CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PREPARING, TREATING, AND FINISHING CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS, CALLED 'CORDS,' 'THICK- SETS, VELVETEENS,' AND BEAVERTEENS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Worrall junior, of Salford, in the
County of Lancaster, Dyer and Finisher, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PREPARING, TREATING,
AND FINISHING CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS, CALLED 'CORDS,' 'THICK-
SETS, VELVETEENS,' AND BEAVERTEENS."
Sealed the 21st June 1853, and dated the 30th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Worrall at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on
the 30th March 1853.
I, JAMES WORRALL jun', of Salford, in the County of Lancaster,
Dyer and Finisher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PREPARING, TREATING,
AND FINISHING CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS, CALLED CORDS, THICKSETS,'
VELVETEENS,' AND 'BEAVERTEENS,' to be as follows:-
1
My Invention consists, firstly, in a certain novel and peculiar
arrangement of some of the several processes hitherto employed,

page_text: together with the introduction of certain novel processes, by means of
which I am enabled to stiffen and dye the cloth previous to the opera-
tions of raising, backing, shearing, or cutting; and, by an improved
mode of preparing the goods, the principles of tanning are more fully
introduced, and the cloth thereby rendered much more impervious to
wet and moisture, having a "leather finish," or the properties of leather
combined with the texture of the cloth, and the napped surface more
even, silky, lustrous, and soft, as tanned moleskin.
The process is as follows:-The cloth, as received from the loom,
must first be "animalized" by "padding on," or otherwise impreg
nating it with oil, grease, soap, or other fatty matter, and afterwards
dried over steam cylinders, or in a stove.
Secondly, the face of the cloth is to be hardened, and afterwards
"cantooned," by passing over a red-hot singeing plate.
Thirdly, the cloth is to be folded in a suitable manner, and the pieces
suspended in a steam cylinder, where they are to be 'steamed, and
subsequently boiled in an alkaline ley. The cloth must then be well
washed, and all superfluous water removed by a mangle, or "hydro-
extractor."
11
4thly, a strong solution of chloride of lime must be "padded on "
the face of the cloth; then pass the cloth through a very weak solution
of the same, and finish the bleaching in the usual way.
Fifthly, pass the cloth through a mordant composed of gelatine, and
any suitable mineral solution. This answers for the mordant to fix
the color required; also for stiffening previous to raising the pile, and
for the "feel" or "handle" required.
Sixthly, dye up the cloth, according to the color required, in a bath
containing gules, sumac, catechu, fustic, madder, or other dyes having
a strong tanning property combined with their coloring matter; then
wash off in a soap ley, and then dry up.
Seventhly, dress or raise the nap upon the face and back by the
usual dressing or raising machinery, and shear off for the face, accord-
ing to the finish required, by means of the usual shearing machinery.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Worrall junior, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 30th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES WORRALL junior, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Dyer
and Finisher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Worrall junior, Her special
licence that I, the said James Worrall junior, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Worrall junior, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PREPARING,
TREATING, AND FINISHING CERTAIN TEXTILE FABRICS, CALLED 'CORDS,'
THICKSETS,' VELVETEENS, AND BEVERTEENS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Worrall junior, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is 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 Worrall junior, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):
My improvements consist, principally, in a certain novel and peculiar
arrangement of some of the several processes hitherto employed,
together with the introduction of certain novel processes and apparatus

