IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING OR CLEANSING TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS
Year: 1858

page_text: County of Lancaster, Bleacher, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING OR CLEANSING TEXTILE FABRICS OR
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 16th November 1858, and dated the 23rd June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Barlow at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
June 1858.
I, SAMUEL BARLOW, of Stakehill, near Middleton, in the County of Lan-
caster, Bleacher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING OR CLEANSING
TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of improved apparatus for bleaching or cleansing
piece goods or yarn of cotton, linen, or other such materials, by which I get
a quicker and more perfect circulation of the bleaching or bowking liquor
through the goods and more efficient cleansing of the same.
The apparatus consists of a pipe or pipes placed in the centre of the kier
and rivetted on a plate or grid of iron or other suitable material resting on
the bottom. The pipe or pipes are perforated with holes to within a short

page_text: distance of the bottom of the kier, and the lower plate or grid on which they
are rivetted is perforated all round the outer edge. It is intended to be used
where the kiers work in pairs or where a liquor vessel is attached to a single
kier. When the kiers are filled with goods, and the bleaching or bowking
liquor run in my improved apparatus causes a circulation throughout the
whole of the goods simultaneously from the centre pipe or pipes instead of
the comparatively slow circulation got by forcing the liquor from above
through the solid mass of goods as is now usually followed. A ring or grid
may rest on the top of the goods to keep then in their place, which ring or
grid can be secured by an iron clip round the perforated pipe. This ring or
grid is made so as to be removable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Barlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
BARLOW, of Stakehill, near Middleton, in the County of Lancaster, Bleacher,
send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Barlow, Her special licence, that I, the said Samuel Barlow,
any executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Samuel Barlow, 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
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING OR CLEANSING TEXTILE FABRICS OR
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel
Barlow, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Barlow, 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:-
My Invention consists in improved machinery or apparatus for bleaching,
bowking, or cleansing piece goods or yarns of cotton, linen, or other such
materials, by which I get a quicker and more perfect circulation of the
bleaching, bowking, or cleansing liquor through the goods, and more efficient
cleansing of the same.
The apparatus consists in a pipe or pipes placed in a kier or vessel used
and fastened on a plate or grid of iron or other suitable material resting on
the bottom. The pipe or pipes are perforated with holes to within a short
distance of the bottom of the kier or vessel, and the lower plate on which it
or they are fastened is perforated with holes all round the outer edge.
It can
be used when the kiers or vessels work in pairs or where a liquor vessel is
attached to or forms part of a single kier or vessel. When the kiers or
vessels are filled with goods, and the bleaching, bowking, or cleansing liquor
run in, my improved machinery or apparatus causes a circulation of such
liquor throughout the whole of the goods simultaneously from the perforated
pipe or pipes, as well as from above, instead of the comparatively slow cir-
culation got by forcing the liquor from above through the solid mass of goods,
as now used. My Invention can be employed in different kinds of kiers or
vessels, and where the goods are being operated on by the bleaching, bowking,
or cleansing liquor percolating through them by its own gravity, as well as
those kiers or vessels in which steam is used to force the bleaching, bowking,
or cleansing liquor through the goods. In those kiers or vessels in which
steam is used to force the bleaching, bowking, or cleansing liquor through the
goods after the bleaching, bowking, or cleansing liquor has been diffused
through the goods, and is expelled from the keir or vessel by the force or
pressure of steam, and the goods are being operated on by steam. My
improved machinery or apparatus causes a quicker circulation or distribution
of the steam throughout the goods, and if from any cause the steam pressure
in the upper part of the kier or vessel becomes lowered: my improved
machinery or apparatus conveys the steam from the lower part of the kier or
vessel, and the interior of the goods into the upper part of the kier or vessel,
thus keeping up the equilibrium of steam pressure, and preventing the goods..
from being tossed and tumbled about. My Invention can be made to consist
of several pipes or distributors, as I term my perforated pipes, but I find it.
more convenient to use one of a size or capacity proportioned ta that of the

page_text: kier or vessel employed. I prefer to introduce the steam, bleaching, bowking,
or cleansing liquor at the top of the kier or vessel as being generally most
convenient, but they can also be introduced at the bottom of the kier or vessel
and forced upwards. The holes in my perforated pipes can be made of any
shape or size, but in practice I have found a series of oblong holes, as
described in my Drawings, most convenient.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS, SHEET 1.
The Drawings, which are on a scale of about one inch to the foot, shew
a pair of kiers or vessels fitted with my improved apparatus. A and B
are the kiers or vessels, the kier A being shewn in section, and fully exhibiting
my improved apparatus. At the bottom of the kier is a plate. In practice
I find it convenient to use a kind of umbrella-shaped plate C made of cast
or wrought iron or other metal. It may be cast entire or in segments; in
the latter case the edges should overlay each other when put together, so as
to form a solid plate, or, which I prefer, it may be made of boiler-plate iron
rivetted together. This umbrella-shaped plate spans over about half the
diameter of the bottom of the kier (but it may be made larger or smaller if
desirable), it is perforated with holes all round its outer edge d, d, the rest
being solid. This umbrella-shaped plate is fastened in the centre to an iron
block plate or pipe e, which rests upon the bottom of the kier in the centre
over the outlet hole, the block plate or pipe being pigeon-holed at the bottom
or otherwise constructed, so as to admit of the passage of liquors from the
kier. A socket is left in the upper part of the block plate or pipe to admit
of the insertion of the centre pipe f, which I call the distributor. This pipe
or distributor is made of iron or other metal, but by preference of cast iron,
and of dimensions corresponding with the size of the kier or kiers in which it
is placed (a distributor of six inches diameter in a kier of six feet diameter
I find to work well). This distributor is solid for some distance from the
bottom, but above that is hollow and perforated as full as possible with holes
until within a few inches of the top of the kier, where it is connected with the
inlet pipe or tap g. In cases where preferred the distributor may be left
unconnected with the inlet pipe standing open at the top. In some cases it
may be preferable to have the distributor hollow right through to the bottom
of the kier, dispensing with the iron block e, the lower part of the distributor
performing the same office as the block e. In such cases a common stop valve
should be placed in the pipe at a, a, opening by an upward pressure from the
bottom of the kier and closing by a downward pressure from above, making in
effect the distributor solid from the point a, a, to the bottom of the kier.

