IMPROVED PROCESSES OR METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING OR DESICCATING, AIRING, OXIDIZING, STOVING, DECOLORIZING, BLEACHING, OR OTHERWISE SIMILARLY TORUTING FIUDOGS VA AMER 34
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVED PROCESSES OR METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING OR
DESICCATING, AIRING, OXIDIZING, STOVING, DECOLORIZING, BLEACHING, OR
OTHERWISE SIMILARLY TORUTING FIUDOGS VA
AMER
34
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th November 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED PROCESSES OR METHODS OF AND
APPARATUS FOR DRYING OR DESICCATING, AIRING, OXIDIZING, STOVING,
DECOLORIZING, BLEACHING, OR OTHERWISE SIMILARLY TREATING FIBROUS AND
OTHER MATERIALS." [A communication from abroad by Paul St. Ange Basquin,
of Paris, France.]
This Invention relates to processes or methods (carried into effect in air-tight
vessels, which may or may not be lighted by electricity), of desiccating, drying,
exposing to the action of dry or moist air or gases, oxidizing, ageing, or stoving
with compressed, uncompressed, or rarefied air, ozonized oxygen, chlorine,
sulphurous acid, ammonia, and other gases or vapours mixed or separately in a
dry or moist state at high or low temperature; those wet or dry fibrous materials,
yarns, textile fabrics, and various gaseous, liquid, or solid substances, which usually
undergo the operations termed drying, exposure to air, moisture, gases, or vapours,
airing, oxidizing, ageing, and stoving, and which consist in exposing such fibrous
materials and other substances to the free access of air, water, vapour, gases, or
vapours, at various temperatures under atmospheric pressure in covered vessels or
in the open air.
One object of the said Invention is to obtain or effect in a cheap, regular,
and satisfactory manner, and in a short time, those required mechanical, physical,

page_text: or chemical changes or reactions which take place when the wet or dry fibrous
materials are exposed to the action of air, light, and heat, either in the open air or
in warm rooms or hot stoves which require a large consumption of fuel, and
necessitate a great amount of troublesome and expensive labour. In working
according to this Invention and submitting the wet or dry fibrous materials or
substances to the action of compressed, uncompressed, or rarefied air, gas, or vapour,
at a high or low temperature, the object is to cause mechanical, physical, and
chemical changes or reactions, which could not be obtained by the free action of
air, gas, or vapours employed in the usual manner. The said Invention has also
for its object to collect and to utilize the gases which escape when the fibrous
materials are being treated; thus the large quantities of acetic acid, which are
entirely lost or wasted when the textile materials are submitted to the action of
air and moisture in ageing, are recovered when treated according to my Invention,
which effects an important economy.
By treating the fibrous materials according to this Invention, the fibres are more
thoroughly penetrated and a better action is ensured than heretofore, thus
producing faster and more brilliant colours than could otherwise be obtained.
I treat, as above stated, the damp textile materials or substances which require to
be dried. I submit them to the action of hot compressed air in circulation or
otherwise, or I exhaust, by means of a pump, the air and moisture from the air-
tight vessel in which these materials have been enclosed, and I subsequently inject
into the said air-tight vessel hot compressed air in a dry state, thus causing the
hot dry air to penetrate and come thoroughly in contact with the moisture which
_is_enclosed_in_the_pores of the said materials. I then allow the hot compressed air
to escape, and 1 may again exhaust the air which is in the air-tight vessel by means
of a pump, thus reducing the pressure therein below that of the atmosphere. The
said air-tight vessel is also heated either by steam or by other means. I do not
allow the hot gases to be lost, but I cause them to travel through tanks filled with
water or other suitable liquid to be deprived of their heat. The recovered heat is
used to heat the fresh gases which are required in the hot state.
I also treat various substances, including textile materials, in a half-bleached or
unbleached condition. I use for this purpose cold or hot compressed air or chlorine
separately or mixed, or ozonized oxygen, or a mixture of air and ozone, or
sulphurous acid in a hot or cold state. Or I treat them first with chlorine or a
mixture of air and chlorine, and with compressed air afterwards; or with air first
and chlorine afterwards. I do not allow the gases to escape into the atmosphere
when they have produced the required effect, but I collect them by suitable means,
thus effecting an important economy.
I treat hemp, flax, jute, China grass, phormium-tenax, cotton, silk, wool, hair,
rags, pulp, and other substances which require to be decolorised or whitened; the
bleaching then takes place with less labour or trouble than by the usual process or
processes.
I also treat, by my process, wet or dry fibres, or yarns, or textile fabrics which
have been previously prepared for being dyed with alizarine by the so-called
Turkey-red process. And I treat these materials which have been prepared with
organic compounds or mordants of vegetable or animal origin, or with artificially
prepared organic compounds or mordants, or which have been treated with soaps
made from animal or vegetable fats or oils, or with alkaline or neutral emulsions
or solutions of fatty acids of animal or vegetable origin, or with alkaline, neutral,
or acid solutions of fatty acids obtained from animal or vegetable fatty acids, fats,
or oils, which have been acted upon either by sulphuric acid, or by other organic
or inorganic acid ingredient or compound, or mixture of the same. For this
purpose I enclose the material to be treated in the aforesaid air-tight vessel, and
submit the same to the action of hot air, compressed or uncompressed, in circulation
or otherwise. I cause the circulation by pumping the air or gases out of the vessel
by a pipe situated at the top of the same, while fresh quantities of air or gases.
enter at the other end, or by injecting compressed air. The fibres are thoroughly

page_text: penetrated by the fat or oil, and the change in their condition is similar to but
generally more rapid than that which usually takes place when the material is
hung in stoves. The hot gases are conducted into suitable reservoirs where the
heat is recovered,
I also treat by my process materials prepared with soap, emulsions of fat or
oil, soluble oil, or sulpho-acids, and which are to be printed with alizarine or
aniline, or any topical or steam colour, or which are to be dyed with aniline or
alizarine colours, and I thus obtain more brilliant and faster colours than have
heretofore been attainable.
