IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRICS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Smith, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 30th September 1858, and dated the 5th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Smith at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th April
1858.
I, JOHN SMITH, of. Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRICS," to be as follows:-
I produce a velvet or pile fabric with a cotton back and silk plush face
without using two yarn beams or introducing wires to enable the operator to
cut open the plush or pile of the cloth. I use cotton warp with cotton and
silk weft, and I only require a two-shuttle power loom to weave it. By this
improved plan I can produce the fabric either with a plain or twilled back,
the pile or plush being made of silk and cotton mixed, or silk alone.
The manner in which my said Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by reference to the accompanying Designs or Diagrams, in which
the black lines denote the number of, cotton weft picks, and the dotted lines
the silk weft, except the black lines at right angles to the said weft picks,
which denote the warp threads.

page_text: Design A is woven with two picks of cotton weft and six picks of silk weft
alternately; or twelve picks of silk weft and two picks of cotton weft may be
woven alternately in like manner.
Designs B, C, and D, are variations of the same principle, merely varying
the number and relative arrangement of silk and cotton weft threads, which it
is evident may be varied to an indefinite extent, and any variation in the
length of the plush or pile may be made, as required.
A pile fabric manufactured by this mixture of materials, that is, with a silk
plush and inferior back, will be produced at less expense, will be a better cloth,
and have a more even pile or plush than if all the weft was silk, because it is
well known to practical men that spun silk cannot be drawn even in grist, and
therefore not very suitable for back picks because the lumpy or thick places in
the weft would cause the pile to separate and make the face appear cracked
and irregular, whereas good cotton can be drawn very even into suitable weft
for backing silk velvet or plush.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SMITH, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Smith Her special licence that I, the said John Smith,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Smith, 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 Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Smith, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :-
I produce a velvet or pile or plush fabric with a cotton back and silk or
pile plush face without using two yarn beams or introducing wires to enable
the operative to cut open the plush or pile of the cloth. I use cotton warp
with cotton, and silk weft, and I only require a two-shuttle power loom to
weave it. By this improved plan I can produce the fabric either with a plain
or twilled back, the pile or plush being made of silk and cotton mixed, or silk
alone.
I have only named here silk and cotton because these materials differ most
in price, but it is evident that I can use any fibrous material either alone or
several kinds mixed together.
My Invention consists of a peculiar method of designing adapted for the
weaving of two back or foundation picks one next to the other; thus I am
enabled to weave a back or foundation of any sort of weft and a pile of another
sort of weft, by employing a loom with one rising shuttle box, thereby
rendering the operation very easy, simple, and straightforward, and making a
much cheaper and better pile cloth than has hitherto been accomplished, and
also preventing the necessity of using two rising shuttle boxes, one at each
end of the lathe, or weaving with two shuttles at the same time, which plans
have been found to be very complicated and expensive.
The manner in which my said Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Designs or Diagrams,
In all the
representing examples of my improved methods of designing.
Diagrams the vertical lines denote the warp threads, the horizontal full lines
the cotton or other weft picks forming the foundation, and the horizontal
dotted lines the silk or other weft picks forming the plush or pile.
Design No. 1 is woven with two picks of cotton or other foundation weft,
and six picks of silk or other pile weft alternately. The Desigus 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24, aro
variations of the same principle, merely varying the number and relative
arrangement of silk and cotton or other material of which the weft threads are
composed, which it is evident may be varied to an indefinite extent, and any
variation in the length of the plush or pile may be made as required.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise designs or "tie ups" shewn
in the accompanying Diagrams, nor to the use of cotton and silk either alone
or in combination, as I can make the pile and backing from any fibrous
substance, provided the pile weft is thicker in the grist than is used for the
foundation picks; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my
knowledge and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the weaving
of two back or foundation picks next to each other in all pile goods when the
weft constitutes the pile, by means of one rising shuttle box only, and thereby
avoid the use of two rising shuttle boxes or the weaving with two shuttles
at one and the same time, as such improvements are herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Designs or Diagrams.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Smith, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Second day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named John Smith, in the
presence of
JOHN BLOODWORTH, Patent Agent,
JOHN SMITH. (L.S.)
Manchester.