IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF BLEACHING, DYEING, OR SCOURING TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY THEREFOR
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Hillocks Paterson, of Sprucefield, in the
County of Down, in Ireland, Bleacher, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF BLEACHING, DYEING, OR SCOURING
TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY THEREFOR."
Sealed the 4th June 1869, and dated the 5th December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Hillocks
Paterson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th December 1868.
I, DAVID HILLOCKS PATERSON, of Sprucefield, in the County of Down,
in Ireland, Bleacher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF BLEACHING, DYEING, OR SCOURING
TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY THEREPOR," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the bleaching, dyeing, or scouring of flax,
tow, cotton, jute, China grass, hemp, wool, yarn, thread, and the various
fabrics manufactured from those materials; and consists in the use

page_text: of one or more iron or other steam chest or chests, lined with lead or
other anti-corrosive material and fitted up in the inside with two or
more removeable rollers which are made to revolve at any desired
velocity regulated by means of a cone or other similar contrivance.
The second and each succeeding chest employed is placed at a lower
level than the preceding chest, so that the bleaching or dyeing stuff
after acting upon the materials or fabrics in one chest may flow into
the lower chest, and a cistern or cisterns below the level of the last
chest employed ultimately receives or receive the bleaching or dyeing
solutions, which may afterwards be pumped up into the first chest
again.
The materials or fabrics to be bleached dyed or scoured are hung
upon the rollers or put upon one roller and transferred to another
roller during its revolution in the chest, and a guide bar or roller
may be used to pass the material or fabric through or under the
bleaching or dyeing solution. The bleaching or dycing solution is
introduced cold by a pipe into the lower part of the chest, where it
is retained during the operation, and from which it is afterwards run
into the lower chest. From a pipe into the upper part of the chest,
and above the solution, steam is introduced for the purpose of scouring
and cleaning the materials or fabrics. I may employ in this manner
the several bleaching or dyeing solutions ordinarily used, or solutions
of manganate of soda and sulphurous water, and after each operation
I allow the solution to run or drip off thoroughly, and I then wash
the materials or fabrics with water when necessary. The solution
may be strengthened if necessary by the addition of fresh bleaching or
dyeing stuff on passing into each. chest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said David Hillocks Paterson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
HILLOCKS PATERSON, of Sprucefield, in the County of Down, in Ireland,
Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of December, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eiglit liundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors;.give
and grant unto me,. the said David Hillocks Paterson,. Her special
licence that I,. the said David Hillocks Paterson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said David
Hillocks Paterson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thercafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, tlie Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an.
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF BLEACHING, DYEING, OR
SCOURING TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS,. AND IN THE MACHINERY THEREFOR,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I,. the said David Hillocks
Paterson, 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 David Hillocks Paterson, 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,. that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to the bleaching, dyeing, and scouring
of flax, tow,. cotton, jute, China grass, hemp, wool, yarn, thread, and the
various fabrics manufactured from those materials...
My Invention consists in the use of one or more chest or chests
made of iron or other similar material. The chest must be of sufficient
strength to sustain a pressure of at least ten pounds-weight to every
square inch of its surface, and is furnished with a lid or cover to be
screwed down upon it and made steam tight by means of a gasket or
other steam-tight joint. The lid may be lifted. off the chest by means of
travelling crane, and one lid or cover may. thus be made to serve for
more than one chest. The chest must be lined with lead or other.
anti-corrosive material in order to prevent any chemical action by the
bleaching or dyeing solution employed upon the iron or other material
of which the chest is constructed..
a

