IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WARP FABRICS." IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WARP FABRICS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ball, of Ilkeston, in the County of Derby,
and John Wilkins, of Nottingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WARP FABRICS."
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WARP FABRICS."
Sealed the 25th September 1855, and dated the 18th July 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ball and John
Wilkins at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 18th July 1855.
We, WILLIAM BALL, of Ilkeston, in the County of Derby, and JOHN
WILKINS, of Nottingham, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WARP FABRICS" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture peculiarly ornamented warp
fabrics, by using extra warp threads of different color to those of the ground or
body of the fabrics, such extra and different color threads not being constantly
on the front or face of the fabric, but only at intervals, and across the face or
front of the fabrics. For this purpose extra guides are used in the warp frame
or machine, either to each needle or only at intervals, according as it is desired
to have the different color threads carried by such guides, introduced as a stripe
all across the face or front of a fabric, or only at intervals. At other or inter-
mediate times such extra and different color warp threads are worked into the

page_text: body or back of the fabrics, and so as not to appear on the face or fronts; and
when pile or fleece is produced to such ornamental fabrics, the pile or fleece
is at the back or reverse side to that at which the ornaments are produced by
the extra and different color threads.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Ball and John Wilkins in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BALL, of Ilkeston, in the County of Derby, and JOHN WILKINS, of Nottingham,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Ball and John Wilkins, Her special licence that we, the said
William Ball and John Wilkins, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Ball and John Wilkins, 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 make, 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 WARP
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William
Ball and John Wilkins, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said 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 William Ball and John Wilkins, 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 object of this Invention is to manufacture peculiarly ornamented warp
fabrics by using extra warp threads of different color to those of the ground or
body of the fabrics, such extra and different color threads not being constantly

page_text: on the front or face of the fabric, but only at intervals, and across the face or
front of the fabrics. For this purpose extra guides are used in the warp
frame or machine, either to each needle or only at intervals, according as it is
desired to have the different color threads carried by such guides, introduced as
a stripe all across the face or front of a fabric, or only at intervals. At other
or intermediate times such extra and different color warp threads are worked
into the body or back of the fabrics, and so as not to appear on the face or
fronts; and when pile or fleece is produced to such ornamental fabrics, the pile
or fleece is at the back or reverse side to that at which the ornaments are
produced by the extra and different color threads.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to describe
more fully the manner of performing the same.
In carrying out our Invention, we will suppose that it is desired to produce
ornamental stripes all across the warp fabric at certain intervals, of a different
color to that of the ground or body of the fabric. In order to produce this
result, we prefer to employ three guide bars A, B, C, arranged as shewn in the
Diagram, Figure 1, of the Drawing hereunto annexed. Each guide bar in
such case carries as many guides and warp threads as there are needles, so
that there will in such case be threo full sets of threads to each ucedle. The
top and bottom bars A, C, carry the warp threads, which constantly work with
the needles to produce the ground or body of the fabric; the middle guide
bar B carries the extra ornamenting warp threads, of a different color to those
carried by the top and bottoni guide bars A, C. So long as the top and bottom
bars A, C, work with the needles to produce the body or ground of the fabric,
the extra different colored warp threads carried by the middle guide bar B will
not appear on the face of the fabric, but will be laid in between the fabric, and
covered by the two sets of warp threads A, C, so as to produce a plain fabric; but
when the middle guide bar B is caused to lap its warp threads over the needles,
then such threads will appear as a stripe all across the face of the fabric, and
the breadth and distance apart of such stripes will be governed by the cuts of
wheels employed to actuate the guide bar B.
When it is desired to produce an ornamental check on the face of warp
fabrics according to our Invention, then four guide bars A, B, C, D, are
employed, as shewn in the Diagram, Figure 2. The guide bars A and C carry
full sets of guides and warp threads to produce the ground or body of the
fabric, and the guide bars Band D carry extra warp threads (of a different color
or colors to those carried by the guide bars A, C,) to produce ornamenting
stripes in opposite directions. The guide bar B carries the extra ornamenting
warp threads to produce a stripe across the fabric, as previously described, and

page_text: the guide bar D carries guides with the extra ornamenting warp threads, which
constantly work with the needles opposite to them to produce the longitudinal
stripes on the face of the fabric, such guide bar D only having guides and
extra warp threads opposite the needles where longitudinal stripes are to be
produced. The arrangement of the guide bars B and D, and of the extra
ornamenting guides, may be greatly varied to produce ornamental designs on
the face of warp fabrics without departing from our Invention; nor do we
confine ourselves to the number of guide bars carrying extra ornamenting warp
threads of different colors to those forming the ground or body of the fabric,
the arrangements previously described being only intended to show the simplest
modes of carrying out our Invention, so that a workman acquainted with this
class of machinery may clearly understand the nature of our improvements;
and on examining Figure 3 of the Drawings, it will be seen that the warp
threads may be carried by independant guides actuated by jacquard machinery.
so as to produce very varied ornamental designs on the face of warp fabrics
with extra ornamenting warp threads of different colours to those warp threads
which constantly work to produce the ground or body of the fabric.
A is a guide bar carrying as many guides as there are needles; B, D, are
independent guides (one to each needle), each carrying two warp threads, the
uppermost warp thread in each independant guide B being an extra orna-
menting thread, and the others the warps which constitute the other full set of
warp threads, which constantly work with the full set of warp threads A to
form the ground or body of the fabric, the independant warps only being caused
to lap on to the needles when the tails of the jacks are acted upon by the
jacquard or other pattern surface, which causes them to appear on the face of
the fabric according to the pattern desired.
When it is desired that the back surface should have a pile or fleece pro-
duced thereto, we prefer that an additional guide bar, as heretofore, with an
additional complete set of guides, should be employed; in which case there
will be three complete sets of threads to the needles to produce the ground of
the fabric with its pile or fleecy back, and extra guides with different colored
threads to produce the ornaments on the face; and the extra guides in such
cases may be one or more to each needle, or less than one to each needle,
according to the nature of the ornaments desired to-be produced-on the face of
the fleeced or piled fabrics. At the same time we would remark that a fleece
or pile may be made at the back with less than a complete set of guides.
We have not thought it necessary to show the cuts of wheels for producing
any particular design, nor the apparatus for giving motion to the several parts,
as a workman acquainted with this class of machinery will readily understand

page_text: from the foregoing description, aided by the Diagrams, how to carry out our
Invention, and he will know how to vary the cuts of wheels or other pattern
surfaces employed, whether jacquard or otherwise, according to the different
patterns of ornamented fabrics he wishes to produce, such fabrics in each case
consisting of three full sets of threads to the needles, or of more than three sets
of threads to the needles.
And we would remark that it is not new to use three or more threads to
cach of the needles employed, fabrics having been before made consisting of
three and more threads to each needle according to former Letters Patent ;
we do not therefore claim to use three or more threads to each needle in
making warp fabrics generally; but what we claim is, the manner of pro-
ducing ornamented fabrics when three or more full sets of threads are employed
to the needles by applying additional threads of different colors, as hercin
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Ball and John Wilkins, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
WILLIAM BALL. (L.S.)
JOHN WILKINS. (L.S.)