on the picking shaft f, which as is shown
is geared with the crank shaft g. The knife traverses and returns once
for each revolution of the shaft f. Or in place of arranging the slide or
race to move upon the loom frame it may be fixed thereon, as is usual,
and the knife holder may be made to slide obliquely on its carriage, so
that it may move forward towards the pile to be cut or recede from it
according as it is drawn in one direction or the other.
Figure 2 shows a plan, and Figure 3 a transverse section of such an
arrangement. a, a, is the carriage which slides in dovetailed guides on the
guide rail; b is the knife holder carrying in the usual way clip plates b¹
between which the knife is clamped, the clip plates being fixed to an

page_text: axis 2 which is able to turn in the holder, but is controlled by the
coiled springs 63; 64 are inclined stems at the end of the knife holder
passing through guides a¹ on the carriage; at the ends of these stems
are eyes to receive the cords by which the carriage is drawn to and fro
along the guide rail; a² are springs on the carriage a; their ends drop
into recesses in the guide rail when the carriage arrives at the end of
its course in either direction, and oppose a slight resistance to the reversal
of the motion of the carriage sufficient to ensure that when the draft is
in the contrary direction it shall cause the knife holder to traverse along
the carriage before the carriage starts into motion.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention as an improvement in
the manufacture of cut pile fabrics, the cutting apart two fabrics woven
face to face by means of a knife traversing along guide and arranged
a
to act only when the knife is traversing in one direction.
Another part of my Invention consists in weaving pile fabrics made
of silk, cotton, and other vegetable fibres, also wool and hair, face to
face in the grey, that is, in the undyed state, and subsequently dyeing
them as herein-after described.
In weaving silk velvets the pile yarn has always been dyed on account
of the difficulty of dyeing such goods after being woven without injuring
the pile. Cotton velvets, such as are made at Manchester, are woven in
the grey and then the pile loops are cut by hand, but as the pile of these
goods is not woven to stand upright, but is a sort of bastard pile or nap,
there is no difficulty in dyeing and finishing them.
For dyeing and finishing silk and cotton velvets woven in the
grey as above described I subject them to the dyeing process whilst
held distended, so that that they may be dyed and finished without
handling. This I prefer to do by fixing or extending them on a wheel
of equal circumference to the length of the piece. The wheel to which
the velvet is fixed is then placed in a dyeing vat and slowly turned
until the velvet is properly dyed; the wheel is then removed and
immersed in a water or steam bath, or both, to clean the velvet from
superfluous dye, and by blowing steam through the cloth to raise the
pile. After this the wheel is placed in a frame and made to revolve
rapidly until the velvet is dry; it is then removed into a brushing
frame and thoroughly brushed, which greatly improves the velvet. In
place of brushes card rollers may be used with advantage, more par-
ticularly for cotton velvets.
When silk velvets are woven in the grey

