IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN WASHING, :. BLEACHING, DYING, AND SIZING YARNS AND FABRICS."
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bleackley, junior, of Myrtle Grove,
Prestwich, in the County of Lancaster, Bleacher, for the Inven-
_tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN WASHING,
:. BLEACHING, DYING, AND SIZING YARNS AND FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bleackley.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd January 1853:
I, JOHN BLEACKLEY, junior, of Myrtle Grove, Prestwich, in the County.
of Lancaster, Bleacher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN WASHING, BLEACH-
ING, DYING, AND SIZING YARNS AND FABRICS," to be as follows:-
I place five or other convenient number of winces horizontally in a
cistern; these winces have each four or other suitable number of cross
rails, supported on arms fixed to the shafts of the winces; the shafts pro-
ject at one side through the cistern, and they are connected together by
rearing, in such wise that the arms and rails of each wince in revolving

page_text: pass between the arms and rails of the adjoining winces. The winces
may be entirely or partially immersed in the liquid in the cistern. The
fabric to be operated upon passes under and over the winces, and then
between a pair of squeeze rollers, which press out part of the moisture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Bleackley in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 2nd July 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN BLEACKLEY, junior, of Myrtle Grove, Prestwich, in the County of
Lancaster, Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Bleackley, junior, Her special
licence that I, the said John Bleackley, junior, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Bleackley, junior,
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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN WASHING, BLEACHING, DYING,
AND SIZING YARNS AND FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Bleackley, junior, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Bleackley, junior, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists in placing a series of winces having each four
or other suitable number of arms and cross rails in a cistern containing
water or other fluid, and in causing the yarn or fabric under operation
to pass under and over the rails of the said winces, the axes of which are
so near to each other that the rails of each wince in revolving pass be-
tween the rails of the adjoining winces, thereby producing the required
effect on the yarns or fabrics to be operated upon; and in order that
my Invention may be fully understood, and casily carried into effect, I
will proceed to describe the annexed sheet of Drawings, in which
Figure 1, represents a longitudinal sectional elevation of a machine par-
ticularly adapted for washing printing cloth or light fabrics of any other
description. Figure 2, is a transverse section of the same machine.
Figures 3, and 4, are two similar views of a machine for washing or
dying fustians or fabrics of a heavy description. In Figures 1, and 2,
A, represents three shafts passing through stuffing boxes in the sides of
the cistern B. A¹, are cross arms keyed on the shafts A; and A², are
cross rails connecting the outer extremities of the arms A'; C, is the
bottom squeeze roller, which I prefer to make of wood coated with
gutta percha; and D, is the top squeeze roller; the centre portion of
this roller is rather more in diameter than the ends, the object of which
will be explained hereafter; both the axes of the squeeze rollers revolve
in the standards E, bolted to the cistern, as seen best in Figure 2; F,
is a guide roller, and G, is a grid, by which the fabric is guided through
the machine; the three winces are geared together by the wheels A³, and
the bottom bowl communicates motion to the winces by the wheels C¹,
and A', as shown in the Drawing. The mode of operation is as follows:
motion having been imparted to the squeeze roller C, from the steam
engine or other motive power, the fabrics to be washed are brought
down to the machine in two lengths, marked H, they then pass between
the squeeze rollers C, and D, as shewn by the arrows in Figure 1,
thence through the grid G, to the guide roller F, and thence under the
first wince over the second, and under the third, from whence the
fabrics go again through the grid G, to the guide roller F; these

page_text: operations are repeated three or four times till the two lengths of
fabric are brought together at the centre of the machine, as shewn in
Figure 2, and they are then guided between the rods I, from whence
'they go between the squeeze rollers, the centre portion of which being
larger in diameter than the ends presses the fabric between them, and
'thereby extracts a great part of the moisture carried up in the fabric.
The fluid is admitted into the cistern B; by the pipe K, and the over-
flow runs off at the pipe L. The cross rails A², of the winces by acting
on the fabric produce a constant succession of changes in the arrange-
iment of its folds, for when the fabric has passed under the first wince
the cross rail of the centro wince comes against and moves it laterally
through the water; the fabric is then carried forward by the centre
wince, and is again acted upon in the same imanner by the third wince;
by this means the water. is brought into contact with and acts advan
tageously on every part of the fabric in its passage through the machine.
This machine is also well adapted for sizing warp yarns, as the warps to
be sized can be conveyed through the machine exactly in the same way
as the fabric above described. In Figures 3, and 4, I have shewn five
vinces, marked M, placed in the cistern N;, this machine, as before
stated, is chiefly intended for treating fustians and picce goods of that
description, which require to be kept distended to their full width in pass-
ing through the operation. O, is a roller, the surface of which unwinds
the batch roller P, and delivers the fabric at the required speed for
being carried under and over the winces, as shewn in Figure 3. When
the fabric has passed under the last wince it is carried over the roller
Q, and is again made into a batch at R. The winces M, are also
geared together by spur wheels fixed on their axes, as shewn by dotted
circles in Figure 3, and the rollers O, and Q, are caused to revolve by
straps and pulleys, as also shewn in Figure 8. In some cases it is de-
sirable to pass the fabric through a pair of squeeze rollers before it is
batched; these squeeze rollers are not shewn in the Drawing, as they
are seen in Figures 1, and 2, and they are well understood by persons
conversant with machinery for washing and bleaching. The pipes S,
and T, are for the supply and overflow of the water or other fluid
required in the cistern. I wish to remark, that although I have shewn

page_text: three winces in Figure 1, and five winces in Figure 3, still the numbers
may be varied to suit particular cases.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements described, as
many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from my In-
vention; but what I consider to be novel or original, and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is, the application and use of winces as shewn
and described for washing, bleaching, dying, and sizing yarns and
fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bleackley, junior, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOHN BLEACKLEY, Jun. (L.S.)