IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING AND PRINTING SHAWLS AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MELVILLE, of Roebank Works, Lochwinnoch, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, Calico Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
March, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Melville, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James Melville,
my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I the said James Melville,
my exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time, and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in Her Majesty's
Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WEAVING AND PRINTING SHAWLS AND OTHER FABRICS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, requiring that I, the said James Melville, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, shall particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and shall cause the same to be enrolled in Her said

page_text: Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Melville, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by this present instrument in writing, as follows, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto attached, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say,-
My said Invention relates, first, to a system or mode of double weaving,
or the weaving of a duplex fabric, to be afterwards severed into two separate
pieces applicable for carpets, velvets, and other pile fabrics, in which system
two backs or foundations of fabrics, connected together by a long pile of the
face material, are woven together without the aid of intermediate slips or
needles; second, to various novel arrangements of machinery, apparatus, or
means, for printing, colouring, or ornamenting shawls and other fabrics,
whereby greater economy and accuracy as well as peculiarity of effect is
obtained than by the ordinary systems of ornamentation hitherto in use.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto
attached.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of my Drawings, is a transverse sectional elevation
of a loom as arranged according to my improvements for weaving two distinct
pieces of cut-pile fabrics such as carpets and velvets, to be afterwards separated
without the use of intermediate slips, needles, or supports for the formation of
the pile or loops; portions of the details being broken away and omitted to avoid
complication in the Figure. Figure 2 is a front elevation of the loom corre-
sponding. Figure 3 is a plan of a portion of the weaving details corresponding to
the parts represented in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of a piece
of the woven fabric, as in the act of being severed to form two distinct pieces;
and Figure 5 is a plan of the same, corresponding. In the arrangements which
have herein represented, I have adapted my improvements to be worked out
in a common hand loom, but it will be obvious to the practical man that the
same general contrivances are equally well, adapted to various classes of loom.
A, A, is the framing of the loom,, to the top bar B of which is hung the slay
C in the usual maner; a deep.or broad reed D being fitted to the slay in the
ordinary way. The duplex fabric is formed or produced from four distinct
lines of threads in addition to the weft, consisting of an upper and a lower set
of heavy foundation warp threads E, E; a corresponding set of light or thin
warp threads F, F; and the wool or loop warp G. The heavy material E for the

page_text: foundations or backs of the two pieces, or rather the duplex fabric being woven
is carried on the two roller beams E, E, at the back of the loom, one above and
one below the line of the woven fabric H. Immediately behind these beams is
a second pair F, F, carrying the light foundation warp threads F, whilst the
wool or yarn G for the loops or faces of the fabrics is upon the furthest back
beam G. The latter beam is set below the level of all the others, and the
yarn from it passes upwards over the fixed guide roller J, whilst the four
foundation warps pass round or between the pair of guide rollers K. where all
the five warps are brought together in one horizontal line. Thence they pass
to the heddles which are seven in number, the wool or loop yarn being passed
through the ring of the front heddle L. The upper and lower heavy foundation
warp threads pass respectively through the heddles M, N, and the upper and
lower light foundation warp threads are respectively divided between the two
pairs of heddles O, P. The whole of the warp threads pass through the reed
D, and a portion of them through the projecting open dents of a species of
secondary reed Q carried on the front of the slay directly in front of the
regular reed D, and the fabric when woven passes over the fixed cloth
beam R and is finally wound on the cloth roller S.. Now the essential object
of this Invention being the dispensing with the intermediate slips or needles
ordinarily used in double weaving for forming the loops, I have arranged my
loom in such manner that instead of weaving both foundations or backs so that
each shot of the weft in the upper and lower foundations is thrown at the same
time in the same vertical line, the lower foundation is always kept several
shots ahead or in front of the upper one, that is, the woven portion of the lower
back always extends several shots further back on the reed side than the upper
one, as at a, b, in Figure 1; a being the termination of the woven portion of
the upper foundation, and 6 that of the lower one. Thus, during the process
of weaving, the angular distance between the two sheds of the upper and
lower backs, that is, the distance measured on the line a, b, regulates the
length of the intervening pile of wool or material used for the loop or
face of the fabric; in other terms, the length of the uncut pile is rather
more than equal to the distance which the lower woven foundation extends
past the upper one in a horizontal direction. This effect is accomplished by
the joint aid of a secondary reed Q, and a species of holding frame T. The
main reed D is employed for weaving the lower foundation only, as it traverses
only up to the end 6 of the angular line a, b. The secondary reed Q consists
of a wooden bar of the length of the regular reed, and having a pair of trans-
verse vertical slots in it, by which it is loosely adjusted upon the stud bolts U,
on the front side of the slay, and it has thus a free vertical motion to a slight

