IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT PILE FABRICS
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel Cunliffe Lister at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th March 1868.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, near Bradford, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT PILE FABRICS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
cut pile fabrics, and the improvements are chiefly applicable when two
pile fabrics are woven together face to face and are then cut asunder.
In manufacturing cut pile fabrics in this manner it is not only essential
that the pile which connects together the two fabrics should always be
of an even length, but also that the cutting knife should sever the pile
evenly and without tearing or dragging the threads forming the pile.
Now according to my Invention I secure the formation of an even
length of pile by letting off the warp which is to form the pile in
regulated quantities, either by passing the warp between feeding rollers
or by giving a positive motion to the warp beam, as described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to George Davies on the 1st day of

page_text: November 1858 (No. 2429), and in combination with such an arrange-
ment for securing an even length of pile between the fabrics. I employ
for severing the pile a knife with a straight cutting edge about the
breadth of the piece to be cut (but I prefer to have it wider), so that
a slight to-and-fro movement of the knife will cut the whole width of
the piece. When the sley is beating up the weft the knife is by it or
by other means pushed back so as to be out of action; or the knife may
be otherwise acted on, so that it shall only cut between the beats up of
the slay. The knife I make in two or more lengths connected together
end to end so as to make a single straight knife, as by this means a
harder knife may be obtained than when the knife is made in a single
piece. In place of a straight knife an endless band of steel may be
employed. :
The second part of my Invention consists in weaving cotton, silk, and
worsted pile fabrics face to face in the grey, that is, with undyed yarn,
as I am by this means (among other advantages) enabled to print such
piled fabrics for tablecloths, carpets, or other purposes. When such
goods are printed or dyed after being woven it is found that the pile
surface has a spotted appearance, which is owing to the pile being
injured or flattened in places in the dyeing or printing; I obviate this
by passing the piled fabric over a steam chamber and steaming the
cloth, which is then passed over or near a heated surface and dried,
which I prefer to be a metal plate heated by fire; in some cases the
heated plate will do without using the steam first. When the heat and
moisture is not sufficient to raise the pile (especially in carpets and such
like goods) after being dyed or printed, I pass the piled cloth through
a machine with rollers covered with cards or teazles or other like pointed
surface, which are made to act on the surface of the cloth so as to raise
the pile which is then if necessary cropped in the usual way.
Thirdly. In printing the warps of cotton or silk velvets before being
'woven face to face, as in that case the pile stands more erect than if
printed after being woven.
Fourthly. When velvets are woven from the lower description of yarn
the back of the cloth is apt to be full of knots and knibs and small
imperfections; these I remove by passing the cloth through a machine
with rollers covered with cards or teazles, or like toothed surfaces, to
raise the impuritics on the back of the piece so that they can be cropped
or singed.

page_text: Fifthly. At the present time for low velvets cotton weft is used, and
the piece is stiffened, with some preparation, but this stiffening soon
vanishes when the velvet comes to be used. For the best silk velvets
neat silk is used, but this is very costly; spun silk cannot be used
because it has no stiffness; wool or hair cannot be used because they
will not by themselves spin fine enough. According to my Invention
I employ for wefting velvets of all qualities a yarn made from a mixture
of wool or hair and silk, by which a firm and elastic piece is obtained at
a comparatively small cost.