IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING, PRINTING, AND OTHERWISE TREATING CERTAIN. ORNAMENTAL FABRICS
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Leck at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th November
1861.
I, WILLIAM LECK, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAVING, PRINTING, AND OTHERWISE TREATING CERTAIN.
ORNAMENTAL FABRICS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to ornamental woven fabrics, resembling what are
known as "crimped goods," in which "crimped" or full stripes, running the
long way of the cloth are alternated with scant or plain stripes.
In weaving such fabrics according to the present Invention, the scant or
plain parts (otherwise termed the "band" part, when the fabric is to be
subsequently made into frillings) are made single-fold instead of two-fold, as
heretofore. The warps for the band parts are drawn off a beam separate and
distinct from the beam supplying the warps for the crimped or full parts, and
the two sets of warps are differently paced, and are actuated by different
heddle leaves, as is well understood. But to make the band single-fold and
scant or short as compared with the crimped parts, the warps composing it are
shed so that two or more weft threads are laid in each shed, each shed being
kept open or being repeated for, two or more shots, whilst the shed of the
warps for the crimped parts is changed at each shot. If the fabric is to be
used for single frills, or for dresses, shawls, or the like, it is preferred to work
the band warps in couples, that is four threads to each split of the reed, so as
to produce what is termed "flush" weaving, but differing from plain weaving

page_text: only in so far as both warp and weft threads are in pairs. It is, however,
intended in some cases to convert the fabric into a double frilling, by cutting
it, so that each band may have a crimped or frilled part on each side of it, and
by folding it at the band, so that one frill may lie over the other; and in order
that the fold may be easily and uniformly made, two or three single warp
threads are introduced instead of double ones along the middle of the band,
so as to make the part slightly thinner where the fold is to be made. The
fabric may be woven so as to present an appearance of plain weaving only,
or it may be partly plain woven and partly twilled, or ornamentally woven,
or wholly twilled, or ornamentally woven. It may also be woven of white
yarns only, or of part white and part coloured yarns, or entirely of coloured
yarns. The fabric may also be woven of different textile materials, and either
of one material or of different materials combined in the same piece.
In printing fabrics woven in this way, according to one modification,
provision is made for printing a device on the plain or band portion only, the
crimped parts being left unprinted, and this may be effected by blocks or by
rollers. The crimped parts may also be printed upon by means of printing
surfaces, shaped to suit the distended and unequal surface of those parts, and
when they are printed the band parts may be printed also, or may be left
unprinted. By these means various combinations may be made, so as to
obtain numerous different ornamental effects of novel character.