Improvements in the Manufacture of Colouring Matters.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Jan., 1890-Accepted, 15th Mar., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Colouring Matters.
JAMES EDWARD BEDFORD 9 Cardigan Road Leeds Manufacturing Chemist do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
My invention relates to the production of colouring matter from lichens called in
the trade "Orchella woed."
In order to produce the colouring matter these lichens are acted upon in various
ways by ammonia and atmospheric air with the application of heat to the apparatus-
These processes are slow in action and require many days or weeks to complete
according to the bulk of the substances acted upon-In order to facilitate the manu-
facture of the colour I propose to apply oxygen gas derived from the atmosphere or
made by any chemical process and in as pure a form as it can be commercially
produced-in place of air as now used.
I find by experiment that the chemical change is brought about very much sooner
when oxygen gas is used in place of air and I account for it by the presence of
nitrogen gas acting as a dilutant of the oxygen.
I therefor propose to exclude air as much as possible from the apparatus and admit
oxygen gas at intervals until the colour is made."
I claim the use of oxygen gas or air to which an addition of oxygen gas has been
made to the developement of colour from Orchella weed.
Dated this 20th day of April 1889.
JAMES EDWARD BEDFORD.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Colouring Matters.
1, JAMES EDWARD BEDFORD, of 9, Cardigan Road, Leeds, in the County of York,
Manufacturing Chemist, 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 full invention of which this present invention forms a part was protected by two
provisional specifications set forth in Nos. 6777 and 6778 of 1889, and, as it is
impossible to describe the process and the best manner of carrying it into effect without
describing the apparatus I use and vice versa, I will describe the two together, using
the same specification for both parts of the invention, and will simply differentiate in
the claims.
This invention relates to the production of colouring matter from the lichens known
in commerce as orchella weed. In order to produce colouring matter, these lichens
are acted upon by ammonia and atmospheric air with the application of heat to the
apparatus. This process is slow in action and requires many days or weeks to complete
according to the bulk of the substance acted upon.
I have discovered that by using oxygen gas in place of air or by adding oxygen
gas to the air used in the process, the production of colouring matter is much
accelerated.
By my invention, therefore, I use oxygen or air with an addition of oxygen in
preference to air only.
In order to enable the air or oxygen to lie in intimate contact with the material or
solution, or, in other words, to enable the material to be exposed to a large surface of
air or oxygen gas, I form the apparatus in the following manner, reference being had

page_text: to the accompanying drawing, showing a vertical section of my apparatus, which is
preferably circular in plan, but can be octagonal or any other convenient shape :-
A, is a tank fitted with a series of horizontal shelves or floors B B, having down-
wardly projecting rims or flanges C, thus forming a series of horizontally placed
inverted trays or dishes. These shelves, trays or dishes are so arranged one over the
other that, when the tank is filled with liquid, and air or oxygen admitted, this air or
gas will collect on the underside surface of the trays or dishes, forming a stratum of
air or gas which is retained below the surface of the liquid. The air or gas may be
admitted below the lowest tray of the tank by pipe H, and in order to allow the gas or
air to pass into the trays above, overflow pipes D are placed in each dish or shelf, the
rims of which overflow pipes are shorter than the rims of the trays, consequently,
the air or gas will pass up these pipes before overflowing at the edges. The overflow
pipes are so arranged that they deliver the excess of air or oxygen into or opposite the
air space of the shelf above, being placed at a considerable distance from those of the
two contiguous shelves so as to prevent the air or oxygen taking a straight course to
the top. The air and gas escaping at the top can pass off into the outer air or be led
into sulphuric acid to collect the waste ammonia.
A shaft F, carrying scrapers G, passes vertically through the trays or dishes, and
to prevent the escape of the air or gas, the apertures through which the shaft passes
are fitted with deep flanges H', reaching below the level of the air or gas contained in
the tray. The object of the scrapers G is two fold, firstly, to prevent deposit of
colouring matter on the upper surface of the shelves: secondly, to facilitate the
process by the motion they produce in the liquid undergoing change.
In working the process, the soluble portions of the orchella weed which go to form
colouring matter are extracted with the addition of ammonia as usual, and the solution
obtained is placed in the tank above described. Oxygen gas or air is now admitted
into the trays and heat applied.
The apparatus is applicable in other cases where colouring matter is developed by
exposing a solution to the prolonged action of gaseous matters, the gas or gases used
in each case taking the place of the air or oxygen above mentioned.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
The use of oxygen gas alone or in addition to air in the manufacture of colouring
matter from orchella weed, substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of January 1890.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.