IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING LINEN & JUTE, YARNS & CLOTH WOVEN THEREFROM TOGETHER WITH THE MECHANICAL APPLIANCES USED THEREIN
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
JOSEPH HACKING RILEY, Elton Iron Works, Bury, Lano, Machinist, JOHN
DOWNHAM, Elton Iron Works, Bury, Lano, Machinist JOHN APSLEY, Castleton Gale,
Rochdale, Dyer, do hereby declare the nature of their invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN BLEACHING LINEN & JUTE, YARNS & CLOTH WOVEN THEREFROM TOGETHER
WITH THE MECHANICAL APPLIANCES USED THEREIN to be as follows :-
Our invention consists of an improved method of bleaching—as follows-
The cloth or yarn to be bleached is placed in a Kier, & boiled with an Alkaline
lye. After boiling it is well washed until quite neutral. The cloth or yarn, is next
passed through a large airtight chamber divided into compartments and provided
with suitable rollers & gearing, by means of which the cloth or yarn, is gradually
moved from one compartment to the next, & so on to the end of the chamber.
Thence it is passed out.
Before the cloth or yarn is run into the air tight chamber, the latter is filled with
Chlorine Gas by displacement-tho common air escaping through an outlet provided
for it, while tho Chlorine is entering.
The cloth or yarn is then drawn into the chamber, & remains in contact with the
chlorine Gas for a sufficient time for it to act on the impurities contained in the
cloth, or yarn.
After the cloth has been in the Gas for the required time it is drawn out by the
rollers, & passed into a tank-containing clean water-provided with suitable
rollers, and then roughly plaited down outside the tank.
The material is then washed until perfectly neutral & afterwards boiled in the
kier in an Alkaline lye for some hours.
It is then washed, chemiced, & soured in the usual way.
The Chlorine Gas is made in a retort with a false bottom. Into this retort is put
Oxide of Manganeso and Hydrochloric Acid. The lid is put on and through a
Syphon pipe is introduced a certain quantity of Sulphuric Acid. A gentle heat is
then applied, & the Chlorine is given off & conducted into the airtight chamber
before mentioned.

page_text: The chloride may be prepared in any other way-such as by Common Salt
& Sulphuric Acid-but we prefer the above mode of making the Gas.
Two Retorts are required when working the machine one to be cleaned &
prepared to give off the Gas while the other is working-suitable arrangement is
made by Taps & Valves to do this.
Dated this seventeenth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and eighty

page_text: We, JOSEPH HACKING RILEY and JOHN DOWNHAM, Machinists, both of Bury in
the County of Lancaster, and John APSLEY of Castleton Gate, Rochdale, in the
County of Lancaster, Dyer, do hereby declare the nature of our Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING LINEN AND JUTE YARNS, AND CLOTH WOVEN
THEREFROM, TOGETHER WITH THE MECHANICAL APPLIANCES USED THEREIN," and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
It consists of an improved method of bleaching accomplished by special machinery
in the following manner. The cloth or yarn to be bleached is first boiled in a kier
with an Alkaline lye, and then well washed until perfectly neutral. It is then
passed through an airtight chamber filled with chlorine gas, and constructed in the
following manner.
It is of rectangular form and is divided internally by sloping partitions reaching.
about halfway from the floor to the roof and placed at right angles to the sides.
Above each of these partitions is placed a pair of rollers driven from outside the
chamber by means of an endless chain, or in any other suitable manner. Each
compartment is furnished with an opening, so that the fabric can be got at with
case. These open into a passage or corrider constructed along the side of the
chamber and provided with an airtight door.
The chlorine gas is made in a circular retort, of iron, earthenware or other suitable
Material, with a false bottom. Within this retort is placed Oxido of Manganeso and
Hydrochloric acid. It is then closed and a certain quantity of Sulphuric Acid is
introduced by means of a syphon pipe. A gentle heat is then applied and the
Chlorine gas which is given off is carried by a pipe leading from the top of the
retort, to the top of the airtight chamber where a suitable inlet is provided consisting
of two sloping boards beneath the inlet, which extends the whole length of the
chamber, and the lower edges of which overhang small channels or gutters affixed
to the sides of the airtight chamber, so that any moisture contained in the gas may
drain away.
The chlorine gas displaces the common air and forces it out, through an outlet
provided in the bottom of the chamber.
Each end of the airtight chamber is provided with a narrow opening, of about an
inch wide, running horizontally across it. These openings are each closed internally
by two strips of Indiarubber, Indiarubber rollers, or other means, which form a
valve to prevent any escape of the gas.
The cloth (in its full width) or the yarn, is passed through a pair of rollers outside
one of these openings, through the opening and then between the first pair of
rollers, which draw it in and coil it down in the first compartment. After a stated
time the end of the cloth is passed between the second pair of rollers which coil it
down in the second compartment and so on, each pair of rollers coiling it 'down in
the next compartment (thus giving the chlorine gas time to act upon the impurities
&c.) until it has passed through the chamber, when it is passed out through the
opening at the other end of the chamber and round a series of rollers runoing in a
tank of water, which checks the further action of the chlorine gas.
It is then washed again until perfectly neutral, boiled in a kier with an Alkaline
lye for some hours, and then washed, chemicked and soured in the usual way.
By regulating the time between coiling down, and passing through the next pair
of rollers the cloth or yarn can be exposed for any stated time to the action of the
gas, this nicety of arrangement allowing the user to obtain the maximum of

page_text: bleaching with the minimum of damage to the strength of the cloth or yarn. In
practice we prefer to use two retorts (with airtight lids) connected together by
suitable piping and taps or valves, for making the chlorine gas, so that one can be
cleansed and recharged, while the other is in uso. We may also make the gas in
other ways if convenient such as by common salt and sulphuric acid but we prefer
the way mentioned.
In order that the foregoing may be better understood we send herewith two
sheets of Drawings. Sheet 1 showing a plan of the whole apparatus, and Sheet 2 a
longitudinal and cross section of the same together with plan, section and clevation
of the retorts and pipes. In all the Figs. a shows the sloping partitions, b, the
rollers, c, the outlet running beneath the compartments, d the openings into the
passage (and in Fig 3 the passage,) e the inlet, f the sloping boards under the samo
the gutters and g the outlet. In Figs. 4 & 5 Sheet 2, k shows the airtight lid of
the retort, the false bottom, and m the syphon pipe. n shows the rollers in tank.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the saine is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is
1st The process and the apparatus, seperately or in combination substantially as
hereinbefore described, and shown in and by the accompanying Drawings for the
purpose set forth.
2nd The employment of an airtight chamber (divided into compartments) filled
with chlorine gas in combination with a series of rollers depositing and lifting the
cloth (in its full width) from each compartment in succession substantially as
hereinbefore described, and shown by the accompanying Drawings, for the purpose
set forth.
3rd The employment of a retort or retorts of the form hereinbefore described,
and shown in and by the accompanying Drawings, for the purpose set forth.
DL: 00h day of October 1884