IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILED FABRICS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Nineteenth day of March, in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILED
FABRICS," being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in
Her 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 the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
These improvements in the manufacture of piled fabrics as communicated to
me by my foreign Correspondent, apply to the weaving of all kinds of fabrics
in which the surface is formed by looping the warps over wires, which are
then withdrawn, such as Brussels and tapestry carpets, and also to all kinds of
fabrics in which the surface is formed by cutting such loops after they have
been woven in, such as velvet, velvet tapestry, carpets, and all other fabrics
known under the general appellation of velvets.
The first part of this Invention, which relates to the forming of the piled or
looped surface, consists in certain improved arrangements of parts for in-
serting the figuring wire (or wires) into the open shed of the warps, and
withdrawing it (or them) from under the pile or figuring loops. To one end
of the wire a carrier is attached, which receives a reciprocating motion from
and towards the selvage, in order to withdraw or insert the figuring or looping
wire, and also a motion towards and from the lathe of the loom to carry the
figuring wire from the woven part to the open shed of the warps, preparatory to
the insertion thereof, and then a back motion to carry the wire up to and
against the woven part of the fabric.
The second part of the Invention consists in combining with the wiro
carrier a guide or support through which the figuring wire passes, and in
which it slides when the said guide or support is operated to move in unison
with the wire carrier towards and from the lay.
The third part of the Invention consists in forming the pile or loops on two
wires introduced from opposite sides of the fabrics, and which wires lap in the
middle of the fabric, the ends being chamfered for that purpose, whereby
the inconvenience arising from the use of long wires in weaving wide fabrics is
avoided.
The fourth part of the Invention consists in so arranging the shuttle and
harness motions as to admit one pick in the formation of every range of loops
that the lay may make one beat (without throwing the shuttle or working the
harness) to beat up the wire before the insertion of the filling or weft.
The last part of the Invention, which relates to the making of tapestry,
velvet, carpets, and other fabrics having the surface formed with a cut pile,
and known under the general appellation of velvets, consists in providing. the

page_text: end of the figuring wire. (or wires) on which the pile is formed with a sharp
cutting edge, so that in withdrawing the wire (or wires) after the formation of
the loops, the loops shall be severed to form the velvot surface.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the accompanying Drawings one arrangement of
mechanism for actuating the wires is shewn. a represents the main framing;
b, the lay; c, the harness; and d, the breast beam, all constructed in the
usual manner. The lay is operated in the usual manner by cranks on the
lay shaft e, which has a pinion f on one end, that engages the cogs of a
wheel g on a shaft h below, which carries all the cams for operating the
figuring wires, and for giving the shuttle motions, and the relative speed of
these two shafts is three motions of the lay shaft to one of the other. The
weaving of the cloth and forming of the loops do not differ from the usual
mode of making this kind of fabrics, and therefore the following description
will be limited to the description of the parts which more particularly refer to
the present Invention. On the shaft h, which is denominated the wire cam
shaft, there is a compound cam i, j, Fig. 3, embraced by the forked end of
a lever k, which has its fulcrum at 7, in an appropriate standard m. The two
prongs of the forked end of the lever have each a roller n, each of which
bears on its appropriate part of the cam. The roller on the upper arm bears'
on the periphery of the part i of the cam, and the other on the other periphery
of the part of the cam. About two thirds of the periphery of this two-part
cam is concentric, to keep the lever in a fixed position during the time of
working the harness, throwing the shuttle, and beating up the cloth, and
the other third is so formed as to depress and raise the lever to give the
required motions to the figuring wires. The cam is made in two parts,
acting on the two arms of the forked end of the lever, to give the down and up
motions of the lever, that these may be positive and accurate, although a
single cam may be substituted with a weight or spring of sufficient force to
carry back the lever, but the two-part cam is deemed the best. The forward
end of this lever is connected by means of two joint links o, o, Fig. 2, with
the short arm of two levers p, p, one on each side, that turn on fulcrum pins
9, 9..and the upper arm of these levers are each, in turn connected by joint
links r, r, with a slide s, one on each side: These slides work horizontally
between ways t, t, attached to the breast beam, so that at each rotation of the
compound cam the two slides are moved out and in, from and towards the
selvage of the cloth u. In the upper surface of the slides s, s, are grooves
cut at right angles to their line of motion, and to these grooves are fitted
two carriers v, v, which slide freely but accurately within the grooves, and
these carriers are of such length as to project beyond the slides s, s, and to

