IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DYEING AND COLOURING FELT, SILK, AND OTHER TEXTILE OR POROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Cantrell Gibbs, of Brentford, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DYEING AND COLOURING FELT, SILK, AND
OTHER TEXTILE OR POROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 16th March 1875, and dated the 19th September 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Cantrell Gibbs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th September 1874.
· I, GEORGE CANTRELL GIBBS, of Brentford, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DYEING AND COLOURING FELT,
SILK, AND OTHER TEXTILE OR POROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
1
My Invention has for its objects improved arrangements of machinery
and apparatus for dyeing felt, silk, or other porous or textile fabrics,
with the use of dies or pattern blocks, so that the dye is forced completely
through the material which is being operated upon, and the same

page_text: pattern is produced upon both sides, and so that the fabric is rapidly
dried or partly dried in the same machine.
My improved arrangement consists of a roller, round which is rolled
the felt or other material which is to be dyed or coloured, and from this
roller the fabric is passed between dies or pattern blocks. I make the
top and bottom dies or pattern blocks from the same pattern, and
preferably of brass or other sufficiently hard and strong material. When
the fabric has been brought to its proper position between the top and
bottom dies they are pressed forcibly together by means of cranks and
connecting rods, or excentric cams or levers, or in any other convenient
way, the fabric being tightly compressed between them. The liquid.
dye is then forced by means of pumps into one of the dies, and thence
completely through the fabric in the parts where it is not pressed by the
dies, and it is thus dyed to the required colour and pattern through its
entire thickness. The action of the pumps is then reversed, and the
surplus dye is withdrawn through the fabric, and is followed by atmos-
pheric air, which is drawn through the felt or other fabric by the action
of the pump, and thus dries or partly dries the fabric. The dies are
then separated by means of the cranks, cams, or levers, already described,
and the felt or other fabric is fed forward to a sufficient extent by
means of feed rollers, striding forks, or other convenient means, and the
operations described are repeated. Two or more pumps may be used,
operating with different coloured dyes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said George Cantrell Gibbs in the Great Seal Patent 25
Office on the 19th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
CANTRELL GIBBS, of Brentford, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 30
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said George Cantrell Gibbs, Her

page_text: special licence that I, the said George Cantrell Gibbs, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Cantrell
Gibbs, 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DYEING AND COLOURING FELT,
SILK, AND OTHER TEXTILE OR POROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition
) (amongst others) that I, the said George Cantrell Gibbs, 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 Cantrell Gibbs, do hereby
declare my 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 and accompanying Drawing (that is to
say):
This Invention has for its objects improved arrangements of machinery
and apparatus for dyeing felt, silk, or other porous or textile fabrics,
by the use of pattern blocks or dies, in such manner that the dyeing
fluid is forced completely through the substance of the material which
is being operated upon, and thus the same pattern is produced upon
both sides of it, and also that the fabric is rapidly dried or partially dried
in the same machine.
In order to carry my Invention into operation I take a sufficient
length of felt or other material which is to be dyed or coloured,
of the width required, and I arrange it so that it can be conveniently
fed forward through the machine at suitable intervals, preferably by
rolling it upon a roller mounted in suitable bearings. From this roller
the fabric is passed between dies or pattern blocks, preferably of brass
or other sufficiently strong and hard material, and having formed upon
their surfaces the desired pattern; those parts of the pattern which
represent colour being sunk or depressed, and the lines forming the edge

