Im- PROVED MACHINERY OR APPARratus for SingEING WOVEN FABRICS.”
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Hyacinthe Blanche, of Boulevard Saint
Denis, No. 1, at Paris, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVED MACHINERY OR APPARratus for SingEING WOVEN FABRICS.”
PROVED MACHINERY OR APParatus for SiINGEING WOVEN FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Hyacinthe
Blanche at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 18th November 1875.
I, AUGUSTE HYACINTHE BLANCHE, of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1,
at Paris, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SINGEING WOVEN FABRICS,"
to be as follows:-
66
4
The object of singeing woven fabrics is to remove the loose fibres.
which remain on their surfaces after being woven. This operation was
formerly performed by rapidly passing the fabric upon a metal plate
heated to redness; and in another arrangement the singeing was effected
by means of the flames of gas or liquid hydrocarbon, the fabric passing
.

page_text: above a row of burners in contact with the flame at or about the middle,
but in this case the combustion is found to be imperfect and the singeing
incomplete, and in addition there is the grave defect of deposits of black
carbonaceous matter from the smoke.
Another process, obtaining better results, is performed by passing the i
fabric tangentially to the two faces of the flame, so that the burners
could be twice utilized, but at the same time there is a great loss of heat,
and in this tangential position the loose fibres are only burned super-
ficially, the effects of the weaving are not sufficiently removed, and in
the trade it is said that the grain is not sufficiently smooth or uncovered.
The machine arranged and constructed according to my Invention
avoids all these difficulties, its principle consists essentially in intro-
ducing a jet of compressed air into the flame to be used for singeing the
fabric, and employing one or more rows of singeing flame pipes and
burners, the effects of which are as follows:-
First. The heat is entirely utilized, the flame fully acting on the fabric
as in some of the old methods.
Secondly. The flame, mixed with compressed air, which considerably
augments the intensity of the heat, burns without smoke, and searches
into or finds its way into all the crevices of the surface of the fabric to
remove the loose fibres.
In this arrangement and combination of the machine, which is
extremely simple, the piece of stuff or fabric after having passed over
guide rollers and between stretcher bars, arrives at a hollow copper
cylinder, where it is acted upon by the jet of flame, and then it con-
tinues its course by the action of drawing rollers to a revolving brush
used for taking off the singed loose fibres, from whence it passes to a
mechanical folder at the back of the machine.
The singeing apparatus consists of a row of large thin copper tubes
open at the bottom and squeezed in at the top, like the reed or mouth-
piece of a clarionet; and below the tubes there is a row of taps and small
pipes for admitting the gas into the large tubes, in which it mixes with
the ordinary atmospheric air; and below the gas taps there is another
row of taps communicating with pipes for admitting air compressed by a
bellows, force pump, or other well-known means into the large copper
tubes, so that at the moment of combustion jets of compressed air shall

page_text: be forced forwards, and thereby give a flame of great intensity and pene-
trating force, and in this condition the flame is very short and almost
invisible.
The air and gas pass through caoutschouic tubes to the distributing
tubes, and the singeing tubes are carried on a moveable frame or
standard, so that they can be removed from the fabric when the machine
has to be stopped.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Auguste Hyacinthe Blanche in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 18th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
HYACINTHE BLANCHE, of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1, at Paris, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Auguste Hyacinthe Blanche,
Her special licence, that I, the said Auguste Hyacinthe Blanche, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Auguste Hyacinthe Blanche, my executors, administrators, 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 law-
fully 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SINGEING WOVEN
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Auguste
Hyacinthe Blanche, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Auguste Hyacinthe Blanche, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The object of singeing woven fabrics is to remove the loose fibres
which remain on their surfaces after being woven. This operation was
formerly performed by rapidly passing the fabric upon a metal plate
heated to redness; and in another arrangement the singeing was effected
by means of the flames of gas or liquid hydrocarbon, the fabric passing
above a row of burners in contact with the flame at or about the middle,
but in this case the combustion is found to be imperfect and the singeing
incomplete, and in addition there is the grave defect of deposits of black
carbonaceous matter from the smoke.
Another process, obtaining better results, is performed by passing
the fabric tangentially to the two faces of the flame, so that the burners
could be twice utilized, but at the same time there is a great loss of
heat, and in this tangential position the loose fibres are only burned
superficially, the effects of the weaving are not sufficiently smoothe or
uncovered..
The machine arranged and constructed according to my Invention
avoids all these difficulties, its principle consisting essentially in intro-
ducing a jet of compressed air into the flame to be used for singeing the
fabric, and employing one or more rows of singeing flames, pipes, and
burners, the effects of which are as follows:-
First. The heat is entirely utilized, the flame fully acting on the fabric
as in some of the old methods.
Secondly. The flame, mixed with compressed air, which considerably
augments the intensity of the heat, burns without smoke, and searches
or finds its way into all the crevices of the surface of the fabric to
remove the loose fibres.
In this arrangement and combination of the machine, which is
extremely simple, the piece of stuff or fabric after having passed over
guide rollers and between stretcher bars, arrives at a hollow copper
cylinder, where it is acted upon by the jet of flame, and then it con-