page_text: the inner end of each is secured a figuring wire w, of such length that when
the two slides are drawn in towards the selvage of the cloth, the ends of the
two wires shall pass by each other and overlap, their ends being chamfered
or bevelled off (see Fig. 9) where they lap so that when brought together they
shall be of the same thickness throughout the whole breadth of the cloth, and
thus present a uniform and equal diameter from end to end. Each wire
passes and slides freely but accurately through a hole in a guide or support
, Fig. 1 (one on each side of the cloth) which is fitted to and slides in
a block y, in manner similar to the carriers. The carriers and guides are
arranged in pairs, one guide and one carrier to each side of the loom, and as
each pair of guides after the carrier has withdrawn the figuring wire from under
the woven pile is to carry back towards the lay, that it may be introduced
into the open shed, and then move back to carry the wire up against the
woven part of the cloth, it follows that each pair must have the same back
and forth motions, and that whilst these motions are given, the carrier must be
free to receive the lateral motions for withdrawing and inserting the wire.
These things are effected by two bars a³, a¹, one on each side, which have
each a long slot, which receive pins 6, 61, from the upper surface of the guides
and carriers, the slot being such that the pin of the carriers can slide therein
freely, and yet receive from the bars the required back and forth motions.
Each bar is jointed by means of two joint links c', c', with two arms d³, ď, of
a rock shaft e', which extends entirely across the front of the breast beam,
the said rock shaft being in turn connected with another rock shaft f¹ (see
Fig. 3), by means of a joint link g¹. On the said rock shaft f there is an arm
h', jointed to a sliding. bar it, which bar, at its other end, carries a roller j³,
which is acted upon by a cam groove k³, in the face of a wheel on the wire
cam shaft h. The cam groove is concentric for about eight-ninths of the
circumference, to keep all this part of the machinery in a fixed position, and
for the remaining one ninth part of the circumference, it runs out and back
to the concentric part to give the required working motion. The form of this
cam groove, and the sliding bar and roller, are represented by red lines in Fig. 3
of the Drawings; and the position of this cam groove relatively to the position of
the compound cam, and the position of the latter relatively to the other parts
of the loom, should be such that after the weft threads have been beaten up, and
as the lay is receiving and the harness is opening the shed of the warps, the
compound cam begins to depress the forked end of the lever k to force out the
carriers to withdraw the two figuring wires from under the pile or figuring
loops, and so soon as these are drawn out clear of the selvage, then the cam
groove begins to operate the rock shaft to carry the two guides and carriers

page_text: with the wires towards the lay that is towards the open shed of the warps, and
when these have been carried back then the compound cam begins to elevate
the forked end of the lever k, to forco the carriers towards the selvage and
introduce the figuring wires into the open shed. The cam groove towards the
end of this operation gives the back working motion to the rock shaft, to
carry the guides and carriers back, to draw the wires up against the woven
part of the cloth. The lay then beats up to force the figuring wires fairly
up against the woven cloth, and as it recedes the warps are shifted by the
harness, and two picks are made to weave in and tie the range of loops
formed over the wires, and then the wires are again withdrawn, and all the
operations repeated. The picker treadles *,, are operated by picker tappets
m', m' (shewn by dots at Fig. 3), which pickers are mounted on the wire cam
shaft h, at an angle of one hundred and twenty degrees with each other, so that
during three beats of the lay there shall be but two throws of the shuttle. To
make this more clear, it may be stated that the first beat of the lay after
the figuring wires have been inserted is simply to beat up the wires, there is
therefore no throw of the shuttle for this beat, but for each of the other two
beats there is a throw of the shuttle. The same intermission also occurs in
the working of the harness as in the throws of the shuttle and for the same
purpose. The harness treadles o' (see Fig. 3) are operated by tappets
n, n', n, n, on the shaft p', below the wire cam shaft h, and receiving
motion from it by a pinion and cog wheel q' and r³, so proportioned that the
former shall make two revolutions to one of the latter, so that the shaft which
carries the tappets for working the harness treadle makes one revolution to
six beats of the lay. The treadles and the tappets are divided into two sets,
one set for the foundation warps, and the other for the figuring warps; and as
these must alternate, as is well known to those who are acquainted with the
weaving of this kind of fabric, the two sets of tappets are together represented
as dividing the circle into six parts, that is, one half of the circle for each set,
and three divisions for each half circle, so that the tappets are arranged on
each of these divisions; but as there must be one intermission for that beat
of the lay which beats up the figuring wires, no tappet is put into one of the
divisions in each of the two sets, so that there are but two tappets for each
set, the omission being made to correspond with that beat of the lay which
beats up the wires. Instead of the wires being worked simultaneously, they
may, if thought desirable, be worked alternately, in which case each wire
must be of sufficient length to extend entirely across the width of the
cloth and when so modified one wire remains in the figuring loops, whilst
the other is being employed to form the succeeding range of loops. An

