IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TAPESTRY AND OTHER WEAVINGS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Langlade, residing at Aubusson (Creuse), for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TAPESTRY AND
OTHER WEAVINGS."
Sealed the 3rd December 1861, and dated-the 14th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Langlade at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
June 1861.
I, PIERRE LANGLADE, residing at Aubusson (Creuse), do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TAPESTRY
AND OTHER WEAVINGS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
tapestry and other weavings. For this purpose I employ a loom composed of
two beams or rollers, between which the warp is distended, each roller is
furnished with a ratchet wheel, into the teeth of which a click or pawl enters,
by means of which the beams are prevented from turning in such manner as
to allow the warp to become slack; the harness by which the threads of the
warp are crossed is distended between two rollers; on the axis of one of these
rollers is an arm from which a connecting rod passes to an arm on the axis of
a treadle, so that by depressing the treadle the roller may be rotated, and the
threads of the warp thus crossed; the roller is brought back to its first
position by means of a spring when the treadle is not held down, and the
threads of the warp are thus crossed in the opposite direction; the threads of
the warp are divided into a number of equal sets by colored threads, so that
the workman may readily count the threads. In front of the loom are two

page_text: rollers, between which is distended a sheet of paper or other material, divided
into a number of equal squares, and in each line of squares is marked the
number of points for each successive color for one line of the fabric. And in
order that a workman in weaving may readily follow the pattern there is
placed horizontally across the band a straight rule, along which a pointer
slides; to this pointer is attached a cord, the end of which is connected to a
pulley, on the axis of which is a ratchet wheel, to this ratchet wheel motion is
given by a click or pawl worked by a treadle, and each time the treadle is
depressed the pulley is rotated to such an extent as to cause the pointer to
move along the rule a distance. equal to the length of one division of the
pattern. The workman when commencing the weaving places the pointer at
the left-hand end of the rule, so that it points to the first square at the left-
hand corner of the first line of the pattern; he then crosses the threads of the
warp by depressing the treadle which actuates them, and passes a shuttle
containing the color marked on the first square of the pattern through the
crossing of as many threads of the warp as aro required by the pattern, the
number being marked on the square in addition to the color; the workman
then causes the pointer to move forwards along the rule to the next square by
depressing the treadle which moves it, and passes a shuttle of the color
marked on the second square through the crossing of the requisite number of
threads of the warp, and so on to the end of the first line of squares of the
pattern, a fresh shuttle being used for each successive color, even if the same
color is used more than once in the same line; the threads of the warp are
then crossed in the opposite direction, the pointer is moved back to the left-
hand end of the rule, the pattern is moved so as to bring a fresh line under
the pointer, and the same operation is repeated. It will be seen that by this
means the workman has constantly indicated on the pattern the exact work he
has to do. The pattern is prepared by first adapting the design to be executed
on a paper covered with squares arranged like brickwork, each line of squares
corresponding to the threads of the warp of the fabric to be produced, and the
squares are divided by lines into sets to correspond with the sets of warp
threads; from this design the pattern is made by marking on the successive
squares of each line of the pattern the number of successive squares of the
same color in each line of the paper design. In order to hold the weft threads
securely in the fabric I always attach one thread to another, never introducing
a shuttle into the crossing of the warp threads without fast passing it around
the preceding shuttle thread, by which means the threads will be securely
held. T

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Langlade in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
LANGLADE, residing at Aubusson (Creuse), send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Pierre Langlade, Her special licence that I, the said Pierre Langlade,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Pierre Langlade, my 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 TAPESTRY AND OTHER WEAVINGS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Pierre Langlade, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 I, the said Pierre Langlade, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
tapestry and other weavings. For this purpose I employ a loom composed of
two beams or rollers, between which the warp is distended; each roller is
furnished with a ratchet wheel, into the teeth of which a click or paw! enters,
by means of which the beams are prevented from turning in such manner as
to allow the warp to become slack; the harness by which the threads of the
warp are crossed is distended between two rollers; on the axis of one of these
rollers is an arm from which a connecting rod passes to an arm on the axis of
a treadle, so that by depressing, the treadlo the roller may be rotated, and the
threads of the warp thus crossed; the roller is brought back to its first

