IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CRAPE, OR SUBSTITUTE FOR CRAPE
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTOPHER
NICKELS, of York Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of February, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Christopher Nickels, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Christopher Nickels, my exors, admors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Christopher Nickels, my exors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF CRAPE, OR SUBSTITUTE FOR CRAPE;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, that I, the said Christopher Nickels, shall cause a parti-
cular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said 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
Christopher Nickels, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say-
The manufacture of crape has heretofore been performed by weaving suitable
fabrics in looms by means of warp and weft from a shuttle, by which the two
sets of threads are at right angles to each other, the one set proceeding in
parallel lines longitudinally of the fabric, and the other set of threads running
completely across the fabric from selvage to selvage; and such fabrics so
woven are subsequently submitted to the craping process, and are stiffened,
dressed, and finished, as is well understood.
Now the object of my Invention is, first, to manufacture crape, or a sub-
stitute for crape in lace machinery which work with warp and bobbin threads;
and, secondly, to manufacturing crape, or a substitute for crape, in lace or warp
frames which work by looping warp threads into a fabric.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
The construction of the various descriptions of lace machinery which works
with warp threads and bobbin threads being well known, it will not, in
describing the first part of my Invention, be necessary to enter into a descrip-
tion thereof, and it will only be necessary to explain what is to be the state of
the machinery used in order that this part of my Invention may be carried
out under the most favourable circumstances, and I believe it to be the best s
means of carrying out this part of my Invention to use a single-tier machine,
where all the carriages are capable of swinging or moving through between the
warp threads in one row, and when only crape is to be made, uncombined with
any fabric of lace, that all the warp threads should be worked by one guide bar,
actuated by a suitable cut of wheel. The comb or bolt bars are fixed, and the
machine is to be so arranged that every time the carriages swing or move
through between the warp threads, the warp threads by their wheel are to be
racked or moved, so that the carriages may come through different spaces in
the warp to those which they passed through in the previous swing or move-
ment. It will be readily understood by a workman acquainted with the s
working of a lace machine under such circumstances, that if the guide bar
wheel were so cut as to cause the warp threads to rise and fall constantly an
equal number of spaces of the combs or bolts, that a close weaving would

page_text: be produced, the bobbin threads only proceeding a short distance across the
fabric. Thus, supposing the rises and falls on the guide bar wheel to be equal
to two spaces of the combs or bolts, the bobbin threads would each interweave
only with two warp threads, thus producing a very different fabric to that now
used when making crape from fabrics made with warp having weft thrown
across from selvage to selvage in an ordinary shuttle loom; and although such
fabrics made in lace machines would be suitable and better than those at
present in use for making crape when treated by similar processes to what are
now resorted to for making crape from fabrics produced in shuttle looms by
means of weft thrown into warps by shuttle, yet such is not the only means
of making crape by the aid of lace machinery, nor is it the one I prefer; for it
will be found that if the rises and falls on the guide bar wheel are not equal
at each succeeding movement, the irregularity thus produced will cause the
fabrics so made to run up and assume a craped character, and such fabrics will
only require to be stiffened and finished in the ordinary manner without under-
going the craping process; and it will be found that there will be this advan-
tage in this fabric, that its craped character is its natural condition, and
therefore it may be dressed and got up again and again. The irregularity in
which the warp threads are caused to be moved may be varied and yet
produce the craped character of fabric, varying slightly according to the
slightly differing irregular order in which the warp threads are moved after
each swing or movement of the warp threads.
Figure 1 shews a cut of a guide bar wheel which I have used, and found to
produce a well-craped fabric, and very similar in appearance to those hereto-
fore manufactured. In making crape or substitutes for crape in this descrip-
tion of lace machinery, I employ similar yarn of silk or other suitable fibrous
material to that now employed for making crape by the ordinary means, and I
have found that the fabric is improved by having the same twisted in opposite
directions for the warp and bobbin threads, though that is not absolutely
necessary. In making this fabric, the machine is caused to work in such
manner that the carriages with the bobbin threads swing to and fro from the
back to the front and from the front to the back, the guide bar being moved
after each swing or movement of the carriages, the work being taken up by the
ordinary points. The fabric thus produced will be found to assume a craped cha-
racter immediately the same is made wet, and the same is to be dyed and got up
or dressed in the ordinary manner, but the fabrics thus produced do not require
any craping process. There is great advantage in thus making crape by the
aid of lace machines, as the same may be made in wide pieces, either composed
of several breadths laced together, or only in one piece; and when in several

