IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILE OR NAP FABRICS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Smith Bottomley, of Bradford, in the County of
York, Designer, and James William Crossley, of Brighouse, in the same
County, Dyer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PILE OR NAP FABRICS."
Sealed the 3rd April 1857, and dated the 7th October 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Smith Bottomley and.
James William Crossley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents
with their Petition, on the 7th October 1856.
We, SMITH BOTTOMLEY, of Bradford, in the County of York, Designer, and
JAMES WILLIAM CROSSLEY, of Brighouse, in the same County, Dyer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF PILE OB NAP FABRICS," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to that class of fabrics where the pile is produced
from weft, and consist in employing for such weft threads yarns of worsted,
alpaca, or mohair, with cotton warp in place of woollen yarns heretofore
employed for such purpose, in combination with means of treating the fabric.
when woven, and previous to the cutting up of the rows of weft to form the
nap or pile, by which especially to produce a light fine description of nap or
pile fabric, suitable for ladies' dresses, mantles, window curtains, table covers;

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Smith Bottomley and James William Crossley in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 6th April 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SMITH
BOTTOMLEY, of Bradford, in the County of York, Designer, and JAMES
WILLIAM CROSSLEY, of Brighouse, in the same County, Dyer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Smith Bottomley and James William Crossley, Her special licence that
we, the said Smith Bottomley and James William Crossley, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Smith Bottomley
and James William Crossley, our 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
nake, 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 PILE OR NAP FABRICS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Smith Bottomley and James
William Crossley, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or
them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said

page_text: 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Smith Bottomley and James
William Crossley, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
The improvements relate to that class of fabrics where the pile is produced
from weft, and consist in employing for such weft threads yarns of worsted,
alpaca, or mohair, with cotton warp in place of woollen yarns heretofore
employed for such purpose, in combination with means of treating the fabric
when woven, and previous to the cutting up of the rows of weft to form the
nap or pile, by which especially to produce a light fine description of nap or
pile fabric suitable for ladies' dresses, mantles, window curtains, table covers,
and other purposes. When the pile weft is of alpaca or mohair, we prefer
that the binding weft be woollen or worsted.
The velvets made from worsted or woollen yarn for weft threads have
hitherto been of a strong heavy character, having neither the lightness of
texture nor the appearance of either cotton or silk velvets, nor in any way
adapted to become substitutes for the last-mentioned articles; whereas the
fabric produced by these improvements possesses lightness of texture analagous
to silk or cotton velvets with a distinct and erect pile, and susceptible of being
dyed or printed in any color without laying or in any way disturbing the
position of the pile. The process we adopt is as follows:-We take a cotton
warp, about the quality known to the trade as 80' double twist, or still smaller
in the thread when the fabric is desired to be extremely light in texture.
Though we prefer to use cotton warp as stated, we do not hereby confine
ourselves to any particular thickness of thread, nor to the use of double cotton
twist; single twist may be used with nearly similar results. The material
forming the weft threads, and from which the pile is produced, may be either
of worsted, woollen, mohair, or alpaca, or any combination of such materials,
and it is spun in the ordinary way, but contains this peculiarity, of having in
most cases double the amount of twist in it. We deem it of great importance
in the manufacture of this fabric to have the weft threads made from hard
twisted materials, for we find that in addition to more perfectly fastening the
pile in the body of the cloth, it causes such pile to be longer, and stands more
erect and distinct, not milling together so easily as if the weft were loosely
twisted. The thickness of the weft threads we employ is varied, as we want

