IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING YARNS, WOVEN FABRICS, ARTICLES OF CLOTHING, AND FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR MILLING' WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Brown, of New Mills, in the County of
Derby, Joiner and Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING YARNS, WOVEN FABRICS, ARTICLES
OF CLOTHING, AND FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE
FOR MILLING' WOVEN FABRICS."
Sealed the 7th February 1865, and dated the 12th August 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
August 1864.
I, MATTHEW BROWN, of New Mills, in the County of Derby, Joiner and
5 Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING YARNS, WOVEN FABRICS,
ARTICLES OF CLOTHING, AND FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO
APPLICABLE FOR MILLING WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows:-
The improvements consist in the use of a series of vertical beaters or
stampers which have arms projecting from them at right angles, which are
acted upon by tappets on a driving shaft, causing the rise and fall of the

page_text: beaters. The fibres, yarns, clothes, or woven fabrics to be cleansed by the
action of the beaters upon them are placed in a waggon or box having its
bottom or sides perforated and supplied with jets of water at the upper edges,
and this waggon is placed beneath the rising and falling beaters, which by
their weight and stamping expel the impure and extraneous matters from the
fabrics, all such impurities passing away with the dirty water through the
perforations, pure water being constantly supplied from above. The beaters
are all arranged to slide in a bar, which can be lifted by a lever so as to raise
all the benters free from the box when its removal is necessary. This appa-
ratus is also applicable for "milling" woollen fabrics.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
BROWN, of New Mills, in the County of Derby, Joiner and Builder, 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 One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Matthew Brown, Her special license that I, the said Matthew Brown, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Matthew
Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING YARNS, WOVEN FABRICS,
ARTICLES OF CLOTHING, AND FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO
APPLICABLE FOR MILLING' WOVEN FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Matthew Brown, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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

page_text: 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 Matthew Brown, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
. The improvements consist in the use of a series of vertical beaters or.
stampers which have arms projecting from them at right angles, which are
acted upon by tappets on a driving shaft, causing the rise and fall of the
beaters. The fibres, yarns, cloths, or woven fabrics to be cleansed by the
action of the beaters upon them are placed in a waggon or box having its
bottom or sides perforated and supplied with jets of water at the upper edges,
and this waggon is placed beneath the rising and falling beaters, which by
their weight and stamping expel the impure and extraneous matters from the.
fabrics, all such impurities passing away with the dirty water through the
perforations, pure water being constantly supplied from above. The beaters
are all arranged to slide in a bar, which can be lifted by a lever so as to raise
all the beaters from the box when its removal is necessary. This apparatus
is also applicable for "milling" woollen fabrics.
. In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in.
detail, I have hereunto attached two Sheets of Drawings made upon a scale
of about one inch and a half to the foot, similar letters of reference being
marked upon corresponding parts of the apparatus.
In Sheet 1, Fig. 1 represents an end view, and Fig. 2 a front view
(shewn partly in section) of one description or arrangement of the apparatus
for washing and cleansing yarns and fibrous substances, and for "milling "
woven fabrics; in these Figures a novel and peculiar arrangement of mechanism
is exhibited for lifting and effecting the sudden release of the beaters or
stampers. Fig. 3 is an end view shewing the application of a series of rotating
cams or tappets for lifting and releasing the beaters, and the gearing for
actuating the same.
In Sheet 2, Fig. 1 exhibits a side view of the chamber or receptacle for
containing the yarns, fibrous materials, or woven fabrics, which is supported
on wheels, and by means of levers and cams may be raised from the solid
foundation or lowered thereto when the stampers are at work; Fig. 2 is an
end elevation of a portion of the same; and Fig. 3 exhibits a receptacle
adapted for "piece goods," having the goods formed into an endless
travelling apron within it, and passing over a board, whereby the "goods" are
kept in motion beneath the beaters; rack and pinion gearing is also

page_text: supplied thereto to place the receptacle beneath the beaters and withdraw
it therefrom.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a, a, is the framing of the machine; b is the box or
receptacle to contain the materials under operation, through which clean
water is constantly passing; c, c, are the stampers or beaters, which may be
made of metal shod with wood, to which the vertical shafts d are attached;
these shafts are guided in their vertical rise and fall by the bowls or guide
rollers e, e, e, and the upper end of each shaft is connected by chain or band f
to the loose collar or clip g on the fixed disc h. The driving shaft passes:
through this disc, and the arms or tappets m thereupon as they revolve come
into contact with the bowl n on the loose collar and carry it round, and so
lift the beaters, and as the arms revolve the said bowls move towards their
extremities (from the relative eccentric positions of the disc and driving shaft).
until they pass over the ends thereof; the collar then slips backwards and the
beaters fall suddenly; the bowl n upon the clip at this time is prevented
coming into violent concussion with the tappets m by the retarding action of
the india-rubber strap o. In Fig. 3 the tappets or lifters p enter slots formed
in the shafts, and act upon bowls q therein, and so effect the rise and fall of
the beaters; extra guide rods r, r, may also be employed, as shewn, if required
and the beaters may be lifted and held up from the receptacle by means of
the lever 8, which acts upon the horizontal bar t extending from the top of
each beater.
3.
In Sheet 2, a, a, exhibits the framing of the machine secured to the solid
foundation which supports the bottom of the box or receptacle 6 when it is
required to be solid to withstand the heavy blows of the beaters, at which
times the rails c, c, supporting the wheels d, d, are lowered by the lever and
connecting rod e, e, lowering the cams f, f, leaving the bottom of the box in
contact with the solid foundation, and thereby preventing damage to the
wheels and axles. In Fig. 3 the receptacle b is furnished with rollers g, g,
at each end, around which the goods pass in the form of a travelling
apron, and as they pass over the board h they are acted upon by the
stampers.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim,―
First, the employment of stampers or beaters having surfaces nearly the
width of the box or receptacle to act upon a large surface of material at once
in contradistinction to the use of small stampers.
And, secondly, the general combination, construction, and arrangement of

page_text: the apparatus for washing and cleansing yarns, wovens fabrics, or such like
articles, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
MATTHEW BROWN. (Ls.)
Witnessed by
JOHN L. DAVIES,
Patent Agent,
Office for Patents,
4, St. Ann's Sq., Manchester.