Improvements in the Method of and in Means for Dyeing and Finish- ing or Dressing Cotton Threads and other Textile Materials.
Year: 1896

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by CHARLES HENRI JACOB, of Lyons, in the Republic
of France, Manufacturer.]
Improvements in the Method of and in Means for Dyeing and Finish-
ing or Dressing Cotton Threads and other Textile Materials.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
All substances usually employed in the operation of finishing or dressing threads
or fibres in general, suffer from two defects, namely, that of imparting to the
threads or fibres a hardness and a heavy brilliant metallic appearance.
I avoid both of these inconveniences by employing Hai-Thao, (Gelose), the
characteristic quality of which is an extreme suppleness and to impart to the
threads or fibres treated therewith, a permanent solidity and strength owing to
the fact that it thoroughly penetrates the thread or fibre, and that it further adds
to these qualities that of producing a silky appearance. This substance has already
heretofore attracted the attention of finishers who attempted to utilize it as
a finishing substance for their cotton fabric, but the great difficulty connected
with the process of eliminating, by desiccation, the water absorbed by this
substance which energetically retains water, was the reason of its not being
adopted for use.
The most convenient means for overcoming this difficulty in employing this
substance for finishing purposes, consists in using glycerine mixed with water
and in employing this mixture as a solvent. By way of example I will hereinafter
explain the means employed for a simple cotton thread number 150.
Thirty litres of glycerine at a temperature of 28 degrees centigrade are
thoroughly mixed with thirty litres of ordinary water; to this mixture three
kilogrammes of Hai-Thao, (Gelose) of good quality are added; the product thus
obtained is placed in a boiler and its temperature raised to the boiling point;
the boiling operation is carried on until a complete solution of the substances
thus treated has taken place. After this operation is finished, and before allowing
the product to cool down, 200 grammes of sulphate of zinc, previously dissolved
in a sufficient quantity of water, is added thereto.
The most essential part of the process consists in applying this product by
means of a finishing machine.
The machine comprises a frame connecting side pieces which support the drying
apparatus; a movable creel-frame supporting the winding spools; a tank provided
with a doable buttom for containing the finishing substance; a thread guide;
a device for purging or clearing off the finishing substance; a drying apparatus,
a cover for the drying apparatus, arranged to be movable in order to allow any
threads broken during the operation, to be re-fastened; a perforated plate serving

page_text: to maintain a constant heat and to uniformly distribute such heat, without
exerting any pressure on any portion of the thread throughout its longitudinal
extent; movable brackets for supporting the threads in their longitudinal direc-
tion; a winding drum; spools; thread guides mounted on a frame having
reciprocating motion; counterweights serving to lift the cover or lid, which
coonterweights for this purpose slide along the draught chimney, this chimney
being made movable at its bottom part in order to enable the cover or lid to be
lifted; a friction pulley a transmission disc; and the movable cover or lid of the
drying apparatus.
After having given these explanations, I will now indicate the method, in which
the thread is dressed or finished by the aid of this machine:-
After the dyed or undyed thread has been wound on the spools, it passes into
the tank in order to receive its finishing substance, then leaves this tank through
a kind of thread guide serving at the same time to thoroughly size the fluffy fibre
and to preserve the perfect roundness of the thread; subsequently the thread
passes over the purging or clearing apparatus which removes from it the finishing
substance which adheres thereto in excess of the required amount and which
terminates the sizing or finishing operation by applying a slight pressure to the
thread. The thread then enters the drying apparatus through horizontally ar-
ranged eyelets and is gradually dried as it traverses this drying apparatus in
its longitudinal direction, and in which drying apparatus several equi-
distant supports or brackets are arranged. Finally on leaving the drying
apparatus the thread is wound upon the spools by the aid of thread-guides which
receive a varied reciprocating motion.
The finishing substance must be lukewarm when applied to the threads and
the latter on receiving this substance must be slightly moist.
As the aniline colours can be very efficiently incorporated in this finishing sub-
stance, all shades of colours may be obtained with far greater intensity and
brightness than those obtained in the ordinary way, provided, however, that care
be taken not to add them until the last moment after having them dissolved
separately.
Dated this 22nd day of October 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Method of and in Means for Dyeing and Finish-
ing or Dressing Cotton Threads and other Textile Materials.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
This invention relates to an improved process and apparatus for applying a
novel dressing, of which Hai-Thao or vegetable gelatine, also known as gelose,
is the chief ingredient,-to simple thread cotton.
All the materials now generally employed in dressing and glossing or glazing
cotton yarn, broadly speaking, are attended with the double defect of imparting
to the yarn a certain degree of hardness as well as an objectionable metallic
lustre.