I also treat by my process materials which have been prepared with a mixture
of organic or inorganic mordant, and I treat by this process fibrous materials, yarns,
and textile fabrics which have been treated with ferrous or ferric mordants, or
with any iron mordant, and the oxidation takes place rapidly, and better results
are obtained than would be practicable by other methods.
I treat hy my process fibrous materials, yarns, textile fabrics which have been
mordanted with alum, basic-alum, acetate of alumina, or alumina preparation
mordants, which are usually fixed by the ageing process. In all cases the pene-
tration of the fibre by the mordant is complete, and when a mordant containing
acetic acid has been used the disengagement of acetic acid is complete, and a
better fixation of the alumina with the fibre is effected than has heretofore been
practicable, thus causing the mordanted articles to give fuller and faster shades
than those hitherto obtainable.
I submit the materials to be heated to the action of tepid or hot compressed air
mixed with aqueous vapour; then I may let the gases escape, and subsequently
exhaust the air from the vessel. I recover the acetic acid by causing the gases to
come in contact with suitable liquids. I treat materials dyed or printed with
indigotin produced from plants, or with artificially prepared indigotin, and
materials printed or dyed with catechu preparations, and obtain a complete and
prompt oxydation of the colouring inatter, which becomes insoluble and is
thoroughly fixed or united with the fibres. I submit these materials to the action
of compressed or uncompressed air with or without the addition of oxygen.
I also treat by my process materials which have been dyed with wond extracts,
or with log-wood or other dye-woods, or which have been printed with colors
containing soluble compounds, from which it is desirable to liberate the fibres, and
also those materials which have been impregnated with colouring matters dissolved
in volatile solvents, and which are to be dyed by the disengagement of the volatile
solvent; I obtain a quicker and more complete liberation of the volatile solvent
used for holding the colour in solution. I also treat fibres printed with pigment
or plastic colours, fixed with albumen substitutes, gelatine, or varnish. By the
action on these materials of hot compressed air, the colours are thoroughly
dried and their fixation is greatly improved. I also treat those materials which
require to be cooled by submitting them to the action of cold compressed air, and
also materials which are to be heated. I treat fibrous materials which have been
dyed or printed, or impregnated with alizarine or aniline colours. I use air, oxygen,
or chlorine, or any other gas or vapour, with or without the electric light or
electric sparks.
I submit the materials to be treated to the influence of electric light or electric
sparks by enclosing an electric lamp and reflector inside the air-tight vessel, the
said lamp being connected with a generator of electricity, or by enclosing any
other electric apparatus connected with a generator of electricity, situated either
inside or outside of the vessel. Or I submit the materials to the influence of
electric light by placing an electric lamp and reflector outside the air-tight vessel,
which in this case must be made partially or entirely of transparent material.
The apparatus which 1 prefer to use for the purposes of iny Invention has a
receiver, where the gas is kept in a compressed or uncompressed state. This
receiver is provided with a cock or tap for permitting the gas to flow therefrom
through plates situated inside tanks, whence it travels through a coil pipe between

page_text: the walls of an air-tight double bottomed pan, preferably of larger diameter at the
bottom than at the top of the same. This pan has an outlet pipe provided with a
regulating valve arranged to let escaping gases come in contact through another
pipe with liquid in the said tanks. The said pan has a suitable man-hole, and is
provided with a pipe for introducing water or other liquid, or gazeous or solid
Bubstance, into the said pan, the said pipe being furnished with two cocks, one of
which is to be opened while the other is closed. The substance admitted into the
pan falls on a grate covered with sand or other suitable porous material, where it
comes in contact with the gases entering the vessel. The pan is also provided at
the bottom with an inlet aperture for the admission of steam, hot or cold water,
gas, or other fluid, at any required temperature. The receiver is provided with
a cock, by which it is connected with an exhaust pump if required.
The novel features of this apparatus are the arrangement is the pipe in con-
nection with the receiver for conducting the said gas or fluid between the plates,
and through the coil situated between the walls of the said air-tight double
bottomed pan, which is heated or cooled with steam, or with hot or cold gas or
liquid; the arrangement of the inlet pipe of the air-tight pan or vessel, and the
connecting of the outlet pipe with a regulating valve so arranged that the escaping
gas or vapour is brought in contact with liquids or suitable substances contained in
the said tanks.
I may enclose the material to be treated in the air-tight vessel, and subsequently
close all of the valves or taps; I then submit the material to a higher temperature
than before, thus causing or increasing the compression by the dilatation of the
gas, air, or vapour.
I may modify this apparatus by using an air compressing pump without using a
receiver; or I may use a pump for compressing air when the receiver has been
filled with compressed gas.
I obtain the required degree of moisture by regulating the quantity of water
falling on the grate of the pan, where it comes in contact with the gas or vapor,
or by the admission of a suitable quantity of aqueous vapor at the required
temperature.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th May 1882.
44
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. IMPROVED PROCESSES OR METHODS OF AND
APPARATUS FOR DRYING OR DESICCATING, AIRING, OXIDIZING, STOVING,
DECOLORIZING, BLEACHING, OR OTHERWISE SIMILARLY TREATING FIBROUS AND
OTHER MATERIALS." A communication from abroad by Paul St. Ange Basquin, of
Paris, France.
This Invention relates to the employment of compressed, uncompressed, or
rarefied atmospheric air, oxygen, ozonized oxygen, chlorine, sulphurous acid,
carbonic acid, ammonia, and other gases or vapours mixed or separately at a low
or high temperature, in a dry state or in conjunction with aqueous vapour for the
purposes herein specified, that is to say, treating substances with a view to heating,
desiccating, drying, exposing to the action of dry or moist air, gases, or vapours,
bleaching, decolorizing, stoving, ageing, airing, oxidizing, fixing, and similarly
treating the following and similar materials, viz., fibres, yarns, textile fabrics of
vegetable or animal origin in a dry or damp state, or immersed in liquids and
various liquid or solid organic or mineral substances which are usually exposed to
the free action of air, aqueous vapour, or other vapour or gas at various tempe-
ratures and under the normal pressure in buildings or in the open air. The fibrous
materials and various substances thus treated being either enclosed in air-tight
vessels and apparatus hereinafter described, or treated in any closed vessel or
chamber, or by means of any of the devices usually employed in the dyeing,
printing, or other industries for submitting materials to the action of steam under
pressure alone.
