Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Feb., 1888
Complete Left, 30th Apr., 1888
Complete Accepted, 1st June, 1888
We, FRED. LEE, of Southgate, Worsted Spinner, JOSHUA BRADSHAW of Alverthorpe
Road Dyer, both of Wakefield in the county of York, and FRANK LEE, of The Limes,
Didsbury, Manchester, General Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention consists in forcing, or drawing, by means of a pump, or injector, a
continuous current of dye-liquid through perforated receptacles, or a perforated plate
in, or upon which the material to be treated is placed.
To carry out this invention we employ a rectangular or other suitable shaped tank
or vat, for containing the dye liquid, above which we suspend from the ceiling, or
support from the tank, or vat, a tray whose sides are formed to fit inside the tank or
vat if necessary. Holes are formed in the bottom of this tray to receive circular, oval,
or rectangular cans having perforated bottoms, and moveable perforated tops.
The fibrous material to be operated upon is placed in the cans, the dye liquid is
then conveyed from the dye tank to the surface of the tray by means of a suitable pipe,
or pipes through which it is forced by a pump or injector.
The dye liquid after being conveyed to the surface of the tray flows through the
perforated tops of the cans; into the fibrous material placed in the cans, and from
tbence through the perforated bottoms of the cans, back into the dye tank.
Steam tubes are placed at a suitable distance above the surface of the bottom of the
tray, and the surface of the bottom of the dye tank for the purpose of maintaining the
dye liquid at a suitable heat.
A suitable pipe is formed or fixed to the dye tank, for conveying the steam from

page_text: We employ the above method for dyeing loose fibrous material. When it is
necessary to dye hard fibrous material we lower the tray carrying the cans inside or
on to the top of the tank or vat which then becomes airtight, the pump or injector
thereby draws the dye liquid through the fibrous material in the cans.
In place of the cans hereinbefore mentioned, we may employ a perforated plate
having airtight passages between the perforations, through which steam is forced.
The fibrous material to be operated on is placed upon the plate, the dye liquid is
then caused to flow over the fibrous material and through the perforations back into
the dye tank or vat, in a similar manner to the one hereinbefore described.

page_text: and other Fibrous Substances.
We FRED. LEE of Southgate, Worsted Spinner, JOSHUA BRADSHAW, Alverthorp
Road, Dyer, both of Wakefield in the County of York, and FRANK LEE, of The
Limes, Didsbury, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, General Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of this 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 drawings :-
:-
Our Invention relates to the dyeing of cotton, wool, yarn and other fibrous or textile
materials and has for its objects to facilitate the operation and to obtain uniformity of
result throughout the mass of materials operated upon. In the carrying into effect of
our invention we place the materials in a vat or receptacle which is mounted above a
dye liquor cistern and is pervious or partly pervious so that when dye liquor is
pumped, raised or forced from the said cistern into the said vat, the liquor returns by
gravity, sometimes aided by atmospheric pressure, through the mass of materials to
the cistern. The dye liquor is thus kept in circulation until the materials are sufficiently
treated or as long as is considered to be desirable. We prefer to employ removable
receptacles which are seated in the bottom of a vat into which the liquor is raised from
the lower cistern.
In order that our Invention may be clearly understood we will describe the same
more fully with reference to the accompanying two sheets of drawings wherein Fig. 1
represents an elevation partly in vertical longitudinal section of an apparatus which
we have designed for the purposes of our invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 (sheet 2) is a vertical cross section of the apparatus.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views of the pervious receptacles into which the materials
are sometimes placed to be dyed.
if
In the said drawings a is the said dye liquor cistern; b is the said vat and c is a
circulating pump. The vat 6 is provided with six cans d d in which the materials to
be dyed are placed. One of these cans is separately illustrated by the sectional and
plan views Figs. 4 and 5. The can is of cylindrical shape and has a perforated or
reticulated bottom as seen in Figs. 4 and 5. This bottom may be made of wire gauze.
The can is also provided with a perforated or pervious cover d² but this cover may
desired be dispensed with. The can is formed with a flange which rests upon the
bottom of the vat or fits into or on to a seating secured to the said bottom. In Fig. 4
the said flange is represented as being of a conical form. Fig. 6 illustrates another
method of seating the can. In this example the top flange of the can rests upon
a ring e of vulcanised rubber or of other suitably elastic material which is bedded
in a ring e secured in the bottom of the vat b. Lugs e project from the flange
of the can and hook catches are formed in the ring e'. In fixing the can it is

