IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING WOOL AND WOOLLEN GOODS, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald Cochrane, and
Walter Cochrane, all of Netherdale Mills, Galashiels, in the County
of Selkirk, North Britain, Woollen Manufacturers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING WOOL AND WOOLLEN GOODS, AND OTHER
FABRICS, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Sealed the 30th June 1871, and dated the 15th February 1871.
Archibald Cochrane, and Walter Cochrane at the Unce of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 15th February
1871.
We, ADAM LEES COCHRANE, ARCHIBALD COCHRANE, and WALTER
COCHRANE, all of Netherdale Mills, Galashiels, in the County of Selkirk,
North Britain, Woollen Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING WOOL AND WOOLLEN
We, ADAM LEES COCHRANE, ARCHIBALD COCHRANE, and WALTER
COCHRANE, all of Netherdale Mills, Galashiels, in the County of Selkirk,
North Britain, Woollen Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING WOOL AND WOOLLEN

page_text: GOODS, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention of improvements in the treatment of wool and woollen
goods relates to an improved mode or modes of using, scouring, and
cleansing materials and liquors in the scouring and cleansing of wool,
and for scouring, milling, or fulling and cleansing woollen goods or
fabrics whereby a considerable saving of the said scouring materials is
effected, whilst the various operations are performed in an improved
manner, and the waste water and liquors flowing from such operations
are materially reduced in quantity and rendered less impure.
The said improvements are also applicable to other kinds of woven
goods or fabrics and also to yarn or worsted factories in so far as the
scouring and cleansing of woollen yarns and wool are concerned, and the
various machines or apparatus employed are of the ordinary type and
placed on the same or contiguous floors.
In the manufacture of cloth or "tweed" the scouring and cleansing of
wool is generally the first process, but under this Invention the mode of
scouring and cleansing wool is described last because the liquors used
for the purpose are obtained from the operations of scouring and
cleansing yarns and woven goods or other fabrics. As the yarns in the
greasy state or the goods woven from such yarns require to be cleansed
preparatory to succeeding operations, in scouring these yarns or goods
such scouring materials are employed as will readily combine with the
oil or grease contained in the yarn or goods to form a saponaceous
cleansing liquor or detergent. The liquors flowing from such operations
are generally termed "waste scouring liquors," and are usually either
wasted or collected and treated for the extraction of the grease contained
therein, to be employed in making "magma." Under the present
Invention however these liquors are preserved and further utilized in
the manner next set forth. The whole of the liquors obtained from the
scouring of the yarns or goods in the grease or oil are discharged into a
well or tank placed on a lower level than the point of discharge from the
scouring and other machines so that the liquors proceeding therefrom
flow freely into the tank through suitable pipes or passages. The
contents of this tank are termed scouring stock," and which is
employed in the other succeeding operations, as herein-after more
particularly described. For large works or factories it may be found
.
.

page_text: advantageous to divide the above-mentioned tank or receptacle into com-
partments or divisions communicating with each other by means of
openings or passages.
In connection with the tank or receptacle a
centrifugal lifting and forcing pump is employed, by means of which
the "scouring stock" is forcibly agitated and mechanically mixed at
the same time it flows into distributing pipes placed overhead or other-
wise, and provided with branches and valves by which the "scouring
stock" is discharged at pleasure into the various machines ordinarily
used in the processes of scouring, milling, or fulling, cleansing, and
washing cloth or other similar goods or fabrics. The supply and
discharge of the said "scouring stock" to each machine may be either
continuous or intermittent, according to the nature of the operation
being performed. In addition to the " scouring stock" supplied as
above set forth other cleansing and scouring materials or liquors,
together with hot or cold water may be supplied if necessary for the
operations being performed. Other pipes or passages are provided to
convey, the "scouring stock" back from the machines into the tank or
receptacle, and provision is also made in the main pipe or passage by
which a portion of the material may be turned aside before it re-enters
the tank or receptacle, whilst the usual arrangements for running to
waste the discharge from each machine are likewise provided. When
wool is to be scoured or cleansed, whether in the greasy state or otherwise,
it is placed in either a single or an ordinary double cistern or twin bowl
scouring machine, having been previously admixed and teased and the
whole process of scouring and cleansing the wool is completed by the
use of the said "scouring stock" alone supplied to each bowl or cistern
from the distribution pipes herein-before mentioned and without the use
of any other scouring and cleansing material. The liquors conveyed
from the wool scouring machine are discharged into a separate tank to
be treated in the usual manner for the extraction of the grease or oil
contained therein for making "magma." In connection with the pump
and distribution pipes another pipe may be carried up to a higher level
than the distribution pipes and returned to re-deliver into the tank near
the end opposite to the suction pipe of the pump, so that when the
"scouring stock" is not passing through the distribution pipes it will be
kept in circulation thoroughly mixed, and ready for uso, and the suction
pipe of the pump is so placed that sand or sediment deposited in the
tank will accumulate therein, and may be cleaned out when necessary.