page_text: In operating with my improved apparatus or machinery by a pair of kiers,
as shewn in Drawing 1, the kiers A and B are fitted with the goods to be
operated upon, laying them at the bottom upon the umbrella-shaped plate c.
The manways or lids m of the kiers A and B are then closed, and steam (I prefer
a bigh pressure) admitted through the two-way taps 9, g, from the steam pipe
9 to the upper part of the kiers A and B. The steam forces all the cold
water, air, and other matters out of the goods (being very much assisted in
its action by the perforated centre pipe or distributor f) through the holes
or other perforations in the outer edge of the umbrella-shaped plate c at d, d,
and through the holes in the lower part of the block plate or pipe e out of
the kiers by the let-off taps k, k. When all the water, air, and other matters
are forced out the let-off taps are closed, and the bleaching, bowking, or
cleansing liquor is run or pumped into the kier B through the pipe and tap n,
and when all the liquor is run into the kier B, steam is again admitted into
the kier B, which forces the liquor through the goods, out of the kier B, up
the pipe o, o, and into the upper part of the kier A, the tap g-being turned to
admit the liquor into the kier A. When all the liquor has passed from kier
B into kier A, steam is shut off from kier B by the tap g, and steam is turned
on to kier A, which in like manner forces the liquor through the goods in
kier A, up the pipe p, and into the upper part of kier B, the tap g being
turned to admit the liquor into the kier B. This is repeated until the goods
are sufficiently worked.
Drawing Sheet 2 shews my improved apparatus or machinery applied to an
ordinary single bowking kier or vessel, which may be open or closed at the
top, and worked either with high-pressure or low-pressure steam, shewn in
section. A, A, is the kier or vessel; f is the perforated pipe or distributor,
which in this case is made hollow all its length, is open at the top, and fixed
by bolts and nuts or other suitable means to the umbrella-shaped plate c,
perforated on its outer edge d, d; g is an ordinary pipe, bolted or otherwise
fixed at the bottom to the umbrella-shaped plate inside the perforated pipe or
distributor, a hole being cut through the umbrella-shaped plate corresponding
in size with the internal diameter of the pipe g, and establishing a through
communication between the interior of the pipe g and the bottom of the kier
or the liquor vessel, and closing all communication between the interior of the
distributor fand the bottom of the kier, making in effect the distributor
solid below the perforations. The top of the pipe g stands some inches above
the perforated pipe or distributor f, and is surmounted by a cap or bent plate
of iron h, suitably fixed to the pipe g. A bell or other shaped plate or block
of iron e, with flanges at the top and at the bottom, pigeon-holed or perforated

page_text: with holes all round, rests upon the bottom of the kier or vessel A, A, and is
fixed by bolts and nuts or other suitable means to the lower side of the
umbrella-shaped plate, to which indeed it may be fixed by the same bolts
On the upper side of the
and nuts which fix the perforated distributor f.
umbrella-shaped plate c, i, i, is an ordinary steam pipe, the upper part of
which is connected with a main range of steam pipes or a steam boiler. A
branch of the lower part j is fixed to the bottom of the kier, and projects
inside the kier for a few inches, another branch on the lower part is furnished
with a tap or valve k for emptying the kier of water, spent liquor, and other
matters. The tap or valve admits the steam needful to work the kier or
vessel. In operating with this arrangement the kier A, A, is filled with goods
resting upon the umbrella-shaped plate c, and lying against and all around
the perforated distributor f. When filled, the bleaching, bowking, or
cleansing liquor is run into the kier, and on the top of the goods through
which it passes, escaping from thence through the perforations in the outer
edge of the umbrella-shaped plate, and flowing through those of the bell or
other shaped block or plate e into the bottom of the kier or liquor vessel.
Steam is then turned on at the tap or valve 7, and the tap k being closed it
enters the kier through the branch pipe j, throwing the liquor up the pipe g
against the cap or plate h, which spreads it over the goods and the top of the
distributor f, through which it keeps circulating, falling to the bottom of the
kier, and being thrown up the pipe g again in constant steam. When
the goods are sufficiently bleached, bowked, or cleansed, the liquor is run off
through the tap k. If preferred, the bleaching, bowking, or cleansing liquor
can be put into the kier before the goods. The liquor vessel in the Drawing
is all that lower part of the kier A, A, enclosed within and below the span
of the umbrella-shaped plate c.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into 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 or refer to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating
from the principles or main features of my said Invention, nor do I claim the
use of bleaching, bowking, or cleansing liquor, steam kiers or vessels, all of
which are well known, and have been previously used; but what I consider
as novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me is,
the use and application of the perforated pipe or distributor, or perforated
pipes or distributors, both attached to the umbrella-shaped or other plate, and
attached or unattached to the inlet hole on the top of the kier or vessel; and

page_text: also the use and application of the umbrella or other shaped plate, before
mentioned, with the perforated outer edge to kiers or vessels, for the purpose
of facilitating and accelerating the passage of bleaching, bowking, or cleansing
liquor and steam through piece goods or yarn of cotton, linen, or other such
materials, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Barlow, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
SAMUEL BARLOW. (L.S.)