IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christopher Nickels, of York Street, Lambeth,
in the County of Surry, Gentlenian, and Frederick Thornton, of
the Borough of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Designer,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher Nickels
and Frederick Thornton at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 5th October 1852.
We, CHRISTOPHER NICKELS, of York Street, Lambeth, in the County
of Surry, Gentleman, and FREDERICK THORNTON, of the Borough of
Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Designer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING " to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the weaving of fabrics in what are called
warp machines. And the object of our improvements is to obtain more
solid fabrics by peculiar means of combining the looping process of
manufacture with inlaid threads, both as weft thread and unlooped
longitudinal threads, either elastic or non-elastic; and our Invention
consists of employing two needle bars, or one bar with two rows of

page_text: needles, with space to allow of the fabric between them when combined,
the use of four or more guide bars, together with shuttles or guides, for
inloving transvorce on waft thonde
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Christopher Nickels and Frederick Thornton in
the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 5th April 1853.
O ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
CHRISTOPHER NICKELS, of York Street, Lambeth, in the County of
Surrey, Gentleman, and FREDERICK THORNTON, of the Borough of
Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Designer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October,, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Christopher Nickels and Frederick
Thornton, Her special licence that we, the said Christopher Nickels
and Frederick Thornton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Christopher Nickels and Frederick Thorn-
ton, 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 WEAVING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Christopher Nickels and Frederick Thornton, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manuer 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 we, the said Christopher Nickels and
Frederick Thornton, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly

page_text: described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof
(that is to say):
This Invention relates to the weaving of fabrics in what are called
warp machines. And the object of our improvements is to obtain more
solid fabrics by peculiar means of combining the looping process of
manufacture with inlaid threads, both as weft thread and unlooped
longitudinal threads, either elastic or non-elastic. And our Invention
consists of employing two needle bars, or one bar with two rows of
needles, with space to allow of the fabric between them when combined,
with the use of four or more guide bars, together with shuttles or
guides for inlaying transverse or weft threads. 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.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The nature of each of the views shewn by the Drawings being
written thereon, it will not be necessary to repeat the same here. And
it will only be desirable to remark that the same letters of reference are
used to indicate the same parts in each of the Figures. In this machinery
two sets of needles are employed, which it is preferred should have
separate and independant motion, and with each of these rows or sets
of needles suitable guide bars work, with their warp threads, to
produce a looped fabric with longitudinal and transverse inlaid threads.
And in order to introduce such longitudinal inlaid threads we apply a
stationary row of guides, and for the transverse threads we use a guide
bar on each side of the inlaid longitudinal warp, such guide bars
having as many guides on them as there are breadths of fabric making
in the machine, and they move a distance equal to the breadth of
the fabrics to lay in weft or transverse threads on each side of the
stationary warp, and between the stationary or inlaid warp and the
looped fabrics produced on the needles.
The needle bars a, and b, have simply a rising and falling motion,
but in an inclined direction, and they rise and fall alternately, so that
only one of the rows of needles is in position to be lapped by its warp
threads, the other row of needles descending out of the way when one

page_text: comes into position. By descending the needles cause the work to be
knocked over the heads of the needles. x, is a fixed row of guides
which guide the longitudinal inlaid threads correctly, and we can either
use all india-rubber threads (preferring vulcanized india-rubber threads)
or all non-elastic threads, or some of each. The work descends, as it is
made, between the fixed plates or bars e, c, the work being received on
to a beam, as is well understood. The Drawings show the different
positions that the several parts assume in working, by which a machinist
will readily understand the nature of the machine. d, d, are two guide
bars, each, as before stated, carrying as many guides as there are breadths
of fabric making in the machine, and they are simply moved to and fro
to lay their threads under their needles, and before the other guides
lap their threads, in order that the same may be shut in between the
stationary longitudinal inlaid warp threads and the looped fabric which
is produced by the working of the other guides with their respective
needles. The two sets of guide bars are each carried and worked by
what is technically called a "machine," and they lap their threads on to
their respective needles as heretofore in single machines; but in this
arrangement the needles move to and fro, and therefore the "machines"
simply lap, and the guide bars are shogged to produce the character of
lapping desired, as is well understood. Each of the two sets of
guides A, B, consists of three guides, the lower one e', in each set
carrying an ornamenting thread, which may be looped in with the others
in any order desired, and more than one such guide bar may be used.
The two upper guides e, e, of each set work with their needles as if
making a single fabric, as is well understood, and the guides are out of
action when their needle bar goes back. The work is knocked over
the heads of the needles by their descent in consequence of the work
resting on one of the bars c, so that the needles pass out of the loops
previously on their stems. f, is the presser bar to the set of guides A,
and g, is the presser bar of the set of guides B. The presser bars press
on their respective rows of needles (on the needle bars a, and b,) when
the needle bars a, b, have gone part of the way back, so as to bring the
lapped threads thereon into the beards of the needles, and each presser
bar continues the pressure till the movement back of the needles bas

page_text: well landed the work on to the beards of the needles, so that in the
further movement back of the needles they may pass out of the work.
We have stated that we prefer to have two needle bars working inde-
pendently of each other, but two needle bars may be combined together
at intervals (between the breadths), and act as one needle bar, in which
case the two rows of needles would be fixed parallel, and they would
rise and fall vertically, so as to bring their work in their descent
against one of two bars c, such as above described. In this arrangement
two sets of guides and two "machines" would be used to lap their
threads on to their respective rows of needles, as described, and such
"machines"in this arrangement would work directly over the heads of
the needles, and alternately lap their threads, so that there would be
fresh loops produced on only one row of needles each time of the needle
bar descending. Two presser bars would be used, one with each row of
needles, and a presser bar would be caused to press only when its
needles have fresh lappings thereon from the guides. The longitudinal
and transverse threads in this arrangement would be the same as that
above described, but the guides for the inlaid transverse threads would
work vertically, and so as to lay their threads between the needles and
the lapping warp threads, as before explained. We would remark, that
we are aware that single warp fabrics have before been made with
longitudinal and transverse inlaid threads, which machinery worked, in
some respects, similarly to the means above explained, and the same was
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to the said Christopher
Nickels with others, but in the present arrangement or combination the
peculiarity consists of causing two sets of needle bars to work with two
sets of guide bars so as to produce one fabric having inlaid longitudinal
and transverse threads.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, we would have it understood that we
make no claim to any of the parts separately, nor do we confine our-
selves to the details shown and described, as the same may be varied
without departing from our Invention, so long as the peculiar character
of our improvements as herein described be retained. And we would
have it understood that what we claim is, the combination of mechanism

page_text: herein described, whereby the work produced on two rows of needles
by looping warp threads thereon are caused to receive longitudinal and
transverse inlaid threads, and to combine together into one fabric.
In witness whereof, the said Christopher Nickels have hereunto set
his hand and seal, this 5th day of April, in the year of our 5
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness,
H. W. CARPMAEL.
CHRISTOPHER NICKELS. (L.S.)