Improv Apparatus S Fabrics, and other Materials.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 30th Oct., 1886.
Complete Accepted, 5th Apr., 1887. .
Improv Apparatus
S
Fabrics, and other Materials.
I, HENRY WILSON, of the Phoenix Works, Stockton-on-Tees, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
The principle upon which this Invention is founded is that of atmospheric attenuation,
by which substances subject to its influence are deprived of their moisture at lower
temperatures than are possible at ordinary atmospheric pressure, and the applications
of the principle are mainly by constructing the Drying Rooms air-tight and applying
the exhaust of a powerful Air Pump, for the purpose of producing attenuation, or
removal of the pressure of the atmosphere from the substance, and so facilitate the
extraction of what moisture is contained therein, in contradistinction to the ordinary
methods of applying heat to vaporise such moisture before natural or artificial draught
can remove such vapor from the fibres of the substance.
manner.
The first part of this Invention consists of an Air Pump, constructed in the following
Two diaphragms containing the valve boxes suitable for the exhaust and
pressure valves (which are by preference made of india rubber or other suitable
material, or may be metal valves of the ordinary mushroom kind) are connected at the
corners by angle irons which form the frame of the Pump, the diaphragms being by
preference square, but I do not confine myself to this shape or any other, round, oblong
or any convenient shape will do. On the upper part of the angle iron frame is placed
the steam cylinder, the piston rod of which is connected to the Air Pump rod and
drives it direct; an ordinary slot link or V shaped crosshead with connecting rod and
crank controlls the action. This arrangement is varied to suit requirements, the
Pump may be inverted with the steam cylinder underneath, or it may be horizontal ;
and, in cases where the steam cylinder is dispensed with, the cranks baft is driven by a
pulley and belt, the arrangement of the Pump being the same in all cases, excepting
where it is essential to have a perfectly steady blast, in which case the Pump is made
with strong glass partitions in it, dividing it into two or more compartments each
having a seperate plunger or bucket, and the cranks are so arranged that there is no
intermission in the exhaust or delivery-in this case the body or air chest of the Pump

page_text: is made oblong so that each division forms a square, the diaphragms being constructed
of the required shape and the valves arranged the same way as in the single Pump,
which by preference is double-actioned so that the suction and delivery valves are
placed at each end of the chamber. The sides of the Pump chamber are by preference
formed of slabs of plate glass, or they may be of wood, metal or any other suitable
material. These are kept in position by frames bolted to the angle iron frames and
diaphragms and are by preference protected from contact with themetal surfaces by
cushions of paper, india rubber or other suitable material. The bucket or plunger
of the Pump is by preference made of wood crossed and sheeted with iron, having
packing of elastic material round the edge, by preference deerskin with the fur outside,
to form the rubbing media upon the glass sides, or I sometimes use fine brushes let
into recesses in the bucket and kept in position by springs at the back.
This Air Pump is connected in any convenient way, by means of pipes of wood or
metal, with the upper part of the interior of the Room, Case, or Shed, in or through
which the substances to be dried are placed or passes, which forms the second part of
this Invention:
Where the substance to be dried is placed in the Room for a given time, the Room is
made air tight, the doors and windows having external flaps to close with external
pressure; the Air Pump is set to work and produces atmospheric attenuation and
consequent lowering of temperature, by which means the pores and fibres of the
substance are relaxed and the moisture escapes and is drawn away by the continued
action of the Air Pump, the discharge from which may be utilised in any manner for
various purposes, such as pressure combustion in steam boilers, blowing fires and
the like.
A series of Pipes of suitable form are placed on the ground line of the Drying Room,
through which Pipes exhaust steam or any other low-heating power passes.
When the substance to be dried, such as cloth, grain and like substances, are passing
continuously through the Drying Room or Case, provision is made by elastic tongues
to prevent the ingress of atmospheric pressure and consequent reduction of
attenuation.
My claim is for extracting moisture from timber, grain, textile fabrics and fibrous
and plastic materials, by atmospheric attenuation combined with heat as described.
Dated this 2nd day of September 1886.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Timber, Grain, Textile
Fabrics, and other Materials.
