IM- DRAW A MIN TRATAM An
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Miller, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Manager, for the Invention of "IM-
DRAW A MIN TRATAM An
Ал
TT
AND
Sealed the 8th December 1852, and dated the 2nd October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Miller
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd October 1852.
I, ALEXANDER MILLER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR FINISH OF TEXTILE FABRICS AND
MATERIALS" to be as follows:
This Invention relates more especially to the treatment of fabrics of
the lace and muslin class by what is technically known by manufacturers
as the "gassing machine," in which machine the fabric is passed at a high
velocity through a row of small gas flames in order to singe off the loose
projecting fibres, and leave the threads with a clean finished appearance.
According to the existing arrangement of such machines, the actuating
power is communicated to them by means of a winch handle turned

page_text: by an attendant for the purpose, and the fabric is conducted through
the machine for exposure to the frame by means of a series of tapes or
conducting strings, between two horizontal rows of which the fabric is
first introduced. In this way the fabric is led or pushed through the
flame by the clipping effect of the endless traversing strings. Now, the
object of this branch of the present Invention is to dispense with the
attendant at the winch handle, and give a steadier and more effective
action to the machine, as well as increased powers of production, by
driving it from any convenient continual mover, as the shaft of 'a steam
engine. By this mode of driving the fabric is more uniformly subjected to
the singeing flame, whilst a greater amount of work is capable of of being
performed within a given time, and at a more economical rate than
heretofore, the quality being also superior. Instead of the guiding or
leading tapes this portion of the machine is kept quite clear, and the
fabric is first passed in by a leading string attached to its end, and is
afterwards drawn through entirely by a pair of rollers at the delivery
end of the machine. The whole of the movements being self-acting,
and driven from the main first motion shaft, the passage of the fabric is
rapidly performed at a uniform rate, and the goods when drawn through
by the delivery pair of rollers fall upon the upper side of a large drum
which revolves in the direction of the passage of the fabric, and assists
the attendant in removing the pieces when finished. In the ordinary
gassing machines the usual arrangement of the rows of gas flames is to
have one row below the passing fabric, and one above, in order to singe
er burn off the res on each side, but in the present arrangement it is
proposed to gain a more effective singeing action by using two rows of
flames on each side. In machines where strings are used for leading
the fabric through the machine the portions of the suction pipes
immediately in contact with the gas flames are necessarily complex,
from the necessity of making provision for the passage of the strings
through the lower or funnel portion of the suction pipes without vitiating
the suction action. Now, as no strings are intended to be used in the
improved machine, this complexity is avoided, and the divisions in the
funnel are totally unnecessary, the suction pipe 1 near the flames being
simply like one single flattened funnel open across from one side of the

page_text: mouth to the other.
The new modification also effects the necessary
clearance of the deposit of dust or loose fibres at the burners, without
the necessity of using what are termed "leading strings," which are
now used at intervals in a chain of pieces in order to present blank
spaces at such intervals that the flame may rush up into the mouths of
the funnels and burn out the deposit. In the improved plan the clear
open funnel mouth permits the flame to act efficiently in clearing out
the deposit without forming the blanks in the chain of pieces for this
especial purpose. It is also proposed to place a slightly convex liollow
steam chest at the taking-in side of the machine, such chest being
heated by the waste steam of the engine, or by other convenient means.
Then, as the fabric enters the machine it is passed over and in contact
with this heated surface, so as to dry and prepare it for being more effec-
tively acted upon by the gas flames through which it subsequently passes
by the heated plates when the latter arrangement is used. By using a
duplex arrangement of gas flames it is obvious that the existing system
of passing the goods twice through the machine is unnecessary, secing
the one transmission through the two flames at once has the same effect.
as two passages through a single flame arrangement.
In singeing
machines, where heated plates or metallic surfaces are used instead of
gas flames, it is also intended to carry out the same duplex plan by
having two sets of heated surfaces, so as to admit of either two plates
being used on one side only, or one on each side, as circumstances may
require. The heated plates are supported on cast iron brackets
standing up from the floor, these brackets having openings through,
them to admit of the passage through of the fabric when singeing both
sides, the goods being passed in through the opening in the standard or
bracket, and then turned back over the first plate in order to singe the
upper side of the piece. It is then turned back beneath a guide roller.
in front of the first plate, and is finally passed forward so reversed over
the second plate. In singcing on one side only of course the fabric is
passed directly over the surface of both plates. These. improvements
are clearly applicable to the treatment of yarns or other materials as
well as to piece goods.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Miller in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 2nd April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ALEXANDER MILLER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Miller, my executors,
administraters, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Miller, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an In-
vention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR FINISH OF TEXTILE
FABRICS AND MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alexander Miller, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Miller, do 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 Drawing
hereunto attached, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
My said Invention relates more especially to. the treatment of
fabrics of the lace and muslin class by what is technically known by
manufacturers as the "gassing machine," in which machine the fabric

