IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESSES OF SINGEING AND DRESSING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Louis Ambroise Huillard, of Paris, Manu-
facturing Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESSES
OF SINGEING AND DRESSING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE
SAME"!
Sealed the 25th March 1856, and dated the 26th January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Louis Ambroise
Huillard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th January 1856.
I, JEAN LOUIS AMBROISE HUILLARD, of Paris, Manufacturing Chemist,..
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROCESSES OF SINGEING AND DRESSING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN APPARATUS. FOR
THE SAME," to be as follows:-
My improvement in singeing textile fabrics consists in the employment of
superheated steam for that purpose, and the apparatus which I prefer for this
purpose consists of a cylindrical wrought-iron vessel, having a cylindrical fire
box or furnace running throughout its length. The steam is admitted into
the aunular space between the fire box, and the outer cylinder, and is super-
heated by the fire in the furnace. At each side of the cylinder and parallel to
the same is mounted a roller, upon one of which the fabric is wound, and
then passing over, and pressing upon the outer cylinder, it is then atta hed
Price 81

page_text: to the other roller, and is then wound off from one to the other backward,
and forward until the singeing is completed. The apparatus is furnished
with a thermometer or pyrometer. to indicate the heat of the steam, and
with suitable valves, as also with a purifier or receiver, through which the
steam passes from the generator to the heating chamber. My improvements
in the process of dressing textile fabrics consist,-
Firstly, in the employment of cyanides, and especially the cyanides of zinc
and tin, (in lieu of gum, starch, feculi, size, &c.) and of certain metallic
solutions, the employment of which has rather been attempted than realized,
but which is now rendered practicable, in a manufacturing point of view,
by the employment of superheated steam acting directly by contact with
the vessel containing it upon the tissue impregnated with the metallic
solution, which thereby becomes oxidized.
Secondly, in the application to the same dressings of silex, which becomes
vitrified under the action of the superheated steam.
Thirdly, in the preparation of a soluble silicate, called siliceous paste,
which is brought into such state by treating silex with alkaline solutions,
which paste becomes vitrified in the filaments of the tissue by the action
of superheated steam.
Fourthly, in a mode of applying superheated steam to the fixing of the
dressings and vitritying the silicious matters. Intheapparatus which I prefer
to employ for applying the dressings, the tissue is passed between a series of
rollers placed in the bath containing the dressing, which is thereby distributed
in an uniform and equal manner, penetrating the texture. On leaving the
bath the tissue is passed between two squeezing rollers, and thence over a
cylinder or roller heated by ordinary steam, which effects a partial drying; it
then passes between two pressing rollers, the upper one of which is coated with
"gutta percha to soften the pressure upon the tissue, whereby the dressing
becomes incorporated with the tissue; thence it passes over a second roller or
cylinder heated by ordinary steam, which effects a further partial drying,
which leaves it damp but not wet, and in this condition it is wound upon a
beam roller and removed to the singeing apparatus, where, by the action of the
superheated steam, the dressing is fixed, and the metallic substances oxidized,
and the silicious matter vitrified. Stretching roilers are employed in the above
apparatus to keep the tissue stretched in the direction of its length. The
"improved processes of singeing and dressing, and the improved apparatus for
effecting the same, may be applied independently of each other; that is to say,
the singeing process may be applied to stuffs to which any of the ordinary
dressings may be applied, and the improved dressings may be applied to stuffs

page_text: singed in the ordinary way, and the improved dressing apparatus may be
employed in the application of the ordinary dressings, and the improved
dressings may also be applied to the yarn before weaving it into tissue.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Louis Ambroise Huillard in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
LOUIS AMBROISE HUILLARD, of Paris, Manufacturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Jean Louis Ambroise Huillard, Her special licence, that I, the said
Jan Louis Ambroise Huillard, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Jean Louis Ambroise Huillard, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESSES OF SINGEING AND
DRESSING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Jean Louis Ambroise Huillard,myexecutors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jean Louis Ambroise Huillard, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The nature of my Invention and the manner of carrying the same into
effect are ascertained and set forth in and by the following description
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon:-
My improvement in the process of singeing textile fabrics consists in the
...

