CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS THE MANUFACTURE OF HOSIERY, SHAWLS, CARPETS, RUGS, BLANKETS, AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANGUS ROBERTSON, of Peterborough Court, Fleet Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria the First, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight, and in the first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Angus Robertson,
Her especial licence, that I, the said William Angus Robertson, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Angus Robert-
son, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention, com-
municated to me by a Foreigner residing abroad, of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
THE MANUFACTURE OF HOSIERY, SHAWLS, CARPETS, RUGS, BLANKETS, AND
OTHER FABRICS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said William Angus Robertson, 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 enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of

page_text: Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Angus Robertson, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
described and ascertained as follows (that is to say):-
One of the improvements consists in employing in the manufacture of
hosiery, shawls, blankets, rugs, and carpets, and in the manufacture of long
continuous tissues or fabrics called or known as cloths, stuffs, velvets, and
plushes, or by whatever other name known, a thread or yarn composed
wholly of the fur of the hare, rabbit, beaver, musk rat, nutria, otter, or
racoon, or composed partly of such fur and partly of wool, or partly of such
fur and partly of silk, or partly of such fur and partly of cotton; and the
manner of performing the said improvement is as follows:-If it be intended
to use a thread of fur alone, the fur to be used should be freed from the kemps
or hair by any of the present fur-blowing machines, but I consider that it
will be best effected by passing the same through a blowing machine known
partially to hat manufacturers, and which is constructed according to the
following description, that is to say,-
Figure 1 of the Drawings No. 1 is a longitudinal section of the blowing
machine last referred to. It consists of a cased frame divided into three or
more compartments, separated by the divisions I, I, each containing a cylin-
drical blower or picker marked D, which is from fifty to seventy inches in
length, and studded with small spikes or wires about five eighths of an inch in
length each, and placed about half an inch apart from each other. The entire
frame revolves on an axle at the extremity of which is fixed a small pulley P
for the purpose of receiving motion from the moving or driving pulley L.
A and B are two rollers (a pair being required for each division) which must
be made of the same length as the cylindrical blower or picker. These
rollers carry an endless feed apron, made of cloth, leather, or other suitable
substance, which receives motion from the belt connecting a small pulley
on the driving shaft of L with a larger pulley on the axle of A, at the
contrary side to that presented to view in Figure 1. C, C, are two feeding
or delivering rollers of the same length as the rollers A and B. M is a
wire grating or sieve (in each division) suspended at the point N on an axle,
and having a slight reciprocating motion imparted to it by two pins or cams
protruding from the shaft S, which latter is connected by a belt with the
roller B. E, E, E, are chambers covered with fine wire woven sufficiently

page_text: close to allow the air to escape without the fur. The machines being set in
motion, and the workman having commenced spreading the fur upon the
endless web connecting A and B at the feeding end of the machine under L,
the principal mass of the fur is carried forward and drawn into the first com-
partment by the feeding rollers C, C, while the finer particles are driven or
wafted by the quick revolutions of the cylindrical pricker D into the upper
place E, and thrown upon the feed apron of the next compartment, the
grosser and heavier particles falling upon the wire grate M. Such part of
these last particles as consist of hair fall through the wire grate into the space
or box H, and such of them as consist of dags and dirt are shaken off by the
motion given as above described to the wire grating or sieve M into the
space G. The fur which wafted or thrown on to the feed apron of the
succeeding compartment will in like manner be drawn through the second
compartiment, and so in like manner through the third compartment, or any
further number of compartments, and be ultimately brought out by the last
pair of delivering rollers C, C, at the further end of the machine. If it be
intended to use a thread composed partly of fur and partly of wool, or partly
of fur and partly of silk, or partly of fur and partly of cotton, the fur having
been passed through such blowing machine as before mentioned, or any other
suitable blowing machine, or having been otherwise cleared from kemps and
hair, may then be mixed with wool, waste silk, or cotton, as may be desired,
and (subject to the limitation next mentioned) in such proportions as the
manufacturer may think fit, taking care that the different materials shall be
well and intimately blended. The better to secure such intimate mixture
the mass should be twice passed through the said blowing machine, or other
suitable machine. The limitation to which I have drawn attention above is
this, that if waste silk or cotton be used to mix with the fur, the proportion of
each should not exceed one third in weight of the fur, with which it is to be
mixed. Although also I have mentioned waste silk, because of its cheapness
and applicability, yet the manufacturer may, if he thinks fit, use raw silk in
place of waste silk, and when either waste silk or raw silk is used, exceeding
three or four inches in length, it should be cut into pieces of about that length.
The fur or the mixture of fur and wool, or of fur and silk, or of fur and cotton,
or as the case may be, which has been obtained from the blowing material, is
placed upon a common carding engine and passed through the same, whence
it is obtained in rolls or roving, after which it is reduced into thread and
twisted by any convenient method now in practice for reducing and twisting
the rolls or roving of wool, silk, or cotton into warp or woof. The thread of
fur, or of fur and wool, or of fur and silk, or of fur and cotton, as the case