page_text: is passed at a high velocity through a row of small gas flames in
order to singe off the loose projecting fibres, and leave the threads with
a clean finished appearance. According to the existing arrangement
of such machines, the actuating power is communicated to them by
means of a winch handle turned by an attendant for the purpose, and
the fabric is conducted through the machine for exposure to the flame
by means of a series. of tapes or conducting strings, between two
horizontal rows of which. the fabric is first introduced. In this way
the. fabric is led or pushed through the flame by the clipping effect
of the endless traversing strings. Now, the object of this branch
of my Invention is to dispense with the attendant at the winch handle,
and give a steadier and more effective action to the machine, as well as
increased powers of production, by driving it from any convenient con-
tinual mover, as the shaft of a steam engine, for example. By this
mode of driving the fabric is more uniformly subjected to the singeing
flaine, whilst a greater amount of work is capable of being performed
within a given time, and at a more economical rate than heretofore, the
quality being also superior. Instead of the guiding or leading tapes
this portion of the machine is kept quite clear, and the fabric is first.
passed in by a leading string attached to its end, and is afterwards
drawn through entirely by a pair of rollers at the delivery end of the
machine. The whole of the movements being self-acting, and driven
from the main first motion shaft, the passage of the fabric is rapidly
performed at a uniform rate, and the goods when drawn through by
the delivery pair of rollers fall upon the' upper side of a large drum
which revolves in the direction of the passage of the fabric, and
assists the attendant in removing the pieces when finished. In the
ordinary gassing machines the usual arrangement of the rows of gas
flames is to have one row below the passing fabric, and one above, in
order to singe or burn off the fibres on each side, but in my improved
arrangement I gain a more effective singeing action by using three
rows of flames on each side. In machines where strings are used for
leading the fabric through the machine the portions of the suction
pipes immediately in contact with the gas flames are necessarily complex,
from the necessity of making provision for the passage of the strings

page_text: through the lower or funnel portion of the suction pipes without viti-
ating the suction action. Now, as no strings are intended to be used in
my improved machine, this complexity is avoided, and the divisions in
the funnel are totally unnecessary, the suction pipe near the flames
being simply like one single flattened funnel open across from one
side of the mouth to the other. My new modification also effects the
necessary clearance of the deposit of dust or loose fibres at the burners,
without the necessity of using what are terined "leading strings,"
which are now used at intervals in a chain-of pieces in-order-to present.
blank spaces at such intervals that the flame may rush up into the
mouths of the funnels and burn out the deposit. In my improved plan
the clear open funnel mouth permits the flame to act efficiently in
clearing out the deposit without forming the blanks in the chain of
pieces for this especial purpose. I also place a hollow steam chest at
the taking-in side of the machine, such chest being heated by the waste
steam of the engine, or by other convenient means. Then as the
fabric enters the machine it is passed over and in contact with this
heated surface so as to dry and prepare it for being more effectually
acted upon by the gas flames through which it subsequently passes, or
by the heated plates when this latter arrangement is used. By using a
duplex arrangement of gas flames it is obvious that the existing system
of passing the goods twice through the machine is unnecessary, seeing
.that one transmission through the two flames at once has the same
effect as two passages through a single flame arrangement.
In singe-
ing machines, where heated plates or metallic surfaces are used instead
gas flames, I carry out the same duplex plan by having two sets of
heated surfaces so as to admit of either plate being used on one side
only, or one on each side, as circumstances may require. The heated
plates are supported on cast iron brackets standing up from the floor,
these brackets having openings through them to admit of the passage
through of the fabric when singeing both sides, the goods being passed
in through the opening in the standard or bracket, and then turned
back over the first plate in order to singe the upper side of the piece.
It is then turned back beneath a guide roller in front of the first plate,
and is finally passed forward so reversed over the second plate. In
of

