A CERTAIN METHOD OF WEAVING ELASTIC FABRICS
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
VINCENT DESGRAND, of Sise Lane, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of November, in the third year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Vincent Desgrand, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said James Vincent Desgrand, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Vincent Desgrand, my exors,
admňors, 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 "A CERTAIN METHOD OF
WEAVING ELASTIC FABRICS," communicated to me by a certain foreigner
residing abroad; in which said, Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I,
the said James Vincent Desgrand, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in His 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, as in and by the same, reference. being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Vincent Desgrand, do hereby declare that the said Invention of
a certain method of weaving elastic fabrics, communicated to me by a
certain foreigner residing abroad, consists in the weaving of such fabrics
in any suitable looms of ordinary construction, with bare or uncovered 5
strings or cords of caoutchouc or india-rubber, interwoven, if necessary,
with any of the kinds of spun threads or yarns which are commonly
used in weaving, whether composed of silk, cotton, flax, wool, or other
fibrous materials. The said bare strings or cords of caoutchouc or india-
rubber being in all cases used in the said method of weaving elastic fabrics
without applying any previous covering of silk or other thread around such
strings or cords; the said bare strings or cords of caoutchouc or india-rubber
being in some cases used to form the warp of the elastic fabric, spun threads
or yarns of any suitable fibrous materials being used for the weft or as part of
the weft; or, in other cases, the said bare strings or cords of caoutchouc or
india-rubber being used for or as part of the weft; the warp being composed
spun threads or yarns; or, in other cases, such cords or strings of caout-
chouc or india-rubber being used both for the warp or as part thereof, and also
for the weft, or as part thereof; and the said weaving of bare or uncovered
strings or cords of caoutchouc, either with or without combination, with spun
yarns or threads of any of the kinds usually woven in looms, may be performed
in looms of the ordinary constructions by the ordinary manipulations of
weaving other fabrics; those manipulations being conducted with the aid
of certain precautions which I will herein-after point out.
of
The elastic fabric produced by the said method of weaving bare or un-
covered cords or strings of caoutchouc or india-rubber will possess more or
less elasticity in one or in both directions, according to the quantity and
arrangement of the uncovered caoutchouc strings or cords that are interwoven
into the said elastic fabrics.
The aforesaid caoutchouc cords or strings are formed in the same manner
as heretofore practised for producing such cords or strings, videlicet, by cutting
caoutchouc or india-rubber into thin strips, and stretching them out in length,
and winding them upon bobbins or reels, where they are left for a sufficient
time until they have entirely or in a great part lost their natural elasticity;
and, as before stated, they may then be woven according to the aforesaid
method, either alone to produce an entirely elastic fabric, or they may be
combined in several ways with spun threads or yarns of other kinds of
materials to produce partly elastic fabrics.

page_text: By way of example, I will state some of the kinds of elastic fabrics which
may be woven according to the said method. For instance, I sometimes
form the warp entirely of bare cords or strings of caoutchouc, or else it may be
partly of such cords or strings and partly of spun yarns or threads of suitable
material, and I introduce that warp into a loom of any ordinary construction,
which is harnessed suitable for the texture of the fabric that I intend to
weave, and I work the loom so as to cause the warp to be opened and
separated by the harness in a proper order for all the bare cords or strings of
caoutchouc in the warp, as well as the spun yarns or threads that may form a
part of the warp to be more or less covered and concealed by the threads
of the weft; the latter being in this case composed of spun yarns or threads
of cotton, silk, or worsted, or other like fibrous material.
When the warp consists, as aforesaid, of strings or cords of bare caoutchouc,
with spun yarns of some other material intermingled, the spun threads or
yarns of such material are wound on a separate yarn beam from the beam
whereon the cords or strings of caoutchouc are wound; and all the yarns, cords,
or strings that are to form the warp, are brought from their several beams
through the eyes of the proper heddles, with suitable arrangements to produce
the kind of fabric desired, whether the same be dimity or satin, or twilled
stuff, or other of the fabrics woven usually in looms of known construction.
Another kind of elastic fabric may be woven by the said method, by forming a
portion of the warp of spun threads or yarns of cotton or silk, or other like
filamentous material wound on one or more yarn beams, and another portion
of the warp of cords or strings of bare caoutchouc wound on another beam.
The said strings or cords of caoutchouc and spun yarns or threads being
properly intermingled and brought together into one warp in the loom, and the
loom being so harnessed and worked that in the woven fabric the caoutchouc
cords or strings will be enclosed between two complete webs or woven fabrics,
one above them and one below them, the shuttle being thrown sometimes
above and sometimes below the caoutchouc cords or strings; and the order of
the opening of the warp is such that the spun threads of cotton or silk, or
other like material in the warp, or certain of the same pass in and out from
the upper web to the lower; that is, the same warp thread will be found in the
woven fabric to pass over one of the weft threads of the upper web, then down
between the bare cords or strings of caoutchouc of the warp, and under a weft
thread of the lower web, and then up again, and so on. The bare cords or
strings of caoutchouc are thus separated one from the other in the woven
fabric by the cotton or other kind of spun warp threads interposed, between

