Improvements in the Process of what is known as "Mercerizing Fabrics Composed of Vegetable Fibres.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 7th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 26th June 1897
Improvements in the Process of what is known as "Mercerizing
Fabrics Composed of Vegetable Fibres.
A communication to me from F. A. BERNHARDT, of Zittau, in the Empire of
Germany, Dyer.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 65 and 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in the treatment of raw or suitably
dyed cotton goods, and goods manufactured of cotton or the like fibrous threads,
whilst subjected to the action of strong alkali or acid; and it consists in subjecting
the cotton fabric, whilst being so treated by what is well known as "mercerizing,"
or submitted to the action of a suitable strong caustic solution or lye of about
15° to 45° degrees Beaumé, or of strong acid solution, to simultaneous pressure by
rollers for a time which may be varied according to the particular fabric and the
circumstances under which it is to be treated.
The effect produced by this improved method of treatment is very satisfactory,
the fabric being wound on a hollow perforated cylinder carried in fixed bearings,
and a solution of the kind already described being forced through it from the
interior of the cylinder. There is also an advantage in the fabric being held in
a stretched condition, with only a rolling pressure, during the process of
"mercerization.'
The following is the process. The fabric to be treated is impregnated with the
strong alkaline or acid solution which is injected or forced through it, and at the
same time it undergoes rolling pressure between rollers, a sufficient quantity or
length being wound upon one of the rollers.
It is necessary, after a quantity of the fabric or cloth has been wound upon a
roller in the way described, to continue the rolling pressure for a time dependent
upon the character of the fabric which is being treated, in order to overcome the
tendency of the fibre to shrink when "mercerized" and to bring it to a state of
plasticity. After this has been continued for a sufficient time, the material is
rendered neutral, still under rolling pressure.
The rolling pressure may be obtained by different forms of apparatus. For
instance, the following is an effective arrangement. Two parallel metal rollers or
cylinders, are carried in bearings in frames, the lower roller which is hollow and is
perforated on its circumference, turning in fixed bearings. The fabric to be
treated is wound upon this lower roller under the constant pressure of the upper
one, the bearings of which can rise and fall in the frame but are pressed down by
weights with any desired force. The required fluid is forced into the lower roller
through a pipe passing through its bearing, and passes through the perforations
and through the fabric wound upon the roller, whilst the upper roller subjects
the coils of cloth to the required pressure as they pass under it.
ليوم
TL 1900

page_text: Improvements in the Process of what is known as "Mercerizing
Fabrics Composed of Vegetable Fibres.
A communication to me from F. A. BERNHARDT, of Zittau, in the Empire of
Germany, Dyer.
"
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 65 and 66, Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this 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 relates to improvements in the treatment of raw or suitably
dyed cotton goods, and goods manufactured of cotton or the like fibrous threads,
whilst subjected to the action of strong alkali or acid; and it consists in subjecting
the cotton fabric, during the time when it is being treated by what is well known
as "mercerizing," or submitted to the action of a suitable strong caustic solution
or lye of about 15° to 45° degrees Beaumé, or of strong acid solution, to simul-
taneous pressure by rollers, or the operation of water calendering, in a suitable
way, for a time which may be varied according to the particular fabric and the
circumstances under which it is to be treated.
The effect produced by this improved method of treatment is very satisfactory,
the fabric being wound on a hollow perforated cylinder carried in fixed bearings,
and a solution of the kind already described being forced through it from the
interior of the cylinder.
The following is an illustration of the process adopted. The fabric to be
treated is impregnated with the strong alkaline or acid solution which is injected
or forced through it, and at the same time it undergoes rolling pressure between
rollers, a sufficient quantity or length being at the same time wound upon one of
the rollers.
It is necessary, after a quantity of the fabric or cloth has been wound upon a
roller in the way described, to continue the rolling pressure for a time dependent
upon the character of the fabric which is being treated, in order to overcome the
tendency of the fibre to shrink when "mercerized" and to bring it to a state of
plasticity. After this has been continued for a sufficient time, which is determined
by practice, the material is neutralized, still under rolling pressure.
The rolling pressure may be obtained by different forms of apparatus. For
instance, the following is an effective arrangement, as illustrated in the accom-
panying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 a plan. Two
parallel metal rollers or cylinders, W, W', are carried in bearings in frames, the
lower roller W which is hollow and is perforated on its circumference, turning in
fixed bearings. The fabric to be treated is wound from a separate supply roller w,
as shewn in Figure 3, upon this lower roller W under the constant pressure of the
heavy upper one W', the bearings of which can rise and fall in the frame but are
pressed down by weights with any desired force. The required fluid is forced by
a pump P of any suitable kind into the lower hollow roller W through a pipe
passing through its bearing, and passes through the perforations and through the
fabric wound upon the roller, whilst the upper roller subjects the coils of cloth to
the required pressure as they pass under it.
Figure 4 illustrates the manner in which the goods treated are unwound from
the lower roller W and wound upon a roller w'; during which the roller W is

page_text: turned in the opposite direction to that when the material is being wound upon it,
as illustrated in Figure 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The process, in the "mercerization" by means of strong alkaline caustic
solutions or strong acids, of suitably dyed or raw goods of cotton or other
vegetable fibres, which can stand such extreme alkaline or acid treatment, con-
sisting in submitting such goods to rolling pressures during the process of such
"mercerization," and the neutralizing which follows it; this process being
continued sufficiently long to produce the required appearance in the goods when
dried in the usual way, substantially as described.
2. For the purpose of carrying out the process claimed in Claim 1, apparatus
consisting of the hollow perforated roller W turning in fixed bearings, the upper
weighted roller W₁ turning in moveable bearings, and pumping mechanism and
pipes by which the required liquide are forced into the hollow perforated roller W
and through the goods wound upon it under the pressure of the roller W',
substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated this 7th day of April 1897
EDWARDS & Co.,
65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.