AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF WOOLLEN FABRICS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MURDOCH, of Staple Inn, Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Murdoch, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said James Murdoch, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Murdoch, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN
KINDS OF WOOLLEN FABRICS," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the James Murdoch, shai. cause a particular description of of the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
annear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Murdoch, have herein set forth the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner of carrying the same into effect, in and by the following description
thereof.
The object of the Invention is to give to fulled or milled woollen goods the
aspect and feel of velvet, together with great softness and suppleness, by raising
again the nap to a vertical position, and then shearing it in this state until the
hairs brought to the surface are of a uniform length, and thereby form a
surface resembling as near as may be the aspect of velvet. The mode which
the Inventor prefers for effecting this consists in beating the fabrics whilst
in a wet state with rods worked either mechanically or by hand. The
shocks or vibrations to which the fabrics are thus exposed cause the water
to fly out in a thick mist, which raises up the hairs of the nap and causes
them to stand vertically to the surface of the stuff. This operation requires
to be effected with great care to avoid irregularities in the beating. The
blows of each rod must also be parallel, and applied in such manner that each
successive blow shall efface the preceding one, for the nap only rises on each
side of the imprint of the rod. When the stuff has thus been well beaten, it is
to be dried by any of the ordinary methods, and when dry it is to be sheared by
any method which may be preferred. Care must be taken to shear the stuff
but slightly, so as to touch only the extremity of the nap, and to render
the surface as regular as possible. On approaching the ground of the stuff, if
it appears that it is not sufficiently cleared by the raising of the nap, the
operation of teazling must be repeated, the stuff wetted afresh, and again
submitted to the action of the rods, with the other processes above described,
until the aspect of the stuff be satisfactory. When any irregularities appear
after the beating they may be effaced by submitting the stuff in all directions
to the action of cylinders fitted with cards, burnishes, or brushers. Lastly,
all these operations, as well as their duration, and the number of times they
should be repeated, must be left to the judgment of the workman, who must
recommence them until the result is perfectly satisfactory.
Although the process just described is that which is considered the best
for obtaining the result which constitutes the basis of the Invention, videlicet,
to raise again the nap and cause it to stand perpendicular to the surface, by
means of sharp or sudden shocks or vibrations imparted to the stuffs, the
same result may be obtained by other means; I, therefore, do not limit
myself to the method herein-before described, but claim,―
First, the imparting to milled fabrics a surface resembling velvet, by
raising the pile by any suitable means, so as to cause it to stand perpendicular