page_text: According to my Invention the chest is fitted with two or more
rollers resting in sockets arranged along cach side and near the top of
the chest. Each roller is furnished at one end with a toothed wheel,
and is made to revolve by means of a wormed shaft extending along
the side of the chest, and working into the toothed wheel of each roller.
The wormed shaft may be placed either within or outside of the chest,
but I prefer the former arrangement. I have found eight feet in
length six feet or seven feet in width, according as the wormed shaft
is outside or within, and four feet and three inches in depth to be a
convenient size for the chest, and I place eight rollers in each of such
chests. Three pipes are used for introducing steam, water, and the
bleaching or dycing solution respectively into the chest. The steam
pipe enters the upper portion of the chest above the level to which
the solution is made to rise; the water pipe rises over the lip of the
chest, and is bent so as to deliver the water into the chest after the lid
or cover has been lifted, and the bleaching or dyeing solution pipe
enters at or through the bottom of the chest. A small pipe also is
introduced at or through the bottom of the chest for drawing off any
condensed steam or other water that may have collected between tho
lead or other lining of the chest and the chest itself.
When two or more chests are used I place the second chest at a
level of about twelve or fourteen inches below the level of the first
chest, in order to draw off the bleaching or dyeing solution employed in
the first chest as soon as the materials or fabrics therein have been
sufficiently acted upon by it. In like manner I place the third chest
at a similar level in relation to the second chest, and the fourth chest
at a similar level in relation to the third chest, and so on to the last
of the scries of chests. All the chests are of similar construction in
every respect, and cach chest constitutes a complete self-acting
bleaching and dyeing machine of itself. A pipe with or without
branches is used to convey the bleaching or dyeing solution, where
more than one chest is employed from each chest into the next or
any lower chest, and ultimately from the lowest of the series of chests
employed into a draining cistern or tank below the level of the lowest
of such series; or where only one chest is employed directly therefrom
into such cistern. Each chest is also provided with a tap or valve
through which the water employed in washing is discharged. The
bleaching or dyeing solution may be emptied out of the cistern or tank

page_text: herein-before mentioned, and raised again into the chest or into the
highest of the series of chests by means of a pump or by steam or other
pressure.
I have found it convenient however and I prefer to empty the
draining cistern or tank herein-before mentioned by some or one of
the means aforesaid into the reservoir or stock cistern, from which the
bleaching or dyeing solution contained in the draining cistern or
tank was originally drawn, and I place the reservoir or stock cistern
at a level of about twelve or fourteen inches above the level of the chest,
or of the highest of the series of chests, so as sufficiently to command
such chest. The bleaching or dyeing solution when returned as above
described into the reservoir or stock cistern may be strengthened by
the addition of fresh bleaching or dycing stuff, and it may be strength-
ened also as it passes from one chest into another by a fresh draught
from the reservoir or stock cistern. I also prefer to use a separate
reservoir or stock cistern and a separate draining cistern or tank for
cach of the bleaching or dyeing solutions employed; but I do not confine
myself to the use of any definite number of either.
The material or fabric to be bleached or dyed and scoured is hung
upon the revolving rollers in the chest, or is put upon one roller
and transferred to another roller during and by means of their
revolution in the chest, and a guide bar or roller in the lower part of
the chest may be used to pass the material or fabric through or under
the bleaching or dycing solution.
When the material or fabric has been placed in the chest the
bleaching or dyeing solution is introduced at a cold temperature by the
pipe provided for the purpose, as herein-before described, into the lower
part of the chest to a sufficient height to allow the material or fabric
to dip into it, and it is there retained until the material or fabric has
passed through and been completely saturated by it; after which it
is allowed to flow in the manner herein-before mentioned into the
draining cistern or tank, or the lower chest or one of the lower chests
when two or more chests are used. After the process of saturation
has been completed the belaching or dyeing solution is allowed to
drip or drain from the material or fabric, which may then be sub-
mitted to the operation of washing by water introduced by the pipe
provided for the purpose as herein-before.described.

