Improvements in and relating to the Printing of Cotton Fabrics.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Oct., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 29th May, 1895-Accepted, 29th June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Printing of Cotton Fabrics.
We, WILLIAM EDWARD KAY, of Thornliebank, near Glasgow, Chemist, and
THE THORNLIEBANK COMPANY LIMITED, of 4, West Regent Street, Glasgow,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to the printing of cotton fabrics which have portions of
their surfaces shrunk or what is known as mercerised, and have for object an
improved method of producing such fabrics.
The process of mercerising, as is well known, is the treatment of fabrics with a
strong caustic alkali, which causes the portions so treated to shrink; so that
the parts not so treated crinkle or "full" from their inability to shrink in similar
manuer.
By this means, patterns such as fitting stripes may be produced upon cotton
fabrics with crinkled portions in one or more colours, and with plain or flat
portions in other colours, this result being obtained by printing with certain
colours in the ordinary way, and with a further colour or colours mixed with
caustic alkali, the effect of this latter printing being to complete the pattern, and
at the same time mercerise the parts thus printed.
Care has to be taken, however, to register the different prints so as to avoid the
superimposing of one upon another, and the colours available for this process are
limited, as the presence of strong caustic alkali precludes any prolonged steaming
of the resultant print.
"
To effect our improvements, we employ, for the printing of those portions of the
pattern which are to be crinkled or fulled," a resist thickening, prepared, by
preference, from a highly calcined gum or gum gedda.
To this preparation no addition is requisite when the crinkled parts are to be
left white or plain, but if such parts are required to be coloured, we add to the
resist a substantive colour, or a mordant fixing colour with its appropriate
mordant.
This colour may then be steamed.
The fabric is next entirely subjected to treatment at a padding mangle, or other
like apparatus, with caustic soda, or a mixture of caustic soda and a substantive
colour, according as the shrunk parts of the pattern are to be white or coloured.
For this purpose a convenient strength of caustic soda is 70° Twaddel, but other
degrees of strength may be employed.
In all cases we mix colour either with the gum resist or caustic solution, and, it
may be, with both.
The parts of the fabric printed with the resist, or resist and colour, remain
unaffected by the action of the caustic soda, and are also capable of resisting the
colour mixed with the alkali; the consequence being that such resisted portions
retain their whiteness, or the colour of their print, and are at the same time
crinkled or fulled by the mercerising action of the caustic upon the supplementary
parts of the fabric.
Thus, the necessity of exactly registering the background print against the
pattern, as in the direct printing method, is avoided, and the negative pattern or

page_text: background roller is dispensed with, as the padding mangle may, where a resist
pattern is employed, bring the caustic, or caustic and colour, in contact with the
entire surface of the fabric, and yet leave such pattern unaffected.
The fabric, after passing through the padding mangle, is caused to lie untouched
for a short time, to allow the caustic to complete its action, after which it is washed
and finished in manner as is well understood.
By the means described, strong caustic alkali' is not contained in any of the
colours used at the printing machine; consequently the back greys suffer no
damage, and the difficulties and inconvenience which attend the printing of strongly
caustic colours are avoided,; and in consequence of such absence of strong caustic
alkali, colours which require steaming for their fixation may be used.
Furthermore, fine or delicate coloured lines or patterns in the crinkled parts in
juxtaposition with non-crinkled grounds of contrasting or other colour can be
produced by this method such as it would be difficult to execute satisfactorily by
the process of direct printing.
Variations in detail, such as in the number and nature of the colours, the strength
of the caustic soda, and in the mode of printing the resist pattern, or of the
mechanisms for applying the mercerising mixture may be made without departing
from the peculiar character of the invention.
Dated this 11th day of October 1894.
WILLIAM GADD, C.E.,
64 Barton Arcade, Manchester, Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Printing of Cotton Fabrics.
We, WILLIAM EDWARD KAY, of Thornliebank near Glasgow, Chemist, and
THE THORNLIEBANK COMPANY LIMITED, of 4 West Regent Street Glasgow,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
The improvements relate to the printing of cotton fabrics which have portions of
their surfaces shrunk, or what is known as mercerised, and have for object an
improved method of producing such fabrics.
The process of mercerising, as is well known, is the treatment of fabrics with a
strong caustic alkali, which causes the portions so treated to shrink, so that the
parts not so treated crinkle or "full from their inability to shrink.in similar
manner.
We employ the verb to "full" in the sense of to frill or to pucker.
By this means, patterns such as fitting stripes may be produced upon cotton
fabrics with crinkled or fulled portions in one or more colours, and with plain or
flat portions in other colours, this result being obtained by printing with certain
colours in the ordinary way, and with a further colour or colours mixed with
caustic alkali, the effect of this latter printing being to complete the pattern, and,
at the same time, mercerise the parts thus printed. Care has to be taken,
however, to register the different prints so as to avoid the superimposing of one
upon another, and the colours available for this process are limited, as the
presence of strong caustic alkali precludes any prolonged steaming of the resultant
print.
""
To effect our improvements, we employ, for the printing of those portions of the
pattern which are to be crinkled or "fulled a thickening, prepared, by preference,
from a highly calcined gum or gum gedda, which substances act as a resist for the
specific purpose required, though other equivalent resists may be employed for the
purpose.

