Improvements in the Method of Bleaching Cotton Cloths and other Materials, and in Apparatus Employed therein.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application; 16th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 10th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 14th Apr., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of Bleaching Cotton Cloths and other
Materials, and in Apparatus Employed therein.
I, GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS JOHN SCHOTT of West End Mills, Longside Lane
Bradford in the County of York, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object improvements in the method of bleaching more
particularly calicoes and other cotton cloths, woven or knitted, as also cotton yarns
in cop or hank, but it may also be employed in treating other materials, and the
purpose of such improvements is to obtain as good or even an improved result in
many cases with a considerable saving of time and expence as compared with
present methods. To indicate the advantages of this improved method I will first
shortly enumerate the series of mechanical processes at present commonly employed
in the bleaching of cotton cloths, and then compare with it the said improved
method.
An ordinary present series of processes is as follows:
1.) Soaking for the easier discharge of dirt, size etc.
2.) Washing out.
3.) Boiling (with lime or alkali).
4.) Rinsing out.
5.) Treating with acid (souring).
.6.) Washing out.
7.) Boiling, usually under steam pressure with soda or soap.
8.) Washing out.
9.) Bleaching with chlorine or bleaching powder, commonly called “chemicking."
10.) Rinsing out.
11.). Souring.
12.) Washing out.
13.) Boiling with soda.
14.) Final washing out and passing through washing rollers.
15.) Drying.
:
:
Under this series of processes the cloth has to be packed three times in a boiler
or kier (for the processes 3, 7, & 13) and as often unpacked, whilst the remaining
processes are performed in various apparatus, such as washing machines, chemicking
machine etc. The series is somewhat liable to variations according to the practice
of individual bleachers and the purposes with a view to which the bleaching is
performed, but in all cases the cloth has to be frequently handled and transferred
from one apparatus to another, entailing thereby a very considerable expenditure
of labour & time, besides exposing the cloth to risks of being tendered, torn or
otherwise deteriorated by this frequent manipulation.
The special feature of the improved process forming part of the subject matter
of the present application is, that all the processes before detailed with the exception
of 1.2 and the final washing out and drying, in the case of long cloths, can be
performed in the same apparatus and without the frequent handling before
mentioned. In the case of short, knitted & other cloths, as well as of hanks & cops
yarn even the final washing out is performed in the improved apparatus and the
naterials only removed therefrom for the drying process.
of
The said apparatus consists of a tank, preferably made of sheet copper and square
a form. It must be constructed capable of withstanding a steam pressure of at
least tw atmabound in no
and hottom with a lid canable
Under this series of processes the cloth has to be packed three times in a boiler
or kier (for the processes 3, 7, & 13) and as often unpacked, whilst the remaining
processes are performed in various apparatus, such as washing machines, chemicking
machine etc. The series is somewhat liable to variations according to the practice
of individual bleachers and the purposes with a view to which the bleaching is
performed, but in all cases the cloth has to be frequently handled and transferred
from one apparatus to another, entailing thereby a very considerable expenditure
of labour & time, besides exposing the cloth to risks of being tendered, torn or
otherwise deteriorated by this frequent manipulation.
The special feature of the improved process forming part of the subject matter
of the present application is, that all the processes before detailed with the exception
of 1.2 and the final washing out and drying, in the case of long cloths, can be
performed in the same apparatus and without the frequent handling before
mentioned. In the case of short, knitted & other cloths, as well as of hanks & cops
of yarn even the final washing out is performed in the improved apparatus and the
naterials only removed therefrom for the drying process.
The said apparatus consists of a tank, preferably made of sheet copper and square
n form.