page_text: extent up and down. The dents or splits V in it are simply short hook pieces
curved towards the cloth side and slightly notched at their ends, fastened into
the lower edge of the wooden bar. This reed, so adjusted, is always perfectly
free to slide on its studs, as it merely rests by its own weight upon the surface
of the warp threads which form the upper foundation, the edge of the wood
itself being upon the threads whilst the latter pass between the dents, just as
in an ordinary reed. The slay is worked in the usual manner, and the heddles
are actuated in any convenient way, being so worked that two distinct sheds
are formed at each change of heddle action, each shed being formed by the
light foundation warps F, whilst in each case the whole line of heavy founda-
tion threads is alternately elevated and depressed to each side of the shed,
and the line of wool or face warp alternately brought to interweave with
each piece that is on the top and bottom sides of the duplex fabric; for
example, in the view, Figure 1, the slay is supposed to be beating up the
binding weft in both backs, and taking up a loop or length of pile of the face
wool to the upper side of the duplex piece, the main reed D being in the
act of driving up the binding weft of the lower foundation, whilst the notches
of the secondary reed Q have caught the upper binding weft and are carrying
it forward up to the line a, so as to take up the necessary angular loop for
the intermediate pile. It is to hold up the upper line of weft which secures
the sloping line of pile wool, that the holding frame T is applied. This frame
consists of a wooden bar extending across the whole width of the piece on the
upper side of which it lies by its own weight, being secured at each end to the
fixed cloth beam by strips of caoutchouc W. The edge of this holding frame
next the reed is studded with a row of small hooks X, turned downwards, and
as the slay drives up the upper weft, the weaver lifts up this holding frame by
hand, and again letting it fall, the row of hooks grasps the last weft shot and
holds it in its position at the top of the incline until the next shot is thrown,
when the action is repeated. In this way the pile is retained at an angle as it is
woven, the angular piece being longer or shorter to correspond with the desired
length of intermediate pile. In the succeeding shed the same movement
occurs, except that a loop or length of the wool for the pile of the fabric is
then brought down by the heddle action, and bound in by the weft at the
bottom 6 of the incline a, b, so as to be interwoven at that point with the
bottom foundation, and this process is repeated as the weaving proceeds. The
view, Figure 4, is an enlarged section of a portion of the woven fabric, the long
pile A being partially severed, as in the process of producing two distinct pieces.
The plan, Figure 5, represents one of the foundations, the portion B being
a selvage, and C the incline of the pile as it comes from the loom, this incline

