CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING PILED FABRICS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME; I, WILLIAM
NEWTON, of the Office for Patents; 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 Twentieth day of January, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Newton, my executors, 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 mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MANUFACTURING PILED FABRICS," being a communication from a Foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said William Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be enrolled 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said

page_text: William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is 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 :-
These Improvements in Manufacturing Piled Fabrics consist in a peculiar
mode or method of forming tufts of worsted and other fibrous materials, and
of introducing such tufts in the manufacture of carpets, rugs, and other piled
fabrics, for the purpose of producing patterns or devices in every variety of
colours and tints on the face of such goods. In order to render these improve-
ments evident, and their adaptation obvious to the weaver, I will trace the
course of proceeding necessary, in connection with this improved method and
apparatus, to the production of a figured piled carpet. In the first place I
provide a series of yarns, dyed of the various colors and gradations of tints
required to produce the several parts of the pile pattern or device intended
to be woven in the face of the carpet or other piled fabric. To each of these
several gradations of colours and tints I assign a letter or number for the
purpose of identifying them, and having done so wind the respective tinted
yarns each upon a distinct bobbin. These bobbins are then mounted loosely
upon axles in a creel or other suitable frame, and the ends of the yarns
severally drawn through holes in the creel table above, to each of which
holes a letter or number is applied, answering to the assigned letter or
number of the coloured or tinted yarn passed through it.
I then pro-
vide the design or pattern intended to be woven, which pattern is generally
formed by small squares of color on the Berlin plan. From this squared
design or drawing the operator must then read off by the squares or
scale the situations in which the tufts of the variously tinted yarns are to be
placed in the face of the fabric to produce a corresponding pattern. In order
to apply this reading off of the pattern to the required situations and arrange-
ments of the tufts of yarn for each of the successive rows of weft or lashes
of the weaving, the operator takes strips of card, as many strips in all as the
amount of lashes required to complete the whole length of the pattern, and
upon these strips of card severally he writes down or registers in succession
the assigned numbers or letters answering to the several tinted yarns required
in their order to form the tufts in the breadth of pattern in each lash. The
creel table being furnished with yarns in the way described, I place upon that
table a rack frame, the upper horizontal representation of which is given in
the Drawing at Figure 1, and in transverse section, taken vertically at Fig. 2.
A, A, is a long bar, affixed to brackets B, B. Upon the upper side of this

page_text: bar, extending its whole length, there is a rack or series of pins or studs
inserted, a few of which only are shewn at C, C, and on the side of this rack
a scale is placed, graduated, with numbers pointing out every tenth stud, which
studs are intended to correspond with the number of tufts of yarn to be put
into every lash of the weaving. A rectangular frame is attached to the
brackets B by joints, and upon this frame is affixed a long bar E, E, which
lies opposite and parallel to the bar-A, and to the rack or series of studs C, C.
In the outer edge of this bar F there is inserted a series of open guides
(a few of which only are shewn in the Figure), corresponding in position and
number with the studs of the rack bar. These open guides G, G, are seen
more perfectly represented, and of their real size, in the auxiliary top view
Fig. 3, and front view Fig. 4. This rack frame, constructed as described,
being brought and laid upon the creel table before mentioned, the operator
proceeds to loop round the several studs and the corresponding guides lengths
of yarn selected in succession, according to the various colours and tints
required for producing the series of tufts for one lash of weaving. To do
this the register cards are taken in their proper order of succession, on each
of which have been written the letters or numbers of the series of
consecutive yarns intended to be arranged for one lash of the carpet;
and agreeable to the instructions given in each card the operator places
round the respective studs C, and corresponding guides G, the several yarns
in looped lengths, beginning with the first stud and guide, and proceeding
until the rack frame is filled from beginning to end with looped lengths of
yarn of the various colours and tints required for one lash. The first frame
being thus charged, it must be removed from the creel table, and a second
similar rack frame filled in the same way with looped lengths of tinted yarns;
and so on other similar frames must be filled, agreeable to the instructions
written upon the successive cards, there being as many register cards and
as many rack frames to be filled with looped yarns as there are lashes
required to complete the entire length of the pattern or design to be woven.
These rack frames, thus filled with the looped lengths of tinted yarns, are then
taken in succession and severally placed in a machine for the purpose of
drawing the lengths of yarn from the rack frame into peculiarly formed
combs, preparatory to their being introduced into the loom. This machine
and its peculiarly formed combs I will now describe. Fig. 5 of the
Drawings. represents an end view of the machine; Fig. 6 a top hori-
zontal view of the same, and Fig. 7 is a section taken vertically in the
direction of Fig. 5, a few inches within the sliding frame (hereafter described),
for the purpose of shewing the situations of the combs more perfectly.

