and in the Apparatus Employed therein.
Year: 1886

page_text: and in the Apparatus Employed therein.
I, FRIEDRICH HERMANN WILKE of 83 Athol Road, Bradford, Yorkshire Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of velvets and other
pile fabrics, the pile of which is formed by the weft.
In order to secure a firmer union of the warp and weft threads, I bind down each
Pile section or loop of such pile by several Warp threads instead of one warp thread,
as is the case with the ordinary fabrics of this class, and I employ other new or
improved processes and apparatus in the Manufacture of such fabrics, by which further
important advantages are attained. One of the most important of my improvements
consists in cutting the pile on the Power loom during the process of weaving.
These improvements I effect in the following manner.
I work the shafts of the Warp threads by two sets of tappets, one on each side of
the loom, and both sets working alike, instead of one set, as is the practice at present.
This necessitates a corresponding change in the arrangement of the shafts and a
further variation consists in the lower portion of the healds not being held tight by
the lower shafts, but each heald is held tight by a separate weight attached to it.
This arrangement has the advantage that each separate heald can be moved aside and
regains its position by the suspended weight.
The Cutting Apparatus consists of as many knives as there are splits in the slay
used for weaving the piece (a knife being inserted in each split) or in other words the
number of knives corresponds to the number of lines of velvet which are to be cut in
the piece.
The knives are long thin strips of metal, one end of which is formed into a circular
disc or a hook, which serves for fixing them on what I call the knife board, in such a
manner, that the knives are able to oscillate, that is to say they can be lifted
describing a segment of a circle of which their fixed end is the centre.
The Knife board is mounted behind the Healds and parallel to the Crank shaft.

page_text: The other end of the knives constitutes the cutting edge, which beginning at the
upper blunt edge tapers down to a point level with the blunt bottom edge of the
knives.
The whole number of knives is not employed simultaneously for cutting but divided
and worked in two or more sections according to the quality and other conditions of
the fabrics to be manufactured.
Each knife is passed through a dent or split of the slay and through a mail,
suspended in healds, and the several sections of knives are worked up and down on
separate shafts in a similar manner to that employed for the warp threads in ordinary
weaving. The process of weaving and cutting is as follows:
By the lowering of the respective Shafts one Section of the Knives is lowered until
they rest upon the Slay board, their free extremities, that is the blunt back of their
Cutting edges at the same time resting upon the edge of the woven fabric.
A pick of Pile weft is then thrown in, the shuttle passing over the knives as they
rest on the slay board in the manner hereafter explained, the pick is then beaten up
by the slay and bound into the piece by the Warp threads, and by this operation the
knife joints are also tightly bound or so to speak woven into the piece. At the same
time that the pick of Pile weft is beaten up by the slay the Knife board previously
mentioned, to which all the knives are fixed is moved forward in the direction of the
Breastbeam of the loom by suitable mechanism connected with the Crankshaft or the
Treading or Tappet shaft of the loom. The Cutting edges of the knives are thereby
also thrust forward and cut through the pick of Weft, which bound them to the piece
as before described.
The slay, Knifeboard and Knives then move back to their former positions, the
section of Knives which has just been in action is lifted up, the next section is lowered,
the next pick of Pile weft is thrown in, beaten up by the slay, binding down the
knives, and cut by them.
The operation is in this manner continued, until the piece is finished, which is
therefore woven and cut simultaneously in the manner described.
It will be understood, that each section of knives after having acted is lifted up
above the Shed of Warp threads to make room for the next Section, until its turn
comes again to be lowered. But as after throwing in one or more picks of Pile weft,
the ground weft (which with the ground warp forms the ground or backing of the
velvet) has to be woven in, which ground weft has not to be cut, all Sections of the
knives are kept suspended above the Warp shed, when ground weft is thrown in, and
a section is only lowered and set in action when Pile weft is thrown in.
It has been before mentioned, that the knives rest on the slay board and the shuttle
passes over them in throwing Pile weft. To make this arrangement practicable a
recess is formed in the Slay board of the same depth as the knives, by which means,
when the knives rest upon the slay board in the said recess the necessary level course
is provided for the passage of the shuttle to and from the shuttle boxes. The bottom
of this recess I make moveable so as to admit of being lifted up to the upper level of
the slay board and shuttle boxes when ground weft has to be thrown in, thus
providing a level passage for the shuttle, when no knives are brought into action.
In the foregoing description it has been assumed that the loom used is constructed
for weaving one piece in breadth only; but looms may be constructed on my principle
to weave several pieces simultaneously, in which case of course a number of the
working parts have to be multiplied in accordance with the number of pieces to be
thus simultaneously woven.

