IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Casimir Stanislas Masson, Draughtsman,
and Felix de la Morinière, Manufacturer, both of Paris, (France,) for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS
Sealed the 25th November 1858, and dated the 15th June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Casimir Stanislas
Masson and Felix de la Morinière, at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 15th June 1858.
We, LOUIS CASIMIR STANISLAS MASSON, Draughtsman, and FELIX DE LA
MORINIERE, Manufacturer, both of Paris (France), do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
WOVEN FABRICS WITH COLOURED PATTERNS," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in suitably printing the threads which are to
serve as weft for weaving fabrics, so that by weaving by any of the ordinary
methods with these coloured weft threads tissues may be obtained presenting
any suitable coloured pattern. For this object the weft, after having been
wound from the bobbins on a suitable reel, is taken off therefrom and stretched
out, so as to form one or more layers of threads in a parallel direction to each
other, each layer of a suitable width, on which layer or layers any suitable
number of colours are printed according to the pattern to be obtained on the
tissue, suitable bench-marks being formed in order to serve as guides during

page_text: the weaving, which latter may take place by any suitable means, so as to
make this method applicable to the weaving of any sort of tissues and patterns,
whatever may be the textile materials and colours made use of.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Casimir Stanislas Masson and Félix de la Morinière
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, LOUIS
CASIMIR STANISLAS MASSON, Draughtsman, and FÉLIX DE LA MORINIÈRE,
Manufacturer, both of Paris, France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, 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 us, the
said Louis Casimir Stanislas Masson & Félix de la Morinière, Her special
licence that we, the said Louis Casimir Stanislas Masson & Félix de la
Morinière, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Louis Casimir Stanislas Masson & Félix de la Morinière, our execu-
tors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN
FABRICS WITH COLOURED PATTERNS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said Louis Casimir Stanislas Masson & Félix de la Morinière, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 we, the said Louis Casimir Stanislas Masson &
Félix de la Morinière, 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 :-
The Invention consists in suitably printing the threads which are to serve
as weft for weaving fabrics, so that by weaving by any of the ordinary

page_text: methods with these printed weft threads tissues may be produced presenting
any suitable coloured pattern corresponding entirely with or duly imitating
any given design.
We will now at once describe the modes of acting for putting the Invention
into practical effect, referring hereby to the annexed Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation view of a mechanical arrangement we prefer
making use of for suitably disposing the weft thread for receiving the required
impressions, and which arrangement consists of three frames A, B, and C,
which in any convenient manner may be fixed to the floor at the required
distances apart; the first frame A serves for carrying the bobbins E, from
which the threads that have to receive the required impressions or colorations,
and is to serve as weft thread for weaving therewith, is carried by the carrier
D, with which the frame B is provided, on to the reel K of the frame C.
The Figs. 2 and 3 show respectively separate front elevation views of the
frames A and B; in which Figs. 2 and 3, and also in the Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
and 9, corresponding parts are indicated by the same letters of reference.
In Fig. 3, part of the trough or gutter G, in which turns the screw D³, is
represented as cut off in order better to show this latter.
Fig. 4 is a top view of the thread carrier or guide D. The general
features of the Invention consists in laying out the thread that is to serve as
weft for weaving on a printing table or other suitable surface in regular
windings of the same width, and close side by side in one or more layers, in
order that they may receive the required impressions by any of the known
printing processes, or by any other suitable means, suitable bench-marks or
data being made which are afterwards to serve as guides for the throw of the
shuttle in weaving with this printed weft.
We will now explain fully the particulars of our modes of operating.
Several methods may be made use of, viz. :-
1°. The thread of any suitable textile material that has to serve as weft,
and is to receive the required impressions or colorations according to the
pattern to be imitated on weaving therewith, is wound off from one or more
bobbins E put on a spindle E¹ turning in suitable bearings in the standards
A¹ of the frame A, which standards are firmly held together by connecting
bars A², and provided with proper base plates A³, in order to allow of fixing.
the frame to the floor; a counterweight P, suspended from a string P¹, passed
over a groove pulley P2 on the spindle E¹, or any other suitable contrivance,
serves for regulating the degree of tension to be imparted to the thread on its
being wound off from the bobbin E, of which latter, if required, several may
be applied on the same spindle or work simultaneously on different spindles

