CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING OR MANUFACTURING PILED OR NAPPED CLOTHS OR FABRICS; AND ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE PILE OR NAP OF THE SAME
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Silk Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under, the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twentieth day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-six, in the ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Walker, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Walker, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Walker,
my executors, administrators, and 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 and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING OR MANUFACTURING PILED OR NAPPED
CLOTHS OR FABRICS; AND ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
CUTTING THE PILE OR NAP OF THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said John Walker, shall cause a particular de-
scription of the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High 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 there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Walker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following explana-
tion thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements in weaving or manufacturing piled or napped cloths
or fabrics apply principally to the manufacture of plain or fancy velvets,
having silk pile or nap, whether intended for vestings or other purposes, and
consists in certain methods, herein-after described, of causing the pile threads
in the weaving of such fabrics to float over a certain number of weft shoots,
and then to bind in or interweave with the weft at certain determinable
intervals, for the purpose of forming a close and firm back, in order to
prevent the pile or nap from becoming loose when being cut. But, before
proceeding to describe the method of carrying the same into practical effect,
I think it necessary to detail the ordinary way of weaving and cutting the
pile of such fabrics hitherto employed, which is as follows:-Two or more
distinct sets of warp threads are introduced into the loom, the upper one
being that which will ultimately constitute the pile or nap. Three shoots of
weft are first woven interlacing with both warps, and then a wire (having a
groove in its upper surface) is introduced between the warps, causing the upper
warp to form loops across the whole width of the fabric, three similar shoots
of weft then follow, and another wire is introduced, and a third wire is
introduced after the weaving of three more shoots of weft. The cutting knife
or "travat" is then passed along the groove in the wire first introduced,
severing in its progress all the loops of the pile warp. The wire first intro-
duced, being now disengaged from the warp threads, is again introduced, and
three more shoots of weft are woven as before, and the second wire disen-
gaged, and so on with the third wire, thus forming the nap or pile of the
fabric, the weaver using but three wires in the manufacture of an entire
piece. In the improved method of forming the pile or nap the wires are
dispensed with, and the pile threads, instead of being cut during the operation
of weaving, are cut after the cloth is removed from the loom, by which means
a piece of velvet may be woven and finished in about one half the time which
it would occupy by the previously known method. Into the loom in which
the cloth is to be woven there are introduced in the usual way two warps, one
half of which is made to form the ground or back, and the other the pile or nap.
The warp threads are so introduced through the loops of the healds or leaves
that the whole of either warp, or certain 'determinable portions of either warp,
may be raised or depressed separately. The manner in which the warp

page_text: threads are raised or depressed, and also the manner in which the weft threads
are interlaced with them, so as to produce suitable cloth, will be readily
understood by referring to the Drawing hereto annexed, in which Figures
1, 2, and 3 are diagrams illustrating three methods of weaving, each division
representing a single thread (as will be readily understood by the practical
weaver); those divisions marked a, a, a, a, and coloured crimson, being the
pile or nap threads; those marked b, b, b, b, and colored pink, the ground or
back warp threads; and those marked c, c, c, c, and left-white, being the weft
threads. It will be seen in Figure 1 that for every two pile threads there is
one ground or back warp thread; that the threads of the ground or back warp
make with the threads of weft what is known by the name of plain or "tabby
cloth;" and that each of the threads of the pile or nap warp floats over nine
shoots of weft successively, and in the succeeding three shoots of weft it is in
the first depressed, in the second raised, and in the third again depressed;
that is to say, the pile threads after floating over nine shoots of weft succes-
sively, interlace with each of the succeeding three shoots. The three shoots
of weft now referred to serve to keep the pile or nap threads in firm connec-
tion with the body or substance of the cloth. It will also be observed, that
the first; second, and the third pile threads correspond respectively with the
fourth, fifth, and sixth, also with the seventh, eighth, and ninth, &c., across
the entire width of the cloth, the first pile thread commencing the float over
nine successive shoots of weft with the first shoot, the second pile thread with
the fifth shoot, and the third pile thread with the ninth shoot. The first,
fourth, seventh, tenth, &c., pile threads therefore float over and interweave
similarly with the same shoots of weft. In like manner there is a corresponding
floating over and interweaving of the second, fifth, eighth, eleventh, &c., and
also of the third, sixth, ninth, twelfth, &c., pile threads, as shewn in Figure 1.
The first twelve shoots of weft in their interlacings with the threads of both
warps correspond respectively with the second twelve shoots, also with the
third twelve shoots, &c.; that is to say, the pattern extends and is confined to
twelve shoots of weft. In the process of cutting the pile threads (which
will be herein-after more particularly explained) the knife is made to pass in
and through the centre of each float of pile threads across the entire width of
the cloth. It is obvious, therefore, that the length of the pile or nap threads
when cut, and the number of "races" or cuttings in any given length of cloth
woven as above described, is proportionate to the number of weft shoots there
are in that length. The more shoots there are in any given space, the shorter
will be the pile or nap threads, and the more cuttings there will be. When it
is required to increase both the length of the pile or nap and the number of

