CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOOLLEN CLOTH, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS APPLY BOTH TO WEAVING AND DRESSING CLOTH
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DUTTON, of Wotton-under-Edge, in the County of Gloucester, Clothier, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Eighth day of February, in the first year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Dutton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I the said James Dutton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said James Dutton, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WOOLLEN CLOTH, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS APPLY BOTH TO WEAVING
AND DRESSING CLOTH;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said James Dutton, by an instrument in writing, under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will.
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Dutton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My improvements in the manufacture of woollen cloth, which apply both
to weaving and dressing, consists as regards weaving,—
Firstly, in the general construction and arrangement of the parts consti-
tuting a loom for weaving woollen cloths by rotary power.
Secondly, in an improved mode of clothing the warp beam of a woollen
loom, for the purpose of laying the yarns upon the beam with greater
regularity and uniformity of tension than can be effected by the old methods of
beaming warps.
Thirdly, in a peculiar construction of healds for opening the warps previously
to shooting the weft, and also of the reed for beating up the work.
Fourthly, the adaptation of apparatus intended to operate as perpetual
temples.
And, fifthly, in a peculiar method or methods of rendering the delivery
of the warp yarns contingent upon the taking up of the cloth.
As regards the dressing of the surface of cloths, my improvements consist in
the construction ofa machine, in which the cloth is distended and progressively
passed forward, and the pile is raised as the cloth proceeds by means of
a rotary cylinder, the periphery of which is covered with teazles, or wire cards,
or brushes, and the cylinder madetorevolve with an accelerated speed, in the
same direction as the cloth proceeds; and the cloth is pressed against the
surface of the said teazles or wires by an adjustable roller, mounted in a frame
formed of compound levers, weighted so as to give any required pressure. In
this machinea rotary shearing apparatus may also be mounted, and applied to
cropping the surface of the pile of the cloth; and pressing the cloth may
likewise be effected in the same machine, by substituting heated rollers in the
place of those above described for raising the pile; and the operation of
brushing the face of the cloth may be performed in the same machine, by
mounting a brushing roller in the same manner as the teazle cylinder above
described.
And, lastly, my improvements consist in certain additions to the apparatus
for dressing or finishing woollen cloths, and the method or methods of,
and apparatus for effecting the same, for which I obtained a Patent in

page_text: Mugland, dated the teenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-four.
These improvements are exhibited in the Drawings hereto annexed,
and will be fully understood by the following description thereof (that is
to say):
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a loom, to which my improved construction
and arrangement of parts are adapted for weaving by rotary power; Fig. 2 is
an elevation of the same taken at the right hand end; Fig. 3 is a sectional
elevation taken transversely through the loom, looking toward the right hand
end; and Fig. 4 is a horizontal view of the loom as seen from above, in all
which Figures the same parts of the machine are pointed out by similar letters
of reference. The main shaft a receives rotary motion from any first mover
through a strap b, applied to the pulley or rigger c, fixed upon the end of the
main shaft, from which shaft all the working parts of the loom are driven.
The warp beam & is mounted upon an axle, the ends of which turn in slots
formed in brackets fixed to the back upright standards, and the periphery of
this warp beam bears upon a roller e, which has a toothed wheelf upon the
end of its axle, and is driven round by means of an endless screw g, hence the
warp beam is made to revolve, and the warp given out by the friction of its
surface against that of the roller e below. The yarns delivered from the warp
beam pass upwards over the back rail h, and thence through the healds i, i,
and the reed k, toward the breast beam /. The cloth being here woven,
proceeds downward under a drawing roller m, and over the perch n, and
thence to the cloth roll o, upon which it is progressively wound. The healds
i, i, are formed of bent wires, in a manner that will be described hereafter.
