IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Archibald Turner at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
October 1873.
I, ARCHIBALD TURNER, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester,
Elastic Fabric Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS," to
be as follows :-
Cheap silk plain elastic woven fabrics "not being terry or half terry
elastic fabrics" are usually made with very light silk weft and the
fabrics when completed have been found to be thin and limp and quite
unsuitable for some of the purposes for which they are required.
I
To form an elastic woven fabric of sufficient firmness and solidity.it
has been found necessary to introduce into the fabric strands of cotton
or other yarns known in the trade as guts" or
"stuffers" which are
laid parallel with the strands of rubber.
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In manufacturing these fabrics the india-rubber strands are stretched
to about three-fourths of their tension, and the "gut" or "stuffer" must

page_text: necessarily be of the same length as the rubber strands during the
process of weaving.
It is obvious therefore that when the fabric is completed and the
rubber is allowed to contract, the "gut" or "stuffer" being of greater
length than the contracted rubber will "pucker up" irregularly, as
these stuffer threads are not secured by being interwoven with the weft
threads.
It will also be evident that if any undue strain be put upon the
fabric the "guts" or "stuffers "not being all of the same tension some
will break and the broken ends will protrude through the surface of the
fabric and give it a very rough and rägged appearance.
The object of the present Invention is to form a silk fabric which will
have great solidity and firmness while it will obviate the disadvantages
above referred to, and at the same time may be produced at a cheaper
rate. To this end instead of allowing the stuffer warp threads to lie :
dead in the fabric, as is usually the case, I interweave them with the weft
threads in two distinct lines above and below the rubber strands. This
is effected by passing cotton weft threads between the india-rubber
strands and the stuffer warp threads and both above and below these
latter but intermediate of the silk face and back of the fabric. The
stuffer warp threads will thus form two lines of weaving, one above the
other below the rubber strands, and these lines of weaving are tied
together and connected with the face and back of the fabric in the
ordinary manner by the aid of the other warp and weft threads of the
fabric. A complete fabric will thus be produced on both sides of the
rubber strands. By this means I obtain a good solid foundation or base,
upon which the silk face is "built up," while all the warp threads of the
fabric will be at a more uniform tension and the danger of the "gut" or
"stuffer" breaking will be entirely avoided. Greater durability in the
wear of the fabric will also be ensured, for should the silk face of the
fabric be worn off a complete cotton woven fabric will be found
underneath the silk face in place of the loose ravelled "gut" and india-
rubber threads which are exposed to view when such fabrics are woven
in the ordinary manner.
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When it is desired to make what is known as a union" fabric it has
been found very difficult to obtain a proper balance between the silk
weft used for the face of the fabric, and the cotton weft used for the

page_text: back. The silk being thinner and lighter than the cotton or other yarn
works "closer," so that when the completed fabric is allowed to contract
the silk face being thinner than the cotton back causes the fabric to roll
or curl up. I find that this want of balance between the face and back
of the fabric may be corrected, and greater firmness may be given to the
fabric by weaving the "gut" or "stuffer" threads on the upper side
only of the rubber, so as to produce a line of weaving (intermediate of
the silk face and the rubber strands) of sufficient thickness to balance
that of the cotton back.
"
The silk face, tho woven gut," and the cotton back, will as the
weaving proceeds be tied together in any suitable manner. By this
means the tendency of the fabric to roll or curl up will be overcome, and
the proper balance of the yarns employed in producing the several parts
of the fabric will be obtained.