IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF ORNAMENTAL FABRICS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Merrylees, of Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF ORNAMENTAL FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Merrylees at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
May 1857.
I, JAMES MERRYLEES, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF ORNAMENTAL FABRICS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the production of woven fabrics, consisting of
three plies of cloth, each of which plies may either consist of a warp and
ground weft, or may consist of a warp or ground weft and one or more covers
of spotting weft, the said plies of cloth being so interwoven as that any one
of them may be exposed on the one side of the cloth while either one or other
of the remaining two plies is exposed on the other side, and at the portions
where the said plies are exposed on the surface of the fabric the ground weft

page_text: may be made to appear while the spotting weft is, hidden, or the spotting weft
may be made to appear while the ground weft is hidden. These fabrics are
woven by means of a jacquard or other figure-producing machinery, to
which a triple harness is attached, which works through a hole board divided
into three sections, the portion of the harness below the hole board being
arranged as in the ordinary three-ply carpet loom.
Each of the three divisions of the harness is tied with a single neck to a
corresponding portion or compartment of the jacquard machinery, so that the
first compartment will draw the first harness, the second compartment draws
the second harness, and the third compartment the third harness: Two designs
are prepared, one to represent the pattern for the upper side of the fabric,
and the other to represent a different pattern for the under side of the fabric.
If, for example, a fabric is to be produced consisting of three single plies
of cloth having an uniform tweel throughout, and consisting of three colors,
say, white, blue, and red, each of these plies may be drawn by one division of
the harness.. Thus, the white may be drawn by the first harness, the blue by
the second, and the red by the third harness. The card cutter places the
design for the under side before him, and cutting the white cards, he cuts
holes for tweeling in regular order throughout the first compartment, and all
that is white in the design on both the other two compartments; he then
proceeds to the blue cards, cutting tweeling holes throughout the second com-
partment, and all that is blue in the design both on the first and third
compartments; he then proceeds to the red cards, cutting tweeling holes
throughout the third compartment, and all that is red in the design both on
the first and second compartments.
....
The next operation is to recut the cards for the upper side of the fabric.
He puts the first blue and red cards together into the machine, and cuts out
on the first compartment all that is white in the first lash of the design, and
so on throughout the blue and red cards; the white and red cards are next
operated upon, and all the blue parts of the design are cut out upon the
second compartment.
Lastly, the white and blue cards are put together and cut on the third
compartment, cutting out all the red parts of the design. The cards thus
prepared are laced up, and wrought in the usual manner of full harness
weaving. If the fabric is to have one tweel on the under side, another on the
upper side, and a third in the centre, or hidden ply, a tweeling design for
each color of weft must be prepared.
In drawing the tweeling design for the white weft the designer must copy

page_text: all the white of the under side design with red or other convenient color, and
insert upon the red the under side tweeling with white. The white of: the
upper side design may then be colored with some faint tint, so as not to be
read by the cutter on which the tweeling is inserted in red. The portion
of the tweeling design which is untouched represents the centre or hidden ply,
and is to be tweeled with red accordingly.
The card cutter is instructed to cut all the red of this tweeling design.on
the first compartment, instead of filling that compartment with tweeling holes
in regular order, as in the system or mode of weaving herein-before described.
The twilling designs for the blue and red wefts are to be prepared in like
manner, cutting the design for the blue weft on the second compartment, and
that for the red on the third compartment. If either of the plies is to have
a spotting weft introduced, a design must be prepared for both the ground and
spotting weft.
The designer, after he has copied in and tweeled the ground color of the
upper and under side design, copies all the spotting color of the upper side
design with red, and that of the under side with a faint color. The portion
of the design which is still untouched represents the centre ply, and is to be
tweeled accordingly.
The design so prepared is to be used for the tweeling of the ground weft.
The design for tweeling the spotting weft is to be prepared in the same
manner, only reversing the ground and spotting colors. The ground and
spotting cards are to be cut as before described, but in this modification the
ground and spotting colors of the upper and under side designs are read as
one color, and are cut both for the ground and spotting.
The apportioning of the cut surface of card and of the corresponding
portion of the jacquard machinery into three divisions or compartments may
be variously arranged, as, for example, in using a machine with forty-eight
rows. The first, second, and third compartment may be represent by the
first, second, and third. 16 rows; or in using a machine with 6 needles in
each row, the first and fourth of each row of holes in the card may represent
the first compartment, the second and fifth hole may represent the second
compartment, the third and sixth hole may represent the third compartment. >
By this last arrangement the apparatus. will without any alteration be
capable of working single cloth from cards cut in the usual way.
It may also be proper to notice, that in preparing the design for the second
or upper side of the cloth; the work of the designer will be much facilitated
by using transparent ruled paper, and placing the under side design beneath

