Improvements in Machines for Scouring Cloth.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 29th Apr., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Scouring Cloth.
I, MATTHEW HARVEY KOHLRAUSCH, of Billerica, in the County of Middlesex
and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the United States of America,
Dyer, 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 :-
My invention relates to machines for scouring cloth and comprises a series of
laterally adjacent tanks with submerging rollers, arranged in each tank, and a
carrier-roll and squeeze-rolls, common to all said tanks, and guides, arranged to
conduct the cloth from each tank to the next tank, to pass the cloth successively
through all said tanks without intermediate handling, and consists in the devices
and combinations hereinafter described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine constructed according to my invention ;
Figure 2, a left end elevation of the same;
Figure 3, a vertical section of any one of said tanks at right angles to its rolls
and in the same plane a section of all the rolls and guides ;
Figure 4, a plan of said machine, omitting the driving gearing.
In machines for scouring cloth or washing cloth, more particularly woollen
cloths, to free them from dirt and grease in the wool or received during the process
of manufacturing, it is customary to run the cloth through various waters and
solutions of soaps and alkalies, each water or solution being contained in a separate
tank or receptacle and the cloth requiring to be coiled and uncoiled each time it is
changed from one tank to another, the cloth being laid in a heap or coil in the
bottom of one tank and drawn back and forth through squeeze-rolls a sufficient
number of times and deposited upon the floor or upon a suitable rack or table or in
a suitable receptacle and being then placed in another tank containing a different
solution or water of a different temperature and again passed repeatedly through
squeeze-rolls, there being a pair of squeeze-rolls to each tank, and so on successively
through all the required number of tanks. Or, more commonly, a single tank is
used and after passing the cloth a sufficient number of times through the tauk, the
water or liquid in the tank is emptied and the tank filled with water of a different
temperature or with a different solution and the cloth is again passed through the
same tank, the tank requiring to be emptied and filled as many times as there are
different waters or solutions used, much time being required in the filling and
emptying of the tanks and the introduction of the cloth between the squeeze-rolls.
The cloth during the scouring is gathered laterally into the form of a string.
My improvement saves time, avoids waste of the scouring solutions, saves
labour and also floor-space, in cases where a separate tank is used for each water
or solution.
In the drawing, A represents a long tank, divided by vertical transverse
partitions a into a series of laterally-adjacent smaller tanks a¹, each water-tight
with respect to the adjacent tanks. In each of the tanks a¹ are arranged the
submerging-rollers b', near the bottom of said tank and near the rear and front
of said tank, each of said submerging-rollers being supported at each end by a
stud-plate B, bolted to one of the partitions a or to the ends a² of the large
tank A, as indicated at 2, in Figures 2 and 3, and each stud-plate having a
central lateral projection 63 which enters a corresponding depression 6 in the
adjacent end of the submerging-roller supported thereby, to support the sub-
merging-rollers in a horizontal position and to allow them to be rotated by the
friction of the cloth C. A carrier-roll D may be arranged immediately above

page_text: the front row of submerging-rollers 6¹ and extended over all the small tanks a¹
and may have its bearing in half-round notches or half journal-boxes cut in the
tops of the partitious a and end-pieces a², said carrier-roll having annular grooves d,
to receive said partitions and end-pieces, the bottoms of said grooves forming the
journals of said carrier-rolls.
The horizontal squeeze-rolls E E¹ extend above all the tanks a' and are supported
in stout pedestals or pillow-blocks F F bolted, at ff, to the floor of the apartment
in which the machine stands, the upper squeeze-roll E being supported in sliding-
boxes, the squeezing action of said rolls being, as usual, due to the weight of
said upper squeeze-roll. The squeeze-rolls are preferably grooved at f³ above each
partition a and end-piece a² to prevent liquid from one tank, when pressed out of
the cloth, from running on said rolls and dropping into another tank or on to the
floor.
