IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WADDINGS AND FELTED FABRICS FOR CARPETS AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Oldroyd and Thomas
Howard Blamires at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 13th August 1875.
We, JOHN OLDROYD, of the Firm of Mark Oldroyd and Sons
(Limited), of Dewsbury, in the County of York, and THOMAS HOWARD
BLAMIRES, of Huddersfield, in the same County, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF WADDINGS AND FELTED FABRICS FOR CARPETS AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:
Firstly. Our Invention relates to a more economical method of and
better means than hitherto employed for producing cloth for felting
purposes or wadding, and also to machinery or apparatus as employed
when it is desired to insert a groundwork of woven fabric or of spun
yarn between the layers of carded wool or fibrous material. For this
purpose we employ two or more carding engines so arranged that each
machine shall deliver the carded fibres upon an endless travelling
apron. Between the two machines we place a roller or drum across the
principal travelling apron, which roller delivers a series of threads of

page_text: yarn, or rovings, or a lap of carded fibre, or woven calico, or other
material which we call warp, and which warp may be delivered either
from a roller upon which it is wound, or from separate bobbins or cops.
From one or both of these machines we also deliver if necessary along
with the carded fibres a number of threads of spun yarn or rovings
which are laid upon an endless travelling apron laterally in layers along
with the carded material. This spun yarn or rovings, which we call
weft, may either be wound upon rollers and delivered therefrom, or it
may be wound upon cops or bobbins, and delivered by means of a
"creel." Supposing that we employ only two machines then the first
machine delivers a ground of carded fibre interspersed if desired with
weft; this ground passes underneath the warp roller which delivers the
warp threads, or calico, or other substance, and passing then to the
second carding engine it receives the top fibres interspersed if necessary
with weft or calico or other substance. The sheet of carded fibres or
wadding has thus a number of threads of spun yarn or rovings
traversing it in both directions, which after the process of felting give
to the cloth the tenacity of a woven fabric. If desirable the weft threads
may be dispensed with entirely, and warp threads, calico, or other
woven fabric, or rovings only used, or vice versa.
Instead of spun
yarn we may as before stated introduce a woven calico or other material
for ground work, such as a lap of carded fibre from another machine
delivered in the same manner. This plan is applicable to machines in
which the longitudinal creeper or receiving apron is stationary or not
moved by a travelling carriage, and in which the delivery apron
oscillates to and fro across the surface thereof, as well as to machines
in which the delivery apron is stationary and the receiving apron
rciprocates.
Secondly. The object of this Invention is to arrange the materials in
their passage through the carding engines in such manner that when
the sliver or bat is made, cach of the outer sides of the said sliver or bat
will be of a distinct or different color, or mixture of colors or materials,
and a third color or mixture of colors or materials may if required be
placed in the centre, and the materials thus placed will occupy the same
positions after the operations of felting, when the fabric may be allowed
to retain the simple colors, or may if desired be printed upon with
various patterns or designs.
The manner in which we propose to effect this is to feed the wool or

page_text: other fibres to the scribbler or carding engine in different proportions
of the width of the feed, the colors which are required to form the outer
sides of the fabric being placed at each side of the feed sheet, and the
middle color fed to the centre. Suppose we require red on one side,
white in the centre, and yellow at the other side, we adopt the same
arrangement at the feed end of the scribbler or carder aforesaid, that is
to say, the red and yellow are fed to the outer parts of the card cylinder,
and the white or other color in the centre. The fibres thus carded are
taken off at right angles to the delivery roller or doffer cylinder, and it
will be seen that the color or material on the side furthest from the
taking up roller will be on the under side of the fabric, the fibres from
the centre of the card cylinder will be in the centre of the lap or roll,
and the material from the side nearest to the taking-up roller will be on
the surface or top side of the fabric.