I, HENRY WILSON of the Phoenix Works, Stockton-on-Tees, in the County of
Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for improvements in
apparatus for drying various substances, and in what manner. the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The principle upon which this invention is founded is that of atmospheric attenuation,
by which substances subject to its influence are deprived of their moisture at lower
temperatures than are possible at ordinary atmospheric pressure, and the applications
of the principle are mainly by constructing the Drying Rooms air-tight, and applying
the exhaust of a powerful Air Pump, for the purpose of producing attenuation, or
removal of the pressure of the atmosphere from the substance, and so facilitate the
extraction of what moisture is contained therein, in contradistinction to the ordinary
methods of applying heat to vaporise such moisture before natural or artificial draught
can remove such vapor from the fibres of the substance.
Two drawings accompany this Specification.
Drawing No.
shews the Air Pump which forms the first part of this Invention,
and which is constructed in the following manner :-two diaphragms A, containing
the valve boxes B, suitable for the exhaust and pressure valves C (which are by
preference made of india rubber or other suitable material-or which may be metal
valves of the ordinary mushroom kind), are connected at the corners by angle irons M,
which form the frame of the Pump, the diaphragms being by preference square, but I
do not confine myself to this shape as any other-round, oblong or any convenient
shape will do. On the upper part of the angle iron frame M is placed the steam
cylinder D, the piston rod E of which is connected to the Air Pump rod F and drives
it direct, an ordinary slot link G, or V-shaped crosshead with connecting rod and
crank H controls the action.
This arrangement is varied to suit requirements; the Pump may be inverted with
the steam cylinder underneath; or it may be horizontal; and in cases where the
steam cylinder is dispensed with, the crank shaft I is driven by a pulley and belt; the
arrangement of the Pump being the same in all cases except where it is essential to
have a perfectly steady blast, in which case the Pump is made with strong glass
partitions in it, dividing it into two or more compartments, each having a seperate
plunger or bucket K, and the cranks so arranged that there is no intermission in the
exhaust or delivery-in this case the body or air chest L of the Pump is made oblong,
so that each division forms a square, the diaphgrams being constructed of the required
shape, and the valves arranged the same way as in the single Pump, which by
preference is double-actioned, the suction and delivery valves being placed at each
end of the chamber.

page_text: The sides of the Pump chamber are by preference formed of slabs of plate glass, or
they may be of wood, metal, or any other suitable material. These are kept in position
by frames bolted to the angle iron framing M and the diaphragms A, and are by
preference protected from contact with the metal surfaces by cushions of paper, india
rubber, or other suitable material. The bucket or plunger K of the Pump is by
preference made of wood, crossed and sheeted with iron, having a packing of elastic
material round the edge (by preference_deerskin with the fur outside) to form the
rubbing media upon the glass sides; or I sometimes use fine brushes let into recesses
in the bucket and kept in position by springs at the back.
Having described the construction of the first and primary part of this Invention,
I will now describe its application to drying operations.
Drawing No. 2 shews the Air Pump N, connected to a Drying Room, Case or
Shed O (in or through which the substances to be dried are placed or pass) by means
of the suction pipe P, which is formed of wood, metal or other suitable material.
Where the substance to be dried is placed in the Room for a given time, the Room is
made air-tight, the doors and windows having external flaps to close with external
pressure; the Air Pump is set to work and produces atmospheric attenuation and con-
sequent lowering of temperature in the Room, by which means the pores and fibres of
the substance are relaxed and the moisture escapes and is drawn away by the continued
action of the Pump, the discharge from which may be utilized in any manner
for various purposes, such as pressure combustion in steam boilers, blowing fires and
the like.
As a moderate degree of heat is in many cases beneficial, a series of Pipes or
Heaters Q, of any suitable form, may be placed on the ground line of the Drying
Room, through which Pipes or Heaters the exhaust from steam or gas engines may
pass. Flues from fires or furnaces may also be used for this purpose..
Where the substances to be dried, such as cloth, grain, and the like are passing con-
tinuously through the Drying Room, provision is made by means of elastic tongues
to prevent the ingress of atmospheric pressure and consequent reduction of
attenuation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. Improvements in the design, arrangements and construction of Machinery for
exhausting air, gas and like fluids, as described, and shewn in Drawing No. 1.
2nd. The application of the exhausting power of my Invention to promote atmo-
spheric attenuation and vacuunt, for the purpose of extracting moisture from timber,
grain, wool, silk,and other fibrous, and textile materials, as described, and shewn in
Drawing No. 2.