IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOTHING FOR MALE AND FEMALE USE, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE MATERIALS FOR SAME
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Donald Nicoll, of 22, Cornhill, in the City of
ΟΥ
London, Merchant Tailor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CLOTHING FOR MALE AND FEMALE USE, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE
MATERIALS FOR SAME."
Sealed the 15th June 1869, and dated the 5th January 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Donald Nicoll at the
Office of the Commissioner's of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th January 1869.
I, DONALD NICOLL, of 22, Cornhill, in the City of London, Merchant
Tailor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CLOTHING FOR MALE AND FEMALE USE, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
MATERIALS FOR BAKE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of new and improved
articles of clothing. This I effect by weaving or otherwise forming or
causing to be formed a single piece of cloth having an oval shape with
an oval aperture in its centre.
The advantages obtained by manufacturing the pieces in one operation
are manifold. It effects considerable saving in the subsequent cost of
Price Sd.1

page_text: *
making up, and produces a complete garment similar to the South
American poncho," without. the sewing necessary in the latter.
Another use to which I apply this Invention is, the manufacture of
a garment which combines the advantages of a railway rug and a cloak,
and this I effect by dividing one of the before-mentioned oval pieces
into two equal parts and inserting elastic gussets into same, so
admit either the neck of the wearer when intended as a cloak, and at
the same time being sufficiently elastic to pass round the waist when
used as a railway rug. By the employment of elastic gussets I am
enabled to produce one article of underclothing which serves the
purposes of two articles at present in use, viz., under vest and drawers,
and the advantages of making these in one instead of two pieces is a
considerable saving in the cost of manufacture & the production of
an article of greater comfort to the wearer.. In the manufacture of
ordinary under and over coats I prefer to employ the above mentioned
elastic gussets inserted under the armpits, whereby greater facilities for
putting on and more freedom of action is given to the wearer. In the
manufacture of the materials any suitable machinery may be employed,
but I prefer the machine known as Chevalier Claussen's machine for
weaving.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Donald Nicoll in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DONALD
NICOLL, of 22, Cornhill, in the City of London, Merchant Tailor, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen. Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Donald Nicoll, Her special licence that
I, the said Donald Nicoll, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Donald Nicoll, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein

page_text: 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 CLOTHING
FOR MALE AND FEMALE USE, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MATERIALS FOR
SAME,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Donald
Nicoll, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Donald Nicoll, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of new and improved
articles of clothing. This I effect by weaving or otherwise forming or
causing to be formed a single piece of cloth having an oval shape with
an oval aperture in its centre.
The form of the article I propose to manufacture will be understood
by referring to Fig. 1 in the accompanying Sheet of Drawing.
can be
The advantages obtained by manufacturing the pieces in this form in
one operation are manifold. First of all a considerable saving will be
effected in the subsequent cost of making up the article; and, secondly,
a complete garment similar to the South American "poncho
produced without the sewing necessary to make up and form the
selvages of the latter from a material woven in the ordinary manner,
as by my plan of weaving a selvage is produced round the openings
and edges in the process of manufacturing the article. When the oval
shaped article shewn in Fig. 1 has been manufactured, a garment which
combines the advantages of a railway rug and a cloak may be produced
therefrom by dividing one of the before-mentioned oval pieces into two
equal parts, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and binding the
cut edges so as to produce the article shewn in Fig. 2. Elastic gussets
may also be inserted into the oval piece, as indicated by red lines in
Fig. 1, so as to admit the neck of the wearer when the article is intended

