IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUPAC- TURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING THE SAME
Year: 1851

page_text: LIVESEY'S SPECIF
ON.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoпN
LIVESEY, of New Lenton, in the County of Nottingham, Draughtsman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of
September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Livesey, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Livesey,
my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Livesey,
my exors, adñiors, or 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,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUPAC-
TURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING THE SAME;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said John
Livesey, shall cause à particular description of the nature of my said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled 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
John Livesey, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully set forth and described
in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Draw-
ings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first; in certain improvements in and additions to
bobbin net or twist lace machinery; and second, in the manufacture and pro-
duction of improved fabrics, resembling velvets, terry velvets; plushes, Brussels
carpets, velvet and tapestry carpets, rugs, and other piled and cut pile fabrics;
also of certain fabrics resembling figured or embossed velvets, of fabrics
resembling tapestry or Berlin wool needlework, and of certain ornamental
lace fabrics, with velvet figures, internal purls, spots, and ornaments, from
bobbin net or twist lace machinery, by the aid of such additions thereto, and
adaptations and alterations therein, as herein-after described.
In order to make my Invention more easily intelligible, I will first refer to
such parts of ordinary lace machinery as will be sufficient to enable me to
explain my Invention, then describe my additions to such machinery, and
afterwards explain my arrangements and adaptations in order to produce the
fabrics before mentioned..
Figure 1 is a vertical cross section of the principal parts of à double tier
twist lace or bobbin net machine. A is the framework; A', A', the upper
rails; B, B, two-tie beams, which are bolted to uprights A2, A3, mounted
upon the ends of the frame; C, C, are the two centre bars, from which the
point bars, F, F, are suspended by the arms F1, F2; E is the facing or work
bar; G, G, the bolt bars, and G', G', bolts, for which combs may be substi-
tuted; H, H, are the driving bars by which the bobbin carriages are partly
actuated. These bars are connected in the usual manner to quadrants;
at each end of the machine; H' is one of the quadrants; I, I, are
the locking bar's; G, G³, are bobbin carriages; K, K, are the guide bar
brackets; M is the main shaft; L, L, L, L,' are warp beams; O¹, the
cloth beam, and O a guide beam, the surface of which is studded with short
points or pins, by which it takes firm hold of the cloth, and keeps it in a
distended state upon the surface of the facing or work bar E. The power
employed to keep the cloth in this stretched condition is generally applied by
a ratchet to the end of the cloth beam, but in my improved arrangements of
machinery it is applied to the end of the guide beam, while the work beam

page_text: is merely weighted to such an extent as to wind up the cloth as it is formed.
My additions, to this machinery are as follows:-Figures 2 and 3 are full size
side and edge views of an instrument attached to a carriage for the purpose of
forming a pile on the work; it consists of a piece of steel g³, shewn on an
enlarged scale in Figure 3+, which has a slot 96 for a knife to enter (when
cut pile fabrics are to be produced as afterwards explained), and an eye at 9,
through which a piece of steel wire g* is passed, the two ends of which are
bent down, as shewn in the Drawing, and flattened towards the lower ends,
where they are fastened to one side of the top of the carriage G²; small
grooves being cut in the side of the carriage to allow of the outer sides of
the carriage and the wires to be flush with each other; the part rests
upon the work bar, as shewn, the ground of the fabric intervenes when at
work.
Figure 6 is a single tier machine, in which the instruments P, P, for
forming the pile are mounted in a bar fixed in the guide bar brackets, K, K,
instead of being affixed to the bobbin carriages; in this case there are six
guide bars; the front one 1 is for the pile thread, which is supplied from the
beam I the next four bars, 2, 3, 4, and 5, carry the straight threads, which
are furnished from the beam L³, and the back one 6 carries the lacing threads,
which are worked on the beam L³. With these arrangements eight motions
are required to form a complete course of the work. First motion: the carriages
being in front all the four bars, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are on the dead stop, and the
lacing thread bar 6, also on the dead stop, the pile thread bar 1 being one
gate to the right, then pass the carriages into the back. Second motion: rack
the front bar 2 one gate to the right, the lacing bar 6 one gate to the right,
and the pile thread one gate to the left, then pass the carriages into the front.
Third motion rack pile thread one gate to the right, and pass the carriages into
the back. Fourth motion: rack the bar 3 one gate to the right, then pass the
carriages into the front. Fifth motion rack the bars 4 and 5 one gate to the
right, the lacing thread one gate to the right, and pass the carriages into the
back. Sixth motion: rack the bar 5 one gate to the left, the lacing thread one
gate to the left, and the pile thread one gate to the right, then pass the car-
riages into the front. Seventh motion rack the pile thread one gate to the
left, and pass the carriages into the back. Eighth motion: rack the bar 4 one
gate to the left, and pass the carriages into the front when the course is finished;
but it is to be observed, that while eight motions have taken place to complete
the course, two distinct piles have been formed to each carriage, every pile
being the double of the thread used. A pile similar to that which is formed
on the machine just described may be produced by fewer, motions, by using a

