AN IMPROVED MODE AND APPARATUS FOR DRESSING AND FINISHING AND FOR IMPARTING LUSTRE TO YARN AND THREAD MADE OF SILK, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Rudolph Bodmer, of 2, Thavies Inn, in
the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MODE AND APPARATUS FOR DRESSING AND FINISHING AND FOR IMPARTING
LUSTRE TO YARN AND THREAD MADE OF SILK, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES."-A communication from abroad by Emanuel Bürgy and
Louis Guillemin, both of Bâle, in the Republic of Switzerland.
Sealed the 9th February 1864, and dated the 12th August 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Rudolph Bodmer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th August 1863.
I, LOUIS RUDOLPH BODMER, of 2, Thavies Inn, in the City of London,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MODE AND APPARATUS FOR DRESSING AND FINISHING AND
FOR IMPARTING LUSTRE TO YARN AND THREAD MADE OF SILK, COTTON, AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," (a communication from abroad by Emanuel
Bürgy and Louis Guillemin, both of Båle, in the Republic of Switzerland, to
be as follows:-
The said improvements are applicable to the dressing and finishing and
imparting gloss or lustre to all threads made of silk, cotton, and other fibrous
substances, and more especially to thread made of waste silk or floss silk,
which is thereby improved in appearance and quality, and much enhanced in

page_text: value. The yarn or thread to be operated upon is wound on bobbins which
are placed upon spindles or skewers ranged in rows on suitable frames. From
this frame the threads of the several bobbins pass to the dressing or lustring
machine, and guided by eyelets or other guides they enter the tank or trough
which reaches along the entire length of this machine, and which trough contains
a lustring solution or bath composed of gelatine, alcohol, and water. From this
bath the threads pass over a series of sponges to hollow metal plates or chests
forming part of the machine, and which are heated by passing steam through
them in the manner usual for such purposes.
By the contact with the sponges the threads are deprived of any surplus
moisture, and the friction of the threads against the heated metallic surface
whilst passing over it has the effect of giving them a smooth and glossy
surface or lustre. After leaving the surface of the steam chest the threads
pass to a winding machine, by which they are again wound upon suitable
bobbins or upon swifts. In place of heating the metallic plates or chests
with steam, it is also proposed to heat them by gas jets, for which purpose
branch pipes, to which a zig-zag or serpentine form is in preference given, are
made to reach from a main pipe underneath the metal plates.
Another modification of the steam chests consists in making them in the
form of cylinders, and passing the threads over one, two, or more heated
cylinders; and a further modification of the steam chests consists in imparting
motion to one, two, or more cylinders, whether heated or not heated, over
which the threads pass, for the purpose of increasing the friction or polishing
power.
Instead of gelatine as above described the dressing or lustring bath may be
made with albumen, glycerine, starch, gum, gluten, honey, or other suitable
substance, as already known and employed by finishers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Rudolph Bodmer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
RUDOLPH BODMER, of 2, Thavies Inn, Holborn, in the City of London,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of August, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Louis Rudolph Bodmer, Her special licence that I,
the said Louis Rudolph Bodmer, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Louis Rudolph Bodmer, my executors,
administrators, and 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE AND APPARATUS FOR
DRESSING AND FINISHING AND FOR IMPARTING LUSTRE TO YARN AND THREAD MADE
OF SILK, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," (a communication from abroad
by Emanuel Bürgy and Louis Guillemin, both of Bale, in the Republic of
Switzerland,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis
Rudolph Bodmer, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Rudolph Bodmer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
The said improvements are applicable to the dressing and finishing and
imparting gloss or lustre to all threads made of silk, cotton,.and other fibrous
substances, but more especially to yarn and thread made of wasto silk or floss
silk, which is much improved in appearance and quality by the lustring process,
and thereby enhanced in value. The yarn or thread to be operated upon. is
wound on bobbins which are placed upon spindles or skewers ranged in rows.
on suitable frames. From this frame the threads from the several bobbins.
pass through eyelets or other suitable guides to the dressing or lustring.
machine or apparatus entering first into a dish or tank reaching across one-
end of the apparatus, and which tank contains the lustring solution or bath.
Emerging again from the bath the threads pass over a row or rows of sponges.
or other suitable material placed over the bath, which sponges absorb any
superfluous moisture from the threads and allow it to flow back into the bath..
After leaving the sponges the threads passing again through eyelets or guides
are conducted over heated metal plates to the other end of the machine or