page_text: To this preparation no addition is requisite when the crinkled or fulled parts are
to be left white or plain, but if such parts are required to be cololired, we add to
the resist before-mentioned a substantive colour, or a mordant fixing colour with its
appropriate mordant.
The fabric thus printed may then be steamed, in manner as will be well
understood, in order to fix the colours, after which such fabric is next entirely
subjected to treatment at a padding mangle, or other like apparatus, with caustic
alkali, or a mixture of caustic alkali and a substantive colour, according as the
shrunk parts of the pattern are to be white or coloured.
For this purpose, a.
convenient strength of caustic soda is 70° Twaddel, but other degrees of strength
may be employed.
As a result of this padding, the caustic, or caustic and colour, is applied to the
entire surface of the fabric, but only affects those portions thereof not treated with
resist, and the desired configurations, stripes, or other forms, in shrunk or
mercerised effect are thus produced.
In all cases, we mix colour either with the gum resist, or caustic solution, and, it
may be, with both, according to the particular effect or design we wish to produce,
and we make no claim to the production of crinkled patterns by means of a resist
and caustic per se, when applied without the use of a color or colours therewith.
The parts of the fabric printed with the resist, or resist and colour, remain
unaffected by the action of the caustic alkali, and are also capable of resisting the
colour mixed with the alkali; the consequence being that such resisted portions
retain their whiteness, or the colour of their print, and are, at the same time,
crinkled or fulled by the mercerising action of the caustic upon the supplementary
parts of the fabric.
Thus, the necessity of exactly registering the background print against the
pattern, as in the direct printing method, is avoided, and the negative pattern or
background roller is dispensed with, as the padding mangle may, where a resist
pattern is employed, bring the caustic, or caustic and colour, in contact with the
entire surface of the fabric, and yet leave such pattern unaffected.
The fabric, after passing through the padding mangle, is caused to lie untouched
for a short time, to allow the caustic to complete its actio., after which it is washed
and finished in manner as is well understood.
By the means described, strong caustic alkali is not contained in any of the
colours used at the printing machine; consequently the back greys suffer no
damage, and the difficulties and inconvenience which attend the printing of strongly
caustic colours are avoided; and, in consequence of such absence of strong
caustic alkali, colours which require steaming for their fixation may be used.
Furthermore, fine or delicate coloured lines or patterns in the crinkled parts, in
juxtaposition with non-crinkled grounds of contrasting or other colour can be
produced by this method such as it would be difficult to execute satisfactorily by
the process of direct printing.
The printing with resist and colour may be accomplished by more than one
operation, and other variations in detail, such as in the number and nature of the
colours, the strength of the caustic soda, or other caustic alkali, and in the
particular mode of printing the resist pattern, or of the mechanisms for applying
the mercerising mixture may be made without departing from the peculiar character
of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
Printed cotton fabrics being in parts thereof of the character known as
mercerised, prepared by first printing thereon a pattern or patterns in gum or
other equivalent resist, or a mixture of such resist and colour, and afterwards
treating such fabric with an all-over application of caustic alkali, or a mixture of
caustic alkali and colour, whereby a coloured pattern is produced, and the portions

page_text: : not resisted, are shrunk as desired, for the purpose and in manner substantially as
herein set forth.
Dated this 27th day of May 1895.
WILLIAM GADD, C.E.,
64 Barton Arcade, Manchester, Agent.