page_text: being brought to a right angle in Figure 4 by the stretching effect due to the
cutting action. By this process the two separate fabrics are completed, so
that the cut pile finally stands up at a right angle from its foundation.
The second general head of my Invention is to be described in reference
to Sheets 2 & 3 of my Drawings. It relates to various arrangements of
machinery, apparatus, or means for printing or ornamenting shawls and other
fabrics. Figure 1, on Sheet 2 of my Drawings, is a longitudinal elevation of
my plain cylinder or drum printing machine, as adapted for printing shawls,
portions of the machinery between the two end standards being broken away to
shorten the length of the Figure. Figure 2 is an end elevation of the machine
corresponding to Figure 1, shewing the colour carriage and other details of the
printing mechanism. Figure 3 is a separate detail of the printing roller as
adapted to the machine in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is an end elevation of the
same, with one of the end collars removed, shewing a segmental printing surface
equal to one-fourth of the roller's circumference. Figure 5 is a detached view
of another modification of printing roller; and Figure 6 is a corresponding
transverse section or end elevation of the same. Figure 7 is a detached view
of a triple colour box, with the respective feed cloths for the different colours,
the latter being in longitudinal elevation, and the former in longitudinal
section. Figure 8 is a detached side elevation of the adjustable bearing for the
printing roller; and Figure 9 is a transverse vertical section of the printing
details detached.
The main framing consists of two vertical end standards A, bolted down
to the floor, and each carrying a plummer block B, for the end bearings of
the shaft of the main impressing drum or cylinder C. The standards are
also cast with front projecting brackets D, for the adjustment of the car-
ringe and printing apparatus, and the support of the shaft E of the printing
roller F. These brackets are cast of the peculiar rounded form shewn in
Figure 2, being rounded out for the reception of the segmental pieces G, which
are capable of being passed laterally into and out of the brackets when the
printing apparatus requires alteration and removal. Each of the pieces G
is formed with a horizontal slot H to receive the squared brass J, as the end
bearing of the printing shaft E; the brasses being adjustable back and
forward in their slots by the finger screws K. The machine is driven either
by hand, or by a pulley or gearing in connection with the shaft, which has fast
on one end of it a spur pinion L in gear with the large spur wheel M, fast on
the overhanging end of the main shaft N; these details being represented by
dotted circles only in Figure 2. The diameters of the pitch circles of the
wheel and pinion M, L, are respectively equal to the diameters of the main

page_text: drum and printing roller. The main drum is composed of a series of skeleton
pulleys or wheels O, like the main cylinder of a carding engine, the peripheries
of these skeletons being covered over with strips of wood P turned down to a
true cylindrical surface, the available circumference of the cylinder being equal
to the length of pattern or the length of the fabric itself to be printed; or
instead of this form of drum, it may be a plain cylinder without any cut, and
either the exact size or larger in circumference than the piece to be printed.
In printed shawls or plaids by this machine the cylinder has so much cut out
of it as brings its available circumference to the required length of the border.
Each side of the cut, as at Q, R, is fitted with a row of pins or stentor teeth
S, and the two opposite parallel edges of the fabric T are thus primed down
and secured to the two edges of the cut. The fabric is thus stretched out
evenly upon the cylindrical surface, in readiness for receiving the impression of
the printing roller, just as it would be stretched on a plain surface in block
printing, and when the machine is set in motion, the two surfaces of the main
drum and printing roller are driven round simultaneously at such a relative
velocity that the repeats on the printing roller shall coincide exactly with the
cylinder surface during printing. In commencing to print, the two opposite
edges of the fabric are stretched parallel with the two ends of the drum, and
the colour carriage placed as represented in Figure 1, supplies colour to the
printing roller, which is suitably adjusted on its shaft E to print the border U.
When the whole length of this border has thus been laid on by the revolution
in contact of the main drum and printing roller, the latter is disconnected
from contact with the drum by slackening back the screws K to allow the
bearings J to slide back along their slots. Or, the printing roller may be
removed when the cut Q, R, in the main drum comes opposite to the shaft N
so as to enable the printer to disconnect the roller without slackening back the
shaft. When this is done, the printing roller is slackened on its shaft by
turning its set screws, and it is then traversed along its feather to the other
end of its shaft to print the opposite border, the colour carriage being run
along its railway so as to correspond to the new position of the printing roller.
When this is done, the screws K are again turned to screw the bearings of
the printing roller shaft forward, and bring the printing roller into contact
with the fabric as before, when the second border may be printed. When
this has been done, the printing roller with its appurtenances is detached from
the machine and removed to a second machine precisely like the first. It is
here readjusted to print the two borders of a second fabric, fastened upon a
drum in the manner which I have already described, arrangements being made
for the due fitting of the printing roller accurately in position. When these

