CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE AND MACHINERY FOR DRESSING, STARCHING, AND FINISHING m MT
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Booth, of Gorton, in the County of Lan-
caster, Gum Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MODE AND MACHINERY FOR DRESSING, STARCHING, AND FINISHING
m
MT"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Booth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th January 1855.
I, EDWARD BOOTH, of Gorton, in the County of Lancaster, Gum Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE AND MACHINERY FOR DRESSING, STARCHING, AND
FINISHING TEXTILE AND OTHER FABRICS AND MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention is a mode of applying liquid dressing or stiffening matter to
the backs of certain fabrics or materials, (so as to prevent it passing through
and appearing on the face or on the front edges of such fabrics), and for
accomplishing this by the use of certain machinery or apparatus, which consists
of an endless sieve cloth passing round a table roller, and a stretching roller,
and a regulating guide roller, and of a trough and feeding roller, for furnishing
the face of the endless sieve cloth; also of a doctor or scraper for regulating the
supply of stiffening matter upon the face of the endless sieve cloth; it also

page_text: consists in the use of a weight roller for pressing the fabric upon the endless
sieve cloth as it passes over the table roller; also in the use of a doctor or
scraper for cleansing the stiffening matter off the surface of the weight roller,
which is received thereon from that part of the endless sieve cloth which extends
beyond the width of the fabric as it presses the back of the fabric upon the
stiffening matter; it also consists of the means of raising the weight roller and
fabric simultaneously with the stopping of the machine, so as to prevent the
stiffening matter from passing through and soiling the face of the fabric; also
in the use of a friction and drawing roller, for the purpose of giving the proper
tension to the fabric while it passes through the apparatus; and it also consists
in the use of this Invention in connection with a drying apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Booth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th July 1855..!
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BOOTH, of Gorton, in the County of Lancaster, Gum Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, 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 me,
the said Edward Booth, Her especial license that I, the said Edward
Booth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Edward Booth, my 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE AND MACHINERY FOR DRESSING, STARCHING, AND FINISH-
ING TEXTILE AND OTHER FABRICS AND MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edward Booth, by an instrument in writing under
hand and seal, 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 calen-
dar months' next and-immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
my

page_text: per-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Booth, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and the accompanying Drawings (that is to say):- ·
My Invention relates to a mode of applying liquid dressing or stiffening
matter to the backs of woven and other fabrics, and of preventing such dressing
or stiffening matter from passing through or over the edges of such fabrics, and
it is accomplished by arrangements and machinery described as follows:-The
dressing or stiffening matter is applied to the back of the fabric by a sieve cloth,
which may be arranged in the endless form on a table roller, stretching roller,
and regulating guide roller, or it may be attached to the face of a cylinder.
This sieve cloth is charged with dressing or stiffening matter by a feed roller
revolving in the mixture to be applied (which is contained in a trough), and at
the same time against the face of the sieve cloth. The quantity or thickness
of the mixture of dressing or stiffening matter furnished to the sieve cloth is
regulated by the feeding roller alone, or it is made to supply the sieve cloth
with the mixture in excess, the excess being removed by a doctor arranged
against the sieve cloth. The fabric to have the dressing or stiffening matter'
applied by the arrangement referred unto is brought to it through a series of
rollers free to revolve by the friction of the fabric upon them; but to give an
uniform tension to the fabric one of them is weighted, or has friction applied
to it to resist its revolution. The fabric is made to come against the face of
the sieve cloth; against which it may be pressed by a roller, the surface of which
is made to revolve at the same speed and in the same direction as the face of
the sieve cloth. When this arrangement is used the fabric is drawn forward
to the machine, and delivered from it by being pinced between the pressing
roller and the face of the sieve cloth; and as that portion of the sieve cloth
extending beyond the fabric operated upon will touch the pressing roller, and
leave upon it dressing or stiffening matter, which will endanger the edges
of the face of the fabric, a doctor is applied to the pressing roller to remove
the matter from it. But in place of weighting or pressing the fabric against the
sieve cloth by a roller, it may be done by the tension of the fabric, in which case"
it is drawn over the face of the sieve cloth by means of an arrangement of
independent rollers, between which the cloth may be made to pass, or by the
drag of an arrangement of drying cylinders. When the fabric is pressed against
the sieve cloth in the manner last explained, the sieve cloth may be made to"
revolve in a direction opposite to that in which the fabric passes. To prevent
the dressing or stiffening matter from penetrating to the face of the fabric
when the machine is stopped, by reason of the fabric remaining in contact with