page_text: set of jacks to push the pile threads into an open stump-bar in the front, by
which the pile threads may be racked over the pile-forming instruments.
Figures 7 and 8 are side and edge views of another instrument or set of
instruments for effecting the sanie purpose; they are shewn applied to
the machine represented in Fig. 6. They consist of straight pieces of flat
steel wire P; P, cast into leads P1, P1, fastened to a bar P³ extending across
the machine. The upper parts of the pieces of wire P, P, have slots as
before.
Figures 10 and 11 are side and edge views of another instrument or set of
instruments for the same purpose. It consists of pieces of steel Q (baving
a slot Qs for the purpose before mentioned) of the shape shewn in the Drawing
cast into leads Q, Q, and fastened to the bar Q which extends across. the
machine. In consequence of the position of the bar Q in the machine, this
instrument or set of instruments can only be used when cut pile fabrics are
to be produced. Q is a cam, Q' a lever, Q³ a connecting rod, and Q³ an armí
affixed to the bar Q; Q, is another arm, by which the bar Q' is jointed at Q
to the standard A. The revolution of the cam Q acting through the con-
nections Q, Q, and Q, causes the pile-forming instrument to move backward
and forward to an extent sufficient to draw the pile out; the point a of the
part projecting at the back of the instrument must never, however, pass out
in front from between the ground threads.
Figure 14 is a front elevation of part of a twist lace machine fitted with
instruments for producing internal purls, spots, or figures upon lace fabrics
at any determinate positions, however irregular, by means of the warp threads.
A, A, bobbin carriages; B, B, other carriages which do not carry bobbins,
but have each affixed to their upper edge a distending instrument a², for
forming the purls or figures; these instruments are formed of horsehair, fine
wire, or other suitable thread; b, b, are the points; C is the front landing
bar.
Figures 4 and 5 are full-sized front and side views of an instrument for
cutting the pile; the cutting part is formed of a thin steel blade D', inserted
into a slot or mortice formed in the lower end of a holder Do, where it is kept
in position by a wire spring DB; the small portion of the blade which projects
beyond the foot of the holder D is sharpened into a cutting or knife edge.
It will be seen that by the formation of the blade D'; the length of pro-
jection can be easily regulated when ground away by sharpening.
Figure 12 is a full-sized side view of a differently shaped holder for the
cutting blade, in other respects it is the same as that just described; for every
jile-forming instrument there is a cutting-instrument:

page_text: In Figure 1, the position and action of the cutting instruments is shewn ;
they are cast in leads D, and fastened to a bar D; D' is one of two or more.
brackets (the number of which will vary according to the width of the
machine) bolted to the tye-beam B, and carrying the axis D10, to which the
cutter bar D is connected by arms or brackets D. D' is a crank arm, and D³
a connecting rod, by which it is joined to the horizontal lever D', the free end
of which rests by a roller or truck upon the cam wheel D, which latter is
keyed to the main shaft. The cutting of the pile is effected in the following
manner: The holders of the cutting blades rest upon the front edges of those
instruments which form the pile, while the upper ends of the cutting blades
are in the slots, into which they are prevented from entering beyond a certain
depth by the holders of the cutting blades coming in contact with the sides of
the slots; the lower ends of the cutting edges do not, however, enter the slots
at all, as the blades are set at an angle in the holders; thus the uncut loops,
when pressed upwards as they are formed, get access underneath the cutting
edges. When the machine is in motion the cam wheel Ds, through the
intervention of the lever D, the connecting rod D2, and the crank arm D',
communicates a vibratory motion in an up-and-down direction to the cutters,
which causes the cutting of the loop; the comparative velocity, and the short-
ness of the distance the cutters are made to travel, together with their shearing
action, ensure a uniformity of surface, while as they are set so as to be entting
a row of loops several rows in advance of the rows just being formed, the
forced required for cutting is not sufficiently great either to draw the loops or
slacken the fabric. The length of motion of the knives may be regulated by
the play given to the connecting rod D, by means of the adjusting screw nut
and slot in the lever D. The action of the cutting instruments in Sheet 3
will be understood from the Drawing and the description just given..
I will now explain the second part of my Invention; and in proceeding to
describe the manufacture of Brussels carpets, and other fabrics having pile or
cut pile loops, I shall first refer to the Drawings shewn in Sheet 1. Suitable
yarns to form the ground having been warped on to the warp beams. I, LA,
L3, L, and the bobbins G3 filled with material suitable to tie the work, and a set
of separate bobbins filled with the material intended to form the pile, I take
the cording threads from the beams L³, L, which are weighted so as to keep
the threads as straight in the work as possible, and pass them through the bars
2 and 4, and then pass the warp weft threads from the beams L, L, through
the guide bars 1 and 3. The beams L', L, should only have so much weight
as to enable the threads to weave freely over two or more carriages. The
pile threads R, 1, are supplied from separate bobbins placed in any convenient

