AN IMPROVED ORNAMENTAL FABRIC, AND IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND IN JACQUARD APPARATUS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cunningham and Robert Cunningham, both
of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Card Perforators,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ORNAMENTAL FABRIC, AND IMPROVEMENTS
IN WEAVING AND IN JACQUARD APPARATUS."
Sealed the 12th September 1862, and dated the 13th March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cunningham and
Robert Cunninghain at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 13th March 1862.
We, JOHN CUNNINGHAM and ROBERT CUNNINGHAM, both of l'aisley, in the
County of Renfrew, North Britain, Card Perforators, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "AN IMPROVED ORNAMENTAL FABRIC, AND
1MPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND IN JACQUARD APPARATUS," to be as follows,
that is to say:-
This Invention relates to an improved ornamental fabric of or similar to the
Paisley shawl" class, and to improvements in weaving and in jacquard
apparatus for weaving such and similar ornamental fabrics.
The improved fabric is of the kind having two or more running covers of
differently colored wefts, there being by this Invention a set of what may be
termed "back" warps introduced, which "back" warps the weaving action is
made to interweave with the portions of the colored weft ordinarily forming
"floats on the back of the fabric. In some cases, however, some of the
Es. Sh

page_text: wefts may be allowed to form "floats," to be afterwards clipped or cropped off
for the purpose of lightening the fabric. The new fabric is of uniform thick-
ness, and its strength and appearance are much superior to those of similar
fabrics as previously woven, whilst a considerable saving is effected in the
labourand in the material employed, the using of a "ground" weft shot or the
'dumb-flowering" of any of the other weft shots being dispensed with. The
precise nature of the improved fabric will, however, be better understood from
the following description of some of the various modes of weaving it, such
modes of weaving forming a portion of the present Invention.
"
Inweaving the improved fabric, according to one modification, the ordinary
warps, or what will herein-after be termed the "face" warps, are actuated
by what may be termed the "face" harness, arranged and tied in the usual
way, whether it be actuated by jacquard apparatus, by the "draw-boy" loom,
or by other apparatus. The "back"warps may in number bear
any convenient
proportion to the "face" warps, say, for example, one "back" thread to every
eight "face" threads. The "back" warps are actuated by a "back" harness,
and in this, and the subsequent modifications in which it is introduced, may
also be actuated by jacquard or other apparatus used for actuating the "face"
harness. Each thread of the "back" warps is entered through one of the
eyes or inails of the "back" harness, and also through those two "casters" or
upper loops of the "face" harness, the eyes or mails of which contain the
immediately adjacent threads of the "face" warps. The "back" harness
may be placed either in front of or behind, or partly before and partly behind
the "face" harness. With this arrangement it is obvious that in no case can
the "back" warps appear upon the face of the cloth, which is woven with the
face downwards as usual, as the "back" threads will be invariably lifted along
with those "face" threads, through the "casters" of which the "back"
threads have been entered.. At the same time the "back"
warps may be
acted upon by the "back" harness, for the purpose of weaving up the "floats"
without their action in so doing at all interfering with the free and independent
action of the "face" warps and "face" harness, as the "back" warps are
always at liberty to rise from their being entered through the "casters" and
not through the eyes or mails of the "face" harness. In this first modifi-
cation the "face" warps are worked by what is known as a full or "thread"
harness.
In weaving theimproved fabric, according to a second modification, a figured
"plain" cloth is obtained, being also wrought by a full or "thread "harness,
and all the "floats" being woven up with the "back" warps. In this case
the "back "harness is actuated so as constantly to raise a plain shed, that is,

page_text: every alternate thread of the "back" warps across the whole web raising the
same shed for all the weft shots composing one line of the face pattern, and
alternating the shed for every successive line or run of shots. Each thread of
the "back" warps, besides being entered through the "back" harness, is.
entered through one "caster" only of the "face" harness, care being taken
that an even number of "face" harness "casters" intervenes between every
one containing a thread of the "back" warps. It will follow from this that
upon whatever portion of the "face" warp's a plain draught is raised for the
purpose of producing figure only, every alternate thread of the "back" warps
will be raised along with it by the "caster" action, but it must be carefully
observed that the draught of the "back" harness, which is raised at the same
time to work in the "floats," is the one that will take up the remainder of the.
"back" warps upon the figured portion or plain shed of the "face" warps, so
that the "back" warps may not interfere with the face of the cloth. The
same result is also attained by entering the "back" warps through the eyes.
or mails of the "face "harness instead of through the casters, and then
through a "back" harness or through a set of heddles placed between the:
"face" harness and the reed. The heddles thus employed may be termed the
"back" heddles, and in this and subsequent modifications they supply the
place of the "back" harness.
In weaving the improved fabric, according to a third modication, "face"
warps are employed having more than one thread through each mailor eye of
the harness, and each thread of the "back" warps is entered through the
"back" harness, as herein-before described, and through one "caster" only of
the "face" harness; or again, under this same modification each thread of the
"back" warps is entered through one of the eyes or mails of the "face"
harness, and also through a set of "back" heddles or a "back" harness placed
between the "face" harness and the reed.
The action exercised under the foregoing modifications upon the "back"
warps by their being entered through certain of the mails, eyes, or casters of
the "face" harness may be otherwise produced by "legging" or attaching each
thread of the "back" harness to the thread or threads of the "face" harness
through the eyes, mails, or casters, of which the "back" warps were described
as being entered under the foregoing modifications. The points of attachment
of the connecting legs or bridles are considerably higher upon the "face
harness than upon the "back" harness, so that the raising of the face harness
will lift all the connected threads of the "back" harness, while the "back"
harness may be raised without in any way affecting the "face" harness, as
under the former modifications. Instead of these legs or bridles between the