page_text: the sieve cloth too long, I apply an arrangement of mechanism in connection
with the stopping handle, by which the fabric or pressing roller and fabric is
lifted from the face of the sieve cloth simultaneously with the stopping of
the machine. I also use with the combination of mechanisın described a
number of drying cylinders (heated by steam), so arranged that the fabric as
delivered from the machine is taken round the drying cylinders, the face of
the fabric being in contact with the cylinders.
For the purpose of more particularly explaining the manner in which my
Invention is carried into effect, I have annexed hereto two Sheets of Drawings
exhibiting the modifications of it herein-before referred to. The same letters
and figures of reference will be repeated on similar and corresponding parts in
each Figure of the Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the operating parts, and an elevation of ono
side; Fig. 2, an elevation of the other side; and Fig. 3, an elevation of the front
of a machine, in which the fabric is pressed against the face of an endless sieve
cloth by a roller.
A, side frames of machine; A¹, cross stays, by which they are secured
together; a, sieve cloth; b, table roller, around which it passes, working in
bearings on the side frames; b', stretching roller working in bearings, which
can slide vertically in the slots made in the side frames, the sieve cloth being
tightened by screws 63 passing through the outside of each bearing, by turning
which the roller b₁ can be risen or lowered; c is the regulating guide roller,
being free to revolve in bearings on the said frames; d is the feeding roller,
being free to revolve in bearings secured to the trough d', which contains the
dressing or stiffening mixture. The roller d is revolved by a spur wheel on
the axis of the stretching roller, which gears with one d' on its own axis, and
is adjusted to the face of the sieve cloth by screws d³, fixed so as to revolve in
bearings, secured to the side frames, which screw through nuts attached to
the trough, by which means the trough, and consequently the feeding roller d,
can be risen and lowered; e is the doctor, employed to regulate the thickness
and remove the excess of the dressing or stiffening mixture from the sieve
cloth, which falls back into the trough d'. It is arranged in grooves secured
to the side frames, so that it can be adjusted to the face of the sieve cloth, being
placed opposite the regulating guide roller c. The doctors referred to in this
Specification are of the same description as those used in calico printing for
removing the surplus color from the printing rollers. The series of rollers
fff, and f³, are those between which the fabric passes to be operated upon,
(the fabric is represented in Fig. 1 by double dotted lines), the three first being
free in bearings on the side frames, and the last in a frame in which the weight

page_text: I,
roller is placed. At one end of the axis of the roller f¹ a grooved pulley f* is
keyed, in the groove of which a band f³ is placed, one end of which is secured
to the frame, the other end having a weight f° attached to it. This constitutes
the friction against the revolving of the roller to give the required tension
on the fabric. g is the roller pressing the fabric against the face of the sieve
cloth, being made sufficiently heavy for this purpose; on the axis of this roller
at one side a spur wheel g' is keyed on, geering with an equal spur wheel 6* on
the table roller b. The roller g has its bearings in a frame; the parts g² con-
stituting the ends of the frame; and the parts g³, the stays; g' is the doctor, for
removing any dressing or stiffening matter which may get past the edges of the
fabric, and other matters which may adhere to it, as it extends from one side to
the other. It is hinged on pivots, having bearings in the frame of the roller,
so that it can be removed, or by means of the handle attached to it, and lifted
off the surface of the roller. With these arrangements matter accumulated
upon it may be readily removed when required. The frame in which the roller g
is fitted is hinged to the main frame of the machine on a fulcrum A*. Friction
bowls g' are placed on one of the cross stays g³ of the hinged frame which rest
on cams h, keyed on a shaft h', passing from one side of the machine to the
other, which is free to revolve in bearings on the side frames; and on the shaft
(h) a handle (h) is placed, by moving which to the position shewn in dotted
lines, the cams (h) will act on the friction bowls g', causing the frame (9', I³,)
roller (g), and fabric to rise, thus lifting the roller (g) out of geer with the table
roller (6), and the fabric from the face of the sieve cloth (a), and by this means
the application of the dressing or stiffening matter to the fabric is instantly
stopped; but that this may be done, and the whole machine stopped simul-
taneously, a cam h³ is keyed on the shaft h', having a side action, which is made
to act upon the end of a clutch box fork lever h, which moves one part of a
clutch box h³, placed on the axis of the table roller b, out of gear with the other
part of a clutch box he, secured to a pulley ', loose on the axis of the roller b,
to which pulley motion is communicated to drive the machine by a strap from
the power employed. It will be seen that instead of the endless sieve cloth (a),
a sieve cloth on a cylinder may be used in combination with a weight roller, in
which case the table roller may be supposed to be the cylinder having the
sieve cloth attached to it; the feeding roller and trough being arranged to feed
to the table roller directly. This will be clearly understood by reference to the
Figures of the Drawings, exhibiting the modification herein-before referred to,
in which a pressing roller is not employed, which modification is next to be
described. Figures 4, 5, and 6, Sheet 2, are views of this modification, cor-
responding respectively to the views, Figures 1, 2, and 3. A, are the side

