IMPROVEMENTS IN CARPETS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANU- FACTURING THE SAME
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CARPETS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANU-
FACTURING THE SAME."-A communication from abroad by William
Wallace and Charles McAllister, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
Sealed the 20th December 1870, and dated the 13th July 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th July 1870.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARPETS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," a communication from abroad by William
Wallace and Charles McAllister, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to an improvement in what are known
as damask carpets.

page_text: The improved carpet is composed of the warp threads and alternate
thick and thin filling or weft threads usually employed in making
carpets of this class. The warp threads, however, in producing the
improved carpet are raised in couples for the thick filling, and singly for
the thin filling, so that the fabric may be more compact in texture, and
may have a finer surface than ordinary damask carpt without the
consumption of more material than the latter requires. It will thus be
seen that the difference between the old damask carpet and the improved
carpet is simply this, in the former the warp threads are raised in
couples for both the thick and thin filling, while in the latter the warp
threads are raised in couples for the thick filling and singly or inde-
pendently of each other for the thin filling. This plan of operating the
warp threads involves the necessity of employing peculiar mechanism,
for while the ordinary jacquard apparatus will serve to raise the threads
in couples for the thick filling other appliances are necessary for
operating the single threads for the thin filling.
Although different mechanical devices may be employed for effecting
this desired result, certain apparatus which has been found efficient will
now be described, the said apparatus constituting the second part of the
Invention.
The usual lower comber board is dispensed with, and in place of the
same twelve (or a greater or less even number) of shafts are used, the
harness when operated by the usual jacquard passing through and
sliding in the said shafts in the same manner as through the usual
comber board. This jacquard apparatus which rises the warp threads
in couples for the passage of the thick filling comprises the cylinder
operating the usual needles, the filling board, the tail board, and the
lower comber board attached to the frame, none of these parts differing
materially either in construction or operation from those usually
employed for the like purpose; these devices, however, only raise the
warp in couples for the passage of the thick filling. When the thin
filling is to be introduced it is necessary to separate or divide the two
threads of each of the said couples, and this is done by elevating one
half of the entire number of the shafts, which striking knots on the
harness raise one half of the latter and one half of the warp threads,
the thin filling being then introduced, after which the elevated shafts,
harness, and warps descend and secure the filling, when the latter will
be raised in couples by the ordinary jacquard apparatus as before. The

page_text: movements of the shafts are effected by a second jacquard apparatus
arranged in the present above the first and in the same frame, and
consisting of an upper tail board (to which are attached knotted cords
secured to the shafts), a lifting board, a cylinder, and needles, these
devices operating to raise and lower the shafts at the proper times in
the same manner as the first jacquard raises and lowers the harness, and
both apparatus are operated by mechanism well known to those familiar
with this class of machinery.
As different mechanical devices may be employed for carrying the
Invention into effect the above explanation will suffice for those familiar
with the art of weaving to understand how the warp threads may be
raised in couples for the thick filling and singly for the thin filling.
It is this peculiar operation and disposal of the warp threads in respect
to the thick and thin filling threads which render the improved carpet
more compact in texture and finer as regards its surface than ordinary
damask carpets..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th January 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARPETS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," a

page_text: communication to me from abroad by William Wallace and Charles
McAllister, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
The said Invention relates, firstly, to an improvement in what are
known as damask carpets.
The improved carpet is composed of the warp threads and alternate
thick and thin filling or weft threads usually employed in making
carpets of this class. The warp threads, however, in producing the
improved carpet are raised in couples for the thick filling, and singly for
the thin filling, as fully explained hereafter, so that the fabric may be
more compact in texture, and may have a finer surface than ordinary
damask carpet without the consumption of more material than the latter
requires.
The second part of this Invention consists in the use of certain shafts
in combination with the jacquard whereby the warp threads may be
raised singly, the shafts raising one half of the warp threads singly,
whilst the jacquard raises the warp in couples alternately.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the corresponding Figures.
In the Drawing Figure 1 is a diagram representing the disposal of the
threads in making an ordinary damask carpet; and Figure 2, a diagram
illustrating the mode of making the improved carpet.

page_text: beaten up.
The warp of an ordinary damask carpet consists of a series of woolen
threads arranged in sets, four threads to each set, these four threads
passing through one space of the reed in weaving. Thus in Figure 1, A
represents one set of four warp threads; A', an adjoining set; and
A", a third set. These warp threads, two of which may be of one color
and two of another color, are controlled by the usual jacguad appa-'
ratus, which is too well known to need description here. It should be
understood, however, that in weaving ordinary damask carpets two
warp threads have heretofore been invariably lifted together both for the
thick filling and thin filling; for instance, the two threads a, a, of the
set A have been lifted together, and the same with the two threads b, b,
of the same set, so that in weaving an ordinary damask carpet the four
warp threads of each set may be considered two double threads. The
weft threads consist of a series of thick filling threads B, B', B", and B¹¹¹,
and thin filling threads D, D', D", and D¹¹, arranged alternately as
shewn in Figure 1, the thick filling threads serving to impart substance
to the carpet, and the thin threads serving to impart strength as binding.
threads. It will be observed on referring to this illustration (Figure 1)
of a common damask carpet that the thin filling thread D passes under
the two warp threads a, a, of the set A, and over the two warp
threads b, b, of the same set, the adjoining thick filling thread B passing
over the warp threads a, a, and under the warp threads b, b, and this.
disposal of the threads is continued throughout the fabric provided the
latter be a common plain carpet of one color. If the warp threads be
of different colors (the two threads a, a, of the set A, for instance, being
green, and the two threads b, b, of the same set red) the disposal of the
warp threads by the jacquard apparatus for the purpose of producing
patterns will of course differ from the arrangement shewn according to
the character of the pattern, but the warp threads of ordinary damask
carpets have heretofore been invariably raised in couples, and it is this
plan of raising two adjoining threads simultaneously for both the thick
and thin filling which renders the carpet of so open a texture that a
lodgment for dust and dirt is afforded, while the threads of one color

