IM- PROVEMENTS IN BLANKETS USED IN MACHINES FOR PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN THE MODE OF JOINING TOGETHER THE ENDS OF DOUBLE WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Joseph Hughes, of the City of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Patent. Agent, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN BLANKETS USED IN MACHINES FOR PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS,
AND IN THE MODE OF JOINING TOGETHER THE ENDS OF DOUBLE WOVEN
FABRICS." A communication from abroad. by Seth, William Baker, of
Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America..
Sealed the 26th June 1868, and dated the 27th December 1867.
the
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Joseph Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
27th December 1867.
I, EDWARD JOSEPH HUGHES, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLANKETS USED IN MACHINES FOR PRINTING TEXTILE
FABRICS, AND IN THE MODE OF JOINING TOGETHER THE. ENDS OF DOUBLE WOVEN
FABRICS," a communication to me from abroad by Seth William Baker, of
Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America, to be as follows:-
Instead of the ordinary felted woollen blankets I employ blankets made of
woven materials, and the first part of this Invention relates to the textile
qualities of the fabric used for the blanket and to the finish of the same. The
fabric consists of a single web of woven material composed of a number of
sets of stout but fine warps generally of cotton and a corresponding number
of overlaying shoots of filling threads of about the same fineness and so

page_text: closely interwoven as to produce about the same texture upon the surface as
that of the generality of printing cloths or printing goods and about the same
thickness as the ordinary woollen blanket. After the blanket is woven it is
subjected to a thorough calendering process between heated rollers to remove
all elasticity in the direction of its length and sufficiently in regard to its
thickness as to reduce the interwoven mass of threads to a merely compressible
body that is not dependent upon the displacement of the threads of which it
is composed but upon the compressibility of the material thus fabricated, the
material itself being intimately wrought together in one homogeneous mass
or fabric. The material which I prefer to use for my blanket is cotton,
although woollen or linen may be used. The cotton blanket is made of yarn
spun from the best cotton with great care to have it even and twisted three
or four ply, its average number being about 22, 's ply, getting from this
number the best results in obtaining even smooth surfaces for printing
purposes. I use in fabricating the blanket of this yarn six sets of warps
and consequently 12 harnesses to a loom, and interweave with the warps a
corresponding amount of filling yarn. Any practical weaver will understand
how the harnesses are operated and the mode of tying and interweaving the
entire mass of warps together by means of successive overlaying: shoots of
filling from one surface to the other to produce, one fabric of considerable
thickness, of great strength and fineness of texture upon the surface, and of
peculiar elasticity. The entire mass of warps are beamed and worked from
one shaft to which one or two beams are fixed, and from this shaft are attached
the frictions as in ordinary weaving for letting the yarn off as it is taken up
in weaving. For making my narrow cloth but one beam is used, but wide
cloth requires two beams, the object being to get a bearing midway between
the two beams, and thus avoid the spring that would result if a very wide
warp was put onto a single beam and worked without the bearing in the
centre. In weaving this cloth with the warps divided and beamed of course
each beam has to be placed upon a separate shaft and each having its friction
for letting the yarn off, but upon my plan of arranging the warps they are
laid in one mass on one beam for narrow cloth and two or more beams for
wide cloth; the beams being secured on one shaft the warps draw evenly in
the process of weaving, and consequently produces a perfect fabric as to
thickness and smoothness.
The second part of this Invention relates to the mode of joining the two
ends of a length of the aforesaid fabric so as to make an endless web or band
in such a manner as to avoid the appearance and effect of any seam or break
of the surface and to make it equally stout and resistent of separation as any

