CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING AND FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
AUGUSTINE GODEFROY, of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of
January, in the twelfth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, tho
said Peter Augustine Godefroy, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her special
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Peter Augustine
Godefroy, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Peter'
Augustine Godefroy, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use.
exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and also in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and in all Her Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING AND FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso requiring that I, the said Peter Augustine
Godefroy, shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said part recited Letters Patent, as, 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
Peter Augustine Godefroy, hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the several figures and letters marked
thercon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in the dressing and finishing woven fabrics
relates to imparting a smooth and permanent face to woven fabrics, and also
to a peculiar method of fixing the colouring matters with which such fabrics
are impregnated. In the ordinary method of dressing and finishing woven
fabrics, the face or finish is produced by means of pressure in a screw or other
press, and the simultaneous application of heat, which method of treatment
not only renders the cloth hard and unpliant, but from the necessity of intro-
ducing paper or other substances to produce the face or finish, discolourations
and other marks are thrown up from extraneons matters contained in the
fubric, and morcover the face or finish so imparted is not of a permanent
character being readily removed by moisture. The ordinary method of fixing
the colouring matters in woven fabrics during the process of dressing is well
understood to consist in immersing or saturating the fabric in a liquid mordant
after the process of dying, any superfluous portion of the mordant being
subsequently removed, which removal tends considerably to deteriorate the
fixing properties of the mordant. Now, according to my improvement, in
dressing and finishing, I introduce a mordant to the fabric in a state of vapour
during that process, which however, I do not propose as the only fixture for the
colouring matter, but in addition to the usual method of fixing colors in woven
fabrics, and I am enabled to do this at a point where the subsequent treat-
ment necessary for woven fabrics will not affect the mordant used, and of
which the entire fixing properties will be retained in the fabric so treated.
Throughout this my Specification, I desire to be understood in using the word
mordant, to mean the matters used for fixing colours, these however, vary
according to each particular colour or different shades of the same colour, as
is well understood by persons practically acquainted with the subject, and of
which, therefore, a single example will suffice.
In Sheet A, I have represented the apparatus or machinery arranged for
the purpose of dressing and finishing woven fabrics according to my Invention,
Fig. 1, shewing a side elevation of this apparatus, and Fig. 2, a plan or bird's-
eye view of the same. A, A, is the general framework for supporting the
several parts in their respective positions, and is so arranged that the fabric to
be operated upon is fed from a roller at one end of the machine, and delivered

page_text: on to a roller or cylinder at the other, B, B, being the feeding or supply roller,
and C, C, the receiving roller or cylinder. On the upper part of the frames
A, A, are mounted a series of metal tubes D, D, D, D, D, securely held in
position by the bearings a, a, a, and bolts b, b. These tubes D, D, D, D, D,
must be smoothly finished on the surface, and when the mordant introduced
according to my Invention contains or consists of an acid, they should either
be made of a metal not acted upon by acids, or provided with a coating of some
sucli metal. Pipes E, E, connect the whole of the tubes D, D, D, D, D, so
that a henting medium, on being introduced by the pipe F, will circulate
through the whole and raise the tubes D, D, D, D, D, to the required tempe-
rature, and for this purpose I employ steam or hot water, which may be readily
obtained by connecting the pipe F with a boiler, in which steam is generated
or hot water retained, and made to circulate under a pressure sufficient to
give the required temperature. The admission of the steam or hot water is
regulated by the stopcock on the pipe F, to maintain the necessary tempe-
rature for the purpose, as is well understood. The last tube D. of the series
has a small pipe c attached to the end, by which the water of condensation is
allowed to run off when steam is employed, and the stopcock on this pipe is
so adjusted as to permit the escape of water only, in order to prevent any
waste of steam. The feeding rollers B, B, of which a number are provided,
are so fitted to the bearings d, d, as to be readily capable of removal; on these
rollers the fabric G, G, to be operated upon is previously wound in order to
facilitate the operation, the roller being first enveloped or wound round by a long
wrapper H, I, to the end of which the cloth is attached. The receiving drum
or hollow cylinder C, C, I form of metal of the requisito strength, having tho
ends so furnished as to be readily chucked or centred between discs or plates
J, K, these are overhung on shafts L, L, the outer ends of which are supported
by separate standards M; M, in a position to maintain the direct line of the
two shafts L, L. The chuck plates I, K, are furnished with a number of
holes e, e, for the reception of a corresponding number of stud pins f, f, fixed
to the ends of the cylinder C, C, these pins and openings being so fitted
together as to sustain the cylinder in a central position with the shafts L, L.