page_text: "face" harness and "back" harness additional harness threads may be
attached to the "back" harness, and be carried directly to the cords or
mechanism actuating the "face" harness, so that the "back" warps may be
acted upon as herein-before described.
In another modification, instead of the "back" harness being legged
or attached to the "face" harness or the actuating cords of the same, or the
"back" warps being entered through the eyes, mails, or casters of the "face"
harness, all as herein-before described, the same result is obtained by causing
the "back" harness of itself to exercise all the action that is required.
Suppose, for example, that jacquard apparatus is employed in figuring the
fabric, the "back" harness is tied to a portion or section of the cords or tails
in a manner and order corresponding to the tie of the "face" harness. Besides
perforating the pattern in the usual way on that part of the card which corre-
sponds to the "face" harness, there are repeated on the portion or section of
the card corresponding to the "back" harness those portions of the pattern
with which the "back" warps are required to rise so as to keep them clear of
the face of the cloth, and there is cut in addition whatever is required for
weaving up the unemployed wefts into the "back" warps. When any of the
unemployed wefts are required to "float" upon the back of the cloth for the
purpose of being cut or clipped, there are only repeated upon the "back"
harness section of the card those portions of the pattern above mentioned
which are requisite to keep the "back" warps clear of the face of the cloth.
If the draw-boy loom or other mechanism is employed an arrangement and
repetition equivalent to the above is made for the purpose of actuating
the "back harness or its equivalent.
In effecting the foregoing improvements it is not necessary that the "face"
warps and "back". warps be put upon separate beams, as they may be warped
and beamed together in the order in which they are to be entered.
Another portion of the present improvements in weaving relates to figured
plain" cloth, and in carrying it out a set of heddles and a harness are
employed, and the warps are entered through them as follows:-Two warp
threads are entered through each eye or mail of the harness, and are then
entered individually through the heddles, so as to give the latter the power of
operating upon the warps, as in working a common plain cloth. When a
portion of the warps is raised by the harness to form figure, each alternate
thread of the portion so raised is depressed by the heddle action so as to cause
the weft to interweave with it and form a plain cloth. The same heddles are
depressed during the throwing of the run of shots required to form one line
of the pattern, the heddle action being alternated for each successive run of

page_text: shots. By this means the power of a given harness and its actuating appa-
ratus is doubled. For example, apparatus having four hundred cords or tails
will have the power of forming figure upon eight hundred warp threads, whilst
the cloth produced will be the same as if each warp thread had been separately
acted upon by an individual cord or tail. Instead of the two warp threads
being entered through one mail, there may be a mail to each, the harness
threads of both being attached to the same cord, or they may be bridled or
legged to each other and attached to the actuating cord by a single harness.
Another portion of the present improvements is designed to supersede the
"double-neck" harness employed in weaving harness goods. In the "double-
neck" harness the threads are bridled or coupled together above the hole
board, so that the firstly-tied can raise, say, the first and second mails in the
order of the tie, the secondly-tied harness to raise the second and third mails,
the thirdly-tied harness to raise the third and fourth mails, and so on over
the tie. Only one half of the harness is acted upon during the weaving of
one line of the pattern, the first, third, fifth, and other odd harness threads
being employed to actuate the mails, and the pairs of mails so lifted being
termed the "even" pairs. Whilst the next line is weaving, the second, fourth,
sixth, and other even harness threads are employed to actuate the mails, and
the pairs of mails so lifted are termed the "odd" pairs, the raising of the
mails in "even" or "odd" pairs being alternated for each successive line of
the pattern. Thus, whilst each harness has power to actuate two mails the
successive working of the "even" and the "odd" pairs of mails necessitates
the employment of an actuating apparatus having as many cords as there are
mails in the tie. According to the present improvements the actuating appa-
ratus has tails or cords equivalent to only one half of the mails, and their
successive raising in "even" and "odd" pairs is attained as follows:-The
harness threads of the first, third, fifth, and other odd mails are tied up to the
cords of the actuating apparatus in regular succession, as for an ordinary
harness. This portion of the harness. has the "casters" or doubled parts
continued a few inches higher than is usual above the hole board, and two
loops are formed in the upper part of each "caster." The "casters" of the
remaining mails, that is, the second, fourth, sixth, and other even ones, are
also prolonged for some distance above the hole board, being connected with
the ordinary harness as follows:-One end or thread of the caster of the
second mail is passed through the upper caster loop of the first mail, and the"
other end of the caster of the second mail is passed through the lower caster
loop of the third mail. The caster ends of the fourth mail are in like manner
passed, one through the third upper caster-loop, and the other through the

