IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING AND STEAMING THREADS AND YARNS OF WORSTED AND OTHER MATERIALS FOR
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Widnell, of Lasswade, in the County of
Edinburgh, Scotland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
AND STEAMING THREADS AND YARNS OF WORSTED AND OTHER MATERIALS FOR
Sealed the 4th December 1860, and dated the 16th June 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Widnell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1860.
I, HENRY WIDNELL, of Lasswade, in the County of Edinburgh, Scotland,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINT-
ING AND STEAMING THREADS AND YARNS OF WORSTED AND OTHER MATERIALS POR
CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as
follows:-
In the method of printing yarns and threads of worsted or other materials,
as most generally practised, the threads required to be printed are wound
round a cylinder, which cylinder is divided into a given number of equal spaces,
each space being half an inch wide, more or less, and the color is put on by
means of rollers, which produce straight lines of various colors across the
cylinder, and the yarns or threads wound thereon. This process is known as
Whytock's process, and has been used for many years advantageously for
printing yarns for tapestry and velvet carpets and fabrics; but since the
introduction of medallion carpets with a great length of pattern, printing upon

page_text: cylinders has been found inconvenient, inasmuch as a cylinder to print a thread
sufficiently long for a pattern of considerable length, say, eighteen or twenty
feet, would be found unwieldy, heavy to move, and difficult to manage.
Now according to the first part of my Invention Invention, tables having
flat surfaces are employed in the following manner :-A table of considerable
length is employed; or where great length is required; two or more tables made
to join together are used, on which the threads are arranged to be printed, and
having secured them so that they cannot move, the printing is performed in
the following manner :-On each side of the table there is an elevated rack,
about three-quarters of an inch above the level of the table, which racks have
a nick or cut at about every half inch, according to the width of block used to
guide the printer, so that the several half inches of color may be put into their
exact places across the yarns or threads. Each block has at each end a small
projection, which falls into the nick in the rack, and guides the block into its
right place. In order to impress the yarn with the coloring matter, narrow
blocks, by preference of wood, quite smooth at the bottom, or the under
surfaces of the blocks may be covered with felt or other suitable material.
Each block is long enough to reach across the table. The blocks are made of
a width of one, two, three, or more balf inches, so that when there is a more or
less wide space to be printed with the same color, it may be done by the
application of as few blocks as may be, by which there will be much saving of
time compared with the present system, where the rollers put on but one half
inch at a time.
In addition to the block above described, brushes are used for the purpose
of equalizing the color put on by the blocks, as it is found that the larger the
block is, the more difficulty there is in getting it to impart the color evenly.
The second part of my Invention consists in the combined use of a pair of
cylinders for the purpose of printing threads or yarns of worsted or of other
material, and their use differs principally from those now employed by reason
of a long axle being applied, which is supported in the middle and has a
cylinder placed on each end. By this arrangement the same pattern may be
printed at the same time in two different sets of colors. To effect this, two
color boxes are attached to the same strap or cord, each color box being
charged with a different color; both color boxes will be moved simultaneously
by the same motive power, and they will respectively impart the color with
which they are charged to the yarns or threads on their respective cylinder.
The third part of my Invention consists in an improved method of steaming
threads of worsted or other material after printing. The plan heretofore
generally adopted has been as follows:-When the yarns or threads of worsted