page_text: two borders have been printed, the printing apparatus may be again shifted to
a third machine, and so on throughout any given series. Then so soon as
sufficient time has elapsed for the earliest impression to dry, the printing roller
with the second colour may be similarly. brought up and adjusted to print over
the first impression, and following in this way throughout the series of borders
or impressions the remaining pair of parallel borders yet unprinted, on each
piece being printed after the first pair, by reversing the piece upon its drum to
bring the blank borders into the same plane as the printing roller ends. The
object of this system of printing is to enable the work to be quickly, con-
tinuously, and accurately carried on without incurring any loss of time by the
delays ordinarily occurring between each impression, to allow the colours to dry
or solidify so as not to blur and spoil each other. All the printing rollers are
accurately adjusted so as to fit at once to their places at each shift, and keep
the perfect register which is necessary to produce the finished design. It is
then intended that just so many of the same impressions shall be carried on, in
sequence, at one time as shall enable the first of the series to be dried or aged;
or if a very large number of cylinders are used, the whole of the first impres-
sions on all of them may be laid on in regular sequence, the first of the series
having its second impression applied at any period during the sequence of the
first that the economic arrangement of the attendant's labours may point out
after the time has elapsed for the drying operation. The colour apparatus
from which the printing rollers are supplied is carried between two parallel
vertical standards V, bolted together near their bases by two longitudinal
pieces W, forming a rectangular base frame. Each of the pieces W has
attached at its centre a stud for a running wheel X, whilst brackets are also
attached to the standards for the journals of the two smaller end wheels Y.
Alongside the front of the machine, three rails I are laid on the floor, the four
carrying wheels of the colour apparatus being fitted to traverse at pleasure
along this triple line, at the proper distance in front of the main drum. The
colour box a is supported on suitable brackets between the two standards, and
the colour is first of all carried upwards by the roller b dipping into the colour,
the colour adhering to the roller surface being conveyed from it by the endless
feeding band c, which presses on the upper side of the roller, and thence passes
round beneath the guide roller d... The colour box may be charged at pleasure
by withdrawal from the front between the two standards; and the feed rollers
e, b, may also be changed by passing longitudinally through holes f formed in the
sides of the standards; these rollers being carried in end bearings in the bars g
passed across the openings, and held between pairs of projections cast on the
standards by short pins. Each standard V has suitable brackets cast upon its

page_text: front edge, to receive a tightening screw h, for the colour band, these screws
being passed through the bases of the bearings for the tension guide roller.
The course of the endless band is indicated by the arrows. After receiving its
supply of colour in the manner already described, the band passes beneath the
roller d, and thence over the second loose guide roller j above these two
bearing surfaces, affording the tensional resistance requisite for the proper
action of the doctor k, which is adjustable in guides like the roller d. From
this point it passes upwards and over the highest guide roller l, running freely
in bearings in the tops of the standards, passing thence at a downward angle
beneath the printing roller F, to which it thus communicates the colour with
which it has been charged below. The requisite colour supplying pressure
upon the printing roller is obtained by means of the adjustable guide roller m,
capable of being set up or down in suitable slides by means of hand screws n,
access to the heads of which is given by holes in the sides of the standards.
The colour band is actuated by means of the same large wheel me which drives
the printing roller, this wheel being made to gear with the spur pinion o, running
loose on a stud in the bracket p, fast on the main frame. This pinion again gears
with a second pinion q, fast on the projecting end of the shaft of the roller e, the
bracket p being prolonged to form a bearing for this shaft, the opposite end of
which is carried by a similar bracket bolted to the opposite standard. All the
details of this apparatus are arranged so as to be easily removeable. When the set
screws is slackened; the pieces G may be at once passed laterally out of their
bearing brackets; the large apertures thus left in the brackets being contrived
to allow various sizes of printing rollers to be passed through longitudinally,
the roller last used being traversed longitudinally along its feather on the shaft
E clear of the machine; during this process of adjustment, the printing roller
shaft is held up, in the absence of its bearings, by the disengaging catch levert;
this lever turns on a fixed stud centre in the standards, and when not in use it
hangs down to the position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 8. When the
shaft E is left unsupported the lever is turned round on its centre, and pinned
up horizontally by a pin u passed through the short end of the lever and
through the standard; the longer arm then forms a support for the shaft,
which is further retained horizontally by two curved projections on the upper
side of the lever; the bracket 2: then being unbolted from its standard the
whole colour apparatus may be removed by running it along its rails, the open
bottom side of the brackets D allowing of the passage through them of the tops
of the standards V; but instead of this arrangement, the colour apparatus may
be made so as to lift directly in and out of the position required in printing, by
being set on independent framing capable of motion to or from the main drum

