IMPROVE- MENTS IN DYEING AND PRINTING VELVETS, VELVETEENS, AND OTHER FABRICS WITH FLOATED THREADS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Mellodew, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturer, and Charles William Kesselmeyer, of Man-
chester, in the said County, Warehouseman, and John Mayo Worrall,
of Salford, in the said County, Dyer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DYEING AND PRINTING VELVETS, VELVETEENS, AND OTHER FABRICS
WITH FLOATED THREADS."
Sealed the 10th December 1861, and dated the 17th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Mellodew, Charles
William Kesselmeyer, and John Mayo Worrall at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 17th June 1861..
We, THOMAS MELLODEW, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
facturer, CHARLES WILLIAM KESSELMEYER, of Manchester, in the said County,
Warehouseman, and JOHN MAYO WORRALL, of Salford, in the said County,
Dyer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN DYEING AND PRINTING VELVETS, VELVETEENS, AND OTHER FABRICS WITH FLOATED
THREADS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention refers to those velvets, velveteens, cords, or other such fabrics
with floated threads as are woven with a silk face and a cotton back, or
substantially so, and has for its object the production of a colour upon both of
those materials. This we propose to accomplish by applying the salt of iron
or other mordant (used for the dyeing or printing) to the back by the process
known as "padding," and we assume that the subsequent washing will convey
sufficient of such mordant to the silk face; but if not, we propose using au.

page_text: additional solution thereof; or more than one mordant may be used if more
than one color be desired; or by another method we apply the mordant to
the cotton yarns previously to the weaving of the fabric.
SPECIFICATION-in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Mellodew, Charles William Kesselmeyer, and John
Mayo Worrall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th December
1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
MELLODEW, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, CHARLES
WILLIAM KESSELMEYER, of Manchester, in the said County, Warehouseman,
and JOHN MAYO WORRALL, of Salford, in the said County of Lancaster, Dyer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
"Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant, unto
us, the said Thomas Mellodew, Charles William Kesselmeyer, and John Mayo
Worrall, Her special license that we, the said Thomas Mellodew, Charles
William Kesselmeyer, and John Mayo Worrall, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Mellodew, Charles William
Kesselmeyer, and John Mayo Worrall, our executors, administrators, and
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 DYEING AND PRINTING VELVETS, VELVETEENS, AND OTHER
FABRICS WITH FLOATED THREADS," upon the condition, amongst others, that we,
the said Thomas Mellodew, Charles William Kesselmeyer, and John Mayo
Worrall, or one of us, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals (or
under the hand and seal. of one of us,) 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 we, the said Thomas Mellodew, Charles William:
Kesselmeyer, and John Mayo Worrall, do hereby declare the nature of our

page_text: said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that
is to say):
Our Invention refers to those velvets, velveteens, cords, or other such fabrics
with floated threads as are woven with a silk face and a cotton back, or
substantially so, and has for its object the production of a colour upon both of
those materials. For the better understanding of the nature of our Invention,
and the manner in which it is to be performed, we state that velvets, vel-
veteens, cords, and other such fabrics of the above-named description, usually
consist of a close and firm back of grey or undyed cotton warp threads, in the
formation of which back every such warp thread is employed, and which warp
threads, for the purpose of forming this back, are interwoven at intervals with
weft threads either of cotton or silk. This combination of warp and weft
threads produces a complete cloth of a more or less close and solid texture,
which serves for the back of the fabric quite independent of the floating weft
threads which are required to produce the plush or pile of the same. In
order to produce this plush or pile, floating weft threads of silk are interwoven
with the warp threads of the back in such a manner as to float over a certain
number of such warp threads, according to the depth of pile required, by
means of which arrangement a fabric is produced in which one side of the
back beforo described is covered with such floating weft threads, while the
other side remains comparatively bare. This interweaving of floating weft
thrends with the warp threads forming the back of the fabric is carried on in
various ways, producing races between the floating weft threads of the surface
and the back of the fabric, into which races a cutter's knife and guide can
be introduced in order to cut open or divide the floating weft threads of the
surface, thus producing the plush or pile which, by means of the aforesaid
arrangement, remains more or less attached to the close or firm back of the
fabric.
Having thus described the particular class of fabrics to which our Invention
relates, it will be obvious that when such fabrics are submitted to the usual
process of dyeing one or other of the following results is found to take place.
If the process of dyeing be adapted to the silk contained in the fabric the
cotton contained in the back of the same will be of a different shade to the
silk. If the process of dyeing be adapted to the cotton contained in the back
of the fabric the strength of the mordaunt required for this purpose will have
a tendency to injure the silk face, plush, or pile, and more or less to destroy
the silky appearance of the plush or pile when dyed and finished.
Now our Invention has for its object the production of a colour upon both-