page_text: fifth lower caster loop, and so on successively, all the caster ends passed
through the upper loops being carried to one side of the hole board, and those
passing through the lower loops being carried to the other side of the hole.
board. These two sections of caster ends are attached to separate hori-
zontal rods placed one on each side of the harness. It will be evident that if
either of the rods is raised whilst the ordinary harness is being drawn, the
caster ends which are attached to it will be unaffected thereby, whilst if either
of the rods is lowered so as to cause the caster ends attached to it to be folded
or bent over the knots forming the loops and a draught of the ordinary harness
is raised, the rod so lowered being raised simultaneously and equally, the
folded caster ends will be raised also by it, lifting their attached mails with
them. One of the rods is raised and the other lowered during the weaving of
one line of the pattern, their positions being reversed for the succeeding line,
and so on. The effect of this will be to cause the actuating apparatus to lift
the "even" and "odd "pairs of mails alternately. That section of the mails
whose caster ends are attached to the two rods may be suspended or kept in
position in
any. convenient way so as to prevent their falling below the general
level during the reversing of the rods. More than one rod on each side of the
harness may be used if found convenient, and the foregoing mode of action
may be extended so as to cause three, four, or more mails of a series to be
raised in succession or other order, so as to work off twills or other weavings
by the action of a single cord, the number of loops upon the caster of the
actuating harness being correspondingly increased, and also the number of
caster ends which pass through them. The caster ends, instead of being
attached to rods, may be otherwise arranged so as not to interfere with each
other when they are raised or lowered.
Another portion of the present improvements in weaving relates to the
production of what are known as "comparted middles," of, for example, two
differently colored grounds in the width of the shawl or plaid piece. The
sheds for both middles are necessarily raised simultaneously, but ordinarily
wefts for the two middles are woven in one after the other, and in weaving
each the shuttle is thrown completely across the piece, but the shed of that
part with which it is not to weave is neutralised by a set of "pressing wires"
or a cut mounting arranged to hold it down between the harness and the reed.
The respective parts of the sheds are held down alternately accordingly as one
or other weft is being woven. In this method considerable extra labour is
expended in producing the effect; but by the present Invention that is almost
entirely saved by dispensing with the "pressing wires" or cut mounting and
by weaving in the two differently colored wefts simultaneously by means of

page_text: what is known as a "sewing frame." This sewing fraine is arranged to work
two shuttles simultaneously, each operating over only so much of the width of
the fabric as is necessary to supply weft to the respective "comparted middle."
The sewing frame is placed in working position and removed therefrom at the
proper periods, according to the requirements of the pattern.
or
A further improvement in weaving shawls or other fabrics with "middles'
is as follows:-Instead of dividing the ordinary warps into chains and dyeing
staining sections of them to suit the shape and colour of the middle or
middles wanted, an additional chain of warps is employed for each middle in
the breadth of the piece, and is stained or dyed across its whole breadth in
sections which longitudinally agree in colour and length with the middles
required. These additional warps are entered through the mails of the harness
along with the ordinary warps and through a set of heddles distinct from
those of the ordinary warps. Either the ordinary warps or the middle warp's
are caused, by the combined action of the heddles and harness, to come to the
right side of the cloth, when required, so as to suit each shot of weft as it is
thrown, and thereby the middles and the other parts of the piece will be
woven with that colour of warps which respectively belongs to each. By this
means the great expence of staining the ordinary warps in shapes resembling
the shapes of the middles to be woven upon them will be obviated, whilst 'a
thorough agreement of colour in the warps and wefts of the "middles" will
be attained to, which the ordinary method is but a rough approximation.
Instead of the warps for the middles being entered through the mails of thie
ordinary warps they may be entered through additional mails attached to the
same, or they may be worked by additional harness threads, either or both of
the two being brought into action-as required.
The improvements in jacquard apparatus have for object, by a simple move-
ment, to enable the weaver, with only one set of cards, to produce the pattern,
or certain portions of it, on either side of the cloth, as may be required. In
jacquard apparatus having knotted tails or cords and draught boards, the
draught board is formed with two saw cuts in each hole, one made in the
usual way and the other on the opposite side of the hole. In the normal
positions of the needles, or when ready to be acted upon by the perforated
card, the cord is in the saw cut nearest to the card having the knot of the
cord on the upper side of the saw cut. If there is a perforation in the card
the needle remains stationary and the draught board, on rising, lifts the knotted
cord along with it, while, in the case of the card. not being perforated, the
needle is driven backward, carrying the cord along with it, until the knot is
over the hole in the draught board, and consequently the cord is not raised or

