AN IMPROVE- MENT IN TREATING RAW SILK FABRICS WHILE BEING DRESSED AND, DYED
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN TREATING RAW SILK FABRICS WHILE BEING DRESSED AND, DYED."-A
communication from Messieurs C. Jandin and A. Duval, of Lyons, in
the Empire of France.
Sealed the 12th January 1855, and dated the 21st July 1854..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st July 1854.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN TREATING RAW SILK FABRICS WHILE BEING DRESSED
AND DYED," communicated to me by Messieurs C. Jandin and A. Duval, of
Lyons, in the Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in keeping fabrics manufactured from raw or
undressed silk in a state of tension both in length and breadth while being
dressed and dyed.
The machinery employed for the purpose of carrying the Invention into
effect may be of any approved construction at present used for holding fabrics
in a distended state, with or without such modifications as may be necessary
to adapt it to the purposes of the Invention. The Invention is not, however,

page_text: confined to any particular means of keeping the fabrics in a state of tension,
as the nature of such means may be varied to suit the circumstances of any
particular case. The object of the Invention is to enable the dressing and
dyeing operations to be performed with greater uniformity of effect over the
entire surface of the fabrics than is obtained by the methods at present in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing-date-the Twenty-first-day-of-July, in-the-year-of-our-Lord-
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter 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 Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN TREATING RAW SILK FABRICS
WHILE BEING DRESSED AND DYED," communicated to me by Messieurs C. Jandin
and A. Duval, of Lyons, in the Empire of France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and scal, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed (that is to say):-
In making use of the term dressing, I apply it to the dressing of fabrics
manufactured in raw silk, by discharging the gum therefrom previous to
dying.
The Invention consists in stretching fabrics manufactured from raw or
undressed silk, or holding them in a state of tension both lengthwise and
breadthwise while they are being dressed, by having the gum extracted there-
from, and while they are being dyed.
By this Invention, fractures of the silk, which occur in other methods for
effecting the same object, are avoided, and a fabric is produced having the
same appearance and effect as if it had been manufactured of silk dyed before
being woven, instead of that of a fabric dyed in the piece. Not only is there
considerable economy, but fabrics manufactured in raw silk may in eight or ten
days be dressed, by having the gummy matter boiled out of them, and may be
dyed of any desired color, to suit the taste of the manufacturer or purchaser.
The Invention applied to inferior raw silk goods, such as handkerchief pieces,
produces a stronger and superior article and of brighter colors.
The raw silk fabric is kept in a state of tension in the direction of both
length and breadth by being rolled from one roller on to another, passing over
an intermediate breadth-stretching drum; by arrangements to be presently
explained, is dressed by being immersed in a vessel containing a solution of
soap (maintained at boiling point) for three quarters of an hour, more or less,
whereby the silk is completely boiled and the gummy matters removed there-
from. The fabric is then washed in a suitable vat in order to remove the soap;
it next receives the mordant, and is afterwards dyed. Tension or stretching
both lengthwise and breadthwise is maintained throughout the whole of the
processes.
.
The manner in which the Invention may be performed is represented in the
Drawings annexed.
Figures 1 and 2, Sheet A, and Figure 4, Sheet B, are views of the appa-
ratus employed in the dressing process for removing the gummy matter
from the silk. In Sheet A, Figure 1 is an end view; and Figure 2, a front
elevation; Figure 4, Sheet B, is a plan. A is a vat or vessel, heated by steam;
passing through a coil at the bottom of the vessel or otherwise; B, B, are
rollers, upon which the fabric is rolled and unrolled; C is a stretching drum,
round which the fabric is passed while being unrolled from one and rolled on
to the other of the rollers B, B. This drum C is made to rise and fall up and
down the guides G, G, by pulleys and ropes H, H. E is a toothed pinion

