Improvements in Figured Pile Fabrics.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 7th Feb., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Figured Pile Fabrics.
I, JAMES WILLIAM BARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at
Norristown, in the County of Montgomery, State of Pennsylvania, United States
of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to produce a figured fabric in which the figured
portion is raised and the ground portion depressed, in which the raised pattern or
figures are composed of pile warp threads of the fabric, and in which the ground or
depressed portion is pileless and plain and is composed of warp and weft threads
interwoven together.
My invention may be embodied in carpets known as Brussels, Wilton, or tapestry,
or it may be embodied in fabrics of any kind or description in which a raised pattern
or figure on a depressed ground is desired.
In the accompanying drawings my invention is shown as embodied in a fabric
similar in construction, so far as the figured portions thereof are concerned, to a
Wilton carpet.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a square of fabric constructed in accordance
with my invention.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 3 a transverse section, of a fabric
embodying my invention, and Figure 4 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 5 a
transverse section, of another fabric embodying my invention, said fabric of
Figures 4 and 5 differing from that of Figures 2 and 3 only in the arrangement of
the binder warp threads.
The threads of the fabrics shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, are, to illustrate clearly
their relative disposition and arrangement, magnified and represented as being
to some extent separated from each other.
The fabric shown in the drawings is composed of figuring warp threads
lettered a¹ a² a³ a', of binder warp threads B C, of upper weft threads D, and of
lower weft threads E.
The upper weft threads, the lower weft threads, and the intermediate figuring
warp threads, are bound together in the usual manner by the binder warp
threads B C, and the pile of the fabric is formed by the figuring warp threads, a¹ a² a³ a²,
which are raised by the jacquard, and which are cut or left uncut according to the
character of the carpet or other fabric to be made.
In the fabric shown in the drawings, the figuring warp threads are shown as
raised to form a pile only at given and selected points. In the construction of the
ordinary Wilton carpets, and of other fabrics of like character, the whole surface
of the cloth is covered with the pile material, and if the fabric be figured the
figures are made by the use of figuring warp threads of different colours. In
fabrics embodying my invention, the figured portion of the fabric is raised and the
ground portion is depressed, as shown especially in Figure 1 in which the figured
portions are designated F and the ground portion G, and a distinguishing charac-
teristic of a fabric embodying this invention is that the figuring warp threads are
raised by the jacquard only at such points of the fabric as are to be provided with
raised portions or figures, and that the ground or depressed portion of the fabric is
pileless and plain and is composed of the warp and weft threads interwoven together
in any usual and well known manner.
In my fabric the figures of the pattern are composed, in the usual manner, of
figuring warp, which may be of one colour, or of a variety of colours, raised above

page_text: the level of the body of the fabric, and either cut or uncut as desired,-while
the portions of the surface of the fabric other than those occupied by the figures
are without raised figuring warp and are composed of the body of the fabric
which the absence of the raised figuring warp leaves exposed to view,-by
which arrangement the figures stand bodily out from or in relief against the
ground.
By reference to Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings it will be observed that in the
construction of the fabric therein illustrated, two weft threads are employed on the
upper surface of the fabric to one on the lower. In Figure 2 the pair of binder
warp threads B C, each respectively interweave with three of the upper weft
threads, passing over the first, under the second, and over the third, then pass
down to and beneath a lower weft thread, and then pass up to the upper surface of
the fabric and interweave with three more upper weft threads, and so on, said
threads being preferably so oppositely disposed or arranged however as not to both
exist above or both below a given weft thread.
In Figure each binder warp thread passes separately over two upper weft
threads, then down beneath a lower weft thread, then, passing by the two succeeding
upper weft threads over the two upper weft threads next beyond them, the
arrangement being such that each individual binder warp thread passes beneath
each lower weft thread and over each pair of upper weft threads omitted by the
other binder thread.
The arrangement of the binder threads however is not material, any requirement
as to their precise disposition being foreign to the invention.
H are what I term surface warp threads, being warp threads worked into the
fabric by being interwoven with the upper weft threads. The members of each
pair of surface warp threads are shown in the drawings as having been in the
weaving of the fabric, alternated or crossed after each shoot or pick of the upper
weft.
This arrangement of the surface warp threads is advantageous but not essential.
These surface warp threads, in conjunction with the upper weft threads, form a
compact and closely woven upper surface to the ground portions of a fabric of this
character and not only present to the eye a regular and closely knit texture but
also constitute a wearing surface of exceptional durability. The surface warp
threads do not interfere with the elevation of the figuring warp threads by the
jacquard to form the raised figures of the fabric, said surface warp threads being,
in such elevation, pushed to one side of the tuft of the figuring warp so raised, and
being concealed by it.
The surface warp threads described differ from the binder warp threads inasmuch
as the latter necessarily pass down beneath the lower weft threads, while the former
do not necessarily do so, although they might be so disposed if preferred; further-
more the binder warp threads are usually of linen or cotton, while the surface warp
threads may be of worsted, cotton or silk; said surface warp threads differ from the
figuring warp threads in that they are operated upon by the ordinary shed forming
mechanism of the loom, and not by the jacquard; the surface warp threads and the
figuring warp threads may be of the same material if desired.
If the ground of the fabric is to be of a solid colour, the binder warp, upper weft,
and surface warp threads, should match in colour. If desired a variegated or
mottled effect may be produced by having them of different colours.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. As an article of manufacture, a carpet or other fabric having raised and
depressed portions, the raised or figured portion of which is composed of the pile of
the fabric, and the ground or depressed portion of which is pileless and plain and is
composed of the warp threads and the weft threads of the fabric woven together, as
shown, or in any well known manner.

page_text: 2. As an article of manufacture, a fabric composed of figuring warp threads,
binding warp threads, and weft threads, in which the figures of the pattern consist
of pile surfaces formed by raising the figuring warp in the usual manner, and in
which the surface of the ground is formed of binding warp threads and weft threads,
substantially as set forth.
3. As an article of manufacture, a fabric composed of figuring warp threads of
worsted or kindred material, binding warp threads of linen or kindred material,
surface warp thread, an upper weft thread formed of worsted or kindred material,
and a lower weft thread, in which the figures of the pattern consist of pile
surfaces formed by raising the figuring warp in the usual manner, and in which
the ground portion is, as to its upper surface, formed of an upper weft thread of
worsted or kindred material, interwoven with surface warp threads and binder
warp threads, substantially as set forth.
4. In a fabric composed of figuring warp threads, binder warp threads, and upper
and lower weft threads, the surface of which fabric consists of figures composed of
raised figuring warp threads and the ground of which is composed of unraised warp
and weft threads, surface warp threads interwoven with the upper weft threads,
substantially as set forth.
5. In a fabric composed of figuring warp threads, binder warp threads, and upper
and lower weft threads,-the surface of which fabric consists of figures composed of
raised figuring warp threads and the ground of which is composed of unraised warp
and weft threads, surface worsted warp threads interwoven with the upper weft
threads, substantially as set forth.
6. In a fabric embodying figuring warp threads, binder threads, and weft threads,
the surface of which fabric consists of figures composed of raised figuring warp
threads, and the ground of which is composed of unraised warp and weft threads,
surface warp threads which exist above the unraised figuring warp threads and
which are interwoven with and crossed between the successive upper weft threads,
substantially as set forth.
Dated this Eighth day of December A.D. 1890.
JAMES WILLIAM BARKER.