IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK VELVETS, WHICH ARE WOVEN FACE TO FACE AND THEN CUT ABUNDER, ALSO IN TREATING SILK TO BE USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Manningham, in the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SILK VELVETS, WHICH ARE WOVEN FACE TO FACE AND
THEN CUT ABUNDER, ALSO IN TREATING SILK TO BE USED IN SUCH
MANUFACTURE."-A communication from abroad by Jacinto Barran,
residing at Barcelona, in the Kingdom of Spain.
Sealed the 22nd January 1869, and dated the 30th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th July 1868.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, in the County of
York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK VELVETS WHICH ARE WOVEN FACE TO
FACE AND THEN CUT ABUNDER, ALSO IN TREATING SILK TO BE USED IN SUCH
MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
The great difficulty heretofore met with in the manufacture of silk
velvets which are woven face to face, as is described in the Specification
of a Patent granted to George Davies on the First day of November

page_text: 1858 (No. 2429), has been the difficulty of cutting the two pieces asunder,
for if, on the one hand, the knife be so sharp as actually to cut the
silk the pile is left with too even a surface, and consequently the velvet
produced is wanting in richness of color; if, on the other hand, the
knife cuts badly, the fibres of the silk remain too uneven on the surface
of the pile, and the pile has a woolly and common appearance.
Now according to this Invention the silk yarn of which the pile is
composed is so prepared that the knife which severs the pile shall break
or partially break asunder the silk instead of cutting it cleanly, and so
leave the surface of the pile uneven, and although this uneveness is
quite imperceptible yet the richness of color of ordinary hand cut
velvet will result from it, and in addition to thus preparing the silk all
extraneous acid or greasy matters are removed from it in order that the
edge of the knife may not be eaten or worn away whilst cutting. In
order thus to prepare the silk, the silk yarn is punished or reduced in
strength until it has only sufficient strength to enable it to support the
subsequent operations, such as winding, warping, reeling, and weaving,
and in order subsequently to remove from it all extraneous, greasy, or
acidulous matter I subject the silk to the action of two or more heated
baths of soap, and subsequently allow the silk to dry with the soap in
it in place of first removing the soap by washing. For causticising or
punishing the silk yarn or schappe I subject it to the action of a bath
of acid. The acid I employ is muriatic acid, and I make the bath of
a strength of about 8 degrees. The yarn is first passed through a bath
of pure water with the object of wetting it evenly, after which it is
wrung; it is then placed in the acid bath and left submerged for a
time, varying with the temperature and with the fineness of the yarn,
and also with the dyeing process to which it has afterwards to be
subjected. As soon as the yarn is taken out of the acid bath it is
washed, taking care not to allow the air to come in contact with it; the
washing must be continued until the yarn is perfectly free from acid; it
is then boiled with soap and afterwards dyed. When the dyeing
operations are completed I subject the yarn consecutively to two or
more heated soap baths, and the silk when removed from the last bath
is left to dry without washing the soap out from it. Other means might
be adopted for entirely removing all acid or grease from the yarn, but I
prefer to employ the process above described.

page_text: 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.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, 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, adminis-
trators, 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 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK VELVETS WHICH ARE
WOVEN FACE TO FACE AND THEN CUT ASUNDER, ALSO IN TREATING SILK TO BE
USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE," a communication to me from abroad. by
Jacinto Barran, a person resident at Barcelona, in the Kingdom of
Spain, 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 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, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of:
silk velvets which are woven face to face and then cut asunder, also,
treating silk to be used in such manufacture.