The shafts L, L, are so fitted to their several bearings as to admit of a sliding
motion in the direction of their length, by which motion the chuck plates I, K,
are capable of being moved asunder for the removal or introduction of the
cylinder C, C; a number of these cylinders are provided, as in the case of the
feeding rollers, and all similarly fitted to the chuck plates I, K. On intro-
ducing a cylinder C, C, to the machine, the chuck plates are brought up to
their proper position in which they are held by adjustable collars h, h, fixed by

page_text: binding screws to their respective shafts; motion is imparted to the cylinder by
the chuck plate K, which is furnished with teeth gearing into the pinion N, on
the driving shaft O, through which steam or other power is transmitted; this
shaft being fitted with the ordinary appliances for throwing the same into or
out of gear. P, P, is a copper or other metal tube or channel, for the distri-
bution of steam, the upper surface of which is thickly studded with minute
perforations; this tube is sustained in a horizontal position under the piece of
goods G, G, by supports i, i, moving in vertical slots in the side frames A, A,
being adjusted and fixed with regard to height by binding screws k, k. High
pressure steam is admitted to the channel P, P, by the pipe Q. furnished with
a slide piece l, to admit of the necessary adjustment, the joint being rendered
steam-tight by means of a stuffing box m. The orifice of the pipe Q, into
the channel P should be so arranged as to distribute the steam as equally as
possible therein, in order to obtain a uniform escape over the entire surface of
the channel or distributor P; in furtherance of this object, the perforations
may be increased in size or number at those points where the steam has least
tendency to escape. The lower end of the steam pipe Qis furnished with a
small passage by which any water produced by condensation, or that may have
been carried over from the boiler by the steam, may escape, such escape being
regulated by a stopcock, according to circumstances. R, R, represents
another steam or vapour distributor, which is adjustable with reference to
height by supports n, n, and binding screws o, o, as before described. The
perforations in this distributor R, R, are less numerous and of a more minute
description than in the steam distributor just described; two or three rows of
these perforations are sufficient, but they should be in such proximity and so
disposed as to render the contact of the vapour continuous throughout the
entire width of the fabric, being intended for the introduction of the mordant
thereto. The pipe S connects the distributor R, with a vessel. T, in which the
mordant is to be produced or generated in a state of vapour. This vessel is
separately shown in Sheet B, Fig. 3 representing a vertical section thereof;
Fig. 4, a plan, as seen from the top with the cover removed; and Fig. 5, an
under side plan with the bottom removed; Fig. 6 shewing a plan of the gas
burner. This vessel T consists of a metal casing capable of resisting high
pressure steam which is admitted thereto by the pipe U. This vessel T
is lined or coated with a material unaffected by acids, of which the mordant
used frequently consists. I also employ similar precaution in reference
to the pipes and perforated tube, through which the mordant is applied in
a state of vapour, and also to all surfaces subject to such action, with which
the fabric when so charged may come in contact. If I take, for example,

page_text: a scarlet fabric to be operated upon according to this Invention, the mordant
will consist of say one and a quarter ounces of grain tin dissolved in a
mixture of three quarters of a pound of muriatic acid and one quarter of a
pound of sulphuric acid, the whole being diluted with four and a half gallons
of water. This is charged into the vessel T, so as to fill it to an extent of
not more than one fourth or one fifth of its capacity, at all times taking care
that there shall be sufficient in the vessel T to cover the apertures from
which the steam issues into that vessel. These apertures it will be observed
are on the under side of the tubes 7, 7, and so disposed' as to disperse the
steam equally over the area of the vessel T. By the force with which the
steam enters froin the tube 2, 9, and its downward direction, a constant state
of ebullition is induced in the liquid, causing the heavier particles thereof to
be held in suspension during such emission of steam, and thus maintaining the
due combination of the component parts of which the mordant may consist.
