IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF ENDLESS CLOTHS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Heywood Whitehead, of the Royal George
Mills, in the Parish of Saddleworth, in the West Riding of the County
of York, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ENDLESS CLOTHS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Heywood White-
head at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th February 1866.
I, JAMES HEYWOOD WHITEHEAD, of the Royal George Mills, in the Parish.
of Saddleworth, in the West Riding of the County of York, Esquire, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ENDLESS CLOTHS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
endless cloths suitable for use in paper-making machinery and for other
purposes. The endless cloths of paper-making machinery are now commonly
made of woollen fabric woven in such a manner that the warp is entirely buried
and the joint is made by bringing together two ends of a piece from which the
warp threads are left projecting a short distance, and the warp threads so
projecting are drawn with a needle into the opposite ends of the fabric, that is

page_text: to say, each warp thread is drawn into the end of the fabric opposite to that to
which it is attached, or the ends of the warps are secured by tying and the ends
become secured by the subsequent process of milling or felting. It has been
attempted to employ endless cloths of cotton or linen, in which the joint is made
simply by connecting the ends by a seam, such cloths, however, are defective,
as the seam is always much less pliable than the other parts of the cloth.
According to my Invention I employ cloths of cotton, linen, or vegetable
fibre woven in such manner that the warp is buried, the weft being as much
as possible kept in the surface of the fabric, and I make the joint for rendering
each cloth endless by bringing together its ends from which the warp threads
project, the weft threads having been removed for a short distance. I draw
the said warp threads into the opposite ends of the fabrics by means of a
needle or otherwise, as already described in respect to the woollen cloths; and
as cloths of vegetable fibre cannot be felted this process is omitted and the
warps are secured by tying each separate warp thread together in various
parts, thick warp thread being used each composed of several smaller ones
which are tied separately in order to make the knots smaller and less
objectionable. After the ends are thus secured the weft threads are drawn
over the knots (by the aid of a pointed piece of wire or needle) in order to
cover the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Heywood Whitehead in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HEYWOOD WHITEHEAD, of the Royal George Mills, in the Parish of Saddle-
worth, in the West Riding of the County of York, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Heywood Whitehead, 'Her 'special licence that I, the said James
Heywood Whitehead, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Heywood Whitehead, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ENDLESS CLOTHS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Heywood Whitewood, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 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 James Heywood Whitehead, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvement in the manufacture of endless
cloths suitable for use in paper-making machinery and for other purposes.
The endless cloths of paper-making machinery are now commonly made of
woollen fabric woven in such manner that the warp is entirely buried and
the joint is made by bringing together two ends of a piece from which the warp
threads are left projecting a short distance, and the warp threads so projecting
are drawn with a needle into the opposite ends of the fabric, that is to say,
each warp thread is drawn into the end of the fabric opposite to that to
which it is attached, or the ends of the warps are secured by tying, and the
ends become secured by the subsequent process of milling or felting. It has
been attempted to employ endless cloths of cotton or linen, in which the joint
is made simply by connecting the ends by a seam, such cloths, however, are
defective, as the seam is always much less pliable than the other parts of the
cloth.
According to my Invention I employ cloths of cotton, linen, or vegetable
fibre woven in such manner that the warp is buried, the weft being as much
as possible kept in the surface of the fabric, and I make the joint for rendering
each cloth endless by bringing together its ends from which the warp threads.
I draw
project, the weft threads having been removed for a short distance.
the said warp threads into the opposite ends of the fabrics by means of a needle
or otherwise, as already described in respect to the woollen cloths; and as
cloths of vegetable fibre cannot be felted, this process is omitted and the
warps are secured by tying each separate warp thread together in various
parts, thick warp threads being used, each composed of several smaller ones
which are tied separately in order to make the knots smaller and less
objectionable. After the ends are thus secured the weft threads are drawn

page_text: over the knots (by the aid of a pointed piece of wire or needle) in order to
cover the same.. After the goods are spliced or made endless by uniting
the ends in this manner I put the goods in a fulling stock with a weak
solution of soap and water for about half an hour, and then wash them with
water in the same stock in order to shrink them, that they may not shrink
when set to work; I then dry them on heated cylinders in the usual way.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Heywood Whitehead, have here-.
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JAMES HEYWOOD WHITEHEAD. (L.S.)