Improvements in the Manufacture of Cut Pile Fabrics and in Apparatus Employed therein.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 14th Oct., 1889-Accepted, 16th Nov., 1889'
PROVIDIUNAL DE MULTICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Cut Pile Fabrics and in
Apparatus Employed therein.
I, GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS JOHN SCHOTT of Westend Mills Bradford in the County of
York, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows
My invention relates more particularly to the manufacture of velvets plushes and
other fabrics having a pile formed by cutting floating weft as is well understood. In
the carrying into effect of a former invention, of which I am a part owner, and. for
which Letters Patent dated the third day of September in the year 1886 and bearing
the number 11212 have been granted to one Friedrich Hermann Wilke, we employ
knives which pass through the dents of the reed and are raised and lowered with the
warp ends, the points of the knives being woven in with the warp and severing the
weft to form the pile. As will be seen on reference to the Specification of the above
mentioned Patent the said knives (6) are mounted in the rear portion of the loom,
behind the healds or harness and pass forward through the latter and the reed (a) in
the direction of the breastbeam. The objects of my present invention are among
others to effect the purposes of the said former invention by means which are better
adapted to the cases wherein the pile is not very firmly tied in by the warp as is the
case with many ordinary velvets, and also to simplify the construction of the
apparatus in order to lessen its cost, make it more convenient in working and more
casy of adaptation to existing looms. These objects 1 attain by reversing the position
of the knives, that is I mount the vibrating knifebar (c), the actuating mechanism of
which is suitably modified and to which the knives are hinged as in the former
invention, in front of the reed, between the line of beat up of the weft and the breast-
beam, from whence the knives pass through the reel and the heald or harness in the
direction towards the back of the loom. This change necessitates a modification in
the form and dimensions of the knives, their cutting edge being formed and arranged
at or near the line of beat up of the weft in such manner that when a pile pick is
beaten up by the reed the wedgeshaped cutting edges can be thrust into the weftfloats
and sever them in manner corresponding to the former invention; but as under my
improved arrangement the pile pick in being cut is pressed against and consequently
more firmly held by the reed, whilst under the said former arrangement the cutting
strain upon the pilepick was in the reverse direction, that is away from the reed, the
tendency for the pilethreads to be drawn out is lessened and the cutting operation
performed with greater ease and certainty. The cutting edge may be formed on the
knife itself as in the former invention, or a separate cutting instrument of any suitable
form may be inserted in a metal sheath or otherwise suitably fixed to the knife, or
what in this case should be more properly called a substitute for the knife, so as to
be easily detached therefrom for the purposes of sharpening should such become
necessary.
From the point of the cutting edge the knife or its substitute is diminished in
depth to about one sixteenth of an inch so that the shuttle can pass over it, when it
rests upon the lay, whereby the necessity for the movable supporting plate or bar (o)
of the former invention is obviated and a considerable simplification of the
mechanism attained.
The free ends of the knives or their substitute may pass through the eyes or mails of
healds or they may be formed in a kind of mail to which the heald or harness threads
are attached, and other modifications of minor parts of the mechanism may be made,

page_text: but the working of the cutting mechanism and the operations of the weaving and
cutting in the main correspond to the former invention, making allowance for the
modifications of parts as aforesaid.
Dated this Twelfth day of January 1889.
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS JOHN SCHOTT.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Cut Pile Fabrics and in
Apparatus Employed therein.
I GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS JOHN SCHOTT, of 36 Richmond Road, Bradford, Yorkshire,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
My Invention relates more particularly to the manufacture of velvets plushes and
other fabrics having piles formed by cutting floating weft as is well understood. In
the year 1886 Letters Patent numbered 11212 were granted to a certain Friedrich
Hermann Wilke for an invention having for its object to cut the pile of such fabrics
during the weaving operation and subsequently to such grant. the interests in such
invention and Letters Patent were in part vested in myself. In the carrying into
effect of the said invention the floats of weft were cut by the points of knives which
passed through the harness and reed and were actuated by means of a bar which was
situated in the rear position of the loom behind the healds or harness the floats being
cut by thrusting the knives forward toward the breast beam. The objects of my
present invention are among others to effect the purposes of the said previous invention
by means which are better adapted to the cases wherein the pile is not very firmly
tied in by the warp as is the case with many ordinary velvets, and also to simplify the
construction of the apparatus and to make it more convenient in working and more
easy of adaptation to existing looms. These objects I attain principally by reversing
the positions of the knives, that is to say I apply the knife actuating bar in front of
the reed and I cut the floats by moving the knives toward the reed so that the floats
are cut at the time when they are being closely beaten up and are supported by the
reed against the thrust of the knives which are modified in form to suit the changed
requirements.
