IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING PRINTED FABRICS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Mather, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and
Platt, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING PRINTED FABRICS."
Sealed the 7th April 1876, and dated the 21st January 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Mather at the Office
of the Commissioners' of Patents on the 21st January 1876.
"
WILLIAM MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of Salford, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineeer. IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING
PRINTED FABRICS."
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the apparatus for which
Letters Patent were granted to me in conjunction with Honoré François Adolphe
Cordillot, on the 9th day of February 1875, No. 479.
In the Specification of the said Patent the apparatus described consists of a
closed chamber with a door at each end, and with a series of waggons to receive
the fabrics, the said waggons running on rails on the floor of the closed steaming
chamber, and being discharged at intervals when the process is completed. Now
my Invention consists in dispensing with the waggons and their accessories above
referred to, and making the supply and discharge of the fabrics continuous and self-
acting. To accomplish this the pieces of fabric are piled on to a "creeper" which
may be formed either by an endless belt of blanket or other suitable material or by
placing a series of metal or wood rollers almost touching each other along the
bottom of the steaming chamber. These rollers are made to move slowly and
simultaneously by worms and wheels or other equivalents, and cause the fabrics to
accumulate into a pile; the latter is carried gradually to the end of the chamber
whence the fabric passes from the pile out of the chamber continuously. From end
to end of the chamber are fixed rails of metal or wood to prevent the pile of fabrics
falling out of shape either to the right or left. The rollers are placed slightly apart
to enable the steam to penetrate up to the fabric as it lies in bulk. The rollers may
be covered with an endless belt of coarse cloth or blanket. The rails on each side
may be formed of piping and filled with steam to prevent condensation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Mather in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th July
1870.
WILLIAM MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of Salford, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING
PRINTED FABRICS."
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the apparatus for which
Letters Patent were granted to me in conjunction with Honoré François Adolphe
Cordillot, on the 9th day of February 1875, Number 479.
In the Specification of the said Patent the apparatus described consists of a closed
steaming chamber with a door at each end and with a series of waggons to receive
the fabrics, the said waggons running on rails on the floor of the closed steaming
chamber, and being discharged at intervals when the process is completed. Now
my Invention consists in dispensing with the waggons and their accessories above
referred to, and making the supply, and discharge the fabrics continuous and self-
acting.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will proceed to
describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional
elevation, and Fig. 2, a transverse section of a steaming chamber to which my
improvements are applied.
a; a, are the walls of the chamber which is provided with a roof formed by the
steam jacket connected by the side pipes c, c, to the perforated pipe d near the
floor. The fabric is fed into the steaming chamber over the guide roller or tube h
under the steam chest i, and it is carried around the rollers which are driven by
straps and pulleys or other equivalents. At the feeding and delivering end of the
chamber is the projecting roof m connected to the ventilating shaft n for carrying
off the steam, and there are windows near the bottom of the chamber for the
attendant to watch the progress of the work,
All the parts above enumerated are made as usual or in the manner described in
the Specification of Cordillot and Mather's Patent above referred to. Above the
perforated pipe d I place a series of metal or wood rollers c, c, which are turned
slowly and simultaneously round in the direction of the arrows so as to carry the
fabric that accumulates upon them towards the delivering end of the chamber. The
rollers c are driven by worms on the side shaft f gearing into wheels on the axles of
the rollers, and the side shaft is driven by the friction disc y; this disc gives motion
to a friction pulley which can be moved to and fro on the top shaft which transmits
motion to the side shaft f, as shewn in the Drawing, or the rollers e may be driven
in any other convenient manner. Between the last roller c and the end of tho
steaming chamber is the curved plate e¹ to guide the fabrics upwards, and from end
to end of the chamber are fixed the copper pipes or other rails c² to prevent the
pile of fabric falling out of shape.
When the apparatus is in operation the printed fabric descending from the last
roller falls upon the rollers é, and as these rollers revolvo very slowly the fabric
accumulates thereon in the form of a pile which is gradually carried towards the
delivering end of the chamber by the motion of the rollers c. During the traverse
of the fabric the steam ascending between the rollers e penetrates the fabric and
fills the chamber, and as the speed of the rollers can be varied by moving the
friction pulley along the face of the disc g, it is evident that the time required for
traversing the pile of fabric from one end of the steaming chamber to the other
can be regulated according to the colours employed in printing.
The fabric when steamed is carried upwards from the end of the pile over suitable
guide rollers and plaited down at t, or it is otherwise disposed of. By this means
the supply and discharge of the fabric to and from the steaming chamber is con-
tinuous and self-acting, and in other respects the apparatus is similar to and acts in
the same manner as that described in the Patent above referred to.

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described a convenient mode
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to limit
myself to the details given, as a "creeper "formed of an endless belt of blanket or
other suitable material may be used instead of the series of rollers c, and the details
may be otherwise varied, and I claim, causing the fabric to accumulate on a moving
surface in the steaming chamber through which it is traversed, and from which it
is continuously discharged in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mather, have hereto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of July, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
W. MATHER. (LS.)