page_text: It is also to be understood that a "scouring stock" applicable to the
purposes hercin-before set forth and other similar uses may be obtained
by collecting and utilizing the waste liquors flowing from cleansing and
washing for domestic and other purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald Cochrane, and
Walter Cochrane in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th August
1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ADAM
LEES COCHRANE, ARCHIBALD COCHRANE, and WALTER COCHRANE, all of
Netherdale Mills, Galashiels, in the County of Selkirk, North Britain,
Woollen Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the 35th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald
Cochrane, and Walter Cochrane, Her special license, that we, the said
Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald Cochrane, and Walter Cochrane, our
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald Cochrane, and Walter Cochrane, our
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
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
TREATING WOOL AND WOOLLEN GOODS, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IN THE MEANS
EMPLOYED THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald Cochrane, and Walter Cochrane, by
an instrument in writing under our 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald
Cochrane, and Walter Cochrane, do hereby declare the nature of our
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 accompanying Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our said Invention, which relates to improvements in treating wool
and woollen goods and other similar fabrics consists in an improved
mode or modes of employing scouring and cleansing materials and
liquors in the scouring and cleansing of wool, and in the scouring,
milling, or fulling, and cleansing of woollen goods or fabrics, whereby
a considerable saving of the said scouring materials and labour in
manipulation is effected, whilst the various operations are carried out
in an improved manner, at the same time the waste water and liquors
flowing from such operations are materially reduced in quantity and
rendered less impure.
The said improvements are also applicable to other classes of woven
fabrics, as well as to yarn or worsted factories, in so far as the scouring
and cleansing of woollen yarns and wool are concerned.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood we
have hereunto appended an explanatory Sheet of Drawings, which is
referred to in the succeeding parts of this Specification.
On the said Sheet of Drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and
Figure 2 a transverse vertical section of part of a building, shewing
arranged therein in plan and in end elevation respectively the appliances
or apparatus for the treatment of wool and woollen or similar fabrics in
the improved manner herein-before referred to.
Under our improved treatment the liquors used for the purpose of
scouring, milling, or fulling, and cleansing wool or woollen and similar
fabrics are obtained from the operations of scouring and cleansing yarn
and woven goods or fabrics, and in scouring these yarns or goods, which
are greasy, such scouring materials are employed as will readily combine
with the oil or grease contained in the yarn or fabrics, so as to form a
saponaceous cleansing liquor or detergent; and when the yarns or goods
are not greasy other suitable cleansing materials are used.

