AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING BY DYEING VARIOUS FIGURES OR OBJECTS OF VARIOUS COLOURS IN WOOLLEN, WORSTED, COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER CLOTHS
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ROBINSON, of Huddersfield, in the County of York, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the second year of Her
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
eight, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Robinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
James Robinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said James Robinson, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and 'at all
times thereafter, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING BY
DYEING VARIOUS FIGURES OR OBJECTS OF VARIOUS COLOURS IN WOOLLEN, WORSTED,
COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER CLOTHS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said James Robinson, by an instrument in writing
under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,'
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Robinson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Improved Method of Producing by Dyeing various Colours in Woollen,
Worsted, Cotton, Silk, and other Cloths consists in the employment of certain
apparatus, by which I stop out or protect any desired portions of the cloth or
fabric whilst it is under the operation of dyeing, in order to produce upon the
fabric by such mode of dyeing what is technically called savings or blotches of
various shapes or figures. These stopping-out apparatus are not limited as to
their forms or dimensions, but may be made in any suitable shapes to cover
any parts or portions of the cloth that may be required to be of a different
colour from the ground or principal colour of the fabric, and may be applied
to the cloth either by hand or by suitable machinery.
I shall first describe the mode by which I construct the apparatus to be
applied by hand, and afterwards point out a convenient method of applying the
same principles by means of machinery.
In the accompanying Drawing Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, represent
several forms of blocks, by means of which I stop out or protect certain
portions of the cloth or other fabric during the operation of dyeing, in order to
produce savings, blotches, or blank places in the cloth of a different colour
from that of the dyed ground or principal colour. These stopping-out blocks
may be of an infinite variety of shapes beside those exhibited in the Draw-
ings, according to the designs or patterns required to be made upon the fabric;
but as the mechanical construction of the combined parts of each, and mode of
their attachment to the cloth, may be the same whatever the shape of the
block itself, it will only be necessary for me to shew the mode by which
I find it convenient to construct and adapt each block when I apply them by
hand.
Figure 7 represents in elevation one of the hand apparatus constituting a
block consisting of several pieces put together. Figure 8 is a top view of the
same. Figure 9 is a sectional elevation of the lower plate a of the block
detached from the upper plate b, the plan of which is shewn at Figure 1; and
Figure 10 is a sectional elevation of the block complete, the faces of the two
plates a and b exactly corresponding in form or shape. In this Figure the
cloth or other fabric is seen placed between the upper and lower plates, and
the mode is shewn by which the two plates are united and made fast. In the

page_text: centre of the lower plate a an upright pin c is fixed, which pin being passed
through the thickness of cloth or other fabric, the upper plate 6 is then
placed upon the lower one, taking care that the edges of the two plates
perfectly coincide, and for this purpose a small register pin z may be set in one
plate, and made to enter a small socket in the other plate. When these two
plates are thus coupled (the cloth being between them), a hollow cylindrical
piece d, shewn detached at Figure 11, is placed over the pin c, and made fast
to the pin by a small key e passed through slots in both. The upper and
lower plates a and b are by these means held together, and a knob or handle f
is then screwed on to the cylindrical piece, in order to secure the parts, and
cause the plates to press tightly upon both sides of the cloth, as shewn at
Figures 7 and 10. In this way I find it convenient to attach the respective
stopping-out blocks to the cloth, of whatever forms or figures they may be, but
do not intend to confine myself solely to this mode of attachment. Such
being the construction of the stopping-out blocks to be employed by hand,
it remains only for me to shew in what manner I place them to produce a
series of blotches or savings in the cloth in any desired positions or arrange-
ment. Having determined the figure or design to be produced, the cloth or
other fabric is spread or laid out in lengths of two or three yards, or any given
quantity at a time, over a stretcher of canvas (which stretcher is placed in a
frame, and made, for convenience, to turn on an axis or pivot). I then take a
suitable number of the lower plates a, and pass or run all the pins c from tho
upper side through the cloth and the canvas stretcher, the points of the pins
being downwards. This being done, I turn the canvass stretcher, with the
cloth and plates upon it, over upon a smooth board or table.
The canvas
stretcher being then taken off or removed, leaves the plates a at the under side
of the cloth or other fabric, with the pins c protruding through the cloth with
their points upwards. This being effected, the upper plates b are to be put
on, and secured to the lower plates in the way above described, by screwing
down all their knobs f, so as to press the faces of the plates very tightly
against the cloth on both its upper and under surfaces. The cloth or other
fabric being thus made ready, the whole piece, with the stopping-out blocks
attached, is to be introduced into the dye vat, pan, or boiler, and there acted
upon by the dye in the ordinary way until the required ground colour of the
piece is properly attained. The cloth is then withdrawn, and partially washed,
for the purpose of removing the superfluous colour and other matters from
its surface, and being spread out on a flat table, the stopping-out blocks
are unscrewed and removed, when the portions of the cloth which they.
covered will be found to have been perfectly protected from the action of the