page_text: at right angles thereto; the printing roller being carried on the framing of the
colour apparatus so as to come clear away from the drum when necessary.
In Figures 3 and 4 the printing roller, which is of the surface kind, is supposed
to be built up of four pieces of wood, one-fourth only of the periphery being in
use for printing; this segment v projecting up from the rest, as shewn in
Figure 4; the roller is set upon a feather on its shaft, so that it may be
traversed along the shaft at pleasure and fixed at any particular point by set
screws passed through the end collars w; but when the segmental printing
portion is to be removed this can be effected, without sliding the whole roller
to the end of the shaft, by withdrawing the segmental piece laterally; in this
example the printing roller is the same as the one represented in the act.of
printing a "pine" border on a shawl in Figure 1.
Figures 5 and 6 represent a different arrangement of roller. The shaft is grooved
as in the former instance, and the segmental printing surface x is screwed.on
to a segmental iron plate y, with an internal feather fitting to the groove in the
shaft, and running from end to end of the printing surface; a tubular collar 1
is fitted to each end of the segment encircling both the shaft and the ends of the
piece of iron y, and set screws 2 passed through the collars afford the means. of
adjusting the printing surface at any required part of the shaft; the printing
segment may at once be removed by slackening off one of the collars. The
view, Figure 7, exhibits the same arrangement of colour apparatus as that
already described, except that it comprehends three separate colours with their
respective feeding bands 3, 3, 3; thus when one colour has been printed the
second may be printed over it, by adjusting the required printing roller or seg-
ment upon the shaft, and traversing the colour carriage along its rails to bring
the required colour up to the roller; in this case a considerable space must be
left between the ends of the impression drum and the main standards, to allow
of the traverse of the carriage on changing the colours; by such an arrange-
ment, the disengagement of the colour carriage from the large drum is entirely
obviated. The several colours in a pattern may either come into action suc-
cessively one after the other as I have herein-before mentioned, or they may be
printed all at one time, by so setting them that their actions shall be distant
from each other just the extent of the repeat. It will be clear to the practical
printer that this system of printing is equally applicable for printing with com-
plete rollers instead of segments. The use of the segmental printing rollers is
also attended with economy in engraving or producing the roller pattern; for
example, the printing segment being made just large enough to receive the
repeat, then a differential ratio being preserved between the respective num-
bers of teeth in the large wheel M and pinion L, the repeat, will be accurately

