IMPROVE➡ MENTS IN WEAVING ORNAMENTAL FABRICS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Macaulay, of Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Designer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE➡
MENTS IN WEAVING ORNAMENTAL FABRICS."
Sealed the 29th October 1872, and dated the 29th August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Macaulay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1872. ·
I, JAMES MACAULAY, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Designer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING ORNAMENTAL FABRICS," to be as follows,. that
is to say :-
This Invention relates to the production of certain ornamental effects
when weaving what are known as repp fabrics, to be used as shawls;
scarfs, or otherwise, the said effects having hitherto been produced only
with the assistance of jacquard or similar expensive pattern mechanism. '

page_text: The Invention which is applicable to hand looms and is limited to
simple forms of ornamental figuring, consists in combining with the two
leaves of heddles used for producing the repp ground or body of the
fabric by shedding the warp threads in pairs, that is, two up and two
down alternately, a special additional set of heddles comprising four or
other convenient number of leaves, which special heddles are arranged
to act on alternated sets of the warp threads, so as to flush the wefts
over twelve or other convenient number of threads at regular intervals
across the fabric.
In carrying out the Invention variously colored wefts are used so as to
produce a series of stripes, and the ornamental effects obtained by means
of the special heddles are superadded on some of the stripes. The repp
ground is woven complete throughout, and even under the figured parts,
the figuring being produced at the required part by opening a shed for
an additional figuring weft after each body weft is thrown. The individual
leaves of the special heddles act on separate sets of the warp threads, so
that the parts to be flushed are varied by the weaver by his acting on
the different leaves in succession in accordance with the design. By
these means a great variety of simple but effective designs may be
obtained in a very economical manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Macaulay in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MACAULAY, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
Designer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Macaulay, Her special licence that
I, the said James Macaulay, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Macaulay, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, 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 WEAVING
ORNAMENTAL FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Macaulay, my executors or administrators, 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 James Macaulay, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the production of certain ornamental
effects when weaving certain fabrics of the class known as
repps," to be
used as shawls, scarfs, or otherwise, the said effects having hitherto been
produced only with the assistance of jacquard or similar comparatively
expensive pattern mechanism.
My Invention is to be put into practice in a hand loom, and is
applicable to that variety of repp fabric which is the same on both sides,
and in which the cords apparently composing the surfaces run in the
direction of the warps. In a well-known mode of weaving a fabric of
this kind with cotton warps and woollen weft two leaves of heddles are
used, and the warps are threaded through these heddles in pairs, so that
at each shed two threads are up and the next two down alternately
across the fabric. The warps and wefts are so proportioned to each
other, and the weaving is so conducted as to cause the wefts to completely
(or almost completely) cover the warps, as is well understood. The wefts
are also variously colored and used, so as to produce a series of stripes
in fabrics of the styles to which more particularly, although not exclu-
sively, my Invention is to be applied.
The fabric woven, as herein-before described. and which is sometimes

page_text: shall herein-after refer to as the ground fabric; but this ground fabric
may be modified in well-known ways without losing the characteristics
of a repp, and without being the less suitable for the application of my
improvements. Thus a single comparatively heavy thread may be
substituted for each pair of warp threads; or a light open fabric known
us a gauze repp" may be formed by introducing between each ordinary
warp thread, or pair of warp threads, a pair of very fine warp threads
shed by a gauze mounting, so as to prevent the fraying or irregular
.crowding and opening of the weft threads.
"
'
My Invention consists in combining with the parts ordinarily used
in weaving a ground fabric of any of the kinds herein-before referred to,
a special additional set of heddles comprising four or other convenient
number of leaves, such special heddles having the warps so threaded or
entered through them, as that alternated sets of such warps are acted on
'by each heddle leaf, and different alternated sets by the different heddle
leaves. Additional wefts of silk or other suitable material are used for
producing the figurings or ornamental effects that are to be superadded
upon the ground fabric, and the special additional heddles are used to
form the sheds when such additional or figuring wefts are being thrown.
The repp ground fabric is woven complete throughout, and even where
the figuring occurs the figuring being produced at the required part by
opening a shed for an additional or figuring weft after the ground weft
'has been thrown. When, as will generally be the case, a succession of
'the figuring wefts have to be introduced to produce the intended effect,
such wefts may be thrown in after each ground weft or after each pair
of ground wefts.
When it is wished to produce the same figured effect on both sides of
the fabric the warps are threaded through the special additional heddles
in alternate sets of equal numbers. Thus, for example, if twelve threads
are raised and twelve down in any shed, the figuring weft will be flushed
in equal portions on both sides of the fabric.
The individual leaves of the special additional heddles are arranged to
act on separate sets of the warp threads, so that the parts to be flushed
are varied by the weaver by his acting on the different leaves in succession
"in accordance with the design. Thus, for example, if the warps threaded
through heddle leaf No. 1 are numbered 1 to 6, 25 to 30, and so on; the

page_text: warps threaded through leaf No. 2, may be 7 to 12, 31 to 36, and so on;
those through No. 3, 13 to 18, 37 to 42, and so on; and those through
No. 4, 19 to 24, 43 to 48, and so on. Of course, as is well understood,
the warps may be subdivided and distributed over a greater number of
heddle leaves and produce the same effects if suitably acted upon by the
weaver.
.
The practical weaver will easily perceive that if all the warps are
acted on by the special additional heddles, in the manner described, the
result will be the production of stripes of a kind of figuring completely
across the fabric; and it is in fact one of the objects of my Invention to
produce such stripes of figuring as enrichments upon some of the colored
but otherwise plain stripes of the ground fabric.
It is desirable sometimes, in the case of shawls, to produce similar
stripes of figuring longitudinally or in the direction of the warps, so that
such stripes may cross the other or transverse stripes, and by forming
borders render the general effect more complete. To obtain this result,
the only modification required in the application of my Invention is the
applying of the additional figuring threads for such longitudinal stripes
of figuring as warps instead of wefts, and the applying of special
additional heddles for shedding these figuring warps as required by the
design instead of shedding the ground warps. It will be obvious, also,
that longitudinal stripes of figuring may be produced in this way without
the transverse stripes of figuring.
The special additional heddles used in carrying out my Invention may
be arranged in the loom either before or behind the ordinary heddles
used for forming the ground fabric; I however prefer to place the special
additional heddles behind the ordinary heddles when using them for
forming transverse figured stripes, as in that case they may be made in
the simplified form of what are know as skeleton heddles or mountings.
On the other hand I prefer to place before the ordinary heddles such
special additional heddles as are used for forming longitudinal figured
stripes.
By the means herein-before described a great variety of simple but
effective designs may be obtained in a very economical manner.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I bave to state that what I believe to be novel

page_text: and original and claim as secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the producing of figuring upon a repp ground
fabric by means of additional wefts or warps, and additional heddles
operating substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Macaulay, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JAMES MACAULAY. (L.S.)