A NEW IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SCOWERING, PISING, AND WASHING OF WOOLLEN CLOTHS
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
FLINT, of Uley, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Fourth, in and by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of October last, for Himself, His heirs and suc-
did give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Flint, His special licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alfred Flint, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and them-
selves, or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Flint, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thenafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully.
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW IMPROVED MACHINE FOR
SCOWERING, PISING, AND WASHING OF WOOLLEN CLOTHS;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Alfred Flint, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within two calendar months next immediately after the
date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, AND THESE PRESENTS WITNESS, that in com-
pliance with the said proviso, I, the said Alfred Flint, do hereby ascertain
and declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by the Plan or Drawing on these Presents, and the
following is the description thereof; that is to say:
My Invention doth consist in an improved method of washing, scowering,
and pising woollen cloths, by which not only a considerable portion of time
and labor is saved, but the cloth rendered more perfect and free from damage,
and the face or dress of the cloth preserved and improved materially from
what it is under the ordinary modes of scowering and cleansing woollen cloths.
The first part of my said Invention is for the use and application of rollers
whose exterior surface is composed of a convenient number of ribs, bars, or
reeds, either round or forming any part of a circle, placed close together or
left a little apart to form channels or grooves between them, as shewn at
Figures 2, 4, 6, and 7, the alternate action of which gives at the same time
percussion, compression, and friction, necessary for the expunging coloring and
foul matter from woollen cloths. I also claim as part of my said Invention
the application of the alternate action of plain and ribbed rollers.
The second part of my Invention is for the use and application of a supple-
mentary cistern, which is so placed and arranged under the lower roller or
rollers as to prevent all coloring or other matter when expelled from the cloth
by the action of the rollers from returning into it again, except in that part of
the operation called pising, where the matter used for that purpose is permitted
to return into the cloth during that part of the process which is effected by the
opening and closing of certain apertures.
The third part of my said Invention is for the figure or form I give to my
cloth trunk, trough, or cistern, which effectually prevents the cloth from
getting hampered or entangled, or from being strained or torn asunder. Both
the second and third parts of my said Invention are applicable to the use of
plain rollers as well as of ribbed or reeded rollers; but I do not claim the s
Invention of the use of plain rollers for washing and scowering woollen cloths,
nor for placing the same over plain open cisterns, but confine my claim as to
the second and third parts described of my said Invention to the use of a
supplementary cistern, and a close or confined cloth cistern or trough.
Figure 1 in the above Drawing or Plan represents a horizontal plan of the 3
machine calculated to take one, two, or three cloths at a time, to be washed,"
scowered, or pised, A, A, A, the reeded, ribbed, or fluted rollers. B, B, B, B,
the framing and external casing. b, b, b, b, b, b, the opening of the trunk,
trough, or cistern on each side the rollers. h, h, h, h, h, h, the bearings and

page_text: ends of shafts where wheels may be fixed to give them motion. I, I, I, the
pipes that supply the cisterns with water. Figure 2 represents a vertical
section of the same. A, A, A, are the reeded, ribbed, barred, or fluted rollers,
shewing how they are placed in contact with the cloth between them, where,
supposing that a rotatory motion be given to the lower rollers, it is evident that
the top roller, which is placed over and between the other two, will be pro-
pelled round its centre of motion by the joint action of the other two, and
the cloth carried along with them at the same time; it will then be obvious
that when the reeds, or ribs, or bars of the lower rollers are made to strike
the reeds, or ribs, or bars of the upper rollers by their revolving motion, the
cloth that is in contact between them will receive percussion or beating, and as
they pass into their further respective points of contact the cloth will then
undergo compression, and also friction or squeezing and rubbing, so that their
alternate action unites percussion, compression, and friction by the same points
in contact. B, B, B, B, shews part of the frame and outer casing. b, b, the
cloth, trunk, trough, or cistern. The dark shading represents the cloth, and
how it is taken up and discharged by the rollers, where it will be clearly seen
that from the construction of the trough or cistern the cloth will drop down on
the carvilinear bottom in regular folds, which will as regularly present them-
selves to be taken up without being hampered or entangled. C, C, shew the
sides of the supplementary cistern. E, the aperture through which the pising
matter returns into the cloth during the operation of pising. Figure 3
shews a transverse section of the machine. A, A, the section of the ribbed or
reeded rollers. B, B, B, B, the frame and casing. b, b, b, the divisions of the
cistern. C the supplementary cistern. D the plug of the aperture that lets
out the foul matter. E, E, E, the aperture between the supplementary cistern
and trough. e, the rod that moves the plug and valves. h, h, h, h, the bearings
of the rollers. Figure 4 shews a machine with two rollers only. F, F, are two
conducting rollers; the other figures on the Plan corresponding with those on
Figure 2. Figure 5 shews the frame that carries the rollers. A, A, A, the
dotted lines that represent the rollers. B, B, the frame. h, h, h, h, the bearings
and carriages. Figure 6 represents rollers formed of semicircular ribs joined
together at their extremities, screwed or morticed into wooden or iron rings.
Figure 7 shews a ribbed roller acting in contact with a plain one. The rollers
may be either formed out of solid matter or made in the manner of shells or
skeleton rollers.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Second
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-two.
ALFRED FLINT. (L.S.)

page_text: Extraordmary in Chancery.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Second day of December,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Alfred Flint came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.