page_text: dye, and to remain as blotches or savings from the ground of the tint or colour
which the cloth had before the last dyed colour was given to it. It is then
submitted to a thorough washing or scouring, in the process of which the
small perforations made in the cloth or other fabric by the pins c being passed
through it, as already described, are entirely closed up. The mode of stopping
out in order to produce blotches or savings in cloth or other fabrics whilst
under the operation of dyeing by means of hand apparatus having been ex-
plained, I have to state that such hand blocks or apparatus may be so inter-
spersed or fixed on any part of the cloth or other fabric as to form and
produce, singly or collectively, reversely or transversely, a variety of figures,
positions, and groupings (advantages in certain respects not so readily attain-
able by means of my machinery).
I now proceed to shew a method of stopping out or producing blotches or
savings in cloth or other fabrics whilst under the operation of dyeing by means
of machinery.
Figure 12 in the accompanying Drawing represents the plan or horizontal
view of a rectangular frame a, a, a, a, upon which are fixed two series of
perpendicular rods or pillars b, b, b, placed in pairs, that is, opposite to each
other, as shewn also in the side and end elevations, Figures 13 and 14. On
the inner side of each pillar a perpendicular rib or bead is formed, for the pur-
pose of confining the horizontal bars c, c, c. These bars (one of which is shewn
in its edge view at Figure 16) carry the stopping-out blocks d, d, d, of any
desired forms. The blocks d, in this instance represented of a lozenge or diamond
shape, are arranged upon and fixed to the bar c screws or otherwise, at such
distances apart as the intended pattern or device may require. As many of
these bars c, carrying the blocks d, and at such distances apart as may be neces-
sary, are placed in a horizontal range in the frame, as Figure 12, a notch in each
end of the bar c fitting on to the rib or bead on the sides of the two opposite
pillars b, b. The frame with the blocks being so arranged, the cloth or other
fabric intended to be operated upon is extended (either single or double) over the
frame, in the direction from A to B, and when it has been laid smooth, and
stretched over a tension rod e, e, other bars d, having corresponding blocks c, are
laid upon the cloth, and fixed in their positions between the pillars b, as before.
described. The cloth is then folded back tightly over the tension rod e, and
stretched out smooth in the opposite direction, that is, from B to A, covering the
blocks, as before, and another series of bars and blocks are placed upon it in like
manner, after which the cloth is again folded over another tension rod f,f,
and extended in the same way from A to B, when a similar series of bars and
blocks are placed in coincidence with the former, and so on until the whole

page_text: length of the piece of cloth has been lapped fold over fold, having correspond-
ing bars and blocks between each fold, piled one above another, as shewn in
the vertical section of the machine at Figure 15. The folding of the cloth
in the manner described being completed, a strong plate or frame or bars
9, 9, 9, are laid upon the piles of blocks and cloth, and firmly screwed down
upon the pillars so as to confine all the blocks, and cause them to press
tightly those parts of the cloth with which they are in contact. The rods e and
f being withdrawn from the folds of the cloth, the frame, with the piles of
blocks and cloth or other fabric, secured together as described, is now to be
carried to the dye vat, pan, or boiler, and immersed therein, where it must
remain until the dyeing operation is complete. After dyeing the whole must
be properly washed to remove the superfluous colouring and other matters,
and the cloth or other fabric being unfolded, and the bars with the blocks
withdrawn from the frame, those portions of the cloth or other fabric which
have been protected by the blocks will be found not to have been affected by
the last operation of dyeing, but to have remained as blotches or savings from
the ground colour in the tint or condition in which the cloth was previous to
its introduction into the dyeing vessel.
Lastly, I desire it to be understood that I do not intend to confine myself to
the precise forms or construction of apparatus set forth in the Drawings hereto
annexed and above described, but claim the Invention and exclusive use of
stopping-out blocks or plates, and the above or any other modes that may be
found convenient for attaching or applying stopping-out blocks or plates to
cloths or other fabrics which may be capable of preventing or resisting the
action of dyeing matters upon certain portions of the cloth when submitted to
the dyeing operation, in order to produce in the fabric what are technically
called blotches or savings from the colour in which the fabric is immersed and
dyed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Robinson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of December,
in the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said James
Robinson came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twenty-seventh day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-eight.