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Velvets and other Pile Fabrics
and in the Apparatus Employed therein.
I FRIEDRICH HERMANN WILKE of number 83 Athol Road Bradford in the County
of York, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement and accompanying drawings
My Invention relates to the manufacture of velvets plushes and other fabrics having
a pile formed by cutting floating weft as is well understood. My invention has been
designed for application more particularly in the manufacture of fabrics having the
pile composed of mohair or worsted or otherwise being of such a nature as that the
cutting is not readily effected after the removal of the goods from the loom, but I do
not confine myself to such application. In my invention the pile is cut during the
weaving operation. I employ as many knives as there are races, to be cut and these
knives are passed through the reed spaces so that their forward ends or points are
woven in or are covered by the floats of weft. The rear ends of the knives are hinged
to a knife bar which can be moved to and fro the forward movement effecting the
cutting of the weft floats. The fabric may be woven in an ordinary or suitable
manner so far as regards the order in which the warp ends are lifted for the passage
of the weft but I prefer to employ a special method whereby the pile is more firmly
tied in than when ordinary methods are adopted.
The nature of my invention and the manner in which I propose to carry the same
into effect will be most fully understood when my invention is described with
reference to the accompanying drawings :—
In sheet 1 Fig. 1 illustrates the manner in which the cutting knives are mounted.
Fig. 2 represents a Cross Section of the lay and breast beam and shows the knives
and the arrangements for imparting certain movements to the same.
Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrative of the arrangement and action of the aforesaid
knives. In this Fig. and also in Fig. 2 a represents the reed and bone of the knives
it being understood that the knives correspond in number and distance apart with the
races of the woven fabric. The knives pass through the spaces of the reed there being
usually a knife for each space but this would depend upon the nature of the woven
fabric. The point 61 of each knife or the upper edge of the said point is sharpened
the rear end being hinged to a knife bar c. In the example the rear end of each
knife has a circular enlargement which rests in a groove or hollow in the knife bar
grooved clamps d keeping the knives in place so that whilst being attached by the
rear end to the bar the front or sharpened end is free to be raised and lowered. Each
knife passes through a heald whereby it can be raised into the position indicated by
the dotted lines in order that the shuttle may pass below it or be lowered on to the
lay as indicated by the full lines the shuttle then passing over the knife. The knives
are arranged in two or more sets according to the nature of the fabric. In the usual
practice the knives would be in two sets and be operated by two shafts of healds

