Improvements in the Manufacture of CarpetS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Francis Best Fawcett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th November 1870.
I, FRANOIS BEST FAWCETT, of Kidderminster, in the County of
Worcester, Carpet Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for “Improvements in the Manufacture of CarpetS AND OTHER
PILE FABRICS," to be as follows:-
.
This Invention has for its object improvements upon the first head of
Invention described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted unto
William Fawcett, John Lamb, and Francis Best Fawcett, all of Kid-
derminster, in the County of Worcester, dated the 15th of May, 1855,
No. 1098.
The carpets mentioned therein (called Florence carpets) were a mixed
fabric, every other wire or row being uncut or looped and the alternate
ones being cut pile or velvet, and the mode described for improving the
tie or bind was only suitable for a particular class of goods. If applied
to fabrics with all looped pile or all velvet a very imperfect surface.

page_text: would be produced as it would be irregular and uneven. In the des-
cription also of the motions of the loom the comber board is arranged to
fall immediately the shuttle has picked across the back of the fabric, so
that the lash may be raised after the harness has fallen, this I have found
to be objectionable in the working of the loom as it will not make the
cloth economically.
The present improvements have for their object, firstly, to effect a
sewing in the manufacture of Brussels tapestry, two-shute velvet or
Wilton, three-shute velvet, and other similar fabrics of either the alternate
weft from the back or of half the binding warp or in some cases of
both.
Secondly. The improvements relate to binding in tighter the pile
(looped or cut) of the above fabrics than can be done in the ordinary
way, with the exception of three-shute velvet which does not require it.
This part of the Invention may be effected in combination either with
part or the whole of the first part, or it may be done independently
thereof, as, for instance the whole style of back may be preserved with
only the advantage of the velvet pile being more tightly bound in. There
are other variations which may be made according to the quality of
fabric desired. The effect of binding the pile tightly is produced for
velvet fabrics (other than three-shute) by placing together in the process
of weaving the two wefts which would bind on the surface two suc-
cessive wires (and which in the ordinary way would be separate) under
the binding warp (that is, without any change taking place between).
This lays them close together and makes them assist each other by
pinching between them the figure warp. Thus the wires are bound in
pairs instead of singly, and yet at the same time the appearance is
preserved of being separately bound.
In applying this part of the Invention to uncut or terry fabrics the
alternate weft from the back must be inserted on the surface under the
figure warp, raised for every other wire, also under the binding warp
which binds that particular wire as well, the effect of which is that the
lower part or base of the loops of every alternate row is pinched betwċen
2 wefts and the pile would not so easily pull down as in the ordinary
way.
Thirdly. The Invention relates to applying the alternate shute taken
from the back to improve the appearance of the surface in regularity
and evenness. For this purpose it is inserted as last described under

page_text: the figure warp raised for the alternate wire, it thus produces a double
effect at the same time.
These improvements may be carried into effect according to the
description of loom employed, whether that known as double shed or
single shed, by causing the shuttle to miss a pick at suitable times, by
causing the comber board to remain down every other time, by leaving
out half the binding warp and causing the tappet which operates the
other half to suit the required shedding, also altering jacquard tappet and
both linen tappets.