page_text: printed by a differential action; that is to say, the first revolution of the
main drum will produce a series of impressions of the repeat at wide intervals,
but on the second revolution, the relative positions of the drum and printing
roller surfaces being, changed, the succeeding impressions of repeats will fall
into the blanks left during the first revolution, and the succeeding revolutions
will fill up the remaining blanks in a similar manner, so that the increased
number of the revolutions of the main drum compensates for the small amount
of the roller pattern; in addition. to this, the system of segmental printing
rollers possesses the advantage of dispensing, to a great extent, with the neces-
sity of traversing the roller upon the shaft in printing large areas; that is, the
segment being made of considerable length in the direction of the shaft, each
revolution will print a repeat over a correspondingly large space in that direc-
tion, the repeats falling in as I have already described; and although I have
herein-before specially referred only to the printing of borders, the same
general principle may obviously be carried out in printing the bodies or centres
of fabrics by suitably adjusting the rollers; the same system is also applicable
for printing various fabrics, as for example, bandana handkerchiefs; it is usual
print, say seven handkerchiefs in one piece, to be afterwards cut up; then, in
this case, such pieces may be. stretched round the circumference of the main
drum to a greater or less extent, so as to bring in the length of the piece to suit
or correspond with the required number of repeats of the pattern; that is to
if a piece under ordinary circumstances were to terminate in the middle
of an impression of a repeat, then the whole piece might be so elongated by
stretching that it might be made to end with the repeat of the pattern, or
if the fabrics cannot be thus managed they may be placed round the large
drum, with their lengths in the direction of the drum's axis; several pieces
being thus arranged side by side round the drum; and at the proper distances
asunder for the correct printing of the pattern. And by another modifica-
tion, where a great length of printing roller is required, a roller of one-half
the pattern length may be used, so as to print one-half the width of the pattern
at once, the roller being then reversed to print the other half to coincide
with the first. After the discharge of the colour in a bandana, of course the
fabric may be again put on the drum and printed with other colours to
complete the pattern. If excessive lengths of of fabrics are to be printed
where the circumference of the impression drum would be too limited,
the piece may be stretched over the drum as far as the latter will take it up,
whilst the superfluous portion is wound upon a pair of rollers contained
in the interior of the drum, one roller being for the printed and the other
for the unprinted portion of the piece. In this way, great lengths may
say,

page_text: be printed by rolling up the last printed portion on one roller, and unwinding
a succeeding unprinted length from the other for stretching over the drum
surface; or the fabric may be printed in lengths suitable for single dresses, the
available circumference of the drum being made of sufficient extent to receive
an entire dress at once. Surface printing rollers have hitherto been mentioned
as the medium for laying on the colours, but, it is obvious that engraved rollers
may be employed in the usual way, if desired; as for example, to lay in the
leading colour of a pattern. And to assist the drum in holding the fabric with
a uniformly stretched and even surface, a coating of some roughened or fric-
tional material is laid on the drum or impression surface, such as emery,
roughened cloth, or india-rubber, the object being to give the piece a uniform
tension during the printing action, irrespective of portions being wet and
portions dry.
Another modification of my improvements relates to a system of printing
various fabrics, such as shawls and plaids, for example, when stretched
out upon a flat square or rectangular table, hung vertically and capable.
of adjustment by means of a cord and balance weight or otherwise, the
printing roller being made to revolve in fixed bearings in a separate frame,
whilst the table carrying the fabric moves or traverses vertically in contact
with it; for example, in printing a square fabric by this means, the roller
engraved, as I shall suppose, with the border and a portion of the centre
pattern, is adjusted so as to work along one edge of the fabric, the table with
the piece stretched upon it being suitably traversed beneath or against the
roller. By this movement, one border or side of the pattern with its corre-.
sponding portion of centre is printed, and the table is then hung so as to pre-
sent the second border to be similarly printed, and this routine is pursued
until all four sides have been printed; the corners of the fabric being protected
by cover pieces, so as to ensure the accurate junction and filling in of the
pattern at these points. Instead of traversing the table, the same effect may
be produced with a stationary table and a traversing roller; or the process may
be carried out without the use of any impression table, by stretching the piece
upon a frame, and passing it between the printing roller and a counter-pressure
roller corresponding.
Another modification of my improvements in printing various fabrics is to
be described in reference to Sheet 3 of my Drawings. In this arrangement,
the pattern or figure to be printed in any given colour is cut or formed upon
the surface of a conical roller, and the fabric is stretched evenly upon a vertical
table arranged to revolve in its vertical plane upon a horizontal shaft, which