page_text: a lighter or a heavier cloth; thus we prefer to use what is known to the trade
as 60° when making a light fabric, and when making a heavy cloth, we take
30 or 40%, or any intermediate numbers, in accordance with the weight of
cloth we desire to make. Another method of obtaining this end may be
practised by augmenting or diminishing the quantity of the weft threads in the
fabric.
We do not confine ourselves to the precise method here detailed of using
the weft spun as stated with the extra twist in; weft loosely twisted may be
used, but not so, advantageously. The process we adopt for opening up the
sheds for the introduction of the weft threads in the manufacture of this fabric
is very similar to the method adopted in the manufacture of some cotton
velvets, such as employ eight warp threads to complete a pattern, for instance.
The main difference consists in the introduction of the binding threads at
shorter intervals, for we prefer to have only two face picks betwixt every binding:
thread, whereas in most cotton velvets a much larger number of face picks is
introduced betwixt the binders. We do not bind ourselves to the exclusive
use of two face picks between the binders; a very similar effect may be pro-
duced with three or more face picks between, but we conceive that the pile is
better fastened into the body of the cloth when made as we prefer, viz', with
two face picks between.
The accompanying drafts show the manner in which we introduce the warp
threads into the heddles, or healds as they are sometimes called; they are eight
in number, see Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the mode of raising the warp
threads for the introduction of the weft threads, the binding and face picks, in
succession; Figure 3 shows the binding picks only; Figure 4 shows the face
picks only.
After the warp is introduced into the healds, as by Figure 1, we proceed to
open up the sheds in the following manner :-
.
First shed. The first, third, fifth, and seventh warp threads are raised, and
the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth are depressed. A weft thread is then
introduced by the ordinary process, and when thus introduced becomes a
binding pick.
Second shed.-The first warp thread is raised, and all the rest depressed.
. Another weft thread is now introduced floating over seven ends of warp, and
thus becomes a face pick.
: Third shed. The fifth warp thread is now raised, and all the rest depressed.
Another weft thread is introduced floating over seven ends of warp, and
forming another face pick.

page_text: Fourth shed.-The second, fourth, sixth, and eighth warp threads are raised,
and the first, third, fifth, and seventh are depressed. Another weft thread is
introduced, forming another binding pick.
Fifth shed. The third warp thread is raised, and the rest are all depressed,
forming another face pick, the weft thread floating over seven warp threads.
Sixth shed. The seventh thread is now raised, and all the rest depressed.
Another weft thread is introduced floating over seven ends of warp, and form-
ing another face pick. Every succeeding six weft threads are a mere repetition
of the preceding six described. The practical weaver will thus perceive that
every binding thread is what is known by the term of a plain pick; he will
also see that the loops which have to form the pile when cut are weft threads
floating invariably over seven threads of
warp.
After the weaving of fabric according to our improvements, and before the
cutting up of the loops to form pile, it is scoured, cleansed, boiled, crabbed,
steamed, and set, during which the cloth is shrunk, and the weft to form the
pile, as well as that used as binding weft, becomes well fastened and felted
into the body of the cloth. The cloth is then dried, and the pile cut, after
which such fabric is dyed; or it may be printed, brushed, subjected to a Lewis'
machine, and then pressed, or otherwise, as desired; or the dyeing or the
printing may be effected before the cutting. The method which we have
adopted in this part of the process is as follows:-We pass the fabric before
cutting the pile into a trough containing boiling water, in which we sometines
add soda, soap, or ash. In this trough the fabric is wound upon a roller
placed therein, and during the winding, pressure is also given to it by another
roller, by which finish is given to the fabric. From this trough we sometimes
pass the fabric into others similarly provided, and it thereby becomes shrunk
in breadth, with a tendency more firmly to fasten the pile threads as well as
to make the cloth finer.
To produce additional shrinking to the fabric another small roller may be
used in the troughs for the fabric to pass under before being wound on the
roller or beam. The rollers upon which the fabric is successively wound have
motion given to them. The other rollers acting therewith have motion given
them by friction of contact with the fabric. From the last of these troughs
we conduct the fabric into a cylinder, perforated for the passage of steam
thereto to set it; the cloth or fabric is then dried, and the pile cut; it is
then dyed or printed, brushed, the surface thereof levelled by having passed
through a Lewis' machine, and then pressed, or otherwise, as desired; it is
then passed over a pipe, perforated to conduct steam thereto; thence it is

page_text: conducted with its back in contact with the surface of heated cylinders to dry
it, and at the same time this drying has the effect of causing the pile to stand
up on the surface. The dyeing or printing may, however, if desired, take
place before the cutting.
The improvements also relate to subjecting fabrics, when the pile is produced
from woollen weft, to the second part of the process referred to, and before
being cut up, dyed, brushed, &c.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be carried into effect, we would have it understood that we.do
not confine ourselves to the precise details referred to, so long as the com-
bination of means be retained, substantially as herein explained.
In witness whereof, we, the said Smith Bottomley and James William
Crossley, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Second day
of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-seven.
Witness,
Јоди Ввоок.
SMITH BOTTOMLEY.
(L.S.)
JAMES WILLIAM CROSSLEY. (L.S.)