page_text: other part of the fabric; and this part of the Invention consists in cutting
away and removing one-half of the thickness of the warp and filling threads
to about two inches of the two ends to be united, and from opposite sides of
the two ends relatively one with the other, so that an equal thickness with
the main part of the fabric will be produced by lapping the two half thick-
nesses of both ends one upon the other. The half thicknesses so produced
present a ribbed or corrugated surface across the web, and when the ribs of
one surface are closely fitted into and interlocked with the depressions or
spaces between the ribs of the opposite surface, and then permanently fixed
"closely together, a means is afforded for resisting the strain lengthwise of the
blanket that would tend to separate the two parts. The mode of fixing
together the two ends consists in temporarily cementing the two surfaces
together with any adhesive material, and while thus kept in place uniting the
two parts firmly and securely by sewing the same through and through with
successive crosses of machine stitching extending across the web from side to
side with stout saddlers' silk. The removal of one-half the thickness of the
fabric from opposite sides of the two ends for the space of about two inches
Fis accomplished in the following manner:-I raise at one edge of the blanket
a filling thread by cutting the top warp threads, and then by this thread
keeping it at the proper tension with one hand I follow it with a knife to
the opposite side of the blanket, thus cutting the warp across the entire web,
and so I continue cutting the first tier section or ply of the warps, thus
allowing the filling threads to ravel or become detached from the main body
of the fabric until I have removed the top section or ply of the cloth for the
entire two inches. I repeat this operation upon each succeeding section until
one-half of the number of sections and consequently one-half of the thick-
nesses of the cloth is removed. The opposite end of the reverse side is
treated in the same manner, and in order to prevent any displacement or
injury to the two parts or lapped ends of the seam by the great pressure of
the rollers against it, or upon the two extreme ends as they are placed
together, and to make the lap joint as perfect as possible in its construction, 1
remove from the extreme ends of the cloth on the part that has been reduced
in thickness: as described enough of the filling to leave about a quarter of an
inch in length of the naked warp threads. I then remove an equal amount
of filling threads immediately back from the point where the plies or sections
of the cloth were first removed; this enables me in matching the two reduced
ends to break joints by lapping the warp. threads exposed as just explained
together, thus precluding the possibility of the joining being effected by any
pressure of the printing rolls to which it may be subjecteil: "These ends may

page_text: be fastened or secured together by a rubber or other vulcanizable gum cement,
and then placing the joined parts between heated plates prepared for the
purpose and pressing all tightly together; but I have found by experience
that the most reliable and easy method of fastening these lap joints to be that
of first gumming them sufficiently to hold the two parts in their places, and
then to sew the two parts together through and through with successive
courses of machine stitching over the entire lapped part.
In another mode of joining together the ends of double woven fabric I
remove the successive sections of warp and filling threads, leaving only the
single thickness or section which form the face of the fabric on opposite sides
of the two ends of the piece, leaving the loose naked warp ends so that they
meet and lap upon each other within the body of the seam. After this is
performed each single thickness at the ends of the fabric is doubled, and the
doubled edge thus formed is placed over the loose warp ends and firmly
sewed to the adjoining portion of the fabric, by which means the surface of
the joining is rendered uniformly like the general surface of the fabric, and
the thickness of the fabric is so nearly preserved that no visible joining or
seam or any indications of an existing joint is perceptible, and the joint
besides resists all strain that is capable of separating the two parts as success-
fully as any other portion of the fabric. The fabric thus joined and forming
as intended an endless band or apron is well calculated for use as dryer, press,
and wet felts in paper making and for other similar purposes in which it is
desirable to preserve the uniformity of the fabric's surface and also the
peculiar porosity of the same instead of obstructing the pores by the use of
cement or other adhesive compounds for forming or uniting the two ends as
heretofore described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Joseph Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
JOSEPH HUGHES, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
ller reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,

page_text: the said Edward Joseph Hughes, Her special license that I, the said.
Edward Joseph Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Edward Joseph Hughes, 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 Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLANKETS USED IN.
MACHINES FOR PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN THE MODE OF JOINING TOGETHER
THE ENDS OF DOUBLE WOVEN FABRICS," a communication to me from abroad
by Seth William Baker, of Providence, Rhode Island, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward.
Joseph. Hughes, 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 canse 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 Edward Joseph Hughes, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Figures on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the numerals and letters of reference.
marked thereon (that is to say):-
Instead of the ordinary felted woollen blankets I employ blankets made of
woven materials, and the first part of this Invention relates to the textile qualities.
of the fabric used for the blanket and to the finish of the sanie. The fabric
consists of a single web of woven material composed of a number of sets of
stout but fine warps generally of cotton and a corresponding number of over-
laying shoots of filling threads of about the same fineness and so closely
interwoven as to produce about the same texture upon the surface as that
of the generality of printing cloths or printing goods and about the same
thickness as the ordinary woollen blanket. After the blanket is woven
it is subjected to a thorough calendering process between heated rollers
to remove all elasticity in the direction of its length and sufficiently in
regard to its thickness as to reduce the interwoven mass of threads to a
merely compressible body that is not dependent upon the displacement of the
threads of which it is composed but upon the compressibility of the material thus
fabricated, the material itself being ultimately wrought together in one. homo-