The frames of these healds are affixed to boards or plates p, p, one of which is
attached to a sliding guide rod q, and the other to two other guide rods r, r;
and they are connected together by an endless strap 8, 8, which is made fast to
the boards p, p, and passed over the tension pullies t,t, mounted upon theside
frames. On the main shaft a cam u is fixed (as shown at Fig. 3, which
works within a rectangular frame u, v, and as the main shaft revolves causes
the rod 9 to slide up and down in its guides, and thereby to communicate a
reciprocating motion to one of the boards or plates p, by which means the
healds i, i, are made to move up and down for the purpose of opening and
closing the sheds of the warp. The pecking, that is the projecting of the
shuttle through the sheds of the warp, is produced by the following means;—
From each end of the main shaft an arm w extends, which, as they revolve
alternately act against the side of one of the levers *, *. This part of the

page_text: apparatus, tho' partially shewn at each end of the loom in the front elevation,
Fig. 1, is more perfectly seen in the detached Fig. 5. The levers x have their
fulcrums upon studs fixed in the legs of the batten A, A; and as the main
shaft a revolves, the arms ware alternately made to press with considerable
force against the projecting cams or rollers y, y, in the levers x, and thereby
to force back those levers into the position shewn by dots in the last-mentioned
Figure. The upper part of each lever acts against the shorter arm of a
right angled lever z, pendant from the upper part of each of the legs A of the
batten B; and by the movement first described causes the lever z to be
thrown with considerable velocity into the position shewn by dots. The longer
arm of the lever being attached to a cord orstrap connected to arms extend-
ing downwards from the pecker C. These movements of the levers < and >
cause the peckers to give those sharpstrokes to the shuttle which are required
for projecting it to and fro along the shuttle race between the sheds of warp.
There is a peculiarity in the pecker (viz¹), that it has a recess opposite to the
end of the shuttle filled with india-rubber, and which may be advanced as it
wears away by means of a screw passed through from the opposite side
The backward movement of the batten B for allowing the shuttle with the
weft to pass between the sheds of the warp is effected by rotary cams D, D,
upon the main shaft as shewn in Fig. 2. These cams as they revolve act
against the tails of jointed levers E, E, and when the longer radii of the cams
are acting against the tails of those levers, the batten is kept back as in Fig.
2, which is during the time that the shuttle is passing through the yarn, but
the moment that the tails of the levers E escape from the larger radii of the
cams D, the batten is released, and is forcibly drawn forward (for the purpose
of beating up the shoot) by the power of a spring F, F, attached to the front
standards, and to the legs of the batten (see Fig. 3). This beating up of
the shoot is assisted by the tappets G, G, upon arms extending from the main
shaft, which immediately after the batten has sprung forward.come in contact
with an inclined plane H, on the back of each leg of the batten, and force it
onward to such an extent as may be required for driving the weft thread
home.
'
It now remains for me to describe the means by which the yarns are given
off from the yarn beamd, and the cloth taken up or wound upon thecloth beam
o, abar I, sliding freely in staples J, J, affixed to the stationary framework (see
Fig. 2), is by the return or backward movement of the batten B, made to strike
against the upper part of a cross-armed lever K, mounted upon an axle in a
bracket fixed to the back standard, to one of the arms of which lever K, a

page_text: pawle L is affixed. This pawle takes into the teeth of a ratchet wheel M,
and when the lever K is acted upon as described, the pawle is forced forward
into the teeth of the ratchet M, and the wheel necessarily advanced in its
rotary movement one tooth. This slight movement of the wheel M, conse-
quently produces a corresponding rotary movement of the axle, and conical
pulley N, N, and by a strap O, a similar movement is communicated to the
lower pulley P, upon the axle of which is fixed a worm or endless screw g.
