IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA- RATUS FOR BLEACHING YARNS OR THREAD, EITHER IN THE COP OR HANK
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Banks, Mechanic, Henry Hampson, Bleacher,
and John Banks, Boiler Maker, all of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA-
RATUS FOR BLEACHING YARNS OR THREAD, EITHER IN THE COP OR HANK."
Sealed the 6th July 1855, and dated the 1st May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Banks, Henry
Hampson, and John Banks at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 1st May 1855.
We, WILLIAM BANKS, Mechanic, HENRY HAMPSON, Bleacher, and Joun
BANKS, Boiler Maker, all of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING YARNS OR THREAD, EITHER IN THE COP
OR HANK," to be as follows:-
By the methods at present employed for bleaching yarns in the cop, such as
allowing the bleaching liquid to rain or fall upon and percolate through the
cop, much time is consumed, and the process but imperfectly performed.
In these improvements a cylindrical or other forined chamber is employed,
having placed within it a revolving agitator; or moveable flooring air pumps
and force pumps are also connected with the cylindrical chamber.
Our improvements are designed principally for bleaching yarns in the "cop,"
which is effected by conveniently arranging them upon the agitator or floor
within the chamber, (which may be made of any required capacity.) The
first process is to exhaust the air from within the chamber by means of air
pumps communicating with the chamber. The air having been exhausted

page_text: and a partial vacuum effected, the exhaust tube is closed, and a passage is
opened beneath the chamber (and in connection with the bleaching liquid),
which allows the liquid to rise and occupy the vacuum within the chamber
and surrounding the cops; but for the more perfect saturation of the entire
cop by the bleaching liquid, force pumps are employed communicating with
the top of the chamber, by which means a greater density is given to the
bleaching liquid. The agitator or flooring carrying the cops is now caused to
revolve rapidly any number of revolutions alternately in opposite directions,
which effects a complete saturation of the "cops."
By the adaptation of an air valve or tap on the top of the chamber, the
admission of air will allow (when the communication with the force pump is
closed) the liquor to drain off through the passage or tube beneath the
chamber, when the perfect bleaching is accomplished.
The working of the air pumps, force pumps, and the revolution of the
agitator, may be readily arranged, and communicated from steam or other
power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Banks, Henry Hampson, and John Banks, in the
Great Seal Patent Office, on the 1st November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BANKS, Mechanic, HENRY HAMPSON, Bleacher, and JOHN BANKS, Boiler Maker,
all of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Banks, Henry Hampson, and John Banks, Her especial licence
that we, the said William Banks, Henry Hampson, and John Banks, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William
Banks, Henry Hampson, and John Banks, 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING YARNS OR THREAD,
EITHER IN THE COP OR HANK," upon the condition, amongst others, that we,

page_text: the said William Banks, Henry Hampson, and John Banks, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us, should particularly describe and ascertain 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 Banks, do hereby declare the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
By the methods at present employed for bleaching yarns in the cop, such
as allowing the bleaching liquid to rain or fall upon and percolate through the
cop, much time is consumed, and the process but imperfectly performed. In
these improvements a cylindrical or other formed chamber is employed, having
placed within it a revolving agitator or moveable flooring; air pumps and
force pumps are also connected with the cylindrical chamber.
$$
Our improvements are designed principally for bleaching yarns in the
cop," which is effected by conveniently arranging them upon the agitator or
floor within the chamber, which may be made of any required capacity. The
first process is to exhaust the air from within the chamber by means of air
pumps communicating with the chamber; the air having been exhausted and
a partial vacuum effected, the exhaust tube is closed, and a passage is opened
beneath the chamber, (and in connection with the bleaching liquid,) which
allows the liquid to rise and occupy the vacuum within the chamber and
surrounding the cops; but for the more perfect saturation of the entire cop
by the bleaching liquid, force pumps are employed, communicating with the
top of the chamber, by which means a greater density may be given to the
bleaching liquid. The agitator or flooring carrying the cops is now caused
to revolve rapidly any number of revolutions, alternately in opposite directions,
which effects the complete saturation of the cops. By the adaptation of an
air valve or tap on the top of the chamber the admission of the air will
allow (when the, communication with the force pump is closed) the liquor to
drain off through the passage or tube beneath the chamber, when the perfect
bleaching is accomplished. The working of the air pumps, force pumps, and
the revolution of the agitator may be readily arranged, and motion communi-
cated from steam or other power.
In order that this Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about one inch and a quarter to a foot, and having marked on the Figures