page_text: the said transparent paper, as he will thus see at once which of the three
plies has been made use of at any particular spot of the under side, and
thereby be directed to avoid the use of that ply at the same spot on the upper
side; facility will be also obtained by the use of this transparent ruled paper
in preparing the aforesaid tweeling designs. It may be noticed also by
using mountings or "journals" for tweeling the various plies, the extent of
pattern can be increased by so tying the harness as that two or more adjacent
nails shall be conjointly acted upon by the same tail or needle throughout
each of the harnesses. This system or mode of weaving is capable of various
modifications for the production of a variety of ornamental fabrics.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Merrylees in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MERRYLEES, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Merrylees, Her special license that I, the said James Merrylees, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Merrylees, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF ORNAMENTAL FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Merrylees, by au 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Merrylees, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the manufacture or production of woven
fabrics with patterns or ornamental devices on both sides or faces thereof, and
it consists in certain preparations or arrangements of designs, cards, or other
pattern-producing apparatus, whereby three, or, if desired, four plies of cloth
are or may be woven simultaneously; each of these plies either consisting
simply of a warp and ground weft, or having spotting weft or wefts in addition
to the ground weft, and the various plies are so intermixed with each other
in the process of weaving, as that, wherever any one of them is exposed on one
side of the fabric, either one or other of the remaining plies is exposed at the
corresponding part of the other side, according to the pleasure of the designer.
By this means different patterns or devices are or may be exhibited on the
two sides of the cloth, which patterns are not produced merely by throwing
different colours of weft on the same warp, as is usual in the ordinary system
of shawl weaving, but by the interweaving of different pliès of cloth, as in
carpet weaving. These fabrics may be woven by a full barness and a
jacquard machine of the ordinary construction, or other pattern-working
apparatus. The harness may either work through a common hole board
(which should have 12 holes in each row), or may work through a hole board
bored in separate sections, so as that the divisions of harness which operate on
the various plies shall work through the hole board directly in front of or
behind each other, in the same position as in the common "three-ply" carpet
loom. In either case the web is to be warped with a thread of each ply
following in regular succession: thus, if the fabric to be woven is to consist of
three plies, blue, white, and red, the first thread of the web will be blue, the
2nd white, the 3rd red, the 4th blue, the 5th white, the 6th red, and so on in
similar sequence.
. In tying the harness the jacquard or other pattern-working machinery is to
be divided off into three or four compartments of equal extent, accordingly as.
there are to be three or four plies of cloth in the fabric. Thus, if there are
to be three plies, blue, white, and red, the first compartment of jacquard,
machinery will draw all the blue yarn, the second compartment will draw
all the white yarn, and the third compartment will draw all the red yarn.
The division of the jacquard machinery into compartments may be either
longitudinal or transverse; as for instance, in a card of 48 rows the first 16
rows:may be the first, or blue compartment; the second 16 rows the second, or

page_text: white compartment; and the third 16. rows the third or red compartment; or if
there are 12 holes in each row, the first 4 holes of each row may belong to the
blue compartment, the second 4 holes of each row to the white compartment,
and the third 4 holes of each row to the red compartment; or if the harness
is tied in a common hole bored with: 12 holes in each row, and a jacquard
machine is used with cards which have also 12 holes in each row, the harness
may be tied just in the same way as a common full harness for single cloth,
and the card cutter will then require to be instructed to cut the 1st, 4th, 7th,
and 10th holes of each row, as the blue compartment; the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and
11th holes of each row as the white compartment; and the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and
12th holes of each row as the red compartment.
The design is drawn with opaque colours on transparent ruled paper, which
may be prepared in a manner similar to the tracing papers commonly used by
designers, and which paper must have as many perpendicular lines as there
are: warp threads in one ply, and as many horizontal lines. as there are ground
weft shots in one ply of the cloth on one repeat of the pattern. Two patterns
are to be drawn, one on each side of the design, so as to make it represent the
two sides of the cloth, the one pattern representing the under side and the
other the upper side, and in drawing the second pattern the designer is to
avoid inserting either the ground or spotting colour of any particular ply in
the same part of the design in which either the ground or spotting colour
of the same ply has been already inserted in drawing the first pattern.
In drawing this second pattern the designer will be guided as to what
colours he must avoid in each particular part of the design, by seeing the
colours of the first pattern shining through the transparent paper on which the
design is drawn.
The card cutter is to prepare a set of cards containing a separate card for
every shot of weft in a repeat of the design, each card being cut on three or
more compartments, according to the, number of plies that are to be in the
cloth. The compartment of each card which operates upon the warp of the
same ply as the weft of that card, as for instance, the 1st, or blue warp com-
partment of the blue weft card, is the twilling compartment, by the operation'
of which the warp and weft of that particular ply are to be woven into plain
or twilled cloth accordingly as holes are cut in that compartment of the card.
The other compartments of each card which operate on the warps of the
remaining plies are figuring compartments, for arranging the positions of the
various plies above or below each other, so as to produce on the two sides of
the cloth the two patterns represented on the design.
The figuring compartments are to be cut in two successive. processes. of
T

page_text: cutting, in the first of which the weft colour is to be read on each compart-
ment from the under side pattern, and in the second process of cutting the
warp, colour is to be read on each compartment from the upper side pattern
represented on the design. In cutting the twilling compartments, provided
the fabric is to consist simply of three plies of plain cloth without any spotting,
the cutter may cut twilling holes in regular succession throughout the twilling
compartment of each card, just as he would do in cutting cards for weaving
plain single cloth; but if different twills are to be introduced, then the twilling
compartments must be cut from additional designs or tweeling sheets, one for
each ply, which may be drawn on transparent or tracing paper of the same
size and ruled to the same scale as the design herein-before described, and
each tweeling sheet is to be prepared by tracing from the upper and under
sides of the said design the colour which belongs to the particular ply repre-
sented by the tweeling sheet, and inserting appropriate tweeling on the several
parts which are marked off by the said tracing, accordingly as these parts
represent the portions of the design where that particular ply is to appear on
the upper or under side, or to be hidden in the centre between the other plies.
Thus, in preparing the tweeling sheet for the white ply, the designer is to
trace on the right side of the tweeling sheet (that is, the side which is to be
read by the cutter,) all the white of the under side pattern with red (or other
convenient colour), and to insert the tweeling catchers on the red with white;
then he is to trace on the back of the tweeling sheet all the white of the
upper side pattern with white, and then on the right side of the tweeling sheet
opposite those portions so traced with white he is to insert the tweeling
catchers with red; lastly, on the parts of the tweeling sheet which still remain
transparent, and which represent those portions where the white ply will be
hidden between the other plies, he is to insert tweeling catchers with red.
The cutter is now to be instructed to read all the red of this tweeling sheet in
cutting the white or tweeling compartment of the white cards. The tweeling
sheets of all the plies may be traced and tweeled with red and white (or other
convenient colours) in the same way, the cutter reading the red colour of
each tweeling sheet on the tweeling compartment of cards of the ply to which
it belongs.
.
The design and tweeling sheets being so' prepared, the cutter is to proceed
with the two successive processes of cutting, on the principle herein-before
described; thus, for example, if the fabric is to consist of three plies, blue,
white, and red, the two successive cuttings will be proceeded with as
*follows:-