page_text: these materials without injury to the silk face of the fabric, and this we
accomplish by previously applying the solution of iron or other mordaunt to
the back only of the above described fabrics by the process known as "pad-
ding," the subsequent washing out in water conveying sufficient of such
inordaunt washed out of the back to the silk face of the fabric, either without
or with a slight addition of such mordaunt, according to the shade of colour
required. By means of this process a larger quantity or greater strength of
such mordaunt is applied to the cotton in the back of the fabric than to the
silk face of the same, so that in the subsequent process of dyeing a colour is
produced at the same time upon both these materials without injury to the
silk face. If another colour be desired for the silk face than for the cotton
back of the fabric, either another mordaunt may be used during or after the
washing out above referred to, or the silk face may be dyed in the usual
manner after having been thus washed out, some colours requiring the second
mordaunt, and others doing without it.
By another method we apply the mordaunt to the cotton yarn previously to
the weaving of the fabric, and thus produce a similar result to that described-
above after the fabric has been dyed.
We now proceed to describe particularly the manner in which our Invention
is to be performed. The fabrics having been woven and cut in the usual
manner, are steeped in warm water in order to dissolve the stiffening previously
put in both in the warp threads preparatory to weaving and in the woven fabric
previous to cutting, and also other impurities which may from any cause exist
in such fabrics; then they are cleansed from the stiffening and other dissolved
impurities by submitting them to the process of scouring or washing, by which
such impurities are beaten or dashed out of the fabric while undergoing a
continuous process of rinsing in water, then such cleansed fabrics are dried in a
stove through the action of hot air or on a drying machine by passing them over
cylinders heated by steam; then the plush or pile of such fabrics is brushed up
by submitting the dry fabrics to the process of dressing, by which, through the
action of brushes, rubbing the face or pile of the cloth and by other mechanical
contrivances; the divided or cut weft threads forming the plush or pile which
previously were lying flat and crushed down, are raised up so as to stand more
or less erect, thus rendering the plush or pile of the fabric more conspicuous,
which process is repeated till the desired result is obtained; then such fabrics
are submitted to the process of shearing in a shearing machine, in order to
take off all loose fibres and produce a level surface of equal length of plush
or pile; then such fabrics are cleansed by passing them through solutions of
soda and spirits of salts, and washed out again in water; then they are dryed

page_text: either in a stove by the action of hot air or on a drying machine, by passing
them over cylinders heated by steam; next such fabrics are "padded" on the
back with a solution of iron or other mordaunt, which we prefer to be without
thickening matters; then they are washed out again in water, during which
process an additional quantity of such mordaunt may be added to the water,
if required; or if another colour be desired for the silk face than for the back
of the fabric, another mordaunt may be used either during the above or a subse-
quent process of washing; then such fabrics are dyed in the usual way of silk
dyeing to the required shade or color, then they are again submitted to the
process of washing out, to remove any superfluous coloring matter adhering
to them; then such dyed fabrics are again dried in a stove or on a drying
machine as before stated, then the plush or pile is again brushed up, by again
submitting the dyed and dry fabrics to the process of dressing in dressing
machine, in order that the divided or cut weft threads forming the plush or pile,
which during the process of dyeing naturally have got more or less flattened and
clotted together may again be loosened from cach other, so as to produce again
a velvety surface; then such dyed fabrics are submitted for the second time to
the process of shearing in a shearing machine, in order to take off all loose
fibres, and produce a level surface of equal length of plush or pile, and lastly
such fabrics are finished in various ways, by means of which processes the
plush or pile is finally raised up, and a gloss or lustre is put on the same so
that the fabric becomes ready for sale or use. These processes, save and except
the application of the mordaunt to the back only of the above-described fabrics
by the process of padding, are all known to the practical dresser, dyer, and
finisher and are merely described for the purpose of pointing out in what
of the manufacture our Invention comes into operation.
part
Our Invention of applying the mordaunt to the back only of the above-
described fabrics by the process of "padding" may be also adapted to the principle
of an Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to us, bearing date the
Sixth December, One thousand eight hundred and sixty, No. 2993, by altering
the order or succession in which the different processes named above are applied
to such fabrics after the same have been woven in the usual manner, namely,
instead of first cutting such fabrics, and thus exposing the plush or pile to the
various disturbing influences of scouring and dyeing, which have a great ten-
dency to flatten the same and to clot it together, they may be first submitted
in the uncut state to the processes of scouring, cleansing, padding on the back,
washing out and dyeing, after which the plush or pile is produced by cutting
the floated weft threads of such fabrics in the dyed state in the usual
manner. After having been thus padded on the back, dyed and cut, the fabric