page_text: tinues its course by the action of drawing rollers to a revolving brush
used for taking off the singed loose fibres, from whence it passes to a
mechanical folder at the back of the machine.
The singeing apparatus consists of a row of large thin copper tubes
open at the bottom and squeezed in at the top, like the reed or mouth-
piece of a clarionet; and below the tubes there is a row of taps and small
pipes for admitting the gas into the large tubes, in which it mixes with
the ordinary atmospheric air; and below the gas taps there is another
row of taps communicating with pipes for admitting air compressed by a
bellows, force pump, or other well-known means into the large copper
tubes, so that at the moment of combustion jets of compressed air shall
be forced forwards, and thereby give a flame of great intensity and pene-
trating force, and in this condition the flame is very short and almost
invisible.
The air and gas pass through caoutchouc tubes to the distributing
tubes, and the singeing tubes are carried on a movable frame or
standard, so that they can be removed from the fabric when the machine
has to be stopped.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal
elevation of a machine provided with my new singeing apparatus;
Fig. 2, a plan; Fig. 3, an end view; and Fig. 4 shows in detail and
vertical section one of the singeing burners.
.
The arrangement of the machine as represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 is
extremely simple. The fabric to be treated (here represented by the red
lines) after passing in the direction of the arrows over guide rollers O
and through a grooved stretcher bar P is passed over one or more hollow
copper cylinders M, when it is acted upon by the flame or jets, and con-
tinuing its course by the drawing rollers N, N', it is subjected to one or
more brushes R for the purpose of removing the singed fibres, and it is
deposited by a mechanical folder in a finished state at the end of the
machine.
The singeing apparatus, shown in Fig. 3, is composed of one or more
rows of large thin copper tubes A, open at the rear end and flattened or
squeezed in" at the top, somewhat resembling the mouth-piece of a
clarionet. The elongated tap nozzle B directs the gas supplied by the
pipe D into the burner tubes A, where said gas becomes first mixed with
1

page_text: air. The long air tubes C are fed with air from a cylinder or blower Y,
and forces and directs to the gas at the moment of ignition a jet of
compressed air, which gives to the flame great intensity and pene-
trating power.
In this condition the flame is very short and almost
invisible.
.
The air and gas are conducted by india-rubber pipes into their
respective distributing tubes E, D; and the brackets F, which carry the
singeing tubes, are movable on their axes G, so that the action of the
flame on the fabric can be instantaneously checked in case the "travel"
is arrested. The air is supplied directly by a blower or force pump
into an accumulator, which is in communication with the distributing
tube E.
The particular character of this machine consists in the introduction
of a jet of compressed air into the flame of each gas jet in such manner
as to produce singeing flames of great power, and by these means I not
only utilize all the heat developed, but the gas jets are absolutely
without smoke, and do not give off any sooty or carbonaceous particles
on the fabric; moreover, the singeing is perfect.
As before stated, I use one, two, four, or more rows of burners, so as
to singe either or both sides of the fabric.
And I will now describe various modifications which are specially
applicable to this apparatus, but which could also advantageously be
applied to all kinds of existing singeing machines.
Fig. 5 is a side view or diagram of a part of the apparatus, showing
two rows of burners a, one above the other, to singe the fabric b on one
side only; in this case the fabric 6 will pass over the guide rollers c, and
the same side will be presented to the metal cylinders d, in relation to
which are placed the two sets of inclined gas burners a, which are con-
nected by crank rods f, so that the motion of the one is imparted to the
other either in starting or stopping.
In the arrangement shown in Figs. 6 and 7 both sides of the fabric
are to be singed by means of two rows of burners a, one above the other,
the different arrangement of the guide rollers c being sufficient to
present the fabric alternately, the one side to the lower cylinder d and
burners, and the reverse side to the upper cylinder and burners.

page_text: In Fig. 8 is shown another arrangement for singeing both sides of the
fabric, in which the jets a are shown placed the one in front and the
other at back of the frame of the machine. In this case the two rows
are connected by cranked (S) rods, so that the machine may be worked
by one operator.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the machine is arranged with four rows of jets, so
as to singe the fabric twice on each side.
In Fig. 9 is shown the arrangement of the cranked rods g jointed at
their extremities to the ends of the brackets F, and which serve to effect
the simultaneous operation of the four rows by one operator, said four
rows a being arranged two and two above each other on each side of the
frame of the machine, the rods being rendered rigid by the pivoted
knee piece i.
To render the singeing as effectual as possible I pass the fabric before
coming to the jets over a drying cylinder j, Fig. 1, heated by gas, the
pipes for conducting the air and gas being shown in blue lines in Figs. 1
and 2. The advantage of this arrangement is that the fabric is perfectly
dried before it reaches the flames, and the heat given by the flame from
the burners is thoroughly utilized.
A clutch arranged at the side of the machine is actuated by hand or
treddle, and consists of a plate k provided with a fixed pulley 7, and
which advances or retires the friction clutch or stud m, which gears
directly with the going part of the machine. The clutch m may be
adjusted nearer to or farther from the centre of the plate k, so as to vary
the speed imparted to the drawing rollers. This arrangement obviates
the use of a cone pulley, and may be used in combination with steam or
other power.
For the production of the jet of compressed air for feeding the gas
burners I employ by preference an air pump n, worked directly by the
machine, this arrangement constituting a great feature in my method,
as the effect of the ordinary fan or bellows is insufficient to produce a
singeing flame absolutely without smoke and of high power.
The air from the force pump may be received and stored in a hori-
zontal or vertical accumulator cylinder o, from whence it is conducted
to the pressure regulator p, which may be of any ordinary kind.

page_text: At g, Fig. 3, is shown a pressure gauge applied to one of the rows of
burners to indicate the pressure of the air.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Inven-
tion, I claim, the improved machinery or apparatus for singeing woven
fabrics, substantially as herein described and shown by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Hyacinthe Blanche, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
A. H.. BLANCHE. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALBERT CAHEN,
Civil Engineer,
of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1,
at Paris.