Now, as this endless screw takes into the teeth of the wheel fixed upon the
axle of the friction cylinder e, whatever quantity of movement is produced by
the means just described will be given to the cylinder e, and the warp beam d,
bearing upon its periphery, will by the friction of the surfaces be consequently
made to turn upon its axis, and by these means to give out the required
length of warp yarns for the next taking up of the cloth. A weighted cord
passes round a pulley fixed on the end of the beam o, causes that beam to
turn and to wind up the cloth. A similar pulley and weighted cord is like.
wise applied to the end of the drawing roller m, by means of which the cloth
is not only held in tension, but is gradually drawn down from the breast
beam, and conducted over the perch n, to the cloth roller o. This drawing
roller m, if properly weighted, will be the principal agent in bringing the
cloth forward (as it is produced by the weaving), and the diameter of this
roller remaining always the same, the tension or power of drought will be
at all times uniform. The rotary power of the drawing roller m, thus obtained
is communicated through its action to the friction disc Q, fixed thereou, and
is made the agent for raising the driving pawle L, in the following way:-
When the batten comes forward for beating up the weftas sliding rod R, con-
nected to the lower part of the leg of the batten is made to strike against
the upper part of a right-angled lever S, seen best in Figure 2. The falling
back of this lever S, as shewn by dots, causes a lever T' mounted on the bottom
rail of the standard to be raised, which lever T carries a vertical rod U. This
vertical rod is connected at top by a joint to a sliding rod W, and at bottom
by a joint to the lever T, where a friction roller V is made fast to the lower
end of the rod U. This roller V is brought into contact with the periphery
of the friction disc Q, by the rising of the lever T as described, and when
these two surfaces thus coinc in contact any rotary movement given to the
disc by the neaus above described, will cause the roller V to move, and with
it the rod U. By these means the rod I, will be thrown into the position
shewn by dots, which will project the sliding rod W against the lower arm of
the cross lever K, and thereby raise the pawle 1., that is, draw it back one

page_text: tooth upon the periphery of the ratchet wheel M, placing the pawle in a
proper situation preparatory to driving the ratchet wheel, the stroke for
effecting which is given by the means before described. Thus it will be
perceived that the delivery of the warp yarns is made contingent upon the
winding up or drawing forward of the cloth by the roller m, for if the striking
up of the reed against the work does not meet with sufficient resistance owing
to the want of weft thread, the force will be insufficient to drive the cloth
over the breast beam 1, consequently, the drawing roller m, and the friction
disc Q, upon its axle will remain quiescent, and the parts V, U, W, not being
.moved, the pawle L cannot be drawn back, therefore the ratchet wheel M,
and the parts N, O, P, g, and e, connected with it, which drive the warp
roller d must remain at rest, and no warp will be given off. As regards the
improved mode of clothing the warp beam of a woollen loom, I should by
.way of preface say that by the ordinary methods of beaming the coils of the
yarns are laid upon the roll with great inequality, that is, the yarns are wound
on in clusters, and with very different degrees of tension, to obviate which my
present improvement is proposed. I take yarns from the warper, and pass them
in the usual manner through coarse reeds in clusters of about twenty yarns in
each. As I wind these yarns upon the warp beam I introduce between each
winding a thickness of paper or other suitable material. This I effect by
employing a sheet of paper or other suitable material of width equal to that
of the yarns spread along the beam, and of an equal length to the entire
length of the warp. From the roll so clothed, I now draw off the yarns,
separate them, and pass them through a reed as fine as that by which they
arc intended to be woven. Through this fine reed I then wind them again on
to another beam, with a roll of paper or other suitable material between
each, winding as before. The last-mentioned beam so covered with the
warp yarns and paper is then to be placed in the loom as at d, Fig. 3, and
the ends of the several yarns being passed through the weaving reed in
the usual way are drawn off the warp beam, in the progress of weaving by
the means above described. The sheet of paper or other material which
intervenes between each winding of the warp, is then simultaneously with the
delivery of the warp conducted to a roller X, upon which it is wound by
means of a weighted cord passed round a pulley at its end. The peculiar
construction of the healds for opening the warps is shewn upon an enlarged
scale detached from the machine at Figure 6; instead of having eyes or loops
as heretofore for the warp yarns to pass through, my improved healds are
.formed of bent wires a, a, which by their hooked ends are attached to two

page_text: horizontal bars b, b, connected to two standards of iron c, c, the latter of which
are made fast to one of the plates or boards p, before described. The yarns
severally are passed round the bend of the wire which retains it, and as the
