IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA- BATUS FOR STIFFENING, DRYING, AND FINISHING COTTON, LINEN, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Major Booth, of. Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Finisher, and James Farmer, of Salford, in the same County,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA-
BATUS FOR STIFFENING, DRYING, AND FINISHING COTTON, LINEN, WOOLLEN,
AND OTHER WOVEN FABRICS."
Sealed the 18th May 1858, and dated the 18th November 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by. the said Major Booth and James
Farmer at the Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with their
Petition, on the 18th November 1857...
We, the said MAJOR BOOTH, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Finisher, and JAMES FARMER, of Salford, in the same County, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STIPPENING, DRYING, AND FINISHING COTTON,
LINNEN, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, in a general arrangement of machinery or
apparatus for effecting the purposes of our Invention; to this end we cause the
goods to pass over a roller or rollers, by which starch or other stiffening matter
is conveyed to them, from thence they are conducted over cylinders heated by
steam or by other means, and are there dried sufficiently to receive another

page_text: coating of stiffening matter, which is conveyed to them by rollers; they then
pass over other heated rollers so as to become suitably dried or "conditioned"
for calendering by another part of the machine; the drying is subsequently
completed by another set of heated rollers, and the goods are then ready to
bo plaited by usual machinery. The alternato stiffening and drying above
described, may be repeated as often as desired. Our Invention also relates to
methods of arranging or constructing parts of such machinery as above. Tho
drying cylinders we place vertically in series, and if steam be used therein wo
adopt a peculiar construction for carrying off the water of condensation. This
method consists in causing an aperture or apertures of a pipe or channel to be
presented to the water at intervals by the revolution of the cylinder, so as to
allow it to pass therein, which water also forms a trap for preventing tho
escape of steam. In order to illustrate this, we will describe a method we
adopt: On the cylinder end or ends we form a pipe or channel, the orifice of
which as it turns downward receives the water by this pipe or channel, it is
then conveyed upward, and when in a certain position is delivered to another
chaunel, from whence it passes on through the axis of the cylinder, or it may
bo delivered from the periphery thereof, and tho delivery regulated by a valvo
opened at intervals by the revolution of the cylinder.
Our Invention also consists in a method of admitting steam to the cylinder;
for this purpose we form a space in the axle bearings, such space constituting
a steam chamber from whence the steam flows through suitable apertures.
Our Invention also refers to the vacuum valves of drying cylinders; these
we apply to the axles or to the bearings or stands thereof, and connect them
with suitable apparatus, so that the whole series may be opened during tho
revolution of the cylinders. The axles of these cylinders we also carry
beyond the bearings, and apply the wheel by which they are driven on tho
outside. In order to regulate the quantity of stiffening matter delivered to
the goods, we cause them to pass over a roller or rollers capable of adjust-
inent in position, so as to bring the goods in contact with an increased or
decreased surface of the stiffening roller.
Another part of our Invention relatos to that description of finishing printed
goods known as steaming. Our object being to prevent water of condensation
from dropping on to the goods as they pass through the apparatus, and this we
effect by furnishing it with an outer casing forming a space to which steam or
other heating medium is admitted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Major Booth and James Farmer in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 18th May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, MAJOR
BOOTH, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Finisher, and JAMES
FARMER, of Salford, in the same County, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Major Booth and James Farmer, Her especial licence that we, the said
Major Booth and James Farmer, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Major Booth and James Farmer, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
STIFFENINO, DRYING, AND FINISHING COTTON, LINEN, WCOLLEN, AND OTHER WOVEN
FABRICS, upon the condition, ninongst others, that we, the said Major Booth
and James Farmer, by an instrument in writing under our 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 we, the said Major Booth and James Farmer, do
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (and accompanying Drawing), that is to say:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, in a general arrangement of machinery or
apparatus for effecting the purposes of our Invention. To this end we cause the
goods to pass over a roller or rollers, by which starch or other stiffening matter
is conveyed to them, from thence they are conducted over cylinders heated by
steam or by other means, and are there dried sufficiently to receive another
coating of stiffening matter, which is conveyed to them by rollers; they then
pass over other heated rollers so as to become suitably dried or "conditioned "
for callendering by another part of the machine; the drying is subsequently

page_text: completed by another set of heated rollers, and the goods are then ready to
be plaited by usual machinery. The alternate stiffening and drying, above
described, may be repeated as often ns desired.
Our Invention also relates to methods of arranging or constructing parts of
such machinery as above. The drying cylinders we place vertically in series,
and if steam be used therein we adopt a peculiar construction for carrying
.off the water of condensation. This method consists in causing an aperture or
apertures of a pipe or channel to be presented to the water at intervals by the
revolution of the cylinder, so as to allow it to pass therein, which water
also forms a trap for preventing the escape of steam.
Our Invention also consists in a method of admitting steam to the cylinders;
For this purpose we form a space in the axle bearings, such space constituting
a steam chamber from whence the steam flows through suitable apertures.
Our Invention also refers to the vacuum valves of drying cylinders.;
these we apply to the axles or to the bearings or stands thereof and
connect them with suitable apparatus, so that the whole series may be opened
during the revolution of the cylinders. The axles of these cylinders we also
carry beyond the bearings, and apply the wheel by which they are driven on
the outside. In order to regulate the quantity of stiffening matter delivered to
the goods, we cause them to pass over a roller or rollers capable of adjustment
in position, so as to bring the goods in contact with an increased or decreased
surface of the stiffening roller.
Another part of our Invention relates to that description of finishing printed
goods known as "steaming," our object being to prevent water of condensation
from dropping on to the goods, and this we effect by furnishing it with an
outer casing, forming a space to which steam or other heating medium is
ndmitted.
Having thus stated generally the leading features of our Invention, we will
proceed to describe the same more particularly by reference to a Sheet of
Drawings accompanying this our Specification.
Fig. 1 represents in vertical section the general arrangement of machinery
we employ. The course of the goods to be stiffened, dried, and finished is
represented by the blue line; they are fed into the apparatus at A, and pass
between rollers a, b, b, by which they receive size or other such substance
from the trough C; these rollers are adjusted by screws and weighted by means
of levers, from thence they pass upward over guide rollers and around steam
cylinders d, d, where they become 'partially dried, they then in liko manner
pass over two sets of steam cylinders e, f, and by them become further dried,

