Improvements on Printing and Dyeing Fabrics or other Porous Materials.
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements on Printing and Dyeing Fabrics or other Porous
Materials.
I, GEORGE CANTRELL GIBBS of 10 Claro Terrace, South Kensington in the
County of Middlesex Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS ON PRINTING AND DYEING FABRICS OR OTHER POROUS
MATERIALS to be as follows:-
"
This Invention relates to a peculiar arrangement of apparatus and machinery for
more effectively printing and dyeing felts silk calico or any other porous fabric or
substance.
In order to accomplish this I arrange the dies and standards in accordance to my
Specification dated the 27th day of April 1877 N° 1648.
On
But to more effectively dye and dry the felts, silk, calico or any other porous
material I arrange the cylinders containing the dyes in the following manner.
each side of the standards of the machine I place as many cylinders as there are
colors required to be printed and on either side of the machine I erect two vertical
side rods which are made to reciprocate in guides by means of cranks keyed to a
shaft placed across the two standards which on its revolution also presses the two
die blocks together by means of cams keyed on to the crank shaft. The cranks
I make of greater length than is requisite for moving the piston the length of the
cylinders. On the side rods I secure two stops at such a distance apart that they
catch a crosshead that moves loosely on the vertical side rods (which are made to
reciprocate by means of connecting rods from the cranks) so that the cranks (being
of greater length) allow the pistons to pause at each end of the stroke thereby
allowing the dye at the bottom of the stroke time to settle in the cylinder and at
the top to thoroughly saturate the material being dyed or printed.
On the top of the cylinder cap of the different pumps I arrange a valve actuated
by a tappet motion either from the side rods or any convenient part of the machine.
To this valve I connect by means of a pipe a vacuum pump or exhausting fan so
that when the dye is withdrawn from the die block the valve is opened and the
air which may be heated is drawn through until the materials or fabrics are
sufficiently dried. On the side rods being reversed by means of the cranks the
valve shuts and the die in each cylinder rises into the die or pattern block the

page_text: material is then printed to any desired pattern and on the crank reversing its
action the dye is withdrawn again through the materials or fabric and the process
of the air passing through is again repeated.
Another part of my invention relates to the means of simplifying the process by
which the color in the cylinders is replenished.
On each side of the machine I arrange tanks or cisterns for holding the dye, the
upper edges of which are level with the die blocks. The tanks or cisterns I connect
directly to the cylinders by means of pipes and in the centre of the pipes between
the cylinders and dye cistern I place a valve of any convenient form so that when
the piston is at rest on the bottom of the cylinder the valve is open and a fresh
supply of dye is allowed to pass into the cylinder. Through the piston I sometimes
prefer to have a communication with the bottom or underside of the piston on the
top of the aperture I have a valve held down by a spring as the piston descends it
touches a tappet on the bottom of the valve and allows a portion of the dye
contained in the upper part of the cylinder to descend into the bottom on the next
stroke of the piston the dye is forced into a tank or cistern placed above the
cistern on a level with the block.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements on Printing and Dyeing Fabrics or other Porous
Materials.
I, WILLIAM GIBBS of N° 27 Kings Road, Brighton in the County of Sussex,
the administrator of the late George Cantrell Gibbs of the former address do
hereby declare the nature of the invention for IMPROVEMENTS ON PRINTING AND
DYEING FABRICS OR OTHER POROUS MATERIALS, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to improvements in the apparatus to be used in printing
and dyeing felt fabrics or other like materials In describing the improvements
which are the subject matter of this invention I refer to the specification filed on
the 27th day of October 1877 by George Cantrell Gibbs (now deceased) in com-
pliance with the conditions of the letters patent granted to him dated and
numbered 27th April 1877 N° 1648 This invention consists of improvements in
the machinery and apparatus described and illustrated in the said specification,
The dies and standards are arranged in the manner described in the said specifi-
cation and illustrated in the annexed drawing.
Figure 1 being a side view of the said apparatus and Figure 2 a front view
(a) is the framework of the machine supporting the lower pattern die (b) the
upper die (c) works vertically in dies attached to the frame and is forced down at
intervals by cams (d & d¹) upon the shaft (e) which revolves in bearings (f & ƒ¹)
and is driven by the spur wheels and driving pulley (g) (p) is one of the supply
pipes to the lower pressure block each pipe being connected by a force pump (r)
the several pumps having pistons and rods passing through stuffing boxes, the
pistons being worked up and down by one or more cranks connecting rods and cross
heads driven by the shaft (e) Each piston is fitted with a valve (t) opening
upwards but held down by a spring and the lower end of each tank communicates
with a separate cistern or tank (u).
1st on each side of the of the standards of the machine I place as many cylinders
as there are colours and on either side of the machine I have a crank 8. keyed to the
shaft, In figures 1 and 2 this crank is shown together with the cylinders for the
sake of simplicity of drawing on one side only, The crank 8. has a greater length
of stroke than is necessary for bringing the pistons in the cylinders from the
bottom to the top. The connecting rod 8. is arranged as shewn in figure 1 passing
loosely through the cross beam w (which actuates the piston) and having keyed on
two blocks w¹ w². The connecting rod 8' is made with joint so that as the crank
revolves the piston rises and falls in the socket of w-but at each revolution there
is a pause of sufficient duration to enable the dye at the bottom of each stroke
time to settle in the cylinders and at the top of each stroke to thoroughly saturate
the material being dyed various modifications of this arrangement may be made as
for instance when more than two colors are being used the beam (w) may be
extended so as to act on as many more cylinders as may be desired, the main
principal of the improvement consisting in obtaining a pause at the top and at the
bottom of each stroke.

page_text: 2ndy On the top of the cap of each cylinder or pump is arranged a valve x.
actuated by a tappet motion either from the side rods or rod 8¹ or from any other
convenient part of the machine. To this valve is fixed a pipe ¹ which is connected
with a vacuum pump or ordinary exhaust fan so that when the dye is withdrawn
from the dye block the valve is opened and a powerful current of air which by
preference is heated is sucked through the fabric causing it rapidly to dry before
the pressure is removed and thus prevent the colors running one into the other,
when the dye blocks are lifted one from the other, on the crank continuing its
revolution, the valves are closed by a similar tappet motion and the whole process
is ready to be repeated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1st. The arrangements of parts and mechanism substantially as heretofore
described whereby the piston of each pump is made to pause at the top and at
the bottom of each stroke.
2ndly. The arrangements and combination of valves, pipes and exhaust pump,
or fan substantially as hereinbefore described whereby a current of air (heated by
preference) is drawn through the felt or other fabric.