page_text: at the same time; when required, the bobbins may be removed from their
spindles and replaced by others. From the bobbin or bobbins the thread S,
which in the Drawings is indicated by a red line, is wound on a reel K, on
which the same must be laid in regular windings at the same distance apart,
which may be done either by hand or by passing the thread successively
between the teeth of a guide comb, but we prefer making use of a special
guiding apparatus, consisting of a frame B, the standards B' of which support
a carrier D, formed by an inclined board D', held in a solid manner between
the two arms of a forked piece D, fixed to a heel D³ abutting against the side
of an iron trough or gutter G, forming cross-bar for the top of the standard
B¹; to this board Dis further fixed a block D', provided at its lower end
with a screw nut, in which works the screw D³, which latter turns at each
end in suitable bearings provided in the ends of the trough G, in which
latter this screw is inserted; at one end this screw D³ is provided with a spur
wheel H, driven by a pinion H¹ fixed on a short axle H2, turning in an
adjustable bearing H³, which axle H2 is provided with fast and loose pulleys
H & H³, and fly wheel for moving the entire arrangement by hand or by
any other suitable prime mover; an angle piece I connects the board D
to the block D*; this board is further provided with two small vertical
glass cylinders d', between which passes the thread S on being wound off
from the bobbin E, which thread further glides over several horizontal glass
cylinders d, being guided in its progress by wire hooks or guides e, and is
finally wound on a reel K, turning in the ordinary manner in a frame C
arranged in a similar manner as those, A and B, already mentioned, so as to
allow of fixing them on the floor at the required distances apart. I must
mention here that the screw D³ instead of working only one inclined board or
thread carrier D, may be provided with two or more of them, in order to guide
simultaneously two or more threads on two or more reels K. The arms of
the reel K are moveable in the usual manner, in order to allow of removing
the thread therefrom when a sufficient length of this latter has been wound
on it; the length of these arms must be regulated in such manner that the
developement or length of each winding corresponds exactly or nearly so with
the width of the fabric to be woven with this weft thread, or the same is to be
an exact multiple or submultiple of this width. The spindle of the reel must
further be provided with a pulley, which by means of a strap or other con-
trivance may receive motion from the pulley of the thread carrier; or the
same may be provided with a handle, in order, if required, to be turned by
hand. The mode of acting of this arrangement is as follows:-A bobbin E,
provided with the required weft thread, being fixed on the spindle E', the end

