Improvements in Elastic Woven Textile Fabrics.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Dec., 1895-Accepted, 28'h Mar., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Elastic Woven Textile Fabrics.
We, LUDWIG SOHNIEWIND and ALBRECHT SCHMIDT, both of Elberfeld, Gerber-
strasse No. 2, Rhenish Prussia, Germany, Manufacturers and joint owners of the
Firm of Schniewind and Schmidt, Elberfeld, 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 :-
This invention relates to an improved elastic woven textile product of the kind
specially used for boots and shoes and generally known under the designation
"Elastiques" and it has for its object to provide means for making this article with
or of a very delicate lamb
a fancy surface of the kind known as "Astrakhan-skins"
skin imitation, also known under the name of "Crimean " skins or furs.
The woven non-elastic imitations of the furs or so-called "Astrakhan-" or
"Crimean "lamb-skins are known on the market and they are made like plush or
velvet on the loom, in making use of a nap-warp of considerable thickness, which
is alternately bound, in plain cloth weaving, to several thin main warps or ground-
warps; after a few weft threads being thrown in, a needle is shot in to form the
naps out of the nap-warp, which after pulling out the needle after having cut, the
naps, leave this nap-warp or these pile-warp threads, which by previous treatment
were made apt to curl in little locks, standing out as a fur-imitation. These needles
put in across the width of the fabric, of course produce parallel rows of such curled
naps in the pile warp and make them all of equal length, the fur like configuration
in regular curls is the consequence of the said previous treatment of the thick pile-
threads of the nap-warp.
;
Our new elastic ribbon or india-rubber stuff differs from this known unelastic
"Crimea "lamb-skin imitation as we have to take into account in the first place
those conditions which are required by the weaving process proper of elastic fabrics
and the fur-skin imitating character of our fabric is produced in a way altogether
different from that employed for the known woven fur-imitation mentioned before.
We do not lay in needles with the weft, nor do we use thick threads for pile or
nap warps treated previously for obtaining a curled fur-like configuration after
cutting. We use a warp, made of yarn of normal thickness for the pile or nap-warp.
Besides differing in these material points from the manner in which the known
unelastic fur-imitating or "Crimean" lamb-skin imitation is produced, we also
notably differ in our new elastic fabric production from the manner in which the
known elastic stuff is woven, as will be seen by the following explanation.
The elastic woven fabrics hitherto known are all made in such a strong joint of
warp and weft, that as much as possible a plain closed top-surface be produced; in
opposition to this we hang-in the top-warps as loosely as feasible and lay in a
comparatively small number of wefts of yarn of normal thickness. Now we obtain
the Crimean lamb-skin imitation of the outer or upper face of our fabric by the
effect of the stretched or extended rubber-thread warp, which, in being left to go
back, takes all the surplus of the loosely hung warp with it between the loose
wefts in contracting itself, so that the product, when in free state of its normal,
not stretched length, shows all this surplus in form of naps or crimped portions
of the upper warps, rising on the surface of the web, so that without the use of
needles we obtain the curled naps on the surface of our elastic woven fabric, which
form the imitation of the " Crimean" lamb-skin fur.

page_text: The production of the effect of a lamb-skin imitation of the "Astrakhan " or
"Crimean" character on the surface of elastic woven fabrics has formed the object
of previous efforts, but the endeavours made, were without success.
Our experiments and trials have been successful, and the improvement in the way
described which enables us to produce regularly the desired elastic fabric with a
fine and smooth lamb-skin imitation of the "Astrakhan " ΟΙ "Crimea" character
mentioned, is the result.
This product may be applied for all the specialities in which elastic webs have been
used, principally in the boot and shoe branches, for gentlemen's braces, girdles for
ladies, for garters, bands for surgical purposes and others.
The exterior configuration of the surface of this new textile fabric may be varied
in colour by manifold combinations in the yarn forming the curled naps, making
them of silk, flock-silk, cotton, wool, in different dye, and therefore it is appropriated
to the use for various purposes in clothing and decoration.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1.) The process of making an imitation of Crimean lamb-skin fur in elastic
woven fabrics distinguished from the ordinary method of making non-elastic fur
imitation goods in that, that:
1) No rods are laid in with the weft for producing the naps and that no specially
prepared yarn is used for producing the curly effect and that
2) The warp instead of being stretched and weighted strongly as in ordinary
elastic fabrics is hung up very loosely and that comparatively few wefts are
laid in in making the new fabric.
II.) An elastic woven fabric presenting on one side a fur like surface in imitation
of the so called "Crimean" lamb skin fur.
Dated this 21st day of December 1895.
LUDWIG SCHNIEWIND,
ALBRECHT SCHMIDT,
Per Karl J. Mayer,