page_text: position by means of a spring when the treadle is not held down, and the
threads of the warp are thus crossed in the opposite direction; the threads of
the warp are divided into a number of equal sets by colored threads, so that
the workman may readily count the threads. In front of the loom aro two
rollers, between which is distended a sheet of paper or other material divided
into a number of equal squares, and in cach line of squares is marked the
number of points for each successive color for one line of the fabric. And in
order that a workman in weaving may readily follow the pattern, there is
placed horizontally across the band a straight rule, along which a pointer slides;
to this pointer is attached a cord, the end of which is connected to a pulley on
the axis of which is a ratchet wheel, to this ratchet wheel motion is given by
a click or pawl worked by a trendle, and each time the treadle is depressed
the pulley is rotated to such an extent as to cause the pointer to move along
the rule a distance equal to the length of one division of the pattern. The
workman when commencing the weaving places the pointer at the left-hand
end of the rule, so that it points to the first square at the left-hand corner of
the first line of the pattern; he then crosses the threads of the warp by
depressing the treadle which actuates them, and passes a shuttle containing
the color marked on the first square of the pattern through the crossing of as
many threads of the warp as are required by the pattern, the number being
marked on the square in addition to the color. The workman then causes the
-pointer to move forwards along the rule to the next square by depressing the
treadle which moves it, and passes a shuttle of the color marked on the second
square through the crossing of the requisite number of threads of the warp,
and so on to the end of the first line of squares of the pattern, a fresh shuttle
being used for each successive color, even if the same color is used more than
once in the same line; the threads of the warp are then crossed in the opposite
direction, the pointer is moved back to the left-hand end of the rule, the
pattern. is moved so as to bring a fresh line under the pointer, and the same
operation is repeated. It will be seen that by this means the workman has
constantly indicated on the pattern the exact work he has to do. The pattern
is prepared by first adapting the design to be executed on a paper covered
.with squares arranged like brickwork, each line of squares corresponding to
the threads of the warp of the fabric to be produced, and the squares are
divided by lines into sets to correspond with the sets of warp threads; from
this design the pattern is made by marking on on the successive squares of cach
line of the pattern the number of successive squares of the same color in each
line of the paper design. In order to hold the weft threads securely in the
fabric I always attach one thread to another, never introducing a shuttle into

page_text: the crossing of the warp threads without first passing it around the preceding
shuttle thread, by which means the threads will be securely held.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings represent a loom arranged according
to my Invention. Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2 a side elevation;
and Figure 3 a vertical section, taken through the line 1, 2, Figure 1. The
loom is composed like ordinary looms of a framing A, A, A, and of two beams
B, B, turning in bearings in the two uprights of the framing; these beams
carry the warp of the loom; each beam is furnished with a ratchet wheel and
click arranged to permit the warp to be unwound from the upper beam, and
an equal quantity to be wound upon the lower beam according as the work
proceeds. At the bottom of the loom are two treadles X, Z, each carried on
an axis; these treadles and their axes are independent of each other. The left-
hand treadle Z is for crossing the threads of the warp, as shewn at Figure 3.
The right-hand treadle X is for moving the pointer c, the action of which will
be presently described. On the front of the framing are-mounted horizontally
two rollers, around which is wound what I call the pattern, which constitutes
one of the chief parts of my Invention; this pattern consists of an endless
sheet of paper or fabric, the surface of which is divided into squares, as shewn
in the Drawing. On each line of small squares is marked the number of
points of each successive color which is to form one line of the fabric. In
order to assist the workman in reading the pattern a straight rule E is placed
horizontally across it, along which rule the small pointer e slides; the pointer e
is connected to a cord, one end of which after passing around guide pullies is
wound on a roller G, on the axis of which is a ratchet wheel, into the teeth of
which a click carried an arm on the axis of the treadle X enters, as seen
at Figure 2; the other end of the cord carries a counterbalance weight.
Each movement of the treadle X causes the ratchet wheel to turn on its axis,
and the roller G is thus caused to wind up a sufficient length of cord to draw
the pointer one square from left to right, so as to bring it opposite the next
square on the same line. The ratchet wheel is prevented from turning back
by another click; by lifting this click the counterbalance weight on the
opposite end of the cord may in case of an error be allowed. to draw tho
pointer from right to left, or to bring it back to the commencement of its
course when a line is finished. In this latter case the pattern is moved by
means of the rollers c, c, so that the indicator shews the following line of small

