IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING OR PREPARING TEXTILE MATERIALS AND HADDING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Harold Potter, of the City of Manchester, Gentle-
man, and Alfred Peek, of the same Place, Manufacturing Chemist, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING OR PREPARING TEXTILE
MATERIALS AND HADDING"
Sealed the 19th February 1861, and dated the 5th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Harold Potter and Alfred
Peek at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 5th September 1860.
We, HAROLD POTTER, of the City of Manchester, Gentleman, and ALFRED
PEEK, of the same Place, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING OR PREPARING
TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to increase the density or substance of cotton
and other fibrous materials or fabrics. This is accomplished by subjecting the
materials and fabrics to the action of a solution of silicate of soda or potash,
after which they are dried and then acted upon by hydrochloric, sulphuric, or
other acids, or by acid gases or vapours, for the purpose of fixing or causing
the said siliceous dressing or filling to become incorporated with the cotton or

page_text: other fibrous material, either in its unmanufactured state or when manufactured
into yarn or threads, or woven into fabrics.
Our improvements may be applied to bleached or unbleached materials and
fabrics, or during the process of bleaching.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Harold Potter and Alfred Peek in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HAROLD
POTTER, of the City of Manchester, Gentleman, and ALFRED PEEK, of the
same Place, Manufacturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Harold Potter and Alfred Peek, Her special licence that we, the said
Harold Potter and Alfred Peek, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Harold Potter and Alfred Peek, 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
ex pressed, 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 TREATING OR PREPARING
TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said Harold Potter and Alfred Peek, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their 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 Harold Potter and Alfred Peek,
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 (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to increase the density or substance of cotton.

page_text: and other vegetable fibrous materials or fabrics. This is accomplished by
subjecting the fibrous materials and fabrics to the action of a solution of silicate.
of soda or potash, after which they are dried and then acted upon by hydro-
chloric, sulphuric, or other acids, or by acid gases or vapours, for the purpose
of fixing or causing the said silicious dressing or filling to become incorporated
with the cotton or other vegetable fibrous materials, either in their unmanu-.
factured state or when manufactured into yarns or threads, or woven into fabrics.
Our improvements may be applied to bleached or unbleached materials and
fabrics, or during the process of bleaching.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the means pursued by us.
When operating upon unbleached fabrics, commonly called grey cloth, or
yarn, or thread, we first subject them to a boiling with lime and water, and
soda ash and water, either in kiers, as is well understood by bleachers, and
called bowking, or in vessels, through which the fabrics or yarn are made to
pass. The fabrics or yarn are then slightly rinsed in water, and passed through
a hot solution of silicate of soda or potash, the strength of the solution varying
at from ten degrees to fifty degrees, or upwards, of Twaddle's hydrometer, the
strength of the solution depending upon the density or substance required to
be imparted to the fabrics or yarns under operation; they are next dried,
either by means of warm air or over steam cylinders, and aged, that is to say,
exposed after drying to a warm dry air for ten or twelve hours. The fabrics
or yarn are next passed through or soaked in a diluted hydrochloric (muriatic)
or sulphuric or other suitable acid, or in the vapour or gases of hydrochloric
or other suitable acid, and then well washed in water, and dried in the usual
manner. In some cases, when operating upon grey fabrics, a lime boil or
bowk alone, or an ash boil or bowk alone may be given, but the object of the
Invention is best attained by the use of the ash boil or bowk, we therefore
prefer in all cases to boil or bowk the fabrics with soda ash.
When operating upon cotton or other vegetable fabrics and yarns intended
to be bleached, we first bowk them thoroughly in the manner practised by
bleachers, then wash them, and afterwards pass them through the hot solution
of silicate of soda or potash; they are then dried, aged, and passed through
the acid or acid gases or vapours, and washed as before described in operating
upon grey fabrics, after which the bleaching process can be continued in the
usual manner. The ageing or exposing to air after drying in some cases may
be omitted, or much shortened when a weak solution of silicate of soda or
potash is used, but generally a better result is produced if the ageing process is
effectually performed.

page_text: By thus operating upon cotton and other vegetable fibrous materials the
siliceous dressing or filling becomes thoroughly incorporated with the fibres,
thereby greatly improving the appearance and increasing the density and
commercial value of the fabrics or yarns.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit our-
selves to the details given, and that we make no claim to the application of
silicious dressing or filling to fibrous materials or fabrics, but that we limit
our claim to the mode of fixing such silicious dressing in or to vegetable
fibres, as described.
In witness whereof we, the said Harold Potter and Alfred Peek, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Second day of March, in the
year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
HAROLD POTTER. (L.S.)
ALFRED PEEK.
(L.S.)
HAROLD POTTER. (L.S.)
ALFRED PEEK.
(L.S.)