page_text: apparatus, from whence they pass to the bobbins of the winding frame. The
winding frame consists of a number of pulleys fixed upon a horizontal shaft to
which motion is imparted through suitable gearing. One, two, or more bobbins
with trunions guided by slots in suitable brackets rest with their flanges
upon the periphery of each pulley, and are driven by the friction or contact
upon the same. As the bobbins revolve, the threads are unwound from the
bobbins at the other end of the lustring machine, and drawn through the bath
and across the heated plates, by the contact against which latter the threads
become dried and polished or lastred. The metal plate of the lustring machine
may be made hollow or formed into steam chests similar to the steam chests
used for drying in printing machines and for other purposes. In place of
heating the plates by steam the Inventor also heats them by means of gas jets,
for which purpose he places a number of gas pipes of zig-zag or of serpentine
shape under the plate or plates, which in this instance are not formed into
closed chests, but are open at the bottom to admit the necessary amount of
air. The pipes are, according to the dimensions or length of the metal plate
or plates, connected with and supplied from one or more main pipes. Instead
of or in combination with the steam chests or plates as described, the
Inventor uses cylinders of iron or other metal which are heated with steam
in the manner already known; such cylinder or cylinders may remain
stationary or without rotary motion, or rotary motion may be given to
them, and according to the extent of surface of such cylinder with which
the thread is brought in contact, and according to the superficial speed
of the cylinders, the contact and friction of the thread against the heated
metallic surface will be less or more as the nature of the thread under
operation may render desirable or necessary. If several revolving cylinders
are used, it is not necessary that they should all have the same super-
ficial velocity, but they should revolvo in the same direction, and if used
in conjunction with stationary plates or cylinders, the revolving cylinders are
made to turn in a contrary direction to that of the thread. For heavier
yarns and threads, and when the thread is subjected to much friction, the
unwinding of the unpolished thread and the winding of the finished or lustred
thread is regulated by suitable machinery. Gelatine, albumen, glycerine, gum,
gluten, honey, or other suitable substances, as already known to and employed
by finishers, may be used for forming the dressing or lustring bath.
In order that the said Invention may be more readily understood and
carried into effect, I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon.

page_text: Fig. 1 represents a front elevation, and Fig. 2 a side elevation of the
frame on which the bobbins with the thread which is to be operated upon are
placed; a, a, representing the bobbins.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. 4 a ground plan of the lustring apparatus
with steam chests. The threads 6 marked in red pass from the bobbins a in
Fig. 2 through the eyelets c in Fig. 3 to the lustring bath d, where the thread
passes under the glass rod e and over the sponges f, fixed between the two
long bars g, and which sponges, as above described, deprive the thread of its
surplus moisture, and prevent its reaching the steam chest h whilst too wet.
The liquid taken from the thread and absorbed by the sponges is allowed to
flow back into the bath or is conducted away by a trough. The steam enters
through the pipe i, passing through and warming the dressing solution, to the
larger pipe of the steam chest h, and at the other end of the steam chest
it passes through the connecting pipe to the second chest m, and issues
finally from the apparatus through the pipe n. The thread as will be seen
passes over the whole length of the two steam chests h and m, and on leaving
the end of the chest m passes to the winding machine, where it is wound
on suitable bobbins as already described. The steam chests and pipes are
fitted with the usual apparatus, not shown in the Drawing, for drawing off
the water resulting from condensation.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation in section of part of a lustring apparatus in which
the metal plate or plates are heated by gas jets instead of by steam.
Fig. 6 is a ground plan of the same apparatus with the top of the plate
removed, and Fig. 7 is a vertical section through line x, y, of Fig. 5.
h&m are the plates over which the threads pass after leaving the bath
with dressing solution; o are the main pipes through which the gas enters,
and p are the branch pipes to which a zig-zag or serpentine shape is given,
and which are provided with the necessary number of small jets or orifices, as
represented by dots. The plates & m are open at the bottom, and they
rest with their sides upon wooden sleepers 9 placed upon a form or table in
a similar way as the steam chests shown in Fig. 3 & 4. The gas pipes p
are supported on angle irons r secured to the wooden sleepers q. The bath
(not shewn in the Drawing) in connection with this apparatus is made in a
similar manner to the one shown in Figs. 3 & 4, and it is heated by gas jets
in the same manner as the plates h & m. In place of or in conjunction with
the plates h&m, shewn in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7, a cylinder or cylinders heated
by steam may be used as already described.
Having now described the nature of the Invention which has been commu-
nicated to me, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine or restrict

page_text: myself to the precise arrangements and details shewn in the Drawing and above
described; but what I do claim as the Invention to be secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the mode of dressing,
finishing, and imparting lustre to yarn, twist, and thread of silk, cotton, wool,
or other fibrous material, by passing the same through a dressing or lustring
bath, and afterwards drying and finishing the same by contact with and friction
against heated metallic surfaces, and also the apparatus or machinery
employed, in the manner and for the purposes substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, tho said Louis Rudolph Bodmer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.