page_text: them, and the upper and lower web are united, so that the woven fabric pro-
duced will be a double tissue with strings or cords of bare caoutchouc included
between the two tissues and running in the direction of the warp, those two
tissues being sufficiently united and tied together by the weft threads to
unite them as one without confining the strings or cords of caoutchouc.
Another kind of elastic fabric may be woven according to the said method,
by arranging in the loom one or more warps formed of cotton, silk, or other
like spun yarns, and either using bare cords or strings of caoutchouc to form
the entire weft, or else by using two or more shuttles, one containing bare
cords or strings of caoutchouc, and the other containing cotton, or silk, or
wool, or other like kind of spun yarns, the loom being barnessed and worked
in a proper manner to cause the threads of the warp to cover entirely the
caoutchouc cords or strings of the weft. I sometimes use bare cords or strings
of caoutchouc both to form the warp and the weft without any admixture
of any spun yarns of cotton, silk, or other material. The fabric woven by this
method will be very elastic in every direction, and may, after being woven, be
rendered waterproof, as will be herein-after described.
By weaving with a double warp (in the way before mentioned as being used
to produce a double stuff with cords or strings of bare caoutchouc inclosed
within it), but without uniting the two webs, as there described, by all or some
of the spun warp threads of each web passing in and out between the weft
threads of the other, and by harnessing the loom in the way usually practised
for weaving tubular webs for bolting cloths or sacks without seams, I can
produce elastic pipes or tubular webs without seams. And if they be woven
entirely of bare cords or strings of caoutchouc, they may be rendered water-
proof by the means herein-after described, (that is to say,) in order to render
waterproof the elastic fabrics woven by the said method with bare cords or
strings of caoutchouc, without the admixture of any spun yarns of cotton, silk,
or other material, I dip them in boiling water or sprinkle boiling water over
them, and then I subject them to strong pressure. The effect of this process is
to cause the several bare caoutchouc strings or cords of which the woven fabric
is composed to agglutinate together, and thus to make it very impenetrable to
water. Note. The cords or strings of bare caoutchouc being strained as afore-
said to their utmost tension before being used in the loom for the said method of
weaving elastic fabrics, so as to have lost in great part their natural elasticity,
the fabric woven in the loom will possess but little of the intended elasticity
immediately on quitting the loom, but it is afterwards rendered again elastic
by the application of heat, that is to say, by ironing the said fabric with a