page_text: :
breadths, the same may be separated by draw or lacing threads, as is well
understood in manufacturing fabrics in lace machines. And there is another
advantage in making such craped fabrics in lace machines, that the same may
be made in combination with lace or other fabric which the machine is capable
of producing thus, supposing it desired that breadths of crape should be pro-
duced in a lace machine combined with lace fabrics, then all the warp threads
which were to make the different breadths of craped fabric would be worked
by the one guide bar, acted on by a suitably cut wheel, in the manner above
described, whilst those portions which were to make the lace in combination
with the breadths of craped fabric would have the warp threads actuated by
two or more guide bars, or other suitable apparatus, for operating upon the
warp threads, according to the pattern of fabric desired to be combined with
the craped fabric, the cut of wheels for making the crape and the lace fabric
being suitably cut for causing the two combined fabrics to be produced and
combined together, and in this manner may a great variety of novel fabrics be
produced, combining craped fabric with different patterns of lace fabrics. And
I would state, in respect to this part of my Invention, that I do not confine
myself to the use of any particular lace machine so long as it is suitable for
working with warp or longitudinal threads, and bobbin or traversing threads
and the cuts of wheels for the crape fabric and also for the lace fabrics com-
bined therewith, may be varied without departing from my Invention; at the
same time I would wish it to be understood that I make no claim to the lace
machinery, the first part of my Invention consisting of the new manufacture of
craped fabrics produced thereby.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of my Invention, which
relates to the manufacture of new descriptions of crape fabrics, by employing
that description of machinery called warp or warp lace frames or machines,
and this may be accomplished by a single set of warp threads, one to each
needle, or else a double set of warp threads, two to each needle. The con-
struction of warp or warp lace frames or machines being well understood, it will
not be necessary to describe the same in my Specification, and it will only be
necessary to describe the mode of working this machinery in order that this part
of my Invention may be fully understood. Supposing it desired to make crape
fabrics in warp machines which shall assume a craped character without going
through the ordinary process of craping, I employ an ordinary warp frame,
and when using only one set of warp threads, as all the threads are to be
worked and looped in a similar manner, I only use one guide bar, and I use
similar yarn of silk or other fibrous material, such as has heretofore been used,
when making crape; and, by preference, I do not have all the yarns twisted in

page_text: the same direction, but have half twisted in one direction and the other half in
the opposite direction, and I use these threads alternately.
Figure 2 shews a cut of wheel for actuating the guide bar previous to each
time of lapping the threads on to the needles, this wheel being so arranged
that it may rise two spaces from its lowest position, rising one at a time and
falling one at a time; but this may be varied, and the bar by its wheel be
capable of rising more than two spaces, the difference in the distance which the
threads rise and fall producing a slight difference in the texture of the fabric;
but in all cases where the crape fabric is to be made, the fabric is to be a close
fabric, so as to offer the proper substance to produce the character of crape; and
although the guide bar by its wheel is made capable of rising two or more
spaces or gates, in working, the guides do not rise that distance at one time,
but in succession over the single needles, rising one at a time and then
returning, thus producing a close-looped fabric; and although I have described
the using only one guide bar and its wheel; yet it will be evident that when
using only a single complement of warp threads two guide bars with their
wheels may be used, and a similar effect be produced. But when I use two
guide bars I prefer to use a double complement of warp threads, that is,
two to each needle, each guide bar carrying one set of the warp threads; but
I do not cause them to work at the same time, but work two, three, or more
courses with one set, then working one, two, or more courses with the other,
and so on, by which a very peculiar fast crape fabric will be produced; and
it will be found on wetting these fabrics that they assume a craped appearance,
and the same being dyed, stiffened, and got up without the ordinary process
of craping (to which fabrics woven with warp and shuttle are subjected), a
peculiar manufacture of craped fabrics or substitutes for crape will be produced.
I would remark that I am aware that various descriptions of fabrics have
before been made in warp or warp lace machines, varying in the order in
which the warp threads are looped, but such machines have not heretofore been
so arranged and worked that the various warp threads, though capable of rising
and falling several spaces, they have not heretofore been so worked by a succes-
sion of single rises as to produce the requisite widths or breadths of close fabric
to obtain a craped character of fabric suitable as a substitute for crape. And it
should be stated, that this description of machinery, like twist lace machinery,
above described, is capable, as is well known, of producing breadths of fabric
side by side laced together in one sheet, which are capable of being separated
with good selvages without cutting, and when desired the breadths of craped
fabrics may be combined with a lace or ornamental fabric, in which case I

page_text: should prefer to use a single complement of warp threads on two guide bars
for the making the crape fabric, and other guide bars with their lace wheels
for making the lace portions of the fabric to be combined in working with the
craped portions of the fabrics.
I would wish it to be understood that I do not, in respect to this part of my
Invention, claim the machinery herein described, and the same may be varied
so long as the peculiar character of close fabric be produced, by causing each
warp thread to rise a space equal to or to work in succession with two or more
needles, rising one needle at a time, and producing a fabric in the character
of or similar to crape, as herein described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I am
acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood that
what I claim is,
First, the mode of manufacturing crape or a substitute for crape by employ-
ing fabrics made in twist lace machinery.
And, secondly, I claim the mode of manufacturing crape or a substitute for
crape by applying looped fabrics made in the manner herein described.
In witness whereof; I, the said Christopher Nickels, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.