page_text: These defects I propose to obviate by means of the substances known as Hai-
Thao or gelose possessing the advantageous property of imparting to the spun
goods extreme pliancy together with unvarying strength, by thoroughly pene-
trating the fibre, while giving them at the same time the appearance or gloss of
silk. This dressing medium had, indeed, attracted the attention of some
manufacturers before now, and it had been attempted to utilize it in dressing
cotton fabrics, but the great difficulty which was encountered when it became
necessary to eliminate by desiccation the water which the dressing, having once
absorbed, retained with considerable persistency, soon caused it to be rejected.
The expedient best suited to enable this drawback to be avoided in dealing
with the particular class of goods herein referred to consists in employing
glycerine mixed with water as a solvent. This, for example, is the method to
be adopted in the case of simple thread cotton No. 150.
To 30 litres of water there is added 30 litres of glycerine at 28° which is
thoroughly mixed with the water, to this mixture is superadded 3 kilogrammes of
a good quality of Hai-Thao or gelose. The whole is then placed in a boiler or
copper and heated to boiling point; ebullition being kept up until a perfect
solution is obtained. When this operation is concluded, and before the dissolved
materials have had time to cool, 200 grammes of sulphate of zinc,-previously
dissolved in a sufficiency of water, is added.
The more important part of the process resides in the method of application
of this material to the cotton by means of a dressing machine which forms part
of my invention.
The machine is represented by way of example, in the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1, being an elevation, and
Figure 2, a plan,
and it consists of the following main parts:-
Its frame is constructed in two parts B B', connected on both sides, by longi-
tudinal side-frames or cheeks F F. These support a heated drier S within which
the cotton yarn is to circulate and to be dried. The drier consists of two parts;
one lower stationary part, connected at the bottom with a hot air supply and an
upper portion in the shape of a removable cover H, adapted to be raised when
required (that is to say, when it is necessary to tie the ends of broken threads
while the machine is in operation) by means of balanced weights E sliding along
the discharge shoot D.
As shown in Figure 1, this discharge shoot or exhaust D is also formed in two
parts, which fit and are adapted to slide within each other; the upper, stationary
part being supported in any suitable manner, while the lower part is joined on
centrally to the movable top of the cover H. It is necessary to adapt the two
parts thus to slide (or telescope) upon each other, as will readily be understood,
firstly, in order to permit the cover H of the drier S to be lifted when it is
required to rejoin the parts of broken threads, and secondly, for the purpose of
effecting the constant admission and discharge, by suction, of the hot gases through
the top part of the stationary chimney. Lastly, upon the fixed portion of this
drier S there is secured a plate I having perforations formed all over its surface
which serve to maintain a constant heat and uniformly and without pressure
to distribute the same over the whole area of the yarn passing through. The
cotton yarn during its passage through the said drier H S is sustained by sup-
ports X, X, X secured at predetermined distances apart, and alternately, upon
the plate I and the bottom part of the movable cover H.
The bobbins which contain the cotton yarn to be dressed are placed upon a
movable frame C mounted upon the left-hand portion B of the main supporting
frame of the machine. Adjacent to this frame C there is arranged a dressing
trough or bath A having a double bottom between the two surfaces of which
there passes a steam pipe which serves to keep the dressing bath constantly tepid.
It is in this bath that the novel dressing, with Hai-Thao for its main constituent,
is contained, and into it the cotton threads are made to dip; after which they

page_text: leave it and are conducted through a series of guides a, whence they pass through
a. transverse row of drainers P, whereupon they enter the drier S in which, as
they pass through, they are dried.
Upon completing their passage through the said drier and being, consequently,
sufficiently dried. they have, in the last stage of operation, to be simply wound
upon bobbins. The winding apparatus employed in effecting this consists of a
number of winding drums or rollers T which by frictional contact, set the receiving
bobbins R in rotary motion. Upon these bobbins each row of dressed and dried
threads are wound evenly by means of threaded guides G, to which an ordinary
reciprocating motion is imparted. The winding drums T receive motion from
the friction pulley Z and feeding plate 7.
Having thus described the construction of the machine, it now remains for
me to state the manner in which the yarn is dressed.
The cotton yarn, whether dyed or bleached, or not, after having been upon the
bobbins R, passes into the bath or trough A, there to be dressed and thence issues
through a species of draw-plate or guide a which serves to make the nap or
pile closely adhere to the surfaces of the threads and thereby to render these
perfectly cylindrical. The yarn then passes on to the drainer P, in being con-
ducted over which it is freed from any dressing it may carry with it in excess
of what is required; the sizing being at the same time completed by the aid of
gentle pressure. The drainer P, which may be made of wood metal or any other
suitable substance, may consist of a series of projections Fig. 2 having apertures
therein through which the threads pass. Owing to the pressure which is exerted
at the opening of the aperture, the excess of dressing which the thread brings
with it is retained and drops into a receptacle which may be arranged at the foot
of the drainer for that purpose. The said drainer does not possess any special features
and it is not therefore intended to separately claim this device. The next step
is to convey the yarn into the drier through eyes arranged horizontally for the
purpose. In travelling through this arrangement it is gradually dried, equidis-
tant supports X, X, X" being provided throughout the length of the drier. And
upon leaving the drier the threads are finally wound upon the bobbins R¹ by
means of guides G adapted to perform a variable or adjustable reciprocating
motion.
I may mention in conclusion that tepid dressing only should be applied to the
threads which, in receiving such dressing, should be slightly moist.
Inasmuch as aniline dyes combine very well with this material, all the shades
may be obtained and will in fact prove much brighter than those which are now
'generally produced, the only precaution to be observed being to prepare the dye
solution separately and not to add it to the mixture until the very last moment.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
.me by my Foreign Correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The herein described composition for treating cotton thread, consisting of
glycerine, Hai-Thao, sulphate of zinc and water, combined substantially in the
proportions and manner specified.
2. The herein described method of applying Hai-Thao to cotton thread, con-
sisting in melting by ebullition Hai-Thao in a mixture of glycerine and water,
and after a perfect solution has been obtained adding a small quantity of sulphate
of zinc previously dissolved in water, and finally passing the cotton thread while
moist through the composition thus formed while the latter is in a tepid state.
3. In an apparatus for sizing cotton thread, the combination with a frame
carrying a plurality of bobbins on which the thread is wound, a steam jacketed
vessel for containing the sizing and having guide-eyes in its side for leading
the threads therethrough, drainers for removing the surplus sizing after the threads
leave said vessel a drier, a removable cover therefor, a perforated plate arranged
over the heater and beneath the cover, thread guides arranged between said plate

page_text: and cover, a telescoping escape flue carried by the cover, counterbalanced flexible
connections for raising the cover, and spool winding mechanism for winding the
thread after it leaves the drier substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of July 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.