page_text: Referring now to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, the manner
whereby our improvements are carried out in practice is clearly shewn
and will be understood as follows:-
Under the arrangement shewn a yarn scouring mechanism A, a piece
scouring mechanism B, a milling apparatus C, and an arrangement
(Petrie's) of double wool scouring bowl D, are shewn as employed; each
of these mechanisms being represented in outline upon the Drawings,
this arrangement being selected for simplicity of description, amongst
others, obviously adapted to fulfil the same or practically similar objects,
and whilst the said Drawings shew and enable the whole operations
constituting our said Invention to be clearly set forth, yet it is to be
understood that any number of each of the said mechanisms or apparatus
may be employed under one system in conjunction with each other, that
is to say, the same scouring stock may be employed for any number of
such of the said mechanisms or apparatus combined, being primarily
produced in the yarn scouring machine A and the piece scouring
machine B, as herein-after set forth. After any given quantity of yarn
has been scoured by the scouring machine A the liquor employed for
the purpose and contained in the tank or cistern A', which forms part
of the said scouring machine is withdrawn therefrom, flowing freely
through openings a formed in the bottom of the tank or cistern A¹, and
provided with plug, valves, or other suitable stoppers, which may be
easily removed by the attendant when required, and as the liquor flows
from the said openings a it falls into a trough or channel E, and is con-
ducted thereby into a main or drain E', and flowing therethrough in the
direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 1, is discharged into the
tank F. The complete withdrawal of the liquor from the tank A¹
having been thus effected the said tank A¹ is then washed with clean
water, and the plug, valves, or stoppers are replaced in the openings a,
and the tank A¹ being again supplied with a fresh quantity of scouring
stock the scouring of the yarn is resumed, the product or used liquor
resulting from which operation is again discharged into the tank F in
the manner herein-before set forth, and the accumulated liquor or
scouring stock contained in the tank F is afterwards utilized for
succeeding operations in the manner now to be set forth. In connection
with the tank F a centrifugal pump G is employed (or any other suitable
lifting pump may be used), by means of which the stock previously

page_text: used for scouring the yarn or fabrics is forcibly agitated and mechanically
mixed, whilst a portion of it is lifted and discharged through the vertical
pipe H into the series of distributing pipes H³, H², H³, H*. Near one end
of the distributing pipe H³ a vertical branch pipe I is situated, provided
with a stop-cock I', through which the scouring stock is allowed to
flow at any required time and in any desired quantity, and is discharged
through the nozzle pipe I² into the box or cistern of the piece washing
or scouring apparatus B, to be there employed in the scouring of the
picce goods or cloth, when having been so used for the length of time
desired it is withdrawn therefrom through the side spout 6 in the manner
heretofore adopted with the usual piece scouring process into a hopper-
shaped pipe or receptacle c, whence it flows into the main or drain K,
and flowing therein in the direction indicated by the arrows, Figure 1,
is again discharged into the tank F, wherein becoming mixed with the
previous contents of the said tank it is still retained as scouring stock.
To the end 1 of the distributing pipe H³, and in open communication
therewith, another and smaller distributing pipe d is attached, which is
provided with a branch pipe & and stop valve e, through which the
scouring stock is allowed to flow, the said stock passing through a pipe e¹
into the milling or fulling apparatus C, to be there employed in the
milling and cleansing process; it is thereafter discharged through a
spout finto a vertical pipe f', whence it falls and flows into the main K,
and thence onwards into the tank F, and becomes part of the scouring
stock as before.
When yarns do not require to be scoured a scouring stock may be
prepared from suitable ingredients to begin with, and other liquors or
ingredients may also be used when necessary along with the scouring
stock for any of the processes described.
To the distributing pipe H', branch pipes g and g¹, provided with stop
valves and h¹ are attached, and situated as shown above the double
wool scouring bowl D, from which the scouring stock is discharged
through the nozzle pipes i and into the said wool scouring bowls D, D,
when required, and in the desired quantity, the stop valves h and h¹
being furnished for the purpose of allowing or preventing the passage
of scouring stock as requisite, and after having been employed in
cleansing or scouring the wool the scouring stock is withdrawn from
the bowl D through openings k and ³ in the bottom thereof, provided

