IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARPETS, HEARTH RUGS. AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Whitcomb and Richard Smith, both of
Kidderminster, in the County of Worcester, Foremen, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARPETS,
HEARTH RUGS. AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Whitcomb
and Richard Sinith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 30th October 1852.
We, JOHN WHITCOMB and RICHARD SMITH, both of Kidderminster,
in the County of Worcester, Foremen, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARPETS,
HEARTH RUGS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS," to be as follows:-
The improvements consist in the addition to an ordinary hand or
power loom for producing piled fabrics of a particular arrangement of
apparatus for the purpose of drawing certain threads round certain
other threads. We are enabled to draw the threads in the same way
without the aid of the apparatus, but cannot do so with so great
advantage; the threads so drawn being thus rendered more accessible
for putting round the worsted, silk, or other material intended to form

page_text: the pile of the fabric. Our invention also consists in improved means
of binding or fixing the tufts or takes forming the pile into the
ground-work of the-fabric.
ADDITION TO PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Firstly, we prepare worsted, silk, or other materials for tufts or takes
of any required size, by twisting or drawing and cutting the same
previous to working them into the fabric.
Secondly, we have no knot or noose to the tufts or takes as at
present in Axminster carpeting, but secure the tufts by drawing a
thread or threads of the warp under another thread or threads, and
throwing the weft in a greater or less number of shoots according to
the substance of the fabric required to be produced.
Thirdly, we manufacture "finger" or "town"
or "town" rugs with tufts or
takes prepared and cut as above mentioned, instead of making them
with a looped surface; and cutting the loops subsequently.
Fourthly, we employ machinery so. arranged as to imitate the action
of the fingers in drawing any number of threads round or under other
threads at one and the same time, although we also draw. the. threads
by hand
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Whitcomb and Richard Smith in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 28th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
JOHN WHITCOMB and RICHARD SMITH, both of Kidderminster, in the
County of Worcester, Foremen, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said John Whitcomb and Richard Smith,
Her special licence that we, the said John Whitcomb and Richard

page_text: Smith, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said John Whitcomb and Richard Smith, our executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF CARPETS, HEARTH RUGS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John
Whitcomb and Richard Smith, by an instrument in writing under
our bands 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 we, the said John Whitcomb and Richard.
Smith, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in.
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
Firstly, our Invention consists of an improved mode of fastening
and securing the tufts or takes of silk, worsted, woollen, or other
material which compose the piled surface of certain descriptions of
carpets and hearth rugs when woven in and secured to such carpets
and rugs in the manner herein-after described. In carrying this part
of our Invention into effect we wind threads or yarns of silk, worsted,
woollen, or other material on to spools or bobbins, taking as many ends
or threads, and those of as many different colors or shades, or of the
same color or shade, as the nature of the fabric to be produced may
require; we then draw the threads or yarns off the spools or bobbins,
and twist or ball them, and when working the same into the fabrics we
take the end of the ball and place it under or around a thread or
threads of the warp or warps, according to the nature of the fabric, and.
we then cut off the said end so as to form a tuft or take of the required
length, which will be secured into the fabric as the course of weaving

page_text: procceds. Or instead of working from balls, as just described, we take
any of the materials before mentioned from, the spools or bobbins, and
double them into.lengths, or we take skeins or thrums of the same, and
cut from them tufts or takes of greater or less length, according to the
depth of. pile required to be produced on the fabric. These tufts or
takes may be employed in a twisted or untwisted state, but we prefer
the former, and tlie fabrics manufactured from tufts or takes prepared
in such manner will possess a body of more equal substance throughout.
than when produced by the ordinary methods of manufacturing.
Secondly; our Invention consists in manufacturing Axminster car-
peting and rugs with tufts or takes prepared as before mentioned, by
which means we effect a saving of that portion of the material for
producing the pile which is now consumed in forming the knot or
noose for securing the tufts in the ground of the carpet. We employ
tufts or takes prepared according to either of the methods before de-
scribed, and we fasten them into the ground of the fabric by drawing a
thread or threads of the warp-or warps round or under another thread.
or threads of the warp or--warps.;. then by placing the tuft or take
around or under the thread or threads so drawn, and. releasing the
drawn thread or threads, so as to allow the same to return to the
original position, the tuft or take will be carried under the thread or
threads, round which or under which the first thread or threads had
been drawn, and will be fastened in tlie ground by being held between
these threads, which are themselves bound down by the weft, of which
one or more shoots may be thrown in at discretion, to suit the character
of the fabric under course of production. The drawing and lifting and
crossing of the warp threads with each other is performed just previous
to the shed being opened for the shoot or shoots of weft, and may be
effected by hand or by means of the arrangement of apparatus to bo
herein-after described; we prefer, however, to adopt the latter mode of
working. The warps which we use when manufacturing Axminster
carpets and rugs according to our improvements are composed of cotton,
linen, or other similar material, and the wefts of cotton, woollen, linen,
jute, or tow, while the tufts or takes are made of silk, worsted, or
woollen, but we do not limit the application of our improvements to