One object of the said Invention is to obtain in a cheaper, more regular, and
perfect manner, and in a much shorter time than heretofore, those required
mechanical, physical, or chemical changes or reactions which take place slowly
when the fibrous and other substances are exposed to the combined action of air,
aqueous vapor, gases, and heat, either in the open air, or in warm rooms,
hot stoves,
or kilns which require a large consumption of fuel and necessitate a great amount
of troublesome and expensive labor. My objects are also to produce mechanical,
physical, or chemical changes or reactions which could not be obtained at all by
the free action of air, gas, or vapor in the usual manner, and to reclaim the gases
or volatile products which are disengaged when the materials are being treated,
and to utilize the heat which has been accumulated in the said gas or vapour; thus
the large quantities of acetic acid which have heretofore been completely lost by
dyers and printers, when textile materials are submitted to the action of air and
moisture in drying or in ageing by the usual process, are by my improved
method collected or recovered, and can be repeatedly used for the making of new
mordants or colors; I thus effect an important economy.
The fibres and various substances treated by my process are more evenly and
thoroughly penetrated, and are subjected to a better action than is obtainable by
other processes, and when fibres, yarns, or textile fabrics are being treated with a
view to being dyed, printed, or colored, faster and more brilliant colors are obtained.
And in materials bleached by my improved method a more regular, complete, and
rapid decolorization takes place than has heretofore been practicable.
In treating damp fibrous materials of vegetable or animal origin, and various
liquid or solid substances, with a view to the heating, desiccating, or drying of the

page_text: substances are impregnated or mixed, if a substance be heated to a temperature
at which the liquids contained therein would boil under the existing or ordinary
atmospheric pressure, evaporation takes place; but if the substance be kept in
contact with compressed air, whose temperature is higher than the boiling point,
corresponding to the pressure of the compressed air on the liquids retained in the
pores of the substance, a volatilization will take place until the point of ebullition
is reached, which corresponds to the increased pressure due to the production of
the vapors; if the boiling point at the ordinary atmospheric or existing pressure
is not reached, there will be a slow evaporation, which in some cases is highly
desirable.
It is part of my Invention to use compressed air or gases in circulation or
otherwise at a suitable temperature for heating, drying, desiccating, and eva-
porating in the treatment of fibres and various liquid or solid substances. My
objects in using compressed air or gases for drying or evaporating purposes are as
follows, viz. —
First. To cause the compressed air or gases to penetrate uniformly and thoroughly
the fibres, porous materials, and agglomerations of substances of which the pene-
tration is difficult.
Second. To purge the atmospheric air from its aqueous vapor when required before
it comes in contact with the substances under treatment, the condensation of the
aqueous vapor being effected when the compressed air is cooled.
Third. To maintain the contact between the air or gas and the fibres or the
various liquid or solid substances during the whole time occupied by the process of
desiccation or evaporation by compression.
Fourth. To render it possible to condense or to reclaim the vapors and volatile
products which are disengaged from the fibres and various substances under
treatment.
Fifth. To effect the partial or complete drying or desiccation of the substances at
a constant temperature.
My Invention also relates to the drying of fibrous materials in air-tight vessels
by exhaustion, and causing the extracted vapors and gases to be collected or
conveniently treated and deprived of their heat; but I lay no claim to the
evaporation of liquids or to the drying of wet substances other than fibres in
vacuo.
The said Invention also relates to the condensation of the aqueous or other
vapors, which are evolved when fibrous materials are dried in air-tight vessels,
either under a pressure greater than the ordinary atmospheric pressure or by
exhaustion.
The fibrous materials or other substances to be treated are enclosed in an air-
tight vessel, and heated therein at a suitable temperature. This vessel is connected
with an air-pump or a condenser, or with condensing tanks in which a partial
vacuum has been produced. When the extraction of the vapors has been proceeding
for a sufficiently long time the normal pressure is restored, dry air coming in
contact with the materials under treatment, and I subsequently inject dry
compressed air into the said vessel, which is then connected with an air-compressor
or with a chamber or receptacle filled with compressed air. The dry compressed air
penetrates and comes thoroughly in contact with the damp materials, and escapes
from the vessel through a regulating valve after it has become mixed with the
aqueous or volatile matters which are disengaged under the condition of
temperature and pressure used during this process.
I may subject the fibrous materials or other substances in a closed vessel to a
current of compressed air without exhausting the vapors; the air is heated to a
suitable temperature, and the operation is continued until the desired result is
obtained. I use air under a pressure of five pounds per square inch above the
normal pressure, and heated to from two hundred (200) to two hundred and forty
eight (248) degrees Fahrenheit, more or less, according to the desired rate of

page_text: evaporation. When treating fibres it is desirable that at the end of an operation the
temperatures shall not be very high unless special effects are required, but the pre-sure
may always be kept up as it maintains throughout the whole bulk of the substances
under treatment an equal temperature, which is of the greatest importance.
escape
The free expansion of the gases after compression would cause an immediate
cooling or absorption of heat, but I do not allow the gases or volatile matters to
and to be lost while hot; I cause then to come in contact with water or
other liquid, or to travel through pipes or passages in tanks filled with suitable
liquids or substances, to be deprived of their heat or a portion of their beat. As
the gases become cooler the pressure would fall if not maintained by the constant
flow of fresh quantities of hot gases under pressure; the vapors being also cooled
are condensed, and it is a point of great importance for the purpose of my Invention
that all the latent heat absorbed for converting the water or other liquids into
vapour is thus recovered. The recovered heat is utilized for warming fresh
quantities of cold gas. When using rarefied gas the condensation of the vapors
with which it is mixed is also effected. I do not confine myself to the use of a
current of atmospheric air for drying or evaporation, as I may use other gas or a
mixture of air and gases.
Some of the important applications of my Invention are the following, viz.:-
Desiccating malt and grain or seeds usually dried in stoves or kilns. For this
purpose the air may be heated to two hundred and ten (210) degrees Fahrenheit,
more or less.