page_text: operated upon by the rise of the draught board. This or its equivalent is the
ordinary action of the jacquard. When the pattern is wanted upon the
reverse side of the cloth the draught board receives a shift or change of position,
whereby the centre of the hole is made to coincide with the normal position
of the cord, and when the draught board is in this second position, if there is
a perforation in the card, the needle remains stationary, as before; but the
draught board, on rising, does not lift the cord, as the knot upon the latter
passes through the hole and remains unacted upon. When the card is not
perforated the needle is driven backwards, carrying the cord along with it,
and bringing the knot over the second or opposite saw cut, which is on the
furthest side of the hole from the card, and consequently the cord while in
this position will be raised by the rising of the draught board. By this means
a set of cards cut in the usual way can be made to produce the pattern upon
either side of the cloth at pleasure.
A further modification of these improvements is applicable in the case of
fabrics in which the pattern is produced partly on the one side and partly upon
the other side, as, for example, in shawls which have one corner, fourth part,
or other portion of the pattern on the reverse side from the rest, so as when
this corner or part may be folded over, to be worn or shown along with the
rest of the shawl. To effect this object a jacquard is used having more than
one draught board embodying the foregoing improvements, say, for example,
that there are two draught boards, one or both of these have double saw
cuits, as already described. Those parts of the harness which are required to
work at pleasure in the reverse are tied to the cords of the board having
double saw cuts, or to either of the boards if they are both thus arranged, and
the other parts of the harness are tied to the other board. When the weaver
commences the shawl or piece, suppose both boards are working in unison or
figuring on the same side of the cloth, he works forward to that part of the
shawl where part is required to be reversed, which he effects by giving the
draught board containing the parts to be reversed the change of position
. herein-before described, thereby causing the portion so affected to figureupon
the other side of the cloth, while the remaining portions work as formerly; or
if both boards are reversed the pattern will be thrown to the other side com-
pletely across the piece. Or the weaver may work in reverse order, already
described; or in any other order that the fabric to be produced may require,
The draught board may be formed in various ways to obtain the same effect,
namely, so that what may be distinguished as the positive or the negative
actions will be determined by the position given to the board. Thus there
may be two holes connected by a saw cut to each cord or tail, or all the holes

page_text: in a row across the board may be connected. by saw cuts, in which case the
shift of the board will cause the several cords or tails to be acted upon by
different saw cuts, and not more than one extra hole or saw cut will be
required in each connected row. If the description of jacquard used is that in
which the harness threads are attached to hooked wires acted upon or lifted
by a grater the wires are formed with a second hook standing reversely from
the ordinary one, and the grater is formed so that by receiving a shift or
adjustment equivalent to the shift of the draught board herein-before described,
the grater may be made to gear with either of the hooks, the figuring being
produced on either side of the cloth accordingly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Cunningham and Robert Cunningham in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 13th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
CUNNINGHAM and ROBERT CUNNINGHAM, both of Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Card Perforators, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the.
said John Cunningham and Robert Cunningham, Her special licence, that we,
the said John Cunningham and Robert Cunningham, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Cunningham and
Robert Cunningham, our exécutors, 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 "AN
IMPROVED ORNAMENTAL FABRIC, AND IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND IN JACQUARD
APPARATUS," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said John
Cunningham and Robert Cunningham, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Cunningham and Robert
Cunningham, do hereby declare the nature of our 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, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Our said Invention relates to an improved ornamental fabric of or similar
to the "Paisley shawl" class, and to improvements in weaving and in
jacquard apparatus for weaving such and similar ornamental fabrics.
66
The improved fabric is of the kind having two or more running covers of
differently colored wefts, there being by this Invention a set of what may be
termed "back" warps introduced, which "back" warps the weaving action is
made to interweave with the portions of the colored weft ordinarily forming
floats" on the back of the fabric. In some cases, however, some of the
wefts may be allowed to form "floats," to be afterwards clipped or cropped
off, for the purpose of lightening the fabric. The new fabric is of uniform
thickness, and its strength and appearance are much superior to those
of similar fabrics as previously woven, whilst a considerable saving is
effected in the labour and in the material employed, the using of a "ground"
weft shot or the "dumb-flowering" of any of the other weft shots being
dispensed with.
The precise nature of the improved fabric will, however, be better under-
stood from the following particular description of some of the various
modes of weaving it, such modes of weaving forming a portion of the present
Invention.
In weaving the improved fabric, according to one modification, the ordinary
warps, or what will herein-after be termed the "face"
warps, are actuated by
what may be termed the "face" harness arranged and tied in the usual
way, whether it be actuated by jacquard apparatus, by the "draw-boy" loom,
or by other apparatus. The "back" warps may in number bear any con-
venient proportion to the "face" warps, say, for example, one "back" thread
to every eight "face" threads. The "back" warps are actuated by a "back"
harness, and in thisand the subsequent modifications in which it is introduced
may also be actuated by jacquard or other apparatus used for actuating the
"face" harness. Each thread of the "back" warps is entered through one of
the e eyes or mails of the "back" harness, and also through those two "casters"
or upper loops of the "face" harness the eyes or mails of which contain the
immediately adjacent threads of the "face" warp.
In order that it may be clearly understood what part is meant by the term