frame of healds move up and down the sheads of warps open and close. A
variation in the construction of the healds is shewn at Figure 7 (an edge
view), and at Figure 8 (a front view), the healds in this case are of wire,
but in the form shewn at d, and their lower parts are made flat as at e, which
flat parts or stems are cast into leads f, in the same way as the guides of a
lace-making machine. These leads are inserted in or attached to the plate
or board p at bottom, and the wires are left open at top for the purpose of
inserting the yarns between, and passing them round the bent part. My
improved construction of reed is formed ofstraight flattened wirescastintoleads
as the guides of a lace-making machine, and shewn in two views at Figures 9
and 10; 9, 9, are the wires; and, the leads which are inserted into the batten
i. The apparatus which I employ as temples for keeping the cloth distended
in width is shewn at k, in the detached Figures 11,12,13, and 14. Figure 11
is an enlarged representation of part of Figure 3, exhibiting the breast beam
and the opening of the shed of warp; Figure 12 is a horizontal representation
of the same; Figure 13 is a transverse section taken between the breast beam
and the part of the warp where the weaving is finished, that is beaten up, and
Figure 14 is a perspective view of the implement employed as the perpetual
temple. This implement K may be called a clutch, one of which is to be
fastened upon the breast beam near each end. It has a narrow opening
between a pair of chaps for the edge or selvedge of the cloth to pass through.
Behind these chaps a recess is formed, into which a slight rod of whalebone
or other suitable elastic material m is inserted loosely, the reverse end of
which rod is fastened to the harness frame i. The rod by these means is
made to move up and down with the shed of warp, and when the shuttle
traverses the weft yarn is carried over the rod, and thereby made to weave the
cloth with a small loop beyond the list. As the cloth is driven forward over
the breast beam these loops slide a short distance upon the rod m, for the
purpose of keeping the cloth distended to its proper width at the part where
it is woven. I have only to add as respects the operation of weaving
woollen cloths that the arrangement of machinery for weaving may be worked
either by power or by hand, and the peculiar construction of healds and of
reed, as well as the perpetual temples, and the mode of beaming as described,
are not only applicable to the novel construction or arrangement of the parts
of a loom as above set out, but also to other constructions of power looms and

page_text: hand looms for weaving woollens. As regards the dressing of the surface of
woollencloths,myimprovements are representedintheaccompanying Drawings
at Figures 15 and 16. Figure 15 is a longitudinal section of a machine, in
which the cloth while distended by habitting hooks, is passed forward under a
barrel or roller covered with teazles, wire cards, or brushes; Figure 16 is a
horizontal or top view of the same. The piece of cloth to be dressed is placed
in the scray below, from whence one of its ends is conducted between the
rollers a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, and from the last roller is allowed to fall down the
inclined plane i, where the two ends of the piece of cloth are sewn together,
forming it into an endless band. The roller a is mounted upon an axle in a
trough of water, and covered with a felt. The axle of the roller b is mounted
in weighted levers for the purpose of pressing the cloth against the surface
of the felted roller, by which means the cloth will be made to take up a small
quantity of water from the felt. The roller c is a conductor of the cloth, and
turns upon pivots in the ends of the top rail of the machine. The roller d is
mounted in lever arms, which hang upon pivots in the back standards, and is
made to bear against the cloth in order to prevent it slipping forward. Across
the middle of the machine is placed the roller e, which is covered with teazles
or wire cards, or brushes, and its axle turns in bearings fixed on the top rail.
Beneath the roller e is placed the roller f, the axle of which is mounted in lever
arms & suspended upon the fulcrum rod 2. The longer arms of these levers are
weighted for the purpose of pressing the bed roller fagainst theundersurfaceof
the roller e. The roller g is a daawing roller upon the end of the axle, of which
the main driving pulley misfixed, and a pressing roller & mounted inlever arms
suspended from pivots on the back standards, bears against the surface of the
drawing roller g, in order to hold the cloth tightly as it advances,and toconduct
the cloth down to the inclined plane leading into the scray. The cloth having
been thus passed lengthwise between these rollers, it is extended in breadth by
its lists being hooked on to a series of habits n, n, n, n, which slide on a
horizontal rod q on each side of the machine, as shewn at Figure 16. Rotary
power being now applied to the driving pulley m, the roller g will be made to
draw the cloth progressively forward through the machine. Abandpassedround
the rigger o on the opposite end of the axle of the roller g communicates motion
to the pulley pon the end of the roller e, and causes the roller e to revolve with
a greater speed than that at which the cloth travels, and in the same direction.
