A NEW APPARATUS FOR DRESSING VARIOUS KINDS OF COTTON, FLAXEN, WOOLLEN, OR SILK MANUFAC- TURES
Year: 1824

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BURN, of Manchester, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, Dealer in Cotton
Twist and Weft, and General Commission Agent for Manufactured Goods,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of April, in the fifth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Burn, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Burn, my
exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Burn, my
exors, adñiors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW APPARATUS
FOR DRESSING VARIOUS KINDS OF COTTON, FLAXEN, WOOLLEN, OR SILK MANUFAC-
TURES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said John Burn, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Burn, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist in a
machine for dressing cotton, flaxen, woollen, silk, or other goods requiring such
a process, by means of fire, in such manner that both sides of the goods may
be dressing at the same time, and more particularly in such manner that the
surfaces only of such goods shall be affected by the fire, and that no fire shall
pass through the said goods or destroy the fibres which are in and serve to
fill up the interstices caused by the crossing of the threads in the manufacture
of the said goods, and which in fact constitute a main part of the durability
and substance of the said goods.
And, in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John Burn,
do hereby describe the manner in which I perform my said Invention, by the
following description thereof (reference being had to the Drawing annexed,
and the figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
=
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
This Drawing represents an elevation of one end of my said machine,
both ends being alike, and the width of the machine being determinable by
the width of the goods required to be drest upon it. It is not thought neces-
sary, for the purposes of explanation, to give any other view of it. It will be
observed that the machine here shewn is adapted to a gas flame; but as any
other fire, such as an ordinary heated cylinder, would answer the purpose as
effectually, I do not claim the gas apparatus to be any part of my said Inven-
tion, or necessarily to constitute a part of my machine. The parts marked A
form the framework of my said machine, and are made of cast iron. The
'arrows represent the direction of the cloth when the crank handle B is
turned, for it will be seen that the arrangement of cogged wheels is the
same at both sides of the machine; so that the cloth, having been wound
all to one side by the handle B, may be returned to the other by the handle
C, then undergoing a double operation of burning. D, E, F, are three large
hollow metal cylinders; I have used rolled iron, tinned. These cylinders I
call the upper cylinders; they all move on axes. Those of E are stationary,
but those of D and F are moveable, and are adjusted by means of the
screws marked H, by which they are moved nearer to or farther from the
center roller as the thickness of the goods to be dressed, or the size of the heated
cylinder or other fire apparatus used for the burning, may require. ✗ is
what I term a safety roller, and is a wooden roller resting upon and turned by
the center cylinder E, and is used to extinguish the sparks which the burning
would otherwise leave upon the surface of the goods. The roller marked 1 is the

page_text: taking-up roller, and the roller marked 2, which turns upon it, is another safety
roller for extinguishing the sparks. The roller marked 4 and 5, at the other
side of the machine, correspond with those marked 1 and 2; G and H are two
more metal cylinders, which I call the lower cylinders. The use of all these
cylinders is to prevent the fire from penetrating beyond the surface of the
goods, while it is by their particular arrangement that the surface of the goods
to be drest is presented to the side of the fire, and in a perpendicular position,
and that both sides of the goods are dressing at, the same time, as will be
more particularly explained when the motion of the cloth through the machine
is described. The rollers marked a serve the double purpose of guide and
safety rollers, as will be hereafter explained. The parts marked g, h, j, k, are
scrapers, being merely a slip or straight edge of rolled iron tinned, set into an
iron back, and which is made to advance or recede by means of the adjusting
screws V, V, V, V. The rollers marked a are also fitted with adjusting
screws marked L. The parts marked P, P, and R, R, are sheets of rolled
iron, tinned, suspended between the double of the cloth or other goods, and
the edges of which serve the double purpose of scraping up the nap of the
goods to prepare them for singeing, and scraping off the burnt particles when
singed. They are suspended by adjusting rods, screws, and nuts, and require
occasionally to have the burnt particles which collect upon them swept off. It
will be proper here to observe, that whether the fire applied to this machine be
a flame or a heated cylinder, the points at which it should be applied are
those marked Z.
Having now explained the various parts of my machine, I shall proceed to
describe the process or operation which is performed by it, and which is as
follows (that is to say):-
The long dotted line represents the piece of cloth or other goods to be drest,
and the arrows the direction in which it will be drawn, supposing the handle B
to be the one put in motion; and I will first describe the process as acting
upon that side of the cloth marked f. The cloth will be drawn from Y over
the rollers marked 4 and 5, and which in this instance act as retaining or
tightening rollers only. From the rollers 4 and 5 it will be drawn over the
upper cylinder D, and immediately in a downward direction under the lower
cylinder G. The air produced by the descent of the cloth from the upper
cylinder D will drive the flame produced by the fire over to the center cylinder
E, as at S; it will therefore pass this point without being much affected by
the fire. When it arrives at P, both before and after it has passed the
cylinder G, the edges of the scraper will scrape up the nap; and it should here
be observed, that the adjusting rollers a are for the purpose (as regards the

