IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, AND CLEANSING FABRICS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theodore Griffen, of No. 62, Guildford Street,
Russell Square,. in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, AND CLEANSING FABRICS."
Sealed the 17th November 1868, and dated the 19th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theodore Griffen at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th May 1868.
I, THEODORE GRIFFEN, of No. 62, Guildford Street, Russell Square,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING AND CLEANSING FABRIOS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention, which has for its object improved apparatus. for
bleaching and cleansing fabrics, relates to improved. apparatus for the
purpose of bleaching, cleansing from dirt, whitening, and purifying
linen, cotton, woollen, silk, and other fabrics or materials of a fibrous
ñature, and is peculiarly applicable for washing or cleansing. clothes for
domestic purposes.

page_text: 'According to my Invention I make use of a pan, boiler, or vessel,
which may be made of tin, cast iron, copper, or other suitable material,
or in some cases I employ ordinary clothes coppers, preferring however
that the vessel made use of should have its bottom måde concave or
equivalently shaped so as to form a groove or channel around the
lower part of the interior of the vessel, and at the same time to afford
means for retaining the products of combustion from the fire herein-
after mentioned longer in contact with the heating surface of the pan,
boiler, or vessel. Within the pan, boiler, or vessel at a short distance
from its bottom is a perforated plate or loose bottom, which may be
provided with packing to prevent the passage of liquid between its
periphery and the sides of the pan, boiler, or vessel. Each of the
perforations or holes in the false bottom is provided with a short conical
tube or deflector pointing downwards. The apparatus is provided withi
tubes. or passages communicating with the interior of the pan, boiler,
or vessel below the false bottom, and terminating in the form of roses or
other equivalent outlets within the upper portion of the vessel. These
tubes or passages are preferably of larger diameter at their lower ends
or orifices than at their upper portions. These tubes or passages,
which are by preference provided with taps or cocks, may in some
cases be so bent as to form handles whereby the vessel may be lifted
and carried.
I
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The pan, boiler, or vessel
is first supplied up to a short distance above the false bottom with
water and chemical bleaching materials, or water and soap, or water.
alone as the fabrics to be operated upon require, after which fabrics or
clothes requiring to be bleached, cleansed, or washed are placed above
the false bottom until they reach up to a point a little below the roses
or nozzles herein-before mentioned. The boiler, pan, or vessel is then
subjected to the action of an ordinary fire, or is otherwise heated until
the liquid therein contained reaches the boiling point, whereupon
owing to the agitation consequent upon its boiling such liquid is forced
up the tubes and out of the roses or nozzles with great force on to the
fabrics or clothes, through which it percolates by its own specific gravity;
and falling down into the lower part of the boiler, pan, or vessel it
becomes re-heated and again passes on as before, thus keeping up a
continuous circulation or nearly so. After operating in this mode for
some time if it is thought necessary the taps or cocks in the pipes,

page_text: tubes, or passages may be closed and the circulation through them
stopped, the result of which will be that the liquid in the bottom of the
boiler, pan, or vessel will be forced upwards through the conical tubes
or deflectors in the false bottom, and thus the action of the liquid in
the vessel can be reversed as desired until the fabrics or clothes are
sufficiently bleached, cleansed, or washed, when the boiler, pan, or
vessel can be removed from contact with the fire or heat; or in cases
where a fixed boiler, pan, or vessel is used the fabrics can be taken out
and replaced by others to be operated upon in like manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Theodore Griffen in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEODORE
GRIFFEN, of No. 62, Guildford Street, Russell Square, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give.
and grant unto me, the said Theodore Griffen, Her special licence that
I, the said Theodore Griffen, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Theodore Griffen, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
BLEACHING AND CLEANSING FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others).
that I, the said Theodore Griffen, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands, and
seals, should particularly describe and acertain 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Theodore Griffen, 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 following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings which forms a part of this Specification :-
-
This Invention, which has for its object improved apparatus for
bleaching and cleansing fabrics, relates to improved apparatus for the
purpose of bleaching, cleansing from dirt, whitening, and purifying
linen, cotton, woollen, silk, and other fabrics or materials of a fibrous
nature, and is peculiarly applicable for washing or cleansing clothes
for domestic purposes.
According to my Invention I make use of a pan, boiler, or vessel,
which may be made of tin, cast iron, copper, or other suitable material,
or in some cases I employ ordinary clothes coppers, preferring however
that the vessel made use of should have its bottom made concave
or equivalently shaped so as to form a groove or channel around the
lower part of the interior of the vessel, and at the same time to afford
means for retaining the products of combustion from the fire herein-
after mentioned longer in contact with the heating surface of the
pan, boiler, or vessel. Within the pan, boiler, or vessel at a short
distance from its bottom is a perforated plate or loose bottom, which
may be provided with packing to prevent the passage of liquid between
its periphery and the sides of the pan, boiler, or vessel. Each of
the perforations or holes in the false bottom is provided with a short
conical tube or deflector pointing downwards. The apparatus is provided
with tubes or passages communicating with the interior of the pan,
boiler, or vessel below the false bottom, and terminating in the form
of roses or other equivalent outlets within the upper portion of the
vessel. These tubes or passages, which are by preference provided
with taps or cocks, may in some cases be so bent as to form handles
whereby the vessel may be lifted and carried.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention I will now proceed
to fully describe the manner of carrying the same into effect, premising
that the same letters of reference are used to denote corresponding parts
in all the views.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of an apparatus constructed according
to my Invention; and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the same through
the line A, B, of the preceding Figure.