page_text: to be used as a cloak. The article will also be rendered sufficiently elastic
at this part to admit of it passing round the waist so that it may be used
as a railway rug; or the article when divided in the centre, as shewn by
dots in Fig. 1, may be provided with straps, either elastic or non-elastic,
as shewn at Fig. 2, so that it may be secured either round the neck or
the waist of the wearer, according to the purpose for which it is intended
to be used. By the employment of elastic gussets I am enabled to
produce an article of underclothing which will serve the purpose of two
articles at present in use, viz., an under vest and drawers, as shewn at
Fig. 4. The advantages of making these garments in one instead of two
pieces will be, first, a considerable saving in the cost of manufacture;
and, second, the production of an article of greater comfort to the wearer.
In the manufacture of ordinary over and under coats I propose
employ the above-mentioned elastic gussets inserted under the armpits,
whereby greater facilities will be afforded for putting on the garment,
and more freedom of action will be given to the wearer. In the manu-
facture of these materials or articles any suitable weaving, knitting, or
felting machinery may be employed, but such machinery will have to
be somewhat modified or altered in some of its parts in order to render
it capable of effecting the intended object with advantage.
to
In order to weave the oval piece shewn in Fig. 1 with the oval hole in
the centre, the warp threads must be wound upon bobbins and passed
through the harness of a jacquard apparatus, so that by means of the
jacquard any of the warp threads may be taken down when desired so as not
to be woven into the fabric. This will be better understood by referring
to the Diagram Fig. 3, in which the blue lines represent the warp threads
that are left down so as not to form any part of the shed. The red lines
represent the weft threads which when thrown in will form a proper
selvage at each side of the fabric. The shuttle boxes although connected
to the batten are capable of being moved laterally nearer to or further
from the fabric. When the first part of the fabric or that above the
central opening or hole is being woven the shuttle boxes remain as
indicated by dotted lines in the Diagram Fig. 5, that is to say, the two
shuttle boxes are the same distance from the edges of the warp. In
Fig. 5, a represents the batten (carrying the reed as usual); b and 6 are
the shifting shuttle boxes which when in their normal position are
placed as usual at. equal distances from the outside warp threads at each
side of the loom as indicated by the dotted lines in this Figure, and
already referred to. These shuttle boxes are mounted in grooved guides

page_text: which form a line with the shuttle race, and they are shifted gradually
to the right or left by being brought against a cam piece which moves
forward as the work proceeds and shogs the boxes laterally one or more
dents at each beat of the batten or as may be required. It will be
understood that the two boxes may be connected together by a rod
under the shuttle race of the batten, so that they may be shifted
simultaneously.
As a modification of the above instead of moving both boxes together
either one only may be moved the required distance the other remaining
stationary.
In order to form the central opening with a selvage all round
it sheds must be formed alternately on each side of the opening, that
is to say, the shed must be first formed exclusively from the warp
threads on the right-hand side of the opening, all the warp threads
on the. left-hand side being down, so that the weft when thrown
across. will pass over them, the shed. being again opened on this side
and the weft returned; two selvage threads will have been laid in on
this side; a shed is then opened on both sides, and a weft. thread
thrown through both sheds; then all the warp threads on the left hand
side may be used to form the shed in like manner, and the right-hand
warp threads will then be all down. In this way the shuttle will pass
alternately three times through the right-hand shed, and three times
through the left-hand shed; but it will be found that when throwing the
shuttle through the right shed into the left-hand shuttle box a longer
length of weft will be drawn off than will be taken up on the return
shoot; there will thus be a short length of slack weft, which will prevent
the formation of a selvage. In order to prevent this I cause the right-
hand shuttle box to be moved forward a short distance towards the shed,
as shewn in the Diagram Fig. 5, and the left-hand box to be moved
back a corresponding distance from its selvage. In this manner I shall
by shifting the boxes (say four inches) be enabled to take up the slack
weft and form an opening of about twelve
the fabric. The effect produced by this
will be best understood by referring to the
will be seen that the shuttle 1 has just been thrown from right to left
through a shed formed by the whole of the warp threads. This will
correspond with the wide and undivided part of the fabric.
inches wide in the centre of
shifting of the shuttle boxes
Diagram Fig. 6, in which it
To form the central opening the shuttle box 1 must be drawn back

page_text: into the position shewn by dots at A in Fig. 6, and at the same time
the opposite shuttle box must be brought forward to the position 2.
The right-hand shed will in the meantime have been formed and the
shuttle thrown from right to left into the position 2.
A second shoot,
but in the opposite direction (that is, from left to right), must then
be thrown and another shed formed from the same right-hand warp
threads. A third shoot is then thrown in. The shuttle boxes during
these three shoots remaining in the same position. After the third
shoot the shuttle boxes must be shifted in the opposite direction, as
shewn at B, and the shed may then be formed from the left-hand warp
threads, the right-hand warps being kept down. When the three
shoots for the left-hand warp have been thrown, as indicated in the
diagram, the boxes may be again shifted to the right and the weaving
continued alternately through the right and left hand sheds until the
central opening has been completed, when all the warp threads may
be again brought into use to form the wide part of the fabric. In
this way a fashioned fabric will be produced with a fringe of warp
threads which may be cut out either before or after the fabric is felted
or fulled and dressed in the usual männer.
"
The form shewn at Fig. 2 may be readily knitted in any of the
ordinary knitting machines that are provided with an apparatus for
narrowing, in which case I first form the lap commencing to knit at
the dotted line 1, 2, and knitting in the direction of the arrow thus
forming a selvage edge to the lap on either side by narrowing;" I
then finish off at the point 3. I then set the laps at the part 1, 2, on
a wide knitting machine, leaving a suitable distance between them to
form the opening, and I knit over the whole width and narrow
both sides down to the point 4 where the form may be finished off.
The fashioned knitted fabric thus produced may be fulled or felted in
the ordinary manner, and the faces dressed by teazles or cards to produce
the required finish or desired appearance, all of which processes or
operations are well known and therefore need not be particularly
described.
on
Fig. 7 represents in plan view a piece of tubular fabric woven in an
ordinary loom in which two sets of warp threads are employed, one to
form the top side of the tube and the other the under side of the tube.
The weft is thrown in by one shuttle, which passes alternately through
the two sheds, and thus connects them together at the edges; in other