By this introduction of steam to the vessel T, a vapour is evolved from the
liquid mordant possessing the properties of fixing the colour named. This
vapour is collected in what is usually termed, when applied to steam boilers, a
steam separator, in this instance consisting simply of a tube having a number
of perforations in its upper surface, in order to collect the vapour at various
points of the surface, and prevent the transmission of liquid along with the
vapour through the pipe S to the distributor R. The temperature of the
steam for the entire operations may be uniform. I prefer for general purposes
a temperature of from two hundred and thirty to two hundred and fifty
degrees Farenheit; and in order to maintain that temperature in the generator
T, I submit that vessel to the action of heat externally, either by means of
gas jets t, t, as shewn in the Drawing or other suitable heating medium,
ascertaining and regulating the same according to the thermometer. V, V,
is a roller for the purpose of regulating the proximity of the fabric G, G, to
the steam or vapour distributors P and R, and is adjusted by means of binding
screws 1, r, acting on the supports s, s. W, W, is a surface similarly sup-
ported. This surface is adapted for laying and smoothing the face of the
cloth or fabric, and will either consist of plush or other substance suitable for
the purpose.
In some instances this smoothing surface may consist of a
brush, which will be advantageous in removing any extraneous particles that
may adhere to the face of the fabric, or different smoothing surfaces may be
employed simultaneously, the brush or roughest surface being the first to
to take effect on the fabric. The action of this machine is as follows:-The
cloth or other fabric to be operated npon having been wound on the feeding
roller as described, is placed in its bearings d, d. A wrapper X attached by

page_text: one end to the cylinder
C, is passed backwards through the machine in the
direction proper for the fabric to pass, the fabric G, G, being connected with
this wrapper X, and the machine set in motion will be drawn through as repre-
sented, the fabric being previously so wound on the roller B as to pass through
the machine with the face downwards, in order to insure a sufficient degree
of tension in the fabric G, G. I subject the feeding or supply roller B, B, to
frictional contact by means of the levers Y, Y, which are suitably weighted
for the purpose. The roller B, B, is represented as of wood, being furnished
with suitable metal collars to endure the necessary friction. Should the fabric
to be operated upon be intended simply to receive the necessary finish without
the additional fixture for the coloring matters, the steam only will be turned
on through the distributor P, P, the fabric in passing over which will become
damped to a certain and uniform degree throughout; it then passes under
the roller V, and thence to the surface W, W, the face of the fabric being
so placed that the contact will lay and smooth the surface, and also remove
any extraucous particles from the fabric, as before mentioned. It is then
conducted alternately over and under the beated tubes D, D, which further
lays or smooths the surface, and thence on to the cylinder C, C. During this
operation the cloth having a greater tendency to stretch at the selvages then
in the centre, I subject it to the action of a roller Z of varied diameter,
which causes the cloth in its passage from the tubes to the cylinder C, C,
to depart from the direct line, the increased tension produced by the larger
diameter stretching the fabric to a uniform degree of tension. In winding
the fabric on to the cylinder C, C, in addition to the pressure produced by the
tension with which the fabric is passed through the machine. I further
subject it to the pressure of a roller C, C, this roller is supportel in a
swinging frame D', D', oscillating on one of the stretchers connecting the
framework at E', while the long end of the lever F is sufficiently weighted
to give the pressure required. In this manner each fold of the fabric is
separately subjected to pressure while in a damp state, and during which it
retains the face imparted to it by the process. In order that the end of the
piece of goods G, G, which is last wound on to the cylinder C, C, may be
thoroughly bound, I pass the wrapper H, H, from the feeding roller B on to
the cylinder C, C, by which the fabric will be tightly enveloped. Various
descriptions of goods may be thus treated, such as woollen cloths, silks,
and mixtures of those materials requiring a smooth and permanent face.