page_text: side of the cloth now alluded to) of making it press against the edges of the
scraper. Having passed the adjusting rollers a, it is drawn upwards over the
center cylinder E, and it is in its passage over this cylinder that the flame caused
by the fire at Z burns off the nap that has been previously scraped up, the side of
the fire igniting it while in a perpendicular position, and its immediate passage
over the cylinder E preventing the possibility of any portion of the flame
finding its way through the cloth, by excluding the air from that side of it
which is not immediately acted upon by the fire. In its passage over the center
cylinder E, the cloth also passes under the safety roller X, which extin-
guishes the sparks almost as soon as they are created, being drawn over the
center cylinder. It will be seen that the same operation is repeated by means
of the cylinders H and F, and the flame T produced by the second fire; but
it should be stated, that in its descent from the cylinder E to the cylinder H
the scraper R not only scrapes up the nap, but also scrapes off the burnt
particles occasioned by the previous burning. The cloth, having passed over
the cylinder F, is then drawn over the rollers marked 1 and 2, the former of
which, in this instance, serves as a taking-up roller, and the latter as a safety
roller, to extinguish the sparks of the second burning. Having passed
these last-named rollers the cloth will be dressed, and, if not sufficiently, the
operation may be repeated by turning the handle C at the other end of the
machine, and so on till the operator shall think his work complete.
I will now trace the operation as performed upon the side't of the cloth.
It will be evident that this side of the cloth cannot be affected till after it has.
passed over the upper cylinder D, and descends to the scraper marked g. This
scraper raises the nap. The air caused by the passage of the cloth over the
lower cylinder G drives the flame created by the lower fire at Z over upon the
cylinder H. The cloth passes upwards over the center cylinder E, therefore with-
out being much affected by the fire, and the scraper h takes off what little burnt
matter there may be. On its descent again from the center cylinder E to the
lower cylinder H, the scraper J raises the nap a second time. The lower fire
at Z ignites it, while the cloth, passing tightly over the cylinder H, prevents
the possibility of the flame caused by the fire passing through the cloth. The
nap having been ignited, the scraper k scrapes off the burnt particles, while
the adjusting roller a and the upper cylinder F serve as safety rollers to extin-
guish all remaining sparks.
Having now described the operation as performed upon both sides of the
cloth, it will be observed that the operation as performed upon the side marked
t is not so complete as upon the side marked f. It is not generally required
that both sides should be equally well dressed; but, when such is the case, an

page_text: additional cylinder, with another fire and scraper at the lower part of the
machine, will produce the same effect upon the side t as has been described to
be produced upon the side f. The parts marked O are only two brackets for
the convenience of holding the rollers marked 1 and 4 when filled with cloth
or otherwise.
Now whereas goods of the nature hercin-before described have been
dressed by gas and various other flames, and also by heated iron cylinders and
tubes for many years, therefore I do not claim as new, or as any part of my
said Invention, the fire which is to be applied to my said machine, or the
apparatus by which the said fire is generated. But such a machine as is herein-
before described, independently of the gas apparatus applied thereto, whereby
cloths, or other goods to be dressed by the process of singeing or partial
burning, are exposed in a perpendicular direction to the side of a flame or
other fire in such manner that the surfaces only of such goods can be affected
by the said flame or other fire, and so as to prevent any flame or fire from
passing through the said cloth or other goods to destroy the fibres which are
in and serve to fill up the interstices caused by the crossing of the threads in
the manufacture of the said cloths or other goods, and also whereby both sides
of the said cloths or other goods may be dressing at the same time, is, to the
best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and has never before been
used in these Kingdoms, and I do hereby declare this to be my Specification
of the said machine, and I do verily believe this my said Specification doth in
all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise, comply with the proviso
in my said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; where-
fore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Burn, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid John Burn came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four