page_text: In the first process of cutting, the card cutter may lay the cards of the
three plies in three separate piles as they are cut, beginning with the first and
ending with the last card of each, and then in proceeding to the second cutting
he ought to turn over the design, not from left to right but upside down, so
as to commence to read each line of the design from the same margin as
formerly. The design being placed upside down, he will naturally read the
last horizontal line first, and in cutting from this line he should lift a card
from the top of each of the three piles, and putting the white and red cards
together into the cutting machine, he should cut on the first, or blue warp
compartment of these two cards, all the blue, then putting in the blue and red
cards together he should cut on the second on white warp compartment all
the white; and, lastly, putting in the blue and white cards together he should
cut on the third or red warp compartment all the red. In this manner he is
to proceed with each successive line of the upper side pattern, so as to end
with the first line of the design, and to cut it on the three cards which are at
the bottom of the three piles. The cards may then be laced up according to
their respective numbers, lacing in a blue a white and a red weft card in
regular succession throughout the whole chain of cards.
If there is to be a cover of spotting weft in addition to the ground weft in
any of the plies, as for instance, if the white ply is to have white for the
ground and yellow for the spotting weft, then the following modification (in
following out which the colours mentioned or other convenient colours may

page_text: be used) will be necessary in the designing and cutting of the tweeling sheet
for that particular ply.
The designer is first to trace from the under side pattern all the ground.
colour, that is to say, all the white with red, and all the spotting colour, that
is to say, all the yellow with green, and to insert tweeling catchers on both the
green and red with white; then he is to trace from the upper side pattern
all the white with blue and all the yellow with pink on the back of the
tweeling sheet, and then on the right side, opposite those portions so traced
with blue and pink, he is to insert tweeling catchers with black, and then to
cover up all the blue which still shines through with green, and all the pink
which still shines through with red, so as that no pink or blue shall remain
visible on the right side of the tweeling sheet. He is then to insert the centre
ply tweeling with black on all those portions where the tweeling sheet still
remains transparent.
The cutter is now to be instructed to cut all the black and red of this.
tweeling sheet on the second or tweeling compartment of the white cards, and
all the black and green on the second or tweeling compartment of the
yellow cards; and, further, he is to be instructed that in cutting the figuring
compartments of the white and yellow cards from the under side pattern he
is to read both the white and yellow as one colour on both cards, and in the
same manner, when cutting from the upper side pattern, he is to read the
white and yellow as one colour in cutting the second or white compartment of
the blue and red cards.
If the fabric is to consist of four plies, a further modification will be
requisite in preparing tweeling sheets. In this modification the four tweeling
sheets, one for the tweeling compartment of each card, which for reference
may here be numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4, are to be prepared as herein-before
described. But before inserting the centre ply tweeling with the red or black,
as herein-before described, the designer is to prepare, by tracing or copying
from them, other 6 sheets of the same size, which may be numbered 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, and 10.
The designer is to place Nos. 1 and 2 together as in tracing, in order to
observe what parts appear transparent through both sheets, as these are the
parts where the first and second ply will both go into the centre of the cloth
together, and he is to copy or trace these transparent parts with white or
other convenient colour on No. 5. Then, in the same way, putting Nos. I
and 3 together, he is to trace or copy the parts which appear transparent
through both sheets on No. 6; next, he is to prepare No. 7 by putting