page_text: may be, having been thus obtained, the same may then be manufactured into
hosiery, or woven with or without admixture with other threads into shawls
and blankets, or be woven along with threads of wool into cloth, or be woven
without admixture with any other thread into cloth, or woven as or for the
pile of velvet or plush, or be woven as or for the pile of rugs or carpets, all
according to any of the modes of weaving and manufacture now in use.
Now in reference to the improvement first and immediately herein-before
described, I do not claim as new any of the machinery which I employ in
respect to performing the same, but I claim as new the employment in the
manufacture of hosiery, shawls, blankets, rugs, and carpets, and of long
continuous tissues or fabrics, called or known as cloths, stuffs, velvets, and
plushes, or by whatever other name they may be known, firstly, of a thread
or yarn composed wholly of the fur of the hare, rabbit, beaver, musk rat,
nutria, otter, or racoon; secondly, of a thread or yarn composed partly of such
fur and partly of wool; thirdly, of a thread or yarn composed partly of such
fur and partly of silk, in the proportion before mentioned; and, fourthly, of a
thread or yarn composed partly of such fur and partly of cotton, in the
proportion before mentioned.
Another of the said improvements consists in manufacturing shawls, carpets,
rugs, blankets, and long continuous fabrics or cloths suitable for various
useful purposes, of or with the said furs. before named, or any of them, either
alone or mixed with wool, or with silk, or with cotton, or with dressed flax,
or with hemp, or with tow, and by means of causing the materials used
to intertwist, interlock, and mat together, and form a close firm texture,
without the aid or addition of any adhesive mixture, and without the operation
of weaving being at all required. The mode of performing this second
improvement is as follows:-The fur to be used I first clean in the manner
before mentioned, and such fur may be mixed with wool, or any proportion
the manufacturer thinks fit, or be mixed with silk, cotton, dressed flax,
hemp, or tow, according to the article which the manufacturer is desirous of
producing, and the mixture may be effected in the manner herein-before
described, or by any other convenient method, but the silk, cotton, dressed flax,
hemp, or tow (which I call non-felting materials), used in the mixture with
fur, for the purposes of carrying into effect the improvement now being
described, should be in the proportion of about one third only of the same by
weight to two thirds in weight of the fur used, as a greater quantity of
non-felting materials than about one third will prevent or discourage the
felting, which takes place as herein-after described. I should here remark,
that if any of these non-felting materials should exceed the length of three

page_text: or four inches they should be cut by the readiest means into lengths not
exceeding three or four inches. The fur or other materials employed should
be passed through a blowing machine, and I prefer such as has been herein-
before described. As the material is delivered from the last pair of rollers of
the said machine a revolving cylinder covered with card teeth, commonly
called a fancy cylinder, as shewn in Figure 2, and marked A, causes, by
reason of its revolving with great rapidity, the material to be thrown on
the above wire cylinder, marked B, B, in the said Figure 2, where, by means
of the exhaustion underneath and through the said last-mentioned cylinder,
the material is retained and formed into a bat or fleece, after which, by the
revolution of the said woven wire cylinder, it is made to enter and pass
between the two metal rollers C, C, on the said Figure 2, the upper one
resting upon the other, whereby the bat is partially compressed. The bat,
after passing through these rollers, is conducted between two sets of wooden or
metal rollers, as shewn in the said Figure 2, marked D, D, both of which
should be covered with several folds of cloth; between the two sets of rollers a
horizontal steam pipe, finely perforated on its upper surface, is placed directly
under the bat for the purpose of steaming and moistening the bat as it passes
from the uncovered to the covered set of rollers. The upper of the covered
rollers is made to receive a short alternating motion by means of a lever E,
Figuro 2, which hardens and partially fills the bat. It will be advisable,
where the felting materials used are of inferior felting quality, to have a
second, third, or more pair of covered rollers, all receiving, by means of similar
levers attached to the upper roller of each pair, a similar alternating motion,
as before described, in order more completely to cause the bat to felt. The
bat should be conducted through these further sets of rollers, and they should
be at about the same distance from each other as the said sets of rollers C, C,
and D, D, and between each set of the further rollers a similar perforated
steam pipe should be fixed. The hardened bat, after passing off the rollers
D, D, or the further sets of similar rollers which may be employed, is now cut
off into convenient lengths, and passed through any suitable felting or planking
machine, but I prefer using two planking machines constructed according to the
description following (that is to say):-Figures 3º, 3º, 3º, contain a plan and
two sections of a machine to be used for planking, reducing, or felting. A, A,
is a frame or stand on which is placed a trough containing water slightly
impregnated with sulphuric acid, or with the dregs of beer, and kept boiling
by a coiled steam-pipe, marked C, lying at the bottom. D, D, are rollers
formed of a composition of zinc and lead, or other suitable metallic substance,
each pair being geered at their ends by pinions E, and. the upper roller of each

