IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXING MORDANTS IN THE PROCESSES OF DYEING AND PRINTING TEXTILES FABRICS OR YARNS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lightfoot, of Accrington, in the County of
Lancaster, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXING
MORDANTS IN THE PROCESSES OF DYEING AND PRINTING TEXTILES FABRICS OR
YARNS,"
Sealed the 12th December 1863, and dated the 16th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lightfoot at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
June 1863.
I, JOHN LIGHTFOOT, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Chemist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIXING MORDANTS IN THE PROCESSES OF DYEING AND PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS.
OR YARNS," to be as follows:-
I pass goods (printed, padded, or stained with a mordant or mordants either
separately or mixed together, such as soluble salts of iron, alumina, tin, or
other suitable mordants, for the purpose of dyeing in madder, guarancine,
logwood, bark, or similar dye woods) through a vessel or compartment supplied
with ammoniacal gas, dry, moist, or mixed with steam or air; then I pass the
goods through water or a mixture of dung and water, or dung substitute and
water, as generally understood by dyers and printers, by which the mordant or
mordants are more permanently fixed on or in the fibre of the cloth or yarn,
thereby effecting a considerable economization of time in ageing by the old
process or processes, as well as a saving of the mordant and dyeing material,

page_text: because the mordants are immediately fixed on the goods after the printing or
padding processes.
The modus operandi is as follows:-In printing, padding, staining, or
steeping fabrics or yarns, I take a solution of a salt of alumina, iron, tin, or
other suitable mordant or mordants, either separately or mixed together (ace-
tates by preference), and thicken with starch, gum, gum substitute, or other
suitable thickening matter, printing, padding, or steeping the material, and
drying in any convenient manner, then passing the goods through a vessel or
compartment containing ammonical gas or vapour, dry, moist, or mixed with
steam or air, the said vessel or compartment to be fitted with rollers, rails, or
other suitable apparatus for the purpose of conveying the goods or materials
through it, which may be confined in the said vessel or compartment a few
minutes, varying according to the quantity of mordant used, then passing the
goods so operated upon through water or a mixture of dung and water, or dung
substitute and water, as generally understood by dyers and printers, as already
described; I then wash the goods well previous to dyeing them in the aforesaid
dyeing materials.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Lightfoot in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LIGHTFOOT, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Lightfoot, Her special license that I, the said John Lightfoot, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Lightfoot, 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
FIXING MORDANTS IN THE PROCESSES OF DYEING AND PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS.
OR YARNS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Light-

page_text: foot, my executors 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 per-
formed, 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 John Lightfoot, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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):-
:-
I pass goods (printed; padded, or stained with a mordant or mordants either
separately or mixed together, such as soluble salts of iron, alumina, tin, or
other suitable mordants, for the purpose of dyeing in madder, garancine,
logwood, bark, or similar dye woods) through a vessel or compartment supplied
with ammoniacal gas, dry, moist, or mixed with steam or air, or the volatile
carbonates of ammonia may be used for the same purpose so long as they
retain an alkaline property for the purpose of converting the mordant or
mordants into sub-salts; then I pass the goods through water or a mixture of
dung and water, or dung substitute and water as generally understood by dyers
and printers, by which the mordant or mordants are more permanently fixed
on or in the fibre of the cloth or yarn; thereby effecting a considerable econo-
mization of time in ageing by the old process or processes, as well as a saving
of the mordant and dyeing material, because the mordants are immediately
fixed or converted into sub-salts on or in the fibre of the cloth after the printing
or padding processes, and thereby renders them less soluble in the dung and
dye vessels, and greatly improves the whites in consequence.
The modus operandi is as follows:-In printing, padding, staining, or
steeping fabrics or yarns, I take a solution of a salt of alumina, iron, tin,
or other suitable mordant or mordants, either separately or mixed together,
(acetates by preference) and thicken with starch, gum, gum substitute, or
other suitable thickening matter, printing, padding, or steeping the material,
and drying in any convenient manner, then passing the goods through a vessel
or compartment containing ammoniacal gas or vapour, dry, moist, or mixed
with steam or air, hot or cold, but I prefer the ammoniacal gas heated to about
110 Fahrenheit, and especially for heavy work; and in some cases I prefer
the ammoniacal gas mixed with a little steam or vapour from water; the said
vessel or compartment must be fitted with rollers, rails, or other suitable
apparatus for the purpose of conveying the goods or materials through it,
which may be confined in the said vessel or compartment a few minutes,

page_text: varying according to the quantity of mordant used, then passing the goods so
operated upon through water, or a mixture of dung and water, or dung substi-
tute and water, as generally understood by dyers and printers, as already
described. I then wash the goods well previously to dyeing them in the
aforesaid dyeing materials. The goods may be passed after dyeing through a
solution of soap, which is termed "soaping," or in a solution of chloride of
lime, called "chemicking," according to the dyeing material that had been
made use of; the goods are then again washed in water and finished with
starch as usual.
I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not claim "ammoniacal gas,"
as a total substitute for ageing, nor as a substitute for cow dung, termed by
dyers and printers "dunging," but what I claim as my Invention is the use of
"ammoniacal gas," or the "volatile alkaline salts of ammonia," as herein
stated, for the purpose of converting the mordant or mordants into sub-salts
subsequent to the printing or padding processes, in order to make them less
soluble in the "dunging," "dyeing," and "soaping" operations, and thereby
effecting a considerable economization of time in "ageing" by the old process
or processes, as well as a saving of the mordant and dyeing material.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lightfoot, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 12th day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN LIGHTFOOT. (L.S.)