IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHRISTOPHER
NICKELS, of the York Street, Lambeth, Manufacturer, and BENJAMIN BURROWS,
of Leicester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day
of September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Christopher Nickels and Benjamin Burrows, our exors,
adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that we, the said Christopher Nickels and Benjamin Burrows,
our exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Christopher
Nickels and Benjamin Burrows, our exors, admors, or 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, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said Christopher Nickels and
Benjamin Burrows, or one of us, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the band and
seal of one of us, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery,
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Christopher Nickels and Benjamin Burrows, do hereby declare that the
nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be.
performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
Our Invention has for its objects,-.
First, improvements in weaving carpets and other fabrics which require
strong backs, and consists of throwing two or more shuttles through a warp
at the same time in hand and power looms, and, combined therewith, the
applying Jacquard apparatus so as to open the required sheds above and
below.
And in order that our Invention may be most fully understood, and readily
carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the means pursued by us; and
in doing so, we will suppose that it is intended to weave Brussels carpets, or
in fact any piled or other fabric which requires a strong back, and a piled
or other face or upper surface. If the piled or other surface is to be
produced by bringing up different colors according to a pattern, we employ
Jacquard apparatus for the pile or other warp, in order to bring up the
pile or other warp in proper order, as is well understood; but if the piled or other
face is to be of one color, or if a printed warp (for the pile or otherwise)
is used, then in either of these cases a leaf of heddles is employed. Here-
tofore where pile is required, the weft has been introduced in such weaving by
two or more shoots of the same shuttle between the succeeding pile courses;
but when thick and thin weft have been employed, two shuttles have been
used, the thicker weft being employed to produce a thick back. We do not
therefore claim the use of two shuttles in making such descriptions of fabrics.
The peculiarity of this Invention consisting in the. constructing of two
shuttle boxes one above each other, at each end of the lay or batten com-
bined with the opening of two sheds, in such manner that the bottom of the
lower shuttle boxes on either side shall range with the level of the lower.
shed, and the bottom of the other shuttle boxes shall range with the
bottom of the upper shed, by which the two shuttles used may be thrown
across simultaneously; and it is preferred, in order to make good selvages,
that the two shuttles should be thrown across in opposite directions.
Supposing a printed warp is to be used for the pile, then we employ four
warp beams, in which case we do not require Jacquard apparatus, and this:
warp is worked by a leaf of beddles and the pile warp is placed on the upper

page_text: beam; we place the linen warps on three beams; the upper beam contains
one yarn for each space in the reed, and is worked so as to form the top and
bottom of the upper shed; that is, it is alternately at the upper and lower
surface of the upper shed when the upper shuttle is alternately thrown from
side to side. The next or dandy warp has four or other number of yarns to
each space in the reed according as it is desired to have more or less filling.
This warp is worked in such manner that alternately forms the top and
bottom of the under shed, through which the lower shuttle is thrown; the
third linen warp has one yarn to each space of the reed, and is caused
alternately to form the top of the upper and bottom of the lower shed
formed in the linen warps; by which arrangement it will readily be
understood, that supposing a shoot of weft from each of the two shuttles
has been simultaneously thrown across when the upper linen warp is at the
upper part of the dandy or filling warp in the middle, and the lower linen
warp at the bottom, the next two sheds which will be simultaneously opened
in the linen warp will be as follows, the upper warp will be caused to descend
to the middle, the middle or dandy warp will be caused to descend to the
bottom, and the bottom warp will ascend to the top of the top shed, when the
shuttles will be again thrown simultaneously across in opposite directions,
when the several linen warps will again assume their before-mentioned
positions. If wires are to be used, then a third shed is to be opened by
raising the pile warp above the upper shed of the linen warp by its leaf of
heddles, or by Jacquard apparatus if such apparatus be used, and we prefer
that such wires should have four shoots of weft thrown in between each wire,
two from each shuttle; but this may be varied and the pile warp is to be
simply carried down to the middle. In order that the loom may stop if
worked by power, in the event of either of the weft threads breaking or being
used up, we employ weft stoppers at each end of the reed as is well understood,
and they are simply arranged to act on the two weft threads, so that if either
breaks or is expended, the finger at that end will cause the loom to stop, as
is well understood. At each end of the lay or batten, two shuttle boxes are
formed, each with a picker as is well understood, there being a ledge or shelf
projecting beyond the box towards the warp to form the shuttle race. These
shuttle boxes are similar to those in ordinary use, and we would state that
we are aware that two, three, and more shuttles have before been used at
each end of a batten or lay with a view to use two or more shuttles with
different colored or different descriptions of weft, and they have been shifted
to range with the sheds opened in the warp; but according to the present
arrangement the two shuttle races are constructed to range with the two

page_text: sheds which are simultaneously opened in the linen warps. Although we have
mentioned the use of wires for producing the pile, other arrangements which
are well known may be employed in place thereof. Our Invention has also
for its object:
Secondly, improvements in weaving fabrics by a similar arrangement of
shuttles thereon from side to side into shuttle boxes as above described, with
or without Jacquard apparatus, by which fabrics are produced, having weft
thrown in at the back and front of a middle warp, such middle warp not
requiring any movement up and down, the other warp threads rising and
descending above and below, to open sheds above and below the middle
warp for the passage of the upper and lower shuttles, thus making
either similar or different in color and pattern on both sides.
fabric
What we claim therefore, is the combination herein described for weaving
fabrics with two shuttles thrown simultaneously across in two sheds opened
in the warps to receive the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Nickels, on behalf of
myself and the said Benjamin Burrows, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
CHRISTOPHER (L.s.) NICKELS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of March, in
the year of our Lord 1853, the aforesaid Christopher Nickels 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.
Enrolled the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.