page_text: i
position to suit their number, which inust necessarily be large in consequence
of a variety of colors being required to produce patterns. As the working of
separate bobbiiis in 'what is commonly called the bobbin plan 'lías long been
well known, the exact position of the bobbins does not require to be specified.
It is only necessary that the threads supplied from them 'be conveyed to
their proper places to be actuated 'by wire 'bars, string bars, or other suitable
bars to place them into their proper position in the stump bar 5, when it is
necessary to select them.
I shall now 'describe the motions performed by the guide bars (which de-
termine the required "cut of wheels") in combination with the movements of
the carriages First motion: suppose both tiers of carriages are in the front
bolt or comb bar, the bars 2 and 4 carrying the cording thread are racked one
gate to the right, the warp'weft bars '1 and 3 with 'their threads 'three gates to
the right, and the back tier of carriages are passed into the back bolts.
Second motion: one set of the pile threads 'R, R, which are selected in the
usual manner by means of jacquard machinery applied to the wire or other
bars, are racked one gate to the right, the front tier of carriages is then passed
into the back bolts. Third motion rack the selected pile threads R one
gate to the left, and bring the front tier of carriages into the front bolts, which
motions throw the pile thread R across the instrument g. Fourth motion:
rack the cording bars 2 and 4 one gate to the left, and the warp weft bars
1 and 3 three to the left, then bring the back carriages into the front bolts,
when the course is completed; every four motions producing a course of pile
loops around the upper ends of the instruments g, g, immediately in front of
the work bar. As the successive courses are thus formed, they press those in
advance of them from off the ends of the instrument g. When it is intended
to cut the pile of the fabric, motion is communicated to the set of cutters D
through the intervention of the cam D³, in manner before explained.
Description of machinery' represented in Sheet III.' for forming cut pile
fabrics. In this machine there are eleven guide bars 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, and 11, one for the lacing thread, two for the pile threads, and eight for
the ground 'threads, the whole 'of these bars, excepting the lacing bar 11, arc
'what is termed "half bars,"
,"and with these four motions are required to form
'a row of pile. As there are so many bars I have thought it right to give the
'motions of them in a tabular form' in the Drawing, Sheet IV. On examining
the table it will be seen that on the fourth or last mótion all the bars excepting
those carrying the pile are on the dead stop to the left hand, and as these are
half bars, those marked 1, 4, 6; and 9 have the guides so placed that they
stand opposite to the same carriages, that is, to every alternate carriage-in-the