page_text: worked by a handle F; and D is a toothed wheel for communicating rotary
motion to the rollers B, B, through the endless chain J, which gears into the
teeth of the wheel D and pinion E; K, K, are levers for removing the rollers
B, B, from the vat.
Figure 4, Sheet A, is a view, chiefly in section, of the drum employed for
stretching the fabric breadthwise. One half only of this drum is shewn in
detail. B' is the axis of the drum; A', A¹, are segmental bands of brass or
other suitable metal, of which the drum is composed. The outer surface of
these segmental bands or segments is serrated. The serrations or teeth on
all the segments forming one half of the drum incline to the right, and those on
the segments of the other half to the left. Care dises keyed to the shaft B'.
D¹, D', are levers, connected at one end to the segments A', A', while their
other end works in inclined grooved wheels, as hereafter explained, so as to
impart a to and fro movement to the bands A', A¹. There is one lever for
every band or segment. E¹, E¹, are semicylindrical grooved wheels, fixed in
an inclined position upon sockets f¹, f¹. The levers D', D', work into the
grooves of these wheels, and, by following their inclination, produce the to and
fro_motion_of_the_bands_A!, A, in the direction of their length, and in a
reverse direction to each other on each of the drums. F is a bent rod
carrying at each end a socket f'. These sockets f', f¹, become the bearings
of the axis of the drum, and support also the inclined semicylindrical grooved
wheels E', E'. G₁ is a centre pin, by which the rod F¹ is suspended, and
upon which it is free to turn. The inner ends of the segmental serrated bands
are supported upon pins or bolts J', J', which pass through an eye cast on or
otherwise fixed to the inside of the bands. The pins or bolts are supported by
a ring or disc H', keyed to the axis B. The fabric, after being passed four or
five times from one roller to the other over the breadth-stretching drum, will
be found to be dressed.
Care must be taken on winding the fabric from
roller to roller to turn round the breadth-stretching drum, so that the inclina-
tions of the teeth on the segments shall always be presented in the same
position to the fabric. After having had the gum boiled out the fabric is
next to be washed, and for this purpose it is removed to such an apparatus
as that shewn at Sheet B, of which Figure 1 is a front view, Figure 2 an end
view, and Figure 3 a plan. A, A, are supports or bearings on which the
rollers are placed when removed from the dressing apparatus; Bis a stretching
drum, similar to that shewn at Figure 4, Sheet A; C1, C2, the rollers off and
on which the fabric is rolled; D, (Figure 3), crank handle for working the
rollers; F, F, arms of a frame on which the rollers C, C, are mounted;
E', E', hooked rods for retaining the arms in the required positions; G is

