An Improved Piled or Napped Fabric.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 14th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 23rd Feb. 1895
An Improved Piled or Napped Fabric.
I RICHARD RICHARDSON of 5 Portland Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Merchant and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My said invention relates to an improved piled or napped fabric made from
cotton, and treated in such a manner as to give it a soft piled or napped surface,
similar to the surface of velvet or velveteen, but without actually cutting the pile
as in the manufacture of velvets or velveteens.
In producing a woven fabric suitable for my purpose, I weave it as a species
of double cloth, the face of the cloth being composed of soft spun and woven yarn,
while the back of the piece is so woven as to be stronger and more capable of
resisting wear and fatigue.
To produce the improved napped or piled effect or surface, I next subject the
softer and more loosely woven face of the cloth to the operation of a raising
machine which raises and teazles the surface until a nap or pile is formed thereon.
To equalise and reduce this nap I next pass the fabric through a cropping or
clipping machine or otherwise subject it to some process which will level and
equalise the nap.
The cloth is again passed through the raising machine and again cropped or
clipped and these processes are repeated until the desired napped or velvet-like
surface is produced. The stronger back which I give to the fabric in the course
of weaving, enables it to withstand the fatigue and "tendering" consequent upon
the treatment in the raising and clipping machines.
The improved fabric so produced may be dyed, printed and finished in any
desired manner corresponding to the uses for which it may be designed.
Dated the 19th day of Anril 1894
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Piled or Napped Fabric.
I RICHARD RICHARDSON of 99 Portland Street, late of 5 Portland Street,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant and Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
My said invention relates to an improved piled or napped fabric made from
cotton, and treated in such a manner as to give it a soft piled or mapped surface
similar to the surface of velvet or velveteen, but without actually cutting the pile
as in the manufacture of velvets or velveteens.
In the manufacture of velvets and velveteens, as is well known, the cloth
requires to be woven with pile loops or threads each of which requires to be
positively cut to produce the desired velvet surface.

page_text: particular
According to my invention, however, although the cloth is woven in a
manner, there is no provision of actual pile loops and I dispense entirely with
the usual process of positively cutting the face of the cloth.
In producing a woven fabric suitable for my purpose I weave it as a species
of double cloth, that is to say a cloth with a back and face of different
consistencies.
The face is composed of soft spun cotton yarn somewhat loosely woven, while
the back of the piece is so woven as to be stronger and more capable of resisting
wear and fatigue. It will not be necessary for me to detail particularly the
modus operandi in producing such a cloth, because that is not per se a part of my
invention but is a well known feature in the weaver's art which would present
no difficulty to cloth manufacturers.
Having produced the aforesaid fabric with its softer face and stronger back
I next subject the softer and more loosely woven face to the action of a raising
machine which raises and teazles the surface until a nap or pile is formed thereon.
This nap or pile is merely the result of the raising or carding effect of the raising
rollers upon the soft and loosely woven surface of the cloth, the finer fibres being
lifted, drawn out and made to stand up from the face of the fabric. The said
raised fibres are necessarily of unequal lengths and therefore to equalise them
and to remove motes, knots and little entanglements, I next pass the fabric
through a cropping or clipping machine which crops, levels and reduces the
raised nap to an equality. I then pass the fabric again through the raising
machine and raise a further and thicker nap or pile and again crop or clip it to
an equality.
These alternate operations of raising and cropping are continued until I obtain
a sufficiently soft and even napped or velvet-like surface.
The stronger back given to the fabric in the process of weaving, enables it to
withstand the fatigue and tendering consequent upon the repeated after processes
of raising and cropping as herein before described. The resulting fabric presents
a soft, even and velvet-like surface of a pleasing appearance which can be dyed,
printed and finished in any desired manner corresponding to the uses for which it
may be designed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.
1. The improved piled or napped fabric composed of cotton and produced in the
manner and by the means substantially as herein before described.
2. The method of and process for producing a cotton pile or napped fabric of
the indicated nature, said method and process consisting in weaving a cotton
fabric with a somewhat soft and loosely woven face, and with a stronger back, and
thereafter subjecting the said softer face of the fabric to repeated raising and
cropping processes until the required napped surface is obtained, substantially as
described.
Dated this 11th day of January 1895.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.