IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDERS AND OTHER APPLIANCES FOR STEAMING AND COOLING CLOTH
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDERS AND OTHER APPLIANCES
FOR STEAMING AND COOLING CLOTH."—A communication from abroad by
Luke M. Heery, of Hinsdale, Massachusetts, United States of
America.
Sealed the 30th January 1872, and dated the 15th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th August 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDERS AND OTHER
APPLIANCES FOR STEAMING AND COOLING CLOTE," a communication, to be as
follows:-
The first part of this Invention relates to that stage of the manu-
facture of cloth, whether from wool or other material, in which the fabric,

page_text: of cloth upon it between the two nozzles a weight hung to the outer
end of the aforesaid lever presses the sliding block and its packing
down upon the head of the cylinder, and also presses the lower end
of the cylinder down upon the lower packing, thus insuring the
making of steam-tight joints. The roll comes wet from the gig, and
when the steam is let on it instantaneously causes the water in the
cloth to boil out upon the exterior of the wrapper, whence the water
runs downward. The cessation of this outflow of water is the signal
for shutting off the steam, and when this is done the cloth is left so
nearly dry that even if allowed to cool simply by evaporation its
moisture will not in the meantime descend into the lower portions of
the roll to unduly heat them.
Owing to the fact that the steaming of rolls as heretofore accom-
plished, that is, from one end only, is so liable to produce goods of
3 uneven hues, the steaming process has hitherto found little favour,
notwithstanding its comparative cheapness, and no practicable substitute
for the old method of boiling rolls had been devised prior to my
Invention. This method consists in immersing the rolls wound on solid
cylinders in a tank of cold water, which is then heated to the boiling
point either by the injection of steam or by a fire lighted beneath.
This requires from 2 to 4 hours and then the water must be kept
boiling for from 4 to 6 hours longer, the rolls being then taken out of
the tank and allowed to cool by evaporation, which requires from
12 to 18 hours more. While cooling, the rolls, if lying horizontal,
must be frequently turned partly around, and if standing erect, they
must be shifted end for end in order to prevent the water from settling
into the lower parts of the roll, and thus unevenly heating them.
But with a pressure in the boiler of 80 lbs. to the square inch, and a
conducting pipe of 1½ inches diameter, an equally good result can be
obtained by steaming the roll for from 15 to 30 seconds. Furthermore,
the boiling of rolls in the old way tends to make the cloth tender,
whereas the steaming of them has no such tendency, Again, as above
stated, when a roll is steamed, it may be cooled by evaporation without
producing a piece of goods barred or banded in different shades by
uneven heating. When however there is an abundance of pure water
at command it will not be necessary to wait for the slow cooling of the
rolls by evaporation. It is absolutely necessary that the cloth should
be cooled before proceeding further in the manufacture, in order that

page_text: -
the lustre imparted by gigging and steaming may be retained, there-
foro after the steam is shut off if cold water be forced into the cylinder
through the steam pipe and its branches by. means of a pumping
engine it will pass through the roll and gush from its exterior, thus
thoroughly steaming and also washing the cloth in about a minute's
time. Compounds for rendering the goods waterproof may also bo
forced through the roll in the same way.
My improved wrapper consists of a bandage of any suitable material
wound spirally around the roll so as to hold evenly every part of tho
same under the pressure of steam from within. Heretofore the wrapper 1
has been wound straight around the roll and then held by encircling
strings. A wrapper thus secured does not hold the cloth evenly, and
moreover the strings leave marks in the cloth, which diminish its
market value. With my improved spiral wrapper no strings aro
required.
1
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, 2
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
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, uso,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDERS AND OTHER APPLIANCES FOR STEAMING AND COOLING
CLOTH," a communication to me from abroad by Luke M. Heery, of
.

page_text: Hinsdale, Massachusetts, United States of America, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification.
The first part of this Invention relates to that stage of the manu-
facture of cloth, whether from wool or other material, in which the .
fabric after being rolled around a hollow perforated cylinder and covered
on the outside with a wrapper is subjected to the action of steam
entering the interior of the cylinder and permeating the roll from the
inside for the purpose of improving or setting the lustre of the goods.
Heretofore the means used have been such as admitted steam only at
one end of the aforesaid perforated cylinder. It is however an incident
of the employment of steam for this purpose that unless the cloth is
evenly heated it will not take the dye evenly when it subsequently
comes to be coloured, but the same piece of goods will be of different
hues, and consequently of less value than if it were uniform in colour.
When steam is admitted at one extremity only of the cylinder, in most
cases the side of the piece that forms the adjacent end of the roll is
heated more than the other side. The piece is sometimes doubled
lengthwise to bring both selvages together, and then the sides are evenly
heated, but in this case the centre is liable to be less heated than the
other parts, and consequently of a different shade. This part of my
Invention therefore relates to an apparatus for steaming the roll at both
ends simultaneously for the purpose of evenly heating the cloth so that
its colour may be uniform.
The second part of my Invention relates to a process of forcing water