page_text: squares. It will be seen that by the movement of the pattern and the pointer
the workman has constantly before his eyes the exact indication of the work
to be done for each successive line of the fabric. As before stated, the left-
hand treadle Z serves to cross the warp threads. As the Drawing shews the
axis of this treadle by means of an arm and connecting rod, K gives a partial
rotation, first in one direction and then in the other to the cylinder D, to
which is connected a cord, the ends of which are connected to one of the bars
of each of the heddles, the other bars of the heddles being connected to a
cord which passes around a roller D'; these heddles, as the Drawing shews,
hold the warp threads in such manner that the partial rotation of the cylinder
D by moving the heddles across the warp threads, first in one direction and
then in the other. The connecting rod K, as the Drawing shows, is always
brought back to its first position by a spiral spring. Vertical rules placed, as
shewn at Figure 1, on the two uprights of the framing have upon them cor-
responding marks, so that the regularity of the lines of work in a horizontal
direction may be easily checked, and the irregularities corrected by means of
a reed in the ordinary manner. Figure 1 shews the weaving partly executed;
the woven part is laced to the two uprights, as shewn; Figures 4 and 5 of the
Drawings shew the manner of constructing the pattern above-mentioned.
The Drawing is first adapted to a piece of paper covered with squares con-
forming to the nature of the ground of the fabric; thus, for the fabric in
question, it is necessary to employ a paper divided into squares like brickwork,
as shewn at Figure 4.. The squares are divided lengthwise into regular series
corresponding to the same division made in the warp threads; these divisions
only serve as guides for the combination and execution of the Drawings.
When the Drawing has been put on paper, as above described, the number of
successive squares on each line of the Drawing of a like color are counted up,
commencing at the bottom and proceeding for the first line from left to right, for
the second from right to left, and so on, and as they are counted up are written
on the pattern, as shewn at Figure 5; the first line commencing at the bottom
of the Drawing forms the first line of the top of the pattern, and so on. The
pattern always reproduces from left to right on a distinct line each successive
line of the Drawing, as shewn at Figure 5; the colors may be indicated either
by the generic name of the color with a number or sign for the shade, or by a
stroke of the color itself. The Figures 4 and 5 represent three different
operations. The pattern thus prepared is mounted on rollers C, C, the pointer
is placed on the first square on the left of the first line at the top of the
pattern, and the workman commences the weaving. He proceeds in the work
as follows-Provided with a complete series of shuttles necessary for the

page_text: work, he commences by depressing. the left-hand treadle Z to form the shed,
takes the shuttle carrying the color indicated by the pointer, knots the end of its
thread, raises with his hand the number of threads shewn by the pattern, and
passes his shuttle through the shed; then he takes the next color after having
moved on the pointer by means of the right treadle X, and so on as far as the
end of the line. Each variation of color requires a new shuttle, even should
the same color reappear upon the same line. When the line is completed, the
workman gives a blow of the reed, and by the left treadle closes the shed; he
then passes on to the second line of the pattern and proceeds to the second
line of the fabric, working in a direction opposite to that taken in the first
line. If the second line reproduces the shades of the work immediately
beneath it, the shuttles left suspended in the preceding lines are again taken
and passed in accordance with the pattern, but this is only possible when the
same shades are repeated from line to line, or from a line at a very short
distance off.
It should be remarked that to give a perfect solidity to my fabric, and to
avoid entirely seams and thin places, which up to the present time have always
appeared more or less in this sort of fabric, I always attach one thread to
another, never introducing a shuttle into the shed without having first passed
it round the thread of the last shuttle, which makes a perfect tie of the
different threads the one with the other. This is one of the characteristic
features of my Invention.
It is easy to understand that with my Invention no difficulty exists in
producing work of any size required, and in employing any variety of colour
desirable.
Although the Drawing represents a loom with a vertical warp, I do not
confine the application of my Invention to this sort of loom, as with somo
modifications of detail it is also applicable to other sorts of looms.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Langlade, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
P. LANGLADE. (L.S.)