page_text: "
"caster," there is represented in Figure 1, on the explanatory Sheet of Diagrams
hereunto appended, a mail or eye A, as attached to its harness thread B, by a
long hoop C, formed on the harness thread itself. It is this loop Cwhich is the
caster, and through which the "back warp" thread is passed. The "back
harness may be placed either in front of or behind, or partly before and
partly behind the "face" harness. With this arrangement it is obvious that
in no case can the "back" warps appear upon the face of the cloth (which
is woven with the face downwards as usual), as the "back" threads will
be invariably lifted along with those "face" threads through the "casters"
of which the "back" threads have been entered. At the same time the
"back" warps may be acted upon by the "back" harness for the purpose of
weaving up the "floats," without their action in so doing at all interfering
with the free and independent action of the "face" warps and "face
harness, as the "back" warps are always at liberty to rise, from their being
entered through the "casters," and not through the eyes or mails of the "face"
harness.
In this first modification the "face" warps are worked by what is known
as a full or "thread" harness.
In weaving theimproved fabric, according to a second modification, a figured
"plain" is obtained, being also wrought by a full or "thread" harness, and
all the "floats" being woven up with the "back" warps. In this case the
"back" harness is actuated so as constantly to raise a plain shed, that is every
alternate thread of the "back" warps across the whole web, raising the same
shed for all the weft shots composing one line of the "face" pattern, and
alternating the shed for every successive line or run of shots: Each thread of
the "back warps, besides being entered through the "back" harness, is
entered through one "caster" only of the "face" harness, care being taken
that an even number of "face" harness" casters "intervenes between every
one containing a thread of the "back" warps. It will follow from this that
upon whatever portion of the "face" warps a plain draught is raised for the
purpose of producing figure, only every alternate thread of the "back" warps
will be raised along with it by the "caster" action; but it must be carefully
observed that the draught of the "back" harness which is raised at the same
time to work in the "floats," is the one that will take up the remainder of
the "back" warps upon the figured portion or plain shed of the "face" warps,
so that the "back" warps may not interfere with the face of the cloth. The
same result is also attained by entering the "back" warps through the eyes
or mails of the "face" harness, instead of through the "casters," and then
through a "back" harness or through a set of heddles placed between the

page_text: "face harness and the reed.
The heddles thus employed may be termed
the "back "heddles, and in this and subsequent modifications they supply the
place of the "back" harness.
"
In weaving the improved fabric, according to a third modification, "face"
warps are employed having more than one thread through each mail or eye
of the harness, and each thread of the "back" warps is entered through the
"back" harness as herein-before described, and through one caster only of
the "face" harness. Or again under this same modification, each thread of
the "back" warps is entered through one of the eyes or mails of the "face
harness, and also through a set of "back" heddles or a "back" harness
placed between the "face" harness and the reed.
"
The action exercised under the foregoing modifications upon the "back"
warps, by their being entered through certain of the mails, eyes, or "casters
of the "tace" harness, may be otherwise produced by "legging" or attaching
each thread of the "back". harness to the thread or threads of the "face"
harness, through the eyes, mails, or "casters" of which the "back" warps
were described as being entered under the foregoing modifications. The
points of attachment of the connecting legs or bridles are considerably higher
upon the "face" harness than upon the "back" harness, so that the raising
of the "face" harness will lift all the connected threads of the "back" harness,
whilst the "back" harness may be raised without in any way affecting the
"face" harness, as under the former modifications. Instead of these legs or
bridles between the "face" harness and "back" harness, additional harness
threads may be attached to the "back" harness, and be carried directly to the
cords or mechanism actuating the "face" harness, so that the "back" warps
may be acted upon as herein-before described.
In another modification instead of the "back" harness being legged or
attached to the "face" harness, or the actuating cords of the same, or the
"back" warps being entered through the eyes, mails, or "casters" of the "face"
harness, all as herein-before described, the same result is obtained by causing
the "back" harness of itself to exercise all the action that is required.
Suppose, for example, that jacquard apparatus is employed in figuring the
fabric, the "back" harness is tied to a portion or section of the cords or tails
in a manner and order corresponding to the tie of the "face" harness. Thus,
besides perforating the pattern in the usual way on that part of the card
which corresponds to the "face" harness, there are repeated on the portion
or section of the card corresponding to the "back" harness, those portions of
the pattern with which the back warps are required to rise, so as to keep
them clear of the face of the cloth, and there is cut in addition whatever is