page_text: shown similar letters of reference upon corresponding parts of the machinery
or apparatus. Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of the arrangement of the
machinery or apparatus employed in this Invention; and Fig. 2 exhibits a
side clevation of the same.
a, a, represents the cylindrical chamber, within which the "agitator" bis
secured and revolves. The agitator is composed of strong metal rod and wire,
or other suitable material, in such a manner that a separate bed or bottom is
formed besides that of the chamber a.
c represents the orifice or hole through
which the cops or hanks of yarn are fed into the chamber a, and upon the
bottom or flooring of the agitator 6; this "agitator" is operated upon and
regulated at will by the vertical rod d in connection with the bevil gearing
e,f,g the vertical rod at its lower end has three indentations which fit into
a catch, and are so regulated that, when the top indentation is secured upon
its catch, the agitator is in driving gear and revolving in one continuous
direction; but when the middle indentation is secured, the agitator is out of
gear and stationary. When the lower indentation of the vertical rod is secured
upon the catch, the "agitator" is again put into driving gear, and caused to
revolve in an opposite direction to that which it may hitherto have done; this
is effected by employing a catch box on the shaft of the "agitator," which
by its elevation and depression brings into action by appropriate keys, at
required intervals, the bevil wheels e and g, which give the alternate rotary
motion to the agitator" b. j represents an air pump worked from the spur
wheel on the shaft 7, for the purpose of exhausting the air contained in the
chamber a, m being the exhaust tube. n is a "forco pump," through which
the chemical liquid in the cistern o is forced into the cylindrical chamber a.
p is a pipe of ingress and egress for connecting the chemical cistern with the
cylindrical chamber. 9 is an air valve, weighted to such an extent that it
only comes into operation or allows the admission of air into the cylindrical
chamber when the interior exhaustion admits of an outward pressure of about
fourteen and a half pounds on the square inch. 7 and 7 are fast and loose
pulleys for putting into and out of working gear the force pump n, through
the medium of the crank arms and connecting rod t. u and are the fast
and loose pulleys for working the air pump j, through the medium of the spur
wheel upon the shaft 7 and the connecting rod v. Both the shaft and the
shaft of the force pump have the same bearing at the pedestal w.
It will now be observed that to commence the bleaching operation the
cylindrical chamber a must first be filled through the orifice c with the un-
bleached "cops" or "hanks" of yarn; when this is accomplished, the primary
course to be adopted is to open the tap or valve of the air pump, and close all

page_text: other orifices of the cylindrical chamber a, and set the air pump j to work.
As the exhaustion of the air continues, and a partial vacuum becomes formed,
the tap (having pipes connecting the chamber a with the cistern containing
the bleaching liquid) may be opened, when the bleaching liquid immediately
rises within the cylindrical chamber, occupying the entire vacuum. The air
pump being now stayed in its action and its tap or valve closed, the force
pump must be put in operation, which will have the effect of still further con-
densing the bleaching liquid in the cylindrical chamber. When this has been
sufficiently carried out, the agitator b is set in motion, which carries the "cops
or "hanks" round with it and against the bleaching liquid, until the liquid
itself partakes of the motion of the agitator. It is now advisable to reverse
the motion of the agitator by the means before described, (and this reversal
may take place as often as considered necessary,) when it will be found that
the "cops" or "hanks" have become saturated throughout. To allow the
bleaching liquid to escape from the cylindrical chamber a, it will now be
necessary to open the air valve 9, when the liquid will descend through the
pipes to the bleaching cistern; in the meantime, the force pump being allowed
to continue playing, the bleaching liquid is continuously rained and scattered
over and upon the already saturated", cops or "hanks" through a "rose" on
the end of the pipe of the force pump. This may be continued at the will
of the attendant operative until the bleaching process is completed, when the
cops or "hanks" may be readily taken from the cylindrical chamber
through the orifice c; the chamber may now be refilled, and the above
operation repeated.
66
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Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner.in
which the same may be performed, we wish it to be distinctly understood, that
we claim the novel application, employment, and use of a closed chamber in
connection with air and force pumps, for the purpose of bleaching yarns, either
in the "
cop or "hank," as well as the arrangement of the several parts of
the machinery or apparatus, as herein particularly set forth and described, and
fully illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, as employed for such purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Banks, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
.
JOHN BANKS. (L.S.)