A NEW AND IMPROVED FABRIC, OR NEW AND IMPROVED FABRICS, AND ALSO CERTAIN MODIFICATIONS OF MACHINERY FOR MAKING THE SAME, WHICH MODIFICATIONS OF MACHINERY ARE APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
PROCTER WESTHEAD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer,
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 Second day of November, in the seventh year of Her reign, and in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joshua
Procter Westhead, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Joshua Procter Westhead, my exors, adiñors, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said Joshua Procter Westhead, my exors, adñiors,
and 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 and Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW AND IMPROVED
FABRIC, OR NEW AND IMPROVED FABRICS, AND ALSO CERTAIN MODIFICATIONS OF
MACHINERY FOR MAKING THE SAME, WHICH MODIFICATIONS OF MACHINERY ARE
APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Joshua Procter Westhead, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High

page_text: 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
Joshua Procter Westhead, do hereby declare my Invention of a new and
improved fabric, or new and improved fabrics, and also certain modifications
of machinery for making the same, which modifications of machinery are
applicable to the manufacture of woven fabrics, to consist of a certain fabric
or fabrics herein-after described, and in certain modifications of machinery
for making the same, and the nature of these fabrics and modifications of
machinery, as well as the manner in which the same are to be constructed or
performed and carried into effect, will be seen by reference to the annexed
Drawings and the following description. The scale to which the Drawings
are made is marked thereon, and the same letters and figures of reference
indicate the same parts throughout.
Fig. 1 represents a new and improved fabric, consisting of a cylindrical braid
or small ware cord composed of fine metallic wire, or of silk, mohair, worsted,
cotton, or linen yarn or thread, or other fibrous materials, or of any of such
material combined, formed on a gut or wire or string, and ornamented with or
by a fancy figure or design, forming or constituting an improved fabric or braid;
the novelty or improvement of which is that the braid or cord here represented
may be manufactured in a great variety of ornamental patterns or designs, and
indeed of any figured pattern or design to which the jacquard or other loom may
be adjusted, and is not restricted to the small range of pattern or design which
can be produced in the ordinary plaiting or braiding machine. Fig. 2 and 3
represent a fabric or manufacture which is formed of an unequal thickness, and
may be made in various shapes or forms, two styles or forms of which are
shewn, Fig. 3; or the latter of which is somewhat similar in appearance or
exterior. form to what is called coronation braid, but distinguished from that
fabric by an entirely different combination of the cotton, wool, silk, or other
fibrous material of which it is composed. This fabric or manufacture is formed:
either with or without a thread, of doubled or single yarn, of suitable material,
forming a central or internally incorporated string or gut. Fig. 4 represents
a fabric or manufacture formed by a series of loops of gymp, wire, or other
material held together by warp threads, twisted in the process of weaving,
and. passing down or near the centre of the gymp, forming, when twisted and
woven, an ornamental braid or trimming, which, on account of the peculiar
construction of the warp, admits of its being arranged in a serpentine
or winding form, upon any suitable ground, and is therefore well adapted for

page_text: decorating articles of apparel and drapery; and Fig. 17 is a similar fabric with
only one loop. Fig. 5 is a fabric or manufacture in which a ribband, or other
manufactured cloth, or figured or plain warp threads of silk, cotton, hair,
worsted, linen, or other fibrous material or wire are combined with a warp
twisted during the operation of weaving, thereby imparting ornament or
strength, or a more perfect selvage, and producing by this new combination of
weaving an ornamental trimming or decorative fabric, or a strong and durable
tape or banding, as may be desired, as shown at Fig. 6. The first of these
fabrics is formed in the jacquard loom; and the mode of proceeding I shall now
describe. Fig. 7 represents a side view of part of a jacquard loom; and Fig. 8
a front view of the same. In these Figs., A represents the fast and loose
pulleys from which the machine is driven; B, the slay or lay; and the other
parts are delineated only to show the position in which the gut or string is
placed. The action of the jacquard loom by which the pattern is produced on
plain surfaces is well known, and the reed used in this loom is similar to an
ordinary reed, except that space is left in the centre to admit the gut or wire
or string on which the pattern is placed, as seen at Fig. 8. This gut, wire, or
string, which is tinted blue at Figs. 7 and 8, is given off and uniformly taken
up at the same speed as the warp of the fabric; and also partakes of an
alternating or reciprocating motion, being raised and lowered by the action of
the jacquard machine or other suitable mechanism, while the silk or other warp
threads of the braid or cloth are intersected by the weft passing alternately
above and below the substance of the gut, wire, or interior string, so as to
encompass and cover the same, the ornamental warp or thread for producing
the required design being spread upon or over the whole surface of the gut,
wire, or string, or confined to only a part of the surface, according to the
arrangement of the mechanism of the loom.
The second fabric or manufacture, represented at Figs. 2 and 3, is formed
by a modification and adaptation of rollers for drawing cotton and other
fibrous materials, as seen in front and side view at Figs. 10 and 11, and
also in plan at Fig. 12. Fig. 13 is a different arrangement, in section, of
a pair of front and back drawing rollers for producing the same fabric. In
these Figures 10, 11, and 12, C represents a pair of front drawing rollers,
and D a pair of back drawing rollers; E is the sliver or roving supplied
from the back; and F, the thread passing between the front rollers only,
and forming the centre when such is required; while G represents the bobbin
on which the fabric is wound or taken up, as yarn is taken up by the
bobbin on the throstle frame. The fabric or manufacture may also be
twisted and taken up as in mule spinning, or on a roving frame. In this