page_text: required for weaving up the unemployed wefts into the "back" warps. When
any of the unemployed wefts are required to "float" upon the back of the
cloth for the purpose of being cut, or clipped, there are only repeated upon
the "back" harness section of the card those portions of the pattern above
mentioned which are requisite to keep the "back" warps clear of the face
of the cloth. If the "draw-boy "loom or other mechanism is employed an
arrangement and repetition equivalent to the above is made for the purpose of
actuating the "back" harness or its equivalents. In effecting the foregoing
improvements it is not necessary that the "face" warps and "back" warps
be put upon separate beams, as they may be warped and beamed together in
the order in which they are to be entered.
Another portion of the present improvements in weaving relates to figured
"plain" cloth, and in. carrying it out a set of heddles and a harness are
employed, and the warps are entered through them as follows:-Two warp
threads are entered through each eye or mail of the harness, and are then
entered individually through the heddles, so as to give the latter the power of
operating upon the warps as in working a common plain cloth. When a
portion of the warps is raised by the harness to form figure, each alternate
thread of the portion so raised is depressed by the heddle action, so as to cause
the weft to interweave with it and form a plain cloth. The same heddles are
depressed during the throwing of the run of shots required to form one line
of the pattern, the heddle action being alternated for each successive run of
shots. By this means the power of a given harness and its actuating appa-
ratus is doubled. For example, apparatus having four hundred cords or tails
will have the power of forming figure upon eight hundred
warp threads,
whilst the cloth produced will be the same as if each warp thread had been
separately acted upon by an individual cord or tail. Instead of the two warp
threads being entered through one mail there may be a mail to each, the
harness threads of both being attached to the same cord; or they may be
bridled or legged to each other, and attached to the actuating cord by a single
harness. It was herein-before stated that an advantage of a portion of the
present improvements was the dispensing with what is usually termed the
ground shot," or with the "dumb-flowering of a shot," but the improve-
ments may in some cases be combined with more or less of what has been
hitherto practised. Thus, when weaving in the improved manner last
described, provision may be made for introducing a "ground-shot," or for
"dumb-flowering," by passing an additional pair of warp threads through each
mail, or by otherwise disposing them so that each tail or cord will raise four

page_text: threads instead of two, and the "ground shot" or "dumb-flowering" may be
partly or wholly worked on these additional threads in the usual way.
Another portion of the present improvements is designed to supersede the
"double neck" harness employed in weaving harness goods. In the "double
neck" harness the threads are bridled or coupled together above the hole
board, so that the firstly-tied can raise, say, the first and second mails in the
order of the tie; the secondly-tied harness to raise the secondand third mails;
the thirdly-tied harness to raise the third and fourth mails, and so on over
the tie. Only one-half of the harness is acted upon during the weaving of one
line of the pattern, the first, third, fifth, and other odd harness threads being
employed to actuate the mails, and the pairs of mails so lifted being termed
the "even" pairs. Whilst the next line is weaving, the second, fourth, sixth,
and other even harness threads are employed to actuate the mails, and the
pairs of mails so lifted are termed the "odd" pairs; the raising of the mails
in "even" or "odd" pairs being alternated for each successive line of the
pattern. Thus, whilst each harness has power to actuate two mails the suc-
cessive working of the "even" and the "odd" pairs of mails necessitates the
employment of an actuating apparatus having as many cords as there are
mails in the tie. According to the present improvements the actuating appa-
ratus has tails or cords equivalent to only one-half of the mails, and their
successive raising in "even" and "odd" pairs is attained as follows:-The
harness threads of the first, third, fifth, and other odd mails are tied up to the
cords of the actuating apparatus in rgeular succession as for an ordinary
harness. This portion of the harness has the "casters" or doubled parts
continued a few inches higher than is usual above the hole board, and two
loops are formed in the upper part of each "caster." The casters of the
remaining mails, that is, the second, fourth, sixth, and other even ones are
also prolonged for some distance above the hole board, being connected with
the ordinary harness as follows:-One end or thread of the caster of the
second mail is passed through the upper caster loop of the first mail, and the
other end of the caster of the second mail is passed through the lower caster
loop of the third mail. The caster ends of the fourth mail are in like manner
passed; one through the third upper caster loop, and the other through the
fifth lower caster loop, and so on successively, all the caster ends passed
through the upper loops being carried to one side of the hole board, and
those passing through the lower loops being carried to the other side of the
hole board. These two sections of caster ends are attached to separate hori-
zontal rods placed one on each side of the harness. It will be evident that

