AN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING CARPETS AND TERRY FABRICS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christopher Nickels, of the Albany Road, Camber-
well, in the County of Surrey, and James Hobson, of Leicester, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING CARPETS AND
TERRY FABRICS."
Sealed the 20th June 1856, and dated the 22nd April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher Nickels and
James Hobson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 22nd April 1856.
We, CHRISTOPHER NICKELS, of the Albany Road, Camberwell, in the
County of Surrey, and JAMES HOBSON, of Leicester, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING.
CARPETS AND TERRY FABRICS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improvement in machinery for weaving
carpets and terry fabrics, and is applicable when weaving with looms driven.
by power, but wherein the wires to produce the terry or pile are introduced by
hand. Heretofore in such looms in some cases the working of the looms by
power has been stopped, whilst the wires have been introduced by the work-
men; and in other arrangements of looms the power has been continually
applied to the loom during the time that the wires have been introduced by
the workmen, in which cases, however, two shuttles have been employed.

page_text: Now, our present improvement consists of causing the power to be applied
to a loom during the time of putting in the wires when only one shuttle is
used; for which purpose, a shed is open to receive a wire, and at the same
time a shed is also opened to receive the shuttle, the power acting to throw or
introduce the shuttle at the time a wire is being introduced by the workman.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Christopher Nickels and James Hobson in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 21st October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHRISTOPHER
NICKELS, of the Albany Road, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, and
JAMES HOBSON, of Leicester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Christopher Nickels and James Hobson, Her special licence
that we, the said Christopher Nickels and James Hobson, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Christopher Nickels
and James Hobson, our 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 "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN MACHINERY FOR WEAVING CARPETS AND TERRY FABRICS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Christopher Nickels and James
Hobson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or
them, 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 Christopher Nickels, on behalf of
myself and the said James Hobson, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof:-
This Invention has for its object an improvement in machinery for weaving

page_text: carpets and terry fabrics, and is applicable when weaving with looms driven by
power, but wherein the wires to produce the terry or pile are introduced
by hand. Heretofore in such looms in some cases the working of the looms by
power has been stopped whilst the wires have been introduced by the work:
men; and in other arrangements of looms the power has been continually
applied to the loom during the time that the wires have been introduced
by the workmen, in which cases, however, two shuttles have been employed...
Now, our present improvement consists of causing the power to be applied
to a loom during the time of putting in the wires when only one shuttle is
used; for which purpose, a shed is open to receive a wire, and at the same
time a shed is also opened to receive the shuttle, the power acting to throw or
introduce the shuttle at the time a wire is being introduced by the workman...
Having thus stated the nature of our said Invention, we will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same, and in doing so we would
remark that the arrangement of loom we prefer is that described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to us on the Third day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, No. 752; and the improvements consist
in the use therein of single shuttle boxes, employing only one in place of two
shuttles, and causing the picking cams to act to throw the shuttle to and fro
when the sheds are opened in the warps, and also introducing the wires by
hand at the time indicated in the Drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a section when all the worsted or pattern warps are at the
lowest position Figure 2 shows the worsted or pile warps partly in the middle
and partly selected by the jacquard to receive the wire which is introduced by
the hand of the workman, as in hand weaving; Figure 3 shews a section, the
tie warps being in the reverse positions to those shown in Figure 1. a and b
are the two tie warps as shown in different colors; c, c, are the worsted or
pile warps. When the top shoot of weft is introduced, the warps are divided
as follows, forming a single shed:-The worsted or pile warp is all at the
bottom, and the chain or tie warp divided, thus forming a single shed with the
worsted warp all at bottom, as indicated at Figure 1; a double shed is then
formed by the worsted warp going to the middle, and the jacquard selecting
the threads which are required for the top shed to produce the pile, as indicated
by Figure 2. The tie warp changes positions; a shoot of weft and a wire are
then introduced into the two sheds thus formed; all the worsted or pile
warps then go to the bottom, the tie warp remaining, as in Figure 2, and
another shoot of weft is then introduced.

page_text: We would remark that in these improvements, as in respect to those of the
former Patent before referred to, our object is to reduce the labour of the work-
man, and yet retain the requirement of workmen for introducing and removing
the pile wires; and these improvements are peculiarly applicable when altering
ordinary hand carpet looms to be worked by rotatory motion, as described in
the Specification of our former Patent, our present improvements rendering
it unnecessary to alter the shuttle boxes of such looms.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Nickels, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE.
CHRISTOPHER NICKELS. (LS.)