page_text: geneous mass or fabric. The material which I prefer to use for my blanket
is cotton, although woollen or linen may be used. The cotton blanket is
made of yarn spun from the best cotton with great care to have it even
and twisted three and four ply, its average number being about 22, three
ply, getting from this number the best results in obtaining even smooth
surfaces for printing purposes. I use in fabricating the blanket of this yarn.
six sets of warps and consequently twelve harnesses to a loom, and inter-.
weave with the warps a corresponding amount of filling yarn. Any practical
weaver will understand how the harnesses are operated and the mode of
tying and interweaving the entire mass of warps together by means of
successive overlaying shoots of filling from one surface to the other to produce
one fabric of considerable thickness, of great strength and fineness of texture
upon the surface, and of peculiar elasticity. The entire mass of warps are.
beamed and worked from one shaft to which one or two beams are fixed,
and from this shaft are attached the frictions as in ordinary weaving for
letting the yarn off as it is taken up in weaving. For making my narrow.
cloth but one beam is used, but wide cloth requires two beams, the object
being to get a bearing midway between the two beams and thus avoid the
spring that would result if a very wide warp was put on to a single beam
and worked without the bearing in the centre. In weaving- this cloth with.
the warps divided and beamed of course each beam has to be placed upon
a separate shaft and each having its friction for letting the yarn off, but upon
my plan of arranging the warps they are laid in one mass on one beam for
narrow cloth and two or more beams for wide cloth; the beams being secured
on one shaft the warps draw evenly in the process of weaving and consequently
produces a perfect fabric as to thickness and smoothness.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section
of the fabric for the blanket, that is, a section parallel to the direction
of the warp threads, and Figure 2 a section parallel to the filling threads;
and it will be seen that the filling threads pass straight across as usual from
side to side of the loom, as shewn by the small circles, Figure 1, and the
straight lines, Figure 2.
It will be observed that the two sets of warp threads 2, 2, and 11, 11,
Figure 1, which are on the outer surfaces of the fabric, merely pass above
and below the upper and lower sets of filling threads respectively as in
ordinary cloth manufacture, thus giving a smooth and solid exterior surface
to the fabric above and below. The sets of warp threads 1, 1, and 4, 4,
pass around the sets of filling threads A, A¹, and the sets of filling threads
B, B', and unite these two sets of filling threads together. The sets of

page_text: warp threads 3, 3, and 6, 6, pass around the filling threads B, B, and C, C¹.
and unite these two sets of filling threads firmly together. The warp threads.
5, 5, and 8, 8, in like manner. unite the sets of filling threads C, C',
and D, D¹; together: The warp threads 7, 7, and 10, 10, unite the filling
threads D, D', and E, E¹,, and the warp threads .9, 9, and 12, 12, unite.
the filling threads .E, E, and F, F, together. Thus it will be seen that.
each of the respective sets of filling threads is united by a double set of.
warp threads to the filling threads on each side thereof, and that while
the exterior surfaces are uniform and smooth the whole of this thick fabric is
united throughout its mass, no straight warp entering into its composition,.
and the improved fabric can be worked on any jacquard beam by arranging
the cards and heddles to correspond with the position of the warp threads...
shewn in Figure 1.
Another mode of interweaving the warp threads on the same principle is shewn
in Figures 3 and 4, the filling threads being marked-by small circles in Figure 3.
and straight lines in Figure 4.. In this fabric every set of warp threads turn
round the entire filling threads A, A', F, F', and cross all the other warp
threads diagonally; this unites all the filling threads. compactly together
throughout, and as in the other mode there are no straight warp threads.in
the fabric.
: :
The second part of this Invention relates to the mode of joining the two
ends of a length of the aforesaid fabric so as to make an endless web or band
in such a manner as to avoid the appearance and effect of any seam or break-
of the surface and to make it equally stout and resistent of separation as any
other part of the fabric; and this part of the Invention consists in cutting
away and removing one-half of the thickness of the warp and filling threads
to about two inches of the two ends to be united, as shewn in Figure 5, and
from opposite sides of the two ends relatively one with the other, so that
an equal thickness with the main part of the fabric will be produced by.
lapping the two half thicknesses of both ends one upon the other. The half
thicknesses so produced presents a ribbed or corrugated surface, across the
web, and when the ribs of one surface are closely fitted into and interlocked
with the depressions or spaces between the ribs. of the opposite surface, and
then permanently fixed closely together, as shewn in Figures 6 and 7, a means
is afforded for resisting the strain lengthwise of the blanket that would tend
to separate the two parts. The mode of fixing together the two ends consists
in temporarily cementing the two surfaces together with any adhesive,
material, and while thus kept in place uniting the two parts, firmly and
securely by sewing the same through and through with successive crosses of
.
•