It must be constructed capable of withstanding a steam pressure of at
east two atmospheres, is provided
sieves at top and bottom, with a lid capable
LD 071

page_text: of being screwed on and hermetically closed, and a number of connecting pipes,
cocks & taps to be variously used in the different processes, for admitting liquids
or fluids at the top of the tank, drawing them off and for other necessary operations
involved in the said process. The ordinary modus operandi of bleaching calicoes
by this method and in connection with this apparatus is as follows:-
:-
After the cloths have been 1.) soaked and 2.) washed out in the manner at
present in use in connection with the old process, the cloths are 3.) packed in the
specially constructed apparatus or boiler by being chained or plaited or coiled down
in it, care being taken that the packing is performed evenly and with equal
tightness, so as not to leave channels for the liquor to get through easier in some
places than in others.
They then remain in the apparatus and are not handled again whilst the following
processes are consecutively performed:
.
4.) Boiling under 1 to 2 atmospheres steam pressure in an alkaline (soda) lye.
5.) Washing out.
6.) Bleaching with a solution of chlorine (bleaching powder).
7.) Washing out.
8.) Souring to get rid of the chlorine.
9.) Washing out the acid.
10.) Soaping (washing out any chlorine remaining, with soap & water).
The cloths are then removed from the apparatus and washed out and dried in
the usual manner.
As before mentioned when yarn in cops or hanks, or short knitted cloths are
bleached by this method, the final washing out is also performed in the apparatus,
the material being only removed therefrom previous to drying.
Besides the savings before mentioned in the amount of labour & time gained by
this method, there is also a saving realised in the quality of the labour employed,
there being much less skill required on the part of the labourers, as also in the
amount of water and chemicals used. A further advantage is, that in many
instances the materials are actually rendered stronger by the bleaching process
than they were before it.
Dated this Fifteenth day of August 1893.
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS JOHN SCHOTT.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of Bleaching Cotton Cloths and other
Materials, and in Apparatus Employed therein.
I GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS JOHN SCHOTT of 29 Longside Lane, Bradford, in
the County of York, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion (communicated to me from abroad by Eduard Laube of Basel, in the
Republic of Switzerland,-Dyer and Bleacher, and Hermann Resch of Lorrach,
in the Empire of Germany, Dyer,) and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying drawings :-
This invention relates to improvements in the method of bleaching and treating
textile fabrics and fibrous materials and more particularly to the bleaching and
treatment of calicoes and other cotton cloths whether woven or knitted, as well as
cotton yarns in cop or hank. The invention is however applicable to the treatment
of other textile fabrics and materials whether of vegetable or of animal fibre. The
chief object of the improved method and of the apparatus which has been devised
to carry it into practice, is to effect an economy of time and labour by carrying out
in one continuous operation and in one apparatus a process or processes which has
or have hitherto been effected by a series of separate operations and separate

page_text: handlings of the goods. The results of the present improved method are in no way
less satisfactory than the results of the usual operations and in some cases I obtain
even superior effects, while the goods by being subject to much less handling and
pulling about are less liable to become "tendered" or torn.
In my Provisional Specification I have already set forth the successive operations
which it is necessary to put in practice when bleaching cotton cloths for example
and it will therefore be unnecessary to repeat these here. Suffice it to say that in
an average process of this description and during the successive operations of
soaking, washing, boiling, rinsing, souring, "chemicking," squeezing and drying,
the goods have to be packed and unpacked three times, and subjected to the
different operations in several apparatuses, so that it will be evident that a large
expenditure of skilled labour, and time, not to speak of the risk of deterioration in
the goods, must be met, before the successive operations can be brought to a
successful issue.
Under my improved method I carry out the whole operation (with the occasional
exception of the preliminary soaking and washing out, and of the final washing,
squeezing and drying) in one apparatus, into which the goods are placed, and
through which the liquids which act upon the goods, are successively passed.
After they have been placed in the improved apparatus the goods do not require
to be disturbed, so that all of the handling, packing and repacking and transport
which requires mostly to be performed by skilled labour, is saved, while the usual
multiplicity of kiers, pans and other vessels and apparatuses required under the old
method are dispensed with.
The invention and the mode of carrying the same into effect will be best under-
stood by a detailed description of the improved apparatus which is clearly
illustrated in the accompanying drawing which represents the apparatus in vertical
section. The vessel or kier in which the goods are treated is marked A in the
drawings.