page_text: application of superheated steam to that purpose, by passing such fabrics over
a metallic surface heated by superheated steam; and the improved singeing
apparatus (which is also applicable in my improvements in dressing fabrics)
is shewn in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 1 being an elevation of the apparatus,
and Figure 2 a horizontal section.
a, a¹, is the singeing vessel, composed of two semi-cylindrical plates of iron
connected together at their sides and ends, so as to form a vessel of a semi-
anuular section a¹¹ for the superheated steam to circulate in. It is mounted
over the fire-place b, and that portion of the exterior part a with which the
fabrics come in contact is made as smooth as possible. c is a tube placed
within the fire-place. The steam from the purifier enters this tube by the
cock cl, and passes out by the pipe c" into the vessel a, a¹, being to a certain
extent superheated in its passage. It is further superheated in its passage
through the vessel a, a', from which it passes out by the pipe c11. d is a safety
valve, and d¹, d', are two snift valves; e is the dial of a pyrometer for shewing
the temperature of the superheated steam, the index being acted upon by
inetallic rods placed within the steam and attached at one end only to the
singeing vessel, so as to shew by their contraction and expansion the tempera-
ture of the steam; f is the purifier, into which the steam from the boiler or
generator enters by the pipe f and the cock 11, leaving it by the cock fland
pipe f to enter the tube c. The steam being introduced at the lower part of
the purifier by means of the curved pipe, and leaving the purifier at the top by
the cock f, any water of condensation or any impurities passing over with the
steain will fall to the bottom, from which they may be drawn off bythe cock g.
There is also a manhole at g', by which the purifier may be cleaned at the end
of each operation. h, h, are side frames supporting parts of the apparatus;
is a roller, round which is wound the fabric m, which is to be singed or
dressed. The fabric passes over the surface a of the superheated steam vessel,
and thence on to the roller , and is alternately wound off the one roller and
on to the other until the singeing or dressing is completed. n, n, are two
rollers for increasing or diminishing the extent of surface of the fabric in contact
with the heating surface a; they are supported by levers n', n', which are held
in any determined position by pegs passing through holes in the arcs n¹¹,n;
o, o, are blades or swords, attached to the side frames to act upon the under
side of the fabric at each of its passages over the heated surface of the singeing
vessel to remove the down produced by the singeing; P, p, p, is a small branch
pipe proceeding from the purifier to convey the steam to the pipes p'p', which
are placed beneath the fabric, and are pierced with holes to moisten the fabric,
in order to preventits being accidentallyburned by the actionof thesuperheated