page_text: In order to better scour and cleanse the material or fabric under
process it may afterwards be subjected for a period of between one and
two hours to the action of steam introduced by the pipe provided for
the purpose, as herein-before described. It will generally be found
sufficient to introduce the steam after the use of an alkaline liquid only,
but it may occasionally be of advantage to introduce it after the use
of bleaching or dyeing agents also.
The material or fabric may be submitted to the operation of washing
by water as herein-before described, after saturation by cach of the
bleaching or dyeing liquids if necessary, but one washing operation may
be sufficient T cause the rollers to revolve at a speed of about one
revolution in each minute during the process of saturation, but while
the operation washing is in progress I increase the speed.
In the manner and with the aid of the self-acting machine herein-
before described I complete the whole process of bleaching or dyeing
and scouring in one chest without removing the material or fabric
therefrom. I employ in my process the several bleaching and dyeing
solutions now in ordinary use for bleaching and dyeing the materials
and fabrics aforesaid or a solution of manganate of soda or sulphurous
water, and I strengthen the solution in use by the addition of fresh
bleaching or dyeing solution or stuff when it reaches each chest if
necessary, and when it is returned to the reservoir or store cistern.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same with reference to
the Drawings horeto annexed.
Figure I. is a side elevation of a series of chests and of the several
reservoirs and cisterns with the various pipes connecting same and used
in the process herein-before described; Figure II, is a plan of the same;
and Figure III. is an enlarged plan of a chest shewing the gearing for
working the rollers.
A, A, are the reservoirs or store cisterns. B, B, are the chests lined
with anti-corrosive materials. C, C, are the draining cisterns or tanks.
« is the pipe for introducing the bleaching or dyeing liquid into the
chest; is the water pipe; c is the valve through which the water
employed in washing is discharged; d is a valve on the pipe introducing
the bleaching or dyeing liquid for breaking off the connection between
the chest and the liquid in the pipe a; e is a steam pipe; is a branch

page_text: pipe connecting the steam pipe e with the chest B. g is a tap on the
branch pipe f; h is a steam pressure guage; is a safety valve; m is
a pipe for discharging steam condensed between the chest and its
lining; n is a tap on the pipe m; o is a removeable lid to be fastened.
to the chest by means of screw bolts at the edges, and which may be
raised and shifted by a travelling crane D; p is a pipe having separate
connection pipes with the reservoirs or store cisterns A, A, and the
chests B, B, and the draining cisterns or tanks C, C; q, q, arc valves
on the connection pipes from the reservoirs or store cisterns A, A;
r, r, are valves on the connection pipes to the draining cisterns or
tanks C, C; & is the pump for emptying the several draining cisterns
or tanks C, C, and raising their contents through the pipe and its
separate connection pipes into the several reservoirs or store cisterns
A, A respectively; u, u, are valves on the connection pipes between
the pipet and the reservoirs or store cisterns A, A; v, v, are valves on
the connection pipes between the pipe and the draining cisterns or
tanks C, C; w is a lying shaft carrying the sheaves x, x, for driving
by means of bands the pump s, and through the bevelled gearing y, y,
the wormed shaft z in the chest B. E, E, are the revolving rollers,
and F, F, are removeable bars or rollers by which the material or fabric
if required is passed through the bleaching or dyeing liquid.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
I do not claim the use of reservoirs and other cisterns, or of a chest or
chests for steaming the materials or fabrics herein-before mentioned,
or for holding the said materials or fabrics, or the bleaching or dyeing
liquids herein-before mentioned, or of steam or of any of the bleaching
or dyeing solutions, or of water, nor do I claim the separate mechanical
parts which form the bleaching machine and apparatus used by me; but
I claim,―
1st. The better and more economical bleaching or dyeing and scouring
of thic materials or fabrics herein-before mentioned by the use of the
self-acting bleaching machine, apparatus, and process, herein-before
described. .
2ndly. A closed chost capable of resisting steam pressure arranged
with revolving rollers, and provided with pipes for the introduction of
bleaching or dyeing and cleansing agents in the manner and for the
purposes hercin-before described.

page_text: 3rdly. The combination and arrangement of the self-acting bleaching
machines and apparatus herein-before described, whereby the bleaching
or dyeing agents are economised by repeated use in the manner heroin
before described and set forth.
or dyeing agents are
before described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Hillocks Paterson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Hillocks Paterson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.