Heating, drying, or desiccating various substances in a solid, liquid, granulated,
or pasty state, or products such as felts, extracts, colors, or pigments, rifle or other
powder, chemical salts, sugars, precipitates, lacquers, varnishes, gypsum, moulded
plasters and substances, ceramic materials, cements, skins, meat, farinaceous food,
timber, and agglomerations of substances which offer a great resistance to an equal
or uniform penetration, and which require a partial or complete desiccation at a
constant temperature.
Drying starches wetted with various liquors, and producing the germination of
steeped seeds for malting. When treating steeped seeds the air or gases are not
heated, and the apparatus may be cooled if necessary.
I also employ my Invention for bleaching or decolorizing fibrous materials, yarns,
and fabrics of vegetable or animal origin in the half-bleached or unbleached state,
and other substances. I do not use rarefied gases for decolorizing purposes. The
substances or materials to be treated are immersed in liquors contained in air-tight
vessels and subjected therein together with the liquors to the action of gases under
pressure; or to a current or circulation of compressed gas I uso water, or a mixture
of glycerine and water, or any other suitable liquid; the liquids should be nentral
or made alkaline with caustic alkalis or alkaline salts, or acidified with oxalic acid
or other acid. The substances or materials may be treated in a dry or damp
state, or they may be wetted out with alkaline acid or neutral liquor without
being immersed in the liquid. The vessel being closed the materials are acted upon
with compressed sulphurous acid alone, or mixed with air deprived of oxygen or
with other non-oxidizing gas; or they are subjected to the action of atmospheric
air mixed with ozonised oxygen, or mixed with oxygen, chlorine, ammonia, carbonic
acid, at a low or high temperature in a dry state, or in conjunction with aqueous
vapor under pressure; I may use first a mixture of compressed gas and sulphurous
acid, or air and chlorine, and subsequently air and ammonia, or air and water
vapour, or a combination thereof under pressure. I will hereinafter describe the
manner of producing the combined action of compressed air or gas and aqueous
vapour. I use compressed carbonic acid alone or in conjunction with atino-
spheric air to act upon substances which have been wetted out with solution
of bleaching hypochlorites, or which are enclosed together with solutions of
bleaching hypochlorites in air-tight vessels. I may also use compressed carbonic acid;
alone or in conjunction with atmospheric air, to act upon substances enclosed in air-
tight vessels, and immersed in cold water holding binoxide of barium in suspension.

page_text: I use a pressure of from two to five pounds per square inch, more or less, in excess
of the normal pressure. The time during which the operations are continued will
vary according to the substances under treatment, the temperature, and the
proportion of active gas contained in the gaseous mixture.
In the bleaching of fibres I prefer to use a small proportion of chlorine at a
suitable temperature, and to subsequently use the treatment with ammonia or with
compressed air or air, and aqueous vapor; the operations are repeated if necessary.
The fibres or other substances are completely and evenly penetrated by the gases,
and the said gases escaping from the vessel are conveyed by means of pipes into
tanks filled with cold water or other condensing substances by which the active
gases, such as sulphurous acid, chlorine, ammonia, or carbonic acid are fixed and
prevented from being lost in the atmosphere. I may use charcoal, alkalis, lime, or
acid solution as the condensing medium; the recovered gases may thus be utilized.
I prefer to employ a gas-receiver from which the gas or gaseous mixture is drawn, the
flow is thus more easily regulated, and the preparation of the gaseous mixture may
be made with accuracy.
I bleach hemp, flax, jute, China-grass, phormium, tenax, wool, silk, cotton, hair,
feathers, straw, straw articles, rags, pulps, woody fibres, cork, cat-gut, and other
substances which require to be decolored.
Other very important purposes to which my Invention is applicable are the
airing, heating, or stoving wet or dry fibres, yarns, textile fabrics which have been
previously prepared by the so-called Turkey-red processes with a view to being
combined with oily or organic mordants to be ultimately dyed with artificial
alizarine or other artificial or natural dye. The said Invention is also applicable to
-the-treatment-of-fibres, yarns, or fabrics which have been prepared with vegetable
or animal fatty acids, fats, or oils, or with soap made from fatty acids, fats, or oils,
or with fatty acids, fats, or oils, or mixtures of the same, treated with emulsive
solutions containing caustic alkalis or salts of alkaline reaction, or prepared with
fatty products or sulpho-acids obtained by acting upon animal or vegetable fatty
acids, fats, or oils with sulphuric acid, or with any mineral or organic acid,
ingredient, or compound, or with sulphuric acid in conjunction with any mineral or
organic acid, ingredient, or compound, the said fatty products or sulpho-acids being
either used in solution containing an excess of caustic alkali, or of salts of alkaline
reaction, or used in acid or neutral solution.
'
The said Invention is also applicable to the treatment of fibrous materials
prepared with alkaline neutral or acid liquor containing soluble fatty products or
sulpho-acids mixed with emulsions containing fatty acids, fats, or oils, and fibrous
materials prepared with any Turkey-red mordant, or any organic compound or
mordant, or mixture of organic compounds and mordants of vegetable or animal
origin, or artificially prepared.
I treat fibrous materials and fabrics which have been prepared with sulpho-oleine,
soluble oil, alizarine oil, soap, or any natural or artificial organic or inorganic
mordant or compound, either with a view to being dyed with natural or artificial
dyes, or being impregnated, padded, or printed with topical or steam alizarine
colors, or topical or steam aniline or tar derivative colors, or any artificial or natural
dyeware or mordant, or mixture thereof used as topical or steam colors.
When textile materials or fabrics have been impregnated, padded, or printed
with a mixture of organic and mineral mordants or salts, or with two or more
organic mordants, or two or more mineral mordants or salts, and it is necessary to
produce a chemical reaction between these drugs, I use the proper means to effect
the required change, and prepare the fibre to undergo the subsequent operations. I
treat textile materials and fabrics which have been impregnated, padded, or
printed with a mixture of alumina mordant and organic, or fatty, or oily mordants
or preparations.
1 employ my Invention for airing, ageing, and oxidizing ferrous mordants,
stannous mordants, or tin preparations, acetate of alumina, hyposulphite of alumina,
nitrate of alumina, chloride of aluminium, basic alum, and alumina mordants, or

page_text: any mordant or mixture of mordants or preparation capable of acting as a mordant,
and from which it is desirable to determine or to promote the liberation of the
metallic oxide or active constituent, which must be fixed to the vegetable or animal
fibres impregnated, padded, or printed with the mordants.
These materials are heated to a suitable temperature either in a wet state or dry
state. If a mordant be used, the metallic oxide of which is dissolved in acid
solution, I may subject the mordanted materials to the action of atmospheric air in
conjunction with gaseous ammonia; if the mordant be made of alumina or other
oxide dissolved in alkaline solution, I may subject the mordanted material to the
action of atmospheric air in conjunction with carbonic acid or other gaseous or
volatile acid; if a mordant be used containing a volatile acid, acetic acid for
instance, I reclaim this volatile acid or acids by causing the volatile products
disengaged during the ageing and drying to come in contact with crytallized
sodium, monohydro-carbonate or soda crystals, or caustic or carbonated soda or
potash, either in solution or undissolved, or with milk of lime, baryta, oxide of lead,
or hydrate of alumina; or with liquor containing lime and a soluble sulphate; or
with any suitable liquid, salt, or compound capable of combining with the free
volatile acids; or I reclaim the volatile acid or acids by condensation of the acid
vapors.
I also employ my Invention for heating and desiccating at a high temperature
fibrous materials, textile fabrics, and other substances and articles which have been
covered with pigments or colors, or which have been ornamented, painted, or
decorated with undissolved colors or metallic powders, the adhesion of which to the
fabric or substance to be ensured by means of albumen or its substitutes, glue,
gelatine, natural or artificial gum, drying oil, resin, or varnish.
I treat fibres and textile fabrics, colored or uncolored, impregnated, padded, or
covered with what are termed "finishing substances," which are used to improve
the appearance of the colored or uncolored materials; and I also treat fibres of
vegetable or animal origin which have been prepared in their unspun or unwoven
condition with "sizes," oils, or oily preparations in order to render them more fit
for the following operations to which they are to be subjected:-
I submit the materials or fabrics to the action of compressed air or gases, or to
the action of hot compressed air or gases, in the dry state or in conjunction with
aqueous vapour under pressure with a view to giving the materials a peculiar
appearance, gloss, or finish, or otherwise changing or improving their texture.
I also effect the airing or oxidizing of wet or dry fibrous materials or fabrics of
vegetable or animal origin, colored, dyed, printed, padded, or impregnated with
reduced indigotine produced from the indigofera plant, or with propiolic acid or any
compound capable of producing artificial indigo, or with decoctions or preparations
of catechu or other natural or artifical colouring matter, dye, or dyeware, or mixtures
thereof, which are either transformed or developed into a colour, or whose shade is
brightened or modified when oxidized or acted upon by air or gases, or by the
combined influence of air or gas and aqueous vapour.
I do not confine myself to the use of air or oxidising gases. may treat the
various colors or dyewares with gases which have a reducing or deoxidising action,
and also with gases of alkaline or acid reaction.
I also treat wet or dry yarns and fabrics of vegetable or animal origin, or other
materials which have been dyed with alizarine, or with any natural or artificial dye
or coloring matter.
I also apply my Invention for heating, airing, ageing, or submitting to the
combined influence of hot compressed air and aqueous vapor under pressure, fibrous
materials, yarns, or fabrics which have been impregnated, padded, or printed with
those mixtures of natural or artificial colouring matters, dyes, dyewares, mordants,
ingredients or thickenings termed in calico printing and dyeing "colours," "topical
colors," or "steam colors" containing volatile matters from which it is desirable to
liberate the colour and the fibre, which materials are usually submitted to the
action of atmospheric air in ageing rooms, or to the action of steam alone in

page_text: suitable apparatus, or both consecutively; for instance, they are first aged in
suitable rooms, and afterwards steamed in order to produce, develope, and fix the
ultimate colour or colouration.
The wet or dry materials which have been prepared, mordanted, colored, dyed,
printed, or otherwise treated as above stated, are treated according to my Invention
in air-tight vessels or chambers, in which they remain enclosed during each con-
secutive operation, and they are submitted therein to the action of air or gases
under the normal atmospheric pressure, or at a higher or lower pressure than the
atmospheric pressure at a suitable temperature and in a dry state, or in conjunction
with aqueous vapour. I produce a current or circulation of hot or cold atmo-
spheric air without compression, either by injecting compressed air into the
vessel, and allowing the air to escape freely, or by exhausting the air from the
vessel, the air entering at one end, and being drawn out through a pipe situated at
the opposite end. Or I may exhaust the gases or volatile products and produce a
partial vacuum in the vessel containing the materials under treatment.
I may fill the said vessel with cold atmospheric air or with cold compressed air,
and heat the gases and materials being treated after closing all communication with
the exterior air, or with the pumps; the pressure is thus increased, as there is no
current or circulation of the gases in this case. The said vessel may contain water
or other liquids, which becoming heated, produce aqueous vapour and volatile
products. I determine a circulation of compressed air by forcing hot or cold air
into the vessel; the compressed air escapes through a loaded valve or reducing
valve while fresh quantities are constantly forced in, the pressure in the vessel
remaining above the atmospheric pressure. I may use a current or circulation of
-hot-compressed-air alone; or-a-current-or-circulation-of-mixed-hot compressed-air-
and aqueous vapor under pressure, the materials under treatinent being subjected
to the combined action thereof.
By the combined action of hot compressed air and aqueous vapour under
pressure, I have in view,-
First. The effects produced by submitting the materials to a current or circulation
of hot compressed air acting in conjunction with aqueous vapor under pressure,
both forming a perfect mixture, which is forced froin a receiver or from a pump
fitted with two feeding valves, one of which adınits hot air, and the other aqueous
vapour at the same time or in the vessel itself, which may be connected with two
pipes, one furnishing compressed air heated to the required temperature, the other
furnishing steam at a suitable pressure.
Second. The effects produced by submitting the materials to such combined action
of compressed air and aqueous vapor under pressure as would be obtained by using
the hot air, and the aqueous vapour delivered by a two-branch pipe, one branch of
which might be fed from one valve of a pump, furnishing only aqueous vapour
under pressure at one stroke, and the other branch of which might communicate
with another valve of the same pump, furnishing hot compressed air at the other
stroke, or like effects produced by any suitable arrangement of apparatus.
I find it very advantageous to use a current or circulation of air instead of
steam, inasmuch as independently of the chemical changes which must be deter-
mined by the combined influence of air, heat, and moisture; cold compressed air
can easily be heated by the condensation of the waste steam of an engine, or
furthermore considerably less heat is required to produce hot air at a given
temperature than would be required to convert water into steam at the same
temperature.
I may use first compressed air alone, and afterwards compressed air in con-
junction with aqueous vapor under pressure, or the reverse.
When treating oiled skins or fibrous materials prepared with oil or oily or
organic substances or mordants, as in the well known process of Turkey-red dyeing,
I use atmospheric air alone or in conjunction with aqueous vapour, and under a
pressure of ten pounds (10 lbs.) per square inch, more or less, there will be an
elevation of temperature due to the compression of the gases, but the heat inay be

page_text: further increased by suitable heating agents, and the proper degree of heat is
maintained during the operation, which is continued during a sufficiently long
time to attain the object in view.
I may also operate without compression or in a partial vacuum.
When ageing mordants or colors the vapors and volatile acids are exhausted or
expelled with the compressed air, it is desirable not to use dry air at a high
temperature; the mordants or colors will be evenly or uniformly fixed in the
fibre, and there will be a great saving of time, fuel, and labor. I may cause the
atmospheric air or gases which have been used for acting upon the above named
materials to return into contact with the said materials, thus establishing &
continuous circulation of gases.
I intend to use a current or circulation of compressed air or gases alone, or any
mixture of hot air, gas, and aqueous vapor under pressure, not only for acting upon
materials enclosed in air tight vessels, but also for treating materials with the aid
of any of the means or arrangements which are employed in dyeing or printing,
for submitting materials to the action of steam under pressure alone.
I apply my Invention not only for treating textile fabrics or yarns in the hank,
but also yarns on cops, bobbins, or warps; also vegetable or animal fibres in the
raw state or in any condition previous to spinning.
I may apply the said Invention for subjecting the above named or other
materials and substances to consecutive operatious without removing them from
the air-tight vessel. For instance, I may dry fibres or other materials impregnated
with mordant liquor, cause the ageing to take place afterwards, and then wet
them out by introducing or forcing a dye liquor or any suitable liquor into the
vessel, the fibrous materials being left in the vessel during all of the different
operations.
The apparatus which I employ in practising my Invention is illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings in sectional elevation.
In Figure 1, K is a closed vessel or chamber constructed of sheet-iron, enamelled
or galvanized iron, rivetted iron plates, or any sufficiently strong material. It has
a double envelope and a compartment L, which may be heated, if necessary, by
high or low pressure steam froin a pipe S. W is a pipe for conveying water from
this compartment into a box or vessel H; R is a receiver provided with suitable
cocks, as shewn; D is an air compresser or air pump; C, C, C³, 11, 12, and 13, arc
cocks. The gases may be forced into the said vessel either from the air compressor
or from the receiver. On the cocks ' and C3 being closed, and the cocks 12 and 13
opened, the compressed gases travel through hollow plates P and P¹ enclosed in air
tight-tanks. From the plates they are conveyed through coils arranged in the
box H and in the compartiment L, whence they pass by the pipe I opening at the
bottom of the vessel K under the grate G. A valve, which is not shewn, may be
fitted in the pipe I between the compartment L and the vessel K. The gases and
volatile products escaping from the vessel by the outlet O through a regulating or
reducing valve V are conveyed by the pipe X into the tank T, and from the
tank Tinto the tank T by the pipe F. From the tank T they escape by the
pipe E, which dips into a long tube open at the top, and filled with sulphuric acid
or with glycerine, or any other heavy liquid. I may also connect the discharge pipe E
with a loaded valve, through which the escape of compressed gases may take place.
The air tight tanks contain water or other suitable liquors or substances, which are
heated by the hot gases and vapors expelled from the vessel K, and the cold gases
travelling through the hollow plates are thus warmed. Z is a pipe, through which
water or other liquid gas or vapor may be injected into the vessel K, so as to fall
on a bed of sand or sponge placed on the grate. The air forced from the perforated
pipe I mixes with the volatile products when ascending through the grate and
sand. N is a pipe opening at the bottom of the vessel K, and by which a commu-
nication may be established at any time with the exterior atmosphere.
I may use the air-compressor for sucking the air or vapor directly from the
vessel into the compressor, and forcing them afterwards into the tanks. In this

page_text: case I connect the suction pipe of the pump with the vessel K, while the delivery
tube, instead of communicating with the plates, discharges the compressed gases
into a pipe dipping into the liquors in the tanks.
I may use similar apparatus for forcing directly into the vessel or into the coil
in the compartment L connected with the said vessel the gases which have
circulated and been drawn either from the plates and the coil in the box H, or
which have been withdrawn by the pump after having circulated only through the
hollow plates. I use these arrangements when I wish to obtain the greatest
quantity of heat from the gases and liquors in the tanks. The gases circulating
through hollow plates are not under pressure. In this case they are hot, and the
weight of the gases passing through the vessel is comparatively slight. The
receiver may be used as a condenser, steam under pressure being introduced into it
through the pipe C. The steam cock is closed, and cold water is subsequently
introduced through the cock C¹ to produce a vacuum. The cock C is in direct
communication with the vessel K by the pipe A, or may communicate with the
tank T by the branch B. All the cocks being closed except the cocks B and C,
and the valve V open, the tank T communicates with the receiver R, in which
there is a vacuum, and an aspiration takes place from T' into T, and from K
into T. I may obtain a similar effect with the air pump. The apparatus may be
cooled with water, or it may be heated by a circulation of hot water, or oil or hot
gases, or by the waste steam of an engine, according to the temperature required.
may use a set of two double envelope vessels, and cause the air and aqueous
vapor escaping from one vessel to travel between the envelopes of the other vessel,
thereby heating the compartment in which they circulate.