The shaft e of the lower squeeze-roll has fast thereon a gear el engaged by a
pinion e fast on the hub of a driving-pulley G, the latter being driven from any
convenient motor to impart a rotary motion to the lower squeeze-roll, a loose
pulley G being arranged in the usual manner concentric with the pulley G, to
receive said belt when the machine is not running, said pulleys. G G turning on a
horizontal stud g supported by a bracket gl bolted to the pillow-block at one end
of the machine. The upper squeeze-roll is driven from the lower by means of
gears ff of equal size fast on the shafts of said squeeze-rolls respectively and
engaging each other. The upper squeeze-roll may be raised away from the lower
squeeze-roll by means of chains or wire ropes, attached to the sliding-
boxes and passing over grooved idle-pulleys 2 ³ and on to other grooved
pulleys h, fast on the shaft H, said shaft H being rotated by a hand-wheel
and being supported in suitable journal-boxes 78, bolted to the front of the large
tank A, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
To the shaft H is secured one or more ratchets 10, adapted to be held from
rotation by pawls 2, pivoted on the end-pieces a², to prevent the chains
or ropes from unwinding and to hold the squeeze-rolls out of contact
when desired to introduce work into the machine or to take up slack places in
the cloth which might otherwise allow the cloth to be wound around the squeeze-
rolls.
Between the squeeze-rolls and the carrier-roll is arranged a guide I, consisting of
a suitable rectangular frame i, provided with ears i adapted to be bolted to the
end-pieces a, and consisting also of vertical parallel guide-bars, the spaces
between said bars guiding the cloth in its passage from the carrier-roll to the
squeeze-roll.
The cloth is introduced into the machine through a tension-piece J, similar in
construction to the guide I and having a frame; and vertical parallel bars j',
secured therein, said tension-piece standing at right angles to the guide and on the
opposite side of the squeeze-roll therefrom and the proper tension on the cloth
being secured by running it on opposite sides of alternate tension-bars j. From
the tension-piece the cloth passes over a grooved roll K, journalled above the back
of the tank, down under the submerging rolls over the carrier-roll D, through the
guide I and between the squeeze-rolls, then down under the submerging-rollers,
over the carrier-roll, through the guide and between the squeeze-rolls repeatedly,
the rope of cloth being guided laterally, from the carrier-roll to the squeeze-rolls,
away from the end of the machine at which the cloth enters, so as to pass over
each of the partitions a and to enter in succession all the tanks. As the cloth
leaves the last of the small tanks, it is removed by a stripper or carrier-roll, not
shown, but of usual construction, in the usual manner.
In the drawing, seven of the small tanks a¹ are represented which may be used
as follows: The tank which the cloth first enters, the one at the left in Figure 4,
may contain hot water to take out the sizing from the warp threads; the next tank
may contain an alkali, as soda or potash, to loosen and saponify the oil; the third
tank may contain soap and water; the fourth, another solution of soap; the fifth,

page_text: hot water to remove the greater part of the soap; the sixth, cold water, and the
seventh clear cold water which may be introduced in the form of a sheet or spray
directed upon the cloth, in a well-known manner, or in a continuous stream, the
tank being provided with a suitable overflow or outlet in the usual manner.
I do not intend, however, to limit myself to any specific number of tanks, the
number varying with the kind of goods and their treatment during the process of
manufacture.
The pressure of the upper squeeze-roll upon the lower may be increased and
regulated by levers and weights, in the usual manner, such levers and weights not
being shown because being in common use and well understood.
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 :-
1. The combination of a series of laterally-adjacent tanks, submerging-rollers,
arranged in each tank, a carrier-roll and continuous squeeze-rolls, arranged
longitudinally of said series of tanks and common to all said tanks, and guides,
arranged to deflect the cloth in its passage from said carrier-roll to said feed-roll
laterally and to guide said cloth from each tank to the next, as and for the purpose
specified.
2. The combination of a tank, divided by vertical partitions into a series of
laterally-adjacent tanks, submerging-rollers, supported in each of said last-named
tanks, a carrier-roll and continuous squeeze-rolls arranged longitudinally of said
series of tanks and extending above all said partitions, and a guide, arranged to
conduct cloth from said carrier-roll above said partitions from one side to the
other of each of said partitions, to pass such cloth successively through all said
tanks without intermediate handling, as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 29th day of March A.D. 1893.
MATTHEW HARVEY KOHLRAUSCH,
P.p. R. Haddan,
Herbert Haddan & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, Agent for Applicant.