IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CRAPE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Henry Kay and Alfred Thomas Richardson,
both of Mobberly, in the County of Chester, Crape Manufacturers,
"
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
HENRY KAY and ALFRED THOMAS RICHARDSON, of Mobberly, in the
County of Chester, Crape Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF CRAPE," and have petitioned Her most Excellent
Majesty Queen Victoria to grant unto us, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn Declaration that we are the true and first Inventors thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Robert Henry Kay and Alfred
Thomas Richardson, do hereby declare the following Complete Speci-
fication, under our hands and seals, fully describes and ascertains the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, in and by the following statement :-
Our Invention relates to those descriptions of crape which are woven
in the form of a fine tissue, and when in process of being finished are
craped or crimped by mechanical means, as, for example, by being
passed between embossing or crimping rollers; and our said Invention
consists of an addition to a former Invention for which we have been
granted Provisional Protection, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of
December, in the year last passed.
Our said former Invention had for its object to produce a crape
imitating closely the well-known appearance of the black Norwich silk
crapc, or of the colord crapes which are made and finished in the same
manner as the said black Norwich silk crape, the said crapes having
previously to our said former Invention been composed entirely of
silk.
When carrying our said former Invention into effect we employed a
fine description of cotton yarn specially prepared for the purpose, or
such as is ordinarily known as crape yarn, the said yarn being carefully
spun so as to be sufficiently fine and even for the purpose, and receiving
a greater amount of twist than ordinary yarns. The said cotton yarn
was employed to constitute a portion of the fabric of the crape, the
remainder of the fabric consisting of the ordinary silk yarn.
Now since the filing of our application for the aforesaid Provisional
Protection we have discovered that imitations of the aforesaid Norwich
silk crape may be made without having to employ silk yarn, the fabric
or tissue in such cases consisting entirely of cotton yarn; and also that
cotton yarn of a cheaper description than the afore-mentioned cotton
crape yarn may be substituted wholly or in part for the said cotton
crape yarn in the crape composed of silk and cotton. When weaving a
tissue composed entirely of cotton yarn we prefer to employ the aforesaid
cotton crape yarn alone for both the warp and the weft; but when
preferred, or when it is desirable to lessen the cost of the fabric, a portion
of the tissue may consist of ordinary cotton yarn, as, for example, of
such cotton yarn as is ordinarily employed in the manufacture of fine

page_text: muslin. The said ordinary yarn may be combined with the said cotton
crape yarn in such proportions as may be desired and found to be suit-
able to the purpose for which the crape is required, as for example, the
warp may consist entirely of the said cotton crape yarn, two picks of
the ordinary yarn being woven alternately with two picks of the cotton
crape yarn, or each alternate end of the warp may be of ordinary yarn,
the intermediate ends being of cotton crape yarn. We are aware that
the fabric so composed of a mixture of cotton crape yarn and of ordinary
yarn will be inferior in appearance, when finished, to the crape composed
entirely of cotton crape yarn, and we therefore prefer to employ the
cotton crape yarn only, as herein-before stated. The tissue when woven
and when composed either of the cotton crape yarn alone or of a mixture
of the said yarn with ordinary yarn is craped or crimped by means of
the same appliances as are employed in the manufacture of the aforesaid
Norwich silk crape, or of such as would be suitable to be employed in
the said manufacture, as for example, when craping or crimping the said
tissue we pass the tissue between heated embossing rollers the surfaces
of which are suitably prepared to produce the peculiar wrinkled appear-
ance of the said Norwich silk crape. The tissue so craped or crimped
may be finished in the same manner as if composed of silk, or such
modifications may be made in the manner of finishing, as may be
preferred, so long as the aforesaid wrinkled appearance is retained.
When making a crape composed partly of silk and partly of cotton
yarn in manner according with our present Invention we employ the
aforesaid ordinary cotton yarn either in combination with silk alone or
in combination with silk and with the aforesaid craped cotton yarn,
The proportions of the different materials and the manner of combining
the same in the fabric may be to some extent varied, as for example, the
warp of the tissue may consist entirely of silk, the weft consisting of
ordinary yarn and cotton crape yarn, two picks of cach being woven
alternately, or the warp may consist of silk yarn alone, or of silk yarn
and cotton crape yarn, the weft consisting of silk yarn and ordinary
cotton yarn woven in alternation. As the quality and appearance of the
finished crape is impaired to some extent by the employment of the said
ordinary cotton yarn we do not consider it to be desirable to use the said
yarn in large proportions as compared with the rest of the materials.
The tissue composed of the said materials is craped or crimped by the
same means as have been herein before described.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our Invention, together with
means for carrying the same into practical effect, we would have it to be
distinctly understood that we desire to claim as our Invention, -
First. Craping or crimping tissues composed of cotton crape yarn or of
cotton crape yarn and ordinary cotton yarn, by such mechanical means
as herein-before indicated in order to produce an imitation or imitations'
of the ordinary Norwich silk crape.
And, lastly. Similarly craping or crimping tissues composed of silk
yarn as ordinarily employed in the manufacture of crape combined with
ordinary cotton yarn, or with ordinary cotton yarn and with cotton crape
yarn, by such mechanical means as herein-before referred to in order
to produce fabrics similar in appearance to the ordinary Norwich silk
crape.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Henry Kay and Alfred
Thomas Richardson, have hereunto set our hands and scals, this
Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
ndand and warrante
ROBERT HENRY KAY.
ALFRED THOMAS RICHARDSON.
(L.S.)
(L.S,)
Signed and sealed by the said
Robert Henry Kay and
Alfred Thomas Richardson,
in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Petitioners,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.