page_text: machine stitching extending across the web from side to side with stout
saddlers' silk. The removal of one half the thickness of the fabric from
opposite sides of the two ends for the space of about two inches is accom
plished in the following manner:-1 raise at one edge of the blanket a filling
thread by cutting the top warp threads, and then by this thread keeping it at
the proper tension with one band I follow it with a knife to the opposite
side of the blanket, thus cutting the warp across the entire web, and so I
continue cutting the first tier, section, or ply of the warps, thus allowing the
filling threads to ravel or become detached from the main body of the fabric
until I have removed the top section or ply of the cloth for the entire two
inches. I repeat this operation upon each succeeding section until one-half
of the number of sections and consequently one-half of the thicknesses of the
cloth is removed. The opposite end of the reverse side is treated in the same
manner, and in order to prevent any displacement or injury to the two parts
or lapped ends of the seam by the great pressure of the rollers against it, or
upon the two extreme ends as they are placed together, and to make the lap
joint as perfect as possible in its construction, I remove from the extreme ends
of the cloth on the part that has been reduced in thickness as described
enough of the filling to leave about a quarter of an inch in length of the
naked warp threads. I then remove an equal amount of filling threads
immediately back from the point where the plies or sections of the cloth were
first removed; this enables me in matching the two reduced ends to break
joints by lapping the warp threads exposed as just explained together, thus
precluding the possibility of the joining being affected by any pressure of the
printing rolls to which it may be subjected. These ends may be fastened or
secured together by an india-rubber or other vulcanizable gum cement, and
then placing the joined parts between heated plates prepared for the purpose
and pressing all tightly together; but I have found by experience that the
most reliable and easy method of fastening these lap joints to be that of first
gumming them sufficiently to hold the two parts in their places, and then to
sew the two parts together through and through with successive courses
of machine stitching over the entire lapped part.
In another imode of joining together the ends of double woven fabric I
remove the successive sections of warp and filling threads, leaving only the
single thickness or section which form the face of the fabric on opposite sides
of the two ends of the piece, leaving the loose naked warp ends so that they
meet and lap upon each other within the body of the seam. After this is
performed each single thickness at the ends of the fabric is doubled, and the
doubled edge thus formed is placed over the loose warp ends and firmly sewed

page_text: to the adjoining portion of the fabric, by which means the surface of the
joining is rendered uniformly like the general surface of the fabric, and the
thickness of the fabric is so nearly preserved that no visible joining or scam or
any indications of an existing joint is perceptible, and the joint besides resists
all strain that is capable of separating the two parts as successfully as any
other portion of the fabric. The fabric thus joined and forming as intended
an endless band or apron is well calculated for use as dryer, press, and wet
felts in paper making and for other similar purposes in which it is desirable
to preserve the uniformity of the fabric's surface and also the peculiar porosity
of the same instead of obstructing the pores by the use of cement or
other adhesive compounds for forming or uniting the two ends: as heretof re
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Joseph Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Edward Joseph
Hughes in the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
E. J. HUGHES. (L.S.)