IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, SOAPING. CLEARING, AND WASHING FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS, YARNS, AND FABRICS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Schofield, of Heywood, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, and John Smith, of Baxenden, in the same County,
Turkey Red Dyer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, SOAPING. CLEARING, AND WASHING FIBROUS
AND OTHER MATERIALS, YARNS, AND FABRICS,"
Sealed the 23rd March 1866, and dated the 29th September 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Schofield and
John Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 29th September 1865.
We, WILLIAM SCHOFIELD, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Engi-
neer, and JOHN SMITH, of Baxenden, in the same County, Turkey Red Dyer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, SOAPING, CLEARING, AND WASHING
FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS, YARNS, AND FABRICS," to be as follows:-
Our improvements consist in an improved double-acting kier, which is
constructed and worked in the following manner :-The kier consists of a
vessel closed above and below, but furnished with the requisite openings for
the adinission of the goods to be operated upon and the bleaching or other
liquors, water, and steam. A false bottom is placed in the vessel at a certain
distance from the bottom thereof, and to this false bottom are fixed a series
f pipes, which are also firmly attached below to the bottom of the kier, or a

page_text: single large pipe may be employed; these pipes are perforated close to the
bottom; the kier is also furnished with a moveable grid provided with rods
passing through stuffing boxes in the upper portion of the kier, and with re-
taining catches or other equivalents to resist the upward pressure of the ma-
terials against the grid. A pipe is placed immediately under the false bottom
communicating with the upper portion of a small cylinder, and the lower end
of this cylinder is in communication with the lowest part of the kier. The
cylinder bottom stands level with the bottom of the kier, and the top of the
cylinder on a level with the false bottom; in this cylinder is a float connected
to a weighted chain passing over a wheel or other equivalent for actuating
the tumbler lever, by which the steam is admitted alternately to the upper
and lower portions of the kier. Steam is admitted to the under side of the
false bottom and to the upper part of the kier by suitable pipes furnished
with a valve actuated by the tumbler lever above referred to. The pressure
of the steam acting against the under side of the false bottom and upon the
surface of the liquor in the lower part of the kier forces the liquor through
the perforated pipes above described. By means of these improvements the
bleaching or other liquor is forced alternately upwards and downwards through
the fabrics or other materials in the kier, and these operations are continued
uninterruptedly and automatically until the bleaching, soaping, clearing, or
washing process is completed.
If it should be desirable at the commencement of the operation to express
a great part of the moisture combined with the fabrics or other substances
in the kier, I admit steam to the upper part of the kier, the action of which
compresses the fabrics or other substances, thus expelling the moisture, which
escapes through a second false bottom placed above the one first described,
and through an off-pipe; and in order to prevent the liquid so expelled from
mixing with the liquor for bleaching, soaping, clearing, or washing, the per-
forated pipe or pipes above referred to is or are prolonged to the under side
of the second false bottom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Schofield and John Smith in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th March 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
SCHOFIELD, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, and JOHN SMITH, of
Baxenden, in the same County, Turkey Red Dyer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
year of our Lord
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the.
said William Schofield and John Smith, Her special license that we, the said.
William Schofield and John Smith, our executors,administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Schofield and John Smith, our exe-
cutors, administratore, 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 AND APPARATUS
FOR BLEACHING, SOAPING, CLEARING, AND WASHING FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS,
YARNS, AND FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
William Schofield and John Smith, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 William Schofield and John Smith,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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):-
The nature of our Invention.consists in an improved double-acting-kier or
kiers, and in the mode of working the same.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of our improved double-acting kier; Figure 2'is
another elevation of the same in section; and Figure 3 is a plan with part of
the top removed to shew the internal construction.
a is the outer cylindrical shell of the kier, which is closed above by the top
plates b, and below by the bottom plates c; the top is partly spherical, and the
bottom is stayed by gussets to increase the strength as in steam boilers. To
the top plates are fixed the man-holes d, d, for admitting the goods to be
operated upon and the bleaching or other materials employed in bleaching,
soaping, clearing, and washing. We wish to observe here that in some cases,