page_text: frames; A¹, cross stays; a, sieve cloth round cylinder or roller, corresponding
to table roller b; d is the feeding roller, having its bearings in the trough d',
which is risen and lowered by screws d², as before explained in describing the
modification, Figures 1, 2, and 3; f, fi, f, f, are rollers free on their axes,
performing the office of those marked with. the same letters and figures in
modification, shown by Figures 1, 2, and 3, as well as bringing the fabric in and
out of contact with. the roller.or cylinder b, being arranged so as to accomplish
this purpose. The fabric passes through the rollers of the machine, as shewn
in the double dotted line. The rollers f³ and f' have their bearings. on the
main frame, but the rollers fand f have theirs in a frame formed by two
discs g³, placed on the axis of the roller f¹, connected together by four stays
g: The frame and. rollers f, f, are capable of revolving on the axis of the
roller f. It will be seen that when the moveable frame. 92, 93, is in the
position in which it. is drawn, the fabric will be pressed upon the table
roller, and when in that position shewn in. dotted line, it will be lifted
from against it; the peculiar arrangement of the rollers in the frame causing
the slack fabric to be taken up, or in other words, will prevent the, fabric
from becoming slack. Handles (h²) may be fixed to the sides (9%) of the
revolving frame to move it, and a catch or pawl k may be arranged to take
into notches or teeth made in one of the discs g, forming, the end of the
revolving frame, to secure it from moving out of the position in which.it is
required, and a cam path may be formed on the side of one of the discs g
forming the end of the revolving frame to act upon a clutch box fork h', to
detach the table roller from the driving power in the manner before explained
in reference to the modification shewn by Figures 1, 2, and 3. is the
roller upon which friction is put to act against its revolution forward. by a
grooved pulley band f, and weight f, as before explained, with this
difference, the grooved pulley is loose on the axis of the roller f', and
carriés a pawl, which takes into the teeth of a ratchet wheel f', keyed on
the axis of the roller, the pawl being kept against the teeth by a spring, by
which arrangement the friction will resist the forward revolution of the
roller; but will leave it free-to the backward revolution which is given to
it when the frame is révolved to lift the fabric from the face of the table
roller. is a roller to keep the fabric near the table roller b on the delivery
side of the machine. The table roller revolves in the direction opposite to
the fabric, which is drawn through the machine by the cylinders of a drying.
apparatus, the combination of which with this modification, as well as that
shewn by Figures 1, 2, and 3, will be sufficiently explained by Figure 5,
Sheet 1, which is a sectional view of the. operating parts, all details 'being.

page_text: omitted, as such are well known. The cylinders are of the ordinary construc-
tion, to be heated by steam. The direction in which the fabric passes through
the series of cylinders will be understood by inspection of the Figure, as
well as that the face or same side of the fabric is kept in contact with the
drying cylinders. To prevent all' danger of soiling the face of the fabric, all
rollers coming in contact with the back of the fabric, and all rollers working
in contact with the face side of the fabric, and with a'roller working in contact
with the back of the fabric, should have doctors applied to them. When the
modification shewn by Figures 1, 2, and 3 (with a weight roller), is combined
with drying cylinders, the surface speed of the drying cylinders and the face of
the sieve cloth will have to be uniform, and both should be driven by geering
from the same first motion shaft, and so that all can be stopped and started
simultaneously: The fabric to be operated upon may be placed in front of the
machine, in folds or on a roller, and delivered from the drying cylinders on
to a roller revolved by contact with the surface of a cylinder or roller in the
usual manner..
Having now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
methods by which it may be carried, into effect, I would have it understood
that I claim as my Invention, so long as its peculiarities are retained, the
modes and combination of machinery or apparatus herein-before described for
dressing, starching, and finishing textile and other fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Booth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of July; in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
EDWARD BOOTH. (L.S.)