IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHENILLE, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Smith, of 9, Gloucester Terrace, Cambridge
Heath, in the County of Middlesex, Chenille Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHENILLE, AND IN
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 24th July 1860, and dated the 31st January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st January 1860.
I, THOMAS SMITH, of 9, Gloucester Terrace, Cambridge Heath, in the
County of Middlesex, Chenille Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHENILLE, AND IN
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My improvements apply to the mode of manufacturing chenille and piled
fabrics of light kind, and to apparatus for effecting the same. On a framing
several yards long I fit a carriage to slide longitudinally, and on this carriage
I mount in bearings a hollow mandril, carrying at one end a reel or reels of
silk, the axis of the mandril being parallel to the length of the framing. From
end to end of the framing I stretch a grooved wire, with a thread lying in its
groove, both being passed through the hollow mandril, so that when it with
its reels is caused to rotate, silk is unwound from the reels and twined round
the grooved wire and thread. I pass another thread through suitable eyes, or
over pulleys guiding it, so as to lie immediately over the thread in the grooved.

page_text: wire outside the silk twined thereon, and on the carriage I mount a knife with
its edge bearing against the side of the wire opposite to the groove. I also
attach the ends of the two threads to a twisting spindle mounted in bearings
at one end of the framing, and I connect this spindle, as well as the hollow
mandril, by suitable gearing to the carriage, so that when it is caused to slide
along the framing they are put in rapid rotation, and thus while the silk is
wound helically round the grooved wire and inner thread, the knife travelling
with the carriage severs it transversely, and the threads, with the severed ends
of silk between them, being twisted upon one another hold these ends firmly,
and cause them to stand out helically around them, so as to form the pile, the
threads themselves forming the gut or core.
I sometimes mount several hollow mandrils on the carriage, and a corre-
sponding number of twisting spindles and wires on the framing, so that the
motion of the carriage produces several lines of chenille simultaneously; and
instead of threads I sometimes use fine wires to form the gut; and instead of
silk 1 sometimes use wool, cotton, or other suitable material to form the pile.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SMITH, of 9, Gloucester Terrace, Cambridge Heath, in the County of
Middlesex, Chenille Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Smith, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Smith, 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 Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHENILLE, AND IN APPA-
RATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describo 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements apply to the mode of manufacturing chenille and piled
fabrics of like kind, and to apparatus for effecting the same. On a framing
several yards long I fit a carriage to slide longitudinally, and on this carriage
I mount in bearings a hollow mandril, carrying at one end a reel or reels of
silk, the axis of the mandril being parallel to the length of the framing; from
end to end of the framing I stretch a grooved wire, with a thread lying in its
groove, both being passed through the hollow mandril, so that when it with
its reels is caused to rotate, silk is unwound from the reels and twined round
the grooved wire and thread. I pass another thread through suitable eyes, or
over pullies guiding it, so as to lie immediately over the thread in the grooved
wire outside the silk twined thereon, and on the carriage I mount a knife with
its edge bearing against the side of the wire opposite to the groove. I also
attach the ends of the two threads to a twisting spindle mounted in bearings
at one end of the framing, and I connect this spindle, as well as the hollow
mandril, by suitable gearing to the carriage, so that when it is caused to slide
along the framing they are put in rapid rotation, and thus while the silk is
wound helically round the grooved wire and inner thread, the knife travelling
with the carriage severs it transversely, and the threads, with the severed
ends of silk between them, being twisted upon one another, hold these ends.
firmly, and cause them to stand out helically around them, so as to form the
pile, the threads themselves forming the gut or core.
I sometimes mount several hollow mandrils on the carriage, and a corre
sponding number of twisting spindles and wires on the framing, so that the
motion of the carriage produces several lines of chenille simultaneously; and
instead of threads, I sometimes use fine wires to form the gut; and instead of
silk, I sometimes use wool, cotton, or other suitable material to form the pile.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