page_text: so as to be ready to receive another application of stiffening matter, which is
conveyed to them from the trough g by the rollers h, i, and it will be perceived
by tracing their course, as indicated by the blue line, that this second stiffening
is effected upon the back of the cloth. Having been thus treated, the goods
pass over another series of steam cylinders j, by which means they are partially
dried and brought into a properly conditioned state, ready for the operation of
the callendering rollers k, after which they are completely dried by other sets
of steam cylinders 1, m, n, from thence passing downward to the usual plaiting
apparatus. The alternate drying and stiffening may be repeated as often as
desired, and the number of drying cylinders regulated accordingly. At the
second sizing apparatus the goods are caused to press upon the roller i by
means of two rollers c, c, which are mounted in adjustable bearings, so as to
be capable of causing the cloth to movo over a greater or lesser area of the
surface which conveys the stiffening material, and the quantity thereof
imparted may thus be regulated:-The stiffening roller i is so geared as to run
in the opposite direction to the course of the cloth. The wheelwork for giving
rotatory motion to the various cylinders is indicated by the pitch lines in red
color, and is partially shewn at Fig. 2, which represents a portion of the
machine in plan view. A line shaft p drives cross shafts 7. upon the axes of
which are pinions r, and from thence motion is transmitted through the various
sets of cylinders by intermediates, as shewn.
4
The plan view, Fig. 2, explains another part of our Invention, for it will be
seen that the axes of the steam cylinders extend through the framework S, and
the driving gear is placed on the outside thereof. The drying cylinders may
be supplied with steam, and the water of condensation may be drawn there-
from by the usual means; but we will now proceed to describe how we effect
those operations according to our improvements.
Fig. 3 represents upon an enlarged scale a portion of one of the drying
cylinders. The axis thereof t is hollow and turns in a pedestal, which is fur-
nished with a channel u connected to the steam pipe; communicating with
this channel are holes v drilled in the axis t, through which the steam therefore
passes, and from thence into the cylinder, stuffing boxes w being adapted for
the purpose of preventing an escape. Figs. 4 and 5 represent the other end
of the cylinder, and illustrate our method of drawing off the water of con-
densation. On the cylinder end are cast two curved pipes or channels x, y, as
they follow the curved end of the cylinder; they appear in Fig. 4, as partly in
section. These pipes communicate with exterior channels Z, Z', between which
and the interior of the cylinder there is a communication by means of apertures
1, 2, formed through the cylinder end. As the cylinder revolves the water

page_text: flows through the aperture 1 or 2, from thence into the channel Z or Z', which
as it turns upward delivers it into the pipe y or a, from whence it subsequently
falls on to a central plate 3, which causes it to be delivered through the hollow
axis 4 and pedestal 4. By continuing the chambers Z, Z, further around the
periphery of the cylinder, the water therein may be made to constitute a trap,
so as to prevent the escape of steam. Our method of adapting the vacuum
valve is shewn at 5 in Figs. 3 and 5. In the former of theso it is fitted to the
hollow axis t, in the latter to the pedestal 4; it will therefore be evident, as tho
said valves continually occupy the same position, that the whole range may be
opened simultaneously by levers or tappets connected together and forced
ngainst theni. For this purpose any suitable arrangement may be employed;
but in Figs. 1 and 6 we have represented a method wo adopt. To vertical
rods 6 are affixed tappets 7, one for each valve, and to the said rods are also
adapted levers 8 connected together by links 9. On one of the rods 6 is a
lever 10 jointed to a horizontal bar 11, by moving which sideways the rods 6
may be caused to turn upon their centres, and thus bring the tappets 7 into
contact with the valves to be opened. The Drawing shows this apparatus
applied to one set of cylinders only; but it is of course repeated through the
machine.
The next part of our Invention is shown at Fig. 7, in which a is the chamber
usually employed for steaming printed goods; around this we form a jacket b
to which steam or other heat is admitted, by which means the metal of tho
inner chamber is kept hot, and the water of condensation prevented from
dropping on to the goods under operation.
Ilaving thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention, and
the manner of carrying the same into effect, we desire it to be understood that
we claim, as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters Patent, the
general arrangement of machinery described in reference to Fig. 1, whereby
the goods are 'alternately stiffened and dried.
Also we claim the consecutive stiffening, drying, and calendering in onc
machine.
Also we claim placing the drying cylinders vertically, whether or not they
be used combined as above with stiffening or calendering apparatus.
Also we claim the application of an adjustable roller or rollers as illustrated
at o, Fig. 1, for the purpose of regulating the quantity of stillening matter
conveyed to the cloth.
Also we claim admitting steam to the cylinders from a chamber formed
within the bearings of the axes.
Also we claim the application of the pipes or chambers, above described, for

page_text: taking away the water of condensation in contradistinction to the open buckets
ordinarily employed for such purpose.
Also we claim applying the vacuum valves to the axes of the cylinders or
to the bearings thereof.
Also as applied to apparatus for steaming printed goods we claim tho
use of a steam or otherwise heated jacket or casing.
In witness whereof, we, the said Major Booth and James Farmer, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventeenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-oight.
MAJOR 130 ла. (L.S.)
JAMES FARMER. (L.S.)