AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF CARPET
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF CARPET."-A communication.
Sealed the 16th June 1854, and dated the 31st March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st March 1854.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF CARPET" to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to replace (in part) the wool or worsted used
in the manufacture of two ply carpets by the use of linen, whereby a stronger
tie will be effected, as well as a great saving in the cost of materials; or
cotton may be used in lieu of linen. The fabric may be woven upon any
plain loom that will ingrain, the warp for the lower cloth, as well as its filling,
being composed entirely of linen. The upper ply is entirely of wool, as is
usual in two ply carpets, and is thoroughly ingrained down into the linen ply,
which thus holds the upper cloth in place, and strengthens and stiffens it in a
manner far superior to what can be effected by a soft woollen cloth, while it
will offer much greater obstruction to the passage of the dust. For the
purpose of still further strengthening this fabric, and also of rendering it more

page_text: impervious to the dust, it is proposed, under certain circumstances, to size the
cloth in any appropriate manner after the carpet is woven. The linen may be
wholly or in part replaced by cotton, if thought desirable.
The carpet produced by the above described plan will be much better
adapted to the purpose of printing than one in which the lower ply is also of 5
wool, as the linen, being hard and unyielding, renders the upper or woollen
surface much more firm and inelastic, qualities which particularly adapt it to
the reception of a perfect impression.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
30th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
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 In-
vention for "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF CARPET," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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):-

page_text: Two ply and three ply carpets may be characterized as double and treble
cloths or carpets, which are united together at intervals by the interweaving
of the warp threads of the different plys or cloths with each other, so that the
latter are firmly united together, and mutually aid in stiffining and strength-
ening each other. On this account a carpet of two plys is much more durable
than one of a single ply, as the strains to which it is subjected are divided
between the two cloths, while in the single ply they are all borne by
the one.
These considerations render it necessary that all the carpets woven entirely
of woollen yarn or of worsted should have a foundation or back of some sort,.
independent of the face of the carpet.
In the two ply ingrain carpet this back is furnished by the under ply, and
where this carpet is woven of colored yarns, each cloth or ply becomes a
separate carpet, and either may be placed uppermost and subjected to wear ;
but in cases where the pattern is printed on a two ply carpet, the lower cloth,
when the carpet is printed upon but one side, serves the purpose only of
strengthening and stiffening the fabric, of assisting to prevent the passage of
dust, and of diminishing the destructive effect of the latter where the fabric
lies immediately upon the floor. A large proportion of valuable stock thus lies
dead, as it were, beneath the actual visible carpet, which never comes to view.
Now, it has been discovered that the wool in this lower ply may be entirely
replaced by linen, which serves to strengthen and stiffen the woollen or upper
ply in a far better manner than is accomplished by wool, whilst the cost of the
carpet is materially reduced, and thus the market may be furnished with a two
ply printed carpet at a price far less than the cost at which such fabrics have.
heretofore been produced.
To enable others skilled in the art of carpet weaving to make use of this
Invention, which has been communicated to me from abroad, I will proceed to
describe the manner of carrying the same into use. The fabric may be woven
upon any plain loom that will ingrain, the warp for the lower cloth, as its
filling, being composed entirely of linen. The upper ply is entirely of wool, as
is usual in two ply carpets, and is thoroughly ingrained down into the linen
ply, which thus holds the upper cloth in place, and strengthens and stiffens it
in a manner far superior to what can be effected by a soft woollen cloth, while
it will offer much greater obstruction to the passage of the dust. These
qualities must render this carpet far more durable and unyielding than one in
which both the plys are of wool.
For the purpose of still further strengthening this fabric, and also of ren-
dering it more impervious to the dust, the Inventor contemplates, under

page_text: certain circumstances, sizing the cloth in any appropriate manner after the
carpet is woven. In the above description it has been stated that the lower
cloth is composed entirely of linen; this is preferred, as it will furnish a
harder, more unyielding cloth than any other material; but without departing
from the principle and object of the Invention, the linen may be wholly or in
part replaced by cotton.
The carpet which this Invention is calculated to produce is much better
adapted to the purpose of printing than one in which the lower ply is also of
wool, as the linen, being hard and unyielding, renders the upper or woollen
surface much more firm and inelastic, qualities which particularly adapt it
to the reception of a perfect impression. And furthermore, when the carpet is
all of wool, the colors, as they are applied, having passed through the first ply,
are absorbed by the lower one, and thus the intensity of the figure upon the
surface is diminished. With one woollen and one linen ply, the coloring
matter, not being absorbed by the linen, is entirely deposited in the woollen
ply, and a much deeper impression is thereby obtained.
Having now described the Invention of an improved manufacture of carpet,
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be under-
stood, that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the
manufacture of a two ply ingrain carpet, having the lower ply composed
entirely of linen or cotton, or partly of linen and partly of cotton, and the
upper ply of wool, for the purpose of producing a durable and economical
carpet, to be subsequently printed upon one side thereof, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)