page_text: modification of machinery the front rollers are driven at a uniform and con-
tinuous speed, and consequently produce a uniform drawing action, while the
back rollers are moving slower or are at rest. But the back rollers receive
only an intermitting motion, which may be produced in various ways, one of
which is effected by the action of a dog or catch, as shown at f, Figs. 11 and
12, which takes into the ratchet wheel g, placed on the axis of the lower back
roller D. This dog or catch is supported on an eccentric point on the revolving
face plate H, see Figs. 11 and 12, so that every revolution of this face plate
traverses the catch f and forces forward the ratchet g in the direction of the
bent arrow, giving out a quantity of roving, which is drawn down by the con-
tinuous action of the front rollers C, necessarily making it smallest while the
back rollers are at rest, and thus producing an inequality or variation in the
thickness of the fabric, represented at Figs. 2 and 3, which may be woven or
used in a variety of ways for small ware or other weaving, and for other useful
and ornamental purposes.
Another modification of machinery for the same purpose, as shewn at
Fig. 13, consists in fluting or cutting out portions of the surface of the lower
back roller, by which the roving is allowed to slip forward towards the front
drawing rollers C periodically, by means of which their drawing action
becomes intermittent, and the consequent irregularity in the fabric is produced.
In this modification the revolutions of the back rollers D are continuous; and
the fabric resembles that represented at Figs. 2 and 3. The third fabric,
represented at Fig. 4 and 17, is formed in a loom constructed with a
modification of machinery combining the circular or twisting movement, or
traverse of the warp, together with the application of one or two pieces of
wire or gut, of any suitable material on which loops or series of openings in
the weft are formed. Figs. 16 represents a sectional elevation of this modi-
fication of machinery, with the ordinary arrangement for common circular
weaving. In this Figure, I represents the revolving wheels for traversing and
twisting the warps; i, i, are pieces of guts, on which the loops of the weft are
formed, and are fastened or secured stationarily at the ends K. These pieces
of gut i, i, are traversed or elevated and depressed at each shed or opening of
the warp, and allow the looped part of the weft to form itself upon them, and
afterwards to slip off in the direction of the arrow as the weaving proceeds.
The fourth fabric, seen at Fig. 5 and 6, is also formed in a loom with a modi-
fication of machinery, consisting of the jacquard machine, or other mechanism
for adjusting the design or position of the warp threads, in combination with
the circular and twisting motion of the wheel I, Figs. 14, 15, used for other
portions of the warp, by which ribs or stripes are introduced, and the fabric

page_text: generally, or its selvages materially strengthened and improved, while the
intermediate portion of the surface may be ornamented according as the
jacquard or other mechanism for the purpose is arranged.
To make the nature of my new and improved fabrics better understood, I
have attached a small portion of each to the annexed Drawing, as well as
delineated the same in the various Figures already referred to.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention of "A New and
Improved Fabric, or New and Improved Fabrics, and also certain Modifications
of Machinery for making the same, which Modifications of Machinery are
applicable to the Manufacture of Woven Fabrics," together with the manner
in which the same are to be constructed or performed, and carried into effect,
I do not claim any of the separate or well-known parts of machinery herein-
before described; but I do claim as my Invention, individually and severally,
the new and improved fabric, or new and improved fabrics, annexed to the
Drawing, and represented and described at Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, 6, and 17,
particularly the invention, construction, and fabrication, either by the modifi-
cation machinery represented and described at Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 13, or
by any other suitable machinery, the fabric, manufacture, roving, or yarn of
unequal and diversified thickness, as represented at Figs. 2 and 3.
And I further claim those modifications of machinery represented at
Figs. 7, 8, and 9, for weaving an ornamental pattern on a gut, wire, string, or
cord, as represented and described at Fig. 1.
And, lastly, I claim the modifications of machinery represented and described
at Figs. 14, 15, and 16, for producing fabrics similar to those represented at
Figs. 4 and 5, and 6 and 17; the characteristic of the latter, or Figs. 5 & 6,
consisting in the combination of plain or ornamental weaving along with
circular weaving, by means of which twist is introduced into a portion of the
warp in the process of manufacture; all which being, to the best of my know-
ledge and belief, new, and never before practised in that part of Her Majesty's
Dominion called England, I deliver this as my true and faithful Specification
of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Procter Westhead, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
JOSHUA PROCTER (L.s.) WESTHEAD.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Joshua Procter Westhead came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowleged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand