AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF GASSING TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenwood and John Batley, of Leeds, in
the County of York, Machine Makers, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF GASSING TEXTILE FABRICS."-A com-
munication from H. Van den Berghe, residing at Rue de St. Georges,
Courtrai, Belgium.
Sealed the 28th June 1859, and dated the 20th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenwood and
John Batley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 20th January 1859.
We, THOMAS GREENWOOD and JOHN BATLEY, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Machine Makers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF GASSING TEXTILE FABRICS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent the discoloration of goods subjected
to the gassing operation, which discoloration is occasioned by the deposit on
the fabrics of unconsumed carbon given off by the jets of flame employed to
singe the loose fibres on the face of the fabrics. The improvement consists in
bringing the fabrics into contact with or close proximity to the oxygenated
portion only of the flame, which may be effected by directing the gas jets
towards the fabrics to be operated upon, and causing the fabrics to traverse at
a proper speed in a vertical plane, or in a plane slightly inclined from the
vertical while passing the line of flame directed against their surface. By:

page_text: this means a current of air, induced by the movement of the fabric under
operation, is caused to pass between it and the flame, and carry off and
disperse into the atmosphere all the unconsumed carbon that may arise from
the combustion of the gas.
It will be understood that although the Invention applies chiefly to the
gassing of woven fabrics, yet it may be applied with advantage to braids,
cords, and even yarn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Greenwood and John Batley in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 20th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
GREENWOOD and JOHN BATLEY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machine
Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Thomas Greenwood and John Batley, Her special license that we,
the said Thomas Greenwood and John Batley, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Greenwood and John
Batley, our 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS
OF GASSING TEXTILE FABRICS," being a communication from H. Van den.
Berghe, residing at Rue de St. Georges, Courtrai, Belgium, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Greenwood and John
Batley, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us, 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 Thomas Greenwood, on behalf of myself
and of the said John Batley, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: 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 application of gas for singeing fabrics, although acknowledged on all
hands to be a great improvement upon the old method, nevertheless, is found;
when light-colored fabrics are brought under operation, to darken the color
by the deposit upon them of soot arising from the imperfect combustion of
the gas. A careful study of the manner in which singeing by means of gas is
performed has led to the present improvement, the realization of which is
unattended with that complexity which belongs to the processes hitherto
patented. Scientific men are agreed upon the point that flame is composed of
a dark cone and a luminous envelope, this latter being produced by the
contact of the heated gas with the air. When therefore in the gassing of
fabrics the flame is severed transversely by the fabric stretched horizontally,
the central and non-luminous portion of the flame will deposit soot upon the
fabric and spoil the colors. To obviate this defect it has been proposed to
mix the gas at the point of its combustion with a quantity of air sufficient
to ensure more perfect combustion. This method is, however, somewhat
complicated, as it is effected by means of apparatus for drawing in the air
placed above the fabric to be operated upon, this latter passing in a horizontal
direction above the flame and traversing over it at a certain height.
In endeavouring to effect the same object by more simple means, the
Inventor of the present improvements has arrived at the following results:-
If instead of causing the fabric to move horizontally over the flame, this latter
be directed against the fabric whilst it is moving in a vertical plane or
slightly inclined from that position, the operation of gassing will be performed
under the best possible conditions, as during the operation a current of air is
induced to flow between the flame and the fabric, which the more complete
combustion of the gas is obtained, all deposit of carbon prevented, and a
sufficiently high temperature given to the flame to enable the operation of
gassing to be performed in an efficient manner, so much so indeed as even to
enable both sides of the fabric to be acted upon at once by reason of the flame
penetrating the fabric. The success of the gassing operation will be found to
be due to atmospheric air mixing with the gas at the moment of its com-
bustion, which mixture is produced by a current of air being established
between the flame or row of gas jets and the travelling fabric, at the point
where the gassing is effected.
From the above remarks it will be seen that the present improvement in
gassing fabrics consists in directing the flame towards the fabric to be
operated upon, in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position whilst the fabric

page_text: is travelling forward over rollers, which hold it at tension in a vertical or
nearly vertical plane on approaching the flame, by which means the fabric
under operation is brought into contact or close proximity with the oxygenated
portion only of the flame.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improvement in
the Process of Gassing Textile Fabrics," as communicated to us by our foreign
correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
we claim the means herein described of preventing the discoloration of textile
fabrics while being subjected to the gassing operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Greenwood, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
THOMAS GREENWOOD. (L.S.)