By these means as the cloth advances the teazles or wire cards or brushes
against the surface of the cloth, and produce the dress. The habitting hooks
n, n, n, adapted to this machine are connected in series in frames, which slide

page_text: upon horizontal bars of iron q, q, attached to the side rails of the wooden
framework, and one of these frames of habit being placed upon the bars q, q,
on each side at the back part of the machine, and the hooks made fast to the
lists by the hands of attendants, the cloth as it is drawn along will cause the
habitting frames to slide forward until they arrive at the front part of the
machine, that is, where the cloth is let fall on to the inclined plane of the
scray when the lists are to be unhooked, and the habit frames removed to
make way for those which are coming onward. A friction lever or break »
may be applied to the roller c when required to give additional tension to the
cloth and the pressure of the bed roller against the cloth under the teazle
card or brushing roller e, may be regulated by sliding an adjustable hooks,
which is intended to support the tail part of the lever, and when this pressure
is required to be removed altogether, the foot of an attendant may be placed
upon the treadle lever t, which, through the connecting rod w, will cause the
tail part of the lever to be raised, and the roller fto be withdrawn from its
contact. I may here observe, that when it is not required to supply water to
the cloth in this operation, I dispense with the rollers a and b,and conduct the
cloth from the scray immediately up to the rollers cand d. In order to clothe
the dressing roller e with teazles, I construct a series of slight frames of tin
plate and wires in the manner shewn at Figures 17, 18, and 19. Fig. 17
represents the frame as seen sideways, and Fig. 18 the same as viewed at the
back part. Between the four projecting horizontal wires I introduce a teazle,
as shewn,from which the teazle when its points are worn away on one side may
be readily withdrawn, and its position changed in order to bring its fresh points
into operation. A series of these teazle frames I attach to a flexible band, by.
passing the foot of each frame under staple wires, as in Figures 19 and 20,
and then wind this band of teazles round the roller in the form of a screw. If
it should be considered eligible to form the teazle roller of larger diameterthan
that represented in the machine, I would then mount the teazles in handles,
as shewn at Figures 21 and 22, confining each teazle between wires, in order
to afford the opportunity of shifting them when required, and these handles
may be attached to the barrel or roller in any convenient way, and also the
same construction of teazle handles may be adapted for any other sort of gig
machinery.
The last feature of my improvements in dressing cloth being an addition to
my former Patent above mentioned (in which I dressed cloth in portions by
distinct operations, by the application of pressure in connection with heatand
humidity), consists in the adaptation of a second process of pressing the cloth

page_text: in portions after that in which heat and humidity has been employed. This
second process is for the purpose of abstracting the heat from the cloth whilst
under pressure, which is effected by the following means:-After pressing a
portion of the cloth in the machine, as described in my former Specification,
I immediately pass that portion of cloth which has just been operated upon
from the heated press into'acold one of a similar construction, placed contiguous
to the former, the platten of which is formed hollow, and kept in a cold state
by being filled with a quantity of cold water, and under this I submit the cloth
to cold pressure. By these means that portion of the cloth which had been
made hot by the former operation of pressing, is now, whilst under the weight
of the platten containing the cold water, reduced in a cold state, and thereby
finished in a more perfect manner than when allowed to cool as in the
former instance.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Dutton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight
(L.S.) JAMES DUTTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of August, in
the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
James Dutton came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery
and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
(L.S.) JAMES DUTTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of August, in
the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
James Dutton came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery
and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Eighth day of August, One thousand eight hundred and