page_text: or other material have been taken off the cylinder, they have been laid in a
"tray" on a bed of seeds or chopped straw or any other suitable substance, for
the purpose of absorbing the refuse color; and after laying the hanks of printed
yarn side by side slightly, it has been usual to cover them with a thin layer of
seeds or other absorbing substance used for the purpose. The trays have then
been piled one upon the other and put into the steam chest for an hour, more
or less, where they undergo the process of steaming, by which the colors are
fixed. After many years' experience, not only has it been found that the use
of seeds is expensive, but if not very clean, they are apt to soil the colors.
According to this part of my Invention, I use a frame of wood or metal,
across which are strips of glass, metal, slate, or any other suitable material.
When the hanks of printed yarn are taken off the cylinders, instead of being
laid in trays on a bed of seeds, as by the old method, they are laid on the cross
pieces of glass, metal, or slate, or other material used, and the refuse color
falls into the bottom of the tray; or a separate tray to receive the refuse color
that may exude from the yarn in steaming may be used. By this means I
effect a very considerable saving in dispensing with the use of seeds or chopped
straw, the chance of injury to the printed yarns or threads from dirty seeds is
removed, and from the steam acting at once on the printed yarns or threads on
all sides à considerable diminution of the time requisite for steaming and con-
sequent cost is effected, as well as a very great improvement in the colors.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Widnell in the Great Seal Patent Office on
-the 14th December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WIDNELL, of Lasswade, in the County of Edinburgh, Scotland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and saccessors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Widnell, Her special licence that I, the said
Henry Widnell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as.
I, the said Henry Widnell, my 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRINTING AND STEAMING THREADS AND YARNS OF WORSTED AND OTHER
MATERIALS FOR CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Widnell, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Widnell, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
In the method of printing yarns and threads of worsted or other materials
most generally practised, the threads required to be printed are wound round a
cylinder, which cylinder is divided into a given number of equal spaces, each
space being half an inch wide, more or less, and the color is put on by means of
rollers, which produce straight lines of various colors across the cylinder, and
the yarns or threads wound thereon. This process is known as Whytock's
process, and has been used for many years advantageously for printing yarns
for tapestry and velvet carpets, and other fabrics; but since the introduction of
medallion carpets with a great length of pattern, printing upon cylinders has
being been found inconvenient, inasmuch as a cylinder to print a thread suffi-
ciently long for a pattern of considerable length, say, eighteen or twenty feet,
would be found unwieldy, heavy to move, and difficult to manage.
Now, according to the first part of my Invention, tables having flat surfaces
are employed in the following manner :-A table of considerable length is
employed, or where great length is required two or more tables made to join
together are used, on which the threads are arranged to be printed, and having
secured them so that they cannot move, the printing is performed in the following
manner-On each side of the table there is an elevated rack, about three-
quarters of an inch above the level of the table, which racks have a nick or cut at
about every half inch, according to the width of block used to guide the printer, so
that the several half inches of color may be put into their exact places across
the yarns or threads. Each block has at each end a small projection, which
falls into the nick in the rack and guides the block into its right place. In
order to impress the yarn with the coloring matter, narrow blocks, by prefer-
ence of wood, quite smooth at the bottom, are used, or the under surfaces of the

page_text: blocks may be covered with felt or other suitable material. Each block is long
enough to reach across the table. The blocks are made of a width of one, two,
three, or more half inches, so that when there is a more or less wide space to
be printed with the same color, it may be done by the application of as few
blocks as may be, by which there will be much saving of time compared
with the present system, where the rollers put on but one half inch at
a time.
In addition to the block above described, brushes are used for the purpose
of equalizing the color put on by the blocks, as it is found that the larger the
block is, the more difficulty there is in getting it to impart the color evenly.
In carrying out this part of my Invention, I prefer to use a number of
tables of comparatively small length, and the length I prefer is ten feet, but
the length of the tables may be varied. These tables are made so as readily
to be attached or connected end to end to make up any desired length of table,
according to the lengths of yarn to be printed thereon. The upper or printing
surface of each table is covered with oilcloth, or the upper surface may be of
slate or other suitable material, which will admit of the colors being readily
washed off. As above stated, along each side of each table is a rack properly
formed to receive the ends of the block and to guide them correctly down to
the surface on which the yarns are spread side by side; and, if desired, these
various divisions indicated or marked out by the racks may be numbered, to
facilitate and aid the workman in introducing the right blocks or rulers at the
right places according to the pattern. The several yarns which are to be laid
side by side and to be printed at the same time are clamped and held securely
side by side at each end, and the clamps are fastened at the ends of the length
of the table for the time being used, the yarns having been carefully warped or
reeled, so that all the yarns may be at an equal tension.
I would remark, that it is not new to employ straight rulers or blocks, whe-
ther of wood or other material, to print narrow lines of color across a number.
of yarns laid side by side on a flat surface, yarns having before been wound
round a flat surface, the printing blocks or rulers being moved against the sur-
face by an arrangement of mechanism. Nor is it new to print a number of.
yarns laid side by side on a printing table when using printing blocks suitable.
for printing a pattern thereon.
The peculiarity of the present arrangement is in respect to the use of print-
ing tables divided, as herein explained, and suitable to admit of the use of long
narrow blocks or rules suitable for carrying on the process of printing according
to Whytock's system of printing each yarn with the colors thereon which go to
produce the pattern, when the proper number of yarns are brought together

