IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOSE, SOCKS, DRAWERS, GLOVES, MITTS, CAPS, COMFORTERS, AND CUFFS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
KEENE, of New Bond Street, in the County of Middlesex, Hosier, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of December, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Keene, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Charles Keene, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Keene, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, froni time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention. of." IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOSE, SOCKS,
DRAWERS, GLOVES, MITTS, CAPS, COMFORTERS, AND CUFFS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Charles Keene, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be perforined, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by

page_text: the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Keene, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
My Invention has for its objects various means of adapting and applying
elastic fabrics, of the descriptions hereafter mentioned and explained, in the
manufacture of hose, socks, drawers, gloves, mitts, caps, comforters, and cuffs.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect by a workman, I will proceed to explain the means pursued by me
in carrying out the various improvements constituting the Invention claimed
under the above recited Letters Patent.
The first part of my Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture
of hose, and consists of a mode of producing on each of a pair of hose what
may be called an elastic welt or band at the upper part of the stocking, and
consists in employing a particular elastic fabric for such purposes in place of
those now employed.
It is well known that a very peculiar and valuable elastic band may be
produced in what are called warp machines or warp lace machines by intro-
ducing strands of india-rubber in the fabrics produced in such machines in
such manner. that the india-rubber threads (covered or uncovered) do not
partake of the looping which the other threads undergo in order to produce
the. fabrics which such machinery are capable of making, and such india-
rubber threads are either introduced in a transverse direction of the fabric as
produced, or else-such india-rubber threads are introduced longitudinally in the
fabrics as they are. produced, and as such modes of working are not new, and
form no part of my. Invention, it will not be necessary for me to enter into any
description thereof in this my, Specification; but having obtained the fabrics,
which are: to be by preference made with woollen warp threads, as I have
found that fabrics-made in warp machines with woollen threads or yarns;
having india-rubber threads introduced therein, are not liable to unravel at the
edges. when the fabrics are cut into the widths suitable for bands to be applied
to the tops or upper parts of hose. Having obtained the bands of the width
desired, I cause either one or both edges to be placed on the needles of a
stocking machine, in a similar manner to that now practised when applying
other descriptions of elastic bands in the manufacture of gloves and other knit
articles, and I proceed to produce the knit work thereon in the ordinary

page_text: manner of making stockings, omitting the ordinary turning over or welt at the
upper part, as the elastic band above described is in substitution of the
ordinery welt. The band thus applied is either to be rendered elastic, before
putting it on to the needles or afterwards, by means of heat, as is well
understood when rendering other fabrics elastic which are made partly of
india-rubber.
Another part of my Invention consists of a mode of making gloves with
elastic bands for the wrists, and consists of employing woven fabrics made in
looms by means of warp and shuttle, so woven, that at intervals india-rubber
is laid in to form elastic bands at the wrists. In weaving fabrics for carrying
out this part of my Invention, I will suppose that a loom has in it a warp of
woollen or other yarn, and that a short length of cloth has been made by picks
or shoots of woollen or other yarn as weft, according to the fabric desired to
be produced; I then, by means of a shuttle or other convenient means,
introduce a strand of india-rubber thread, covered or uncovered; I prefer the
india-rubber thread to be uncovered when the fabric is of wool; I.then throw in
one or more picks of woollen or other weft, and then again I throw in another
weft of india-rubber thread, and so on, till sufficient india-rubber is introduced'
to form a band of the strength required; I generally apply six strands of
india-rubber for the strongest bands and less for lighter fabrics, and having
thus woven a quantity of fabric suitable for elastic bands for the gloves to be
made, from the woven fabric, I proceed with weaving a woollen or other fabric
for several inches, according to the size of the intended gloves; when for full
men's sizes such weaving will be continued for about nine inches, and having
woven that quantity, I again introduce india-rubber as weft in the manner
above described and having again produced a quantity of weaving suitable for
elastic bands for gloves, I again proceed to weave nine inches of fabric, or
other length, according to the size of gloves intended to be made therefrom, and
in this manner I weave a piece of woollen or other fabric which may then be
cut up into gloves, having an elastic band at the part which comes to the
wrists, and the same are then made up by sewing in the ordinary manner of
making gloves. I would remark, that although I have described and prefer
the india-rubber for making elastic bands to be introduced as weft at distances
apart in weaving the fabrics, I do not confine myself thereto, as the intro-
duction of the india-rubber at like intervals in the warp may be resorted to
and the weaving completed with woollen or other weft, by which means a
similar result may be obtained, in which case, in cutting out gloves, their
length will run across the fabric in place of lengthwise thereof.

page_text: Another part of my Invention relates to making what I call overall hose,
socks, and gloves, and also draws, mitts, caps, comforters, and cuffs, and
consists of making such articles of elastic fabrics made of woollen yarn in
which india-rubber is introduced in all parts, so that the fingers and thumbs as
well as the other parts of the gloves, and also the legs and parts of hose and
socks, and the whole structure of the other articles, may be elastic, and thus,
though loose, all parts of the above articles may set close and tight; the
gloves being intended to be worn over other gloves, and hose and socks over
the feet and legs, in order to obtain warmth as overalls. In weaving fabrics
for carrying out this part of my Invention, I employ a warp of woollen yarn,
and I either use india-rubber yarn only as weft, or I combine therewith one or
more picks of woollen or other yarn between each succeeding stand or weft of
india-rubber; or in place of using the india-rubber as weft I introduce it as
warp, thus producing a suitable fabric for making gloves according to this
part of my Invention; but I make no claim to the weaving of this description
of fabric, and in making gloves therefrom; in cutting them out of such fabrics, I
cause them to be so cut that the india-rubber runs in a direction across the
hand, and in all cases, whether hose, socks, drawers, caps, comforters, and
cuffs, I so cut out the fabric as to cause the india-rubber to run crosswise of
the article, so that all parts of a glove or other article made up according to
this part of the Invention will readily expand in putting them on to the person.
I would remark, that in place of weaving suitable fabrics for this part of my
Invention by warp and shuttle, that class of fabrics which are made in warp
lace machines where the warp threads are looped into each other on needles
may be used, provided india-rubber threads be introduced either transversly or
longitudinally into the fabrics as they are made, and in such manner that the
india-rubber is introduced near together so as to render the fabric generally
elastic; such fabrics not being new need not be further described, this part of
the Invention relating to the application of such fabrics in the manufacture of
the various articles herein mentioned, as above explained.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details, provided that the peculiar character of either part
of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is,-
First, the application of elastic bands made in warp machinery, as above
described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of making gloves by applying the description of
woollen fabrics above described, by having india-rubber .introduced suitable for

page_text: Enrolled the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-three.