page_text: is made to undergo the processes of dressing, shearing, and finishing as above
mentioned, and thus becomes ready for sale as before stated. We have in the
foregoing description spoken of the back and, the face of the cloth, stating that
the floated threads of the latter are derived from the weft, but our Invention is
.applicable to the use of the warp also for the same purpose, although, as is
.well known, the plush or pile is most commonly formed by the weft.
Our Invention of applying the mordaunt to the cotton yarn previously to
the weaving of the fabric we carry out in various ways as follows:-We take the
cotton yarn in the bank intended to be used either for.warp or weft, scour it or
leave it unscoured, and saturate it in a solution of iron or other mordaunt com-
monly used by dyers. We next dry these hanks, and wind the yarn either upon
bobbins, if it is to be used for warp, or upon spools or cops ready for weaving,
if for weft. If for warp, we wind the yarn from the bobbins either on to beams
or make it up in regular warps, by means of a warping mill, and-afterwards pass
these warp threads through size or paste and dry them in the usual manner of
sizing or dressing, though the latter processes may be dispensed with, if the
yarn is of sufficient strength for weaving without being sized or dressed.
If
the yarn is to be used for weft, we can leave it in the cops (as it comes from the
spindle), through which wo pass wooden skewers, and then steep them in a
solution of iron or other mordaunt as named above, or force such mordaunt into
the interior of the cops by a pump in the manner well known to weavers of
wet wove fabrics, after which process we dry such cops by rapid revolution, or
the application of hot air, or in any other way for effecting this purpose; cops
treated in this manner will also answer either in the single state or double
for warp threads. If the yarn is to be used for warp we can make it to pass
through the mordaunt as aforesaid, either during the process of winding on
bobbins from the cops, or of warping, whether on beams or in regular warps,
or we can make the warp threads pass through such mordaunt after the same
bave been wound on beams, or made into regular warps, previously to such
warp threads being sized or dressed, or we can mix such mordaunt with the
size or paste used in the process of sizing or dressing, by which the necessary
stiffening of the warp threads is accomplished along with the mordaunting of
them at the same time and by one process, or we can apply such mordaunt to
the warp threads after the same have been sized or stiffened as aforesaid, by
passing them between rollers which are made to convey sufficient of such mor-
daunt to the yarn, and to squeeze it into it at the same time.
Although we have thus particularly described what we consider to be the
best ways of applying the mordaunt to the yarn, either warp or weft, previous
to weaving the above-named fabrics, we do not confine ourselves to those

page_text: ways alone, as the same object may be accomplished in various other ways.
After the weaving of the fabric with such mordaunted warp or weft has been
accomplished, the processes of cutting, scouring, dressing, shearing, dyeing, and
finishing are applied to it in the usual manner, or they may be varied to suit
the altered circumstances of the case. We have abovo particularly alluded to
fabrics which have a silk face and a cotton back or substantially so, and it
will appear to all competent persons that the object of using these two
materials is to economize the more expensive; a similar effect therefore may
be obtained by using linen instead of cotton, and it will be seen by all prac-
tical dyers that our Invention is applicable to that modification in the manu-
facture.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it
to be understood that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited
Letters Patent,-
Firstly, the application of the solution of iron or other mordaunt by the pro-
cess of "padding" to the back only of velvets, velveteens, cords, or other such
fabrics as aforesaid.
Secondly, the use for the the above-described fabrics of yarn, of cotton, or
other such material as aforesaid, which is prepared only for dyeing by the
application of a mordaunt.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Kesselmeyer, have bere-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
G. W. KES
KESSELMETER. (1.8.)