page_text: singeing on one side only of course the fabric is passed directly over
the surface of both plates. I may also remark that all these improve-
ments are clearly applicable to the treatment of yarns or other
materials as well as to piece goods.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood
I shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheets
of Drawings hereunto attached. Fig. 1, on Sheet 1, of my Drawings
represents a side elevation of one arrangement of my improved
gassing machine; and Fig. 2, is a corresponding front view of the
same. Fig. 1, on Sheet 2, is a front elevation of one arrangement
of my improved hot plate machine; and Fig. 2, is a corresponding
side elevation. Fig. 3, is a detached longitudinal section of one
of the fire-places and heated air flues. Fig. 4, is an enlarged
transverse section of one series of gas flame apparatus, as shewn on
Sheet 1; and Fig. 5, on Sheet 2, is a corresponding side elevation of a
portion of the same. The framing of the machine consists of the side
standards A, connected by suitable cross pieces, and arranged to
carry the several details of the apparatus, which is entirely actuated by
the power shaft B, carried in overhead brackets. On this shaft is a
large pulley C, from which an open band D, passes down to the
smaller pulley E, on a short shaft near the floor, and carrying a fast
and loose pulley F, for driving the exhaust fan G, by means of the
open band H, and pulley I. The same first mover B, carries a
cone pulley J, from which a crossed band K, passes to a corresponding
cone L, on a counter shaft M, running in brackets N, and carrying a
pulley O, whence a crossed band P, descends to the fast and loose
pulleys Q, on the shaft of the traction drum R, at the back of the
machine. By this means the whole of the moving details are worked
from the main shaft B, without any other assistance. The fabric T, to
be singed or finished in this machine is passed in the direction of the
arrows over the steam heated cylindrical chamber U, suspended in
brackets from above, so that in passing over this surface the loose
fibres of the fabric are more easily acted upon by the flame in the
singeing operation. The piece then passes beneath the guide roller V,
and thence proceeds at once, first, beneath the upper series of gas

page_text: burners W..and, afterwards, over the top of the lower series of burners
X. After being thus singed on both surfaces, the piece passes beneath
the steadying roller Y, and then over the roller Z, and between that
roller and the lower one a, and finally passes back beneath this latter
roller, and is discharged over the drum R. The gas for both sets of
burners is brought in by the two vertical pipes b, c, the flow being
regulated by a stop-cock in each, governed by the single intermediate
lever handle d. The gas for the first set of burners acting on the
upper surface of the goods, is conducted by the pipe c. into a short
cross pipe, whence the three parallel pipes e, each of which has its own
regulating cock, take the gas to the three rows of burners through the
three horizontal parallel pipes f; and as each line of gas flames has its
own special regulating cock, and the two sets of three are capable of
having their supply of gas let on and shut off simultaneously, the
attendant has the most perfect command over the singeing operation.
These pipes are supported on end bracket rods screwed to the framing,
and from the lower surfaces of these pipes the burner pipes g, descend
to the horizontal perforated pipes h, which are the actual burners.
These burner tubes are each set directly opposite a long narrow slit or
air passage, as at i, in Fig 4, & 5, on Sheet 2, these passages being
formed by spaces left between the four angular ridge pieces ;, passed
across the open face of the exhaust passage K. This exhaust passage
is a species of flattened funnel, the mouth of which coincides with the
set of burners, and passes across from side to side of the machine, and
tapering downwards to a curved elbow piece 7,. from which a pipe m,
passes up to one side of the exhaust fan G. The second series of burners
is precisely similar, except, as shewn in Figs. 4;. & 5, on Sheet 2, the
action is reversed to singe the lower side of the piece. The rows of
burner pipes 11, here stand up from their horizontal supply pipes beneath,
so as to burn from below, whilst the exhaust action goes on through
the narrow apertures in the bottom of the expanded funnel piece o,
tapering upwards, and finally opening into the opposite side of the
exhaust fan. In this way an equal exhaust is obtained in each direc-
tion up and down, so as to carry off the deposit from both sets of
burners; the 3discharge taking place through the passage p, and the

