Iм- PROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS' AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH PROCESS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1. Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn,
in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28. St. Enoch Square, in the City
of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS'
AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH PROCESS."--A communication
from abroad by Edouard Turpault, of Paris, Bleacher.
Sealed the 25th April 1862, and dated the 12th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
November 1861.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28. St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow,. Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS OR
MATERIALS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH PROCESS," (a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Edouard Turpault, of Paris, Bleacher), to be as
follows:
This process consists principally in submitting the fabric or material to be
bleached to all the successive operations necessary for bleaching in the same
vessel without displacing the goods or materials, instead of removing them

page_text: from one vessel to another, as ordinarily practised. The apparatus employed
in the process consists principally of four vessels or reservoirs arranged side by
side, and containing the different baths necessary for the bleaching operation,
namely, the alkaline or lye bath, the soap bath, the acid bath, and the chloride
bath, the two former being furnished with steam pipes for heating the contents.
In front of these reservoirs, and upon a lower level, is placed the vessel in
which the goods or materials are placed, and in which the bleaching operation
is carried on; and each of the reservoirs is furnished with a tap, by means of
which its contents may be discharged into the bleaching vessel. The latter is
provided with a perforated false bottom, the space below which communicates
with a force pump, by means of which the baths, after using, may be returned
to their respective reservoirs. The bleaching vessel is also furnished with a
discharge cock. This vessel is open at the top, and is furnished with a circular
perforated wooden cover which may be raised and lowered at will, and above
the same is the pipe from the cold water supply, which is furnished with a stop-
cock having a perforated nozzle or rose for distributing the water. It will be
evident from the above description of the improved apparatus, -that all the
successive operations necessary for bleaching can by these means be carried on
in one vessel without removing the goods therefrom, except at such times as it
is necessary to extend them on the bleaching ground, as ordinarily practised
by bleachers.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow. Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Davies, Her special licence that I, the said George Davies,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BLEACHING COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS. AND IN THE APPA-
RATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH PROCESS," (a communication to me from abroad by
Edouard Turpault, of Paris, Bleacher, upon the condition, amongst others, that
I, the said George Davies, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 George Davies, 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:-
This process consists principally in submitting the fabric or material to be
bleached to all the successive operations necessary for bleaching in the same.
vessel without displacing the goods or materials, instead of removing them
from one vessel to another, as ordinarily practised. The apparatus employed
in the process consists principally of four vessels or reservoirs arranged side by
side and containing the different baths necessary for the bleaching operation,
namely, the alkaline or lye bath, the soap bath, the acid bath, and the chloride
bath, the two former being furnished with steam pipes for heating the contents.
In front of these reservoirs, and upon a lower level, is placed the vessel in
which the goods or materials are placed and in which the bleaching operation
is carried on, and each of the reservoirs is furnished with a tap, by means of
which its contents may be discharged into the bleaching vessel. The latter is
provided with a perforated false bottom, the space below which communicates
with a force pump, by means of which the baths, after using, may be returned
to their respective reservoirs. The bleaching vessel is also furnished with a
discharge cock. This vessel is open at the top and is furnished with a circular
perforated wooden cover, which may be raised and lowered at will, and above
the same is the pipe from the cold water supply, which is furnished with a
stop-cock having a perforated nozzle or rose for distributing the water.
will be evident, from the above description of the improved apparatus, that all
the successive operations necessary for bleaching can by these means be carried
on in one vessel without removing the goods therefrom, except at such times
It