page_text: shaft is in gear with the printing roller, the latter being set to revolve on its own
fixed axis, so that the surface rate of the table and roller may always coincide,
as herein-before explained in reference to Sheet 1 of my Drawings. Figure 1,
on Sheet 3 of my Drawings, is a front elevation of this conical roller machine
in printing order; Figure 2 is a corresponding side view, at right angles to
Figure 1 and Figure 3 is a plan of the same. The square printing or im-
pression table A, of wood or other suitable material, is bolted up in a vertical
position against a small face plate B, fast on the projecting end of a short
horizontal shaft C, revolving in bearings in two short standards D. This shaft
is driven direct, either by a winch handle on one end or by a band pulley E.
Immediately in front of this table is a triple line of rails F, for the support and
traverse of the colour apparatus on the principle of that adopted in my plain
cylinder printing machine, the open rectangular frame G being carried upon
these rails by means of the four wheels H. The shallow colour box J is
supported upon this frame by adjustable bars K, and the colour is taken up
from this box by the conical feed roller L; this roller is formed to the same
cone as the printing roller, and is carried at one end in a bearing M, attached
to the frame G, and at the other in a bearing N in the standard O, bolted to
the end of the printing frame, which also carries supporting brackets Pat
each end for holding the adjustable doctor or scraper Q for clearing the
superfluous colour from the roller surface. The conical printing roller
R is similarly supported in end bearings S and T, the latter being in
the upper portion of the standard O. Both the printing roller and its
feed roller are adjusted so that their axial lines shall radiate from the
centre of motion of the revolving table, so that the cones being duly propor-
tioned to agree with the relative surface speed of the table at different radii,
the entire arrangement may work in harmony. The printing roller and its
feeder are geared together, to revolve at the same surface speed, by the pair of
bevilled wheels U, and motion is communicated to the two rollers by a toothed
pinion V, fast on the end of the shaft of the printing roller and in gear with a
wheel W, fast on the upper end of the inclined shaft X, which is supported
above in a collar bearing in the top of the detached standard Y, and below in
a footstep in the small standard Z. This shaft is driven from the main shaft
C by means of a bevil wheel a fast on the latter shaft, and driving a bevil
pinion 6 on the lower end of the inclined shaft X. The whole of the wheels
U, U, V, W, and b are represented in my Drawings by red lines. In printing
a shawl by this apparatus, each corner of the piece being simply a repeat of a
large corner device, this device is cut upon the conical printing roller in

page_text: such way that, in the printing action, the roller will lay down its corner
impression with uniform regularity and accuracy in the precise position
accorded to it at each corner of the fabric as stretched upon its printing table
A; that is, the pattern is so cut or formed upon the roller, that the outer angle
or extreme outside corner of the device shall occupy the largest diameter of
the cone next the outside or periphery of the printing table, the portion of the
pattern or figure next the shawl's centre being on the narrow end of the roller,
whilst the two sides of the corner device, running at right angles to each other
from the corner of the fabric as printed, are so disposed on the roller as to
In
slope gradually off spirally towards the smallest diameter of the roller.
other terms, the figure on the roller has the appearance due to the winding
upon it of a paper pattern of the corner device, with the angle or corner of the
figure on the largest circumference of the roller, whilst a diagonal line drawn
through the centre of the corner piece coincides with the axial line of the cone
roller. Thus on the revolution of the main shaft C, the whole of the mechanism
is driven in concert, so that the surface speeds of the printing cone and the
impression table exactly coincide at their respective points of contact. Then,
as the stretched shawl moves round, beneath, or in contact with the printing
roller, the impression is necessarily laid on so that the corner device shall
exactly fill up the corners of the fabric. The conical roller may also be made
to print the central portion of the figure on the ground of the shawl, if required,
by forming the required pattern upon the narrow portion of the cone. The
colour box and feed and printing roller are changeable with great facility, as
there is no portion of the fixed machinery in the way of the removal of these
details, and the whole printing or colour apparatus may be at once run along
the rails when a new one is required, or when the roller R requires a fresh
adjustment in relation to the impression table. By making the bearings S, T,
adjustable horizontally, the surface line of the conical roller R may be adjusted
with great accuracy to the face of the table A, as I have already pointed out
in my description of Sheet 2 of my Drawings. The system of printing a
series of pieces in regular sequence, as also described in reference to my cylinder
printing machine, is also obviously applicable to this process, provision being
made for the accurate adjustment of the printing rollers at each resetting
for a new colour or for the adaptation of the printing rollers to different tables.
It will also be obvious to the practical man that the impression table A may
be dispensed with by adapting a counter-pressure roller to work against the
back of the fabric during the printing action, the fabric being passed between
the printing roller and its counter roller, instead of between the table and