page_text: dropped through the ring and turned until the lugs e pass beneath the hooks e*
which are slightly inclined so as to draw down the flange of the can and compress
the rubber ring. The intention in any case is to prevent or check the leakage of
dye liquor through the joint between the can and the bottom of the vat. At the
upper part of the vat 6 is a strainer f into which is delivered the dye liquor lifted
from the lower cistern by the pump c. This part f besides fulfilling the office of
a strainer acts to some extent to distribute the inflowing liquor. The liquor in the
cistern a is heated by means of a steam pipe g. In the example a second steam
pipe is provided to heat the liquor within the vat 6 but this may not always be
considered to be necessary. It will be seen that the pump is connected with the
cistern a by means of a suction pipe i and discharges into the strainer ƒ through a
delivery pipe k. The said pump may be of any suitable construction but we consider
a centrifugal pump such as indicated in the drawings to be suitable. The vat 6 is
provided with an overflow pipe I seen in Fig. 3 which pipe discharges into the
cistern a and prevents the liquor in the vat from rising beyond a convenient level.
The said vat is also provided with a discharge valve m which can be opened whenever
it is desirable to entirely empty the vat as for example at the completion of the
dyeing operation. The apparatus is used in the following manner. The textile
materials to be dyed are placed in the cans and the can covers when such are used
are placed in position. The cans may be removed from the vat for the purpose of
being filled or they may be filled whilst in position in the vat as preferred. The filled
cans being in position and the cistern a being supplied with dye liquor the pump
is put to work and the liquor is thereby lifted into the vat 6 and accumulating
therein flows through the mass of materials in the cans and thus returns to the
cistern a.
The liquor is thus kept in circulation until the dyeing operation is
completed or for as long a period as is considered to be desirable. The constant
agitation and circulation of the dye liquor through the cans and apparatus tend to
secure great evenness of tint in the dyed materials. When the materials are
sufficiently treated the valve m is opened to empty the vat and the cans are removed
or emptied. It is an advantage to be able to lift out the cans with their contents as
the materials may be rinced or otherwise treated if necessary without removal from
the cans. To provide for the lifting of the cans we may form handles or hooks d'
on their upper flanges. The cans may be greatly modified in form and construction.
Although we prefer to use these cans or similar receptacles we do not confine
-ourselves to such use. When not using such cans we provide the vat b with a
perforated or pervious bottom or with a bottom of wire gauze and we place the
materials to be dyed upon the perforated bottom and operate in the manner herein-
- before set forth.
When it is desirable to obtain a quicker flow of the dye liquor through the materials
we make the connection between the sides of the cistern a and the sides of the vat b
air tight or we make the cistern a deeper and divide it into two compartments by means
of a horizontal partition which would correspond to the bottom of the vat b. In such a
case the upper compartment would correspond to the vat b and the lower compartment
to the cistern a. In either case the withdrawal of.liquor from the lower cistern or
compartment by the action of the pump would cause a partial vacuum so that
the pressure of the atmosphere would act in assistance of the gravity of the liquor
to cause the flow of liquor through the mass or masses of materials being
operated upon."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
(1) The method of dyeing textile materials substantially as herein before set
forth.
OT
1
י.

page_text: (3) In apparatus for dyeing cotton, wool and other fibrous or textile materials the
vat 6 provided with cans to hold the materials and the dye cistern a in combination
with a pump or lifting apparatus for circulating the dye liquor, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth and indicated.
(4) In apparatus for dyeing the said materials the combination of the dye cistern a
the vat 6 the strainer the pans or receptacles dd of suitable shape, construction
and number and the circulating pump c or an equivalent lifting apparatus, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated.
(5) In apparatus for dyeing the said materials the lower dye cistern and the upper
vat to contain the materials to be dyed in combination with a pump or lifting
apparatus for raising the dye liquor from the said cistern to the said upper vat the
liquor returning by gravity through the textile materials and the pervious bottom of
the vat to the lower cistern substantially as set forth and indicated.
(6) In dyeing apparatus of the indicated nature uniting the under cistern a to
the upper vat 6 by an air tight connection so as to cause a vacuum or partial vacuum
during the dyeing operation in the lower cistern and beneath the pervious receptacles
or pervious bottom of the vat thus causing atmospheric pressure to assist the natural
gravity of the liquid in percolating through the said pervious receptacles or vat bottom
substantially as described and shown.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agenta.