CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING BRUSSELS, TAPESTRY, TURKEY, AND VELVET OR CUT PILE CARPETS, AND VELVETS, SILKS, LINEN, MIXED CLOTHS, AND RUGS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS, BY WHICH METHOD LESS WARP IS REQUIRED, AND PERFECT AND REGULAR FIGURES OR PATTERNS ARE PRODUCED
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CURTAIN, of No. 11, Retreat Place, Homerton, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of December, in
the twelfth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Curtain, Her especial license that I, the
said William Curtain, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as¹ I,
the said William Curtain, my exors, adiñiors, and 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, and also
within all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING BRUSSELS, TAPESTRY,
TURKEY, AND VELVET OR CUT PILE CARPETS, AND VELVETS, SILKS, LINEN, MIXED
CLOTHS, AND RUGS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS, BY WHICH METHOD LESS WARP IS REQUIRED,
AND PERFECT AND REGULAR FIGURES OR PATTERNS ARE PRODUCED;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William
Curtain, by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next after the date of the

page_text: said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Curtain, do 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 Drawings hereto annexed, and the following state-
ment, that is to say:
I first with a common loom weave the worsted or warp to be used into a slight
cloth by the usual method; that is to say; I'enter the first thread through the
first cam or shaft of the harness, the second thread through the second cam or
shaft, the third thread through the third cam or shaft, the fourth thread through
the fourth cam or shaft, all which threads are entered in the first dent or divi-
sion in the reed of the loom; and the threads are so continued to be entered
until all the dents of the reed are filled; it is then woven in the ordinary
manner, a plain tabby shot with cotton, with from six to eight shoots to the
inch, or with a less number of shoots to any greater distance, my object being
in the first place to firmly connect the threads of the warp together; when so
woven the cloth is printed with the pattern designed for the material. The
warp which is printed being woven, the pattern is sustained and kept in its
proper position during the process of weaving, herein-after described.
I now proceed to describe the manner in which the woven warp is printed,
the process of printing, and the subsequent weaving, referring in illustration
thereof to the accompanying Drawings, and to the several figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say: -
Figure I is the printing machine complete in its parts, and representing the
position of the warp when placed therein for the purpose of being printed.
Figure 2: A is a square open frame, formed for the purpose of receiving the
print; B, B, B, B, are four crank irons, enclosing a strong wire spring with an
iron bolt passing through a hole in the top of the crank; this bolt has a shoulder
which is supported by the wire spring, and at the bottom of the bolt is an iron
nut which supports the print. C, C, C, C, are the wheels by which the truck is
moved forwards or backwards on the iron rail; D, E, shews the iron axles of
the wheels. Figure 3 is a block, having iron handles screwed on at each end,
and an iron plate over the guide hole in the centre; this block is placed on the
print when in the truck. Figure 4 is the crank, above referred to, B being
the hole through which the bolt passes. Figure 5 represents the bolt A, the
fixed shoulder of which rests on the wire spring; B, the nut which holds the
print; this nut is moveable by a screw at the end of the bolt. Figure 6 repre-
sents the wire spring, used for the purpose of raising the printing block after

page_text: having been pressed on the material to be printed. Figure 7 represents the
figure and under surface of the print as set to receive the colors. A, the frame,
contains a number of small squares (B), made either of wood, brass, copper, or
zinc, of the shape and placed in the frame, in manner shewn in Figure 8, B, C,
and D, the holes at B and D corresponding with the holes in frame A, Figure 7.
Thin slips of iron, with holes to correspond with those in the frame, are
placed as shewn at the space G (and at B, D, Figure 8), for the purpose of
supporting the pieces of metal used for the prints; through these holes the
wires E are passed, which fasten the several pieces of metal and fix them
securely in the frame.
Figure 9: A represents the seive in which the color is placed for coloring the
print, which is dipped therein in manner herein-after described. B shews the
frame of the seive; C, a frame for the seive. This seive and frame is supported
by the pulleys and weights F, F, F, F, which yield and allow it to sink in case
too much pressure be used in dipping the print. D is the rail, on which the
truck holding the print runs, and by means of which it is brought over the
seive to receive the color. Figure 10 shews the pattern drawn on squares as
set in, and corresponding with the print (Figure 7); the portion colored white
corresponds with the portion colored black in the print, but if the white part
shewn in the pattern were a color, the space represented by the black color in
the Figure on the printing block would be filled up with the remaining pieces
of metal, and the ground of the pattern would be one color and the design
another. A design in five colors will require five prints, but no more squares
than are contained in one print will be required, as the squares will be dis-
tributed over the five prints, as the design may require. To change the pattern
to another design, the print must be raised from the truck and placed in a
slanting position, the wires holding the bottom row of the metal squares taken
out, and the various pieces re-arranged, according to the alteration required
for the fresh design. The pattern having been arranged in manner before
described, I now proceed to explain the manner in which the woven warp is
printed, and for more clearly explaining the same I must again refer to the
Drawing, Figure 1. I fasten one end of the cloth to the roller N, which rests
in a slide with a screw bolt to keep it in its place; the cloth to be printed
is then wound round the roller and passed over the roller O, which keeps it on
a level with the printing table, and the other end made fast to the elastic
bands K, K, as shewn at G, G, these bands passing over the rollers marked
M, a sufficient portion of the cloth being left between the bands and
the roller O to take the first impression of the print. The cloth then
having been properly placed in the machine, the truck marked A, holding