page_text: pair geered into the horizontal worm or screw F by the spur wheels G, G.
L, L, are levers having the weights M, M, bearing upon them, suspended to
such upper roller for the purpose of giving a slight pressure to the material
being felted. I is an inclined board for the purpose of giving the material or
bat, when laid thereon by the workman, a direction towards the roller. K, K,
is a fast and loose driving pulley on the worm shaft F. The machinery being
set in motion the material or bat is placed upon the inclined board I, and drawn
forward, and by keeping the bottom rollers and portion of the top rollers
immersed in the boiling mixture, as shewn by the dotted line, the bat is con-
tinually exposed to the action of the same till it comes out at the further end.
The bat may be passed through the machine twice, thrice, or as often as may
be necessary to render it sufficiently tight and close in texture. The number
of rollers may be varied in the different machines, according to the substance
of the bat, and the quantum of work or felting required. It is to be observed,
however, that the pressure thus given to the bat is in its longitudinal
direction only. Now it is advisable that it should also receive pressure
or rubbing (accompanied with heat and moisture) in a lateral or horizontal
direction, I carry therefore or direct the bat from the last-mentioned machine
on to another planking machine, which is represented in Figures 4, 4.
A is a thick plank formed of a composition of zinc and lead, or other
suitable metallic substance, and supported on a suitable frame, having its
upper surface composed of a series of semi or nearly semi-cylinders of adequate
strength and substance to bear pressure. These semi-cylinders are of the same
diameter as those in the last-mentioned planking machine. The length of each
of these semi-cylinders, which are severally marked C in the Drawing, or side
view, Figure 4*, may be the same as the length of the cylinders of the planking
machine first described, and the cloth or fabric passed over them, as after men-
tioned, should always be about an inch less in width than the length of these
cylinders. This plank of semi-cylinders is made to have an alternating motion
from end to end in the line of the cloth placed upon them, and the extent of
this alternating motion is increased by the distance from the top of one semi-
cylinder to the top of the adjoining semi-cylinders. This alternating motion
of the plate is advisable, as the pressure upon the bat laying on the semi-
cylinders will be constantly varying.
Figure 4* shews the appearance and mode of construction of the top plate,
and the situation of the steam pipes between each semi-cylinder, as next
described. To shew more clearly the mode of construction the necessary feed-
pipe for steam has been here omitted. Between each semi-cylindar at the points
S are placed pipes along the whole length of the cylinders, having their upper

page_text: surfaces finely perforated for the emission of steam. Or in lieu of pipes
a narrow slip of perforated metal may be soldered or fixed between each two
semi-cylinders, an inch from or above the line or point of the junction of
the semi-cylinder. These pipes or conduits should have their orifices at
each end connected with the feed pipe, part of which F, F, is shewa in
the separate Drawing, Figure 4. The same cylinders may also be made
hollow, as represented at the points H, in the Drawing, Figure 4b, so as to
receive steam to keep them hot. In this case the steam would be conveyed
from the aforesaid feed pipe F, F, into the cylinders. The feed pipe at the
one end of the cylinders should be slightly elevated, say an inch and a half
above the feed pipe at the other end, and so in like manner the bottom of the
hollows of the cylinders, and the bottom of the cross steam pipes or conduits,
should, at the end where the feed pipe is highest, be about one and a half inch
higher than the bottom of such hollows and the bottoms of such cross pipes
at the end where the feed pipe is on the lower level; and there should be a
gentle declination in the said hollows and the said cross pipes from the afore-
said higher level to the last-mentioned lower level, by which means the con-
densed steam or water will drain into the feed pipe on the lower level, and
from thence be run off to waste into any convenient vessel attached to the
opposite side of the pipe from that where the steam enters. R is a large
heavy roller or cylinder made of the aforesaid metal, which, by the appli-
cation of suitable power, is made to travel to and fro across the top of the
semi-cylinders. There may be several of these rollers, and it is desirable to
use several. The bat having passed through the former planking machine
is brought, pulled, or conducted on to the machine last described and across
the whole of the semi-cylinders. The steam is then allowed to enter the
pipes, and the rollers R are made to traverse across the semi-cylinders, and
after passing many times across them so as thoroughly to rub the bat hori-
zontally, the rollers should be lifted up by means of straps attached to their
ends, and by suitable machinery placed above the same, and the position of the
rollers should be then shifted so as to make them travel angularly, first,
several times in one direction, and afterwards, by being again properly shifted,
from angle to angle in the opposite direction. During all the time that. the
upper rollers are travelling, whether horizontally or angularly, the plate with
the semi-cylinders should be made to move backwards and, forwards in the
direction and with the alternating motion before described. This rubbing
horizontally and angularly is continued until every portion of the bat laying
across the semi-cylinders has been thus well rubbed or rolled. The upper
rollers are then lifted by means of the straps and machinery aforesaid off the

page_text: bat, which is then pulled forward to the extent of the distance between the
tops of the two outer semi-cylinders, and thereupon the above process of
rolling is repeated with or to this fresh portion of the web; and in this manner
the whole web which has passed through the first-mentioned planking machine
is, by the means lastly mentioned, thoroughly rubbed or rolled horizontally
and angularly, while at the same time it receives heat and moisture. In
order that the upper rollers may travel angularly it may be ádvisable to place
the top plate and semi-cylinders in a bed of wood or metal, the top of which
should be on the same level as the tops of the semi-cylinders, or without such
a bed for a resting place or support, some of the rollers, especially the outer
ones of the series, might fall off. The bat after these operations becomes of
a close firm texture, when it may be napped and sheared in like manner as
woven woollen cloths are napped, and may be dyed, printed, or finished in
any style that may be desired, with or without shearing.
Now I am aware that hat bodies have been made by means of felting,
chiefly by hand, and also by means of machinery, and that hat bodies
have been made of some of the materials and mixtures herein-before
mentioned, and therefore I do not claim the manufacture of hat bodies
out of or with the materials before mentioned, or by means of felting.
And I am also aware that a substance or fabric of the nature of felt
has been and is manufactured, and of any length, by uniting fibrous mate-
rials by means of an adhesive mixture in which they are immersed,
as explained in the Specification of the Patent of William Wood, dated
Ninth March, One thousand eight hundred and fifteen, and in the Spe-
cification of the Patents granted to Thomas Robinson Williams, dated
Twenty-third May, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, and Ninth
March, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, respectively. And I do
not therefore claim the manufacture of shawls, carpets, rugs, blankets, and
long continuous fabrics and cloths by means of that mode of felting, or
process called felting, which unites the materials used in forming the same
with any adhesive mixture; but I claim as new the manufacture of shawls,
carpets, rugs, blankets, and long continuous fabrics and cloths, consisting
wholly of fur, or partly of fur and partly of wool, or partly-of fur and partly
of silk, or partly of fur and partly of cotton, or partly of fur and partly of
dressed flax, or partly of fur and partly of hemp, or partly of fur and partly of
tow, by causing the fur and wool, the fur and silk, the fur and cotton, the fur
and flax, the fur and hemp, and the fur and tow to intertwist, interlock, and
mat together, as herein-béfore described, without the application of any
adhesive mixture.

