Improvements in Apparatus for Washing, Scouring, or Treating Woven Fabrics with Water or Liquid.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 6th Dec., 1889--Accepted; 11th Jan., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Washing, Scouring, or Treating
Woven Fabrics with Water or Liquid.
We JOHN HAWTHORN and JOHN PEMBERTON LIDDELL of the firm of John
Hawthorn and Company of Newtown New Mills in the County of Chester, Engineers
do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates principally to the machinery employed in the washing of
woven fabrics and in the removal therefrom of soluble matters and is particularly
applicable to the class of apparatus ordinarily termed soaping machines although we
do not confine ourselves to such application. In such machines the pieces of goods-
say for example printed goods are attached together end to end so that they can be
passed in a continuous line through the machine, the goods passing through water
and detergent solutions in their progress as is well understood. In many cases the
gummy or pasty matters or similar matters present in the cloth are not completely
dissolved and removed in the short time occupied by the cloth in passing through the
machine. The object of our invention is to obtain a prolonged immersion or soaking
in the water or liquid without necessarily reducing the speed of travel of the cloth and
also without necessarily increasing the length of the machine. We pass the cloth into
a cistern in which it can accumulate and employ a revolving or travelling cellular drum,
wheel chain or apron to control the cloth in its passage from the point of admission to the
point of exit to and from the cistern. The part which so controls the passage of the cloth
prevents the cloth from becoming entangled by dividing the mass of immersed cloth
amongst a number of cells which travel as aforesaid. In a construction which we
consider to be suitable the said cells are formed by blades or partitions upon the
circumference of a perforated drum which is partly immersed in the liquid in the
cistern and is caused to revolve slowly as compared, with the rate of progress of the
cloth. As the cloth is passed into the cistern the cloth fills or occupies the cells and
as the drum revolves the cloth is carried forward through the fluid. The drum clears
by a short distance a curved grating or perforated partition or false cistern bottom
which is intended to prevent the cloth from leaving the cells. The cloth passes
forward from the said cistern to be acted upon by the parts which beat or wash out
the softened matters. In some cases we may employ more than one soaking or
softening cistern provided with the means for preventing the entanglement of the
cloth. We may provide for a circulation of the water or liquid through the shell of
the drum and preferably from the cistern into the interior of the drum. For this
purpose we may use suitable pumping or steam inductive apparatus to withdraw liquid
from the interior of the drum and to discharge it into the cistern space below the said
curved grating or partition. To deliver the cloth to the cistern we prefer to employ a
revolving plaiting reel which by imparting a vibrating movement to the cloth gives it
a tendency to fall into a folded condition within the cells. In place of the revolving
drum we may use a travelling apron or chain provided with partitions. The partitions
apon the drum or apron may be close or be perforated or consist of gratings as
preferred or considered to be most suitable.
We propose in some cases to combine our said Invention with a former invention
or which Letters Patent Number 5016 of the year 1881 have been granted to us the
ombining of the two inventions enabling us to shorten the treatment subsequent to
he soaking in accordance with our present invention.
Dated this 5th day of March 1889,
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Washing, Scouring, or Treating
Woven Fabrics with Water or Liquid.
We JOHN HAWTHORN and JOHN PEMBERTON LIDDELL of the firm of John
Hawthorn and Company of Newtown New Mills, in the County of Chester,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what. manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying drawings:
Our Invention relates principally to the machinery employed in the washing of
woven fabrics in an open state and in the removal therefrom of soluble matters and is
particularly applicable to the class of apparatus ordinarily termed open soaping
machines although we do not confine ourselves to such application. In such machines
the pieces of goods, say for example printed goods are attached together end to end
so that they can be passed in a continuous line through the machine, the goods
passing through water and detergent solutions in their progress as is well understood.
In many cases the gummy or pasty matters or similar,matters present in the cloth are
not completely dissolved and removed in the short time occupied by the cloth in
passing through the machine. The object of our Invention is to obtain a prolonged
immersion or soaking in the water or liquid without necessarily reducing the speed of
travelling of the cloth and also without necessarily increasing the length of the
machine. We pass the cloth into a cistern in which it can accumulate and employ
a revolving or travelling cellular drum, wheel, chain or apron to control the cloth in
its passage from the point of admission to the point of exit to and from the cistern.
The part which so controls the passage of the cloth prevents the cloth from becoming
entangled by dividing the mass of immersed cloth amongst a number of cells which
travel as aforesaid.