page_text: carpets or rugs composed of any particular material or combination of
materials. We adopt also the use of fine and coarse warps in any
number or proportion that may be deemed advantageous.
Thirdly, our invention relates to the manufacture or production of
what are known in the trade as "finger" or "town rugs," and consists
in the employment therein of tufts or takes prepared and tied into the
fabrics, as herein-before described, instead of making the same with a
looped surface, and afterwards cutting the loops to form the pile. The
tufts or takes may also be fastened in the usual method of working.
We do not confine ourselves to any number of warps or wefts, or to
the use of warps or wefts of any particular description, but use such
materials, and adopt either method of binding in the tufts or takes, as
may be found most suitable for the kind of rug to be produced.
Fourthly, our Invention consists of an arrangement of apparatus
herein-before alluded to, which we employ to facilitate and expedite the
drawing of a thread or threads of the warp around or under another
thread or threads of the same when manufacturing carpets and rugs
with tufts or takes according to the first part of our Invention.
Figures 1, and 2, of the Drawings hereunto annexed are a front
clevation and plan of the apparatus, and Figure 3, a view on an enlarged
scale of one of the hooks or fingers by which the threads are drawn with
the slider, by which the threads are released from the hooks after being
raised and crossed. A, is a shaft which is placed across the framework
of the loom under the work, and rocks freely in the carriages or bearings
B, B, which are placed at such a distance apart as to allow of the shaft
A, receiving motion endwise when acted on, as herein-after explained.
C, C', are two arms or brackets which are attached to the shaft A, and
carry the horizontal bars D, D', to which are attached the hooks E, E,
and sliders e, e; the bar D, carrying the hooks, and D³, the sliders.
The apparatus is attached to the loom in such a position that when
the hook bars are thrown forward by the rocking of the shaft A, in its
carriages or bearings, the points of the hooks shall be raised a little
above the work, and be moved out of the way of the lathe or slay when
it is brought down, and that when thrown back, during the opening of
the shed, and while the lathe is at rest, they shall dip into the warp,

page_text: and take hold of the threads to be raised. At the time that the
apparatus is in its forward position, which is that which it occupies
when at rest, it is drawn to one side by the check spring G, but when
it is thrown back into the warp it comes in contact with the knee
joint F, which acting against the bar C¹, gives to the apparatus a
lateral motion in opposition to the spring G. This lateral sliding
motion takes place just as the hooks E, E, are passing the first tier of
threads; and the effect produced by it is to press these threads on one
side, and bring up the second tier of threads so as to cross with those
of-the first tier. The threads are held in the hooks by incans of the
tongues or sliders e, e, which are attached, as before mentioned, to the
horizontal bar D¹; and this bar is moved up and down so as to give a
similar motion to the tongues or sliders e, e, by the small excentrics h, h,
at each end, which are connected by the rod H, so as to work together,
motion being given to the rod H, by 'any convenient means.
When
the hooks are brought into contact with the second tier of threads the
tongues are pressed down so as to take hold of them, and the apparatus
is then thrown forward, which brings up the threads thus taken 'hold of
round those above them; the tufts or takes of yarn which are to form
the pile are then inserted, & the tongues or sliders raised by means
of the rod H, which throws all the threads out of the hooks, and 'the
apparatus being now at liberty is thrown forward and drawn by the
check spring G, into its first position, simultaneously with which move
ment the shoot or shoots of ieft is or are thrown in, and the lathe beats
up, so as to bind all the tufts into the fabric. The raising and crossing'
apparatus is then again moved forward, and the foregoing series of
movements repeated. It will be understood that there is to be a hook
and tongue or slider for each alternate thread in the warp, and that the
lateral sliding motion of the apparatus will vary according as the raised
threads are required to cross with a greater or less number of threads.
This variation may be effected by making the knee joint F, capable of
being adjusted by screws, and fixed in the position necessary to ensure
the exact amount of lateral sliding motion required to be given to the
apparatus. The rocking motion of the shaft A, and the consequent
forward and backward movements of the apparatus, are produced by

page_text: means of cams and rods from the main shaft of the loom, which may
be either worked by treadles or by power.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as
constituting our said Invention.-
First, the twisting of the materials in preparing tufts or takes to be
used in the manufacture of carpets, hearth rugs, and other similar
fabrics, as herein-before described:
Second, the manufacture of Axminster carpeting and rugs with tufts
or takes prepared according to our Invention, and fastened without a
knot or noose, as herein-before described:
Third, the manufacture of town or finger rugs with tufts or takes
prepared as before mentioned, forming the pile, instead of with loops
which require to be subsequently cut, as herein-before described:
And, fourth, the arrangement of apparatus or any modification thereof
to be applied to carpet looms for raising and crossing the warp threads
when producing carpets, hearth rugs, and other similar fabrics with
tufts or takes prepared according to our Invention, as represented in
the Drawing, and herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Whitcomb and Richard
Smith, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth
day of April, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOHN WHITCOMB. (L.S.)
RICHARD SMITH. (L.S.)