page_text: of the thread is carried between the glass cylinders d' and d, and under the
guide hooks e to the reel K; motion being then given to the moving pulley of
the thread carrier, this latter will, by means of the screw D, be caused to
travel from one end of the gutter G to the opposite end, the consequence of
which will be that the weft thread will be wound as a skein on the reel in
regular windings, laid as close side by side as may be required; after the
required number of windings is thus laid on the reel, the skein is removed
therefrom, taking care that the windings should not become entangled or
mixed together, for which purpose we make use of a long metal pincer m, in
which may be inserted and fit therein exactly a flat metal rod n, and firmly
held therein by the elasticity of the two arms of the pincer, as shown in top
and front views and in end view respectively in the Figs. 5, 6, and 7; the
rod n is inserted lengthwise in the skein on the reel; the pincer n is put over
this rod, and thus keeps the windings firmly on the rod n, as shown in Fig. 5,
so that no disturbance can take place in the respective situation of them; the
skein being now entirely taken off from the reel, a second rod n¹ is also
inserted in the skein, and this latter thus extended to its full width, when a
second pincer m² is put over the rod n¹, and over the windings situated
thereon, by which means the entire skein of weft thread will form a regular
uniform double surface of threads, as shown respectively in top and front view
in the Figs. 8 and 9. We prefer to have each rod n fixed to its respective
pincer m by means of a small joint-pin o, so as to allow the end of the rod
turning in the end of the pincer, and make the entire resemble a pair of
compasses. Strings p and p¹ for dividing the skein in two halves, and threads
7 and g¹ for dividing each of these halves in suitable number of threads, say,
for instance, from 5 to 5, or from 10 to 10, are inserted in the skein. In the
Figs. 5 and 8 is further shown how the weft thread may, if required, be wound
in two or more separate parts and ¹, on one reel. The skein of weft thread.
being now sufficiently stretched by means of the rods n and n¹, will thus form
two layers or halves t and t¹, and may be laid either with both layers simul-
taneously on a printing table, in order that the two layers may simultaneously
receive the required impressions, or a board being inserted between the two
Jayers or halves, each of them may receive the required impression separately,
which may be done by any suitable means, taking care to keep the weft
sufficiently stretched in its several parts, either by inserting the rods n and n¹
under suitable hooks fixed to laths or boards held apart at the required
distance, or by any other suitable means. The weft thread might also have
been wound directly round a sort of frame, board, or printing table, on which
the impression could afterwards take place, or such frame could be laid at once

page_text: on a printing table, in which case the winding on the reel K would entirely be
dispensed with. It must be observed that in case both halves of the skein of
weft thread receive the impression separately, the block for imprinting the
second half must imprint exactly the reverse of the pattern of the block by
which the first half was imprinted. It will be required also to imprint at each
end of each half or layer t and t¹, a line of a conspicuous colour, which lines
are to serve afterwards as marks or guides, in order to indicate the extent of
each pick or throw of the shuttle. The impression having taken place, the
colours may be fixed or otherwise acted upon by any of the means made use
of in the impression of fabrics. The weft thread having hus received the
required impressions or colorations, is then to be wound on the shuttle cops or
pirns, when the weaver may weave with such weft in the ordinary mode, by
which the guide marks will indicate to him the width to which the weft is to
be thrown in the open shed. A modification of the above-described method of
acting is as follows:-We take a skein of weft thread from a reel, of whatever
width we like, and the pattern to be imprinted is in this case to be put on
rule paper in conformity with this width, and each skein is in this case to
correspond with one thread of the pattern or with several if their colours are
disposed in a similar manner; we now have a longitudinal engraved block for
each colour to be imprinted, the length of each block corresponding with the
width of the fabric to be woven, and by means of these blocks the different
colours of the pattern are successively imprinted on the weft thread extended
over a frame, board, printing table, or other suitable surface, in the manner as
described here above, the blocks being applied crossways on the weft and at
the required spots; the same being done for each weft thread, on weaving
them with these threads in the order as they have to follow each other (as
shown by the rule paper), the entire pattern will be obtained. Another
modification of.our method is as follows:-We weave the weft thread to be
imprinted by the aid of a few very fine warp threads, say, for instance, 10, 15,
or 20, according to the width, into a very slack fabric, which is then printed
in the ordinary manner, after which the few warp threads are drawn out, or
the weft thread wound off on a reel, and from thence at once on the shuttle
cops, in order to weave therewith in the manner as above described, so as to
obtain designs corresponding with given patterns. It may sometimes be found
suitable to weave with our printed weft threads in combination with warp
threads, printed likewise in any suitable manner, but we generally prefer
making use of warps entirely of one colour, either white or otherwise.
Having thus described our Invention, and the manner of putting the same
into practical effect, we claim as our Invention the modes and the mechanical

page_text: arrangements described for manufacturing printed wefts suitable for and
allowing of weaving therewith fabrics with coloured designs according to any
given pattern, and the weaving of such fabrics by means of the said wefts.
In witness whereof, I, the said Félix de la Morinière, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. SOUTH.
FELIX DE LA MORINIÈRE. (L.S.)