page_text: cuttings or "races" per inch, this can be effected (see Figure 2) by making
the first four pile threads correspond respectively with the second four pile
threads, and so on with each succeeding four pile threads in the warp, and
in causing the pile threads to float over, say thirteen instead of nine shoots of
weft. If it be required still further to increase the number of "races" or
cuttings per inch, and at the same time the length of the pile or nap threads,
the first five pile threads (as in Fig. 3) must be made to correspond with
the second five pile threads, &c., and each pile thread must be made to float
over, say seventeen weft shoots. In this manner the length of nap and the
number of "races" or cuttings of pile or nap in any given length may be
increased or diminished conjointly or separately. If, for example, the nap of a
piece of velvet woven as represented in Figure 1 be too short, and the
" races or cuttings be of the number required, then by altering the float
of the pile threads to that represented by Figure 2 or Figure 3, but retaining
the same number of weft shoots, a longer nap will be obtained, the number
of races or cuttings remaining unaltered. On the other hand, if the length of
nap in cloth woven as represented by Fig. 1 be that which is desired, but if
it be requisite to increase the number of "races" or cuttings per inch, the same
can be effected by altering the float of the pile threads to that represented
in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3, and by regulating the number of weft shoots accordingly.
It will be seen by referring to the Diagrams that four weft shoots intervene
between the commencement of the floats of adjoining pile threads, the float
of the one commencing, say on the first shoot, and of the other of the fifth.
It is not necessary, however, that such should be case, for any number of
shoots, from one to a much higher number, may be introduced, the limits to
the number being determined only as in ordinary cloth by the strength and
thickness of the warp materials used, the strength and thickness of the weft,
the weight of the lathe, and the force with which it is wielded, and other
similar conditions, whichever way the cloth be woven, whether with two or
any higher number of weft shoots intervening between the commencement
of the floats of adjoining pile threads. The length of nap threads, and the
number of "races" or cuttings in any given length of cloth, can be regulated
in a similar manner to that already described; the methods shewn in Figs. 1
and 2 being those which I should recommend as being most applicable to the
manufacture of silk velvet for vests, shawls, or other articles of a like descrip-
tion. As previously explained, the threads of the ground or back in each of
the modes of weaving represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, make with the shoots
of weft plain or tabby cloth. Any other than a plain ground or back, however,
may be used, provided it be such as will firmly and sufficiently retain in their