page_text: Another of the improvements consists in the manufacturing shawls, carpets,
rugs, blankets, and long continuous fabrics or cloths suitable for various
useful purposes, consisting wholly of wool, or of wool mixed with silk, or with
cotton, or with dressed flax, or with hemp, or with tow, by means of felting
alone, that is to say, by causing the articles or materials used to intertwist,
interlock, and mat together and form a close firm texture without the aid or
addition of any adhesive mixture, and without the operation of weaving being
at all required. And the mode of performing this improvement is as follows:
-The wool to be used may, if not used alone, be mixed with silk, flax, hemp,
or tow, according to the article which the manufacturer is desirous of pro-
ducing, care being taken as aforesaid that the lengths of the fibres used do
not much exceed four inches, and the mixture should be made or brought
about in the manner herein-before described with reference to the mixing of
fur with wool, silk, or cotton, but the proportion of silk, cotton, dressed flax,
hemp, or tow used in the mixture with wool, for the purposes of carrying into
effect the improvement now being described, should be in the proportion of
about one third of the same by weight to two thirds in weight of the wool
used. The wool, if used alone, or if so mixed with either of the last-men-
tioned substances, is then to be passed through a proper blowing machine, but
I prefer such blowing machines as has heretofore been referred to and
described; and as the material is delivered from the last pair of rollers of the
said machine, each material must be made to pass through the hardening
machine herein-before described, Figure Two, in order to form the same into
a well consolidated bat. In the case of this improvement also it will be
advisable, where the materials used are of an inferior felting quality, to have
a second, third, or more pairs of covered rollers, all receiving, by means of the
upper roller of each pair, a similar alternating motion, as before mentioned in
describing the said machine, in order more completely to cause the bat to felt.
The hardened bat is now cut off into convenient lengths and passed through
the said planking machines herein-before described, until the same has become
of a close firm texture, when it is ready for napping and shearing, if required,
in like manner as woven woollen cloths are napped and sheared, or to be
dyed, printed, or finished in any style that may be desired, with or without
shearing.
Now I am aware that hat bodies have been made by means of felting, chiefly
by hand, and also by means of machinery, and that hat bodies have been made
of some of the materials and mixtures lastly herein-before mentioned, and there-
fore, I do not claim the manufacture of hat bodies out of or with the materials
lastly before mentioned, or by means of felting; and I am also aware that a

page_text: substance or texture in the nature of felt has been and is manufactured, and
of any length, by uniting fibrous materials by means of an adhesive mixture
in which they are immersed, as explained in the Specification to the Patent
of the before-mentioned William Wood, dated Ninth of March, One thousand
eight hundred and fifteen, and in the Specification to the Patents granted to
the before-mentioned Thomas Robinson Williams, dated the Twenty-third of
May, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, and Ninth of March, One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-three; respectively, and I do not claim,
therefore, the manufacture of shawls, carpets, rugs, blankets, and long con-
tinuous fabrics or cloths by means of that mode of felting, or process called
felting, which unites the materials used in forming the same with any adhesive
mixture; but I claim as new the manufacture of shawls, carpets, rugs, blan-
kets, and long continuous fabrics, consisting either wholly of wool, or partly of
wool and partly of silk, or partly of wool and partly of cotton, and partly of
wool and partly of dressed flax, or partly of wool and partly of hemp, or partly
of wool and partly of tow, by causing the wool, or the wool and silk, the wool
and cotton, the wool and dressed flax, the wool and hemp, and the wool
and tow, to intertwist, interlock, and mat together, without the application of
any adhesive mixture.
Another of the improvements consists in manufacturing, by means of the
process of felting, coarse fabrics of a close, firm texture, suitable for coarse
carpets, hair carpets, rugs, horse blankets or cloths, and many other useful
purposes of or with the hair of horses, cows, oxen, or other cattle, prepared
as after mentioned, either alone or mixed with wool, or dressed flax or hemp
cut into short lengths, or with tow or with refuse hair obtained from skins
which contain fur, or with cotton or waste silk. If the hair of horses, cows,
oxen, or other cattle is used, all which hair I designate hereafter by the term
"cattle hair," I prefer that it should be the short hair taken from the bodies
of the animals. If the long hairs be used they require to be cut into lengths
of about an inch and a half each. The hair which is to be used alone or
mixed with the substances before mentioned, must be previously cleansed,
which I effect in the following manner:-I take a quantity of hair and wash
the same well in clean water. I then put the hair into any tight wooden
vessel and fill up the same so as to cover the hair with water impregnated
with sulphurous acid, and such water so impregnated I prefer to be of the
strength indicated by six degrees of Twaddle's hydrometer (an hydrometer
well known as a means of ascertaining the specific gravity of liquids), and I
allow the bair to remain in steep in this impregnated liquid from twelve to
twenty-four hours, and I then take the hair and wash the same again well in