page_text: and particularly when yarn is to be operated upon, the top of the kier may be
made to take off entirely when charging or discharging. Within the kier
and at a certain distance from the bottom thereof are secured the false
bottoms e and f; the upper one e is perforated through its entire surface; to
the perforated false bottom e are fixed stays resting on the false bottom f.
The centre of the false bottom e rests upon the end of the pipe g, and the
lower flange of the pipe is secured to the bottom c of the kier, leaving a space
of about one inch between the end of the pipe and the kier to allow the liquor
to circulate. The pipe g passes through the false bottomf, and the upper end
of the pipe between the two false bottoms is perforated,as shewn in Figure 2.
The kier is also provided with a moveable grid h, composed of two annular
rings supporting the cross rails, as shewn partly in Figure 3; to this grid is
connected the lower end of the centre rod h¹, which passes through a stuffing
box 6' fixed to the lid or top of the kier. The bridle 2 at the top of the
rod is to facilitate the raising and lowering of the grid when the kier is
being charged. To the ring of the grid h are fixed the lower ends of the three
rams h³, which are guided above in the tubes h4 fixed to the glands h5 rivetted
to the lid b. To the upper ends of the tubes h are connected the pipes h6,
which unite in a pipe 7, connected to a cistern containing water. There is a
back valve in the pipe h7, to allow the water to flow into the tubes h¹ as the
grid descends, and to prevent it rising. There is a stop valve or tap between
the back valve and the tubes h4, which is opened to allow the water to flow
into the cistern when the grid is being raised; the object of these rams and
tubes is to resist the upward pressure of the grid h, but retaining catches or
other equivalents may be employed instead. Near the kier is placed the
cylinder i for working a reversing three-way valve in the valve box j; the
upper end of the cylinder i is in communication with the kier a by means of
the pipe k, and the lower end of the cylinder is connected to the bottom of
the kier by the pipe l; a stop tap is placed in both these pipes. Within the
cylinder is the float 2, which we prefer to make of hollow cast iron; this
float is fixed to the lower end of the hollow rod 22, which is connected to one
end of the chain passing over the pulley m, and to the other end of this chain
is attached the counter weight 13; the object of the tap in the side pipe pro-
jecting from the hollow spindle rod 2 is to blow off the water that may
accumulate in the float i' by the pressure of the steam, which enters the float
through a hole in its upper surface. The lower end of the hollow rod i² is
perforated within the float and close to its bottom for the escape of the water.
To the pulley m are fixed two adjustable catch plates m¹ and m2 for acting on
the tumbler lever n, which vibrates on the same stud as the pulley m ; this

page_text: stud also serves as fulcrum for the balance lever o, to which is jointed the
rod of the valve in the valve box j. We prefer to employ a counterbalanced
valve similar to those described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted
to Robert Wilson on the Fifth day of November, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-one, Number 2772, but any other valve capable of being worked with
very little friction may be employed. To the lever o is also jointed the rod o¹,
the lower end of which is screwed, and has two lock nuts to regulate the
traverse of the valve. The valve boxj is supplied with steam by the pipej²,
and the exhaust steam is blown off at the pipe 3. The pipe q forms the
communication between the kier and the valve box j, and the pipe preaches
from the valve box j to the main steam piper near to the man-hole d, as
shewn in Figure 1. The pipes conveys steam to the lower end of the kier
for boiling up the water or other liquid before the operation commences. The
level of the water or other liquid in the kier and the direction of the currents
in the same are indicated by the water guages t and t¹. The tap x, see
Figure 1, is to open a communication with the atmosphere during the pre-.
liminary boiling up of the liquor in the lower part of the kier and to regulate
the quantity of liquor admitted.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The first part of the operation con-
sists in supplying the liquor for bleaching, soaping, clearing, or washing, or
water through the pipe u to the lower part of the kier to the requisite depth
or until it overflows at the tapa; steam is then turned on through the pipe s
to heat the water or liquor, the tap x remaining open, and at the same time
the fabrics or other materials to be operated upon are being deposited on the
perforated false bottom e through the man-holes d. Before the materials to
be operated upon are put in the kier it is necessary to raise the grid h to near
the top of the kier, some of the grit bars must then be removed to allow a
man to pass down, and this man distributes the goods evenly on the false
bottom e. As soon as the requisite quantity of goods have been deposited on
the false bottom e the bars of the moveable grid h must be replaced, and the
grid which had been raised is lowered on to the top of the goods; and if it
should be desirable at the commencement of the operation to express a great
part of the moisture combined with the fabrics or other substances, we first
admit steam through the pipe to the upper part of the kier, the action of
which compresses the fibrous or other substances, thus expelling the moisture
through the perforations in the false bottom e on to the false bottom f, from
whence it escapes through the off-pipe v without mixing with the clean water
or liquid in the lower part of the kier. The steam piper must have a shut-
off valve, which remains closed after the moisture has been expelled from the

