A NEW OR IMPROVED TREATMENT OF WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th August 1874.-A communication from abroad by Vignet,
Frères, of Lyons, France.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lanc, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED TREATMENT OF WOVEN FABRICS,"
to be as follows :-
If one of the warp threads of a perfectly smooth woven fabric be
partly drawn out from the stuff the latter will be puckered up or
gathered in folds or plaits by the shortening of the said warp thread,
this puckering or gathering being more or less according to the kind of
fabric, the extent to which the thread is shortened, and the way in which
it is interwoven with the other parts.
The novel effects resulting from this Invention, and the combination
of the various means employed to produce those effects, are founded
upon the result above mentioned, that is to say, the gathering of the
fabric is effected the drawing of certain of its parts, but they differ in

page_text: the means of forming and rendering permanent the gathers or puckers,
inasmuch as instead of drawing a single thread the result may be
obtained by drawing a line of the stuff or by cords or bands not forming
part of the fabric itself, and independent of its manufacture. Moreover
these threads, cords, or bands need not run in a rectilinear direction, but
may be curvilinear or otherwise, whereby the fabric may be gathered in
various directions and according to any suitable design. This means is
not necessary to the preservation of the gathers formed, these being
rendered permanent by steaming, the fabric having been previously been
specially prepared or not, as the case may be.
The combination and employment of these different means, and the
fixation of the gathers or puckers by steaming at a high temperature
constitute a new and improved treatment of woven fabrics, producing a
particular effect which may be varied in an infinity of ways, and which
is characterized by the contrast of the puckered parts and the puffed
parts of the fabric, this being heightened by the elasticity of the design,
which may be completely effaced by stretching the fabric out, and will
immediately be reformed on relaxing the tension on the fabric.
All fabrics, plain or figured, and especially silk and woollen goods,
are capable of producing the same effects by similar or analogous treat-
ment, and of being rendered elastic, that is to say, extensible and con- .
tractible according to the form given to them by the puckers or gathers,
and may be used for various purposes.
The means employed for forming the gathers consist of,-
Threads drawn which are introduced in the process of weaving the
fabric.
Threads drawn which are afterwards introduced into the fabric by
stitching or otherwise.
Cords, strings, or bands introduced in flutings or pipings formed in
the fabric by stitching or otherwise.
Threads, cords, strings, or bands introduced in flutings or pipings
formed by the application of separate strips of fabric.
Threads, cords, strings, or bands applied in the manner described in or
upon a fabric other than that to be gathered, the latter being applied
thereto in such a way that it is caused to partake in the gathering

page_text: movement, being afterwards steamed in order to render the effect
permanent.
The employment of gathering threads, cords, or bands, whether inde-
pendent or otherwise, running in any direction, or combined to produce
either lines of fulling or otherwise in any design whatever.
By grouping threads, cords, or bands in series in such manner that
any one may be united to another of the series, either above or
below to produce large puffs composed of several partial or smaller
puffs.
The direction in which the gathering 'cords or bands run may be
varied and combined according to the effect to be produced.
The gathers and puffs thus produced are retained by simply steaming
the fabric without any other assistance, while the said fabric, whatever
may be its nature and the material of which it is composed, will perma-
nently retain those elastic properties which constitute one of the chief
features of this Invention.