IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING OR FINISHING TEXTILE FABRICS."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Clement Duplomb, of Rue de Rivoli, 112, Paris,
France, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR
PRESSING OR FINISHING TEXTILE FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Clement Duplomb at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
September 1859.
I, CLEMENT DUPLOMB, of Rue de Rivoli, 112, Paris, France, Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES
FOR PRESSING OR FINISHING TEXTILE FABRICS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to presses for pressing or finishing textile fabrics.
The hydraulic or other presses hitherto made use of for these purposes con-
sisted of an iron or other frame open on all sides except top and bottom, one
of which latter being moveable formed the board of the screw or press, while
the other remains fixed, the goods to be pressed or finished being properly
folded up between this top and bottom of the press with sheets of glazed mill-
board and hot iron plates inserted between the folds.
My Invention consists in having the press entirely closed up by providing
the same with proper sides made hollow, or with jackets for allowing steam or
hot air to be introduced into them for heating the interior of the press and the
goods folded up therein on the pressing board, which latter is allowed to glide
as air-tight as possible between the vertical sides of the press.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Clement Duplomb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CLEMENT
DUPLOMB, of Rue de Rivoli, No. 112, Paris, France, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Clement Duplomb, Her special licence that I, the said Clement
Duplomb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Clement Duplomb, 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 "IMPROVE
MENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING OR FINISHING TEXTILE FABRICS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Clement Duplomb, 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 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 Clement Duplomb, 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:
These improvements relate to screw, hydraulic, or other presses for pressing
or finishing textile fabrics, such, for instance, as woollen cloth or other woven
goods, and they consist in having the said presses entirely closed up by suitable
hollow side pieces in such manner that the press resembles a box closed as air-
tight as possible on all sides, either the top or the bottom of the box being move-
able and allowed to glide in the frame formed by the side pieces for transmitting
the pressure exerted on this top or bottom to the fabrics piled up thereon in
the interior of the press, one of the sides of which forms a door for introducing
the fabrics in the press or withdrawing them therefrom. The sides, bottom,

page_text: and top of the press, or part of them, are made hollow so as to form air-tight
jackets for allowing steam or hot air to circulate therein, for which purpose
the same are provided with proper in and outlet pipes and stop-cocks. These
presses may be constructed of any suitable metal or material, and have a
cylindrical, square, or other suitable form, and they may be acted upon either
at the top or at the bottom by a screw, hydraulic, or other pressure; the
fabrics may be piled up in the interior of the press in the ordinary manner
with sheets of glazed paper interposed between the folds, while the interpo-
sition of hot metal plates between some of the folds as was required hitherto
for suitably dissiminating the heat through the entire package may be dis-
pensed with. A thermometer communicating with the inside of the press may
be made use of for indicating the degree of heat in the press.
In the annexed Drawings is given an illustration of a square hydraulic
press arranged according to my Invention. Fig. 1 shows a front, Fig. 2 a
side elevation, and Fig. 3 a vertical sectional view (over the line X, Y, of
Fig. 2) of the press. In these Figures corresponding parts are indicated by
the same letters of reference. In this press the bottom or board A is acted
upon by hydraulic pressure from below in the ordinary manner, the packages
of fabrics B being piled up on this board, the same having been introduced in
the press by the door C turning on proper hinges D, or moveable in any other
suitable manner; the bottom or board A glides, as air-tight as possible,
between the vertical sides E, which latter as well as the top F and the door C
are provided with double sides G so as to form air-tight jackets in which steam
or hot air may be introduced by the pipes H, other pipes I allowing the air,
steam, or the condensation water to escape, while the steam jacket of the door
C may be made to communicate with the side jacket by hollow hinges D or
by special in and outlet pipes. The double sides are held together by
suitable stay bolts a. The mode of working of this apparatus is as follows:-
The door C being opened the fabrics are properly piled up in the ordinary
manner and laid on the board or bottom A of the press, after which the
door is closed, it being requisite the latter should close as air-tight as possible.
Steam or hot air is now introduced in the jackets, and the necessary pressure
is gradually given and continued as long as will be found requisite, the degree
of heat and of pressure depending on the nature of the fabric under operation.
The goods having thus been sufficiently pressed and heated, the admission of
the steam or hot air in the chests or jackets is interrupted by means of the
stop-cocks P, the pressure is removed, and the door C being opened the fabrics
are removed from the interior of the press and a new operation may take
place. It will be easely understood that instead of causing the pressure to

page_text: take place on the bottom of the press, the same may be caused to act on the
top thereof, this top being in that case moveable and gliding as air-tight as
possible in the vertical sides of the press while the bottom is fixed. It will
be further understood from what has been described that the great advantage
of my system of presses consists chiefly in the regular heat transmitted equally
to all the parts of the fabrics in the interior of the press, while the degree of
heat may be varied at pleasure or kept up steadily during any length of time
so as to have the fabrics submitted simultaneously to any suitable pressure
and degree of heat.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of my Inven-
tion, and the manner of putting the same into practical effect, I would
observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise
details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe, as many
variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or
main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is, constructing presses for pressing or finishing
textile fabrics, in such manner as to form, as much as possible, an air-tight box
provided with double sides, chests, or jackets, in which steam or hot air may
be introduced for suitably heating the various parts of the box or press, and
consequently the fabrics contained therein, while either the top or the bottom
of the box or press is allowed to glide, as air-tight as possible, between the
sides of the press for transmitting the required pressure to the fabrics while
in the heated condition.
In witness whereof, I, the said Clement Duplomb have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
Witness,
A. G. BRADE.
C. DUPLOMB. (L.S.)