page_text: if either of the rods is raised whilst the ordinary harness is being drawn, the
caster ends which are attached to it will be unaffected thereby, whilst if either
of the rods is lowered so as to cause the caster ends attached to it to be
folded or bent over the knots forming the loops, and a draught of the ordinary
harness is raised, the rod so lowered being raised simultaneously and equally,
the folded caster ends will be raised also by it, lifting their attached mails
with them. This arrangement will be understood from Figure 2 of the
accompanying Diagrams. Three mails 1, 2, 3, are shown, and the casters C
from all of them pass up through the hole board D in the usual way. The
caster loops of mails 1 and 3 are continued up a considerable length before
merging into the harness threads B, and two knots e, f, are made on each
below the top knot, so as to form two loops E, F. The caster of mail 2 is
knotted at a short distance above the hole board D, above. which knot the
ends are separated, one G being passed through the lower loop E of the
right-hand thread B, and the other H through the upper loop F of the left-
hand thread, Similarly the end (G) of mail (4) would be passed through the
lower loop (E) of thread (5), and its other end (H) through the. upper
loop F of thread 3. All the ends G are attached to one rod I, and the
others H to another rod J. The rod I is represented as lowered, whereby
the ends G have been bent over the knots e, which will cause them to be
raised with the mails to the right-hand side of each, whilst the other rod J
being raised, the other ends H will not be raised along with the left-hand
mails, the upper loops F merely slipping along the ends H. When the
rods I, J, are reversed the opposite effect takes place, the ends H being then
raised with the left-hand mails, whilst the ends G are not affected by the
raising of the right-hand mails. One of the rods is raised and the other
lowered during the weaving of one line of the pattern, their position being
reversed for the succeeding line, and so on. The effect of this will be to cause
the actuating apparatus to lift the "even" and "odd" pairs of mails alter-
nately. That section of the mails whose caster ends are attached to the two
rods may be suspended or kept in position in any convenient way, so as to
prevent their falling below the general level during the reversing of the rods.
More than one rod on each side of the harness may be used, if found con-
venient, and the foregoing mode of action may be extended, so as to cause
three, four, or more mails of a series to be raised in successive or other order,
so as to work off twills or other weavings by the action of a single cord, the
loops upon the caster of the actuating harness being correspondingly increased
in number, and also the caster ends which pass through them. The caster ends

page_text: instead of being attached to rods may be otherwise arranged, so as not to
interfere with each other when they are raised or lowered.
Another portion of the present improvements in weaving relates to the
production of what are known as "comparted middles," of, for example,two
differently colored grounds in the width of the shawl or plaid piece. The sheds
for both middles are necessarily raised simultaneously, but ordinarily the weft
for the two middles are woven in one after the other, and in weaving each the
shuttle is thrown completely across the piece'; but the shed of that part with
which it is not to weave is neutralised by a set of "pressing wires," or a cut
mounting, arranged to hold it down between the harness and the reed. The
respective parts of the sheds are held down alternately accordingly as one or
other weft is being woven. In this method considerable extra labour is
expended in producing the effect, but by the present Invention that is almost
entirely saved by dispensing with the "pressing wires" or cut mounting, and
by weaving in the two differently colored wefts siuultaneously by means of
what is known as a "sewing frame." This sewing frame is arranged to work
two shuttles simultaneously, each operating over only so much of the width of
the fabricas is necessary to supply weft to the respective "comparted middle."
The sewing frame is placed in working position and removed therefromat the
proper periods, according to the requirements of the pattern.
"
A further improvement in weaving shawls or other fabrics with "middles"
is as follows: Instead of dividing the ordinary warps into chains and dying
or staining sections of them to suit the shape and colour of the middle or
middles wanted, an additional chain of warps is employed for each middle in
the breadth of the piece, and is stained or dyed across its whole breadth in
sections which longitudinally agree in colour and length with the middles
required. These additional warps are entered through the mails of the harness
along with the ordinary warps, and through a set ofheddles distinct from those
of the ordinary warps. Either the ordinary warps or the "middle" warps are
caused, by the combined action of the heddles and harness, to come to the
right side of the cloth when required, so as to suit each shot of weft as it is
thrown, and thereby the middles and the other parts of the piece will be woven
with that colour of warps which respectively belongs to each. By this means
the great expence of staining the ordinary warps in shapes resembling the
shapes of the middles to be woven upon them will be obviated, whilst. a
thorough agreement of colour in the warps and wefts of the "middles" will be
attained, to which the ordinary method is but a rough approximation. Instead
of the warps
for the middles being entered through the mails of the ordinary

