CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOXES, AND THE MODE OF HEATING PRESS PLATES USED IN HOT-PRESSING OF SILKS, DELAINES, COBOURGS, MERINOS, FANCY GOODS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thorp, Dyer, Bleacher, and Finisher,
of Collyhurst, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOXES, AND
THE MODE OF HEATING PRESS PLATES USED IN HOT-PRESSING OF
SILKS, DELAINES, COBOURGS, MERINOS, FANCY GOODS, AND OTHER
SIMILAR FABRICS."
Sealed the 2nd April 1853, and dated the 28th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thorp at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th October 1852.
I, WILLIAM THORP, Dyer, Bleacher, & Finisher, of Collyhurst, near
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOXES, AND
THE MODE OF HEATING PRESS PLATES USED IN HOT PRESSING OF SILKS,
DELAINES, COBOURGS, MERINOS, FANCY GOODS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS,"
to be as follows:-
A peculiar arrangement of apparatus, consisting in a "box"
oven," provided with a suitable steam-tight door, and with means for

page_text: the admission of steam and emission of the condensed steam; into this
box or oven the "press plates" are put, and placed close together side
by side upon their edge or other position; the door is then secured, and
the steam admitted, and after they have remained long enough to be
sufficiently heated the steam is shut off, and they are removed and are
then ready for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Thorp in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM THORP, Dyer, Bleacher, and Finisher, ef Collyhurst, near
Manchester (now the City of Manchester), in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Thorp, Her especial licence that I, the said
William Thorp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Thorp, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOXES, AND
THE MODE OF HEATING PRESS PLATES USED IN HOT PRESSING OP. SILKS,
DELAINES, COBURGS, MERIONOS, FANCY GOODS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS,"
upon, the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Thorp,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 William Thorp, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing annexed
hereto, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, the same letters
and figures being used to represent the same parts in each Figure,
that is to say:
The nature of my Invention consists in a peculiar construction of
apparatus, or box, or oven for heating press plates by means of steam,
and in the mode of placing them. Hitherto it has been usual to
construct boxes or ovens for this purpose with separate grooves for
each plate, so that there would be a space between each plate, the
object of which was, to enable the steam to come freely in contact
with each plate; but I have ascertained that such space is unne-
cessary, and that the plates may be placed in contact with each other,
and be readily and properly heated, which enables me to heat a
greater number of plates in the same space. The Drawing annexed
hereto shews by Fig. 1, a front elevation and part of the interior of
the box or oven. Fig: 2, a side sectional elevation through the middle
of the box. The box or oven is supported at a convenient height above
the floor by any suitable means; it is formed of cast iron, its sides
being about one inch in thickness, having strengthening ribs cast upon
them. A, is the middle part of the box, which is cast in one piece,
rectangular in form, having flanges A', surrounding each side, for the
purpose of making a joint, and for screwing the back and front sides to
it by bolts marked (1). The front part of the box descends below the
bottom of the box forming the steam-tight rectangular recess (D), so
ás to admit the door E. When the box is opened the door E, is made
to slide up and down in grooves E, formed in each side and in the top
side of the box in the flange part of the front A. A margin round
the front or outside face of the door E, and those parts in the groove
(just referred to) of the front part C; in contact with it, are truly planed,
so as to form, when the door is up, a steam-tight joint. For the
purpose of moving the door up and down two rods F, F, are secured to
it, one on each side, which slide in the recess or groove, and pass out of

page_text: the interior of the box, each through a stuffing box and gland G, G,
(of the ordinary construction), and are then connected (by caps H, H,)
cottered on to their ends,) with chains J, J, passing over pulleys K, K,
keyed on the shaft L, which may be sustained to the top of the room
by hangers M, M. At the ends of the chains are suspended weights
N, N, sufficient to balance the weight of the door, &c., which thus
enables it to be easily opened or shut. O, is a pipe through which the
steam passes from the steam generator to the box; P, is a slide valve
of the ordinary construction; and Q, is the handle or lever attached to
the valve spindle R, which has its fulcrum upon the oscillating link S;
by which means the communication between the steam generator and
the "box" may be opened or closed. At the bottom of the recess D,
a cock T, of ordinary construction is inserted. U, is a handle, by which
the outlet of condensed steam and steam may be regulated. V, is a
shelf projecting from the front part C, for resting the plates upon, level
with the bottom of the box or oven. The plates, as placed in the interior
of the "box or "oven," are represented at W. When the apparatus
is in use the plates are placed in the oven or box, and the door is drawn
up then by the handle Q; the steam is admitted, and by its pressure
the door is pressed forcibly against its facing, and the joint rendered
steam tight. The plates in the box, and the box itself, will at first
abstract the heat rapidly, being cold, and condense the steam which is
allowed to escape by the cock T; this will, of course, continue till the
plates and box are of the same temperature as the steam, when the
condensation will cease, and all the wet from condensation is absorbed
As
by the heat of the steam, steam only escaping from the cock T.
the plates have now acquired the same temperature as the steam they
are ready for removal from the box, the steam being first shut off, and
the door opened. It need scarcely be added that for increased tempe-
ratures above 212 degrees Fahrenheit, an increased pressure of steam
will be required; and for temperatures less than 212 degrees the plates
be allowed to cool till they arrive at the one required.
may
"
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner it may be performed and carried
into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the use of

page_text: steam for heating press plates; nor do I claim the parts of the apparatus
described, separately considered; but what I claim is, the peculiar com-
bination of the apparatus, and the mode of placing the plates, as herein-
before described, without confining myself to the precise details.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thorp, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Signed, sealed, and delivered,
being first duly stamped,
in the presence of
PETER J. LIVSEY,
WILLIAM THORP. (L.S.)
of Manchester.