In order that my Invention may be clearly understood I will describe the same more
fully with reference to the accompanying drawings:
C
In the said drawings Fig. 1 represents a vertical cross section of the upper front
part of the loom only the parts which are affected by my Invention appearing in the
drawing. Fig. 2 is a plan view of parts which appear in Fig. 1. In the said
Figs. a. a represent the knives the lay and c the breast beam of the loom these
parts and c being of ordinary or suitable construction and action. Fig. 4 represents
one of the so termed knives drawn about half the full size. I make these knives
from sheet steel rolled very thin. The knives I am at present using are made from
sheet steel of 36 and 40 gange. The knife consists of two broader ends connected
by a very narrow strip which I will term the wire all these parts being in one piece.
The part a is shaped to engage with a part which I will term the knife bar and
which is marked d in Figs. 1. 2 and 5. The part a is what I have termed the
wire. The end a² is shaped and adapted to be attached to the mail of a heald or to
be attached by means of wire or yarn to heald shafts or to the harness of a Jacquard
machine. In Fig. 1 the said end is represented as connected with the parts e of a
special set of healds which are worked to raise and lower the ends a² of the knives.
The method of attachment which I have adopted is illustrated. by Fig. 7.
An eye is
formed in the end a² and a slit a opens into this eye. By means of this slit the
end of the knife is hooked into a mail e¹ which is formed with two slots to receive the

page_text: hook formed by the slit end of the knife the mails being attached to the healds in
the ordinary manner. The end a of the knife is formed with an inclined
edge at which acts as a cutting edge. I have found that this thin steel used in
accordance with my invention does not require that the cutting edge shall be
sharpened. The end is shaped to be held by the knife bar d the rounded end of
the knife being held between the bar d and a cap bar d¹ these parts being shaped to
hold the knife end and at the same time to permit the end a² of the knife to be
raised and lowered by the harness as indicated in Fig. 1. I do not confine myself to
this method of connecting the parts. I havo experimentally shaped the knife end
to hook on to the knife bar but have in preference adopted the represented method of
attachment for sheet steel knives. Referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the knives
pass through the reed. As many knives are required as there are floats to be cut,
I prefer to keep the ends a of the knives upright and at the required distances apart
by means of a spiral spring which permits of slight lateral yielding of the wires and
is of a diameter to fit into the space between the parts & and d¹ as indicated by Fig. 6.
The ends of the knives are inserted into the spaces between the coils of the spring...
In practice I move the knife bar c toward and from the reed the movement toward
the reed being a quick movement and taking place just at the beat up as aforesaid.
More or less movement may be required according to the description of goods being
produced. For very fine goods very little or no movement of the bar may be
required. The slight movement of the knife bar may be obtained in any suitable
manner. In the example the knife bar is connected at two or more points by means
of links with levers g which are fixed upon a rock shaft which is mounted in
bearings attached to the breast beam. Upon the same shift is fixed a second lever g
or such lever may be a second arm of the lever g. Upon the arm g' is fixed an
incline which is adjustable upon the said arm. To the lay is fixed a bracket
which carries an anti-friction bowl i. The parts are so adjusted as that just as the
lay approaches most nearly to the breast beam and is therefore beating closely up
the weft the bowl i comes in contact with the incline whereby a sudden slight
turn is given to the shaft h and by the connection with the knife bar the latter is
caused to make a sharp but comparatively slight movement towards the reel. The
knife bar is suitably mounted to permit of this movement. The method which I
have adopted is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Each end of the bar is provided with
two prongs which slide upon a carrier which is secured by means of a
bracket to the breast beam the said prongs being kept in place vertically by
means of a spring covering plate which permits the prongs to slide with a
slight elastic freedom. It will be seen that the supporting surface for the front
prong dips downward the intention being to slightly tilt the knife bar at the time.
of cutting the float whereby the undersides of the knives are pressed down upon the
ground of the fabric this having been found to be an advantage. It is advisable to
support the piece at the part which is immediately below the knives a. For this
purpose a bar m is applied so that the fabric slides over it as the fabric passes to the
breast beam. The said bar is carried by brackets m' which are secured to the.
breast beam. As has been hereinbefore mentioned a knife is provided for each float
which is to be cut in the round of the draft. For each pile pick the knives which
are to cut the floats of such pick are lowered to the bottom of the shed so that the
shuttle passes over the wires of the knives. The knives which are not to cut are
raised to the upper part of the shed. In Fig. 1 the knives are shown in both of
these positions the shed being fully open and the lay at the end of its back stroke.
For the ground picks all the knives are raised so that the shuttle passes below all of
the wires. For an ordinary plain pattern woven with three pile picks in succession the
knives would be attached to three sets of healds and be worked so that two knives
would be up and one down for each pile pick.