page_text: goods; the tap in the off-pipe v is also closed at the same time. When the
foregoing preliminary operations have been performed and the man-hole lids
have been secured the tap in the pipe s is closed, and the steam from the
valve box j enters the lower part of the kier through the pipe q, the steam
then presses on the liquor in the lower part of the kier, and this steam acting
against the under side of the false bottom causes the liquor gradually to rise
up the pipe g, thence through the perforatious in the upper part of the pipe
into the space between the two false bottoms e and f, thence through the
perforations in the false bottom e, and through the pile of fibrous or other
substances, and through the moveable grid h into the upper part of the kier.
During this ascent of the liquor from the lower to the upper end of the kier
the float ', which at the commencement of the operation was up. is gradually
lowered, and in lowering the catch plate m' on the wheel m acting on the
under side of the tumbler lever n raises it slightly beyond the vertical position,
when it suddenly falls over towards the left-hand side of the lever o in
Figare 1, to reverse the position of the valve j. The steam is thus shut off
from below and admitted by the pipe p to the top side of the kier; the
pressure of steam now acting on the liquor above the moveable grid h forces
it back through the fibrous or other substances and through the pipe g to the
bottom of the kier, and as the liquor accumulates therein the liquor passing
through the pipe to the under side of the float gradually raises.it, and
when all the liquor has returned into the lower part of the kier the .catch
piece m², acting on the under side of the tumbler lever n, will have raised it
beyond the vertical line and caused it to fall over to the right side, as shewn
in Figure 1, thereby acting on the right-hand end of the lever o, thus again
reversing the position of the valve ), and reversing also the current of the
liquor. By closing partially the stop valve in the pipel the liquor is prevented
from accumulating as fast in the vessel i as it does in the lower part of the
kier, thus insuring that the whole of the liquor shall be down in the lower
part of the kier and out of the cloth before the valve j is reversed; in like
manner the return flow of the liquor from the vessel i into the kier is also
checked to insure the liquor being entirely up above the cloth before the valve
is reversed for the downward stroke. The stop valve in the pipe k is open as
long as the kier remains in operation.
By means of these improvements the bleaching or other liquor is forced
alternately upwards and downwards through the fabrics or other materials in
the kier, and these operations are continued uninterruptedly and automatically
until the bleaching, soaping, clearing, or washing process is completed.
Our Invention may be modified as shewn in Figure 4. In this .view

page_text: The
and a' are two kiers, which are provided with false bottoms e, moveable grids h,
and head gear similar to those shown in Figure 2. These kiers are connected
by the pipe y. Between the kiers a and a¹ is placed the cylinder i, the lower
portion of which is on the level of the top of the cloth in the kiers; this
cylinder is provided with a float, the up-and-down motion of which reverses
the valve for admitting steam alternately at the top of each kier. As the
liquor is rising in one kier it is descending in the other, and vice versa.
When the liquor
cylinder i is connected to the kier a by the pipes k and l.
has descended in the kier a aud risen in the kier a' the float in the cylinder i
is down, and the valve is raised to admit steam above the goods in a¹, and
when the liquor has risen in the kier a the float in the cylinder i is up, and
the valve is again reversed; or the cylinder i may be placed in the position
shewn by dotted lines; in this case when the float has been raised it puts the
lever for reversing the valve in position for acting when the float is down, at
which time the lever is liberated and the valve is reversed.
Figure 5 shews a modification of our Invention. To the under side of the
bottom c is attached the pipe 7 connecting the kier to the cylinder i, to which
is connected the pipes and the tap for the preliminary boiling and for
regulating the quantity of liquor; to the cylinder i is also connected the pipe k
for admitting steam from the valve. By this arrangement the quantity of
liquor required is greatly reduced.
Our Invention is particularly beneficial in clearing or extracting a portion
of the colouring matter from Turkey red yarns and fabrics. When employed
for clearing purposes it is desirable to apply thermometers at Z and Z¹, see
Figure 2, in order to ascertain the temperature of the liquor in the kier, and
the required temperature can be regulated by applying a safety valve to the
exhaust pipe 3, which safety valve must be weighted to adjust the back
pressure in proportion to the temperature required. The self-acting apparatus
described for reversing the position of the valvej may be considerably modified
or even dispensed with, and the valves worked by hand.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we declare that we claim,-
First, the general combination and arrangement of double-acting kiers, and
the mode of working them, as shewn and described.
Secondly, forcing liquors employed in bleaching, soaping, clearing, and
washing upwards through the fibrous and other materials, yarns, and
fabrics.
Thirdly, the mode described and shewn for resisting the upward pressure of
the moveable grid used in double-acting kiers.

page_text: Fourthly, the self-acting valve and the machinery shewn and described, or
any equivalent machinery, for reversing its position.
And, lastly, the direct application of steam for forcing the clearing liquor
through Turkey red yarns and fabrics as described, or effecting the same
object by force pumps or other equivalents.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Schofield, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
WM. SCHOFIELD. (L.S.)