page_text: printing roller. For the production of certain peculiar effects, I also print
some classes of square fabrics by stretching the pieces when wet upon a
circular impression table, so as to cause the square to assume temporarily the
circular form; when so stretched, the fabric is printed by conical rollers in the
manner which I have already described, and the result is, that the corners of
the piece which are not stretched out so much as the parallel sides, receive
impressions coinciding exactly with the device on the roller, just as in the
ordinary mode of printing, and no change takes place at these parts on
the drying of the fabric, whilst the parallel sides, which have undergone
excessive stretching, shrink to their original state, and thus contract the
imprinted device. By this means, a peculiar effect is produced, the pattern at
the four corners being as originally engraved, whilst at the intermediate portions
the figures are contracted or varied in their proportions, such variation being
gradual in degree from any two corners to the longitudinal centre of the sides,
presenting a partially distorted figure capable of presenting pleasing effects
under certain modifications. The conical printing rollers may also be arranged
to print so as to leave the corners blank for future treatment, as is well under-
stood by practical men. I may also remark, that although I have herein-before
referred only to the system of printing a series of impressions of one colour
in regular sequence, it is clear that all such colours as do not come in
close or near contact or interfere with each other may be printed at once, or
immediately following each other, by arranging the different colour rollers
accordingly.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used, or carried into
effect, I may observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the system or mode of weaving or manufacturing duplex pile fabrics,
or fabrics wherein two backs. or foundations are connected transversely by a
pile of the face material of such backs without the use of intermediate slips,
needles, or supports, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of weaving duplex fabrics wherein the angle of
inclination of the intermediate pile threads with the backs determines the
length of such pile, or where one back is woven in advance of the other.

page_text: Third, the application and use of the secondary reed for beating up the weft
in one of the backs, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the application and use of the retaining frame T, as described in
reference to Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of my Drawings, for temporarily holding
each shot of weft in the upper back.
Fifth, the system or mode of printing, colouring, or ornamenting shawls and
other fabrics, by stretching such fabrics on impression drums or cylinders, as
herein-before described.
Sixth, the application and use of the colour supplying apparatus, adjusted
on a portable carriage in connection with the large impression drum, as
herein-before described.
Seventh, the systems or modes of adjusting and guiding the colour appa-
ratus and printing roller, as herein-before described.
Eighth, the application and use of segmental printing surfaces for giving a
differential series of impressions, as herein-before described.
Ninth, the system or mode of printing shawls and other fabrics, by means
of an impression drum or cylinder and a printing roller differentially geared
together, so as to change the relative positions of the drum and roller surfaces
at each revolution, as herein-before described.
Tenth, the system or mode of printing in two or more colours, by means of a
traversing colour apparatus, supplied with such colours and actuated as herein-
before described.
Eleventh, the system or mode of printing handkerchiefs and other fabrics
by stretching the pieces over impression drums to cause the length of the piece
to correspond with the intended number of repeats of the pattern.
Twelfth, the system or mode of printing piece goods of excessive length as
compared with the circumference of the impression drum, by causing the ends
of the pieces to be received into the interior of the drum.
Thirteenth, the application and use of a roughened or frictional surface
coating to the impression drum or table, for holding the fabric with a uniform
tension.
Fourteenth, the system or mode of printing fabrics by stretching the same
on a flat vertical table or a stretching frame, either fixed or moveable, the
colours being laid on by a roller, either fixed or moveable, the moving portion
in either case being traversed as herein-before described.
Fifteenth, the application and use of conical printing rollers for the purposes
herein-before described.
Sixteenth, the system or mode of printing fabrics, by means of a conical
roller rolling round a table or flat impression surface.

page_text: Seventeenth, the system or mode of printing square or rectangular fabrics,
by stretching the same upon circular tables for the production of distorted or
lifferential impressions, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Melville, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.