page_text: with cotton warp or weft I dye the cotton yarn for forming the back
before weaving the same, otherwise the silk pile would be injured in
dyeing the cotton, and the piece would not be thoroughly dyed together.
By the above system I am enabled to finish velvets without passing
them through rollers, which is important, whereas the silk velvets
which are woven on the Manchester cotton plan are put through hot
rollers, which, as will be readily understood, imparts great lustre to
the cloth, being a sort of hot-press finish, but the pile is quite flat.
This would ruin silk or cotton velvets having a true pile for most
purposes. What I endeavour to accomplish by the above process is to
keep the pile erect, and in order to do so I avoid putting it through
rollers or in any way pressing the pile down. Another great advan-
tage in weaving cotton or silk face to face in the grey as above
described is that the knife cuts asunder the two pieces of cloth with
much greater facility than when the warp is dyed before being wove,
especially cotton. Up to the present time no loom has worked suc-
cessfully when weaving two pieces face to face on account of the
difficulty in getting the knife to cut properly. Now I have found by
experiment that the knife cuts the cotton yarn perfectly when woven
in the grey, but when dyed it will not cut unless constantly sharpened,
so that by doing away with the dyeing of the silk or cotton: pile warp.
in looms of this description I greatly facilitate the process of cutting.
which is of the utmost importance. The velvets also take a richer
and deeper dye when woven in the grey and then piece dyed.
The following is the manner in which I prefer to operate-I employ
a loom such as that described in the Specification before referred to,
No. 2429, in the year 1858, and use therewith an undyed pile warp.
weaving and cutting the fabrics apart as usual. Then I distend each
piece .in turn on a large drum, say about 30 feet in diameter, so that its
circumference takes the entire piece. The periphery of the drum should
be of sheet brass finely perforated all over, and when the fabric has
been stretched upon it, it is made to dip into a dye trough containing the
dyeing liquor. The drum is kept turning so as to ensure the equal
action of the dye on, every part, but it should not be so rapidly as to
agitate the dye liquor. When the dyeing is complete the drum is.
removed and placed in a frame, where it is very rapidly rotated whilst
steam is admitted (through the hollow shaft of the drum) to its interior,
so that the combined action of the steam and centrifugal force may

page_text: cause the pile to reassume its natural erect position where it may have
been laid or injured during the dyeing operation. After a time the steam
is shut off, and a current of dry and warm air is substituted, then whilst
the fabric is still on the drum a rotating brush may advantageously be
made to act upon it; or card rollers may for some descriptions of pile be
substituted for brushes.
Although I prefer to conduct the dyeing operation in the manner above
described, I do not confine myself thereto; but what I claim as respects
this part of my Invention as an improvement in the manufacture of that
description of pile fabric which is woven double and then cut apart is,
the weaving fabric with the pile warp in the grey or undyed state,
and subsequently dyeing the fabrics in the piece. especially silk and
cotton velvets.
I also claim as an improvement in the manufacture of fabrics with a
silk pile, and which are woven double and then cut apart, the weaving
the fabric with the pile warp of silk in the grey or undyed state and the
warp or weft forming the back of dyed cotton and subsequently dying
the fabrics in the piece.
When pile fabrics woven face to face are made form wool or hair,
whether dyed or undyed, I singe the yarn and then size it, which
greatly facilitates the weaving. When such goods are woven in the
grey and then dyed they should be treated the same as silk or cotton
velvets, as above described, but when printed 1 steam the pile cloth
to raise the pile and then brush it when damp. The singeing and
sizing of the pile warp, it may be of wool, mohair, alpaca, or similar
wool or hair, renders the yarn smooth and compact, so that it will not
be liable to catch in the dents of the reed or in the eyes of the healds.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention as an improvement in
the manufacture of that description of cut pile fabric which is woven
double and then cut apart, the employment of a pile warp of wool or of
hair rendered smooth and compact by singeing and sizing the yarn.
At the present time for low velvets cotton warp and weft is used, and
the piece is stiffened with some preparation, but this stiffening soon
vanishes when the velvet comes to be used. For the best silk velvets
neat silk is used, but this is very costly; spun silk cannot be used because
it has no stiffness; wool or hair cannot be used because they will not
by themselves spin fine enough.

page_text: According to this part of my Invention I employ for the warp and
weft of velvets of all qualities a yarn made from a mixture of wool
or hair and silk by which a firm and elastic piece is obtained at a
comparatively small cost. I use by preference for this purpose alpaca
or mohair, or a wool which is bright and stiff in the fibre, and I spin
it together with silk waste as is well understood, employing sufficient
silk to cause it to spin to the number required for the warp; No. 60
twofold (or 120 doubled) is suitable. The weft as at present is coarser
and consequently may be spun with a larger proportion of wool or hair.
The fabric may either be woven double and cut apart or otherwise.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention as an improvement in
the manufacture of silk or cotton velvets, the employing to form the
back a warp or a weft of yarn made by spinning together wool or hair
and silk waste.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine.
S. C. LISTER. (L.s.)