page_text: pure clean water. I next dry the hair thoroughly, after which it is fit for
felting. The hair so cleansed and dried may be then, either by itself alone or
mixed with wool, or with dressed flax or hemp cut into short lengths, or with
tow, or with cotton, or with waste silk, or with refuse hair, be at once
felted into a fabric of a close, firm texture, by means of heat, moisture, and
rubbing or rolling performed by manual labour, as at present practised
with reference to making felted hat bodies of wool or fur. Or such hairs so
cleansed and dried, either alone or mixed with wool, with dressed flax or hemp
cut into short lengths, or with tow, or with cotton, or with waste silk, or with
the refuse hair aforesaid, may be passed through a proper blowing machine,
but I prefer such a machine as has herein-before been described; and as the
material is delivered from the last pair of rollers of the said machine,
such material must be made to pass through the machine herein-before
described, Figure No. 2, in order to form the same into a hardened bat
The bat, when sufficiently hardened by passing through two or more pairs
of covered rollers of the last-mentioned machine, is now cut off into
convenient lengths and passed through the two planking machines, such as
have herein-before been described. Of course when a portion of the mixture
used is a non-felting material, such as cotton, flax, hemp, or tow, the proportion
used thereof must not exceed about one fourth by weight of the prepared cattle
hair used.
.
Now I am aware that a substance or texture in the nature of felt has
been and is manufactured, and of any length, by uniting hair and fibrous
materials by means of an adhesive mixture in which they are immersed,
as explained in the Specification to the Patent of the before-mentioned
William Wood, dated Ninth of March, One thousand eight hundred and
fifteen, and in the Specification to the Patents granted to the before-mentioned
Thomas Robinson Williams, dated the Twenty-third of May, One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-nine, and Ninth of March, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-three, respectively, and I do not, therefore, claim the.
manufacture of fabrics suitable for coarse carpets, rugs, horse blankets or
cloths, and other useful purposes, by means of that mode of felting which
unites the materials used in forming the same with or by means of any
adhesive mixture. And whereas I am also aware that a loose sheathing or
imperfectly felted substance, which may be called basoned felt, has been
manufactured wholly or partially of cattle hair unprepared, and by hand, for
the purpose of being applied principally to steam-engine boilers as a non-
conducting material, and for sheathing ships, I declare that I do not claim the
manufacture of any such loose sheathing or basoned felt, or any machine
1.

page_text: particularly adapted for the purposes of producing the same; but I claim as
new the manufacture of coarse tissues or fabrics, or cloths suitable for coarse
carpets, rugs, horse blankets or cloths, and other useful purposes, of a close,
firm, well-planked texture or consistency, composed of cattle hair alone, pre-
pared, as herein-before described, by the application of sulphurous acid, or of
such cattle hair so prepared as aforesaid mixed with wool or with dressed-
flax or hemp cut into short lengths, or with tow, or with cotton, or with
waste silk, or with refuse hair aforesaid. I claim also as new the applica-
tion of sulphurous acid to the hair, in manner herein-before described, for
the purpose of enabling the same to be made readily, and closely felted or
formed.
Another of the improvements consists in making blankets suitable for horse
blankets or cloths and horse hosiery by means of felting, and of a shape more
accurately to fit the animal than is now generally effected; and I perform this
improvement as follows:-I take either wool, fur, or hair, the latter prepared
with or by sulphuric acid, as herein-before described, or such other of the
mixtures capable of felting as are herein-before mentioned, and I spread the
same of the requisite thickness upon the forms or moulds of the shape of
portions of a horse, as described in Figure 5, 5, 5°, and 5d. The forms or
moulds must be considerably larger than the natural animal, to provide for
shrinking. Figures 5*, 5º, 5º, and 5d are Drawings of moulds of portions of
the side of a horse and legs. These moulds should be of copper or other
suitable metal, and all be finely perforated with small holes. The operator
having placed on the mould the felting substance of which he intends to make
the fabric, and having spread it equally of the desired thickness, he then
covers the same, being the bat, with a cloth. The mould being placed under
a steam pipe, steam is allowed to escape under the mould, and the operator at
the same time rubs the bat in like manner as is now practised by hat makers
in basoning hat bodies. The bat thus becomes basoned or hardened, and the
operator proceeds to felt or plank the same into a close, firm texture by means
of heat and moisture, and of rubbing or rolling, in like manner as is now
practised in felting or planking hat bodies; and after the fabrics shall be
'sufficiently felted, and while they are in a damp and hot state, they should be
'put on a wooden mould of a complete horse standing on legs, and the various
fabrics should be then put on such portions of this wooden horse as fitted
them, and they should' be pressed into the shape of the animal, and the
wooden horse, with the various fabrics or portions of the complete horse
cloth so affixed to it, should be placed in a heated chamber, where the fabrics
will dry keeping their shape. These fabrics may then be joined, by sewing or