It will be understood that the
order in which the knives would be worked would vary according to the pattern or
draft used in the weaving. When the weft pick is made it floats over the wire a¹
of each knife which is down and when the pick is beaten up each float is pushed
along the wire toward the cutting part a'. The form of this part or its position with

page_text: reference to the line of beat up would vary according to the length of pile which
would have to be cut. Whilst the pile pick is being beaten up by the reed and before
the reed commences to retire the knives are thrust forward as aforesaid and the
Hoats of weft being nipped as it were between the reed dents and the knife edges
become severed. As the lay retires the knife bar is drawn back by the action of a
spring n or by other suitable means. As the wire part a' of the knife is very thin
its upper edge may in some cases help in the severing of the floats especially in the
cases of very fine fabrics. It will be seen that when the short floats of such fabrics
would be nearly beaten up they would be tightened upon the wires and might actually
he severed before reaching the inclined edge a but to what extent this may be the
case cannot easily be ascertained. I do not confine myself to forming each knife in
one piece with the wire a'. In some cases 1 have made the part a of drawn wire
and soldered or brazed it by one end to the point of the knife a. Figs. 8 to 10
illustrate a modification in the formation of the knives suitable more particularly
for use in the weaving of velvets and fine fabrics having a large number of races
of floats to the inch. In these examples the so termed knives are made entirely of
wire which may in some cases be flat wire and in others be of triangular or other
suitable section or even be round in section. In the cases of round wires or wires
not having a sharp edge I flatten the wire at the part a which is to act in the
severance of the floats. Such wires require a different method of attachment to the
knife bar. In the example the front end of the wire is doubled and is formed into a
hook which engages with a bar o which is placed in a recess in the knife bar and
is kept in place by means of a hinged cover d² the spiral spring not being required
in this case. When the cover d² is turned up the bar o with the knives can be
lifted out or raised sufficiently to enable broken or damaged wires to be replaced. In
Fig. S the wire is straight but in Fig. 10 it is bent into an incline form at the
part a which corresponds with the part bearing the same mark in Fig. 4. The
wires might be formed in pairs by doubling a length of wire in the middle and
bending over the looped end to form the hook. Other modifications may be made
in the formation of the knives or wires without departing from the nature and intent
of my invention. Fig. 10 also illustrates a modification in the method of attaching
the wires to the healds. The end of the wire is passed through the eye of a mail or
heald p and is taken upward and hooked to a second eye which is near the top
heald shaft so that this hooked part of the wire does not come into the shed. It will
be seen that in all the examples the slender wires or parts a' will require to be kept
in a state of tension to some extent. For this purpose I find it only necessary to
so adjust the parts as that the mail or heald of the harness is drawn forward to some
extent out of the direct straight line as indicated in Fig. 1. I might actuate the
knife bar by parts which would be so controlled as that such bar would not be thrust
forward when the ground picks are beaten up. A great advantage possessed by my
Invention is that by its means figured pile goods can be readily produced. In the
production of figured pile goods the knives are operated by healds or Jacquard
apparatus so that the knives are lifted out of action in all parts of the fabric wherein
plain ground appears and are lowered only at the parts where a cut pile is to appear,
but I do not limit myself in respect of the order in which the knives are lifted as
this will depend upon the nature of the fabric. I have found that a fabric having a
pile upon both sides can be produced in accordance with my Invention it being only
necessary to lower knives for the bottom floats exactly as when lowering knives for
the top floats. The production of such fabrics in this manner constitutes part
of the subject matter of an application for Letters Patent number 13082 of this current
year.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is 1
(1) The method of weaving and cutting cut pile fabrics wherein each pile pick
is cut as it is beaten up by means of a knife or cutting instrument which is thrust

page_text: toward the reed as it beats up, an extension of such knife passing through the reed
and being operated by a set of healds or harness which raise and lower the knives out
of and into action substantially as set forth.
(2) In the weaving of plushes and other cut pile goods using wires or thin steel
strips which pass through the reed and are attached to and operated by healds or
harness and are adapted to sever the floats of pile weft when thrust forward
toward the reed at the times when the latter is beating up the weft substantially as
set forth.
(3) In the weaving of plushes and other cut pile goods using wires or thin steel
strips which pass through the reed and are attached by one end to and operate: by
healds or harness and are connected by the other end with a bar and which sever the
weft floats as they are beaten up substantially as set forth.
(4) The knives passing through the reed and connected by one end with healds
or harness and by the other end with a bar which is thrust forward toward the reed
at the times when it is beating the float weft or pile picks closely up substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
(5) When used in the weaving of cut pile fabrics the knives or wires passing
through the reed of a loom and attached by one end to healds or harness and by the
other end to a bar or part in front of the reed such knives or wires effecting the
severance of the floats of each pile pick as it is being closely beaten up substantially
as set forth.
(6) The knives each having a part a at one end adapted to act as a knife and to
be attached to a bar and a part at the other end adapted to be attached to harness
these parts being connected by a narrow or fine part a¹ which passes through the reed
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
(7) When used in the weaving of cut pile fabrics a bar mounted in front of the
reed of the loom and actuated to be thrust suddenly and quickly toward the reed at
the beat up such bar being attached to knives or cutting wires which havo parts which
pass through the reed and are operated by harness which controls the passage of the
shuttle over or under the said parts which pass through the reed for the purpose
set forth.
Dated this 12th day of October 1889.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.