IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND DRYING FABRICS AND FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND FOR TREATING MATERIALS WITH VARIOUS SOLUTIONS, AND ALSO EXTRACTING PRODUCTS FROM THEM."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Frederick Cooke Farquhar and James Burns Mac-
farlane, both of 24 and 25, Long Acre, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND DRYING
FABRICS AND FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND FOR TREATING MATERIALS
WITH VARIOUS SOLUTIONS, AND ALSO EXTRACTING PRODUCTS FROM THEM."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Frederick Cooke
Farquhar and James Burns Macfarlane at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents on the 20th September 1878.
JOHN FREDERICK COOKE FARQUHAR and JAMES BURNS MACFARLANE, both of
24 and 25, Long Acre, in the County of Middlesex. " IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR WASHING AND DRYING FABRICS AND FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND
FOR TREATING MATERIALS WITH VARIOUS SOLUTIONS, AND ALSO EXTRACTING
PRODUCTS FROM THEM."
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for washing and
drying fabrics and fibrous and other materials, and for treating materials with
various solutions, and also extracting products from them.
For this purpose we employ apparatus by which the materials to be acted upon
can readily and quickly be submitted to the action of various scouring or other
fluids and to the action of steam or air under pressure, or to both of these latter
simultaneously. The apparatus is composed of a vessel with a moveable top and
bottom, which when the vessel is closed are held in their places by hydraulic or
steam or other pressure, air-tight joints being obtained between the vessel and its
covers by interposing vulcanized india-rubber or other elastic material between
them.

page_text: The vessel itself we make with solid sides, and open at top and bottom; this we
place on to an elastic ring surrounding a bed of wire gauze or other perforated bed,
which forms part of a moveable truck. The materials to be acted on are placed
into the vessel, and the truck is run off to the place where the materials are to be
acted on;
here the truck is run on to a bed which can be lifted by hydraulic
power or by a screw, or by other lifting mechanism, so as to force the top of the
vessel up to and against a fixed cover. The cover has pipes passing from it, through
which water or other liquids can be admitted to the vessel, and also steam and air
under pressure.
When the materials have been acted on in succession by the
cleansing or other liquids, and afterwards by the steam and air, the vessel is
lowered away from the fixed cover, and can then be run off to any spot where the
materials which have been operated upon can be removed from it.
The apparatus above described is applicable for washing fabrics and fibrous
materials by submitting them to the action of cleansing baths, and afterwards
submitting them to the action of steam to remove the cleansing liquors from them,
and partially dry them, and afterwards to the action of a current of dry air to dry
them.
It is also applicable for extracting grease from cotton waste, also for extracting
sugar from sugar cane, from which the greater part of the sugar has been expressed,
or for extracting sugar from beetroot or other material containing it, and for a variety
of purposes where it is required to subject materials to the action of cleansing or
other liquids, or to steam or air under pressure or to these in succession.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said John Frederick Cooke Farquhar and James Burns Macfarlane in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 20th March 1879.
JOHN FREDERICK COOKE FARQUHAR and JAMES BURNS MACFARLANE, both of
24 and 25, Long Acre, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR WASHING AND DRYING FABRICS AND FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND
FOR TREATING MATERIALS WITH VARIOUS. SOLUTIONS, AND ALSO EXTRACTING
PRODUCTS FROM THEM."
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for washing and
drying fabrics and fibrous and other materials, and for treating materials with
various solutions, and also extracting products from them.
For this purpose we employ apparatus by which the materials to be acted upon
can readily and quickly be submitted to the action of various scouring or other
fluids and to the action of steam or air under pressure, or to both of these latter
simultaneously. The apparatus is composed of a vessel with a moveable top and
bottom which, when the vessel is closed, are held in their places by hydraulic or
steam or other pressure, air-tight joints being obtained between the vessel and its
covers by interposing vulcanized india-rubber or other elastic material between
them. The vessel itself we make with solid sides, and open at top and bottom;
this we place on to an elastic ring surrounding a bed of wire gauze or other per-
forated bed, which forms part of a moveable truck. The materials to be acted on
are placed into the vessel, and the truck is run off to the place where the materials
are to be acted on. Here the truck is run on to a bed which can be lifted by
hydraulic power, or by a screw or by other lifting mechanism, so as to force the top
of the vessel up to and against a fixed cover. The cover has pipes passing from it
through which water or other liquids can be admitted to the vessel, and also steam
and air under pressure. When the materials have been acted on in succession by
the cleansing or other liquids, and afterwards by the steam and air, the vessel is
lowered away from the fixed cover, and can then be run off to any spot where the
materials which have been operated upon can be removed from it.
The apparatus above described is applicable for washing fabrics and fibrous
materials by submitting them to the action of cleansing baths, and afterwards sub-
mitting them to the action of steam to remove the cleansing liquors from them and
partially dry them, and afterwards to the action of a current of dry air to dry
them. It is also applicable for extracting grease from cotton waste, also for extracting
sugar from sugar cane, from which the greater part of the sugar has been expressed,
or for abstracting sugar from beetroot or other material containing it, and for a
variety of purposes where it is required to subject materials to the action of
cleansing or other liquids, or to steam or air or both under pressure, or to these in
succession.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention we will proceed to describe
more fully the manner of performing the same.
The Drawings hereunto annexed shew an apparatus constructed according to our
Invention.
Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Figure 2 a plan view of the apparatus. A is a
vessel made with solid sides, and open at top and bottom; this we place on to an
elastic ring B surrounding a horizontal bed of wire gauze C or other perforated
bed, which forms part of a moveable truck D. When the apparatus is to be used
for treating materials with steam or steam and air, and when it is desired to prevent
any water that may condense from dropping on to thein, we place within the vessel
A a conical inner receptacle E, into which the materials to be treated are to be
placed, and we cover over the top of the inner receptacle with a loose cover F,
which rests upon projections on the top of the receptacle, so that an open space is
left all around the cover between it and the top of the receptacle to permit steam