page_text: steam on the singeing plate; and p, p, are cocks for regulating the flow of
steam into the pipes p¹, p¹. My improvements in dressing textile fabrics
consist,―
Firstly, in the employment of metallic cyanides, preferably the cyanides of
zinc or tin,as dressings for fabrics, in lieu of gum, starch, size,&c., the cyanides
being fixed in the fabric by passing the fabrics over a vessel which super-
heated steam circulates, whereby the metallic dressings become oxidized.
Secondly, in the employment in like manner of a siliceous dressing for
fabrics, which dressing is fixed in the fabrics by exposing the fabrics to the
action of superheated steam, as in the case of the cyanides, whereby the
dressing becomes vitrified. This dressing I make from a silicate, which I
term "paste of silex," and which I prepare as follows:-I mix three parts of
very pure and white sand with two parts of pure and dry soda, and to the
mixture I add vegetable charcoal in powder in the proportion of of the
weight of the soda. The whole is very thoroughly mixed together, and then
placed in a crucible of refractory earth, which is not quite filled, and the lid is
put on. The crucible is then placed in a reverberating furnace, and gradually
heated for four or five hours; at the end of this time, the materials being
vitrified and nearly quite white, are poured on to a sheet of wrought iron.
When this vitreous mass is cold, it is pounded in an iron mortar and passed
through a hair sieve. The powder is then boiled for two or three hours in
five to six parts of pure water, taking care to stir it constantly, to prevent the
bottom of the boiler being burnt. When nearly the whole of the powder is
dissolved, it is left to rest for an hour or two, and is then decanted, and the
decanted liquor is evaporated as quickly as possible to nearly the consistence
of a syrup, which is poured, whilst warm, into earthen or glass vessels, which
are kept stopped. This liquid constitutes a silicate of soda or soluble liquid
glass. To obtain the paste of silex, I pour gradually into this liquid
hydrochloric acid slightly diluted with water, whereupon a plentiful gela-
tinous precipitate is formed, which is left to settle for some time; a little
cold water is then added to dilute it, and to bring it to the consistence of a
liquid paste, which is then thrown upon a filter and repeatedly washed with
a little cold water, until the water which runs off contains neither chloride of
soda nor excess of acid. This paste is then left to drain, and is kept in earthen
vessels. Such is the paste of silex which I employ to form a silicious dressing
by the aid of superheated steam, as before explained, and this paste is perfectly
neuter. The silicate of soda or soluble glass from which it is obtained might,
it is true, be employed in some cases, but as it is alkaline it would not suit
for fabrics of all colors, whilst the paste of silex is free from this objection.

page_text: Thirdly, in fixing the dressings by means of superheated steam acting upon
the fabrics through any convenient apparatus, but preferably by means of my
improved singeing apparatus, before described; the only difference in the use
of the apparatus being in the degree of heat employed, or in the management
of the fabric; and it should be observed that this process, acting upon the
metallic or vitreous matter of the dressing, incorporates the said matter in
the fabric, or rather in its fibres, instead of forming a film or covering like
ihe
gummy or other dressings not submitted to such process.
My improved apparatus for dressing fabrics, and which is more especially
designed for applying my improved dressings to fabrics, is shewn in Figure 3,
which represents a side elevation of the same. a is the side frame; b, b, a
series of rollers placed in the bath c, which contains the dressing liquid,
Between these rollers passes the fabric d, which is wound upon the beam
roller e, and the fabric is thus completely and uniformly impregnated with the
dressing. ff, are screws for regulating the distance between the rollers, the
upper set of which is covered with gutta percha, in order not to injure
the fabric; g is a drawing roller surmounted by another roller g¹, which,
pressing upon the fabric, squeezes out the excess of liquid, which falls back
into the bath by the inclined plane h; k, a stretching roller, having oblique
grooves cut on the periphery for preventing the fabric from creasing, and
keeping it constantly stretched in the direction of its breadth; m, a cylinder
heated by ordinary steam, and over which passes the fabric already squeezed
out by the rollers g, g¹. The effect of this cylinder is to produce a partial
drying of the fabric before the action of the fulling cylinders takes place ;
k, another stretching roller, similar to the roller k; n, n¹, two fulling
cylinders, the upper one of which is covered with gutta percha, to moderate
the effects of the pressure upon the stuff, which pressure is regulated by the
screw o; 1, another stretching roller, similar to the roller ; p, a second
cylinder heated by ordinary steam, to effect a further, although not a com-
plete, drying of the fabric, which quits the dressing apparatus in a damp
state, but not wet; 111, another stretching roller, similar to the former
ones; g, a beaming roller, upon which the fulled fabric is rolled, and which
is carried thence to the superheated steam apparatus to fix the dressings,
or rather in the case of my improved dressings, to oxidize the metallic or to
vitrify the siliceous matter contained in the dressing bath.
I now proceed to describe the mode of operating upon a fabric of any.
description: From the loom it is removed to the singeing machine (preferably
the one before described), in which the temperature is raised to between 560°
and 750° Fahrenheit, according as required by the nature of the .fabric to render