page_text: :
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of said apparatus with the roll in
place. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cylinder of the said
apparatus.
.
'
I
a is the hollow perforated cylinder, the samo having a head b,
through which runs a hole continuous with the bore of the cylinder.
d is the main steam pipe, and d', d³, are two branches of the same,
extending the one upward the other downward; both branches are hori-
zontal at the upper one terminates in a downwardly projecting
nozzle d³, and the lower one in an upwardly projecting nozzle d*. c is a
horizontal shoulder on the nozzle d' near its top. e¹ is a rubber packing
surrounding the upper part of the nozzle d', and resting on tho
shoulder e. f is a block that slides on the nozzle d³. f¹is a packing
placed below and secured to the said block. The extremities of the
nozzles d³, d', are of a size to fit closely within the ends of the cylinder a,
which when placed between them is necessarily held in a vertical
position. A lever g, pivotted at one end to the pipe d', and bearing an
enlargement that has an orifice made through it by means of which the
lever is slipped upon the upper nozzle, plays upon the latter above the
block f. When the cylinder a is in position between the nozzles with
the roll of cloth upon it a weight / hung upon the outer end of the
lever presses the block and its packing down upon the head b, and
also presses the lower end of the cylinder down upon the packing e¹,
thus securing steam-tight joints. The roll comes wet from the gig, and
when the steam is let on it instantaneously causes the water in the cloth
to boil out upon the exterior of the wrapper, whence it runs down. Tho
cessation of the outflow of water is the signal for shutting off the steam,
and when this is done the cloth is left so nearly dry that even if allowed
to cool simply by evaporation, its moisture will not in the meantime
descend into the lower portions of the roll so as to unduly heat them.
-
Owing to the fact that the steaming of rolls as heretoforo accom-
plished, that is to say, from one end only, is so liable to produce goods
of uneven hues, the steaming process has found little favor, especially
among American manufacturers, notwithstanding its comparative cheap-
ness, and no practicable substitute for the old method of boiling rolls
had been devised prior to my Invention. This method consists in
immersing the rolls wound on solid cylinders in a tank of cold water,

page_text: and then heating the same to the boiling point, either by the injection of
steam or by a fire built beneath. This operation requires from two to
four hours, and then the water must be kept boiling for from four to six
hours longer, after which the rolls are taken out of the tank and allowed
to cool by evaporation, which requires from twelve to eighteen hours
longer; and moreover during all this time, the rolls if lying horizontally
must be frequently turned partly round, and if standing erect they must
be shifted end for end, in order to prevent the water from settling into
the lower parts of the rolls, and thus unevenly heating them. But with
a pressure in the boiler of eighty pounds to the square inch, and a con-
ducting pipe d of one and a half inch diameter, an equally, good result
can be accomplished by steaming the roll for from fifteen to thirty
seconds. Furthermore, the boiling of rolls in the old way tends to make
the cloth tender, whereas the steaming of them has no such tendency.
Again, as above stated, when a roll is steamed it may be cooled by
evaporation without producing a piece of goods barred or banded in
different shades by uneven heating. When, however, there is an abun-
dance of pure water at command, it will not be necessary to wait for the
slow cooling of the rolls by evaporation. It is absolutely necessary that
the cloth should be cooled before proceeding further in the manufacture,
in order that the lustre imparted by gigging and steaming may be
retained, therefore after the steam is shut off if cold water bo forced
into the cylinder through the pipes d, d', it will pass through the roll
and gush from its exterior, thus thoroughly cooling and also washing
the cloth in about a minute's time. Compounds for rendering the
goods waterproof may also be forced through the roll in the same way.
My improved wrapper consists of a bandage i of any suitable material
wound spirally around the roll, so as to hold evenly every part of it
under the pressure of steam. Heretofore the wrapper has been wound
straight around the roll or coiled, and then tied by encircling strings.
wrapper thus secured does not hold the cloth evenly, and moreover
the strings leave marks in the cloth, which diminish its market value.
With the said spiral wrapper no strings are required.
A
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,—
First. The mechanism substantially such as herein described for
steaming the roll from both ends at the same time.

page_text: Second. The process of cooling the roll by forcing cold water through
it from the interior of the hollow perforated cylinder by means sub-
stantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, havo hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of February in the &
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
W. J. LowE.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)