page_text: not hitherto employed, by means of which I am enabled to gelatine,
stiffen, and dye the cloth previously to the operations of cutting, raising,
backing, or shearing; and, by an improved mode of preparing the
goods, the process of flour and lime stiffening, and also that of scouring
and cleansing the goods to remove the same, are entirely dispensed
with, the principles of tanning are more effectually introduced, and the
cloth is thereby rendered much more impervious to wet and moisture,
having a leather finish," or the properties of leather combined with
the texture of the cloth and the napped surface.
Before proceeding to describe the manner of carrying my Invention
into practical effect, I consider it necessary briefly to enumerate the several
processes as hitherto employed, and their relative arrangement or order,
as now commonly practised in preparing, treating, and finishing such
or similar fabrics, that is to say-First, perching or raising the nap
upon the back of the cloth: Secondly, stiffening the cloth with flour
and lime, as a preparation for the cutter: Thirdly, cutting the pile:
Fourthly, scouring and cleansing the cloth to remove the flour and lime
stiffening previously used: I would here observe that it will be evident
that the second, third, and fourth processes are not employed except in
the case of a cut pile: Fifthly, dressing or raising the pile or nap
upon the face of the cloth: Sixthly, singeing off the superfluous pile by
means of a red-hot dressing iron: Seventhly, boiling the cloth in a
solution of soda ash, or potash: Eighthly, bleaching the cloth by
chloride of lime: Ninthly, dyeing the cloth by "saddening," in a bath
containing logwood, fustic, or other dyes: Tenthly, applying a mordant
to fix the color; viz. "taking off" with a metal, or mineral solution:
Eleventhly, "washing off:" (These last three processes of "saddening,"
"taking off," and "washing ofl," are repeated as often as may be
necessary, according to the color required :) Twelfthly, stiffening the
cloth according to the finish, "feel," or "handle" required: And
lastly, finishing by waxing and polishing with stone, metal, mineral, or
wood peg.
"
The various operations which I employ, and their relative arrange-
ment or order, is as follows:-First, the cloth, as taken from the
loom, must be "animalized "by "padding on," or otherwise impreg-

page_text: nating it with oil, grease, soap, or other fatty matter, and afterwards
dried over steam cylinders, or in a stove. Secondly, the face of the
cloth is to be hardened, and afterwards singed or cantooned," by
passing over a red-hot singeing plate. Thirdly, the pieces must be
folded upon an apparatus, and placed or arranged by suspension, or
upon suitable rails or supports, inside a steaming cylinder, in such a
manner that one piece cannot touch another, or anything but the
apparatus upon which it is folded, being quite free for perfect immer-
sion in the steam and alkaline ley. The cylinder must be filled with
high-pressure steam, which must be allowed to remain therein until
the cloth, and the whole apparatus, is well heated, when the steam is
to be shut off, and the cylinder filled with a solution of soap, potash,
soda ash, soda, or other alkaline ley. When the cloth has been boiled
therein as long as required, it is to be removed, and washed off in
pure water, and then all superfluous water removed by means of a
mangle, or "hydro-extractor." Fourthly, a strong solution of chloride
of lime must be "padded" on the surface of the cloth, which must be
then passed through a very weak solution of the same, and the bleach-
ing finished in the usual manner, according to the color required.
Fifthly, pad on or pass the cloth through a mordant composed of gelatine,
with a solution of iron, copper, tin, or other suitable metal or mineral,
and dry up. Some descriptions of cloth will require an improved appa-
ratus (hereafter more particularly described), for more effectually
incorporating with it the gelatine and mordant; that is to say, to
fill up all the interstices, and impregnate every fibre of the cloth,
in order to produce the best "leather finish." This solution, fixed in
the cloth at a high pressure, answers for the mordant to fix the
color required; and also, by filling the interstices between the threads
with gelatine, prepares the same for the tanning process, and serves for
the stiffening previous to cutting or raising the pile or nap, as well as
for the "feel" or "handle" required, when finished.
the cloth, according to the color required, in a bath containing galls,
sumac, catechu, fustic, madder, or other dyes having a strong tanning
property combined with their coloring matter; then wash off in a soap
ley and dry up. Seventhly, I would here remark, that it may be
Sixthly, dye up