=
It may be of any convenient size and shape either square or round, and of
sufficient strength to resist the internal pressure to which it may. be subjected.
This vessel A, which is preferably made of such metal or material as will not
foul or affect the goods, has a fixed bottom D and a removable cover B which is
shown slightly raised from the vessel but which when in position is held down by
pivotted bolts & so as to make a steam tight joint with the vessel. The cover B is
furnished with a pressure gauge and safety valve as shown and also carries a three-
way cock Z having a branch 21 and connected by the other branch to a pipe .J¹
which communicates with the pipe J', when the apparatus is at work, by means of
the screwed union K. Within the vessel A are two pervious partitions or sieves,
the upper one S resting above the goods and the under one T supporting the goods.
The materials to be treated whether consisting of cloth, yarn, cops or other textile
goods are placed and packed in the vessel A and thus lie between the two sieves S
and T. The goods are packed as closely and evenly as possible so as not to leave
spaces or parts where the liquid or pressure is likely to pass through more easily
than in other parts.
The pipe W brings the water or other liquid with which the goods are to be
treated to the apparatus and a valve F on the pipe allows the liquid to flow through
a short length of hose G into the vessel A. When sufficient liquid has been run
in the hose is withdrawn and the cover B, is screwed down. The pipe L is a
steam pipe which communicates with the pipe m by the valve 7. The pipe m
projects into the branch at the foot of the vessel A. and partly into the pipe J³so
as to form a steam injector as at n. The consequence of this arrangement is that
when the steam is turned on, the water or other liquid is heated and rises or is
forced up the pipe J, J and through the cock Z into the upper part of the
vessel A. Thus the whole of the liquid in the vessel A is heated and circulated
and this circulation and boiling is continued as long as is considered requisite.
Further treatment with other liquids may be effected by the use of a pump Por
other suitable liquid forcing and drawing apparatus. For this purpose I provide

page_text: a cistern M, N, or compartments in any suitable number containing the requisite
liquids for the various stages of the operation. A length of hose may be used to
connect the branch p of the pump with one or other of the cisterns M, N or corre-
sponding vessels or reservoirs. A pipe connecting the branches o of the pump
and Z of the cock Z conducts the liquid which is drawn from the cistern M or N
to the top of the vessel A and the liquid by gravity or the pressure of the pump I'
runs or soaks through the goods and making its exit by the piper returns through
the three-way cock E to the cistern M or N via the branch or e.
The liquid drawn from this cistern M or N or other cisterns or reservoirs can
thus be circulated any number of times through the goods in the vessel A. By
means of this apparatus it will be evident that all of the necessary steps in the
bleaching and treatment of textile goods and fibres, except the final squeezing and
drying can be carried out in one apparatus.
It will be evident that the apparatus I have described may be usefully employed
not only for the specific purpose of bleaching, but also for cognate purposes
connected with the treatment of textile goods and fibrous materials such for
example as dyeing, washing, disinfecting and the like. It will also be evident that
although I have referred to the fluid passed through the apparatus as a liquid,
nevertheless gases to act upon the goods might in a similar manner be forced or
drawn through the apparatus.
.. 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 improved method of and apparatus for bleaching and treating cotton and
other cloths and textile materials and fibres substantially as herein before described
and shown.
2. The improved apparatus for carrying on continuously or practically con-
tinuously the various operations at present successively effected in different
apparatuses in bleaching and treating cotton cloths and other textile and fibrous
materials substantially as described and shown.
3. The improved apparatus for continuously effecting the bleaching and treatment
of cotton cloths and other textile goods and fibrous materials the said apparatus
consisting of a kier or vessel fitted with porous sieves at the top and bottom and
adapted to contain the goods to be treated, and provided with pipes, valves
reservoirs and subsidiary arrangements for heating and circulating different liquids
successively through the mass of goods in the kier all substantially as described
and as illustrated in the drawing or any mere modification of such apparatus.
Dated this 9th day of March 1894.
pumps
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.