When-it-is-undesirable-that-the-volatile-matters-escaping-from-the-vessel-K
should bubble through the liquors or substances in the tanks, I connect the pipe X
with a coil located in the tank T, which coil may communicate with a similar coil
located in the tank T. The lower portion of each coil is connected with a tube W₁
(see Figure 4) passing through the bottom of the tanks, thus allowing the condensed
vapors to be collected while the gases escape by a small valve fitted to the upper
part of a box T3, in which the condensed vapors are collected, and the gases after
forcing their way through the valve are cooled by expansion, and come in contact
with the bottom of the box T3, which has a double envelope with outlet y.
When it is necessary to use hot compressed air in conjunction with aqueous
vapor under pressure, I may use the mixing cylinder shewn in Figure 2. The hot
air pipe is fitted with a reducing valve R¹, which is placed between the steam-
jacket compartment and the cylinder A, and a steam pipe P is also fitted with a
similar reducing valve R. Both reducing valves being set at the same pressure,
the hot compressed air and the hot steam under pressure mingle inside the cylinder,
whence they are conveyed by the pipe I opening at the bottom of the vessel K.
The said pipe I, instead of being perforated with small holes, may be fitted with
outlets or apertures, on which is closely fitted a perforated roller. I use this
perforated roller for winding or coiling the materials when it is desirable to keep
them stretched or packed closely.
1 may also use instead of the said mixing cylinder the apparatus shewn in
Figure 3, in which B is the cylinder of a pump whose piston is moved by an
engine; the hot air pipe is fitted with a valve R₁, and communicates with the
cylinder of the pump by the air valves C and C, situated one at the bottom and
one at the top of the pump; a steam pipe similarly fitted with a valve R² com-
municates with the pump by two steam valves and C, which are placed near
the air feeding valves. By means of outlet valves D' and D2 a communication is
established between the two ends of the pump and the vessel K through the pipe I.
When the piston descends both the air valve and steain valve at the bottom are
closed, while the mixture of hot compressed air and steam under pressure is forced
through the valve D'; when the piston ascends both the air valve and steam valve
at the bottom open while the outlet valve D' is closed.
I do not restrict myself to feeding the cylinders of the pump with compressed

page_text: air and high pressure steam, I may use aqueous vapour and air without pressure.
It is only necessary that the hot air at the normal pressure supplied to the pump
should be heated up to about 212 degrees Fahrenheit before it enters the pump;
the compression will increase the temperature of both the air and the steam, and
there will not be any condensation of steam. I regulate the temperature of the
air according to the desired results. I use this apparatus not only for acting on
materials with a mixture of air and steam but also with any mixture of air and
gases, or any mixture of air, gases, and vapours. I may use inore than two valves
working in connection with supplying or feeding tubes, and the feeding tubes may
be of various dimensions or fitted with gas cocks, by means of which I regulate
the proportion of the gases forming the different gaseous mixtures.
The pipe I, Figure 1, the mixing cylinder Figure 2, and the cylinder of the pump
Figure 3, are covered with non-conducting materials; or they may be if required
heated up to a higher temperature than that of the gases circulating through the
pipe 1, cylinder, or pump, the heat being furnished by any suitable liquid gases or
vapors acting externally as heating agents. The materials or substances to be
treated may be disposed in a cage of suitable dimensions, which is lowered into the
vessel K, and raised therefrom after being treated, or may be introduced into the
vessel by a manhole through the lid or cover.
When a cage is used it is weighed after each operation by means of a lifting
chain which is hooked to the beam of a scale, tho weight of the materials under
treatment can thus be accurately ascertained.
I may use also a multitubular apparatus; the gases coming from the plates in the
tanks and the coil in the box H pass through a multitubular part T, and by means of
pipe enter the vessel K, which may or may not be surrounded by a double
envelope, the compartment L being dispensed with in this case (see Figure 11)
N is a manhole at the bottom of the vessel K.
If desired however 1 may use the modification shewn in Figure 12, in which.9
steam jacket is replaced by a coil disposed inside the shell of the vessel, the
condensed water (if steam be used as the heating agent) entering by the pipe W
into the box H.
The various materials and substances treated in the air-tight vessel are agitated
if necessary by a revolving stirrer, which may be perpendicular to the bottom of
the vessel, the axle of the stirrer passing through a stuffing box located in the lid
or cover; or I may adopt the modification shewn in Figure 5, wherein the vessel
(which in this case is cylindrical) occupies a horizontal position and is so divided
by partitions P, P1, P2, that the gases entering by the pipe T have to travel in the
space left between the bottom of the cylinder and the partition P, which is rivetted
at the top but which does not reach to the bottom, while the next partition Pl
does not extend to the top of the shell, and so on throughout the series.
The said
vessel is fitted with man-holes M, N, and I may use also a double lid plug hermeti-
cally closing both holes P* and Q, by means of which the cylinder is easily emptied.
The substances to be treated are agitated by a horizontal stirrer, the axle of which
fits closely in holes in the centre of the partitious. Figure 6 is a cross section
shewing the partition P and the heating or cooling compartment L. I may use a
modification of these parts in which the compartment L is dispensed with, the
shell being made of smooth or corrugated plates on which pipes are arranged,
see Figures 13 and 14.
Instead of the vessel K I may use the modification shewn in Figure 7, in which A
is a horizontal air-tight vessel divided by means of vertical partitions; the said
vessel is of square or circular section and made of any suitable materials; it is fixed
between pillars C, C', and. movable on the axis a, a', the wheel D, driven by a spur-
wheel, is keyed on the hollow centre end which revolves in the tubular step or
bearing S, and communicates with pipe I which supplies the gases or vapors. By
the law of gravity the substances are caused to occupy constantly the lower part
of the air-tight vessel and remain between the partitions or discs which are
perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder.

page_text: A space is left between the partitions and part of the shell of the said vessel,
every alternate partitition P1, P3, P, reaching the same transverse lines; the gases
or vapors are thus caused to impinge against the partitions and to travel up and
down through the substances under treatment.