page_text: it smooth and brilliant, for which purpose it is passed several times overthe
heated surface, and also on the reverse side of the fabric, if the nature of it
permits or requires it. The down formed by the singeing is removed by the
blades or swords in the passage of the fabric to and fro over the heated
surface; nevertheless, on leaving the singeing apparatus the fabric is exposed
to the action of a fan to remove any singed filaments which may remain,
and in order that it may be perfectly clean before it is removed to the
dressing machine.
Let it be supposed that the dressing to be employed is the vitreous dressing
made from the paste of silex. The paste is mixed in the bath with water in
the proportion of one pound to ten pints of water, moderately warm, but
sufficient to render this sort of silicate soluble, and the fabric is removed to
the dressing machine, either upon the beaming rollers of the singeing machine
or on those of the dressing machine. The description already given of this
machine renders it unnecessary to enter into details of the operation of the
machine from which the fabric is removed in a moist state, but not wet, and
it is then replaced in the singeing machine, in order to fix the dressings, the
heat of the apparatus being lowered between 300° and 400°, which change of
temperature is easily obtained and regulated by means of the pyrometer. The
stuff is now drawn over the surface of the singeing machine, heated by the
superheated steam, which vitrifies the paste of silex (as it also oxidizes the
metal of the cyanides), not by forming a film upon the fabric nor upon
the surface of the threads themselves, but by forming a sort of combination
between the fibrous and the vitreous material, and whilst giving an unusual
lustre to the fabric preserving its softness. In addition to the foregoing, I
subjoin the following observations:-In the case of fabrics treated by the afore-
said processes, whether of singeing or dressing, not preserving the requisite
humidity, two tubes may be placed one on each side of the superheated steam
vessel, giving out jets of ordinary steam against the under side of the fabric.
If metallic, vitreous, or other matter can penetrate a fabric by means of steam
introduced into a hollow cylinder pierced with holes, and round which cylinder
the fabric is wound, the steam holding the said matters in suspension; this
method would dispense with the fulling apparatus with regard to some fabrics
to which its employ is inapplicable.
My vitreous or metallic dressing may be applied to yarns for weaving or
any other sort of manufacture, as lace making &c. For this purpose let a
drun be so arranged above the superheated steam vessel as to admit of being
brought nearer to or removed further from the vessel at pleasure, and let the
yarn be wound upon this, forming, as it were, a sheet; or in the case of warp,

page_text: the drum may be replaced by the warp beams of the fabric, and the dressings
will act upon the yarn in the same way as upon the fabrics. If need be, both
surfaces may be successively submitted to the action of the apparatus.
In conclusion, I would observe that my improved processes for dressing and
singeing textile fabrics, and the apparatus for effecting the same, may be
employed independently of each other, that is to say, the singeing process and
apparatus may be applied to fabrics which may be afterwards dressed in the
ordinary way, and the improved process of dressing may be applied to fabrics
which have been singed in the ordinary way, and the improved dressing
apparatus may be employed in the application of ordinary dressings.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim in respect thereof,-..
Firstly, the singeing of textile fabrics and yarns by passing them over a
metallic surface exposed to superheated steam.
Secondly, the employment of singeing apparatus constructed as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, and herein-before described.
Thirdly, the employment of metallic cyanides as dressing for yarn and
textile fabrics, and oxidizing the metal thereof by exposing the fabric to
the action of superheated steam, as herein-before described.
Fourthly, the employment of a solution of silex for the dressing of yarn
.and textile fabrics, and vitrifying the silex by exposing the fabric to the
action of superheated steam, and also the method of preparing the paste of
silex, as herein-before described.
Fifthly, the employment of the apparatus shewn in Figure 3, and herein-
before described, for applying dressing to textile fabrics.
In witness whereof, I; the, said Jean: Louis Ambroise, Huillard, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
A. HUILLARD, AINE. (1.8.)