page_text: The great difficulty heretofore met with in the manufacture of silk
velvets which are woven face to face, as is described in the Specification
of a Patent granted to George Davies on the 1st day of November 1858,
No. 2429, has been the difficulty of cutting the two pieces asunder, for
if, on the one hand, the knife be so sharp as actually to cut the silk the
pile is left with too even a surface, and consequently the velvet produced
is wanting in richness of colour as light will not be reflected from
sufficiently numerous points upon its surface; if, on the other hand, the
knife cuts badly the fibres of the silk remain too uneven on the surface
of the pile and the pile has a woolly and common appearance.
Now according to this Invention the silk yarn of which the pile is
composed is so prepared that the knife which severs the pile shall break
or partially break asunder the silk instead of cutting it cleanly, and so
leave the surface of the pile uneven, and although this unevenness is
quite imperceptible yet the richness of colour of ordinary hand cut
velvet will result from it. In order thus to prepare the silk the silk yarn
is punished or reduced in strength; sufficient strength must however be
left in it to enable it to support the subsequent operations, such as
winding, warping, reeling, and weaving. In addition to thus preparing
the silk yarn or schappe it is also requisite to remove from it any matter
that may blunt or wear the edge of the knife, that is to say, that the
silk yarn or schappe after being dyed should not contain anything else
than the colouring matter, and that all extraneous matter shall have
been completely purged out from it, especially greasy or acidulous
matter, for both of these act to blunt or wear the edge of the knife. A
knife will last a longer or shorter time according to the degree of care
with which these precautions have been attended to. When scrupulous
care has been taken and there is no extraneous matter in the silk yarn
or schappe the edge of the knife will practically be unalterable. Knives
have thus been kept at work for three months without being touched,
and when taken out were in better working order than when put in, and
it is also worthy of remark that when commencing to use a fresh knife
the second piece of velvet will if the silk has been properly prepared be
better cut than the first piece, and the third piece better than the second.
For causticising or punishing the silk yarn or schappe I prefer to subject
it to the action of a bath of acid; the acid I employ is muriatic acid,
and I make the bath of a strength of about 8 degrees. The yarn is first
passed through a bath of pure water with the object of wetting it evenly,
after which it is wrung, it is then placed in the acid bath and left

page_text: submerged for a time varying with the temperature and with the fineness
of the yarn and also with the dyeing process to which it has afterwards
to be subjected to. For example, if the schappe be No. 80/* and in the
process of dyeing it will not be any further reduced in strength, I
leave it in the acid bath for four hours. This is when the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere is at 15° to 20° (Reaumur,) but if the temperature
be at 25° as happens in summer, then three hours are sufficient, and if
the temperature be very low, as in winter, then it will have to be
left in the bath six hours or more. Immediately it is taken out of the
muriatic acid bath it must be washed, taking great care not to allow it
to come in contact with the air. This washing must be very perfect
until the yarn does not contain a particle of acid, it can then be passed
on to go through the dyeing processes, beginning as is customary by
boiling or bleaching with soap. This "causticising" operation is the
one that prepares the silk for breaking not cutting, but notwithstanding
this the edge of the knife would soon be blunted if the silk after being
dyed contained any acid or greasy matter, and to avoid this I make use
of soap baths more or less concentrated according as the silk has been
more or less impregnated with extraneous substances. I prefer that the
soap bath should be heated to at least fifty degrees Reaumur, but the
temperature to which the bath may be heated will vary with the nature
of the color with which the silk has been dyed. I prefer that the first
soap bath should be of a strength of 1 lb. of soap to 16 litres of water,
and the last bath of a strength of about ½ lb. of soap to 16 litres of
water. The soap baths through which the silk passes should be two at
the least, and a better result is secured by three. After receiving the
said soap baths the silk should be placed to dry without washing it,
because the soap is always favorable to the cutting or breaking operation.
Other means might be resorted to for entirely cleaning the silk from all
acid or grease, but I prefer to employ soap baths as above described.
If velvet is to be made from undyed yarn the yarn after being subjected
to the acid bath to punish it or reduce its strength is simply passed
through a soap bath of one pound of soap to every sixteen " litres" of
water nearly at boiling heat, and then through another bath at the same
heat, but with half the quantity of soap, and is then immediately placed
to dry.
What I claim is, manufacturing silk velvets which are woven face to
face and then cut asunder with the pile composed of silk yarn which
has been weakened or tendered as herein described, and also weakening

page_text: or tendering the silk yarn used for forming the pile of velvets woven
face to face by the means above described or otherwise.
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.)