page_text: amount or strength of exhaust action being adjustable by the throttle
valves each fitted with an external index to shew the amount o
opening. Thus efficient means are provided for the regulation of the
burning or "gassing" action, the amount of draught for such action,
and, by means of the cone pulleys J, L, the rate at which the fabric
passes through the machine. In my hot plate machine, as delineated in
Fig. 1, & 2, on Sheet 2, all the lower and essential parts of the apparatus
are carried on the frame picces A, standing up from tlic floor. The
driving shaft is at B, overhead, this shaft having upon it a cone pulley
C, by means of which the rate may be varied from a counter cone.
This shaft also carries a pulley D, whence an open strap E, descends
to the fast and loose pulleys F, on the spindle of the traction drum G.
The fabric H, passes first over the heated chamber I, and thence over
the guide roller J, and is turned back beneath the lower roller K, and
afterwards over the two adjusting guide rods L, passing in its route
over the convex surface of the heated plate M. It is thus singed on
its upper side, and to treat the other surface similarly it is turned
round the guide roller M, and thus reversed it passes beneath the
bottom guide roller O, and thence over the second plate P, and is
finally delivered in its doubly singed condition over the drum G. If
one side only is to be singed, the piece passes down at once beneath
the guide roller N, and thence over the adjustable rods Q, and over the
two hot plates M, P. The heating details are the same in each case,
the fire doors R, open into the short furnaces S, whence flues T, extend
across the machine beneath the copper heaters M, P, the products of
combustion being conducted into an end flue U. Beneath each furnace
is a funnel receiver V, to catch the ashes and convey them off by the
duct W. The adjustment of the fabric's pressure upon the hot plates
is effected by the lever handle X, capable of being set by suitable pins
at any level. This lever turns on a stud centre Y, and its opposite
end carrying a counterweight Z, is jointed to the lower end of the ver-
tical side rod a. This rod passes up to and is connected with the slotted
ends of a pair of levers b. fast on the shaft c, passing across the machine,
and having a similar pair of levers at the opposite end. The other
ends of these levers are similarly linked to vertical rods d, which pass

page_text: down to arched pieces e, carrying the two sets of parallel guide rods
L, Q, which are made to move in a true vertical line by eyes on the
arched pieces fitting upon the fixed guides f. In this way the attendant
can at once adjust the pressure of the goods upon the heated surfaces by
a simple movement of the handle X, and he has also full command over
the machine's movements through the handle g, set on a centre h, and
passing to the back of the machine, where it carries a strap fork for
governing the strap E. And to effect the required wavy or undulatory
deposit of the singed goods, so as to lay them in loose folds without the
aid of any attendant for the purpose, a pair of vibratory levers are fixed
at the delivery end of the machine. These levers are hung on the
fixed centre, and they are each linked at K, to a crank pin connected
with the shaft of the roller G. The lower ends of the levers are con-
nected by a transverse rod L, so as to form a vibrating frame, and as
the cloth is delivered the crank action at K, causes the constant
traverse of the bar or rod Z, for effecting the intended undulations in
the piece.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have
had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made
therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features of my
Invention but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery for
singeing or finishing piece goods and other fabrics,. as herein-before
described.
Second, the system or mode of actuating singeing machines wherein
all the movements are driven by a single continuous mechanical mover,
as herein-before described.
Third, the system or mode of working singeing machinery wherein
the fabric to be singed is drawn through from behind without the aid
of leading strings.

page_text: Fourth, the application and use in gas singeing machines of two
or more rows of burners or lines of flame on each side of the fabric.
Fifth, the system or mode of connecting the suction or exhaust
funnel mouths to the lines of burners by means of clear open slits or
apertures, as herein-before described.
Sixth, the application and use of a heated surface over which to
pass the fabric prior to its being singed.
Seventh, the application and use in hot plate singeing machines of a
duplex series of heated surfaces, so as to effect the singeing of both
sides of the piece at one operation.
Eighth, the system or mode of singeing the two surfaces of fabrics
by reversing the fabrics in the operation of passing through the
machine.
Ninth, the system or mode of adjusting the contact pressure of the
goods upon the heated plates or surfaces by means of a simultaneous
parallel action, as herein-before described.
Tenth, the application and use in singeing machines of a self-acting
undulating movement for laying the folds of the goods, as herein-before
described.
Eleventh, the system or mode of arranging singeing machines
wherein one or both surfaces of the goods may be singed at the same
time.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Miller, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.