page_text: a is a pan, boiler, or vessel, made of tin, cast iron, copper, or other
suitable material, and having its bottom a' made concave, as shewn,
so as to form a groove or channel a³ around the lower part of the
interior of the vessel. This arrangement affords means for retaining
the heat beneath the bottom of the vessel and concentrating the water
around its inner circumference, thus securing economy of fuel with
an uninterrupted circulation of highly heated water or liquid through
the tubes c, herein-after mentioned. b is a plate or loose bottom
which may be provided with packing to prevent the passage of liquid
between its periphery and the sides of the vessel a; it is formed with
perforations, each provided with a short conical tube or deflector 6¹
for guiding the descending water to the bottom of the vessel without
interruption from the steam generated below the false bottom b; c are
tubes or passages fixed to the false bottom b; they communicate with
the vessel a below the false bottom, and are provided at their upper
extremities with roses c¹ for more perfectly and evenly distributing the
water or liquid over the clothes or fabrics under treatment; d is a
guard plate or rim to prevent the agitated water or liquid from splashing
over the sides; and e is the cover of the vessel.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of another modification of the apparatus;
and Fig. 4 a sectional plan of the game through the line C, D.
In thise case the tubes c are fixed to the vessel a and arranged so
as to form handles whereby it may be carried; they are provided
with taps or cocks c³. The false bottom b is of peculiar form so as
to clear the upper ends of the tubes c when being lifted out of the
vessel a; when in position the false bottom rests upon plates c* fixed
near the lower ends of the tubes c, as shewn. The action of the
apparatus is as follows:-The pan, boiler, or vessel a is first supplied
up to a short distance above the false bottom 6 with water and
chemical bleaching materials, or water and soap, or water alone as the
fabrics to be operated upon require, after which fabrics or clothes
requiring to be bleached, cleansed, or washed are placed above the
false bottom until they reach up to a point a little below the roses c'.
The boiler, pan, or vessel a is then placed upon an ordinary fire or is
otherwise heated until the liquid therein contained reaches the boiling
point, whereupon owing to the agitation consequent upon its boiling
such liquid is forced up the tubes c and out of the roses c with great
force on to the fabrics or clothes, over which it is uniformly distributed

page_text: by the roses and through which it percolates by its own specific gravity,
and falling down into the lower part of the boiler, pan, or vessel it
becomes re-heated and again passes on as before, thus keeping up a
continuous circulation or nearly so. After operating in this mode
for some time if it is thought necessary (in the case of apparatus
arranged according to Fig. 3) the taps or cocks c³ in the pipes, tubes,
or passages c may be closed and the circulation through them stopped,
the result of which will be that the liquid in the bottom of the boiler,
pan, or vessel will be forced upwards through the conical tubes or
deflectors 6' in the false bottom b, and thus the action of the liquid in
the vessel can be reversed as desired until the fabrics or clothes are
sufficiently bleached, cleansed, or washed, when the boiler, pan, or
vessel can be removed from contact with the fire or heat; or in cases
where a fixed boiler, pan, or vessel is used the fabrics can be taken
out and replaced by others to be operated upon in like manner.
I know it is not new to employ a perforated false bottom having tubes
in a vessel for bleaching and cleansing fabrics; but what I believe. to
be new in combination with such apparatus is,-
Firstly. The concave bottom a¹ for retaining heat at the lower part-
of the vessel and concentrating the water in the best position for
promoting its circulation through the tubes c.
Secondly. The short conical tubes or deflectors 6' for guiding the
descending water or liquid to the bottom of the vessel without inter-
ruption from the steam generated below the false bottom b.
Thirdly. The use or employment of the roses or equivalent outlets c¹
for more perfectly and evenly distributing the liquid over the clothes
or fabrics under treatment.
Fourthly. Arranging the tubes or passages c so as to form handles
whereby the vessel a may be carried.
And, fifthly. Providing the said tubes or passages with taps or cocks c
so that the circulation through them may be stopped or regulated,
thus enabling the downward action in the apparatus to be reversed
and causing the water or liquid and steam to be forced upward
through the conical tubes or deflectors 6¹.
Finally. I would have it understood that I do not lay claim to
any of the parts separately, nor do I limit myself to the precise forms

page_text: delineated in the accompanying Drawings, but I claim the combination
of parts forming apparatus constructed, arranged, and operating as
described for bleaching and cleaning fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theodore Griffen, have hereunto
set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.