page_text: words, the shuttle with the weft is thrown in one direction through
the top shed, then returned in the opposite direction through the bottom
shed, then again through the top shed and back through the bottom
shed and so on until the whole piece is woven into the form of a flat.
tube.
For the purposes of my Invention however it will be necessary. to
either narrow or widen the fabric as the weaving proceeds, so as to
produce a kind of conical form, as shewn at Fig. 7, instead of a parallel
tube. To this end the warp threads instead of being wound on a beam
as usual must be wound on a number of bobbins, as in carpet weaving,
or in weaving any figured fabric, and these warp threads must be passed
through the harness of a jacquard apparatus so that they may be taken
up or let down in proper succession to widen or narrow the weaving, as
any weaver acquainted with jacquard weaving will clearly understand.
The oval-shaped garment or "poncho "shewn at Fig. 1, or the garment
shewn at Fig. 2, instead of being made from a woven or knitted fabric
may be made by a felting process somewhat on the principle invented
by John Wilkinson, of Leeds, and described by him in the Specification
of his Patent, for the manufacture of saddle cloths, dated Twenty-first
December, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
.
In adapting this process to the purposes of my Invention I first form
a bat, of wool of the requisite thickness according to the thickness of
the article I intend to produce, and on this I place and spread out a
piece of open woven fabric; I then deposit thereon a second bat of wool,
which may if desired be of different color to the first bat, so that the
open woven fabric will be enclosed between two bats of wool, which
may then be felted up in the ordinary manner. I prefer that the open
woven fabric should be made of some strong fibre, such as flax, hemp,
jute, China grass, cotton, or other fibres that will not felt, but will
allow the woollen fibres of the two bats to pass through the interstices
of the woven fabric, so that when the whole has been felted it will form
a compound fabric consisting of a lining or foundation of strong woven
fabric faced on both sides with wool.
In Fig. 8, & represents the first woollen bat, on which is placed the
open woven fabric e cut out in the shape shewn, supposing it be
intended to form an article such as that shewn in Fig. 2, or the shape
shewn at Fig. 1. The bat d may be made of any convenient length,
so that a number of shaped pieces of woven fabric may be placed

page_text: thereon in succession and an upper woollen bat f of different color
may be deposited thereon. The whole may then be felted in the
ordinary manner as already mentioned, and afterwards dressed, teazled,
and brushed, or sheared, or otherwise finished to form the desired face.
Garments, such as those shewn at Figures 1 and 2, may then be cut
out, leaving a felted edge which will not ravel out. If desired, however,
the edge may be still further secured by a line of ornamental stitching
put in by means of an embroidering or sewing machine at any desired
distance from the edge of the fabric. By thus enclosing the woven-
shaped piece within the fabric a very strong serviceable article will be
produced and the threads of the woven fabric will not be visible, as the
garment will be cut out a little larger than the pattern.
Having now described my Invention of "* Improvements in Clothing
for Male and Female Use, and in the Manufacture of Materials for the
same," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect; I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid,-
First. Manufacturing garments of the form and in the manner shewn
and described in reference to Figures 1, 2, and 7.
Second. The modes herein set forth of manufacturing such garments
or the fabric from which they are made, so that they may be made with
proper selvages and without seams, whereby a considerable amount of
labor in making up such articles will be dispensed with.
In witness whereof, I, the said Donald Nicoll, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fifth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
DONALD NICOLL. (L:S.)