IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN WASTE YARNS OR THREADS, AND IN THE SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION THEREOF FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Harrison Midwood, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN WASTE YARNS OR THREADS, AND IN
THE SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION THEREOF FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN
FABRICS."
Sealed the 17th November 1868, and dated the 20th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Harrison
Midwood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th June 1868.
I, GEORGE HARRISON MIDWOOD, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN WASTE YARNS OR
THREADS, AND IN THE SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION THEREOF FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows :—-
The Invention relates to the utilization and treatment of certain yarns
or threads consisting of cotton which has been previously spun,"
"dyed," and "reeled," and which is called "colored cleaning waste,"

page_text: having been used chiefly for cleaning purposes, and which has not been
hitherto utilized after the manner of "grey cop bottom waste" for
subsequent manufacture in consequence of its color and condition.
The improvements consist, first, in converting this description of
waste yarn into yarn suitable for weaving by submitting it to a treat-
ment or process of opening or "breaking up" by well-known machinery,
and afterwards carding and spinning it into yarn, and forming it into
cops" or spools for the shuttle of the loom, or other use.
Secondly. The improvements consist in the application and use of such
"colored cleaning waste" when re-made into yarn for the manufacture
of woven fabrics, in which I employ it principally in the form of weft,
and use a stronger warp to give strength to the fabric; after it is
woven the surface of the fabric may remain plain, or it may be sub-
mitted to the process of "raising" by cards to form a plush or nap
thereon, or it may be printed upon. I would remark that the effect of
variegated color produced by the mixture of the "colored waste " may
be altered so as to produce different effects by adding more or less of
each colored yarn before the opening or "breaking" up process, or one
color only may be selected, as desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Harrison Midwood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HARRISON MIDWOOD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by, Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said George Harrison Midwood, Her special
license that I, the said George Harrison Midwood, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Harrison Midwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: "
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN WASTE YARNS OR THREADS,
3 AND IN THE SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION THEREOF FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN
FABRICS,' upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Harrison Midwood, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 George Harrison Midwood, 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 (that is to say):
The Invention consists in the utilization and treatment for the pro-
duction of woven fabrics of certain waste yarns or threads consisting of
cotton which has been previously spun,. dyed, and reeled, and which is
called "colored cleaning waste," having been used chiefly for cleaning
purposes, and which has not been hitherto utilized for manufacture into
woven fabrics after the manner of "grey cop bottom waste" in con-
sequence of its color and condition.
In carrying this Invention into practical effect I first open or "break
up " the colored cotton waste by means of the ordinary well-known
machinery hitherto used for opening or breaking up "grey waste," and
I afterwards mix the colored fibres thus obtained with cotton, linen, or
other fibres of a superior quality to give them greater strength, and I
then card and spin the fibres thus mixed by means of the ordinary
carding and spinning machinery, thus re-forming them into yarn or
thread, which is wound into the form of cops or on spools for the shuttle
of the loom, or for other similar use.
Secondly. I apply the colored or mixed yarn or thread thus reproduced
or re-made from "colored cleaning waste" to the manufacture of woven
fabrics in the ordinary loom, in which I employ it principally in the form
of weft, interweaving it with a stronger warp for the purpose of giving
strength to the fabric. After it is woven the surface of the fabric may

page_text: remain plain, or it may be submitted to the ordinary process of "raising'
by cards so as to form a plush or nap thereon, or it may be printed
upon. By this process of utilizing the "colored cotton waste" (which
is cheaper than "grey waste") for the production of woven fabrics I am
enabled to produce from a cheap and comparatively useless material a
species of woven fabrics not hitherto manufactured, and having a speckled
or varigated effect; and I may here observe that the effect produced may
be altered considerably by adding more or less of each colored yarn
before the process of opening or breaking up, or if a more uniform effect
be desired one color only may be selected.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I
would remark in conclusion that I do not claim as new any of the
machinery or apparatus above mentioned, as I use the machines ordi-
narily employed for opening, carding, spinning, and weaving cotton and
other similar fibres; but what I consider to be new and claim as my
Invention is, the utilization of "colored cotton waste" for the manu-
facture of woven fabrics by the process herein-before more particularly
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Harrison Midwood, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
Witness,
GEORGE DAVIES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
G. H. MIDWOOD. (L.S.)