page_text: beneath can be distinguished from above through the interstices between
threads of another color, consequently the pattern of the carpet is
rendered more or less spotted and unsightly. The aim of the present
Invention, which will now be described, has been to overcome these
defects in weaving damask carpets.
On reference to Figure 2, which illustrates the improved carpet with
the threads separated, it will be observed that the warp consists of a
series of sets of threads, four threads in each set, the weft consisting of
alternate thick and thin filling threads; in fact precisely the same
threads are employed as in making the common damask carpet described
above. For the passage of the thick filling threads the warp threads
are raised in couples as in the ordinary carpet, but for the passage of the
thin filling threads the warp threads are raised singly; or in other words
the double warp threads are separated or split for the passage of the thin
filling threads.
Figure 2 represents the disposal of the threads of the improved carpet
- providing that the same be of one color throughout. On reference to
this Figure it will be observed that the thin filling thread D passes
under the warp thread a, over the warp thread a¹, under the thread 6,
and over the thread 6', while the adjoining thick filling threads pass
under the two threads a and a', and over the two adjoining threads b
and b¹.
It will be understood that when a pattern is required to be woven
with colored threads the latter may be arranged in a manner differing
from that shewn in Figure 2, but the same practice will be observed of
controlling the warp threads separately for the thin filling, and in
couples for the thick filling.
It will now be seen that the difference between the old damask carpet
and the improved carpet is simply this, in the former the warp threads
are raised in couples for both the thick and thin filling, while in the
latter the warp threads are raised in couples for the thick filling and
singly or independently of each other for the thin filling. This plan of
operating the warp threads involves the necessity of employing peculiar
mechanism, for while the ordinary jacquard apparatus will serve to raise
the threads in couples for the thick filling, other appliances are necessary
for operating the single threads for the thin filling. Although different
mechanical devices may be employed for effecting this desired result
certain apparatus which has been found efficient will now be described,

page_text: the said apparatus constituting the second part of the Invention, and
being illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
In Figures 3 and 4, which represent the harness, the lines a and a¹
represent the separated warp threads, a being the point where the weft
is beaten up. The usual lower comber board is dispensed with, and in
place of the same twelve (or a greater or less even number) of shafts S
are used, the harness when operated by the usual jacquard passing
through and sliding in the said shafts in the same manner as through
the usual comber board. This jacquard apparatus, which raises the warp
threads in couples for the passage of the thick filling B, is represented in
Figures 5 to 8, in which C is the cylinder operating the usual needles;
c, the lifting board; I, the tail board; and E, the lower comber board
attached to the frame, none of these parts differing materially either in
_construction or operation from those usually employed for the like
purpose. These devices, however, only raise the warp in couples for the
passage of the thick filling B; when the thin filling is to be introduced
it is necessary to separate or divide the two threads of each of the said
couples, and this is done by elevating one half the entire number of the
shafts S, which striking knots t on the harness raise one-half of the
latter and one-half of the warp threads, the thin filling D being then
introduced, after which the elevated shafts, harness, and warps descend
and secure the filling, when the latter will be raised in couples by the
ordinary jacquard apparatus, as before. The movements of the shafts S
are effected by a second jacquard apparatus arranged in the present
instance above the first, and in the same frame, and consisting of the
upper tail board P (to which, are attached knotted cords e, secured to
the shafts S), a lifting board G, cylinder H, and needles I, these devices
operating to raise and lower the shafts at the proper times in the same
manner as. the first jacquard raises and lowers the harness, and both
apparatus are operated by mechanism too well known to those familiar
with this class of machinery to need description.
As different mechanical devices may be employed for carrying the
Invention into effect the above explanation will suffice for those familiar
with the art of weaving to understand how the warp threads may be
raised in couples for the thick filling and singly for the thin filling.
It is this peculiar operation and disposal of the warp threads in respect
to the thick and thin filling threads which render the improved carpet

page_text: more compact in texture and finer as regards its surface than ordinary
damask carpets.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
First. The peculiar carpet fabric herein described, in which adjoining
adjoining warps are raised in couples for the introduction of a thick
filling, and such couples are afterwards divided for the passage of a
fine weft between them.
Second. The mechanism substantially as herein described for operating
the warp threads in the manner specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of
January One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)