page_text: Upon a wooden table a, a, a, a, are firmly fixed the standards and braces of
iron b, b, that support the stationary and moving parts of the machine. A
horizontal shaft c, mounted in the standards, extends across the machine from
side to side. On this shaft there are two pinions d, d, and at the other end
a hand wheel e, for the purpose of enabling the operator to turn the shaft.
These pinions d, d, take into two rack bars f, f, affixed to the side rails of a
rectangular sliding frame or carriage 9, 9, 9, 9; consequently, by the rotation
of the shaft c and pinions d, d, the carriage 9 is moved to and fro longitu-
dinally, sliding by means of horizontal guide rods h, h, which pass through the
standards as seen in Figs. 6 and 7. In the vertical connecting plates of the
standards, best seen in the last-mentioned Figures, there are notches formed
to receive the ends of the comb bars i, i, i, eight of which distinct comb bars
are shewn hanging in the notches in Figs. 6 and 7. The construction of these
comb bars being of main importance, one of them is represented in the
detached partial views at their ordinary real size, in the auxiliary Figures 8
and 9, Fig. 8 being an end view, and Fig. 9 a front view of a portion of one
of the comb bars. The bar is formed of metal at i, i, i, having a strengthening
back of wood for the convenience of lightness, and of being readily handled
by the operator. To the upper side of the bar the combs j.j.j, (formed of
bent tin or other thin metallic plate) are attached in erect positions by solder
or other means. The several combs are placed in each bar at a little distance
apart, just sufficient for allowing of the warp threads of the loom to be passed
between them, as will be hereafter described, the series of combs extending
the whole length of the bar (though only a few are shewn in Fig. 6), and they
must exactly correspond in guage, or position and number, with the series of
open guides and studs of the rack frame mentioned before in reference to
Figs. 1 and 2. At the top of each of these combs there is an eye formed,
which eyes are intended severally to receive the lengths of yarn previously
looped upon the studs and guides in the rack frame; any suitable number (I
propose eight) of these comb bars i, with their series of combs j, all formed
exactly alike, being placed across the machine, supported by the standards, as
shewn in Figs. 6 and 7, (the eyes of the combs in the several comb bars being
all perfectly in coincidence,) they are held steadily in the standards by screwing
down upon their ends a clamp, as represented at k, in Figs. 5 and 6, where
they are seen in their situations ready to receive the lengths of yarn which are
to be drawn into the eyes of the combs by hooks or needles 1, from the rack
frame charged with the selected yarns, as already explained.
I will now describe the means by which the lengths of yarn are drawn from
the rack frame into the combs. To the back or left-hand bar of the sliding

page_text: frame g, g, (see Figs. 6 and 7) a series of hook-ended needles 1, 1, 1, are made
fast by being set into a notched bar in, and confined by a clamp bar n above.
These needles must correspond in number and coincide in position with th
eyes of the combs j, into which they are guided, by passing through slits in a
bar P, fixed against the standards b, b, as shewn best in Fig. 7. The rectan-
gular frame g, g, which may now be called the needle carriage, moves to and
fro as before described, by its horizontal rods h, h, sliding through apertures in
the standards b, b. This carriage being brought forward into the situation shewn
at Figs. 5 and 6, the long series of needles extending over the whole breadth
of the machine will be all passed through their corresponding eyes in the series
of combs j, extending along the several comb bars i, and the hooks at the ends
of the needles will then stand protruding beyond the last range of combs, as
at q, q, q, in Figs. 5 and 6. The hooked ends of the needles having been thus
brought through the combs, the rack frame, filled with the selected yarns as
first described at Figs. 1 and 2, is then brought and placed accurately in the
machine, as shewn at Figs. 5 and 6, its bracket arms B, B, fitting firmly into
notches cut in the front rail of the sliding carriage g. By these means the
looped ends of the lengths of yarn passed round the several open guides 9 in
the rack frame will be all brought exactly over the corresponding hooks at the
ends of the several needles protruding through the combs. The rack frame D,
with its row of guides G (as represented by dots in Fig. 5), must now be
allowed to fall on its hinge joints into the inclined situation shewn in Fig. 5,
by which means the hooked ends of the stationary needles, as the open guides
descend, will severally catch the ends of the looped yarns and draw them off
the guides as the rack frame passes down to the inclined position, the reverse
ends of the loops of yarn still remaining attached to the stationary rack or
studs C. The series of selected yarns being now all connected to the hooks
of the needles, a backward movement of the sliding carriage to the situation
shewn by dots in Fig. 5 will cause the needles to draw all the lengths of
looped yarn from the rack frame through the eyes of the several series of
combs (as seen in Fig. 7), where they are to remain ready to be transferred to
the loom. The combs of all the eight comb bars having been thus filled, the
operator cuts through all the yarns crossways of the machine by means of
scissors, shears, or other cutting instruments passed along and between the
edges of the several comb bars, by which means the combs of the several
(eight) bars will all remain occupied with short lengths of selected yarns, each
comb being properly charged to form the row of tufts for a corresponding lash
in eight separate looms, all weaving the same pattern. These comb bars are
now severally taken to the respective looms for the purpose of introducing the