page_text: after they have been. separately printed. When wide spaces of the yarns ou
the table require to be colored with the same color, it is found convenient,
rather than to repeat the impression of narrower blocks or rules, to use a
straightedge at each of the bounding edges, and then to use a brush to lay on
and spread the desired color, the ends of the straightedges being arranged to
fit into the racks, so as to retain them in position till the color has been applied
in the space between. The narrower spaces of color are also rubbed and spread
in like manner to that now practised when printing yarns on cylinders by color
troughs and narrow rollers, as is well understood. Color is applied to the
under surfaces of the long narrow blocks by pressing them on to suitable sieves
on which the colors are spread.
The second part of my Invention consists in the combined use of a pair of
cylinders for the purpose of printing threads or yarns of worsted or of other
material, and their use differs principally from those now employed, by reason
of a long axle being applied, which is supported in the middle and has a
cylinder placed on each end. By this arrangement the same pattern may be
printed at the same time in two different sets of colors. To effect this, two
color boxes are attached to the same strap or cord, each color box being
charged with a different color; both color boxes will be moved simultaneously
by the same motive power, and they will respectively impart the color with
which they are charged to the yarns or threads on their respective cylinder.
In carrying out this part of my Invention, I apply two feylinders (each
arranged and constructed in a similar manner to those now in use), one on each
end of the shaft or axis, leaving a sufficient space between the two cylinders to
admit of the boys getting freely between them for the introduction and removal
of the color boxes.
In order to support the two outer ends of the shaft or axis, I prefer to
employ bearings carried by rods suspended from the floor or ceiling above, as
they can be readily removed and returned into position. The color boxes are
moved to and fro as heretofore, but the chain or band used and the railway or
track are longer, in order to extend under both the cylinders. Two color boxes
are applied to such band or chain, one for one of the cylinders and one for the
other of the cylinders, consequently the two color boxes will be moved under
their respective cylinders at the same time, the one color box starting from the
outer end of its cylinder when the other color box is starting from the inner
end of its cylinder. In place of forming a rack on the end of each cylinder, and
also in place of dividing the outer end of each cylinder as heretofore, a wheel is
fixed on the axis or shaft between the two cylinders, and such wheel is divided
in place of the cylinders, and it has means or provision for stopping it correctly

page_text: at each division, as has heretofore been the case in respect to the separate
cylinders heretofore used; the diameter of this wheel may be the same as that
of the cylinder, or of a less diameter. The pattern is suspended on an upright
or frame between the two cylinders, and the workman stands between the two
cylinders, and as there will be only one pattern required in working the two
cylinders, there will only be one workman required to attend to the same, by
which means the cost of one workman will be saved when working two cylin-
ders, and two sets of yarns will be simultaneously printed with the same
pattern, the pattern on the two cylinders being, however, in different colors.
The third part of my Invention consists in an improved method of steaming
threads of worsted or other material after printing. The plan heretofore gene-
rally adopted has been as follows:When the yarns or threads of worsted or
other material have been taken off the cylinder to lay it in a "tray," on a bed of
seeds or chopped straw, or any other suitable substance, for the purpose of
absorbing the refuse color, and after laying the hanks of printed yarn side by
side lightly, it has been usual to cover them with a thin layer of seeds or other
absorbing substance used for the purpose. The trays have then been piled.
one upon the other and put into the steam chest for an hour, more or less,
where they undergo the process of steaming, by which the colors are fixed.
After many years' experience, not only has it been found that the use of
seeds is expensive, but also, if the seeds are not very clean, they are apt to soil
the colors.
According to this part of my Invention, I use a frame of wood or metal,
across which are strips of glass, metal, slate, or any other suitable mate-
rial. When the banks of printed yarn are taken off the cylinders, instead of
being laid in trays on a bed of seeds, as by the old method, they are laid on the
cross pieces of glass, metal, or slate, or other material used, and the refuse
color falls into the bottom of the tray, or a separate tray to receive the
refuse color that may exude from the yarn in steaming may be used. By
this means I effect a very considerable saving in dispensing with the use
of seeds or chopped straw, the chance of injury to the printed yarns or threads
from dirty seeds is removed, and from the steam acting at once on the printed
yarns or threads on all sides, a considerable diminution of the time requisite
for steaming and consequent cost is effected, as well as a very great improve-
ment in the colors.
In carrying out this part of my Invention rectangular frames are used, across
which numerous parallel bars are fixed, and it is preferred that such bars should
be of slate, though other material may be used; these bars or strips are near
together, in order that the yarns placed thereon may not bag or swag between

page_text: them, otherwise the color is liable to run down to the lowest points where such
swaging takes place. I prefer that the supporting edges of the strips or bars
should not be more than two inches apart, and in order that no injurious mark-
ing of the yarns may take place where they rest on the bars or strips of slate or
other material, such bars or strips are formed with a narrow upper edge. I
prefer that the trays or frames should not be placed one over the other when
being steamed, but that they should be arranged in a single horizontal row;
but where it is desired that they should be arranged one over the other, I
interpose a cover to each of the lower frames, in order that the dropping of
color from the upper trays or frames may be prevented falling on the yarns
below.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Widnell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord'
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
HENRY WIDNELL. (L.s.)