page_text: otherwise, in such manner as the manufacturer shall think fit, into horse
cloths and horse hosiery.
And in reference to the improvement lastly described, I claim as new
the manufacture of a fabric or fabrics suitable for horse blankets or cloths
and horse hosiery, by means of making the same, as herein-before described,
upon the moulds of the form of a horse, so as to cause such horse cloths
and hosiery to fit closer to the body and legs of the animal than the horse
cloths at present in use.
Another of the improvements consists in applying to the manufacture of
hosiery, shawls, carpets, rugs, and other fabrics or cloths, a thread or yarn
composed partly of wool and partly of tow, or partly of wool and partly
of well-dressed flax cut into short lengths of not more than three or four
inches; and I perform the said last-mentioned improvement as follows:-
The wool, in the proportion of about two thirds of wool to one third of
such tow or of such dressed flax cut into short lengths, should be passed
through the blowing machine before described, or be otherwise well mixed,
and the mixture thus obtained should be placed upon the common carding
engine, whence it will be obtained in rolls or roving, and should be then
reduced into thread and twisted by any convenient method now in practice for
reducing and twisting the rolls or roving of wool, silk, or cotton into warp or
woof. The thread of wool and tow, or of wool and dressed flax, thus obtained,
and of the quality which the manufacturer may desire, may then be manu-
factured into hosiery, or woven, with or without admixture with other threads,
into shawls, or the same may be woven along the threads of wool or fur into
fabrics or cloths, or be woven, without admixture with any thread, into fabrics
or cloths, or be woven as or for the pile of rugs or carpets, and all according
to any of the ordinary modes of weaving or manufacturing such articles.
And in reference to this last-mentioned improvement I claim as new the
application to the manufactures last mentioned of a thread composed in the
proportion before mentioned, partly of wool and partly of the tow in common
use, or partly of wool and partly of the well-dressed flax in common use cut
into short lengths.
Another of the improvements consists in applying to the manufacture of
hosiery, shawls, and other fabrics or cloths a thread or yarn composed partly
of cotton and partly of tow, and I perform the said last-mentioned improve-
ment as follows:-The cotton and tow last mentioned, in such proportions as
the manufacturer think fit, should be passed through the blowing machine
before described, or be otherwise well mixed, and the mixture thus obtained
should be placed upon the common carding engine, whence it will be obtained

page_text: in rolls or roving, and should be then reduced into thread and twisted by any
convenient method now in practice for reducing and twisting the rolls or
roving of wool, silk, or cotton into warp or woof. The thread of cotton and
tow having been thus obtained, and of the quality which the manufacturer
may desire, the same may then be manufactured into hosiery, or woven, with
or without admixture with other threads, into shawls and cloths or fabrics of
such length, size, and shape as the manufacturer shall think fit.
And in this last-mentioned improvement I claim as new the employment
in the manufacture last mentioned of a thread composed partly of cotton
and partly of the tow in common use.
Another of the improvements consists in applying to the manufacture of
hosiery, shawls, carpets, rugs, and other fabrics or cloths, a thread or yarn
composed partly of wool and partly of the tow of New Zealand flax, or
partly of wool and partly of well-dressed New Zealand flax cut into short
lengths of not more than three or four inches; and I perform the said
last-mentioned improvement as follows:-The wool, in the proportion of
about two thirds of wool to one third of such New Zealand tow, and of
such dressed New Zealand flax cut into short lengths, should be passed
through the blowing machine before described, or be otherwise well mixed,
and the mixture thus obtained should be placed upon the common carding
engine, whence it will be obtained in rolls or roving, and should then be
reduced into thread and twisted by any convenient method now in practice
for reducing and twisting the rolls or roving of wool, silk, or cotton into warp
or woof. The thread of wool and New Zealand tow, or of wool and dressed
New Zealand flax, thus obtained, and of the quality which the manufacturer
may desire, may then be manufactured in the usual mode into hosiery, or
woven, with or without admixture of other threads, into shawls, or the same
may be woven along with threads of wool or fur into fabrics or cloths, or be
woven without admixture with any other thread into fabrics or cloths, or be
woven as or for the pile of rugs or carpets.
And whereas the use of New Zealand flax cut into short lengths, or of the
tow of New Zealand flax mixed with wool, in the manufactures lastly men-
tioned, is, to the best of my knowledge, new, therefore I claim the application
to the manufactures lastly mentioned of a thread or yarn composed, in the
proportions before stated, partly of wool and partly of the tow of New Zea-
land flax, or partly of wool and partly of well-dressed New Zealand flax cut
into short lengths.
Another of the improvements consists in applying to the manufacture of
hosiery, shawls, and other fabrics or cloths, a thread or yarn composed partly