page_text: arrangement of apparatus for giving an alternating motion to the wires, is
shewn at Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the accompanying Drawings. In these
Figures the compound cam shaft h for operating the forked lever k, as also
that lever, are the same as in the preceding arrangement; but instead of
connecting this lever by joint links with the two levers p that move the
slides of the carriers, it is jointed to a vertical bar q', which is alternately
connected with the levers p, p, to operate them alternately. This part is
represented fully in the separate Figure 10. Towards its lower end the bar q¹
has an enlarged hollow boss r¹, to which is fitted a sliding coupling tube s¹,
which may be termed a shifting coupling, provided with a pin t¹ that passes out
through a slot in the boss, and this pin is jointed to a lever u², which is
jointed at its upper end to the bar g', near the upper end of the batten, so
that when this lever is moved either to the right or the left, the coupling
tubes is made to protrude either to the one or the other side of the
bar q'. The short arm of cach of the two levers p, p, is jointed by
links with a slide that works on a vertical rod, and from each of these
slides projects a cylindrical pin v¹. The position of these two pins are such
that when the tube coupling s is shifted to one side it fits on to the pin of
one of these slides, and when shifted to the other side on to the pin of the other
slide. Hence it follows, that for the purpose of operating the two figuring
wires alternately, the coupling tube must be alternately shifted from one side
to the other, which movement is effected in the following manner :-As the
bar descends, the lower end of the lever u' that operates the coupling tube
enters a hole in a sliding plate w¹, jointed to an arm a¹ of a rock shaft y',
provided at the other end with another arm z, having a pin embraced by a
cam groove a³ on a cylinder b², on one end of a shaft c², receiving motion from
the wire cam shaft h, by means of the gearing a*, *, c*, d*, Figures 4, 6,
and 7, the pinion and cog wheel c and d being so proportioned that the
shaft makes one revolution to two of the wire cam shaft. The form of the
cam groove is shewn as laid out flat at Fig. 7*, from which it will be seen
that from the point 1 to 2 it runs in a direction parallel to the side of the
can to keep the rock shaft stationary, then it runs from 2 to 3 in a diagonal
direction to rock the shaft, and cause it to shift the coupling tube from one
lever to the other; then from 3 to 4 it again runs in a direction parallel to
the side of the cam to keep the rock shaft in the new position during the
time that one of the figuring wires is operated, and then from the point 4 to 1,
the place of beginning, it runs in the reverse diagonal direction to shift the
coupling tube to the other lever to operate the other figuring wire. In this
way the motions are alternated, one wire remaining under one range of loops,.

page_text: whilst the other is being operated for the formation of a new range of loops;
but as the carriers on each side are operated alternately, the same rock shaft e¹.
cannot be used for operating both sets of guides and carriers, and to this
end there are two such rock shafts, one at each end, and both operated by the
same cam groove k³ as in the first example, but placed on the same shaft as
the cam just above described, but this cam groove operates' two levers d³
and e, one on each side (see Fig. 6), the one
communicating motion to
one of the rock shafts e, by joint links f and g³, and an intermediate rock
shaft h, Fig. 5, and the other to the other rock shaft e¹ by two other joint links
and and an intermediate rock shaft; and as the two levers d² and e
which receive motion from the cam groove to operate the carriers and guides
are on opposite sides of the axis of the cam groove, it follows that the motions
must alternate. The cam groove is the same in form and purpose as in
the example given in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The end of each figuring wire w
is flattened and formed with a sharp cutting edge on the upper surface, and
shown in Fig. 8, so that when the wire is withdrawn the cutting edge severs
the range of loops to form the cut pile.
It will be obvious from the foregoing that some parts of the above-described
Invention may be employed without the other; as, for instance, the cutting
edge on the ends of the figuring wires are only to be used in the weaving of
such fabrics as have the pile or surface formed with the cut loops. The third
part of the Invention may be dispensed with by making the figuring wires of
sufficient length to extend each entirely across the fabric, in which case only
one wire need be used, but when the two are used then their motions must
alternate as above described.
Having now described the nature of the Invention as communicated to me
by my foreign Correspondent, I wish it to be understood that I do not mean or
intend to claim the application to looms wherein piled fabrics are woven of
wires (for raising the pile) attached to carriers, and receiving therefrom the
necessary movements for entering the shed and being withdrawn from the
woven fabric at the completion of a row of loops; but what I desire to claim
under the above in part recited Letters Patent is,
First, the arrangements of machinery above described, with reference to
the Drawings for inserting the wire (or wires) into the open shed for carrying
it (or them) from the open shed back against the woven part of the fabric,
and withdrawing the same from under the formed pile or row of loops,
and bringing it into position ready to be again inserted as before.
I also claim, combining with each wire carrier a guide or support through

page_text: which the wire passes when the said guide receives a motion from and towards
the lay in unison with the carrier, as described.
I also claim the application to looms for weaving piled fabrics of a pair of
wires introduced from opposite sides of the loom, and overlapping or abutting
against each other near the middle of the fabric, for the purpose of forming in
effect one continuous wire.
I also claim the method substantially as described of beating up the wire
(or wires) by the lay, by so arranging the motions of the shuttle and harness
that the lay may make one beat, without a throw of the shuttle or the
working of the harness as described.
And finally, I claim providing wires with a cutting edge for severing the
loops as the wires are withdrawn from under the pile.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.