page_text: proper place the pile or nap thread, a close and firm back being required in
order to prevent the pile or nap from being forced out of its proper position
in the process of cutting. Again, if the pile threads be made from the shoot
or weft threads, and not from the warp threads, the cutting must be longitu-
dinal, and the floating and binding will be the same as previously described,
except that the floating over and interweaving must be with the back warp
threads, and not with the shoot or weft threads. In such case a machine
similar to that used in the well-known process of cutting fustians, &c. must be
adopted.
My improvements in cutting the pile or nap of such cloths or fabrics
consist,
Firstly, in cutting the pile transversely from selvage to selvage, and after
the velvet or cloth has been removed from the loom, instead of its being cut
during the operation of weaving, as heretofore.
And, secondly, in a certain novel arrangement of machinery or apparatus
for distending the cloth uniformly during the operation of forming the nap.
After a piece of cloth (the length of which is immaterial) has been woven in
the manner above described, it is taken out of the loom, and introduced with
the pile floats uppermost into a frame or machine especially constructed for the
purpose, and which is herein-after described, the object of which is to tighten
the cloth uniformly, and to dispose of the floats of the pile threads in such a
manner that they shall be parallel to each other. A long narrow knife, with
a moveable metal shield or guide at the point (similar to that used in cutting
the pile or nap threads of velveteens, fustians, &c.) is then introduced within
the spaces over which the pile threads float, and is made to pass across the
whole width of the cloth, severing in its progress all the pile threads above
it. The pile threads thus severed constitute the pile or nap of the cloth.
Fig. 4 in the Drawing represents a plan view, and Fig. 5 a side elevation
of an arrangement of machinery or apparatus constructed for the purpose of
uniformly distending the cloth whilst the pile or nap is cut. a, a, is the main
framework of the apparatus, and b is a roller or beam upon which the cloth
before the process of cutting the pile threads is wound with the pile floats
uppermost; c, c, are two tension rails furnished with stenter pins d, d, d, d,
inclined downwards. These tension rails c, c, are connected to the rails e, e¹;
by the links ff, passing therough the rails e, e¹, in the ends of which the
excentrics 9, 9, are fixed. The rails e, e', are provided at each end with
sockets h, h, sliding upon the rods i, i, attached to the framing. The rail e
when adjusted is held in the required position by the clicks k; k, at each end,
taking into the racks b, b, and the rail e' may be moved by the cords m, m,

page_text: Pins are then placed
tightened transversely
passing around the rollers or barrels n, n, which are provided with ratchet
wheels and clicks o, o. p, p, is a roller partially covered with wire cards, over
which the velvet or other piled fabric passes after the pile or nap has been
cut. When the pile or nap of a piece of velvet or other fabric so to be cut,
the selvages of the same are carefully and evenly hooked upon the stenter
pins d, d; the excentrics 9, 9, are then turned inwards by means of the
handles r, r, which by means of the links f, f, will bring the tension rails c, c,
into close contact with the rails e, e, thus holding the selvages of the fabric
firmly and evenly between the edges of the two rails.
in the holes of the barrels or rollers n, n, and the fabric
to the required tension, the ratchet wheels and clicks o, o, holding the rail e
in the requisite position until released. The fabric is then distended longitu-
dinally by turning the rollers 6 and p-outwards, the cards. on the latter roller
taking hold of the back of the cloth without injuring the pile or nap, and the
ratchet wheels and clicks s, s, holding the rollers in the required position.
The fabric being thus distended laterally and longitudinally in an uniform
manner, the floats of the pile threads will be found to be parallel and even. The
fabric is then damped with a sponge or otherwise for a length of about twelve
inches at a time, and the pile threads severed transversely with a knife or
cutting instrument above described, until the pile or nap of the whole length
of the velvet distended in the frame has been cut. The clicks from all the
ratchet wheels are then released, and the excentrics g, g, turned outwards,
allowing the springs t, t, to exert their force and separate the rails c, c, and
e, e¹. The length of the cloth of which the pile or nap has been cut, is then
passed forward, and wound loosely upon the roller u, when a fresh length
may be distended in the frame, and the operation proceed as before.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention, together
with the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in
conclusion, that I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, the peculiar method of weaving the fabric, which consists in causing
the pile threads to float over any number weft shoots or of ground or back
warp threads exceeding three in number, and then to interweave with three
or more weft shoots or ground or back warp threads, and also in the inter-
vention of two or more weft shoots or ground or back warp threads at right
angles to the pile threads between the commencement of the floats of adjoining
pile threads, as above described, and exliibited in the Diagrams, Figs. 1, 2,
and 3.
Secondly, cutting or severing the pile of nap threads transversely or from
selvage to solvage after the cloth has hoon zamored from the lawm

page_text: And, thirdly, the construction and arrangement of machinery or apparatus
(as before described, and shewn in Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawing annexed,)
for uniformly stretching or distending the fabric laterally and longitudinally
during the operation of cutting the pile or nap.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
aucond sight hundred and foster
Inrolled the Twentieth day of July, in the year above written.