page_text: as it is necessary to extend them on the bleaching ground, as ordinarily
practised by bleachers.
Such being the nature and object. of the said Invention for "Improvements
in Bleaching Cotton and other. Textile Fabrics or Materials, and in the Appa-
ratus employed in such Process," I will now proceed to describe more in
'detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried
into practical effect. And in order that the same may be distinctly understood
I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those
in the following explanation thereof, that is to say :- -
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 represents a complete plan of the walls,
of stone or brickwork, supporting four reservoirs or cisterns intended to
contain the different baths necessary for bleaching fabrics or fibrous material.
The longitudinal section, Figure 2, through the line 1-2 shows the length
and depth of the cisterns. The transverse section, Figure 3, across the line
3-4, shows the breadth of the same and their relative levels.
In these Figures the cistern Z (No. 1) contains the alkaline or lye bath,
heated by steam; Y is the cistern (No. 2) containing the soap bath, also
"heated by steam; X is the cistern (No. 3) containing the acid bath; V is the
cistern (No. 4) containing the chloride bath; and T is the cistern (No. 5)
where the goods are deposited to be bleached. This vessel is provided with a
double bottom. having a space beneath. The pump communicates with the
space below the false bottom t of the vessel T (No. 5) and serves to withdraw
the liquids therefrom and to return them to their respective cisterns. The
cold-water cock R communicates with the supply of water, and its jet is in the
form of a large rose. S is a circular wooden cover perforated with a number
of small holes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS.
The first operation is as follows: All the goods to be bleached are to be
placed in the cistern T (No. 5), care being taken to attach them all to each
other. The cover S is then to be lowered by means of the rack A, to hold the
goods down without pressing them at the moment of immersion. The alkaline
bath Z, being prepared and heated by means of a steam pipe, is allowed to
flow into the cistern T by means of the cock z, seen in Figure 1, and the
goods will remain about twenty-four hours. The Inventor gives to this first
operation (which does not require to be repeated during the process of
bleaching) the name of "maceration." As soon as the above time has expired
the discharge cock B is opened to allow the liquid to pass off, and the cock R,

page_text: is opened to wash the goods by filtration. and is allowed to remain open till
the water passing through the goods comes out clear. As soon as this is
the case the goods are to be taken out and washed and then extended on
the bleaching ground, where they remain exposed about twenty-four hours.
The second operation is as follows:- The goods are to be replaced in the
cistern T (No. 5), the cover S being again lowered to hold them in place, and
the chloride bath contained in the cistern V (No. 4) is admitted by means of
the cock v. This bath remains with the goods during about four hours, after
which it is returned up into its own cistern by means of the pump U.. As
soon as the chloride bath is returned to its cistern, the discharge cock being
open, cold water is again admitted by the cock R and allowed to run through
the goods to extract therefrom a portion of the chloruretted water with which
they are impregnated.
The third operation is as follows:--The discharge cock being closed, the
acid bath contained in the cistern X (No. 3) is admitted by the cock x to the
vessel T, and allowed to remain in contact with the goods for about one hour
only, after which it is returned by means of the pump to its own cistern. At
the same time the discharge cock is opened and cold water is admitted by the
This
cock R to extract the whole of the acid which the goods may contain.
immersion is prolonged until the water flowing off is not acidulated, thirty or
forty minutes being ordinarily sufficient:
The fourth operation is as follows:-The discharge cock being closed, and
the soap bath Y (No. 2) being previously prepared and heated), is admitted by
the cock on to the goods in the vessel T, where it remains about four hours,
after which it is withdrawn by means of the pump U and returned to its
respective cistern (No. 2). After this operation there is no washing, either
by immersion or otherwise.
The fifth operation is as follows:-The alkaline or lye bath, being prepared
as for the first operation, is admitted on to the goods, but instead of stopping
twenty-four hours, as previously, is only allowed to remain twelve hours, after
which time it is returned by means of the pump U to its cistern (No. 1), and
the goods are then washed by immersion, as in the first operation. The goods
are then taken out of the cistern (No. 5) and washed thoroughly, and then
placed on the bleaching ground, where they again remain for twenty-four
hours.
The last four operations only are repeated until the goods are perfectly
white, which is usually the case (with goods of ordinary quality) after about
seven operations.
Independently of the great economy of manual labor thus obtained, goods

page_text: bleached by this process will be found much superior to those bleached by the
ordinary processes.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
Improvements in Bleaching Cotton and other Textile Fabrics or Materials,
and in the Apparatus employed in such Process," together with the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect,
I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as the Invention communicated
to me by the above-named Edouard Turpault, the improved process of and
apparatus for bleaching above described and illustrated in the Drawing
annexed.
In witness whereof, 1, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)