page_text: of cotton and partly of the tow of New Zealand flax, or partly of cotton and
partly of dressed New Zealand flax cut into short lengths of not more than
three or four inches; and I perform the said last-mentioned improvement as
follows:-The cotton and New Zealand tow, or cotton and dressed Now
Zealand flax last mentioned, in such proportions as the manufacturer thinks
fit, should be passed through the blowing machine before described, or be
otherwise well mixed, and the mixture thus obtained should be placed upon
the common carding engine, whence it will be obtained in rolls or roving, and
should be then reduced into thread and twisted by any convenient method
now in practice for reducing the rolls or roving of wool, silk, or cotton into
warp or woof. The thread of cotton and New Zealand tow, or of cotton and
dressed New Zealand flax, having been thus obtained, and of the quality which
the manufacturer may desire, the same may then be manufactured in the
usual mode into hosiery, or woven in the usual mode, with or without admix-
ture with other threads, into shawls and cloths of such length, size, and shape
as the manufacturer shall think fit.
And whereas the use of New Zealand flax cut into short lengths, or of the
tow of New Zealand flax mixed with cotton, in the manufactures lastly men-
tioned, is, to the best of my knowledge, new, therefore I claim the application
to the manufactures lastly mentioned of a thread or yarn composed partly of
cotton and partly of the tow of New Zealand flax, or partly of cotton and
partly of dressed New Zealand flax cut into short lengths.
.
Another of the improvements consists in forming a fabric suitable
chiefly for carpets and rugs, but which may be applied as a cloth for
hanging on walls, for coverings to furniture, and for other ornamental
or useful purposes, by using the threads of worsted or silk or other fibrous
materials cut into short lengths about half an inch in length, and while
upright on their ends, and packed together and forming two surfaces, to
cause one of the surfaces thereof to adhere, by means of dissolved caoutchouc
or other suitable adhesive substance, to a cloth or canvass back, either of
woollen, linen, or cotton, leaving the other of the said surfaces as a
nap; and the mode in which I carry into effect this improvement is as
follows: I take a frame of wood with sides half an inch deep, and
which may be of a yard square, or of any other convenient dimensions
or shape, and the sides may be of any thickness, but the depth of the
frame should not exceed about half an inch. This frame has a top and
a bottom, each of which can be screwed on and taken off at pleasure.
The bottom being fixed on the frame, it should be placed on the ground
or a table, and each bit of worsted or silk, or other fibrous material

page_text: which may be used, not exceeding about half an inch in length, is placed
upright on one of its ends inside the frame, and so the operator proceeds until
the frame is crowded full of threads of equal length, standing close together
all on their ends, and having the appearance at the top of a texture like in
appearance to a Tournay or Turkey carpet. The operator may place these
threads at random, or form them into patterns, as he may think fit, but it is
indispensable that all should be nearly of the same length, and that all should
stand upright on their ends, and that they should be about the same height as
the sides of the frame, so that when the top has been fixed on the frame all
the threads may be kept in their places without disturbance. When the
frame has been filled, and the operator is satisfied with the closeness of the
mass of threads and the pattern he has formed, the upper lid or top of the
frame is then put on and fastened down, and the frame is then turned over
and made to lay flat upon its top. The bottom is then unscrewed and taken
off, when the operator applies to the ends of the threads exposed by the
removal of such bottom dissolved caoutchouc or other suitable adhesive
substance. This must be done with care, so as not to disturb the threads,
and so as not to allow the dissolved caoutchouc or other adhesive substance to
penetrate beyond an eighth of an inch, or thereabouts, into the mass of
threads. A cloth or canvass back, or other appropriate material, about two
inches larger all round than the size of the frame, and which may, if the
operator pleases, be spread with a like adhesive substance, is then applied to
the coated surface and pressed down with a tailor's goose or iron or other
suitable instrument until the adhesion has taken place. The frame is now
again reversed, without replacing the bottom, when the threads adhering to
the cloth or canvas back or other appropriate material will drop out or be
pushed out by removing the top. The fabric then is left to dry, and if it be
intended to use the fabric so made alone, without joining it to other like
pieces, the outside edges of the nap should be protected by having a belt of
suitable fringe or woven stuff affixed close to such edges upon the margins of
the cloth or canvass back to which the said nap shall have been affixed as
aforesaid. If dissolved caoutchouc be used great care must be taken in
obtaining it of good quality and free from any unpleasant effluvia. The frame,
when cleansed, may be again used to form another like texture, and different
pieces may be joined together by passing the cloth or canvass back of one
piece under the adjoining cloth or canvass back of another piece, and causing
them to adhere by means of dissolved caoutchouc or other suitable adhesive
substance. Although I have described the mode of carrying into effect the
last-mentioned improvement as if the operator placed every thread in its place

page_text: by hand, yet it will be obvious that in order to construct such textures with
greater rapidity other modes may be adopted for filling the frame used.
Another mode of carrying the same into effect may also be to make a pattern
or design by drawing the ends of long threads of worsted, of cotton, of silk, or
of other fibrous material, through the holes of a perforated plate, and when'
the pattern has been formed the threads below should be sustained, so as not
to allow their own gravity to draw their upper ends from out of the holes
through which they have been passed. The ends of the threads should be
then cut so as to form an even surface or pattern, and this being completed
this surface should be smeared with the dissolved caoutchouc or other adhesive
substance, and à cloth or canvass back, or other appropriate material similar to
that before described, should be laid upon or affixed to such smeared surface,
and when sufficiently dried the cloth should be pulled upwards so as to draw
the threads about half an inch above the upper surface of the plate. A very
sharp cutting instrument or sword should be then introduced nearly close to
the upper surface of the plate, and the thread severed, when the pattern will
be found on the surface of the nap which will be formed by the threads so
severed, and which will be held together by the adhesive substance and cloth
or canvass back, as before described. This being finished, a like process is
carried through, commencing with smearing the surface of the threads which
will remain exposed after such severance, and this process may be repeated as
often as the length of the threads will allow, thus making many fabrics of
the same pattern. Care must always be taken, in pursuing the plan just
described, to keep the threads supported below, so that none be drawn out of
the holes, which would disarrange the pattern; and caution must bo used in
drawing up the threads through the holes that the cloth or canvass back which
has been affixed be not torn or dragged away from the surface of the threads
to which it has been affixed. If the operator thinks fit he may turn the face
of the plate downwards, so that the threads may be drawn downwards instead
of upwards, and the process above mentioned be carried on. But in whatever
manner such fabrics or tissues may be made, whether in a frame or by the
method last déscribed, or otherwise, nevertheless all such methods will result
in this, that short threads of worsted, or silk, or other fibrous materials, of
equal or nearly equal length, and standing upright or nearly upright, will be
joined to a cloth or canvass back or other appropriate material, with a suitable
adhesive substance at one end of the same threads, leaving the other ends of
the same threads exposed, and forming a nap or surface.
And I claim as new, and as one of the improvements in the manufacture of
carpets, rugs, blankets, and other fabrics, the formation of a texture or fabric by