page_text: heated iron, or passing it around or between heated cylinders: The heat thus
applied causes the caoutchouc strings or cords to shorten; hence, if they form
the warp the stuff will lose in length by such application of heat; if they
form the weft the stuff will lose in breadth; or if they form part or the whole
of both warp and weft then the stuff will contract in both length and breadth:
The amount of contraction of the stuff in any of the kinds of weaving above
described should be ascertained at first by trial before commencing to weave a
large quantity of goods, and then, according to the result observed, an allowance
should be made in setting up the loom for the particular kind of stuff, and the
particular kind and fineness of caoutchouc cord or string used therein; that is,
if the caoutchouc cords or strings are in the warp and not in the weft, the beat
up of the lay should be regulated so as to beat up the threads of the weft more
or less close together, according to the contraction that will take place in the
caoutchouc cords or strings of the warp, and vice versá; if the caoutchouc
cords or strings are in the weft only, then the threads of the warp should be
lajd more or less close together in the loom, according to the degree of con-
traction that will take place in the caoutchouc cords or strings of the weft.
It is obvious that no precise directions can be given on this head, but the fact
being pointed out it must be in the discretion of the weaver to set up and
work his loom according to the quality of the bare caoutchouc cords or strings
that he uses and the peculiar arrangement that they may be intended to have
in the stuff that he is going to weave.
Note. I have sometimes found it advisable, in order to give the caoutchouc
cords or strings an equal degree of tension in the loom, instead of winding
them on a yarn beam, to wind each separately on a bobbin, all the bobbins
being loaded with equal weights, that they may draw off with an equal tension
in the weaving; also to prevent the puckering, or rucks, or inequalities which
might arise in the stuff, notwithstanding the precautions taken to strain the
bare cords or strings of caoutchouc equally. I sometimes introduce at each
selvedge a cord or string of caoutchouc or india-rubber, thicker than those
contained in the stuff, and sometimes a wire (which I have found better),
which wire is withdrawn as the work advances, but serves during the weaving.
to prevent the india-rubber cords or strings from being pressed more at one'
shoot of the weft than at another. And note.-To cause the bare cords or
strings of caoutchouc to pass smoothly, and freely through the dents or splits of
the reed without getting shagged or roughened, which they are apt to do if
no precaution be taken to prevent it, I apply to them in the loom (when the
warp is formed thereof) hogs' lard or other like greasy material. It will be

page_text: seen by the foregoing description, that the method of weaving elastic fabrics
described therein is applicable to the weaving of elastic fabrics of any texture
usually woven in looms of the ordinary and known constructions. And it is
obvious that various patterns may be produced by varying the colors and
arrangement of the spun yarns of cotton, silk, or other material used in
weaving various fabrics. And the bare cords or strings of caoutchouc that
form the warp or weft, or both, or a part of either, in the elastic fibrics woven
in such looms, may be combined with yarns or threads of any other materials
with which the quality and degree of fineness obtainable in the bare cords
or strings of caoutchouc may render them fit to be mingled and worked.
On the character and extent of these combinations no precise directions can,
from the nature of the subject, be given, but they must be left to the discretion
of the weaver.
And whereas cords or strings of caoutchouc have been heretofore used in
various ways for composing elastic articles, as, for instance, by introducing
such caoutchouc cords or strings in the said articles to act as springs, the
same being contained in pipes or cases of leather, linen, or cotton, or other
similar material, in the manner described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to Thomas Hancock, on or about the Twenty-ninth of April, One
thousand eight hundred and twenty: And whereas such caoutchouc cords or
strings covered by platting, winding, or otherwise, with cotton, or silk, or other
like filamentous material, have or may have been combined by laying them
together, or platting, or interlacing, or netting them together to form cables,
ropes, lines, bags, and other like fabrics or articles, as described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to Robert William Sievier, on or about the
First day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one; and
whereas, also, such caoutchouc cords or strings so covered with cotton, or silk,
or other like material, have or may have been woven in combination with
cotton, or flax, or other similar yarns, to produce a fabric partially elastic;
but bare cords or strings of caoutchouc have not been heretofore used in the
warp or weft of a fabric woven in looms of any ordinary construction, and with
the usual modes of harnessing such looms: Now, I do hereby declare that I
do not claim the use of cords or strings of caoutchouc, when the same are so
covered with silk or cotton, or other like material, wound, platted, or otherwise
laid around them, or when the same are used merely as springs or in any
other way than that I have described herein-before. I claim only the method
which I have described of weaving elastic fabrics, with uncovered or bare cords
or strings of caoutchouc or india-rubber, in looms of any of the ordinary con-

page_text: tructions, the said bare cords or strings of caoutchouc forming either the
ntirety or any portion of the warp or of the weft, or of both the warp and weft,
f such elastic fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Vincent Desgrand, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the
Third year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord William the Fourth,
by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.