page_text: of the pattern or the junction of different colours in it being raised.
The dies being sufficiently separated the fabric is brought to its proper
position between them, and they are then pressed forcibly together by
means of cranks and connecting rods, excentrics, cams, levers, or other
convenient mechanism, the fabric being tightly compressed between
them. Whilst the fabric is thus held liquid dye of any desired colour
or composition is forced by means of one or more force pumps actuated
by the machine into the lower die or block in the spaces between the
parts of it which compress the fabric, and the shape of which constitute
the pattern. The pressure given by the force pumps is sufficient to
force the dye or colour completely through the fabric and into corre-
sponding spaces in the upper die block, whence it escapes through
openings in the die into an open reservoir or cistern formed upon or
carried by the die. Upon the return stroke of the force pumps the dye
or colour is withdrawn again through the fabric and is followed by a
current of air (which may be heated), which also passing through the
fabric at once dries or partially dries the latter. The cam or other
apparatus which holds the dies together is so arranged that during the
above processes the fabric is firmly held between them; the upper die
or block is then raised by the continued movement of the driving shaft,
and the fabric is drawn or fed forward to a sufficient extent by means
of feeding rollers set in action by ratchet wheels and palls, or by striding
forks, or other convenient means, such as are well known and practised;
and when adjusted to its proper position the dies or blocks are again
forced together, and the injection and withdrawal of the dye or colour,
and the transfusion of air are repeated until the whole of the fabric has
been operated upon.
The dies or blocks may be made to have two or more separate spaces
for the reception of two or more different coloured liquids, the spaces
being separated from each other by the edges of the dies or blocks which
form the pattern, and which compress the fabric between them. Each
liquid colour or dyo must be supplied, and forced and withdrawn by a
separate pump and pipes; and if the parts of the pattern which are of
the same colour are not continuous a separate supply pipe for the liquid
of that colour must be provided for each such part of the pattern.
By the novel arrangements of machinery or apparatus described onc
or more thicknesses of the fabric may be coloured or dyed at one
operation, and the process is repeated with great speed and accuracy.

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fabric is of sufficient width to require it, and letters, words, figures, or
other devices may be formed upon the fabric as well as ornamental
patterns, as already described.
The accompanying Drawing is in illustration of my Invention.
Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section; and Figure 2 is an end
view, 'partly in section; and Figure 5, an end view of apparatus con-
structed according to my Invention.
a is a roller, round which is rolled the felt or other fabric which is
to be dyed. From this roller the fabric is passed between the lower die
or pattern block c and the upper one d. These dies are made counter-
parts of each other, preferably of brass, cast from the same pattern.
When the fabric has been brought into its proper position between the
dies the upper one is pressed forcibly down by means of the cam e and
balanced connecting rod f worked from the driving shaft g, which
revolves in bearings in the framework of the machine. Whilst the
fabric is thus held firmly between the dies liquid dye or colour is forced
into the lower block c by means of one of the force pumps h, h¹, which
are driven from the driving shaft g, and the pressure forces the colour
completely through the substance of the fabric and into the interior of
the upper block d, from which the air is expelled through openings left
for the purpose. As the action of the pump continues and is reversed
the colour is withdrawn from the blocks c and d, and is followed by a
current of air which is drawn through the fabric, partially or entirely
drying the latter. A reservoir may be attached to the upper block d
to contain any surplus dye forced through the blocks. The upper block d
is then raised by the action of the weight when the cam has released
it, and the fabric is fed forward to the required distance by means of the
ratchet wheel and pall shewn at r, Figure 2, which actuate the feeding
rollers s, s, or by other convenient means. The two pumps h, h³, work
simultaneously and inject liquid dyes of different colours, so as to form
a pattern, as shewn on a larger scale in Figure 3, where two pattern
blocks are shewn side by side, the part of the pattern which is to be of
one colour being shaded with horizontal lines, and the colour being
forced through the pipes o, o, and the other colour being shaded with
diagonal lines and forced through the pipe o'; Figure 4 is a cross section
of a modification, in which an excentric e driven by the driving shaft g

page_text: is used instead of a cam. The excentric e is shewn connected to the
upper block d with the intervention of a sufficiently strong spring f, in
order that the blocks c and d may be kept pressed together sufficiently
long for the colour to be forced through them, and withdrawn and
followed by the current of air. The pumps are shewn in the Drawing
surrounded by cisterns containing the liquid dyes or colours, and these
cisterns may be made air-tight and the liquid forced through the fabric
by the pressure of air forced into them instead of by the direct action of
pumps.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner in which it is
to be performed, I claim, the method of dyeing fabrics by means of dies,
between which the fabric is compressed whilst liquid dyes are forced
completely through it, and are then withdrawn and followed by currents
of air, which dry or partially dry the fabric, substantially as described
and shewn in the Drawing.
Also the methods of making such process of dyeing continuous by
means of a revolving shaft operating the dies by a cam or excentric, and
also actuating the pumps by which the liquid dye is forced and the
apparatus by which the fabric is fed forward at intervals, substantially
as described and shewn in the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Cantrell Gibbs, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
GEORGE CANTRELL GIBBS. (L.S.)