page_text: means of short threads as aforesaid, joined by a suitable adhesive substance to a
cloth or canvass back or other appropriate material at one end of the threads,
while the other end of the threads is exposed, and forms a surface or nap.
Another of the improvements consists in forming a texture or fabric fit for
rugs, carpets, and other useful purposes, as follows:-I take a frame, which
may be of the size of a yard square, or larger or smaller, as the operator may
think fit. This frame is composed of wires or of thin slips of metal placed
parallel, and with their edges upwards to each other, and fixed into the wooden
work of the frame. The wires or strips of metal should not be more than the
sixteenth of an inch apart. I then take any woven cloths, and of any color, as
may please my fancy, and I pass the same edgewise through between the wires,
or strips of metal, and this will cause the edges of the cloth all to make their
appearance above the wires. When this has been done, and the pattern,
formed by such edges of the cloth is satisfactory to the operator, he should
then cut the same edges of the cloth so as to form an even surface or
pattern, and, this being completed, this surface should be smeared with
the dissolved caoutchouc or other adhesive substance, and a canvass or
cloth back, or other appropriate material similar to that before described,
should be laid upon or affixed to such smeared surface, and, when suffi-
ciently dried, the canvass should be pulled upwards or downwards according
to the position of the frame, so as to draw the edges of the cloth, not exceeding.
half an inch, beyond the surface of the plate; a very sharp cutting instrument
should then be applied nearly close to the surface of the plate, and the woven
cloth severed, when the pattern will be found on the surface of the nap, which
will be held together by the adhesive substance and canvass or cloth back, or
other appropriate material, as before described. This being finished a like
process is carried through, commencing with smearing the surface of the
threads of the woven cloth which then remain exposed after such severance,
and this process may be repeated as often as the lengths of the woven cloth
placed edgeways, as before described, will allow, thus making many fabrics of
the same pattern. Care must be taken, in pursuing the plan just described,
to keep the cloths placed edgeways between the wires or strips of metal
so supported, as that none be drawn out of the frame, for any one being
drawn out or slipping out would disarrange the pattern; and caution
must also be used in drawing up or down (previous to proceeding to cut
the woven cloth) through the parallel wires or slips of metal, in order
that the canvass or cloth back, or other appropriate material which has
been affixed, be not torn or dragged away from the surfaces of the edges
aforesaid of the cloths to which it has been affixed; and I recommend in

page_text: practising this last-mentioned improvement that the operator should have
the cloths so to be placed between the parallel wires or strips of metal
woven specially for the purpose, as this will enable him to direct them
to be done of the varieties of color he may desire, and he should have them
made so that while the warp threads may be of any desired length, and of any
suitable material, quality, color, or degree of closeness that may be wished for,
the woof threads should be but few in number, and at a considerable distance
apart, as the woof threads would be of no use except in keeping the cloths
together while they were being handled or held, or being drawn between
the parallel wires or strips of metal aforesaid. Indeed when cloths thus
specially made are used the woof threads should be pulled out and removed as
soon as they pass through and appear above the upper surface of the wires or
strips of metal aforesaid.
And in reference to the last-mentioned improvement I claim as new,
as one of the improvements in the manufacture of carpets, rugs, blankets,
and other fabrics, the formation of a texture or fabric by means of short strips
of cloth, as aforesaid, joined by a suitable adhesive substance to a cloth
or canvass back, or other appropriate material, at one end or edge of the
said strips, while the other end or edge of the said strips is exposed, and forms
a surface or nap.
And having now described the said invented improvements, and specified
what I claim in respect of each of the articles manufactured or produced
by means of the said improvements, I further declare that I also claim
as new the machine for forming the bat, as herein-before described and
represented in the said Drawing hereunto annexed, and marked Figure 2,
as also, for better felting the said bat, the second-mentioned planking machine,
represented in Figures 4*, 4b. But I do not claim the parts individually of
the said machines, but the combination of the said parts producing the machines
aforesaid, as useful for the purposes of the said invented improvements, or one
or other of them; neither do I claim the said blowing machine, No. 1, nor the
first-described planking machine, Figures 3ª, 3b, and 3°, as new, both of which
machines have been used in and about the manufacture of hat bodies.
And such the said invented improvements being, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, new, I claim the same as new, and declare this to be
a truc Specification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Angus Robertson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-eight.
"
W. A. (L.S.) ROBERTSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourth day of October, in the
year of our Lord 1888, the aforesaid William Angus Robertson came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.