I may use a disc, a segment of which is perforated, see Figure 8. O is the outlet
conveying gases to the tanks; the tap T or the opening M, which can be hermeti-
cally closed, affords the means for emptying the said vessel. Each of the partitions
may fit exactly in the vessel and be provided with a hole without a tube or with a
tube, with or without roses at each end opening near the shell, Figure 9, and the
discs may be so disposed that in any position of the revolving cylinder the holes
are always situated on different radial lines; Figure 10 shews the relative positions
of the holes in one of the positions of the said vessel. In another modification of
the revolving cylinder I provide for causing steam or other gas or fluid from a
cavity C to travel through a tubular apparatus which is rivetted to the shell of the
vessel, while by means of a pipe I, which passes through a cup or stuffing box B,
air or other fluids come in contact with the substances placed in the intertubular
space (see Figure 15). Or I force air or gases into the air-tight vessel, Figure 15,
from the cavity C and introduce steam by the pipe I, which is then connected with
tubes or any suitable heating arrangement; in this case the discs or frames on
which the tubes are fixed are not rivetted to the shell of the cylinder and no
motion whatever is imparted to the tubes, the heating arrangement, or the pipe I.
If fixed vessels are employed I use agitators with a hollow shaft and spokes to
allow steam to enter and escape during the motion; or I arrange the frame of the
agitator to carry a revolving worm (see Figure 16)..
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I do not restrict myself to the use of the various processes or devices
hereinabove described for drying or desiccating purposes; I may use them for
washing, purifying, condensing, or absorbing gas or vapor, and for acting upon
chemical salts or compounds, or gaseous liquids, or solid substances, or any matter
in a gaseous or liquid state at any temperature and pressure, but I claim,
First. The use of compressed air or gas or a mixture thereof in circulation or
otherwise for drying, desiccating, and similarly treating fibrous materials or other
substances (liquid or solid) enclosed in air-tight vessels, substantially as set forth
and for the purposes specified.
Second. Condensing and fixing the aqueous vapour and volatile products which
are disengaged when fibres or other substances (liquid or solid) are subjected to drying,
desiccation, or evaporation, at various temperatures in air-tight vessels by means of
compressed air or gas, or a mixture thereof in circulation or otherwise, and utilizing
the heat accumulated in the said vapours or gases, all substantially as and for the
purposes specified.
Third. Condensing and fixing the aqueous vapour and volatile products
disengaged during the drying of fibres by exhaustion, and utilizating the heat
accumulated on the said vapours and gases, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Fourth. The use of compressed sulphurous acid alone or mixed with other gas or
compressed air in conjunction with ozonised oxygen chlorine, or ammonia for
decoloring and similarly treating fibrous materials or other substances in a dry or
wet state, or immersed in liquids and enclosed in air-tight vessels, substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. The use of compressed carbonic acid alone or in conjunction with
atmospheric air, for decoloring fibrous materials, feathers, and other substances
immersed in cold water, holding binoxide of barium in suspension or immersed in
or wetted out with solutions of bleaching bypochlorites, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The employment of compressed, uncompressed, or rarefied air or gas in a
dry or moist state, substantially as set forth, for heating, stoving, airing, ageing,
oxidising, or fixing Turkey-red mordants or other, mordants or colors, and similarly

page_text: treating at any suitable temperature wet, damp, or dry yarn, fibre, fabrics, and
substances enclosed in air-tight vessels, or treated by any of the means employed
for submitting such materials or substances to the action of steam under pressure
alone.
Seventh. The employment of compressed air or gas, or mixtures of the same
with aqueous vapour under pressure, substantially as set forth, for fixing Turkey-
red mordants or other mordants or colors, and bleaching at a suitable temperature
wet or damp or dry fibres, yarns, fabrics, or other substances enclosed in air-tight
vessels, or treated by any of the means used for submitting such materials to the
action of steam under pressure alone.
Eighth. Reclaiming, condensing, and fixing the acetic acid gases and volatile
products, and utilizing the heat accumulated on the gases and vapours disengaged
during the decoloring, ageing, or stoving of fibres, yarns, fabrics, and substances
enclosed in air-tight vessels, substantially as set forth.
Ninth. The use of compressed air or gases in circulation or otherwise for
producing germination of steeped grain or seeds enclosed in air-tight vessels,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Tenth. The combination of parts comprising the hollow plates or chests formed
of any suitable material, and with any convenient circulating arrangement enclosed
in air-tight tanks, and a fixed or revolving air-tight vessel or chamber with or
without stirrers, which vessel is connected by means of a pipe with a tank
containing liquor, or with a coil or circulating apparatus also arranged in
tanks, so that gases circulate through the plates in the tanks to the said vessel,
and from this vessel to the liquor or through the coil in the tanks, and the air tight
boxes working in connection with the said apparatus for collecting the condensed
liquor under pressure, and so arranged that the gases under pressure escape
through a valve and expand between the double envelope of the air-tight boxes, or
of one of the boxes, all substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Eleventh. The apparatus comprising the mixing cylinder fitted with two or
more valves, one for admitting steam, and the other for admitting air or gas, and
the pump similarly fitted with two or more feeding valves, one of which will admit
steain with or without pressure at the same time that the other admits hot air or
gas with or without pressure in combination with the other parts of the apparatus,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Twelfth. The vessel fixed and divided by vertical partitions with alternate
spaces at the top or bottom and fitted with a revolving stirrer, the arms of which
work between the partitions or provided with a revolving worm, substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
Thirteenth. The vessel without a stirrer and caused to revolve around its axis on
hollow pivots, and divided by partitions perpendicular to the axis of the revolving
vessel, which partitions have spaces or holes at one end, and are arranged on
different radial lines for every position of the vessel, the said vessel being fitted
with tubes by means of which a circulation of steam may be maintained through
the hollow shaft and tubes, and which vessel may also be fitted with a hollow rod
passing through the hollow shaft so that a double circulation may be obtained,
that is to say, a circulation of steam and a circulation of air during the revolution
of the air tight vessel, all substantially as and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.