The pressure roller C', C, I construct of wood, and cover it with a woollen
substance, by which the requisite pressure is obtained without imparting that
degree of hardness to the cloth produced by pressure between hard and

page_text: unyielding surfaces. The cylinder C, C, having been charged with the fabric
is removed from the machine, and placed in a chamber heated to a temperature
of about two hundred and fifty degrees Farenheit. Three cylinders so charged
are represented in Fig. 7, Sheet B. In addition to the external heat applied
to the fabric, I connect the cylinders with the heating tubes of the chamber,
and admit therein a jet of steam. These cylinders it will be seen are placed
in a vertical position on tressles or rests a', a', and connected by branch pipes
6', 6', with the heating pipes d', d, of the chamber, each cylinder being so
furnished as to be readily connected with these pipes. There is also an
aperture in the upper end of the cylinder, in which a small stop cock c¹ is
fitted, by which the cold air contained in the cylinder C is suffered to escape,
when the heating medium is admitted at the bottom, a sufficient escape of
which is also permitted to take place at the stop cock c³, to maintain the
temperature of the interior. The charged cylinders are suffered to remain
in this chamber until the fabric is thoroughly dried, which drying will bind
the fabrics more tightly by reason of the contraction that takes place during
the process. Woven fabrics finished according to this process will be rendered
of a soft and pliant nature, and of an increased substance when compared
with similar fabrics finished in the ordinary manner, and although they may
not be so highly glossed, they will receive a face of a more permanent
character, which will be less affected by aqueous saturation. The fabrics, on
being unwound from the cylinders C, C, may be packed in the ordinary
manner.
In the operation of the second part of my Invention, which is that of
dressing and finishing for the introduction of a mordant in a state of vapour
the action of the machine will be precisely similar to that already described.
During the operation steam is also turned on through the vessel T, as before
described, and the vapour generator therein is turned on through the dis-
tributor R. This vapour passes through the fabrics which have been
thoroughly damped in passing over the steam distributor P, in which state
the affinity of the colouring matter for the mordant contained in the vapour
causes it instantly to combine and fix the color in the fabric, and at the same
time throwing up the color on the surface, and rendering it of a more brilliant
and effective character. The distributor R should be elevated so that tho
fabric may pass in close contact with the apertures therein, in order to prevent
as much as possible the action of the air from the mordant, before it comes
in contact with the fabric in which the color is to be fixed. The vessel T
should be as close as possiblo to the distributor R, in order to shorten the
communication thereto, which should be conducted so as to prevent any water
of condensation lodging in them; and to prevent such condensation they should

page_text: be to enveloped in a non-conductor of heat, and kept warm externally.
The orifices by which the vaporous mordant is injected into the distributor R
should be arranged as in the steam distributor P; and in order to prevent any
unnecessary waste of the vapours, the perforations or orifices in the distributors
uncovered by the fabric under operation (the machine being of sufficient
breadth to admit fabrics of varying widths), should be stopped by a piece of
vulcanized india rubber wound round the distributor or by other temporary
covering.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not intend to
confino myself to the use of the precise form of machinery or apparatus
shewn in the Drawings, as such machinery and apparatus may be varied
according to circumstances; but I claim as an improvement in dressing and
finishing woven fabrics,
First, the fixing the colours of woven fabrics by means of mordants applied
in a state of vapour generated as above described.
Secondly, I claim the subjecting woven fabrics to pressure, by means of
a roller, as such fabrics are being wound on a cylinder in a damp and smooth
state, and afterwards drying the same in such compressed state, as herein.
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Augustine Godefroy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
PETER AUGUSTINE (L.s.) GODEFROY.
Signed, Sealed, and delivered, in the
Signed, scale, and delivered, in the
presence of
CHA" JOHNS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Peter Augustine Godefroy came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, 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.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Peter Augustine Godefroy came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, 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.
Enrolled the Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-nine.