page_text: .
machine; the other four ground bars 2,.5, 7, and 10 have their guides opposite
to the other set of alternate carriages; the back pile thread bar 8, which is
one gate up to the right, must be set in the same gate with the thread bars 2,
5, 7, and 10, and the front pile thread bar 3 must be set in the same gate with
the guide bars 1, 4, 6, and 9. The cam Q is so placed that when the pile
threads have crossed two carriages, the instrument Q7 comes forward and
raises the pile on the front of the work; on the third and fourth motion, the
point bars are made to shogg the bobbin 'threads to the right a sufficient
distance to divide the twist; the loops of pile are formed, as just described,
upon the instruments Q7, and when so formed they are cut by means of the
cutters, the action of which has already been explained. Lace ornamented
with velvet figures may be produced in the manner wliich has just been
described in explaining the working of the machine represented in Sheet. III.
By using jacquard machinery to work the threads the pile threads along with
the lacing threads are left out of the work, excepting at those parts where the
figuring is to be put on. The remaining threads may be worked in pairs, the
same as they are in the ground, and may be made to form the plait lace. If
in those places the lacing threads are thrown over the instruments where the
pattern finishes along with the pile threads and twisted a few motions.with.the
ground threads, they will be cut at the same time, and may then be drawn out
when the work is finished.
A further improvement in the manufacture of the fabrics before referred to
consists in an arrangement for extending a pattern by the use of a single
jacquard, or for producing by such means much larger patterns than has been
hitherto practicable.
In illustrating this part of my Invention; I will suppose that the pattern is
to be formed on the machine shewn in Figure 1, and that it is of such a width
'as would require four jacquards to produce the requisite. effect, and that the
cut of wheels has been altered to suit the following plan:-I divide the
machine into four supposed divisions or sections, and if the width of the machine
is eighty inches, with a five point guage, that is, ten carriages to an inch, there
would be eight hundred carriages in all required, and a jacquard with eight
hundred needles would be used. The needles are connected to eight hundred
bars, each bar carrying 'four threads, one for every supposed section or division
of the machine. In working with this arrangement every complete row of
ground and pile would require sixteen motions for its formation. One course
of the ground the whole width of the machine is formed at the first two
motions as before-explained, the following two motions from the pile upon the
'first division of the machine, the pile threads on the other three divisions being

page_text: stopped off by means of "intercepters," the method of working which is well
known. The third two motions produce no effect, the ground bars standing still;
the fourth two motions form the pile on the second division, the "interceptors"
acting on the three other divisions for the time being; the fifth two motions,
ground bars stand still as before; the sixth-two motions form the pile on the third
division as before; seventh two motions, ground bars stand still as before; and the
eighth two motions form the pile on the last division, and complete the course.
This explanation with that previously given shows the cut of wheels required.
The cards or pattern surfaces require to be arranged so that the first card or
pattern surface shall operate on that part of the pattern which belongs to the
first division; the second card to the part of the pattern belonging to the
second division, and so on, taking four cards or patterns' surfaces to complete
each whole course of the pattern. I have exemplified this improvement as
worked in a double tier machine, and as separated into four supposed divisions,
but it will be obvious that the same Invention may be carried out in a single
tier machine.
Another improvement in the manufacture of fabrics consists in producing
patterns by an arrangement, whereby a large number of different coloured
threads may be brought to work with each separate carriage. In exemplifying
this part of my Invention, I will again refer to the machine shewn in Sheet 1;
and in order to explain it more easily I will only describe it as applied to four
different colors. It will be seen, however, from the following description that
it can be extended to a much larger number of colours than would otherwise
be practicable. The machine being adapted to form a row of pile with four
motions, as before explained, I employ a stump bar, part of which is repre-
sented in Figure 12 for carrying the coloured threads; the openings in the
stump bar allow the threads to shog one gate. Supposing the colours
red, green, orange, and blue are required to form the pattern, then the
red and green are threaded into the first two holes opposite the first carriage
on the right, and the orange and blue into the second two opposite the second
carriage, red and green again into the third, and orange and blue into the
fourth, and so on, so that from the stump bar as it stands, or by racking it
one gate, any one of the four colours may be selected by the string bar for
each carriage. In the first position either the orange or the blue can be
selected for the second carriage and red or green for the third carriage; if
neither the orange nor blue is required for the second carriage, nor the red or
green for the third carriage, then, when the carriages are again in the front, if
the stump bar is racked one gate to the left, then the red and green will
stand opposite the second carriage and the orange and blue opposite to the

