IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BLEACHING KIERS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Ashcroft, of Halliwell, near Bolton, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
BLEACHING KIERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION loft by the said James Ashcroft at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd December 1876.
JAMES ASHCROFT, of Halliwell, near Boltou, in the County of Lancaster.
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BLEACHING KIERS."
"IM-
This Invention relates partly to kiers used for bleaching goods, such as require
the headings to remain outside the kier during the bleaching operation, and partly
to kiers used for bleaching other goods.
In bleaching goods such as muslins with gold headings and other goods with
colored headings which will not bear bleaching it has been usual to leave the cover
off the kier and to allow the headings to hang over the edge.
To obviate the necessity for leaving the kier open 1 form two openings in the
opposite sides of the kier at the top, and when placing the goods in the kier I pass
the headings out through these openings. Over the headings are placed blocks of
wood of suitable form, and above these a plate of iron furnished with a groove in
the edge. This plate of iron is then screwed down by means of bolts until it is
level with the top of the kier, forcing down the wood block and holding the
headings firmly between it and the bottom of the opening. The groove in the edge
of the plate is now level with the sliding cover of the kier which may be then
slipped into the groove and closed in the ordinary manner. The screw bolts are
enclosed in grooved bars so as to prevent them from coming into contact with the
goods. The sides and bottom of the openings are also made with grooves, so that
when it is not required to leave the headings outside the kiers, sliding plates or
shutters may be lowered into the groove so as to close the openings entirely.
Another part of my Invention consists of an arrangement applied to the safety
valve to shut off the steain at any given pressure. At the bottom of the pipe
leading to the safety valve I have a smaller valve calculated to lift at a lower
pressure (say, at about half a pound less to the square inch). The spindle of this
valve works through a perforated plate, and when the steam in the kier has reached
477

page_text: a pressure half a pound below that at which the safety valve would blow off, it lifts
this small valve, and the steam thus liberated lifts a cup-shaped valve above it, the
rod of which passes out steam-tight through the rod of the safety valve, and is
attached at its upper end to one end of a lever. This lever is supported on a
fulcrum at the centre, and its other end is connected by a slotted link to the key of
a tap in the steam pipe which admits steam to the kier, the result of which
arrangment is that as soon as the steam lifts the smaller valve, its rod causes the
lever to close the steam tap partially, so as to reduce the amount admitted. This
amount may be regulated by altering the length of the link or by engaging the key
of the tap in a different slot.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
Alice Ashcroft, of Halliwell, near Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Widow and Administratrix of the late James Ashcroft, of Halliwell, near
Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, who died on the Sixth day of June 1877,
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd June 1877.
ALICE ASHCROFT, of Halliwell, near Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Widow
and Administratrix of the late James Ashcroft, of Halliwell, near Bolton, in the
County of Lancaster, who died on the Sixth day of June 1877. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF BLEACHING KIERS."
This Invention relates to kiers used for bleaching goods, such as require the
headings to remain outside the kier during the bleaching operation.
In bleaching goods such as muslins with gold headings and other goods with
colored headings which will not bear bleaching, it has been usual to leave the cover
off the kier, and to allow the headings to hang over the edge.
The object of this Invention is to bleach such goods in a closed kier without
injury to the headings.
Such being the nature and object of the said Invention, I will now proceed to
describe in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be clearly understood,
I have annexed hereunto two Sheets of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in
the following explanation thereof.
In Sheet 1 of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a side view; Fig. 2, a vertical section;
Fig. 3, a plan view (closed); and Fig. 4, a similar view (opened) of the upper part
of a bleaching kier constructed according to the said Invention.
To obviate the necessity for leaving the kier open, two openings a, a, are formed
in the opposite sides b, b, of the kier at the top, and when placing the goods in the
kier the headings are passed out through these openings. The headings are placed so
as to hang over blocks of wood c, c, attached to plates d, d, of iron sliding in grooves
in the edge of the opening; these plates d, d, are then screwed up by means of the
worm gearing e, e, until they are level with the top of the kier, forcing up the wood
blocks c, c, and holding the headings firinly between them and the top of the
openings. The cover of the kier is now closed by turning it on its axis, and is
screwed down steam-tight by means of screw bolts. The sliding plates d, d, are
made of such a depth, that when it is not required to leave the headings outside, the
said sliding plates or shutters may be raised up to the top so as to close the openings
entirely.
I may here observe that it will be evident that the sliding plates or shutters may
be made to close downwards as described in the Provisional Specification, but it has
been found more convenient in practice to make them to close upwards, as shown
in Sheet 1 of the annexed Drawings.
In Sheet 2 of the Drawings Fig. 5 is a vertical section, and Fig. 6 a plan view
showing a modification of the Invention, wherein the openings a, a, are made in the

page_text: sides of the top of the kier instead of at the top of the sides, as in Sheet 1. In this
arrangement the openings a, a, serve for the introduction of the goods as well as
for leaving room for the headings to hang out of the kier during the bleaching of
the goods, and the sliding plates d, d, also serve the double purpose of door and
sliding plate. In this case the sliding plates d, d, are provided with toothed
racks ff, in gear with spur pinions g, g, keyed upon shafts h, h, each shaft being
provided with a hand wheel or with a winch i, i, and a ratchet wheel and
catch k, k.
With regard to the second part of the Invention as described in the Provisional
Specification, I wish to remark that my late husband made no communication to
me, and I cannot find that he made any models or Drawings of the same, and
therefore I do not wish to lay any claim to this part of the Invention.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention, together with
the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as the Invention of the said James
Ashcroft (deceased), the construction of closed bleaching, kiers, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated by the annexed Drawings, in such a manner
that the goods may be bleached in such closed kiers whilst the headings remain
outside, the said headings passing out of the kier through steam-tight openings in
sides or top of the kier, or both.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alice Ashcroft, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.