page_text: Nos. 1 and 4 together;. No. 8, by putting Nos. 2 and 3 together; No. 9,. by
putting Nos. 2 and 4 together, and No. 10, by putting Nos. 3 and 4 together,;
and tracing or copying out the transparent parts in the same manner. He is
then to insert the centre ply tweeling with red or black, as herein-before
described,. on..all the transparent portions of the first 4 sheets, and likewise
on all the white portions of the last 6 sheets, and must be careful to see that
the tweeling coincides on all the. 10 sheets, that is to say, that wherever red
or black is inserted for centre ply tweeling on any one sheet, the other, sheets
which have centre ply at the same spots or portions must have red or black
inserted on the very same cords or lines; and it is to be observed, that when.
there are so many, plies working together the tweeling for. the centre plies
must be of a kind that will present very little resistance to the weft shots:
The 10 tweeling sheets being so prépared, the card cutter. is to be instructed
to cut from them on all the four compartments of each card, as follows:-
The effect of this cutting will be, that wherever any two 'plies go together
into the centre of the fabric the warps of both these plies will always rise
together over or sink together under the weft shots of both plies, and thus
weave the two warps and their respective wefts together, as it were, into one
ply of double thickness. The figuring compartments of the cards will be cut
in the same manner as for the three-ply fabrics already described, that is to
say, the weft colour of the under side pattern and the warp colour of the
upper side pattern will be cut on all the figuring compartments of the various
cards; and wherever spotting weft is introduced in any of the plies, the
ground and spotting colours will be read as one colour both in reading from
the under and upper side patterns of the. design. In weaving patterns of
large extent on this system, it may be advisable to construct the jacquard
machine with a separate cylinder or barrel for each compartment, so as that
each compartment will be simultaneously operated upon by a separate card,
having space for as many holes as there are perpendicular lines on the 'design.

page_text: Thus, if the fabric consists of three plies, blue, white, and red, there will be
three barrels and three chains of cards, and the cards will be arranged as
follows:-
In this arrangement the cutter will cut the tweeling cards of each chain-by
themselves, reading from the tweeling sheets herein-before described, and the
two successive processes of cutting herein-before described will only be
required for the figuring cards, and he can put the cards into the cutting
machine in pairs in the first as well as the second cutting. Thus, in the first
cutting he can cut both. together the blue cards of the second and third
chain, the white cards of the first and third chain, and the red cards of the
first and second chain; and in the second cutting he can cut both together
the white and red cards of the first chain, the blue and red cards of the
second chain, and the blue and white cards of the third chain, and thus
greatly facilitate the-process of cutting.
In working with a machine so arranged it will be unnecessary to cut
figuring cards for spotting weft in addition to the figuring cards for the ground
weft, as by any suitable arrangement (as for instance by mounting three small
treadles or levers to operate upon the snecks of the barrels) the two barrels
which carry the figuring cards can be prevented from turning whenever the
machine is worked or treaded for a ground shot which is to be followed by a
spotting shot. By this means the barrel which carries the tweeling cards will
bring up the spotting card after the ground card, whilst the other two
barrels will present the same figuring cards twice to the needles, the first
time being for the ground shot and the second time for the spotting shot.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict.
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to

page_text: describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the system or mode of preparing or arranging designs for producing
ornamental fabrics of three or four plies of cloth with different patterns on
the two sides or faces thereof, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of preparing or cutting figuring cards or com-
partments of cards or other pattern-producing apparatus, for the purpose of
interweaving three or four plies of cloth so as to produce different patterns
on the two sides thereof, as herein-before described, by reading always the
weft colour from the under side pattern and the warp colour from the upper
side pattern or design.
Third, the manufacturing or weaving of ornamental fabrics of three or
more plies having different patterns on both sides, by working with tweeling
cards or compartments of cards; along or in conjunction with figuring cards or
compartments of cards, or other pattern-producing apparatus, prepared on the
system herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Merrylees, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.
JAMES MERKYLEES. (L.S.)