page_text: the print, is wheeled on the tramway to the coloring seive B, bringing
the guide hole to the block H immediately under the end of the iron
rod D. The lever E is then passed down on the block, by means of which
the print is pressed into the seive and receives the color. On withdrawing
the pressure on the block when the print has received a sufficient portion
of the coloring matter, the wire springs before described cause the print to
rise and resume its former position; the truck is then wheeled back over the
printing table R, and by means of the lever F bringing the iron rod C into
the guide hole of the block H, the print is pressed down on the cloth and the
necessary impression made thereon. The roller I, which moves the elastic
bands, with the assistance of roller J, which is placed underneath and screwed
up to press sufficiently hard on the elastic bands, is then turned by means of
the handles fixed to an iron plate at the end of the roller, and the cloth is
passed on the exact length of the pattern, and another portion of the cloth
is brought over the printing table ready to receive the impression of the print,
and kept stationary in such position by means of a click falling into the teeth
or projections with which the iron plate before mentioned is furnished, and
which teeth are placed at such a distance from each other so as to correspond
with the length of the patterns. This process is continued until the whole
of the warp has been printed according to the design; it is then taken out of
the machine at the roller L, which is a roller with a spindle at each end
working in a slide resting on the elastic bands, for the purpose of keeping
them perfectly tight.
Having thus described the process of printing the woven warp, I now
proceed to explain the manner in which the same is woven into the material
which is intended to be manufactured, and more particularly with respect to
the manufacture of carpeting. I put the printed woven warp on a weaver's
roll or beam, and place it in the loom in the usual place for warps; the end is
then cleared of the shoot and tabby cross, and passed through a reed placed
behind the harness suspended from the top frame of the loom. This reed has
half the number of dents in the reed which is placed before the harness,
and has cutting edges on one side for the purpose of dividing the shoot
which connects the warp, and as the warp is drawn forward in the pro-
cess of weaving, the cutting edges sever the shoot. After being passed
through the reed in manner before described, the warp and the linen
threads are then entered in the harness as follows:-I first enter a
linen or ground thread; secondly, a worsted thread; thirdly, a worsted;
fourthly, a linen thread; fifthly, a worsted thread; and, sixthly, a worsted
thread; all which threads are entered in one division of the reed. This

page_text: process of entering the threads is to be repeated until the whole of the warp
and ground threads are entered. By entering the threads in this manner
the work is bound tightly together, and the worsted is spread, and the whole
of the worsted warp is brought to the surface of the material when woven,
and consequently this method requires only half the warp required in making
the ordinary Brussels or other description of carpeting, and the pattern,
by reason of the warp being previously woven, is sustained in its proper
position and worked into the material without the risk of failure. I use the
same shoot as is now used in making Brussels carpetting. In order to make a
terrey face on both sides of the material, with a different pattern on each side,
I use the same quantity of worsted for the warp as I use in the method of
weaving above described, but this quantity of worsted I weave into two warps,
printing them with different patterns; the warps are then placed on separate
rolls or beams, so that one warp works on the upper surface and the other on
the lower or under surface; the warps and the ground threads are then entered
in the harness and through the reed in manner before described, and woven in
the following manner:-Upon the first shoot half the quantity of the linen
threads and the warp on one roll are raised, and the remainder of the linen
and the other warp is drawn down; this forms the under face or surface upon
the second shoot. The same half of the linen thread is raised with the other
warp; this forms the upper face or surface upon the third shoot. The same
warp is raised as in the second shoot, with the whole of the ground.threads. A.
wire is then placed between the threads in the ordinary manner, and the rib or
terry on the under face or surface of the carpetting is formed. Upon the fourth
shoot the same warp is again raised, and the other warp with the whole of the
linen threads drawn down; another wire is then placed between the threads,
and forms the terry or rib on the upper face or surface of the carpetting. For
the second line there are also four shoots required, and the worsted is used in
a similar manner to that above described for the first line, the only variation
in the formation of this line being that the portions of the linen threads which
remain down in the first shoot of the first line are raised in the first shoot of
the second line. To cut the pile of carpets or velvets, the wire I use for
raising the pile has a flat bottom, and a curve at the extreme end, with a
cutting edge, and this wire when removed is so drawn out of the material
that the edge completely severs the top of the pile.
The method of printing and weaving I have herein-before described,
I make equally applicable to the manufacture of velvets, silks, linens, mixed
cloths, and rugs of all description; but in applying my Invention more par-
ticularly to the manufacture of silken fabrics, in order to obtain a variety of

page_text: colors when the shoot only shews the figure, or is what is termed a tissue, I
print the skein of silk that is to be used for the shoot in the following
manner I spread the skein out the width of the work on the printing table,
and print it in stripes crossways of the skein with as many colors as there
are figures across the warp; I'am thus enabled to weave with one shuttle as
many colors as there are figures across the warp. To form the figure I use
the jacquard machine in the ordinary manner.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, it will be obvious that various kinds of known
apparatus may be employed in preparing and in weaving the fabrics to which
my Invention is applicable, also that the woven warps may be printed with
blocks in the ordinary manner; I do not therefore claim the use of such
apparatus except when employed for the purposes of my Invention; but what
I claim, as the Invention intended to be secured by the said Letters Patent,
is, the improvements in the manufacture of fabrics, by weaving the threads or
warp into a slight cloth, printing the cloth so woven and the skein or shoot
for silken fabrics, and weaving up such cloth, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Curtain, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-nine..