page_text: third carriage ready for selection; thus by racking the stump bar one gate any
one of the four colors can be selected for each carriage. It will be observed
that in this case a course of the ground threads is formed with every eight
motions instead of during every four, as the ground threads must be allowed to
stand still during six of the motions, the two first motions being those in which
the ground is formed. This same system of working may be carried out with
a larger number of colors, by having more coloured threads to each carriage,
or by racking the stump bar over a greater number of carriages.
Another improvement in the manufacture of textile fabrics consists in, the
production of an ornamental fabric resembling embossed velvet, having either
the whole or portions of the surface covered with embroidered loops or
lappings, with the addition of raised piled surfaces forming figures on the
same.
I will explain the method of manufacturing this fabric, supposing I work
with the machine shewn in Figure 1. The manner of forming embroidered
loops is well known. One way in which they are produced is by the silk or
yarn employed to form them being passed through a guide bar or bars placed
in front of the machine; the bars are shogged three gates at every motion (the
shogging being reversed at every alternate motion); the piled portions of the
surface are produced by the employment of the pile-forming instruments
described in the former part of this Specification. The whole surface of the
fabric may be covered by the embroidered loops and raised pile figuring
threads, worked in with them in any required figure or device, or the
embroidering threads may be supplied through independent bars and bobbins
so as to be left out of the fabric where the piled threads are put in, but as the
manner of thus leaving out the embrodery lappings is well known, it does not
require to be berein explained. Jacquards, must be used to form the figures.
If the machine, Figure 1, be employed and the motions used as first described,
then the embrodered threads must be racked during the first and second
motions.
Another improvement in textile fabrics consists in the production of a fabric
similar in appearance to tapestry or "Berlin wool needlework;" this is effected
nearly in a similar manner to the production of the terry or piled fabrics.
first herein-before described in reference to. Figures. 1 and 6. Instead of
employing the pile-forming instruments or wires P upon which the loops are
formed, I supply their place by threads of greater or less thickness, according
to the appearance wished to be given to the fabric. These threads are covered
by the coloured threads forming the surface of the work; they occupy the
positions assigned to the pile forming instruments; they are, however, unlike the

page_text: instruments in this respect, that they are allowed always to remain in the
fabric when the fabric is made in a single tier machine; the threads are wound
upon a warp beam, and are passed into the work through a guide bar occu
pying the position of that assigned to the bar holding the wires or instruments
P, P. If a double tier niachine is used, then the threads are wound upon the front
tier of carriages, and in that case fall into the places of the wires G', which
are attached to the bobbin carriages in Figure 1, or the straight warp threads
which work into the ground. from the bobbin carriages of a single tier machine
may be made to draw or raise the stitches by employing a suitable cut of
wheels, and the requisite number of guide bars. It is necessary, however, to
observe, that the threads so employed must in either case be kept at some
degree of tension by weighting the beam or by strengthening the springs of the
bobbin carriages. Patterns of any sort may be produced on the surface of this
fabric by the employment of jacquard or other machinery.
My Invention further consists in ornamenting lace with iniproved internal
purls, spots, and other figures; the distinctive character of the internal purls
or other figures is clearly shewn in the Drawing, Figure 14. These purls or
spots are formed by means of the machinery already described in reference
to that Figure. In working either the purls or spots, the shifting of the
guide bars should be so effected that wherever a purl is to be formed the warp
thread is made to shift round the distending instrument beyond the carriage
in the direction the thread is going, and for forming spots such as represented
in the Drawing, the guide bar is shogged five gates, that is, over. three of the
distending instruments B, B. The manner of effecting the proper movements
is so well understood that they do not require further explanation.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is as
follows:-
First, I claim in respect of the manufacture of piled or cut piled fabrics,
the making of the same with two or more piles to each carriage thread, and
also the making of the saine with a back and front ground from between
which the pile thread is drawn, both as before exemplified and described.
Second, I claim in regard to such piled and cut pile fabrics, the manufacture
of the same by means of bobbin net or twist lace machinery adapted thereto
in manner before described.
Third, I claim the manufacture of tapestry or Berlin wool needlework, or
fabrics resembling the same, by means of bobbin net or twist lace machinery
as before described, that is to say, of fabrics having a mixed ground partly

page_text: looped and partly woven, or having a looped ground only on which the stitches
are formed.
Fourth, I claim in regard to embossed velvets, or fabrics resembling the
same, when manufactured from bobbin net machinery, the combination therein
of embroidered grounds with raised pile surfaces as before described.
Fifth, I claim the arrangements of and adaptations to bobbin net or twist
lace machinery herein-before described, whereby patterns in or on piled, cut
pile, and other fabrics may be produced of greater size, and with a greater
variety or number of colors than has been heretofore practicable.
Sixth, I claim the several additions to and modifications in bobbin net or
twist lace machinery, as respectively represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14, as before described, whereby such machinery is
adapted to the purposes of my Invention as aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Livesey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.