AN IMPROVED METHOD OF WEAVING OR MANUFACTURING WOVEN FABRICS SUITABLE FOR PETTICOATING OR SIMILAR PURPOSES, WHERE THICK AND THIN PARTS OF THE SAME FABRIC ARE REQUIRED
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Woods Cook, of Rumforth, near Bolton, in
the County of Lancaster, Muslin Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF WEAVING OR MANUFACTURING WOVEN FABRICS
SUITABLE FOR PETTICOATING OR SIMILAR PURPOSES, WHERE THICK AND THIN
PARTS OF THE SAME FABRIC ARE REQUIRED."
Sealed the 27th March 1855, and dated the 2nd October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Woods Cook at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd October 1854.
I, WILLIAM WOODS COOK, of Rumforth, near Bolton, in the County of
Lancaster, Muslin Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF WEAVING OR MANUFACTURING WOVEN
FABRICS SUITABLE FOR PETTICOATING OR SIMILAR PURPOSES, WHERE THICK AND THIN
PARTS OF THE SAME FABRIC ARE REQUIRED" to be as follows:-
Instead of the present method of weaving such fabrics as require to be part
of a thick and part of a thin substance, by weaving one part of the fabric (say,
the right-hand side,) thick and the other side thin, I propose to weave a part of
each side thick, and leave the thin part in the centre; by this means I avoid
the stress upon the harness, which is very injurious, as the thick part, being
heavier than the thin part, must cause the strain I have alluded to.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Woods Cook in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WOODS COOK, of Rumforth, near Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Muslin
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Woods Cook, Her special licence that I, the said William Woods
Cook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Woods Cook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF WEAVING OR MANUFACTURING WOVEN FABRICS SUITABLE FOR PETTICOATING OR
SIMILAR PURPOSES WHERE THICK AND THIN FARTS OF THE SAME FABRIC ARE
REQUIRED," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Woods Cook, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Woods Cook, 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 (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to an improved method of weaving two bodies of
corded cloth at the same time, being connected only at the selvages, and so
arranged that the thick or corded part of the face cloth shall not be woven
opposite the thick or corded part of the back cloth, that is to say, there shall
always be a plain part of one cloth opposite the thick or corded part of the
other, and vice versa, which cause the cloth to fold on the cloth beam more
uniformly than can be done either in folding a single cloth or two folds of
double cloth, if not so arranged. I also diminish the stress upon the harness,
which is sometimes very great, upon the plan now generally adopted. The

page_text: cloth woven by this process is applicable to petticoating or similar purposes,
and is produced from two warps of one or more fineness of yarn, and arranged
on two beams in the following order; namely, one warp, composed wholly of
single threads, sufficient in. quantity for the required width of the cloth and
closeness of the reed; the other warp, composed of cords or single threads of
the same count or fineness as the first warp, but to be doubled fifteen-fold, or
such other number of folds as may be required in drawing into the heddles
and reed. The warp from which the cords are formed to be arranged in point
of quantity by the pattern and thickness of the cord desired, and wound on the
beam in two equal divisions, by means of flanges, made of tin, iron, or other
suitable metal or material, of a sufficient depth to keep up the yarn, and
beamed, so that each set of cords will stand opposite the heddles and reed into
which they are to be drawn; the warps to be sized or dressed, as may be
desired, in the usual way. In drawing the warps into the heddles and reed,
I must refer to the drawing-in or cording-up pattern, shewn in the accompany-
ing Drawing or Diagram. The pattern shews the arrangement of the heddles
and treadles, there being eight heddles, marked A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H,
and four treadles, marked 1, 2, 3, 4, and shewn under two arrangements; one
for power looms, marked a, and the other for hand looms, marked B. The
drawing into the heddles commences at the mark o on the heddle marked E,
being the fifth heddle, into which is drawn the first cord, then followed by
drawing in the single threads in progression from 1 to 10, as shewn in the first
column. The second cord o is drawn into the heddle G, being the seventh,
the single threads being drawn in the order as shewn, from 1 to 10 in the
second column. The third cord is drawn into the heddle a, being the front
heddle; the single threads, 1 to 10, are drawn in, as shewn in the third column.
The fourth cord o is drawn into the heddle C, as marked in the third heddle,
the single threads in the order shewn, 1 to 10, in the fourth column; the single
threads forming the plain parts in the petticoating are drawn in, as shewn in
the fifth column marked, namely, four single threads in each split of the reed;
No. 1 and 2 drawn into the heddles B and D, forming the face plain cloth;
No. 3 and 4 drawn into the heddles F and H, forming the back plain cloth;
the quantity of plain cloth at the top and bottom of the petticoating to be
arranged according to the style or pattern required. I have shewn two
arrangements of treadles; one for weaving by power, as shewn at a, the other
for hand looms, as shewn at B; it is sufficient to shew the operation of the
heddles by the treadles a. No. 1 treadle raises the beddles A and B,
No. 2 treadle raises the heddles A, B, C, D, E and F, No. 3 treadle raises
the heddles C and D, No. 4 treadle raises the heddles A, B, C, D, G and H,

page_text: which several motions of the treadles, by having a shoot of weft thrown across
at each motion, produce the double cloth herein referred to. The heddles
require four long lames or levers below the heddles, and eight short ones
above them; four to be arranged on each side of the heddles, to balance the
leverage of the heddles from the lower levers, which are connected with the
heddles and treadles in the usual way.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the use of two beams
and two warps so long as the arrangement of the threads is adhered to, nor
to the use of eight heddles only, as herein described; the principle of my
Invention may be carried out by the use of four or more of them, as may be
found most convenient; neither do I confine myself. to the manufacture of plain
corded petticoating, as I can produce checked petticoating and many varieties
of figures and styles of various kinds of materials by the application of fancy
harness or the jacquard machine in the production of dress goods.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Woods Cook, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM WOODS COOK. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-named
William Woods Cook, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.