IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING AND PRINTING COTTON OR LINEN FABRICS OR YARNS."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Paraf, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING AND
PRINTING COTTON OR LINEN FABRICS OR YARNS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Paraf at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd March
1865.
I, ALFRED PARAF, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING
AND PRINTING COTTON OR LINEN FABRICS OR YARNS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the production of a black upon cotton or linen
fabrics or yarns by either of the processes of printing or dyeing, in which I
use a salt of aniline, or its homologues, or mixtures of the same decomposed
by any salt or mineral acids which are not liable to injure the fabric, in con-
junction with a mixture of the chlorates of the alkalies or alkaline earths;
and although the process may be varied as to the kind of acid used or salt of
aniline employed, I obtain a good result with the following mixtures and
proportions: The cloth or yarn is to be impregnated with a salt of chlorate
of potash in the proportions of about five ounces to one gallon of water, and
then print, dye, or pad upon it a mixture of about sixteen ounces of chlorate
of aniline, and three to four ounces of hydro-flur-silicic acid to one gallon of
water; it is then aged in a warm room for a few hours, when the black is
produced, and is finished by washing off in soap water.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Paraf in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
PARAF, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Alfred Paraf, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Paraf, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Paraf, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN DYEING AND PRINTING COTTON OR LINEN FABRICS OR YARNS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Paraf, 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 Alfred Paraf, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):
This Invention consists in the production of a black color upon cotton or
linen fabrics or yarus by either of the processes of dyeing or printing, in
which I use a salt of aniline, or its homologues, or a mixture of the same
decomposed by any salt or mineral acid, organic acid, or a mixture thereof,
which are not liable to injure the fabrics or yarns, in conjunction with a
mixture of the chlorates of the alkalies or alkaline earths; and although the
process may be varied as to the kind of acid used, or salt of aniline employed,
I obtain good results with the following mixtures or proportions:-I prepare
or impregnate the cloth or yarn with a mixture of about half an ounce of
arsenious acid, five ounces of chlorate of potash, and one gallon of boiling

page_text: water. I then dry the goods without washing, and then print, dye, or pad
upon it the mixture of about two pounds black liquor to one gallon of
thickening. The black liquor consists of one part of muriate aniline (very
acid) and one part of hydro-fluo-silicic acid at eleven degrees Twaddell, and
boil until it is dissolved. I prepare the hydro-fluo-silicic acid by decomposing
a mixture of spar, fluor, and sand with sulphuric acid. After printing.or
dyeing I age in a damp room at about ninety to ninety-five degrees heat, till
a very dark olive green shade appears, and then by passing the goods through
any alkaline solution, or soap and water, the required black is produced.
T
By this process, the following reaction takes place: The fluo-silicic acid
from the black liquor forms fluo-silicate of potash with, the potash of the
chlorate, the chloric acid coming free; one part of that chloric acid goes to
the aniline of the chloride of aniline, the other part transforms the chloride of
the same salt of aniline in free chlorine, and this mixture of chloric acid and
free chlorine upon aniline gives the black.
In using the chlorate of potash in the color the cloth or yarn does not
require any preparing process, but I use for one gallon of color two. pounds
black liquor to one pound of chlorate of potash.
Or as another modification of my process I use fluo-silicate of aniliné in
crystals, which I print upon or mix with a mixture of chlorate and chloride
of potash, by which I obtain very good results. I prepare the fluo-silicate of
aniline in crystals by bringing to the necessary heat a solution of hydro-fluo-
silicic acid in water at eleven degrees Twaddell, and add to it by degrees as
long as it will dissolve any pure aniline. I then cool down and purify the
crystals by washing them in cold water. By this reaction the fluo-silicic acid
transforms the mixture of chlorate and chloride of potash into fluo-silicate of
potash, giving free chlorine and chloric acid, which forms the black with the
aniline of the fluo-silicate.
I have another modified process by the action of chlorate of aniline upon
free chlorine, in which I prepare the chlorate of aniline by treating fluo-
silicate of aniline with chlorate of potash in excess, it giving fluo-silicate of
potash and chlorate of aniline. The cloth or yarn is prepared in a mixture of
chloride of magnesium and bi-sulphate of potash, and the chlorate of aniline
printed upon it. By ageing the following re-action takes place :-The
bi-sulphate of potash transforms the chloride of magnesium into sulphate of
magnesia, and sets the muriatic acid at liberty, which is transformed into free
chlorine by the chloric acid of the chloride of aniline, and the black is
produced by the same means.
The advantages of these improved processes are, first, a more splendid

page_text: shade than has been hitherto produced; secondly, a perfectly fast color;
thirdly, I am able to print with any madder; garancine, or alizarine colors,
with the advantage of giving a shade of black hitherto unknown, and this
without forming any white edges, and by dispensing with the madder the
coloring matter is considerably cheaper; fourthly, this process can be used
with advantage for padding in plain blacks.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be
understood that I claim, the producing an aniline black upon fabrics or yarns
by the action of chloric acid and free chlorine upon aniline, or its homologues,
For any mixture of the same, as herein described, or any modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Paraf, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Alfred Paraf in the
presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
ALFRED PARAF. (L.S.)
Manchester.