AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING CUT AND FANCY PATTERNS IN VELVETS, SILKS, AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hesketh Hughes, of the firm of Hughes and
Denham, of Cottage Place, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING CUT AND
FANCY PATTERNS IN VELVETS, SILKS, AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 13th February 1854, and dated the 18th August 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hesketh Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th August 185%.
I, HESKETHI HUGHES, of the firm of Hughes and Denham, of Cottage
Place, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING
CUT AND FANCY PATTERNS IN VELVETS, SILKS, AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS,"
to be as follows:-
In producing cut and fancy patterns it has hitherto been the practice
to make use of a sharp cutting edge. Now my Invention consists in
employing a blunt edge, and in crushing out by great pressure the parts
that are to be cut away to produce the pattern. I employ two engraved
rollers, preferring steel, and engrave the desired pattern on one or both
S

page_text: rollers, leaving such parts as are to be embossed, if any, in high relict
upon one roller, and such as are to be cut out in still higher relief.
The rollers are set at the proper distance apart, and by pressure the
open parts or spaces of the pattern are as it were ground or pulverized
out, while an embossed or other fancy pattern may, at the same time,
be produced. The rollers must be cleared of the pieces so ground out
by a scraper or strong brush.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Hesketh Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
MESKETH HUGHES, of the firm of Hughes and Denham, of Cottage
Place, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, hearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Hesketh Hughes, Her special
licence that I, the said Hesketh Hughes, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hesketh 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 "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF PRODUCING CUT AND FANCY PATTERNS IN VELVETS, SILKS, AND
OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Hesketh Hughes, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW I, that 1, the sand Flesketh Flughes, lo hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:
In producing cut and faney patterns, it has hitherto been the prac-
tice to perform the operation of cutting and perforating by hand, and
also to make use of a sharp cutting edge. Now my Invention consists
in employing a blunt edge, and in crushing out by great pressure the
parts that are to be cut away to produce the pattern. I employ two
engraved rollers, preferring hardened steel, and engrave the desired
pattern on one or both rollers, leaving such parts as are to be embossed,
if any, in high relief upon one roller, and such as are to be cut out in
still higher relief. The rollers are set at the proper distance apart, and
by pressure the open parts or spaces of the pattern are as it were
ground or pulverised out while an embossed or other fancy pattern may
at the same time be produced. The rollers must be cleared of the
pieces so ground out by a scraper or strong brush. Or I surround the
embossed pattern with a triangular shaped cutting edge, the height of
which above the embossed pattern is exactly equal to the thickness of
the fabric to be operated upon. Also, should it be desired to introduce
a perforation or other open device in the embossed portion of the fabric
I form such device of a triangular or blunt shaped cutting edge,
whereby, as the fabric is passed between the rollers, such devices or
open patterns shall be punched or cut out at the same time that the
embossing is performed. In some cases I find it desirable to make use
of three rollers, the lower one of which is plain, while the two others
are so placed in reference to the lower roller that their surfaces shall be
in contact. Upou one or other of the two upper rollers, I engrave or
otherwise form the pattern to be enibossed upon the fabric, while upon
the other roller I form the cutting edges so as to impart to the fabric
its finished appearance. In all cases I employ heat to the rollers by
means of jets of gas, whereby a set is given to the embossed portion of
the design, while at the same time the cut edges are prevented from
becoming unravelled The Drawings hereunto annexed represent a

page_text: machine constructed according to my improvements. Figure 1, being
a sectional clevation. A, A, is the frame work; B, and C, are two
rollers, superposed the one above the other, the spindles of which turn;
in brasses in the slots D, of the framework. The lower roller is
plain, and turns in fixed brasses, while the upper roller has engraved:
or otherwise formed upon it in relief the device or pattern which it is
intended to impart to the fabric passing between the rollers, such
device being partially an embossed and perforated design. The upper.
roller is kept in contact with the lower roller by the set screws d. Upon :
the spindles of the rollers are keyed toothed wheels which
gear into
one another, and are driven by a pinion geared into by a toothed
wheel upon the spindle of the fly wheel, which is set in motion by a crank.
handle. or other equivalent means. E, is a gas pipe which is pierced
with a row of holes, from. which issue. jets of flame for heating the
rollers. Figure 2, represents an arrangement of three rollers; one of
the upper ones having the pattern formed upon it in relief by engraving
or otherwise, that is to give to. the fabric the embossed; appearance;
while the other has upon it the cutting edges for finishing the ribbon;
trimming, or other article under process of manufacture. Should it be
desired, four rollers may be mounted in the same framework; the
first pair of which impart to the fabric the embossed portions of the
design, while the other pair cut off the superfluous waste, or perfo-
rate the fabric in accordance with, the desired pattern; but I prefer to
use either of the arrangements represented in Figures 1, and 2, as,
the fabric is liable, in passing from one pair of rollers to the
other pair, to become stretched, and thereby to distort and spoil the
design. In some cases I find it advantageous to form the emboss-
ing and cutting roller partly of brass or gun metal, and partly of
hardened steel, in the manner represented in the section of one of
the rollers in Figure 8, the cutting edges being formed of the hardened
steel, and the embossed. pattern engraved upon the surface of the
tubes a, a, of, gun metal or brass, which are passed over the axis of
the hardened steel roller until their edges meet, and thereby perfect
the design, when they are. held there by the screws b, b: or recesses
may be formed in the rollers, in which may be fitted dies having

page_text: engraved upon their surfaces the desired pattern, these dies being
retained in their proper positions by countersunk screws. By this
arrangement the embossed pattern may be altered in a great variety
of ways, but still preserving the same outline or cutting edges.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the
producing cut and fancy patterns in velvets, silks, and other textile
fabrics by means of the several arrangements of rollers as herein-
before described and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hesketh Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
HESKETH HUGHES. (L.S.)