In order that our Invention may be clearly understood we will describe the same
more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the said drawings Fig. 1 represents a vertical longitudinal section of part of a
machine constructed in accordance with our Invention and Figs. 2 to 5 illustrate
modifications which may be made. In Fig. 1 a is a cistern which forms part of a
cloth washing machine and b. c are parts of other cisterns. to which our Invention
does not relate. In the cistern a is mounted a drum or wheel D which is provided
with projecting paddle floats or blades e. e in a similar manner to an ordinary
undershot. water wheel. The said drum is partly immersed in the liquid contents of
the cistern and this immersed portion is partly enclosed by means of a curved shield
or shell which is fixed in position so that the floats e of the drum clear the concave
surface of the shield by a short distance. It will be seen that by the juxtaposition of
this shield with the drum a number of cells are formed. The cloth g is fed forwards
in the direction of the arrows and as it falls into the cistern a fills or partly fills each
of these cells in succession the drum being slowly rotated.. The cloth passes over a
reel which as it rotates imparts a vibrating motion to the cloth whereby the latter
is caused to fall in folds into the cistern. These folds fall into the cell, which is near
the surface of the water at the upper end of the shield being shaped to guide
the cloth into such cell. As this cell becomes full the rotation of the drum brings
another into position to receive the cloth. The continued rotation of the drum carries
the cloth forward toward the delivery end j of the cistern until the other end of the
shield is reached when the cloth is drawn out and is passed into the cistern clin
which the softened matters are beaten out or washed out by ordinary or suitable
means. It will be seen that as the cells between i and jwhen filled to a suitable
extent will contain a large quantity of cloth the cloth will be kept soaking in the
water or liquid for a comparatively long time this being the object of our. Invention.
The shell of the drum and the shield fare perforated or made pérvious to the water
and if preferred the floats e may also be pervious. Such pervious parts may be formed
as gratings or be made of open wire work or of perforated or pervious metal or

page_text: material. We may ensure a circulation of liquid through the shell of the drum by
providing the drum with close ends and pumping or withdrawing the liquid out of the
interior of the drum by means of a steam jet apparatus or by suitable means. Liquid
might be delivered into the interior of the drum but we consider it best to withdraw
liquid from the interior as the flow of liquid has then no tendency to force the cloth
out of the cells. Although we have only shown one drum in the drawing a single
machine may have two or more such drums the cloth either passing directly from
one to the other or being beaten or washed in such passage as preferred. If preferred
more than half of the drum might be immersed in order to utilise a larger proportion
of the number of the cells or spaces between the floats.
In Fig. 2 an endless chain is substituted for the drum. The chain is mounted
upon carrier wheels k. k which are fixed upon shafts l. I these shafts being revolved
so as to give the chain a slow travelling movement in the direction indicated by the
arrow. The chain is provided with ** paddle floats" or boards e¹ which answer
the same purpose as the parts e upon the drum in Fig. 1. The lower part of
the chain passes between two shells or retaining plates or parts f. f so that the
spaces enclosed by the said shells and the floats form cells to contain cloth.
As the chain travels these cells fill with cloth at as in the case of the drum
cells in Fig. 1 and the cloth is conveyed by the chain to jl where the cloth is drawn
out of the cells and passed forward. The method of using the chain may be
varied by filling the upper part of the chain instead of the lower as in Fig. 3.
The upper shell may or may not be used as preferred. Fig. 3 also illustrates
a modification in the construction of the chain. In this example the hinged links
of the chain are connected with the edges of the floats instead of with the centres
and the said links are also provided with covering gratings extending nearly from
joint to joint so as to form as it were bottoms to the cells whereby one of the
shields for fis dispensed with or when the upper part of the chain is used as in
Fig. 3 both of the said shields may be dispensed with. The chains may be mounted
to have vertical or inclined movement instead of the horizontal movement indicated
in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 4 illustrates an arrangement wherein a second travelling
chain of perforated plates takes the place of the fixed shell the intention being that
both chains shall travel at the same rate of speed. We are aware that the chain
provided with partitions or floats might be adapted to travel in a circuitous path as
for example the chain might take the course indicated by the diagram Fig. 5 but we
do not at present consider such an arrangement to be advisable. Instead of the
drums or chains having a slow continuous motion they may be moved intermittently.
We have not considered it necessary to describe or indicate any means for actuating
the drum or chains. It might be that in some cases the drum would be so mounted
as to be turned by the action of the cloth upon it when being drawn out of the
cells.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
(1) As applied to a cloth washing machine the drum or endless chain immersed or
partly immersed in liquid and provided with paddle floats or partitions so as to form
cells to receive the cloth as it falls into the liquid such drum or chain having a slow
continuous or intermittent motion which conveys the cloth from the inlet end to the
outlet end of or from one place to another in the cistern in which such drum or chain
is mounted substantially as set forth and indicated.
(2) In cloth washing machinery the drum or wheel provided with paddle floats or
projecting partitions e mounted to revolve in a cistern and partly immersed in the
water or liquid therein in combination with a fixed shield substantially as and for the
purpose set forth and indicated.
(3) In cloth washing machinery the drum or wheel provided with projections e
receiving the cloth as it falls into the water or liquid and passing the cloth from one
part of the cistern a to the other substantially as set forth.

page_text: (4) In cloth washing machinery the endless chain immersed in a cistern of water
or liquid and provided with floats or projecting partitions so as to form cells to
receive the cloth and to pass it from one part of the cistern to the other substantially
as set forth and indicated.
(5) The endless chains of the formation and adapted to be used substantially as and
for the purposes set forth and indicated.
Dated this 5th day of December 1889.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.