page_text: warps, they may be entered through additional mails attached to the same, or
they may be worked by additional harness threads, either or both of the two
being brought into action as required.
The improvements in jacquard apparatus have for object, by a simple move-
ment, to enable the weaver with only one set of cards to produce the pattern
or certain portions of it on either side of the cloth, as may be required. In
jacquard apparatus having knotted tails or cords and draught boards, the
draught board is formed with two saw cuts in each hole, one made in the usual
way and the other on the opposite side of the hole. Figure 3 of the Diagrams
show a fragment of a draught board and the holes with double saw cuts. In
the normal position of the needles, or when ready to be acted upon by the per-
forated card, the cord is in the saw cut nearest to the card, and the knot of
the cord is on the upper side of the saw cut. If there is a perforation.in the
card the needle remains stationary, and the draught board on rising lifts the
knotted cord along with it; whilst in the case of the card not being perforated,
the needle is driven backward, carrying the cord along with it until the knot is
over the hole in the draught board, and consequently the cord is not raised or
operated upon by the rise of the draught board. This or its equivalent is the
ordinary action of the jacquard. When the pattern is wanted upon the
reverse side of the cloth, the draught board receives a shift or change of
position, whereby the centre of the hole is made to coincide with the normal
position of the cord, and when the draught board is in this second position, if
there is a perforation in the card, the needle remains stationary as before, but
the draught board on rising does not lift the cord, as the knot upon the latter
passes through the hole and remains unacted upon.
perforated the needle is driven backwards carrying the cord along with it and
bringing the knot over the second or opposite saw cut which is on the farthest
side of the hole from the card; and consequently the cord while in this
position will be raised by the rising of the draught board. By this means a
set of cards cut in the usual way can be made to produce the pattern on either
side of the cloth at pleasure.
When the card is not
A further modification of these improvements is applicable in the case of
fabrics in which the pattern, as taken across the piece, is produced partly upon
the one side and partly upon the other side; as, for example, in shawls which
have one corner, fourth part, or other portion of the pattern on the reverse
side from the rest, so as when this corner or part may be folded over to be
worn or shown along with the rest of the shawl: To effect this object a
jacquard is used having more than onedraught board embodying the foregoing
improvements, say, for example, that there are two draught boards'; one or
C

page_text: both of these have double saw cuts, as already described. Those parts of
the harness which are required to work at pleasure in reverse are tied to the
cords of the board having double saw cuts, or to either of the boards if they
are both thus arranged, and the other parts of the harness are tied to the other
board. When the weaver commences the shawl or piece, suppose both boards
are working in unison or figuring on the same side of the cloth, he works
forward to that part of the shawl where part of the width is required to be
reversed, which he effects by giving the draught board containing the parts to
be reversed the change of position herein-before described, thereby causing
the portion so affected to figure upon the other side of the cloth, whilst the
remaining portions work as formerly; or if both boards are reversed, the
pattern will be thrown to the other side completely across the piece. Or
the weaver may work in reverse order already described, or in any other order
that the fabric to be produced may require. The draught board may be
formed in various ways to obtain the same effect, namely, so that what may be
distinguished as the positive or the negative actions will be determined by the
position given to the board. Thus, there may be two holes connected by a saw
cut to each cord or tail, as shown in Figure 4 of the Diagrams, or all the
holes in a row across the board may be connected by saw cuts, as shown in
Figures 5 and 6 of the Diagrams, in which case the shift of the board will
cause the several cords or tails to be acted upon by different saw cuts, and not
more than one extra hole or saw cut will be required in each connected row.
If the description of jacquard used is that in which the harness threads are
attached to hooked wires acted upon or lifted by a grater, the wires are
formed with a second hook standing reversely from the ordinary one, and the
grater is formed so that by receiving a shift or adjustment equivalent to the
shift of the draught board herein-before described, the grater may be madeto
gear with either of the hooks, the figuring being produced on either side of the
cloth accordingly. This arrangement will be understood from Figure 7 of the
Diagrams, the grater bars K being represented in cross section, and their
change of position being indicated by dotted lines. The double hook wires L
are shown in their normal positions, whilst the arrow indicates the direction in
which they are shifted by the jacquard action.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, we have to state that we do not restrict
ourselves to the precise details herein-before described; but that what we
believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to us by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the producing of an
improved ornamental fabric and the introducing of improved weaving arrange-

page_text: ments for the production of ornamental fabrics, substantially as herein-before
described; and the contriving of jacquard apparatus so as by a mere shift of
the draught board or grater relatively to the cords or wires to cause the
pattern to be worked on either side of the fabric, substantially in the manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Cunningham and Robert Cun-
ningham, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eleventh day
of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT, Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
(L.S.)
JOHN CUNNINGHAM.
ROBERT CUNNINGHAM. (L.S.)