IMPROVEMENTS IN SIZING AND FINISHING FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wellington Welch, of the City of Manchester,
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIZING AND FINISHING
FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wellington Welch
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1863.
I, JOHN WELLINGTON WELCH, of the City of Manchester, Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIZING AND
FINISHING FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to
be as follows:-
In sizing and finishing fabrics it has heretoforo been customary to apply
the materials for finishing by a stiffening machine and then drying the fabric,
or adding the same material during the process of sizing the warps. Now
my Invention consists in only sizing the warps to the required extent for
facilitating the operation of weaving, or in the ordinary manner, and when the
fabrics are woven they are carried around heated cylinders, from whence they
are taken when hot to the machinery or apparatus by which the stiffening size

page_text: is applied consisting of one or more rollers, partly immersed in a trough con-
taining size. The size which I prefer to employ is similar to that for which
Letters Patent were granted to me on the Twenty-ninth day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, No. 1077, but other size may be
employed. The size is heated by a steam chest placed under or around the
trough; "a doctor" or thin blade of wood or other material is applied to
each roller in the size trough to remove the excess of size, and the fabric in
passing over the roller or rollers is kept tight by stretching bars; the size is
only applied to the under side of the fabric. By thus drying and heating the
fabric before the size is applied the subsequent process of drying is dispensed
with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Wellington Welch in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WELLINGTON WELCH, of the City of Manchester, Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Wellington Welch, Her special license that I, the said John
Wellington Welch, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Wellington Welch, 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 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 SIZING AND FINISHING FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Wellington Welch, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 John Wellington Welch, 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 (that is to say):-
5 In sizing and finishing fabrics it has heretofore been customary to apply
the materials for finishing by a stiffening machine and then drying the fabric,
or adding the said materials during the process of sizing the warps. Now
my Invention consists in only sizing tho warps to the required extent for
facilitating the operation of weaving, or in the ordinary manner, and when the
fabrics are woven conveying them around heated cylinders, from whence they
are taken, when hot, to the machinery or apparatus by which the stiffening
size is applied, the machinery consisting of one or more bowls partly immersed
in a trough containing size. The size which I prefer to employ is similar to
that for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the Twenty-ninth day
of April One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, No. 1077, but other size
may be employed. The size is heated by a steam chest placed under or
around the trough. A "doctor or doctors," or thin blades of metal or other
material, are applied to each bowl in the size trough to remove the excess of
size, and the fabric in passing over the bowl or bowls is kept tight by
stretching bars. The size is only applied to the under side of the fabric. By
thus drying and heating the fabric before the size is applied the subsequent
process of drying is dispensed with.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will proceed to
describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents
in section the machinery or apparatus requisite to carry my improvements
into operation, and Figures 2 and 8 are detached parts of the same.
In Figure 1 the dotted line a represents the fabric to be operated upon,
which fabric has been woven with warp sized in the ordinary manner but only
to the extent required for facilitating the operation of weaving. The fabric
passes over and under the fixed stretching bars b, b, thence under the stretching
bar c, and around the guide roller d, and thence to the first heated cylinder e,
from whence it passes around the others, by which it is thoroughly dried and
heated; the fabric then passes over the guide roller f, under the vibrating
stretching bar g, which is supported in levers h, and over the guide roller i,
from whence it is taken under the guide roller j, forming part of the first
sizing machine, which consists of the trough k containing the size, the bowl /
revolving in the sizo, and the top rollers m, m, which press upon the fabric.
The size which I prefer to employ is similar to that for which Letters Patent

page_text: were granted to me on the Twenty-ninth day of April Ono thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine, No. 1077, but any other suitable size may be employed.
The size is heated by steam admitted to the chest n, forming the bottom of
the trough, or in any other convenient manner. When the bowl is
revolving, the size adhering to its surface is carried upwards towards the
rollers m, and the excess of the size is scraped off by the "doctors," or thin
blades of metal or other material o and p. These doctors are weighted by loose
weights which can be increased or reduced in order to remove more or less of
the size according to the quantity that it may be found requisite to apply to
the fabric, or the pressure of the "doctors" may be regulated by springs or
set screws. The lower doctor o is immersed in the size, and it is perforated
as shown in Figure 3, to prevent the fibres or loose impurities from being
carried upwards with the size by the bowl and the outer end of the "doctor" o,
and the whole of the "doctor"p are covered with flannel or other suitable
material to assist in distributing the size evenly over the surface of the bowl l.
After the fabric has passed over the bowl and under the rollers m, m, it is
taken under the guide roller q, and thence, if requisite, to one or more
sizing machines similar to the one described, after which it is wound up on
the roller r, or the trough k may be long enough to contain two or more
sizing bowls. When one sizing machine is sufficient the lap roller r is applied
to the surface of the bowl of the first machine, or in either case the fabric
instead of being wound on a roller may be taken to a plaiting down machine,
or it may be otherwise disposed of. The steam for heating the cylinders e
and the troughs of the sizing machines, is convoyed to them by the pipes 8, 8,
and as tho greatest heat is required in the cylinders e, the steam from the
engine or boiler passes in the direction indicated by the arrows. The
moisture evaporated by the steam cylinders e is carried off by the funnel and
flue t.
From the foregoing description it will be seen that the fabric to be sized
and finished as it leaves the loom with very little or no stiffening in it, is first
heated, and then, while still hot, it enters the sizing machine, the heat of the
fabric rendering it particularly capable of absorbing and retaining the size,
which is only applied to the back of the fabric, leaving the face in its original
condition and consequently retaining the appearance of an unfinished piece.
The subsequent process of drying the fabrics after being sized is dispensed
with.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a con-
venient arrangement of machinery or apparatus for performing the same, I

page_text: wish it to be understood that the details may be considerably varied, and I
declare that I claim the improved mode of treating fabrics for sizing and
finishing them, and the machinery or apparatus employed therein, or any
modification of such machinery, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wellington Welch, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOHN W. WELCH. (Ls.)