page_text: with plug valves or other suitable stoppers, which when removed allow
the now foul scouring stock to flow freely through the said openings k
and ³, and fall into a main drain L, through which it is conducted in
the direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 1, and finally discharged
into an adjacently situated tank or receptacle, not shewn upon the
Drawings, to be treated in the usual manner for making magma.
Having now described in succession the various operations to which
our improvements in the treatment of wool and woollen goods or similar
fabrics extend, and having set forth and shewn that the liquor resulting
from the process of scouring yarns or fabrics in the grease or otherwise
is under our improvement collected in a tank or receptacle as scouring
stock to be further used for the purposes of scouring, milling, or fulling
and cleansing piece goods or cloth, and also for washing or scouring wool,
and having further shewn and set forth that the scouring stock which
is employed for the purpose of scouring and milling or fulling and
cleansing piece goods or cloth is returned to the tank or receptacle to
be mixed with a similar liquid resulting from previous or subsequent
scouring of yarn or fabrics in the grease or otherwise, and again used
for the same operation or for wool scouring whilst the scouring stock
after having been employed in the process of wool or fabric scouring is
carried off to be treated for the purpose of making magma, yet it is to
be understood that the scouring stock resulting from the yarn scouring
and the piece goods or cloth scouring and milling or fulling and cleansing
processes, and collected in the tank or receptacle as herein-before set
forth, may be, if found desirable, employed in a limited degree for the
yarn scouring process in conjunction with fresh or clean liquor, and for
that purpose we have attached a branch pipe L' to the distributing
pipe H*, with its outer extremity situated above the wool scouring
apparatus A, and directed downwards as more particularly seen at
Figure 2, provided with a stop valve 1, by means of which the scouring
stock may be allowed to flow into the tank or cistern A¹ of the scouring
apparatus A when desired, and in the required quantity to be mixed with
the fresh scouring liquid.
Besides the various purposes herein-before set forth for which the
scouring stock collected in the tank or receptacle is employed, and which
form the principal features of our Invention, there are other minor pur-
poses for which it may be used, for example, it may constitute in whole

page_text: or part the liquor supplied to the extractors or centrifugal machines
employed in connection with the washing and dyeing of yarns, and
for this purpose a branch pipe m is attached to the vertical distributing
pipe H, which is provided with a stop valve m¹, by means of which a
portion of the scouring stock may be allowed to flow through when
required and be discharged by the flexible pipe n into the extractor or
centrifugal apparatus M, adjacently situated as shewn at Figure 1. In
like manner a portion of the scouring stock may be drawn from the
end o of the distributing pipe d, when required by means of the stop
valve o¹, connected with the branch pipe p, and discharged through the
flexib le pipep¹ into either of the heating tanks N or N¹ to be there
heated by mixture with hot water or by steam, and used for any purpose
that may occur, and finally returned to the stock tank. In the interior
of the stock tank F we prefer to construct a wall or partition O sur-
rounding the suction pipe G¹ of the pump G, and at one side of the
said wall or partition O an opening 9 is formed through which the
scouring stock is allowed to flow to the suction pipe G. The said
opening q may if found necessary be covered with a grating or per-
forated plate or wire netting to act as a filter in preventing sand, mud,
or other dirt from passing through and injuriously affecting the action
of the pump. By arranging the opening 9 at the lower edge of the wall
or partition O the light froth and flocks which accumulate and float
upon the surface of the scouring stock consequent upon the nature of
the said stock and its continual agitation are also prevented from passing
into the suction pipe G, and a ventilating chimney P is erected over
and in communication with the tank F, into which the said froth may
either rise or be partially dispelled by means of the air admitted thereby,
or instead of the chimney described we construct one side of the tank F
or a portion thereof a few inches lower than the other sides which allows
the froth and flocks to flow out into a waste water drain or conduit.
«
It is also to be understood that a scouring stock," applicable to the
purposes hercin-before set forth, and other similar uses may be obtained
by collecting and utilizing the waste liquors flowing from cleansing and
washing for domestic and other purposes.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be
used or practically carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion

page_text: that what we consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
First. The collection and preservation in a suitable tank of the
scouring materials and liquors obtained after the first and primary use
thereof, to constitute a "scouring stock," for further use in the various
processes of scouring and cleansing wool and yarns, for scouring, milling,
or fulling, and cleansing woollen cloths, tweeds, and other similar goods,
and also the further collection and preservation of the "scouring stock"
by returning it into the tank from any of the machines or apparatus in
which it has been used, but by which use its scouring and cleansing pro-
perties have not been exhausted substantially as herein-before described.
Second. The utilization of the said "scouring stock," in the scouring
of wool and yarns, and in the scouring, milling, fulling, and cleansing
of woollen cloths, tweeds, and other similar goods, as herein-before
described.
"
Third. The mechanical mixing of the scouring stock and the
circulation and distribution of the same, by means of a centrifugal pump
(or its mechanical equivalent) by which a supply of the "scouring stock"
in a proper condition is at once obtained where it is required substantially
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, wo, the said Adam Lees Cochrane, Archibald
Cochrane, and Walter Cochrane, have hereunto sct our hands
and scals, this Eighth day of August One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one.