page_text: advantageous to some cloth to transpose the seventh operation for the
sixth; (that is to say,) let the stretching and cutting follow the applica-
tion of the mordant, and the dyeing up that of stretching and cutting.
If a cut pile is to be produced, the cloth may be stretched upon a
stretching machine, in order to bring the warp and weft threads as
nearly as possible into their original rectangular position, and the pile
then cut in the usual manner, the back of the cloth having been previ-
ously "perched," if a nap is there required. Eighthly, should the cloth
require an extra "feel" or "handle," it may be again stiffened at this
stage of the process. Ninthly, the pile or nap upon the face and back
of the cloth must now be raised or dressed by means of the ordinary
raising or dressing machinery, and the superfluous nap upon the face
shorn off by the usual shearing machinery, according to the finish or
appearance required. I would here remark, that by this novel and
improved mode of treatment I am enabled to dispense with or abandon
the process of flour and lime stiffening, and also the process of scour-
ing and cleansing the cloth to remove the same. And by transposing
the process of cutting or raising the pile or nap from one of the earliest
operations, and previously to the cloth being dyed, to one of the latest
processes, and subsequently to the cloth being dyed, or printed and
stiffened, for the feel or handle required, I materially improve the
arrangement of the operations or processes; and I wish it to be par-
ticularly observed, that this transposition of the cutting or raising pro-
cess forms a very important feature of my Invention, as thereby a very
superior finish is obtained, and the crushed and cloudy appearance of
the pile avoided. And by combining the gelatine with the tanning
properties of the dyes employed, a cloth much more impervious to
water and moisture is produced; and also by applying the process of
singeing previously to that of cutting, and by dispensing with the said
process of singeing after cutting, and substituting that of shearing by
machinery, I obtain more satisfactory results, and also save much time
and labor in the process of bleaching.
In order more particularly to describe the novel apparatus em-
ployed in the fifth of the above-mentioned processes, I have attached
to these presents a drawing illustrative of the same, and have

page_text: marked thereon letters of reference corresponding with those in the
following description thereof. The drawing represents a section of
the apparatus. a, a, are cisterns for the gelatine and mordant
liquors, placed at a considerable elevation, in order to give the
requisite pressure; b, b, are kiers or vessels for containing the cloth
to be impregnated; c, c, are hollow or open cylindrical frames, upon
which the cloth to be operated upon is rolled, and may be wound
backwards and forwards as required, by means of the winch handles
d, d; the pipes for conveying the gelatine or mordant from the cisterns
a, a, to the kiers b, b, are represented at e, e; and f, f, are other pipes
leading from the upper part of the kiers b, b, to the cisterns a, a; the
kiers b, b, are supplied with steam by means of the steam pipe g, g;
h, h, are manways, for convenience of access to the kiers; and i, i, are
taps for drawing off the gelatine, mordant, &c., from the kiers.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-A piece or pieces of
cloth being placed in each of the chambers b, b, and the manways h, h,
closed, high-pressure steam is admitted into the kiers by means of the
steam pipe g, g. This will have the effect of causing the gelatine or
mordant liquor to boil, and also to circulate up the pipes f, f, to the
cisterns a, a, and thence down the pipes e, e, back again to the kiers b, b,
and so on.
During this operation the cloth may be wound backwards
and forwards as often as considered necessary, to impregnate every fibre
thereof with the gelatine or mordant liquor. When this operation has
carried on for a sufficient length of time, the cloth may be removed
from the apparatus, and passed through a pair of ordinary squeezing
rollers, conveniently placed between the kiers, and then dried, in order
to prepare it for the next operation.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said improve-
ments, together with the manner of carrying the same into practical
effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as my Invention the
improved method of preparing, treating, and finishing certain textile
fabrics called "cords," "thicksets," "velveteens," and "beaverteens," as
above particularly described, especially that of stiffening the cloth by
means of gelatine previously to dyeing, also dyeing and stiffening the
same previous to cutting or raising the pile or nap, and the method of

page_text: -
producing what I call a leather finish," by the means herein-before
more particularly set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Worrall junior, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three.
JAMES WORRALL jr. (L.S.)