page_text: a perforated pipe for sprinkling the fabric. After being washed, the fabric
is next taken to the dyeing vat. Figure 1, Sheet C, is a front view with the
side of the vat removed; Figure 2 a sectional elevation, and Figure 3 a plan,
of the apparatus used for dyeing. A is a stretching drum, made of wood, and
shewn in detail at Figure 4; B, B, are rollers on and off which the fabric is
rolled and unrolled after being passed through the bath and over the stretching
drum; C is a cylindrical frame, centred, and turning on bearings D, D. This
frame is intended to hold the fabric while immersed in the dye bath. E, E,
are moveable arms or levers on which the rollers B, B, are mounted, and
by means of which these rollers may be, moved nearer to or farther from the
stretching drum A; F, F, are hooked rods for retaining the arms E in the
required position; G is a wooden vat in which the dye bath is placed; H is a
guide roller.
Figure 4, Sheet C, shews the construction of the breadth-stretching drum.
A are bands of wood of the shape shewn at A, in the plan Figure 3, and
having mortices cut out on the inside, into which bars B', B', take; each bar
B' is connected to a band A', at each end, and is centred upon a pin in the
shaft C. This shaft C' is octagonal, and the bars B₁ pass through mortices
in the shaft, the faces of which are all inclined. D', D', are discs or wheels
centred on a pin in the spindle E'; their inclination is adjusted so as to afford
more or less play to the bands A', A¹, by means of the screws e², e². E¹ is the
spindle; F, F, are tightening screws for holding the spindles E¹ in their
bearings; G', G', aro pins, screwed in the spindles E', which support the
stretching drum, and become the axis on which the shaft C' revolves; II, II',
bearings for the spindles E', E'; I' is a cross bar for supporting the bearings
H', H; L' is a frame fixed to the vat on which the stretching drum and its
appendages are mounted; M' is a bolt, by which the frames I' and L' are
held together, and which forms a centre upon which the stretching druin may
be turned. The process is as follows:-
This
Suppose a number of pieces of fabric made of raw silk have to be treated:
they are first divided in lots of six or eight pieces, according to their length;
each lot of pieces should not be more than (say) 200 yards in length.
lot or piece of 200 yards is rolled round a portable roller, which is afterwards
placed on the vat A, Figure 1, Sheet A, and from which the fabric is rolled on
to rollers B, B, (Figure 1, Sheet A,) at the bottom of the vat. A solution of
about 44 lbs. of soap in from 150 to 175 gallons of water is next prepared in
a suitable boiler, and a sufficient quantity is poured into the vat A to cover
ovor the rollers B, B, to a depth of about four inches; the steam is then let on
in order to raise the solution to the boiling point, and the fabric is turned

page_text: about by rolling it from one roller over the drum C to the other roller four or
five times. Every time that the piece or fabric has been completely rolled
off one roller over the breadth-stretching drum, and on to the other, the
breadth-stretching drum must be hoisted up and turned round, in order that
the right and left hand diverging edges may always be presented in the same
position to the fabric; the drum is then let down again to its previous position
between the rollers B, B. When this has been repeated four or five times
the boiling process will be effected and the fabric dressed. The piece is then
removed from the bath, which is done by the rollers B, B, being lifted, by
means of the levers K, K, connected to the ends thereof, and transferred
to the portable roller previously mentioned, firstly, in order to remove the
fabric from the soap-suds, and secondly, to allow it to drain. The portable
roller is now placed on the bearings A, A, Figure 2, Sheet B, and the
piece rolled off it over the stretching drum B, and thence to the roller C.
When the whole of the piece has been rolled on to the roller C, tho
portable roller is removed, the crank handle D is unscrewed, the hook E',
which holds up the arm F¹, is unfastened, so as to allow the roller C to
descend; the drum B is turned, in order to present the proper side of the
fabric. The other of the arms F is fastened or hooked up, so as to cause
the other roller G' (which had been out of the water) to go into it, and the
first roller to be lifted out. The handle D is now replaced and turned. This
first part of the operation is performed in water heated to about 125°,
containing about a pound of carbonate of soda. When the fabric has been
twice passed through this bath, a valve is opened and the water drawn off from
the vat, which is again filled with cold water, which flows through perforated
pipes G. so as to fall on the fabric on the stretching drum and on the roller
on to which it is being rolled, while the roller off which it is being wound is
kept immersed in the water.
The fabric having been so treated four or five times, will be free from soap
and ready for being dyed. It is rolled on to the portable roller before referred
to, and transferred to the mordant and dyeing baths, shewn in Sheet C, and
there passed through the mordant bath and the dye bath, being all the time
kept in a state of tension as before. The only difference between the con-
struction of the dyeing apparatus consists in the frame C, intended for
holding the fabric while immersed in the bath, and in the rollers which move
separately, but the fabric is handled in the same manner.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the forms of breadth-stretching drums, nor to the means of stretching length-

page_text: wise, as the stretching effects may be produced by means of stretching appa-
ratus differently constructed; but what I claim is, the stretching of fabrics
manufactured from raw or undressed silk, or the holding of them in a
state of tension both lengthwise and breadthwise while they are being dressed,
by having the gum extracted therefrom, and while they are being dyed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)