page_text: or air to pass.
When the apparatus is to be used for treating materials with
solutions, or when there is no necessity to prevent water dropping on to the
materials the inner receptacle is unnecessary. In this case the outer vessel A may
be formed in the manner shown in section at Figure 7.
When the materials to be treated have been filled into the vessel A or into the
vessel E contained in it, the truck D is run along rails G to bring the vessel A
below its top cover. Here the truck comes above a table H, which can be lifted by
turning a nut I on a screw J, or by hydraulic or other power. The truck is readily
stopped in the correct position by a spring catch X, as shewn at Figures 6. As the
table is raised it comes against the bottom of the frame of the truck, and lifts the
truck together with the vessel A upon it until the top of the vessel is forced against
an elastic ring K on the under side of a metal chamber L. The bottom of the metal
chamber thus serves as a cover for the vessel A, and a steam-tight joint is formed
between them as the elastic ring K becomes compressed by the rising of the table.
A steam-tight joint is at the same time made at the bottom of the vessel A by the
elastic ring B.
Whenever it is desired that the materials should be subjected for a time to the
action of cleansing or other liquors, or to steam and air without allowing the liquors
steam, or air to pass away through the materials, a solid bottom S is provided
below the perforated false bottom of the truck, and this solid bottom is provided
with a tap by which liquids or fluids can be drawn off, as shown at Figure 5. In
some cases however the solid bottom S may be dispensed with, and the perforated
bottom only used, as shewn at Figure 1; in this case the table H is provided with
a spout H¹, by which any liquid which passes down through the perforated bottom
on to the table may flow away. The chamber L is as shewn carried by uprights from
the bed M; the screw stem J by which the table is carried passes down through
the centre of this bed, and the nut I rests on the top of the bed, which thus serves
as an abutment for the nut to bear against. A plan view and vertical section of
the chamber L are shewn separately at Figures 3 and 4. Steam under pressure
can be admitted to the chamber through the pipe N and air under pressure by the
pipe O. In front of the ends of each of these pipes where they enter the chamber
is a vertical plate or partition P for the steam or air to impinge against as they
enter the chamber in order to disperse them. The exit from the chamber is through
a pipe Q, which rises up from the centre of the bottom nearly to the top of the
chamber. The upper end of this pipe is also surrounded by a cylindrical guard, as
shown, which prevents a direct passage of air or steam from the vessel to the pipe,
but leaves open a circuitous passage. This serves to prevent any water that may
be condensed in the vessel from passing out by the pipe Q. Any water that may
become condensed in the vessel can be drawn off from time to time through a pipe
provided for the purpose. The chamber L is provided with a. thermometer by
which the temperature within the chamber is indicated.
When the materials placed within the vessel A are to be acted on by warm moist
air under pressure, air under pressure is first admitted to the chamber L by the
pipe O, afterwards steam is admitted by the pipe P, the amount of steam admitted
being regulated by a cock so as to maintain the mixture of air and steam in the
chamber L at the temperature desired. The mixed air and steam pass from the
chamber L through the pipe Q into the vessel A. Any water accumulating in
the chamber L may from time to time be drawn off by a cock at the bottom. The
mixing chamber L is only required in cases where the materials are to be operated
on by a mixture of air and steam. In cases where the materials are to be acted on
by steam only or by cleansing or other liquids, then a solid cover may be substi-
tuted for the chamber L, and the steam or air pipes introduced directly through it
into the chamber A.
To admit cleansing or other liquids to the chamber A a pipe R is passed, as
shewn, through the centre of the chamber L or other fixed cover; this pipe is pro-
vided with a tap so that the passage through the pipe may be closed when the
contents of the vessel A are to be put under pressure.

page_text: When a charge of material has, been operated on in one vessel A, either with
steam or steam and air, or with cleansing or other liquids, as required, according to
the nature of the materials and the nature of the operation to be performed, the
table H is lowered until the wheels of the truck again rest upon the rails, and the
truck is then run off to the place where the vessel A is to be emptied, whilst
another truck carrying another vessel containing a fresh charge of material to be
operated on is run on to the table H, and the table again raised so as to close this
vessel. The materials in the vessel can then be submitted to the cleansing or other
operation to which they are to be subjected.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner of performing
the saine, we would have it understood that we are aware that it has before been
proposed to submit fibrous substances to bleaching, dyeing, and scouring liquids
under pressure in closed vessels, and also to employ steam for forcing such liquids
through the fibrous substances, and also that it has been proposed to employ steam
in various ways for extracting products from various materials, we do not therefore
make any general claim to the treatment of fibrous and other substances with
bleaching, dyeing, or scouring liquids under pressure in closed vessels or by steam,
but we claim as our improvements in apparatus for washing and drying fabrics and
fibrous and other materials, and for treating materials with various solutions, and
also extracting products from them,-
First. The combination of apparatus substantially as herein-before described,
whereby the vessels in which the materials are contained when being acted on can
be quickly opened and closed and moved from one place to another.
Second. The combination of apparatus substantially as herein-before described
and shewn in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Frederick Cooke Farquhar and James
Burns Macfarlane, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-nine.
J. F. C. FARQUHAR. (L.S.)
J. B. MACFARLANE. (L.S.)