page_text: represented by ee the knives in the two sets alternating so that at any time when the
alternate knives constituting one set-say for example the first third fifth and so on-
would be down the intermediate knives constituting the other set-that is to say the
second fourth sixth and so on-would be lifted out of the way of the shuttle into the
higher position indicated by the dotted lines. These movements of the knives are
arranged to be in concert with the healds for each face pick so that the point of each
knife which is down shall be below the centre of a float of the weft. For each pick
of ground weft the whole of the knives are lifted out of the way of the shuttle. The
knife bar c is adjustably secured to the upper ends of two vibrating arms seen at ff
in Fig. 3 which is a longitudinal elevation of parts of the loom. In Fig. 2 a side
view of one of these arms appears. The upper end of each arm is forked to clear the
crank shaft g one arm of the fork carrying the knife bar and the other an antifriction
bowl h. A second bowl is carried by the upper end of a lever i which is hinged at j
to the arm f. A spiral spring at presses against the lower end of the said lever and
tends to keep both bowls pressed into rolling contact with a cam / which is fixed upon
the crank shaft. The lower end of the armfis mounted upon a stud m which is
secured to the framing of the loom. It will be seen that as the crank shaft revolves
the two arms are caused to vibrate by the action of the two cams. The spring k and
lever i are intended to make the motion smooth and silent by preventing back lash
but any other suitable means for vibrating the knife bar may be adopted. Each of
the cams is formed with a swell upon a part of its circumference the remainder
being concentric so that the knife bar remains at rest for a part of each revolution of
the crank shaft that is during the passage of the shuttle and the beating up of the
weft. The action of the parts is as follows. A shuttle carrying pile weft having
made a pick the floats of weft will have been left over the points of the knives which
would be down at the time. The weft is then beaten up the extreme points of
the knives being still below the floats of pile weft and heing as it were woven into the
fabric. The swells on the cams now impart a slight movement to the knife bar in the
direction toward the lay whereby the points of the knives are forced forward below
the floats and sever the same. The cutting of the floats of pile liberates the knives
which are then raised the other set of knives being lowered for the next pile pick.
The ground picks not being cut all the knives are lifted for such picks as hereinbefore
mentioned. The cams by acting upon the bowls upon the levers i return the knives
into position for the next pile pick. The repetition of these movements for the
successive pile picks results in the formation of a cut pile. The harness may be of an
ordinary construction but I prefer that the healds shall be attached only to a top shaft
which lifts the healds the lowering being effected by sinkers or wire weights n which
are secured to the lower ends of the healds. When either set of knives is down such
knives rest upon a movable supporting plate or bar o with which the lay is provided
the shuttle passing over the tops of the knives. When the whole of the knives are
lifted for a ground pick the plate o is raised to the extent of the depth of one of the
knives so that the support for the shuttle during its picking movement shall always be
at the same height above the lay. The plate o is carried by rods which are provided
with bowls q which rest upon tapets which are fixed upon a tapet shaft s.
said tapets are formed with swells which by acting upon the bowls q at the required
times lift the plate o to the necessary extent. In the production of Figured velvets or
cut pile fabrics ordinary Jacquard harness may be employed to raise and lower the
knives in the order required to produce the desired pattern. Fig. 4 sheet 3 illustrates
such an arrangement & representing the ordinary lifter board of a Jacquard machine.
The knives pass through mails which are worked by the said machine all the knives
being raised at the parts where the ground is being woven when producing a cut pile
figure on a plain ground the knives being raised and lowered at the parts where figure
is being woven in the manner as when producing plain cut pile fabrics, as will be
readily understood. The fabric may also be produced with a pile in two or more
colours as for example with a black pile figure on a red pile ground. To effect this
the picks of black face weft are woven alternately with the picks of red face weft.
For each black face pick all the knives are lifted at the places where the figure appears.
The

page_text: From these examples it will be understood that a great variety of other effects may be
produced owing to the separate cutting of each float of pile weft. In my Provisional
Specification I proposed to work the warp heald shafts by means of two duplicate sets
of tapets but I have not included such an arrangement herein and therefore make no
claim in respect of the same. Any suitable means for actuating the healds may be
employed and other parts of the loom not illustrated may be of an'ordinary description.
It is has been herein mentioned that I prefer to bind in the floats of face weft
more firmly than is usually done. The drafts on sheet 7 illustrate the method of
weaving which I prefer to adopt, the black squares indicating the warp and the white
squares the weft. In all the drafts the ground picks are indicated by g, the picks
not indicated by letter being face picks. In Figs. 1 to 4 the face picks float over
three to nine warp ends to form the pile and are tied in by passing under one over
one and under one end. In Figs. 5. 6. and 7 the face picks float over five to nine
ends to form the pile and are tied in by passing under three and over two ends
in plain cloth order. In all the other examples it will be seen that the pile would be
well tied in so as to be better able to withstand the action of the knives. In Figs. 1
to 16 inclusive the ends are lifted for the ground picks in plain cloth order but in the
remaining Figs. the ends are lifted in the order to produce twill backs.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
(1) In the weaving of velvets and other cut pile fabrics the knives passing through
the reed spaces and raised and lowered by healds or harness so that every float of face
weft passes over a knife point in combination with arrangements for moving forward
the knives after each face pick in order to sever the floats of weft substantially as and
for the purpose set forth and indicated.
(2) The knives hinged by their rear ends to a vibrating knife bar and passing
through healds or mails and reed spaces the said knives being divided into sets
corresponding in number with the number of face picks to the round such sets being
raised and lowered in such order as that a knife point shall be woven in by every float
of pile weft which it is desirable to cut in combination with parts which move forward
the said knife bar at a suitable time so as to sever the said floats of pile weft
substantially as set forth and indicated.
(3) The combination of parts substantially as and for the purpose set forth and
indicated herein before with reference to the drawings on sheets 1. 2. and 3.
(4) In a loom for weaving and cutting pile fabrics the lay board arranged to be
lifted for each ground pick and lowered for each face pick for the purpose set forth.
(5) The method of weaving pile fabrics and of cutting the floats of pile weft
during the weaving substantially as set forth and indicated with reference to the
weavers drafts in sheet 4 and to the drawings in sheets 1. 2. and 3 attached hereto.
DL::dom of T.... 1907
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.