page_text: tufts of yarn into the fabrics, the different comb bars charged with yarns
answering to the several lashes being brought to the loom in succession as the
process of weaving goes on. A side elevation of a carpet loom of the ordinary
construction is shewn at Fig. 10, in which a vibrating lever frame or crutch r
s mounted, working upon centres fixed in the side frames of the loom at s.
In the upper part of this vibrating crutch lever sockets are formed at t, into
which the cylindrical ends of the comb bars i are to be introduced for the
purpose of conducting the tufts of yarn in the combs into the warp threads of
the loom. The vibrating crutch lever carrying the carrying the comb bar, is
first raised into the situation shewn at W, in Fig. 10, the sheds of the warp
being open. The comb bar i is then inverted by the hands of the weaver, and
the warp threads of the upper shed caused to pass into the spaces (seen in
Fig. 9) between the combs. A long needle, carrying a suitable thread of
weft, is then passed through the transverse openings (seen in Fig. 8) in the
range of combs under the shed of warp, as seen at x, in Fig. 10. The
vibrating crutch frame, with the comb bar, is then brought forward to the
situation shewn by dots at y in Fig. 10, and the sheds of warp changed by the
weaver in the ordinary way, by which the middle parts of all the small lengths
of yarn in the eyes of the combs become bound into the warps. A shoot of
suitable weft thread is then thrown between the warps by a shuttle, when the
slay, on being brought forward smartly, so as to strike against the upper part
of the crutch frame, will knock the crutch frame away with the comb bar,
when the comb bar in tumbling over to the situation shewn by dots at z, will
have withdrawn the combs from the short lengths of yarn previously held
in their eyes, and leave those yarns as small tufts inserted into the face of the
fabric. A further shoot or shoots of suitable weft thread is then thrown
between the sheds of warp, and on beating up hard, the tufts are securely
fastened into the fabric which finishes one lash. It is scarcely necessary to
say, that all the following lashes of the weaving are to performed in the same
way, until, by a succession of lashes, having the properly selected tufts of tinted
or coloured yarns in each, the piled pattern is completed upon the face of the
fabric. As the end of the short pieces of yarn thus introduced as tufts may
stand up at irregular heights on the surface of the carpet or other fabric when
woven, it may be necessary to crop the face of the pile, so as to reduce it to a
level surface. This may be done by any of the ordinary means or machinery
used for shearing piled goods, when the work will be complete, and exactly
correspond with the Berlin or other design first provided.
Having now described the Improvements in Manufacturing Piled Fabrics
communicated to me, and the manner of carrying them into operation, I desire

page_text: it to be understood, that the particular features of novelty intended to be
claimed by me, under the above in part recited Letters Patent, are,-
yarns
Firstly, the method described of selecting variously-tinted or coloured
of worsted or other suitable material for the manufacture of ornamental piled
fabrics, and arranging such yarns in racks or frames so that they shall severally
correspond with the various tints or colours required for forming the tufts in
the weaving of the several lashes or weft lines of a given design.
Secondly, the peculiar construction of rack frame described, with its open
guides corresponding to the studs or rack, around which the lengths of yarn are
looped.
Thirdly, the comb bars and combs in which the short lengths of selected
yarn are held and transferred to the loom.
Fourthly, the machine carrying the hooks or needles, by which the yarns
are drawn from the rack frame into the eyes of the combs; and,
Fifthly, the means by which the short lengths of yarn are introduced into
the loom and brought up to produce tufts of pile.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.