page_text: which I will proceed to describe; and Figures 4 and 5 represent portions
thereof drawn on a larger scale.
frame c.
The main framing consists of two longitudinal sleepers or rails a, a, fixed at
each end to upright frames b and c. A toothed rack d is fixed between the
rails a, a.
A carriage e is fitted with flanged wheels to run on the rails, and
a hollow mandril f is mounted in bearings in the carriage with its axis
parallel to the rails. A shaft g extending the whole length of the framing is
mounted in bearings in the end frames b and c, and has a pulleys fixed on it,
which is connected by a strap with three smaller pullies t mounted on the end
The shaft g passes through the hollow mandril f, being either made
square to fit a square hole in the mandril, or made round with a groove fitting
a round hole and feather in the mandril, in such a manner that the mandril
can slide freely along the shaft, and must at the same time turn round with it.
A wheel h is fixed on the mandril f, and this wheel has a screw groove cut in
its circumference fitting the teeth of the rack d, also a pulley k is fixed on the
mandrilf, connected by a strap with a smaller pulley fixed on a hollow man-
drill, mounted in bearings on the upper part of the carriage e.
On rotary
motion being given to the shaft g, the pulleys and the three smaller pullies t
connected therewith, are caused to revolve; at the same time the hollow
mandril is caused to revolve, and this by means of the pulley k and strap
puts in motion the mandrill, while the screw wheel h, revolving in gear with
the rack d, causes the carriage to move along the rails in the direction of
the arrow.
In order to move the carriage in the opposite direction, I remove
a piece of the circumference of the screw wheel h (which is made to be
removable at pleasure), and thus by clearing the teeth of the rack, I can run
the carriage back by hand.
Having thus described the mode of giving motion to the several parts of the
apparatus from a rotating shaft g, I will now describe the mode of manufac-
turing the chenille and the parts of the apparatus connected therewith; but
first I will explain that the chenille which I produce consists of two threads
or fine wires, technically called guts, twisted closely together, and holding
between their twists short threads of silk or such like material, each of these
threads being seized by the twisted guts at the middle of its length, so that its
ends stand out equally on each side of the gut, and a great number of such
threads standing out all round, and arranged helically along the gut, form what
is technically called the pile. And I do not claim as my Invention this mode
of making chenille, which is generally known and understood.
The hollow mandril 1, which is mounted in bearings on the carriage e, with
its bearings and framing, is represented on a larger scale in Figure 4, which

page_text: is a longitudinal section, and in Figure 5, which is an end elevation.. The
framing consists of the bearings of the hollow mandril 1, and of a back and a
front upright end plate respectively marked l¹ and 12. Three pins or spindles
for gut reels p and p¹ are fixed on each of these plates, the reels being held
on their spindles by springs adjustable by screw nuts to give the required
amount of friction to prevent the reels from turning too freely. A disc plate
is fixed on one end of the mandril 7, and on this disc are mounted in a similar
way several silk reels m; there are also fixed on the disc a corresponding
number of eyes m' for the silk ends to pass through. A tube n, secured by
adjusting nuts to the back plate 11, passes clear through the hollow mandrill,
and at its mouth n' fits a triangular base wire o, which is stretched from.end
to end of the main framing, being strained tight by screws and nuts at the end
frames and c. This triangular wire o has six grooves along its whole length,
viz., a groove at each of its angles and a groove in the middle of each of its
sides. Three curved spring brackets q, which are fixed to the front plates. 12,
bear against the sides of the base wire o; these brackets are split up the
middle, so that each half may preserve a bearing on the wire in case of
inequalities on its surface, and at their front ends they have eyes with pins q¹
loosely fitted therein. Three knives r are mounted on hinged frames secured
to the front plate 1, and these frames have cranked ends acted on by springs
so as to press the cutting edges of the knives into the angle grooves of the
base wire.
In order to put the apparatus in action, the carriage e is drawn up to the
end c of the framing, and its screw wheel geared into the rack d; the three
guts from the reel p are passed inside the tube n, and through eyes n³ at the
end thereof immediately over the grooves in the sides of the base wire o, and
the three guts from the reels p' are passed under the pins q', also immediately
over the grooves on the sides of the wire o, and both sets of guts are hooked
to the three twisting pullies t, a pair to each; also the silk ends from the
reels m are passed through the eyes m', and twisted several times round the
base wire o, so as to enclose the guts from p in the side grooves thereof.
Rotary motion is then imparted to the shaft g, and thence to the twisting
pulliest and the mandril and disc l, while at the same time the carriage
advances in the direction of the arrow, the wire o being stationary. Silk is
thus wound helically thereon, enclosing the gut from p, and the silk so wound
is cut by the knives into three equal parts at the time that it is held on the
wire o by the spring brackets q, and each portion so cut is secured between
the two guts from p and p¹ respectively, which are twisted together by the
action of the pullies t so as to dispose the silk as a pile around them.

page_text: Although I have represented and described a triangular base wire suitable
for producing three pieces of chenille, I sometimes use square or polygonal
base wires with suitable grooves, brackets, gut reels, knives, and twisting
pullies for producing four or more pieces; and by removing one or more of
the knives, gut reels, and twisting pullies, I produce a less number of pieces
of different size, as may be readily understood. Further, instead of mounting
only one base wire with its twisting pullies, mandril, and appurtenances on
the framing and carriage, I sometimes mount several sets thereof, the same
shaft serving to drive them, and the motion of the carriage being common to
them all, so that I am thus enabled to produce several sets of pieces of chenille
during one traverse of the carriage.
I do not claim as my Invention chenille formed as I have described, as the
mode of producing it by turning it round a base wire with suitable guts, and
thereafter cutting and twisting it, is well known and understood; but I do claim
the particular arrangement of machinery for giving simultaneous motion to the
carriage, spinning mandril, and twisting pullies, and the use of a triangular,
square, or polygonal grooved base wire, with its guide tube and brackets and
knives arranged as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Smith, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.